Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered recently launched on PC and consoles, which let players experience (or re-experience) this bizarre third-person shooter made by Suda51 (The creator of No More Heroes, Lollipop Chainsaw and more) and Shinji Mikami (The "father" of the Resident Evil franchise).

Players who may have already beaten this remaster may already want more, so where's the sequel to Shadows of the Damned, exactly? The thing is, it already exists inside another Suda51 game, as a parody of Shadows of the Damned's troubled development history which, of cou?rse, has something to do with its ?original publisher: Electronic Arts.

Shadows of the Damned fans can try out its sequel in Travis Strikes Again

In case you forgot, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is a 2019 video game by Suda51 that served as a stepping point between No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle and No More Heroes 3, which he eventually released in 2021. In his first adventure in over 9 years, series' protagonist Travis T?ouchdown forcefully teams up with Badman and gets inside the digital world of the Death Drive MK-II, a mysterious video game consol??e that will grant them a wish if they complete every single one of its games.

So, Travis has to acquire different spherical cartridges called "Death Balls" that hold a different fictional video game inside, and the same character actually developed all of them: Dr. Juvenile. At one point, Travis is looking for the only copy of Serious Moonlight, an ambitious RPG that Juvenile never released. He eventually loc??ates the Death Ball that one of Juvenile's former colleagu??es, Damon Riccitiello, took many years in the past.

Travis beats Damon up, gets the Death Ball and when he pops up Serious Moonlight on the Death Drive MK-II both he and the player encounter a huge surprise: an HD cutscene that shows Garcia Hotspur, the protagonist of Shadows of the Damned, escaping from demons and an unknown character, who eventually captures and manages to kill him. In his last moments, he gives all his power to his comedic gun sidekick, Johnson, who transforms into a bizarre superhero figure named E?ight Hearts.

Introducing: Damned: Dark Knight!

In one of the most unexpected yet brilliant moments ever put in a No More Heroes game, players find out that Dr. Juvenile completely scrapped Serious Moonlight because the technology of the time couldn't realize a game of such a big scope. Instead, she decided to make an unofficial sequel to one of her favorite games, Shadows of the Damned, simply titled Damned: Dark Knight.

Travis and Badman have to complete it in order to continue their adventure through the Death Drive MK-II's catalog. Needless to say, Suda51 and his team filled the entire level with references to the original Shadows of the Damned, as the ch??aracters have to explore and fight enemies in locations from the game, while the player reads dialogue that references its many bosses and events. This is an absolute treat for fans of this third-person shooter, and it proves that Suda51 still has some appreciation for the project.

Naturally, Eight Hearts is the final boss of the Damned: Dark Knight, and Travis immediately recognizes him because he's a self-proclaimed big Shadows of the Damned fan who even played through the original game more than 3 times. After he kills Eight Hearts, Johnson talks with Garcia again, goes through a circled portal to the "4th Dimension" and promises to save his fr??iend from that Hell.

Travis even concludes this exciting level with the phrase, "So, Garcia Hotspur is coming back. One more thing to look for...", which seems to have foreshadowed Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered, years bef??ore Grasshopper Manufacture announced ??it.

So, why did Suda51 did all of this?

For more context, it's important that we remember the messy development history that Shadows of the Damned went through. This was a joint venture between Suda51 and Shinji Mikami (Both had previously worked together on 2005's Killer7) and their original concept was simply titled Kurayami. This was going to be a psychological horror game with little-to-no combat and no guns at all, and with art inspired by The Castle, by Franz Kafka.

All this sounded very different from what Shadows of the Damned is and this is because everything changed when Electronic Arts entered the frame. At one point, Suda51 and Mikami managed to get in touch with EA in order to get funding for their new project, since it was much more ambitious than anything they had done before. They pitched the idea to EA and, according to Mikami in an interview with the YouTub?e channel Archipel, the executives "lied" when they said they liked it and the project began slowly "fadin?g away".

Electronic Arts' frustrating changes to Suda and Mikami's vision

It didn't take long for the upper management at EA to begin interfering with the production of Kurayami and forced Suda51 and Mikami to change things. In the book The Art of Grasshopper Manufacture, Suda51 revealed ??that EA insisted on including guns in the game because "Westerners are about guns� which forc?ed them to turn it into a third-person shooter. He also shared another story in the same book, detailing how Garcia was originally going to have a small fairy named Paula that came out of his gun, but EA didn't like his concept and preferred a classic "damsel in distress" love story, so Suda51 turned her in the main love interest in the final game.

According to Mikami, EA twisted their original concept around several times, and it resulted in a completely different game that what they originally thought of, since they had to write the script over and over until the company green light it. Not even their main character was safe, as Suda51 revealed in an interview with Gamespot that he came up with 3 or 4 different i?deas for a protagonist unt?il he finally landed on Garcia Hotspur, who EA apparently liked.

Something that most fans miss is that neither Suda51 nor Mikami directed Shadows of the Damned, as its main director was actually Massimo Guarini, a western developer who had years of experien??ce working with Ubisoft, so he could more efficiently comply with EA's demands. When the company completely overhauled the project, it was immediately evident that Suda51 was not enjoying its development anymore. He became hesitant to disclose details of the game on interviews and events, as IGN noted in not one but two different interviews with him.

Shadows of the Damned broke Suda51's heart

When EA and Grasshopper Manufacture finally released Shadows of the Damned on June 21, 2011, it received generally positive reviews, but it u?nfortunately didn't sell very well in neither North America nor Japan. As for Su??da51 and Shinji Mikami, they both have come out and stated how disappointed they were by EA's interference on multiple occasions.

In an interview with PSX Extreme, Mikami stated, "I think Suda was unable to create the scenario he'd originally had in his head, and he rewrote the scenario several times. I think his heart was broken. He's such a unique creator, so it seems to me that he was not quite comfortable making this game". As for Suda himself, in the aforementioned Gamespot video he said: "If I ever happen to work with EA again, I'd really ?appreciate it if they just... okay'd the first version of the script n??ext time".

But Suda got his revenge... in an unconventional form

Let's go back to Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes for a moment. This odd title is not just another entry in the No More Heroes series, but it's also a deep look at Suda51's ca?reer as game development, with references to both his highest highs and his lowest lows. At many points during the game, it's quite obvious that he created Dr. Juvenile as a stand-in for himself, and the same is true for ?her longtime rival, Damon Riccitiello.

Damon developed Serious Moonlight alongside Juvenile, and he later beat her up in order to steal the Death Ball that had Damned: Dark Knight inside, that's why Travis eventually had to hunt him down. But that's not all, because Damon would later appear in No More Heroes 3 as the main antagonist of the game. In the final battle, Travis finally kills Damon in a bizarre yet amusing parody of the Super Smash Bros series.

In case you didn't know, John Riccitiello was the CEO of Electronic Arts between 2007 and 2013, meaning that he was most likely around the time Shadows of the Damned entered development. Now, Suda never explicitly stated that Damon is based off of him, but the unique last name of Riccitiello, coupled with the villain's status as a former game developer who became CEO of a gigantic corrupt company clearly indicates that Damon is a parody of John Riccitiello and that Suda51 was trying ??to get even with the CEO that interfered with the development of one his be??loved projects.

Despite everything, Suda51 clearly appreciates Shadows of the Damned

At one point, Suda also revealed that No More Heroes 3 was originally going to have an entire sequence that would feature Shadows of the Damned characters, which would have made the reference to its tumultuous development? even more obvious.

At the end of the day, Suda51 has clearly made his peace with Shadows of the Damned, and he likely holds some level of appreciation for this tragic project. This is evident not only in the references he included in Travis Strikes Again and No More Heroes 3 but, also in his active participation in the marketing for Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered.

Considering that Electronic Arts has nothing to do with the remaster and that Grasshopper Manufacture is currently listed as it's sole publisher, it seems that EA finally sold the rights back to Suda and his company. Fun fact: Grasshoper included Eight Hearts as an alternate costume for Garcia in Hella Remastered, which is a fun nod to one of the most bizarre yet clever things Suda51 ever did in one of his games. Maybe this means that soon we'll finally get to see a full fledged version of Damned: Dark Knight, but only time will tell...

The post Shadows of the Damned already got a sequel, and it’s not what you think appeared first on Destructoid.

Sony’s inaugural console had a pretty deep library, so it’s no wonder the list of standout titles is so long. It's also a well-loved console, so the PS1 is well-trodden territory now. Wha?t would go on a "best of" list is generally well-solidified for most people.

So, this isn't a ranked list, and it isn't a list of the best, but rather games you might have overlooked. I don't particularly like ranked list, since I don't think they're that useful. I say this as someone who's written a few. There's no accounting for taste and comparing something like Metal Gear Solid to Twisted Metal 2 isn't very insightful. Also, I don't really like Metal Gear Solid, and you probably already know how y?ou feel about it. Me t?hrowing it at a low rank isn't going to change your mind.

I prefer to just talk about games and make recommendations. So, rather than being insincere, I’m just going to list X games you should play on your PS1 if you?? haven’t already. Maybe you haven't heard of them, maybe you have. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but let’s start with these, and then you can get back to me.

Um Jammer Lammy

Parappa the Rapper is a staple of the PS1 library. When I think of its most prominent titles, it sticks out. We eventually got a direct sequel in 2001's Parappa the Rapper 2 on PS2, but before that, the formula was revisited in Um Jammer Lammy Instead of following the lyric-spewing d?og(?), you play as Lammy, the riff-rocking lamb. ?That is to say, she plays a guitar rather than rap.

It’s quirkier than the original, and while there’s nothing quite as good as Cheep Cheap’s rap, the soundtrack is overall a bit better. Parappa also focused and pretty normal teenager problems like taking a drivers test and having to poop really bad. The only problem here is that the North American version of Um Jammer Lammy changed the part where Lammy is ??sent ??to Hell. Rock & Roll is the devil’s music, after all.

Bloody Roar

Or Bloody Roar 2, honestly. I like fighting games, but it's hard for me to get invested these days without a rival. Also, when I play them online, I get really jittery from nervous adrenaline that it makes me physically uncomfortable and I need to stop. However, I still try them out when I can. Bloody Roar is the first 3D fighting game in a long time to rea?lly get its hooks into me.

Bloody Roar sort of follows the Virtua Fighter formula, but has walls around the ring like Fighting Vipers. That's the only real distinction. Oh, no, wait, the characters can also transform into furries. That is to say, anthropomorphic animals. You have a bar that fills up over time, and whenever you've got it full, you can transform in a blastwave of energy and immediately be given a whole new repertoire of dangerous moves. It's a surprisi?ngly effective ?twist that adds an unexpected layer of strategy to the fighting.

Rogue Trip Vacation 2012

After a confusing series of contracts and acquisitions, Singletrac, the original creators of Twisted Metal were unceremoniously ripped away from the series following Twisted Metal 2. They went to make a range of games before they were closed down. One of these was a similar vehicular combat game titled Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012.

While the premise still involves cars flinging missiles at each other, it also includes a monetary system that allows you to trade cash earned from shuttling around tourists for upgrades. Was it better than Twisted Metal 2? No. Vigilante 8? Not really. But is it a better option than Twisted Metal 3? Most definitely.

Incredible Crisis

I have a personal grudge against Titus. Most of the games the publisher released are terrible, such as Carmageddon 64 and Superman (also N64, but that's not actually in the title). I always say, "Ain't no fun if there's a fox on the box" when picking up one of those game. But one of the best things they ever did as a publisher was localizing Incredible Crisis.

Incredible Crisis is actually a bakage (stupid/weird game) from Japanese arcades. It follows a family of four as they try to make it home to celebrate their wrathful matriarch's birthday. Unfortunately, nothing goes as planned as they get involved in explosions, bank robberies, and an alien invasion. Gamep?lay is actually just a series of mini-games, which may give you whiplash as yo?u try to figure out new styles of play on the fly.

Germs: Nerawareta Machi

I was originally going to keep this list specifically focused on North American releases, but I don't want to. There's some bizarre stuff that never made it out of its home country. Take Germs: Nerawareta Machi for example, which plays like the basis of Deadly Premonition. You're let loose on a desolate but fully explorable city that is having trouble with a strange virus. This virus is possibly being ??spread by aliens. ??I don't know, you're the reporter, you figure it out.

It's an ambitious game. There's a full day/night cycle. To find your way forward you often need to return to your office to take calls from people and check your email for where to go next. You can get there by driving (or walking, if you're determined) or you can catch a ride on the subway. When you get to certain scenes, you need to pull out a gun and engage in some very Morrowind-esque real-time RPG combat.

But what makes Germs so memorable is its strange atmosphere. The city is pretty empty aside from some key people. There is no color to most of the buildings, just slight splashes every so often. You're given v?ery little information to work off of a lot of the time, which leaves you free to just exist in this world sometimes. As I mentioned, it never made it out of Japan. However, a preliminary fan translation can help you figure things out.

Mad Panic Coaster

Speaking of bakage, I'm not even sure where to begin with introducing Mad Panic Coaster. Do you remember when 3D clones of Roller Coaster Tycoon started happening? One of the big selling points was often that you could ride on the roller coaster. Okay, now ma??ke the entire game that.

That's sort of Mad Panic Coaster. You ride on a roller coaster, but rather than being strapped into your seat and sent down the rails, you have to do laps around the track while avoiding? various hazards and not falling off the track. It's not as easy as it sounds, especially since your cart moves at Mach 10. It can be difficult to the point of frustration, and it's by no means a short game.

But what really makes it worth recommending is its outstanding soundtrack and expressive art style. ??It was created by a development studio n??ot really known for making games, and by people who seemingly weren't in the industry for long. Yet, despite that, it carries an immense amount of personality. There's not much like it. It's just unfortunate that it was never released outside of Japan and, even there, is extremely rare.

Parasite Eve

This one is a bit more high-profile, but I feel like a lot of people still missed it. It’s a Squaresoft title, but while they would normally lean into fantasy, Parasite Eve is more contemporary. It’s s??till an RPG, but while it uses an active-time system, it allows you to move in real time. It’s also stylish as hell, full of melty people and flesh ??monsters. The audience at an opera is set on fire, helicopters explode, and a dude jumps from a helicopter and is set on fire. Doesn't get much better than that.

It goes in a few batshit directions when it comes to narrative, but works as a disaster plot. It absolutely hammers on the word mitochondria. A lot of what it spouts is accurate, but the whole plot hinges on your ability to believe a portion of your cells are able to gain sentie??nce. Absolute batshit. It gets a little Kojima-esque with its exposition at ti??mes, and I don’t mean that as a compliment.

Unfortunately, the sequel drops the unique combat system and becomes a lot more like Resident Evil. But that just makes the original Parasite Eve a lot more unique.

Road Rash

I really don’t know why EA chose to just call this one Road Rash, as it’s not a remake of the original, and it came out on the 3DO before Road Rash 3 hit the Genesis. There's also a sort-of downport on the Sega CD which isn't the same as either the original or this version. It's confusing, so a lot of the time, this one is called Road Rash 32-Bit.

Regardless, it’s probably one of the best titles in the series if you don’t find Road Rash 64 side-splittingly hilarious. While the gameplay follows the same formula of motorcycle racing mixed with bashing your rivals with crowbars, it plays a bit smoother on 32-bit consoles and features much more detailed 3D graphics rather than the old raster trick of the original. It feels pretty great and has a lot more pe?rsonality. It also had some really tacky cutscenes, which is a good taste of how tasteless that era of gaming was.

Army Men Air Attack 2

I talk about the Army Men series often, and whenever I do, someone usually says, “Oh yeah, I liked the helicopter one.�There wasn’t a single helicopter one. If you only count original titles and exclude some markedly different ports, there were three of them: Air Tactics, Air Attack, and most importantly, Air Attack 2. Yes, a lot of (some) people talk about Air Attack and don’t even?? realize there was a direct sequel.

There was, and it's fine. The gameplay is the same action-heavy helicopter action lifted from the Strike series (Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, etc.), and it still works. It doesn't come close to the inventiveness of the first game and, to be honest, there are a lot of cut corners here, probably owing to 3DO's very tight development deadlines. The series was already speeding downhill fast when Air Attack 2 came out. But, in general, Air Attack 2 still contains a lot of the same shooty winchy action. Plus, there's co-op if you have someone in your presence. If ?you liked “the helicopter one�you may consider checking this out.

On second thought, I'm not sure why this is here. I guess because I wanted to include an Army Men game given my history with the series. PS1 was where it was most prolific. There were 10 Army Men games released on the console, and Air Attack was easily the best. Although, I do have a soft spot for the World War games (not Land, Sea, Air).

Moon

Okay, so we didn’t exactly get Moon over here in North America until 2020, but it’s one of the first examples of Love-de-Lic’s formula of helping people for the good feels. It’s technically a parody of the typical RPG, containing no real combat and the simp??le goal of spreading altruism about. You wander a strange world, talking to strange people, and helping them with their strange problems.

Moon just feels meaningful. While the gameplay is simple, it feels deep and profound. You get insight into the lives of the game's inhabitants and experience a new perspective on things. It helps that there is a fantastic soundtrack (largely by one of my favorite co?mposers, the leg?endary Hirofumi Taniguchi) that you actually have to collect and compile in a playlist and an art style that continues to influence developers to this day.

While Love-de-Lic would only release three games (none of which were released in the West) before disbanding, the feel-good formula would be carried on by its star players who broke off into their own studios and made games like Chibi-Robo and Chulip. Unfortunately, for a long while, the genre was doomed to frequently overlook a North American release with later games like Endonesia and Giftpia staying exclusively in Japan.

Medal of Honor Underground

If there’s one area that the N64 trounced the PS1, it is in first-person shooters. While Goldeneye 007 and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter haven’t aged the greatest, what did the Playstation have? Not none, but while I can list off quite a few decent N64 games in the genre, with the PS1 it’s a bit more difficult without adding the caveat “I guess.�Medal of Honor, however, is ea?sy to appreciate since it helped launch the WWII shooter sub-category that dominated the shooter space after.

Medal of Honor: Underground is one you might have missed, however. A big score for me was its female pr??otagonist??, Manon Baptiste, but it also added enemy tanks and friendly soldiers to the mix. It isn’t necessarily better than the original, but it is more of the same that you might not have already experienced.

Vagrant Story

Another one of Squaresoft’s often-overlooked PS1 titles, Vagrant Story is a ridiculously deep RPG with a number of intricate systems all mashed together. It’s something that shouldn’t work, almost doesn’t, but somehow does. At the very least, it requires you to develop a great deal of familiarity in its systems to truly make the most of it. You play as Ashley Riot, with ??the task of investigating a cult ??in the city of Leá Monde and the ruins beneath it.

Like Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story stands out because of its unique style. It actually won a bunch of awards from various publications, but unfortunately released alongside games like Final Fantasy IX and Chrono Cross. Because of that, Vagrant Story is often left out of many discussions of Squaresof??????????????????????????t’s glory days. We’re long overdue for a remaster.

King’s Field

In the wake of Dark Souls�success, the often-overlooked King’s Field series has been re-examined. That's because Hidetaka Miyazaki has stated that Demon's Souls is something of a spiritual successor to that series. Don't go in expecting too many s??imilarities, however. Both games are distinct from one another, essentially just sharing their dark fantasy leanings. It shares more with earl??y PC dungeon crawlers than it does with later FromSoftware titles.

The localized King’s Field for PS1 is technically the Japanese King’s Field 2. It’s a shame we never got the first one, but the second title presents the same du?ngeon-crawling goodness. Beyond just being a nicely stiff and enjoyable action adventure, it also feels distinctly PS1 in its level geometry and texture work. It's a look that defined the console.

Tecmo's Deception

Speaking of looking distinctly PS1, Tecmo's Deception was the progenitor to the long-running series (last seen in 2014 with Deception IV). Despite that, this plays almost nothing like later games. ?O??h, sure, the gameplay based around setting traps for your enemies is still there, but it's very rudimentary compared to what would come back. While later games would have you set up Rube Goldberg-style combinations of traps, that wasn't even possible in this game. Instead, traps work more like RPG spells; you lead an enemy into them, then trigger it at the right moment.

However, it had charm that later games lacked. You could customize your evil mansion in a lot of ways. This was largely a useless feature, but there's something satisfying about creating the backdrop to your murders. It also has a pretty unusual plot where you more or less play as the villain in the story. It's packed full of ba??d design choices to the fact to the point where I'd have a tough time descri?bing it as a quantifiably good game, but, at the very least, it is one worth seeing.

Ghost in the Shell

I've never actually watched the Ghost in the Shell movie, which is maybe okay since this game is based more on the manga. But, like, I'm not familiar enough to know what the difference is. Anyway, you play as a member of Public Security Section 9, and the action takes place with you firmly planted inside of a spider-like tank. It's maybe not what you'??d really expect from the license. Yet, despite that, it's actually a really great tie-in.

It has extremely interesting combat with your tank being able to climb on walls. However, it's most fondly remembered for it's era-defyingly terrific controls and strikingly well-executed art style. It has its flaws and can be a bit frustrating, but it's so strong that it counts the most that it's practically timeless. It's apparently even better if you're already a fan of Ghost in the Shell, but I wouldn't know anything about that.

Brave Fencer Musashi

Not my favorite game on this list, but I do think it's an extremely memorable one. Brave Fencer Musashi is an often-overlooked game from Square that falls outside the JRPG format that the company was renowned for at the time. It's a? strange game where you play as a diminutive samurai who is ??sucked into another world to fix its problems. And he's not happy about it.

While the gameplay maybe didn't click with me entirely, it's hard to forget its attitude. Musashi was roped into this adventure against his will, and he's not shy about telling people that. His catchphrase is practically "Not my problem, pal." In a way, it feels like a parody of the usual action-adventure game where the protagonist will allow themselves to get wrapped into petty sidequests that don't really concern them. With a day/night cycle and plenty of exploration to do, Brave Fencer Musashi is incredibly memorable, if nothing else.

Tail Concerto

The progenitor to the “Little Tail Bronx�series by Cyberconnect, Tail Concerto technically shares the same floating universe as Solatorobo: Hunter the Red and Fuga: Melodies of Steel. Each game is a little labor of love which makes it all the more confusing that you can only really download Fuga these days. The second-hand market has Tail Concerto, in particular, pegged at a ridiculous price.

Is it worth it? I’d probably argue that no game is worth as much as a North American copy of Tail Concerto, but it’s still one you should check out if you can. The story involves, erm, the oppression of cats. Dogs and cats are living together on islands that float in the sky, but the dogs are the majority and use that position to oppress the cats. It's a bit like the leadup to World War 2, which is a bit d??istressing. You play as a dog, just to make sure you feel more uncomfortable.

Despite that allegory, Tail Concerto has bright, charming graphics, a simple but unique narrative, and inventive gameplay that harkens back to a simpler time. It's easy to forget that it's about an underclass trying to get out from beneath the boots of their oppressors. Or rather, you might no??t notice at all. It’s just unfortunate that it’s so short.

Street Fighter Alpha 3

This might seem like a strange inclusion because Street Fighter Alpha 3 is an arcade game, and that version is av??ailable in at least three collections on d??igital storefronts right now. But the reason it's here is because there are a lot of added features that make it more at home on consoles. Specifically, I'm talking about World Tour mode.

World Tour mode has you traveling the world with your chosen character ?and gradually making them more powerful along the way. Not o??nly that, you unlock characters as you progress, with more fighters on the roster in this version than there was in arcade. The added bit of progression makes the game more fun to play when you're on your own without a rival to take on. Or you could just grab one of the online-enabled ports available today and play against others all over the world if you prefer, but there's still value in World Tour if you think you've seen it all.

Colony Wars

The space combat genre (or 6DOF, there's no name for this genre I'm happy with) has been stagnant for quite some time now, but it really shone during the early 3D era because of the fact that it was easy to render large environments when most of it is an empty vacuum. During that time, we got some cherished games like Star Wars: X-Wing and Wing Commander, but some excellent titles were lost in the cracks, such as Colony Wars.

Colony Wars isn't too fa??r removed from other games in the genre, but it impressively featur??es a branching storyline and multiple endings. For the time, the graphics were impressive to see on PS1. Its depictions of large space battles was more spectacular than most at the time, helped by a rather striking lighting system.

Colony Wars was very well received at ??the time of its release, garnering awards from publications at the time. It spawned two sequels on the console. So, it's kind of weird that it fell into obscurity. After the PS1 trilogy, it tumbled off the face of the planet, which is kind of ironic, since it takes place in space.

I.Q.: Intelligent Qube

If I had to choose a favorite on this list of outside-the-norm games, it would be this one, I.Q.: Intelligent Qube. If you were al?ive and gaming during the PS1's lifespan, there's a decent chance that you played it on a demo disc, but did you ever actually own it? I'm not sure if I had seen one in person until far later in life. It was hard to get attention in those days unless something was exploding, gushing blood, or g?etting wrecked.

I.Q. is just such a game. It's almost like a puzzle game; that's probably the closest genre you can relate it to. You play as a simple dude on top of a very cube-centric playing field while cubes roll toward you, threatening to chase you over the edge or crush you. Or both. Your job is to set bombs on the ground and wait for the right moment to detonate ??them to remove some of the enemy cubes. Some of them cause bigger explosions, others you nee?d to avoid taking out at all. It's hard to describe, really, but it takes a lot of concentration and can be almost zen to play.

What adds to the experience is a soundtrack that sounds like an orchestra scoring a bar fight and a reverb-soake??d announcer who will give you a verbal pat on the back every time you flawlessly clear a set of cubes with a satisfying "Perrrrrrfect!" There's a sequel, but unfortunately, the announcer isn't as amazing, so that's a shame.

The post Try These 20 PS1 Games – A Few Of The Best Playstation 1 Games Of All Time appeared first on Destructoid.

I’ve always valued the rich variety of activities available in World of Warcraft, from raiding and PvP to Mythic+. However, my feelings about Mythic+, particularly in The War Within, are somewhat mixed these days. On the one hand, it offers an exciting way to stay engaged with the game, presenting numer?ous opportunities? for progression.

O?n the other hand, it brings along some significant pitfalls and challenges that are getting harder to overlook. Mythic+ often feels like a double-edged sword: while it provides endless chances for improvement, the accompanying issues make me question whether the rewards are truly w?orth the effort.

The upside of Mythic+ in The War Within

For many players, myself included, Mythic+ is a cornerstone of WoW’s endgame. I’ve sunk countless hours into Mythic+ dungeons over the years because, when everything goes right, it’s a thrilling experience that is easy to enjoy for extended periods of time. There’s nothing quite like pulling off a clean run on a high-level key with your group. It’s challenging, rewarding, and keeps the game interesting week after week. It's such a positive addition to WoW that it's practically become the main event... fo??r better or worse.

Constantly relevant content

One of the biggest perks of Mythic+ is that it’s never really "done." No matter how many keys? you complete, there’s always a higher level to push for, new strategies to figure out, and fresh affixes to tackle. This is perfect if,? like me, you enjoy the grind. Every week feels like a chance to prove yourself again, and that’s a big part of the appeal. The way difficulty scales means there’s always something to challenge you, no matter how geared or experienced you are.

A great source of Gear

Mythic+ is also hands down the best way to get gear in The War Within. I’ve been able to gear up quickly just by focusing on these dungeons. The Great Vault rewards you for doing multiple dungeons each week, and the gear you get from it is often just as good, if not better than what you’d earn from raiding. For so?meone who likes mixing up endgame content, Mythic+ has become an essential part of my weekly routine.

But here’s the catch�/h2>

As much as I enjoy Mythic+, it’s got some major downsides that weigh on me more and more. First up is the pressure it puts on Raiders. If you’re part of a raid group, especially one aiming for Heroic or Mythic difficulties, running Mythic+ is basically a requirement to keep up in terms of gear. Unfortunately, this is where the grind starts to become... grindy, and that's not a good thing.

Mandatory for Raiders

In The War Within, the pressure to run Mythic+ is heavier than ever. If you’re serious at all about raiding beyond Normal difficu??lty, there’s genuinely no way to avoid Mythic+. It is a requirement. I find myself logging in not because I’m excited to play but because if I skip Mythic+ for a week, I’ll fall behind my guildmates. What used to be a fun challenge has become something I have to do just to stay competitive in raids. This shift—from raiding being the primary source of gear to Mythic+ taking over—is highly exhausting.

You’re punished if you don’t like It

Even if you’re not into Mythic+, you’re kind of forced into it. I know plenty of people in my guild who ar??en’t fans of the Mythic+ grind, but they have no choice if they want to keep pace. It sucks to feel stuck running content you don’t enjoy just to stay relevant. If you’re a good raider but don’t run Mythic+, you’ll still end up behind in terms of gear progression, and that creates this weird dynamic where players are punished for not liking a certain part of the game, or at least not wanting to grind it a??ll the time. But, if you don't, you will absolutely suffer in the gearing department, and that just sucks.

Pugging Mythic+ is the worst

Then there’s the nightmare that is pugging (joining a random group of players). Some of my worst experiences in WoW have come from trying to pug Mythic+ runs. The random nature of pugging makes it super stressful, and when things go wrong (which they often do), it’s just a mess. The timer adds unnecessary pressure, and if it becomes clear that you won’t meet the timer, players tend to leave early. Who doesn't love that? I now avoid pugging unless I absolutely have no choice, which limits how much Mythic+ I can realistically do each week. Historically, pugs have never been 'the best' way to run anything in World of Warcraft, but current Mythic+ puts a bright s?potlight on the aging problem.

Affixes feel like unnecessary difficulty

More often than not, Affixes add a level of difficulty that can feel more frustrating than fun to play against. Instead of making you come up with creative strategies, they often just punish you for things outside your control. While The War Within managed to fix a lot of these problems, especially by adding buffs to the affix list as well, I feel t??he main issue remains. While I get that affixes are supposed to keep dungeons fresh, and they do, sometimes they end up feeling like they’re adding spiteful artificial difficulty for the sake of it, rather than improving the gameplay experience with something interesting.??

The problem with Raid Loot vs. Mythic+ Loot

One of my biggest gripes with Mythic+ in The War Within, beyond what I've already mentioned, is how it overshadows raiding when it comes to loot. The amount of gear you can get from Mythic+ is ridiculous compared to what you get from raiding. You can run multiple Mythic+ dungeons a week and get top-tier gear from the Great Vault, while raids feel incredibly stingy by comparison. This insane loot disparity is ??a serious issue that cannot be ignored.

Mythic+ Loot overshadows Raiding

Currently, there's no limit to the amount of loot you can get from Mythic+. Between Raids and Mythic+, there is simply no contest. Raid loot, especially from Normal and Heroic, just doesn’t keep up in terms of power or number of drops. After a few high-level Mythic+ runs, the gear you get from raiding starts to feel underwhelming. It’s a shame because raiding used to be a core part of WoW’s endgame, but when Mythic+ is so much more efficient for gear, it’s hard not to prioritize it over raids. I genuinely ?don't blame anyone that does.

Fix the Loot Disparity

Blizzard has addressed this before, but it remains a big problem regardless. Raid loot should be more competitive with Mythic+ gear, especially at higher difficulties. They could ??increase the item level of raid gear or add special bonuses that make it stand out. Another option would be to limit drop fr??equency or how powerful Mythic+ gear is so it doesn’t completely overshadow raid rewards. I am not a fan of this option though, because I like that Mythic+ is a great source of additional loot. However, loot from Raiding currently serves only a niche purpose, and that makes the whole effort of putting a group together for a raid feel meaningless.

The current disparity in loot between raiding and Mythic+ is pushing more players, myself included, to favor Mythic+ over traditional raiding. While I don’t di??slike Mythic+ overall, it’s hard to ignore that raids take significantly longer to complete yet yield far less loot compared to a mode that not only offers better rewards but also an endless supply of them. This creates a serious imbalance that isn't being adequately addressed, leading to frustration for players like me who value the raid experience but aren't being properly rewarded for it.

What needs to change in Mythic+

While I do enjoy certain aspects of Mythic+, it's clear that the system is in need of significant adjustments, and I’m confident I’m not alone in feeling this way. The current setup is unnecessarily punishing and stressful, especially if you’re ??not running it with a consistent group. If Blizzard wants to make Mythic+ more enjoyable and less of a chore, here’s what I think they should do:

Get rid of the Timer

Since the dawn of?? Mythic+, the timer has been a source of artificial difficulty for the game mode. For many players, it's one of the most stressful aspects of the system, and honestly, I think it should go. It discourages people from pugging and adds unnecessary pressure to every run. Removing the timer would let players focus more on learning the mechanics and working together without the constant fear of failure via the clock hanging over them.

Instead, Mythic+ should emphasize minimizing deaths, rewarding teams with greater end rewards for fewer dea?ths. The cha??llenge should lie in the difficulty of the encounters themselves, rather than in racing against a timer, which often shifts the focus to route optimization and speed rather than skillful play and overcoming tough content.

Rework Affixes

Affixes need a complete rework. Instead of adding frustration, they should add a challeng??e that encourages teamwork and creative thinking. Blizzard should experiment with affixes that don’t just ramp up the difficulty but make the dungeons mo??re dynamic and interesting.

Introduce a Loot Goblin affix that adds a chance for one to spawn in your dungeon. If your team can kill it before it escapes, you'll earn an extra piece of loot. Another potential affix could make enemies explode a few seconds after death, adding a tactical layer to positioning and timing. The key is to move away from affixes that rely on random effects tied to timers: everyone uses ad?dons to manage these anyway. Also, eliminate the flat stat increases to enemies based on affixes, as they add nothing but dull, artificial difficulty.

End Key degradation

Failing a Mythic+ run is already enough of a punishment in terms of wasted time. The extra penalty of key degrada??tion feels totally unnecessary. Removing this would encourage players to push themselves to try higher keys without the fear of losing progress.

In conclusion...

Mythic+ is one of the most engaging parts of WoW’s endgame, but it’s about as far from perfect as it can get right now. The pressure it puts on raiders, the frustrations of pugging, the disparity in loot between Raids and Mythic+, and the stress caused by affixes and the timer all contribute to a system that is overwhelmingly problematic toward the player base. The proof of this statement is everywhere, even on the official WoW forums. With meaningful changes, Mythic+ could evolve into a truly balanced and enjoyable aspect of The War Within. As it stand?s, though, it remains a blessing rotting in a growi?ng sea of decay, marred by frustration.

The post Mythic+ is both a blessing and a curse in WoW: The War?? Within’s endgame appeared first on Destructoid.

Unlike a traditional timeline for video games where games come out in chronological order, The Legend of Zelda franchise is notorious for having a different approach. Instead of following Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf in order, each game takes place in a different era, with different incarnations of the characters. This has created one of the greatest mysteries in gaming �the official Zelda timeline.

Since the games only drop hints at where in the timeline they take place, historically, it’s been up to fans to figure out where they go. However, Nintendo has released an official timeline for the Tears of the Kingdom Master Works. But where does the latest addition, Echoes of Wisdom fit? That’s what we’re here to speculate.

Where is Echoes of Wisdom in the Zelda Timeline?

While nothing is official from Nintendo, it’s most likely that Echoes of Wisdom takes place in the downfall timeline, after A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening, but before the original Legend of Zelda from 1986. This is mostly evident from the map, because Echoes of Wisdom features nearly the same one as Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds, from the rivers to the caves. Hyrule’s land hasn’t chang??ed much, aside from expansion, meaning the??y are relatively close together.

In the official lore, during the events of Ocarina of Time, Hyrule is split into three separate timelines �the child timeline, where Link is sent back in time; the adult timeline, where the adult Princess Zelda remains; and the dow??nfall timeline, where Link died before defeat??ing Ganon. 

The downfall timeline contains most of the 2D style Zelda games, which includes all the Zelda games released before Ocarina of Time, as well as A Link Between Worlds and Triforce Heroes. 

Another identifier is the fact that Ganon is in his blue monstrous appearance. In the child and adult timelines, he appears as a man instead before transfor??ming into a beast. The downfall timeline is the only one where he has no human form at all.

Spoilers Ahead!

If you haven’t beaten the game yet, be aware that the rest of this speculation contains ??spoilers! 

Echoes of Wisdom also features the Triforce as a whole, with all three pieces together. In the child and adult timelines, the Triforce remains split between its three bearers: Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. The royal family also has no knowledge of the Triforce or Ganon. It seems enough time has passed for bot?h to be forgotten. This means the game could take place hundreds of years after its las?t appearance.

However, it’s still up for debate. Echoes of Wisdom features many callbacks to Zelda games from other timelines, such as Lord Jabu Jabu from Ocarina of Time being around (although it could be different fish with the same name) and Yetis existing, which had only been seen in Twilight Princess. 

Nothing is definitive from Nintendo, though, which means it’s still up to our imaginations where the game lies. I think it’s important to note that it doesn’t seem like Nintendo themselves are too invested in the official timeline anyway. After all, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom were seemingly put onto an entirely separate timeline, detached from the rest of the games. There are also questions that have no clear answer about th??e official timeline, such as the layout of Hyrule changing drastically between games.

Overall, ??it’s highly likely that Nintendo doesn’t keep the timeline in mind when it comes to making the Zelda franchise other than a vague guideline. Instead, they just make the game they want, with callbacks to previous ones scattered in as they wish. While speculating on the timeline and each game’s placement can be fun, players are not required to know it t?o enjoy the game. 

The post Wher??e is Echoes of Wisdom on the Legend of Zelda timeline? appeared first on Destructoid.

Sparking Zero's What If? scenarios offer a refreshing, unique take on the Dragon Ball series, paving alternate pathways within its lore. It's opened the door to many new character storylines, including Goku, Vegeta, Jiren, and many more.

Even if you've experienced them all in Episode and Bonus Battles, there are still plenty of other alternate storylines that players have created themselves. And, after spending some time with these crafted narratives, I've discovered quite a few that could turn into their very own DB spin-off. So, without further ado, here are the best Sparking Zero Custom Battle W?hat Ifs that I wish were canon to the s??eries.

Mr. Satan vs. The Gods

ID: 3-985-501-981 (PS5)/0-510-785-490 (PC)

Every time I play as Hercule, I can't help but laugh at his whimsical nature. His punches are mediocre at best, and his Ki-charging is merely a spotlight shining down on him just to ?make him feel a little more like a star. It doesn't make him the greatest of fighters, but some players have changed that with the Mr. Satan vs. The Gods Custom Battles.

In this timeline, it is Hercule who reigns supreme, and all cower at the sight of his mighty mustache. This is all because of his triumph against Gods, such as Fused Zamasu, Jiren, and Goku Ultra Instinct. This What If s??cenario may seem a bit far-fetched, but it's probably one of the most entertaining experiences I've had so far.

Goku saves Future Gohan

ID: 4-499-771-969 (PS5)

The Dragon Ball Z timeline has a few of its own alternate paths, including the death of Future Gohan in the multiverse. Android 17 and 18 brought him down?? during Future Trunks' saga, in which Gohan played the significant role of his mentor. Although this journey led to a saddening demise, the Side by Side Custom Battle features a new take where Goku saves his son. In this scenario, we get to see a different outcome, one where Gohan's life is spared, and the bond between father and son is strengthened.  

It's nice to see Goku making the effort to help his so?n since he, you know, isn't the best father. Of course, I don't blame him for what originally happened, considering that he himself died in this timeline. At least with this scenario, everyone, for the most part, comes out alive, and Future Trunks can save himself the guilt of not being there for his master.

Bardock and Nappa band together to defeat Frieza Force

ID: 4-357-312-376 (PC)

Even though Bardock could be considered a villain, with all the bad he's done as a Saiyan, I still felt pretty bad for the guy. He never really stood a?? chance against Frieza? in light of his lower power level and the fact that no one was there beside him. However, this Custom Battle features a new story version, where Bardock and Nappa fight against the infamous Frieza Force.

It makes me wonde??r whether Bardock would have lived if someone had at least joined his side. Having someone strong like Nappa could certainly beat the odds, so this scenario isn't entirely impossible.

Jiren vs. Broly

ID: 4-988-481-724 (PS5)

The Jiren and Broly Custom Battle expands on the concept first introduced in the spin-off Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultra God Mission. This time, Jiren helps Goku fight against Super's Broly, leading to a??n epic brawl between the Lege?ndary Super Saiyan and the most powerful Pride Trooper member.

We already got some form of this fight in the Heroes manga, but it's not considered canon as a spin-off series. Fortunately, this Sparking Zero What If helps compensate for that by giving us one heck of a show. It ultimately feels like a battle of Tanks, as the two ch??aracters are pretty beefy. I just wish we could see this in the canon timeline to officially confirm this fight's winner.

Gohan goes against his dads

ID: 1-707-283-125 (Xbox)

Gohan vs. Dads?! Custom Battle gives us a sneak peek into what would happen if Gohan (Adult) went against his fathers. I know Gohan technically only has one dad, but come on, it was P?iccolo who raised him during his youth. Heck, even Piccolo went on to babysit his daughter?? Pam, which definitely gives this beloved Namekian a dad title (Goku would never).

The Dragon Ball Z series offered a brief taste of a fight like this when Gohan first began training. Since then, we haven't necessarily seen a battle between Gohan, Goku, and Piccolo. Fortunately, there's still time for this showdown to become canon, especially in the Super saga.

Trunks travels back in time to the Dragon Ball era

ID: 1-156-210-909 (PS5)

Longtime Dragon Ball series fans will likely recollect Trunk's debut in the DBZ saga. But what if he had arrived much earlier during Goku's youth instead? The Fight! Past's Mightiest Warriors quest, thankfully, answers thi??s question as Trunks goes against notable characters in the World Tournament.

As a big fan of the Dragon Ball era, I love seeing the clash of the two worlds, especially since Trunks happens to be one of my favorite characters. It's also not much of a far-fetched idea, considering that Trunks has traveled through time in both Z and Super.

Goku retaliates against everyone in Ultra Instinct form

ID: 4-715-463-463 (PS5)

Instead of Jiren fighting against everyone, this What If scenario makes Goku the antagonist of the Tourname??nt of Power arc. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this happened since this form separates the user's consciousness from? their body.

In this fight, Goku battles most of his allies and loved ones, from Gohan to Trunks to Piccolo. It's intriguing to see it play out this way, almost similar to Goku Black's sinister ways. Plus, it?? would make for a pretty intense battle, testing the strength of the Super Saiyans and a Namekian against the OP Ultra Instinct.

Dragon Ball GT characters take down Goku Black

ID: 0-157-798-620 (PS5)

I just had to share some Dragon Ball GT love through this distinct Goku Black saga. With this What If, Future Trunks calls upon Vegeta and Goku in GT rather than Super. It's a chance to see how Goku Black's Rosé power holds up against the top-tier Sup?er Saiyan 4.

The Custom Battle even shows another intriguing side storyline regarding what would ha?ppen if Super Saiyan 4 Fusion and Fused Zamasu were pitted a??gainst each other. Although it would be unlikely to see a situation like this in the canon timeline, I'm still hoping it will happen one day.

Goku's Protégé vs. Vegeta's pupil

ID: 0-659-438-611 (PS5)

Over the years, many Dragon Ball fans have pus?hed for a battle between Vegeta's protégé, Cabba, and Goku's pupil, Uub. It's the ultimate test to see who's the better teacher and student, a concept that doesn't happen too often in the series.

I'm astonished that a fight between Cabba and Uub hasn't already occurred in the canon timeline. But maybe the many Sparking Zero What Ifs could help set the stage for an epic ba?ttle later on.

Gohan and Cell work together to save the world

ID: 4-441-906-668 (PS5)

Among the Custom Battles of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, one collaboration between Gohan and Cell stood out the most.? These two are best known for their legendary showdown in the Cell Games, and now they've taken on a new form in this wild What If. What adds a unique twist to this batt?le is the fact that Frieza and Cooler are their opponents, throwing yet another unexpected element into the mix.

While it is strange to see Cell and Gohan being al??l friendly with each other, I sorta dig it. Now, I would be down for a bud??dy spin-off series where the two save the world together.

The post Top 1??0 Best Custom Battle What Ifs we wish were canon in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero appeared first on Destructoid.

I've been highly skeptical of Arrowhead Games' ability to "fix" Helldivers 2 in just two months' time. Seeing how the game's balancing was handled early on put me off of the game and I was not expecting the 60-day patch to do much.

Imagine my surprise, then, upon seeing not one but two incredible balancing updates pushed out to re-develop the meta to an enjoyable level. And, honestly, there are no two ways to describe the state Helldivers 2 i??s currently in: the game is gosh darn fun. There's no telling what might be the next step for Arrowhead Games' flagship shooter, and there are some caveats, but the game is now in a renaissance, and I'm thrilled to have regained some trust in the deve?lopers.

Helldivers 2 is now more fun than ever before, but can it stay that way?

I don't play Helldivers 2 the way it's meant to be played. There's a small sub-community of people playing Helldivers 2 solo, but we do so with the full expectation that?? we won't be taking on the highest difficulties or progressing efficiently.

It's fine, really.

What wasn't fine was how egregiously punishing the game got, even at low difficulties, if you took a slightly suboptimal loadout into a mission. Certain enemies, such as the Charger, essentially mandated that your fireteam had to take dedicated anti-armor weapons, no matter what. This, in turn, defined your primary and secondary kit as well. Remember: there's a long history of nerfs to Helldivers 2, and though not all were unwarrante??d, players were still left in a situation where the vast majority of gear was wholly unviable.

All of this was before Arrowhead substantially powered up both the Automatons and the Bugs via the Escalation of Freedom, on top of locking the cool new co?ntent behind the new, highest difficulty mode.

None of this was necessarily rolled back. Instead, Arrowhead delivered an incredible roster of buffs to player weapons and armor, making more kit viable than the game had even on launch day. As it stands, the odds are good that you could take anything into a mission and still be a force to be reckoned with. This is a huge shift in how matches play out, both in solo and in fireteam modes.

What has actually changed in Helldivers 2 after the 60-day patches?

In the broadest sense possible, Arrowhead Games has done three things with the last couple of balancing patches for Helldivers 2:

• Retrofitted the vast majority of the game's arsenal into relevance via buffs.
• Made enemy resistances, AI behavior, and spawning setups far more reasonable and sensible.
• Stopped leaving inflammatory comments willy-nilly.

Balancing a game isn't a zero-sum consideration, and while you might expect Helldivers 2 to be exceedingly easy now, that's not quite the case. Helldiver troops still get cut down at a mo??ment's notice. Bad positioning will result in mission losses and unnecessary deaths, and though enemy forces?? did get some nerfs, they are no pushovers unless you're playing on the lowest possible difficulty.

The key thing that's changed is that you're no longer beholden to one or two specific loadouts for every single use case. As long as you keep a balanced arsenal where one of your weapons deals with chaff, one takes on heavy enemies, and one serves a gadget-lik?e niche (i.e. the Stim Pistol), you'll be able to do some serious damage.

Loadout variety is a huge consideration in a game where we regularly get awesome guns and gadgets. Having new flamethrowers only for them to feel like spruced-up matchsticks was a bad look, and I'm thrilled that Arrowhead managed?? to come back from that.

Honestly, Helldivers 2 is now fun, not because it's easy, but because it lets you interact with its sandbox in more ways than ever before. The "experi?ence shif??t" that Arrowhead promised worked, almost ridiculously well.

Can Arrowhead maintain the balance that's now been struck?

This truly is the ultimate question we need to keep asking over and over again as we proceed into Helldivers 2's hopefully years-long live-service setup. Helldivers 2 was?? released to immediate acclaim, only to then be ground int??o something less interesting and exciting by subsequent balancing attempts.

These balancing attempts came from a good place, but they showed the community that Arrowhead doesn't nec?essarily know how to make players hap?py and the game fun. Even after two massive buff-oriented pat??ches, I can't s?hake off the feeling that we're just riding a high that won't last long.

Potential hidden nerfs aside for a bit, there's another big consideration: can there be too much of a good thing in this context? And the answer is yes, certainly. The original Helldivers was balanced on a knife's edge (not always perfectly, mind), where both the enemies and the playe?rs were extremely powerful and capable. The challenge was knowing how to best use these powerf??ul tools you had at your disposal and how to avoid the enemies' strongest weapons.

I dare say that we're in a similarly precarious golden era for Helldivers 2, too??. The enemies are challenging, but the players have the potential of being every bit as punishing as the full brunt of the Automaton and/or Bug forces. How long will Arrowhead Games be able to maintain this balance? Are we just one Warbond away from completely dismantling everything the 60-day patch(es) delivered?

Given Arrowhead's track record, I'm not yet convinced this isn't a fluke. I want to believe Helldivers 2?? will now keep up its balancing act to stay the game it is now. But it will take a handful of other balancing updates before I can be sure that I'm happy with what Arrowhead's offering. And I know I'm not the only one who's still on the fence.

The post Helldi?vers ??2 has managed to pull itself back from a balancing disaster, against all odds appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm pretty hyped for the recently-announced Tomb Raider IV-VI remasters by Aspyr, but maybe not for the?? healthiest of reasons.

Many years of surviving disappointing video game releases forced me to evolve into a state where I enjoy masterpieces and absolute train wrecks all the same. To me, the only bad game is a formulaic and uneventful one. In case you're wondering, I loved the original batch of remasters from Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Trilogy because they ??provide competent and surprisingly soulful ways to pla??y amazing classics. The second trilogy, however, will require more than just good polishing.

I know Aspyr will pull off IV and V, The Last Revelations and Chronicles, respectively. Tough task, as that's where the series began to falter. IV was the first entry to tinker a bit with the formula, which was good for the most part, but it also began introducing a few areas too large to allow for fun exploration. V was but a collect?ion of levels not g?ood enough to fit in the other entries. Still, fans will likely enjoy just getting to re-play these two in higher res for nostalgia's sake, if nothing else.

What I cannot fathom is how you'd polish such a broken and straight-up unfinished game as Angel of Darkness into? something unironically enjoyable - and I'm all here for it.

If you're new to the series, you must know that The Angel Of Darkness was, sadly, the last game in the series Core Design ever got to work on. It came out in a very poor state after years-on-end of increasingly egregious studio demands and poor design choices began taking a toll on the Tomb Raider dev team.

The Angel Of Darkness begins in a? small alley where you're supposed to learn some of the game's all-new ropes. This alley features a dog chained to a wall. Coming in contact with the dog will cause Lara to immediately die. This is the worst dog in video game history, but also one of the best ways of preparing players for what's to come.

In the alley, you'll learn Lara has the same moves, but we now have a hybrid alternative to the original tank controls. Lara now moves in whatev??er direction you move your analog stick to, but in an extremely clunky and unpredictable way. Among the game's many problems, this is by far the most disrupting one and will inevitably result in a ragequit-worthy amount of missed jumps. Luckily, it's likely the easiest one to fix. I'm pretty sure Aspyr will pass this challenge with flying colors just by looking at how well the studio dealt with the new optional control type introduced in the first remaster.

Most other problems, however, come from terrible design choices. The game features incredibly dull dialogue sequences where Lara will have to talk, not shoot, characters into doing her bidding, awful stealth, a baffling lack of tombs, and even light RPG elements still heavy enough to cripple the entire experience. Yes; if you don't know or don't recall, this is the game where Lara, who'd been a world-class athlete for her past decade, will sometimes require players to perform three more jumps and two pul?l ups just so she gets strong enough to clear one humiliatingly simple climbing section in the game.

The remaining problems stem from the game just not being finished. Aspyr cannot fix code that doesn't exist, and it's unfair to expect the studio to fill in the gaps in a remaster. Angel Of Darkness features unfinished mechanics, bug-riddled ga??meplay, ??and is missing not only entire levels but even story-relevant cutscenes.

Any fan who picked up Angel Of Darkness would be up to a rough start as the game begins without providing any explanation as to why Lara is alive after having been crushed to death at the end of The Last Revelation. Players will?? likely feel ??even more puzzled by the end of the game, as they come to the realization that no explanation will ever be given.

We only got to lea??rn via a deleted cutscene that it turns out Lara was revived by a Shaman in Egypt:

Bu??t that was ??pretty dumb, so it's almost better it got left out.

This one would likely be best suited for a remake, ironically a treatment only games that already came out in a decent state and sold a bunch of copies ever get. Still, I don't know how deep into its cursed code Aspyr bravely dove to try and fix AOD, so it might? turn out to be the most surprisingly awesome remast?er of all time. I'm sure to enjoy it either way.

The post How do you even? remaster Tomb R??aider: The Angel Of Darkness? appeared first on Destructoid.

Long gone are the days when almost every game development studio came up with its own proprietary game engine. It's been a long time coming, but we're f??inally at the stage where Unreal Engine 5 truly dominates the industry, and I feel this isn't a good thing at all.

One could argue about the ubiquity of Unreal Engine all day long, granted. The engine's claim to fame began way, way back in the days of Unreal Engine 2, only for it to develop into one of the go-to third-party development solutions as Epic Games moved to release Unreal Engine 3. It's difficult to overstate the importance of UE, as we've had close to a thousand g?ames produced on UE3 and UE4 in the past. UE5, in comparison, is even more monumental.

Having?? access to a comprehensive one-size-fits-most set of game production tools effectively democratized the production pipeline for small teams that couldn't afford to make their own development kit. From that point of view, UE is a phenomenal choice. Is it perfect, though?

The pros and cons of using a third-party game engine

Before moving on to the cr??ux of the matter, I've got to set the stage for my qualms about Unreal. For someone who isn't familiar with the verbiage of the what, why, and how of a "game engine," it's easy to lose track of the argument.

A game engine is essentially the framework within which games are made. Generic game engines such as Unreal and Unity can be modified to accommodate virtually any type of game, while stuff such as RPGMaker is obviously tailored towards role-playing games, specifically. There's no hard line to be drawn between the two, however: most game engines can be used to build most gam??e types. It's just a matter of how easy ??or difficult it is to adapt them.

Now, the thing about UE and Unity, specifically, is that they'r?e extremely popular due to having a lot of general-purpose software already embedded. On one side, this means game developers can rapidly deploy gameplay solutions (physics, rendering, features, assets, etc.) without spendin??g time on developing them from the ground up. On the other hand, it also means you may inherit some of an engine's quirks and problems that won't be easy to fix.

The pro of using a third-party game engine is that you're essentially relegating the very baseline of your production pipeline to so??meone else. This frees you up to work on the bits that make sense for your particular project! Tech debt becomes effectively a non-issue with Unreal, as Epic Games works tirelessly to stay at the cutting edge of game dev.

Why is Unreal, specifically, problematic?

Had I worked on this article just a few years ago, it wouldn't have been all about Unreal to begin with. Notably, Unreal and Unity walked in effective lock-step until Unity nuked its own goodwill by attempting to implement a runtime fee policy. This was a phenomenally terribl?e business decision that not only diminished Unity's market share, but elevated the appeal of Unreal Engine 5. It also led to a sit??uation where everyone and their mum was using UE5 for game dev.

Now, if you're even remotely sensitive to shoddy performance and questionable optimization, you're not going to like where I'm going with this. We only really need to look at Digital Foundry's coverage of Unreal Engine games on YouTube to get a sense of where the issues lie. Take the recent (phenomenal) Silent Hill 2 Remake, for example:

And let's not forget the unexpected darling of this year's gaming landscape, Black Myth: Wukong:

Notice a pattern? Unreal Engine 5 struggles a whole lot with stuttering. Partially due to shoddy shader compilation setups and partially due to strange traversal load-ins, it seems like the majority of game developers working with Epic's engine have a problem delivering a stutter-free gaming experience. And even though some would cl?aim they're "not experiencing these problems" on their rigs, this is factually impossible due to the ?nature of UE5's performance issues.

Granted, it's not that the previous versions of Unreal were immune to these problems, as shown with the UE4 build used for Respawn Entertainment's Jedi: Survivor titles.

This is the bit I mentioned about inherited problems: Unreal Engine 5 is infamous for its seemingly unfixable stuttering. To say nothing of just how heavy it is, performance-wise. From Remnant 2 to Lords of the Fallen, there's not a single UE5 game I'd classi??fy a??s viable for low-spec rigs.

The problem isn't the current-day situation, but the state of things 10 years down the line

Now, to be perfectly fair, I'm a pretty big fan of Unreal Engine 5 as a software kit. I'm a proponent of tech such as Lumen and Nanite, and I think we'd probably be better off with Epic's sta?ndardized rendering solutio??ns rather than with something Nvidia might cook up. Tech exclusivity is not something I'm keen on.

My biggest concern isn't with the fact that everyone's trying to build something on top o??f UE5 as such, but the fact that we've got huge, tenured studios leaving behind their legacy tech stacks to move on to someone else's third-party?? solution.

Just off the top of my head, we alrea??dy know that all of the following projects are or will be running on Unreal 5:

• STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl
• Cyberpunk 2077 sequel
• The Witcher remake
• new Halo titles
• Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

On this short list, we're losing some really interesting, bespoke tech. Sure, much of it had been left to rot several generations behind, but still. Between the loss of X-Ray, REDEngine, Slipspace, Fox Engine, and countless others, I cannot imagine that relying purely on Unreal for everything will be a good idea in the long run. But hey, maybe I'm just being annoying for no good reason, right? Surely there's no value in losing unique, purpose-built game ?engines? Makes you wonder, though.

Unreal has a choke-hold on the gaming industry, and that's not going to change anytime soon

I'll concede that all of this might just be fear-mongering and I may very well be w?rong in being?? skeptical over Unreal Engine's domination of the modern game development scene.

The fact of the matter is that Epic didn't just win over developers by now, but the wider "gamer" communities as well. People are already calling for anyt?hing and everything to be remade or moved over to new builds of Unreal, and it's not even hard to see why:

• AAAs running on Unreal look great (and run awfully, but that's less important).
• Indie studios and solo developers can slap together rapid-fire UE5 demos that look photo-realistic.
• "Fan-remakes" of beloved titles are being developed left and right.

There's an awful lot of grassroots marketing mojo that's gone into UE5 by now, and much of that is well-warranted. Whe?ther the pros truly outweigh the cons in the long run, though, we'll just have to wait and see. Unreal is way too entrenched by now to be done away with, and the competition is unfortunately questionable at best. And ??so it goes.

The post Soon enough, the world will run on Unreal Engine 5, and that’s a problem appeared first on Destructoid.

If you have spent a few dozen hours playing competitive ga?mes online, chances are you've had one of your matches ruined by opponents wielding the equivalent of a lightsaber on a medieval game.

Cheaters suck because they r??emove the uncertainty that should always accompany video games. You just know you're going to lose, likely in a humiliating manner. Luckily, game developers and players sometimes fight back and come up with hilarious anti-cheating mechanisms. Let's look at some of the best.

Call Of Duty giving non-cheaters awesome perks to fight off cheaters

One of the most deservedly loathed cheats in gaming is the wallhack. It allows cheaters?? to see all matter of important stuff, be it drops or enemies, even when they should be safely hiding behind walls.

The makers of Call Of Duty brilliantly reversed this by coming up with an anti-cheat countermeasure that rendered all regular players completely invisible in the eyes of cheaters. Talk about the literal Predator becoming the prey, ?huh?

Call Of Duty also has cheaters shooting blanks

The other classic cheater that any honest player who's ever indulged in some online gameplay is the aimbot. Even if you have the weakest weapon in the game, never missing a headshot will likely gran?t you a serious a??dvantage against any well-equipped player.

Call Of Duty solved that by making every bullet shot out of a caught cheater's gun dealing exactly 0 damage. This resulted in various YouTube videos of cheaters complaining that their weapons weren't working even though they weren't miss??ing a single shot. How the turns have tabled.

Deadlock turns cheaters into frogs

Deadlock somehow already has a cheater issue, but this time Valve was ready for the war. It's anti-cheating system will detect and ask non-cheaters if they want the cheaters to be banned right away, or turned into frogs for the remainder of the match - then banned. It's a hilarious form of justice, and not even a new one. Turns out it began life as a mechanism that would've turned cheaters into chickens in Counter-Strike but it ended up never seeing the light of? day. I'm guessing that all the years of cheater abuse in Valve games finally made the company go full on evil wizard.

Runescape’s botany bay

Similarly to Deadlock's frog-ification, Runescape also allows players to judge cheaters. Unlike Deadlock, however, Runescape's penalties are?? a bit harsher than just being turned into a cute lil green critter.

To allow players to arrive at the best-possible comeuppance, the makers of Runescape created Botany Bay. This is a very "special??" place where players can judge and �more importantly �execute cheaters in the mo?st gruesome of ways.

Tomb Raider 2’s trap code

Not all cheaters thrive in the online landscape. Back in the early days of the Tomb Raider series, the rumor that you could totally get Lara Croft to take off their clothes in the original game took the relatively tiny Internet by storm. By the release of Tomb Raider 2, many saw the surfacing of a cheat code that promised players could get the now even more detailed?? Lara Croft model naked. You could not??.

performing the moves that would supposedly allow you to play "N??ude Raider" would actually culminate in Lara exploding and sending dozens of body parts (still with their clothes o??n) flying across the screen.

Be warned that it still works in the remasters.

Fall Guys' cheater island

Honestly, I believe justice should always be rehabilitative, not punitive. The good people at Mediatonic seems to agree as they developed not a bunch of contraptions even viler than those seen in a regular match of Fall Guys, but a resort just to accommodate cheaters.

On the cheater island, you could learn that cheating is wrong as you're p??itted against dozens of other cheaters, many of which who will possibly sport cheats?? capable of making yours feel puny.

Cheats that are too good to be true

Sometimes you just get to take matters into your own hands. That's what Reddit user receiven did as he marketed a hot and?? revolutionary new Counter-Strike multi-cheat and got a lot of people to try it out?.

This cheat, however, wasn't just useless but even made users play worse as it got their POV stuck at a crooked angle. Cheaters wouldn't have to worry much abo?ut this, though, as Steam wouldn't take long to detect this software as something that could've only resulted from meddling with the code, and thus got thousands of would-be cheaters banned.

Rigged parachutes

Few things are more thrilling than coming to a game after hav??ing learned a n??ew skill that no-one could anticipate. I'm assuming cheaters in Battle Royale games get one hell of a thrill as they witness their character descending from the plane into whatever BR island they're about to make unfun for everyone else.

Call Of Duty made sure the thrill ends in an absolute anti climax, as the cheaters detected by Warzone would have their parachutes intentionally rigged to have them crater and die upon landing.

The Witcher 3's biblically accurate cow angel

Witchers work for coin. Their code doesn't much care for cruelty, but The Witcher 3's game code sure does. Chances are you've played Witcher 3 without ever noticing this, and that's great.

If you'r?e evil, however, and even if you haven't used any sort of cheating software, you may already know what I'm talking about. Upon committing random - but certainly serious - high number of crimes against cows, the game will spawn the toughest monster in existence, a god-like cow protector capable and willing toy obliterate anyone trying to abuse the game's economy via cow-murder.

Animal Crossing's Resetti or "Mr Reset"

Savescumming isn't even cheating software, but the practice of reloading until you have the desired outcome is frowned upon by many, including the people at Nintendo behind Animal Crossing.

Abusing the game's save functionality by resett??ing too often will unleash the ire of Resetti, who will not kill you, nor rig your parachute, not summon a huge cow demon, but do the worst thing ?imaginable: continuously berate players for their behavior.

The post 10 funniest anti-cheat measures in games appeared first on Destructoid.

Maintaining a decade-old game is a non-trivial task. Even Warframe, the poster child of general F2P positivity, struggles with content updates and p??layer expectations every so often. Even more so when your game locks DLCs behind paygates. Further still, uncertainty about the long-term further e??xacerba??tes this.

Just a few weeks back, I decided the time was right to give Warframe a shot once more. Full disclosure: I'm very familiar with the game due to spending just under three thousand hours playing it. I did stop a while back, but now that I'm more-or-less done with Destiny 2 as well, I felt it might've been good to check what D?igital Extremes had been up to.

Honestly, I didn't like it. Warframe's no longer a game for me, and while I recognize there's a lot of awesome stuff in it, I'm simply over it. The thing that I really made note of, though, was the fact that I didn't feel lost in it at all. Even though I hadn't played Warframe since Update 25, every single element of the game made perfect sense to me still. The basics might've shifted ever-so-slightly, but the really important bits all stayed the same. With Destiny 2, that's really not the case at all.

10 years into its lifecycle, Destiny still doesn't know what to do with its core gameplay and progression systems

The Final Shape was an excellent expansion pack for Destiny 2, but it also served as an excellent off-ramp for many players. The Light vs. Dark saga now basically complete, all there was left to do for the time being was to engage with Bungie's questionably reinvented seasonal model. Or, if you're like me, skip it entirely and hope that Frontiers is more engaging in some way, shape, or form.

For what it's worth, Frontiers genuinely looks interesting, but that's a different can of worms.

Thinking about all of this made me realize that, even though Destiny 2 does have a baseline gameplay experience and certain tropes that are always present (i.e. the Director UI, th?e concept of Collections, Vendor-based progression, etc.), virtually everything else in a state of con??stant flux.

Heck, we don't even need to look that far back to find the latest example of this being the case. Is the crafting system being taken out of the game? Players aren't sure. It definitely is being changed to some extent, and its very purpose in the Destiny 2 meta is being tweaked -? for better? or for worse. What will this materialize into? We don't know for sure, and that's really not even the point I'm trying to make.

The point is, instead, that Destiny 2 should not be struggling with its power progression and content formatting this late ?i??n its lifecycle. Why is Bungie still reinventing the wheel?

Destiny 2 is changing, every year

I'm honestly not sure how many more times Bungie might need to change how Destiny 2's armor works. Or how rewards are doled out. Or, for that matter, how players access and interact with Destiny 2's core activities. It's not that I think Bungie will make these things worse, note. It's just that, having started my Destiny 2 tenure back in the days of Opulence, I played ??through several different iteration??s of each and every one of these systems.

Don't get me wrong: Destiny 2 is definitely superior to what it was years ago, and even though Bungie does sometimes adopt the tired old "three steps forward, two steps back" philosophy, things are slowly improving. It's the fact that Destiny 2 even needs to go through so many different versions of the same thing that bugs? me.

New resources replace old ones every so often, interfaces combine the feature set of old ones while adding some stuff in and tossing other stuff out, and content rotates in and out of availability. Destiny 2 always has its players on loose footing, and it's deeply annoying that there's no e??nd in sight for this process.

Bungie just can't nail down a system that works, even a decade in

Again, I've got no doubt that the upcoming Portal UI will be, in some ways, superior to everything we've had in Destiny 2 before it. It's not going to be perfect though, and we already know that. More specifically, Portal is not even going to fully replace the Director: the Director UI is going to stay right where it i??s. Even Bungie itself admits tha?t Portal won't be able to show off every single activity that's available in the game. It's just going to show you the seasonally relevant bits, really.

With that in mind, I cannot shake off the feeling that Destiny 2 is cont??inuously reinventing itself simply for the purpose of ?reinventing itself.

Certainly, there's merit in keeping things fresh, but does freshness include a retrofit of all the bits and bobs I've been mentioning in this article? Reworks are, a??t this point, crutches for problems that really ought to have been figured out a decade into a game's lifecycle, and I don't think this will change anytime soon.

Destiny 2 is as oblique as it has ever been, and Frontiers won't change that

The biggest issue I take with Destiny 2?? after having spent thousands of hours playing it is that its content structure and delivery systems change in a way that doesn't do anything about staleness.

Sure, Frontiers sounds pretty good right now, but I'd like to highlight that Episodes also sounded good before they first came out. It didn't take long at all for players to realize that they really are just rebranded seasons in a top hat and a fancy coat.

If it seems like I'm giving no quarter to Bungie, that's only because I do still care about the game and would like to return to it. Between sunsetting (which is still a thing for seasonal content on a yearly basis), a constant need to keep changing everything all the time, an?d an uncertain future in the long run, it's simply become quite hard to keep up with it.

I do think 2025's Frontiers will improve Destiny 2 in some key areas, but I'm not sure if it's going to be enough to meaningfully freshen things up and draw in new players. And, since all the current systems are in a state of flux, we won't have the sort of continuity you get from, say, Warframe. From my experience with Destiny 2, we'll instead go through just enough change to keep old players? on the backfoot, but not enough to permanently improve the core progression loop. Like an Ouroboros of feature creep.

The post Destiny 2’s biggest problem is uncertainty appeared first on Destructoid.

My dream game would be one that captures the feeling of a road trip. It’s more than just driving a car somewhere; there’s a vibe to it. It comes through in being connected between a familiar car on an unfamiliar road, the signs of a distant gas station, the buzzing fluores?cent lights of some 24/7 diner, moments of contemplation, or waking up in a new place every morning.

There have been a few games I can point to that have somewhat succeeded, sometimes without trying. Jalopy, for example, even if the final product was not quite what was envisioned. Sitting at the pub My Summer Car captured part of the feeling, watching the drunks have a spirited conversation over a beer and a greasy meal. But nothing that fully landed directly on target. Heck, Final Fantasy XV might have been perfect if it didn't dump the car halfway throug??h the game.

Keep Driving is an unexpected attempt from the developers behind Post Void and The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human. I maybe didn’t expect my envisioned road trip game to be in the form of a 2D ?game, and that’s probably because it’s not, but it’s pretty close nonetheless.

Keep Driving has more in common with Oregon Trail than it does with any driving game. It’s depicted from a side-on perspective. You don’t actually drive the car; you just stare at the passenger door while it travels the roads. While it drives itself, you can fiddle wi??th the radio or just watch the scenery g??o by. Then, every so often, you’ll find a hitchhiker or reach a road event.

Road events are where the meat of the game is. Each one presents a different problem, ranging from potholes to a slow?-moving tractor. You then have to use your skills and tools in your car to mitigate the harm caused by these hazards, whether they threaten to damage your car, exhaust you, or drain your fuel. This is done using cards that can eliminate these dangers before they can affect you (or your car). It’s not the deepest system, but it’s relatively quick, allows for variety in challenge??s, and works for its purpose.

After completing a stretch of road, you arrive in a town with various services. Sometimes, it’s gas. Other times, you can pick up an odd job for money. Occasionall??y, you’ll find a forested path that allows you to plumb a dungeon-like 3D environment for items, and if you’re lucky, there’s an inn if you need it. You’ll come across stores and garages where you can buy upgrades for your car or supplies for ?your trip. Once you’re prepared, you check the map, choose your next destination, and head out.

The goal is to reach your friend’s house to play your favorite video game together. Apparently, you just graduated high school and you can feel your youth reaching its end, and you want to go out in the phosphor glow of a turn-of-the-millenium TV and the? company of a distant friend. I can relate. This was clearly in the days before the internet poisoned everything meaningful in the world.

There’s a character creator where you choose your face, your relationship with your parents, and your occupation. This isn’t far off from Oregon Trail’s character setup, where your occupation would define your readiness for the trip. A difficulty setting of sorts, or maybe more of ?a modifier. In any case, once you’ve found yourself, you can set off to the tune of some Swedish rock, which helps set the tone beyond what I could possibly believe.

That’s largely all there is to it. Your job is to prevent yourself and the car around you from falling to pieces. That may sound simple, and that’s because it is. This early demo of Keep Driving is easy as pie. I mean, I’m playing the pre-release version of a demo right now, so it’s? hard to really judge where it will end up, but right now, its biggest problem is that there’s nothing to it.

I’m making a pretty big assumption that I’m not just really skilled at Keep Driving, which I think is a safe thing to assume because I’m not skilled at anything. Finding myself prodigious at this wo??uld be really disappointing because I’m not sure where I’d apply it elsewhere in life.

I didn’t come close to losing my run. There aren’t many needs that require constant attention. As long as you spend your skill points and buy extra supplies for your glove box, it’s easy to get through the vari?ous road encounters. Fuel isn’t that expensive, and for being a poor high school graduate, I was strangely loaded with cash most of the time. It got to the point where I was trying to get rid of it, buying car upgrades I didn’t need. I just picked my route based on what I needed at the time and still made it to my friend’s place with time to spare.

Maybe that’s something that is also inspired by Oregon Trail. In most versions of that game, you could just do the hunting minigame and lay waste to the animal population to store up embarrassing amounts of food. That makes the game really simple, and I have to wonder why so many children died of dysentery. Were they unable to shoot the virtual bears? Is this another thing I’m inexplicably prodigious at? Are my talents all related to Oregon Trail derivatives?

I only picked up one hitchhiker the whole way. He was pretty depressing. He recently lost his job and is feeling pretty directionless. Whatever. He d??idn’t drug me and steal my kidneys. Maybe that’s where the challenge is supposed to be. I’m just really good at keeping my kidneys in my body. Very well practiced. I doubt it, though. I’m pretty ?sure this is supposed to be a chill game, and not chill in the way that you’d feel after waking up in a bathtub full of ice.

I had problems with bugs, as ?well, but between when I first started playing and today there was already a patch that fixed some of the weirder ones. As I said, this is an early demo. It even warns you when you start it up that some elements are just placeholders. I didn’t see anything that makes me truly concerned about where the qual?ity will be on the final product.

Balancing happens over time. A game might be too hard to begin with, so advantages are added to make things a bit more friendly, and the same can happen the opposite way. If the game is too friendly, certain aspects can be changed to make it stiffer. The release version will have multiple endings, maybe arriving at a friend’s house and playing Halo on Legendary difficul?ty is actually the worst one.

There are many places where Keep Driving finds success. While the fact that you aren’t truly behind the wheel takes some of the road trip feeling away, it gives you a chance to just sit back, listen to the radio, sip your te??a, and plunge your hand into a box of Frankenberry. There’s still a feeling of d??irectionless freedom and self-reflection, even while you know there are problems on the road ahead that you’ll need to deal with. There’s clear intent here, and a lot of it gets across. It’s obvious that Y/CJ/Y Games knows what they’re doing, and it’s not too hard to imagine them being able to reach their vision.

The release date for Keep Driving is still TBA, but ??there will be a demo available this coming Next Fest (October 14).

The post Keep Driving captures the calm of the open road but could use a ??few more potholes appeared first on Destructoid.

GameStop?'s a shadow of the gaming staple it once was and is closing stores left and right, including 78 in 2024 alone. Times are so hard lately that the retailer is in the Funko Pop! business as much as gaming these da??ys.

And the recently opened GameStop "Retro" stores aren't going to change that. Marred by poor e?xecution and bad marketing, this new strategy is liable to run out of gas before it gains any ground.

Starting line slip-up

It's no secret GameStop continues to fall further and further fro??m grace, flailing around with increasingly more desperate bids for relevance. On August 27, they announced the grand opening of their retro stores via X, formerly Twitter, claiming "THE CLASSICS ARE BACK."

The retailer advertised carrying games and consoles going all the way back to the third generation. But if you didn't know this happened, you're not alone. Even employees remained in the dark until just before launch. One told YouTuber Jacob R, "I actually found out from a customer. She told me a week before? ??I actually found out from my district manager."

You'd think GameStop would want to market this business move with more than a handful of tweets, but you'd be wrong. And although the retro stores received a dedicated store locator, it's difficult to find it if you don't al??ready know about it. It is buried deep within the website's sidebar along with its retro gaming catalog.

Adding insult to injury, the site heavily advertises that GameStop now buys and sells PSA-graded trading cards. It's jumping into a market it isn't know??n for while it buries the new retro stores that dea?l in its bread and butter. The saddest part of this lackluster marketing is that there's no signage indicating which GameStops are retro stores. The only ways to tell one apart from a regular shop are to go in or use the store locator online.

Unsurprisingly, content creators descended upon social media with overwhelmingly negative reviews in the weeks since GameStop Retro's launch, citing a thin selection of games and a lack of consoles alongside the nonexistent marketing. Jacob R said, "I really want to emphasize how poorly they're?? selling the who?le retro thing," and "I mean, it's bad man," referring to his experience with the store. Fellow YouTuber The Radical One mentioned, "but the retro selection was just like I thought it was gonna be," and "Um, they figure retr?o is more 7th generation type stuff." At this point, these developments caught my eye, and I decided to see for myself if GameStop Retro was as bad as advertised.

GameStop Retro in the flesh

U?sing the retro store locator, I found the nearest one was a little over an hour south of me. Nothing wrong with a day trip. Upon reaching the store, I confirmed that nothing outside signifies that it's supposed to be different from other GameStops.

It's the same way inside. Funko, plushies, figurines, and pins dominated the area surrounding the front counter, while the other wall was lin?ed up with PlayStation 5, Switch, and Xbox Series titles. It still had some issues of Game Informer, but I don't think that qualifies as retro just yet. Clearly, the store's focus is still current-gen gaming and collectibles.

Making my way to the back of the shop, I found what I made this trip for: the retro gaming section. One pitiful stretch of wall with eight shelves was the entire thing?. I will give GameStop this: the shelving was very organized. They were divided into sections for Microsoft, Sony, and?? Nintendo consoles, all alphabetized by game title.

I was ho?ping to see real "classics" as advertised. You know, some old Nintendo carts, a PlayStation light gun, a Sega Saturn controller, that kind of stuff. Instead, I saw GameStop's definition of retro, which is mostly limited to Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and Wii U. There were less than a dozen games for the PS2, PSX, Xbox, and GameCube altogether. The only console older than 8th-gen was a singular Wii. I mean, GameStop has sold 7th-gen games for years now. So, without adding something new to the formula, like carrying older consoles and peripherals, it's disingenuous to brand these shops as retro.

One shelf had some games from the 5th and 6th generations on it, but GameStop's pricing is above market value in most cases. For example, a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, worth $18-19 according to pricecharting.com, went for over $30 there. Also, a GameCube copy of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle sold for over $60, which is well over its going rate online and even surpa??sses the rate of a sealed copy.

GameStop Retro is such a missed opportunity on multiple fronts. With proper marketing, it could attract business from collectors, nostalgia-seeking casuals, and people looking to make a few bucks by tradin??g in their old collections. It could help combat the slow decay of physical gaming, which would go a long way in repairing GameStop's reputation amongst customers. And it could prevent inflation in the second-hand market by stabilizing prices.

It seems ?like GameStop isn't sure what lane it wants to be in, as evidenced by the promotion of trading cards on its site. And with the lack of push for the retro shops, it either doesn't care or doesn't know how to capitalize on that market. Currently, it's sticking its fingers?? in all sorts of pies but won't commit to eating one.

The post GameStop’s retro stores show a clear lack of direction appeared first on Destructoid.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arek Wozniak: We’re yet to announce a specific roadmap, but I can reveal at this point that scaling is planned in two dimensions: First, by adding new islands to the map, and second, by develop??ing advanced mechanics such as AI-driven animals. This is at least where we start, but once player reactions, suggestions, and criticism star??t coming, this plan may evolve a lot.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why is Remnant 2 not getting any more DLC?

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

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

More Remnant is absolutely coming, but who knows when?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indiana Jones is a professor, not a gunslinger

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

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

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

Even the movies minimize gunplay

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

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

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

The post Indiana Jones and the Great Circle doesn’t “encourage gunplay,” and it’s right not to appeared first on Destructoid.

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

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

Guardian up

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

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

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

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

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

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

More control at your fingertips

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

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

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

A reason for each run

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

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

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

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

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

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

A long road ahead

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

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

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

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

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

The post Wildkeepers Rising blends the creature collecting & bullet heaven genres into your next ‘one more run’ game appeared first on Destructoid.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post Helldivers 2 fans must unite for the game’s best Stratagem & burn every bug in the galaxy appeared first on Destructoid.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post Super Crazy Rhythm Castle might just be the most fun I’ve had all year and it’s free now on Epic Games appeared first on Destructoid.

As What We Do In The Shadows wraps up with its final season, you can extend the "frightening" fun by playing Clue: What We Do In The Shadows. Explore the Statin?? Island residence to ??try and find... Lazlo's bloody stupid Witch Skin Hat.

Clue What We Do In The Shadows has you fighting over Lazlo's Witch Hat that Nadja likely hid in the first place

Going pace for pace with the absurd humor in the show, Clue: What We Do In The Shadows concerns itself with Lazlo?'s Witch Skin Hat. It's up to the players to identify who hid the hat, where they hid it, and the item that was used ??to conceal it.

I mean it has to have been Nadja, but sure, we'll pretend like it? could have been someone else. Although a particular deviou?s vampire does come to mind...

The core gameplay of Clue: What We Do In The Shadows remains the exact same as Clue. This edition is a purely aesthetic one, although it makes for a perfect theme co??nsidering that spooky season is around the corner, as is the show's final season (airing 21st October).

If you're stuck for a board game to play whilst Halloween and the new season loom ever closer, you may not find a better candidate than this one. Although I would have personally loved it if they'd added anything new to the standard Clue experience. Alas, I'll still likely enjoy this edition more than the standard Clue just because I get to stare at their pale faces the whole time. It's hard not to think of one of their outrageous quotes every time? I see them.

In Clue: What We Do In The Shadows, you get to play as Lazlo, Nadja, Nandor, Colin, Guillermo, and, surprisingly, the Guide. As you try to find who hid the Witch Hat, you'll be searchin?g in iconic settings, such as their bedrooms and the Fancy Room.

This Clue edition is oozing with character and is a novel and fun game to bring to?? the table for a little festive fun.

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

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

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

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

Destiny is all about civilizational trauma

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

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

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

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

Elden Ring is all about changing the rules of reality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A rough start

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

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

A few changes make all the difference

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

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

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

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

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

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

Something feels a little familiar

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

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

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

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

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

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

The world is old, but the experience is new

Although this might sound like I got bored or disinterested in Aeternum quickly, I still managed to fly through a good chunk of the open beta's content without even thinking about the time. If New World: Aeternum is so similar to the original, why was I able to play so much of it?? again withou?t feeling bored?

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

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

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

The post New World: Aeternu??m preview: A familiar world with a refreshed coat of paint appeared first on Destructoid.

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

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

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

Lana lore explained

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

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

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

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

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

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

More questions than answers

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

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

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

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

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

The Beast Within

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

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

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

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

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

The Plague is coming

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gerald's video game history

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

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

Maria Robotnik and the future of the Sonic film franchise

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

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

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

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

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

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

Summer's finally winding?? down, and most of us are about to have mu??ch less time to read. Luckily, bibliophiles still have time to pick up and read through all the outstanding novels, anthologies, and collections that landed on bookstore shelves this season.

More than a few cozy, thrilling, and thought-provoking books have come out recently, and most of them are well worth the price tagged onto them. So before Autumn truly s??ettles in, here are the ten best books of September 2024.

10. Cryptomania: Hype, Hope, and the Fall of FTX's Billion-Dollar Fintech Empire - Andrew R. Chow

If Andrew R. Chow's Cryptomania can't convince you that cryptocurrency was one of the worst things ever created by human hands, I'm not sure anything will. Even if you're one of the many who've already recognized and reconciled with this truth, I'd still recommend picking this up ??if you're in the mood for a delightful shot of schadenfreude.

Following the meteoric rise and biblical fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, one of crypto's most prominent pioneers, Cryptomania is a captivating exploration of its controversial subject. Thorough in its research and wry in its prose, this tell-all nonfiction inquisition leaves nothing unsaid about the financ?ial fad that tried (and spectacularly failed) to change ??the world.

9. Hera - Jennifer Saint

From The Penelopiad to Lore Olympus, role-bending retellings of Greek mythology’s greatest sagas and tragedies have become a stable of the contemporary fiction scene. Jennifer Saint’s fledgling portfolio consists only of subversive reimagining of classic Greek heroines, and her latest book, Hera, shifts focus to one of Greece’s most icon??ic and controversial goddes??ses.

Told from the titular character’s perspective, Hera kicks off in the immediate aftermath of the gods�apocalyptic war with the Titans. Forced into a less-than-storybook marriage with the power-hungry Zeus, Hera resolves to use the power her new role gives her to subvert her husband’s rule. Packed with acts of divine wrath and Game of Thrones-style power plays, Hera is an empowering epic guaranteed to appeal to Greek myth??ology fans.

8. There Are Rivers in the Sky - Elif Shafak

Writers have been playing with time and space for centuries. While sci-fi authors analyze our relationship with these omnipresent forces by unraveling and reshaping them, contemporary fiction writers like Elif Shafak dial the scale back a few notches and explore the subtle ways they influence our lives. There Are Rivers in the Sky does this by tell?ing th?e tales of four people with one thing in common: they live along a river.

Told over millennia, There Are Rivers in the Sky fo?llows a quartet of characters from radically different time periods and backgrounds whose lives revolve a?round the River Tigris. Woven together by Shafak’s poetic prose, this tale of four souls celebrates the incalculable ways water ties our history and lives together.

7. Hum - Helen Phillips

Many dystopian novels revolve around the chaos sown by unmoored artificial intelligence. Helen Phillips�Hum isn’t as unapologetically bleak as I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream or as grandiose as 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it’s still a terrifying and unflinching tale about technology’s ability to?? transform society an?d our personal lives for better and worse.

After losing her job to one of the artificially intelligent robots, or “Hums,�that inhabit her climate-change-wracked city, May Webb agrees to become the test subject ??for a radical experiment. Now invisible to the surveillance systems that watch over her world, May moves her family to the Botanical Garden, one of the few green spaces left. However, when a deadly threat tar?gets her children, fate forces May to ally with a mysterious Hum with even more enigmatic motives.

6. The Seventh Veil of Salome - Silvia Moreno-??Garcia

Hollywood is a fantastic setting for any story, but the City of Angels lends itself particularly well to suspense. Silvia Moreno Garcia’s The Seventh Veil of Salome spins a saga of intrigue, roman??ce, and betrayal that will put a live wire in thriller fans�spines.

Set in the 1950s, The Seventh Veil of Salome follows Vera Larios, a beautiful receptionist from Mexico City who miraculously lands the starring role in a sword-and-sandals epic recounting the biblical tale of Salome. ?Unfortunately, Vera’s sudden success puts her in the crosshairs of Nancy Hartley, a bitter ensemble player who makes it her mission to steal Vera’s role, fame, and newly kindled relationship with a dashing cameraman.

5. Group Living and Other Recipes - Lola Milholland

The word “home�often channels images of a close-knit (or dysfunctional) blood family living behind the same walls. But what if the place you called home was open to anyone and everyone? Lola Milholland lived in a home like this, and hers is the story behind Group Living and Other Recipes.

One part cookbook, one part memoir, Group Living and Other Recipes sheds light on the under-explored world of communal living. Through her recollections? of the many colorful characters who lived in her childhood home (and the many incredible recipes those eccentric travelers taught her), Milholland opens your mind to a new, surreal, and delicious way of living.

4. This Is Why We Lied - Karen Slaughter

The intrigue at the heart of any good whodunit story lives and dies off the strength of its prime suspects. Murder on the Orient Express and Knives Out prove this. This Is Why We Lied by Karen Sl??aughter honors this tradition, bringing together a colorful cast of potential murderers under one roof and leaving it to the reader to deduce which did the deed.

Eager to escape their stressful careers for one weekend??, GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton spirit themselves away to McAlpine Lodge, a scenic tourist trap in the heart of the mountains. Unfortunately, their dream vacation turns into a nightmare after someone murders the lodge's owner, and they quickly realize that no one on the summit is being honest about where they were the night he died.

3. By Any Other Name - Jodi Picoult

The great William Shakespeare once said "all the world’s a stage," and that we all have a part to play in the grand performance we call life. The truth beneath those words lays itself bare on every page of Jodi Picoult’s By Any Other Name, a rousing story about the risks two women born centuries away from each ??other take to ensure the world hears their voices.

Melina Green, a struggling playwright, has just finished her latest script, inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor, Emilia Bassano. Emilia, a talented writer smothered by the restrictions Elizabethan society forced upon women, conspires with a then-little-known actor named William Shakespeare to bring one of her plays onto the stage. As charming as it is insightful, By Any Other Name is a clever spin on the “Shakespeare didn’t write his own play?s�story that’ll leave you in the mood to stand up and applaud.

2. The Pairing - Casey McQuiston

Summer is a time to relax and put your worries away, if only for a while. Cozy books are a fantastic way to spend a lazy summer day, and few things are more comfortable than a playful rom-com. Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing is yet another top-shelf romantic outing from ??one of the best contemporary romance writers out there.

Theo and Kit were inseparable during their younger days, childhood friends who transitioned into star-crossed lovers. But time pulled them apart, and both have barely thought about each other in the decades they’ve been apart. That is unti??l they run into each other by chance after spontaneously and simultaneously deciding to embark on a food-and-wine tour passing through most of Europe’s most famous cities. Forced to spend a weekend together in some of the most romantic locales in the world, Theo and Kit's long-dormant relationship begins to spark back to l?ife.

1. A Sorceress Comes to All - T. Kingfisher

The Brothers Grimm's fairy tales are some of the darkest stories you’ll ever read. From old witches being baked alive inside of ovens to wicked step-sisters getting their eyes plucked out by birds, these “children's stories�give horror movies a run for their money. T. Kingfisher’s A Sorceress Comes to All retells one of Grimm’s lesser-known and uniquely terrifying fairy tales, “The Goose Girl.�/p>

Cordelia lives alone with her mother, a wicked sorceress who keeps her daughter under heel with a healthy mix of emotional abuse and paralyzing magic. When her mother concocts a scheme to murder the kindly brother-sister duo that to?ok them in off the stre?ets, Cordelias’s forced to make an impossible choice: stand with the woman who raised her or risk it all to save the only people who have ever treated her like family.

The post 10 New Books To Read September 2024 appeared first on Destructoid.

Does anyone remember Disney Dreamlight Valley's colored potatoes from last year that turned into a whole epi??sode of potion-crafting for one companion? After days of redeeming codes, looking for random colored objects, and making a bunch of potions, I got the ra??inbow fox that I've been adventuring with ever since.

Fast forward to 2024, and we have a new mystery on our hands in the form of Default Sludge. What is this odd recipe? What do you need to make it? Why is it only worth one coin? There are more questions than answers, and unfortunately, there isn't much to go off of yet. One thing is certain: my potato-collecting adventures from 2023 instantly came to mind as I realized it would take more than tossing a marshmallow into a cooking pot to make this peculiar recipe.

For those uninitiated, this tuber event that I'll call the Rainbow Potato Party from now onward was a series of item-collecting that started with a code. This code, GPOT-OATO-LDFS-ENNM, gave you a golden potato that you eventually turned into a carrot, crab, and, after a while, a Gleaming Gold Potion. For a while, no one in the Disney Dreamlight Valley community kne?w how to use it, and we weren't prepared for the wild adventure that began shortly after.

After some time, we discovered more potatoes. They covered every color of the rainbow, but at this point, we had no clue where it'd lead. I spent hours a day over several days cooking a weird red ice cream of sorts, searching around the village for a bunch of glowing blue items, and finding teeny tiny orange pebbles that tested my skills in hidden object games. To this day, I still consider the Rainbow Potato Party one of my favorite parts of Disney Dreamlight Valley, especially since it helped me form some lasting friendships with others in the com?munity.

What were we talking about again? Oh, right, the Default Sludge. At the moment, we know very little about this dish and its purpose. At first, it seemed like a quest item for Princess Tiana or Jafar during the Dapper Delights update, but those theories quickly dissipated after realizing not a single item worked for the dish. Once we heard about the End of Summer event a few days later, that sounde??d like the obvious solution to this mystery, but that also led to no results. I even tried checking if I could toss a second Golden Potato in, but there was no option f??or it. Right now, we're back to square one.

Do we just give up on this mystery then? Well, not exactly. If I've learned anything from the Rainbow Potato Party, the answer can come at unexpected times. Th??ere are all kinds of possible solutions to this, from another mini event coming soon to us waiting for the next major content ??update next month.

Solving Disney Dreamlight Valley's weird little mysteries between questing and building friendships makes things interesting. Sure, we might not get Default Sludge's recipe for a while, but at least we're having fun trying new things. It's just a matter of time before new items appear to unlock this recipe. It looks like it'll be a quest item judging by its low Star Coin and energy values, but only time will tell. It could also be a dish that remains vaulted forever or even disappear a?t any point. I just hope it's part of a fun quest or at least involved in a puzzle of some kind.

The post Default Sludge is Disney Dreamlight Valley’s greatest mystery since the Golden Potato appeared first on Destructoid.

The final version of Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition is now out. Not to be confused with the upcoming remake of Silent Hill 2 by Bloober team, this is a fan-made mod that provides fans and newcomers alike with the definitive way of enjoying?? this modern classic in modern syste??ms.

If you were to look at the Silent Hill HD Collection that Konami brashly put out back in 2012, you'd think that the subject of Silent Hill remasters was even more cursed than the town itself. As it turns out, the curse is bogus and the town is totally a special ??plac??e worth visiting if the navigation is put in the right hands.

This remaster diligently makes all the enhan?cements you'd expect out of a proper HD treatment. There's HD support, HD textures, improved lighting, shadows, fog, but it takes things further. It completely replaces some textures, and remodels some graphical elements from the original. Very importantly, it even fixes the rare problems that existed in the original solely because of its PlayStation 2 game DNA.

If you already own a copy of the original Silent Hill 2 for PC, all you need to do is head here to download and learn the simple installation steps to get the Enhanced Version to blow your mind.

Bloober Team asks fans to give the studio a chance with their remake of Silent Hill 2. I, while not a fan of the studio, will do so while salu?ting Bloober's bravery in undertaking such a gargantuan task. However, the coin is still spinning on that one, whe??reas this remaster is already a superior version of one of the most mesmerizing games in history.

I ask fans �and newcomers �to give this one a try. The team behind Enhanced Edition is aware that despite this awesome coat of paint, SH2 remains a game of its time. ?So, they also made this video to make everyone new to this world up to speed:

If you're having a hard time waiting for October 8th when the Silent Hill 2 remake comes out, the?n this is a great way to pass that time.

The post S??ilent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition is finally complete and loo??ks amazing appeared first on Destructoid.

The Assassin’s Creed franchise has no shortage of beautifully crafted historical playgrounds for its fans to enjoy exploring. From the narrow streets of Florence and Venice in Assassin’s Creed II to the sprawling landscapes of Ancient Greece in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the series has always impressed me with its outstanding attention to historical detail in world design. Sure, it's all a fiction. However, there's no denying that the best Assassin's Creed games feel like taking a trip back in time.

In this ranking, I’ll be discussing how well Ubisoft has adapted the time period and location of each Assassin’s Creed game to support open exploration, enjoyable gameplay, and historical immersion. This adaptation process is a key part of what makes the best Assassin's Creed games so great.

13. Colonial America in Assassin’s Creed Rogue

Assassin’s Creed Rogue is the lowest on this list because it’s the only game in the franchise where it feels like significant historical d??etails are missing in the game world’s creation. ?The focus era of the game is the Seven Years�War, but the game has little to do with the conflict. The River Valley area of the map is a bit too shallow in terms of side quests and other explorative activities, and the ability to sail a full-sized pirate ship around central New York is somewhat comical.

12. Viking-era England in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Valhalla is the franchise’s biggest land map to date, taking players from the fjords of Norway through to a vast recreation of Viking-era England. DLC expansions to the game also allow you to travel to Ireland, France, and other more mythological lands, such as Asgard. However, the expansiveness of the Valhalla is its main detriment, particularly in the game’s England maps. The se?riesâ€?iconic parkour mechanics are limited in nearly every zone, and many of ??the game’s towns and villages feel unremarkable because there’s very little to see or do in these locations that you can’t do in other corners of the map. 

11. Constantinople in Assassin’s Creed Revelations

Ubisoft’s rendition of 1500s Constantinople in Revelations is a less intriguing landscape in comparison with other game worlds from the series, primarily beca?use the city's districts lack distinct??ion from one another. There are of course many iconic landmarks sprinkled across the map, such as the Hagia Sofia and Galata Tower, but the story doesn’t interact with them very often which means you can easily miss them. On the plus side, traversing the map can be very enjoyable, with additions such as the hook blade and zip lines improving the parkour experience from earlier titles.

10. The Holy Land in Assassin’s Creed

The original Assassin’s Creed is an incredibly atmospheric experience. The division of each city between richer and poorer districts nicely complements the themes of the story when it dives into the philosophical elements of the creed. However, there’s no denying that the first game has not aged nearly as well as its sequels. There are no side quests that help players engage with the history of this era, and the Kingdom area between the three cities is unremarkable. I’ll always be holding out hope for an Assassin's Creed remaster that ??fixes these issues, but in the meantime, the world of the original game is decent enough.

9. Rome in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is the middle chapter in the trilogy of games covering the series�most beloved protagonist, Ezio Auditore, and his adventures through Renaissance Italy. As a result of the storytelling, many aspects of the setting are borrowed from the previous entry, Assassin’s Creed II. The signature monuments of Brotherhood’s Rome, such as the Colosseum and Castello Sant’Angelo, are well utilized in the game’s storytelling, but many of the outlying areas of the game felt unimpressive, particularly compared to the countryside in Assassin’s Creed II. The core of the city, however, is excellently?? crafted and highly interactive.  

8. Ancient Greece in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Odyssey’s maps and open landscapes are massive. However, the game’s regions are more distinct than those found in Valhalla, and offer unique vistas and lively historical settings that ??constantly had me snapping screenshots. But while the game’s Mediterranean setting is undeniably beautiful throughout, there is sometimes a lack of interactivity in the landscape. In short, not all regions felt relevant to the quests. Parkour opportunities felt limited, and you'll traverse most of the map by boat or on horseback.   

7. Revolutionary America in Assassin’s Creed III

Assassin’s Creed III centers its gameplay on revolutionary war America and divides its players�time between the colonial cities of Boston and New York and the frontier wilderness. Each of the game’s regions change with the season appropriate to the main story, and weather mechan?ics such as snow banks appropriately shift the ease of traversal and visibility. The key battlegrou??nds and buildings from the Revolutionary War are more than just sights to visit. Instead, they play central roles in the game’s story.

6. Baghdad in Assassin’s Creed Mirage

The most recent game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise returned players to a more linear game experience, where story and stealth take center stage and were well supported by the game’s environment. The city streets of Mirage’s Baghdad are lively, colourful, and filled to the brim with iconic landmarks. The ability to blend in with the crowds makes a welcome return, a??????????????????????????nd the architectural designs of the buildings made parkour enjoyable?? once again. I was also particularly enchanted by the game’s interior spaces, but found the desert beyond the city to be a bit too empty.

5. Ancient Egypt in Assassin’s Creed Origins

Origins is the first of the three RPG- style games in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and thus was the first to design its game map for full open-ended exploration. Ptolemaic Ancient Egypt was a significant departure from the historical backdrops of the preceding games, almost all of which were set within 500 years of modern day. The new surroundings of Origins undoubtedly helped to keep the franchise feel fresh and exciting, and new mechanics like diving and the Discovery Tour also ?gave us new ??ways to explore every nook and cranny.  

4. The West Indies in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag 

The golden age of piracy is one of the most iconic historical time periods in the franchise, and the world design of Black Flag does not disappoint in bringing this era to life. Capturing forts?, digging up buried treasure in underwater shipwrecks, and uncovering Mayan ruins are all unique activities that allow players to directly interact with the setting. Vibrant jungles, unique cities, and changes in the ocean environment when sailing all assemble to create a fun and entertaining adventure.

3. Victorian London in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

With the addition of the rope launcher and carriage driving, Syndicate’s rendition of Victorian London offered us a fantastic blend of new mechanics for exploring the city’s wider streets, bridges, and rivers. Iconic buildings such as Big Ben and Westminster are present, but the narrow stree?ts and alleyways of Whitechapel and Southwark are arguably even more interesting? in terms of exploration. City districts are distinct, and small details on the street, such as posters and signs, give the game an impressive amount of gritty yet enjoyably goofy Victorian style.

2. Renaissance Italy in Assassin’s Creed II

Renaissance Italy is one of the most beloved settings in the entire Assassin’s Creed catalog, and for good reason. The importance of this era in Italian history is incredibly well explored in both the story and interactions with characters like Leonardo Da Vinci and Machiavelli. Florence and Venice are distinctly beautiful, suit the protagonist’s parkour movements perfectly, and leave a lasting impression on the player. The game of course greatly benefits from Jesper Kyd’s now iconic soundtrack. It gives the world of Assassin’s Creed II a level of mystique that in??spired me to explore every corner in search of ?satisfying scraps of franchise lore.

1. Revolutionary Paris in Assassin’s Creed Unity

Assassin’s Creed Unity perfectly captures France in the early throes of Napoleonic-era revolution. The dense crowds of NPCs in the game bring the city to life in a way that the franchise has yet to match and establish the chaos of the times in a very ??interactive way. Details as unmissable as the riots going on in the streets and as small as the newsp??aper clippings available on street corners made me feel as though I was walking around in nothing short of a turning point in human history. 

The ability to not only climb but seamlessly enter and explore iconic landmarks such as the Notre Dame, Palace of Versailles, and the Bastille was also an outstanding upgrade from earlier entries. While there have been many Assassin's Creed games since Unity, they haven't risen as high in terms of historical? world design and immersion.

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The STALKER series has a long, complicated, and extremely storied history of development. From the earliest days of Oblivion Lost all the way to the release of the open-source port of GSC Game World's X-Ray engine, it's quite fascinating. How likely, though, is it that STALKER 2 tops all that?

Here's the thing about STALKER 2: the odds of it truly substituting and improving upon every single aspect of its predecessors are remarkably slim. I've said before that, following the latest developer deep dive, I'm way mo?re keen on the state of the game than ever before. The developer, GSC Game World, is obviously doing its best to replicate the immaculate vibes of the old STALKER titles in every possib??le way, but I just don't see it happening across the board, and modding is one of the reasons why I feel this ??way.

Now, obviously, this article may well prove to be incorrect within a couple of years: STALKER 2 may well be the title that will kickstart full-fledged Unreal Engine 5 modding in an unprecedented way. You're going to want to keep a pinch of salt at hand as you read, is what I'm getting at. Yet, having been at the ground zero of each and every one of STALKER's PC releases, I can't help but be skeptical of UE's ability to host this franchise's burgeoning modding community. Down below, I'll explain why th?at's the case.

STALKER 2 replaces X-Ray with Unreal Engine 5, but is it for the better?

Obviously, this header is a bit of a stinker when you think about it, because good grief was X-Ray an absolute mess in its Shadow of Chernobyl build. Yet, as years went by and OpenXRay came into its own, the community ended up fixing and improving upon every single aspect of the old, original STALKER titles while developing a new stand?alone experience along the way.

This materialized in the form of Call of Chernobyl - a free single-player mod that unifies all the content from Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat into one A-Life simulating super-sandbox. It is phenomenal, and if you haven't yet given it a chance, I highly recommend doing so. Avoid the usual assortment of Anomaly and GAMMA modpacks that players often recommend, too: just give STALKER a chance for its ecology to start popping off. Now, had STALKER always relied on third-party engines, this wouldn't have been possible, and I firmly believe that, in turn, we wouldn't be so vigorously discussing the merits of a full-featured STALKER 2 to begin with.

Don't get me wrong: Unreal Engine 5 is obviously going to be a huge improvement to the core stability and feature-set of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Its tech-stack is so massive that GSC Game World didn't have to spend time producing their own custom engine that would, inevitably, come apart at the seams if X-Ray is anything to go by. Yet, in moving over to a mainstream third-party solution, GSC Game World is without a doubt losing something that's been absolutely crucial to STALKER: modding capacity.

The STALKER modding community is almost guaranteed to suffer

Certainly, there are moddable Unreal Engine 5 games. The engine lends itself to third-party customization way better than its immediate predecessor, but it's still not even close to the flexibility of Unreal Engine 3. UE3, in turn, was a pale shadow of some other game eng??ines when it comes to modding, and X-Ray is one of them.

It's crucial to understand that STALKER games have had prolific modding communities basically from day one onwards. True, we didn't get to enjoy the golden age of Call of Chernobyl until after the release of OpenXRay in 2020, but that's beside the point: deep modding is a crucial implement for a STALKER game. It's a pillar of the franchise's community, and I sadly do not think this will continue with STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

Here's the jig: it all has to do with Unreal Engine 5 and how moddable it is or is not. Now, obviously, all of this depends entirely on the developer, a game's community, and whether or not they end up releasing the mod-kit/SDK for a game in the end. Some UE5 games are moddable, to an extent. Take Ready or Not, for example, which has map mods, ?gun mods, AI mods, and a variety of other thingamabobs players can install through the integ??rated? modding UI.

Thing is, though, that virtually everyone recommends manually installing mods regardless, because the in-game UI is simply unreliable and doesn't work properly half the time. I can vouch for this, too: the mods will not reliably load in Ready or Not if you don't put in some elbow grease.

Technically, the possibility of modding is on the table for STALKER 2 and, certainly, GSC Game World has promised to support it, as per the official website. Given UE5's track record, though, I just don't think the game's modding community will ever reach the ridiculous heights of its predecessors. Predecessors which, note, did not come with SDKs of any sort, only for modd?ers themselves to reverse-engineer them into being.

STALKER 2 will continue the franchise's legacy, but jankiness and free-form modding may be a thing of the past

I fear that this article's tone may suggest that I'm somehow skeptical of STALKER 2 in general. Not at all, though: not after the? latest batch of gameplay trailers and showpieces. Heck, I was absolutely thrilled when Scar of Clear Sky fame made a triumphant (and surprisingly jolly) appearance in his own dedicated trailer.

No, I genuinely believe that STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl will deliver a true STALKER gaming experience that meaningfully riffs on what came before it. I just don't think the game's new tech-stack is going to allow the modding community to spread its wings quite as much as it did with Call of Chernobyl.

Gun skins, armors, and perhaps even some new content? I'm sure it'll drop in, sooner or later. Something resembling a full-scale retrofit such as GAMMA, though? No shot. At least not from what we've seen of Unreal Engine 5 so far. And, really, it's hard to argue that this hypothetical scenario wouldn't be a marked loss for the STALKER community.

For the time being, let's wait and see what comes of all this. Even if STALKER 2 does manage to find its footing as a proper modding platform, it'll take years before we know how far modders can ta??ke it. In the interim, we just gotta hope that GSC Game World can deliver the base gameplay experience we're all hoping to see.

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