From Andrea Lucco Borlera / Santa Ragione, HORSES has proven to be a highly controversial title with both Epic Games and Steam banning its release. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
The golden age of the BioWare RPG may be past, but there are still developers willing to go the distance with a genre that begs for good fantasy worldbuilding, good game mechanics, and interesting well-written stories all in one. Spiders is one of them, and Greedfall 2: The Dying World is their sequel to the colonial fantasy RPG that was a very welcome and pleasant surprise back in 2022. That said, there are a few big changes to how it plays that might put some people off the trail—but after a few hours with advanced portions of the game's storyline I saw the makings of another success. Kicking it Old School Greedfall 2 takes cues from the early-2000s era of roleplaying games. It's more like Dragon Age: Origins or Knights of the Old Republic than anything released recently, for better and for worse. I distinctly got the feeling that Greedfall 2 is specifically harkening back to this era of games for a reason: This is a style of game that the developers at Spiders want to emulate and keep alive because they prefer it—at least for their own games. Whether or not you enjoy that style of real-time-with-pause combat and emphasis on character arcs, dialogues, and analyzing the environments for plot options will probably determine whether or not Greedfall 2 is interesting to you. At least based on what I played. Fantasy Island As with the first Greedfall game, the fantasy world is the real selling point here. Based on the ideas of the European Age of Discovery, or the Spanish golden age, with a dash of the 18th century, and delving into the fascinating clash between cultures in a world that is approaching what we'd consider modern. Except, you know, with the backdrop of magic, monsters, gods, and other fantastical things. Technically a prequel to the first game, I really got the feeling it's narratively designed so that you can pick it up and play only knowing the most basic premise—which is helped along by the part where you're a native of far-flung island Teer Fradee with little knowledge of the continent at the other edge of the ocean. As with the first Greedfall game, the fantasy world is the real selling point here. What's cool is that whereas the first game took place entirely on the island, in Greedfall 2 you get to travel to the continental cities only loosely described in Greedfall. They're delightful culture shock and a welcome change of pace: Winding streets of crowded buildings, huge port complexes of tall ships, including your own ship as a base of operations, and sprawling palatial estates for the wealthiest. It also continues Greedfall's tradition of including some absurd, wonderful, and downright dapper riffs on early modern clothing. Including an array of some absolutely wonderful hats. Seriously, someone's going to play this just for the silly hats and helmets. Like I'm ready to do a second preview, right now, just talking to the Spiders art department about some of these hats. On the Nose Your character is Vridan Gerr, which means "Short Roots" in your own language, an up-and-coming initiate of your tribe's combined magical tradition and religion. The character creation was pretty robust, introduced in the first scene with a cute little dialogue involving a foreign artist making depictions of the natives to send home. It had all the features you'd expect, and more besides—seven different sliders for the nose alone, for example. I'm sure some people will be able to make art with it, while others will make monsters. There were a good amount of classes to play with. Across the three segments I explored I tried out a tank-focused Protector, a greatsword-and-magic-wielding Living Blade, and a stylish swashbuckling rapier-and-pistol-wielding class with a sideline in party buffing skills. Because, to be clear, when a game offers you an opportunity to arm yourself and behave like one of The Three Musketeers, well, you take it. KOTOR Combat Combat is much-changed from the first game, focusing on a real-time-with-pause combat where you control or automate your entire party rather than just your main character. It's a pretty big tonal shift if what you loved from the first game was the action style, but it's a familiar form if you grew up on Knights of the Old Republic or Dragon Age Origins. I'll admit that I wasn't completely sold on the combat. Real-time-with-pause does sometimes feel like a dated way to play games, a halfway compromise between simultaneous resolution and turn-based combat. You're often just using your best abilities in the order that it seems good to use them, or setting up and executing the same combo on enemies content to stand there and take it rather than react in unexpected ways or use surprising abilities. That said, it's combat that's playable in three forms. There's Tactical Mode that has a free-moving camera, has you control your entire team, and do lots of pausing to ****** up moves. There's a Hybrid mode that has more automated options for your companion team and fewer pauses. There's also Focused mode, which defaults to your character's point of view and has you really only controlling their moves in detail, with very limited pausing. I tried all three modes and found myself only really loving the Tactical mode, but even though I'm a tactics junkie I saw the genuine appeal of the Focused mode if what you really care for is the story and want to turn the difficulty down so the combat is there as flavorful excitement for the narrative. Story Time Greedfall 2's story looks like it's shaping up to be just as much epic fantasy as the first game's. The stakes are high, the heroes are heroic, and the villains are properly awful. That said, I got the impression that more characters in Greedfall 2 were just stuck in the middle—morally grey, stuck between two worlds, powerless, or just playing politics. That really plays out in the opening, which sees your character and their friends abducted as the introduction to a rollicking adventure… the goal of which seems like to get back home. But the things you discover along the way mean that you'll need to return to the mainland and play hero to ensure your peoples' survival—whether you like it or not. Greedfall 2's story looks like it's shaping up to be just as much epic fantasy as the first game's. Along for the ride on your adventure are some really choice companions across an array of cool archetypes—at least from what I saw. Each of the companions has their own preferred fighting style and unique skill tree, as does the main character, which really helped to sell me on these being different people and not just a possible player character class palette-swapped to a new body. In true RPG style, these companions will also inject themselves into conversations you have during your travels. The veteran warrior Till, for example, busted out his sergeant's bluster and pulled rank on some harbor guards when they confronted the party about permits for travel. The best example I saw, however, was older explorer Safia, whose years of wisdom and maternal character showed as she'd often admonish others for behaving in dishonorable ways, or ways that reflected poorly on their shared nationality. I also quite liked Fausta, an exiled religious wizard from a theocratic state whose loyalties to the hero's party were conflicted at best. Not only was her light-based magic interesting in combat, but her stance as yet another fish out of water alongside the player character made for interesting conversations. Final Thoughts It's good that the companions are at least interesting from the about three hours of preview I played, but it's better that those slices of storyline from different parts of the game all seemed pretty immediately compelling. There's clear stakes, plots, and interesting things to do at every point I played, and all of it was written well enough that I stayed interested even when I was tossed into a situation and hadn't fully played the few dozen hours of story that came before it—something that's just not always true for RPG previews. That said, there was a sense that the story was big and epic just for the sake of it, because the more compelling parts of the plot were the places where characters were interacting with each other amid the larger historical forces they had no power over. Upon finally returning to your home island, for example, you might find your village destroyed and your people missing. What of your loved ones? Your mother? Those stories were really compelling and could have carried the game on their own, to be honest—but I think that epic fantasy fans want something big and magical to happen and they'll be pretty interested in what Greedfall 2 has cooking. It's a twist on the exciting big reveals from the possible endings of Greedfall, and an obvious outgrowth of setting this game on the continent rather than entirely in the new lands. Either way, this is definitely looking to be Spiders at the top of their game. I hope that bears out when it releases in 2026. View the full article
"Don't shoot!" Forget Wolfpack grenades and Snaphooks: those two words can be your most powerful tool in Arc Raiders. My favorite runs have all started with that voice line, such as the time when I spent 15 minutes hunting an espresso machine in Buried City with a South African guy who loved talking about rugby, or when I teamed up with four other solos on Spaceport to destroy dangerous ARC and debate the best pizza topping. But when uneasy alliances break, it feels horrible. If you've played for more than a few hours, particularly as a solo player, then you've likely been betrayed by somebody who seemed friendly right until they shot you in the back and feasted on the tasty loot you'd plundered alongside them. It feels like players are more hostile now than they were at launch, emboldened by hours of play, and that betrayals are more frequent. So how do you spot traitors and kill them before they kill you? Well, you learn the signs. It's not an exact science, but after 80 hours of Arc Raiders, these are my top tips. 1. Your Shadow Traitors stab in the back. They won't instigate a fair fight and will try, whenever possible, to stay behind you before opening fire. If you've teamed up with a random somebody, keep an eye on exactly where they run. If they deliberately stay behind you, or keep circling around you, then they may be planning their attack, especially if they insist on keeping their weapon drawn. If you spot this behaviour, take cover and ask them to put their gun away. The tension might be easily defused – perhaps they were just suspicious of you, for example – and you want to avoid conflict when possible because gunfire will draw third parties who could prove even more difficult to deal with. But if you don't like your companion's answer, either run away or open fire. Smoke grenades are brilliant in this situation: they can buy time to help you escape, or simply obstruct a traitors' line of sight. 2. The Never-Looter The safest time to kill is when someone is looting. If you're focused on your inventory, you can't see your surroundings, and so you can't react when shot. For that reason, traitors will avoid breaching, calling elevators, or otherwise interacting with objects themselves. If you do the looting, their hands are free to catch you at the perfect moment. These players may try to appear busy by sprinting, strafing, or running between rooms – but if they're not looting, be worried. If a player turns their back to me and loots, it instantly makes me trust them more. 3. Magnetic Eyes In Arc Raiders, your character turns their head as you move the camera, which indicates to other players where you're looking. Keep an eye on where your opponents are watching – if they keep swivelling their head to keep you in their sight, make an exit plan. Of course, to keep a close eye on them, you might have to keep moving your camera, and your apparent allies might simply be doing the same, so this behavior isn't enough on its own to warrant conflict. Get on voice comms to seek reassurance. 4. The Silent Type Players without mics are more likely to betray you: their silence is like a social shield that numbs their guilt. That doesn't mean mic-less players are all traitors, of course: if you prefer to remain anonymous, things like using voice lines, flashing your torch, crouching, and holstering your weapon can all build trust. What's more worrying is when a player who was chatty suddenly goes silent. They might just be AFK, but sometimes they're masking their location or pretending they've left the area. If you call out and don't get a response, stay alert. And if you catch a silent player crouch-walking, shoot on sight: they're about to spring an ambush. 5. The Shifty Guy Betraying somebody is nervewracking. Some players can't take the strain and you'll literally hear the adrenaline pumping in their voice. If they seem edgy, take cover and watch them closely. Equally, if they're acting loud, ******, or exaggerating their voice in some way, they're less likely to play fair. Arc Radiers' built-in voice changers are a grey area. Players who use them are, in my experience, more volatile, but it's not an ironclad sign of a traitor. Remain vigilant. 6. Getting Personal Asking a raider, "What gear have you found?" or "What level is that gun?" is the equivalent of asking a stranger when they last showered. It's too personal. The big difference, though, is that questions about your washing habbits don't tend to be followed by betrayal. In Arc Raiders, questions about your personal equipment often signals that a player may be deciding whether or not your inventory is worth the risk. Whenever anyone asks me something like this I usually laugh it off then immediately find an excuse to leave. 7. "What team are you?" The self-declared war between the followers of two streamers – TheBurntPeanut and HutchMF – is technically over for now, but you may run into people who still ask whether you're a Bungulator or an FMFer. I personally haven't found this on European servers and would be baffled if I did, but judging by the game's subreddit it's pretty common in North America. I recommend escaping or shooting these players. If you're not following popular Arc streamers then it's hard to know the right answer, and your interrogators may have already made up their minds to kill you. Be particularly wary of groups roaming around with the same cosmetic skin – these groups have "uniforms" that signal their allegiance (and potentially their intentions.) Final tip: Trust your instincts, and don't take risks If your gut tells you not to trust a player, something is probably off. Take cover, call out their behaviour, ask for an explanation, and weigh their response. If you really feel uneasy, then shoot first, ask questions later: they can talk when they're down. I always carry a defibrillator in my safe pocket in case I realise they're innocent and I've made a horrible mistake, and it's normally rectified with a revive, an apology, and a contrite gift from my inventory. Even More Arc Raiders Tips and Tricks Are you struggling to extract all the gear you need? Our Arc Raiders guides are here to help. IGN's expert extractors have played dozens of hours to bring you all the tips and tricks you need to beat the 'bots and build the best blasters. Arc Raiders General Tips and TricksLoot Guide: Arc Raiders Crate Types and RaritiesAll Arc Raiders BlueprintsBest Arc Raiders WeaponsSkill Tree and Best Arc Raiders Abilities[/url] Samuel Horti is a journalist with bylines at the BBC, IGN, Insider Business, and Edge. View the full article
Are you trying to figure out how to complete "An Indestructible Flame", where "Agapea" is, or what the "Tavern of Nil" is in Octopath Traveler 0? This page will help you out. View the full article
One of the game-long quests in Octopath Traveler 0 involves collecting the Eight Sacred Treasures, which requires eight Crested Keys. Here's where to find them. View the full article
There are five Letter Fragments to find in Octopath Traveler 0, and obtaining all of them leads to another Traveler you can recruit. View the full article
If you are quickly trying to figure out where the books are in order to complete the quest Books Overdue in Octopath Traveler 0, this page will help. View the full article
Sonderland Games (Bella Wants Blood, Landnama) announced FIXKIN: A Long Way Home - a new cozy rhythm-based adventure and there's a demo available. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
ArenaNet have released Guild Wars Reforged bringing together the Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall campaigns together along with various improvements. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
Russia has banned Roblox in the country over fears that it is rife with inappropriate content that can "negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children." According to state-owned news agency TASS, the measure was taken due to the site's systematic distribution of materials containing propaganda and justification of... Read Entire Article View the full article
The Day of Atonement live event has been added to Warhammer 40,000 Darktide as part of the latest No Man's Land update, and you can complete it to win some amazing in-game rewards. Coinciding with the release of the Hive ***** update, No Man's Land is available to all for free. It has its own story and Personality, all of which have been available since Dec. 2. The live event is finally available, and this guide will briefly describe what needs to be done. Warhammer 40,000 Darktide The Day of Atonement walkthrough This is how the live event is officially described by the developers. "Disturbing news has reached us from the poorer hab zones in Tertium. The recovered rations that were recently distributed to the unfortunate souls who reside in these districts appear to have been tainted. A great sickness has spread through these areas. My masters in the Ecclesiarchy have called for a Day of Atonement. You must beg our dear Saint Messelina Gloriana for her forgiveness and protection for our beloved Tertium. Pray at her Blessed Altars and scour the hive for any Holy Relics you can find. Only through devotion can we hope to save our city. - Sister Hestia Prine" To participate and make your progress count during the event, participate in missions with the Atonement condition. When you participate in such missions, you'll find shrines located in different areas of the map. Interact with the shrines, and you'll find enemies spawning at your location. Some of those enemies will be pretty hard to take down, and you'll need to coordinate with your allies. When you defeat enemies, your progress will be saved as a cleared shrine. Keep repeating the process, and you'll unlock various rewards when you hit certain milestones. Image via **** Shark To quicken your event progress, you can also gather holy relics. Here's a list of all the rewards available at different milestones. 200: 50,000 Ordo Dockets600: 3,000 Plasteel1000: 4,000 Diamantine1600: 3,000 Plasteel2500: 100,000 Ordo Dockets3600: New Insignia4500: 500 Aquilas While unlocking all the milestones will require a fair bit of time, the live event will be available for a considerable *******, having started on Dec. 4. The post How to complete The Day of Atonement in Warhammer 40,000 Darktide appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
The banning of Vivi Ornitier from MTG's standard format in mid November slammed the breaks on the format, kicking aggro strategies to the curb and giving midrange and control decks the breathing room needed to let their long term game plans play out. While Dimir self-bounce hasn't regained the prominence it has had at some points in the last two years, the latest MTG set has given it a very powerful new tool: 'The Legend of Kuruk', an excellent payoff for the deck's strategy of repeatedly playing the same permanents to annihilate the opponent's board and build your own. When MTG Avatar: the Last Airbender launched on November 21, copies of The Legend of Kuruk settled at a stable $3, but they started rising a week ago and hit a peak of $9 on December 4. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: MTG's Badgermole Cub might fulfil my worst fears about Universes Beyond Legendary MTG player tops a 950 person Legacy tournament without a single Reserved list card The only good MTG card in the Spider-Man set just had a 200% price spike View the full article
Developers Treyarch Studios and Raven Software have released the official patch notes for Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone Season 1 ahead of the update's release later today, December 4. As expected, the change log for both titles is incredibly lengthy, as Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7and Warzone are set to undergo some major changes for the shooter's very first season. While there will be plenty of new content for players to check out in both games, players can also expect tons of bug fixes, adjustments, improvements, balance changes, and more. View the full article
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