Even though Risk of Rain 2 was a huge darling for the longest time, Gearbox ended up fumbling its first take on the game's DLC. Notably, Seekers of the Storm wasn't just unfinished but also ended up breaking the base RoR2?? experience, and now Gearbox is trying to salvage it.

More specifically, Seekers of the Storm is still "enjoying" a Mostly Negative review rating on Steam due to its many faults. Highlights include a remarkable number of technical problems (e.g. the reworked base game tied its physics to frame rate), a smaller amount of content than its Hopoo-produced predecessor, and a questionable balancing act for the new goodies. The former developers weren't thrilled with what Gearbox had done to the title, either. The good news, though, is that Gearbox did clear up most of the bugs introduced with Seekers of the Storm and it's now announced a r??emarkably comprehensive 2.0 fixing roadmap on what's to come.

Seekers of the Storm DLC is getting fixed with the 2.0 Roadmap

Generally speaking, then, Gearbox aims to revamp Seekers of the Storm in three phases:

• Phase One: redesigning all items (except for the Sale Star) for improved build synergy, reworking all Twisted Elite enemies to make them fairer, and reworking Gilded Elites.
• Phase Two: encounter rebalance (including damage and armor tweaks), ability clarification and visibility, and improvements to the final Boss room.
• Phase Three: improvements for all three Survivors' ability kits, with a particularly substantial rework of the Chef.

Bug fixing will, on the other hand, be delivered throughout all three phases depending on how the rollout goes. Thankfully, Gearbox isn't about to gut the good things from the DLC: "Some content, people already love," says the recent blog post over on Steam. "Stages, Survivor Skins, and Sale Star are all parts our team is particularly proud of. So, beyond bug fixes, those will rem??ain largely unchanged. The rest of Seekers of the Storm is where we’re focusing."

An example of what's to come is the Antler Shield item, which previously had a chance to reflect incoming damage. The 2.0 version of the item revamps it entirely into the Elusive Antlers, which increase movement speed and spawn orbs of energy that give stacking movement speed boosts and a temporary barrier. That's a ?massive improvement that's bound to make the Elusive Antlers a far more interesting i??tem.

According to Gearbox, we should expec?t a full rework to the Knockback Fin, Antler Shield, Bolstering Lantern, Noxious Thorn, Unstable Transmitter, and War Bonds items. At the same time, significant changes will be made to the Warped Echo, Luminous Shot, and Runic Lens items. The rest will be mainly just tweaked and balanced to make it more interesting in practice.

A solid showing overall, then, though it remains to be seen whether Gearbox can deliver. This is the company's first attempt at producing its own Risk of Rain 2 content after Hopoo Games sold the IP, and it's going to take a non-trivial amount of effort to bring it back from total derailment. Seekers of the Storm 2.0 is going to roll out "over the next fe?w months," says Gearbox, so let's see how that pans out.

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The new Ode to Castlevania DLC for Vampire Survivors has arrived, with over 20 new characters to unlock. There are a lot of specific rules, so we've made this guide to help clear the air on what you'll need to find your favorite Castlevania characters.

The DLC has a massive map, and there ?are a lot of places to go. As you defeat bosses, you'll unlock warp points that are persistent. These ??will allow you to hop to specific bosses and areas of the map faster in subsequent playthroughs.

There are bosses that certain characters need to kill to unlock more content. We've created a map below with the locations of these specific bosses. Make s??ure to check which character needs to defeat them in the table under that.

We have a list of every character and how to unlock them here. If you're unsure how to evolve certain weapons, check out our guide here.

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Vampire Survivors has finally come full circle (of the moon) with its latest Ode to Castlevania DLC. There's a whole arsenal of new weapons to find and evolve. This Vampire Survivors upd?ate? comes with over 20 new weapons, a couple of new passives, and a whole lot more.

To unlock the new weapons, you'll basically need to unlock the characters, which we have a separate guide for. Each character comes with a weapon, and you usually unlock that weapon for other characters by surviving with the original owner for a set amount of time. You can find these specific conditions in the Unlocks section of th??e game.

If you haven't played Vampire Survivors in a little while, you may have missed some updates. Here's our guide to the most recent Darkasso Update, which adds new "Dark Arcana??" cards. These are extremely powerful, and we recommend unlocking ??them as soon as you can.

We've compiled a handy guide so that you won't have to di??g around through a miserable pile of secrets. But enough talk; have at you!

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Knocking enemies out is a big part of the Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Fate of Atlantis DLC (I won't spoil exactly why here), ?and odds are a lot of you are coming out of a lengthy hiatus, having completely forgotten how to do the job.

We'll help you achieve this feat with our detailed Assassin's Creed Odyssey Atlantis DLC guide.

How do you knock people out in Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Atlantis DLC?

As an assassin, it's pretty easy to eliminate enemies with your diverse array of weaponry. However, what does prove to be challenging is the technique of taking them down without killing them. To help with this maneuver, here are a few ways you can knock people out in Assassin's Creed Odyssey:

• Unequip your weapons and use your fists
• Paralyzing arrows
• Sneak attack
• Sparta Kick ability

When you knock out enemies in the base game, you can recruit them shortly after. You'll gain some powerful allies in return, where you can hire them with a certain amount of gold. On the other hand, the Fate of Atlantis DLC doesn't permit you to recruit any characters whatsoev??er. You'll primarily see t?he option to 'Carry' them whenever they've been brought down.

Regarding the DLC, the only time knockout comes in handy is during the Dead Kings and Pretty Things quest. Your goal here is to take down enemies witho?ut killing them, similar to the recruiting tactic. In some cases, you may eliminate them by accident due to the playable character's robust skills. If this ha??ppens, you can wait until everyone respawns and try again.

Each knockout tactic prese??nts its own sets of challenges and prerequisites, including unlocking specific abilities. So, le??t's take a deep dive into what you need to do.

Unequip your weapons and use your fists

You'll likely be i??nclined to use your fists for a simple enemy knockout. For this, unequip one of your weapon slots using the inventory menu, then swap to your fists with the d-pad. Relentlessly attack your quarry until they're knocked out. You can also use Overpower Attacks via the Warrior Ability, triggeri?ng a weaponless special.

Alternatively, you can damage them using other means, then change to your fists? and finish the job. Just be sure there are no damage-over-time (poison, fire) effects on them; otherwise, they'll die.

It should be noted that this option isn't the most straightforward tactic, especially in the challenging domain of the Fate of Atlantis DLC. Foes will be much more difficult here, making it feel almost impossible to take them down. I suggest only using this maneuver when an enemy's hea??lth is at an all-time low. Punches don't seem to do much damage anyway, so use it as a last resort.

Paralyzing arrows

At this point, you can invest in alternate arrows in the Hunter skill tree. Specifically, you must unlock the Arrow Master ability, producing effects like Poison, Fire, Explosive, and Paralyzing. To avoid killing the enemy, use the Paralyzing Arrows. Go to your inventory and select the Craft Arrows slot. Th?en, use two pieces of wood and one piece of leather to make the Paralyzing Arrow. You'll gather these materials through the game's standard exploration, including defeating ships or eliminating animals.

Now, all you have to do is aim and shoot at your opponent with the Paralyzing Arrow. It should knock them out as a result. This method seems to be the most efficient way to knock out people in the Assassin's Creed Odyssey Atlantis DLC, as it ca??n be done from a long range. You can also aim for the opponent's head to possibly trigger an instan??t knockout.

Sneak attack

For the sneak attack approach, you can crouch and take them down from behind or get them from above. Pr??ess the inte?raction 'Knock Out' when close by. Note that this attack doesn't require you to unequip your weapons, so don't worry about an accidental kill.

If you see the option 'Unarmed strike' in?stead, this means that the opponent's health is too high to knock them out. I suggest hurting them a bit first and then running away to get yourself off their radar. Once they've lost you, return to them, and the Knock Out option should be there (as ??long as they already have low health).

You can actually see how much health a stealth kill attempt will chip away, so if needed, you can go for the "kill" strike, then swap to fists and end it non-lethally. However, this particular tactic will prove challenging in the Atlantis DLC, even?? at a high level. Sometimes, enemies may just shrug your attack off, making it the least likely scenario.

Sparta Kick ability

The Sparta Kick ability is the final method to knocking people out in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. You'll unlock this technique in the Warrior Ability section, which includes three bonus upgrades. The first tier lets you deal 160 percent Warrior damage without killing them. You can then? enhance the ability to deal even more damage, making it easier to knock them out. If you happen to miss the attack, you'll need to wait for your special to cool down. After a few seconds or so, the ability should be ready to give you another chance.

?Like the previous methods, you may need to deplete the foe's health first for a successful takedown. This is al??ways a good rule of thumb for easier and faster knockouts. At the most, you can perform the Sparta Kick twice to bring your target down.

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

The Dark Horizon

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

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

To assist players with navigating the new area, a new mechanical glider will give players the freedom to glide around the map to traverse longer distances with ease. According t?o Ben and Cindy, this is the biggest area they've created for the DLC, and it certainly shows. Of course, the new area will delve more into the N'Erud-specific storyline, and feature a new world boss for players to take on.

Attack of the Drone

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

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

I'm curious to see what sor??t of builds players much better than me will come up with, especially when mi?xed with some of the other unique Archetypes like Archon and Summoner.

Prisms - A new Grind

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

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

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

Boss Rush - A New Mode for all Remnant 2 owners

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

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

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

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

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

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During today's Nintendo Direct and Indie World Showcase, developer Sabotage Studio revealed details for the stylish RPG Sea of Stars upcoming DLC, Throes of the Watchmaker. The free side-adventure DLC ??is set to release on all platforms in Spring 2025.

The Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker DLC finds Valere and Zale venturing into a miniature clockwork w?orld called Horloge. In this magical clockwork kingdom, denizens are under threat by a cursed carnival, and require the assistance of the Solstice Warriors to adapt to their new surroundings to manifest their Sun and Moon powers.

According to Sabotage Studio, new features in the DLC will include all-new playable classes for both Valere and Zale, a new playable character named Arty, new areas, music, bosses, enemies, and puzzles. Also, Throes of the Watchmaker will add local co-op for up to three players.

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I think it's fair to say that most wouldn't exactly call Starfield a bad game. It had (has?) its moments, but it's generally a bit "meh." Even if you do really like it, it's certainly a far cry from what Todd Howard (and, indeed, Bethesda on the whole) was pushing for in terms of the next big thing from the Skyrim studio.

However, the team is sticking with it, and the first major DLC for the game is coming soon. Shattered Space (which launches September 30) will have a shorter, more focused narrative, while also leaning towards a horror vibe and, according to a recent post from Xbox Wire, it'll be akin to "classic Bethesda."

While we should always be cautious when it comes to marketing hype, it's been suggested that the DLC will be more in line with the likes of the expansions for Elder Scrolls and Fallout. More specifically, Shattered Space will be a "self-contained stor?y that plays with tone and mechanics that the main game didn’t." ?Make of that what you will.

To boldly say

I must admit, I do quite like the look of the trailer, though I can't help but get a slight whiff of Prey from it. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. We won't know how good the DLC is until it actually drops, so it's hard to say whether it'll give a bit of a boost to Starfield overall.

It's a shame it didn't live up to expectations. Currently, the game is showing as "mixed" for reviews on Steam. As I say, it's not bad. It's just not great, either?. For many (myself included), it was a question of waning interest. Considering the story was supposed to be about humanity's ??search for the biggest answers in the universe, it was somewhat forgettable.

Visually, Starfield is pretty spectacular, and it's one of the least egregious Bethesda games in terms of bugs. However, that's not the boast the studio likely thinks it is. Skyrim is riddled with glitches, yet it remains one of the most?? consistently fun and successful RPGs in recent memory.

Shattered Space could breathe a bit of new life into Starfield if it has a tight story that keeps players hooked. I mean, at the moment, SteamDB is showing the game at position 153 (ironically, one above Fallout 76 at the time of writing) in terms of the most played games?? on PC. I know it's been out for almost a year, but that's not what many of us were expecting for a sci-fi epic that was 25 years in the making.

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Paradox Interactive announced today that the new Stellaris: Cosmic Storms expansion for th??e sci-fi strategy game is set to launch via PC on September 10, 2024. The new expansion brings new technologies and edicts to respond to the new Cosmic Storm threat as well as the all-new Storm Chaser origin and two new precursor stories.

While storm systems already exist in Stellaris, the new Cosmic Storms expansion adds 8 new types of Cosmic Storms that replace the existing Space Storms and randomly spawn across the map. The new Cosm?ic Storms are Electric, Particle, Gravity, Magnetic, Radiant, Stardust, Shroud, and Nexus.?? The storms will automatically grow, shrink, and change speeds as they work their way across the galaxy.

Alongside the storms is the new Storm Ch??aser Origin, an empire of people that seek to push themselves beyond their own limits. As such, they strive for enlightenment by engaging with the new fierce Cosmic Storms that the universe sends at them.

With the new Storm Chaser Origin comes three new civics: Astrometeorology, Storm D?evotion, and Environmental Architects. There are also two new precursor stories that discover the stories of the Ancients, vanished masters of the storms: Weather Manipulators and the adAkkaris Convention of Benevolence. Completing each narrative will unlock a new relic.

Stellaris: Cosmic Storms will be released on PC via Steam on September 10, 2024, at the price point of $12.99. It's part of the Season 8 Season Pass and will also be added to the monthly Expansion Subscription for Stellaris.

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While some are complaining that new challenges brought by Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree are just way too difficult, some absolute madmen are finding ways of mak??ing the new DLC ev?en more challenging.

Spoilers for the final boss of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree follow.

The final boss that we have to beat at the end of the Shadow of the Erdtree is much harder than its respective counterpart in the base game, and is arguably one of the most daunting enemies in the history of Souls games.

But while some struggle, others are giving themselves challenges to make the incredibly tough fight harder, including no dodging or blocking. As originally spotted by Kotaku, that's an absolute non-issue for u/Recjawjind_fmfb, who even added â€??œno flaskingâ€?to the equation, and still managed to absolutely humble Radahn in under two minutes.

It seems as if the key for this astounding performance is prep work. Recjawjind stacks up on buffs, among them incantations that grant him higher defense and healing over time. Recjawjind also makes use of the Flask of Wondrous Physick, using a mix that makes their character invulnerable to one attack and that gives a sort of Hail Mary heal when one's character is nearing death. These, the right great rune (Malenia's, in this case), set of armor and talismans, all add up to ma?ke your character as resilient as Radahn himself.

The biggest takeaway for me is that, even though skill will always be an important factor, knowledge of the game will always be the most important thing. Make no mistake: the games in the Souls series are absolute meat grinders if you refuse to adapt, but studying and tinkering with all the tools at our behest? allows regular players to become so powerful that they'll even get to obliterate your enemies without needing all that much skill. The "Easy Mode" is all the intel you gather?ed along the way.

You can now play Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree ????on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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The Elden Ring Erdtree DLC was a blast (read all about it here!), and blew my? expectations? away. But how much stuff are you getting for your $40? As it turns out, a lot. Let's break it down.

The Erdtree DLC will be in the 20-30 hour mark for most players - that's expansion-level content!

Erdtree is a little unconventional in terms of how it's laid out. Think of it like a gigan??tic map, with a large degree of player agency in terms of where you can go. The DLC still has those little "light markers" to show where critical path bosses are ?lying in wait: but you can pretty much travel anywhere, and discover the myriad caves, side bosses, and crypts on the map.

It took me roughly 30 hours to get to the final boss in Erdtree, and that's wi?th a decent amount of exploration involved. If you were a little more speedy and wanted to rush things, you could chunk that down to 20 hours. Several large swaths of the map are reserved for side content and exploration-inclined players.

If you were to zoom through the critical path with a power build, it could take you less than 10 ?hours. But that's an edge case, and speedrunners will be able to go through it faster than that, skipping all optional bosses and zones.

If you want to do absolutely everything, it could take you 30 hours or more

So Elden Ring's first and presumably only DLC is massive.

If you were to do ab?solutely everything at a regular pace, it could take you 30+ hours to clean everything out. I'm talking about most major items, all the NPC quests and interactions, all additional "big" bosses, and the minor encounters (crypts and goals, which are dungeons and micro-NPC-bosses respectively, just like the base game).

Good luck! There are a few bosses (mostly critical path/story-related) who are absolut??e monste??rs.

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Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has finally arrived, and players are jumping back into the game en masse to play it. Unfortunately, Shadow of the Erdtree has also broken the game's popular Seamless C?o-Op mod.

Developed by LukeYui, the Seamless Co-Op mod allows Elden Ring players to play through FromSoft’s epic fantasy action RPG with their friends online without the base game's multiplayer restrictions. The Seamless Co-Op mod is one of the more popular Elden Ring mods, to the point where Elden Ring’s creator, Hidetaka Miyazaki, admitted that the mod had i?nspired him to re-think how co-op ??will work in FromSoft’s next project.

Sadly, Elden Ring players who woke up with plans to play through Shadow of the Erdtree with the Seamless Co-Op mod enabled have gotten a rude awakening. After Erdtree's release, the Seamless Co-Op mod stopped working, forcing Elden Ring ??players to fall back onto the base ga??me's usual co-op methods.

Fortunately for the millions who downloaded Seamless Co-Op, LukeYui is fixing the mod. In a statement on the mod's Discord page, Yui said that they've already finished what they believe will be a successful rewrite, allowing the mod to handle Shadow of the Erdtree's new content. That said, they? have not been able to implement all of the original mod's features yet. Once the mod’s finished, Yui plans to stress-test the mode to ensure it works.

I'm putting all th??e efforts I can manage to release the?? mod as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience

LukeYui, Seamless Co-Op Discord

There's no timeline for exactly when Seamless Co-Op will be up again, but I can say that Shadows of the Erdtree has more than enough conte?nt to keep PC players entertained until it's fixed. We've got some awesome guides on how to beat some of the DLC's early bosses, find the best new weapons and items, and where you need to go to kick off the next step of your Elden Ring adventure.

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With a game as big as Elden Ring, you better believe that it's worth digging up every single scrap we can with multiple writers on the case. Read on as Steven Mills and I dissect the gargantuan, and frankly surprising, Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (PC [reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S]
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Released: June 20, 2024
MSRP: $39.99

Chris Carter: Well, here we are, at the likely end of the Elden Ring era (at least, as far as the first entry is concerned). While it sounds hyperbolic to call it an "era," it really was! Everyone went crazy for this one, and many people who had never picked up a SekiSoulsBourne game grabbed this one for the first time.

I'm gonna be honest: I was blown away by this expansion. It reminds me of Artorias of the Abyss (the sole expansion-esque DLC for Dark Souls 1) in all the best ways, with a gigantic singl?e sandbox to play around in. It's one of m??y single favorite areas in From Software history. Thoughts?

Steven Mills: I totally agree, and here we are again with From Software exceeding my expectations in pretty much every way imaginable. This is the most solid overall DLC by From Software yet. I feel like it takes a lot of the good from previous DLC like Artorias of the Abyss, as you mentioned, as well as The Ringed City from Dark Souls 3 and even some Old Hunters from Bloodborne, while also still pushing everything forward. A gigantic sandbox is really the best way to put it. There's nothing on rails in Shadow of the Erdtree, and The Land of Shadow gives us the freedom to explore however we want, just like most of ?the base game. A true "expansion" in every?? way.

Chris: Yeah, it really does take a lot from columns A, B, and C. One thing I think they really leaned into is the "spiderweb/spokes on a wheel environmental design." Their philosophy has always incorporated this, especially with the Firelink Shrine in 2011 (time flies!), but with several of the specific areas in the Erdtree DLC, they can feel endless. Take one of the key a?reas, the Shadow Keep. I entered this zone fairly early in, and was finding new en??trances and secrets in it 10 hours later.

The best part is that if you actually want to just work through these areas and finish the DLC, you can. Nothing feels needlessly gated. You basically just go where you want, with a few story-related exceptions. It's a fantastic way to approach a DLC, without making it feel too small or too pointlessly wide open like some other studios. It's a skill they've honed for decades going back to their King's Field era. This just makes me excited to see what they can do for their next project: assuming it's not a Bloodborne PC port.

Steven: Oh yeah, the Shadow Keep is so massive and intricate that it quite literally feels like it could have been its own DLC, if this was an earlier Souls game. As for the actual level design, it's kind of insane how many different regions and biomes have been squeezed into this single release. My first Elden Ring playthrough was back in early 2022 when it origin??ally came out, but recently, I played through again to freshen up a bit and ended up taking this run in a very different direction  �both in terms of build/playstyle as well? as the path I took along the way.

People will be able to do the same sort of thing with Shadow of the Erdtree; there is no definitive path you must take to get to most of the zones. Early on in the DLC when I realized just how much was here, I asked myself that very question: where does From Software go from here? Elden Ring, and now Shadow of the Erdtree are such massive steps forward for the genre that From Software has been pioneering for over a decade now, but like you, I'm excite?d to see what that could be.

Chris: There are a few biomes that some people will likely never even see. And I will definitely be replaying this and taking a different route the next time I start up an Elden Ring run. It meshes so well, in the sense that you can completel??y ignore it or dive into it for as long as a chunk of the core game. That eventual all-inclusive Game of the Year edition is? looking even more enticing.

What did you think of the new enemies and bosses? Even the tombs with the bite-sized NPC encounters a??nd the DLC crypts felt fresh.

Steven: Yeah, it's pretty amazing how there's still very little overlap in boss encounter mechanics even after so many bosses! I will say, and I don't think this is a skill issue, but the bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree as a whole feel a bit tougher than the base game. Elden Ring features encounters all across the board ranging from rather trivial (Rennala) to painstaking difficult (Melania), but I'd say most Shadow of the Erdtree bosses trend on the tougher side.

Speaking of Rennala, one of the earlier boss fights in Shadow of the Erdtree is her younger sister, Rellana. Unlike her sister, Rellana is no pushover. A dual Greatsword-wielding fighter, Rellana carries a level of grace as she masterfully danced around her arena carving me up. I'm not proud of how many attempts it took me to bring her down, but in classic Souls-like fashion I felt quite accomplished when I finally did. The encounter somewhat reminded me of Dancer of the Boreal Valley from Dark Souls 3, which is one of my favorite fights of all time.

How did you fare with R?ellana? Is it a skill issue after all?

Chris: don't think it was a skill issue, haha. Rellana was a ton of fun, and I also thought of the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, as well as Pontiff Sulyvahn (Dark Souls 3 loves those elemental sword fights). I think people are going to be talking and sharing war sto??ries all over again, especially in terms of the boss difficulty disparity, depending on people's builds and approaches. Erdtree straddled the line between reusing enemies and introducing new ones, but it rises to the occasion and feels like its own unique thing.

Just like other Souls games, there are enemies some people will always run past and never beat, and several that folks will spend a ton of time on: and I'm not even talking about bosses, as the Erdtree DLC has these really neat flaming giants called Furnace Golems. You can see them stomping around f?rom a mile away and they add to the danger of ?the zone, and tie nicely into its theme.

Steven: From Software real??ly knows how to do scale, that's for sure. The Furnace Golems are such a nice touch, both in terms of the added threat in this new area, but also in illustrating the scale. My first glimpse reminded me of reaching Atlus Plateau in the base game for the first time; the feeling of immediately feeling small and unprepared for what's to come.

And I like that taking them down rewards you with new Crystal Tears, some of which have the potential to really change up some builds. But at the same time, I think someone could opt to just skirt around and not bother taking on the Furnace Golems. That's another really cool aspect of Shadow of the Erdtree is that all the additions and systems are still complimentary to the core Elden Ring experience. Even the new progression systems adds new forms of player p?ower while still respecting what players' have achieved in the base game.

Chris: Yeah, respecting time really is the core of what this DLC is about. You can explore for 20-30 hours and still feel like there's more to do. I like how there could be all sorts of speedrun categories for this, ??including how many DLC buff items (Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes) to use. It can be as tough as you want it to be, or you can slowly gain power. It's the best of both worlds, especially with how tough a few of the later bosses are.

Any closing thoughts? I was assuming this one would be a winner given how ?strong Elden Ring was as?? a whole, but it exceeded my expectations.

Steven: I think that's the biggest point here, is that even though my expectations were high, Shadow of the Erdtree still managed to exceed them. From Software probably could have just added more Elden Ring and that would have been solid enough, but instead, Shadow of the Erdtree is yet another innovative iteration of the genre.

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

The post Review: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree appeared first on Destructoid.

Another day, another disastrous launch from a recognized brand. This time, Bungie was in the line of fire after launching the latest DLC for Destiny 2. While The Final Shape is "shaping up" (how do I come up with such quality gags?!) to be ??a great addition to the game, there have been some major teething problems from the start.

After the new content was released, major connection problems were almost immediately noticed. As such, the develop?er has had to quickly step in with fixes and the promise of s?ome much-needed patches.

A recent post on Twitter/X from the Bungie Help account says that, as of now, Destiny 2 servers have been "brought offline for expected maintenance." This period is expected to last until 8AM PDT, but you can keep an eye on things via the Twitter account and/or the server status page.

Seems to be good, otherwise

After the debacle that was The Final Shape's poor connectivity and general server issues, fans immediately took to Steam to register their complaints, wher?e the DLC was downvoted to "Mostly Negative."

Fortunately, some mends and quick fixes were implemented and things seem to be only getting better. In fact, at the time of writing, the expansion is now at "mixed" and a lot of recent feedback shows that it could well be one of the best DLCs Destiny 2 has had.

However, there's that lingeri??ng metaphorical fart in the air once more, as we find ourselves enmeshed in the ongoing backlash against studios and publishers that are putting out content that's clearly not fit for consumption. Sure, the developer is on the case �which is typically how these things go �but it's a concern that day launch in this state to begin with.

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Vampire Survivors has established itself as a solid entry in the fairly niche "bullet heaven" category. Its simplistic yet chaotic style and retro-inspired visuals mean anyone can jump in. It's also been given a healthy dose of updates and DLC, and the latest one �Operation Guns �has just been released.

Essentially bringing the world of Contra to Vampire Survivors, the new download (which is currently 10% off on Steam I hasten to add) u?ps the octane to what some?? would describe as "high," thanks to the inclusion of guns.

As for a storyline (there is o?ne), i??t's described thus:

Are you a bad enough Vampire Survivor to save the President's cousin's sister's dog from th?e traitor squadrons of Red Falcon?

Well? Are you?

On top of the action-packed content, Operation Guns also comes with 11 "Contra-Tough" new characters, including Bill Rizer, Lance Bean, Ariana, Lucia. Wait. You also get 22 new automatic weapons to go with all that. Pfft! Hold your horses. I'm not done yet. There are also some Contra-inspired levels, such as Alien Zone and Neo City. And to finish us off good and proper, there are also several Contra tracks and remixes. I really hope you like Contra.

No, but seriously, if you haven't played Vampire Survivors, it's absolutely worth getting hold of. It's massively cheap as it is, but even if you don't want to buy it outright, it's on Xbox Game Pass. There, I feel I've done my due diligence to get more peop??le addicted to this ?game.

The post Vampire Survivors’ new Contra-inspired DLC is the most ‘action-packed’ one yet appeared first on Destructoid.

You wouldn't think a sci-fi game that was released in 2016 �with tomorrow marking its 8th anniversary �would still be kicking it in this cut-throat industry. However, Paradox Development's Stellaris has s?een an u??ptick in popularity recently, and fans can probably guess why.

Back in March, it was announced that the game was getting a new expansion in the guise of The Machine Age. Well, that time has now come, as the DLC released yesterday. As a result, Stellaris has jumped up the Steam Top Sellers list. At the time of writing, it's sitting at ?number three, having shot up a hefty 44 places. The new content itself is also up and down on the chart.

To add to this, the game is on sale over on Steam, where you can pick up a copy for a generous 70% off. That goes hand-in-hand with the DLC, I reckon. Also, The Machine Age comes with Season 8 of Stellaris, if that tickles your fancy.

What's in the new content?

A comprehensive breakdown g?oes into some detail about what exactly you'll ??get with the DLC. For starters, there are three new origins: Cybernetic Creed, Synthetic Fertility, and Arc Welders.

On top of this, there's a new Player Crisis Path and a new Endgame Crisis, which is described thus: "A tempest rages in space, a Fallen Empire goes dark, and a long-forgotten enemy emerges to shake the foundations of?? power."

If nothing else, it shows that eight-year-old games can still keep their collective heads above water with expansions and extra content. Now all I need to do is actually play Stellaris to see what all the fuss is about.

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Secret Base has announced the first free content update for Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon will bring survival and versus modes, online co-op, and new characters. The Sacred Reunion will be relea??sed on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch platforms on April 4.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon was released last year. I reviewed it then, and it was�enh. I??t was all right. I felt that the combat wasn’t that great and, at the time, you couldn’t really do much with the character swapping. You couldn’t tie your second character into your combo. I’m not sure how much has changed since then, as there have been patches to tweak the mechanics.

There are three characters joining the roster. One has been revealed, while the other two are shadowed out. I bet one of them is Sonny Lee, the disappointing and unremarkable third Lee brother. The revealed character is Ranzou, who was a character in both Double Dragon 3’s and also an unlockable combatant in Double Dragon IV. He’s a ninja wh?o fi?ghts with shuriken and a katana (or maybe a wakazashi).

Also being added is survival mode, which I assume is wave-based. There’s also a versus mode where you can give your friends a savage beating. Also included is online co-op. That should be?? good news for people with distant relationships, bu?t I prefer to be able to “playfully�punch the person I’m playing with. There will also be new upgrades.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragon is available on PS4, PS5, Switch, PC, and XBox. The Sacred Reunion DLC will be available for free on April 4.

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Paradox Interactive announced today that its popular space grand strategy title Stellaris is getting a new machine-focused expansion titled Stellaris: The Machine Age. Scientists have discovered advanced means to commune with machines, enabling life to overcome the biological limitations of minds and flesh. The Machine Age is ??developed by Paradox Development Studio and coming soon on PC.

New Origins

Three new Origins, essentially starting parameters in Stellaris, are coming in The Machine Age.

• Cybernetic Creed â€?/strong> Your empire pursues a divine calling: the holy fusion of the body and cybernetics. Augmentation is worship.
• Synthetic Fertility â€?Once a thriving society, a novel genetic disease leaves your empire unable to reproduce biologically. Digital salvation seems the only option to avoid extinction.
• Arc Welders â€?Hailing from a world starved for space, a robotic society turns to the stars for resources.