Half-Glass Gaming: Recent Episodes

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Like many folks who play video games, I eventually warmed up to the futuristic open world of Cyberpunk 2077. No, it was never perfect, but the story is actually impressively well-written, the gunplay feels excellent, and just driving around can provide hours of dumb entertainment.

Recently, I got a hankerin’ to shake the fleas off this tired old dog and take it out to the pasture for a quick game of fetch. Okay, that metaphor is getting out of hand, so I’m going to abandon it. What I mean to say is that I’ve been wanting to return to Night City and amble around for a while.

Thankfully, the Phantom Liberty DLC just came out, which means it’s a fantastic time to return to Cyberpunk 2077. So I installed the new content and fired up the game, making my way toward the Dogtown area, where the Phantom Liberty content begins.

But here’s the thing: Before you get into Dogtown, there’s a small stealth section where you have to sneak into a garage. If you’re anything like me and have an appetite for troublemaking, you’ll realize that this presents you with a golden opportunity to create some true chaos for the guardians of Dogtown. There are tons of them, and if you alert one of them, the whole crowd will come gunning for you. However, there are a few places where you can bottleneck them, popping them in the head with a revolver as they come around the corner. This conflict is supposed to be un-survivable — I think it probably is un-survivable ultimately — but you can also hold off these guards for way longer than you’d expect.

And I have to admit, it’s so much fun to do this. I’ve been coming up with strategies for dispatching these guards one at a time, learning where the snipers are and discovering the locations of all the gates the guards can open (that you can’t without a high enough Technical Ability). It almost feels like an endless Horde Mode game, where you have to see how long you can survive before you’re ultimately wiped out.

If you survive long enough, the game will send elite guards after you, armed with shotguns. I can survive this if I can isolate these guys, but eventually the game will spawn in batches of them. Once I hit the point where I have four or five shotgunners who pin me in a corner, my life will inevitably end. But it’s really fun to see how long I can hold out for with each new run.

Here’s a video of just one (of many) of my failed attempts at reducing the population of Dogtown guards to zero:

At some point, I’m actually going to have to make my way deeper into the expansion content. There’s a lot of cool new stuff to see and do — or so I’m told. But for now, I think I’m going to spend at least one more evening blasting Dogtown guards to smithereens and stealing their loot. You can’t stop me; this is how I want to play the game.

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I was scrolling through my Google news feed the other day, while laying on the floor in my den as my cat groomed my hair (she’s very doting), when I came across an article on Tom’s Guide extolling the virtues and unrealized promise of cloud gaming as presented by Xbox. And although I personally haven’t spent much time poking the cloud gaming bear, it did get me thinking: why isn’t there a Game Pass tier that is strictly for cloud gaming?

Now, as far as my sleuthing skills — as limited as they may be — could uncover, there appears to be no dedicated cloud gaming tier for Xbox owners. That is to say, if the future of video games lies in the cloud, Microsoft and Xbox are doing a pretty lousy job of offering me an affordable way of making this future a reality. Currently it’s being presented as a bonus feature of the most expensive Game Pass tier, as opposed to the feature.

This is especially odd when you can buy TVs that have Xbox Game Pass pre-loaded, which allows you to game on the TV directly via the Xbox cloud with only a controller and no need for a dedicated console. So if you indeed have no console or PC or even just the desire to utilize what PC or laptop you have to play games, then why would you want to subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate in order to have access to the singular feature you do want? This feels like an odd omission on the part of Xbox — and for the consumer, a waste of money.

I personally could see spending somewhere around $9.99 a month (although $6.99 feels closer to the sweet spot), to be able to fire up some cloud games while traveling or even just killing time at work (until I can install a Costanza-style nap area under my desk). And I am sure there would be a sizable audience that would sign up to check out the cool new app on their cool new TV, only to forget to unsubscribe later. And this is a market I feel Microsoft prefers to its dedicated customers.

Obviously, Microsoft has spent an inordinate amount of time and money mulling this over — how could they not? To not have at least considered this would be tantamount to corporate negligence, subjecting them to a couple of hours in the corner wearing a dunce cap, at the very least. I am sure their research tells them that everything I just said flies in the face or either reality or what makes good business sense. Of course, I am assuming folks smarter than me are the ones in charge. So take that with a grain of salt.

In any event, I think it is an option worth exploring. Offering the service in yet another form that might entice a dedicated audience, but it would also emphasize cloud gaming to start building the audience of what is purported to be the future. Let that future start now.

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As an ardent fan of Max Payne (and really, I’m a fan of everything Remedy has put out), I was quite interested in checking out what appeared to be developer/publisher Strange Scaffold’s homage to the Polish development studio’s original hardboiled New York detective game. The game I am referring to, of course, is El Paso, Elsewhere.

Although low in polygons and minimalist in cutscene animations, the opening several minutes had me hooked. Grizzled noir voiceover from a down-on-their-luck detective-looking fella? Check. Pulpy dialogue and a penchant for flowery prose and hyperbole? Check. A left-of-field, weird and nebulous plot that is somehow also barebones and right to the point? Check. And finally, balletic slow-mo bullet-time gunplay, replete with dives that — if you hold the button down — will allow the protagonist to remain prone to continue his volley of bullets? Check to infinite.

But the more I played El Paso, Elsewhere, the more the actual structure of the game reminded me of more punishing shooters like Hotline Miami. I often found myself having to think beyond just the standard shooty-shooty bang-bang and delve into strategy and resource-management. Even though there is a sizable arsenal of familiar firearms to take advantage of, if you are not paying attention to just how few bullets you have, you can quickly find yourself in a pickle.

Although I did have some issues with El Paso, Elsewhere, overall I was impressed by this indie shooter. In fact, I can imagine returning to it down the road when I have an itch for a more punishing approach to the Max Payne formula. And that means I don’t have to try to get Max Payne on Steam to run without crashing.

The voice acting in El Paso, Elsewhere might be lacking that certain James McCaffrey magic (coincidently the main character in El Paso is named James), but, despite that, it’s surprisingly solid. Honestly, I did not expect such crisp writing and pitch-perfect delivery. I bought every word and hung on every syllable (even if I never quite bought the fact that the voice I was hearing was meant to be emanating from the character I was playing). Overall, the sound design is really well done, from the ambient background music to the needle-dropped songs; it all feels great and adds a wealth of mood and texture.

I also really enjoy the art style. As barebones and low-poly as it is (which isn’t always my thing), I found it to be rather charming — it’s not at all distracting, nor does it detract from the action onscreen. The lighting effects are also well done, which can be a great addition to lower-res games to help add that visual pop and flourish without bleeding-edge graphics.

To return to my Max Payne comparison, I think Strange Scaffold nails that Remedy je ne sais quoi. And this is no small feat, especially for what I would have to imagine is a rather small independent studio. This team is clearly students of Remedy’s output — for the most part, they pay homage to that Remedy vibe fairly impressively, even on a smaller scale. This was cemented for me when I stumbled upon a radio I that was broadcasting a radio show, which felt right at home amongst shows like Night Springs or Address Unknown.

However, it ain’t all good. I was a little turned off by the controls, and this is where El Paso, Elsewhere stumbles the most for me. Now, I should note that I played this on a Steam Deck, so I wasn’t using a mouse and keyboard. El Paso, Elsewhere does offer full controller support (although during my playtime, the onscreen prompts didn’t actually display which button corresponds to the action being prompted), so it works just fine with no major issues, and I didn’t have to remap any of the bindings.

But the character feels a bit tanky to control, and the camera, which is set a little above the character, can get a little dodgy if you get backed up against a wall or in a corner. This last bit can be especially maddening when you’re trying to aim a third-person reticle. Plus, even though it looks like that reticle is hovering over the enemy, sometimes bullets are just dust in the wind. Thankfully, a melee stake can always dispatch these pesky vamps in a pinch.

There is also some light platforming that, although a little wonky, doesn’t tank the entire experience like playing the friggin’ blood maze in Max Payne using a PS2 controller. I don’t mind a little variety in traversal, but it feels a bit harrowing to navigate the minor gaps you have to jump over. Thankfully, the game doesn’t make a big production of it, and these sections are used sparingly.

Without going too far into spoilers, the basic story here is that your ex-girlfriend — who happens to apparently be a female Dracula — is summoning demons or is trying to open the gates of Hell… or something. And you have until X O’clock to shut it down and save humanity. It’s a bit whacky and not very engrossing, but it provides ample excuse to kill bad guys and listen to grizzled noir monologues, so for that purpose it is fine enough.

So yeah, I like El Paso, Elsewhere, and I would definitely recommend it to folks who can still stomach the original Max Payne in all its low-poly glory. It’s a bit kooky and off-kilter, and it offers solid — and, at times, challenging — third-person stylized action that you really just don’t see much of in the gaming landscape these days. And hot on the heels of a game like Trepang 2, El Paso, Elsewhere helps buoy my hopes that we may finally be on the cusp of a much-needed bullet-time renaissance in video games, which I am very much on board for.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for El Paso, Elsewhere on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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I love being a Turtles fan. Last year, we got the awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. Not only was it a really fun beat-‘em-up, but it was one of the best games of 2022. The gameplay was a nice throwback to old school arcade brawlers, and there was plenty of fan service crammed throughout the entire adventure.

If you’ve been looking for a reason to revisit Shredder’s Revenge, the Dimension Shellshock DLC has you covered. This paid content, which is priced at a reasonable $8, includes a brand-new wave-based survival mode and two new characters. On top of that, you also get some new color palette options for every character, which is a nice little extra.

So what exactly is Dimension Shellshock? If you played the Mr. X Nightmare DLC that was released for Streets of Rage 4 back in 2021, this is very similar to that. It’s essentially an endless mode, dubbed Survival in the main menu.

Straight-up, Dimension Shellshock is a great deal of beat-‘em-up fun, and if you loved the base Story and Arcade modes, you’ll likely enjoy Survival mode a whole lot. It would’ve been easy for developer Tribute Games to just release a basic endless mode, but the studio did a great job of adding perks and rewards to keep you coming back over and over again.

Each stage, or wave, takes place on a single screen. All kinds of randomized enemies will appear — from foot soldiers to mousers and even bosses like Bebop and Rocksteady. You know what to do: Use your ninja skills to pummel all of those fools. Of course, it’s easier said than done, as Survival mode can be pretty unforgiving. When you defeat enemies, you move on to the next wave by entering a portal, but any damage received is carried over.

Once your health meter is fully drained, you’ll have to start over. Thankfully, Survival isn’t entirely brutal. When you finish a wave, you get a choice between two random power-ups. These include pizzas that refill your health, invincibility while taunting (which, as you probably know if you played the base game, fills your special move meter), or increased damage output (at the cost of increased damage taken, so be careful).

The coolest power-ups are the ones that transform you into boss characters. You’ll mutate into Bebop, Rocksteady, and even Shredder, and you can use their movesets, which is really cool. On top of that, you’ll remain in that boss form until your health meter is depleted by taking damage, which then turns you back into your main character. This essentially turns this transformation power-up into an extra life of sorts as being defeated as Shredder, for example, won’t send you back to the start of Survival mode but rather turn you back into the character you were originally playing as.

Speaking of Shredder, he’s not just a mutation option — he’s also the big bad of Dimension Shellshock. Though Survival mode is technically endless, it’s your goal to once again stop Shredder. You’ll collect crystal shards as you defeat enemies, and you can even grab pick-ups that reward you with bunches of shards at the end of a wave. Once you collect a set number of shards, you’ll complete a crystal, which sends you to a new dimension. Shredder will be waiting for you at the end of the fifth dimension, so that’s what you want to shoot for.

Collecting crystals isn’t solely useful for progressing to different dimensions — it also allows you to permanently upgrade your character. When you finish a run or are defeated, you can increase certain stats depending on if you’ve collected crystals. This includes being able to take more damage and gaining extra lives. It’ll likely take a few runs, but once you’ve started snagging stat upgrades, you’ll be able to push further into Dimension Shellshock.

The best beat-‘em-ups are fun alone but arguably better when you’re playing with others. Dimension Shellshock is fully playable in local and online co-op, and it doesn’t sacrifice challenge if you go into it with others by your side. On the Nintendo Switch version, I didn’t have much trouble dropping into games with random players, though there were a few instances where I couldn’t find in-progress games, which sent me back to the menu, so that’s something to keep in mind.

The two new playable characters included in Dimension Shellshock are Karai and Usagi Yojimbo. Fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lore will likely remember these classic characters, and the cool thing about them is that they’re actually really fun to play as. They both bring a lot of speed, fast-paced attacks, and cool special moves, and they’re playable across all modes in the game.

You can get a lot of mileage out of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, and Dimension Shellshock adds even more to love about the game. It’s a solid expansion that gives you two great characters to play as, and Survival mode is super entertaining and addictive. It’s a nice change of pace from the Story and Arcade modes, too. So if you need more TMNT goodness in your life, Dimension Shellshock is a fine reason to jump back into Shredder’s Revenge.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – Dimension Shellshock on Nintendo Switch, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Bethesda has been messing around with the level-up formula with every iteration of their RPGs. The systems vary between brands, but for the most part, they’re pretty similar across the board. So although you level differently in Fallout 4 than, say, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the bones of the system are similar. Fallout 76 added interchangeable cards, which brought on-the-fly flexibility to the perk system, but by and large the level-up system follows the same general idea as previous Bethesda systems.

Personally, I really like the system in Skyrim, which grants experience for your stats/skills every time you actively engage with them — so sneaking improves sneaking, or (famously) smithing an endless amount of iron daggers improves your smithing skill. And so on.

Starfield carves out a similar system on paper, but adds a wrinkle unique to this new open-world RPG. There is a chart roughly similar to the one found in Fallout 4‘s skill leveling system. But in Starfield, you don’t just unlock a skill, you also have to complete an arbitrary requirement for that skill in order to unlock the next level. So if you just want the basic level of lockpicking, it is yours once you plunk a skill point into the Security stat. But to level up beyond the first tier, you must pick 5 locks. Once you have done that, you are now able to unlock the next Security tier using another skill point. But this also comes with it the requirement of picking 15 locks before you unlock the ability to use another skill point to reach the next tier of Security.

I apologize if this is a bit confusing to read, but it actually makes sense in practice. For the most part, I like this system, as it effectively tasks you with engaging with the skill you are unlocking in a certain way before you can continue your journey up that limb of the skill tree.

My only gripe with this system is that the requirements don’t always make sense, and sometimes they don’t jive with a specific playstyle.

For example, if you want a semi-decent jetpack ability, you have to spend a skill point unlocking the boost pack before you can ever even leave the ground. That’s right, unlike in No Man’s Sky, boost packs are not a God-given right in Starfield; you have to earn it. Fair enough. Whatever.

My problem is that unlocking additional tiers requires you to use the boost pack in combat, which sucks. I do not actively zip around in combat; my boost pack is almost exclusively reserved for traversal purposes. In fact, most of the combat I have been seeing lately takes place inside ships, space stations, or science outposts, all of which require absolutely zero boost-packing.

So now I have to boost fifty times in combat, even though I typically boost zero times. So this means I have to either adopt a playstyle that I normally would not engage in, or — and this is what I have resorted to — I just trigger combat and isolate myself from taking damage, then repeatedly boost in order to cheese the meter. This sucks because it feels stupid, and it completely pulls me out of my roleplaying.

I’m wracking my brain to come up with an alternate requirement, but nothing immediately springs to mind other than simply using the boost pack. Maybe having to use it no more than 10 meters off the ground in order to prevent severe fall damage would be a decent alternative to boosting a set number in combat. But that would no doubt lead to more cheesing. I just can’t help but feel like there must be a better way.

In order to beef up your carry weight limit, you run 1,000 meters with 75% of your inventory taken up for the second tier, then I believe it’s 2,500 meters for the third tier and 5,000 for the last tier. Although you can cheese this if you just want to do desert sprints (I did cheese the last 40% of the third tier meter doing this in Neon), this feels like a requirement you could naturally reach through normal gameplay.

As another example, if I wanted to venture down the stealth skill limb in Starfield, it would be because my intention is to avoid interactions with enemies. But the requirement is to land a certain number of surprise attacks in order to unlock the next tier, which completely flies in the face of what I want out of that particular skill. And since I rarely think to go into stealth mode just to land a sneak attack before engaging in combat, I find myself struggling to make progress without actively focusing on that particular skill.

Look, I get it. This system will never be perfect for everyone, and I am sure Bethesda spent countless hours and manpower before they ultimately landed on the current system. But it can be less-than-optimal when the skills you want for reasons all your own can only be leveled up for reasons Bethesda dictates. For a roleplaying developer that trumpets a play-as-you-like ethos, it just sort of sucks when they insist: “For these specific sections, play as we tell you.”

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I have always been a loner, Dottie, a rebel.

Although I appreciate the benefit of having a pack mule sidekick that can alleviate the aggravation of being over-encumbered — and who can also wield a weapon to various effects — I couldn’t care less about the lot of these bozos. In fact, I prefer to experience my adventure dolo (look it up; it’s slang).

So when I started playing Starfield, I was immediately put off by just how many different companions that are thrust upon you in the opening hours. It is a nonstop barrage of hangers-on and wet blankets who pooh-pooh my propensity for theft and subterfuge or cast aspersions from on mount high if I even entertain the idea of an underhanded deal. From VASCO to Sarah Morgan to Barrett to Sam Coe to Andreja (who was by far my favorite) — and whomever else was a possible companion in the early goings — it’s just too much.

And for the most part, they’re all uninteresting and snooty and far too goody-goody (Andreja aside, although even she counts to a certain extent). Sam Coe’s only saving grace is that he’s voiced by the Edvin Endre, Adam Jensen himself. But voice aside, Sam Coe — much like Barrett and Sarah — is a drip. I’m sorry, but it’s true.

Sure, it’s really helpful to have a walking storage container in Starfield while getting accustomed to the game and its wellspring of pickups and collectibles. But once you get better at managing your inventory for your particular playstyle, you no longer need these mildly sentient storage containers.

Once I had reached a point where Starfield started to veer away from the fetch-quest-athon that is the main storyline, I no longer felt like I needed to be saddled by these parade-raining storm clouds. So I ditched them. And let me tell you, that was the moment when I really started to come into my own.

No longer was I subjected to inane blathering. No longer were there stray bullets zipping by because my companion was shooting at a threat that I wasn’t even aware of. No longer was there a dummy blocking my path through a doorway. No longer was there a blithering idiot running to and fro because they were unable to square proper pathing over certain terrain. But the biggest plus was that I was free to be my character without anyone questioning my choices. I was able to role play Gloria as she was always intended to be played.

And let me tell you, it is pure bliss.

So don’t let Starfield tell you how to play. Buck its insistence of companions if you could care less about them. I don’t want to know these people. I don’t want to romance these people. If I never have to see them again, I’ll be just fine. And if you are in the same boat, ditch the baggage and be that lone wolf you were always meant to be.

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Eternights is a game for people who — like me — really enjoy the Persona games, but — also like me — struggle to find the time to finish a 60-plus-hour RPG. With a streamlined story, shorter dungeons, and a playtime that’s barely a quarter of what you’d expect from, say, Persona 5 Royal, Eternights hits the sweet spot for story-heavy dating-sim-dungeon-crawling. At least, for me it does.

The basic premise is that a world-altering event erects these force-field walls across the earth, kicking off a weird apocalyptic event that turns people into zombie-like monsters. You end up taking refuge on an abandoned train, where you hang out with a small group of friends and try to bring the world back to how it once was. And also, you get to date a pop star.

The balance between the lighthearted day-to-day tasks and the thematically darker story elements is where the Persona games really shine, and while Eternights doesn’t quite pull it off with the level of panache or sheer visual style that Persona does, it’s a great attempt at delivering something similar in a smaller package.

One way it streamlines things is by scrapping the mega-strategic turn-based battle system and replacing it with a quicker hack-‘n-slash-style one. It works, for the most part, though it’s not perfect. The combo system, where you build toward deathblows and other special moves, is oftentimes satisfying but occasionally frustrating. My biggest gripe about combat is that you don’t get anything for it. There’s no XP system; there’s just the Black Essence pieces you can collect off of the elite-level monsters. This Essence currency wears pretty thin pretty quickly, and there’s little incentive to grind for it. Plus, trash mobs don’t reward you with anything at all, so combat can feel like a huge waste of time — especially late in the game.

Also, the checkpoint system early in the game feels brutally unforgiving. It gets better as the game progresses, but the first major dungeon might be a dealbreaker for some folks. A single death can send you back stunningly far, and there are places where you’ll hit a checkpoint right before taking on a bunch of elite monsters but not after defeating them. So you’ll end up re-fighting these monsters over and over again if you end up dying in the next area.

Your time outside of dungeons is broken into days and nights. Essentially, you can participate in one single activity per day, and a second one each night. This includes hanging with your friends, fighting monsters, training, and scavenging. Scavenging is the activity I have the most fun with, as there are four characters who have specific items you must find for them to improve your stats and earn precious White Essence (which you’ll spend unlocking skills and stat boosts provided by the supporting cast of characters).

The character roster is small, but that’s not a bad thing, and I found myself getting absorbed in each person’s backstory. It’s nothing that will totally blow your mind, but these characters are at least fun to hang out with for the duration of your adventure. The story does try to be a bit over-the-top at times, but in my opinion, it’s at its best in its more intimate character moments rather than its sweeping, bombastic twists and turns.

The dating system is a decent incentive to get closer to your favorite character, but it also has some weaknesses. One thing that frustrated me a little bit was that each character has specific stat thresholds you must attain in order to get to the next “level” of friendship. But this means you’ll have to spend time with other characters in order to have conversations that boost your social stats before you can get closer to the one character you care about. This does force you to spend time with all the characters instead of focusing on just one, but it can be frustrating for those who, say, want to beeline straight for a relationship with Yuna (and the game seems like it wants you to do this in the beginning).

Ultimately, Eternights is the sort of game that you’ll play if you don’t have time to sink your teeth into the much beefier Persona series. This is good for anyone who’s intimidated by those games or who simply doesn’t have the time to see one through to the end. And there’s certainly room for that kind of game in my game library — perhaps there’s room in yours too.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Eternights on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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In Eternights, one of the nighttime activities you’ll engage in is scavenger hunts. In these minigames, a character will ask you to find a specific thing, and then you’ll go out into the city to find it. You can choose between three different locations, and if you choose the wrong one — or if you fail to find an item before the timer expires — the night will end and you’ll fail the hunt. This, of course, means you’ll burn precious time. You’ll still be rewarded with some bonus stats, but not nearly as much as if you were to

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I’m a sucker for a good TRPG, and Arcadian Atlas is a damn fine one. Now, I’m about to say something that’s sure to raise some eyebrows, but it must be said: Arcadian Atlas reminds me a bit of Final Fantasy Tactics. Sure, for many people who casually play video games, Final Fantasy Tactics is the single point of reference for any grid-based TRPG (tactical roleplaying game). When some folks say something reminds them of FFT, all they mean is that they’re playing a TRPG. So I get that this phrase comes with some skepticism. But I do dabble in

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The rise of the old school beat-’em-ups has been something awesome to behold. From Streets of Rage 4 to River City Girls to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and everything in between, there’s been no shortage of rad 2D action-arcade titles. Even newer franchises like Raging Justice and The TakeOver have allowed players to hit the mean streets and exact vigilante justice on all manner of ‘90s-inspired thugs. Now, another classic series has returned, and it’s received a bit of a facelift, as well as a gameplay makeover. Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons takes some familiar names

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Choo Choo Charles was always destined to be more of a curiosity than a standout must-play video game. I mean, we’re talking about a spooky clown-faced, spider-legged locomotive that’s hell-bent on ripping the player to shreds, adherence to train tracks (or logic) be damned. And in that regard, it delivers on its loopy premise and then some. It’s both silly and terrifying to see the red-and-black engine looming in the distance, scouring the countryside as it stalks you endlessly.  But head-scratching premise aside, Choo Choo Charles is a great little indie game that could, and it’s exactly the type of

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The price of a video game can be a decent sized hurdle for most consumers. Not every enthusiast has the disposable income to purchase every game that graces their wish list. This holds especially true now that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo — the “Big Three” console manufacturers — have all started selling their flagship games at the $69.99 MSRP. Heck, some third-party publishers have joined the $70 bandwagon, with even a few PC games clocking in at the cost of a week’s worth of groceries, or one and a half top-ups at the petrol (depending on your vehicle size). But

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I had high hopes for Lifeless Moon back when I saw the first trailer during the 2022 Summer Game Fest. It looked like a kooky little indie weirdo game centering around an adorable little NASA spaceman, and I was hoping for a trippy, head-scratching ride. But after playing the first hour or so (thanks to a preview build provided by Serenity Forge), what I got instead was a strong desire to take a nap. The basic premise is that the main spaceman character is on a walkabout on the moon when they get sucked into a void ripped through the

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I used to have a Game Pass Ultimate subscription a couple of years back. I signed up after picking up an Xbox Series S on a whim during the early days of the global shutdown. So also getting a Game Pass subscription felt like a no-brainer. And it was through this subscription that I discovered a handful of cool little titles like Backbone, Carrion, and Neon Abyss. It was also because of this subscription that I tried Forza for the first time, as well as playing Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, and The Ascent.  In the beginning, I

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I haven’t played the previous Amnesia games, so I went into Amnesia: The Bunker completely cold. I had an idea of what to expect, but for the most part this was entirely new to me. That said, Amnesia: The Bunker managed to deliver a compelling experience only slightly marred by cumbersome controls and at-times-frustrating checkpoint issues. I would certainly recommend it to fans of the walking-simulator end of the survival horror spectrum, though if you are not already a diehard fan of this series, you might want to wait for a sale (or get it via Game Pass). I think

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When The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was announced back in 2021, I think it was a safe bet to assume most people, despite how they felt about Gollum, were probably a little surprised to see the little scamp was getting their own game. They certainly are one of the more standout aspects of the books and films, but by and large, aside from their curious speech pattern and junky appearance, there isn’t a whole lot going on with them that you think would warrant further examination. Especially in game form — what would that even look like?

As it turns out, it would look like crap and result in gameplay just as crappy, if reviews and impressions are to be believed. So despite what some may have hoped, pretty much across the board the consensus is, no matter how you slice it, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is simply not good. As you might expect, the frustration and disappointment from the gaming sphere has spilled over into the review section on Steam, a proving ground for some of the internet’s most scathing and well-crafted takedowns.

And after taking a lovely stroll through the lambasting meadows of user review comments, I started to notice that more than a few had received a reply from someone on the LotR: Gollum development team, Daedalic Entertainment (in addition to the studio’s recently tweeted black background apology image of shame). But from the looks of things, Daedalic has got your back if you are not happy with the current state of the game.

Have a look for yourself:

As you can see here — straight from the developer’s horse’s mouth, or whatever — even though Gollum is, by most if not all accounts, complete and utter garbage, a patch is coming that will “improve the game experience.” So we can all rejoice!

Lousy frame rates? Patch! Underwhelming graphics? Patch! Don’t like the strung-out look of the Gollum character model? Patch! Feeling like the $60 price tag (on PC no less) is highway robbery? Patch! Not happy with the basic core gameplay or mission structures and mechanics or really anything else on offer? Patch. On your deathbed suffering from a lethal case of gamer-thumbs and Dorito-itis? Patch Adams!

Obviously I am having a bit of fun here, and I do apologize if you feel it is at the expense of the poor souls that bought this game at full price (to say nothing of the ones who paid for the more expensive versions, thus cementing their acceptance into Heaven once they reach the afterlife). But my point is that seldom has there been a patch that could fix — let alone resurrect — a game from the fiery pits of Sauron, or whatever the hell The Lord of the Rings is about. And this is clearly a B-tier product at best, with no real incentive to make it any better than they already did before having the gall to release it.

This isn’t to say that Daedalic is nefarious or even totally at fault here; this could have been a lack of budget or just the wrong game for the wrong studio. But whatever happened, a patch is probably not going to fix everything — possibly not even most things. It most certainly isn’t going to turn The Lord of the Rings: Gollum into a Game of the Year contender. Hopefully it can, at the very least, turn it into a game that people want to play and feel is worth the high cost of entry. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

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I always fashioned myself as a captain of industry while roleplaying as a newfound farmer trying to rehabilitate his grandpa’s dilapidated farmstead in Stardew Valley. My main goal was to amass as much of a fortune as possible — at the cost of socialization and other familiar hindrances. But during a recent playthrough, I decided to finally buckle down and engage with the locals, and maybe even fix up that old, broken-down community center so we could drive the Jo-Jo Mart out of business once and for all. It ended up taking me about two in-game years to put a

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I was ten years to late to the Teslagrad party, but I’ve been able to get myself up to speed thanks to the recently released Teslagrad Remastered. And I adored Teslagrad Remastered. It’s a really well-made puzzle platformer with a gorgeous art style, a batch of really satisfying puzzle mechanics, and some incredible boss fights. I loved it so much that I ended up collecting all 36 hidden cards and earning the game’s “Perfect” ending. That’s 100% completion, baby!

But after having played Teslagrad 2 for several hours, I have to say that the sequel is several steps beyond the original. And having played them back-to-back (I fired up Teslagrad 2 the same day I earned 100% completion in Teslagrad Remastered), I can truly admire the work that went into improving almost every aspect of the game.

First up, Teslagrad 2 keeps the basic magnet mechanic. Well, half of it. In Teslagrad, you could turn your magnetic field red or blue, while in Teslagrad 2 you only have blue as an option (the L2 button on PlayStation, which was your red field in the pervious game, is used for other things now). But you end up not really missing that red field, because Ruin Games is so clever about making that one magnetic field do so many great things. For instance, it now will make invisible, intangible objects become both visible and tangible.

(To be fair, you will occasionally find flowers that turn your magnetic field red, so it’s not completely absent from the game, but it’s not a core part of the magnet mechanic the way it was in the original.)

The Blink teleport move was improved as well. Now, if you’re magnetized to a wall so you’re standing sideways, you can Blink up or down instead of exclusively sideways. And later in the game, you can unlock a multi-directional Blink skill, which means you can Blink up, down, left, or right based on which direction you’re holding the left stick. This is a game-changer.

One thing I do have to say, though, is that Blink feels slightly slower in Teslagrad 2, but not enough to really cause any problems. I got used to in within maybe 30 minutes, but it did take some playing around with before I felt totally comfortable with it. However, it does feel like it recharges slightly faster, and there’s also a spark animation that gives you a visual clue about when it’s recharged. This is definitely a step up.

Oh, and you’ll even get the ability to do a water dash that lets you traverse underwater areas quickly — and even climb waterfalls. It’s so much fun submerging yourself super deep so you can dash upward and launch yourself out of the water like Ecco the freakin’ Dolphin.

And then there’s the option to pick up blocks. I can’t even begin to explain how much time I spent moving blocks around in the first game by running into them or wedging myself behind them, wishing I had this sort of option. Grabbing boxes replaces your ability to punch them to change their color, but seriously, being able to pick them up and throw them is just way better all-around.

The level design is better too. Sure, the first game was great, but Teslagrad 2 is more labyrinthine, more interconnected, and more jam-packed with secret areas. The map (which you can access on PlayStation by tapping the touchpad on the DualSense) is better too. It’s less visually appealing, with this almost Breath of the Wild-y “ancient computer screen” aesthetic, but it’s way, way easier to use. Which is good, because you’re going to end up using it a lot — especially if you want to uncover all of the game’s secrets.

The environments are more varied too. Instead of taking place almost entirely inside a tower (with a brief city segment in the beginning and end of the game), Teslagrad 2 brings you to the forest, dunks you into icy caves, and even plants you on a Mario 3-style airship for a bit.

Teslagrad 2 takes a similar approach to delivering its lore: It gives you vague story snippets in background details like paintings or steampunk video terminals (or puppet shows in the first game), and then in a series of collectible cards that can be found lying around the world. The pictures on these cards tell a vague story, though a lot of the details will be left to your own imagination (or to fan communities) to suss out.

Here’s the thing, though: Teslagrad had 36 cards to collect, while Teslagrad 2 has 81. If card-collecting was your favorite part of the first game, you’re going to absolutely love the fact that the sequel has two and a half times the quantity.

The first game was gorgeous, and while the score was minimalist for the most part, it was suitably atmospheric. Teslagrad 2, though? Holy smokes, this game looks and sounds phenomenal! The music feels more diverse, with an almost Viking-sounding flavor to it, while the art is even more excruciatingly detailed than it was in the first game. This whole package is stunning to look at and listen to.

The bottom line is that if you loved Teslagrad, you’re going to love Teslagrad 2 even more. It offers a lot of the same things as the original, but it goes bigger and better with almost all of it. Ten years was a long time to wait for this sequel, but boy howdy is it ever worth the wait. Teslagrad 2 is a Metroidvania puzzle-platformer masterpiece.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for both Teslagrad Remastered and Teslagrad 2 for PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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God of Rock, released in the Year of our Lord 2023, is a mix of many things. It’s a rhythm game, a fighting game, and narrative about Twisted Metal-style wish-fulfillment. I fully believe all of those things could work together to make a really enjoyable experience, but sadly, God of Rock just doesn’t pull it off.

Rhythm games are built to be competitive. Think back to challenging your friends to getting the highest score on Expert mode in Guitar Hero, or watching a group of people at the arcade do doubles matches in DDR. So adding fighting mechanics isn’t the worst call; in fact, it feels like a pretty natural fit. Plus, when you only have a small selection of characters to choose from, adding a bit of story gives you reason to enjoy those characters and their personalities.

But God of Rock is a rhythm game first and foremost, and if a rhythm game doesn’t feel intuitive to play, people probably won’t come back.

My main issue comes in the form of the controls. The way controls are set up — at least in the PS5 version that I played — is that the music board comes at you from left to right, each “note” on top of each other. Up is the top row, followed by left and then right, and down is bottom row. On the PlayStation controller, you can either use the D-pad or the face buttons on the DualSense controller. Now, I’m not sure if you’ve ever looked at a PlayStation controller, but the buttons are set in a plus shape — not straight lines. Seeing the notes and trying to map them to the controller feels wrong and unnatural, especially when you’re trying to figure out whether you should be pressing the circle or square button.

And this is on top of the other fighting button mechanics. The triggers each have combat effects, along with the left stick being used to activate special attacks. When you combine all of this, I have no idea how I’m even supposed to hold the controller.

The next major thing I noticed was how the audio compared to what was happening onscreen. I did calibrate the game so that the music was on beat with the buttons — which is thankfully an option here. However, that doesn’t matter when you can’t hear it underneath the slightly delayed grunts and shouts and Ultimate Ability sound effects of combat. The timing for the music and the fighting feels off, where the sounds from the fighters can either happen on time or be miles behind the beat of the song, and they’re loud enough to throw you off completely.

As a rhythm game, God of Rock fails at the most basic of its objectives.

Visually, the game is okay. However, you have to hyper focus on the bottom left of the screen where the notes are, and in doing so, you become completely unaware of what else is happening on the screen. Every time I played and won, I was surprised because it ended so suddenly and I wasn’t ever sure whether I was even ahead or not. Your goal is to focus on the notes, so everything else outside of that just becomes a distraction.

The stories for the characters are silly and cute. For example, Ziggy is looking for a white cow to be in his cow choir, and the God of Rock offers him the cow if he wins the tournament. That’s fine with me. I have no issues with the stories or the characters. All of my issues stem from the fact that God of Rock fails at the one thing it needed to get right — the rhythm-game mechanics.

If God of Rock can get some much-needed updates and have custom fighting controls, I could see it becoming an enjoyable and possibly popular competitive game. But as it stands, I don’t expect many people to truly enjoy the state it’s in. And when I try to find competitive matches online — in the two weeks following the game’s launch — it does seem like the community agrees with me, for the most part.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for God of Rock for PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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It seems like we have reached an evolutionary state where most games include some form of a photo mode. Entire communities of video game enthusiasts spend a ton of time trying to capture that perfect landscape photo without a huge broadsword or disembodied hands gumming up the works. But even juggernauts like Elden Ring can be criminally negligent in offering a photo mode, despite offering such a gorgeous game world ripe for the sniping.

So I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising to learn that the recently released Dead Island 2 lacked any semblance of a photo mode. Running around this version of Los Angeles — or Hell-A — I was often struck by the majesty of a the recreation of a famous overlook, or of any of the several landmark areas in the City of Angels (itself a bastion of film and photography), yet I was unable to capture it in all of its grandeur again without a bloody, toxin-spewing baseball bat photobombing my pic.

For example, I happened upon Dambuster’s take on a very specific spot on the Santa Monica pier where I took several lovely real-life pictures of my partner. I thought it would be a nice opportunity to relive that experience and share it with her. Although she was delighted by the replication of “our spot’ in the background, she was also a bit perturbed by the instrument of death looming large in the foreground.

And not only is the visual fidelity of this hellish version of L.A. screaming to be captured in ways other than the default first-person viewpoint (to say nothing of being able to take selfies, perhaps), but the amount of viscera and gore on display from the Flesh system in Dead Island 2 would make for great pics as well. Capturing the final moments of a zombie’s flesh melting off, leaving a sizzled corpse forever locked in a death knell? Well, I can’t think of a better subject for still-life aficionados.

And quite frankly, it should be pretty easy to patch in. There’s still plenty of time to rectify this oversight and strike while the Dead Island 2 iron is still hot. I can’t imagine I am the only one that wants to snap a pic of a huddled mass of gelatinous ghouls mid-grenade-explosion, if for no other reason that to be able to pause the action, remove the HUD, and really linger on the amount of work put in to making this Flesh system so gooey and juicy to savor.

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Biomutant was an adorable post-apocalyptic open-world RPG that feels a little bit like Fallout, but with anthropomorphic raccoon-cat critters instead of people. Admittedly, it wasn’t for everyone, but we found a lot of things to love about it. In fact, our own Julian Watkins nominated it for our 2021 Game of the Year roundup.

Because of its deceptively cute aesthetic, it was just a matter of time before the game made its way to Nintendo Switch. And it’s now official; THQ Nordic has announced that Biomutant will land on Switch on November 30, 2023.

Currently, Biomutant is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, with a next-gen upgrade for Series S|X and PS5 owners. It’ll be lovely for Switch owners to finally get a taste of this fluffy pie (okay, so that wasn’t a great metaphor…)

Anyway, November 30, 2023, is the date to mark on your calendars, because that’s when this magic happens. Hope this re-ignites the popularity of the franchise enough that we could see a sequel at some point. I would absolutely love to return to this adorable world.

And if you have absolutely no idea what I’ve been talking about for the past several paragraphs, this trailer is a pretty good introduction to Biomutant:

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I would argue that none of the characters from the original Dead Island were all that memorable. And although Sam B did seem to rise to the surface as the highlight of the character roster (though, for my money, he was possibly the most cringe), I think a lot of that was due to the popularity of his kind-of-sort-of viral song, “Who Do You Voodoo.”

A decade later, I don’t think Sam B is recognized as an iconic landmark of gaming. I imagine that few people playing Dead Island 2 even remember who Sam B is, if not for the fact that he makes sure we know about this when we first meet him in the early portion of the game.

To be fair, I have yet to complete the main campaign or interact with him much beyond the first half of the game. So it’s possible that he rallies and becomes one of the greatest gaming characters of all time — or at least marginally less annoying and overtly tiresome. I wouldn’t bet the house on it, but it is possible.

Barring some incredible about-face, I just do not like Sam B. Or more specifically, I do not like this version of Sam B, the Sam B of Dead Island 2. He just kind of sucks.

The original Sam B was voiced by actor Phil Lamar, though he wasn’t on the mic for “Who Do You Voodoo.” And even though Sam B was never all that great of a character, hardly anything more than a European approximation of what a black American male might be like, he was at least someone I could stomach. This was mostly due to the talents of Phil Lamar though. (I will always be a Xian Mei fan personally.)

Fast-forward to Dead Island 2, and Sam B is now voiced by Cavin Cornwall, who sounds like he was told to do his worst approximation of Phil Lamar’s take on the character, then ramp that up to 10. It’s the sort of performance where your brain automatically goes: “Yeah, I’m not buying it for a second.” Considering it is somehow more derivative and corny than the original — which was already kind of garbage — that doesn’t bode well for old Sammy B.

And here’s the thing: Sam B never even needed to be in Dead Island 2. I mean, he seems to have been shoehorned into the story as the ex-love interest of Emma Jaunt for no reason other than as a call back to the original game, which feels cheap and pointless. The voice actor for Emma, Hannah Steele, is giving a pretty realistic and nuanced performance, so when you see her interacting with a cartoon tough guy, it can be a little jarring.

And look, if Phil Lamar wasn’t available, or otherwise decided against reprising the role, I would’ve personally said to just not use Sam B. I mean, Sam B is so throwaway I would’ve voted against using him at all, let alone as the sole returning character. I mean, what about my girl Xian Mei? Throw her a freakin’ bone here.

I never thought I would feel the absence of Phil Lamar from a project so profoundly. But when you have such a nothing caricature masquerading as a pivotal character in the first place, it helps to at least have a vocal pro at the reins. I don’t mean this as disrespect towards Cavin Cornwall, but his Sam B performance in Dead Island 2 is just not it.

So yeah, the new Sam B in Dead Island 2 kind of sucks.

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Everspace 2 was one of my favorite games to come out so far this year. I was kind of blindsided by just how doggone good it actually is. But its release wasn’t timed super great for me personally, because I had a lot of other stuff going on in my life at the time. And then Dead Island 2 came out, which I had been looking forward to for a very long time.

So Everspace 2 kind of fell off my radar for a bit.

But it’s back now, thanks to an accolades trailer that was released this morning. This trailer is just 35 seconds long, but it features blisteringly awesome space combat, raspy synth tones, and quotes from all of your favorite gaming outlets (except for Half-Glass Gaming, which is surely your favorite of them all, right?)

Here it is, so you can see for yourself:

All of this is giving me a serious itch to get back in the cockpit and shoot more space stuff. In fact, I might have to do just that. The call is strong and my resistance is weak. I know I’m supposed to be cleaning the apartment right now, but the dust bunnies can wait.

Anyway, Everspace 2 is out on PC right now, and it’s coming to consoles this summer. I’m definitely going to try to get a copy for PS5 so I can experience this whole journey again from the start. It’s a good one.

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I don’t know why I never got around to playing the original Teslagrad. Not only is it incredibly up my alley, but I went through an obsessive indie-platformer phase that lasted from 2010 (probably triggered by the release of Super Meat Boy) until about 2013ish. Teslagrad originally came out at the tail end of 2013, so it’s quite possible that I was just feeling kind of burned out on the genre after playing it obsessively for three years. Whatever the reason, I was definitely aware of Teslagrad; I just never actually played it.

But then, earlier this year, publisher Modus kindly let me play a preview build of Teslagrad 2, and I was hooked. Teslagrad 2 is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and shockingly brilliant. The two and a half hours I played totally sold me on the game, and it also made me interested in going back and finally playing the original.

As it turns out, that wasn’t the end of Modus’ Teslagrad generosity. On April 21, 2023, Teslagrad 2 got a surprise release, alongside a fully remastered version of the original Teslagrad. And Modus sent me review copies of both of them.

Like I said, I never played the original version of Teslagrad. But as a (sort-of) newcomer to the remastered version, I have to say that this is a top-shelf puzzle platformer that does a lot of brilliant little things.

Teslagrad has a complex set of mechanics, but they sort of build on each other in a way that feels really satisfying. You start out with the ability to simply run and jump. You’ll eventually pick up a glove that lets you punch boxes to turn them either red or blue, and these colored boxes act like magnets. Blue and red are attracted to each other; blue repels blue; red repels red. You can use these magnetic fields to move platforms, extend bridges, launch boxes across the screen, and do all sorts of other fun stuff.

Later on, you’ll get a cloak that allows you to adjust your own magnetic field. Now you can fling yourself great distances by, say, activating the blue field while standing on a blue box. Or you can activate the red field to stick yourself to a blue ceiling. There are even boulders that have colored boxes inside them, and you can repel or attract them with your own magnetic field.

late in the game, your punch-glove will become a powerful laser beam. Not only does this let you change box colors from afar, but it also allows you to blast open passages that weren’t previously available to you.

There’s also a teleport skill, which is used for some really neat things. One of the game’s bosses, for example, is this giant mechanical bird, and you defeat it by teleporting inside its ribcage so you can punch its heart.

And once you get to the end of the game, you can either go fight the boss (if you have at least 15 scrolls), or go back through the game and pick up the scrolls that you missed, which feels a little bit like a New Game+ that’s not actually a New Game+. I love this. (For reference, there are 36 scrolls in total, and finding all of them rewards you with the “perfect” ending.)

I found the entire experience to be immensely well-paced. Sure, I got stuck on a few puzzles, but these situations were generally just the game nudging me to try something new with my combined skillset.

Teslagrad Remastered is a phenomenal little game that packs a ton of gameplay into its short runtime. I’ve seen estimates that the game should take you 5-7 hours, but I feel like 10 hours seems like a more realistic expectation. You’re probably going to get stuck a few times, which can seriously halt your progress.

Oh, and I could go on and on about how beautiful the hand-drawn visual style is, but perhaps it’s best to just share the launch trailer so you can see for yourself.

Teslagrad is a masterpiece, and I’m really glad to have finally played it. If you are like me and are ten years late jumping in, the remastered version is an incredible introduction to this magnetic little world.

Dislaimer: I was given a review code for Teslagrad Remastered for PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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As someone with bad teeth, I’ve spent probably three times as long at the dentist than I have at a hospital.

When I was younger, I was in for an extraction and the dentist gave me laughing gas. I have a very clear memory of looking into his face with my mouth wide open, a bleeding hole where a chunk of bone once was, and saying, “You look like a puppet.” Or at least trying to say that — as much as one can in that position. The dentist looked at me and laughed, but there was something weird about his laugh. It was as if he were the one who had said something funny, or else he was just in on some extra layer of humor that I wasn’t aware of. I guess I don’t know how else a dentist should react upon hearing a doped-up kid say he looks like a puppet, but I think about that almost every time I have to go back into the dentist.

That memory popped up again the first time I saw the dentist puppet in Smile For Me.

I was recently given a review copy of Smile For Me for Nintendo Switch. The game originally came out on Steam back in 2019, but it finally landed on Switch on April 24, 2023 (which happens to be the same day I’m publishing this review).

Smile For Me is what I would call a comedic horror-lite fetch-puzzle game. Summoned to a mountain resort by a strange dentist, you are asked by one of the other tenants to make everyone smile once again. During the day you run around completing fetch quests to make them happy, and at night the dentist sends subliminal messaging through a television set to get you to stop.

Visually speaking, it has a unique and colorful art style — this is a 3D world with 2D characters that turn to face you, each having a few different positions or emotions but no traditional animated movements. I love the character design, as well as the little bits of story and personality that each character conveys.

My favorite three are as follows:

1. Mirphy Fotoparat: A photographer on the hunt for something to truly magnificent for her gallery, a picture of a booty.
2. Randy Hapukurk: A lad who’s only desire in life is to smell like pickles.
3. Tim Tam: A small purple child that only wishes to see the world burn — punching everyone, entering a staring contest, burning a stolen object, and returning two other stolen objects. Tim Tam is an agent of pure chaos.

The story in Smile For Me reminds me of being a child and trying to imagine what kind of person would ever want to go into dentistry. Surely no one could actually want to be a dentist of their own accord, right?

The game has several endings, a sort of Good/Neutral/Bad-type deal. I’ll only spoil one of them here for you, because honestly it’s the only true ending in my head. In the bad ending, you confront Habby the dentist at the top of his tower, punching him twice before he falls presumably to his doom. You know what they say, the only good dentist…

I have not played Smile For Me on PC, so I can only comment on my experience on the Switch. The game feels a bit heavy and slow, almost as if it’s running 5-10% slower than it should be. The character moves with such a strong momentum that it can be difficult to stop when you want to, making going up and down stairwells so much harder than it should be.

Some of the controls and dialogue overlap, which can get a bit obnoxious when you’re trying to use an item but instead end up nodding or shaking your head in response to someone behind you. Using the hand to turn or interact with things feels weird, and it’s hard to control when doing things like spinning a valve or completing a whack-a-mole challenge.

I think the one thing that bothers me the most, though, is how cluttered your inventory is by the end of the game. In my current save, I have 23 items. The only way to go through them is by cycling through them one at a time left or right, and that gets a bit tedious.

With all of that said, Smile For Me is a really enjoyable experience. It took me about five hours to finish my first playthrough, and once you finish with whichever ending you choose you can immediately reopen your save file and go for a different ending. The art style is gorgeous. The humor and slight existential horror mix is done very well, and it doesn’t wear itself out by any means. I think the Switch port feels a bit rough around the edges, and I’d probably recommend the game on PC for those who can play it that way, but it is a game that I genuinely enjoyed having the opportunity to play.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Smile For Me on Nintendo Switch, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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In Dead Island 2, there are 85 crafting blueprints to find and collect as you make your way through Hell-A. Some of them are hidden in the world, some can be purchased, and some can be earned as rewards for completing quests or challenges.

Blueprints are valuable, because they allow you to customize your weapons to add damage types or perks that will help you get through the game. Need a weapon that deals fire damage in order to complete a combat challenge? Well, it’s much easier to mod a weapon than to try to find one with that specific damage type in the world.

So I’m going to walk you through every blueprint in Dead Island 2, and explain where to find them all.

But before I do that…

A Note on Blueprint ChallengesThere are seven Blueprint Challenges in the game, and each one unlocks a blueprint. These don’t seem to advance until you’ve unlocked the ability to collect zombie parts (which happens midway through the main story quest “The Giant-Slayer” in Venice Beach). Before that, you can see the challenges in your log, but they’ll all remain at 0, whether you complete the objectives or not.

Okay, so let’s go find some blueprints!

Weapon ModsUncommon Melee Liquidator ModConverts your weapon to inflict CAUSTIC DAMAGE and gives a minor damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the MELTING effect.

Fabricate:

• 6 Scrap
• 4 Fasteners
• 2 Chemicals
• 1 Synthetic Fibers

During the quest “Michael Anders and the Holy Grail,” you’ll encounter a zombie named Alesis Hernandez (this boss fight takes place under a giant mechanical spider in Monarch Studios; you really can’t miss it). Once you kill Alesis Hernandez, loot the body to pick up the Uncommon Melee Liquidator Mod.

Rare Melee Liquidator ModConverts your weapon to inflict CAUSTIC DAMAGE and gives a moderate damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the MELTING effect.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 6 Fasteners
• 4 Chemicals
• 2 Synthetic Fibers

Complete the side quest “The Rav-Ages of Caustic X” to earn this blueprint. This quest becomes available once you complete “Michael Anders and the Holy Grail” and can be completed by returning to the ballroom of the Halperin Hotel and following Rav’s instructions.

Superior Melee Liquidator ModConverts your weapon to inflict CAUSTIC DAMAGE and gives a major damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the MELTING effect.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 8 Fasteners
• 6 Chemicals
• 5 Synthetic Fibers

This blueprint is a reward for completing the “Fool’s Gold” Lost & Found quest in Santa Monica. I’ve written a full guide to this quest, so check that out if you need more info.

Uncommon Ranged Liquidator ModConverts your weapon to inflict CAUSTIC DAMAGE and gives a minor damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the MELTING effect.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 1 Fasteners
• 1 Chemicals
• 1 Synthetic Fibers

During the main story quest “The Red Mist,” just as you’re about to leave Brentwood Sewer, there’s a crafting station that’s super easy to miss. Here’s where it is on the map:

On the workbench is the Uncommon Ranged Liquidator Mod blueprint.

Rare Ranged Liquidator ModConverts your weapon to inflict CAUSTIC DAMAGE and gives a moderate damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the MELTING effect.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Chemicals
• 3 Synthetic Fibers

You can purchase this from W.O. Rodriguez, the trader in the lifeguard tower in Venice Beach. You will have to interact with her first to begin the side quest “Cremains of the Day,” though you don’t have to finish it. Once you talk to her once, you should have access to the shop.

Here’s the location of the lifeguard tower:

The Rare Ranged Liquidator Mod blueprint can be purchased for $1,500.

Superior Ranged Liquidator ModConverts your weapon to inflict CAUSTIC DAMAGE and gives a major damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the MELTING effect.

Fabricate:

• 12 Scrap
• 5 Gunpowder
• 4 Chemicals
• 5 Synthetic Fibers

To get this blueprint, you need to have completed the “Boardwalking Dead” main story quest. Once you’ve done that, you can find a named zombie called Target Practice roaming around Beverly Hills. That zombie drops a key which opens a safe called Nikki’s Bounty Reward. In that safe is the blueprint (as well as the Extinction Event handgun).

Here’s a video that shows the exact process:

Uncommon Melee Puncturator ModConverts your weapon to inflict BLEED DAMAGE and gives a minor damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the BLEEDING effect.

Fabricate:

• 6 Scrap
• 4 Fasteners
• 2 Wire
• 1 Alloy

This one can be found in the garage outside of Roxeanne’s house during the story quest “O Michael, Where Art Thou?” You’ll need to go into the garage to get circuit breakers, so you really can’t miss this one.

Rare Melee Punctuator ModConverts your weapon to inflict BLEED DAMAGE and gives a moderate damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the BLEEDING effect.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 6 Fasteners
• 4 Wire
• 3 Alloy

This can be found on the workbench in the Blue Crab in Venice Beach. You’ll need to enter this location to complete the main story quest “The Red Mist,” so you can’t miss it.

Superior Melee Punctuator ModConverts your weapon to inflict BLEED DAMAGE and gives a major damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the BLEEDING effect.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 8 Fasteners
• 6 Wire
• 5 Alloy

This blueprint is a reward for completing the “Missing: Rainier” Lost & Found quest. This quest can be picked up on the notice board at the Serling Hotel in post-game.

Uncommon Ranged Punctuator ModConverts your weapon to inflict BLEED DAMAGE and gives a minor damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the BLEEDING effect.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 1 Gunpowder
• 1 Wire
• 1 Alloy

This is a reward for completing the main story quest “Justifiable Zombicide.”

Rare Ranged Punctuator ModConverts your weapon to inflict BLEED DAMAGE and gives a moderate damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the BLEEDING effect.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Wire
• 3 Alloy

You can buy this blueprint from the trader in the Serling Hotel, which is first accessible once you reach the main story quest “Plumbing the Depths” in the Ocean Avenue section of the game. It costs $1,500.

Uncommon Melee Cremator ModConverts your weapon to inflict FIRE DAMAGE and gives a minor damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the IGNITED effect.

Fabricate:

• 6 Scrap
• 4 Fasteners
• 2 Aerosol
• 1 Synthetic Fibers

This one can be found on the workbench in Emma’s mansion once you return from the Halperin Hotel.

Rare Melee Cremator ModConverts your weapon to inflict FIRE DAMAGE and gives a moderate damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the IGNITED effect.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 6 Fasteners
• 4 Aerosol
• 3 Synthetic Fibers

This is a reward for completing the main story quest “The Giant-Slayer” in Venice Beach.

Superior Melee Cremator ModConverts your weapon to inflict FIRE DAMAGE and gives a major damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the IGNITED effect.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 8 Fasteners
• 6 Aerosol
• 5 Synthetic Fibers

This one can be found in the Lifeguard Kit Box in the lifeguard tower in Santa Monica.

This is located here on your map:

However, before you open this box, you need to find the Lifeguard Kit Box Key. To acquire the key, you need to take out a zombie called the Beach Hunk.

You can find this toasty, beefy dude right here:

I believe it has to be nighttime for the Beach Hunk to appear, but I’m not certain of this.

Once you kill the Beach Hunk, grab the key and return to the lifeguard tower to collect your blueprint.

Uncommon Ranged Cremator ModConverts your weapon to inflict FIRE DAMAGE and gives a minor damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the IGNITED effect.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 1 Synthetic Fibers
• 1 Gunpowder
• 1 Aerosol

This one is on a workbench right after the “red slurry” room in Brentwood Sewer. Entering this room for the first time completes the main story quest “The Heart of Darkness,” so you really can’t miss it.

Rare Ranged Cremator ModConverts your weapon to inflict FIRE DAMAGE and gives a moderate damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the IGNITED effect.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Aerosol
• 3 Synthetic Fibers

This is a reward for completing the side quest “Cremains of the Day.” The NPC who offers this quest is W.O. Rodriguez, who you’ll meet in the lifeguard tower in Venice Beach. Here’s where she can be found:

Superior Ranged Cremator ModConverts your weapon to inflict FIRE DAMAGE and gives a major damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the IGNITED effect.

Fabricate:

• 12 Scrap
• 5 Gunpowder
• 4 Aerosol
• 5 Synthetic Fibers

This blueprint is a reward for completing “The Art of War,” which is a post-game side quest.

Uncommon Melee Impactor ModGives a minor PHYSICAL DAMAGE and FORCE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the TRAUMATIZED effect. Hitting a traumatized or vulnerable regular zombie sends it flying, damaging anything it hits.

Fabricate:

• 6 Scrap
• 4 Fasteners
• 2 Metal Parts
• 1 Alloy

This one can be found on the second floor of the Halperin Hotel. There’s a point in the story where you need to access an electrocuted elevator shaft. The power switch is in a room with a workbench, and the blueprints should be on the workbench when you arrive.

For more details, see video below.

Rare Melee Impactor Mod

Gives a moderate PHYSICAL DAMAGE and FORCE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the TRAUMATIZED effect. Hitting a traumatized or vulnerable regular zombie sends it flying, damaging anything it hits.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 6 Fasteners
• 4 Metal Parts
• 3 Alloy

This can be found sitting on the workbench in the lifeguard tower in Santa Monica. Here’s where it is on the map:

Uncommon Ranged Impactor ModGives a minor PHYSICAL DAMAGE and FORCE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the TRAUMATIZED effect. Hitting a traumatized or vulnerable regular zombie sends it flying, damaging anything it hits.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 1 Gunpowder
• 1 Metal Parts
• 1 Alloy

After completing the main story quest “Justifiable Zombicide” (in which Sam gives you your first gun), go back to Emma’s mansion. The blueprint should be sitting on the workbench there.

Rare Ranged Impactor ModGives a moderate PHYSICAL DAMAGE and FORCE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the TRAUMATIZED effect. Hitting a traumatized or vulnerable regular zombie sends it flying, damaging anything it hits.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Metal Parts
• 3 Alloy

You can buy this blueprint from the trader in the Serling Hotel, which is first accessible once you reach the main story quest “Plumbing the Depths” in the Ocean Avenue section of the game. It costs $1,500.

Superior Ranged Impactor ModGives a major PHYSICAL DAMAGE and FORCE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the TRAUMATIZED effect. Hitting a traumatized or vulnerable regular zombie sends it flying, damaging anything it hits.

Fabricate:

• 12 Scrap
• 5 Gunpowder
• 4 Metal Parts
• 5 Alloy

This is a reward for completing Nadia’s Missing Person request. This can be found on the notice board in the Serling Hotel once you’ve made it to the final story quest in the game, “Hollywood Ending.” Once you find Nadia and complete the quest, you will get the Superior Ranged Impactor Mod.

Uncommon Melee Electrocutor ModConverts your weapon to inflict SHOCK DAMAGE and gives a minor damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the ELECTRIFIED effect.

Fabricate:

• 6 Scrap
• 4 Fasteners
• 2 Electronics
• 1 Synthetic Fibers

This one should be available to you the first time you access a workbench (during the main story quest “Call the Cavalry”).

Rare Melee Electrocutor ModConverts your weapon to inflict SHOCK DAMAGE and gives a moderate damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the ELECTRIFIED effect.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 6 Fasteners
• 4 Electronics
• 3 Synthetic Fibers

Once you complete the first Body Art side quest for Francesca in Beverly Hills, she will open up a shop. After completing the quest, you’ll have to leave the area then return before the shop is available. You can buy the Rare Melee Electrocutor Mod blueprint here for $1,500.

Superior Melee Electrocutor ModConverts your weapon to inflict SHOCK DAMAGE and gives a major damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the ELECTRIFIED effect.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 8 Fasteners
• 6 Electronics
• 5 Synthetic Fibers

This is a reward for completing the side quest “Dez and the Mother of Satan.” This quest is available in the CDC tents in Santa Monica (the Pier) once you collect Dr. Reed’s Blood Drive in the main story quest “Boardwalking Dead.”

Uncommon Ranged Electrocutor ModConverts your weapon to inflict SHOCK DAMAGE and gives a minor damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the ELECTRIFIED effect.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 1 Gunpowder
• 1 Electronics
• 1 Synthetic Fibers

This blueprint is sitting on a workbench as soon as you enter Brentwood Sewers for the first time (during the main story quest “Flushed.”

Rare Ranged Electrocutor ModConverts your weapon to inflict SHOCK DAMAGE and gives a moderate damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the ELECTRIFIED effect.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Electronics
• 3 Synthetic Fiber

This is a reward for completing the side quest “Like and Follow!” This quest can be picked up on Santa Monica pier (near the arcade) after you’ve found Dr. Reed’s Blood Drive in the main story quest “Boardwalking Dead.” You must have also completed the “#Clickbait” side quest in the Goat Pen in Bel-Air.

Superior Ranged Electrocutor ModConverts your weapon to inflict SHOCK DAMAGE and gives a major damage boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the ELECTRIFIED effect.

Fabricate:

• 12 Scrap
• 5 Gunpowder
• 4 Electronics
• 5 Synthetic Fibers

After you fight the Mutator boss (name redacted) in the “Hollywood Ending” main story quest, you can return to the room where you met up with Dr. Reed for the last time. In that room is a safe that contains the Superior Ranged Electrocutor Mod blueprint.

Here’s a video that shows the exact location:

Uncommon Melee Mutilator ModGives a minor PHYSICAL DAMAGE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the WEAKENED effect. Hitting a weakened zombie regains stamina.

Fabricate:

• 6 Scrap
• 4 Fasteners
• 2 Blades
• 1 Alloy

In the quest “Kwon with the Wind,” you should find this on the construction site in the room where you rescue Jessie.

Rare Melee Mutilator ModGives a moderate PHYSICAL DAMAGE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the WEAKENED effect. Hitting a weakened zombie regains stamina.

Fabricate:

• 8 Scrap
• 6 Fasteners
• 4 Blades
• 3 Alloy

After completing the main story quest “The Red Mist,” you can buy this from Kai, the trader at the Blue Crab. This will cost you $1,500.

Superior Melee Mutilator ModGives a major PHYSICAL DAMAGE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the WEAKENED effect. Hitting a weakened zombie regains stamina.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 8 Fasteners
• 6 Blades
• 5 Alloy

This one can be found in a safe in the Serling Hotel. First, you’ll need to take out a zombie called Serling Concierge, who drops the Serling Reception Key. This key can be used in a safe in the hotel lobby.

I know all of that is pretty vague, so here’s a video:

Uncommon Ranged Mutilator ModGives a minor PHYSICAL DAMAGE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the WEAKENED effect. Hitting a weakened zombie regains stamina.

• 8 Scrap
• 1 Gunpowder
• 1 Blades
• 1 Alloy

After completing the main story quest “The Red Mist,” you can buy this from Kai, the trader at the Blue Crab. This will cost you $625.

Rare Ranged Mutilator ModGives a moderate PHYSICAL DAMAGE boost. Successive hits to a zombie also apply the WEAKENED effect. Hitting a weakened zombie regains stamina.

Fabricate:

• 10 Scrap
• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Blades
• 3 Alloy

Once you complete the first Body Art side quest for Francesca in Beverly Hills, she will open up a shop. After completing the quest, you’ll have to leave the area then return before the shop is available. You can buy the Rare Ranged Mutilator Mod blueprint here for $1,500.

Weapon PerksHonedIncreases the damage of CRITICAL HITS, but reduces your standard Damage.

Fabricate:

• 4 Fabric
• 5 Scrap
• 4 Wire
• 2 Alloy

This blueprint can be purchased for $500 from the trader inside Roxanne’s house in Beverly Hills.

DamagingIncreases DAMAGE.

Fabricate:

• 8 Adhesive
• 7 Scrap
• 6 Wire
• 4 Alloy

This is a reward for completing the main story quest “Heart of Darkness” in the Brentwood Sewer.

FerociousKilling a zombie generates additional FURY.

Fabricate:

• 4 Infected Flesh
• 5 Scrap
• 4 Leaky Implants
• 2 Oversized Arm Bone

This is a reward for completing the “Lending a Hand” side quest. This quest becomes available in the Serling Hotel once you’ve started the “Rage Quit” main story quest. You’ll pick it up from a guy named Luther who’s tucked away in a hotel room in Argento’s Sky Lounge.

VampireKilling a zombie gives a chance to regain HEALTH.

Fabricate:

• 5 Fasteners
• 6 Adhesive
• 4 Infected Spine
• 3 Flammable Fluid

Unlock this by completing the Vampire 1 Blueprint Challenge, which asks you to collect 200 zombie parts.

RestoringKilling zombies or landing Critical Hits regains STAMINA.

Fabricate:

• 4 Infected Flesh
• 5 Fabric
• 4 Bloated Spleen
• 2 Electrified Brain

During the main story quest “The End of the Line,” this blueprint can be found on a train in the Metro. Here’s exactly where you’ll find it:

AgileKilling a zombie gives a minor AGILITY boost. This effect can stack multiple times.

Fabricate:

• 6 Infected Flesh
• 6 Scrap
• 5 Infected Blood
• 3 Oversized Arm Bone

This can be found on the bottom shelf of the workbench on Santa Monica pier. It’s located right here:

BloodthirstyKilling a zombie gives a moderate DAMAGE boost, and generates increased FURY.

Fabricate:

• 7 Fabric
• 8 Fasteners
• 5 Bloated Spleen
• 4 Insect Larvae

Once you complete the first Body Art side quest for Francesca in Beverly Hills, she will open up a shop. After completing the quest, you’ll have to leave the area then return before the shop is available. You can buy the Bloodthirsty blueprint here for $1,000.

ViolentKilling a zombie gives a moderate DAMAGE boost.

Fabricate:

• 4 Infected Flesh
• 4 Infected Blood
• 4 Alloy
• 4 Infected Spine

This is earned by completing the side quest “Organ Donor.” This quest can be picked up if you return to the Blue Crab after starting the final story quest in the game, “Hollywood Ending.”

Do or DieWhile low on Health gain a moderate TOUGHNESS boost. The lower your health, the stronger the effect.

Fabricate:

• 6 Fabric
• 6 Scrap
• 5 Synthetic Fibers
• 3 Chthonic Ichor

During the main story quest “Hollywood Ending” in Hollywood Boulevard, you’ll pass through a room with a secret passage in it. Opening the passage is part of the quest, so you really can’t miss it. In this room is a workbench with the Do or Die blueprint on it.

HazardousHitting a zombie that has a STATUS EFFECT triggers a forceful explosion.

Fabricate:

• 4 Fasteners
• 6 Scrap
• 6 Chemicals
• 4 Flammable Fluid

When you first enter the Metro, there’s a side room that contains a workbench. The Hazardous blueprint is sitting on the workbench. Here’s where it is on the map:

RelentlessLand a CRITICAL HIT to gain a minor damage boost.

Fabricate:

• 7 Fasteners
• 6 Scrap
• 6 Aerosol
• 2 Insect Larvae

You’ll earn this blueprint when you complete Jimmy’s story. This happens toward the end of the game, as you can pick up Jimmy’s quest “More Than a Badge” at the Serling Hotel once you’ve started the “Rage Quit” main story quest.

Precision StrikesLanding CRITICAL HITS in quick succession gives a minor Critical Damage boost. This effect can stack multiple times.

Fabricate:

• 7 Fabric
• 7 Scrap
• 6 Chemicals
• 4 Synthetic Fibers

You can buy this blueprint from the trader in the Serling Hotel, which is first accessible once you reach the main story quest “Plumbing the Depths” in the Ocean Avenue section of the game. It costs $1,000.

WeightedIncreases FORCE, but reduces Attack Speed.

Fabricate:

• 5 Fabric
• 5 Scrap
• 4 Metal Parts
• 1 Alloy

You can find this blueprint in the master bedroom in the Goat Pen. It’s right next to the door.

Here’s a video of how you can get into the Goat Pen master bedroom without using the master key (which you won’t get until you do the “Creature Comforts” side quest):

Alternatively, after completing the main story quest “The Red Mist,” you can buy this from Kai, the trader at the Blue Crab. This will cost you $625.

EnhancedIncreases DAMAGE, but reduces Durability.

Fabricate:

• 5 Fabric
• 5 Adhesive
• 4 Electronics
• 1 Synthetic Fibers

This one should be available to you the first time you access a workbench (during the main story quest “Call the Cavalry”).

ReinforcedIncreases DURABILITY and FORCE, but reduces Attack Speed.

Fabricate:

• 5 Fabric
• 5 Scrap
• 2 Aerosol
• 1 Alloy

This can be found in Curtis Sinclaire’s garage once you’ve started the side quest “The Death of the Party.” Don’t worry. If you missed this when you did the quest initially, you can always come back for it later. Once you accept the quest, Curtis unlocks his gate, and it will remain unlocked for the rest of the game.

Here’s a video that shows how to get inside the garage.

SlaughterIncreases LIMB DAMAGE and DURABILITY.

Fabricate:

• 4 Fabric
• 5 Scrap
• 4 Chemicals
• 2 Alloy

This blueprint can be found in Studio 3 (Friends Without Benefits) in Monarch Studios. There’s a workbench there, and the blueprint can be found on the workbench.

EmpoweringCRITICAL HITS* and HEAVY ATTACKS* do increased damage.

Fabricate:

• 5 Fabric
• 5 Scrap
• 4 Blades
• 2 Synthetic Fibers

The main story quest “Justifiable Zombicide” sends you through a power plant in Beverly Hills. At the end of this segment, you’ll need to enter a side security station to open the main gate of the power plant. In this security station is a workbench, and just above the workbench is the Empowering perk blueprint.

LightweightIncreases ATTACK SPEED, but reduces Force.

Fabricate:

• 5 Scrap
• 5 Adhesive
• 4 Wire
• 1 Synthetic Fibers

You’ll find this one in Curtis Sinclaire’s mansion once you complete the side quest The Death of the Party. This is available pretty early in the game. If you want to see the exact location, check out the video below.

GuardianWhen using this weapon gain a moderate TOUGHNESS boost.

Fabricate:

• 5 Fasteners
• 7 Fabric
• 6 Electronics
• 2 Oversized Arm Bone

You’ll earn this blueprint once you complete Burt’s quest line. The first quest is called “Coast Guardian,” and you’ll pick it up on the beach in Venice Beach after completing the main story quest “Boardwalking Dead.”

The second quest is called “The Hero’s Journey,” and you’ll pick it up beneath the Santa Monica pier once you’ve completed the previous side quest.

Once you complete both quests, you’ll earn the Guardian blueprint.

LeechDamaging a zombie has a chance to regain HEALTH.

Fabricate:

• 8 Fasteners
• 10 Adhesive
• 4 Insect Larvae
• 4 Toxic Gallbladder

Unlock this by completing the Leechblade 1 Blueprint Challenge, which asks you to slay 100 zombies with melee weapons.

UnstableLand a CRITICAL HIT for a chance to trigger an explosive on impact.

Fabricate:

• 4 Infected Flesh
• 5 Adhesive
• 4 Flammable Fluid
• 1 Blast Gland

About halfway through the main story quest “The Giant-Slayer” (in Venice Beach), you’ll talk to Patton and earn this blueprint.

ContagiousHeavy Attacks to zombies afflicted by a STATUS EFFECT will spread the effect to nearby zombies.

Fabricate:

• 8 Infected Flesh
• 8 Scrap
• 4 Flammable Fluid
• 3 Toxic Gallbladder

Unlock this by completing the Contagious 1 Blueprint Challenge, which asks you to hit zombies with Heavy Attacks 100 times.

ShockwaveKNOCKING DOWN a zombie triggers a Forceful explosion on impact.

Fabricate:

• 8 Infected Flesh
• 6 Scrap
• 4 Blade Arm
• 2 Screamer Lungs

Unlock this by completing the Shockwave 1 Blueprint Challenge, which asks you to knock down 100 zombies.

SkilledKilling a zombie gives a moderate DAMAGE boost to Heavy Attacks, and they charge faster.

Fabricate:

• 6 Infected Flesh
• 6 Adhesive
• 6 Metal Parts
• 4 Blade Arm

This is a reward for killing Butcho the Clown in the main story quest “Boardwalking Dead.”

Acid RainKilling a zombie triggers a CAUSTIC cloud.

Fabricate:

• 8 Infected Flesh
• 8 Fabric
• 6 Oversized Arm Bone
• 4 Screamer Lungs

This can be found in a medical station in Beverly Hills. I found this right after completing the “Justifiable Zombicide” quest, and I’m not sure if this station is open before that point in the game.

First, you’ll need to take out a zombie named SSG. Hernandez, which should be roaming the halls of the facility.

This should get you the Biohazard Container Key, which opens the container you are looking for. The biohazard crate is kind of hard to find, but it’s next to some trash bins. Here’s a video of exactly where to find it:

Static ChargeBoosts ELECTRIFIED charge to zombies hit. Repeated hits release a SHOCK explosion that ELECTRIFIES nearby zombies.

Fabricate:

• 8 Fabric
• 8 Scrap
• 3 Infected Spine
• 3 Regenerating Tissue

Unlock this by completing the Static Charge 1 Blueprint Challenge, which asks you to inflict the Electrified status effect on zombies 50 times.

Tear ‘N SearMAIMING a zombie creates a pool of burning fuel beneath its feet.

Fabricate:

• 6 Infected Flesh
• 8 Scrap
• 4 Regenerating Tissue
• 2 Mutated Heart

Unlock this by completing the Infernal Combustion 1 Blueprint Challenge, which asks you to inflict the Ignited status effect on zombies 50 times.

InfectiousHitting a zombie causes additional BLEED DAMAGE to it, and makes nearby zombies start BLEEDING too.

Fabricate:

• 8 Fasteners
• 8 Infected Blood
• 4 Chthonic Ichor
• 2 Mutated Heart

Unlock this by completing the Infectious 1 Blueprint Challenge, which asks you to inflict the Bleeding status effect on zombies 50 times.

High-CaliberIncreases DAMAGE and FORCE, but reduces Magazine size and Accuracy.

Fabricate:

• 5 Fabric
• 5 Scrap
• 6 Gunpowder
• 4 Metal Parts

You can purchase this from W.O. Rodriguez, the trader in the lifeguard tower in Venice Beach. You will have to interact with her first to begin the side quest “Cremains of the Day,” though you don’t have to finish it. Once you talk to her once, you should have access to the shop.

Here’s the location of the lifeguard tower:

The High-Caliber blueprint can be purchased for $1,000.

Tactical ReloadKilling a zombie gives a moderate RELOAD SPEED boost.

Fabricate:

• 8 Fasteners
• 7 Scrap
• 6 Aerosol
• 4 Alloy

You can purchase this from W.O. Rodriguez, the trader in the lifeguard tower in Venice Beach. You will have to interact with her first to begin the side quest “Cremains of the Day,” though you don’t have to finish it. Once you talk to her once, you should have access to the shop.

Here’s the location of the lifeguard tower:

The Tactical Reload blueprint can be purchased for $1,000.

AccurateWhile in AIM MODE gain a moderate Accuracy boost.

Fabricate:

• 5 Fabric
• 5 Adhesive
• 4 Electronics
• 2 Synthetic Fibers

This can be found on a workbench in the CDC tents in Santa Monica. Here’s where it is located on a map:

SpeedloaderIncreases RELOAD SPEED.

Fabricate:

• 5 Scrap
• 2 Adhesive
• 4 Gunpowder
• 2 Synthetic Fibers

During the main story quest “Justifiable Zombicide,” you’ll find the Speedloader blueprint in the same room where Sam gives you your first gun. The blueprint will be sitting on a chair after you take care of the approaching zombie horde.

Russian RouletteWhen your Magazine runs low, gain a moderate DAMAGE boost.

Fabricate:

• 8 Fasteners
• 5 Fabric
• 4 Infected Blood
• 2 Blade Arm

You can buy this blueprint from the trader in the Serling Hotel, which is first accessible once you reach the main story quest “Plumbing the Depths” in the Ocean Avenue section of the game. It costs $1,000.

Precision ShotsLanding hits in quick succession gives you a minor DAMAGE boost. This effect can stack multiple times.

Fabricate:

• 4 Infected Flesh
• 6 Scrap
• 6 Gunpowder
• 4 Electrified Brain

You earn this by completing the side quest “Diaries of the Dead.” You can pick up the quest from W. O. Rodriguez if you return to the Venice Beach tower after starting the final story quest, “Hollywood Ending.”

VigilantRELOAD to gain a moderate Damage boost.

Fabricate:

• 6 Infected Flesh
• 7 Fabric
• 6 Blades
• 4 Infected Spine

You can find this blueprint on the workbench in the lifeguard tower in Venice Beach. This is the optional fast-travel location in this area. Here’s exactly where it’s located:

Mind-BlowingKilling a zombie with a blot to the HEAD triggers a Forceful explosion.

Fabricate:

• 8 Infected Flesh
• 8 Fabric
• 4 Electrified Brain
• 3 Infected Sinew

This one can be found on the second workbench in the CDC tents in Santa Monica. Here’s where it is on the map:

ConsumablesHeavy RoundsHigh-caliber rounds for a revolver or hunting rifle.

Fabricate:

• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Metal Parts

You can purchase this from W.O. Rodriguez, the trader in the lifeguard tower in Venice Beach. You will have to interact with her first to begin the side quest “Cremains of the Day,” though you don’t have to finish it. Once you talk to her once, you should have access to the shop.

Here’s the location of the lifeguard tower:

The Heavy Rounds blueprint can be purchased for $625.

Nailgun CartridgeStandardized nail cartridges for use in industrial nailguns.

Fabricate:

• 2 Metal Parts
• 3 Wire

You can buy this blueprint from the trader in the Serling Hotel, which is first accessible once you reach the main story quest “Plumbing the Depths” in the Ocean Avenue section of the game. It costs $625.

Pistol RoundsSmall caliber rounds for use in pistols and machine pistols.

Fabricate:

• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Metal Parts

You can buy this from Carlos (the trader in Emma’s mansion) later in the story. I don’t know at exactly which point it shows up, but I was able to purchase it once I started the main story quest “Flushed.” The blueprint costs $625.

Rifle RoundsRifle rounds for use in assault rifles.

Fabricate:

• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Metal Parts

After completing the main story quest “The Red Mist,” you can buy this from Kai, the trader at the Blue Crab. This will cost you $625.

Shotgun Shells12-gauge buckshot cartridges for use in shotguns.

Fabricate:

• 3 Gunpowder
• 2 Metal Parts

You can purchase this from W.O. Rodriguez, the trader in the lifeguard tower in Venice Beach. You will have to interact with her first to begin the side quest “Cremains of the Day,” though you don’t have to finish it. Once you talk to her once, you should have access to the shop.

Here’s the location of the lifeguard tower:

The Shotgun Shells blueprint can be purchased for $625.

Med KitA medical kit filled with bandages, sterile wipes and all your medical essentials. Immediately boosts health on use, and removes harmful status effects.

Fabricate:

• 2 Adhesive
• 2 Fabric
• 1 Chemicals

You can buy this from Carlos (the trader in Emma’s mansion) once you’ve completed the workbench tutorial in the main story quest “Call the Cavalry.” This blueprint is free.

View Details

In Dead Island 2, there’s a type of side quest called Lost & Found, which ask you to follow a trail of clues to find some loot or a missing person. Once you complete the quest “Boardwalking Dead,” a Lost & Found quest called “Fool’s Gold” becomes available.

This one can be picked up inside the lifeguard tower, located right here in Santa Monica (A.K.A. The Pier):

In the room with the busted staircase (which you’ll climb by jumping on a truck), you’ll find a Crusher named Dante. Kill him to take the “Totally Legit Letter” from him. Once you read the letter, the “Fool’s Gold” quest will begin.

For your first clue, you should read the letter that you just acquired.

As you can see, two guys named Dante and Randy were hiding something in a locker. This — and the smelly socks — clue you in on where to look. You need to go right around the corner from where you killed Dante, into the gym. The locker in question is here.

When you open the correct locker, you’ll find another letter. Read this one to figure out your next step.

This one gives you a ton of information. First up, there’s a safe that was buried outside the lifeguard tower, and you even have the first piece of the combination. To get the other two numbers, you need to figure out where both Randy and Dante went off too. Thankfully, the letter gives you this information as well.

First up, go to the “alley behind the stores” to get your next clue. Here’s where it is on your map:

You might have to clean up some zombies, but once they’re taken care of, you should find another clue. This one is pretty long, but at least it gets you another piece of the combination.

For the next one, you’ll want to go out to the Ferris wheel on the end of the pier. There’s an ice cream shop there, and the next clue is tucked away behind that shop on a bench.

This message is actually kind of worthless.

Even so, once you collect it, you’ll have completed R-J-B-D’s Secret Code, which unlocks the hidden safe.

Now you just have to find the safe (which is buried in the sand near the lifeguard tower where all this began).

Before you open the safe, though, you’ll have to fight off a particularly aggressive wave of zombies. Once they’re taken care of, the reward is finally yours.

Open the safe to collect the Blood Rage dagger and the Superior Melee Liquidator Mod blueprint.

And that’s how you complete the “Fool’s Gold” Lost & Found quest in Dead Island 2.

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When you reach Santa Monica in Dead Island 2, you might stumble upon a box called the Famiglia Storage Box, which requires Luigi Famiglia’s Key in order to open. So I’m going to show you where to find it.

First, though, you must have completed the main story quest “Boardwalking Dead” so you can return to Santa Monica during the day. Then, you can find a zombie named Luigi Jr. in the tunnel underneath the pier. Here’s a video that shows the exact location:

Again, I believe it must be daytime for Luigi Jr. to appear.

Once you kill Luigi Jr., he’ll drop the Luigi Famiglia Key, which opens the Famiglia Storage Box. This box is located inside Luigi’s Pizzaria. Here’s a video of the location:

Unlocking the box rewards you with a Superior Punctuator Bo Staff.

And that’s how you unlock the Famiglia Storage Box in Dead Island 2.

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About halfway through Dead Island 2, there’s a quest called Flushed that sends you into the Brentwood Sewer. You’ll eventually come upon a sluice gate that needs to be opened, but first you must unblock the Main Septic Tank via the Hydrostatic Management System.

To access the Hydrostatic Management System, you’ll need a keycode. You can find it across the water from the Hydrostatic Management System, though you’ll need to reach through the iron bars in the window to reach the Instruction Manual. Here’s a video of the exact location of this manual:

Once you have the clipboard, you can use the keypad to open the door to the Hydrostatic Management System. The code is 161280, but it really doesn’t matter — your character will automatically type in the correct code once you’ve collected the Instruction Manual.

In order to unblock the system, you need to apply the right amount of water pressure to each pump. There are three pumps and three valves, and each one is labeled with a number.

Basically, the number on the pump is the amount of pressure needed to flush that pump, while the number on the valve is the amount of water pressure provided by that particular valve. In order to flush the pumps, you just need to apply the correct amount of water pressure to each one.

Here’s a video of the whole process, but I’ll walk you through it via text below.

Before you go unblocking the pumps, you’ll want to clean the caustic ooze out of the next room (note that you can access this room by smashing through the boards blocking the window — or you can just use the door). In the same room as the three pumps, there should be a valve that cuts off the flow of the caustic ooze. Once you turn that, ooze should stop pouring from the ceiling, but you’ll still need to clean the floor. You can do this by picking up one of the water cans and pouring the water onto the floor.

Once this room is clean, you can pick up the valve wheel, which you’ll need in order to turn the first valve. This first valve is marked with a 10, and so is the first tank. So this means you just need to turn the 10 valve in order to flush the first tank. The second one is marked with a 75, though, which means you’ll have to turn all three valves. 10+20+45=75. You already turned the 10 valve, so you don’t need to do that again, but the other two valves are on a timer, meaning you’ll have to turn them in quick succession.

The last tank is labeled 45, which means you need to turn off the 10 valve and then turn on the 45 valve.

And that should solve the puzzle and cause the sluice gate to open, completing the Flushed quest in Dead Island 2.

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In Dead Island 2, there’s a type of side quest called Lost & Found, which typically ask you to follow a trail of clues to a sweet reward (or a person). Once you get about halfway through the game, you might encounter a Lost & Found quest called My Mailman Was a Zombie! This one asks you to follow in the footsteps of a mailman named Wayne, who was delivering a powerful firearm.

If you’re not sure where to trigger the quest, it’s in Bel-Air. Here’s exactly where it is on your map:

You’ll know when this quest becomes available if you keep checking your map menu. Any location with current quests will have some text that says how many quests are currently available.

Now, what you’re looking for is a FASTDEL mail truck that has a clipboard and a locked crate next to it.

Pick up the clipboard to activate the quest “My Mailman Was a Zombie!”

If you read the notes on the clipboard, you’ll see that Wayne had four deliveries planned, and all four are listed out on the clipboard. It seems as though he successfully delivered the first three items but got lost while attempting to deliver the fourth.

Now, you can actually map these out on your Bel-Air map, if you want to follow Wayne’s trail. Location 1 is Colt’s house, and it sounds like the package contains a bottle of expensive alcohol. Location 2 is the Goat Pen, and the package seems like it’s something for the podcast crew to review. Location 3 is on Glitterati Corner, and it seems like the package probably contains a sex toy of some sort.

The fourth package has a zip code of 90210. If you know California zip codes (or if you were a fan of a particular 1990s TV series), then you know that 90210 is the zip code for Beverly Hills. The Beverly Hills map doesn’t have streets labeled on it, but you can find your way using street signs once you get there. And what do you know? The first intersection you encounter is Del Toro Crest and Arkill Ridge.

Here’s the thing, though: Poor Wayne never made it this far. The route he traveled was actually a bit out of order from what was written on the notes. If you want his exact route, it looks like this:

If you follow this trail, you will find stacks of packages. The first one is in the driveway of the Goat Pen:

The second one is in the alley behind Curtis’ house (next to the fuse box garage):

And the last one is near Colt’s garage:

Once you get this far, you will discover Wayne the Mailman in Colt’s garage.

Kill him to pick up the Mailman’s Key, which you can then bring back to the delivery truck where you started this whole thing. Unlock the package and claim your reward. Inside the crate, you’ll find a sniper rifle called the Precise Raven.

And that’s how you find the Mailman’s Key to open up Wayne’s unfinished delivery, which completes the Lost & Found quest “My Mailman Was a Zombie!”

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In Dead Island 2, there’s a type of side quest called Lost & Found. These quests ask you to chase down loot (or a missing person), though you’ll have to follow a trail of clues.

In Venice Beach, there’s a Lost & Found quest called “Jo’s Rainy Day Stash.” I’m going to walk you through the entire thing and explain all the clues to you so you don’t have to waste hours running around Venice Beach while being attacked by the undead.

First up, you’ll pick up the quest at Jo’s Rentals, which is super easy to find because it’s labeled on your map with a cartoon shark. Well, there are two cartoon sharks on the map; the one you’re looking for is the northern one (the other one is a promotional statue that’s located near the beach).

And when you get to the shop, there’s a cartoon shark statue outside it.

This shark was featured in the 2022 trailer for Dead Island 2, so it might look a little familiar to anyone who followed the prerelease hype.

Anyway, you can get inside the shop by smashing your way through the windows. Note that this will set off an alarm and summon a swarm of zombies, so get ready for a fight. Once you’ve dispatched the zombies, you can pick up Scotty’s phone off the service desk inside the shop.

Picking up the phone will trigger the Lost & Found quest “Jo’s Rainy Day Stash.” Note that if you go around to the back of the opposite counter, you will also find an item called Jo’s Staff Room Key. You can pick that up if you want to, but you actually don’t need it for this particular quest.

If you read the messages on Scotty’s phone, you’ll see that two of Jo’s employees (Scotty and Nick) were conspiring against him. Jo had been hoarding stuff in a secret stash not far from the shop, and the employees were thinking about hunting it down so they could take it for themselves.

Now that all of these folks have been zombified, there’s nothing wrong with taking the stash for yourself, right?

This text gives you some information about where Jo was running off to, which is where you’ll find the next clue. According to the text, there’s a place of residence not far from Jo’s Rentals, which is where you want to go next. There’s actually only one place that truly fits the bill: some apartments located above the Muscle Street shops.

If you can’t find the building, it’s right across the street from the Strongman gym (which you’ll visit during the main story quest “The Giant-Slayer”). Here’s where it is on your map:

Go around to the back of the building, and you should eventually encounter Jo’s Shambling Body wandering aimlessly near a red truck. This is not too far from Marla’s Tapas & Tacos. Remember this taco place for later (and you might as well remember that truck too).

Kill him and pick up his phone so you can read “Jo’s Final Farewell.”

In this message, Jo talks about getting shot at while trying to access his stash (which was on the rooftops), and he moved everything to Marla’s. If you don’t recall the taco place I mentioned earlier, you might think Marla is the woman Jo was having an affair with, but it’s actually the name of the taco place (actually, I think it’s both — I think Marla owns the taco shop and is also the woman Scotty and Nick were texting about). The stash is on the roof of the taco place, which is not too far from the apartment (Marla’s is almost right next door to Burger ’66, which is right across the street from the Blue Crab).

It’s a little tricky to get to the location, so I made a video that will guide you right to it:

Be careful, because the rooftop is rigged with a tripwire and explosives, which you will set off if you’re not careful. You will also encounter Scotty and Nick, both of whom have turned into zombies. Once you’ve killed them, the stash is yours.

You’ll also learn that Jo’s “baby” was the red truck.

And that’s how you find the stash to complete the Lost & Found quest “Jo’s Rainy Day Stash” in Dead Island 2.

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In Dead Island 2, there is a subcategory of side quests called Lost & Found quests. These will generally ask you to follow a trail of clues to find a hidden item. The first one you’ll probably encounter in the game is called “The Clean and Snatch,” which asks you to find an antique sword hidden by a pool boy named Obi.

This quest becomes available once you complete the main story quest “O Michael, Where Art Thou?” and begin “Kwon with the Wind.” It will appear as a red exclamation mark icon on your Beverly Hills map.

After talking with Rikky and Roxanne to start “Kwon with the Wind,” you can find the first piece of the Clean and Snatch puzzle in their pool. But first, you’ll need to disable the power that’s electrocuting the water.

Here’s a video of exactly how to do this:

In the pool, you’ll find a note that says:

Apparently, Obi the pool boy stole a sword, and he’s planning on leaving Los Angeles for good. But before he goes, he’s making one last round of the pools in Beverly Hills to make sure he collects all his tips. This clues you in on where to find the other journals: in pools around Beverly Hills.

The next clue is Dave’s Phone, which can be found in a nearby pool. It’s at the house directly north of where you picked up the quest, sitting beside the pool. Here’s where it is on the map:

And here’s a video of the exact location:

And here’s the text from this phone conversation:

The important clue here is that the pool you’re looking for is in Bel-Air rather than in Beverly Hills.

But before you go marching back to Beverly Hills, you should find the last clue in Bel-Air. That one can be found in the pool at Michael’s house. In case you don’t remember where that is, it’s right here:

Here’s a video that shows the exact location of the note you’re looking for:

And here’s what the note says:

Apparently, Obi “borrowed” a unicorn rubber ring from Michael so he could lend it to his girlfriend. See, she has one for her pool, so Obi thought the two of them could be friends. He also mentions that his girlfriend has a pizza floatie. So this clues you in that the pool you’re looking for should have both a unicorn and a pizza floatie in it. Do you remember seeing anything like this?

The pool you’re looking for is the one at the Goat Pen in Bel-Air.

When you get there, you should find the zombified version of Obi. He should be labelled “Obi the Pool Guy.”

If you kill Obi, he’ll drop Obi’s Key, which you can then take back to Beverly Hills to open the chest to recover the sword. Remember where you picked up the note to start the quest? That note was on top of the chest that you’ll now be opening.

Inside the chest, you’ll find the sword that Obi was talking about. It’s a Rare Electrocutor Officer’s Sword, and it should scale up to your current level. I was Level 9 when I got it in my guide playthrough, and here are the stats at Level 9:

Remember, you can repair the weapon if it breaks, and you can level up the weapon to your current level whenever you level up (so when you hit level 10, you can upgrade it to a Level 10 sword, for example). You do both of these things at a workbench, and both of them cost cash.

And if you want the last bit of Obi’s story, the chest also contains Obi’s phone. You can read the message that sent poor Obi to his demise:

And that’s how you complete the Clean and Snatch Lost & Found quest in Dead Island 2!

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In Dead Island 2, there are plenty of trunks and safes and sundry other containers that can be unlocked by finding a specific key. For example, there is a coach’s car sitting out in Bel Air, and you can loot the trunk of the car. But first, you must find the coach.

So I’m going to show you where to find the Coach’s Car Keys, then I’ll show you where to use them.

First up, I found the car keys in the exact same place in two separate playthroughs. It’s in the tennis court in Bel Air at nighttime, after completing the Halperin Hotel portion of the game. At this point, you’d be on the main story quest “The Chosen One.” I don’t know if you need to be in this exact part of the game for this to work, but I’m just going to show you where I found the keys for myself.

In case you’re not sure where to look, here’s where it is on the map:

When you get to the tennis court, you should see a zombie labeled Coach Ace. It’s located in the corner of the court, and it should be busy chomping away on a corpse. Kill this zombie to collect the Coach’s Car Keys.

Here’s a video that shows this in action:

These keys unlock the trunk of a car that’s parked just around the corner from the tennis court. It’s a bit hard to explain exactly where the car is, so I’ll just post this video:

The reward should be a Rare Agile Golf Club, which is great for conking zombies across the head.

And there you go. That’s where to both find and use the Coach’s Car Keys in Dead Island 2!

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In Dead Island 2, there are locked doors and locked safes in pretty much every corner of the map. And for every locked door, there must be a key, right? (This actually isn’t true in Dead Island 2, as a lot of doors are opened from the opposite side, or by a scripted story event. But you know what I mean.)

Anyway, in the Halperin Hotel section of the game, you’ll find a safe that requires the Security Guard’s Safe Key to open it. You might just pass it up and think nothing of it, but if you’re like me, you’ll end up obsessing over it, never satisfied until you hear the successful click of a lock being opened.

The key for the safe can actually be found underground, in a parking garage. Here’s a video that shows the exact location:

Now, I should point out that the key won’t be just sitting there on the ground like shown in the video. You’ll have to kill the correct zombie first, who will drop the keys. I didn’t catch the exact name of the zombie, but I found it in this exact same spot across two separate playthroughs.

You’ll want to be careful down there, as this area is packed with mobs. And one of them is a Crusher that will smash the ground and set off car alarms, which summons a horde of Runners. Thankfully, there’s a lot of water down in this section of the map, and you can lure zombies into puddles and then electrocute them, which was how I managed to clear out this section of the map.

Also, I should point out that these zombies are kind of high-level. You’ll probably want to be around Level 8 or so before you attempt to snag this key.

Or not. I’m not your dad. Do whatever you want.

Once you collect the key, you can go back up the ramp and find the safe in a little security hut. Remember, the trick to getting inside the hut is to disable the electric boxes — there’s one on the outside of the building, and a second one inside, which you’ll disable by chucking a weapon through the window.

If you don’t remember where this hut was located, here’s a quick reminder:

I found a Rare Violent Machete inside the safe, but I’m not sure if the contents of the safe are randomized.

Anyway, that’s where you can find the Security Guard’s Safe Key in the Halperin Hotel section of Dead Island 2. Good luck out there, slayer!

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The first chunk of Dead Island 2‘s main story takes place in Bel-Air, but once you complete that section of the game, you’ll be heading to the Halperin Hotel. In the hotel, there are five safe-deposit boxes that can be unlocked if you locate the proper keys.

I’m going to walk you through the locations for all five keys.

Where to find Safe-Deposit Keys #09 and #14The first key is on a table pretty much as soon as you enter the hotel. That’s Safe-Deposit Key #09.

The next one, Safe-Deposit Key #14, is up on the second floor. Before you can access the second floor, though, you’ll need to get through the pool area. Once you do, you can wind around the back of the hotel and access a staircase. Eventually, you’ll find a closed-off elevator (more on that later), and beyond it is a crawlspace. If you crawl through it, you will see a bunch of fire, which can be extinguished either by throwing something at the fire extinguisher, or by using the Chem Bomb Curveball.

Safe Deposit Key #14 is in the Room 208, right next to the bed, though it’s actually really easy to miss this one if you don’t know exactly where to look.

Here’s a video showing the exact location of Safe-Deposit Keys #09 and #14:

Where to find Safe-Deposit Key #33Remember that closed elevator door I mentioned in the previous section? Well, you can actually open that. If you approach it, you will see a message taped to the wall (the message is titled “I’ll Be Waiting.”) If you remove that message, you will reveal the button pad beneath it. Press the button to call the elevator. Be careful, because you’ll have to fight some zombies, but once they’re defeated you should have access to Safe-Deposit Key #33.

Here’s a video showing this process:

Where to find Safe-Deposit Key #49When you reach the third floor, you’ll eventually find an area where you’re blocked from proceeding any further. In order to get to Room 307, you’re going to have to climb through the vents. In the vents, you will find Safe-Deposit Key #49.

Here’s a video showing the exact location:

Where to find Safe-Deposit Key #53Safe-Deposit Key #53 is up on the third floor, in Room 309. This is the room where you’ll find the Major once you get through Room 307. It’s hard to miss, because this room has a crafting bench in it. The key is in the bathroom, sitting on the rim of the bathtub.

Here’s a video showing the exact location of Safe-Deposit Key #53:

What’s inside these safe-deposit boxes?You can stop reading here if you want this last part to be a surprise, but here’s a video of me opening all five boxes:

I don’t know how randomized the contents of these boxes are, but as you can see in the video, I ended up with a bunch of cash, some crafting parts, and a dagger. Not a bad haul, but also probably not worth the amount of effort it takes to find all five keys.

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I went to E3 three times during my games journalism career: in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Since the event happens in Los Angeles, and I live in Minneapolis, I would try to make time to visit my California friends if I could. I wasn’t always able to see everyone I’d like to — E3 week is an extremely busy week for those of us in this field — but I did at least make an attempt.

One year — I want to say this was probably 2012 — I ended up spending an evening with a friend who had moved out to Santa Monica. Since he was living not far from the famous Santa Monica pier, he figured he’d give me the full tourist experience and we’d go check out the Ferris wheel.

I think it was probably Sunday night, so nothing was really open by the time we got there. But my friend started telling me this story about how when he first moved to California, someone told him to touch the Pacific ocean. When he did, he felt a magical tingle in his arm, and he knew right then that California was home.

So he insisted that, before we head back to his place, I needed to go down to the shore and dunk my hand into the Pacific Ocean. It was after dark and kind of cold (for a summer night in Southern California, I mean), but I did it anyway.

This is something I’d kind of tucked away in the back of my memory, and I hadn’t thought about it much since then. Until I played Dead Island 2, that is. See, the exact spot where I touched the Pacific Ocean is in this game. And it looks exactly how I remember it:

It’s nighttime, the Ferris wheel is lit up but not in motion, and there are a few people just shambling about, minding their own business. When I saw this scene, the memory came flooding back to me. Yes, I had been in this exact spot in real life, and I’d had kind of an unusual experience there.

So how was it? Was the Pacific Ocean as magical as my friend promised it’d be?

Well, no.

It was windy and kind of cold, so by the time I got close enough to touch the water, I was soaking wet and covered in sand, shivering from the chill. For the rest of the night — well, until his roommate gave me a ride back to my hotel — I was wet and miserable, and I wanted nothing more than just to put on some warm, dry pajamas and go to bed.

If I’m being totally honest, the Pacific Ocean kind of sucks.

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Survival games come in all shapes and sizes these days, but most boil down to the same repetitive tasks and busywork. But how that busywork gets doled out is what separates the wheat from the chaff in this genre. And, for the most part, Havendock manages to stay on the wheat side of the spectrum.

At first, the premise seems pretty limiting: You wake up in the middle of an ocean on a singular platform with small islands and points of interest surrounding you, as well as an endless supply of wood, leaves, fish, and crates full of goodies floating by. But as you follow the checklist of things to craft and discover, things start to blossom and even balloon outward. Before you know it, you have a veritable floating utopia that all manner of refugees will flock to in order to join your collective — and in some cases these refugees will even offer specific skills or boosts in the process.

Take, for example, the zoologist who can decipher penguin speak, which will conveniently come in handy should a stranded penguin wash up on your dock looking for refuge. If you didn’t have a zoologist, you wouldn’t be able to welcome the penguin aboard, and without the penguin, the fish-holding igloo you can construct would be mostly useless. I like this system of jobs and perks, although in some instances it might not be immediately clear what the purpose of, say, a superhero who can’t fly might be.

But that all plays into the puzzle-solving nature of understanding and ultimately mastering the survival mechanics of Havendock. At first I had an ever-expanding group of survivors that pretty much just milled around, shuffling random supplies to the various work stations while I busted my butt keeping the entire enterprise humming along. Once I realized that Survivor A might be better suited to Task A instead of Task B, I began to cobble together a well-oiled machine — one that, admittedly, still required me to do a lot of the heavy lifting (then again, that was more than likely the result of me just not knowing how to best utilize my staff, or perhaps just not having the right body for the right task).

As you expand your empire, you’ll research more and more things to build and bonuses to aid your production on a rather expansive unlock tree. You’ll start to learn the correct items needed to upgrade your current structures to maximize your community’s output, and you’ll slowly unlock avenues for exploration beyond your Waterworld-like compound. You’ll eventually be able to make a submarine and explore the oceans deep, which unlocks yet another entire ecosystem of resources to mine or harvest, along with items to craft or use to update previously constructed workstations.

It’s a pretty well-designed and tightly interwoven system. It isn’t rewriting the wheel, so to speak, but Havendock does what it does really well. And although the visuals harken back to a Mii-style game or even a Facebook game of the early aughts, it’s all quite charming and goes a long way towards not melting my rig with blistering visuals that only end up looking like a hot mess (cough, Icarus, cough).

The music is also quite pleasant, which is always a plus if you aren’t podcasting or listening to your own playlist while trying to get off this infernal, no-end-in-sight raft of last salvation.

And god bless whoever had the wherewithal to include a detailed encyclopedia that not only shows the icon for every item, but also what it is called and how to go about finding or harvesting it. I’ve spent far too much time in games trying to decipher what it is I’m even looking for, to say nothing for how to then actually find the stuff I need. This is is something that seems unique to the survival genre, where something as simple as a feather can be harvested in any number of mostly nonsensical ways, like chopping down a tree (sure, I guess, since birds live in those), or simply finding them on the ground (I mean, I don’t recall the last time I found a clump of feathers lying around every five feet, but okay). In the case of Havendock, you’ll need to use bear traps with bait inside (which seems like overkill, if you ask me), so that encyclopedia can be a real time-saver.

I enjoyed the 20 or so hours I spent with Havendock. It does a great job of encouraging just another round of researching the next thing to unlock so you can then research the next thing you really want to unlock, and before you know it another hour has flown by. It’s a pleasant game to look at, and it can be quite relaxing with no real danger or threats other than hunger or occasionally having someone sustain an injury while diving for resources.

I would recommend Havendock to anyone who is a fan of laid-back, timesink, factory-style survival games, especially for those who adore a cute aesthetic. Havendock is set to release in Early Access on April 20, 2023. You can wishlist it on Steam now.

Disclaimer: I was given an Early Access code for Havendock on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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We need more games like Pronty. That’s to say that we need more games that feel good to play and are just an absolute delight to experience. Metroidvanias are everywhere, and they should be — it’s a great genre that, when done right, envelops you in deep, engrossing worlds. Pronty does that, too, but it changes the script a little by taking place entirely underwater. Other games have done this before (one being Song of the Deep from Ratchet & Clank and Marvel’s Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games).

Pronty follows a small sea creature who takes on the role of guardian, as appointed by the ocean’s higher council. You play as the titular Pronty, and it’s up to you to defend the ocean. It’s a nice concept, though the plot sort of takes a backseat to the action. That’s kind of okay, though, because Pronty borrows from the school of storytelling that titles like Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Blue Fire employ. Though you won’t get huge cutscenes and scripted moments, there’s some interesting lore tucked away to discover if you’re so inclined and know where to look.

What’s interesting is that there was a time when underwater stages damn near ruined games. Obviously that wasn’t always the case, but even great titles received mixed reactions when it came down to their deep sea levels. The original Super Mario Bros. did these levels pretty well, but some folks still dread playing World 2-2 and the subsequent underwater stages in that game, if only because these levels significantly change up the physics and formula of how it plays.

That sort of issue isn’t the case with Pronty. Because the whole game is set in an underwater world, it’s designed to feel good to play in these scenarios — and it pulls this off quite exceptionally. Everything is a little floaty, sure, but it’s supposed to be, and thankfully, the way the game controls is quite smooth and feels great despite the slower pace.

Interestingly, Pronty often feels like an arcade twin-stick shooter. You have a robotic partner named Bront to help you along the way, and you use Bront to attack enemies directly, launching your mechanical buddy into foes large and small, as well as the game’s bosses, which are never frustrating but can be fairly challenging to battle.

In terms of progression, Pronty follows the standard formula by which Metroidvanias are known. Exploration and discovery is a big part of this genre, and Pronty follows suit in much the same ways that other recent titles like Infernax, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Carrion have.

The big difference here is that this game is set within the waters of the deep blue sea. As such, it just sort of feels different and has a completely different aura about it. The underwater realm has always had a somewhat mysterious and eerie vibe to it. So even though Pronty has a nice, cheery, hand-drawn look, its setting gives it a somewhat dark mystique, which is actually pretty cool.

Speaking of which, the game looks great, both graphically and tonally. The hand-drawn look of the world is great, and the stunning stage designs will easily pull you in.

At about seven or eight hours, Pronty isn’t the longest Metroidvania you’ll play, but it still provides an enjoyable underwater adventure. Plus, it includes multiple difficulties and lots of secret lore to discover if you enjoy digging deep into your games.

It was about time for another underwater Metroidvania like this to come along. Pronty promises a memorable experience underwater, and it manages to deliver on that promise. It doesn’t necessarily experiment too much outside of its core concepts, but this one is still a good time, and a worthwhile game for any fan of the Metroidvania genre.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Pronty on Nintendo Switch, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Back in 2011, Dead Island was revealed with what was quite possibly the most emotionally devastating video game trailer ever made. Seriously, this thing was heavy.

You know what? If you haven’t seen the original Dead Island trailer, you really should check that out now. I’ll share that here for you. Just be warned that it’s pretty unsettling.

When the game released later that year, it didn’t quite live up to the extremely high expectations set by that original trailer, but Dead Island did develop something of a cult following — enough that a sequel, Dead Island Riptide, was released in 2013. But then developer Techland and publisher Deep Silver parted ways. Techland went off to develop Dying Light, which I think is quite possibly the best zombie game of all time, while Deep Silver hung onto the Dead Island rights, letting the I.P. slumber for a decade.

In early 2022, Techland released the highly ambitious Dying Light 2, which just didn’t pack the punch that the first game did. In fact, it only left a lot of us itching for more Dying Light action while recalling Dead Island through rose-tinted memories.

And that means that the proverbial soil was fertile for another Dead Island game. So when Dead Island 2 broke its long silence in 2022 with a fresh gameplay trailer, the zombie-loving gaming world let out a collective cheer.

With Techland focused on supporting Dying Light 2, Deep Silver brought on Dambuster Studios for development duties this time around. How did they do? Is Dead Island 2 good enough to escape the long shadow cast by Dying Light? Deep Silver sent me a review code so I could answer these questions for myself.

And I have to say, Dead Island 2 isn’t exactly what I was initially hoping for, but I’m also not disappointed. I had a ton of fun with this game.

What I really wanted from Dead Island 2 was something to rinse the taste of Dying Light 2 out of my mouth. I was hoping for something a bit more open-worldy, but even as a more confined experience, the game really clicks for me.

The main reason for this, I think, is that combat feels excellent. There’s a slew of melee weapons, from knives to baseball bats to massive sledgehammers, and each one feels unique. In lesser games, swinging a bat would feel roughly the same as a sledgehammer, but in Dead Island 2, those are wildly different experiences.

You’ll get access to guns later in the game, and this is where things really start getting interesting. I’m particularly fond of the carbine because it feels so mechanical and heavy, and I tend to really enjoy chunky-feeling firearms in video games. There are, of course, also several shotguns and pistols and even a nailgun to use, depending on your preference.

And part of what makes all this feel so good is just how amazing the sound design is. Smashing a zombie head is more fun when it sounds like a watermelon exploding like a Gallagher prop, and there’s an accompanying wooden donk sound as the lumber hits the skull. That carries over to ranged weapons as well, with mechanical clanks and clinks and chicka-chickas as you fire and reload.

Further, there are elemental effects that combine in neat ways. For example, you can take a jerrycan of water and soak a section of sidewalk, then attack it with an electrical charged weapon to create a shocking deathtrap. Here’s a video of what I mean by this:

You can also use water to put out fires or clear away toxic goo, or you can douse areas in gasoline and set them ablaze with either an electric weapon or a fire-based weapon. If you really want to get creative, you can set up traps that cause water to become electrified, which will in turn blow up gas cans, setting the entire area on fire. Playing around with all this is immensely enjoyable.

About halfway through the game, you’ll unlock the Fury ability, which causes everything to go red while you go into full-on Hulk Smash mode. This effect drains over time, but it can be recharged by killing zombies or drinking energy drinks, and when your gauge is full you can activate Fury by pressing R3+L3. While you’re not technically invincible in Fury, you certainly feel like it, all of a sudden finding the confidence to attack elite zombies with nothing but your bare hands.

And if all that isn’t enough, the positional damage system is incredible. You can shoot a zombie’s arm off from 50 yards away, or hack a zombie’s legs off to leave it helplessly crawling across the ground. Headshots often result in exploding brains, and zombies react fairly realistically to exactly where you hit them. Plus there are effects, like one called “Melting” that’s applied via caustic acid — you’ll watch clothes and then skin and muscle just melt away, exposing the skeleton within before the poor zombie just crumples into a heap of bloody bones.

Seriously, combat is so fun that I would often just put on a podcast and run around smacking zombies with various things, completely ignoring whatever quest I was currently tasked with. I’m not kidding when I say that I’d sometimes do this for hours at a time — this combat system is just endlessly entertaining.

And then there’s the crafting/repair system, which I had a ton of fun with. Most of the weapons you collect can be modded, though you’ll need to find blueprints for the specific mods that you want. But this lets you add or change damage types, add unique perks (like faster reload times or increased damage), and even repair something that’s broken.

This is where Dead Island 2‘s breakable weapons system feels so much better than, say, Breath of the Wild‘s. In BotW, you knew to never get attached to a weapon, because it would eventually break and you’d have to replace it with something else. And then once you found the Master Sword, you wouldn’t touch another weapon for the rest of the game. On the contrary, in Dead Island 2, even though weapons will wear out and eventually break, they can always be repaired at a workbench. And, to top it off, you can spend money to increase the level of any of your weapons. So if you get a machete at level 3, you can keep paying to upgrade it so that it’s still a viable weapon at level 23. This allows you to find a weapon type and mod combo that you love, then just use that for most of the game.

Of course, this brings up one of Dead Island 2‘s weird quirks: Money makes no sense in this game. How would spending money at a workbench — where you’re clearly all alone — help you to repair a weapon? And why are prices so inflated, with a high-level hammer selling for $5,000 or more? Now, I totally accept this premise from a gameplay perspective, because it’s so much more convenient than, say, having to find specific resources to repair specific items (metal scrap to repair a sword, for example). But from a lore perspective, it feels really weird.

And since I’m going through my gripes here, I also want to bring up the fact that occasionally zombies just materialize, as if they were beamed down by some sort of spacecraft. I get that game devs are still wrestling with draw distance (even now, in 2023), but Dead Island 2 is pretty good at hiding this. Zombies will often wriggle out of a storm drain, or from under a car, or from a vent in the ceiling, which masks the fact that they’re spawning in. Because the game was so smart about justifying its zombie spawns visually, it makes it kind of jarring that you’ll just see them warp in sometimes with no context for how they got there.

No, this doesn’t happen a lot, and it’s really not that big of a deal, but it is something that I couldn’t help but notice.

Dead Island 2‘s story is pretty alright. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s also not boring, and there are occasional moments where it tugs at your heartstrings. The characters feel two-dimensional for the most part (which is better than one-dimensional and not as good as three-dimensional), and there are a few that I got kind of attached to. Oh, and you’ll even get to hang out with Sam from the first game.

There’s one character in Dead Island 2 named Rikky Rex, who is a washed-up rock star. When you find Rikky’s house, you’ll realize that all this dude ever does is party. He’s not super troubled by the zombie menace because he’s drinking and fornicating until the early hours of the morning. He’s having too much fun to really think about how messed up the world around him has become. And I think that’s a pretty good metaphor for the game as a whole: Just relax and enjoy the party, my friend, because Dead Island 2 is pure dumb zombie-smashing fun.

Ultimately, Dead Island 2 is at its best when it’s not trying to be anything but an immensely satisfying zombie-slayer simulator. Combat is so much fun that a lot of the small gripes I have don’t even matter, because I can just zone out and whack away at zombie limbs while grinning like a fool.

So does this game wash the taste of Dying Light 2 out of my mouth? I mean, I guess it kind of does. It prioritizes sheer fun over pretty much everything else, and it gives you a gorgeous-yet-brutally-bloody version of Los Angeles to play around in. No, Los Angeles isn’t an island, but you’ll forget all about that once you start hacking off zombie arms with a katana while giggling uncontrollably.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Dead Island 2 on PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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I’m not really sure why I expected Dead Island 2 to be an open-world game. Maybe because I’ve spent so much time with Dying Light (developed by Techland, who also made the original Dead Island), which definitely counts as an open-world zombie game. But I’ve spent more than 60 hours with Dead Island 2 (developed by Dambuster Studios) at this point, and I can safely say that it isn’t that type of game.

Instead of having one massive world to explore, you’ll have ten smaller world chunks. You won’t have access to all of them right away — instead, you’ll start in Bel-Air and radiate outward as the story progresses. There is a loading screen between each area, and you won’t unlock fast-travel until you’ve made it through about half the game’s main story quests (you’ll have six of the game’s ten areas open by that point in the game).

The earlier areas aren’t very open either. They feel more like mazes of interconnected hallways, though these hallways often wind back into areas you’ve already explored, with doors that can only be unlocked from one side. This design style feels a little bit like Dark Souls, actually, with twisty paths where you’ll feel hopelessly lost until you open a shortcut gate and realize you’re just a few meters away from where you started.

Later in the game, you will explore chunks of Hell-A that do feel a lot more open — Venice Beach feels particularly ripe for exploration — but even these chunks are fairly small. I actually think a decent point of comparison would be something like Deathloop, which was broken into four explorable pieces, though in that game you had access to all four fairly early in the game. In Dead Island 2, the main story funnels you through its ten world pieces at its own pace instead of at yours.

There are plenty of side quests to engage in — in fact, there are more side quests than main story quests — but these are trickled out over the course of the game. You can go back and re-explore old areas, oftentimes discovering things that weren’t there before, but you won’t ever feel that overwhelming sense of icon fatigue that you often get from Ubisoft offerings. You also won’t pull open a world map that’s covered in fog and imagine all the possibilities of where your adventures might take you. In fact, Dead Island 2‘s world map kind of sucks.

Okay, so it’s pleasant to look at, but it’s functionally useless as a map. Thankfully, each of the ten areas has its own map, and those tend to be more detailed, but even so, they can be kind of hard to navigate because they prioritize aesthetics over function. These are designed to look like tourist maps that have been drawn on with a marker, which feels appropriate for this particular game world, but it doesn’t really work for people who like to use highly detailed world maps to find their way around.

Now, I don’t say any of this to pooh-pooh on Dead Island 2‘s level design. In fact, I think the game feels more tightly focused than its open-world brethren, and in some ways that’s a breath of fresh air. If you’re suffering from open-world fatigue after the past decade of genre behemoths, Dead Island 2 might be just what the doctor ordered.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for something that feels like a proper follow-up to Techand’s incredible Dying Light (especially after the disappointment that was Dying Light 2), this might not scratch that very particular itch. This is more open than something like, say, last year’s A Plague Tale: Requiem, though it’s certainly not Far Cry with zombies.

Ultimately, there’s plenty to enjoy in Dead Island 2; I just think it’s best to set your expectations in the right place.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Dead Island 2 for PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Everspace 2 is a game that completely revolves around space combat. No, you won’t get out of your ship ever (though you’ll often dock in space stations to interact with merchants and quest givers); your entire method of interacting with the game is via your spacecraft.

On paper, that sounds like it could be extremely limiting. I mean, how can you make a space game — especially one based around exploration — feel fully fleshed out when you don’t let players leave the ship to walk around on the rocky (and/or squishy) planet surfaces? But the thing is, Everspace 2 figured it out.

Now, let me get something out of the way here: This is not a space sim. While it does feature genre staples like trade, asteroid mining, ship customization and upgrading, and so on, Everspace 2 is more like… I don’t know? Star Fox 64 reimagined as an open-world game?

And that makes it feel like it came out of a different time — but not in a bad way; there’s almost a feeling of nostalgia here.

The controls are pure arcade, with stick acceleration/deceleration, easy lock-on targeting, and separate buttons for primary and secondary weapons (with the ability to swap between two primaries and two secondaries on the fly). And of course there’s a barrel roll feature too. You can mine minerals by shooting at them (sort of like in No Man’s Sky) and if something’s floating out in space that you want to pick up, you just tap a button (A if you’re using an Xbox controller) to suck it up with your tractor beam. And collecting resources also rewards you with bleep and bloop sounds that never get old.

While Everspace 2 is mostly about combat, it presents a universe that’s begging to be explored. It keeps unfathomable amounts of goodies — ship upgrades, weapons, resources, and even cash — hidden around every sector of the universe. Sometimes you’ll find hidden crates by blasting open asteroids, or by solving puzzles to power up a metal door on a demolished satellite. Or sometimes you’ll find an unmanned station in a desert, and you’ll just blast away at crates of resources, robbing the place blind in the process.

And the game keeps things fresh by offering countless different environments to explore, from debris fields of wrecked freighters to varied planet surfaces to the insides of asteroids. And there’s a sense of both scale and spectacle here, where environments occasionally catch you off guard. For example, in the tutorial mission, you’ll be exploring the inside of an asteroid, through caverns lined with glowing purple crystals. All of a sudden a mining drill bursts through to send enemies pouring through an opening that had just been a solid rock wall. And then, once you take down all the enemies, you’ll exit the cavern through the fresh tunnel that this drilling machine just made.

What really hooked me is the freelance job system. Some space stations offer a list of freelance jobs for you to take — blowing up an outlaw station or simply delivering some goods, for example — and these will reward you with extra cash and XP. Once I found my first freelance hub, it’s pretty much all I wanted to do. I love this stuff.

Everspace 2 is constantly rewarding you with cool stuff, like ship upgrades, new weapon types, and better and better versions of components you already have equipped. It feels almost like a looter-shooter, because you’re constantly swapping out your gear for new gear, which you’ll then swap out an hour later for something better. You can even buy new ships at certain vendors if you can spare the credits. There’s an almost Diablo-esque quality to this loot system, and it’s hyper-addictive.

The crafting system is super fun too, though you will need a cargo upgrade in order to access this feature (if you explore every nook and cranny of this game, though, you’ll probably find one pretty early on). You earn blueprints by deconstructing tech. So, let’s say you have a Level-2 Beam Laser that you’re not going to use anymore. You can deconstruct that to earn 1/3 of the blueprint. Deconstruct two more of that same item and you’ll earn the full blueprint, which allows you to craft more Beam Lasers. And when you craft something, it’s automatically scaled to your current level. So you can actually deconstruct three Level-2 Beam Lasers and then make a Level-6 Beam Laser. This keeps you constantly recycling gear to add it to your blueprints list so you can re-craft it at a higher level later on. (You can sometimes find full blueprints out in the wild too, which means you won’t have to deconstruct absolutely every item in the game three times.)

There is some story, but it’s admittedly not that interesting, and it’s mostly told through Metal Gear Solid-style coms dialogue or through static images with text on them (though all of this is fully voiced). I zoned out for most of this stuff, anxious to get back to my freelance job queue so I could save up some credits to buy better gear, which I could then use to tackle harder jobs.

Everspace 2 is simply incredible. I can’t stop playing this game, and every time I think I’m getting tired of it, it lures me back in and offers more surprises. It might lack a lot of those fine-tuned sim elements that some folks really love, but it replaces them with spectacle and sheer fun. I think the tradeoff is more than worth it. Seriously, this is the most addictive space combat game I’ve played in a really, really long time.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Everspace 2 for Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Against the Storm is a gorgeous city-builder that features anthropomorphic animals and roguelite elements. It entered Early Access back in November, and I have to say, this feels extremely refined and fleshed-out for an Early Access game. It’s also insanely addictive. If you’re a fan of city-builder/management games at all, you really owe it to yourself to check this one out.

And perhaps the newest update, Sentinels of the Forest, will be enough to entice you to check this one out? Or maybe the fact that the game is on sale for $19.99 until April 27 will sweeten the pot for you?

Either way, the tentpole feature of the Sentinels of the Forest update is the game’s fifth playable race: Foxes. This was actually decided by a player poll back in February (though the decision has been causing a stir among conspiracy-minded fans). I’m fascinated by the lore of this race, as they seem to be forest-dwellers who’ve tapped into an ancient forest magic, which is always an intriguing premise. Here’s what the official press release says:

As a species that’s developed a close connection with the forest, the Foxes specialize in scouting and working with rainwater-fueled technologies. They also bring five new buildings including: dedicated Fox houses, a Tea House (for making tea), a Beanery, a Distillery, and a Tea Doctor (for healing people with tea).

Of course, all this comes with new buildings (mentioned in the previous paragraph), visual assets, perks, and events. The foxes also crave a new craftable resource: porridge.

Oh, and did I mention that the update is already live for anyone who owns the game?

You can read more about the new features in the official press release and on the update notes page on Steam, and you can check out the trailer for the Sentinels of the Forest update below.

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It feels like Christmas came early whenever a new survival game pops up on my radar, especially when it promises a unique take on genre staples and tropes. Sunkenland, by developer/publisher Vector3 Studio, is currently the delightful fire to my proverbial outside weather, to stretch this metaphor perhaps to its breaking point.

The first thing that might come to mind (depending on your age and familiarity with Kevin Costner movies) is that this looks like Waterworld: The Game. Of course, Sunkenland shouldn’t be mistaken for the actual Waterworld video game on the Virtual Boy, because no game should suffer that fate (even if Vector3 does insist on using the word Waterworld in their official Twitter headline).

However if none of what you just read means anything at all to you, the premise of Sunkenland is pretty simple: Stranded in a world where the water levels have drowned most of society of yore, you are tasked with eking out a life above the waves, on makeshift platform bases and small dots of islands that manage to peak their little heads out of the water. You will also need to scavenge beneath the surface of the ocean in the hopes of finding precious resources — and perhaps sunken treasures.

Sunkenland can be played solo or in co-op, so unlike a PvP-heavy game like Rust, it appears that most (if not all) the dangers come in the form of NPC pirates and raiders, which is honestly a sea shanty to my ears. You will also encounter the dangers of the deep, as aquatic life will likely pose a threat while you’re exploring the ocean deep.

For the most part, the base-building system looks pretty much like what you would expect and hope for in a title of this nature. Combat looks like a mix of guns and melee, and the amount of vehicles already in the game is impressive, ranging from dingies and jet skis all the way up to larger fishing and military vessels. We even see a gyrocopter at one point.

I am already sold on Sunkenland merely by the premise alone, as an unashamed fan of Waterworld and of survival games in general. The game’s Steam page says it’s coming soon, with no concrete release date, but hopefully we won’t have to wait long before it hits early access.

But I guess it’s best not to… hold one’s breath…

You can check out the trailer below.

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If you ever wanted to create your very own Legend of Zelda-styled dungeons but felt intimidated by video game creation and editing tools, Super Dungeon Maker looks like it might be for you. This upcoming title strips away the complex aspects of coding and provides an easier drag-and-drop design with pre-existing objects and templates.

The dev teams at rokaplay and FIRECHICK were inspired by their love of classic 16-bit Nintendo games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and they also cite the ease of use of Super Mario Maker as a big influence. The end result was Super Dungeon Maker, which gives you the tools necessary to create 16-bit top-down dungeons.

It’s a neat idea, for sure, and it looks really cool. Already the game has received high praise from the Steam community following its early access release, and the devs have taken this feedback to continuously work on and fine-tune the game.

Players can build dungeons with multiple rooms, traps, tile sets, enemies, and bosses. You can even add hidden objects for others to discover as they play through your creations. So whether you want to remix your favorite Zelda dungeons or create that dungeon Nintendo never made but that you always wanted to play, it looks like Super Dungeon Maker will provide the avenue to do so in an easy-to-grasp manner.

Of course, if you need some inspiration yourself, you’ll be able to play pre-existing dungeons, as well as anything uploaded by the community. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Super Dungeon Maker will provide cross-play downloading between Nintendo Switch and PC, so there will likely always be something new for you to check out.

Regarding the game’s playable sword-wielding chicken character, it looks like that’s the only hero you’ll be able to use at this time. That said, the devs did state in the comments of the trailer on YouTube that another character will be added at a later date.

Interestingly, Super Dungeon Maker is also being promoted as a learning tool, with the developers opening it up for use at universities absolutely free of charge. Per the dev team, academic institutions across North America and Europe have already begun using the tool. Speaking of which, if you’re a teacher and would like access to Super Dungeon Maker, you can hit up the developers over at edu@rokaplay.com.

Super Dungeon Maker is scheduled to launch fully on Nintendo Switch and PC on May 3, 2023.

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The official servers for the last-gen version (A.K.A. the current version, at the time of this writing) of Ark: Survival Evolved are getting shut down at the end of August of 2023. This will only allow players to either solely play the single-player game, or play multiplayer via player-run unofficial servers. The reason for this, apparently, is that Ark 2 has been delayed out of 2023, so Studio Wildcard is going to release a current-gen updated version of the original Ark, titled Ark: Survival Ascended.

Now, this was initially a pretty exciting announcement. I mean, who wouldn’t want a current-gen version of this dinosaur-filled survival game? Even for PC players, the prospect of playing an updated version of Ark on a new engine (with vaguely defined quality-of-life improvements) is pretty tantalizing.

The problem is that this is a paid upgrade, with no path for anyone to get a discounted or even free update for those who already own the current version of Ark.

Earlier this year, Cities Skylines released an admittedly underwhelming current-gen upgrade that was free for anyone who owned the previous version. Saves didn’t carry over, but not having to pay for this upgrade lessened the sting quite a bit, at least for me. And that’s to say nothing of games like No Man’s Sky or Hitman 3, which simply gave current-gen players free updates without wiping saves or anything.

So for Studio Wildcard to pull the rug on the current fanbase — none of whom asked for this development — only to then also ask for money for the newer version is pretty suss, if you ask me.

At first, there was a $50 upgrade bundle that included the now-delayed, still-upcoming Ark 2. This is a somewhat nice gesture, I guess, but consideringStudio Wildcard has yet to even release gameplay footage of Ark 2 or even detail what players will actually be able to expect from the sequel (other than the dulcet tones of a digitized Vin Diesel), it feels a little slimy. And this is possibly even suggesting there isn’t much faith that Ark 2 will be able to stand on its own once it finally does release.

However, this was quickly walked back once Studio Wildcard (who somehow I guess couldn’t predict this inevitable outcome), received a tidal wave of backlash, and now players would simply be able to purchase Ark: Survival Ascended for without the sequel included. And for a higher price.

To circle back to the headline that got you to click on this article in the first place, if Ark, a game originally intended as a multiplayer experience, will effectively be a single-player-only game (unless you run an unofficial server) after August for those who don’t want to buy into Survival Ascended, why is Studio Wildcard still selling Ark: Survival Evolved?

Even now as I type this, you can currently get Ark: Ultimate Survivor Edition on sale on the PSN store for $24.99, down from the original asking price of $49.99. And if you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber, that goes down to $19.99. This version includes a bevy of DLC and add-on content, everything a new player needs to get up to speed and enjoy everything the game has to offer. But nowhere in the description on the store page does it state that the servers will be shutting off at the end of August, so if you are looking for a hassle-free online experience, you have been forewarned.

If PC is more your speed, you can also pick up Ark: Survival Evolved on Steam for $19.99. Again, there’s no mention in the game description that the servers will be shutting down. Now, I suppose you could dig through announcements on the Steam page and eventually find this information, but Studio Wildcard is certainly not going out of their way to put this information front and center. This feels incredibly underhanded.

If, for a loose comparison, I bought a car that came with an OnStar-like service (is OnStar still even a thing?), but only then later learned that I would need to launch my own satellite for this service to work, I would feel pretty burned. Yes, this is a ridiculous example, but the sentiment, I think, is what’s important. If you buy a product that boasts about its features, only to find out those features are rapidly approaching their expiration date, it kind of feels like a misrepresentation of the value of the thing that’s being purchased.

Here’s a novel idea: Since this game will be greatly diminished in its future form, as far as the ease of connectivity, and since there is a newer version on the horizon, why in the world doesn’t Wildcard pull this version of Ark off the storefront and simply offer pre-orders for the newer version, which is the only version they will actively be supporting just a few months from now? I mean, can you imagine how it would feel if this original version simply continues to be offered for purchase, and someone buys it mere days before the servers get cut and the new version becomes available for purchase?

So why are Studio Wildcard, Sony, Microsoft, and PC storefronts still selling this version of Ark at all, without a warning that what you buy today might not be what you can effectively play later? Then again, after watching this entire fiasco unfold, I guess I’m not surprised that the consumer’s best interests are not factoring into the decisions of the developer, publisher, and digital game retailers.

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After almost six years of free updates, do you know what No Man’s Sky really needed? More corruption. At least, that’s what it seems like the thought process was behind the brand new Interceptor content.

No Man’s Sky has been updated to version 4.2 with today’s Interceptor update. The update brings a host of new features, many of them focused on corruption, which can now be found spreading across some planets in the game’s universe. You can actually harvest this corruption to fuel your Sentinel tech.

This corruption shows up in the form of glowy purple crystals, and it has an impact on Sentinels, creating arachnid-style hostile drones with crystals sticking out of them. Actually, I don’t think arachnid is quite the right term, since they only have four legs, but they do look kind of spiderlike. Maybe crablike is a better term (though crabs also have more than four legs)? Either way, they seem kind of terrifying.

One of the cool new features is that No Man’s Sky has finally added the Interceptor class of starships, meaning you can finally own one of those A-Wing-like Sentinal ships that you may have gotten on the bad side of a few times. And I have to say, the cockpit design for these ships might actually have me flying in first-person again. The electronic effect on the windshield is awesome to look at.

With all this comes a new Nexus mission, as well as improved A.I. for Sentinel mobs. And then, of course, there’s a bunch of new cosmetics, like a brand-new cape and a winged backpack.

Oh, and did I mention that there are now corrupted machines that you can attack?

All of this sounds pretty cool. It’s not game-altering, but it does seem like a lot of thought went into this update to make it all feel coherent in the game’s ever-expanding universe. If nothing else, those Sentinel ships are awesome.

You can read the full patch notes on the official No Man’s Sky website, and you can watch the full trailer for No Man’s Sky Interceptor below.

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Terra Nil is a super-chill little game where you have to reclaim a desolate wasteland by cleaning the soil and planting trees, then bringing back the native wildlife. While it’s pretty short, I did enjoy the fleeting time that I spent with it.

Since the game focuses on environmental issues and reforestry, the folks at developer Free Lives are encouraging the planting of trees via the Tree Nation project. This project aims to plant a trillion trees by 2050, and it got a boost from more than 50 streamers who played Terra Nil. The result is that almost 50,000 trees have been planted in the name of Terra Nil.

If you want to see the impact of this reforestry project, including details on where these trees have been planted and estimates on how much carbon this will capture, you can check out the Terra Nil Tree Warriors page on the Tree Nation website.

Free Lives is also donating 8% of its profits from Steam sales to the Endangered Wildlife Trust.

A for the game itself, it has now been played by more than 300,000 people, according to a press release that went out this morning.

The development team is planning some much-deserved rest after the game’s successful launch, but they are still listening to player feedback. After they’re break, they plan to regroup and consolidate player feedback to determine what fixes and new features would improve the game going forward.

Personally, I would like to see more content for this chill little game in the future, so I hope the plan is to support Terra Nil for a long period of time. But that’s just my personal wish; I don’t know how long Free Lives is planning on updating this.

In the meantime, to celebrate all of this, Terra Nil got a chill little accolades trailer, which you can check out below.

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Sometimes, the price of a game will totally change the way you feel about the content of that game. I mean, you expect something totally different from a $70 game than you would from a $20 game, right?

Take Beyond Contact, for example. If I would have paid $70 for this — or even like $40 — I think I would have said that it feels a little undercooked but that it’s also showing a lot of promise. But this actually costs a cool $14.99 (and at the time of this writing, it’s on sale for an even cooler $9.89.) For ten or fifteen bucks, Beyond Contact is absolutely worth the asking price. In fact, I think Playcorp and Deep Silver could have asked for $20 or even $22.50 for this. I would probably draw the line somewhere before $25, though.

Beyond Contact is one of those survival buildy-crafty games that’s been all the rage since Minecraft and DayZ became such massively successful properties (has it been more than a decade already?) The difference, I suppose, is that this one takes place on an alien world, and that it’s also played from a Diablo-style top-down perspective. It’s almost like a Diablo-like take on No Man’s Sky (though without all of No Man’s Sky‘s planet-hopping — Beyond Contact takes place on a single planet called Ketern).

The camera angle doesn’t change a lot about the basic gameplay loop, though I do think it makes it feel a little more awkward to play than it needs to. I always felt like I wish I could zoom the camera out a little bit further, and I did struggle to aim my weapons with a controller. The character tends to spin just a little too slow, so when you want to shoot something behind you, you’ll have to allow a little bit of extra time for them to turn all the way around, otherwise you’ll shoot off to the left or the right of where you were intending to.

But neither of those issues is a dealbreaker for a fifteen-dollar video game, and I ended up really enjoying my time with Beyond Contact. According to Steam, I’ve played this one for about 16 hours so far, and I don’t feel like I’m done with it yet.

This game does have a series of quests that tell an over-arcing narrative, but I honestly never felt all that invested in the story. The thing that hooked me was the drip-fed crafting mechanic. As you collect and scan various plants and minerals in the game, you will earn data, which can be spent buying new crafting recipes and building blueprints. This happens slowly enough that you’re not overwhelmed with new recipes all the time, but fast enough that you always feel like you’re making progress.

I feel like the game really starts cooking once you establish a base (which the game sort of nudges you to do early in the story). Before that point, you can feel a bit lost and purposeless, but when your first base is complete, you suddenly feel connected to Ketern in a way that might surprise you. You’ve actually claimed a piece of land, and now it’s yours to develop and nurture. Plus, you’ll have a place to store the extra junk that you’ve been collecting (in case you need it later) and wait out the game’s brutally cold nights.

Actually, that brings me to another one of my gripes about Beyond Contact: I do think the survival mechanics are a little too brutal. While I did manage to get my hunger meter under control eventually (by planting massive farms outside my base), there was a point when I was spending most of my time just wandering around looking for food and oxygen. This can be a distraction from the true joy of just building and expanding your base while you continue to learn fresh recipes.

Again, this was certainly not enough to turn me off of the game, but it does seem like there could be some balance changes to reduce the rate at which you starve or run out of oxygen.

Oh, and there’s also a weirdly implemented cosmetic system that I want to talk about for a bit. See, the game gives you credits for completing daily quests and for simply surviving each night. You can then spend these on cosmetic upgrades that mostly amount to color-swapped versions of whatever you’re wearing. There are also additional characters to purchase in case you’re not a fan of Quinn Hicks, the default protagonist. I found her accent to be adorable, so I didn’t want to experiment with the other available options for myself, but maybe the reptilian Kangah or the white-haired Professor Zaine is more your speed — it’s up to you.

Personally, this whole system feels kind of tacked on, and it’s easy to just ignore it completely (like I did, for the most part). Still, I am a little nervous that Playcorp intends to monetize the game by selling the credits for real-world money while adding more characters and color options to the game. I guess it doesn’t affect me too much, because I’m fine with the default options, but the whole thing feels like a piece of another video game that was just randomly duct-taped onto Beyond Contact‘s main menu. It’s kind of startling, almost, once you realize it’s there.

With all that said, I really enjoyed my time with Beyond Contact so far, and I plan on investing more time in it. I do hope Polycorp plans on continuing to update the game far into the future, because this feels like the very beginning of something interesting. In it’s current state, it doesn’t quite feel like a 1.0 build to me, but then again, it’s super inexpensive, so there’s no reason to expect something extremely fleshed out. At the same time, there’s some real potential here, and with a couple more years of development, this could really grow into something special. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if Polycorp and Deep Silver are in this one for the long haul.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Beyond Contact for Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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In Beyond Contact, there is a quest called We Want Trade, which asks you to collect a number of items and then deliver them to the market. If you’re new to the game, you might be struggling to figure out where you can find all these things. So I’m going to walk you through every single item that you need for this quest.

One thing I should point out is that there have been some different versions of this quest in the past. If you played Beyond Contact in Early Access, then your version of We Want Trade might have been substantially different than this. The version I’m walking through today is from version 1.0, which launched on April 4, 2023.

Where to pick up the We Want Trade questBefore you start this quest, you’re going to have to find the proper NPC. Thankfully, you should be somewhat guided by quest markers. The quest that guides you to the proper location is called Journey to the Ruins. This sends you into some alien ruins, where you’ll find a race of crab people.

I can’t give you the location, because as far as I can tell, the terrain is randomly generated. However, there should be quest markers to follow. Once you complete Journey to the Ruins, you can make your way to the market, where you’ll find the quest giver. The market should be marked by a bag icon on your map (and it should be located inside the ruins).

I don’t know if the NPC names are randomly generated or static, but my shopkeeper was named Monton Olke. When you talk to the shopkeeper, you’ll get the We Want Trade quest, which asks you to collect three sets of items:

• 2 Crog Hides
• 2 Captured Chitterlings
• 3 Kepple Fruit Plants

You’ll bring all of these items back to the shopkeeper once you’ve collected them, and you can turn them in using the “Trade” option. But first, of course, you must find all this stuff. So let’s tackle them one at a time.

Find the Open Plains biomeFirst, you’ll want to be in the Open Plains biome. This is the area where the grass is a bluish green, and it will contain everything you need in order to complete this quest.

How to get 2 Crog HidesThere are two different type of Crog: your standard run-of-the-mill Crog, and your hearty Bull Crog. Regular Crogs are bluish purple and smaller, while Bull Crogs are a reddish purple color and larger than the other Crogs. You can see both types in the image above (the Bull Crog is on the right).

It’s important to know the difference, because Bull Crogs are super aggressive, and they will attack you on site. The other Crogs are passive, though, and you can walk by them without them caring too much. It’s the basic Crogs that you want to shoot for. They’re still super tough, but they’re nearly as tough as the Bull Crogs.

I found the best method for attack was setting up a few turrets, then goading a Crog into them with a whip. The Crog would get confused about whether to attack me and the turret, giving me a quick second where I could safely attack with the whip, and then I would sort of dance aside whenever the Crog started an attack animation. The Crogs do signal their attack paths with red marks, so you can dodge if you’re quick.

This might take a few tries, but thankfully a single Crog should drop enough hides for you to complete the quest. Plus, you’ll get some Crog meat as a bonus, which you can cook in a stove and produce some decently powerful healing snacks.

Good luck with this one!

How to capture 2 ChitterlingsChitterlings are little pillbug-like critters that scurry around in the grass. They look like this:

You can find them in pretty much any low-level biome, but since you’re already in the Open Plains, you might as well look for them here.

You will need to craft at least two nets for this (and you might want to craft a third just to be safe). This is a low-level crafting recipe (found in the first tier of Research under the Exploration tab), and each net can be made from:

• Tamber Cloth
• 2 Sparkstone

Now you’ll need to catch Chitterlings in your nets, which isn’t as intuitive as it seems at first. Well, at least not if you’ve played a ton of Don’t Starve (like I have). See, in Don’t Starve, you can capture rabbits by setting out traps for them. You just have to set up the trap and wait. That doesn’t work for Chitterlings in Beyond Contact, though. Believe me, I tried. Even though you can set a net down on the ground, it won’t automatically capture creatures; you have to do it manually.

When you select a net in your inventory, you will see two circles appear on the ground. The large one marks the range that you can throw, and the small one marks the area where your net will land. You can move the small circle all the way past the outer edge of the large circle.

If you’re using an Xbox controller, you’ll activate aim mode by pressing LT, and then you’ll deploy the net using RT.

You’ll need to approach a Chitterling so it’s just barely in range of your net. This means it will be just slightly outside the larger circle. Once you do that, line up the small circle and toss the net. Your aim doesn’t have to be exact, but it needs to land at least close to the target for it to count. If you miss, you can pick up the net and try again, but keep in mind that this will cause the net to degrade a little bit (I believe it’s 3% degradation per miss).

Note that if you get too close, you’ll frighten the Chitterling, and it will run off and perhaps burrow into the ground. So you’ll need to be quick, but you’ll also need to be careful.

Also, once you catch two Chitterlings, you’ll want to rush back to the merchant and turn them in right away. If you have a creature in a net for too long, it will eventually burst out and escape.

How to find 3 Kepple Fruit PlantsOkay, so there’s an easy way to do this, and then there’s a hard way to do this. I’ll walk you through both of them.

The easy way is to simply find three Kepple Plants and dig them up using a shovel. Kepple Plants can be found pretty abundantly in the Open Plains biome, and the shovel can be researched after you’ve researched the Research Chip III. It’s located in the Exploration tab, and it’s labeled Excavation Equipment.

Once researched, the Lightweight Shovel can be crafted out of 2 Tamber Rope and 5 Feron Ore.

The hard way, though, is to craft the plants from scratch.

This requires:

• 4 Organic Data
• 4 Nutritious Seed
• 3 Rich Soil

You’ll also need to have built a Botany Laboratory, and you can only craft the plants in close proximity to it.

The Organic Data is pretty easy, since you can acquire it by collecting pretty much any plant. The Nutritious Seeds are also pretty easy, as you can harvest them from Kepple Plants, Gomble Cacti, and Narnip Sprouts. Note that not ever single plant will produce seeds, but these three types of plant produce Nutritious Seeds occasionally.

The last ingredient is Nutritious Soil, which can be dug up using the Lightweight Shovel. Occasionally, you will find Soil Mounds. They just look like a small hill of brown dirt.

If you find one of these mounds, equip your Lightweight Shovel and dig up some dirt. Note that Nutritious Soil will rot over time, so you’ll want to use it quickly before it has a chance to decompose entirely.

Once you have all three ingredients, bring them to a Botany Laboratory and combine them to make a Kepple Plant. You will need three Kepple Plants for this quest.

And that should do it. Once you have all three items, you can return to the merchant and trade them all in. And that will complete the We Want Trade quest in Beyond Contact.

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If you were hoping to get that really grotesque Sonic the Hedgehog collectible figure from Poptaters, you’re out of luck. It turns out Entertainment Earth, an online retailer for toys, figures, and other hobby items, has sold out of its stock.

The figure’s listing now reads: “SOLD OUT — FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.” It was never even updated with a current product image on the Entertainment Earth website.

That Poptaters Sonic the Hedgehog figure went as it came: with a mild fizzle. For real, though, it’s interesting that the thing sold out. It was available for preorder in the weeks leading up to its release, and it would seem that everyone who wanted it seemingly snagged it. Good for you… whoever you are.

Here’s hoping this isn’t the last we see of this specific Poptaters Sonic the Hedgehog figure. It had an oddly alluring charm to it. Oh, it was damn near obscene, for sure, but it’s one of those things that you can’t help but love just because it exists.

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The phrase “end of an era” could be considered an overused cliché, but there’s no denying that’s what the closure of the 3DS and Wii U eShops feels like. As of March 27, 2023, at 5:00 PM Pacific Time, both digital storefronts were officially taken offline, and it felt… a bit sad, to be quite honest.

We’ve known about Nintendo’s intention to close down the eShops for both of its Switch predecessors, but the time just seemed to come too soon. It’s a shame, really, because there was some original content on both platforms that could potentially die with those consoles and, very specifically, die with the 3DS and Wii U eShops.

One such example is Bomb Monkey, a quirky little puzzler from developer Renegade Kid. That same studio brought us Mutant Mudds, a rad 2D platformer that was also on Nintendo 3DS and eventually made its way to Switch and PlayStation 4. And while that’s great for that game, what about Bomb Monkey? Currently, that title is a 3DS eShop exclusive, so it is now essentially in a digital limbo for a now-defunct storefront.

Bomb Monkey is just one example. Maybe you’re not into silly puzzlers. Though this isn’t meant to knock Bomb Monkey, maybe that type of game simply doesn’t hold much value to some. But that was just one game that is, as of right now, essentially lost forever. Games like Dillon’s Rolling Western, an acclaimed strategy title, and the Pushmo series were exclusive to that era of Nintendo consoles too. Those games were praised for their inventive and entertaining gameplay, and their future is now practically nonexistent.

The closure of the 3DS and Wii U eShops feels like a blow for some titles more than others. Developers experimented with touchscreen and dual-screen functionality, sure, but there was more to it than that. In some cases, games on these platforms didn’t always make innovative use of their touch capabilities, but that didn’t stop devs from getting inventive with their stories and concepts. Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale, Crimson Shroud, and Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword were lauded just for existing, and they delivered enjoyable adventures to those players who discovered them.

Of course, there were other games that received a lot of acclaim and that were built around the hardware designs of the 3DS and Wii U touchscreens. Liberation Maiden from Grasshopper Manufacture was an old school-inspired shoot-‘em-up that utilized the 3DS touchscreen. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse on Wii U mixed 2D platforming with touch controls to create a unique experience within the Kirby series. And while the latter is available in physical disc form, it will likely become a rare find over time.

Then there’s the Virtual Console across both platforms. On 3DS, the Virtual Console featured a lot of really cool games, many of which will potentially make their way to the Nintendo Switch Online service. Still, Game Gear titles like Tails Adventure and Sonic Blast, as well as The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons for Game Boy, are currently unavailable on Nintendo Switch, so here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long to see those on there.

The Wii U’s Virtual Console, however, was truly something special. Sure, it had Game Boy Advance titles like Wario Land 4 and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (which is available to Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscribers), but it also had Nintendo DS games. By combining the Wii U GamePad’s touchscreen and stylus with your TV screen, classic DS games like Yoshi’s Island DS, DK: Jungle Climber, Kirby Mass Attack, and Star Fox Command were able to live on.

The loss of the Virtual Console is a blow, for sure, and it spells definite uncertainty for the future of some of those games, especially the original DS titles. Without a second screen and stylus, there’s no telling how something like Yoshi Touch & Go or The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass could be resurrected without losing a big part of what made those games unique and innovative.

Aside from being a total bummer — and yes, it’s truly disheartening — the closure of the eShop on 3DS and Wii U is also somewhat unreal. It was especially surreal in the hours prior to the shutdown. I got on there and began purchasing as much stuff as I could, including some of the aforementioned titles like Sakura Samurai.

It was sad hearing the music for both eShops and knowing that this was the last time I would hear these songs while buying digital games on there. It was also disappointing to see that my purchase of Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars on Wii U no longer meant I could also get the 3DS version as a package deal.

What? You forgot all about that, did you? Yeah, some games (very few, mind you) gave you access to both the Wii U and 3DS versions so long as you purchased one or the other. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars was one such game. If you got the Wii U version on the eShop, you’d receive a code to download the 3DS version for free and vice versa. While I still got a code for the 3DS version, it was no longer able to be redeemed as of the last day of the eShop.

As it would turn out, though, Nintendo added an extension to download codes on 3DS and Wii U a couple days after the closure. This extension is set to last about a week, though, so if you have some codes that still need redeeming on either of those legacy platforms, now would be the time to do so. Unfortunately, the eShops aren’t being reopened for actual purchasing of games, which kind of blows.

The last game I purchased on the Wii U eShop, and this was right at 4:59, was Yoshi’s Island DS. I attempted to also snag Yoshi Touch & Go, too, but alas, it was too late. I was greeted by a screen informing me of an error caused by “connection issues or high traffic volume.” It was sad. It was surreal. And it truly felt like the end of something special.

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Some city builders will push you to your limit, asking you to juggle several different metaphorical balls at once. When one thing goes wrong, it kicks off a chain reaction, where your failures snowball and you go into panic mode, desperately trying to prevent the total collapse of the thing you’ve been working on for the past several hours. I played a bit of Pharaoh: A New Era last month, and that’s the exact sort of game I’m thinking about.

Terra Nil is different. Terra Nil bills itself as a city builder in reverse — it’s a game in which you take a resource-starved, desolate wasteland and transform it into a lush natural paradise, teaming with life.

In Terra Nil, you do have resources to manage (there’s a leaf-based currency that you’ll spend on various buildings and drones and whatnot), but the game is extremely generous when it comes to doling those out. I’ve completed the game to 100% at this point, and I never once felt like I was even close to running out of those leaves.

This allows you to sit back and chill and take it all in, which I think is what Terra Nil wants you to do. The game might start out dull and grey, but once you start bringing vibrant greens and bright autumnal colors to your world, it becomes a thing of beauty.

If you’re used to playing a lot of intense, micromanagey city-builders, this might feel kind of foreign. When I first started playing, I was wondering when resource management was going to come around to start nipping at my heels — but then it never does. Instead, the gameplay feels more like an open-ended puzzle with multiple solutions.

For example, in the Polar region, you’ll have to think about the order in which to plant your biomes, because tundra requires very specific atmospheric conditions, and forests require ashes, which you’ll create by setting your tundra ablaze. If you plan ahead, you can make sure you’re building tundra at the exact right time (before you increase the moisture too much), and that you have more than enough of it once you start setting it on fire.

The first time I played this region, I ended up screwing myself over by not creating enough tundra to seed my forest. By the time I realized my mistake, the moisture level was way too high for me to plant anymore tundra. Sure, I could have started plopping down dehumidifiers to reduce the moisture levels, but I also hadn’t hit the 99% humidity challenge yet, and I didn’t want to lower the humidity back down so that I could then raise it back up (or vice versa). So it was easier to just start over.

Additionally, the final phase of every map requires you to recycle the structures you built, so you can leave behind a pristine nature preserve with no trace of your activities. This means you’ll have a much easier time if you plan your construction around this quirk: Cluster your buildings in spaces where your recyclers and drones can easily reach them, otherwise you’ll spend extra time building extra monorail tracks or levees to make those areas accessible late in the game.

The first three maps play out as you’d expect, each one introducing a few new ideas while building off what came before. But then the fourth map throws something completely different at you, asking you to build a rocketship and collect seeds so you can leave the world entirely and start the process again on some distant rock somewhere else in space. On top of this, you’re dealing with husks of ruined skyscrapers (which are excellent places for bamboo and eagle’s nests) while an earthquake releases toxic waste into the world.

For me, this late-game twist felt like a pleasant surprise. Just as I was falling into a rhythm, the game became something I didn’t expect. While there’s a seed-collecting minigame that feels half-baked, I did at least appreciate having a new game mechanic to disorient me a little bit right before the game’s ending.

Once you complete the main story, which happens across four maps, you’ll unlock new challenge maps on these same regions. These are slightly more difficult than the story maps, asking you to use familiar mechanics in new ways. For example, the first map you’ll play is the River Valley in the Temperate region. Once you complete the game, you can return to the Temperate region to access the Abandoned Quarry map. While the River Valley has a few trees in it by default, allowing you to set up beehives and get your fynbos cooking, the Abandoned Quarry has none until you grow your own. However, forest needs ash to grow, and in the River Valley region, you would create ash by burning fynbos. Do you see the dilemma? (Thankfully, you can set up dehumidifiers so you can create dry, burnable areas, but this does mean your biome setup has an additional step that must be managed carefully.)

But even these post-game maps don’t really offer any substantial amount of challenge. I breezed through them in a few hours, while listening to podcasts to keep my brain busy. Terra Nil remains chill for its entire duration.

And that duration is not long. I think I spent about 15 hours with the game in total, and that includes all the time I spent writing guides for it. I think you could probably earn 100% completion in less than ten hours — and that estimate includes completing the post-game challenge maps.

For some folks, Terra Nil is going to feel a little too breezy. The game’s systems aren’t very deep; and they never really ask that much of you, even on the “challenge” maps. So if you want to micromanage several resources at once, performing that plate-spinning act that more in-depth city-builders require, then Terra Nil probably isn’t for you. (The good news, though, is that Pharaoh: A New Era is probably going to be your jam, and you can play that instead.)

But if you want something that you can unwind with — something that will let you turn off your brain and look at all the pretty colors — then Terra Nil is pretty fun. I found myself captivated from start to finish, and while I do wish there were more challenge maps to give me an excuse to spend a few more hours with it, I did enjoy my oh-so-brief time with the game.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Terra Nil on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Welcome to Terra Nil, the reverse city-builder from Free Lives and Devolver Digital. The game is a ton of fun, and the launch version comes with 17 achievements to unlock. So here’s a complete list of every Steam achievement in Terra Nil.

• Goldilocks – Have 3 bears living on 3 different hills at least 10 tiles apart in the River Valley.
• Valley of the Wind – Restore the River Valley.
• Marine Haven – Restore the tropical region with at least 40% of the map being underwater.
• Abundant Life – Discover all animal species and fully restore biomes and climate conditions in the tropical region. (If you want to learn how to discover every animal species in the game, check out my full guide here.)
• Antarctic Oasis – Restore the Volcanic Glacier while still having at least 15 lava tiles.
• Beneath the Snow – Discover all animal species and fully restore biomes and climate conditions in the polar region. (Again, if you want to learn how to discover every animal species in the game, check out my full guide here.)
• Oryx and Crake – Discover all animal species and fully restore biomes and climate conditions in the continental region. (And one more time, if you want to learn how to discover every animal species in the game, check out my full guide here.)
• Global Rejuvenation – Completely restore the planet.
• Aerial View – Use screenshot mode to take a full map screenshot.
• Screensaver – Appreciate the beauty of nature for at least 60 seconds.
• Wildfire – Burn down 25 buildings with a single fire.
• Perfect Location – Construct an Animal Observatory at the intersection of 4 different tier 2 biomes.

There are five hidden achievements in the game, and I’m going to list them all below. Note that four out of five of these can only be earned after you’ve completed the main story campaign, which unlocks the Abandoned Quarry, Archipelago, Polluted Fjord, and Irradiated Sprawl maps.

• Minecraft Rocks! – Create rock by causing lava and river to meet. (If you want a guide on how to unlock this achievement, you’re in luck. You can check out my Minecraft Rocks! guide here.)
• Open-cast Reclamation – Restore the Abandoned Quarry.
• Flooded Isles – Restore the Archipelago.
• Northern Glaciation – Restore the Polluted Fjord.
• Urban Renewal – Restore the Irradiated Sprawl.

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Terra Nil is a game where you reclaim desolate wastelands for Mother Nature. Along the way, you’ll even discover some friendly critters!

In Terra Nil, there is a Steam achievement called Minecraft Rocks! The description for this achievement is hidden, which means you’ll have to figure it out on your own. Or not, because I’ve unlocked the achievement, and I can walk you through how I did it.

Once you unlock the achievement, the description reads: “Create rock by causing lava and river to meet.” If you’ve played a lot of Minecraft, you probably know this as a tried and true method for creating obsidian (with some cobblestone on the side), but in Terra Nil, you can only create rock. Of course, rock is extremely valuable in Terra Nil, since it lets you create windmills, which generate power.

Anyway, I found that the best place to earn this is on the Abandoned Quarry map, because it includes plenty of geysers and plenty of riverbeds, both of which you’ll need for this achievement.

In order to unlock the Abandoned Quarry, you’ll have to complete the main story. Once you do that, the Abandoned Quarry can be found in the Temperate region.

Now, you’re looking for a geyser next to a river tile, like this:

You need to break open the geyser to unleash the lava below it. You can do this easily with an Excavator. Note that this doesn’t seem to work with a Seismic Detonator for some reason. You’ll want to set up an Excavator as shown in the image below:

The Excavator’s path must cross directly over the geyser for this to work. Once the Excavator blasts a trench across the marked area, the lava beneath the geyser will come to the surface. Once that lava touches the water, it will form rock.

And that’s how you unlock the Minecraft Rocks! achievement in Terra Nil. Good luck, fellow terraformers!

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Trigger warning: This post contains details about the loss of a pet. Please read at your own discretion.

On March 21, 2023, at about 10:45 in the morning, I had to say goodbye to my best friend. It was eight-and-a-half years ago that I met and adopted this silly little beagle. While I wasn’t sure of his age, he seemed to be about five years old. I named him Boomer after Tom DeLonge’s character from Blink-182’s “First Date” music video, and we went on to have just a little over eight awesome years as a pair.

Unfortunately, Boomer was diagnosed with cancer in January 2023. The cancer was found in his hind right leg, and the veterinarian immediately recommended amputation. It was surreal to think about, but I knew it was the right call if it meant extending Boomer’s time and, above all else, improving his quality of life.

The surgeon explained to me that if we didn’t go through with the surgery, Boomer was looking at about three months of life left, tops. Performing the surgery, and banking on the hope that the cancer hadn’t spread, would potentially extend his life anywhere from six months to a year or more. Sadly, due to the nature of bone cancer, it was difficult to tell if it had spread or if it would surface elsewhere in his body. But there was no question about it: Amputation was his best bet.

Boomer was about 13 years old at this point, and he suffered from a heart murmur which had, thankfully, never progressed too much. Still, with him being an older dog and having said pre-existing heart condition, the risk was always there that he wouldn’t make it through the surgery. Well, beagles are known for being stubborn, so Boomer didn’t give up and made it through the surgery with no complications whatsoever. He was officially a tripawd.

I took Boomer home after his surgery, and though there was a bit of acclimating to do at first, he did pretty well on three legs. Before I knew it, he had adjusted to life as a tripawd and was enjoying daily walks again.

The good times, unfortunately, didn’t last much longer, as just a little over two months after his surgery, Boomer’s health declined almost instantly. He suffered from a seizure shortly after we got home from a walk one day. He’d had seizures before, but this one looked very different from the ones he’d experienced in the past. He wasn’t the same after that. He was drained all the time, didn’t want to eat, and could barely get out of his bed.

When the morning of March 21 came, I knew it was time. Boomer is the best thing to ever happen to me, and it was difficult to say goodbye, but it would be selfish to keep him around just because I wanted him with me. I made what I believed was the right call.

I’m still mourning the loss of my dog, but I’ve been trying to honor his memory by remembering the good times and appreciating the fact that I got to have eight-and-a-half amazing years with him. Before going to bed on the day I had him put down, I sat back on my recliner and put on Knights of Badassdom. It’s a dumb horror-comedy, but I love that movie because it was the first film I ever watched with Boomer, so I reminisced while watching it and thinking of him.

Aside from that, I also added a new companion to my camp in Red Dead Online. Now, Boomer was a beagle, which isn’t an option in RDO, but they do have American foxhounds, which look like taller, thinner beagles, so I went with that. Not to mention, Boomer was never a very pudgy beagle and was actually pretty lean for his breed.

Of course, money in Red Dead Online comes in at a super slow trickle, and I had already spent a bunch on who-knows-what-else. But as soon as I earned the required $275 doing Story quests and Stranger Missions, I made sure to adopt a foxhound. Naturally, I named the little guy Boomer, and I immediately hit the “pat” button a bunch of times to give the little guy the same affection I gave my real-life companion.

I may have had to say goodbye to Boomer, but that doesn’t mean I can’t continue to remember and honor him. Being able to do so in Red Dead Online was therapeutic, and it helped bring me a bit more peace.

Miss ya, Boomer. I’ll see you in RDO!

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In Terra Nil, you will be transforming a desolate wasteland into a paradise of nature. One step in that process, of course, is introducing wildlife back into the environment. In each region, you will need to introduce three animal species in order to continue, but if you want to be a completionist, there are more to discover. Every region has six animals, and each one has its own unique prerequisites, so this can take a little bit of time if you’re not sure where to look.

So I’m going to walk you through every animal species in Terra Nil, and give you some guidance on the requirements for discovering each one.

How to find animalsFirst up, in order to discover animals in Terra Nil, you must build an Animal Observatory. This will generally be done in the recycling phase of the map, one you’ve completed all of the other ecological objectives.

The Animal Observatory costs 10 units to build, and it can be constructed on any grassland tile. You can only build one per map (though if you destroy yours, you can rebuild it somewhere else). Location doesn’t really matter, aside from the grassland requirement. One Animal Observatory will allow you to ping the entire region.

Now you’ll need to start pinging. In order to do that, you’ll need to open the Animal Observatory menu. You can do this by clicking the little arrow that’s in the bottom of the circle at the top left-hand portion of your screen.

This should bring open a list of animals that you can scan for, though any of the ones you haven’t found yet will be greyed out. Select one of the animals, then click the ping button, which looks like a circle with the letter C in it.

Now you can click the area on the map that you want to scan. This will bring up some information about that animal, including how many requirements there are for that animal, and how many of these requirements you’ve fulfilled.

A number of circles will appear once you hit the scan button. The number of circles is the number of requirements for that species (so three circles means there are three requirements). If the circle is red with a question mark in it, the area you scanned doesn’t meet that requirement. If the circle is yellow, it means the requirement is partially fulfilled (containing 19 Forest tiles when the requirement asks for 20, for example), and if it’s green, it means it’s fully fulfilled.

If the area you scanned doesn’t meet the requirements, find another area and scan again.

When you meet all the requirements for that specific animal, that animal should migrate into the region (and you’ll even see little animated critters frolicking about if you zoom into the map).

Each animal also has some flavor text assigned to it, and this text will help you know what the requirements are for that animal. Not all of them are completely clear, which is why I’m going to list all of them out for you.

How to discover every animal species in the Temperate regionThe Temperate region includes the River Valley and Abandoned Quarry maps.

DeerThis grazer lives in hears on wide open grassland.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 20 Greenery tiles.

Note: Greenery is grassland, so don’t expect to find deer in forests.

FrogThis small amphibian lives in the reeds of a wetland near a fynbos field.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 10 Wetland tiles.
• In range of at least 5 Fynbos tiles.

Note: This is pretty self-explanatory. You need to scan an area that contains 10 Wetland tiles and 5 Fynbos tiles.

Brown BearThis large caniform’s domain is a forest which contains a beehive and is on a hill.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 20 Forest tiles.
• On a hill of at least 20 tiles.
• In range of a beehive.

Note: Obviously, this means you have to build a forest in one of the elevated areas on your map. First, you’ll need to build a beehive to create an area of fynbos flowers. Now you’ll need to build a Solar Amplifier to burn the fynbos area. Hopefully, you’ll find a pile of ash. On top of this ash, you can build an Arboretum, which creates forest. Then, in the forest, you should be able to build another Beehive on top of any tall tree in the biome. Now scan it and see if the stars align for you!

GooseThis web-footed waterfowl rests in a large lake when it is not flying.

Requirements:

• In a lake.

Note: I found this one to be particularly frustrating, because River tiles and Wetlands tiles only count as half a lake, which means your requirement will only remain partially met. What you need is a body of water that’s not considered a wetlands and is not connected to any of your rivers. The lines you create with your Excavator count as River tiles, so building a lake with Excavators isn’t an option.

BeaverThis industrious rodent builds its home in a river near a forest.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 20 River tiles.
• In range of at least 20 Forest tiles.

Note: This one is pretty self-explanatory; you just have to build a forest next to a river. It can get a little finnicky if the forest isn’t on the very edge of the river. If there’s a tile’s width between the forest and the river, it doesn’t always count.

Timber WolfThis predator prowls in a forest near to a source of prey.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 15 Forest tiles.
• In range of a group of deer.

Note: So this one can be a little tricky, because you need to discover deer first. If you can discover deer close to a forest, you should be golden. If not, you’ll want to either build a forest close to where you found your deer, or build a grassland close to your forest and hope you find deer there.

How to discover every animal species in the Tropical regionThe Tropical region includes the Desolate Island and Archipelago maps.

TortoiseThis beach-dwelling reptile lives on an island where it can retreat into its shell.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 10 Beach tiles.
• On a small island.

Note: I struggled with this one a little bit. Even though the requirements seem pretty self-explanatory, it doesn’t seem like it works every time. What worked for me was setting up an island without any technology on it. Alternatively, you can just recycle all the tech on your island to restore it to its pristine, sandy quality.

Manta RayThis unusually shaped creature glides in the ocean near river estuaries and coral reefs.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 8 ocean tiles.
• In range of at least 6 Coral Reef tiles.
• In range of at least 3 River tiles.

Note: For this one, the river doesn’t necessarily need to empty into the ocean. So long as the river tiles are within your scan area, they should count.

As you can see in the image above, I was able to get this one without having a river that touched the ocean.

One thing to point out, though, is that you won’t have Excavators in this map, so you can’t make your own rivers. If you turn every river into wetlands, you’ll be blocking yourself from finding any manta rays on this run.

ParrotThis colorful bird makes its home in lush forest canopies beneath clear skies.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 20 Tropical Forest tiles.
• No buildings in range.

Note: I think the canopy pillars might count as buildings, but the canopy itself doesn’t. Still, if you’re struggling with this, you might want to recycle all the pillars and try scanning again.

FlamingoThis wader combs for food among the sand of beaches and the mud of wetlands.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 10 Beach tiles.
• In range of at least 10 Wetlands tiles.

Note: Just build your wetlands close to your beaches and you should be good. Just remember to scan for flamingos before you salinate your wetlands (turning them into mangroves).

Reef SharkThis aquatic predator lives in both dense coral and the waters of mangrove forests.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 16 Coral Reef tiles.
• In range of at least 4 Mangrove tiles.
• Temperature at 20°C or higher.

Note: Just build your coral reefs close to your mangrove forests. You can increase the temperature by building Combustors.

WhaleThis large pelagic mammal swims in the deep waters of the ocean, far from land.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 20 Ocean tiles.
• In an area of ocean of deep ocean of at least 10 tiles.
• No land in range.

Note: Polluted Ocean does not count, which makes this a little tricky. You can try to set up an island just far enough out so you can clean up the water, but not deep enough that it gets in the way of your scan (I can confirm that this is possible). However, there’s an easier way: If you can get the humidity to 100% and the temperature to above 35°C, it will start storming, and the deep ocean water will slowly be cleaned without machinery.

How to discover every animal species in the Polar regionThe Polar region includes the Volcanic Glacier and Polluted Fjord maps.

ElkThis herbivore searches beneath the snow for edible lichen and plants.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 6 Lichen tiles.
• In range of at least 20 Snow tiles.

Note: Just find a lot of lichen and snow and you should be good. Of course, that means you’ll need to keep the temperature below 0°C, because otherwise the snow will start to melt.

Snowy OwlThis strigiform roosts in boreal forests and soars over the open tundra.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 10 Forest tiles.
• In range of Tundra.

Note: Find a place where tundra and forest meet, and you should find yourself some owls.

Arctic FoxThis vulpine predator is camouflaged in the snow and prowls the tundra plains.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 10 Snow tiles.
• In range of at least 10 Tundra tiles.

Note: This is another easy one. Find some snow and tundra close together. Again, you’ll need to make sure the temperature stays below 0°C so the snow doesn’t melt, but that’s the only tricky part about all this.

NarwhalThis tusk-bearing whale swims in cold ocean waters and under the ice.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 20 Ocean tiles.
• In range of at least 4 Ice Sheet tiles.
• Temperature at -10°C or lower.

Note: The hardest part about this one is that you have to get the temperature all the way down to the minimum. I found that pretty easy to do by building tons of Flash Freezers. The game does seem to be a little finnicky about what it calls an Ocean tile on this map, though. I found that the closer you can scan to the edge of the map, the better.

PenguinFrom its home on the ice, this flightless bird takes to the ocean in its search for fish.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 16 Ice Sheet tiles.
• In range of at least 10 Ocean tiles.

Note: This is another simple one, but you’ll want to keep the temperature below 0°C to make sure ice forms in the ocean.

Polar BearThis large predator wanders in the snowy territory next to the ocean, near a source of prey.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 16 Snow tiles.
• In range of at least 6 Ocean tiles.
• In range of a group of Elk.

Note: This one almost broke me. The Elk requirement seems extremely finnicky, to the point where I had to create a new herd of Elk to get it to work (after scanning my first herd more than ten times with no results). I did eventually get it to work once I created additional herds.

How to discover every animal species in the Continental regionThe Continental region includes the Flooded City and Irradiated Sprawl maps.

TurtleThis shell-bearing reptile frolics in a large lagoon.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 20 Lagoon tiles.

Note: This one stumped me a little bit, because lagoons can’t be larger than a certain size, but the answer came when I scanned an area with two lagoons close to each other.

PeacockThis resplendent fowl struts on wide open grasslands.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 24 Greenery tiles.

Note: The peacock just needs a lot of grass.

PandaThis gentle giant happily gnaws bamboo near a glade.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 20 Bamboo tiles.
• In range of at least 6 Greenery tiles.

Note: Grass and bamboo. Pretty simple.

EagleThis fierce raptor makes its eyrie in a tall structure, near a source of prey.

• In range of at least 6 Derelict Skyscraper tiles.
• In range of a group of Boar.

Note: One hollowed-out skyscraper should be enough, so long as you can find one near a bunch of boars.

BoarThis widespread suiform roots for tubers in the undergrowth of a deciduous forest.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 8 Greenery tiles.
• In range of at least 12 Deciduous Forest tiles.

Note: Grass and Deciduous Forest; this one shouldn’t throw you for a loop.

Sea OtterThis endangered marine mammal darts among the fronds of a kelp forest.

Requirements:

• In range of at least 12 Ocean tiles.
• In range of at least 12 Kelp Forest Tiles.

Note: As long as you build your kelp forest toward the edge of the map, where the ocean is the widest, you should be fine.

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It’s easy to think of specific genres when the term “arcade” is mentioned. Beat-’em-ups are kind of a given. But there are also rhythm games, shooters, and racing games. But that word — “arcade” — definitely has multiple meanings. In the case of Post Void, “arcade” means giving it everything you’ve got before it all comes crashing down on you and it’s over. This is also in line with roguelikes, which Post Void can also be described as, but its flavor is very much rooted in its arcade influences.

The object of Post Void is simple: Run, gun, and try to survive 11 levels. You’ll make your way through quick stages, killing enemies that pop up in long hallways, large rooms, and labyrinthine passages. You can’t aim down your sights. You don’t have multiple lives. And your health — which is a white liquid seen in an idol that you hold with your left hand — is constantly depleting. Killing enemies fills it a tiny bit, but you’ve got to stay on the move, as it’s constantly draining.

The first time you play Post Void, you’ll probably last five to ten seconds. At that point, you’ll see the “game over” screen, where you’ll be able to start over. Like many other roguelikes, the game’s levels are procedurally generated, so you won’t be able to memorize layouts, either. Instead, you just have to keep trying and honing your aim and movement. As you make your way past enemies, killing them as you go, you’ll eventually reach an area with an oasis. Jump into the oasis and you’ve cleared the level.

Upon finishing a stage in Post Void, you can choose from one of three available upgrades. These include situational upgrades like slowing enemy bullets and faster backward movement to new weapons like a rapid-fire uzi or a powerful shotgun. Like the stage layouts, these upgrades are randomized, so you won’t always have access to the same ones every single time you clear a stage during different play sessions.

Gaining new upgrades makes it so that you have a better fighting chance in the next level. Though given the game’s cruel health depletion, chances are you’ll die before you make much progress at first. Of course, that’s the whole point of Post Void: You’re going to die, and you’re going to retry, and it’s all going to happen over and over again, but hopefully, you’ll improve along the way.

This is a very specific type of game, with very specific mechanics and very specific goals. You’re either going to enjoy it for what it is, or you’re going to hate it for what it’s not. And what Post Void is not is a traditional first-person shooter. If you’re looking for something like Doom or Call of Duty, you won’t find that here.

That’s fine, though, because you can always play one of those titles if you really want to. That said, given just how stylish Post Void is, it’s easy to understand why someone would want to play an FPS that looks and sounds like this, because it has a pretty dope vibe about it.

Everything in Post Void has this sort of pixelated, psychedelic look to it. It’s sludgy as hell, but it looks so freakin’ cool. It’s also loud and abrasive, with heavy rock beats playing throughout. Of course, the music might get a tad repetitive since you’re playing and replaying everything over and over in quick bursts, but it’s also super catchy.

If you want a no-nonsense roguelike shooter where death is constant and progress is a total coin toss, that’s exactly what you’re going to get with Post Void. There’s no identity crisis here — this game knows exactly what it is, and it revels in the madness it creates.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Post Void on Nintendo Switch, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Tchia first blinked onto my radar in 2020 when it was revealed at that year’s Game Awards. It looked adorable and warm and inviting, and also like it had a suite of cool traversal systems that would be fun to interact with. It struck me as a labor of love from the developer Awaceb, one that would fully embrace and showcase New Caledonian culture and folklore.

And now that I’ve played the release build of the game, those things still ring true. Everything seems authentic, from the cuisine the titular Tchia can freely consume along her journey to the island-themed music that serves as the game’s soundtrack. This extends to the musical numbers that Tchia can take part in throughout the campaign using her ukulele with a fully functioning chord-strumming minigame. All of these cultural aspects ground Tchia in a unique and specific setting, which is refreshing in an industry that usually hems closer to real-world recreations of Los Angeles or outright fabricated fantasy worlds.

The map of T’Chia is broken up into two main islands that basically serve to break the game up between early missions and endgame stuff, as well as the post-endgame epilogue activities. There are also a couple of smaller islands dotted around on the periphery, which pop up during the campaign as strongholds or ally bases.

Awaceb managed to hit what I would say is the sweet spot as far as the size of the game world is concerned. There’s plenty of ground to explore and locations to discover — on foot, by boat, by swimming, by flinging from treetop to treetop, by sliding down hills on your butt, or by gliding through the air on your trusty glider. But it never feels like you are traveling for unnecessarily long and dull stretches.

There is also an almost ridiculous amount of side activities and diversions to partake in, as well as a plethora of goodies to discover along the way. Each of these discoveries feels like a reward for exploration, but they will also help aid you in your journey — or, at the very least, you will more than likely make off with a cute new outfit or cosmetic boat piece to accessorize to your heart’s content.

And seriously, the amount of customization here is staggering. You can swap Tchia’s top, bottom, dress, shoes, necklace, bracelets, hat, hair, face paint, backpack, glider, and even ukulele with a wealth of options and variations. Throughout the course of your adventure, you will unlock a seemingly endless supply of options for all of these categories, so you can continue to tweak your look as you explore, and you also have an incentive to seek out chests, take down enemy camps, or take part in races or diving challenges. You can even go deep diving in the ocean for pearls or just spend time collecting trinkets, both of which serve as in-game currencies to unlock more cosmetics, such as a full-body cow or chicken costume, should you wish to rock either of these whacky costumes (and trust me, you will).

And that’s just for modifying the look of Tchia herself — you can also customize your boat at any dock scattered around the edges of the islands, which includes swapping out the sail, mast mini flag, pontoons, boat deck, and even the pattern of the blanket that hangs over the rear of the vessel. Tchia is nothing if not extremely encouraging of player expression, allowing you to effectively make your own Tchia. My favorite ensemble was a mix of cargo pants and Chuck Taylors with a yellow hoodie that remained unzipped, revealing a black-and-white striped shirt. I also went with a white-and-red boat motif with a really cool floral sail; although the flame-themed pirate motif was also pretty cool.

But these are just the customization options, which you can ignore outright if you want to. These don’t offer stats boosts or any other gameplay benefit; they’re just there to offer an impressively deep cosmetic system.

There is also a dizzying amount of side activities should those float your boat. There are various races to take part in — some on foot, others on a boat, and others that challenge you to swim through checkpoints as a dolphin or fly through a predetermined course as a parrot. There are various diving boards found around the world, which let you perform incredible dives to get a high score (Tchia has a fully controllable diving mechanic). There are also shooting galleries to test your slingshot skills.

Successfully completing these activities will unlock trophies that can be used to play gacha-style crane games found in various locations around the map. Keep in mind that these trophies take up precious room in your inventory space, limiting the amount of flame-based or exploding items you can actively carry. And these types of “ammo” serve as your main source for vanquishing enemies and burning rag piles — or blowing up machinery later in the story.

This was a lesson I learned the hard way, actually, as I was carrying around several trophies and totem heads I carved to gain entry into tombs (where you can unlock more tiers in your possession meter). When I finally got to a larger enemy encampment during a story mission, I was unwilling to give up any of my goodies, so I only had two slots to store ammo in order to burn up the rag-based enemies and clear the camp. This meant a lot of backtracking to pick up ammo that I’d passed up earlier due to a lack of space. So keep that in mind to avoid a similar scenario: Only carry what you need and use totems and trophies as soon as you can.

You can find and blow up a number of Meavora statues that are located in various points around the game world, which effectively serve as a box to tick off — but I always made the detour to destroy these. There numerous totems to sculpt at carving stations that act as keys to unlock tombs in the hopes of completing the aforementioned possession challenges. And there are specific points on the map you climb up, allowing Tchia to shout her name to reveal all of the points of interest on the map for that specific area. Finally, you can stack rocks in a minigame, which unlocks another melody to play on ukulele. Ukulele melodies can do things like changing the time of day or creating an oxygen bubble around your head so you can dive for longer periods.

You’ll also want to make a habit of collecting every stamina fruit you encounter. Once consumed, each fruit will add one point to your stamina meter, which determines how much you can climb, glide, and swim, and it also serves as your health bar when entangled in an enemy’s cloth snares. You will also come across larger fruit clusters (usually after burning a fabric pile in a larger enemy outpost), which add a couple more points to your stamina meter. Once you get that meter up to like 80 or 90, you will feel practically invisible, able to swim and soar for what feels like an eternity — or at least marginally closer to the eternity end of the spectrum.

One of the bigger gameplay hooks in Tchia is the possession mechanic, which I honestly forgot all about for at least the first 25% of my playthrough. Once I did finally start to take advantage of it, I found it to be incredibly useful. I personally don’t mind trudging around on foot in an open-world game, but there will always be times when it starts to feel a little grating. And when those moments sprung up, I remembered I could (harmlessly, mind you) possess a nearby bird and cover a lot more ground a whole lot faster. Perhaps as a tradeoff for being possessed, Tchia can pet any animal she is able to come into contact with while standing on the ground — even creepy crawlers.

Possessing birds also lets you reach much higher points than early-game stamina will allow you to climb, opening up traversal options even further than what was already on offer. Possession also comes in handy whenever you want to deep dive into a cave with a small opening — you can simply (gently, mind you) possess a fish and sail through the tight crevice and be at the bottom of the cave system in no time. And once you dispossess something, you kind of fling yourself forward, a bit like a last-second air-dash. If your possession meter is about to deplete, this might be the make-or-break last-ditch push you need to reach that high plateau you’d set your sights set on. It’s fun to see what each animal type does, as some might be exactly what you need to solve a puzzle or locate a much-needed item.

Early on in T’Chia, for example, I needed a chicken egg to progress the story. But for the life of me, I couldn’t find one in any of the chicken pens I came across. I searched high and low, but I just could not find an egg. But then, while randomly possessing a pigeon, I noticed there was a “poop” button prompt to make the pigeon fire a turd missile. This got me wondering what other animals could do when possessed; maybe there was a “lay egg” prompt for the chicken? And, sure enough, there was. It felt like a hard-fought battle to solve that little puzzle, but it opened my eyes to the possibilities of a little (good-natured and not-at-all-against-the-animal’s-will) possession.

Geez, I haven’t even touched on the story yet, and I still feel like I have so much more to gush about. Heck, even after defeating the main baddie and saving as much of the day as I could, I am still actively going around mopping up all of the loose ends with no sign of slowing down. I haven’t bothered to do this much post-game cleanup since I played Ghostwire Tokyo.

To put the story in a nutshell, you play as Tchia, a young girl who lives with her father on a small remote island. One day, after a merchant pops by for a visit, a helicopter-type aircraft crashes the party and your father is captured. In a sudden, uncontrollable fit of rage and panic, Tchia inadvertently discovers she has a green glowing eye power that allows her to possess objects. She uses this ability on a marauder’s blade and knicks him a bit before falling back to Earth as the copter absconds with her father.

The merchant nurses you back to health and (after a short tutorial) gives you a boat. Just like that, you’re off to the races, as you attempt to seek an audience with Maevora, the malevolent ruler that appears to be behind the rash of abductions. After learning Maevora’s true intentions, Tchia must then embark on a grander journey to save not only her father, but all of the island inhabitants, and put a stop to this evil dingbat once and for all.

I will say, despite the more lighthearted art and cutesy nature, the story goes into some pretty dark and unexpected areas, while managing to maintain a younger-audience-friendly tone that reminds me of classic animated Disney movies. The kind of stuff that has you laughing and smiling throughout before suddenly giving you a crash course on the nature of death and loss and grief. But even then, you know it’ll be alright, even if things don’t work out exactly as you had hoped. It’s solid, poignant stuff, and my hat’s off to the developer for respecting its audience enough to take them on a coming-of-age journey (even if it did get a little slow in presentation or lacked a bit of nuance at times).

Look, I could go on and on about Tchia. It’s a rare game that manages to present a total package and nail almost every aspect of what it sets out to do. It looks great, sounds great, and feels great to play. The mechanics and systems all seem to work perfectly, both in isolation and in tandem. There is a wealth of things to do, the characters and story are steeped in personality, and some of the revelations and bigger plot beats took me in directions I didn’t quite expect — there is genuine levity and maturity in abundance throughout.

I love both Tchia the character and Tchia the game; this is hands-down the best game I have played in a long time. Tchia captures the spirit of juggernauts like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker with its boat and island themes, or Breath of the Wild with its suite of traversal options, while also borrowing a bit from Far Cry in revealing points of interest on the map and clearing out enemy encampments. But Tchia is also very much its own game, and it feels complete and realized. Awaceb should be immensely proud of the product they delivered.

This isn’t to say that the game is without its issues, because there are some negative aspects, though these are minor. For one, Tchia currently doesn’t offer an English dub, which could be a turnoff for some people. Although I didn’t find this to be that big of a hurdle, in some instances it’s difficult to pay attention to the subtitles while also playing the game. This is especially true in the musical sections, when you have to focus on music notes the game is asking you to play, making it tricky to also pay attention to the lyrics that can, at times, feed directly into a character’s state of mind or inform elements of the story at large. Again, this is not a big deal, but it’s something I thought I should mention.

The bigger issue I had is that the game crashed at least a dozen times throughout the journey. I should point out that there were patches released in my pre-release time with the game, so hopefully day-one players have a smoother experience than I did.

At the end of the day, I really enjoyed my time with Tchia, and I can’t say enough great things about it. I am confident this will make my Game of the Year nominees list come the end of 2023, and it might even nab my top spot. And even though I would love to go on and on about Tchia, I will spare my editor and our readers from having to deal with an anthology-sized review. I think I will wrap things up here.

I wholeheartedly recommend Tchia, and I hope it performs well enough to get into the hands of the largest audience possible. I also hope it grants Awaceb the opportunity to make more games, because I am enthused about what they’ve made so far.

Disclaimer: I was given a pre-release preview build of Tchia on PC, as well as a pre-release review version on PS5. The opinions expressed in this review, however, are my own.

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Fight’N Rage from SebaGamesDev and Blitworks has a beautiful case of split personality in the best ways. On the one hand, it thinks it’s a beat-’em-up from the ‘90s. On the other hand, it thinks it’s a Saturday morning cartoon from the ‘90s. It’s really win-win, and even though the game isn’t perfect, it’s still a blast for the most part.

While it’s been out for a bit on multiple platforms, Fight’N Rage recently got a 120fps release on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, so if you haven’t played it and you love the beat ‘em up genre, now’s the time!

Set in a gritty, dystopian future, Fight’N Rage sees a world filled with turmoil as humans have become enslaved by mutants. One mutant and two humans have decided to rise up against the leader of the villainous mutants in an attempt to bring peace and in the hopes that the two sides will be able to live in harmony. The story is presented in quick flashes of dialogue. It’s nothing overbearing, and it works pretty well. Plus, it feels like something from the days of Biker Mice from Mars and Street Sharks.

The action of Fight’N Rage is fast-paced and true to the arcade madness it’s inspired by. You’ll be swarmed by enemies from all sides, and it’s up to you to combo your way past them. You’ll be able to smash mutant baddies, but you can also perform grapple attacks and wider area-of-effect special moves. Beat-’em-ups are at their most enjoyable when they’re fast and fluid, and Fight’N Rage benefits from that nice 120fps on the newer hardware. You’ll send bad guys flying every which way, and it just feels good delivering a heavy clobbering.

While Fight’N Rage is a really fun time, it does suffer from some obnoxious, out-of-nowhere difficulty spikes. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, the game can go from pesky and frustrating to outright infuriating. Thankfully, the majority of the adventure doesn’t suffer from this issue, but when it does get inexplicably tough, it’s just not that fun.

If you dig Fight’N Rage, you might be bummed to know that it’s a pretty short game. Whether you’re playing alone, with another buddy, or in three-player co-op, it’ll take you about two hours to get to the end. That’s pretty short, but the game is fun to revisit, especially since the three main characters all offer something different in terms of how they handle and play. On top of that, there are multiple difficulties and modes, and there are plenty of unlockables to keep you busy for a while.

The pixel art style of Fight’N Rage is really cool. Characters are big and stylish, and the mutant villains look like something you’d see in an old-school cartoon. Aesthetically, the game has a rad dark tone to it. While it does share some similarities with titles like Streets of Rage 4 and The TakeOver, there’s a more brooding vibe here that’s just a tad edgier, like something you’d see in the “red sky” seasons of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series.

If you’re a fan of newer arcade-styled beat ‘em ups like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, River City Girls, or SoR4 you’ll likely get a kick out of Fight’N Rage. It doesn’t quite surpass other similar brawlers released in recent memory, and its difficulty spikes are certainly somewhat of a detriment, but that’s not to say that this is even remotely a bad game. Fight’N Rage doesn’t necessarily reach the levels of its contemporaries, but it’s a solid arcade action game in its own right and well worth a look for fans of these types of games.

Disclaimer: I was given an Xbox review code for Fight’N Rage — which I played on Xbox Series S — but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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I know it’s early. I mean, we’re still in the beginning of March here — we’ve got almost ten months before we start really thinking about what we should crown the 2023 Game of the Year. However, right now, The Last Spell seems like it’s deserving of at least a nomination. This is one of those games that sets its ambitions super high, then nails just about everything that it sets out to do.

In case you haven’t heard of The Last Spell (its Early Access period has been nothing short of contagious), it’s a tactical RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea, but with tower-defense and roguelite elements thrown in. So, you know how in Disgaea, you have a team of up to ten characters who do battle with an enemy team of maybe up to 20 or so baddies? In The Last Spell, you start out with a team of three, and you’ll do battle against an army of literally hundreds.

This does change the TRPG formula a little bit, as instead of strategizing positioning for maximum damage to a single enemy, you need to think about how to blast multiple enemies — preferably dozens — in a single turn.

But you’ve also got plenty of resources to draw from. I’m a big fan of the ballistae, which you can unlock fairly early in your playthrough and will absolutely decimate large swaths of undead fodder if you can get a full row set up at the edge of your village. You can also construct useful buildings during the day, like an alter that will allow you to heal your characters between battles, or mines that will passively acquire gold for you.

There’s permadeath, of course, so the three characters you start out with are almost certainly going to each meet their own untimely demise, but there are also permanent unlocks that make each run a little bit easier than the last. So you probably won’t be successful on your first run, but you’ll likely unlock a few things that will give you a much-needed leg up in the next run. Rise and repeat. This is where the game starts to feel a little bit like a roguelike — it’s a run-based, randomly generated affair that makes more and more sense to you as you play it.

If you can clear the first village (which requires you to survive for a full week, then defeat an army of harpies), you’ll unlock the Inn, which is a must-have addition to your town. This building allows you to recruit more fighters, which means you aren’t stuck with a three-person team forever. Plus, when a team member bites the bullet, you can recruit someone new to replace them — if you have the gold to spend, that is.

As you get deeper into the game, you’ll unlock more classes, like a swordsman who has a thrusting attack that will cause them to move forward, or a grappling-gun-wielding attacker. And while the early classes are decent enough to play, the later classes are ridiculously fun. I’m especially fond of the ridiculously wide shotgun blast of the gun-wielder.

Now, I do think the tutorial moves blisteringly fast, especially since the game chucks a mountain of information at you in the early stages. But at the same time, I can understand the instinct here — instead of slowly dragging you through each of its systems one by one, the game says, “Hurry up, you’re going to love this!” and grabs you by the hand, pulling you through the basic information at a rapid clip. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in this phase of the game — I admittedly had to put the controller down and just process what I was looking at for a bit — but once it all clicks, The Last Spell is ridiculously satisfying to play. The systems are complex, yes, but they’re really well thought-out, and they interlock with each other in really interesting ways. No matter how much time you invest in a session, whether that’s 30 minutes or several hours, you walk away feeling like you accomplished at least a little bit of something.

Once it all sinks in, the gameplay loop becomes hyper-addictive, and you’ll find it really difficult to put this one down. Seriously, after spending six straight hours with this thing, I went to bed and woke up thinking about and strategizing my next session. I think I’m going to spend a good chunk of March pushing through the latter portion of this game, and redoing the early-game runs with the difficulty cranked to max. Once The Last Spell grabs you, it’s not going to let go easily.

The Last Spell is an immensely rich and satisfying meat grinder of a game, tasking you with surviving wave after wave of undead hordes on a turn-based grid. The learning curve is a bit steep, but if you can get over that, you’re in for a real treat. In fact, I would even say that this is one of Spring of 2023’s must-play titles — especially for fans of TRPGs and roguelites.

Disclaimer: I was given two codes for The Last Spell — one for Steam and one for PlayStation. I played the game mostly on PS5, but I did dabble with it on PS4 and PC a bit as well. The opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Team Deathmatch finally came to Apex Legends in Season 16 as part of the game’s four-year anniversary celebration. It’s a nice addition that’s mostly pretty fun, though there is some room for improvement at this time.

One such area of improvement is in the length of TDM rounds, as well as the way the game presents this mode. As of right now, each round of Team Deathmatch in Apex Legends can potentially last up to 30 minutes. But with no timer present onscreen, it’s hard to tell just how long these matches are running. This is more of a nuisance than a major problem, but it’s an obnoxious issue nonetheless.

At first, it was hard to tell how long each round of Team Deathmatch could last. I even saw some posts on social media with confused players stating that a round wouldn’t end until one time reached the required 50-point score.

Thankfully, that’s not the case. But the good and bad of it is that TDM match-ups in Apex Legends can feel like a slog when players disconnect, and especially when teams with fewer players begin hiding. If a team of six is battling a solo player on an opposite team where every other player disconnected, for example, those lone players sometimes stay in the game and just hide, forcing the other team to either hunt them down or give up and disconnect themselves.

With no timer onscreen, it’s difficult to tell how long a TDM match has been going on for. While playing one especially long-drawn-out session, though, I noticed that a message appeared notifying me that there were five minutes left on the clock. My team finally got the last kill to reach 50 points about a minute later, and the clock read just a little over 26 minutes.

I checked Google just to make sure, and it looks like the official length of Team Deathmatch in Apex Legends — if neither team reaches 50 points — is 30 minutes. Again, though, you wouldn’t know just by playing. Hopefully a visible timer is added to the HUD at some point in the near future.

More importantly, though, here’s hoping developer Respawn shortens the length of TDM rounds. As it is, it can feel a bit too drawn out — especially when pesky players decide to hide out in the deepest corners of the maps.

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There’s a lot of fun to be had with the new Team Deathmatch mode in Apex Legends. Well, sometimes. TDM was added to the game as part of Season 16, Revelry. So far, it’s been a mixed bag. Sometimes you’ll get in highly competitive games where everything is pretty evenly matched. Other times, though, it’s a mess, with lop-sided teams, disconnects, and other issues.

Look, Team Deathmatch is a nice addition to Apex Legends — even at the expense of the underappreciated Arenas mode. But there are some glaring flaws that affect play in a negative way. I’ve already discussed some features and updates I’d like to see in Apex Legends TDM previously, but beyond that, there’s a bigger problem:

Apex Legends Team Deathmatch is just sort of unbalanced.

Matchmaking ProblemsIf you’ve played Team Deathmatch in Apex Legends for an extended period of time, you’ve probably been on all sides of the game’s matchmaking issues. Sometimes everything just sort of clicks. Your team is good. Your opponents are good. There’s about a two-point gap between the two teams. It’s a close race to the end. These matches are exciting affairs, and when you get that victory, it feels great. On the opposite end of that, if you lose, it’s a bummer, but it’s not a crushing defeat.

Other times, though, the matchmaking in TDM is kind of awful. You’re either short players on your team, or the whole thing is just a big, unbalanced mess. You’ll be losing by nine or ten points, and that gap just keeps growing. It’s pretty sad, and it becomes even more disheartening when you play two or three rounds of these types of games in a row. Oh, and being on the winning side of these uneven matches isn’t fun, either, especially when you realize that the enemy team is just hiding from you and being annoying about it.

Here’s hoping Respawn Entertainment implements a solution to this. I played a lot of Titanfall 2 during that game’s first year, and I never encountered this massive level of imbalance. Now, maybe we just need to exercise a bit of patience — perhaps the game will become a bit less punishing over time. As it is right now, though, it can be fun, but it can also be too chaotic.

The ArenasStraight-up, with the exception of Skulltown, the currently available arenas in Apex Legends weren’t meant for Team Deathmatch. Both Habitat 4 and Party Crasher, which were introduced for the ill-fated Arenas mode, just don’t feel right in TDM.

Again, Apex Legends is still in the early stages of Team Deathmatch, so I’m certain we’ll see dedicated arenas introduced later on that specifically fit the mode. Right now, though, two out of the three available options, while fun, just don’t feel tailor-made for TDM. They’re okay, and they work well enough sometimes, but their design is a bit too open-ended in a way that encourages chaos and camping.

Mixtape ModeWhile Team Deathmatch is currently the only available limited time mode (LTM) in Apex Legends at this time, the game is going to introduce a new Mixtape option soon. This Mixtape component will then shuffle Team Deathmatch along with other LTMs such as Control and Gun Run. While Arenas hasn’t been confirmed for Mixtape mode, here’s hoping it’s reintroduced into the game at some point in the future, as it was a fun component that offered a TDM-like experience that was still very much its own thing.

Respawn Entertainment is constantly issuing out balance patches and updates to Apex Legends. As such, it’s safe to say that the team is keeping a close eye on its performance as well as its reception. There are plenty of concerns and issues brought up by the community, and there’s also lots of rightful praise. It’s going to be interesting seeing how Team Deathmatch in Apex Legends evolves over time and, more importantly, how it’s enhanced. As it stands, TDM is fun, but there’s definitely room for improvement, especially with regard to its matchmaking and arenas.

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The Skate franchise is finally getting a new installment, albeit one that still seems a rather far ways off from launching. But I gotta say, after watching the latest Insider Playtest Highlights video for the still-in-development Skate., the potential for player expression is blowing my mind (even though most of what I’ve seen is pre-pre-alpha, barren-assets mode). Honestly, as much as I enjoy Skater XL and Session, it looks like Skate. has the potential to be the top dog of them all.

What we see in this latest video highlights an insanely deep level-altering system that suggests the ability to practically terraform the game world to create whatever Rube Goldberg-esque trick machination one can conjure. Most of this results in hilarious bails and epic fails that would make even the most jaded person vomit in real life, but as depicted in the game, it merely makes me giggle with glee.

But beyond the insane level alterations and vertigo-triggering bank drops, the fundamental character animations and interaction capabilities look light years beyond the janky on-foot mechanics in pretty much every skateboard game up to now. Seeing a player fail to gap between rooftops and seamlessly just grab the ledge to the building and hoist themselves up is literally like reliving the first time you ever saw a video game character hand an item to another character and they actually grabbed it — it’s a literal game-changer.

Or watching a player clamber up a ladder-like structure — this might sound silly to say, considering games have allowed fluid ladder-climbing mechanics for damn near forever now, but in the context of a skateboarding game, it can’t be overstated how miraculous this looks. Just YouTube any skating game, past or present, and see how stiff and stilted the on-foot gameplay looks and feels, and you will be able to appreciate how next-level this really is.

Overall, this short video goes a long way towards getting me hyped for this installment in the Skate series, even if the free-to-play format is reason enough to be a bit skeptical. But, I guess you gotta pay the bills somehow. And this way, you can ask players to buy what interests them the most instead of charging them full-price for the complete package. If done right, this could be the magic sauce that a game like Skate. needs.

There still is no release date or even release window for Skate., and it seems like we might be waiting a while yet still. But if what I’ve seen so far is indicative of the final product, I think it’s safe to say we all might get to exact a little Brother’s Justice whenever Skate. does finally release.

You can check out the February Insider Playtest Highlights video below.

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Back in January of 2022, I was hotly anticipating Dying Light 2, along with all the zombie-slaying mayhem that I expected in the follow-up to one of the greatest zombie games of all time, Dying Light. And considering Dead Island 2, at the time, appeared to have been stuck in development hell, Dying Light 2 was looking like the only game of its kind on the horizon.

But as excited as I had been for Dying Light 2, the actual game took the wind out of my sails. The zombie ragdoll physics made corpses feel like they were full of helium. The parkour felt oddly generic this time around, but that could just be that the novelty from the original game had waned in the interceding years. The ability to reshape the game world based on your choices felt about as impactful as deciding whether to use paper or plastic bags at the grocery store. The characters were also dreadfully uninteresting, the story was pretty bland and the zombies didn’t feel nearly as threatening as I think they were meant to.

Don’t get me wrong, Dying Light 2 is a fine game. It’s just nowhere near as ambitious as the marketing led us to believe, and its world is nowhere near as ambient or vibrant or well-crafted as Harran from the original game. I didn’t even bother to finish it; I simply moved on with my life.

But then the most unlikely thing happened: About six or so months after Dying Light 2 came and went, a brand new Dead Island 2 announcement trailer popped up seemingly out of nowhere.

From the looks of this new trailer, Dead Island 2 was a completely different game than what was hinted at during the original reveal trailer from 2014. And not only was it looking really good, it looked better than Dying Light 2, at least from what little was shown.

And just like that, we were through the looking glass.

Now, with the release of a fourteen-and-a-half-minute gameplay trailer (albeit a curated, semi- scripted, and semi-edited trailer), we finally get to see several vertical slices of mostly uninterrupted gameplay. And boy howdy, is my excitement approaching the roof (and possibly through it) status.

There’s a lot to unpack, and although I hate their polished, PR-approved line delivery, the narrator does a solid job of breaking down the nuances of what is being depicted in this trailer. So I won’t pick it apart beat by beat, since I would say it is definitely worth watching this trailer if you are interested at all in Dead Island 2.

I think this version of L.A. — or Hell A, as the developers are calling it — looks fantastic. The color palette pops and is a huge improvement over the muted and nature-overrun look of Dying Light 2‘s game world. And the new Flesh system that represents bodily damage to the zombies is pretty gnarly. Bashing faces and sending jawbones flying, shooting off legs to force zombies to crawl, hacking and slashing all the livelong day; it all looks really gross and cool.

I admit that the first time I saw a hulking zombie, my eyes rolled harder than Tootsee’s when employed by the 69 Boyz. I mean, the various zombie types feel so old hat that we need an army of milliners to save us from the doldrum of tank, screaming, and fast-running variants seen over and over and over since, I don’t know, probably Left 4 Dead.

But that shuddering resentment was mostly assuaged when it was mentioned that there would be over a dozen different zombie types, which is at least far better than the par-for-the-genre four or five that we normally see. And after the first big fella is taken down — who, I should point out, happens to be missing an arm and not lugging around a big piece of concrete attached to rebar — it was refreshing that there didn’t appear to be a two-step canned approach that required dodging to avoid a big hit and attacking once they are opened up. The player just walloped on them and that seemed to do the trick.

The narrator briefly touched on the new card system, which they seemed really proud of, and that is supposed to allow the flexibility to wholeheartedly change one’s playstyle on the fly. But this wasn’t shown much, nor did they show off what to expect when it comes to deck management, or even how you get more cards (or if you do even, although I imagine you will). For the time being, I would expect a system similar to Fallout 76, give or take.

I think the biggest takeaway for me, however, is just how fun Dead Island 2 looks to play. It isn’t clear exactly how big Hell A will be, and for that matter how open it will be either. Can we expect to be able to, for example, take Canyon View Drive over to San Vicente, then make a left and get on the 405 North, and from there just get off on Mulholland? I guess only time will tell.

All that said, I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on Dead Island 2. I will, of course, wait for impressions to come in before taking the plunge, but as it stands right now, Dead Island 2 looks like everything I wanted out of the follow-up to Dying Light, minus the heavy reliance on parkour — which, to be honest, I can honestly take or leave at this point.

Dead Island 2 was originally supposed to release on April 28, 2023 — after an initial delay from the original February 2023 release window — but it has since been bumped up to April 21. But considering how touch-and-go the development cycle for Dead Island 2 seems to have been, this somehow all just feels fitting. You can check out the new gameplay trailer below. I will note that it does state the game is still in development, and some things can still change before launch.

For what it’s worth, at the 05:40 mark in the trailer, after the player kills a zombie with a knife-glove punch to the face, we can see the player’s hands are visibly raised in a guarded stance, and yet their shadow clearly shows their arms and hands are at their side. I hope they change that bit, but otherwise, I’d say just keep the rest. It’s all looking pretty good right now.

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Scars Above is a competent third-person shooter with a mostly interesting science-fiction plot and a handful of otherworldly creatures to shoot at. It’s also a bit of a mixed bag; it’s incredibly linear, a bit monotonous, and often (during some of the boss encounters specifically) a downright tedious affair.

There are some genuinely cool design choices: far-off vistas and moons hanging in beautiful alien skies behind towering monoliths. Scars Above has its own version of Dark Souls bonfires, and these hovering, morphing geometric pillars serve as save regen points (while, of course, also resetting defeated enemies), reminding me of something straight out of the Oldest House from Control.

I quite like the soundtrack for Scars Above; it’s a pleasant, low-key mix of cool electronic background tunes that really improve the game’s overall presentation. The music ramps up when battle breaks out, especially during boss fights, after being a mostly subdued backdrop during exploration. Sure, that’s a well-worn formula, but it never feels generic or perfunctory here. Kudos to the composer and the sound designer, as the the sci-fi sound effects are spot-on too.

The skill-tree system is well-implemented instead of just being a requisite Far Cry-esque excuse to justify spending skill points on something. There are several upgrades that feel like they actively increase your chances of survival, and in my playtime, I was forced to make somewhat tough choices between upgrades that seemed like they could even the odds in the immediate moment. You can’t just save up points and buy the better stuff while skipping out on the early-game options, but being required to unlock a certain number of lower-tiered upgrades before getting access to the beefier stuff makes the climb up that mountain feel rewarding.

But there are a number of design issues that hold Scars Above back from being anything more than an alright, average game, in my opinion.

The enemy types are pretty generic, recycled far too often throughout the entire campaign. It doesn’t make a lot of sense that you’ll find the same creatures in various biomes, and they’re still utilizing the same movesets and are pretty much weak to the same attack types as before. When you first encounter acid-spitting worm-like dudes in the opening levels, they feel like introductory enemy types. When you’re still running into them in the frozen areas of the third chapter, and they’re still spitting ooze and taking the same number of bullets to kill, they become a chore to fight. There are some new creatures introduced along the way, or elemental variances of the rock guys, but it would’ve been nice to see some alterations, or just some different enemy groupings per biome or segment.

You do get some gadgets in addition to your elemental blaster, with more added as your progress through the campaign. For example, there are grenades that create a fiery area-of-attack once ignited by a blast from your heat ray, or a shield-type device that effectively gives you a limited number of parries if used while blocking at just the right moment. I question the efficacy of some of these, and I rarely used most of them since the blaster pretty much gets the job done. This just leads to the feeling that you’re amassing useless trinkets instead of unlocking more cool things. I will say, though, that the stasis grenade and extra health injector are nice to have in a pinch.

There are also the requisite logs full of game lore and a bestiary — if that’s your thing, then you’re in luck. I personally have yet to play a game outside of the The Witcher 3 where these features are must-have. That’s not to knock whoever makes these compendiums, but it seems to me that they are a waste of time and resources that could’ve been better spent on polishing other aspects of the game.

By simply padding the experience with menu logs and lore sheets that I imagine will mostly go unread for most others as it did for me, you’re ignoring the parts of the game that actually matter. I think game developers need to rethink their priorities and not just check features off of generic checklists. No matter how interesting a game’s lore may be, it’s the gameplay that will make or break the experience. If you cut corners in that department to add more worthless features, that lore will be forgotten anyway.

On harder difficulties, Scars Above can be a bit of a bullet-sponge slog that lacks the precision or fluidity of a game like Control or Returnal. I acknowledge that Scars Above doesn’t have the budget or resources as those two games, but I don’t think it lives up to its potential as a budget-friendly sci-fi shooter.

Scars Above is no slouch in the lack-of-polish department. Ramps and inclines have to be accessed specifically at the lip, because the main character can’t clamber up a foot-high bit of dirt. They can climb up specific ledges with white edges (yep, more of that tired game trope), but considering the climb button is also the roll dodge, you might just end up rolling into the sides of rockfaces when you try to engage that mechanic.

There’s also a tendency for the game to abruptly jump into a cutscene irrespective of what the character is doing. Once you cross the invisible, magic threshold, you’re now in a combat arena or boss battle, or you’re witnessing some sort of story revelation. Again, this apparent lack of polish undermines the overall experience.

There are also several instances where the main character speaks to themselves after discovering and analyzing something new. In some instances, their mouth moves, and in others it doesn’t. I couldn’t tell if this was to signal an internal thought or monologue, or if the developer just forgot to animate the lips properly. It never seems like there’s a reason for them to think a rambling observation internally as opposed to speaking it aloud, but who’s to say?

The protagonist also sports a bit of the old deadeye stareface. It made them seem nonplussed by every fantastical occurrence happening all around them, as if, to quote M. Bison, “For me, this was just Tuesday.”

Spending a little time varying the character’s movement in reaction to different terrains or environments, or just adding in subtle changes to their animations to make it appear like they’re reacting to a situation, would have really helped to sell the illusion. I mean, here they are, waking up on an alien world that is incredibly hostile, wearing pretty much nothing but some space pants and a tank top, yet their body language never communicates that this is anything more than a walk in the park (on a Tuesday, obviously). I mean, I would have liked to have seen them avoiding contact with surfaces, walking a bit more cautiously, or stumbling from time to time, maybe flinching before wading into waste-deep murky swamp water filled with alien bacteria. I would have liked something — anything — to suggest that all of this really is alien and possibly dangerous, and that although the protagonist is even-keeled and capable, they are also way out of their element and struggling for survival.

I’m not one much for the grisly murder animations in the Tomb Raider series, but having Lara get banged up through the course of the game — getting dirty and bruised and scuffed — helped sell the adventure. The most we get in Scars Above happens in chapter 3, when you enter the cold region and the character puts on a coat. This isn’t even delivered in a cool cutscene where they gird themselves for the challenges ahead; instead, it cuts in and out of a black screen and the jacket awkwardly snaps onto their torso.

Overall, I will say that I did at least enjoy the story, which was my main motivator for slogging on. The narrative is perhaps par for the course, and the actual dialogue is nothing to write home about, but this is the element that I found the most engaging and rewarding — I wanted to see where this was all leading. It’s barely enough to overlook all of the shortcomings of Scars Above, but at least it’s something.

So yeah, I’ve got a laundry list of gripes, and if I had paid out-of-pocket for Scars instead of receiving a review code, I probably would’ve been a little bummed out. That being said, there is some mindless fun to be had here — Scars Above is a competent B-tier shooter that is better than a lot of other games I’ve played, so its got that going for it. It’s pretty short and doesn’t ask much. It gets pretty repetitive (especially in the enemy department), but if you’re looking for a decent way to kill a weekend or have some time between titles you are more interested in, you could do worse. If Scars Above lands on Game Pass or PlayStation Plus, I think that could do wonders for giving it exposure without the aftertaste of perhaps having wasted a few duckets, because it’s definitely worth checking out if you can get it as part of a service or on a deep-discount sale.

Assuming Scars Above manages a sequel — as this entry all but suggests one is in the cards — I could see the next installment really nailing what SCARS Above is attempting but ultimately doesn’t quite deliver. Of course, it would need a little more attention to detail and overall polish, but I think there’s definitely some potential here.

Disclaimer: I was given a review copy of Scars Above for PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Last year, Berzerk Studio delivered an awesome surprise with its 2D Metroidvania Infernax. It ended up being one of the best games of 2022, delivering a devious and captivating adventure. Now, in celebration of the game’s one-year anniversary, it looks like fans are in store for a nice update.

The Deux or Die Infernax update will add a two-player couch co-op mode this spring. Included with the update will be a new character, Cervul the Squire, who will have two new movesets. If you’d rather go it solo, you’ll be able to jump into the mode and swap between characters on the fly, which should add an interesting new vibe to the game.

It’s cool that Berzerk Studio continues to add content to Infernax, and this looks to be the biggest update yet. Previously, the game added the Stranger, a hockey mask-wearing character who was a little bit Jason Vorhees and a little bit shotgun-wielding Ash Williams of Evil Dead fame.

Check out the Infernax Deux or Die update trailer below:

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Upcoming RPG Elements from developer Wreckit Games and publisher Apogee Entertainment wears a few influences on its sleeve, but it’s looking like an inspired game and it’s definitely one to watch. The studio has taken its love of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokémon, The Witcher 3, and even Minecraft to create something that looks absolutely loaded with heart and soul.

In Elements, you play as Nyah and Beckett, who are out to save the world from a force known as the Elemental Chaos. By seeking out the Eight Legendary Stones, these two siblings can restore order to the land and keep the Elemental Chaos at bay.

Visually, Elements is reminiscent of the aforementioned Breath of the Wild, as well as other action-adventure and platforming titles like Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Ary and the Secret of Seasons, and Windbound. Its world looks expansive, with lots to see, do, and discover. It’s a land full of monsters and secrets, and it looks like you’ll be able to explore a massive, rich fantasy world.

Combat in Elements looks to be a mix of blade-based action and long-range offense. You’ll also be able to craft new weapons and items. And you’ll even be able to build your base, adding a slight Minecraft and Fortnite vibe to the experience.

Elements is certainly ambitious, but it looks very promising, too. Wreckit Games launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project, and it’s already exceeded its goal by a large margin. Currently, there’s no specific release date announced for Elements, but the full version is planned for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC in 2025.

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The roguelike genre is one that’s full of charm despite — and probably because of — its punishing nature. There’s an old school appeal to these games that makes them enticing and addictive. Of course, they need to be done right. Titles like Dead Cells, Neon Abyss, and Rogue Legacy, just to name a few, truly have an excellent grasp of what makes roguelikes work so well. Then you get a game like Skull Rogue, which is typically priced at $3 on Nintendo Switch and Steam, and it makes you wonder: Is this game worth it?

Full disclosure: I purchased Skull Rogue on the Nintendo Switch eShop for the ludicrously low price of five cents. At the time of writing, it’s on sale for $2, which is still pretty low. I mean, the game’s standard $3 price tag is already cheap. But the question of whether or not Skull Rogue is worthwhile remains.

What Exactly Is Skull Rogue?Skull Rogue is an endless roguelike with very simple hack-‘n-slash and RPG mechanics. You play as a skeleton that looks a lot like a generic enemy you’d see in an early era RPG.

Quite funnily, your skeleton hero looks like the enemy skeletons you face throughout the game. Maybe he was a villainous grunt who had a change of heart. Now he’s tasked with battling his undead skeletal homies in a never-ending quest for redemption. Since the game doesn’t really have a plot, we’ll just go with that.

Honestly, Skull Rogue is kind of a dumb game, but it can be fun — it just takes a while for it to get there. You start each game with a sword and protective headgear. The first wave of enemies always consists of two skeletons. Once you dispose of these, more waves with more skeletons appear. After defeating a set number of waves with your sword and bombs (which use up a mana meter), you can move on to the next room. If you take damage or use up your mana, you can find refill pick-ups in barrels and jars.

That’s pretty much the game loop of Skull Rogue. You go from room to room, battling hordes of skeletons until you die. It’s a simple formula — almost too simple — but there is a hook. As you kill enemies, you level up and earn skill points. When you die, you return to the main menu, where you’ll find a “Hero” option. This is where you use your earned skill points to improve different stats like your skeleton’s health, melee range (not damage), and health item effectiveness.

Due to the fact that Skull Rogue is essentially an endless game, the main goal is to see how far you can go versus trying to reach an endgame screen. That’s where leveling up your skeleton plays a pivotal role. At first, you’re lucky if you even make it past the first room. But after killing a few enemies, dying, leveling up, retrying, and then doing it all again over the course of multiple rounds, you’ll be able to get further and further.

There are three things worth noting that should help keep you alive longer while playing Skull Rogue. First, if you take on multiple enemies at once, you’re done. If you’re just facing off against a single enemy, you should be fine. But the moment you take on two or more baddies at once, you’ll be overwhelmed. It’s super easy to get cornered and defeated in quick fashion if you’re careless. Instead, you have to employ the Serious Sam strategy of constantly moving backward while attacking.

The second thing to keep in mind — and this makes killing enemies much more doable — is your attack range. You know how some Legend of Zelda games let Link shoot energy from his sword when he’s at full health? Skull Rogue has a similar mechanic, except it’s always active regardless of your character’s health. That’s why it’s important to level up your attack range early on, as it’ll let you fight effectively from afar. Long-range attacks could very well save you from being bombarded by enemies.

Last, keep in mind that Skull Rogue functions like a twin-stick shooter. You’ll want to use your controller’s right stick to blast enemies in all directions. Bad guys have a hard time moving through the game’s architecture, so when you notice that they’re moving back-and-forth like idiots, you can pick them off one-by-one. Otherwise, always use the right stick to blast your sword energy in whatever direction the closest enemy is. But again, just keep moving throughout it all.

So Is Skull Rogue Worth It?If you can score Skull Rogue for five cents like I did, there’s no reason not to get it. Of course, the game’s standard asking price of $3 isn’t too shabby, either. That said, there are countless superior roguelikes like Slay the Spire and Hades, though these will run you a little more. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that the cost is very much reflective of the quality and value you’ll get out of these particular games.

Ultimately, Skull Rogue is more of a time-waster than anything. Like arcade first-person shooter Writhe, it’s a fun little thing to spend a few minutes at a time with, maybe in the meantime while you download something else to play or while you sit through a commercial break when you’re watching TV. It’s probably not worth it, but if you love roguelikes, you might get some mild enjoyment from it.

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Hello Games is kicking off 2023 with a universe-sized bang, by adding a brand-new expedition to No Man’s Sky. This one is called Utopia, and it puts a huge focus on base-building, as you’ll be claiming planets and settlements for the mysterious Utopia Foundation.

This one has some interesting twists. For one, most of it takes place in a single star system, which creates some problems for Interlopers. Since this is a dead star system, you won’t be able to make space station-hopping part of your journey, which also means you’re options for applying your inventory upgrades are super limited. You’re also prevented from getting a freighter for a majority of this expedition, and you can’t summon the Nexus either (which would give you access to all previously earned expedition/Twitch rewards).

If you’re looking for a little guidance in your own Utopia expedition — or you’re just looking for a comprehensive list of rewards without having to log into the game — I’ve got you covered. Here’s my complete breakdown of the Utopia expedition in No Man’s Sky.

Phase 1Completion reward:

• Factions Poster plans
• Night Squad Poster plans
• Planetary Base Poster plans

FoundationObjective: Establish a base.

You can complete this pretty much as soon as you spawn into the world. Simply press up on the D-pad to open your construction menu, then select the Base Computer. You should already have one in your inventory, so you don’t even have to farm the components. Once it’s placed, activate it by selecting the “Claim Base” option.

Now you have to build a few things. You need to place 4 Timber Floor panels in a square, then build 7 Timber Wall panels and a Timber Arch for an entrance. Top it off with 4 Timber Roof Corners to complete the shelter.

Note that you will need Carbon for all of this, which you can harvest from any plantlife in the area. You’ll also need some Ferrite Dust for the roof panels, which you can harvest from rocks.

Once you’ve built these components in the shape of a house (see the above image for reference), you should complete the Milestone.

Reward:

• Pre-Packaged Personal Refiner Unit
• Copper x200
• Analysis Visor Plans

ProvisionsObjective: Prepare supplies for your journey:

• Analysis Visor
• Boltcaster
• Survival Essentials

The Analysis Visor can be constructed in one of your Multi-Tool slots once you’ve completed the previous milestone. It just requires Carbon Nanotubes, which can be made from 50 carbon.

The Boltcaster takes a bit more work, as you’re going to have to refine some copper. Thankfully, you should have 200 copper from completing the previous milestone. You should also have a module that lets you install the Personal Refiner on your Exosuit. Install the refiner, then stick the 200 copper into it, using carbon as fuel. You’ll make 100 Chromatic Metal. Now, make 3 Carbon Nanotubes from 150 carbon, and you can install the Boltcaster in a Multi-Tool slot.

The Survival Essentials are Projectile Ammunition and Life Support Gel. The Projectile Ammunition is made from Ferrite Dust, which can be farmed from rocks. The Life Support Gel is made from Di-Hydrogen Jelly (which is crafted from Di-Hydrogen) and Ferrite Dust. The tutorial text also mentions Ion Batteries, but I was able to complete this Milestone by only crafting the Projectile Ammunition and Life Support Gel.

Reward:

• Base Teleport Module plans
• Ion Battery x5
• Life Support Gel x5
• Powerful Mining Beam Upgrade Module

Ground ControlObjective: Upload a base to the Utopia project.

Once you’ve completed the first Milestone, simply go back to your Base Computer, activate it, and choose the “Upload Base” option. This will upload your base, and the Utopia Foundation will reward you with some loot.

Reward:

• Paraffinium x100
• Pre-Packaged Advanced Mining Laser Unit
• Geobay Blueprint Pack

Planet LinkObjective: Deploy an Exocraft.

For completing the Ground Control Milestone, you should have been rewarded with bllueprints for three different Exocraft Geobays. The game seems to want you to craft the Nomad Geobay, which is the cheapest of the three. You’ll simply need:

• 5 Metal Plating
• 2 Ion Battery
• 50 Paraffinium

You should have the Ion Batteries for completing the Provisions Milestone, and the Paraffinium from completing the Ground Control Milestone. That means you just need the Metal Plating, which can be crafted from Ferrite Dust.

As soon as you build the Geobay, you should pop the Milestone.

Reward:

• Hermetic Seal plans
• Supreme Exocraft Engine Upgrade
• Condensed Carbon x256
• Powerful Movement System Upgrade

System LinkObjective: Locate and repair your starship.

This is the first thing you’ll learn to do in No Man’s Sky, so I probably don’t need to walk you through it. But if you’re struggling, what you need to do is locate the ship icon, which looks like this:

Simply follow that to find your starship. Note that if you use your Exocraft, you might complete the Scenic Route Milestone on your way to your ship.

I should point out that before you leave your base, you should craft the components you’ll need for your ship. That is Di-Hydrogen Jelly, Hermetic Seal, and Metal plating. See, there’s this weird mechanic in Utopia where you can only craft these components while in a Utopia base. It’s kind of annoying, but there’s not much you can do about it besides just follow the rules.

Once you’ve arrived at your starship, you’re going to have to repair some components before you can take off. The Launch Thruster requires 50 Pure Ferrite and 1 Di-Hydrogen Jelly, and the Pulse Engine requires a Hermetic Seal and a Metal Plating. Hopefully you read the previous paragraph and crafted them before you left your base.

Once you’ve repaired your starship, you should complete the Milestone.

Reward:

• Starship Launch Fuel plans
• Suspicious Packet (Tech)
• Banned Launch Thrusters Upgrade
• Starship Launch Fuel

Scenic RouteObjective: Travel by Exocraft 2,000u.

Once you’ve completed the Planet Link Milestone, simply hop into your Exocraft and go for a ride. Once you’ve traveled 2,000u, you’ll pop the Milestone.

Reward:

• Pre-Packaged Icarus Fuel System Unit
• Supreme Exocraft Engine Upgrade
• Exocraft Technology Blueprints Pack

Outpost AlphaObjective: Register the settlement of the 1st planet.

Once you’ve completed the previous six objectives, simply select the Outpost Alpha Milestone and follow the prompts. You can do this sooner if you’d like, but it’s way easier once you have your ship.

Once you’ve selected the Milestone in your Log, you should see an icon appear that looks like this:

Simply navigate to that icon in your starship. Note that once you land, you won’t be directly next to the outpost; you’ll still need to locate it using Target Sweep mode on your Analysis Visor. That should be triggered automatically when you go into scanning mode (L2 on PS4/PS5) close enough to the target location, then pressing left or right on the D-pad to change the scanner type to Target Sweep.

Now follow the directions shown by the scanner, and you’ll find the waypoint. Once you arrive, you’ll need to interact with a terminal to trigger the milestone.

By the way, this should be found on your starting planet. That planet should be called New Kehille, and it’s in the Bakkin system.

Reward:

• Triple Burst Firework x12
• Inventory Slot x3
• Planetary Chart
• 1,200 Nanites

Phase 2Completion reward:

• Holographic Friend plans

Outpost BetaObjective: Claim the 2nd planet for Utopia.

Once you complete the first Phase, you can basically repeat the same process as you did for the first outpost. Select Outpost Beta as your active mission, then follow the markers and use your scanner once you’re in place. Activate the terminal to trigger the Milestone.

For the record, the second planet is called Pehaelump.

Reward:

• 1,000 Nanites
• Utopia Supply Drop Beta
• Craftable Components plans

Assignment BetaObjective: Receive your instructions from the Utopia Foundation.

For completing Outpost Beta, you should be rewarded with an item called the Utopia Supply Drop Beta.

Go into your inventory and open this package to find the Settlement Coordinates Beta. Open this to plot a route to a settlement on your current planet. This should complete the Milestone.

Reward:

• Advanced Habitation Module plans
• Salvaged Data x12
• Utopia Build Station plans

Settlement BetaObjective: Found a Utopia base on the planet Pehaelump.

All you have to do is put down a Base Computer, use it to claim an area, then start building a base. The tricky part is that this time the game doesn’t provide a Base Computer; you’ll need to make one yourself. That means you’re going to need a whole lot of Chromatic Metal. To get it, mine copper and then refine it in your Personal Refiner. If you need help finding copper, here’s a guide that should give you the basic knowhow.

The other thing you’ll need is Pure Ferrite, which you can mine from rocks or refine from Ferrite Dust.

Now just start building a base. I believe you just need to place 8 parts to move on, so building the classic house shape you built before will be more than enough to complete this objective. Once you’ve built something, go to your Base Computer and upload your base to complete the Milestone.

Reward:

• Utopia Exosuit Station plans
• Glass Habitation Module plans
• Glass x64

IroncladObjective: Learn an upgrade from a Utopia Exosuit Station.

You should have the Utopia Exosuit Station Blueprints as a reward for completing the previous Milestone. Once you have those, you can build the station from 40 Chromatic Metal and 25 Magnetized Ferrite. If you don’t have the Magnetized Ferrite on you, you can make it by refining Pure Ferrite (which you can make by refining Ferrite Dust).

Once you build the station, interact with it to bring up a list of Exosuit upgrades. Simply buy one (they cost Nanites) to proceed. I advise against the Haz-Mat Gauntlets, because you’re going to earn those later on anyway.

Reward:

• Supreme Movement System Upgrade
• Supreme Scanning System Upgrade
• Phosphorus x150
• Airburst Engine plans

Albumen SpawnObjective: Harvest 5 Humming Sacs.

Humming Sacs are cabbage-like plants that house Albumen Pearls. They can generally be found in caves, but you can sometimes locate them with your scanner from the surface. The icon looks like this:

And the Humming Sacs themselves look like this:

If you get lucky like I did, you can find these clustered together in a clump and get all five in one location.

You simply need to peel five of them open and remove the Albumen Pearls from inside.

Reward:

• Haz-Mat Gauntlet plans
• Runaway Mould x4,048
• Pre-Packaged Optical Drill Unit
• Supreme Defensive Systems Upgrade

CompanionshipObjective: Adopt an animal companion.

This one is simple. Craft some Animal Pellets from carbon (remember, you need to be at a Utopua base in order to craft anything), then feed them to an animal. Interact with that animal to bring up a menu that allows you to adopt it as your companion.

Reward:

• Powerful Defensive Systems Upgrade
• Inventory Slot x3
• Life Support Gel x5

CalderaObjective: Reach a volcanic crater.

For this Milestone, you simply have to climb to the top of a volcano. Volcanoes shouldn’t be difficult to locate on this planet, because they’re pretty much everywhere, but triggering the Milestone can be a little bit finnicky. You’ll want to get close to the lava flow in the top of the volcano without dying in the lava. And be careful, because the heat can kill you super quickly if you’re not being careful.

Reward:

• Supreme Hazard Protection Upgrade
• Repair Kit x3
• Pure Ferrite x999
• Carbon x999

Phase 3Completion Reward:

• Fearsome Visor customization

Outpost GammaObjective: Claim the 3rd planet for Utopia.

Reward:

• 1,200 Nanites
• Utopia Supply Drop Gamma
• Pre-Packaged Pulse Spitter Unit

Assignment GammaObjective: Receive your instructions from the Utopia Foundation.

Reward:

• Decorative Base Parts Set
• Condensed Carbon x512
• Pre-Packaged Airburst Engine Unit
• Pre-Packaged Cloaking Device Unit

Settlement GammaObjective: Build a base on planet New Sesto.

Reward:

• Portable Exocraft Research Station plans
• Pre-Packaged Amplified Cartridges Unit
• Powerful Underwater Oxygen Upgrade x2

Advanced MechanicsObjective: Learn an upgrade from a Portable Exocraft Research Station.

Reward:

• Nautilon Chamber Plans
• Repair Kit x5
• Supreme Exocraft Boost Upgrade

Fauna MarineObjective: Discover 3 aquatic creatures.

Reward:

• Ion Battery x20
• Cyto-Phosphate x800
• Curly Coral plans

Pearls of WisdomObjective: Collect 3 Living Pearls.

Reward:

• Marine Shelter
• Cable Pod
• Oxygen x512
• Nautilon Advanced Equipment Blueprints

Local DelicaciesObjective: Prepare Cocoa and Pilgrim’s Tonic.

Reward:

• Supreme Scanning System Upgrade
• Inventory Slot x5
• Assortment of cakes

Flora MagentaObjective: Document 8 plant-life on the planet New Sesto.

Reward:

• Storage Container plans
• Supreme Scanning System Upgrade

Phase 4Completion reward:

• Robo-Warden Companion Egg

Outpost DeltaObjective: Claim the 4th planet for Utopia.

Reward:

• 1,400 Nanites
• Utopia Supply Drop Delta
• Pre-Packaged Personal Forcefield Unit

Assignment DeltaObjective: Receive your instructions from the Utopia Foundation.

Reward:

• Pre-Packaged Paralysis Mortar Unit
• Inventory Slot x4
• Banned Defensive Systems Upgrade

Settlement DeltaObjective: Found a Utopia base on planet Idalth XIV.

Reward:

• Utopia Multi-Tool Station plans
• Salvaged Data x21
• Supreme Pulse Spitter Upgrade x2

Omni-ToolObjective: Learn an upgrade from a Utopia Multi-Tool Station.

Reward:

• Repair Kit x6
• Wiring Loom x10
• Ion Battery x25

An Acquired TasteObjective: Prepare Syrupy Viscera.

Reward:

• Detoxified Slime plans
• Terrifying sample
• Horrific Flesh Helmet customization

The CleanseObjective: Advanced Assignment.

You must complete the Outpost Delta Milestone to reveal the objective and rewards for this Milestone.

ParasitesObjective: Purge 8 Hungering Tendrils.

Reward:

• Hex Core x16
• Supreme Mining Beam Upgrade
• Forbidden Multi-Tool Module

Phase 5Completion reward:

• Title: Utopia Dignitary
• Utopia Expedition Decal plans
• Utopia Expedition Banner

Outpost EpsilonObjective: Claim the final planet for Utopia.

Reward:

• 1,616 Nanites
• Utopia Supply Drop Epsilon

Assignment EpsilonObjective: Receive your instructions from the Utopia Foundation.

Reward:

• Supreme Hazard Protection Upgrade
• Assorted Agricultural Module plans

Settlement EpsilonObjective: Found a Utopia Base on planet Endil D2.

Reward:

• Utopia Ship Station plans
• 3,100,000 Units
• Survey Device plans

Flight CalculationsObjective: Learn an upgrade from a Utopia Ship Station.

Reward:

• Warp Hypercore plans
• Supreme Pulse Engine Upgrade
• Supreme Hyperdrive Upgrade

Eyes in the MistObjective: Discover 6 creatures on the planet Endil D2.

Reward:

• Supreme Movement System Upgrade
• Inventory Slot x3
• Mordite x256

SeismologyObjective: Survey for a gas hotspot.

Reward:

• Repair Kit x3
• Planetary Chart x5
• Supreme Mining Beam Upgrade

The Next FrontierObjective: Venture beyond the Utopia system.

Reward:

• Storage Augmentation x12
• NipNip Buds

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Team Deathmatch finally came to Apex Legends as part of the game’s sixteenth season, Revelry. TDM replaced Arenas mode, and it adds a nice alternative to the original Battle Royale mode for folks who want to run-and-gun in much quicker fashion. Of course, while TDM is a great deal of fun, it’s still in its early stages, so some issues will need ironing out.

Here are five updates I’d like to see in Apex Legends Team Deathmatch in the (hopefully near) future.

Custom Weapon LoadoutsCurrently, TDM matches in Apex Legends offer you five different preset loadouts. These loadouts include two guns and one throwable ordinance (grenade) item. One example of the game’s current loadouts is the “Close-Quarters” preset, which includes an EVA-8 Auto shotty, R-99 SMG, and Arc Star Grenade. Another is the “Specialist” preset, which gives you a Wingman, Longbow DMR, and Thermite Grenade. These loadouts are regularly rotated, so you’ll see different versions of these and others as you play.

You’re bound to find a preset loadout you like. And even if you don’t dig using the Arc Star, Peacekeeper, or other weapon, you’ll likely find a loadout with at least one gun you do like. This is fine, but it does make it feel like you’ve got less options. For example, if you unload a clip using your favorite gun while in the heat of battle, you’ll be forced to switch to a lesser gun, or risk reloading while attempting to dodge bullets.

Custom weapon loadouts would be awesome for Team Deathmatch, as they would let you choose two of your favorite guns and your favorite ordinance item. And it wouldn’t necessarily give anyone an unfair advantage, either, as we’re all better with certain weapons than we are with others. Might as well let us choose which ones to go into battle with, right?

Drop-In/Improved MatchmakingTeam Deathmatch, which consists of six-versus-six match-ups, is fast and fun — until it’s just you and two other teammates against a full squad. Sometimes you start the match a player short, which definitely sucks, but more often than not, other players just straight-up bounce and leave you hanging. This makes TDM rounds feel like a slog. When you’re down by a considerable margin with only a couple partners, things get pretty sad really quick.

Interestingly, a “searching for players” message currently appears in the empty player slot if you’re missing teammates to make up a full squad. At this time, though, it doesn’t seem like the game is actually searching for other players to join you. Hopefully this changes soon with some instant drop-in capabilities. It’s not like people aren’t playing Apex Legends! If someone jumps into TDM, maybe the game should put them into an existing match. Of course, this also means that at some point, the option to have rematches with the same squads will have to be added, too.

Penalties for Players Who BounceSpeaking of the game’s matchmaking, how about those players who ditch their teammates are penalized accordingly? Look, I know that sometimes emergencies come up, or maybe your Internet connection experiences a snafu — well, tough!

Okay, I’m mostly joking. I’m not saying players who leave existing games should be banned for life or anything extreme like that, but other online multiplayer games don’t allow players to jump into matches for short periods of time as a punishment for such behavior. Maybe Apex Legends should implement something like that for TDM.

Seriously, if you’re disconnecting from Team Deathmatch just because, then you’re a real jerk.

(Slightly) Larger MapsThe current set of Team Deathmatch maps in Apex Legends consists of smaller zones. At this time, the included maps (which are rotated) are Skulltown, Habitat 4, and Party Crasher. And while these are great, they’re mostly compact and make for some super-quick battles.

I’m not saying the game needs massive Battlefield-esque maps or anything like that, but some slightly larger stages would be fun. This would also (hopefully) eliminate being taken out almost instantly when you respawn near a camper.

Oh, and speaking of maps…

Some Maps from Titanfall Would Be CoolApex Legends and the Titanfall games are set in the same universe, with some characters directly linked across both franchises. Titanfall and Titanfall 2 both had some excellent maps, so it would be nice to see some of these repurposed for Apex. No, there’s no wall-running here like there is in Titanfall, but with a few tweaks, some of those maps would make excellent additions to the current list of Apex zones.

Come on, Angel City or Boomtown, anyone? Those would be rad additions to Apex Legends!

Also This: Add Arenas Mode Back In As Part of the Mixtape PlaylistArenas may have had its detractors, but it was ultimately a fun mode that was perfect for quick play sessions and shaking off the rust after not having played Apex Legends for a while. With the upcoming Mixtape mode playlist in the works, here’s hoping Arenas is added back into rotation. It was a cool component, and while Team Deathmatch is good, the two modes can definitely coexist!

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It’s 2023, but that doesn’t mean No Man’s Sky is dead. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the game has just gotten its 4.1 update, titled Fractal.

First off, this brings a brand-new expedition called Utopia to the game. Remember, expeditions are limited-time campaigns that reward players with exclusive items. This time around, the reward is the Utopia Speeder Starship, which reminds me ever-so-slightly of the A-wings from Star Wars. This is also your chance to nab the Fearsome Visor, which looks awesome.

Further, there are a ton of quality-of-life features to munch on.

For example, there’s now a “Wonders” section of your Log, which tracks things like the largest/smallest predator you’ve encountered in the universe, or the most intelligent and most pressure-resistant. Yup, pressure-resistant!

Most of the other features relate to PlayStation VR2 and visual quality upgrades. It’s a pretty beefy list, and I haven’t yet had time to fully digest it, but as far as I can tell, it looks like VR players are going to have a better experience, while even non-VR players will get better particle effects and other visual wizardry to gawk at. I’m all about it.

You can watch a brief trailer below, but it honestly doesn’t show a whole lot. You might be better served by digging into the meaty patch notes on the official No Man’s Sky website.

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There are a lot of problems with Albacete Warrior, a quirky beat ‘em up from developer FAS3. Some of those issues are gameplay-related, even though the game is mostly okay. Other issues, however, arise as a result of the game’s writing, which can be problematic and at times seems a little racist.

In Albacete Warrior, you play as a ninja from Spain who, after having too many drinks, is deemed the “chosen one” by a martial arts master. It’s a silly little plot, and it could’ve been fine, but another issue with the writing is that it’s just not very funny. The game attempts to be intentionally comical, but most of the jokes fall flat. Simply put, the humor is too sophomoric and stupid to be, at the very least, chuckle-worthy.

On the one hand, sure, it’s kind of funny seeing Albacete Warrior poke fun at Donald Trump. But on the other hand, the game’s choice of certain racial slurs and dumb slang words that mean “rooster” just sort of strike out.

Albacete Warrior combines beat-’em-up and platforming gameplay mechanics, and none of these elements are exactly awful. They’re not great, either, sadly. The problem is that the action gameplay is really clumsy. Beat-’em-ups work best when they’re smooth and fast-paced — just look at Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. Unfortunately, Albacete Warrior likes to bombard you with mobs of bad guys, which is fine, but fighting them never feels all that satisfying because combos and special moves simply aren’t fun to pull off.

The platforming has some bright spots, but it, too, is marred with clunky physics. You’ll do a lot of wall-jumping in Albacete Warrior, and if 3D Mario games have taught us anything about wall-jumps, it’s that they’re supposed to be quick and buttery smooth. Wall-jumping here is an exercise in frustration, which is a shame because there are some really cool 2D and 3D platforming sections that don’t rely on wall jumps. Frankly, more of these moments would’ve made the game a much more enjoyable affair overall.

Another issue Albacete Warrior suffers from is its awkward camera angles. It feels weird moving through the game world when the camera hides certain parts of the map. In addition, there are really odd sections where you’ll need to run quite a bit to get to the next section, but with no waypoint to guide you and a bad camera to hinder you, getting around can get very tiresome.

The visuals of Albacete Warrior are pretty interesting. Though they look a little rough, there’s something kind of cool about the scrappy look of the game. It’s slightly reminiscent of Firegirl: Hack ‘n Splash Rescue, albeit a touch rougher.

Look, we’re not saying that Albacete Warrior is an absolutely terrible game. Honestly, it’s a borderline average beat-’em-up with some decent platforming. It could’ve been way better in terms of gameplay, and the writing is really bad, but it might be worth a look for some folks. Just keep your expectations on the mid-to-low end, because Albacete Warrior could either be pretty cool or just kind of weak depending on how you go into it.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Albecete Warrior on Nintendo Switch, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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If you’ve ever wondered whether or not we, as a species, deserve to exist, well, here’s your answer:

We don’t.

And this is why:

This Sonic the Hedgehog figure from Poptaters is an abomination. It defies logic and laughs in the face of reason. It represents all that is unholy, and it’s a good enough excuse for everyone to sink into existential crisis mode.

Why does this thing exist? Simple: To prove that we shouldn’t.

But hey, at least it’s affordable! You’ll be able to pick up this horrid collectible — that’s right, collectible — for just $14.99 when it spawns in March 2023 through Entertainment Earth. Mint condition is guaranteed so, you know, this ungodly product of the depraved mind will be in pristine shape when it arrives.

It’s worth noting that the image above does state “new for 2022,” which was last year. But the listing for this item shows a release for next month.

Not since the KFC Xbox Series X|S controller has there been this much evidence that human life truly has no meaning.

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A few months before delivering Game Boy-like 2D platforming with Pocket Witch, developer Naoka Games released another game titled Hatup. It was… pretty much the same thing as Pocket Witch turned out to be. But that’s not a bad thing, because it’s quite a bit of fun. Well, for its one-hour runtime, that is.

Now, we’re not quite sure why the team at Naoka Games keeps making these micro-sized budget platformers, but hey, it works! Hatup is neat, and its 30 levels are actually a little better than its successor’s. We’re not knocking Pocket Witch, but Hatup offers up a slightly more challenging experience and a cool little gimmick.

In Hatup, you’ll have to reach the exit door in each level. This means avoiding spikes and enemies, but you’ll also have to complete minor puzzles. Most stages require you to collect color-coded keys that open up different barriers. While the first few stages are set within a single screen, the majority require you to move between two different screens, which can make things a little tricky (in a good way).

Before you’re able to exit the stage, you’ll have to collect a hat for your character — hence the title Hatup. If you reach the door without your hat, you won’t be able to exit, so it’s important that you snag that stylish piece of headwear.

The hat also triggers certain blocks that will either impede your movement or create platforms that allow you to reach different areas. Eventually, it becomes somewhat of a juggling act as you try to figure out when to wear the hat and when to drop it. It’s nothing impossible, but it makes for a decent puzzle-y challenge.

Hatup shares the same graphical style as Naoka’s other 2D games, Pocket Witch and Saomi. It’s like a charming cross between a Game Boy Color game and a Flash game. The game’s level of charm extends to its audio. The one theme song you hear throughout the entirety of the game is surprisingly catchy and nice to listen to — though it’s probably for the best that you’ll only listen to it loop for an hour.

At $5, Hatup is a good value. It’s a short game, but it doesn’t need to be any longer than it is. And if you really want more of this style of old school platformer, you can always keep the fun going with Pocket Witch and Saomi!

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Hatup on Nintendo Switch, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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“Well, that was nice!” Those are the words I’d use to describe Pocket Witch, a 2D platformer that looks and feels like something from the Game Boy era.

Pocket Witch, developed by Naoka Games and Pufferfish Digital, is a fast and fun platformer. It’s something that won’t take up much of your time. This is the type of game you could beat in one sitting — in about 45 minutes, to be exact. As such, it’s a great option to take with you on the go, much like you would have a Game Boy game back in the ‘90s.

The premise of Pocket Witch is simple: You have to get through 30 levels, avoiding obstacles, traps, and enemies, as well as solving light puzzles later in the game. The game’s challenge never verges on demanding, but it will test you from time to time. It can get tough in parts, but it’s never frustrating, and it’s always a good deal of fun.

You’ve got a double-jump and a dash, and you’ll use these moves quite often to avoid death by spike trap, get around enemy projectiles, and reach high places. No, Pocket Witch doesn’t exactly do anything revolutionary, but it’s not trying to. This is a charming and entertaining little platformer that you play because you love charming and entertaining little platformers.

Honestly, Pocket Witch is the perfect title for this game, because it’s pretty much a great game to play when you’re out of the house. Levels are snappy and quick, and they’ll take you just a few minutes to clear. The whole thing is reminiscent of the Game Boy or Game Boy Color, and there were times when the game reminded me of Super Mario Land.

Speaking of which, Super Mario Land — which is an awesome game and should be heralded as an all-time portable great — was just about an hour in length, too. And that was back when Game Boy games were like 30 bucks. So it’s impossible to knock Pocket Witch for lasting just about the same length of time while having a reasonable $5 price tag on Nintendo Switch.

The art style of Pocket Witch is simple but cheery, and it’s overall pretty nice to look at. It’s a little smoother and less pixel-y than what you’d see on a Game Boy screen, but its simplicity is definitely a throwback to those handheld titles. Maybe the devs should’ve gone all-in with a more sprite-based aesthetic, but the cleaner visuals work well here.

No one is going to consider Pocket Witch a game of the year contender. It’s simply not that type of game. It is, however, a cool micro-sized platformer that you’ll play in between games or when you’re out and about. It’s a solid choice for killing time, truthfully. The game literally does nothing wrong, so if you enjoy the genre, and if you maybe want to play something that’ll remind you of classic ‘90s platformers, you should give it a look!

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Pocket Witch on Nintendo Switch, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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I didn’t play the original Pharaoh when it came out back in 1999, and I didn’t even play it when the Cleopatra expansion released in 2000. But ever since I started playing the remake by Triskell Interactive and Dotemu — titled Pharaoh: A New Era — my friends have been regaling me with tales of Egyptian city-building from their childhoods. Apparently, this game was kind of a hit back in the day.

Because I never played the original, I can’t really compare the remake against it. What I can say, though, is that for a newcomer to this majestic city-builder, Pharaoh: A New Era is hyper-addictive and really well-conceived. It’s also incredibly deep — like, Mariana Trench deep.

Now, there are certain types of games where complexity doesn’t really do anything to make the experience better. 2D platformers, for example, are at their best when they’re super simple. However, city-builders are definitely designed to house rich, deep systems. And holy smokes, is Pharaoh drenched in systems.

This is a game where you have to carefully balance the egos of various gods or you’ll find yourself getting smote at every turn. If one deity starts to feel neglected, your buildings will go up in smoke, or your storage yards will crumble, or your citizens will start dying off of mysterious plagues.

On top of that, you have to manage the economy. Sometimes that’s easy — simply mine some gold — but other times that means balancing taxes against people who don’t want to be taxed, as well as thieves who see tax collectors as an opportunity to make off with some stolen loot.

Additionally, you’re trying to thrive within the rhythm of the Nile, farming when the river is high but taking shelter when it’s completely flooded.

All of that is on top of the basic needs management of your civilization — things like making sure your buildings aren’t matchsticks waiting to be lit, or that your citizens have access to entertainment and clean water. And if you want to please the wealthier classes, you need to make sure your various industries — like pottery huts and breweries — are booming.

And then, of course, there’s the act of setting up trade routes. This is where Pharaoh: A New Era is going to really hook chronic micromanagers. You’ve got “runners,” who will follow the roads that you build (though you can block them in via roadblocks) and carry goods from place to place. You can set up storage facilities to only collect and distribute specific resources to make travel as smooth as possible, while also making sure enough goods are being produced and moved in order to keep stock levels equalized. If you don’t mine enough clay, for example, your pottery huts will stop producing, but if you mine too much, your stockyards will fill up and your trade routes will jam up.

So Pharaoh is very much about balance. I tend to struggle with it at times because my instincts are to overproduce so I can be prepared for any eventuality, but the game actually punishes me for playing this way. Either I’m spending too much money, producing too much of a particular good, favoring one god way too much, or just dropping some other ball that I forgot to pay attention to while juggling a half dozen others.

There’s a lot to know here, and the game isn’t always the best at communicating things. The campaign is enormous and serves as a pretty decent tutorial to help you get your feet wet, but it does expect you to keep up with an overwhelming amount of information if you want to continue to move forward. In fact, at one point during the review period, there was a game update that wiped my save file. I was given instructions for how to recover that file, so it wasn’t a big deal, but I took this as an opportunity to simply start over and play through the opening hours again, which helped me to better understand the basics before getting submerged in the depth of its systems once again.

Because the original Pharaoh came out so long ago, and because it’s such a beloved classic, there are plenty of tutorials online that will talk you through ideal city layouts and explain how to balance your economy to the point of perfection. You can also simply turn down the difficulty level if you find yourself feeling helplessly bogged down. But without external resources, I think there are a lot of folks who are going to feel a little bit lost trying to navigate this one.

That’s not a bad thing. In fact, that’s the reason so many people have fallen in love with this game over the years. It’s also the reason people still play it to this day, which created the need for the modern remake I’ve been playing.

So if you’re thinking about playing Pharaoh: A New Era without having played the original, I just have to let you know that you’re going to find an incredibly steep learning curve. Yes, if you conquer that mountain, you’re going to be rewarded with an incredibly rich gaming experience. But if you’d rather just shut off your brain and enjoy something simple, you might want to turn down the difficulty from the very beginning.

Pharaoh: A New Era is not for the feint of heart; this is a robust, deep, complex game that’s built around a series of interlocking systems that need to be picked apart and studied if you want to make any sense of them. Systems addicts are going to find a lot to obsess over here, while casual players might feel like they’ve jumped into the deep end of the pool by mistake.

So if you’re a newcomer to this hyper-addictive city-building classic, I can only say, “Good luck, and may the gods of Egypt heap mercy upon your poor, wretched soul.”

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Pharaoh: A New Era on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Back in 2019, a stylish little hack-and-slash game titled Bleak Sword was released on iOS. Developed by more8bit and published by Devolver Digital, the game is now being prepped for release on Nintendo Switch and PC.

Bleak Sword DX will be an updated version of the 2019 original, and it’ll feature some cool new extras. For starters, it’s going to include all original content plus three DLC chapters. In addition, this DX edition will have a randomizer mode that lets you play a remixed version of the game where anything goes and nothing is guaranteed. Rounding out the package is a boss rush mode for the truly masochistic.

It’s cool seeing Bleak Sword DX getting a release on Switch and PC. The game’s diorama-themed visuals are super stylish and moody, and they look pretty great. And whether you’re playing on your TV or on the go on Switch (or Steam Deck), it’ll be cool seeing the level layouts on screens of all sizes. And to make things even snazzier, DX will offer new effects and filters, giving you more visual variety this time around.

You can expect to see Bleak Sword DX and its brand of dark, cursed diorama action on Nintendo Switch and PC later in 2023.

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Have you ever played a game and didn’t know whether or not you actually enjoyed it? It wasn’t bad. It might not have been good, either. But you didn’t hate playing it.

Well, that might be the kind of game that The Redress of Mira is. It’s a walking simulator that isn’t offensively bad, but it’s not worth gushing over. It’s the type of game that, at some point, I realized I was enjoying — but I won’t play it ever again.

You play as the titular Mira, who begins her journey chasing after another character. Said character warns Mira that she’ll end up just like her father if she doesn’t back off. From there, the story remains mostly relegated to books that you’ll discover as you play — or maybe you won’t. These books are tucked away in treasure chests, most of which are easy to find. That said, reading page after page of backstory can get kind of cumbersome, and it’s optional, so you don’t have to read these books if you don’t care about the plot.

You’ll spend the majority of your time walking through the world of The Redress of Mira. It’s a linear world, but some nice design choices give it a sprawling vibe. No, this is definitely not an open-world game, but the environments are such that they feel bigger than they actually are. Call it a nice optical illusion, but it certainly works in the game’s favor and gives it a good atmospheric vibe.

Along the way, you’ll solve very basic puzzles. These include pushing blocks to create platforms and pulling levers in the correct order. Nothing The Redress of Mira does is overly complicated, and that’s probably for the best, as the game is at its most enjoyable when you’re just moving through the world and getting to the next area.

There are some combat sections where you’ll face off against the same annoying boss character multiple times. These moments are more tedious than anything, and once they’re over, you can get back to the walking sim parts.

It’s strange, because as a walking simulator, The Redress of Mira could perfectly be described as “fine.” In terms of its mechanics, it does nothing inherently wrong. Basically, if you’re a fan of walking sims, you might like this one. You’ve probably played worse, but you’ve definitely played better.

I played The Redress of Mira on an Xbox Series S. While it looks okay graphically thanks to some nice aesthetic choices — okay, but not outstanding by any means — the character movements and animations are choppy and stiff. The bulk of the game is played in first-person perspective, but there are times when you’re pushing blocks or climbing ladders or vines where Mira’s movement is comically stiff. It looks pretty bad because there’s no fluidity to the movement.

On the flipside of that, the sound design is pretty good. The music is nice and adds to the overall atmosphere of the game. The voice acting is another story, but there’s not much of it, thankfully.

At just about two hours in length, The Redress of Mira won’t take up too much of your time. And it gives you a decent little fairytale-inspired world to get lost in for a bit. You won’t be amazed by it, but it does the trick. You should, however, keep in mind the $10 asking price. If you think that’s okay for a mostly-average-but-not-terrible two-hour walking sim, then go for it. Otherwise, maybe you should wait for a sale.

Disclaimer: I was given an Xbox review code for The Redress of Mira — which I played on Xbox Series S — but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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I want to love Afterimage, the drop-dead gorgeous Metroidvania platformer by developer Aurogon Shanghai. This one is published, after all, by Modus Games, who’s been on something of a winning streak for the past several months. Unfortunately, this is a game that gets lost in its own indulgences, which I think makes it a little off-putting for platformer purists.

And yes, I am a fan of deep systems and rich narratives, but those are things that draw me to open-world RPGs and tactical RPGs. When I play a 2D platformer, I’m looking for something different.

Bear in mind that I’m the kind of player who typically strays away from Metroidvania games because they tend to reach a point where the world has become so large that remembering all the areas you’d been unable to access becomes overwhelming. I do make exceptions, of course, like with last year’s absolutely incredible Infernax, or with shorter games in the genre — I will typically enjoy a 2D Metroidvania up until about the ten-hour mark. So I might not be exactly the core audience for this game.

That being said, Afterimage has some of the typical Metroidvania bloat — I’m told the final game has about 40 hours worth of content — but it pairs that with RPG bloat, with longwinded exposition for its universe and an absurdly in-depth skill tree. This is the sort of thing I would welcome in a JRPG or even a hack-‘n-slash (like last year’s Soulstice, which was also published by Modus).

But in a platformer? I’d rather play something like Super Meat Boy or Celeste, which require intensely honed motor skills without asking players to develop a PhD-level understanding of deep game systems. Those are games that bake their complexities into the already-established expectations of one of gaming’s oldest and most beloved gameplay genres. Afterimage diminishes itself by tossing itself into the quagmire of RPG-style systems and menu-diving.

And that’s a shame, because Afterimage has a lot going for it. Not only is it astonishingly beautiful, with fantasy watercolor backdrops and anime-style character art, but it also feels smooth to play. And I have to admit that I do kind of like it when a 2D platformer incorporates a Dark Souls-style leveling system (I’m thinking of games like Salt & Sacrifice or Hollow Knight or The Tarnishing of Juxtia), something that Afterimage does a pretty decent job at. I also really like the game’s map system, which might not be blazing any new trails, but it’s simple to use and nice to look at.

But I can’t help but feel like Aurogon is piling a lot of chaff on top of a really great batch of wheat. There’s something wonderful at the foundation here, but the game is constantly distracting you from its best parts by miring you in its complexity.

Look, I’m going to go on a bit of a tangent for a minute. Lunar: Silver Star Story is one of my favorite video games of all time. But the first time I played it, I brought it over to a friend’s house. That friend got really drunk and was constantly shouting spoilers at me for a good chunk of the game’s middle section, which I was playing at the time. What was otherwise one of the most incredible video-game experiences of my life was diminished by this loudmouth drunk who couldn’t keep his mouth shut long enough to let me enjoy the game at my own pace. It was partially my fault for bringing the game over there instead of playing it at home, but I do feel like he was being needlessly obnoxious about it.

While Afterimage‘s best parts pale in comparison to Lunar‘s, its complexities feel a little bit like that drunk friend, constantly getting in the way and turning what should be a pleasant experience into something you have to grit your teeth to get through.

There are still a couple months to go before Afterimage launches on April 25, 2023, but I don’t think that’s enough time to really fix the game’s core problems. It has way too much confidence in its menu systems and far too little confidence in the part that matters most: the core gameplay.

But there are folks who are going to love this, and I definitely wish those people the best. Knock yourselves out, I say. For me, a multi-decade veteran of 2D platforming, this just feels like a bridge too far. I’m hoping the full version of the game will win me over in the end, but I’m not sure this one’s going to work itself into my wheelhouse.

Disclaimer: I was given a preview build of Afterimage on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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A spooky new roguelite is currently in development by Spain-based indie Saona Studios. Death or Treat is a 2D hack-and-slash roguelite that features a cartoon-like hand-drawn art style.

You play as a character named Scary, who’s on a mission to save the spirit of Halloween. Death or Treat is set in HallowTown, where candy and all things dreary are welcome, and it’s up to you to restore order.

The game will have fast-paced combat that includes multiple unlockable attacks as well as passive abilities. One such move, for example, will turn you into a mini-tornado and let you wipe out groups of enemies.

Visually, Death or Treat is a little reminiscent of titles like Hollow Knight and the upcoming Have a Nice Death. It also has a quirkier old school Nickelodeon look like Flipping Death.

While an exact release date hasn’t been announced yet, Death or Treat is scheduled to launch on PC and consoles in Spring 2023.

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Did you ever play Song of the Deep? You know, that slightly obscure underwater Metroidvania from Insomniac Games? Yup, the studio that brought us all-time hits like Spyro, Ratchet & Clank, Sunset Overdrive, and Marvel’s Spider-Man once made an indie-like 2D action-adventure game. It was awesome, and you should check it out if you haven’t.

While we’re on the topic of underwater adventures, though, it’s worth mentioning that there’s another such game coming to Nintendo Switch from developers 18Light Game, FunZone Games, and Joy Brick Inc. It’s titled Pronty, and it looks like a solid underwater Metroidvania in its own right.

In Pronty, you’ll explore an interconnected underwater world as you take down huge bosses and try to discover what’s causing all the pollution that’s destroying the ocean. You’ll battle enemies using different abilities like a dash attack, buzzsaw-like spin attack, and even a robot companion.

The game has a nice hand-drawn look to it, with some scenes featuring a more anime-like style to them. It all looks pretty cool, and if you enjoyed games like the aforementioned Song of the Deep or 2013’s Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, this looks like it’s right up there with those kinds of games.

Pronty originally launched on Steam, where it received a lot of praise from the community. As such, it’s nice seeing a game with a solid following heading to a new platform. It’ll release on Nintendo Switch on March 7, 2023.

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Developer Adglobe and publisher Binary Haze Interactive are preparing for the launch of their upcoming strategy RPG, Redemption Reapers. The game comes from something of a supergroup of game devs, and it looks ambitious and promising.

Hiroyuki Kobayashi came up with the story of Redemption Reapers, and he’s also the game’s director. He previously worked as producer on Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights. Other devs involved with the game include Masayuki Horikawa (Fire Emblem, Kingdom Hearts III), Tomokazu Fukushima (Freedom Wars, Metal Gear Solid), and composer Rei Kondoh (Bayonetta, Fire Emblem).

That’s an all-star roster of developers, and they’re looking to provide traditional and challenging strategy role-playing action with their upcoming title. As the Ashen Hawk Brigade, you’ll fight back against the Mort Army in a bleak world filled with death and decay. Your party will include brutes and ranged fighters, and you’ll have to employ everything from stealth to melee to long-range tactics to take out the enemy threat.

Judging by the extended gameplay trailer below, Redemption Reapers definitely has a bit of a Fire Emblem vibe to it, though it looks much darker than Nintendo’s strategy series. In addition, there seems to be an emphasis on story, as the further you get, the more you’ll learn about your party of characters.

Redemption Reapers is due out later this month on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC. If you’re a fan of strategy RPGs like Fire Emblem and Wasteland 3, you should keep a lookout for this one when it launches on February 22, 2023.

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I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that you aren’t familiar with ExeKiller. After all, it has been quite some time since the reveal trailer dropped back in 2021, and that trailer was mostly atmospheric, with some NPC interaction thrown in for good measure.

Today, seemingly out of the blue, Paradark Studio dropped the first look at what players can expect from moment-to-moment gameplay in ExeKiller. This is a vertical slice as it stands now, since the trailer makes it very clear this is still pre-alpha footage.

That being said, what we see is a solid four minutes and twenty-six seconds of what looks like actual — if not heavily scripted — gameplay, with a glimpse at basic exploration and a nice little combat sequence to end things out. It’s nice to see that the New Vegas-y, Bladerunner 2049 color palette and general vibe is still intact, which for me was one of the big draws of the original ExeKiller reveal trailer. I’m also getting some mild and surprising Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath vibes.

In this new trailer, the player character is a futuristic bounty hunter, on a mission to collect as many S.O.U.L.S as they can — S.O.U.L.S are seemingly a form of currency or status. The trailer seems to drop in mid-mission, when the protagonist is rummaging through a derelict roadside gas station. Upon approaching the second of the two main structures, a rumpus can be heard in the distance, so the protag pulls out an Alien-style tracker that alerts them to the presence and location of nearby hostiles. I really dig this mechanic, and really hope it makes the final cut.

I’ve always thought that just using a minimap to see every enemy NPC, or tagging them and having overhead icons follow them around, is a bit too gamey for my tastes. Granted, I always use these mechanics when given them, but seeing a more nuanced approach to this feature is a nice touch.

But a cool enemy tracker isn’t all that the player character comes equipped with, as we see they also have a blowing-holes-in-stuff revolver, which has a digital display that clearly shows the ammo count and number of bullets in the chamber. This is another mechanic that I wish more games would incorporate to get away from the on-screen HUD clutter.

I will admit that the actual combat in the trailer is a little stiff. Of course, it appears the protagonist is taking on three gas-station-attendant robots, so it’s possible these are just low-level grunts without any deeper combat programming. I would like to imagine that, once you go up against higher-value targets, the enemies won’t be this much of a pushover.

Even though this section didn’t blow me away, the effects of the robots being blasted to pieces seem pretty cool, and coupled with the more cowoby-ish, Westerny quips and musings from the protag, it all feeds into the overall vibe of ExeKiller. I think it’s very effective.

Overall, this new trailer has gone a long way towards showcasing ExeKiller in a positive light. Not only does the general tone of the game still feel interesting — especially in contrast with the oversaturated neon and rain-drenched nighttime city streets that have been so pervasive in cyberpunk video games — but the combat and exploration look solid enough as well.

It’s seemingly early days still, as no concrete release date or even window has been offered. But if nothing else it’s nice to see the different, yet still inspired and familiar, take on the genre that ExeKiller is trafficking in. And really, who doesn’t love a good noir-style futuristic bounty-hunting story?

You can check out the trailer below, and if you are interested, and you can also head over to the Steam page to wishlist it, should you be so compelled.

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When it comes to JRPGs, there’s usually some grinding to be expected. Sometimes it’s grinding for levels. Other times you might just be grinding for crafting materials. But in Persona 3 Portable, which just recently got a re-release on current-gen consoles, a big part of the grind is climbing the tower of Tartarus.

Though Persona 3 is a mix of traditional JRPG and visual novel, the ultimate goal is to climb the 264 floors of Tartarus. That’s right: 264 floors. It’s grindy, sure, and it can absolutely get a bit repetitive (and sometimes frustrating if you’re not adequately prepared for battle). Ultimately, though, there’s a very specific old school JRPG-centric degree of charm to climbing floor after floor inside the massive tower.

A few things make Tartarus a compelling in-game location. For starters, the lore behind it is interesting, as it acts as a home to the Shadows that the main characters of Persona 3 must find and defeat. These shadows are mostly relegated to Tartarus, though they appear in our normal world from time to time, too, specifically when there’s a full moon.

Not everyone can enter Tartarus. This is because the tower only appears — or rather, rises from the ground — during the Dark Hour, a hidden 25th hour that occurs after midnight. This hour can only be experienced by Persona users, and those who aren’t Persona users are magically placed inside coffins, completely unaware of what’s happening around them. Once the Dark Hour ends, these non-Pesona users go about whatever it is they were doing with no idea of ever being inside a coffin during the 25th hour.

Of course, just like some Shadows can enter our world from Tartarus, non-Persona users can become trapped within the tower. This adds a fun objective-based element to Persona 3 Portable, as you can essentially form a search party to seek out these lost non-Persona users and rescue them from Tartarus. The local police station constantly updates its bulletin board with a list of missing persons, and they can be found inside Tartarus. Saving these folks is completely optional, but you’ll usually get decent rewards — not to mention that good feeling of having rescued someone!

There are plenty of other optional objectives to complete within the bloody halls of Tartarus. One NPC will often ask you to bring specific items to her. This usually requires that you scour the different floors of the tower for these items. Again, you don’t have to do any of this stuff, but it does add a nice reason to obsess over every floor and seek out every enemy and treasure chest inside Tartarus.

Due to the fact that Tartarus rises from the ground every night during the Dark Hour, its layout isn’t always the same. The randomized design of the floors means that even if you revisit an area you already cleared, it’ll be somewhat different every time. That’s not too different from what you see in modern dungeon-based roguelikes with procedurally generated rooms, so if you’re into that, you’ll likely get hooked on the concept of Tartarus.

Now, 264 floors of grinding and battling enemies might seem like a lot, and, well, it kind of is. But Persona 3 does an excellent job with its pacing. You won’t actually climb Tartarus all in one go. Instead, you’ll be able to climb a certain number of floors, usually up to a challenging boss battle. Once you get to a certain point, a large gate will appear, keeping you from climbing any further.

That’s when other gameplay elements of Persona 3 kick in. When you can’t progress any further inside Tartarus, you’ll have to wait for a major story beat, typically during a full moon, to unlock the gate leading to the next set of floors. During these “quiet” moments, it’s best to focus on improving your character’s academics and relationships. While you should be doing that stuff during the day anyway, the fact that Tartarus doesn’t let you climb higher for a few in-game days allows you time to breathe and take a little break from the daunting tower.

Once you’ve completed the next Full Moon Operation, taking out Shadows that slithered into our world, you’ll be able to climb Tartarus further. Admittedly, this game loop isn’t as smooth as it could be, as you could potentially feel some burnout while climbing floor after floor of Tartarus. But looting items, defeating enemies, and battling bosses is still overall very satisfying.

Persona 3 contains one of the darker stories in the series, at times resembling a horror game. It’s a well-written story and has a great cast of characters. So if you’re all about the story, grinding through Tartarus might make you a bit antsy. But together with the story parts, Tartarus adds an interesting twist to the gameplay, forcing you to climb its creepy floors and battle all manner of monstrous enemies.

It’s not for everyone, and later games in the series like Persona 5 tweaked the dungeon formula significantly, but Tartarus is one of the most exciting and evocative elements of Persona 3.

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If you’ve never heard of Teslagrad, it was an indie platformer developed and published by Rain Games that came out a decade ago (in 2013) and was beloved by many. It had a charming hand-drawn look, a medieval steampunk aesthetic, and a bunch of puzzle-platforming to engage in.

Now here we are, ten years later, and a sequel is finally upon us.

This time, however, Modus Games is acting as publisher, which I assume means that Rain Games had a bit more cash to work with this time around. And that shows in just how polished Teslagrad 2 looks compared with its predecessor. I mean, just look at this electric moose boss:

It’s so good, right?

Modus seems to be on a winning streak right now, having published both the super-ambitious hack-‘n-slash Soulsticeand the charming 3D platformer Kukoos: Lost Pets in the latter portion of 2022. I was curious as to whether or not Teslagrad 2 is a continuation of that trend, and Modus acquiesced to my curiosity by gifting me with an extended demo for the game. Thanks, Modus!

I’ve now played Teslagrad 2 for about two and a half hours (admittedly, about 40 minutes of this was me trying to beat the steampunk moose in the screenshot I shared above), and I’m told the section I played was about 25% of the full game.

And I have to say that I’m impressed. Most immediately obvious is the visual quality, which is absolutely incredible. Teslagrad 2 is a game that never stops being gorgeous, with brilliant hand-drawn characters and insanely detailed backgrounds. If you look closely, you’ll start spotting things in the background, like enemies idly marching atop castle walls, or ominous enemy blimps looming in the distance. And some of the animations (like when the moose turns around) are jaw-dropping.

Gameplay-wise I guess you’d probably be forced to call this a Metroidvania, as it does feature an explorable area that expands outward as you gain more abilities that get you into more places (and uncover secrets in the areas you’d already explored).

Your main ability — and I believe this was carried over from the previous game (which I never actually played myself) — is that you have a magnetic force field that changes colors. If it’s blue, it will be attracted to red objects and repelled by blue ones, and if it’s red, it will be attracted to blue objects and repelled by red ones. If you’ve ever played with a magnet, this mechanic should feel immediately intuitive (unless you’re a member of Insane Clown Posse, I suppose).

You can chain combos together by bouncing off walls and then being magnetically pulled toward others, and this happens within these really satisfying obstacle courses, where your character flings around corners and runs up walls and then bounces over dangerous pits. The gameplay has a really good rhythm that makes it super-fun to play.

But this isn’t the only mechanic that I made use of in my time with the game. There’s also an electric-powered dash move, and the ability to pick up and toss boxes (which can be stacked in some places to get you up and over high ledges).

It’s all really well conceived, though I did encounter a few frustrating sections that asked for a bit too much precision in my platforming skills. Even so, I found myself enjoying the game for the duration of the demo. I look forward to playing more of it.

And let’s just talk about that moose boss for a minute. This thing is really challenging. It only requires you to damage it three times, but this is something you can only do indirectly by making its summoned skeletons explode in close proximity to the moose. Since you will die with just a single hit (though you can get a ring shield that will grant you an additional hit, and you can replenish it once every time you damage the moose), this can be quite the challenge.

I think the difficulty level of this first boss is perfect — extremely difficult at first, but eventually defeatable once you get into a good rhythm and have just a little bit of luck on your side — and I hope this is an indication of what the game’s other bosses might be like.

Ultimately, Teslagrad 2 is shaping up to be an incredibly smooth and polished Metroidvania-style puzzle-platformer, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the final build at release, which is happening at some point in the spring of 2023 (though we don’t yet have a more specific date than that right now). Hopefully that means it’ll be here sooner rather than later.

Disclaimer: I was given a preview build of Teslagrad 2 on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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There’s an argument to be made that the story and performances from the original The Last of Us video game are some of the strongest narrative portrayals in all of video games. But I think you might have a harder time trying to make a case for the moment-to-moment gameplay mechanics as being some of the best that video games have to offer — especially now in the 2020s.

Watching the first three episodes of the new HBO The Last of Us series has put into stark contrast how good the presentation and characterizations of the video game were, while also how perfunctory the gameplay mechanics actually were.

A lot has changed in the story of Joel and Ellie in the first three episodes of the The Last of Us series compared to their adventure in the video game. Some of this was necessary to streamline the story, to flesh out the world and events leading up to the outbreak, and to cut down on the sheer amount of violence and gore the show would need to incorporate to be completely faithful to the source material. And that’s to say nothing of the fact that Joel in the show is far less of a murderous dick — at least based on what we’ve been shown thus far (although a darkness is definitely alluded to).

Overall, I don’t have any problems with these changes, or with the resulting new-ish version of the well-worn story. In fact, I welcome it. If I had to sit through the original story but in show form, having played through the first game a number of times, I don’t know if I would’ve made it past the pilot. But in changing the story to help focus the narrative, it really highlights just how good the story and characters were and still are, but also how much of the game is just action-filler to either pad out the runtime (“gamers” sure do like to have runtimes justify their dollars spent), or simply just to make the experience feel more “gamey” and less like those filthy, filthy walking simulators.

I personally never really minded the amount of action and shooting involved in The Last of Us. After all, I play games to shoot stuff more often than not. But my interest definitely wanes the more times I play through The Last of Us, especially during those requisite video-game-ass-video-game moments of having to defend one’s position from an onslaught of enemies while also waiting for another character to do something extremely slowly while also having to manage your resources until the invisible timer runs out and the heart-pumping music stops.

The thing is, while watching the first three episodes of The Last of Us, which were incredibly gripping, taut and moved at what felt like a blistering clip, I was rarely reminded of the more action-focused parts of the game and instead felt like I was watching a YouTube mashup of all of the game’s cutscenes. And sure, this is probably a natural result of the limited amount of action on screen, but also because those sections of the game, while fun, aren’t the most gripping or even memorable parts of the game — at least for me.

In fact, it wasn’t until maybe halfway through the second episode of the show — when Joel, Tess, and Ellie are attempting to traverse through the Bostonian Museum — when I finally thought, “Now this feels like the game.” It’s a very brief moment, too, as Joel is regrouping with Ellie after having been separated by the firstreal Clicker-clickers presented in the show. Joel and Ellie are trying to avoid being detected and both are crouching behind a display case in one of the museum rooms, using it for cover while a clicker shambles about unaware in the background. And that was it.

Yup, the first time this show felt like the game it’s based on, at least to me, is that maybe-30-second clip of them crouching behind cover while trying not to make noise. Anyone reading this who has played The Last of Us I’m sure can attest that this is what you end up doing for a majority of the game (while not simply watching cutscenes): going balls-to-the-wall during a set-piece moment or walking around while the characters talk, and learn to love. Oh, and of course while also not moving ladders to and fro, or pushing Ellie on floating pallets of wood.

To be fair, it was an exciting moment, seeing a real video-game-ass moment rendered in reality by real, great actors (the clicker performers are spot on). But it was gone in an instant and I was just back to watching (and enjoying) the pretty cutscenes brought to life. Which, again, I have no problem with.

But I think this highlights to me why The Last of Us has always been a game perfect for a live-action adaptation, while also being an average game as far as the gameplay is concerned. If you asked fans of the game what their favorite moments are, I think most people will talk about the character moments and the story as a whole — although the overall visceral and nerve-racking nature of the gameplay will no doubt spring to mind as well.

And with the recent release of The Last of Us Part I, the remake of the original game (or maybe it was a remake of the remaster of the original game…), I think the idea was that the show would fuel a new generation of people who hadn’t played the game and were only aware of TLoU from this wildly popular TV series, who would in turn seek out the game to see how it stacks up against the show.

I can imagine there might be a good deal of those folks who are immediately sucked in by the crackerjack opening segment, which requires little heavy lifting on the part of the player. But as soon as the game kicks things into video-game-ass high-gear — right around when Joel and Tess are hunting down the guns (not a car battery) that were stolen out from under them, through those crate-filled arenas with all of the slow, plodding stealth and (unless they fixed this) that huge circular reticle for aiming Joel’s gun that I always hated — there might be a precipitous dip in the number of these new converts who will push deeper into the game.

In fact, Sony and Naughty Dog might be wise to patch in a “TV Show” setting that, although probably wouldn’t reshape the narrative to make it more closely resemble the beats as depicted in the show, could at least decrease the amount of action to the point where even if it shaves off 25% of the play time, might be a more easily digestible launching pad so that any subsequent playthroughs could be set to the original amount of mayhem to offer a challenge the second time through. But that’s just my two cents.

At the end of the day, both The Last of Us the TV show and The Last of Us Part I (or any of the other versions of the original video game) are incredible works of art and offer a lot to love and get lost in. But I feel like the show arguably does the game a disservice by taking the more beloved and hard-hitting elements and leaving the chaff on the cutting room floor. Unfortunately, that chaff makes up a wealth of the video-game version’s experience.

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In September of 2022, I watched the announcement trailer for the upcoming Like a Dragon: Ishin! (which I’ve posted above for your viewing convenience). Back then, I somehow missed the whole “This is a remake” bit. I hadn’t even heard of the original version of Ishin when it released back in 2014 for the PS3 and PS4. In fact, I didn’t even realize that there was a Like a Dragon spinoff series, which I assume includes the 2020 game, Yakuza: Like a Dragon — or maybe that’s just an amalgamation of the two series.

I assume the reason I wasn’t familiar with the Like a Dragon subseries was primarily because, back in the 2010s, the Yakuza series was not as well-known the States as it is today. Things kind of fizzled around the release of Yakuza 2 and leading up to Yakuza 3. But then came the release of the highly acclaimed Yakuza 0, which came out on March 12th, 2015 (my birthday, wouldn’t you know it?), and the even higher-ly acclaimed Yakuza 6 in December of 2016. And that’s when the real Yakuza renaissance began, with the Kiwami and Kiwami 2 remakes and the subsequent Yakuza-thereafter-numerical remasters.

So although I was interested in Like a Dragon: Ishin! after that reveal trailer, it sort of receded into the back of my mind. That was until recently, when I started to hear grumblings of it again. Only this time, every source was calling it a remake, which had me scratching my head. I had no idea.

But now that I am clear on what this game is — an actual remake of the original PS3/PS4 release — I can finally start to get excited by the game itself without feeling like I’m missing something.

That’s good, because Like a Dragon: Ishin! looks really awesome, and I can’t wait to check it out when it releases February 17, 2023. I have long enjoyed the atmosphere of Yakuza titles, but the hand-to-hand combat was never really my thing, especially once you add weapons into the mix and all of a sudden you show up to a knife or even gunfight and all you have is two fives. So the idea of a Feudal-Era (or thereabouts) version of Yakuza where you can samurai slash the heck out of enemies, while also wielding a pimp gun (ie a small pistol), all while running around ancient Japanese villages? That sounds like my kind of jam.

Oh, and you can also power up and shoot massive Hadoukens, as well as other over-the-top power moves. I mean, what’s not to like?

You can check out some gameplay in the video below, although the person manning the sticks isn’t very good at the game, so bear with them. Nonetheless, Like a Dragon: Ishin! is looking like a solid entry in the Yakuza-verse, and a nice change of pace from the more action-orientated entries — and now the more turn-based RPG installments.

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Persona 3 marked an ambitious shift in the Shin Megami Tensai sub-series when it first released on PlayStation 2 back in 2006. It led to Persona 4 and Persona 5, both of which are considered timeless JRPGs. Now, with Persona 3 Portable getting a re-release on modern hardware, it’s given a lot of folks the opportunity to dive into this classic.

Often considered one of the darker entries in the Persona series, Persona 3 definitely has a sinister vibe to it, and it leans into horror more than you might realize. Here are five reasons Persona 3 is actually a horror game.

The Dark Hour Feels Like Something Out of a J-Horror MangaA normal day is made up of 24 hours, right? Maybe for you and I. In Persona 3, it’s explained that there’s a hidden 25th hour that occurs at midnight. This phenomenon, known as the Dark Hour, sees all normal humans placed inside coffins, completely unaware of the passage of time they are existing in.

The Dark Hour doesn’t affect these people, but those individuals who can summon their inner Personas are able to exist freely in this moment. It’s at this time where the protagonists of Persona 3 are able to climb the tower of Tartarus, which is filled with demonic, monstrous entities known as Shadows.

The concept of the Dark Hour is an interesting one for sure, and it has a very distinct J-horror vibe to it that feels like something taken out of the pages of a manga.

Apathy Syndrome Is Essentially Demonic PossessionAs time passes in Persona 3, more and more people become afflicted with a condition called apathy syndrome. These people lose their energy and motivation, dragging their feet as they walk around town. They look a little bit like zombies, shambling around with their heads tilted to one side.

You eventually learn that apathy syndrome is the result of these individuals’ psyches being consumed by the Shadows. In other words, we’re looking at good old-fashioned possession here. No, these folks aren’t projectile vomiting on you or turning their heads 180 degrees, but they lose control of their faculties and, eventually, their consciousness as the Shadows feed on their souls.

That Creepy KidOne of the first characters you encounter in Persona 3 is a young boy. He speaks slowly and uses ambiguous language, talking about mysterious events that will occur and telling you that you need to agree to take responsibility for your actions. He looks like a ghost kid, and he vanishes into and appears out of thin air as he pleases. He seems friendly enough, but that doesn’t make him any less creepy.

The Game Often Feels Like a Teen SlasherThe gameplay of Persona 3 is split into your typical JRPG combat and visual novel scenes filled with dialogue and character development. The latter moments are used to drive the story forward, build the game’s world, and establish relationships between the characters. Because the protagonist and the majority of the cast are high school students, there are a lot of teen moments. During these visual novel parts, characters build bonds between one another, flirt with romance, and deal with the struggles of academia.

The high school setting and characters thus give Persona 3 something of a teen slasher vibe. If you’ve watched movies like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, or TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it’s easy to draw parallels to that specific brand of horror. These characters are not only tasked with keeping their grades up and dealing with the pressures of high school — they also have to make time to take on the supernatural.

Look at This Enemy and Tell Me This Isn’t HorrorWhether they’re friendly Personas or enemy demons, there are a lot of horrific-looking characters in Persona 3. Just look at this monster you encounter early on! Creepy. As. Heck.

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When I fired up SEASON: A letter to the future, I was expecting a super-chill slice-of-life game in the vein of something like Goro Miyazaki’s film From Up on Poppy Hill. And it kind of is, but it also takes place in a fantastical world that’s almost endlessly enthralling.

Part of what makes the fantasy elements work so well is how normal the characters seem to think they all are.

Think about it this way: Have you ever seen a blue whale? It’s this monstrous creature that doesn’t seem like it should possibly exist in our world, but it does. But even so, people don’t spend a lot of time talking about how weird they are, because we live in a world in which those things exist and we’re just kind of used to them.

That’s how the characters in SEASON react to things like the disease that makes you unable to discern time, or the cruise ships that became their own independent nations that eventually went to war with one another. That’s some crazy stuff, but no one spends much time telling the audience how crazy any of it is. Because to the characters, it’s just how things are.

No matter how bizarre the real world might actually be, things seem normal until you really start thinking about how weird they actually are. I think the fantasy genre in general needs to be better about building believable worlds with this in mind, and SEASON is an example of how to do it right — at least in terms of how normal the characters treat its oddities. SEASON absolutely nails this.

The general gameplay loop sounds a little dull in concept: You’re given a camera and an audio recorder, then set upon a bike and allowed to explore the world. But in practice, it’s not dull at all. In fact, I found it hard to pull myself away from this game, even when it was getting super late and I was too tired to reasonably continue.

Everything you see can be photographed, and everything you hear can be recorded. Sometimes, these things will unlock additional stickers or writings, all of which can be placed in your scrapbook however you see fit. When you piece together a really appealing layout base on the stuff you’ve seen in an area, the results are immensely satisfying.

And this makes you want to peek around every corner and see if you can record that wind chime or that slow water drip. It’s this super satisfying collectible hunt where you get to decide what’s worth collecting. Unlike a normal collectathon game that tasks you with, say, finding 400+ flags (ahem, Assassin’s Creed), SEASON lets you just photograph and record whatever you want, then use those sights and sounds to decorate your scrapbook before moving onto the next area. There are no checklists; you simply need to photograph and/or record a small amount of things in each area, whether those things were intended to be photographed or not. You decide what’s collectible, and there’s no penalty for missing something, no reward for being a completionist.

In some games, this would be problematic, as it could render the whole experience meaningless. But in SEASON, you always feel compelled to continue. I’m struggling to even explain why this might be, because whatever words I use to describe it make it sound kind of mundane. But I promise it’s not mundane at all. It’s incredibly satisfying.

In fact, SEASON has a similar sense of wonder as Myst did the first time I played it, or even, dare I say, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It just feels perpetually engrossing as you’re pulled into the mystery of the tragic decline and ultimate rebuilding of this strange world.

And that world is gorgeous. Mind, it’s not quite as gorgeous as the reveal trailer from 2020, which I’ll post here so you can see for yourself:

I can’t help but feel like there were a lot of visual compromises made to squeeze this onto PS4 — that instead of developing it natively for the PS5, it was instead developed for the PS4 and upscaled for the PS5. I don’t know for sure that this was the case, but I suspect that it was. In the reveal trailer, everything looks super crisp, the colors look bright, and the lighting brings it all together. In the actual game — which I played on PS5 — things look a little bit washed out in comparison.

That said, this is still a beautiful game that’s jam-packed with wonder. I have to say, here in 2023, game devs have really nailed the whole cel-shaded thing, which makes games like SEASON feel like gorgeous playable animated feature films.

I do have quite a few nitpicks about SEASON, though. Now, before I continue, I should point out that these are indeed nitpicks; nothing I’m about to talk about is anything close to a dealbreaker. In concert, they all work to diminish the experience a little bit, but not enough that it matters too much. I just can’t help but think about this stuff while I’m playing.

My biggest gripe about the game is that I wish they let you add extra pages to your journal. When the entire game is based around collecting letters and taking photographs and making audio recordings, you end up wanting more space to showcase the stuff you’re capturing and collecting. But each area generally gives you a two-page spread to play with. Sure, you can shrink and rotate things, but there’s only so much room before you find yourself moving on — not because you’ve seen everything, but because you’ve run out of room to display your collectibles.

There are a few tiny things I dislike visually. I’m not a fan of the font choice for dialogue, for example, and it seems like they could have gone for something a little bit cleaner. I think they were trying to make it feel slightly hand-written while also appearing tidy, but my guess is that just going super-clean would have ultimately been a better choice.

I also think the walking animation looks super awkward. This really isn’t much of an issue in a game where you spend a majority of your time pedaling a bike or viewing the world through a camera lens, but in the instances where you walk around, I can’t help but feel like the animation feels just a little bit off.

Also, there was a bug in my version of the game where the bike-pedaling tutorial never disappeared, so the game’s title introduction scene was kind of marred. It was really well set up, and the shot was gorgeous, but that controller icon got in the way of an otherwise beautifully choreographed moment.

Yes, these are my biggest gripes about the game, and they’re all pretty minor. Even with these flaws, though, SEASON: A letter to the future is an absolute masterpiece of a title, and it could very well be 2023’s first must-play video game. It has this bewitching quality that pulls you in, and you find yourself ruminating on its mysteries and secrets for hours after you put the controller down. It’s an experience that’s not to be missed if you’re into calm, chill, relaxing games at all.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for SEASON: A letter to the future on PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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It’s getting increasingly difficult to keep up with all the roguelite games popping up. The good news is that if you’re a fan of the genre, that’s a good problem to have.

Well, there’s a new one that you might want to keep on your radar: DIG – Deep in Galaxies.

Developed by Molton Studios, DIG – Deep in Galaxies takes cues from 2D shoot-‘em-ups like Broforce, featuring heavy gun-based action, loads of weapons, and highly destructive environments. Speaking of which, you’ll be able to shovel your way deep into the game’s world a la Terraria.

DIG – Deep in Galaxies looks to offer a mix of shooting and melee combat, as well as platforming and rope-swinging gameplay. You’ll even be able to explore space and engage in dogfights and battle big ol’ bosses. It definitely looks like variety is a big part of what this roguelite has to offer, and it’ll also include four-player local co-op.

You can find DIG – Deep in Galaxies on Steam beginning February 16, 2023.

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Prior to its launch, it was revealed that nOS new Operating System would release on Nintendo Switch for the hefty asking price of $39.99. Developed by RedDeerGames, the title is a task management app that includes a notepad, planner, paint tool, image editor, calculator, and sliding puzzle game. Despite its name, this is not an update to the Switch’s existing operating system.

The included features are, admittedly, pretty neat, but we found it peculiar to charge 40 bucks for a task manager. The title, nOS new Operating System, could also be considered a tad misleading as it doesn’t really alter the Switch OS and is simply launched like any other game on your Switch menu.

In any case, the app, also known as Nintendo Operating System, is out now, and it’s currently on sale for the reasonable price of $1.99. That’s 95 percent off the original price tag. So if you’re considering snagging nOS for Nintendo Switch, now would be the time to do so. The sale price will run through February 16, at which point nOS new Operating System will revert to the intended $39.99.

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Hitman: World of Assassination‘s Freelance Mode is finally here, and I’m completely in love with it. The mode also comes with a boatload of unlocks, so I’m going to walk you through absolutely everything that can be unlocked or acquired in Freelancer game mode (just like I did for the main game — you can see that ridiculously huge guide by clicking here).

Now, I should point out that I made a similar list for the beta. Instead of updating that list, I’m going to keep that one live and make a fresh guide for the final release. If you want to see the beta unlocks so you can compare them against the current version of the game, here’s a link to that list.

But for the full current list of unlockable goodness, keep on reading.

Hardcore ModeFirst up, let’s talk about Hardcore mode. This is a much more difficult game mode that is unlocked when you beat your first Freelancer Campaign. Remember, a Freelancer Campaign is made up of four series, so you won’t unlock this until you complete all four series in a single Campaign.

Mastery UnlocksYou’ll earn Safehouse XP while you’re out on Freelancer missions, and that will cause your Safehouse Mastery to level up (similar to how locations work in the game’s campaign mode). Each level comes with some rewards. Aside from the Merces, which can be lost if you die out in the field, and Thematic Weapons (which I’ll explain in the Thematic Weapons section of this guide), the rest of these unlocks are permanent.

I should point out that some of these unlocks have an asterisk next to them, which means they are Deluxe unlocks. I believe that means you must own the Deluxe Edition of the game in order to have access to these items.

Cosmetic upgrades from the other paid DLC packs are not included here.

Here’s a complete list:

• Wardrobe (Safehouse Area, this unlocks the ability to change your starting suit) – Reach Mastery Level 2.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 2.
• Hallway Motivational Posters (Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 3.
• Hallway Motivational Posters* (Deluxe Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 3.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 4.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 4.
• The Ornamental Pistol (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 5.
• Stairs (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 6.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 6.
• Wardrobe (Safehouse Cosmetic, this option organizes your closet) – Reach Mastery Level 7.
• Classical Music (Music Playlist) – Reach Mastery Level 7.
• Hitman 2016 Original Soundtrack* (Deluxe Music Playlist) – Reach Mastery Level 7.
• Garage (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 8.
• Minimal Furniture (Furnishings Collection) – Reach Mastery Level 8.
• 10,000 Merces – Reach Mastery Level 9.
• Garage Motorcycle (Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 9.
• Garage Motorcycle* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 9.
• The Ornamental Assault Rifle (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 10.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 11.
• Infirmary (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 11.
• Living Room (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 11.
• Living Room* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 11.
• Outside (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 12.
• Boat (Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 12.
• Car* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 12.
• Shed (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 12.
• Outside* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 12.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 12.
• Shooting Range (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 13.
• Shooting Range Targets (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 13.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 14.
• Helicopter (Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 14.
• The Ornamental Katana (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 15.
• Vault (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 16.
• Refreshingly Green (Interior Plant) – Reach Mastery Level 16.
• Antique Pottery* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 16.
• Motivational Posters (Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 17.
• Motivational Posters* (Deluxe Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 17.
• Modern Art (Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 17.
• Special Collection I* (Deluxe Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 17.
• Mission Control (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 17.
• Practice Space (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 18.
• Modern Furniture (Furnishings Collection) – Reach Mastery Level 18.
• Antique Furniture* (Deluxe Furnishings Collection) – Reach Mastery Level 18.
• Practice Space* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic)– Reach Mastery Level 18.
• Exotic Music (Music Playlist) – Reach Mastery Level 18.
• Boat (Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 19.
• Boat* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 19.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 19.
• The Ornamental Shotgun (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 20.
• Office (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 21.
• Shooting Range Targets (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 21.
• Increase Gear Cap – Reach Mastery Level 21.
• Gym (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 22.
• Car (Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 22.
• Mission Control (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 23.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 23.
• Bathroom* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 23.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 24.
• The Ornamental SMG (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 25.
• Garage (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 26.
• Gym (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 26.
• Living Room (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 27.
• Kitchen (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 27.
• Asian Art (Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 27.
• Living Room* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 27.
• Office (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 28.
• Living Room (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 28.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 29.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 29.
• ATV (Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 29.
• The Ornamental Sniper Rifle (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 30.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 31.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 31.
• Bedroom* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 31.
• Shed (Safehouse Area) – Reach Mastery Level 32.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 32.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 32.
• Kitchen (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 33.
• Jazz Music (Music Playlist) – Reach Mastery Level 33.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 34.
• Practice Space* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 34.
• The Golden Contender Suit (Freelancer) – Reach Mastery Level 35.
• Mission Control (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 36.
• Sensations of Asia (Interior Plant Collection) – Reach Mastery Level 36.
• Colours of Fall* (Deluxe Interior Plant Collection) – Reach Mastery Level 36.
• Boat* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 37.
• Punk Art (Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 37.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 37.
• Helicopter* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 38.
• Infirmary (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 38.
• Kitchen (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 38.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 39.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 39.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 39.
• The Ancestral Pistol (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 40.
• Wardrobe (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 41.
• Shooting Range Targets* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 41.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 41.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 42.
• Outside* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 42.
• Garage (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 42.
• Hallway (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 43.
• Rustic Furniture (Furnishings Collection) – Reach Mastery Level 43.
• Gym (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 43.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 44.
• Outside* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 44.
• Hallway (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 44.
• The Ancestral Shotgun (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 45.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 46.
• Gym (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 46.
• Gym* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 46.
• Special Collection II* (Deluxe Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 47.
• Classic Art (Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 47.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 48.
• Shooting Range Targets* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 48.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 49.
• Electronic Music (Music Playlist) – Reach Mastery Level 49.
• The Ancestral Assault Rifle (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 50.
• Practice Space* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 51.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 51.
• Living Room (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 52.
• Outside* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 52.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 53.
• Gym (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 53.
• Van* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 54.
• Taxidermy (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 54.
• The Ancestral Sniper Rifle (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 55.
• Kitchen (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 56.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 57.
• Bedroom* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 57.
• Office* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 58.
• Office (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 58.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 58.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 59.
• The Ancestral Knife (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 60.
• Living Room (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 61.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 61.
• Bedroom* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 61.
• VW Bug* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 62.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 62.
• Office (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 63.
• Shooting Range Targets* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 63.
• Garage (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 64.
• The Ancestral Hunter Suit (Freelancer) – Reach Mastery Level 65.
• Jet Ski* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 66.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 66.
• Hallway (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 67.
• Poster Art (Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 67.
• Rock Music (Music Playlist) – Reach Mastery Level 67.
• Gym (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 68.
• Retro Furniture* (Deluxe Furnishings Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 68.
• Outside* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 69.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 69.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 70.
• Wardrobe (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 70.
• Shooting Range Targets (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 71.
• Infirmary (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 71.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 72.
• Outside* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 72.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 73.
• Practice Space* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 73.
• Office (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 74.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 74.
• Plane* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 75.
• Kitchen (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 75.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 76.
• Shed (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 76.
• Shed* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 76.
• Living Room (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 77.
• Living Room* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 77.
• Gothic Mood (Interior Plant Collection) – Reach Mastery Level 77.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 78.
• Bathroom* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 78.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 79.
• Living Room (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 80.
• Increase Gear Cap (Gear) – Reach Mastery Level 81.
• Military Vehicle* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 81.
• Bedroom* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 82.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 82.
• Bathroom* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 83.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 83.
• Boat* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 84.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 84.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 85.
• Bedroom* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 85.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 86.
• Hitman 2 Original Soundtrack* (Deluxe Music Playlist) – Reach Mastery Level 86.
• Garage (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 87.
• Memorabilia (Art Pack) – Reach Mastery Level 87.
• Helicopter* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 88.
• Office (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 88.
• Kitchen (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 89.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 90.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 91.
• Shed (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 91.
• Shed* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 91.
• Office* (Deluxe Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 92.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 92.
• Hallway (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 93.
• Racecar* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 94.
• Outside (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 94.
• Gym (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 94.
• Bedroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 95.
• Hitman 3 Original Soundtrack* (Deluxe Music Playlist) – Reach Mastery Level 95.
• Helicopter* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 96.
• Gym (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 96.
• Bathroom (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 97.
• Infirmary (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 97.
• Gym (Safehouse Cosmetic) – Reach Mastery Level 98.
• Speedboat* (Deluxe Vehicle) – Reach Mastery Level 98.
• Receive an Amount of Merces – Reach Mastery Level 99.
• The Master Freelancer Suit (Freelancer) – Reach Mastery Level 100.

WeaponsThere are a couple ways to acquire weapons. You can either loot them off of guards in levels, or you can buy them from vendors scattered across the game. The locations of these vendors is randomized, and their shop selection will be randomized as well.

You’ll notice these items in the world because they have a Rarity level. If an item has no Rarity level, taking it back to the Safehouse will not bank it. If you take a weapon out of the Safehouse and die, you will lose that weapon.

Weapons in your Safehouse can be found on the walls (near the entrance to the firing range).

Melee Weapons ICA Combat Axe (Common) * Claw Hammer (Common) * Folding Knife (Common) * Amputation Knife (Common) * Machete (Common) * Police Baton (Common) * Baseball Bat (Common) * Shuriken (Rare) * Ice Pick (Rare) * Quickdraw (Rare) * Concealable Knife (Rare) * Okinawan Tonfa (Rare) * Concealable Baton (Rare) * Mace (Rare) * Kukri Knife (Rare) * Circumcision Knife (Rare) * Tanto (Rare) * Sapper’s Axe (Rare) * Saber (Rare) * HF Championship Bat (Rare) * Bat Shuriken (Epic) * Fiber Wire (Epic) * Ice Axe (Epic) * Janbiya (Epic) * Eiffel Tower Knife (Epic) * Burial Dagger (Epic) * Katana (Epic) * Spooky Bat (Epic) * Collector’s Kalmer Sedative Edition (Epic) * Collector’s Sieker Emetic Edition (Epic) * Collector’s Crowbar (Epic) * Collector’s Coin (Epic) * Collector’s Lockpick (Epic) * Antique Curved Knife (Legendary) * Masamune* (Legendary)

Pistols ICA19 Classicballer (Common) * Bartoli 75S (Common) * Bartoli 75R (Common) * HACKL 9R (Common) * HACKL 9S (Common) * HWK21 Pale (Common) * HWK21 (Common) * HWK21 Covert (Common) * Assassin’s HWK21 Covert (Rare) * ICA19 (Rare) * HACKL 9S Covert (Rare) * Krugermeier 2-2 Silver (Rare) * HWK21 Pale Homemade Silencer (Rare) * Concept 5 (Rare) * ICA19 F/A (Common) * “Rude Ruby” (Rare) * Striker (Rare) * Custom 5MM (Rare) * ICA DTI Stealth (Epic) * ICA F/A Stealth “Ducky” Edition (Epic) * ICA19 Black Lily (Epic) * ICA19 Chrome (Epic) * Custom 5MM DTI (Epic) * ICA19 F/A Stealth (Epic) * Krugermeier 2-2 (Epic) * “El Matador” (Epic) * ICA19 Shortballer (Legendary) * ICA19 Silverballer (Legendary) * ICA19 Goldballer* (Legendary)

SMGs TAC-SMG (Common) * DAK X2 (Common) * HX-7 (Common) * HX-10 (Common) * ICA SMG Raptor (Common) * DAK Black Covert (Rare) * TAC-SMG Covert (Rare) * TAC-SMG S (Rare) * ICA SMG White Raptor Covert (Rare) * DAK X2 Covert (Rare) * DAK DTI (Rare) * HX-7 Covert (Rare) * ICA SMG Raptor Covert (Epic) * DAK X2 Covert Special* (Epic)

Sniper Rifles Sieger 300 (Common) * Bartoli Woodsman Hunting Rifle (Common) * Jaeger 7 (Common) * Druzhina 34 DTI (Rare) * Sieger 300 Tactical (Rare) * Druzhina 34 (Rare) * Jaeger 7 Lancer (Rare) * Jaeger 7 Tiger (Rare) * Jaeger 7 Covert (Rare) * Druzhina 34 ICA Arctic (Epic) * ICA Bartoli Woodsman Hunting Rifle Covert (Epic) * Sieger 300 Viper (Epic) * Sieger 300 Advanced (Epic) * HACKL Leviathan Sniper Rifle Covert (Legendary) * Sieger 300 Ghost (Legendary) * Jaeger 7 Tuatara* (Legendary)

Shotguns Bartoli 12G (Common) * Tactical Bartoli 12G (Common) * ICA Tactical Shotgun (Common) * ENRAM HV (Common) * Bartoli 12G Short H (Common) * Bartoli Hunting Shotgun (Common) * Sawed-Off Bartoli 12G (Rare) * ICA Tactical Shotgun Covert (Rare) * ENRAM HV CM (Rare) * ENRAM HV Covert (Epic) * ICA Tactical White Shotgun Covert (Epic) * Golden Sawed-Off Bartoli 12G* (Legendary)

Assault Rifles Fusil G1-4/C (Common) * Fusil G1-4 (Common) * TAC-4 AR Auto (Common) * Sieger AR552 Tactical (Common) * Fusil G2 (Common) * Shashka A33 (Common) * TAC-4 S/A (Rare) * TAC-4 S/A Jungle (Rare) * TAC-4 AR Stealth (Rare) * Shashka A33 Covert (Rare) * Shashka A33 H (Rare) * RS-15 (Epic) * Shashka A33 Gold (Epic) * TAC-4 AR Desert* (Epic)

Thematic WeaponsThis last category of weapons is a little odd because it doesn’t function like the others.

When you unlock a Thematic Weapon, you will have to manually add it to the case by interacting with the unlock icon. After that, you can lose these weapons out in the field, just like any other weapons. However, if you lose one, it can later show up as part of a vendor’s supply so you can buy it back. This means you won’t permanently lose a Thematic Weapon. Still, I’d be hesitant to take one out in the field if you’re really going for a full gun rack, because this will be the hardest section to restock after losing a weapon.

There are two different categories here. The first ones are unlocked via Mastery Level, and you’ll unlock one every five levels (except for Level 35, because there’s an unlockable suit there instead). Note that I’ve also posted these in the Mastery section of this guide.

• The Ornamental Pistol (Rare) – Reach Mastery Level 5.
• The Ornamental Assault Rifle (Rare) – Reach mastery Level 10.
• The Ornamental Katana (Epic) – Reach Mastery Level 15.
• The Ornamental Shotgun (Epic) – Reach Mastery Level 20.
• The Ornamental SMG (Legendary) – Reach Mastery Level 25.
• The Ornamental Sniper Rifle (Legendary) – Reach Mastery Level 30.
• The Ancestral Pistol (Epic) – Reach Mastery Level 40.
• The Ancestral Shotgun (Rare) – Reach Mastery Level 45.
• The Ancestral Assault Rifle (Rare) – Reach Mastery Level 50.
• The Ancestral Sniper Rifle (Legendary) – Reach Mastery Level 55.
• The Ancestral Knife (Epic) – Reach Mastery Level 60.

The second category requires the Makeshift Pack and the Street Art Pack, both of which are cosmetic DLC packs. I’m guessing we’re going to see more stuff like this in the future to support the long-term profitability of the game.

If you purchase a pack, the suit and the first weapon will be unlocked in Freelancer Mode, while the rest of the weapons will need to be found or purchased while on missions. In the other game modes, though, all of this stuff is unlocked as soon as you purchase and install the DLC. On top of the things listed below, both packs will also add more cosmetic options to your Safehouse.

Street Art Pack The Concrete Assault Rifle (Rare, Unlocked instantly when you purchase the DLC) * The Concrete Shotgun (Rare) * The Concrete Bat (Epic) * The Concrete Bunny Pistol (Epic) * The Shark SMG (Legendary) * The Concrete Sniper Rifle (Legendary) * The Graffiti Hoody Suit* (Freelancer)

Makeshift Pack The Scrappy Sniper Rifle (Rare, Unlocked instantly when you purchase the DLC) * The Makeshift Scrap Shotgun (Rare) * The Makeshift Scrap Assault Rifle (Epic) * The Scrap SMG (Epic) * The Scrap Gun (Epic) * The Makeshift Katana (Legendary) * The Scrap Poncho Suit* (Freelancer)

ToolsTools work kind of the same as weapons, but also kind of different. They’re the same in that you acquire them in the exact same way: Find them out in missions or buy them from vendors. However, you can also find them in crates in missions (typically, these crates don’t contain weapons, though I’m not sure this is true 100% of the time).

If you fail a Campaign, you will lose all of your tools. They do not carry over from campaign to campaign, so use ’em or lose ’em folks.

Here’s a full list of tools:

Left Chest Breaching Charge Mk III (Explosive, Common) * Remote Semtex Demo Block Mk III (Explosive, Common) * Proximity Semtex Demo Block Mk III (Explosive, Common) * ICA Proximity Explosive Mk III (Explosive, Common) * Remote Explosive (Explosive, Common) * ICA Proximity Concussive Device Mk III (Explosive, Common) * ICA Remote Concussive Device (Explosive, Rare) * ICA Remote Explosive MK III (Explosive, Rare) * ICA Impact Explosive (Explosive, Rare) * ICA Proximity Micro Explosive (Explosive, Rare) * ICA Micro Remote Explosive (Explosive, Rare) * Flash Grenade Mk III (Explosive, Common) * Emetic Grenade (Explosive, Rare) * Concussion Grenade (Explosive, Rare) * Fragmentation Grenade (Explosive, Common) * ICA Explosive Phone (Explosive, Rare) * ICA Tripwire Mine (Explosive, Rare) * Proximity Explosive Duck (Explosive, Common) * The Pale Duck (Explosive, Rare) * Remote Explosive Classic Rubber Duck (Explosive, Epic) * Remote Concussion Rubber Duck (Explosive, Epic) * Remote Concussion Collectors Duck (Explosive, Epic) * Remote Explosive Devil Rubber Duck* (Explosive, Legendary)

Middle Chest Water Cannister (Melee, Common) * Oil Cannister (Melee, Common) * ICA Remote Audio Distraction Mk III (Distraction, Common) * ICA Proximity Taser (Tool, Common) * ICA Remote Flash Device (Explosive, Common) * ICA Remote Taser (Tool, Common) * ICA Outstanding Service Coin (Distraction, Rare) * Remote Emetic Gas Device (Explosive, Rare) * ICA Remote Micro Audio Distraction (Distraction, Rare) * ICA Remote Micro Taser (Tool, Rare) * ICA Proximity Micro Taser (Tool, Rare) * ICA Flash Phone (Tool, Rare) * Remote EMP Charge (Tool, Rare) * Professional Screwdriver (Tool, Common) * Handyman Wrench (Tool, Common) * ICA Titanium Crowbar (Tool, Common) * Lockpick Mk III (Tool, Rare) * Disposable Scrambler (Tool, Common) * Electronic Key Hacker (Tool, Rare) * Electronic Key Hacker Mk III* (Tool, Rare)

Right Chest Kalmer 2 Tranquilizer (Pistol, Rare) * Sieker 1 (Pistol, Rare) * Chloroform Flask (Poison, Rare) * Modern Lethal Syringe (Poison, Common) * Modern Emetic Syringe (Poison, Common) * Modern Sedative Syringe (Poison, Common) * Antique Lethal Syringe (Poison, Rare) * Antique Emetic Syringe (Poison, Rare) * Antique Sedative Syringe (Poison, Rare) * Lethal Poison Vial (Poison, Common) * Emetic Poison Vial (Poison, Common) * Sedative Poison Vial (Poison, Common) * Lethal Pills (Poison, Rare) * Emetic Pills (Poison, Rare) * Sedative Pills* (Poison, Rare)

Trophy Case UnlocksOne other cool feature of Freelancer Mode is that Challenges unlock actual trophies that show up in various trophy cases throughout your Safehouse. There are tons of Challenges to complete here, so this will keep you busy for a long, long time.

Assassination Oyasumi – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Hokkaido. * Employee of the Month – Eliminate 100 Syndicate Leaders. * Melon Man – Eliminate 25 Syndicate Leaders with Headshots. * High Society – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders on the Isle of Sgàil. * Untz! Untz! – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Berlin. * Employee of the Week – Eliminate 20 Syndicate Leaders. * Jungle Boogie – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Santa Fortuna. * Oil Money – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Dubai. * On the Move – Eliminate 10 Syndicate Leaders while they are escaping. * Deadly Hangover – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Mendoza. * Tea Time! – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Dartmoor. * Head Over Heels – Eliminate 10 Syndicate Leaders by pushing them over a ledge. * Natural Selection – Eliminate 10 Syndicate Leaders using natural/crafted poisons. * Welcome to Haven – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in the Maldives. * Surprise! – Eliminate 10 Syndicate Members or Leaders with proximity Explosives. * Show-off – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Paris. * Don’t Lick Me – Eliminate 25 Syndicate Leaders with Poison. * Please Come Again! – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Mumbai. * Bullseye – Eliminate 25 Syndicate Leaders with a Sniper Rifle. * Way of the Samurai – Eliminate 47 Syndicate Members or Leaders with the Katana. * Puzzle Master – Eliminate 25 Syndicate Leaders in Accidents. * Mai Pen Rai – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Bangkok. * Remote Controlled – Eliminate 10 Syndicate Members or Leaders with Remote Explosives. * Eat the Rich – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in New York. * Beach Closed – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders on Ambrose Island. * Vigilante – Eliminate 500 Syndicate Members. * Deadly Vacation – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Sapienza. * Let the Darkness Unfold – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Marrakesh. * High in Fiber – Eliminate 25 Syndicate Leaders with a Fiber Wire. * Neon City – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Chongqing. * Crime Fighter – Eliminate 100 Syndicate Members. * GOAT – Eliminate 2,500 Syndicate Members. * Employee of the Year – Eliminate 500 Syndicate Leaders. * Strelok – Eliminate 100 Syndicate Members or Leaders with headshots using the Druzhina 34. * Poetic Justice – Eliminate 10 Syndicate Leaders while they’re performing a Tell. * The Finish Line – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Miami. * Pills Here! – Eliminate 10 Syndicate Members or Leaders with Lethal Pills. * Autumn Harvest – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Colorado. * A Necklace to Die For – Strangle 10 Syndicate Leaders wearing a Necklace. * Return to Sender – Eliminate a Syndicate Leader with an item retrieved from a Suspect. * Suburban Dream* – Eliminate 50 Syndicate Members or Leaders in Whittleton Creek.

Discovery Cat Burglar – Crack 100 safes. * Scavenger – Collect Gear from 100 Stashes. * I’ll Be Back – Get wounded (die) in Freelancer Mode for the first time. * Ave Maria – Find Tranquility. * Feeling Lucky? – Use the Safehouse Supply Crate 50 times. * Better Safe Than Sorry* – Crack 10 safes.

Feats Burning Man – Eliminate 25 Suspects using Fire. * Spray and Pray – Collect 10 SMGs for the Safehouse Gear Walls. * You Urned This – Complete 10 Campaigns. * Sick Games – Defeat 10 Sick Games Syndicates. * This is My Rifle – Collect 10 Rifles for the Safehouse Gear Walls. * Loaded – Earn a total of 500,000 Merces. * Signed, Sealed, Delivered – Complete 50 Prestige Objectives. * Gun Master – Collect a Legendary Weapon for the Safehouse Gear Walls. * One Shot, One Kill – Collect 10 Snipers for the Safehouse Gear Walls. * Untouchable – Complete a showdown in Hardcore mode. * Pocket Money – Earn a total of 50,000 Merces. * Assassination – Defeat 10 Assassination syndicates. * No Room for Competition – Eliminate 25 Assassins. * Sometimes Maybe Good. Sometimes Maybe S#!& – Fail 10 Showdowns. * Easy Mode – Complete a difficulty 1 Syndicate. * Bad Taste – Eliminate a Suspect that is not the Syndicate Leader with Lethal Poison. * A Worthy Sacrifice – Lose 50,000 Merces by failing a mission. * Eco Crime – Defeat 10 Eco Crime syndicates. * Hardened Assassin – Complete a contract in Hardcore mode. * Faster than Your Own Shadow – Eliminate a Syndicate Leader within 60 seconds of arriving. * Gunslinger – Collect 10 Pistols for the Safehouse Gear Walls. * Arms Trafficking – Defeat 10 Arms Trafficking Syndicates. * Coast is Clear! – Eliminate 25 Lookouts. * Hard Mode – Complete a difficulty 3 Syndicate. * Professional Mode – Complete a difficulty 4 Syndicate. * Let’s Go Hunting – Collect 10 Shotguns for the Safehouse Gear Walls. * Collector – Collect 47 Firearms for the Safehouse Gear Wall. * Meeting Adjourned – Eliminate a Syndicate Leader during a Meeting. * Let the Chips Fall Where They May – Eliminate 50 Suspects that are not Syndicate Leaders. * Around the World – Eliminate a Syndicate Leader in 9 different territories. * Normal Mode – Complete a difficulty 2 Syndicate. * Psy Ops – Defeat 10 Psy Ops Syndicates. * Mr. Clean – Complete any of the following Payout Objectives 20 times: + Hide Target Bodies + Hide Target Bodies – Timed + No Bodies Found + Destroy a Camera Recorder * Big Pharma – Defeat 10 Big Pharma syndicates. * Cheesing It – Eliminate all Suspects in a Showdown. * Up Close and Personal – Collect 10 Melee Weapons for the Safehouse Gear Walls. * Slow But Steady – Complete 50 Campaigns. * High Roller – Earn 7,500 Merces in a single mission payout. * Legendary – Eliminate 100 Syndicate Members or Leaders with Legendary Gear. * Espionage – Defeat 10 Espionage Syndicates. * Fly, You Fool! – Complete 10 Timed Prestige Objectives. * Prank Caller – Arrange 10 meetings using burner phones. * The Hitman – Complete a campaign in Hardcore Mode. * Silent But Deadly – Complete 10 Silent Assassin Payout Objectives. * Crime Stomper – Complete a Syndicate from 8 different Syndicate Types. * Living On The Edge – Successfully complete 5 alerted Showdowns. * Organ Trafficking – Defeat 10 Organ Trafficking Syndicates. * Home Sweet Home – Reach Mastery level 100. * PTFO – Complete 100 Payout Objectives. * Cold Feet – Exit 20 Missions without eliminating all Targets. * Top Dog – Complete 100 Campaigns. * Order Up!* – Poison 50 suspects.

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It’s official: Hitman 3 is now Hitman: World of Assassination, and the much-anticipated Freelancer Mode is here to enjoy. Life is good.

Up until this week, it was unclear what IO Interactive’s plans were for the game beyond this point, but I think that they’re going to keep supporting Freelancer Mode with small DLC packs from time to time. And my evidence for this is the fact that they’ve already added two paid DLC packs to the game, the Street Art Pack and the Makeshift Pack.

These both seem to have released with little fanfare, as I can’t find a post about this anywhere, not even on IO’s official website. In fact, I struggled to even find the packs in the PlayStation Store (you can find them by searching “Hitman” in the PS Store’s search bar, but the packs don’t show up when you simply visit the game’s default page on the PlayStation store).

The Street Art Pack comes with a bunch of graffitied-up items. Here’s a list:

• The Concrete Assault Rifle (Rare)
• The Concrete Shotgun (Rare)
• The Concrete Bat (Epic)
• The Concrete Bunny Pistol (Epic)
• The Shark SMG (Legendary)
• The Concrete Sniper Rifle (Legendary)
• The Graffiti Hoody Suit (Freelancer)

The Makeshift Pack, on the other hand, comes with a bunch of taped-together items that look like they might just fall apart. Here’s a list:

• The Scrappy Sniper Rifle (Rare)
• The Makeshift Scrap Shotgun (Rare)
• The Makeshift Scrap Assault Rifle (Epic)
• The Scrap SMG (Epic)
• The Scrap Gun (Epic)
• The Makeshift Katana (Legendary)
• The Scrap Poncho Suit (Freelancer)

Note that both packs also come with cosmetic upgrades for your Safehouse. Weapons will have to be discovered/purchased out in the game world if you want to store them on your weapons wall in Freelancer Mode, but you will have immediate access to them in other game modes.

I can only speculate that this will be Hitman: World of Assassination‘s monetization model for the foreseeable future. And honestly, I don’t think that’s a bad choice. Considering they’ve been supporting this game on an almost-weekly basis with fresh content for more than two years at this point, I don’t mind them finding new ways to fund continued content support. Bring it on, I say.

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Maybe not for 40 bucks.

Developer RedDeerGames recently announced nOS new Operating System (also known as Nintendo Operating System). The wording is a little misleading as the title is more a task app for Nintendo Switch and less an actual operating system for the console.

So what exactly is nOS new Operating System? Well, it’s like an organizational tool with different features. It includes a notepad for jotting things down; a sketchbook for drawing; a planner for organizing tasks; an image tool; a calculator; and a sliding puzzle game.

It bears repeating and emphasizing that nOS new Operating System does not alter your Nintendo Switch’s existing OS. You’ll be able to download this title from the Nintendo eShop just like you would a digital game. Once downloaded, it’ll appear on your Switch menu alongside your other games. It doesn’t do anything to your Switch “behind-the-scenes,” so to speak, and instead is launched like any other game.

What nOS new Operating System does do, though, is give you some neat little tools that give your Switch a small amount of tablet-like functionality. That’s pretty cool, but that $40 price tag is incredibly steep for something like this. Neat as it may be, you can find similar apps on your smartphone or tablet for a lower price, and in some instances even free.

Thus, nOS new Operating System is this bizarre thing. Like, who is this for? I already use apps like Todoist and Evernote on my phone and computer, and those work great. Plus, I can sync my notes in those apps between different devices. nOS new Operating System is tied directly to your Nintendo Switch, which yes, is portable, but it’s hard to see it being an optimal user experience, especially considering the Switch doesn’t include a stylus.

As an idea, nOS new Operating System is pretty decent. But given its price tag, its less-than-ideal functionality on Switch, and its somewhat misleading name, it’s hard to see this being worth the $40 asking price for anyone other than those who love to splurge.

If nOS new Operating System does appeal to you, though, you can find it on the Nintendo Switch eShop soon — January 27, to be exact.

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Apex Legends is one of my go-to games when I need to unwind, kill time, or even relax. Now, I know, the idea of a battle royale game — a genre known for its hectic, often stressful nature — could hardly ever be called “relaxing.” But in between frustrating sessions where I’m almost instantly eliminated from the match and nerve-wracking rounds where I make it to the end, it’s most definitely a comforting game. It’s there, readily available, and waiting for me with open arms.

Since its launch in February 2019, Apex Legends is consistently my most-played game year-to-year. I’ll skip a season or two here and there, but I always come back to it and spend more hours than I’d care to admit playing.

My favorite thing about Apex Legends is the tight feel of the shooting gameplay. It’s a lot like its sister franchise Titanfall in that regard. It’s also super addictive. The fast-paced nature of the gameplay makes you want to come back for more time and time again. It’s great!

But as much as I love the speedy gameplay of Apex Legends, as well as its roster of fun characters, I didn’t realize I needed a change of pace — until one presented itself.

I downloaded Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 at the suggestion of a friend who told me it looked like something I’d enjoy. I decided to check out the most recent trailer at the time, and I was instantly sold. The game looked wild. There were explosions, helicopters, underwater gun fights, more explosions, and lots of cool-looking shooting action.

So I jumped right in, hopeful that I’d found a new battle royale game to sink precious hours into. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the game’s trailer was… a little misleading. In that ad, the action of Warzone 2.0 was presented as fast-paced, full-throttle insanity. It looked right on par with Apex Legends, but even crazier.

Playing Warzone 2.0, I realized it wasn’t the super-fast-paced game the trailer painted it as — but in a way, that’s a good thing.

After a few rounds of playing with randoms and with a friend, I came to the realization that Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 isn’t about hectic running and gunning; it’s a more methodical game where patience is key. Sure, there are those moments when you don’t have a choice and you have to gun down every enemy in sight (or die trying). But for the most part, when you drop into this game’s battle royale map, you’ll want to scavenge for supplies as you normally would, and then follow that up with a more tactical, stealthy approach.

In Warzone 2.0, it’s less about proverbial fireworks and more about waiting for the best moment to strike. You might want to camp out in an empty base or find a perch to snipe from. You’ll want to use your eyes and ears to be aware of other players sneaking up on you. You can’t rush things, because if you do, you’ll give yourself away and become public enemy number one.

The size of the map is pretty large, too, so there’s less likelihood you’ll drop with three or four other squads. This allows you to take your time — within reason, of course — as you scavenge for guns, heals, and other supplies. You can also loot for cash, which is great as you’ll be able to find areas containing “shop” crates. Here you’ll purchase new weapons and customized loadouts, and you can even pay to respawn your fallen comrades.

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is built in such a way that encourages tactical play. You can’t get away from those surprise attacks where you need to battle it out like an action movie hero, but you also shouldn’t specifically seek out that type of play. Not here. No, Warzone 2.0 is more about slowly picking off enemy threats as you attempt to reach that number one spot.

At first, it took a little getting used to for me — especially because I put Apex Legends on a pedestal as far as battle royale shooters go. But once I got into it and really started playing to the strengths of Warzone 2.0, I found that there’s room for both kinds of experiences.

If I want to chill with something a little faster that lets me shut my brain off after a rough day, Apex Legends will be my go-to. But if I’m in the mood to put in time and play a tad more strategically, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is a solid, often exhilarating battle royale shooter.

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If you watch the above trailer, I wouldn’t fault you for thinking that Warlander was some kind of MOBA game in the style of League of Legends or Dota 2. While the trailer does show some gameplay, the camera angles are all over the place, so you never really get a feel for how this thing might play.

And yeah, you’ll get some information from the trailer, like how this is a Medieval combat game with siege engines to command and towers to capture, but you don’t really get a comprehensive look at how all of it comes together.

Thankfully, I was given access to the final closed beta period ahead of Warlander‘s January 24 launch on Steam (it’ll be coming to consoles later this year), so I got to experience it firsthand. So I learned really quickly that this was nothing like the MOBA I was expecting. Instead, this is a Medieval combat game sort of in the vein of Chivalry 2, only with a cartoony aesthetic and a third-person perspective. It honestly reminds me a little bit of a Medieval version of Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Now, I should point out that the beta period was sparsely populated, and if I’m understanding correctly, mostly just available to press. So I didn’t get to play quite as many matches as I hoped to (a majority of my time was spent waiting in lobbies). I did still get to experience some, just not as many as I would normally have played under different circumstances.

That said, I did play enough to familiarize myself with the basic premise. Essentially, there are two competing teams, each of which is trying to break into the opponent’s castle to destroy an orb. The first team to destroy the opposite team’s orb is the winner. (There’s are also massive five-team battles, but I was never able to try this out in the closed beta period because my attempted five-team lobbies never filled.)

In this pursuit, you have three classes to play as: Warrior, Mage, and Cleric. Warrior is your standard beefy tanklike knight with a sword, Mage is a spellcaster, and Cleric is a hammer-wielding healer type. While Mage is primarily a ranged class, all three classes do have a ranged weapon. Spells and crossbows fire like machine guns, which makes this feel more like, say, Gears of War than a stabby-stabby type game like Chivalry 2.

Oh, and you basically set up a “deck,” or a loadout of five characters. These are the characters you can choose in battle, though there’s a catch: If you level up a character, they won’t be available to play as until you’ve earned the proper amount of points. So thing of them as Star Wars Battlefront 2‘s special units — you have to play as the lowest-level class to unlock the special units in play later in the match.

I actually don’t like this mechanic. It penalizes you for leveling up a character (you must always have some 0-tier characters in your deck or you can’t even play the game), which feels counterintuitive to me. I can totally deal with it, but it forces me to set up my character builds in a particular way that feels kind of unsatisfying — I don’t dare level up a character to max rank because I’ll almost never get to play that character. Plus, if you want a good mixed team with all three classes, you kind of have to keep at least three characters at level 0. That gives you two additional slots for higher-level characters, and you probably want to keep those at level 1 and level 2, so you can ramp from your 0s to your 1 to your 2.

Aside from the character decks, though, I actually really enjoyed my time with Warlander. The controls feel excellent, and combat is satisfying. I spent most of my time as a Mage (as I am known to do), and I had a ton of fun blasting gates with lightning and shooting enemies in the face with magic bolts.

The battlefield is basically a classic-style three-lane map, with control points throughout. You can spawn on any of the control points that your team has captured. You’ll be blocked from entering the enemy’s stronghold by gates, but you can smash those down by attacking them. You can also deploy siege engines and even steampunk robots, which seems kind of fun though I never really got to take part in any robot action in my time with Warlander.

There was only one map in the build I played (well, I assume the five-army battles take place on a different map, but I only played the two-army game mode), but it’s well-designed and visually gorgeous. I assume there will be more maps eventually, but I also don’t think that the game necessarily needs more — at least, not initially.

All in all, Warlander seems super fun. I am curious to see what the player numbers look like post-launch, and I’m even more curious to see how the eventually console version handles. But what I experienced so far has been a lot of fun.

Warlander launches for real on January 24, 2023, and it’s free to play, so you don’t have long to wait if you want to try it out for yourself.

Disclaimer: I was given access to a pre-launch closed beta of Warlander on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was one of the best video games of the 2010s. I was recently reminded of how good it was, in fact, because The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition got a final update that brings it up to snuff on current-gen consoles.

The update adds a few bells and whistles, like a photo mode and the option to play in a hard-locked 60fps, but it’s not really all that huge in terms of new content (there is a new questline and some new armor, so it’s not nothing). But the thing is, this game still holds up all these years later; it didn’t really need much updating.

What it did need, though, was a physical release. CD Projekt Red tends to go all out with their physical releases, and the original version of The Witcher 3 was an absolute treasure trove of cool stuff.

Well, it looks like modern-gen console-owners are getting in on this loot-fest too, as CD Projeket Red has announced a physical release for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Neither the press release that went out this morning, nor the news post on the official website clarify what exactly is included in terms of physical goodies (like the fold-out map and the stickers), but they do confirm that this is the full game with the next-gen update and all the previous DLC.

This physical edition comes out in just a few days, on January 26, 2023, in most of the world (though New Zealand and Australia have to wait until January 27, much of South and Central America have to wait until January 31, and Japan has to wait until February 9).

If you’ve somehow let The Witcher 3 pass you by, you should definitely pick up a physical copy at your local retailer. This is one of those must-play titles that holds up remarkably well almost eight years after its 2015 launch.

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I’ve never been big on point-and-click adventure puzzle games, mostly because I struggle with puzzle-solving occasionally. But Children of Silentown caught my eye with its gloomy and gorgeous art direction. So I decided to give it a shot (thanks to a review code from publisher Daedalic Entertainment).

See, Children of Silentown (developed by Elf Games and Luna2 studio) came out way back in 2020 on Mac and Windows, but it recently got ported to the Nintendo Switch. This is my first time experiencing the game, so I don’t have any input about how the different version run comparatively. But I can tell you how I feel about Children of Silentown after completing my first playthrough.

The game features a stunning hand-drawn look, overflowing with style and atmosphere. In every area you come across, there will be something that attracts your attention based on how beautiful each set piece is. From the character design to the town itself, whether you’re exploring the forest or the protagonist’s nightmares, everything around you gives a sense of unease. Something is happening, but you aren’t sure what.

You play as Lucy, a big-brained twelve-year-old girl, as she attempts to discover the mystery behind the continual and sudden disappearance of townsfolk into the forest, never to be seen again. The roars of monsters shatter the night sky, giving her nightmares about what these creatures are and what their motives might be.

Gameplay is straightforward: You’ll talk to people, find items, use those items to solve puzzles, and discover the truth about the missing people. As with other point-and-click adventures, you will spend the majority of your time running from area to area talking to everyone and interacting with every prompt you can find.

There were several times I got stuck for long periods of time because I wasn’t aware that I needed to talk to the same person twice, or because a necessary item made no sense to me. For example, at one point I got stuck for over an hour because I was supposed to use a hammer on the lock of rabbit cages, setting them free to distract a farmer. I have no idea how I was supposed to know to do that.

One other important element here is singing.

Lucy’s mother, Eloise, was once taught by the town’s crazy old lady how to sing. Eloise, now a mother, plays the lyre and teaches Lucy how to sing as well. As you explore the world you uncover “Notes” to these songs. There are four songs total, each requiring you to find the three notes to sing it. Think of the songs as spells in a way. The first song you learn is “The Children’s Song.” Using this song on other people works like a mind-reading spell, where you can see that person’s current thoughts. Occasionally people will have torn or damaged thoughts that you have to repair, which will allow them to remember something important to Lucy. This is done via puzzles.

The first type of puzzle requires you to sew buttons, and it isn’t terribly difficult to get used to. The second type of puzzle requires you to get water to flow from point A to point C without going through point B, by placing gears and turning tiles. This puzzle type was the most difficult for me to get used to, and it became more of an annoyance than an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Honestly, I looked up a couple answers. The third type of puzzle requires you to light up all the tiles on a board without over-exposing certain ones; I thought this was probably the easiest of the puzzle types.

Unfortunately, there’s no hint option, but I did notice that if you at least make an attempt on some of the puzzles, it will count as a successful completion, even if you don’t finish it.

There are several moments — mostly during the nightmares — where the game takes a sudden hard turn into horror, and this is where the art truly shines. That level of unease and discomfort comes full force as the hand-drawn dream creatures torture Lucy each night. The children are told that as long as they behave, the monsters wont bother them.

Along the way, Lucy becomes more wary of the adults around her, angry that they won’t look for the missing people, and even angrier that they won’t explain anything about what is happening. This gives off the feeling that the adults are far more aware of what these monsters are than what they’d like to admit, which reminds me a bit of the M. Night Shyamalan film The Village.

Children of Silentown isn’t super long; I finished my first playthrough in about a day, and there are four endings depending on the song you sing at the end. I’d say most of that time was me struggling to figure out what item or song to use where. Once I completed it, though, I have to admit that the game is satisfying to complete. I do wish there were true save states where I could go back to the end and see a different ending without needing to play the entire story over again.

In the end, I’m happy I had the chance to play Children of Silentown. It features a gorgeous world with unique and intriguing characters, and a compelling narrative that makes want to find out what’s happening. The art design to me is the true selling point, as the game mechanics aren’t generally what I would normally search out, but if you want a beautifully dark and tragic world to explore, I highly recommend this.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Children of Silentown on Nintendo Switch, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Hitman 3, or Hitman: World of Assassination, as it’s currently known, will be launching its greatly anticipated Freelancer Mode in about a week. Back in November, IO Interactive did a substantial beta test, and I participated in it. In fact, you might say I participated a little too much. I absolutely loved what I played, and I’m really excited to get my hands on the launch-day build.

In the meantime, IO Interactive has been spinning knobs and pressing buttons, tweaking the finer details of the mode based on player data and feedback from the beta. This morning, they released an incredibly detailed list of changes they’re making, and I wanted to comb through each one and give my thoughts.

If you want the full list without all my ramblings, you can get that directly on IO’s website. But if you’re here for the rambling, than continue onward to see my complete breakdown of Hitman‘s Freelancer changes.

Merces Economy

To improve the immersion around the economy, we changed the Merces amounts to seem more valuable by adding two zeroes to all values (Example 5~~M~~ is now 500~~M~~).

Okay, so the currency in Freelancer Mode is called Merces. You earn it for completing contracts, and you earn extra Merces for completing bonus objectives. You can then spend these on tools and weapons.

The thing is, the Merces amounts were really strange. When Agent 47 is awarded like 15 Merces for assassinating a target, it feels like something’s a little off. Would this professionally trained assassin really work for peanuts?

So IO is changing that 15 Merces to 1,500 Merces. As far as I can tell, the economy balance won’t be changing, except that all numbers will be multiplied by 100 compared to the numbers in beta. A 5 Mercer objective will now be worth 500 Merces. A 12 Mercer contract will now be worth 1,200 Mercers.

It’s an aesthetic change more than anything else, but I can see why IO is going this route. I actually appreciate this change.

Prestige objective communication and Quality of Life

Freelancer has a help section called Field Manuals in the Intel menu page. Here, you can find a description of the available Prestige Objectives and the specific rules for completing them. This information is quite hidden, so we have dedicated a wall setpiece to show that information up front, so that the players can plan ahead. We also added an option to reselect the chosen Prestige Objective, so that it’s possible to change your mind when considering the choices between objectives, locations and gear in the planning phase in the safehouse.

Okay, so I honestly didn’t even know this was a feature after playing 30 hours of Freelancer Mode. So the fact that IO is bringing some attention to it is probably a good thing. Probably.

More important than Field Manuals being more visible, though, is the fact that you can reselect a Prestige Objective. This means you won’t lock in one of these objectives, then realize it’s not even possible to complete with your current loadout. So being able to reselect a Prestige Objective after you’ve selected everything else? That’s definitely a quality-of-life improvement I can get behind.

Added persistent item versions of select Freelancer Tools

We have chosen to stick to our design around the rules for losing Freelancer Tools. To alleviate the frustration that some players feel around losing their favorite gear in the Freelancer Tool category, we have made new versions of these tools that are known as ‘Collectors Editions’ that can be purchased and stored persistently on gear walls. To phrase this in a different way, a player can choose to buy a rare lockpick that will not be lost on Campaign fail, for instance. We also added some UI-tags on the Freelancer Tool items so that a player can always see if an item will be lost on a mission or is bound to a campaign.

Okay, so this one might need a little explaining.

In Freelancer Mode, any weapons you bring into the field with you are lost if you die. However, there are special versions of weapons that you can collect and take back to your hideout if you successfully complete a mission. These weapons are persistent across runs, so the idea is that you’re slowly building an arsenal over time — or slowly losing your arsenal, if you’re playing badly.

Tools work similarly, though they don’t carry over from run to run. They’ll carry over between different missions in a single run, but once the run ends, your toolkit resets. (A run consists of multiple missions, in case that wasn’t clear.)

I kind of hated this mechanic, to be honest, and IO’s solution doesn’t feel like a solution to me. I don’t understand why tools don’t just work exactly like weapons do. That seems like the obvious choice, so the fact that IO refuses to make it strikes me as a bit odd.

In fact, the tools mechanic was probably my biggest complaint about Freelancer Mode, so it’s a little frustrating that IO has come up with such an oddball “fix.”

Playtime, overall difficulty and XP progression

In general, we were happy about the metrics we saw from the Closed Technical Test about playtime, the overall difficulty, and the XP progression. These matched our expectations quite well, so we didn’t tweak the balancing around these areas much. The game-mode is deliberately balanced and takes inspiration from rogue-lite mechanics to rely on using consequence to add adrenaline-infused tension to the gameplay.

Okay, so this is describing a lack of change instead of a change. I actually thought the XP progression was fine in Closed Beta, so I’m not super concerned about the fact that it’s not changing.

Base Payout

We have added a ‘base payout’ that the player will earn for completing the mission. This means that players can earn money even without doing the optional payout objectives or prestige objectives. This makes earning money a little bit easier, helping less experienced players slightly. The base amount is higher for Showdown missions, which addresses an issue we saw in the metrics from the CTT, where players would earn less money in average on Showdown missions.

Let me explain this one.

For each mission, you have a main target, plus some optional objectives. In Closed Beta, you only got paid for the optional objectives — there was no payout for simply completing the mission. So you could complete a mission perfectly, and even earn Silent Assassin rating (if SA wasn’t an optional objective), and walk away without a payment. This could be frustrating in situations where your bonus objectives contradicted each other (Get a Headshot Kill + Don’t Use a Pistol, for example).

So this change is a good one. The only weird part is that IO had to look at player data to figure this out when it seems like a super obvious choice. I’m glad they fixed it; I’m just confused by the fact that they had to.

Completing Campaigns

We added a large Merces payout for players that manage to complete a campaign, to celebrate this effort more. We also made the Reward Crate item drops follow the difficulty in a more reliable way, so that the gear that is earned matches the accomplishment in a better way.

Okay, so I do think that players who complete a campaign deserve a hefty reward (it’s no small feat). However, I kind of like the randomness of the original Reward Crate system. If you got super lucky, you might get a stupidly good item in your first Reward Crate. With this change, though, it sounds like that’s going to be much less likely to happen.

I understand why IO is going this route, but as far as I can tell, this does imply that certain items will be forever out of reach for all but the most skilled players. Some will see that as a good thing, others won’t. Me? I can deal with it, though I don’t think it’s ideal.

Payout and Prestige Objective balancing

We found that some objectives were a bit skewed regarding reward and difficulty, so we balanced payout values based on success and popularity metrics.

I don’t know what this means.

Okay, I know what’s implied here — payout values were adjusted based on player data — but IO is being intentionally vague here about whether they increased or decreased those payouts. I think Merces are super difficult to earn in Freelancer Mode, so giving players a few more for difficult objectives seems ideal to me. Reducing payouts for easier objectives, though, seems like a step backward.

So my fingers are crossed that this means there are slightly larger payouts instead of slightly smaller ones.

Underground Lookouts

In the CTT, we saw a lot of frustration from players failing showdown missions (and thereby Campaigns) by being spotted by Underground Lookouts in ways that felt unfair. To improve this, we introduced a grace-period so that a suspicious lookout can be dealt with before the suspect network is alerted to escape. We also made lookouts telegraph this with animation, to make it more visible which NPC is a Lookout, when suspicious. Lookouts are still a pretty hardcore addition to be respected. Also, lookouts can still be alerted from distance (for example using a well-placed bullet impact distraction or deliberately positioned body) to support that the player can trigger an escape-scenario deliberately for a sniper strategy or similar.

If I’m understanding this correctly, IO has added a brief window after a Lookout has spotted you, giving you a chance to take down that Lookout without causing the entire map to become hostile. The next part, though, talks about alerting Lookouts from a distance with bullet distractions, which was already a thing, so I’m not sure why IO felt like they had to clarify this.

It’s possible there’s something that I’m missing, but I’ve read this a few times now and it all seems pretty straightforward.

Suspect exploit

The Closed Technical Test helped uncover some exploits around suspects in Showdown missions. Now it is no longer possible to use body containers to verify if a suspect is the target. We also added a Merces punishment for eliminating a suspect that isn’t the target to disincentivize the strategy of killing all suspects indiscriminately, thereby bypassing the investigation gameplay of the Showdown missions.

I’m going to be honest here: I got into the habit of just killing all the suspects until I got the right one. So IO is probably right to penalize players for this. It just sounds like I’m going to have to learn to play the game as IO intended.

Collateral

We added a small Merces punishment for killing innocent civilian NPCs. A big fun factor in Freelancer is that it loosens up the stances on preferred gameplay styles that the main game has cultivated and lets players try more aggressive play styles, for example, without punishing or pointing fingers at alternative approaches. We didn’t want to change this, but still wanted to have the game mechanics encourage killing targets over civilians.

The short version is that there’s now a Merces penalty for killing non-targets.

What’s a little bit confusing to me is that IO seems to be contradicting themselves here. They talk about how they wanted to keep the game mode a bit more free than the rest of the game, which incentivizes perfection, but then they made a change that de-incentivizes imperfection. I’m kind of unclear on their justification, but I think my problem is more with the wording of the explanation rather than the actual change.

Number of Suspects

The number of suspects were found to be too overwhelming on higher difficulties, so these have been scaled down a bit.

I never made it to the highest difficultly level during the beta, but in my experience, it did seem like the number of suspects was getting a bit out of hand when you get deep into a run. So it’s probably good that IO toned it down a bit.

Increased value for on-mission stashes

The stashes that are found on location have been tweaked so that they contain more valuable gear. To balance this out, there are now fewer stashes but our hope is that they’re worth exploring for.

I don’t know how I feel about this. It’s cool that stashes are more valuable, I guess, but I don’t like this coming at the expense of quantity. I think the stash locations are already somewhat prohibitive — you might complete a mission without ever coming anywhere close to a stash — so the fact that they’ll be even rarer means I’ll probably hardly ever go after them.

Gear properties

We balanced some prices and gear capacities for specific items based on metrics and player feedback.

Again, this is too vague for me to really be able to say whether or not I agree with the change.

I do think that sometimes prices felt a bit random, and you’d often see two items with the same price that were radically different in actual value. So it’s good to see that this was tweaked; I just hope it was tweaked to be slightly more forgiving rather than the other direction.

Challenge balancing

We got feedback that some of our values for the challenges were ridiculously high and would frustrate completionists too much, so we lowered these to feel more reasonable (while still providing aspirational goals to shoot for).

IO is a bit more clear about what they did here, and I think it’s good that they’ve reduced the difficulty of some of the challenges. I’m totally fine with this.

Tweaks on texts

We received feedback on some of the in-game text that wasn’t formulated as clearly as it could be, especially around objectives. We’ve made some revisions to address that.

This is a pretty small change, but a welcome one, I’m sure. I did notice a few places where the text wasn’t edited as clearly as it could have been, and I kind of suspected they’d be changing some of it. So this is completely expected but also completely welcome.

Alt-F4 Exploits

The test revealed a number of ALT+F4 exploits similar to what we know from Elusive Targets. We investigated removing these but they can’t be separated from when the game is exited during a power-outage or crash. With the roguelite consequences in Freelancer we decided to favor players that are unlucky enough to experience this.

So, basically, if you are about to fail an Elusive Target, you can hard quit the game to reset the mission without penalty. The reason you can do this is because if IO added a penalty for this, it could cause people who experience a power outage to lose an Elusive Target by no fault of their own. Freelancer Mode has a similar issue. IO is aware of it, but they decided not to fix it to avoid penalizing honest players who suffer some misfortune.

That’s cool, I guess, but this will absolutely be exploited. Then again, IO is cool enough with that to leave it in, which means I won’t feel super bad if I end up exploiting this myself. I probably will.

ConclusionTo sum all this up, IO has done a lot of balance tweaking in the past couple months, and most of these changes are pretty good. We’ll have to wait and see how much of an impact they have cumulatively, but I think IO is on the right track. I also expect there to be more tweaks once the floodgates open, but it does seem like Freelancer Mode will be in pretty good shape right out of the gate.

Fingers crossed.

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I was fortunate enough to go hands-on with a preview build of the upcoming indie title Tchia, a game inspired by New Caledonia from developer/publisher Awaceb. My takeaways are immensely positive.

It’s going to be difficult to avoid comparing Tchia to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, since some of the traversal and exploration mechanics seem to be heavily influenced by Nintendo’s open-world action-adventure opus. But I will get this comparison over and done with so I can touch on why Tchia feels like something truly special.

A number of other recent games have also borrowed heavily from the Breath of the Wild toolkit; utilizing elements such as the glider or the ability to climb damn near every surface, or even the soft almost pastel art direction. But few of these games — if any, really — have managed to do much with these flourishes other than serve as emulations in style while lacking the sheer sense of wonder that made BotW the Switch’s first must-play title. Games like Craftopia immediately come to mind (although calling that a “game” as opposed to a “proof-of-concept demo” is generous in my book), which offered the visual style and traversal mechanic of BotW with almost literally nothing else to speak of.

But by and large, these games have mostly failed to capture what made those mechanics great to begin with, or simply failed to go one or even two steps beyond simply aping their inspiration and actually offering a great game around those same mechanics.

But Tchia seems to have cracked the code. And not only that — and I am sure this will sound a bit hyperbolic to some, and anathema to most others — I would say Tchia manages to do away with the elements of BotW that I found irritating and bothersome. It offers a game world rich with New Caledonian themes while also offering an endearing character in Tchia herself. This is a game I could sink dozens of hours into without lacking activities to keep me engaged. There is always something new to see or collect just around the bend.

Tchia is nothing short of incredible, and it offers a wide variety of tools for the player to have fun with, while also leaning heavily into New Caledonian art and music and folklore, aspects of a culture I am woefully unfamiliar with. And let me just say: The music is so very enjoyable and fits the mood and aesthetic perfectly. It has what I am assuming is an traditional delivery, but it vacillates between bouncy, almost funky grooves when in a village, to more sweeping and almost swashbuckling elements when out adventuring or sailing about.

Yes, you can sail in Tchia. And not only that, but it is a pretty darn fun and relaxing way to take in the sights while tooling around this breathtaking archipelago. You can also customize your boat to your heart’s content with various parts that you’ll unlock and collect, from the sail and flag to the wood the boat is made of to the paint job. Customization actually plays a bigger role in Tchia than I had expected. Not only can you customize your boat to the hilt, but you can also change the color of Tchia’s ukulele and her glider, as well as almost every aspect of her wardrobe. The amount of items at your disposal, once acquired, is pretty nuts.

But getting back to the traversal mechanics, I should point out that, like in Breath of the Wild, you can use a glider to cover vast distances or to catch yourself after leaping from a mountainside cliff. And you can climb dang near every surface — you can also climb to the top of a tree and jump to the top of an adjacent tree, sort of likeCrocodile Dundee hop-scotching on people’s heads in the subway.

Or you can use the analog stick to sway the tree back and forth, then launch yourself through the air like a huge slingshot before pulling out your glider to smoothly navigate to another tree, which you’ll use to launch yourself again. This feels like something out of a kid-friendly version of Just Cause. And crouching while running down an incline allows Tchia to slide on the ground. Being able to chain sliding and gliding and flinging and soaring is an amazing feeling that might never get old.

And this isn’t even factoring in the Soul Jumping mechanic. Using the left bumper to sort of slow down the world and trigger the Soul Jumping vision mode, Tchia can possess any number of items, from rocks to jerry cans, which she can then roll around as or fling at enemies or other items. It feels a lot like the possession mechanic from the 2017 Arkane Studios title Prey. It’s a nifty way to engage with the world and to even solve some puzzles.

For example, I came across a little pond that ended up being pretty deep, with a small clearing in the bottom leading to a secret chamber. The nearby dolphin was too big to fit through it, but this little fish that happened to be swimming about was just the ticket to gain access to the hidden chamber, even though I unfortunately didn’t have the key to unlock the chest inside.

But what would an open world be without numerous activities to keep you wandering around and engaging with the world? Well, fear not, because Tchia has a bevy of activities and side content to keep you tooling around for hours. Sure, there are collectible totems that can be used to buy cosmetic items, but there are also statues to blow up, camps full of sentient beings made of ribbons and cloth to burn, races to be won, stamina fruit to be eaten, and a whole assortment of animals to discover and pet.

You can change every aspect of your wardrobe, you can eat a whole assortment of various traditional food, you can play a frickin’ ukulele if you want, with a full chord system reminiscent of The Last of Us Part 2. You can craft totems and then use them as keys to unlock dungeons that require you to avoid detection while maneuvering through a sort of obstacle course. You can test your slingshot skills at a shooting gallery, or test your meddle at a UFO gacha machine. Yes, seriously.

And all of this is delivered in an incredibly charming and visually appealing package. The characters have an almost doll-like exaggeration to their facial and body features. You can come across random NPCs walking about or fishing on a dock, and although you can’t seem to hold much by way of a conversation or really interact with them in any meaningful way, they do spout their own little phrases, making them feel like part of this world.

And the world itself is flat-out gorgeous. The lighting effects for the day and night cycle creates a cornucopia of colors. The sunsets make the world seem like it is on fire. And the draw distance does marvels for making distant valleys seem almost a world apart from your high-up perch on a mountaintop. The swamps feel humid and muggy, the plains feel dry and arid. The rain effects — at least in the build I played — leave a little to be desired, which I think is mostly do to the art style. But it’s nowhere near as headache-inducing as the recent Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy.

I feel like I could go on and on about Tchia, which is a good sign that it’s shaping up to be a great game. I was looking forward to checking Tchia out before I played it, but now that I’ve gotten a taste, I’ve fully boarded the hype train. In fact, Tchia is currently the game to beat in 2023 for me, as far as open-world action-adventure games go.

I don’t normally lose my mind over what might be considered a lighthearted, whimsical, kid-friendly game, but Tchia feels like its got the goods and then some. This is part spiritual successor to a game like Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, and another part cousin to a game like Breath of Wild. But really, it is also its own unique game that I hope catches the world by storm. What Awaceb has created might not be perfect, but it is its own slice of paradise.

Disclaimer: I was given a preview code for Tchia for Epic Games Store, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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My first paid gig in video games was back in like 2010, when I was a reviewer for a small site that covered Flash games exclusively. Okay, so not exclusively exclusively, but we specialized in reviewing mostly Flash games. I was given immense amounts of freedom: “Just play what interests you, and if we haven’t covered it already, we’ll pay you $6 for a review.” Keep in mind this was $6 in 2010 money, not 2023 money, and you could get through an average Flash game in like 20 minutes or so. The writing took a bit more time, but even then, I was making like $3 an hour to do something I loved with virtually no experience. I was into it.

In those days, I would scour the website Kongregate almost daily — and if not every day, then on an every other day basis… Now, I wouldn’t recommend visiting to the site these days, as rumor has it you might find yourself with some malware. Or not. It’s hard to say. But back in 2010, Kongregate was the best.

One of the absolute stars of Kongregate was a scrappy Malaysian developer who went by the moniker Nerdook. I played Nerdook’s games religiously — they were some of the best games on that platform, and the art style was absolutely great. I was particularly fond of a game called Monster Slayers, which was eventually remade and released as a full roguelike deck-building RPG adventure.

So when a review code for Rogue A.I. Simulator crossed my desk, I knew I had to play it. Not only do I have this weird tradition of playing random games with Simulator in the title every January, but this game Rogue A.I. Simulator is actually a sequel to I Am an Insane Rogue A.I. by Nerdook. Honestly, I can’t remember for sure if I played the original Flash game, but since it’s a Nerdook game, I’m feeling pretty confident that I must have at some point.

Rogue A.I. Simulator might look similar to something like RimWorldat a glance, but it’s really nothing like that game (and its countless copycats). This is actually a much simpler game where you’re basically attempting to survive as many days as you can while your servers are being infiltrated. If you lose all your servers, your run ends. You do earn XP for each run, which unlocks skills in a skill tree system that carries over across multiple runs.

You’ve got some human survivors who have some basic needs — they need food, water, sleep, etc. They also have certain expectations, like having a place to poo and a relatively clean workspace. This management element really just boils down to clicking on things when they start flashing while watching your resource pools to make sure you have enough of everything. While there’s an overwhelming amount of information thrown at you in the beginning, none of Rogue A.I. Simulator‘s systems are very deep or complex.

This is the biggest thing, I think, that separates Rogue A.I. Simulator from games like RimWorld. Where RimWorld takes careful planning and management, Rogue A.I. Simulator feels kind of mindless once you understand its various systems. This isn’t a bad thing, but it could be disappointing if you’re expecting something with really deep systems to dive into.

This game does pretend to be super complex by throwing tons of different things at you. There are multiple resources to manage (money, Science Points, food, water, energy, scrap parts, etc.), but as long as you’re clicking things that are flashing, you should maintain most of those resources without thinking too hard about it.

But then there are various minigames that you’ll engage with at various points. When your servers get hacked, for example, you’ll have to do a tower-defense-style minigame where you’re setting traps to fend against waves of attackers.

Or you might get to hack facilities around the world, which generally puts you into this weird stealth-lite game where you can distract guards by clicking on things or spilling water on the ground to make them slip. But sometimes, these facilities require you to fight a battle, which plays out like a stripped-down RTS game where you’re paying for various types of troops or tanks or drones.

These minigames are actually super fun, though they also lack depth. They really just provide some variety to give you a break from the more micromanagey parts of the game.

Part of me wants to be really critical of all this. But for a game that costs $11.99 at full price — and one that’s based off a Flash game from more than a decade ago — I can’t complain too much. Rogue A.I. Simulator really is about twelve bucks worth of clicky fun. If this were a $30 game, I would be a bit more harsh. But $12? That’s totally fair. I think most people will be able to get at least three hours of enjoyment out of this, which seems like a halfway decent deal for the price.

One thing that kind of bugs me, though, is that TALIA, the game’s A.I. character, has this anime art style, while the rest of the game has more of that traditional Nerdook look. In my opinion, these two art styles don’t mesh very well. It almost feels like TALIA was probably bought in an asset pack of some sort, while mostly everything else has that very distinctive visual style Nerdook is known for.

I also think the user interface could be a lot cleaner.

That said, Rogue A.I. Simulator is pretty alright. It’s not amazing, and I don’t think it holds a candle to even the Flash version of Monster Slayers (which was a Flash masterpiece — that ending song was so good), but it’s pretty competent as a twelve-buck time-killer.

And really, it makes me happy to see that Nerdook is still at it after all these years.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Rogue A.I. Simulator for Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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The premise of Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a pretty awesome one. This is a 16-bit action game that feels like it would have been at home on the Sega Genesis. It does exactly what it sets out to do, but in trying to emulate a golden era of gaming, it falls short of perfection.

First, let’s talk about the good. Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider has this really authentic old-school look to it. It’s not just the pixel art — it’s the Shinobi-like flippy jumps that the protagonist does while jumping, or the way the backgrounds pulse and throb with various colors, or the weirdly tall character designs. All of this feels like it came straight off a Genesis cartridge. Ahh, I can practically smell the plastic…

Similar to the Mega Man games, there’s a menu where you can choose which stage to tackle next, and defeating the boss of that stage will give you a new ability that you can then use on the other stages. I love this format.

On top of that, the game offers different types of gameplay, from beat-’em-up brawls to platforming jumps to even riding a motorcycle in a Road Rash-style freeway chase (though with guns). So far, so good.

Where things go a little sour for me is that the controls feel sloppy. Sure, in the beat-’em-up segments, this isn’t a huge problem, but when you’re trying to jump over spike pits while dodging electric bolts, things can get pretty hairy pretty quickly.

I especially hate how wall jumps feel — and I generally love wall jumps. In a game like, say, Super Meat Boy or Mega Man X, when you jump into a wall by pressing toward that wall, you will automatically stick to that wall while slowly sliding down it. In Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, though, you have to press jump a second time when you hit the wall in order to activate the wall hop. More often than not, this results in clinging to the wall lower than you would have liked and then missing the next jump. This just feels gross to me.

The real problem for me, though, is the checkpoint system. Yeah, there are people who will defend it for feeling so authentically retro, but there’s a reason we don’t see checkpoint systems like this anymore — because they kind of suck.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a game where you have limited lives, and it’s often difficult to tell where you’re going to end up if you lose one of those lives. Some of the checkpoints feel unfair and ridiculous, like before a really difficult jump sequence instead of after it. Worse yet is the continue points, where you’ll start if you lose all your lives and use the “Continue” option. Early in the game, I thought this was handled decently well, but when I got deeper into the game, there were instances where beating a miniboss wouldn’t be enough to trigger a hard checkpoint that you’d return to after a continue. This can be absolutely infuriating.

Sure, this game isn’t super long (I was told it should take about two hours for a skilled player — but I am clearly not a skilled player), so the checkpoint system pads it out a bit. But that’s very clearly just padding. I would rather have a game be short and consistently good than be padded out with mediocre content.

Look, just last year we had some incredible throwback games, from TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge to Infernax to Demon Throttle. There are ways to make a retro-style low-bit game be all sorts of fun. Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider does get this in some respects, but in others the throwback parts hit just a little too close to home. I don’t think any of us missed the 16-bit era’s checkpoint systems, and this was an era when sometimes the controls worked beautifully, and other times they just didn’t.

That said, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a game that plenty of folks are going to adore. Some people are going to be able to look past its flaws and have a blast with this thing. And to those people I say, “Good on you.” For me, though, the frustrations outweigh the positives — but only slightly. I still had fun during much of the game, but I definitely don’t feel like I can stomach a second playthrough.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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I often find myself thinking the thoughts that perhaps few others have ever entertained. Rarely is this worthwhile or groundbreaking, but my mind just has a way of meandering to oddball topics.

For instance, while pursuing my game library on Steam the other day, I happened upon a thumbnail for my copy of the original Max Payne. I was flooded by fond memories of the dozens of hours I spent playing this classic action title, but I was also struck by an odd question: Is Sam Lake the only person from the video-game industry to ever be featured on the cover of a game his studio developed?

If you don’t know who Sam Lake is — or even what Max Payne is, for that matter — Sam Lake is the Creative director of Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind the first two Max Payne games as well as Alan Wake, Quantum Break, and Control. Mr. Lake wrote the scripts for all of these games, which means he is pretty awesome. He also lent his visage to the original character design of Max in the first game. They literally scanned his face and plastered it to the head model of the character, with an expression that has — poetically, of course — been likened to the expression of extreme constipation. Admittedly, I thought it was pretty cool at the time.

Max Payne is a third-person action game that used bullet-time slo-mo to replicate Max’s superhuman ability to shoot the ever living crap out of bad guys with a coolness factor of maximum. You can get a copy for like $4, so you should probably pick it up if you’ve never played it. You’ll thank me later — but you’ll also curse my name once you get to the blood trail maze.

Of all of the talented folks working in video games, Mr. Lake is certainly one who deserves to be featured on a game cover. Then again, he doesn’t seem to have the larger-than-life personality of some of the other folks in the industry, at least in the interviews I’ve seen of him. He’s a surprising figure to have this distinction, given this is an industry chock full of — and I mean this in the nicest way possible — some really egocentric auteurs.

Given that this is an industry with — and God bless him — a personality like Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, whose head is practically the size of the moon, thanks in no small part to a rabid fanbase and, of course, Geoff Keighley himself fawning over the man at every turn.

Heck, even Randy Pitchford seems like the type of bloke whose ego could use such a stroking as to have his likeness plastered all over covers of Borderlands. But no, his mug is nowhere to be found.

There is one other example I can think of, and I’m digging deep into the bowels of history here. The cover of the 1981 game Softporn Adventure — which would later give birth to the Leisure Suit Larry franchise — featured actual Sierra On-Line (On-Line Systems, at the time) employees topless in a hot tub.

From left to right, you have production manager Diane Siegel, bookkeeper Susan Davis, and On-Line co-founder Roberta Williams. The waiter, however, is an actual waiter who agreed to be in the photo. No, I’m not making this up; this is a real piece of 1980s video-game history. In fact, we talked about this in the first ever episode of the Half-Glass Gaming podcast back in 2015.

Still, my hat’s off to you, Sam Lake, for being part of such an exclusive club. Not only have you injected some exquisite writing into some totally awesome games, but your face has become iconic as the original mug of Max Payne. And you didn’t even have to take off your clothing to do it.

Well done, sir.

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The interactive drama adventure genre is all about choice. In the best games in this genre, your actions have multiple sequences that can change the course of your adventure. In my opinion, David Cage, founder of Quantic Dream, has done the best job at executing on this. If you were to call him the master of interactive thrillers, I certainly wouldn’t say you were wrong.

So let’s take a dive into the history of Quantic Dream. I want to look at where it all started, and then talk about where the studio might be headed in the future.

Fahrenheit: Indigo ProphecyFahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy released in 2005 for PC, PS2, and the original Xbox, and it was a commercial and critical hit. The game features three playable characters with interconnected stories. Essentially, it’s a thrill-ride murder case where two cops are looking for clues to reach to the murderer, a man named Lucas Kane. The twist is that you play as Lucas and both cops.

The game is a rollercoaster ride — a truly engaging experience due to its storyline and sequences. The controls are quite tough, though, and the graphics are a bit plain by modern standards. But Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy is engaging enough despite its issues.

The game got favorable reviews and won several awards. A remastered version was released in 2016 for multiple platforms, including Steam and PS4.

Heavy RainAfter the positive reception to Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy, David Cage would take things to the next level with Heavy Rain, which released in 2010 as a PlayStation exclusive. It was a well-crafted video game with a fantastic storyline, great interactive scenes, and compelling character development. It was a leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, in my opinion.

Heavy Rain won hearts all over the globe due to its emotional narrative and highly engaging gameplay. The narrative unfolds based on the choices you make and the experiences you have as you progress through the game. It feels like being completely drawn into a movie. Credit goes to the sublime direction by David Cage. Heavy Rain was a blockbuster success commercially as well as critically.

The game won several awards, including multiple BAFTA Awards. Heavy Rain was also included into the 2010 book 1,001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. By 2018, the game had sold 5.3 million copies.

At one point, several DLC prequels called the Heavy Rain Chronicles were planned, but only one episode called The Taxidermist was actually released.

Beyond: Two SoulsBeyond: Two Souls released in 2013 for PS3, and it was re-released on PS4 in 2015 and PC in 2019. The interactive-drama narrative style was similar to previous Quantic Dream games, but Beyond uses that format to tell a different kind of story.

Beyond: Two Souls has much more star power than previous games, starring Elliot Page as Jodie Holmes, the protagonist, and Willem Dafoe as Nathan Dawkins, who eventually turns out to be a villain. The characters were motion captured for the entire game.

The game was pretty good, but it didn’t meet the high expectations set by Heavy Rain. The gameplay involved quick-time events, like any other Quantic Dream game, but it was far less challenging. Beyond: Two Souls received several good reviews, but it was not as critically acclaimed as its predecessor. It did go on to sell more than 2.8 million copies.

Detroit: Become HumanDetroit: Become Human released for PS4 in 2018 and PC in 2019. The game revolved around the stories of androids in the year 2038. In this world, human beings are unhappy that androids are taking their jobs, as they are normally hired as servants. Androids, on the other hand, have emotions as well.

The game format is similar to previous games, in terms of multiple playable characters with intersecting storylines. The narrative does have emotional heft, but this time you’re supposed to empathize with androids rather than human beings.

The story does revolve around mysteries, with an android named Connor working with a cop named Hank Anderson to investigate and capture androids that are bypassing their programming and becoming deviant androids. Markus is a deviant android who has been a victim of unfair treatment, and after being shot by the police, he wakes up, and pieces himself together. He reaches Jericho, a hideout for deviant androids.

The narrative plays of the tension between these two very different characters. Markus becomes the leader of the deviants, while Connor, on the other hand, is determined to carry out his tasks as assigned by the authorities.

Detroit: Become Human received positive reviews and was nominated for several gaming awards. The game went on to sell more than 6 million copies, making it Quantic Dream’s bestselling video game yet.

Star Wars EclipseQuantic Dream’s next ambitious project is Star Wars Eclipse, which is set in the Star Wars universe and is being developed in collaboration with LucasFilm Games. David Cage is extremely excited about this project, and it seems like this will be a very different style of adventure game. My fingers are crossed for this one.

ConclusionThere is no doubt that David Cage can be called a pioneer of interactive adventure games. With each new game, Quantic Dream is getting better and better at crafting compelling interactive narratives. However, I strongly feel that they need to revisit Heavy Rain and attempt to recapture the magic of that wonderful game. In my opinion, they still haven’t topped it, but I hope they eventually surpass even that level of quality in the future.

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When developer Awaceb decided to make a video game set on a tropical island, they knew right away that they had to do this setting justice. Yeah, people are going to expect turquoise water and white beaches, but the tropical environment is far more diverse than many people realize. And this is something that the folks at Awaceb have first-hand experience with, as the studio’s founders grew up on the Pacific island of New Caledonia.

In order to make the world of Tchia feel genuine, the Montreal-based dev team traveled to New Caledonia to take inspiration from its lush, gorgeous scenery. This includes otherworldly red-dirt plains, stone cliffs, and coral reefs. And oh, the wildlife! The very rare cagou bird makes an appearance, as well as the strikingly gorgeous banded sea krait snake.

It’s a site to behold, both in real life and in the game, and you can experience about two minutes of it in the second episode of a development video series called “Our Journey with Tchia.”

I have to say, Tchia is really shaping up to be something special, from it’s Wind Waker-like rafting to its Super Mario Odyssey-like animal possession mechanic. I can’t wait to get my hands on the final build of this beautiful game.

Tchia is due out in the spring of 2023 for PC, PS4, and PS5. You can get more information about the game by checking out the official Tchia website.

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I was late to the party when it comes to Gotham Knights. It was on sale over the holiday season, and my brother was mentioning how he planned to pick it up on discount. We have forever tried to find a co-op game that we would both enjoy, and even though I had for the most part intended to skip Gotham Knights altogether, I figured I’d buy a copy so my brother wouldn’t have to suffer in isolation.

But it turns out I actually quite liked my time with it, and I didn’t find it nearly as grindy as I had expected it to be, based the reviews. It isn’t perfect, but it is perfectly serviceable.

There are, of course, a few areas where it comes up short. I think Gotham Knights could use some tweaking here and there to take it from just okay to pretty good. So I figured I’d air my grievances and offer my list of six things that I feel could make Gotham Knights really soar.

Improve traversalThe more I play Gotham Knights, the more cumbersome and downright aggravating the traversal and climbing can be. There is no dedicated jump button in the game, which never stops feeling like a boneheaded omission. You can hold down X (or A) while moving to climb up certain obstacles or do a little leap off of a ledge, but you can’t just jump of your own volition.

The issue comes into play when you run into a rooftop exhaust vent, or any other fixed object that is between waist- and shoulder-height; you can’t climb or jump over things of this nature. When you’re running around on rooftops in hot pursuit of justice, or trying to lock in a time trial run, it can be infuriating to run into an air duct that stops you in your tracks, usually resulting in a fail state if the clock is ticking.

What’s worse is that all of the characters have this bizarre problem where if they run into a wall, they will almost become stun-locked and will just freeze for a second or two before I can force them to change direction to keep moving.

Also, while playing co-op with my brother, when his character runs in front of me while I’m on the move, my Robin gets stun-locked as if Batgirl were instead a wall. But what’s really ridiculous is that my character will remain stun-locked and unable to move long after Batgirl has gotten out of my way, even though there was no longer an “obstacle” to block me.

I don’t know if this is just a “me” issue or if other people are having this problem, but it’s a bit annoying.

Here’s yet another example of wonky control issues: I tried to grapple atop a nearby single-story building. I lined my reticle up with the edge of the roof, but because there was a fence just slightly shorter than the roof, even though I had successfully shot my grappling hook at the ceiling, my character would collide with the fence along their trajectory and would perch atop the fence instead of the building. But because the fence was only about an in-game foot shorter than the roof of the building, when I tried to transition from the fence to the roof, my character wouldn’t do anything. It was too short to be able to climb, and since I couldn’t jump, the only option was to jump off the fence (which was a hassle in and of itself, since the game doesn’t respond well to simply dropping off edges), then find a different part of the roof that wasn’t blocked by the fence, and try again.

With a little tweaking — and perhaps a dedicated jump button — the traversal could feel so much better.

The police shouldn’t feel so pointlessSeriously, the police are way too aggressive against our crimefighting team. This is pointless, and it does nothing to impact or inform the story. Apparently, Jim Gordon has died, and as a result the GCPD is none too friendly with the Bat Family. This means that, if you complete a side mission or stop a crime, the police will often show up to see what all of the commotion was about. If they find you at the scene, they will shoot you.

At first I thought this was an interesting aspect of Gotham Knights — I felt like a real vigilante, cleaning up the streets while staying in the shadows to avoid police involvement. The problem is, this doesn’t impact the overall game. You never ultimately win the police over, despite having stopped dozens of crimes, taken down numerous supervillains, and just generally made Gotham City a safer, better place.

Alternatively, if you actively target and attack the GCPD, it doesn’t make you more of a wanted person. In fact, it doesn’t do anything at all. If the police are this pointless and also a bit of a nuisance, why even have them as an aspect of the game? Get rid of them entirely or make their presence actuall mean something for the game.

Add in some dirigiblesNot every iteration of Gotham City has huge blimps flying around, but plenty of good ones do. As big as Gotham City is in this game, it would just be so much cooler seeing a dirigible hovering above Gotham, maybe even shining a spotlight down on you while you are fighting crime, which would also tie into my previous point and make you feel like more of an unwanted/wanted presence.

Get rid of craftingWhy do I need to craft all of my suits and weapons? You run into Lucius Fox throughout Gotham Knights, why wouldn’t the Bat Family just have him supply the gang with their accessories.

In fact, I think it would be better to tie a character’s stats to the character themselves rather than their loadout. It feels so weird to effectively be the same character that you start the game with, burdened with a swath of meaningless and, quite frankly, dumb crafting currencies.

Just, stop it, Gotham Knights.

Give us some better suitsThere’s more than 80 years of Batman history to play with, and these are the best suits WB Games Montréal could come up with?

Robin perhaps gets the shortest end of the stick on this one, as pretty much all of his costumes range from mildly tolerable to flat-out hideous. But that isn’t to say the rest of the Bat Family fares all that much better.

I wasn’t a fan of most of the suits in Marvel’s Spider-Man, but they at least offered a wide variety that tied into Spider-Man’s voluminous comics and film history. And sure, yeah, the Suits in Gotham Knights also have allusions to or are directly inspired by specific events from the past, but there are just so many duds that don’t make much sense in the context of this game.

For example, why are there Batman Beyond costumes when most of these characters weren’t even in that iteration? Robin doesn’t even have the classic Tim Drake costume we all know and love. Instead, he has this outfit that looks like it was inspired by 1960s British hippies or something, and an almost Sgt. Pepper-looking petticoat monstrosity.

Not only that, but you can only alter small accents to each costume, and only if you aren’t transmogging. If you are going to allow for alternate gloves and masks for each suit, why not allow me to wear any combination of pieces from various suits to make my own creation? And why do some suits unlock after missions but others you have to wait until you can seemingly arbitrarily just suddenly craft them or get them from enemy drops?

Make mission interaction feel more coherentI was about halfway through the game before I figured out how to play the Harley Quinn, Clayface, and Mr. Freeze side missions after unlocking them. If my brother wouldn’t have casually mentioned them, I probably would’ve either finished the game without bothering with those missions, or looked for a guide to learn how to trigger them.

When not in the Belfry, which acts as your base of operations, you are in the open Gotham City map. This is where you do all of your fighting and most of the story missions — except for the more personal or developmental character missions. So why are the three villain arc missions only accessible from the bulletin board in the Belfry?

The Bat Computer, effectively your pause menu, lets you access the map, your gear, and all of the game’s useless compendiums. It is fully accessible in the field, and you can even see the Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn, and Clayface missions right there in the menu. But because these missions are unique instances that take place in sectioned-off parts of Gotham, they can’t just seamlessly be plugged into the open world like the rest of the story missions. Apparently.

Keeping these missions segregated from the rest of the world makes it unclear how to access them, ultimately making Gotham Knights feel like a less cohesive game. Either make the player pick which story arc they want to complete in the next patrol instance from the Bat Computer before leaving the Belfry, or add the side missions seamlessly into the main game.

And for that matter, why not make the Lucius Fox, Renee Montoya, and Watch missions take place over the comms once you have met each character? Having to go meet Montoya in a gazebo in a park, or Lucius standing on the roof of his building, just to claim you rewards for all of the ancillary side missions you mop up for them? That is just pointless busywork. Just have the rewards waiting at the belfry (which itself should be more easily accessible without leaving an instance), and have them call you over the Bat Computer to let you know the job is done.

ConclusionWoo… This has become a bit of an exhaustive exercise. With so much negative to say, I’m probably giving off the impression that I do not like Gotham Knights. And that isn’t accurate; I mostly enjoy playing it. But there are baffling design choices that get in the way of the genuine fun that can be had here.

And sure, there are plenty more issues Gotham Knights could stand to correct or iron out or simply remove. And there’s plenty that could be added as well, especially if there is any intention to support the game into the foreseeable future — and I can’t really tell how much post-launch support is even planned for this, which is a problem in and of itself.

But, ultimately, I hope WB Games Montréal can tighten up the loose ends. The way I see it, Gotham Knights is a mostly enjoyable game that does a lot of things right — even if it does a number of other things wrong.

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Hitman 3 was the final part of the World of Assassination trilogy, which includes Hitman (2016) and Hitman 2 (2018). Owners of Hitman 3 could import both previous games — along with all the DLC — and have them all in one place, which was an amazing and convenient feature for a game with an almost endless amount of unlockables.

But now, it’s becoming official. IO Interactive announced in a blog post this morning that all three games are getting merged into the “World of Assassination.” That means that you can now buy just one game and get all of the content from all three games. No more importing content from multiple games. And if you own just Hitman 3, well, you’re about to get two incredible games for free.

DLC is getting consolidated as well. There’s now just a single deluxe add-on that will cost you $30 and include all of the deluxe content from Hitman 2 and 3 (Hitman 1‘s add-on content is already included in the base bundle).

I’m going to be honest with you: I paid a ton of money to get all of the bells and whistles of this trilogy. I got my money’s worth, for sure, as I’ve put well over 300 hours into this game series, but it’s lovely that new players no longer have to sell a kidney to get all of this content in one place. To be clear, I actually don’t have two full kidneys, which means I won’t be selling any of them anytime soon. But that’s a story for another time.

Anyway, it sounds like these changes are going to make the upcoming Freelancer Mode a lot simpler, so fans can just play the new content without worrying what content they do or don’t own. And I’ve said this before, but Freelancer Mode is incredible, and it’s definitely worth checking out.

I, for one, am really happy to see IO continue to support this game, and it sounds like 2023 is going to be another great year for Hitman fans.

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Over the course of time, David Cage’s Quantic Dream studios has developed and published some of the greatest interactive adventure thrillers of the modern era, including Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human. These are games that won hearts all over the globe and enjoyed both commercial and critical success. However, there’s one game from Quantic Dream that rose above the others, and that’s Heavy Rain.

So let’s take a look at the reasons Heavy Rain is such a magnetic magnum opus.

An Emotional NarrativeHeavy Rain has four playable characters: Ethan Mars, Madison Paige, Norman Jayden, and Scott Shelby. The choices you will make will decide the fate of these characters, all four of whom can end up dead if you make the wrong decisions.

A happy family was destroyed in minutes. Ethan has separated from his wife, living alone with his other son. He is still suffering from trauma from an accident and has blackouts. His other son got abducted. Now the father desperately wants to rescue his son from a serial killer. He meets a journalist named Madison Paige, and both start to feel for each other, while Paige has started her own investigation into this mystery.

On the other side, Norman Jayden is an FBI officer is looking for clues to find the killer, and Scott Shelby is a private detective who is meeting with the family of the lost ones. Shelby is accompanying Lauren Winter, mother of one of the victims, to resolve this mystery.

The killer is still in the city, running from place to place, but it’s a challenge to resolve this mystery of who the killer is and why they are committing such heinous acts. You will eventually figure all this out while you’re playing the game, but I won’t spoil that; it’s best if you discover it on your own.

Edge-of-Your-Seat GameplayHeavy Rain features a lot of action, which is portrayed through quick-time events where you have to push a button at the right time to avoid something bad happening. Heavy Rain presents its hand-to-hand combat in a really smart way: You have to punch, kick, and survive counterattacks, and you do all this knowing that you have an only life here. If you miss a hit, you take a hit. This whole player experience is next-level.

A Believable StorylineHeavy Rain has a believable storyline. It does not involve any supernatural or future-technology elements, unlike Indigo Prophecy, Beyond 2 Souls, and Detroit: Become Human. I think this is important for players who want to immerse themselves in the story. With a more grounded universe, it’s easier to get lost in the narrative.

There are multiple endings based on how you play the game, and they are handled really smartly. Credit goes to the writing team for creating such complex scenarios that encourage players to replay the game multiple times to see the results of various choices.

In my opinion, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human don’t handle their multiple endings with the amount of finesse that Heavy Rain manages.

ConclusionBetween the storyline, presentation, and engaging gameplay, Heavy Rain is an interactive adventure that’s firing on all cylinders. Beyond: Two Souls‘ combat system was a piece of cake compared to Heavy Rain, and Detroit: Become Human was even simpler.

Quantic Dream’s next big project is Star Wars Eclipse, a narrative adventure set in the Star Wars universe. We will have to wait and see how this one develops, but I am hoping they recapture Heavy Rain‘s engagement factor.

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Note: If you want to see our full list of 2022 nominees, check out our list here.

When it comes to the Game of the Year conversation, we tend to be a little unconventional at Half-Glass Gaming. Our philosophy is that the Game of the Year should be the most important game of the year, not necessarily the best game of the year. But most important is admittedly a subjective term, and there’s a lot of wiggle room for how we define it in any given year.

Here are some examples: In 2020, the year in which a global pandemic forced us inside for months on end, we chose Animal Crossing: New Horizons as our game of the year. It makes sense, right? The game that became our refuge from the crisis — a safehouse during the proverbial storm — felt important in 2020 in a way that it wouldn’t have in 2019.

In 2021, we had an even more unconventional (and controversial) winner: Final Fantasy XIV was our 2021 Game of the Year. Sure, the game originally launched in 2010, then relaunched in 2013, but MMORPGs have a completely different lifecycle than other video games. And in 2021, Final Fantasy XIV was the MMORPG to finally dethrone World of Warcraft. Remember how back in the heyday of the MMO, the conversation was always, “Is this new game the WoW-killer?” Well, in 2021, FFXIV was the first game to actually do it.

But in 2022, our Game of the Year is super obvious. It’s Elden Ring. Yeah, pretty much everyone else is giving their Game of the Year award to Elden Ring, so we’re certainly not breaking any fresh ground here. But when I look back over the year that was 2022, there’s not another game that deserves the title more. Elden Ring was a colossal masterpiece that completely broke the open-world RPG mold.

And for me personally, Elden Ring was important. At the end of 2021, I fought a battle against cancer that left me pretty messed up going into 2022 (I wrote in detail about this experience in a post on my band’s website, so I wont’ go over all the details here). After six weeks of barely being able to get off my couch, the last thing I wanted to do in February was play more video games. But February was a relentless month for the games industry, and my job is to play these things.

I reached a point where I had burned out, emotionally and mentally fried from my harrowing battle with death, and physically exhausted from the sheer onslaught that was February, 2022. When Elden Ring came out, I didn’t even want to play it all that much, if I’m being perfectly honest.

But within my first three hours, something awakened inside me. I found myself falling completely in love with Elden Ring — and falling in love with video games all over again.

Look, as much as I love video games, there are things about playing them that can be super annoying. For example, while the Assassin’s Creed formula can be comforting sometimes, it also gets repetitive and boring whenever you realize that you’re not actually having fun — you’re just picking out predetermined icons on a map and doing what the game expects you to do at each one.

Elden Ring feels different. From the moment you set foot in its world, you’re overcome with this sense of adventure. The game doesn’t tell you what you’re supposed to be doing; it just lets you wander around and figure it out for yourself. There are no quest logs or scavenger-hunt icons on your map; just a massive world connected by bonfire fast-travel points. If you want to tumble off into some precarious dungeon before you’ve even geared up, go for it. If you just want to ride around picking herbs for hours at a time, you can do that too. Elden Ring doesn’t care.

There are enormous chunks of this game world you might never even discover after multiple playthroughs. There are secrets hidden inside other secrets in this tangled mess of an interactive experience, and the game just lets you stumble into its complex web. Getting yourself untangled is part of the fun, and Elden Ring has enough confidence in itself to not care if you get frustrated with it.

Allow me to make an analogy.

I once traveled out to Arizona to meet up with my parents for a few days. My luggage ended up on the wrong plane, so I had a pretty stressful first day. My mom had planned this packed itinerary for me, so I was being whisked off from place to place, stressed out about my luggage and seeing way more things than I could even process. Finally, I took my mom aside and said, “Look, I appreciate you sharing all of these great things with me, but I kind of need to de-stress for a couple hours.” So we found a small coffee shop where I just sat and read a book for a while. That ended up being my favorite part of that entire trip.

Most open-world games are like that — the game packs out your itinerary because it’s nervous that you’re going to get bored. If you slow down for a second, the game panics and tries to distract you with something else. But Elden Ring is perfectly comfortable letting you approach it on your own terms. It doesn’t try to distract you, or overwhelm you with map icons, or roadblock you into seeing its coolest parts because it’s afraid you’re going to miss them.

Elden Ring is an open-world game that completely chucks the traditional open-world formula out the window — something that I don’t think has happened to this extent since Breath of the Wild. Elden Ring understands that sometimes, the itinerary is just a distraction, so it sets it ablaze and lets you find the good parts on your own. I hope that, as we leave 2022 behind us, other game developers take note. The gaming audience doesn’t need flashing lights and quest markers and directional arrows — we just need compelling worlds to get lost in.

Elden Ring could very well be a new direction for open-world video games in the future, and I think that’s something we’re going to be talking about for a very long time.

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Mortal Shell has always had this cool, low-key vibe to it. The game was an unexpected hit when it first launched in 2020, delivering a Soulslike adventure that was challenging, moody, and captivating. Then it received a surprising DLC drop that included a new character class, an added weapon, and a brand-new roguelite mode that made revisiting the game feel like a brand new experience. Well, here we are more than two years later, and Mortal Shell has surprised us yet again with a Nintendo Switch stealth release that’s pretty freakin’ awesome.

The reason Mortal Shell is such a great game is because it understands what makes a Soulslike. It has a rich, dark atmosphere. It’s filled with bits of lore to build its mysterious world. And it offers up satisfying stamina-based combat that’s as challenging as it is precise.

There are three main dungeons to clear in Mortal Shell. The game’s world is small, but it allows you to roam freely. There’s a massive sense of discovery here, and if you allow yourself to just let go and explore to your heart’s content, you’ll find new weapons and different character classes tucked away in the game’s fog-laden world.

While there is an order that you should tackle the dungeons in (on account of your player experience and your character’s upgrades), you can take them on however you like. These dungeons are filled with enemies, traps, and obstacles. You’ll encounter all kinds of enemies — grunts, behemoths, monsters. There are also tough mini-bosses that’ll give you a run for your money. You’ll ultimately face off against the dungeons’ main bosses in highly challenging battles that will truly test you.

All of the things that made Mortal Shell so incredible on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC translate wonderfully to the Nintendo Switch version. Combat and exploration are smooth and methodical. Visually, the game looks pretty solid, too. The resolution is a little lower on Switch, but thanks to the game’s darker art direction, it doesn’t suffer much and still looks pretty solid.

In addition to the main campaign, this version of Mortal Shell also includes The Virtuous Cycle, the game’s DLC that features a new weapon, class, and roguelite mode. This is the complete package here, so between the different playable classes, the main mode, and the addictive roguelite component, you’re treated to a whole lot of content. And the best part is that it’s all really dope content.

In terms of performance, Mortal Shell on Switch is just about stellar. I say “just about” because, while I rarely encountered any issues, there was one instance where the game’s framerate dipped considerably. This was in an area that was heavily populated by fast-moving enemies. They were everywhere — in front of me, behind me, and even above me. There were quite a few, and their movements were erratic — this all caused the game to slow down and become a bit choppy. It was still functional, and I didn’t have any trouble clearing the area, but the slowdown was noticeable.

Personally, I’ve managed to fall in love with Mortal Shell four separate times. The first was when I played and reviewed it for another site. The second was when I played it just to revisit it and enjoy the adventure all over again. The third was when I played through The Virtuous Cycle on the PS4 version. And now, I’ve managed to become completely enamored with the game all over again, this time on Switch.

If you want a version of Mortal Shell that you can take everywhere with you, well, your wish has been granted (I played the game on my TV in docked mode, as well as on my Switch Lite, and I loved how the game looked on that smaller screen too). On the other hand, if you never played Mortal Shell and you need a top tier Soulslike on Nintendo Switch, Mortal Shell is about as great (and challenging) as they come.

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We’ve made it to the end of yet another year packed full of video-game goodness. From stunning narrative action games to pixel-art throwbacks to overwhelmingly massive open worlds, 2022 really did offer a lot of variety for the game-playing audience. So let’s look back at our personal highlights from 2022 as we lay out our complete list of 2022 Game of the Year nominees.

Now, we should point out that Half-Glass Gaming has a pretty small staff, and we can’t play absolutely everything that comes out in a given year. We try our best, but we guarantee that we missed some things. In fact, no one on our staff played God of War Ragnarök (those pesky holiday schedules really got to us this year), so it didn’t get a nomination. We did play a ton of games in 2022, though, and some of them were total bangers.

That said, if you’re interested in seeing what we nominated in previous years, you can check out our 2021 nominees here, and our 2020 nominees here.

And now, let’s check out the Half-Glass Gaming 2022 Game of the Year nominee list!

Infernax (February 14, 2022)Infernax might feel like it came out of nowhere to some folks, but this is a game that had an 11-year development cycle. And it shows. This is an old-school, hardcore Metroidvania that’s absolutely crammed with good ideas, alternate endings, and Easter eggs galore. It almost feels like what would have happened if FromSoft had tried to make Dark Souls in the late 1980s.

If you’re a fan of pixel art and old-school gameplay, you need to play Infernax. It was 2022’s first truly standout game.

You can read more of our thoughts on Infernax here.

Horizon Forbidden West (February 18, 2022)The Horizon games are fantastic, but Guerrilla Games has awful luck when it comes to picking a release date. Not only was Horizon Zero Dawn overshadowed by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but Horizon Forbidden West had the bad luck to release just ahead of Elden Ring. Oof.

Despite constantly living in the shadow of the biggest and most groundbreaking open-world games of all time, there’s a lot to love about this franchise. Not only is this a super compelling world — a future Stone Age where robot dinosaurs run amok — but the story and characters are fantastic as well. For instance, Sylens is one of the most interesting video-game characters we’ve come across in a very long time, and every moment he’s onscreen is sheer brilliance.

If you passed over Forbidden West because you were itching to get your hands on Elden Ring, well, now is a great time to finally see what all the fuss was about.

You can read more about Horizon Forbidden West here.

Elden Ring (February 25, 2022)We don’t even know what’s left to say about Elden Ring. If you played video games at all in 2022, then this one probably needs no introduction.

From the developers of the cult classic Dark Souls series comes a brutal dark-fantasy open-world game that somehow feels like the ultimate perfection of the Souls formula. The world here is so vast but so completely packed with secrets that, even after 100 hours of gameplay, you might feel like you’ve barely scratched the surface. That’s how jam-packed this game is; there’s always more to see and do in it.

We have no idea how FromSoft is going to follow this one up, because Elden Ring is pretty much the perfect video game.

Ghostwire: Tokyo (March 25, 2022)Ghostwire: Tokyo is one of those games that’s way better than it really should be. A supernatural open-world title could easily blend into the crowd, but this game just has such a compelling world that we can’t stop thinking about it. Sure, it’s got some flaws, but even so, it feels original enough to keep us hooked, despite its imperfections.

You can read more about our thoughts on Ghostwire: Tokyo here.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (March 25, 2022)If you want something on the cuter end of the spectrum, you could definitely do worse than Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Sure, Kirby games can be kind of unintentionally terrifying, but there’s a candy pink aesthetic that makes them feel cozy regardless. And the classic Kirby formula translates really well to 3D environments, which are on display here. This is a bold new step for the franchise, and we absolutely love it.

You can read more about our thoughts on Kirby and the Forgotten Land here.

Weird West (March 31, 2022)The Weird Western is a super fun literary genre that combines the Wild West with sci-fi/fantasy elements. Sometimes that means adding weird steampunk contraptions, and other times that means dousing the West in an unholy tub of vampires and zombies and cultists. Weird West goes for the latter approach with a surprisingly deep choice-based RPG (think the pre-Bethesda Fallout games).

Seriously, this game is so much dang tootin’ fun. You’ll play as an assortment of heroes (or anti-heroes, really) who make their way across a demonic desert, lootin’ and shootin’ and double-crossin’ folks along the way. It can be super difficult, because it’s easy to get yourself into a hopeless situation, but when you’re on a roll, the game is really satisfying to play.

If this one completely slipped under your radar in 2022, you should double back and give it a gander.

You can read more about Weird West here.

Evil Dead: The Game (May 13, 2022)Evil Dead: The Game is yet another horror-themed asymmetrical multiplayer game. But don’t let that description turn you away; this game is actually tons of fun. In fact, we think this is one of 2022’s most underrated titles (but that’s coming from huge fans of the Evil Dead franchise, so maybe take it with a grain of salt). Even if 4-vs.-1 multiplayer isn’t your jam, you should still give this one a chance — especially if you’re into horror-comedy.

You can read more about our thoughts on Evil Dead: The Game here.

Sniper Elite 5 (May 26, 2022)Esteemed Nazi-hunter Karl Fairburne is back for another round of super-sneaky, X-ray-enhanced sniping action, and Sniper Elite 5 is a wonderful evolution for the long-running series. The maps here are massive, giving you tons of freedom for how you want to approach any given situation. Similar to last year’s Hitman 3, Sniper Elite 3 gives you an expansive toolkit that creates an almost endlessly replayable gameplay loop.

If you’re into turning Nazi skulls into Swiss cheese, you really need to give Sniper Elite 5 a shot.

You can read more about Sniper Elite 5 here.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (June 16, 2022)The Turtles are back with a vengeance! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a pixel-art beat-’em-up that wouldn’t feel out of place in an arcade in the early 1990s. It does feature some modern touches, like a progressive level-up system, but the vibe is totally ripped from the Genesis era. This is a super-slick, action-packed title full of turtles, ninjas, and slices of delicious pizza. What more could a TMNT fan ask for?

You can read more about TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge here.

Stray (July 19, 2022)In Stray, you play as an alley cat in a cyberpunk world inhabited by androids. There are two things that really make it stand out: the drop-dead gorgeous environment, and what might be the best cat controls to have ever been in a video game. It even features scratching on random things as a gameplay mechanic, because… well, cats! This game is dripping with charm, and there’s an emotional heft that doesn’t really hit you at first but settles in as you get deeper into the game.

Plus, there’s an entire pseudo-future alphabet to decode, if you’re into that kind of thing.

You can read more about Stray here.

Endling: Extinction Is Forever (July 19, 2022)Endling: Extinction Is Forever had the misfortune of launching the same day as Stray, which hogged the animal-based-video-game spotlight for July. But it’s actually a very different game than Stray, and it’s well worth playing.

In it, you play as a mother fox who has to take care of her cubs while humans are ravaging the wilderness for the sake of industry. This is an absolutely brutal survival game that forces you to make extremely difficult choices — and yes, all of your cubs can die depending on those choices. Get a box of tissues ready, because this game’s going to absolutely wreck you.

You can read more about our thoughts on Endling: Extinction Is Forever here.

Cult of the Lamb (August 11, 2022)Cult of the Lamb is an adorable little game that’s super-demonic and also far more complex than it probably seems on the surface. It’s basically a combination between Animal Crossing and The Binding of Isaac, asking you to simultaneously manage a cult and delve into randomly generated dungeons. The art style is incredible, and the gameplay loop is extremely addictive.

You can read more about Cult of the Lamb here.

Shovel Knight Dig (September 23, 2022)Shovel Knight Dig takes the characters and setting of Shovel Knight and builds them into a rogulite in the vein of Spelunky 2. And the formula works exceptionally well. In fact, it’s hard to believe how good this game is. It’s a rich, complex roguelite that will have you digging deeper and deeper and deeper, looking for gems and bonking badguys in the head. There’s a ton of loot to collect, and plenty of secrets to uncover in its underground world, and we found ourselves getting pretty addicted to it this year.

You can read more about Shovel Knight Dig here.

A Plague Tale: Requiem (October 18, 2022)A Plague Tale: Requiem is one of this year’s standout narrative experiences. It takes everything that was great about the previous game in the series — A Plague Tale: Innocence — and enhances it. The set pieces are even more impressive, the mini stealth sandboxes are more frequent and more diverse, and the rats are hungrier than ever. But it’s really the characters that make the experience shine so brightly. Watching the unraveling of protagonist Amicia de Rune’s mental state is harrowing, and new characters Arnaud and Sophia tangle themselves in this drama in some really compelling ways.

This is one of those journeys that sticks in your craw, something you’ll be thinking about for weeks — or even months — after finishing. Really, A Plague Tale: Requiem is a must-play for anyone who loves narrative-focused interactive experiences.

You can read more about A Plague Tale: Requiem here.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition (next-gen release, December 14, 2022)We didn’t think we’d still be talking about The Witcher 3 in 2022, but here we are. CD Projekt Red released a big update to the game which makes use of current-gen hardware to deliver the best-looking official version of the game yet. And on top of that, they fixed Geralt’s glass legs and added a photo mode.

The thing is, The Witcher 3 still holds up, even without the modern bells and whistles. As we dove back into it for our net-gen review, we found the game world to be irresistible, and we spent way more time in it than we expected to. It’s been seven years since the game’s original launch, and it’s astonishing how well it holds up compared to some of its competitors. Keep in mind that this released the same year as Fallout 4, which hasn’t aged anywhere near as gracefully.

Yeah, The Witcher 3 is still a masterpiece in 2022, and the next-gen update was there to remind all of us how good it is.

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I’m late to the party when it comes to playing the action-RPG-lite grindfest that is Gotham Knights. The game didn’t perform exceptionally well sales-wise, no doubt the result of middling word of mouth and hyperbolic accounts of it being “worse than Cyberpunk” by YouTube clickbait vampires and doom-and-gloom Steam reviewers.

Although I was curious to give it a try, I figured I might as well wait until it gets discounted during a seasonal sale — which is exactly what I did. And after playing it, there two things that really stuck out to me. The first is that, although the opening section is pretty dull, once you get past all of the introductory exposition and systems dump, Gotham Knights is a perfectly enjoyable game.

The other thing that stuck out to me, once I was introduced to the four main characters parkouring and flipping about in the rubble of the Batcave, is that Gotham Knights is pretty much just a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game in disguise.

I mean, think about it. You have four young protagonists of varying levels of brashness, each kitted out with very specific qualities and even an individual color to tell one another apart. Red Hood is Raphael, both of whom happen to favor the color red. Nightwing and Leo are a couple of blue boys. Robin is Michelangelo, young and demure but still capable in his own right (although Robin doesn’t share Michelangelo’s love of orange). And that leaves Batgirl as the Donatello of the group, cunning and good with technology.

You could argue that this leaves Alfred as Master Splinter, which is… well, whatever. But I feel like Batman is the true Splinter in this comparison, and now these four teenage “turtles” must pick up the mantle from their fallen master, taking his teachings and applying them to their lives going forward. So I guess that makes Alfred April O’Neil. Or maybe Casey Jones. It’s a tough call.

I chose to play as Red Hood out the gate. I originally planned on going with my boy Robin, but he is a weenie in this game, so I went with the one character I didn’t think I would ever really spend much time with. And let me tell you, Red Hood’s dialogue is Raphael 101. He even has a bit of that New York accent that Raph has in the original TMNT movie. He’s all about busting heads and going full-speed toward whatever stands in his way.

After only spending time with the other characters via Red Hood’s perspective, if I close my eyes, the dialogue just feels like it could fit perfectly into a TMNT template (aside from the one female-voiced character, of course). Nightwing is all about preparation and not jumping the gun. Robin is all about being cautious but also making surprising conclusions that elude the rest of the team. And Batgirl, formally Oracle, is all about gadgets and tech.

The parallels between Gotham Knights and what I know of TMNT are beginning to make it hard to focus and not just wish I was playing a TMNT game of this ilk instead. But hey, maybe some other developer could take note and apply this formula to a future TMNT game. I mean, we are living in a world where new TMNT games are still coming out; now you just need to ditch that weird motorcycle that forms out of thin air and replace it with skateboards and the Turtle Van, and you’d really have a stew going.

Actually, if no fully fledged development studio takes on this task, I’m sure the modding community could make this a reality. Please do this!

Anyway, Gotham Knights is already one of the better 3D TMNT games I’ve played in a while — you might as well correct the IP error and allow this game to reach its full TMNT glory and potential.

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I love action-adventure games — games that take you through exotic places and breath-taking environments where you satisfy your appetite for adventure. So I’m going to walk you through some of my all-time favorite action-adventure video games and game series.

Note that “action-adventure” is a broad, vague term that often gets applied to many different genres, but I’m going to use the simplest definition possible: video games that contain both action and adventure. I’m talking about compelling, action-oriented gameplay coupled with stories that draw you in. That’s still kind of vague — and the vagueness means that many of these games can be filed into other genre categories — but I think that at least gives you some idea of where I’m coming from.

So here are my favorite action-adventure games of all time.

Prince of Persia (1989)Prince of Persia (1989) introduced me to the world of action-adventure video games when I was a child, and I’m sure I’m not the only person with this experience — after all, the swashbuckling adventure has won hearts all over the globe. Whenever a new Prince of Persia game comes out, it gives me sleepless nights and mixed feelings of nostalgia for the original game in the series. While there has been a Prince of Persia hiatus in recent years, a remake of Prince of Persia The Sands of Time has been underway for quite some time. My fingers are crossed that it can bring back the magic of the original.

Indiana Jones (series)“If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones.” How true that is!

Indiana Jones, in case you somehow aren’t familiar, is a witty and clever archeologist who travels the world to look for hidden treasures. Audiences were first introduced to him with the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Dr. Jones is still popular with many fans to this day. And through the years, he’s starred in a number of video games.

What I love the most about Indy series is its hand-to-hand combat and adventurous rides throughout various exotic locales, which is as perfect a fit for the video-game medium as it is for film. The first Indy game I played was Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, which came out in way back in 1999, and it looks like I might get to play another one soon. As it turns out, Bethesda and MachineGuns are working on a brand new Indy title, which is slated to release in 2023. I just can’t wait for it.

Uncharted 4: A Thieves EndThe last true Indiana Jones game was Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, which came out way back in 2003. Since then, there have been multiple entries in the LEGO Indiana Jones series and some mobile games (along with the educational Adventures of Young Indiana Jones series), but nothing that would really scratch the itch for another full adventure in the series. This means there’s been an Indy-shaped hole in the hearts of action-adventure fans for almost two decades now.

Naughty Dog saw an opportunity here, and they crafted an action-adventure game titled Uncharted: Drakes Fortune in 2007, which was very clearly a modern take on Indiana Jones. The series protagonist, Nathan Drake, is a young, witty, and passionate adventurer who explores environments to find hidden treasures. Sound familiar?

Uncharted 4: A Thieves End is supposedly Nathan Drake’s last adventure, and in my opinion, it’s also his best. It has an emotional touch, as it shows Drake start to realize he’s a family man now, no longer the young, scrappy treasure hunter of his younger years. It’s a satisfying conclusion to Drake’s multi-game story arc.

At the same time, I can’t help but wonder why Naughty Dog chose to end Drake’s journey instead of continuing it. I do get the sense, though, that Nate might still be a part of future Uncharted games in some way or other, even if he’s not the main character. If Indy can make a comeback in this day and age, then why not Nathan Drake?

Heavy Rain (2010)Heavy Rain is the brainchild of David Cage, who founded Quantic Dream. The game came out back in 2010, but it still fresh in my memory. I would even argue that it’s one of the best interactive adventure games of all time.

Throughout the game, you control four different characters, each with their own background. These threads are woven together into a compelling storyline with multiple endings and scenes based on the choices you make. This truly shows the power of the butterfly effect within a choice-based video game.

Quantic Dream went on to make Beyond: Two Souls (2013) and Detroit: Become Human (2018) but neither even comes close to Heavy Rain in my humble opinion. I wish David Cage could create that Heavy Rain magic one more time and give us a true sequel after all these years. Oh, I can dream!

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (2013)Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a BAFTA Award-winning game developed by Starbreeze Studios that tells the story of two children in a fantasy world of orcs and monsters. It features co-op gameplay and a very emotional storyline, which grabs your attention right from the very beginning. In my opinion, the art direction is superb, even though it’s clear the game didn’t have triple-A budget. But bigger budgets do not guarantee success. No, it’s immersive gameplay and engaging storylines that will make or break any action-adventure game, and Brothers excels at delivering both of these things.

Resident Evil (series)Resident Evil coined the term “survival horror” back in the 1990s, and it has been a staple of the games industry ever since. Though I was a huge fan of the third-person entries in series (Leon S. Kennedy is my favorite character out of them all), the first-person perspective in the newest Resident Evil games has given the franchise an all-new look.

My favorite game in the series is Resident Evil 4, which features Leon S. Kennedy as the main character, but the latest outing in the series, Resident Evil Village (featuring Ethan Winters in the lead role), continues the legacy of this long-running series. The Resident Evil franchise has been going great guns, so it’s great to see that Capcom has redefined their game formula rather than milking the same stuff over and over again.

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Endling – Extinction Is Forever is an absolutely brutal survival game where you play as a mother fox who must protect a litter of cubs. While the colorful cartoon aesthetic might lull you into a false sense of security, the actual gameplay will rip you apart — and tear your heart out in the process. This is a game where you’re forced to make tough decisions, and the wrong choices can often snowball into tragedy.

I played the game on PS5 back when I wrote my review, and it ran beautifully. But with its simple visual style and control scheme, Endling does seem like it might be a good fit for mobile devices.

As it turns out, developer Herobeat Studios and publisher HandyGames are testing those very waters, as Endling – Extinction Is Forever is coming to iOS and Android devices on February 7, 2023, at the low, low price of $9.99.

According to a press release I received this morning, this port is expected to be a premium, fully-featured version of the game, not a stripped-down version. Every feature in the PC and console versions will be accounted for on mobile devices, including those adorable little fox cubs.

Look, Endling – Extinction Is Forever is a fantastic game if you have the stomach for such things — this game will emotionally wreck you. But if you still haven’t given it a shot, perhaps this mobile port will be the thing to finally win you over.

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While I don’t often submerge myself in the world of adult-only video games, I do dip my toe in from time to time. For example, I found myself enamored by House Party earlier this year. And one thing I noticed is that if you end up playing one of these games, Steam will start filling your recommendation list with piles and piles of them…

I can only assume that it was my interest in House Party that drew the attention of Mad Scientist Lab, the developer and publisher of Villain’s Legacy. They were quick to offer me a review code for Villain’s Legacy so I could check it out, so I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Why not?” After all, this holiday season has been a little light on gaming content, so I have some unexpected downtime right now.

This meant, of course, that I would have to stop playing The Witcher 3 for a bit, but this is the price one must pay for video-game review copies.

Anyway, one weird thing happened between Mad Scientist’s first email and their second one: The game changed its title. The original title was Evil Genius, and the game’s weirdly unlisted trailer on YouTube still shows the old title at the end (though the title of the YouTube video was changed to reflect the game’s new title.)

I can only assume this happened because there was already a game called Evil Genius. In fact, the original Evil Genius just got a sequel just last year. So I don’t know if lawyers got involved in this one or not, but I can definitely think of at least one reason that this game would need a title change just days before launch.

Anyway, I did eventually get to check out the game (under the title Villain’s Legacy), and I just have to wonder, does anyone know the person who made this? If so, you might want to check in with them, because homie ain’t doing so great.

Now, I’m totally fine with all the nudity and gratuitous sex — that’s what this game is all about, right? I also don’t mind the visual novel format. In fact, one of my favorite games of 2020 was a visual novel. There are some really great things that can be done with the format.

But Villain’s Legacy invites you into its world, and what you’ll find there is kind of… unhinged and disturbed?

First of all, I have to admit that I hated the protagonist right out of the gate. Because I thought the name Wind Faster (which is legitimately a character in this game) was kind of funny, I named my protag Badguy Harder to keep things consistent. But this awesome name wasn’t enough to endear him to me. He’s a sad sack of worthlessness, drowning in a mudslide of his own mediocrity. Just look at this guy.

I mean, really, really take a look at him.

You can tell just by looking at him that he’s the absolute worst, right? And he’s not just weird looking. He’s whiny and sniveling, and worst of all, he has this massive and fragile sense of entitlement that makes him feel slighted by every little thing that happens to him.

The game starts with a flashback sequence of him hanging out with the neighbors and ogling a woman named Lola, and he admits (in his internal monologue) that he’s spied on them while they were having sex. Real classy, Badguy Harder.

But the plot twist is that the neighbors knew about this, and they set up this particular visit so they could play strip poker with his wife, then tie him to a chair while both neighbors had sex with his wife in front of him. By this point, I was honestly rooting for his neighbors, even though I think I was supposed to feel sorry for him. But the point of showing this flashback is that this little incident made him hate superheroes with every ounce of his being (the male neighbor was a superhero; I forgot to mention that).

Now, I wasn’t exactly expecting Shakespeare here, but come on…

As you get deeper into the game, you sink further and further into Badguy Harder’s narcissism and neuroses. And this is where things really get weird. Because as far as I can tell, “superheroes” is a thin metaphor for “women,” and Badguy Harder really hates them. Like, really, really hates them.

And this starts coming out in these weird scenes where he’s forcing women to strip in front of him, or watching them change when they’re not looking, or inventing pheromones that make certain women want to have sex with him, or just generally complaining with other characters about how much he hates “superheroes.” I think you can probably see, by the list of things that I laid out, that “superheroes” just means “women,” right?

And the game will randomly drop these weird lines out of nowhere, where two characters are talking about how the only people who get assaulted on subways are women who wear miniskirts. And Villain’s Legacy just expects you to accept this.

If blatant misogyny isn’t enough, there’s also a lot of blatant racism and homophobia that’s just sort of dropped on you, like it’s no big deal. For example, Badguy Harder’s arch-nemesis is a black dude named Black Commando. Hmmm.

While I thought this experiment might prove to be interesting — at the very least, I have something interesting to write about — I quickly found myself regretting my decision. See, when I decided to review Villain’s Legacy, I expected something sleezy and pervy. I thought it would be kind of goofy and stupidly oversexualized for no real reason — which can be kind of funny sometimes. But this game is actually vile. I think the most interesting thing about it, to be honest, is that it puts you inside the head of an incel, and forces you to wander around in that absolutely insane interpretation of reality.

With House Party, I had a blast, because there’s a lot to love about that game. Sexy stuff aside, there’s a genuinely charming and compelling game there, with well-written dialogue and believable character drama. And, I mean, a house party seems like a good place to set a game about trying to have sex. I would proudly recommend House Party to my friends (and I actually have been doing just that).

But with Villain’s Legacy, I feel like I tumbled into a weird part of the internet by mistake and saw something that I can’t unsee. I spent a little over two hours with it, and that felt like a lifetime. I don’t think I’ll be going back to finish it. And no, that doesn’t have anything to do with the sexual content, which I consented to viewing before installing the game. It’s that the game is a twisted rabbit-hole of genuine resentment and frustration, and tapping into that — even for two hours — was kind of sickening.

And look, if this is how the game was trying to make me feel, I could honestly appreciate that. I don’t mind art that makes me uncomfortable when it’s asking me to think really hard about something dark or disturbing. But when the game can’t even go more than a few slides without making a super obvious spelling error, I don’t trust that anything else it does is intentional.

Villain’s Legacy is easily the worst game I played all year. I can’t even think of anything that comes close to being this unapologetically awful. So no, this one is definitely not for me.

And seriously, somebody check on the folks at Mad Scientist Lab.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Villain’s Legacy on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own. That probably goes without saying, right? I mean, come on, do you really think the publisher told me to write any of this?

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Marauders is a super-fun diesel-punk extraction-style game, in which players must extract as much resources as they can from derelict space stations before enemies (or other players) blast them into space fodder. I played a good deal of it when it first launched in Early Access, and I’ve been meaning to play more of it for a good while now.

It looks like now is as good a time as any to jump back in, as the game just launched its first major update, which introduces the Red Baron. The Red Baron shows up as a raid boss in the game now, so you can do battle against him with up to four players. The Rad Baron has his own eerily-lit ship, which you must board if you want to take on the reddest of all barons.

With this update, the game is also handling larger player counts, with up to 10 crews per match (for a hypothetical max player count of 40). Additionally, daily contracts are getting reworked a bit. To accommodate these changes, there’s unfortunately been a server wipe, so hopefully you didn’t get too attached to your stuff.

But, as a reward for toughing this one out, you also have access to a brand-new weapon, the L1A1 Battle Rifle.

You can read all about the update in this blog post on the Marauders Steam page.

If you want to check out the trailer for the Red Baron update, I’ll post it below. I should warn you beforehand, though, that it really doesn’t show much. Anyway, here it is:

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The Evil Dead series is beloved amongst many horror fans. It’s campy, sure, but it’s also gory, brilliantly acted, and full of heart. That’s why Evil Dead: The Game is such a cool little project. It’s a four-versus-one online multiplayer game set in the universe of the titular film franchise. The cool thing about it is that, fan service aside, it’s actually a really fun time. And though it’s hard to say that it necessarily dethrones Dead by Daylight, it’s still an awesome game for fans of the series and a truly enjoyable (and legit scary) horror game.

Evil Dead: The Game is very much an objectives-focused multiplayer game. If you’re playing as Ash Williams, Pablo, Kelly, or one of the other heroes, it’s you against the Deadites. You’ll have to collect the tools necessary to defeat the armies of evil. Scattered across the level are three pieces of a map, a page from the Necronomicon, and the ancient Kandarian Dagger. Each time you find one of these items, you’ll have to battle Deadites alongside your compadres and stay alive for a specific amount of time.

Once you’ve collected the items, you’ll then face off against the Dark Ones, evil demons who are out to end the world. Defeat them, and it’s defense time as you protect the Book of the Dead from the enemy player and their Army of Darkness.

As a survivor, you’ve got access to all kinds of firearms and melee weapons. There are multiple character classes, so some heroes are better with specific weapons. In addition, not every player can employ the same strategy. Some players are better as tanks while others can cheer their partners on and boost their stats. This adds a nice level of depth to Evil Dead: The Game and makes it really cool to experiment with (and ultimately learn how to use) multiple characters.

If you’re playing as the Deadites, you’re constantly on the attack and have to ensure you foil the survivors’ plans of fending you off. Basically, you’ve got to be as tenacious and as pesky as you can be to slow their progress and ultimately stop them from stopping you.

Like in the Evil Dead movies, you get to enjoy this cool, speedy first-person movement (when you play as the Deadites) as you make your way through dark forests and other creepy environments. You’ll also eventually get to control your army of Deadites, which means you can go head-to-head with Ash and friends.

Gameplay in Evil Dead: The Game is fast and fun, but it’s also smart. You can’t just rush in and try to blast your way through the Deadites. Likewise, if you’re playing as the demons, you’ll have to attack wisely and pick off those do-gooders one-by-one. The mix of methodical gameplay and faster-paced action creates a nice clash of styles that keeps you on the alert at all times and forces you to play as best you can, both for yourself and your teammates.

Visually, Evil Dead: The Game is accurately in line with the dark, bloody, and gory nature of the films and TV series. You’ll bash Deadites’ heads in and see blood splatter all over the place. It’s pretty awesome.

There’s also a nice unsettling mood to the game. Though the series is more horror-comedy than super-serious horror, it does revolve around a group of friends saving the world from powerful demons, which is ultimately kind of heavy. So while there’s plenty of fun to be had — and a bunch of funny one-liners — Evil Dead: The Game still does a good job of creating a haunting atmosphere and eerie tone.

It might go on to be one of the year’s most underrated titles, but Evil Dead: The Game is truly a wonderful licensed horror game experience. It emulates the look and feel of the films and TV show, it’s a great deal of fun, and it’s actually pretty scary at times. This is very possibly some of the most fun you’ll have with a multiplayer horror game that isn’t Dead by Daylight. Yup, Evil Dead: The Game is pretty damn groovy.

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You would be forgiven if you hadn’t heard of 171, an open-world game from developer/publisher Betagames Group. The game released on Steam in early access on November 17, 2022, and it seemingly came out of nowhere. I only happened upon it, like most good things in life, via a random YouTube video by sheer luck of the almighty algorithm.

And like a good little gamer boi, I was immediately skeptical of any purported GTA clone in early access, especially one by an unknown developer/publisher with little to no fanfare. This sort of asset-flip cash grab is a dime a dozen in the age of easily programmable shovelware catastrophes.

But when I saw 171 in action, I admit my interest was piqued. What I was seeing looked really good — almost impossibly good. The $30 asking price was a little steep for my liking, considering the game could very well stall and get the old abandonware treatment.

But 171 was calling to me, telling me to take the gamble. And I gotta admit, I’m glad I gave in, because what is on offer is maddeningly compelling, and it paints a picture of a possible smash hit in the making. But I am trying to avoid meteoric levels of hyperbole here, so allow me to tamper my praise. 171 is also at times extremely rough. But even so, this is one to keep an eye on.

What you get right now is a small chunk of what I am assuming will be a much larger Brazilian sandbox. There are already a decent amount of NPCs going about some semblance of everyday life. Considering there’s probably not a ton of different cars — let alone high-end sports cars — tooling around the dirt roads and back alleys of this fictitious Brazilian city, the vehicles that are on offer feel authentic.

And lord have mercy if the driving in 171 doesn’t already feel pretty good; it’s definitely on par with any open-world Ubisoft game. This is usually the area in which these GTA clones falter the most, and in which the top dog really shines. I would say it is currently somewhere between Ghost Recon Wildlands and Watch Dogs 2, which is high praise for an open-world game from a relatively unknown developer in these early days of development.

I haven’t experienced much combat yet in 171; hell, I haven’t even found a gun in the hour or two I spent mucking about. And considering combat can be even more of a lynchpin than driving mechanics, that will be one area that could make or break the experience. But until I am able to acquire a firearm, I can only go by what I’ve seen in other videos. And so far, I’d say it looks fine.

What really blew me away, though, was the attention to detail. In my opinion, that is what really sells the simulation aspect of these games, and so far, I’d say the developer is headed in all the right directions. The NPCs are varied and run the gamut from overweight guy in his undies to a house mom in a petticoat and a shower cap. There are also region-specific radio stations with quite a variety of songs, featuring pop, folk, and rap stylings.

As far as I can tell, Betagames Group is located in São Paulo, so I am assuming there is an attempt to recreate and reflect everyday aspects of Brazil represented in 171. For example, as I was delivering a package during one of the handful of missions types currently available, a random pickup truck drove by playing music that at first made me assume it was an ice cream truck. But upon further inspection, it was a propane delivery vehicle. I have no idea if trucks like this play such a little ditty in Brazil, but it was unique enough that I totally bought it as a foreigner looking in.

There is a day and night cycle in the game — you can see the shadows tick by, which will hopefully be smoothed out as the game gets further along. I haven’t seen much by way of weather patterns yet, but the lighting is impressive and the overall city design is interesting and refreshing. I enjoy whipping around tight corners on dirt roads between tightly knit rows of small houses with stucco, concrete, and iron fencing. I even climbed over a fence surrounding such a home, was able to get into the car parked in the driveway, and then smash through the gate in an act of brazen, well… Grand theft auto…

As much as I love GTA, it gets a little boring seeing the same, familiar depictions of well-known and well-trodden American major metropolitan areas. So having 171 set in Brazil is, if nothing else, a breath of fresh air. Much like with Sleeping Dogs or the Yakuza series, it gives me a glimpse into a world I wasn’t born in and only know by name or in passing. It’s a chance to get a glimpse of a world almost completely foreign to me as an American who hasn’t traveled to these regions, even if it’s only a digital facsimile.

But there is still a decent amount of jank, which the developer is upfront about and, really, is to be expected from a game of this caliber. Cars can sometimes spawn in with the front end melted into the road. I exited my vehicle once and was standing on top of it. Some of the NPCS seem to have arms slightly longer than they should. At times, the radio would just stop playing until I changed the channel.

But here’s the thing: Similar things plagued Cyberpunk 2077 at launch. I would go so far as to say that if Betagames Group can smooth out the rough patches and punch up the bits that really pop, 171‘s 1.0 release could be in better shape than an industry-leading developer’s most recent mega-AAA title.

I did run 171 on my Steam Deck, but it chugged quite a bit on the default settings. For the most part, the controls worked just fine (with a little tweaking). I’ll have to devote some time into tinkering with the graphics settings to see if I can get better performance. Since the hitboxes for interacting with the menus are off — I had to hit well outside the “New Game” option in order to even get it to respond — this might be an endeavor better left for a quiet night of heavy drinking.

Curiously enough, since discovering 171, I’ve come across articles from late 2020 — like this one from Gematsu — that report plants for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch (!!), with the hopes of also hitting PS5. No release date was given, and none of these digital storefronts mentions 171 currently. Back then, QUByte Interactive (also based in São Paulo) was mentioned as the publisher, but it seems like that partnership must have fallen through, as Betagames Group is currently listed as both the developer and publisher on 171‘s Steam page.

And then things went quiet until 171 was eventually released in Early Access on Steam just before Thanksgiving of 2022.

Whether or not Betagames Group will be able to fulfill their grand ambitions and land 171 on consoles remains to be seen. But overall, 171 is a surprising little game that holds a lot of promise. But we’ll just have to wait to see how this one shakes out.

I, for one, am already hooked. Now I’ll just patiently wait to see if they can stick the landing, line and sinker, or however that old saying goes.

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Half-Glass Gaming readers probably know that I was recently waffling about whether or not I should start a fresh save in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the upteenth time. As it turns out, 2022 won’t be a year in which I give into that particular temptation, because The Witcher 3 is back, and The Witcher 3 is a far, far superior open-world fantasy RPG.

See, CD Projekt Red decided to release one last major update for The Witcher 3 to make it feel a little more like it belongs on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S rather than the PS4 and Xbox One.

Now, as part of a string of bad decisions that I made a while back, I downgraded my beloved PS4 copy to a Switch version, so I almost missed out on checking out the free PS4-to-PS5 upgrade. Thankfully, CD Projekt Red very graciously gifted me a fresh copy, allowing me to check out the next-gen upgrade a few days early.

First of all, I just have to say that The Witcher 3 is still an incredible game, and I found myself getting helplessly sucked back into its twisted medieval world.

But also, while the next-gen upgrade doesn’t add a whole lot in the way of content (there’s a new quest line and some new armor), it works really hard to be the last quality-of-life upgrade this aging RPG will ever need. Some of the features are great; some aren’t my cuppa. If you’ve very recently bounced off of this game, you might not find a lot worth coming back for. However, if you’re like me and haven’t played the game since 2016-ish, the update makes a good excuse to play this tired old dog again. Especially in a holiday gaming season that’s weirdly sparse on content in general.

So yeah, getting to relive Geralt’s spread-eagle bath with better lighting and oh-so-slightly improved texture quality is like Christmas come early, but it’s the little quality-of-life changes that really make this a welcome return.

There are two features that I appreciate the hell out of. First up is the game’s Performance mode, which locks the game at a delightful 60fps. I didn’t run any technical experiments to count my exact framerate or anything, but as far as I can tell, this stays hard-locked at that 60fps — I didn’t notice even the slightest stutter, even in areas where there’s a lot of NPC traffic or swarms of monsters.

Admittedly, this comes with the downside of having to toggle off Ray Tracing mode. And after running the game in 60fps, I promise you that toggling Ray Tracing back on is going to be a huge disappointment. The game runs poorly in this mode, and it’s nearly constantly stuttering and jittering. I don’t think you’re even getting 30fps, and even if you hit that occasionally, it’s definitely not constant. (Again, I didn’t run any technical tests to confirm this, so I’m just eyeballing it.)

However, my second appreciated feature does justify the toggle. The game finally has its own Photo Mode. Sure, it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of its younger sibling Cyberpunk 2077‘s robust Photo Mode, but I’m honestly not one who takes advantage of those sorts of things all that often. Let me move the camera and hide the UI — that’s all I really need to be happy. And Photo Mode here is rudimentary but sufficient. So if you’re snapping a lot of photos, you might toggle the game to Ray Tracing mode, then take a screenshot, then toggle it back to Performance mode for the actual gameplay.

There are some other features that are simple but appreciated. For example, in previous versions of The Witcher 3, Geralt’s Witcher Sense has a fisheye effect. This can be toggled off in the menu, but in the new update, it’s toggled off by default (but it’s still an option to toggle it back on, for those who want it). It’s a small thing, but it’s a good choice, because this fisheye effect can cause nausea for some folks.

Now, I haven’t played The Witcher 3 in a really long time, so some of the changes whizzed right by me. There’s apparently something about a new “Gray Sky” weather type, which I guess is kind of just the stormy weather without the rain? But it’s a nice gesture, and, I mean, the sky in this game is drop-dead gorgeous.

Also, fall damage was adjusted and you can now pause the game during cutscenes.

If you’re into this sort of thing, the camera is also zoomed in a bit closer by default. Personally, I toggled this back to the old setting pretty quickly. I’m more of a zoomed-out guy. But if you’re into the zoomed-in thing, well, this update has yet another feature that you’re going to love.

It would have been nice to get a third expansion, or even just a few extra quests to tantalize Witcher veterans to come back for another round, but what’s here is still pretty nice. And to be honest, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be binging this game for the rest of 2022. Maybe I’ll even finish the Blood and Wine expansion this time, which is the only part of the game I’ve never completed.

Look, The Witcher 3 is still The Witcher 3. It hasn’t changed substantially with the new update, but it’s still a phenomenal game that’s worth getting lost in. And considering this update is free for owners of the game who want to leap from PS4 to PS5 or Xbox One to Xbox Series X|S (sorry, Nintendo fans), there’s not much to complain about here.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition on PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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Scars Above is an upcoming third-person sci-fi shooter from developer Mad Head Games and publisher Prime Matter. It is a competent, at-times-difficult game with a mostly-interesting-yet-still-sort-of-throwaway story — at least, that’s how I feel about the portion of the game I was able to play for this preview.

You play as Dr. Kate Ward, a scientist and member of the Sentient Contact Assessment and Response team (hey, that acronym is in the game’s title!) You’re on a mission to examine a huge floating diamond that has appeared above Earth. Kate is pretty generic (and so is the name Kate), but at least they don’t have too much inane dialogue, cringey quips, or annoying player tips get in the way of an otherwise mostly enjoyable time.

During this mission, something (surprisingly) goes wrong and you’re teleported to an alien planet full of monsters, where you wake up alone. The levels contain semi-branching paths that might contain ammo or floating little diamond things that build up your skill points until you have a full one, which you can then use to unlock skills. These skills are mostly what you’d expect from your basic skill-unlock system. Then again, to be honest, I didn’t spend much time interacting with this part of the game, since I was mostly just here to get a general impression rather than really sink my teeth into the game’s systems (which I might do when the full game drops).

But even though I was digging what was on offer here, I couldn’t shake this overwhelming feeling that it pretty much just feels like a budget version of Returnal. This isn’t a bad thing. Returnal is a great game, and great games often influence other games down the line. I mean, just look at the number of indie developers that assume that, just by throwing a hang-glider into their game and softening the color palette, they could have the next Breath of the Wild on their hands.

Although Scars Above lacks the roguelike elements of Returnal, it does feature over-the-shoulder third-person combat, a hostile alien world to explore, some rather punishing sub-boss and boss encounters, and a semi-branching maze-like level design — all of this gives me Returnal vibes.

Again, this isn’t a bad thing, but it does open Scars up to comparison. And in this case, the comparison is mostly only skin deep, because Scars Above lacks the real meat of something like Returnal. There are a number of issues that held Scars back from sticking the landing, and more importantly, from immersing the player in the game’s environment. Mot of this stems from clumsy animations and minor oversights.

The grunt enemy animations leave much to be desired. There are these little buggers that pop out of the ground to nip at your heels, which just look like leftover assets from that Defiance MMO (who else remembers that?) These enemies feel very static, almost like they were designed in a long-gone era.

Even Dr. Ward herself suffers from insufficient animations. When jumping from a ledge of really any height, for example, her body locks up and she just lands stiff and still; standing straight up, instead of bracing for the impact or at the very least bending her knees. That’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it looks clumsy and it’s never not noticeable.

The biggest distraction for me, though, is Dr. Ward’s cold, dead facial expression. It’s as if she’s an android that’s been powered off. Even when she’s in the heat of battle, or when she’s struggling to clamber up a ledge, she just stares off into the unknown with those dead eyes. Again, this is a minor issue, but I think you can kind of see now how these minor issues compile into an overall sense that something’s just off here.

For the most part, though — minor issues aside — the combat is at least enjoyable enough. Enemy hits can feel cheap rather than truly challenging at times, but it’s not enough to induce rage-quitting or torrents of profanity. I will say that having the right trigger for both your melee and — while using the left trigger to aim — shooting your blaster never really felt like a good idea. Maybe that’s just because I’m used to having melee on any other input. Perhaps over time it wouldn’t even bother me. But in my short time with the game, it was oddly distracting. I admit that I didn’t check to see if I could remap it, which in hindsight does seem like an oversight on my part.

That said, your blaster certainly blasts, and it feels fine and responsive enough. You have to continuously cycle through the elemental ammo types using a menu wheel (brought up by holding the right bumper), as various blocked passages or locked doors require different elements to interact with them. Enemies also have weak points that require you to keep swapping between the basic elemental variants. I do like how water enemies, if shot using an electricity bullet, will conduct arcs of electricity that hit other enemies, and they don’t take as much damage if shot with a flame bullet. As we all know, water extinguishes flames but is a conductor for electricity.

You also replenish your ammo from items found around the map: flowers or crystal deposits, things of the like. So you have to always be on the lookout for any ammo types that you might need (although they are practically everywhere) instead of just using the default ammo type to power through. This isn’t anything new, but it’s handled really well, and I took a liking to this mechanic.

Thankfully, framerate was never much of an issue for me — despite the beefy suggested RAM requirements, my decent laptop handled it with aplomb. I wasn’t, however, able to unlock the beta branch on my Steam Deck, so I couldn’t test Scars Above on the Deck natively. I did, however, stream it from my laptop to the Deck for a little bit. Since Scars Above has default controller support, I was able to control it just fine on the Deck. I expect that, although it’s too early for there to be a Deck-verified rating,this game should run just fine on the Steam Deck, with maybe a minor amount of graphics tweaks — if any.

Overall, what I played of Scars Above is in fine-to-good shape. I don’t think this one is a must-play for me, especially when there are more polished titles out there (namely Returnal), but it is a good bit of fun. And the issues I had could also be easily patched or fixed in future updates.

If Scars Above is already on your list of anticipated titles, I’m sure you will have a good time with it. It is, if nothing else, pretty much exactly what is being advertised in the trailers. But if you just gotta have a solid deal of polish in the games you play, and perhaps prefer a more skill-based approach to difficult combat scenarios, well, there is at least one alternative that seems to keep coming to mind.

Dislaimer: I was provided with a preview build of Scars Above on Steam, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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The next-gen upgraded version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition contains a few additional surprises that weren’t in any of the previous versions of the game. One such surprise is the brand-new White Tiger of the West armor set.

This gear is absolutely free — you don’t need to buy it or complete a quest for it or anything — you simply have to loot the correct chest. So where do you find this lovely armor set?

After you complete the Lilac and Gooseberries story quest and leave the quaint little village of White Orchard, you have to meet with Emhyr var Emreis (A.K.A. Ciri’s father), who sets you off on the game’s primary quest. After your meeting, you have a little talk with Yennefer, who disappears in a fiery portal.

The gear you’re looking for is in a chest in this very room, so before you proceed any further in the story, you want to make sure you pick it up. Here’s a short video that shows the exact location of the chest:

If you miss the chest during the mission, you can always go back to it by fast traveling to the Royal Palace in Vizima. It’s located right here on the map:

And here’s the path to get to it:

This armor looks awesome, but it’s not equipable until Level 11.

If you want to know a little bit about the origin of this armor, there’s also a letter in the chest that explains it. Here’s the letter:

And here’s the text of the letter, in case the image is hard to read (or doesn’t load, for whatever reason):

My Dear Friend,

If you’re reading this, it means you’ve found the chest I mentioned in my previous letter. You’ll be pleased to know its contents belong to you.

After I spoke with the emperor regarding additional resources to aid in your quest, he was willing to part with these items from his personal collection. Although he was stubbornly cryptic regarding their origins, he did mention they were diplomatic gifts from distant kingdoms. The tiger armor is specifically designed to suit a western ruler — obviously Emhyr in this case. It was forged in the ancient style of a blacksmith who stole the secrets of its construction from the gods… Or so the legend goes. The swords, to my eye, resemble a Redanian saber, though I am no expert. These blades supposedly once belonged to a hero of myth and mystery. The man forged a pact with a vixen spirit and, through her blessing, was granted the ability to slay the monsters that had long plagued his village. As you’ll notice, he carried both a steel and silver sword — a fact I thought might pique your interest.

Now, here are the stats for all six pieces (including the two weapons):

Nine-Tailed Vixen Steel SwordSteel Sword

• 109-133 Damage
• +10% Critical hit chance
• +5% Chance to cause bleeding
• +5% Chance to dismember
• 1 socket
• 2.91 Weight

Nine-Tailed Vixen Silver SwordSilver Sword

• 192-234 Damage
• +11% Critical hit chance
• +6% Chance to cause bleeding
• 1 Socket
• 2.41 Weight

White Tiger of the West ArmorChest (Medium Armor)

• +75 Vitality
• +5% Resistance to piercing damage
• +5% Resistance to bludgeoning damage
• +9% Resistance to slashing damage
• +13% Resistance to damage from monsters
• 1 Socket
• 4.77 Weight

White Tiger of the West VambracesGloves (Medium Armor)

• +1% Resistance to piercing damage
• +1% Resistance to bludgeoning damage
• +5% Resistance to slashing damage
• +3% Resistance to damage from monsters
• 1.81 Weight

White Tiger of the West TrousersTrousers (Medium Armor)

• +5% Adrenaline Point gain
• +3% Resistance to piercing damage
• +3% Resistance to bludgeoning damage
• +6% Resistance to slashing damage
• +6% Resistance to damage from monsters
• 1.36 Weight

White Tiger of the West BootsBoots (Medium Armor)

• +1% Resistance to piercing damage
• +1% Resistance to bludgeoning damage
• +3% Resistance to slashing damage
• +1% Resistance to damage from monsters
• +2% Resistance to elemental damage
• 1.71 Weight

And that’s how you find the White Tiger of the West armor set in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition.

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One of the new features in the next-gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition is a more closely zoomed-in camera. This is more of an over-the-shoulder perspective where Geralt is positioned off to the left side of the screen instead of the center, and the screen cuts off at about knee level rather than showing his entire body.

Some people might dig this new perspective; others might miss the original. Personally, I’m a big fan of the original, and I found the closer camera perspective to be difficult to get used to. I always feel like I can’t quite see as much of the world as I would like to.

For reference, here’s a screenshot of the new zoomed-in camera view:

And here’s a screenshot of the old camera view:

Thankfully, you can toggle between these views, so if you’re into the over-the-shoulder perspective, that’s cool! But if you want to experience the original camera style, that’s cool too!

This option is buried in the Gameplay section of the menu, and you probably have to scroll through the menu to find it. There are actually three different toggles:

• Exploration Camera Distance
• Combat Camera Distance
• Horseback Camera Distance

The zoomed-in option is called “Close,” while the original option is called “Default.”

That means you can have the zoomed-out perspective for exploration, with the over-the-shoulder view for combat, or for horseback riding. The world is your oyster!

Personally, I’m a Default guy all the way. I have all three of these options toggled to Default instead of Close. Perhaps it’s because I have such fond memories of the original version of the game, or maybe it’s just that I like a further camera perspective in general. Who’s to say?

Anyway, that’s how you adjust the camera zoom distance in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition. It’s a simple thing, but it can be a little bit tricky to locate this specific menu option, especially if you’re expecting to find it in one of the Display submenus. So I hope this guide helps you find your perfect zoom level!

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What you get with the Kirby games is pretty simple: fun, unadulterated platforming in a colorful, charming package. Kirby games are never overly difficult, but they are massively entertaining. They invite you into a cake-colored world of sheer joy and cool platforming. Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Nintendo Switch dares to take the series in a slightly different direction, but it does so without sacrificing all of those great elements that make the franchise shine.

Kirby titles have mostly been 2D platforming affairs since pretty much the series’ debut on the Game Boy with Kirby’s Dream Land. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards toyed with some 2.5D elements, and it altered how power-ups worked, but it functioned mostly the same way as the games that came before it.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land changes things up by giving you fully 3D environments to explore. The cool thing is that this still totally feels like Kirby. The platforming is simple but wholesome. The Copy Abilities are cool and give you a bunch of ways to defeat enemies and solve simple environmental puzzles. The boss battles are big brawls against huge foes. And the adventure overall is just really awesome.

The 3D world makes this Kirby game feel even more like a big playground compared to its predecessors. Those games have all been jolly, cheerful adventures. This one feels that way, too, but the 3D stage designs help create an even more immersive world. And to add to the fun, you can take a buddy along for the ride in local co-op!

Kirby has access to all sorts of Copy Abilities once again. By inhaling and gobbling up most enemies, he’ll be able to imitate their attacks. You can throw boomerangs to hit baddies from afar, cut enemies down to size with a sword, or whack those suckers with a big ol’ hammer.

New to this installment are Mouthful Mode abilities. These ridiculous power-ups turn Kirby into large staircases, vending machines, and even cars. They’re temporary abilities that allow you to perform some crazy actions and clear specific environments. They’re dumb fun, for sure, but the game just feels all the richer for it.

There was a lot of talk about whether or not Kirby and the Forgotten Land was this series’ Super Mario Odyssey. It’s definitely easy to draw those parallels considering Kirby entered a world that kinda/sorta resembles our own instead of once again exploring the infamous Dream Land. But truly, Forgotten Land feels more like the Kirby series is having its Super Mario 64 moment. It jumps into the third dimension and takes that great familiar feeling and then builds a 3D universe around it.

Admittedly, Kirby and the Forgotten Land doesn’t entirely reinvent the wheel for the series. What it does is create a revamped type of Kirby experience that’s as fun as these games have always been. Being able to run around, float across, and inhale enemies in 3D environments feels different enough to inject a shot of newness to how Kirby plays.

Nintendo properties are interesting in that they’re at their most fun when they experiment with wacky new ideas. But there’s also a deal of comfort in the familiarity that something like Donkey Kong or The Legend of Zelda can deliver, even if they’re doing new things. Kirby and the Forgotten Land walks that fine line, too — this is, for all intents and purposes, the Kirby that fans know and love. But that novelty of being able to take the pink hero through 3D stages is just super enticing and makes for some of the best platforming in all of 2022.

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Hello Neighbor is a game that both delighted and infuriated me, and I think the best example I can give for what I mean is that there are secret rooms where you can find error messages. The exact error is “UnrealEngine MissingScript,” and it’s shown on a circle in an otherwise black room.

I can’t tell if this is a deliberate joke or a complete oversight by the development team. On one hand, Hello Neighbor is weird (and occasionally meta) enough that I could see an unfinished room as the exact sort of gag they’d try to get away with. And it’s not been patched out, despite the game being updated several times and ported to every current console. But Hello Neighbor is also janky enough that you would expect to find mistakes like this that aren’t intentional. And plus, there’s no Trophy or Achievement for finding it.

Anyway, if you’re wondering where you can find the error message in Act 3, I’ve put together a video guide. All you need in order to find this is to have the elevator shaft unlocked. Once you do that, you can follow the path laid out in the video below.

Like I mentioned earlier, there’s no reward for finding this. But the fact that it’s hidden behind a wood panel that’s deliberately patterned differently than the surrounding room seems to imply that the devs placed it there intentionally.

This error actually has its own Wikipedia page, but the descriptions for where to find these are kind of vague, so I thought I’d throw together this guide to help folks find one of the weirder areas in this super-weird game.

And that’s how you find the “UnrealEngine ScriptMissing” error room in Act 3 of the original Hello Neighbor.

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I very recently posted some thoughts on the brand-new Hello Neighbor 2. Specifically, I thought it felt like two games in one — a very good puzzle game and a very bad stealth game.

But here’s the thing. At that point, I had never played any of the previous Hello Neighbor games. And Hello Neighbor 2 isn’t even the second one; there are at least a half dozen of these things. While I did have some issues with Hello Neighbor 2, there’s something strangely compelling about its surrealist world, and I wanted to spend some more time in it.

Thankfully, the original Hello Neighbor is on PS Plus right now, so I could give it a whirl without having to pony up any cash. So here I sit, three days later, typing up some thoughts about the super-weird experience I’ve been having. At this point, I have completed a full playthrough of the game (and I have the super-rare No More Fears Trophy to show for it).

Anyway, I think it’s safe to say Hello Neighbor is something of a cult classic. It was never met with critical adoration (the PC version is currently sitting at a Metacritic rating of 38/100), but enough people dig it that it’s continually getting spinoff games to build out the franchise.

And to be fair, I’ve found a lot of criticism of the game that I think completely misses the mark.

For example, I’ve heard some folks say it’s not scary (though this criticism seems to be more commonly hurled at Hello Neighbor 2 than at the original game). I honestly don’t really care how scary (or not scary) a horror game is, so this criticism doesn’t really resonate with me. I also think there’s more to the horror genre than scares, and that Hello Neighbor isn’t strictly a horror game. I would describe it as a game that borrows a few themes from horror, but does its own thing. That, in my opinion, frees it from any obligation to actually be scary.

I’ve also heard people say that the story makes no sense. My interpretation of Hello Neighbor is that Acts 1 and 2 are childhood memories that are partially misremembered, exaggerated by the mind of a child, and that Act 3 and the Finale are a dream that incorporates elements from those misremembered memories. So it doesn’t have to make total sense — the game builds out a surrealist framework to create something deliberately disorienting and strange. I think complaining that Hello Neighbor doesn’t explicitly make sense would be like insisting that “There’s no biological mechanism by which a human being can turn into a bug overnight” is an apt criticism of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.

That’s not to say Hello Neighbor doesn’t deserve some of its negative marks. In fact, I think the Nintendo Life review is very accurate in pointing out how the obtuse nature of the puzzles combined with the janky physics lead to an extremely frustrating experience.

I think it’s also fair to point out that the game doesn’t really work to prevent you from getting into impossible situations, where you’ve solved puzzles in the wrong order and now your only recourse is to restart the current act and do it all over again (I had to restart Act 3 at least three times because I got myself into these irreversible dead-end situations). Actually PC Gamer’s review is pretty spot on with this quote:

Hello Neighbor is best thought of as a puzzle game where you’re frequently set back to the start of a section with very little you can meaningfully do about it.

I think the most accurate description of Hello Neighbor is that it’s an excellent concept that was executed exceptionally poorly. I think that “player explores a house that is inexplicably growing to make use of impossible, disorienting architecture” is actually a killer premise for a video game. In fact, I think it’s such a great concept that I find myself constantly being drawn back to Hello Neighbor, despite how much I hate actually playing it.

Yes, the third act of the game pretty much broke me, and by the Finale, I hated my very existence for continuing to play this shoddily made, janky piece of garbage. But at the same time, I did in fact finish the game, and I’m glad I did. And now, I’m thinking about checking out some of the other spinoffs.

I can’t shake the feeling that Hello Neighbor is actually a brilliant piece of art that was handled by a development team that didn’t have the technical chops to bring the vision to life. And so I keep thinking I’m finding flashes of brilliance inside this janky mess of a game.

I hate the stealth sequences, and I hate the fact that the game communicates its rules so poorly. For example, there’s one sequence in which you must quickly move between hiding spots inside lockers while a team of mannequin workers is idle. There’s a bell that rings between “shifts,” so you can tell when it’s safe by listening for the bells. However, there is one mannequin that’s still active during breaks, so you can still get caught when you’re doing exactly what the game is trying to tell you to do. This muddies up the objective, and it can lead people who are doing the correct thing to believe they are actually doing the wrong thing. This creates an extremely frustrating trial-and-error experience, where you’re not really sure if you’re doing it correctly or if you’re just exploiting some broken game mechanic, which ultimately leads to an extremely unsatisfying conclusion to a super-frustrating puzzle.

However, I love the design of the house. I love the looming feeling of dread coupled with the disorienting dreamlike logic of it all. I think some of the puzzle solutions are brilliant, and that the final boss fight is another extremely clever idea (only one that’s horrendously mishandled). I think the umbrella item is super fun to play around with. All of this adds up to a pretty compelling experience, albeit an extremely flawed one.

I don’t think I’ll ever play Hello Neighbor a second time. I’m just not that masochistic. However, I can’t deny that I find myself drawn to its surrealist world, and that I find myself thinking back on the experience with some fondness. And I can’t help but feel like that should count for something…

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The reveal trailer for the upcoming survival-horror title Post Trauma, from developer Red Soul Games and publisher Raw Fury, looks incredible. You might have missed it, though, since it was buried in the Game Awards pre-show, so allow me to give it its fair due.

In what is being touted as a reimaging of the classic fixed-camera survival-horror genre, Post Trauma puts players in the shoes of protagonist Roman who, according to the blurb on Post Trauma‘s Steam page, is a middle-aged train conductor trying to get the heck out of this nightmarish hellscape he finds himself in — no doubt another victim of trying to find a decent restroom in a train station.

I like that Roman just looks like an everyman — a schlub, if you will. He actually kind of reminds me a little of Deadman from Death Stranding, although I think more specifically he reminds me of Guillermo Del Toro himself. It’s nice to see the slightly portly middle-aged demographic getting a little digital love.

There aren’t any indications of what combat might be like (or if there even is any) in Post Trauma, as most of what’s shown in the short trailer is atmospheric — things like spooky blood-filled corridors or macabre depictions of what can only best be described as porcelain statue orgies. And there seems to be a strong emphasis on puzzle-solving and just moreover a sense of foreboding and dread.

Now, I should point out that there’s a gameplay demo video from about a year ago, which mostly shows the protagonist wandering around and solving puzzles, but he does pick up an axe and use it to attack some sort of creature at one point. It also appears there is a stamina bar of some sort, so it does seem like there will be at least some type of combat in the game.

Of course, the footage might not represent the gameplay of the final product, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see how much this one changes over time. This rudimentary combat could always be one of those features that ends up on the ol’ chopping block, or it could end up getting fleshed out and enhanced into something much richer and more complex.

Needless to say I am keeping my eye on this one. There is no hint of a release date, and the gameplay in the trailer feels kind of early in development still, so I imagine this one is still a ways off. That being said, Post Trauma landed on my Steam wishlist the moment the reveal trailer ended, as this one looks incredibly promising.

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Among the many surprises at this year’s Game Awards was a new, lengthy trailer for Replaced, from developer Sad Cat Studios and publisher Coatsink. Replaced looks to be a side-scrolling pixel-art cyberpunk game that looks heavy on the narrative and adult themes, with a healthy dose of action,

I was immediately impressed by the announcement trailer that released last year, but since then it has been pretty quiet on the western front. Until now, that is, with the release of the new trailer that only got me more excited to get my hands on this game. My burning love for the cyberpunk genre was first ignited with Blade Runner: 2049, and only further stoked by games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Stray. Now my appetite is reaching a crescendo, and Replaced looks like such a delicious feast.

Unfortunately, there is still no solid release date for Replaced, only a blanket 2023 window. But considering it is almost 2023 already, that at least means we are getting closer (barring any unforeseen delays, of course). I will save you the play-by-play and simply suggest you check out the trailer yourself.

The art is captivating and the mood is so very evocative of movies like the aforementioned Blade Runner: 2049, but it also gives me some strong Backbone vibes. I’m sure some of that is due to the similar art style and format, but there also appears to be a similar focus on a mature-themed slow-burn narrative.

You can also add Replaced to your Steam wishlist, should you choose, as this will keep in you in the loop and show your interest in the game.

And now, we simply wait. For although time is finite and ever eroding, the excitement I feel will never be… Replaced. Huh… There’s a little poetry for you right there.

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It took a while before I picked up a current-generation video-game console. The Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 launched in 2020, and they were pretty hard to find for a good while. Even now, sometimes it’s hard to believe that the PS5 actually exists because of how elusive the console is. But earlier this year, after receiving my tax return, I figured I’d spend a small chunk of it on something fun for myself.

So when I saw a handful of Xbox Series S units at Target, I was quick to snag one. After hooking up the console and doing the typical out-of-the-box update installation, I was then greeted by one of the coolest, most exhilarating startup themes I’d ever heard. If you don’t own an Xbox Series X|S and haven’t heard it, I mean, just listen:

That startup theme is majestic. And the way the Xbox logo slowly appears on the screen fits perfectly. It’s one of those things where, upon hearing and seeing it, I felt like I’d finally arrived at the new generation of gaming. It was almost symbolic after having acquired a current-gen platform after two years of waiting patiently. And it’s the type of thing that we’ll look back on fondly five, six, ten years down the road.

I’ve played quite a bit of Xbox since the fateful day I picked up my Series S (thank you, Xbox Game Pass). But I also game on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Sometimes I go through phases where I take a break from one platform and play exclusively on another. That tends to happen when you own multiple consoles.

So when I got back on my Xbox Series S a few months ago, I expected a new update. It was quick and easy, and my system was restarting before I knew it.

But then something happened…

That Xbox Series startup music hit, but it was a shorter, accelerated version. The Xbox logo barely had time to pop up on the screen before I was taken to the menu. It was odd, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it at that particular moment. It wasn’t until I powered on the Xbox Series S a few more times that I realized startup was quicker.

A quick Google search revealed that a new update made Xbox Series X and S startup times shorter. That’s great! Faster, smoother startups are always nice! On the flipside, though, that also meant that the Xbox startup music was now shortened… and that really bothered me. It still bothers me, actually, all these months later.

The faster version of that theme just doesn’t hit quite the same. It doesn’t have that powerful new-gen impact. It feels rushed and less grand. Quite frankly, it makes me a little sad.

Now look, I get it. If this is my biggest disappointment in video games in the year 2022, I guess it’s not that big of a deal. But damn, I just really loved that Xbox startup music. At least I got to hear it a few times before it went away…

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Death Stranding was revealed way back in 2016 with a trailer that showed us Norman Reedus’ naked booty, as well as some dead crabs and a vanishing baby. It blew our minds back then. We didn’t know what it was, but we knew Hideo Kojima was connected with it, which meant it was likely going to be bizarre, thought-provoking, and extremely high in production quality. Oh, and you could probably expect the soundtrack to be some top-shelf stuff.

Death Stranding didn’t actually come out until 2019, which was honestly about a year too early. What I mean is that the game didn’t really jive with most folks until the COVID-19 pandemic began. After that, the world collectively said, “Oh, I get it now,” and Death Stranding Director’s Cut felt like the perfect game to play in a post-pandemic world.

Based on this timeline of events, we can expect Death Stranding 2 to possibly release in 2025 — three years after the reveal trailer, which was unveiled today at the Game Awards event. And, if we’re expecting history to truly repeat itself, the game will predict some cataclysmic, world-altering event that will happen in 2026, and in 2027 we’re due for a Director’s Cut that reminds us all how uncanny Kojima’s vision into the future tends to be.

In the meantime, all we can do is wait. And wait. And wait. There’s no release date — and not even a release window — so we can certainly rule out a surprise 2022 launch (there’s no way that was ever going to happen). I think it’s also pretty safe to cross 2023 off as well. I doubt we’ll see DS2 before 2024.

But I’m pretty sure that whatever Kojima delivers is going to be great. His track record is pretty stellar so far, having worked on some of the greatest and most revolutionary video games of all time, including the absolutely incredible Metal Gear series.

DS2, I’m sure, will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, check out the reveal trailer below.

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The year: 2001. The place: Noir York City. The video game: Max Payne from Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Games.

It’s been more than two decades since the lone-wolf cop first made his debut on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC — oh, and there was even a fun, quirky Game Boy Advance version. You’d think that would be a good length of time for the game to be considered a little too retro in terms of its gameplay. And truthfully, it hasn’t aged 100% perfectly. That said, after just revisiting Mr. Payne’s painkiller-laced trip through a snowy New York underbelly, there’s a case to be made that it’s actually aged a lot better than you might think.

Whether we’re talking about music, movies, or video games, dissecting a genre is an interesting, meticulous thing. Are the Chameleons a post punk band or a new wave band? Are they both? Well, they’re a post punk band that utilizes new wave elements. Is The Devil’s Rejects an action movie? Sure, but it’s also a horror movie — and, more specifically, it’s an exploitation horror movie.

What kind of game is Max Payne then? On the one hand, Max Payne could very easily be called, simply, a shooter. But if we’re getting down to the finer details, things get a little more interesting. While 2012’s Max Payne 3 is most definitely a third-person shooter, it’s hard to call the original game a pure third-person shooter. That’s because it almost has more in common with third-person action games. It’s more like an old school shoot-’em-up, really.

The reason I bring all of this up is because if you look at Max Payne strictly as a third-person shooter, you’re then — maybe subconsciously — required to see how its shooting mechanics stack up compared to something like Gears of War, The Last of Us, and Fortnite. In that sense, Max Payne might be too arcade-like and clunky to be considered all that great.

If, however, you see Max Payne as a third-person shoot-’em-up, action-shooter, or just a straight-up action game, its place in history as an all-time great game becomes a little clearer.

Now, that’s not to say that Max Payne is a flawless game. I would definitely call it one of the best action games of its time. Playing it now? Well, I thought I was going to be flabbergasted with awkward controls, bad aiming, and wonky mechanics. I knew going into my replay there was going to be some stuff about it that didn’t age well, and I was admittedly worried that one of the best games of my early high school years was going to be a disappointing mess in 2022.

I’m so freakin’ happy I was wrong.

Prior to diving back into Max Payne, I had just played the recently released Gungrave G.O.R.E., a sequel to two early 2000s titles. While I was stoked to enter the world of Gungrave G.O.R.E., I ultimately found myself bored and frustrated by the game’s mundane shooting and archaic design (though it did resonate somewhat better with Half-Glass Gaming’s own Julian Watkins). Funnily enough, I didn’t feel that way revisiting a game that was actually released in 2001, which speaks volumes of the nonstop action of the original Max Payne.

Max Payne is an awesome, action-packed thrill ride that takes you all across New York. You’ll start out small, facing petty armed thugs in a train station. You’ll then work your way through mafia-don-owned restaurants and mansions. You’ll take on a crooked cop in a parking garage filled with enemies. And then, finally, you’ll battle your way up the cold, sterile interior of a corporate front for all manner of illicit criminal activity. The entire time this is going on, a violent snowstorm ravages the city — which is very much a metaphor for Max’s internal doom.

As you play, you’ll find yourself armed with pistols, machine guns, rifles, and shotguns, as well as grenades and molotov cocktails. The shooting is fast and fun as you’re constantly surrounded by armed enemies. Even more than 20 years later, the shooting in Max Payne just works really well. It’s a little sluggish in parts, but it’s fun as heck.

The shooting alone is enjoyable, but it’s the action movie-inspired Bullet Time slow motion effect that makes battles super entertaining. You can slow down time, giving yourself an edge against the armies of New York’s crime world. This doesn’t make the game instantly easier, as you can still get gunned down while in slo-mo, but it does add a nice element to the gun-based mayhem.

While playing, I obviously couldn’t help but notice how blocky it looked. It’s a game from 2001, so I cut it some slack, but there’s no denying that this is definitely an old school game. But even then, there’s a charm to the polygonal look of the characters and their odd, choppy facial expressions. Then there’s Max himself, whose face was modeled after developer Remedy’s Sam Lake, the game’s writer. The constant grimace on Max’s face was a constant reminder of both the character’s internal distress and the state of video game graphics in the 2000s.

But for all of its lo-res textures, stiff character animations, and polygons galore, there’s an undeniable charm to the visual design of Max Payne. Hell, newer developers release games that purposely look blocky as a tribute to those bygone ages. So while I wouldn’t say Max Payne looks amazing in 2022, I also can’t say it looks terrible. It looks pretty good for its era, and I’d say it looks fine now. A little old, but fine.

Where the presentation of Max Payne shines, though, is in its graphic-novel cutscenes. With a few brief exceptions, the game’s story bits are presented entirely in comic-book panels that look like they were touched up with paints or pastels. Everything is voice acted, and though some of the voice work can be a little too “New York Italian mobster movie,” it all works really well, and every line of dialogue is delivered wonderfully.

The star of the show, as you would assume, is Max. Voice actor James McAffrey did an excellent job of voicing the hard-boiled detective, every line of dialogue presented with the utmost vigor and poeticism. Max, after all, is a character whose wife and child were brutally slaughtered, and who finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that includes a deadly new designer drug, the mafia, a secret society, and a powerful businesswoman. And you can truly feel his pain, anguish, and rage as he goes straight to the top of New York’s criminal underworld.

By today’s standards, it’s obvious that Max Payne is showing a lot of its age. But where some games just feel old and outdated, this title feels more like an antique. You can definitely tell it’s the product of an older age, but it’s still beautiful all the same. In fact, some of its warts actually add to the polygonal allure. And the story is still gold after all these years. Both Rockstar Games and Remedy Entertainment have evolved over the past couple decades, but the original Max Payne stands tall as some of the two companies’ most beguiling work.

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Hello Neighbor 2 is a family-friendly first-person comedy-horror adventure, but more than anything else, it’s a puzzle game. The primary gameplay loop has you wandering around the town of Raven Brooks — or Wayron Croobs — trying to solve various puzzles in an attempt to get to the bottom of a greater mystery. What’s up with that neighbor guy, anyway? What’s going on with those kids? Is there something super sinister brewing, or is this all just some big misunderstanding?

Like all good puzzle games, there’s a logic at play that feels like decoding a language. You’ll feel disoriented in the beginning, seeing various tools strewn about with seemingly no purpose other than to drive you mad. But then you’ll realize that one item is red, and there’s a red piece of a banner above a safe that you’re trying to get into. And then you start noticing the colors of everything, and realizing that various objects in the game are color-coded, and that when you understand what each color means, the solution to one of the game’s earliest puzzles suddenly becomes clear.

It’s like how when you visit a foreign country without bothering to learn the language; very little of what anybody’s saying makes any sense. But once you start to pick up words, and then work out how to piece those words together to make sentences, you can start ordering food off a menu, or getting directions from locals. A world that once seemed vague and disorienting slowly comes into focus.

Hello Neighbor 2 does a very good job of building out a rich and complex puzzle language that makes more and more sense to you the longer you play. Solving puzzles is less about figuring out what the game expects you to be doing and more about learning to decode its language so it can simply tell you.

But Hello Neighbor 2 also tries to be a stealth game, and no matter how good the puzzle side of the equation is, the stealth side is always there to muck things up.

I’ve spoken a lot about stealth games in the past — some of my favorite video games of all time are stealth games, so I have pretty strong opinions about them. And one thing that will make or break every stealth game is the balance of power. Bad stealth games use stealth sequences — areas you have to sneak through without being detected — as a way to disempower the player. Good stealth games, on the other hand, use stealth sequences as a counterweight to keep the amount of power you have at a perfect balance.

For example, in the original Metal Gear Solid, you could tap walls to distract guards. You could make footprints in the snow that enemies would then follow. You could drop flash grenades to blind them. And then, of course, you could sneak up behind them and put them to sleep. With so many tools at your disposal, the prospect of not getting seen gives every piece of your robust toolkit a purpose. What’s the point of distracting a guard if there’s no consequence for being seen?

Hitman 3 is a more recent example, where you must perform assassinations in crowded rooms without drawing suspicion. These tasks seem impossible at first blush, but they become manageable once you acquire a few tools. Use a screwdriver to tamper with some wiring, then to puncture a water cooler to create a deadly shock puddle. Dress like a waiter and poison the target’s coffee. Climb up a pole to sneak into a window, where you can nab a security officer’s disguise and walk around with a loaded weapon without drawing attention to yourself. Hitman 3 is almost like a puzzle game where the stealth parts are the puzzle, yet every scenario has several dozen potential solutions. So you’re not looking for the solution so much as discovering a solution — one of many.

In Hello Neighbor 2, stealth is just there to prevent you from solving puzzles. It doesn’t serve any greater purpose in the overall gameplay loop — it’s just there as a constant thorn in your side. You’re given very few tools to deal with it, though you can admittedly create distractions by turning on television sets or setting alarm clocks. You can also pilot a drone or set up cameras to monitor guards to make sure the coast is clear before you walk into a room. However, using some of these tools is oftentimes more work than just taking a deep breath, crossing your fingers, and stepping into the next room while hoping no one is there to spot you.

The tedium of all this is compounded by the fact that guards in Hello Neighbor 2 don’t really have set routines, and they feel like they’re always in a specific place just to mess with you. For example, if you’re in a two-story building, once you’ve solved the puzzles on the first floor, the guard will move up to the second one. Sometimes this is triggered by something specific that you’ve done, like stepping on a creaky floorboard or a piece of broken glass, but other times it feels completely random. The guy who was just in the living room when you needed to find a clue there is now in the bedroom, because that’s where your next clue is.

To make things even worse, the game is pretty buggy. Sometimes guards will get stuck in a location where they’re looking at the puzzle you’re trying to solve, and the only way to get them to move is by closing the game and re-loading your save file.

This is a constant distraction from the fun part of the game — the puzzle-solving part — that doesn’t really add anything meaningful. You could argue that stealth sequences are there to increase the tension, to create hard failstates that add an element of risk. But really, once you’ve acclimated to them, they’re pretty much just there to prevent you from doing the things you want to do.

To be clear, getting past guards is not a puzzle element in this game, and that’s the part that really breaks them for me. For example, there’s one puzzle where a cat is guarding an item you need. If you can figure out how to get the treat out of the fridge, the cat will be distracted so you can grab the item. And you know what? That works! But the human guards don’t have those kinds of rulesets; they just wander and meander and get themselves stuck in the most inconvenient places.

Hello Neighbor 2 is a very fun game that constantly flirts with true brilliance, but its stealth sections are always there to slam on the breaks and say, “Hey buddy, you might be enjoying this just a little bit too much. I think it’s time to turn down the fun factor by a few notches.” As much as I want to enjoy this game — I was having an absolute blast in the first section — the stealth mechanic is just too aggressively bad.

The way I see it, it’s like there’s a delicious cake waiting for you on the table, but you stub your toe on a chair on the way toward the cake. Does stubbing your toe make the ultimate reward of eating the cake feel more satisfying, or does it just sour your mood enough that the cake doesn’t taste quite as good as it could if your toe weren’t throbbing in pain? When it comes to Hello Neighbor 2, the puzzles are the cake and the stealth sections are the chair you’ll stub your toe on.

Hello Neighbor 2 is basically a really good puzzle game that’s stuffed inside a really bad stealth game. If it just dropped the stealth part, there’s a genuinely great experience to be had. But this game pretends to be a stealth game so, so hard, and those bad parts are constantly getting in the way of the good stuff.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Hello Neighbor 2 on PS5, but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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I’m not going to lie: I can get super obsessive about the video games I like. I mean, what kind of sane person posts a 10,000-word guide to dealing with griefers in Red Dead Online? Or a complete guide to every doggone unlock in Hitman 3?

Well, I just happen to be one of those weirdos who does that stuff. Thankfully, I have a website to post this stuff to, otherwise I’d just be obsessing over this stuff in isolation where it would be lost to the world forever.

If you’ve been reading Half-Glass Gaming for a while now, you probably know that I recently got to check out the closed beta for Hitman 3‘s new Freelancer Mode. Well, “check out” is something of an understatement, as I spent no less than 30 hours with the beta, which was only active for a few days. And I completely fell in love with it. Freelancer is a brand-new way to play Hitman 3, an extraction-style mode where the stuff you pick up on a mission can be brought back to your stash, but the stuff you have on you when you die is gone forever (or gone until you can find a way to earn it back, anyway).

This high-risk, high-reward gameplay loop is one that fits Hitman extremely well. The only problem is that the mode doesn’t come out until the end of January, and I’m writing this toward the beginning of December. Yeah, sometimes being a fan of a particular video game just looks like this:

This is not a new experience. I remember how hard I was itching to play Dragon Quest Builders after dipping my toes into the early demo. I couldn’t stop thinking about the next thing I wanted to build after the next set of unlocks, which were currently out of reach because the demo ended before I was given access to them.

And, I mean, anyone who plays games is probably familiar with being in school or at work and just watching the clock, waiting for that glorious moment when you can head home and blow off some steam in your current favorite game.

So all I can do is bide my time for the next month and a half, and try to find something else to keep me occupied for that time.

You know what? I’ve been eyeballing Skyrim again…

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I was recently reading an article on the Game Informer website regarding first-party Xbox games getting the $70 bump next year, presumably because there are actually noteworthy first-party games in the pipe now that Microsoft owns Bethesda and is in the process of trying to buy Activision Blizzard King as well.

This got me thinking… of all the $70 non-first-party titles on PS5, are those games currently still only $60 on the Microsoft Series consoles? (If you’re curious about the answer to this question, of course there are $70 third-party games on Xbox consoles right now.)

To satisfy my initial curiosity, I did what any self-respecting “games journalist” would do (I’m in no way comfortable calling myself a games journalist, to be clear) and I Googled “70 ps5 games” to get a list of third-party PS5 games are $70 that I could then cross-reference with the Xbox consoles. I inadvertently omitted the dollar sign, and the results led me down yet another rabbit hole. (I’ve had a tendency of falling into those as of late.)

You can try to Google this same phrase if you’d like to verify my findings, but upon my first attempt to search this phrase, I was met a glimpse of Jill Valentine’s voluminous assets.

Well, allow me to stop burying the lede and show you what I’m talking about:

If you look close at the Resident Evil 3: Deluxe Edition art, you might see more of Jill than you’re expecting to. Needless to say, I thought there was no way this Triple-A game got an actual release with this cover art. After a quick trip to reddit, I discovered I wasn’t the only one who tumbled into this eBay universe, so I knew must not be delusional or dreaming (though reddit might not be the best place to check your delusions).

After clicking the link provided in that reddit thread, I was brought to an eBay seller page with a whole host of NFSW box art variants for a plethora of games, a collection collectively titled the “2 Piece Snack Box” series. To be fair, some of these box art variants are merely holographic or, in some form or another, not pornographic. But a number of these sleeves feature physically enhanced and scantily clad versions of female characters.

The Resident Evil 3: Deluxe Edition cover, which initially piqued my intrigue, features a version of Jill in a rather revealing two-piece (oh… now I get it…) bikini, looking especially curvy and buxomly, although also admittedly rather bored.

For Bayonetta 3‘s holographic box art variant, you get, well… the full spread, more or less. But perhaps the weirdest and possibly most salacious one of all is for Resident Evil 4 on Nintendo Switch, which for some reason depicts Jill Valentine with what appears to be her shirt pulled up and her breasts on full display. I mean, I assume it’s full-frontal nudity because there are pixelated explosions covering the goods, but I guess one would only find out for certain if they buy it for themselves.

Of course, these are far from the most scintillating depictions of female video-game characters. I mean, there are volumes of Hentai dedicated to this stuff, to say nothing of the games that feature outright nudity and explicit sexual content. I’m told that some of these games also have good stories, and heck, some of them even feature digital versions of real-life celebrities.

But it is weird to see this displayed on a box cover from an errant, random google search. I personally couldn’t see myself replacing the default box cover art with one of these images and then having it on full display, but to each their own.

But I guess when the thirst calls, one must abide.

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Publisher Modus is having an extremely ambitious year. Not only did they attempt to revive the PS2-era style of hack-‘n-slash games with the enormous and lofty Soulstice (developed by Reply Game Studios), but before the year is up, they intend to steal a little bit of Mario’s pie with Kukoos: Lost Pets. And this is happening in a year when there’s actually a pretty decent 3D Sonic game out. This is a risky proposition. But since there’s not been a new 3D Mario game since Super Mario Odyssey back in 2017, unless you count the criminally short Bowser’s Fury (which was more of an add-on than a new game), maybe the landscape is ripe for a Mario-style 3D platformer.

Kukoos: Lost Pets (by developer Petit Fabrik) is a charming 3D platformer in the vein of Super Mario 3D World. By this I mean that it’s a 3D platformer that’s largely on rails. Yes, you can walk toward and away from the camera, but stage layouts are generally designed to funnel you in one particular direction along narrow paths rather than giving you the freedom to explore a full 3D world.

Admittedly, this lack of freedom does feel a little disappointing, especially coming hot off of Sonic Frontiers, which was hugely explorable. I do prefer more open-style 3D platformers to these linear ones — the exception being Crash Bandicoot, but Crash relies on some mad-genius-level stage design that prevents their linearity from being a dealbreaker. Plus, I just have a ton of nostalgia for Crash.

But Kukoos: Lost Pets feels comfortable in its lane, and I can’t really fault it for not attempting to satisfy my particular tastes. I’m far from the only person playing these games, after all.

Admittedly, the game starts off extremely slow. Like, pouring-concrete-into-your-boots slow. For the first hour, I found myself frustratedly mashing buttons to skip the absurdly long story sequences — most of which could have been summed up in a sentence or two. And in the tutorial section, the game relentlessly hammers its mechanics into your head. Seriously, when I first started playing, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through this one.

But if you can get through the way-too-long story and tutorial sequences, the game suddenly becomes very enjoyable. A huge part of this is that it’s constantly introducing clever new elements that are genuinely fun to play around with.

The Apocalypticoach world, for example, introduces train rides and a platform that you carry around with you and can swing from to reach high-up places and cross wide chasms. Once I figured out the swing mechanic, I had a ton of fun with this. There’s also a Roomba that you can ride on to turn garbage bags into coins, and one stage where you have to ascend a building via a maze of revolving doors.

And it keeps on going. The World War Twee world lets you get inside a tire and roll down a half-pipe like Sonic the Hedgehog in Sonic 2. And in the Haunted Pirate Pizzeria world, you get to transform into a pirate ghost that can float on the wind and move through some solid objects. You also have cauldrons of glue you can dunk yourself in to stick to walls, and you can even steer a pirate ship at one point. The game is constantly throwing new toys at you and letting you play with them.

But it’s not all gravy. As I mentioned earlier, the beginning section is almost unbearably slow. Further, you’re going to do a lot of fighting against the camera. Every year, I hope we’ve seen the end of the camera struggle, and every year, at least one or two games come out to prove me wrong. Kukoos is one of those games in 2022.

There are also some weird text issues, like the “CHARACTER NAME” text in the image above. And the last few levels use lack of checkpoints as a crutch to ramp up the difficulty, which is odd because most of the game has checkpoints to spare. In fact, one of the final levels is this absolutely brilliant climb inside a mechanical frog that’s swaying back and forth, but there’s not a single checkpoint in the entire level. It went from incredibly thrilling to teeth-gnashingly tedious really fast. Thankfully, the level is pretty short, but there’s one section where you have to make several tricky jumps in a row, and it would have been so much more manageable if there were a checkpoint in front of it.

Also, this is neither here nor there, but there’s an enemy type that marches toward you going, “Yep, yep, yep, yep,” and they’re called coaches for some reason. I can’t help but point out that Petit Fabrik missed out on a golden opportunity by not calling them “yep men.” But I digress…

In the end Kukoos: Lost Pets does exactly what it sets out to do. It offers a 3D platformer in the style of Super Mario 3D World, and it keeps things fresh throughout its fairly short runtime by relentlessly throwing good ideas at you. Yes, it’s rough around the edges, but if you can get past its flaws, you’ll find something that’s surprisingly enjoyable. If you have a hunger for 3D platformers, Kukoos is a nice little appetizer to tide you over until the next huge-budget release from the Big N.

Disclaimer: I was given a review code for Kukoos: Lost Pets for PS4 — which I played on PS5 — but the opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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In Kukoos: Lost Pets, the second (non-tutorial) world is called Apocalypticoach, and the final stage of this world is called Jellysteve Inc., Your Pet Coach! In this stage, you must face off against a giant pink mushroom squid who wants to smash you to bits.

At first, this fight seems kind of tricky. In fact, this is where I earned the Willpower Trophy (which requires you to die 10 times on a single boss). But then I figured out a good pattern and a good rhythm, and the fight was suddenly pretty easy. I managed to also score the Boss Trophy here, for beating the boss without taking damage.

And here’s a fun fact: I was the first person to earn the Cosmopolitan Trophy for completing the Apocalypticoach world, which means I was the first person on a PlayStation console to beat this boss. And that, of course, means I was also the first person to get a no-damage run on this boss, because when I popped the Boss Trophy, I noticed that I was still the only person to have gotten Cosmopolitan. Yeah, it’s largely because I got my review code super early, but it does feel like an accomplishment. Don’t try to take that away from me!

Anyway, I’ll walk you through the basic strategy for the Jellysteve Inc. boss, and I think you’ll be doing no-damage runs in no time.

There are essentially two phases here, and each phase has two variants. Once you know all four options, you will be prepared for every single attack this squid dude can do.

First up, he smashes a tentacle into the platform that you’re running on. To dodge this, make sure you are running when he slams the tentacle down, then very quickly turn around and activate your Aztuc pet (R1 if you’re on PlayStation). Then use the slam move (R2 on PlayStation) to deal damage to the tentacle.

The alternate version of this phase has three tentacles instead of one, though he’ll never do the three-tentacle attack as the first move. The key difference between these two attacks is that the one-tentacle version has a delay before the smash, and the three-tentacle version smashes down much more quickly. So if he raises one tentacle, know that you’ve got a little bit of time before the smash. If he raises three, start running ASAP.

For reference, this is the boss preparing for the one-tentacle smash:

And this is the boss preparing for the three-tentacle smash:

The other thing to know about this phase is that the deeper you get into the fight, the quicker the three-tentacle move is (it’s almost instant the final time), and the longer the one-tentacle delay time is (if you run too early, you might run out of platform).

The other phase is a tentacle swipe, and there will be multiple swipes in a row. This is actually super easy to dodge so long as you activate Aztuc before any of the swipes happen. There are two possible swipes. One is a low swipe, which will be signaled by the platform turning red. Downward-pointing arrows will also appear on the pedestal.

The other one is a high swipe, which is signaled by the platform turning green. There will also be upward-pointing arrows on the pedestal.

Ideally, you won’t get hit by the low swipe if you’re standing on the platform, but this isn’t always true. If you set up Aztuc while dodging the three-tentacle smash, it’s possible that you’ll place the platform too low for the swipe to safely go beneath you. I have a tendency to jump over even the low swipes, just to be safe.

Just like the smash phase, these swipes will get faster as the fight progresses. The number of swipes will also increase every time you deal damage. I think they count up in multiples of two (so two, four, six, etc…) but I honestly haven’t counted the later swipe phases to make sure. It does seem like the first swipe phase will always be two and the second one will always be four. Whether the swipe will be high or low, though, seems completely random.

Now, there are some annoyances here. I’ve had times where I jumped a high swipe and it still hit me, and I’ve had other times where my character jumped toward the camera and fell off the edge of the platform. But as long as you don’t encounter these issues, the fight isn’t too difficult.

Here’s a video of the full fight, if you want to see all this in action:

And there you go. There’s a no-damage run on Jellysteve Inc., Your Pet Coach in Kukoos: Lost Pets. Good luck!

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Kukoos: Lost Pets is a game in which your pets give you special abilities. It can be kind of hard to keep track of all the various abilities throughout the game, because you’ll keep swapping out pets as you progress through the game.

Eventually, you’ll reach a stage in the second world titled Kukoomand or Be Commanded! In this level, you’re asked to break a pane of glass. There’s a hint that says: “It’s like Gramma always says: sometimes you gotta break the glass to pass.” However, Gramma doesn’t tell you how to do that.

The pet you have at the time is called Aztuc, and it has a special move that will help you do just that. So how does Aztuc break glass? Well, read on and I’ll walk you through it. I should point out that I played Kukoos: Lost Pets on PS5, so I’m going to use the PlayStation version of the controls for this guide.

To activate your current pet, you press the R1 button.

Pets also have a secondary ability that is activated with the R2 button. Aztuc’s secondary ability causes him to smash down onto the ground. If you perform this move over a glass panel, the panel will shatter.

If you want to see this in action, I made a video:

Now, in the beginning of this stage, you can actually get around the glass panels simply by jumping off toward the screen, then using Aztuc to help you swing down into the space below. However, by the end of this stage, you’re going to need to know how to do the smash move, because there’s a spot that you won’t be able to get through without using that smash move on a button.

And there you go. That’s how you break the glass in the Kukoomand or Be Commanded! level in Kukoos: Lost Pets.

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Ever since I played the beta of Hitman 3‘s Freelancer Mode, I’ve been unable to stop thinking about it. I fell completely head-over-heels in love with this extraction-style game mode, and I’m having a hard time waiting for its release in January. (If you want to read my full thoughts on the mode, check them out here.) In the meantime, though, IO Interactive isn’t leaving us high and dry. In fact, according to their Year 2 Winter Roadmap, they’re dropping some time-limited unlocks for us to pick up during the frostiest of all seasons. If you play the now-permanent Holiday

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With the 2.000 Update for Gotham Knights, two new modes were added to the game: Heroic Assault and Showdowns. You’ll have to do a little busywork before you can access either of these modes. If you want to know more about Heroic Assault, I have a complete unlock guide for that here. But this guide is specifically about unlocking Showdowns. Okay, so at launch, there are five Showdowns, and you have to reach a certain story milestone to reach them. The DC Games Support website mentions this, but it doesn’t give specifics. So, here are the specific story chapters you

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With Gotham Knight‘s Update 2.000 comes two new game modes, Showdown and the four-player Heroic Assault, which offers 30 floors of baddie-bashing badness. If you’re interested in Showdowns, you can check out my guide to that mode here, but for this guide, I’m going to focus on Heroic Assault. You can access Heroic Assault from the main menu, but you must unlock it first. So how do you unlock Heroic Assault mode in Gotham Knights? Don’t worry, fellow Gothamite, I’ve got your back! Once Update 2.000 installs, you’ll notice that you’ve got some new emails from Diana Prince. Basically, they

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Soccer Story is a Legend of Zelda-style action RPG at its core, only with a magic soccer ball instead of a sword. So where you would normally kill monsters, you’re instead knocking coconuts out of trees by kicking a soccer ball at them. Oh, and instead of dungeons, there are soccer matches. In the beginning of the game, you’ll be sailing through your main story objectives, perhaps ticking the checkboxes on some of the side quests while you’re at at. Knock over some trashcans? “Sure,” you say, “I can do that.” How about hitting specially placed targets to score coins

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Soccer Story is a cute little RPG about playing soccer. But you don’t just play soccer; you do all sorts of other things, like collecting acorns, smashing targets, and even catching a fish or two when the mood strikes. There are also 20 achievements that you can earn in the game. If you want a complete list of achievements in Soccer Story, I’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of all 20 achievements in the game.

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Back in the day, starship slots in No Man’s Sky used to max out at 69. No, that’s not a joke; you’d get 48 general inventory slots and 21 tech slots. 48 + 21 = 69. Nice. But Update 4.0 (A.K.A The Waypoint Update) overhauled inventory across the entire game, and this increased the amount of starship slots to well over 100. So I’m going to walk you through the process of maxing out your Starship so you can make use of all those additional storage and tech possibilities. What’s the maximum amount of ship slots after 4.0? The new

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Minecraft is one of the games that I always end up returning to time and time again, like an old familiar friend. While I lament the fact that it will never be completely new again, I can always start a new world to get a fresh start. Of course, I pretty much know what to expect at this point (and I also know that I’m going to struggle to find those doggone Blaze Rods), so even a fresh start can’t compare to the magic of playing this monumental game for the first time. But after all these years, I’m still

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I know it’s been said before, and it will no doubt be said countless more times. So you’ll have to indulge me for just a moment and allow me to say it (or type it, rather) myself: Elden Ring is truly one of the best games I have ever played. It is an expertly designed gaming experience that reshapes the way I think about games as a whole — more so than most of the other games I’ve played in the past several years.  I love RPGs like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and the

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If you missed the gameplay reveal for The Invincible at the PC Gaming Show 2022, then you really should do yourself a favor and check that out. This was one of the most compelling games shown off at the show, with its sci-fi book cover aesthetic and its mysterious world. But if you’re like me, and you remember this six-minute trailer fondly, then you’re probably champing at the bit to get some more info. Today, a fresh trailer dropped, titled “Life on Regis III.” The trailer has this 1950s worn-out film vibe, showing off some scenic shots while the narrator

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Not too long ago, I decided to give Gungrave G.O.R.E. a whirl. I hadn’t played any of the previous titles in the Gungrave series, but I thought I’d take a chance and see what this new entry has to offer. And it didn’t hurt that publisher Prime Matter was willing to give me access to a preview build of the game. For the most part, my impressions were pretty positive. Sure, it’s mindless and antiquated in its design and execution, but if you just shut off your brain and mash the trigger buttons, there’s a decent amount of silly spectacle

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If you get super into cooking in Frozen Flame, you’ll probably start to find that a lot of recipes call for fish. But the game doesn’t feature a proper fishing mechanic, so how do you go about catching fish for your dinner? Well, there are two ways that I’ve been collecting fish in the game, so I’ll quickly walk you through both of them. First, you can catch fish by interacting with them while you’re swimming. The trick is, you have to be swimming fast (using the sprint button) to trigger this. When you approach a fish while swimming fast,

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Frozen Flame has a surprisingly robust cooking system, which allows players to stock up on tasty food to give themselves helpful buffs. You’ll discover new cooking recipes as you experiment with different ingredients, but aside from a quick tutorial, the game leaves you on your own to figure out how all of this works. But that’s where I come in. I spent several hours tinkering with the game’s cooking system, so I’m putting together a robust guide to explain how all of this works. Build a bonfire Okay, to get started on this ambitious cooking project, you’re going to have

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In Frozen Flame, the first major story quest is called Search for the Keeper. When you first emerge from the starting area, you’ll see a road, and within just a few meters you’re going to find a character named Hornhead at a camp. You really can’t miss this guy — he’s the first NPC you will encounter in the game. Hornhead is going to be your guy for kicking off the game’s story, so you’ll definitely want to talk to him. He’s going to ask you to seek out another character named Bonehead, who will give you further instructions. Help

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In Frozen Flame, there is an item called Solid Essence, which is used in crafting and repairing. There’s also a particular quest that asks you to sacrifice one of these. So where do you find Solid Essence in Frozen Flame? Believe it or not, you can grow it yourself. Before you can do this, though, you’re going to need to build a planter. You do this by opening up your Craft menu and selecting the planter, then placing it in your desired location. The ingredients you need are: Weirdly enough, planters work similarly to the workbench, in that you’ll interact

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In Frozen Flame, there are several areas that are blocked off by spiney vines. It’s pretty obvious that you can clear these out, because a lot of these vines have treasure chests behind them, but it’s not immediately obvious how you’d go about this. Thankfully, there’s a really simple solution — use a Wooden Torch. If you equip a torch, you can swing it at the vines (using the attack button), and the vines will crumble away. So where do you get a Wooden Torch? You can actually craft these, but you’re going to have to buy the recipe first.

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Frozen Flame is a survival-style RPG with an art style that reminds me of Immortals Fenyx Rising, or the more recent Asterigos: Curse of the Stars. The game launched in Early Access today, and with that launch came an announcement about the content we can expect over the next couple months. The next batch of content is focused on a new area called Dragon’s Grove. In early December, we’re going to have a Christmas-themed update, with festive decorations and a new Winter Island. It’s not clear how much of this content will be limited-time, but I’m assuming a good portion

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Frozen Flame is now out on Steam in Early Access, and at launch, it has 21 Achievements. You’ll earn these by doing a lot of basic things, like leveling up and crafting a workbench for the first time, but you’ll also get some by beating specific bosses. Anyway, if you want a full list of Frozen Flame achievements, I’ve got one below.

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Blacktail eluded me when its reveal trailer was featured during the Summer of Gaming 2021. And I missed it again when the “Witch’s Fate” trailer was shown at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live 2022 presentation. Considering my affinity for video games with bows and arrows in them, I actually can’t believe this one slipped past me. I can only assume — now that I’ve given the 2021 trailer a once over — that I probably looked past this due to the fact that the first two thirds of the trailer comes across as just another indie game with a storybook art

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I’m a sucker for charming pixel-art RPGs, so I’ve had my eye on Soccer Story since it was first revealed back in August. This game combines pixels and voxels for a 3D take on the classic pixelated look, and the gameplay blends RPG elements with soccer. Since I was hugely disappointed by Mario Strikers: Battle League earlier this year, I’m really itching to make up for it with some solid soccer-based action. Well, it looks like I’ll get to do that in just a couple short weeks, as Soccer Story has an official release date of November 29, 2022. The

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a dinosaur, roaming around in the prehistoric world and stuffing your face with plants (or other dinos)? Well, Path of Titans is an open-world survival game that puts you in the skin of various types of megafauna, letting you live out all of your dinosaur-based fantasies (so long as those fantasies involve eating and walking around). Even though almost everybody just plays the T-Rex, one of the best things about Path of Titans is just how robust its selection of dinosaurs is. Back when I played it (shortly after

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If you’re looking to pick up McPixel 3, you might be wondering how it runs on the Steam Deck. Well, let me tell you: Not only does McPixel 3 run buttery smooth on Valve’s handheld, but considering its simple control inputs and addictive nature, it might also be the perfect game for the Steam Deck. In McPixel 3, the control inputs are fairly simple. You can either use the D-pad or analog stick to move your character left or right, or slightly up and down on the parallax 2D side-scrolling plane. There is one button to interact with objects or

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I hadn’t heard of McPixel 3 before receiving a review code from Half-Glass Gaming’s editor-in-chief Josh Wirtanen. And he got it, he tells me, from publisher Devolver Digital, though I’m not ruling out the possibility that this might have been some sort of shady black market deal or something along those lines. (Editor’s note: We got the code from Devolver.) So I have not had the pleasure of playing the original McPixel. Note that didn’t mention McPixel 2; this is because McPixel 2 was apparently whisked away to a government facility of some sort (although it does make an appearance

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There’s something endlessly satisfying about being able to dig in video games, whether that’s sifting through the sand in the desert of Super Mario Bros. 2, or delving into the randomly generated dungeons of Shovel Knight Dig, or just moving dirt around in Minecraft. I just don’t think I will ever tire of dig mechanics. So I have to say, I’m pretty dang excited for Pepper Grinder, a pixel-art platformer starring a swashbuckling girl named Pepper who navigates the world with a handheld drill. This comes from indie developer Ahr Ech, who I’ve actually not heard of before today. It

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I was a Genesis kid when I was growing up, so I still have fond memories of the early Sonic games. In fact, I still go back to Sonic CD frequently, because it’s an absolute masterpiece. And Sonic Spinball? Come on, that’s a tragically under-appreciated video game that’s incredible, despite its almost criminally short runtime. So I’ve spent the past two and a half decades just feeling bad for the Blue Blur. I’ve always wanted Sonic to break out of the trappings of the 1990s; he just can’t seem to do it. I just want the old spikey speedball to

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Just trying to come up with a headline for this article — one that wouldn’t itself become the length of an article — was a tricky. There are so many odd facets to this little story that it was hard to determine which turn of phrase would best encapsulate the gist without overlooking anything important, while also piquing the reader’s interest with a little bit of spice. I ultimately left that in the hands of our editor, so let’s see how he handles this one… (Editor’s note: The pressure was really high to get this one right. How’d I do?)

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IO Interactive has been busy working on Hitman 3‘s new game mode for quite some time now. This mode was subtly teased way back in November of 2021, though we didn’t realize it at the time. At the end of IO’s Year 2 presentation, they showed several shots of Agent 47’s Safehouse, without explaining what it was. As it turns out, that’s the base of operations for Freelancer Mode. A full year later, I got into the mode’s closed beta test period, and I spent pretty much the entire Daylight Savings weekend with Freelancer Mode. Yeah, I really put that

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Hitman 3‘s Freelance Mode is a completely new way to play the Hitman games. This works like an Extraction-style game mode, where the gear you acquire on a mission is yours to keep, but the gear you lose out in the field is gone forever. And, of course, this comes with an absolute boatload of unlocks, so I’m going to walk you through absolutely everything that can be unlocked or acquired in Hitman 3‘s Freelancer game mode (just like I did for the main game — you can see that ridiculously huge guide by clicking here). One thing that’s important

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Steam has a wonderful habit of offering games — or, in this case a game demo — that completely fly under my radar, only for me to finally discover them when the universe deems the time is right. And let me tell you, DriveCrazy feels like one of those fabled, serendipitous discoveries. The basic premise for DriveCrazy, a game developed and published by TubezGames, is summed up perfectly by the synopsis on its Steam page: Driving a Kei Truck Through a Collapsing Japan! If you think it’s a road, it’s a road. Run inside buildings, walls, any road and survive!

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In The Entropy Centre, Puzzle 1105 can be a real head-scratcher. It’s one of those puzzles where it kind of feels like you’re one cube short of being able to solve it. But don’t worry, fellow Junior Puzzle Operative. I’ve got you covered with my full walkthrough of Puzzle 1105. First up, you want to pick up the laser cube and place it on the button pad. Now, grab the bridge cube and use the springboard to bounce up to the elevated platform across from the exit. Point the bridge at the exit; this will be the cube’s final resting

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Ho ho, The Entropy Centre player. So you thought the test chambers were tricky back in Act 7? Well Act 11 offers up some real doozies as well. For instance, Puzzle 1103 makes use of jump panels, transformers, conveyors and more. This one makes you think in a lot of different directions at all, and it can seem a little overwhelming at first. But take a deep breath, fellow problem-solver, and relax. I’m going to walk you through this one. So, you only have one cube in this puzzle, but you also have a transformer, which will make the regular

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Welcome to Act 11, fellow time-rewind enthusiast! Act 11 of The Entropy Centre offers even more puzzles to figure out, so I’m going to walk you through them! Before you solve Puzzle 1101, though, there’s a section where you have to figure out how to get up multiple floor when the stairs are broken (and the elevators don’t seem to be working). This part threw me off a little the first time I encountered it, so I decided to make a video of that. Here’s a video: Note that there a couple emails to grab here if you’re interested in

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When you get to Act 10 in The Entropy Centre, things really start to escalate. Puzzle 1004 and Puzzle 1005 were two that I admittedly struggled with quite a bit. But now that I’ve solved them, I’m replaying the game and making walkthroughs for each puzzle (starting with 0601). So let’s take a look at Puzzle 1004. You’re going to really have to do some forward/backward thinking to ger through this one. First, you want to grab the standard cube in the middle of the room. Bring it up the stairs (toward the beginning of the room) and stick the

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If you’ve made it through the conveyor-riddled madness leading up to Puzzle 1001 in The Entropy Centre, then it’s time to enjoy the further conveyor madness of Puzzle 1002 and Puzzle 1003. (And if you’re stuck, you can check out my Puzzle 1001 guide here.) Now, Puzzle 1002 has two separate sections, the first of which is pretty easy, while the second can really throw you for a loop. If you manage to die in the second portion of the puzzle (or if you back out to the game’s main menu and reload your save), you will have to do

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Welcome to Act 10, fellow Junior Puzzle Operative! Now I’m going to walk you through Puzzle 1001 in The Entropy Centre. But before you even reach that test chamber, there’s a pre-1001 puzzle to solve, so I’ll walk you through that one first. (And if you need a little help finishing Act 9, don’t worry; I’ve got you covered there as well.) This puzzle is really about understanding how to manipulate conveyor belts in The Entropy Centre. You’ve got several moving conveyors and two switches to push. So here’s how to get through this section. The first thing you need

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In The Entropy Centre, Puzzle 0906 is kind of weird. It’s a bait-and-switch that drops you into a race against a whole bunch of grumpy Entropy bots before making you endure yet another lockdown. Anyone else getting tired of lockdowns? Right here I’m just going to briefly mention that if you need any assistance in Act 9 leading up to this point, you can check out my guides for Puzzle 0901, Puzzles 0902 and 0903, and Puzzles 0904 and 0905 by clicking the links. Anyway, the first section of Puzzle 0906 can be a little tricky, so I’ve created a

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In The Entropy Centre, there is a Trophy/Achievement called Fashionista, which asks you to “Find Astra a hat.” I only know of one place in the game where you can find a tiny little hat for Astra (though it’s possible that other locations exist). I found the hat in the museum at the beginning of Act 7 (shortly after the place where you earn the Man’s Best Friend Achievement). As you make your way through the museum, you’ll eventually come to a display of the Earth and the moon, and if you turn 180 degrees from that exhibit, you’ll come

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In The Entropy Centre, there’s a Trophy/Achievement called Man’s Best Friend, which asks you to “Pet E.” E, in case you somehow missed it, is a charming little Entropy bot who occasionally aids you in your journey. There are two very easy ways to identify E. First, E has a post-it note with the letter E stuck to its forehead. Secondly, E won’t attack you, like other Entropy bots. You can earn Man’s Best Friend in the very beginning of Act 7. E helps you cross a bridge, after which you can give him a little pat to claim the

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In The Entropy Centre, Act 9 starts off pretty easy (though if you’re struggling, I’ve got guides for Puzzle 0901, as well as Puzzle 0902 and Puzzle 0903). But when you hit Puzzle 0904, you’re probably going to slam on the brakes. This one can be pretty tricky to solve. This is yet another one of those puzzles where it feels at first like you just don’t have enough cubes to solve it. Two cubes? Really? Well, all you need is one laser cube and one tall cube, and this puzzle is super solvable. The first thing you’ll need to

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In The Entropy Centre, Puzzle 0902 is mostly here to introduce you to a new puzzle element, the tall cube. This new type of cube can be expanded by rewinding it, but this comes with a catch: You can’t reposition the cube and then rewind it back to an old location, like you can with other cubes. Rewinding a tall cube will only cause it to unfold. Solving Puzzle 0902 is actually pretty easy once you understand how the tall cube functions. Basically, you just need to use the bridge cube on the button panel rather than the tall cube.

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Welcome to Act 9 of The Entropy Centre, folks! Puzzle 0901 is a real doozy, and it’s going to be a freaking roadblock for a lot of players. Thankfully, I was able to solve this one (after quite a bit of head-scratching), and now I’m going to be sharing the solution. (If you’re interested in Act 8 puzzles, you can check out my previous walkthrough here.) First, though, I’m going to share a few videos about the leadup to this puzzle. Because before you get to the test chamber, you’re going to get attacked by Entropy bots. Here’s a video

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In The Entropy Centre, I found Act 8 to be mostly pretty easy. Mostly. Admittedly, when I hit Puzzle 0805, though, I hit a brick wall. This puzzle is a real doozy. Thankfully, I was able to work my way through it eventually, so I’m going to share the solution for my fellow Junior Puzzle Operatives. So here’s the solution for Puzzle 0805 in The Entropy Centre. Before you start the puzzle, though, you might want to read the email on the computer just before the test chamber. You don’t need to do this unless you’re attempting to read all

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Okay, fellow Junior Puzzle Operative, you’ve solved The Entropy Centre‘s Puzzle 0601 and discovered the secret bean room (and if you haven’t done that, check out my full guide here). So now you need to test your wits against Puzzle 0602 and Puzzle 0603. So I’m going to walk you through both puzzles, and I’ll also show you how to find the secret room in Puzzle 0603. In Puzzle 0602, you’ll need to use the bridge cube in three different places. First, you want to set the cube in the purple square that’s outlined on the floor. Or, you can

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The Entropy Centre is a game that’s chock full of Portal-style puzzle chambers, only with a time-rewind mechanic instead of a portal-shooty one. While there’s nothing quite as meme-worthy as “The cake is a lie” in The Entropy Centre, there is a secret room filled with beans. You will need to get into an optional area in Puzzle 0601 to access this secret bean room, though. So I’m going to walk you through the solution to Puzzle 0601, and I’ll also show you how to unlock the bean room. Now, solving Puzzle 0601 is actually super easy. You really just

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Portal 2 is one of my favorite video games of all time. It’s one of those masterpieces that’s unrivaled in doing exactly what it does, and it’s astonishingly well-designed in pretty much every aspect. On top of all that, though, I have a lot of nostalgia for it because it was the first video game I wrote about in mainstream games media more than ten years ago (Cheat CC really is a horribly designed website, though). Plus, my experience picking up the physical copy of it at the game’s midnight launch was a memorable one (an experience that I wrote

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If you’re a fan of real-time strategy games, or city builders, or colony management games, then you really, really need to check out Against the Storm. This game enters Early Access on Steam today (November 1, 2022), and publisher Hooded Horse was kind enough to give me an early copy of the game ahead of its Early Access launch. So I’ve been dabbling with this one for a few days now. I haven’t had the time to dig in super deeply at this point, but what I’ve played so far has absolutely blown me away. Against the Storm is a

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Atmosphere is an oft-overlooked but hugely important element in viewing sports. The crowd attendance in the stadium, as well as the noise of thousands of fans shouting in unison, creates this atmosphere. For the players, the cheers and roars encourage them to do better, while silence or even boos have their own impact on the players’ mental state. A jam-packed roaring crowd adds monumental pressure, particularly for the home team, because their fans have huge expectations. For those watching the game on television (or on a streaming service), the roar of the crowd is also accompanied by a passionate play-by-play

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The simulator video-game genre has exploded over the past decade or so. You can now simulate almost anything, from thievery to mowing the lawn to having a house party to running a seedy internet café. And with so much variety in the genre, you never quite know whether a particular game will lean into the simulation side versus the more gamey aspects, or if it will just present an outright bizarre narrative (like Goat Simulator). Brewmaster: Beer Brewing Simulator focuses on the simulation side rather than spectacle, and as a result, you have a solid — if not also barebones

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Okay, so I just completed my New Game+ playthrough of Gotham Knights, and this is the one Platinum Trophy I’ve earned in 2022 (I don’t imagine that I’ll earn any more Plats this year). And, oof, this game is a mess. There’s so much wrong with it, including its disastrous crafting system, the confusing rollback of its leveling system, and plot decisions that I still don’t agree with. Gotham Knights fails at being an RPG, and it mostly fails at being an open-world game. Having been through the game twice now, I’m pretty convinced that this game has about half

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Video-game-to-movie adaptations are a longstanding Hollywood tradition, from Street Fighter to Tomb Raider, from Resident Evil to Prince of Persia, from Assassin’s Creed to now Uncharted. The trend of bringing fan-favorite video-game characters to the big screen is here to stay. Replicating a video game’s greatness in a non-interactive medium can’t be an easy task, especially when you’re met with monumental expectations from audiences around the globe. And video-game adaptations have had their fair share of highs and lows in terms of meeting those expectations. When it comes to the recent Uncharted film, the pressure was really on for Hollywood

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Have you ever heard of the Pinball Wizard? “The who?” you might ask. The Pinball Wizard! The cute, and very sphere-headed, champion of the magical pinball world! This champion’s story is told in The Pinball Wizard, a simple but charming game that meshes roguelike dungeon crawling and pinball gameplay under a cute minimalist aesthetic. Developed by Frosty Pop and originally released back in 2019 for iOS, the story of our beautiful and brave ball-man has finally made it over to Nintendo Switch. Frosty Pop very graciously gifted me a review copy, and I did enjoy the approximately four hours it

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2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence was a hugely ambitious title that succeeded for its insistence on sticking to the things it did best without trying to bulge or bloat the experience longer than necessary. In an environment of massive, collectible-filled open-world games, Innocence felt like a breath of fresh air. With a runtime of about 14 hours (though some will insist it’s more like 10), the game is just long enough to tell the story it wants to tell without bogging players down in distracting side content. I think a useful point of comparison would be the stuff Naughty Dog

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Back in the early 2000s, I would play any PS2 game that moved (at least anything that wasn’t a sports title, fighting game, or JRPG). Shoot, I played Rogue Trooper on friggin’ launch day, and had quite an enjoyable time doing so. But somehow, I never played the original 2002 Gungrave or the 2004 follow-up, Gungrave: Overdose. In retrospect, this feels like a huge oversight on my part — and even more so now that I’ve had the chance to play a preview build of the upcoming latest installment in the long-running series, Gungrave: G.O.R.E. Had I discovered them two

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One of the biggest mysteries in Gotham Knights is how to unlock colorways. No matter how much crime and murder happens on the streets of Gotham, it’s those dang Colorways that are the hardest thing to wrap your head around. And the game’s tooltips are frustratingly vague. “Finish Case File investigations, complete Challenges, explore, and experiment to unlock new Colorways.” Come on, how elusive can you get with your wording? To make matters worse, pretty much every online guide that I could find was just as vague, so no one seems to really know how these unlocks work. So I

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I love a good Fallout game. Heck, I even love mediocre ones. I still go back to Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 4 to get my Wasteland on. Shoot, I even think about playing Fallout 76 once in a blue moon. I certainly welcome the idea of seeing those classics in a new light — a bit of fresh paint, some polish, and a dollop of pomp and circumstance for good measure. Lord knows, I’ve now played just about every iteration and remaster or re-release of Skyrim known to humankind, (aside from the Switch version, I mean, because

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Oh, how I love Infernax. This Metroidvania-style platformer can best be described as “What Dark Souls would have been had it come out in 1987,” and it launched in February as the first truly great game of 2022. It’s an incredibly rich game, with tons of secrets and alternate endings to discover — I’ve played through the game more than ten times now, and there are still a couple secrets that I’m aware of that still elude me. To celebrate the Halloween season, Infernax is getting yet another secret. Well, I guess it’s not really a secret, as there is

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Cult of the Lamb is one of the best games of this year for sure. If you’ve not yet played this wicked little title, it’s basically a super-evil blend between Animal Crossing and The Binding of Isaac. The art direction is phenomenal, and the gameplay is hyper-addictive. You definitely need to check this one out if you still have yet to do so. And now, with the spookiest of all seasons upon us, Cult of the Lamb is getting a decent-sized update. The Blood Moon Festival update adds a few things; here’s a list: New Blood Moon Ritual You can

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Gotham Knights features four Bat-Fam characters to play as. There’s the brilliant (and miraculously recovered) Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, the OG Robin Dick Grayson as Nightwing, the dead-but-resurrected Robin Jason Todd as Red Hood, and Tim Drake as actual Robin. Yes, even with such a massive lineup of alternate possibilities, three of four playable characters are just versions of Robin. You can switch characters whenever you return to the Belfry, which is your base of operations. Returning to the Belfry will end your current night (which will reset any of the crimes that are happening in Gotham), but it will

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Gotham Knights has a crafting system that lets you make new gear to keep you punchin’ and whackin’ those Gotham City criminals. This is a system that you’re going to need to take advantage of if you want to stay ahead of the game’s enemies, which scale up to meet your character level. With low-level gear on a high-level character, you’re really going to struggle. Unfortunately, Gotham Knights‘ crafting system is a little obtuse. It’s an odd system that feels kind of out of place in this game world, and the game also doesn’t bother to explain any of it

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I never played much Silent Hill during the series’ heyday. I was always more of a Resident Evil fan, and as we all know, it was one or the other, but never both. I did play a little Silent Hill 4, but I struggled to figure out how to actively progress the story when stuck in the apartment levels, and I recall not liking the combat of the more traditional levels either. I did really enjoy Silent Hill: Origins on the PSP. Boy, I would love to see a remaster of that game for modern consoles. Konami, do that. So

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In Gotham Knights, there is a series of challenges called Knighthood, which allows you to unlock each character’s super-fast traversal abilities. For example, with Barbara Gordon, Knighthood unlocks the ability to use her cape as a glider, allowing you to sail through the skies in a way that almost feels like Arkham City‘s glider system. Almost. People have been complaining that this is super tedious and difficult, but honestly, you can probably knock each one out in 10 to 15 minutes if you just focus on it. Yes, you do have to complete this over again with each character, but

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The hotly anticipated A Plague Tale: Requiem is finally here, and it’s getting rave reviews. In fact, here at Half-Glass Gaming, we’re considering this as a 2022 Game of the Year nominee. It’s an astonishingly brilliant take on the linear, narrative-focused games that were all the rage back in the late PS3 era (with more than a few passing similarities to The Last of Us). This is also a direct sequel to 2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence. With that in mind, should you play Innocence before jumping into Requiem, or will you be perfectly fine starting with Requiem? Well, I

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For almost a decade now, Big Ant’s Cricket video games have been delighting cricket fans around the globe. Big Ant’s latest installment is Cricket 22, which released across multiple platforms and is still getting graphical and gameplay improvements based on fan feedback. The game is enjoyable and has virtually all the necessary ingredients to make it a good video game, such as career mode enhancements, custom tournaments, and enhanced player and team editors. Such features add value to any sports game. After all, the more customization you offer players, the better they can fine-tune the game to their own preferences.

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At this point, I’ve spent something like 70 hours with Asterigos: Curse of the Stars. I’ve beaten the game twice now, and I’ve managed to take down every boss in the game, including the ten optional Trinity bosses. I’ve not done every side quest, and the “True” ending still eludes me, but I think it’s fair to say that I’ve seen a vast majority of what Asterigos has on offer. And I really enjoyed my time with this game. This is one of those games that eats away at me a little at a time; when I put it down

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I am admittedly not a hardcore fan of the fighting game genre, so I am perhaps not the best candidate to test out a new fighting game. But when offered the chance to go hands-on with Them’s Fightin’ Herds, without previous knowledge of what to expect outside of being told this was supposedly a My Little Pony–esque fighter (sans any actual licensed tie-in), I have to admit I was curious.  I was hoping for a zany, Smash Bros-styled beat-’em-up, as I felt like that was my best-case scenario for actually being able to stand a chance. But instead, Them’s Fightin’ Herds

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In Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, there is a chain of side quests where you need to help Narkis uncover a secret cult in the sewers beneath Laurel Manor. There are several steps to this quest line, so I’ll walk you through the full thing. The first thing you need to do is to drain the water using the switch in Sluice Kavalla. This is easy enough; you simply have to use Charged Bombs with the Thunder Enchantite to destroy all the green goo in this area. There’s one blob that’s easy to miss, because it’s located above your head,

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The long-awaited sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence, titled A Plague Tale: Requiem, has officially released. As is so often the case with game releases, this one comes with a launch-day trailer to celebrate the occasion. And let me tell you, this two-minute trailer is pretty bleak. Tonally, it almost feels like a Medieval version of The Last of Us, only with way more rats. One thing I’m curious about is how the themes of the game will land in 2022. The previous game launched in 2019, and the idea of a Medieval pandemic felt like an anxiety from the

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In Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, there is a Trophy/Achievement called Hardly a Challenge, which asks you to “Complete All Trinity Challenges.” So what exactly does that mean? Well, there are ten secret bosses in the game, and you must defeat all ten of them. Before you do any of this, though, you must need to progress to the Event of Trinity, which is a major story event that turns the entire world to nighttime. Once it’s dark out, the secret bosses will appear. Note that each one of these bosses also has a Trophy/Achievement connected to it, so you

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In Marauders, one possible daily contract that you might be offered is called Bag Maker, which asks you to “Deliver 3 Folded Light Bags.” However, there are a few steps to this that the game doesn’t really explain. So I’m going to walk you through exactly what you need to do for the Bag Maker contract. So, basically, the main step is that you need to craft three Light Bags. This is a crafting recipe that you can unlock once you hit Level 5. To craft a Light Bag, you need two Synthetic Scrap. The Light Bag has a really

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Now that I finally got my hands on Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, I decided to browse through the Trophy list to get a hint at what sort of adventures I’ll be facing in this action RPG. And since I have access to the full list, I figured I’d share them. Note that I’m listing all the hidden Trophies here as well, so if you don’t want (mild) spoilers, you might want to turn away now. I assure you, these are really just things like boss names and vague references to story events, but I know some people like to

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How much dock could a Steam Deck dock if a Steam Deck could dock… wood? Okay, so that woodchuck tongue-twister reference didn’t really pan out as I’d hoped… Anyway, I’ve finally taken a moment to check out Valve’s long-awaited first-party dock for the Steam Deck, and I have to say, I’m feeling pretty lukewarm about the whole thing. To be honest, I was never really all that interested in a dock to begin with, as I have no qualms about playing the Deck exclusively in handheld mode. I did end up buying a JSAUX Steam Deck dock a couple of

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Today, IO Interactive has revealed the Year 2 October roadmap for Hitman 3, and a lot of it is pretty spooky. However, there’s also an item that no one would have expected, the banana. Yes, you will be able to permanently unlock the banana in Hitman 3. Now, you might think this is a silly addition, but the banana is actually a super useful item. You can set up traps with it, causing your victim to slip into deadly hazards. It’s a super-sneaky way to get those accident kills. Now let’s talk about the spooky stuff for a minute. On

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If I were a complete master of Marauders, I would write a guide to maximizing your playtime with this extraction-style diesel-punk game, teaching you how to completely destroy your enemies and earn massive piles of loot while you’re at it. Unfortunately, I kind of suck at it. I’m definitely getting better as I play more of it, but my experience is still kind of a struggle. Then again, I think there are probably a lot of people in my shoes. With the player base camping raid entrances and picking off under-equipped players, gaining any ground in the game can be

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Trepang2 kind of came out of nowhere, at least for me. I remember thinking, “I never heard of Trepang 1 let alone knew there was going to be a Trepang 2.” So let’s start by clarifying that the title isn’t Trepang “Two,” but rather Trepang “Squared,” although this doesn’t really go a long ways towards explaining what exactly the title is referring to. Especially since Trepang is also the name of the development studio. But the game’s title isn’t really the point of my rambling. What it looks to be? Well, that’s where things start to get exciting. I loved

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Jack-o’-lanterns. Orange and purple lights. Spooky decals. If you live anywhere that values the concept of fun, you’ve probably been seeing these things pop up around you lately — or maybe you’ve been getting in on the decorating yourself! That means it’s the Halloween season! While it’s always fun to sit back with a good horror movie, book, or game, this is the time to go crazy with all things horror. If you’re looking for some more vintage-styled Halloween fun, though, we’ve put together a list of five great pixel art games worth playing during the Halloween season. Halloween Forever

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If you’re playing Marauders, then you definitely want to be checking in with your daily contracts. Every 24 hours, a fresh batch of five contracts shows up, and you can manually select which ones you want to be active (you can have three active contracts at a time). If you’re not sure where to find these contracts, check the Contracts tab in your menu in between runs. That sounds obvious, but there are a lot of people who don’t figure out that this tab even exists until they’re several hours deep into the game. Anyway, one of the contracts that

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In Marauders, a lot of early-game crafting items require a resource called Junk Scrap. Some examples of recipes that use Junk Scrap as an ingredient include the Bowie Knife, the Sack Bag, the Pirate Helmet, and the VZ-Klobb. You might have tried unsuccessfully to find this resource in raids, assuming that maybe your luck was just super bad (or super good, depending on your perspective). But here’s the thing: You actually can’t get it this way at all. So how do you get Junk Scrap? Well, it’s actually pretty easy. You just need to go to your Crafting menu and

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I love a good life sim. I fell head-over-heels for Medieval Dynasty and I’m champing at the bit to play Wild West Dynasty whenever it eventually releases (assuming it doesn’t get cancelled). So when I stumbled upon Chinese Frontiers while browsing through Steam Next Fest titles, I knew I had to have it. I will have to wait until it releases, of course, which it’s planned to do in Q3 of 2023. In Chinese Dynas… err.. Chinese Frontiers, you play the role of one of many Chinese workers in a settlement tasked with building the Great Wall of China, in

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I think it’s pretty safe to say that when it comes to Red Dead Online, Rockstar Games is phoning it in at this point. I don’t say that lightly; I myself am a player with over 1,000 hours invested in this online Wild West sim (which was my most-played game of 2020 by a long shot). But when there hasn’t been a substantial update in over a year, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the live-service aspect of the game has officially died. But Rockstar is still going to attempt to revive this tired old dog for at

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I love a good third-person, no-nonsense action shooter. Give it a sci-fi coat of paint and you’ve really caught my interest. If the trailer for Scars Above is indicative of what the final game will be, well, I think you can consider me successfully wooed. Space-shooter-slash-horror games are in vogue right now, so one could be forgiven for glossing over yet another trailer for yet another space shooter. But even amongst the onslaught of wannabe Dead Space successors, Scars Above manages to stand out with its crisp and clean art style and visual aesthetic. It isn’t blindingly bright or colorful,

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IO Interactive has made much ado about Hitman 3‘s upcoming Freelancer mode. This new game mode blends Hitman’s stealth/assassin gameplay with roguelite and extraction elements — equipment you bring into the field is lost upon death, but equipment you acquire and bring back to your base is yours to keep. It sounds like a ton of fun, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. However, before today, we didn’t really know when that was going to be. IO Interactive has now revealed the release date for this new game mode: January 26, 2023. That’s just over two

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In House Party‘s Doja Cat Expansion Pack, there’s a lot of stuff to do. But one of the most challenging activities in this expansion is getting some alone time with Doja Cat herself. So can you actually do that in the game? Well, yes, you can, but it’s complicated. I will also say that Doja Cat’s romance scene is one of the tamest in the game, and it’s also cut short by… well, you can just see that for yourself. So how do you unlock this steamy scene? The answer: You have to basically do all of Doja Cat’s tasks

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In Shovel Knight Dig, you start out with the classic blue armor that you probably think of when you hear the term “Shovel Knight.” You can also buy and equip other types of armor, many of which have perks or stat bonuses. However, the game makes you jump through some hoops before you can access this feature. So I’m going to walk you through the process of opening up the armorer’s shop, and then I’ll explain the process of unlocking each set of armor. How to unlock the armorer When you step into Hoofman’s shop (to the right of where

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Shovel Knight Dig is an incredibly addictive game with a lot to see and do. As is expected from pretty much every game these days, Shovel Knight Dig has a pretty robust selection of Achievements to challenge the mightiest of knights, though in this game they’re called Feats. There are 50 in the game at launch, though it’s possible we’ll see more added down the road. Or not. Who knows? If you want to see your currently completed Feats, simply pause the game and go to the Options menu. From here, select the Feats option, and you should bring up

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There are several categories of items in Shovel Knight Dig, and Accessories are probably the easiest to wrap your head around. Basically, they provide temporary upgrades for when you’re spelunking your way through the mines. These are found in the mines themselves, and they will only last until the end of a run. Unlike Relics, you can have multiple Accessories equipped at once. When you start the game, your pool of potential Accessories has 15 options, but you can unlock a dozen more as you progress through the game. How to unlock Accessories in Shovel Knight Dig Unlocking Accessories is

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In Shovel Knight Dig, there are several categories of items that you’ll unlock through the course of the game (such as Shovel Blade Techniques, which I’ve talked about in a separate guide). Relics are alternative weapons that you can equip on top of your Shovel. If you’re using an Xbox controller, Relics are mapped to the Y button by default. These can be picked up inside the mines, but know that they’re temporary — when your run ends, your equipped Relic goes away. You can only have one Relic equipped at a time, so if you have one equipped and

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In Shovel Knight Dig, there is a character you’ll meet named Master Argus. He’ll show up randomly in secret rooms throughout the mines to teach you Shovel Blade Techniques. You’ll definitely want to understand how these work if you want to get the most out of this devious roguelite. What are Shovel Blade Techniques? First, I should explain what Shovel Blade Techniques are and how they work. These are basically temporary upgrades for your Shovel Blade. There are eight Shovel Blade Techniques in Shovel Knight Dig at launch (it’s possible they’ll add more with patches or DLC later down the

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In Shovel Knight Dig‘s randomly generated worlds, you’re going to find a lot of golden gears scattered throughout the mines. These are called Cogs, and you’re going to want to collect as many of them as you can. So what do they do? Well, every section of a stage has three Cogs, and when you reach the end of a section, a container will appear. That container has three slots on it for Cogs, and it will release gemstones based on how many Cogs you’ve found. But it gets better… If you get all three Cogs in a section of

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Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy is an odd little RPG that packs a lot of really interesting details into its world and gameplay systems. The sound design is incredible, for example, and the game has a “Fortune Test” system that essentially lets you draw tokens that determine whether or not you succeed at an action. But it’s the barter system that might be its single most innovative feature. Unexplored 2 is a game without money. So when you encounter merchants who have items you want, you’re going to have to find something to trade. The way this works is that

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Session: Skate Sim could never quite capture my heart the way Skate did. And Skater XL has filled the niche for me in Skate‘s absence (although a Skate revival is at hand). I saw the value offered by Sessions: Skate Sim, but I just could not wrap my head around the less-than-intuitive approach to player control. In Skate, you would use the left analog stick to steer; flicking and rotating the right analog stick would cause you to bust tricks. Skater XL changed this up slightly by having the left analog stick steer your character if you pressed left and

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Soulstice was making its way around the Half-Glass Gaming offices even before it was released. My cohort Dave and I both attended an online preview event back in June, and afterward, I was allowed to play some of the game (it turns out, my demo included chunks of Act I, but not all of it). Later, Half-Glass Gaming’s Julian Watkins tested out a larger demo on his Steam Deck. We’ve already been talking about this game internally for a long, long time, but now the game has finally been released into the wild. As I’m typing these words, I’ve just

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There’s an episode of Rick & Morty in which a giant head crashes on Earth. When asked what it wants, it says “Show me what you got.” The episode is from Season 2 and it’s called “Get Schwifty,” in case you want to see it for yourself. This could perhaps be a reference to the 1974 film Zardoz (starring a young Sean Connery), which opens with a flying head, though it’s possible these are both just separate pieces of media that each contain a floating head. It’s not like Zardoz had a monopoly on the floating-head concept, even way back

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While Cyberpunk 2077 has come a long, long way since the disastrous launch, there’s still plenty of jank to be found in the game. I would argue that, at this point, Cyberpunk 2077 is less janky than something like, say, Fallout 4, but that doesn’t mean you won’t encounter weird physics glitches in Night City. For instance, I encountered this goofy situation: I was fighting off some baddies beneath a concrete bridge, when some random woman just strolled through like it was no big deal. But she didn’t walk like a normal person — she would walk a few steps,

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With the acquisition of my shiny new Steam Deck, I have been on a game-buying tear; sniffing out deals and scooping up as many titles as I can. So when I got an alert that Death Stranding was on sale on Steam last week, I wasted no time adding it to my library. (I should point out that, at the time of this writing, the sale is still live, though you’re going to want to scramble if you want to pick it up before it expires.) Although I’m having a blast playing Death Stranding on my Steam Deck (it looks

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Soulstice is a massive, massive game that probably goes on just a tad too long for its own good. But that doesn’t mean it’s not done telling its story. In fact, it seems plausible that Reply Game Studios is already plotting a sequel. Now, before I get into this, there are two things that I need to make clear. I’m going to try to be as spoiler-lite as possible here, but I will have to talk about the game’s ending at least a little bit. I don’t have any official information about Reply’s plans on this; everything I’m about to

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If you’ve been playing Soulstice, then you’re probably familiar with Layton, a masked figure who will sell you items and upgrades at various points across the game. However, he’s also a tome of lore for the world of Soulstice, and exhausting his dialogue options will allow you to learn a whole lot about this universe. So I decided that I would painstakingly transcribe every single one of his conversations across the entire game. It’s no small feat, but it’s definitely worth it for lore hounds. Also, I should point out that you can use CTRL + F to search for