Various Sims 4 careers require a set of skills to get higher up the food chain. These attributes also come in handy for general hobbies, allowing your Sim to show off their talents. To help you level up these attributes instantly, here are all Sims 4 skill cheats of 2024.

Sims 4 Skill cheats guide (2024)

To use cheat codes in Sims 4, you must enable them first. For PC users, it's 'Ctrl + Shift + C'. If you're a Mac user, it's 'Command + Shift + C.' For console users, whether PlayStation or Xbox, you just need to hold down all four shoulder buttons simultaneously. A text box will appear in the top left corner to enter your desired cheats. If you need more help with this, check out our guide on enabling cheats in Sims 4.

The primary string you need to enter is 'stats.set_skill_level [Skill Name] X'. Replace X with 1-10 to set your Sim's skill level, where 10 is the standard maximum rank. However, some attributes only go up to Level 3 or 5, so bear that in mind whe??n inputting cheats. You must then replace the '??Skill Name' with the desired talent.

Skills are broken down into two categories: Major and Minor. While Major features 10 Levels for career-related activities, Minor is reserved for lower ranks that don't necessarily tie into any jobs. Sims 4's expansion and stuff packs also open the door to other skill cheats that? aren't usable in the base game. You'll need to buy separate add-ons to access these specific attributes, including horse riding, knitting, and bowling.

We'll break down all Sims 4 skill cheats by providing in??formation on the base game (for adults), chil?dren, toddlers, and add-ons.

All Base Game Adult Skill cheats in Sims 4

All Child Skill cheats in Sims 4

All Toddler Skill cheats in Sims 4

All Expansion and Stuff Pack Skill cheats in Sims 4

The Horse Ranch cheats c??an be a bit tricky since you'll need to get the animal's ID first. To find it, open up the cheat text box and enter 'sims.get_sim_id_by_name (Enter horse's first and last name here)'. Once you've acquired the ID number, note it down to max out the horse??'s skill set.

Additional Sims 4 skill cheats will continue to roll out as more expansion packs are released. There are usually one or two skills from these add-ons, including the most recent Thanatology talent from the Life and Death pack. The base game sometimes provides more skills for free, but it's very rare to happ?en.

If you want to stay on the Sims 4 cheat train, check out our guides on debugging items and changing the weather.

The post All Sims 4 skill cheats in 2024 appeared first on Destructoid.

Four-versus-four carnage

Crash Team Rumble will release for PlayStation and Xbox consoles with crossplay enabled on June 20, publisher Activision and deve??loper Toys for Bob have announced, but what can players expect? At a hands-off preview event, we saw gameplay, mechanics, and finer details about the upcoming title including a closed beta that will run from April 20 to 24.

In the beta, players will be able to control Coco, Crash, Dingodile, Neo Cortex, or Tawna across three different maps in a four-versus-four team-based multiplayer experience. Each character has their own power, personality, and resulting playstyle with each being categorized as a Scorer, Blocker, or Booster. A Scorer's role is to collect Wumpa fruit from around the arena and bring them back to the team's bank to deposit them. A Blocker's job is fairly self-explanato?ry, in that they will be doing all they can to stop the enemy team from achieving points by depositing Wumpas. A Booster will be capturing Gems which will increase their team's score multiplier, and activating Relic stations which give special powers and boosts to give their team the advantage.

These roles will not be ??set, so there's nothing stopping a Blocker from depositing Wumpas at the bank if they want to. This flexibility and freedom to take on any role could make or break a team - it's great that the option is there, but let's h?ope teams can communicate well enough to avoid uncontrolled chaos.

Standard-versus-Deluxe

[caption id="attachment_369586" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Toys for Bob[/caption]

In amongst the carnage of battle, there's also an important decision for Crash fans to make b?efore they can access the closed beta. The only way to gain entry is to pre-order th??e game, and the Standard edition will set you back $29.99. That version includes seasonal events and limited-time modes, as well as the premium battle pass unlock for the first season. The Deluxe edition contains all of the above, as well as the premium battle pass, unlock for season two, and 25 instant tier unlocks on the first season's premium battle pass. It also includes a Proto Pack with skins, a unique banner, and more cosmetics, and will cost $39.99.

Crash Team Rumble is currently only set to release on PlayStation 4, P??layStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, and when we asked Toys for Bob whether there were any plans for PS Plus or Xbox Game Pass collaborations, they commented that they weren't looking to discuss that at this time. The same was said regarding a Steam or PC release. It would've? been nice to see a PC release lined up alongside the consoles. Either way, console owners can still get their hands on the closed beta which runs from April 20 to 24.

Not a MOBA

//youtu.be/becrLd9GOB4

Though gameplay leaked today ahead of the announcement, Crash Team Rumble looks fun, engaging, and entertaining. Toys for Bob is the studio behind the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy, Spyro Regnited Trilogy, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Speaking about the development process, associatecreative director Lou Studdert and creative director Dan Neil said they were "super excited" to be able to work on Crash Team Rumble.

Neil said that throughout the process for Crash 4, they were already thinking about where to take Crash Bandicoot next. "How can we create something fresh and exciting?" he pondered. Studdert also commented that they wanted to take the "authentic core Crash DNA which is tied to intense, precise platforming, and marry that with a multiplayer competitive gameplay." This brand-new approach for Crash Bandicoot is a myriad of different things, but there is one thing it definitely isn't, as Studdert explained. "I want to clear the air first and say it is not a MOBA. Crash Team Rumble is not a MOBA!"

[caption id="attachment_369589" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Toys for Bob[/caption]

The duo ended up summarizing t??he game as a competitive platfor?mer, and within the official reveal trailer characters such as Crash himself, Coco, and Dingodile can be seen demonstrating the mechanics around a beach environment. Fireballs rain from the sky as Crash hops from gem to gem hoping to increase his team's multiplier, before eventually depositing all of his Wumpa fruits in the team bank to win the game.

The nature of Crash Team Rumble seems to be that players will be able to easily jump into games for engaging, high-octane fun at a moment's notice. There's nothing too intricate or confusing, and the fun element is definitely present in good, old-fashioned Crash Ba??ndicoot style.

Crash Team Rumble will be released for PlayStation and?? Xbox consoles on June 20. Pre-ord?ering the Standard or Deluxe edition of the game will grant access to the closed beta which runs from April 20 to 24.

The post Crash Team Rumble lau??nches in June, with a closed beta in April appeared first on Destructoid.

Eyes up, Guardian

Destiny 2 players are gathering in the game's central hub, the Tower, to pay their respects to Lance Reddick. The voice actor of the Titan Vanguard, Zaval??a, passed away on March 17, and within minutes of the news breaking, Guardians were flocking to the Tower to hold a vigil for their beloved commander.

//twitter.com/??saniyaga?/status/1636818291938263040?s=20

If you head to the Tower yourself, players can still be seen by Commander Zavala, paying tribute to Reddick's work. Members of the community, as well as Bungie staff members, have also been sharing their trib?utes to the actor online.

"I loaded into the tower to go salute Zavala and was happy to see a lot of people crowded around Zavala just sitting nearby, some coming to salute with an emote and then leaving. Y'all made me feel good about this community and it makes me happy seeing everyone paying respects," said one user on the Destiny 2 Reddit forum.

//twitt??er.com/SchviftyFive/status/16368??10257224835072?s=20

Bungie released a statement shortly after the passing of Reddick ?was announced.

"Lance Reddick was an iconic presence on screen, in Destiny, and most importantly, in person. His love for our community shined through in Commander Zavala, in his uncompromising dedication to his craft??, and out of the radiating kindness that touched those around him," reads the message. To say he will be missed is a profound understatement, yet no less true. Rest in peace, Lance."

[caption id="attachment_369433" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Reddick was known to be a big fan of the Destiny franchise, hosting many live streams of himself and his friends playing the game while interacting with the community. This personabl??e approach to his role as Zavala was deeply appreciated by fans, and his role ?in the game would see the Commander become somewhat of a leader, a father figure to New Lights, and an advisor to Guardians worldwide.

/??????????????????????????/twitter.com/JoshKulinski/status/1636879110357258241?s=20

Reddick was also well known for his career across TV and gaming, starring in shows such as The Wire and Fringe, and for his supporting role as Charon in the John Wick series. As Commander Zavala, he will forever be the headstrong leader of the Last City and Destiny's Guardians. He will be truly missed.

The post Destiny 2 players gather at the Tower to pay ??respect to Lance Reddick appeared first on Destructoid.

How to find the Node.Ovrd.Avalon Vexcalibur Exotic mission

It's only week two of Destiny 2: Lightfall and already Bungie is adding more and more content with the expansion. As part of the Season of Defiance, players can now embark on a hidden Exotic mission to find the (very cool) Glaive, Vexcalibur. There's plenty of lore and some se??crets hidden within this quest, but it's not the easiest or most obvious to find to begin with.

Head to the EDZ using the Gulch landing spot. You can do this solo or with friends, it doesn't make much difference. If nobody in th?e area has found all of them already, you will need to seek out six little glowing Vex nodes to jum??p through to obtain a keycode. This keycode will open up a cave. The locations of the Vex nodes are:

• By the billboard at the back of the loading zone
• Next to some trees on the right
• In the middle of the landing area where the public event usually takes place
• On the hill on the right side of the spawn
• Next to the Lost Sector entrance floating in the air underneath the road
• On the hill above a yellow box

[caption id="attachment_367504" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

They're not hard to miss, they glow brightly and emit a Vex-like noise as you get closer to them. Collecting all of these will give you the cave's access code. From the tunnel, you'll want to travel up the road, keep left, and look in a corner for a newly opened cave entrance. Head in here and drop down, and you'll see a friendly Harpy. This is pretty important to the Exotic mission's lore. Fans of Destiny will probably know what's about to be signified within. You can start the quest from a marker in here, and from?? now on it'll also appear on ??your EDZ overworld map for easy return.

How to complete the Node.Ovrd.Avalon Vexcalibur Exotic mission

[caption id="attachment_367505" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

There are a few puzzles in here and a bit of a tricky time finding the right path, to begin with. This mission isn't matchmade, so if you?? don't want to do it solo you'll have to either search for a fire team online or link up with some friends. There are three main sections that are connected by a series of Vex networks and stunning environments. To begin with, there's a code consisting of shapes that you'll have to shoot on a pylon in the correct order whilst the Vex try to attack you. Once all of these codes have been successfully entered, a new pathway will open up with more enemies. Kill them all, progress through, and you'll soon come to a circular room with a conflux in the middle.

[caption id="attachment_367506" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Kill enemies to gather purple motes which need to be ??dunked at the central conflux to open a "safe" pit below. This pit isn't actually all that safe, but your fire team won't wipe in here. In the left corner of the screen, it should tell you how many motes to collect and dunk to open the safe area. After two rounds of doing this a boss will spawn, put enough damage into them and they'll disappear for another round of mote collecting. This can get a bit chaotic, so try to manage the enemies and get rid of as many as possible whilst collecting the motes. The boss will then come out again and can be defeated here allowing you to traverse to the next section of the Exotic mission.

[caption id="attachment_367507" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The final part of the mission is a fight against a reimagined Brakion from the Pyramidion strike which was on IO but was then sunset. Asher Mir guides you throu?ghout the Exotic mission so it's very fitting that Brakion, his old nemesis, is the main boss for this mission. There are a few phases to this fight, some of which will require inputting codes to break an immunity shield he puts up. These function in the ??same way as the opening section, consisting of shapes that must be entered in the right order to progress. They are sunken into triangles on the ground and quite difficult to find if you don't know where to look.

[caption id="attachment_367508" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The final phase of the fight sees Brakion lose ?his head and run around frantically. That's not a turn of phrase, just like in the old Pyramidion strike, his head actually does fall off. Kill him to finish the quest, and Asher Mir will direct you to the corner of the arena to pull the aptly named Vexcalibur out of some Vex stone.

What is Vexcalibur?

[caption id="attachment_367509" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Vexcalibur is an Exotic Glaive with three achievable catalysts and seven secret intrinsic perks to find, although only one is available for now and requires a separate quest. The Glaive has a shield that can be used to deflect incoming damage which then charges a Void over shield. Getting melee kills will recharge this over shield each time, and extend its timer. It, therefore, has the capability to have an infinite Void over shield, which could prove hugely useful in end-game and difficult content in Destiny 2.

Destiny 2: Lightfall is out now on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

The post How to find the secret Exotic Glaive Ve?xcalibur in Destiny 2: Lightfa??ll appeared first on Destructoid.

Unlimited barricades?!

With the launch of Destiny 2: Lightfall came a new Darkness subclass, Strand. Whilst the initial fan reception to Strand was pretty underwhelming, as time has gone on the more dedicated players have had time to dig deep into the new subclass and come up with some powerful new builds. We've already covered Warlocks and Hunters, with armies of Threadlings and infinite enemy sus??pension all possible. This tim??e we're going to take a look at the space shooter's brutes, the Titans.

We're looking to cre?ate a build that will give unlimited barricades to protect against incoming enemy fire as well as turn you into a suspending machine. We're obviously going to be using the Strand subclass, and some important aspects, fragments, and armor mods to hel??p achieve that.

Aspects and fragments

[caption id="attachment_367272" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

We'll first be using the aspect Drengr's Lash. This creates a ripple that travels f??orward along the ground, suspending and damaging any targets it hits when you use your class ability. This means whenever you use your barricade, it will also be suspending and damaging any enemies in its path. We're also going to use the aspect Into the Fray. This grants woven ma??il for you and your nearby allies when you destroy a Tangle or cast your Super. When you do have woven mail, your melee regeneration rate is also increased.

The fragments we will use here are Thread of Mind, which grants class ability energy when defeating suspended targets, and Thread of Warding which grants woven mail when picking up orbs of power. The woven mail provides a ??valuable 60% over-shield to protect against incoming damage. The next fragment we'll use is Thread of Wisdom which gives orbs of power when defeating suspended targets with precision final blows. This will be valuable to create the orbs of power to collect in order to transform into woven mail. Finally, we'll be using Thread of Generation which generates grenade energy when dealing any kind of damage.

We'll be using the shackle grenade which suspends ene??mies it hi??ts.

Exotics, gear, and armor

[caption id="attachment_367273" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

This build will synergize with the lesser-used Khepri's Horn exotic helmet. This means that Solar damage kills will recharge our barricade which then also unleashes a blast of Solar energy when it's summoned. This might not seem like the best choice at first glan?ce, but it will really work with this build as not only will we be activating the Solar blast but also the suspension ?due to the Strand aspect.

As we need a Strand weapon in this build we'll be using the Synchronic Roulette Strand submachine gun in the kinetic slot. We've managed to roll one with Target Lock which increases the damage the longer you hold down fire. Remember that the Exotic relies on Solar damage k??ills to activate its Exotic perk, so we've chosen to use the Solar grenade launcher Explosive Personality. This will recharge our barricade and give it that Solar blast to cause devastation to foes.

Finally, we've also chosen the Solar sword, The Lament, for the heavy weapon. When Strand targets are suspended, Titans ca??n launch them??selves into the fray and mow down all of them. This will give health back when revving the sword's charge too.

Artifact mods

On the artifact, there are three Strand build mods for this Titan that we'll want to ensure we have unlocked. Untangler means that destroying a Tangle with a Strand weapon will suspend targets damaged by its explosion. Allied Unraveling means that any rapid final blows using a Strand weapon will grant that weapon Unraveling Rounds, which lasts longer when near allies. Unraveling rounds will cause enemies to literally un?ravel before your eyes into a pile of Strand matter which then explodes, causing damage to all nearby foes. F??inally, Threaded Blast means that destroying a Tangle with a Strand weapon will create a larger and more damaging explosion.

Armor mods

[caption id="attachment_367274" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The armor mods will really bring this build into its own. On the helmet, we're going to use Strand and Solar siphons to get as many orbs of p?ower as possible. On the gauntlets, we're going to use Heavy Handed which creates orbs of power on power?ed melee final blows as well as Momentum Transfer which reduces the melee cooldown when you cause damage with a grenade. Finally, we're going to use Harmonic Loader to increase the reload speed of Strand weapons.

On the chest armor, we'll use Lucent Blades to synergiz?e with The Lament. This will increase the energy recharge?? rate of equipped swords. We'll also use Melee Damage Resistance which reduces incoming damage from point-blank enemies.

On the boots, we'll use Recuperation which replenishes health when?? picking up orbs of power, and a Solar Weapon Surge which gives Armor Charge as well as a small bonus to Solar weapon damage. Finally, we'll use Orbs of Restoration which regenerates ab?ility energy when picking up orbs of power.

On the class item, the mark, we'll use Utility Kickstart which means that when our class ability is fully expended, we gain more. As well as this, we'll add Time Dilation so that when we're not using a bar??ricade, we can make Lament stronger. We'll also use Bomber? which reduces grenade cooldown when we use our barricade, the class ability.

With all this in mind, you've got a strong Titan with long uptime on woven m??ail over-shields that can almost infinitely suspend and damage targets with a Solar blast, which creates devastating explosions when destroying those enemies with Tangles too. This is one of the st??rongest Titan builds possible right now, and worth considering for the upcoming World's First raid race which begins March 10 for the new raid, The Root of Nightmares. Good luck, Guardians.

Destiny 2: Lightfall is out now for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

The post Best Titan Strand build in Dest??iny 2: Lightfall Season 20 appeared first on Destructoid.

What is happening?

[WARNING: This review contains light campaign spoilers]

Since the release of Destiny 2, many questions in the space shooter's lore history have been answered, but many more have been equally opened. Unfortunately, it seems that Bungie has struggled to adjust to its "new" release schedule, with Lightfall intended initially to be the closing chapter of the "Light and Dark saga" �a narrative which has been ongoing since the release of the original Destiny in 2014.

As it now stands, this saga is expected to end sometime in 2024 with the release of the closing expansion The Final Shape concluding the story's 10-year span of content. With so many questions left to answer, does this negatively impact our experience of Lightfall? In short yes, but also no.

[caption id="attachment_364139" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Destiny 2: Lightfall (PC [reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Bungie
Released: February 28, 2023
MSRP: $49.99 / $99.99 for Lightfall + Annual Pass

Destiny 2: Lightfall is the seventh expansion of Destiny 2 and the eleventh expansion in the Destiny franchise. It follows the s??tory of "The Witness" who is threate?ning the solar system, or Sol, the Last City, which is the only remaining safe space for humanity, and "The Traveler", which is a mysterious giant sphere associated with the Light. Assisted by its newest Disciple, Emperor Calus, The Witness hopes to cause a second collapse and destroy humanity for good. But first, it must find a mysterious object called the Veil.

Lightfall opens with a chaotic cutscene that sees some of the Vanguard such as Saint-14, Amanda Holliday, and others racing through the sky in ship??s, trying to fight off the Witness' fleet of pyramids that surrounds the Traveler. With a mere flick of its wrist, the Witness decimated a Guardian and their Ghost, as well as sending out a shockwave to destroy multiple ships dotted through the sky. Seeing the carnage, the Traveler fired a huge beam of Light at the pyramid ships and the Witness.

This terraformed all surfaces it touched but did not affect the Witness who floated through the beam untouched. The Witness then connects mentally with the Traveler and unveils its secrets including the plane??t of Neptune and the hidden city of Neomuna, which houses the Veil. The Witness calls upon its newest disciple, Calus, for aid and Osiris begins to understand what the Witness has seen. He orders the Vanguard to Neptune to defend Neomuna and work with its leaders, the Cloud Striders, to protect the Veil.

//www.y??ou?tube.com/watch?v=i-7Cq7LLPr4&ab_channel=Destiny2

Dealing with history

Your first duty as a Guardian is to hijack an enemy ship and set it to self-destruct before rapidly exiting with Osiris. During this mission, we find ourselves face to face with a terrifying new enemy, a Tormentor. As it grabs me, restricting my movement and applying a suppressing effect to all my abilities I am genuinely fearful of this new creature. I spend the rest of the campaign on edge, waiting for more to appear, and they do. Bungie has balanced the Tormentor appearances so well that I'm never quite sure when one will turn up, and when they do, it's always horrific. Learning their exposed weakness areas and dealing with them efficiently as a fireteam is paramount to survival, and they are one of the best new additions to Destiny 2.

As we progress through the events of Lightfall we can't help but think that this must feel very alienating to new players. There's a lot of lore, some explained and some not. What is the Veil? Well, no one seems to know exactly. Destiny has always focused on storytelling, worldbuilding, history, and intricate relationships, all of which are difficult to keep up with even for die-hard fans of the game. It turns out that the Veil, an object of paracausal power, has been hidden in Neomuna since the first Collapse, and Savathun, The Witch Queen's protagonist, is responsible for hiding ??it. The Witness sends Calus to Neptune to find it and?? set up a link between it and the Traveler.

The Witness and Calus originally intended to use something called the Radial Mast to connect with the Veil, although nothing about what this actually is or how it came to exist is explained which is more than  a little frustrating. Regardless, we soon find ourselves in a room fighting off giant tanks, Calus' Shadow Legion forces, and trying to destroy the Radial ??Mast to prevent the Witness from making this connection.

[caption id="attachment_366630" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Wielding new powers of Darkness

Throughout the campaign, which is available at either normal or legendary difficulty, we're introduced to Strand, the new Darkness subclass. Using Strand, Guardians can grapple through the air, hooking onto enemies before slamming down on them causing them to explode. Strand gifts Guardians with extreme mobility and whilst the?? new subclass can take some time to get to grips with, when it clicks it's incredibly satisfying. Osiris is your teacher as you learn how to wield Strand and a difficult exercise in learning how to best utilize Strand in the campaign is repurposed in the activities available after its completion in the form of a time trial.

The build crafting overhaul featured in Destiny 2: Lightfall means that it's simpler than ever to find something that works exceptionally well, and by day two I had already created a Strand Hunter build that could almost infinitely suspend groups of enemies, rendering them helpless to my relentless bullet fire. Defeating these suspended enemies spawns Tangles which can be shot to cause a blast radius of damage or thrown for a similar effect. Strand is not built to rely on one or two abilities to cause huge damage, but rather to wield the battlefield to your advantage, stringing a series of effects together to devastating effects. When you realize this, it? becomes one of the strongest subclasses in the game.

[caption id="attachment_366510" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Neomuna, the lifeless city

Landing on Neomuna for the first time is awe-inspiring. Its neon-draped streets are the most modern Destiny has ever looked but it's deathly quiet. As the Cloud Strider Nimbus explains, all of its cit??izens have uploaded themselves to a metaverse of sorts. In their place are some fragmented yellow figures �at first I thought this was some sort of weird futuristic grass, but no, they're supposed to represent Neomuna's population.

Nimbus is a bright, sometimes clumsy, often goofy new character. They begin the campaign as Rohan's protege and end it as the protector of Neomuna. Nimbus could be used to provide context and story around the Veil and Neomuna but they just... don't. Having said that, their voice ?actor is both fantastic and engaging and I have nothing but praise for them.

[caption id="attachment_366632" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

I'm an avid Destiny 2 fan, I play almost daily with my clan, and I am struggling to see how this expansion would bring in new players. And even then, will said newcomers stay beyond the campaign to discover what the Veil is, what the Witness does next, and how this decade-long saga will come to an end in 2024? I wouldn't blame anyone that doesn't. Personally, however, I definitely need to see the end of this saga.

Prior to Lightfall, I felt Destiny was at its strongest point ever. The narrative was exceptional, the character development was unrivaled by any other FPS, and the future seemed both terrifying and wildly exciting. After Lightfall, I am still intrigued to see what happens next, but I think that lies solely with my thousands of logged hours and personal emotional investment that may not exist for new players. There is so much potential in Destiny for ??newcomers, but it isn't easy to?? find, and Bungie often doesn't help them along the way.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Destiny 2: Lightfall appeared first on Destructoid.

Lightfall truly has arrived

It's been a huge week for the Destiny 2 team at Bungie. On February 28 the latest expansion, Lightfall, was released and the player base came out to support in its masses. Not only did Destiny 2: Lightfall see massive numbers and a surge in co?ncurrent players, but it broke its own previous Steam record.

As shown on SteamDB, the record for the number of concurrent players on Steam prior to February 28's release of Lightfall was around 292,000. This happened with 2019's release of the Shadowkeep expansion, which was the first major DLC to be released independently by Bungie after acquiring publishing rights for the series from Activision earlier that year. 2022's The Witch Queen came in close, but Lightfall saw a record-breaking 316,750 concurrent Steam players logging in to discover the secrets of the newly discovered city of ???Neomuna.

It's unclear what precisely drew so many Guardians into the game at once with the launch of Lightfall. Is it the new Strand subclass? Perhaps it's the new storyline detailing Calus and his Shadow Legion's invasion of Neomuna in search of the Veil? Maybe it's just hundreds of thousands of people excited to continue with the seasonal storyline, which sees Mara Sov team up with Guardians to face Xivu Arath's impending war. Whatever the reason, the record has been smashed for Destiny 2 by over 10,000 players.

Our end begins

[caption id="attachment_361843" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Destiny 2: Lightfall is the penultimate installment in the Light and Dark saga of the game, which will be concluded with 2024's The Final Shape. Bungie recently released a mammoth blog post detailing the year ahead, and it is expected that players will hear more about the future of Destiny within the next? 12 months as we draw closer to the next expansion's rel??ease.

The post Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion shatters its own concurrent player record on Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

A paracausal superposition?

It's finally here. Lightfall has been released for Guardians worldwide and with it comes the new Darkness subclass, Strand. The campaign reveals a lot of information about this mysterious new power, and Osiris is present to hold our hands and help us uncover its true capabilities. Some Guardians may remember Beyond Light, where the full power of Stasis wasn't readily available and some steps needed to be completed before we could wield it??.

Strand is no different, and there are some steps to follow to unlock the Strand subclass in Destiny 2. It's reasonably straightf?orward though, and it's an exciting adventure to set out on. In addition to being a devastating offensive tool, Strand can be used to create a grappling hook for ultra-fast world traversal, to give Guardians a protective Strand layer of armor, suspend enemies in midair and reduce their damage output.

How to unlock the Strand subclass

[caption id="attachment_366404" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Strand needs to be unlocked before it can be used throughout Destiny 2, but Guardians will get their hands on it from quite early on in the new Lightfall campaign. There are several steps to complete, but Strand will be fully unlocked by completing the Lightfall campaign. To begin the campaign, ??an automatic prompt ??will appear in the game the first time you log in after purchasing the new DLC. This can be canceled and you can enter at any time by selecting Neptune on the Director screen.

Throughout the campaign, there are multiple opportunities to wield the power ??of Strand to slowly get familiar with the new subclass. You'll spot dense areas of Strand threads in locations where this is possible, and Osiris is usually on hand to assist with the technical side of things. More power can be given to Strand as Guardians unlock Aspects, Fragments, and different Grenade functions.

How to unlock Aspects, Fragments, and Grenades

[caption id="attachment_366126" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

After completing the campaign to unlock Strand, the next objective to make the most of your new Darkness subclass is to acquire all of its Aspects, Fragments, and alternative grenade abilities. To do this, head to the Pouka Pond near Strider's Gate. Here, similarly to Ikora in the Tower, you can meditate and acquire the desired upgrades. Completing these upgrades will cost Strand Meditations, which is a currency earned by using Strand and completing public e?vents, lost sectors, and the Terminal Overload activity on Neomuna.

Each Aspect costs 150 Strand Meditations, Fragments cost 200 Strand Meditations and Grenades cost 50 Strand Meditations. Grenades can't be bought until the Aspects and Fragments you were able to try out throughout the campaign have been bought. These will be the only available?? Aspects and Fragments until you've bought them all.

Destiny 2: Lightfall sees a brand-new campaign, new subclass, and new seasonal storyline?? and ?is out now for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

The post How to unlock?? the Strand subclass in Destiny 2: Lightfall appeared first on Destructoid.

Mysterious Mechanical Creatures

Destiny 2's mysterious creature, the Pouka, has been subject to much speculation ever since one was first seen back in early 2020. They've not been sighted much since then, but Bungie has released a Pouka figurine with the Collector's Edition version of Lightfall. As shown off in pre-release trailers, lore books, and Lightfall marketing materials,? Poukas will be much more promin??ent throughout this campaign.

Still, there remains limited information about them. We've explored the lore books and trailers to discover all there is to know ab??out these new mysterious mechanical creatures th?at could be seen floating around Neomuna on February 28.

What is a Pouka?

[caption id="attachment_366126" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

The Pouka is a small airborne mechanical creature that slightly resembles a fish or butterfly, and the one we're familiar with spends its time accompanying Elisabeth Bray, also known as the Exo Stranger. Looking at the lore for the pre-order bonus weapon Quicksilver S?torm reveals that it is a juvenile Pouka, and this could hint towards the Pouka being a native species to Neptune or Neomuna specifically. The? Exo Stranger discovers the Pouka on an abandoned space station in orbit toward Pluto.

In the Season of Arrivals in mid-2020, Eris Morn spotted a Pouka hanging around her camp and mistook it for a Ghost. The Drifter is known to lack trust in the Pouka, as he and Eris discovered it at the Beyond camp on Europa, alone. Until now, no further information had been available about the Pouka, but in the lore book Bitter from the Lightfall collector's edition, there lies?? some interesting ??information.

Pre-order bonuses

[caption id="attachment_366127" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The Quicksilver Storm auto rifle and the Speed Metal ghost shell are exclusive pre-order items for Lightfall and ho?ld some important information about the Pouka. In these lore entries, the Exo Stranger is exploring the outer reaches of the solar system and discovers the abandoned space station near Pluto.?? When she enters, she discovers modern equipment and a giant human handprint which we assume belonged to a Cloudstrider, the native race of Neomuna.

She then discovers a ghost named Tokki who was on the space station looking to resurrect their own Guardian. Tokki shows the Exo Stranger several things including some advanced technology and "nanomachines" that she has crafted into her own ghost shell, before introd??ucing her to the Pouka. The Exo Stranger is very intrigued by the nanomachines as she's never seen anything like it, but cannot get them to function until the Pouka registe??rs her in the machine's systems.

Quicksilver Storm

[caption id="attachment_363043" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

In the Quicksilver Storm in-game lore, the Exo Stranger says, "Someone out there has a weapon I've never seen before, don't understand, and don't know how to defend against. The closest thing we've seen to this is SIVA, and these bugs are so far beyond that." The Pouka then registers Elsie Bra??y �the Exo Stranger �??as a new user, allowing her to investigate the discovered weapon further. She pulls the trigger, which causes the Pouka to emit a distress call. Since Elsie found the giant handprint, we can also assume this advanced technology is linked to the Cloudstriders, too.

Collector's Edition

[caption id="attachment_363044" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

In the Collector's Edition lore, this story continues. Elsie takes Tokki and the Pouka with her after leaving the station but Tokki departs later to continue searching for their Guardian. Elsie is then alone with the Pouka and after some time she learns that she can use it to begin to relive old memories. In the lore book Bitter, Elsie relives memories that are indicated with an emotion such as satisfaction. Elsie becomes fond of ??the Pouka after this point, referring to it as a "field therapist" and her "pet". The Exo Stranger has lived through many time loops, so she finds the Pouka invaluable as it helps her to relive past memories and sort through them.

Rediscovering Stasis

[caption id="attachment_268422" align="alignnone" width="640"] Destiny 2 Stasis[/caption]

This is also how the Exo Stranger rediscovers Stasis. Elsie vaguely remembers using Stasis in previous time loops but cannot remember how she began to wield it. By using the Pouka to look through her past memories she discovers that previously, someone else always learned Stasis before her but was corrupted by it. This time, she vows to be the first and visits ??the Pyramid ship on Europa. In the lore book Bitter, the pyramid seems to be aware of Elsie's time loops and that she is "too early" this time. This c??ould mean that the saga's scariest protagonist, The Witness, is aware of Elsie's time loops too.

As Elsie attempts to claim Stasis? from the pyramid it manifests a Nightmare of Ana, her sister, to torment her. Continuing in the Bitter lore book it reads, "The Europan Pyramid pressed shapes into her heart the same way Pouka could, but the molds it cast were deeper and more urgent." After tormen??ting her, Elsie manages to break the Nightmare's bond. "The Pyramid's gift for constructing this revenant was a grand imitation of Pouka's gift," the book reads.

This implies that the Pouka is so powerful at uncovering memories that the Pyramid doesn't phase the Exo Stranger, even when imitating her sister. Bungie has a theme that Darkness is about memory and remembering and the Light is about forgetting??, meaning that the Pouka is more closely aligned with the Darkness. The Pouka guided Elsie through the Pyramid ship by avoiding the "pools of Darkness" as well as helping her to uncover her memories on how to discover and wield Stasis.

Subclasses

//youtu.be/fTPJy0m9n6A?t=2

Since Stasis and Strand are both Darkness subclasses, it remains to be seen whether the Pouka will become important in learning how to discover and wield Strand. Strand is about "consciousness" and requires Strand to access the weave, something which connects all living beings. On the topic of Darkness, the lo??re reveals that Elsie realizes that Stasis is harnessed through her desire to control and debates how Darkness would respond if it could be wielded with other emotions. "What other abilities - what shapes and tools - could be forged by deference? Or compassion?" she ponders.

If Stasis is linked to controlling, then what is Strand linked to? In a trailer shown at The Game Awards 2022, Osiris mentions that rather than using strength he has learned to use power through loss. "Through loss, we can ??overcome the impossible," he says. You can see that timestamped above. Is the Pouka about to help us uncover the Strand subclass through its powers?

Only time will tell, as Lightfall releases on February 28 for PC, Xbox and PlayStation.

The post Who or What is ‘Pouka’ in Destiny 2: Lightfall lore? appeared first on Destructoid.

That's it, Guardians...

The servers are officially down in the lead-up to the release of Destiny 2: Lightfall on February 28. Bungie has had some surprises up its sleeves though, as it released a very heavy blog post detailing all of the changes being made to the game during the server downtime, which lasts for 24 hours.

Amongst all of the details, one controversial nerf has been spotted by fans. One of the most popular Titan Exotics in Destiny 2, Heart of Inmost Light, has had a huge change which severely diminishes its effectiveness. In the patch notes, Bungie detailed the changes being made to Heart of Inmost Light. Prior to the servers being taken down, the Exotic chest plate was giving a 150% class regeneration buff in PvE activities and 38% in PvP. After the changes, this?? drops to 25% across both PvE and PvP activities. As well as this huge drop, the duration of its Empowered buff will decrease from ten seconds to just five.

Bungie, why?!

[caption id="attachment_361917" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Bungie always has its reasons for adjusting equipment and weapons in Destiny 2 and it?????????????????????????? seems this alteration to Heart of Inmost Light is no different. "This change is intended to decrease how easy it is to get and maintain a 2x empowerment bonus in PvE, as well as redu?ce the total amount of bonus ability energy provided," Bungie said. "The goal is for Heart of Inmost Light to remain strong in ability-focused builds while giving room for other Exotics to shine as well."

The Exotic chest piece became popular for the Titan class in Destiny 2, as it regenerated ability energy faster than many other Exotics. This led to ability-focused builds that could create "loops" of using abilities almost endlessly, with those abilities also outputting higher damage numbers. This doesn't seem to have changed in the massive overhaul being done with the introduction of Lightfall.

Perhaps the most valuable thing about Heart of Inmost Light, though, was the fact it cou?ld be used with any subclass build. Without its effectiveness, there's a chance Titans will look to Hallowfire Heart for Solar builds, or another neutral Exotic such as Mask of the Quiet One.

All is not lost though, as there are plentiful reworks, system overhauls, new mechanics, and an entirely new subclass in the form of Strand for Guardians to get their hands dirty with when Lightfall becomes available on February 28.

The post Heart of Inm?ost Light nerfed l??ast second ahead of Destiny 2: Lightfall release appeared first on Destructoid.

Our end begins

Destiny 2: Lightfall is set for release on Tuesday, February 28, and players can expect a brand-new campaign mission, quality of life improvements, and the brand-new darkness subclass, Strand. Bungie usually brings plenty of content with its annual expansions and Lightfall is set to be no different.

The team has already detailed its long-term plans for the game as well as the new subclass, Strand, and its abilities and new in-game vocabulary to be aware of. We've seen an emotional season finale during which Rasputin learned how to trust humanity again, and in doing so sacrificed himself to save the world from the clutches of Beyond Light's main protagonist, Eramis. As guardians globally are now in their final hours of frantically preparing for Lightfall, when can you expect to be able to jump in and land your fireteam on the newly discovered city of Neom??una?

Planned server downtime

[caption id="attachment_361838" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

To allow for as seamless a process as possible, Bungie has announced that it will be taking the Destiny 2 servers offline for a full 24 hours. During this period, preloading Lightfall will become available. Luckily, Bungie has also detailed the install sizes needed for each platform. Starting at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM GMT on February 27, the Destiny 2 servers will be taken offline, with players being removed from activities 15 minutes prior to this. Players have until this time to wrap up any Season of the Seraph objectives as well as earn the seals for any of the seasons since the launch of The Witch Queen a year ago. This includes Season of the Risen, Season of the Haunted, Season of the Plunder, and Season of the Seraph. After this time, all of this content will be re??moved fro??m the game.

Lightfall install size

[caption id="attachment_361844" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Bungie has warned that the install size for Lightfall will be quite hefty, but following the initial load, the game will take up less space and see improved loading times. Most notably, Bungie has warned that anyone playing the PlayStation 4 version will need additional space to install the game, around 80GB, but that the old files will be removed after the installation is complete. PC users on both Steam and Epic Games Store will need at least 223GB of free space in order to preload Lightfall. There's a helpful article on Bungie's website that details this in full.

PlayStation 5

• Install size: 102.6GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 102.6GB

Xbox Series X|S

• Install size: 108.59GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 108.59GB

PlayStation 4

• Install size: 88.21GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 184.64GB

Xbox One

• Install size: 89.21GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 89.21GB

Steam

• Install size: 102.50GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 233.2GB

Epic Games Store

• Install size: 101.51GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 223.3GB

Microsoft Store

• Install size: 102.13GB
• Storage space required for the preload: 223.3GB

Players should no??te that the install size may vary dependent on the languages installed, and the install size shown is the maximum that ??may be needed.

So when can we play?!

[caption id="attachment_363154" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Destiny 2: Lightfall servers will go live on Tuesday, February 28 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM GMT. All players are required to download and apply the latest updates available for Destiny on their platform whether they have purchased Lightfall or not.

The post Dest?iny 2: Lightfall preload information: install size and server downtime appeared first on Destructoid.

Welcome to Vandelay Technologies

Hi-Fi Rush is a rhythm-based action game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was dropped on the globe as a complete surprise during an Xbox showcase on January 25, 2023, and was available almost immediately on Game Pass for PC and Xbox consoles.

Until recently, Japanese developer Tango Gameworks had been working on an entirely different genre of games, being responsible for The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo to name just a couple. Hi-Fi Rush could not be any more different from these releases if it tried, with a cartoon-inspire?d art style and a populat??ion of mostly robots.

The player takes on the role of Chai, a wannabe rock star whose heart is "accidentally" replaced with his own music player in a factory-based mishap, or experimental surgery dependent on your viewpoint. Vandelay Technologies, the corporation that took out said surgery, labels him a defect and begins a quest to remove him from the production line or, you know, kill him. A?gain, dependent?? on your viewpoint of course.

[caption id="attachment_365413" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Tango Gameworks[/caption]

Hi-Fi Rush (PC [reviewed], Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: Tango Gameworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Released: January 25, 2023
MSRP: $29.99

In this animated world, every action you take is synced to the outstanding musical soundtrack's beat, which includes licensed work from the likes of Nine Inch Nails and The Prodigy, amongst others. There's a handy "streamer mode", which replaces these licensed tracks with original works from the team at Bethesda, meaning those who'd like to share their Hi-Fi Rush gameplay onl??ine won'??t be hit with an inconvenient DMCA notice for broadcasting the music.

One of the most satisfying things about this though, is that the player doesn't actually need to be able to keep a beat at all. Unlike games such as Guitar Hero or the more recent Metal: Hellsinger, the actions will automatically sync with the beat. For those that do have a little more musical inclination, score ??multipliers and damage output will be ramped right up for every action players perform in time with the music, meaning it's more rewarding to do so but not a dealbreaker.

//youtu.be/pgd4aU56Kig

Slowly does it ... sometimes

Hi-Fi Rush gets off to a high-octane start, with a lot of activity both in the story and in the l??inear stages that follow. The game drip feeds information to the player, with the road to each boss battle teaching new skills and combat styles - such as a useful parry that allows for an immediate super strong retaliation as well as minigames that work in a “Simon Says�format. All the while, the animated environment is bopping away to the beat, with lampposts, machinery, and trees all bouncing in time w?hich simultaneously helps the player to ensure their button-mashing hits the beat too.

Chai himself contributes to the comic book ster?eotype, snapping his fingers and quipping about the music from time to time. Traversing through Vandelay Technologies, each area tells an unfolding story of how it began by manufacturing robotic limbs and evolved into selling robots. Kale Vandelay, the big boss man, seems to have a particular??ly interesting goal of using those robotic limbs and manufactured implants to control their user's minds.

Chai is slow to pick up on everything that the game is laying down, leading to some frustration in areas where the player really just wants him to understand the objective. Conversely, this is entirely why he is so charming as our protagonist. He's clumsy, comedically unaware of others' disdain towards him, but over and above all of that he is eager to be exactly who he is. His blissful ignorance becomes endearing and when he's partnered with some well-fleshed-out characters �such as Peppermint and her adorable robot cat, 808 �they give him the sp?ace to shine whilst facilitating his character development throughout the story.

No spoilers here, but there are some revelation??s that might make the player look at ??Chai slightly differently and the game is better for it.

[caption id="attachment_365460" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Sidekicks with an extra kick

Each of thes?e characters, with the exception of CNMN later on, can be summoned throughout the game's stages to bring their individual skill sets to certain puzzles, traversal difficulties, or battles. Peppermint has a gun to deal huge damage to enemies for a limited time whereas Macaron can remove enemy armor with a smash attack. Throughout the stages, earned currency can be used to upgrade attacks or buy new moves and passive abilities.

The boss battles are the best examples of combat in Hi-Fi Rush. They're imaginative with different puzzles and tasks to complete in each one, and the enemies themselves have varied attack styles and narratives surrounding them which kept me engaged and intrigued. The areas between these boss fights are often too long, and can get ti?resome especial??ly with so much currency and so many collectibles to uncover.

The rhythm element of the game really holds its own and brings an advantage, since enemies will also only attack on-the-beat, so their attacks can somewhat be predicted, dodged, or parried. This unfortunately does remove some of the challenge that comes with learning the game and can lead to some somewhat dull and predictable combat at times. That said, digesting the game in small one-to-two-hour bites negates this issue and leads to excitement to boot it up again. Hi-Fi Rush isn't meant to be fired through in marathon sessions,?? and shorter playtime sessions is the way to go.

[caption id="attachment_365461" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Twisted platforming with lethal consequences

The most satisfying moments in Hi-Fi Rush don't come from the combat or combos, but from the platforming that each environment tasks the player with traversing. As the stages progress, so too does the difficulty and complexity of these traveling phases. Environmental traps and hazar??ds such as billowing lava plumes and falling platforms are thrown in to catch Chai out, and the controller-wielder must hit the jumps and summon allies to break shields before the next beat in the music comes or the section is failed and Chai must start afresh. The strength o?f the soundtrack and clear beat makes this a breeze for those with an ear for it, and less so for those more musically challenged.

The soundtrack does fall flat sometimes, with the story's strong anti-capitalist message perhaps better fitting to punk music or just presented with a grittier overall style. It's a message we can all agree with, (except perhaps for Kale Vandelay), but the unadventurous, (if polished), gameplay doesn't quite deliver what Tango Softworks is aiming for. There are never any any opportunities to play as any character other than Chai is offered, and I found myself longing to wield Peppermint's guns or have the chance ignite the battlefield as an unnamed ch?a??racter that I'm not going to spoil here. Perhaps this would be a possible idea for post-release DLC or future sequels.

The gameplay concept for Hi-Fi Rush is very needed. Few other games on the market plug the gap for an accessible rhythm adventurer that doesn't rely heavily on skill to feel fun. Does the concept feel fulfilling though? Well, yes and no. Approaching the title in bite-size segments did make me genuinely excited to return to the game after a day or two away. And this, in turn, meant that I could learn important mechanics at my own pace, including how to parry? to the beat.

For someone who also works in music journalism, my skills are shaky, t??o say the least. But, having taken the time to improve these skills, I now feel better equipped to appreciate the game for what it is: a fun, quirky, sometimes weird, and often cheesy critique of capitalism. When I was ?less focused on how perfectly I was playing, I had a much better time headbanging through each stage. Just give me a wider variety of music next time and I'm sold.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game made available through Xbox Game Pass.]}

The post Review: Hi-Fi Rush appeared first on Destructoid.

Unlock the power of Strand

As Bungie gears up to release Destiny 2: Lightfall on February 28, the developer has collaborated with accessory designer SteelSeries on a limited edition collection of peripherals themed around Lightfall and its new city of Neomuna.

For Guardians wanting the optimal experience for learning the powers of the new Darkness subclass Strand, SteelSeries has added the Arctis 7+ headset, Aerox 5 wireless mouse, QCK Prism XL RGB mousepad as well as some performance thumbstick toppers for Xbox and PlayStation controllers. The accessories are currently sold out on the SteelSeries website but are available to pre-order through Bungie and KontrolFreek.

Teals, purples, and oranges weave a Neomuna-inspired color palette across the accessories, which only differ cosmetically from others of the same model. The Arctic 7+ wireless headset is compatible with PC, mobile, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch, but can be used with a 3.5mm audio cable for Xbox consoles. The Aerox 5 wireless mouse is ambidextrous and can last up to 80 hours on a single charge. The QCK Prism cloth mousepad measures 900 x 300 mm and has RGB lighting around the outside. It's water-resistant to boot, too. Finally, the thumbstick toppers offer extra grip and come in purple and green with the Destiny logo in the?? middle. Depending on where players order from, they could even come in a miniature Traveler case.

How to get the Luminescent Precision emblem in Destiny 2

[caption id="attachment_365402" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

That's not all though. For those in-game collectors, ordering any of the accessories also includes codes that can be redeemed for emblems and emotes. The emote up for grabs is called Viral Celebration and the emblem is Luminescent Precision. The emblem features the same colors as the new Destiny and SteelSeries collaboration peripherals do, to ??really coordin??ate your setup.

After purchasing any of the items from SteelSeries, Bungie, or KontrolFreek, the code for both rewards will be inside the box when your new acces?sories are delivered.

Destiny 2: Lightfall is set for release on February 28 for? PC, Xbox and PlayStation.

The post SteelSeries?? & Bungie team up for exclusive Destiny 2: Lightfall gear appeared first on Destructoid.

Eyes up, crewmate

The official Among Us Twitter page has shared a cryptic teaser about an upcoming collaboration, and eagle-eyed fans of a particular space shooter have gathered that it could be referring to Bungie's Destiny 2.

A message reading, "HMMM found an incoming message about some Impostors that might be hiding among a certain fireteam very soon..." was posted to the game's Twitter account on February 21, but had no further information included. Various silhouettes were also featured in an image that accompanied the tweet and the phrase "Eyes up, crewmate." Destiny 2's Commander Zavala has the catchphrase, "Eyes up, Guardian," which fans have taken to mean the teaser definitely refers to Destiny. Add to that the original tweet's choice of "fireteam" language, which is the term used to describe player groups of up to six in Destiny 2, and?? it's almost certain that fans will see an announcement of a collaboration between the two space-themed games very soon.

//twitter.com/AmongUsGame/status/1628092??269269065731?s=20

Bungie is set to release the Lightfall expansion for Destiny 2 on February 28, and there's speculation that this new Among Us collaborat?ion could coincide with that launch date, although ?this is unconfirmed at the time of writing.

That's ... only slightly sus

[caption id="attachment_363154" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

A collaboration with Destiny 2 certainly wouldn't be the first time Among Us has received crossover content. It's previously been paired with the likes of Fall Guys and Fortnite where players could select special Crewmate skins and cosmetics in-game. It's therefore not entirely untoward to expect that players could soon be customizing their Crewmates with reimagined Destiny 2 armor. As developer Innersloth has revealed that it plans on releasing new maps in 2023, alongside the recently released Hide and Seek mode, it could also delve further into the crossover and bring some of Destiny 2's Crucible maps to Among Us.

Among Us is available now for mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Destiny 2 is available now for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Related: All Destiny 2 DLCs and expansions on Dot Esports

The post Among Us teases Destiny 2 collaboration appeared first on Destructoid.

The beginning of the end

With Destiny 2: Lightfall releasing on February 28, the game is at its most exciting point yet. Lightfall is the franchise's penultimate expansion in the Light and Dark saga, meaning this story arc will soon be coming to an end, but the??re are plenty of loose threads to tie up before then.

On February 16, Bungie shared a 16-minute video documentary that gave fans of the series a deeper look at Lightfall and what comes next. There was plenty of information to sink our teeth into, and we'll dissect the Lightfall ViDoc and? bring you a??ll you need to know about its contents.

//youtu.be/mIlCRqj0ZsM

Osiris, the strand weaver

[caption id="attachment_364137" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

The beginning of the ViDoc shows the Traveler, which had an important cut-scene featured in the second week of February 2023, surrounded by The Witness' pyramids as well as Osiris wielding Strand fibers. Strand, as we now know, is the new subclass coming to Destiny 2 with the launch of Lightfall. Osiris himself no longer has the Light, the power which keeps Guardians alive, so it's interesting to note here that he is the one wielding Strand and teaching Guardians about it. It is described as something that everyone has within them and is?? not related to the Light, which is important for the narrative ahead.

Our end begins

[caption id="attachment_364138" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

The Witness' ship is shown in the ViDoc and we're informed that they will finally materialize physically to face off against the Traveler. This will be the first time players have seen the physical manifestation of The Witness ??in the game, and when it's followed by the quote, "Big shit is going down," we can't help but feel that's somewhat of an understatement. Involved in that "big shit" will be Crow, Amanda, Petra, and Devrim Kay. This is the first time in a while these characters have been heavily ?involved in an expansion's storyline, but it remains to be seen in which context.

New weapons incoming

[caption id="attachment_364139" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Several new weapons were shown off in the trailer, somewhat indirectly. In various c?utscenes and stills new weapons and armor could be seen. Firstly, an Exotic stasis bow called Verglas Curve that looks to freeze enemies at rapid speed, should make an interesting addition to most builds. We were also shown a short clip featuring a purple sword which we now know is the season's ritual weapon. This is the weapon Guardians can earn by taking part in ritual activities such as Crucible, Gambit, and Vanguard Ops.

In a loading in screen, there is some Lightfall-themed armor with plentiful bullets and a red and green aesthetic. The Titan's helmet seems new and could be an Exotic we haven't seen yet. The Quicksilver Storm from the pre-order bonuses is shown off, as well as a Strand ??tracking pistol that Bungie has previously revealed.

Guardian ranks and loadouts

[caption id="attachment_364140" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bungie[/caption]

Guardian ranks have been announced by Bungie already, but a new screen shows how this system will look when logging in after Lightfall rel??eases. There are 11 ranks to achieve, and each rank has individual sections of suggestions for ways in which players can achieve the next rank. This is not locked to specific content, and Bungie stipulates that these are only suggestions and not requirements.

The new loadout screens show all equipped mods and all armor pieces on one screen as well as some new weapon perks and armor mods. The seasonal sword is Solar energy and can roll with Incandescent, meaning that it can spread scorch stacks to enemies resulting in igniting them and causing huge damage. The seasonal grenade launcher has the ability to roll with the Volt Shot perk. If Guardians gain the ability to use blinding grenades and volt shot it could quickly enter the new meta, especially in PvP. Circular Logic, another seasonal weapon, is shown to roll with the Hatchling perk which we can assume is related to the n??ew Strand subclass and the threadlings connected to it.

In terms of armor mods, one new addition is the Font of Vigor arms mod which causes players to gain a temporary armor charge when collecting an orb of power. Armor Charge is shown to give a bonus to the stren??gth statistic, and decays over time. Melee Kickstart now also gains a temporary Armor Charge. Font of Agility gains? one temporary Armor Charge as well as a bonus to the mobility statistic. Void Weapon Surge causes one temporary Armor Charge as well as bonus damage to Void weapons.

Aside from these finer details, the remainder of the ViDoc focused on showing more of Neomuna as a city and detailing some patrol zones, as well as shedding a little light on some multi-guardian activities that will be coming to Destiny 2 when Lightfall releases on February 28.

The post Everything reveale????d in the Destiny 2: Lightfall ViDoc appeared first on Destructoid.

Pac-Man, but it's illegal

What do you get when you cross a bear with a huge bag of cocaine? Well, the answer's yet to be revealed, as the upcoming film Cocaine Bear isn't released until February 27. However, in the promotional run-up to its release the movie's official Twitter account has unveiled a surprise new game in the form of Cocaine Bear: The Rise of Pablo Escobear.

You play as the bear, in search of red bags of cocaine to help you run faster. The end goal? Catch up to the humans and tear them apart. Delightful, right? This browser-based game requires gamers to be at least 18 to play, which is a much stricter age requirement than Namco's original Pac-Man. Using simple directional inputs to navigate the maze seeking ??out your prey, there are ambulances? scattered occasionally throughout for additional bonus points and a regular supply of cocaine. Of course.

'It's addictive'

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The 8-bit style game was announced by the Cocaine Bear himself who Tweeted, "Here's something to entertain you," before divulging, "Play as me and share your high scores." Fans on Twitter have expressed a mixture of emotions in response to the surprise release. "It's addictive," said one, whilst another quipped, "Bear of the year. Game of the year."

Somewhat surprisingly, the movie tells a semi-true story of a bear who consumed too much cocaine after it was dropped by smugglers in 1985. The coked-up mammal went on to terrorize residents of Blue Ridge, Georgia. A huge stash of cocaine was later found by police, estimated to be worth around $20 million at the time. The black bear appeared to have eaten "several million dollars worth" of the stash, says the Associated Press. Sadly, the beast itself had overdosed and died.

Cocaine Bear will be released on February 27, but excited fans can get their paws on the free-to-play Cocaine Bear: The Rise of Pablo Escobear right now at the official website.

The post Cocaine Bear drops 8-bit promotional tie-in game wit?h Pac-Man vibes appeared first on Destructoid.

Genji or Mercy?

For the first time ever, Blizzard has introduced a new and interactive experience to the world of Overwatch in the form of Loverwatch - Love Never Dies. This strictly non-canonical dating simulator is completely safe for work, unlike many fan creations in the Overwatch universe, and allows the player to interact with either Genji or Mei on romantic occasions set in various recognizable Overwatch map locations.

As a reward for completing the game, exclusive titles and in-game cosmetics will be granted dep?ending on which options you choose. Up for grabs are the Hanzo Cupid's Kiss highlight introduction and cute titles which will automatically be applied to players' accounts. There are plenty of hidden Easter eggs, inside jokes, and a secret ending to discover, and finding all of them won't happen in just one playthrough.

Players can launch Loverwatch via the official website and it's suitable for most major desktop web browsers but unfortunate??ly won't work on mobile or non-desktop, web-based browsers. Playing ?through the storyline and choosing the correct answers will result in being able to choose whether you'd like to be your chosen character's friend or partner. Making bad selections will remove this option.

How to unlock the secret ending in Loverwatch

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Play through the game twice and make it to the "good" ending by selecting favorable responses to Genji and Mercy's questions and you'll be able to begin a third new game, this time romancing Cupid Hanzo, who insists that he is not in fact Hanzo and stresses that this absolutely is not canon, and players should not go updating Overwatch wiki pages. Okay then.

Compared to Mercy and Genji, Hanzo's dating storyline is short and sweet. There is one quest??ion response that changes the overall outcome, but achieving the good ending by telling him that he was your soulmate all along will also reward an additional Cupid's Arrow icon in-game.

How to redeem Loverwatch rewards

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After earning all potential in-game rewards, fans might be wondering how to get these added to their Overwatch 2 accounts. Unlocking the good endings for Mercy, Genji, and Hanzo will gift the maximum rewards including player icons, titles, and highlight introductions, and must be claimed on the Loverwatch official website before they can be used in Overwatch 2.

To claim the in-game rewards, select 'rewards' from the main menu, click the reward you want to claim, and then log in to your Battle.net account. Accept the permissions for sharing Battle.net account ID and BattleTag and choose 'allow'. The in-game rewards will then appear in your Overwatch 2 account within 48 hours.

But why?!

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Loverwatch wasn't always a Blizzard project. Back in 2016, it was a fan project created by designer and writer Lucy Morris. It was originally intended to be released for free and remain around indefinitely, whilst the current iteration is only available until February 28. The project originally begin in the period between the Overwatch beta and full release an?d began with the player visiting HQ and choosing a job that would decide which of three relationship storylines to follow featuring Genji, Mei, or Bastion.

Morris had previously worked with the likes of Ubisoft as well as her own independent projects, and whilst the original iteration of Loverwatch had a fairly big following on the likes of Tumblr, it's unclear whether the game ever made it through the development process as Morris stopped updating the Tumblr page in late 2017. Whilst the concept wasn't a new one (there are many dating simulators for Overwatch perhaps unsurprisingly), this was the biggest at the time. It's unclear whether the new Loverwatch is related to or inspired by this original, but fans can take a look for themselves on the official website until February 28, 2023.

The post Loverwatch, the Overwatch dating simulato??r is real, here’s how to play appeared first on Destructoid.

What does it mean?!

On February 12, 2023, Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn posted a cryptic tweet featuring nothing but a plain wall with a sticky note attached to it. Seemingly uneventful, right? Well, not exactly. That sticky note promised a "State of the Game" post on Bungie's website for the following day consisting of no less than 5,300 words, covering Destiny 2 Lightfall and the year ahead.

For those new to these articles, every now and then the Destiny developer team will share a blog on the state of the game, the future as they see it, and changes coming to future expansions. Generally speaking, ?these blog posts co??me about once every year or two, have plenty of detail, the contents are rarely if ever leaked, and it usually spells exciting new directions for the game.

Expand players' imaginations

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As the article dropped, Blackburn began by noting that each major update for Destiny 2 is released with the team's hopes to "get the gears" turning inside players' heads. This has become more prevalent with Season of the Seraph as the clues and hints around the universe foretell a story that is yet to be concluded. Some players have intricate and exciting theories, whilst others choose to take things as they see them, but Blackbur?n acknowledges that "this wasn't true for all of our releases last year" and recognizes that "it's going to take changes across multiple releases" to reach the final goal.

Blackburn revealed that season 20, which launches at the same time as Lightfall, will be called Season of Defiance. Umb??ral engrams and energies will be removed from the game, so when it comes to seasonal focusing Guardians will only need Glimmer and a seasonal engram. These engrams will also be stored and tracked with seasonal vendors.

Destiny 2 will no longer require players to hold stacks of the seasonal currency to open the bo??nus chest at the end of seasonal activities. Instead, the game will drop keys throughout the universe which allows for better rewards from seasonal activity chests. Blackburn also mentions that this will change the way players think of these additional chests. "Unlike today's seasonal currencies, keys won't drop every time you complete an activity," he said.

As well as ??this, seasonal vendor upgrades will be fewer but mo??re meaningful.

For future reference

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For the first time in a long while, Blackburn revealed the name of a future season early in the form of season 21, Season of the Deep. Following player feedback, Season of the Deep will not feature vendor upgrades at all, nor will the following season. "This doesn't mean players wi?ll never see a vendor upgrade system again," says Blackburn, but rather that more varied and experimental gameplay is on its w??ay.

In Season of the Deep and season 22, there will be "more fresh" activity experiences, similar to when t??he Shattered?? Realm was first introduced in Season of the Lost, or the debut of the Battlegrounds in Season of the Chosen.

More changes to weapon crafting

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Blackburn also noted that the way to craft desired weapons can be "too random" but that the ability to craft the exact weapon with the exact perks Guardians desire can take away the excitement of having a weapon drop with an excellent roll. For this reason, fewer total weapons will be craftable, and more long-term weapons will get added value from random perk rolls. In order to facilitate this change, starting from Lightfall non-crafted weapons will have the ability to be enhanced.?? This allows the dropped weapon to level up, use mementos and gain access to enhanced perks and intrinsic properties.

Enhancing will allow Guardians to take a random rolled weapon and enhance its existing roll "to match the full power of a crafted weapon." This will initially launch with Lightfall raid Adept weapons at the beginning of Season of the Deep. T??his will be expanded over the longer term to become available for "most" non-crafted weapon drops.

For crafted weapons, Guardians will now no longer see Deepsight on a weapon? unless it is something to make pattern progress on. This adds value to red-bordered weap??ons. Beginning from Season of the Deep, craftable weapons will be able to have Deepsight activated if Guardians do not yet hold the pattern.

Bring challenge back to Destiny

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Bungie has already acknowledged that most base content at a lower level doesn't bring any challenge to the game at all. In response to that, the team recently issued an ability tuning preview, which detailed adjustments to Guardian abilities comin??g to the game. Blackburn also notes that some enemy combatants "just aren't hitting as hard" as the team intends, so the cost of resilience mods will be increased from 1 to 2 for minor mods and 3 to 4 for major mods, as well as the amount of damage resistance granted by resilience being adjusted.

Bungie is issuing a balancing patch to gear-driven buffs as the introduction of build crafting updates and loadouts makes great builds more accessible to more players. Blackburn mentioned that the level of difficulty in the Season of the Seraph seasonal Battlegrounds was appropriate for Guardians' ability as well as the team's vision of the game. Due to this, Season of Defiance will be around the same difficulty level as well as the Vanguard Ops playlist activities. Alongside this, patrolling Neomuna will present a similar difficulty l??evel.

Enriched content

The Crucible is a place Guardians may fear to venture into, but it's a very replayable element of Destiny 2 and provides constant and changing challenges. Recently, new modes were added? to the PvP part of Bungie's game, and in Season of Defiance Bla??ckburn reveals that the Countdown mode will be returning alongside a respawn version called Countdown Rush. Players must detonate two bombs on the map before the round ends.

Checkmate Control is coming to PvP which sees weapon damage, ability uptime, and ammo adjusted to reward players who are skillful and smart. A new map will be coming to Crucible in Season of the Deep called Meltdown, as well as a new Vex Network map in season 22. The Citadel will return to the Crucible in the last season before The Final Shape.

Blackburn also revealed that the team is looking at the reward and matchmaking systems for Trials of Osiris and will be pushing more updates on that throughou??t 2023, as well as making it more clear for Guardians why they won or lost rank points in Competitive and making it easier for players to climb to their best-matched Crucible rank.

PvE is good for me

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Starting in Season 22, Destiny 2 will add an exotic mission rotator to the game. This will feature pa??st exotic missions such as Presage, Vox Obscura, and Operation: Seraph's Shield on a rotation basis. The team also hopes ??to use this same framework to add other classic missions to the game. Could this see the return of previously vaulted expansion content?

Inside the strikes playlist, Lake of Shadows and Arms Dealer will have objectives and encounters "reimagined and upgraded" to make them more relevant and match the difficulty levels of newer strikes. Battlegrounds from Season 16 and Season 19 will be added to the playlist, with some being added as Nightfalls. The Mars Heist Battleground is the first to receive this ???treatment, being part of the Nightfall rotation in Season of Defiance. This means that four of the six Nightfalls available as Grandmasters will be first-timers.

Guardian seeks Guardian for fun and frolics

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Bungie wants to enrich the way in which Guardians interact with one another. For that reason, Commendations will be joining the game with the launch of Lightfall. The Commendations system enables players to t??hank others that they appreciated playing with. "Pacesetter" and "Saint's Favorite" are exclusive to Trials of Osiris whereas "Perceptive" and "Knowledgable" are earned in raids and dungeons.

Game-wide text channels will change from opt-in to op??t-out meaning more players will naturally be put into text channels. Text chat is not becoming required, and opting out will be a quick and easy process.

Also joining the game is the Fireteam Finder which will launch alongside a brand-new dungeon in the final season o?f the year. Players will be able to queue for it from anyw??here in the game, tag posts with keywords, automatic joining as well as approve and deny features for Fireteam leaders.

With such a hefty dose of additions to the game, there's plenty for players to explore and discuss. The next Destiny 2 expansion, Lightfall, goes live later this month on February 28.

The post Destiny 2: State of the Game – Lightfall & the year ahead appeared first on Destructoid.

Lightfall is just around the corner

Destiny 2: Lightfall is set to release on February 28, 2023, and Guardians globally are preparing their characters for the penultimate DLC in the Destiny Light and Dark saga from Bungie. There are multiple ways to do this, and over the years many have discovered the optimal way to ensure they head into Lightfall with the best jump-start possible.

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With the new raid set to launch on March 10, the rapid power grind is vital to those who may be striving to beat the World's First race which rewards players with a belt engraved with their fireteam's name as well as the notoriety of being one of the fastest-thinking, strongest teams in the game. Others may want a slightly more leisurely ride heading through Bungie's new legendary version of the story campaign. With handy third-party tools such as Destiny Recipes on hand to track progress, players are fi??nding the preparation period easier than ev??er.

Bounty hoarding

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One of the most efficient ways to prepare for any new season is bounty hoarding, as cashing in all of the ?experience points from completing the bounties as soon as the expansion launches will see Guardians jump a few power levels early on. The difference now is that the seasonal artifact will function in a new way meaning that new abilities will be unlocked as seasonal perks.

For exam??ple, choosing to select an Unstoppable glaive perk will see all equipped glaive weapons also functioning as a means to stun Unstoppable champions, instead of requiring the insertion of a mod as before. This effect lasts for the entire season unless players choose to reset the artifact and choose different seasonal perks. To really maximize the potential from hoarding bounties, make sure to add an XP mod to the in-game Ghost. It's important not to hoard bounties from any seasonal vendors in the Helm. As they're disappearing at the end of the current season, so too will the bount??ies from player inventories.

Focus seasonal weapons

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In the Helm, every vendor now allows one focused red-box weapon per day meaning that unlocking the patterns for weapons is now easier than ever. With all of these weapons leaving the loot pool at the end of the current season, anyone wanting to be able to craft these weapons should collect as many patterns as possible. There are many suggestions on weapons to get before Lightfall drops, but some include the wave-??frame solar grenade launcher Explosive Personality, and the Season of the Haunted submachine gun, Calus Mini-Tool.

Vault spring cleaning

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With a lot of brand-new loot and weapons about to be released into the Destiny universe, plenty of vault space is important. Bungie has announced that Deepsight weapon focusing is leaving in Lightfall as well as the materials??, so any red-bordered weap??ons that haven't been used to get the materials to drop yet can either be dismantled if you have plenty of crafting materials, or used until the Deepsight progress reaches 100%.

Resource gathering

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Having a stockpile of resources is imperative for infusing and upgrading armor and weapons come the start of Lightfall, when powering up quickly is important. Glimmer, upgrade modules, enhancement cores and prisms, ascendant shards, and legendary shards are the most valuable ?resources to be collecting. Modules are used to infuse gear whilst enhancement cores, prisms, and ascendant shards are required to masterwork armor which may be beneficial after getting a h??igh-stat new Exotic piece. If players find their inventory is full, things like enhancement prisms and ascendant shards can be stored in the Postmaster, but be careful to regularly clear this out too, or risk losing them completely.

Finish the season pass

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It may go without saying, but the season pass will also be replaced with a new one at the start of Lightfall as season 20 begins. Getting the season pass to rank 100 will ensure that Guardians are getting the most for their money, and redeeming all possible rewards. Seasonal challenges are the quickest way to progress through the season pass, and completing all of them will reward a nice pile of bright dust for use in the Eververse store. If it happens that you simply forget to redeem all the rewards on the season pass, it is now possible to do this retrospectively on Bungie's website. Whilst it's not possible to level up past seas?on passes, it is possible to claim lost rewards that were? already unlocked.

With the launch of Lightfall on February 28, Guardians have also been contemplating the true powers of the new darkness subclass, Strand. There's plenty of new vocabulary, new enemy effects, abilities, and fragments to explore as well as new super abilities that seem to bring a whole new dimension to the world of Destiny.

The post How to prepare your Guardian for Destiny 2:? Lightfall appeared first on Destructoid.