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Avowed is finally available, and Obsidian has already released a sizable update for the fantasy action RPG. Gameplay that reminded players of Skyrim and a universe that acts as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate made the game one of the most hyped releases of 2025, and so far, it's largely held up to expectations. Still, no title is ever perfect at launch, so Avowed is introducing some major fixes upfront while detailing longer-term plans. View the full article

Singapore's Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Tan See Leng, addressed the issue in a statement to lawmakers. According to Tan, while Nvidia reported that 22 percent of its sales in the August-October 2023 ******* were attributed to Singapore, this figure primarily reflects billing practices rather than physical product delivery. Read Entire Article View the full article

Starfield still exists, believe it or not, and has just gotten an interesting mod that's made me consider re-installing it just so I can roleplay as some kind of intergalactic version of Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition. Read more View the full article

The privitisation of British Rail, now that's the real monster. Please subscribe to my Substack for more scorching social commentary. Actually, here's a far more fun thing you can click on: a Steam demo for Monster Train 2. If you ignored the ennui-drenched tannoy announcement because you were paying sixteen pounds at Cafe Nero for a limp panini last time around, Monster Train is a card flickenin' roguelite strategy, and one of the better ones, too. Here's a trailer. Read more View the full article

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a battle of strategy, luck, and deck-building mastery. While most games revolve around dealing damage and knocking out your opponent’s Pokémon, there’s a sneaky way to take control of the battlefield—Special Conditions. Table of contentsAll Pokémon TCG Special ConditionsHow Special Conditions work in PTCGCompetitive Strategies in Pokémon TCG for Special ConditionsWhat is the most powerful Special Condition in PTCG?How do Special Conditions interact with abilities and tools in PTCG? All Pokémon TCG Special Conditions Left: a Burn counter, Right: a Poison counter. Image by The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Special Conditions affect a Pokémon’s ability to attack, retreat, and survive in battle. Unlike normal damage, these status effects in the Pokémon Trading Card Game can completely alter the flow of a game, disrupting strategies and forcing tough decisions. There are five core Special Conditions that have appeared consistently throughout the game’s history: View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Destiny 2’s Sundered Doctrine dungeon launched the Finality’s Auger Exotic, and it only took three weeks for players to find this Exotic catalyst. As expected, it’s tied to the dungeon itself, and its acquisition is closer to Ice Breaker than to the catalysts of other dungeon Exotics. Getting the Finality’s Auger catalyst takes a bit of work. You must complete the Drowning Labyrinth quest before you can grab it, which requires a few clears of the dungeon itself. In that sense, Sundered Doctrine takes after Vesper’s Host and Warlord’s Ruin since both Exotic catalysts require you to clear the dungeon’s quest. This means you don’t have to do the dungeon on Master or be at the mercy of RNG to score the catalyst, which is helpful. View the full article

Team Fortress 2 developer Valve has handed over the proverbial "keys to the kingdom," opening up the game's full client and server code to fans. The company encourages players to "change, extend or rewrite" Team Fortress 2 in any way they like, as long as these changes are non-commercial, which is in line with Valve's track record of being quite open with its games. This development follows a rather bumpy year for Team Fortress 2, which is still dealing with bots and other issues. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Listening to the fans, NetEase has announced that Marvel Rivalsplayers will now be able to turn their excess Chrono Tokens into units. Despite the game's massive success since launch, it's not all been smooth sailing, and one of the many concern points for players has been over the game's Battle Pass currency, Chrono Tokens. View the full article

It's never been a more competitive time for online games. As a result, some titles inevitably fall by the wayside, even those that are part of pre-established universes. The Outlast Trials is definitely one such game. An online co-op take on Outlast, a series of games you've almost definitely seen your favourite/least favourite YouTubers scream incessantly at over the years, despite launching with some mixed reviews back in 2024, the game is sitting at a 92% positive rating on Steam these days. If that piques your interest, I've got some great news: it's on ***** for the cheapest price it has ever been. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The Outlast Trials gets more weird with new asset now hunting players 93% positive rated survival horror gets game-changing content update 91% rated co-op horror game to launch grotesque limited time event View the full article

Valve's latest Team Fortress 2 update has sparked both excitement and concern within the community. Depending on how you see it, this could be the best or worst news in years for TF2. On Feb. 18, Valve announced via the TF2 blog that it has added the game's client and server code to the Source SDK. In simpler terms, this means anyone can now download the entire codebase for free, allowing content creators and modders to build completely new games based on TF2, as Valve explained in its blog post. For those with coding skills, this opens new possibilities for TF2 modding—players are no longer limited to just remodels and minor tweaks. They can now create entirely new classes, maps, and even full games using TF2’s foundation. The only condition? All content must be free and non-commercial, per Valve’s Source SDK rules. Some TF2 fans fear Valve is abandoning the game At first glance, this seems like great news, but not everyone sees it that way. Some TF2 fans worry that this signals Valve washing its hands of the game entirely. One player compared it to Left 4 Dead 2, which still receives occasional bug fixes but no real new content—aside from community-made mods on Steam Workshop. "Y'all just realized that?", one player added, referring to the statement that Valve is abandoning TF2. "I'm sorry but it was pretty obvious from the last years, there is no update coming and it has been clear for a while." Other players think the TF2 community has more power than ever On the other hand, many players argue that this changes nothing—because the community has been keeping TF2 alive for years anyway. In their view, this move simply makes it official. "Tf2 is not dying! TF2 IS GOING TO LIVE FOREVER," one player wrote. "TF2 has always been in the hands of the community, and now that's more true than it's ever been," another one added. "This is probably the best possible scenario that could actually happen," another commenter complemented. "This is huge, and a way better alternative to eternal silence and stagnation." While nothing is official, some players have already floated the idea of a community-driven Team Fortress 3. There’s no clear movement toward this yet, but with TF2’s large and dedicated modding scene, it wouldn’t be surprising if fans eventually build an improved version of the game themselves. And the best part? Valve’s Source SDK rules require that it remains completely free. The post Team Fortress 2 players can’t agree on whether Valve just empowered the community with SDK or abandoned the game appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Helldivers 2 update 01.002.106 is now available for download. This is the second Helldivers 2 patch that rolled out over the 24-hour ******* ending February 19. View the full article

Buying a house in any market feels like a next-to-impossible task these days, and getting your foot on the property ladder in Final Fantasy XIV can feel somehow more confusing than real life. Getting a virtual house in the MMO can feel like a daunting prospect, but the Lottery system introduced in patch 6.1 did a lot to make the entire process more fair for those who want to take part. Admittedly, it’s still not exactly easy, and you’ll likely face stiff competition, but we’ve moved on a long way from the days of camping outside an available plot for days on end, constantly clicking on the For ***** board along with dozens of other hopeful buyers in the vague hope that you’re the one who clicks last and wins the plot. Those were dark days, and however you feel about the Lottery system, it’s definitely an improvement. How does the Housing Lottery work in Final Fantasy XIV? Screenshot by Destructoid The Housing Lottery works on a cyclic system, alternating between Entry Periods and Results Periods. Entry ******* During each five-day Entry *******, you’ll be able to place a bid on any available plot that takes your fancy by interacting with the board outside the plot. You’ll also see how many others have placed bids and how long you need to wait until the Results ******* begins. Results ******* The Results ******* for each cycle lasts for four days, and this is when you’ll find out if you’ve won the plot you put a bid on. To claim a plot you’ve won, you’ll need to interact with the board outside and pay the required amount of Gil. If you fail to claim a plot that you won, you’ll not only lose the plot itself but also 50% of the deposit you placed down. FFXIV Housing Lottery schedule for February 2025 Screenshot by Destructoid If you’re hoping to snag a virtual home in FFXIV, you’ll need to know the schedule for February 2025. Here are all of the cycles coming this month: Round oneEntry: January 3 to February 5 Results: February 5 to February 9 Round twoEntry: February 9 - February 14 Results: February 14 - February 18 Round threeEntry: February 18 - February 23 Results: February 23 - February 27 Round fourEntry: February 27 - March 4 Results: March 4 - March 8 Each change between the Entry and Results Periods occurs with the daily reset, which occurs at the following times depending on your location: 7 a.m. (PST) 10 a.m. (EST) 3 p.m. (GMT) The post FFXIV Housing Lottery Schedule February 2025 appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Marc Merrill has hinted towards something exciting in 2XKO, that would appear to tackle one of the biggest problems in the fighting game genre. That problem being, how to onboard eager newbies into fighting games, which have gained somewhat of a reputation for being arduous to get into. Read more View the full article

If you're quick, you can grab yourself a powerful gaming handheld for a great price, thanks to the huge discount available right now on the MSI Claw. MSI's first step into the world of handhelds isn't flawless in its execution, but few Steam Deck rivals are available at such a low price. You can get the MSI Claw with a massive $270 saving today, making this the lowest price we've seen it available for on Amazon, but there are just a few left, so you'll have to be quick. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 GPU prices are already rising Grab Monster Hunter Wilds for free, thanks to MSI MSI wants to help you not set your gaming PC on fire View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Team *****’s Delta Force: Hawk Ops revival was always planned to be an ambitious attempt at the modern military shooter in three distinct flavors: large scale tactical team-vs.-team multiplayer; Escape from Tarkov-inspired extraction shooter; and a focused, high-energy single-player campaign. The Warfare and Operations modes launched last year to mostly positive reception, but the single-player campaign – a remake of the original ****** Hawk Down game inspired by the 1999 book that inspired the 2001 movie – was still in the oven cooking up a lot of intrigue. I finally got some hands-on time with a small selection of missions ahead of its launch, and while I can confidently say that it does genuinely capture the spirit of an old-school, turn-of-the-century shooter campaign, there are still enough unanswered questions that being guardedly optimistic is the only answer I could come up with after my time with it. It’s going to be pretty tough for people who didn’t play the original game 20 years ago to compare it to Team *****’s modern interpretation directly, since it’s not currently available digitally and physical copies of the old PC, PS2, and Xbox versions are becoming more and more scarce every year. But I was one of those people who was wading in the waves of the military shooter revolution at the time – the first Call of Duty launched the same year as ****** Hawk Down, and Battlefield 1942 dropped the year prior. But I distinctly remember ****** Hawk Down having some standout gameplay features that really raised the bar for the genre as a whole. It featured big, sprawling level maps that offer multiple ways to approach objectives. Some mission sequences would change dramatically depending on the current task, taking you from the back of a humvee to an on-foot stand-off with ambushers to a hurried escape via helicopter, all in the same chapter. And bullet physics and gun handling, specifically the more realistic projectile speeds, bullet drops, lethality, and recoil, made skirmishes less arcadey and more dangerous. Mixed with absolutely arid checkpointing, NovaLogic’s ****** Hawk Down was one of the toughest games in the genre. Team *****’s ****** Hawk Down certainly comes from a place of reverence for the old game, obvious in the way it tries to capture this old style of shooting in its missions, and also in the effusive praise game director Shadow and designer Novak laid on the other old work. “When we played the original in cafes so many years ago, it was mind-blowing,” said Joe Meng, PR Manager of Team *****, translating on Shadow’s behalf. This ****** Hawk Down certainly comes from a place of reverence for the old game. Playing the initial mission, where we infiltrated the city in search of the enemy stronghold via a rooftop from a building nearby, the tense exchanges of fire between my squad of four (all played by other humans in co-op) and the enemies proved that keeping bullets dangerous was a top priority in their translation. It didn’t take much to drop us to dangerously low health, and that health did not restore itself after being out of combat for a bit. Only specific health restoratives could get us back to ship shape, and only medics – one of the four classes available to choose from – could provide them. Once we got out to the street, progress became slightly less linear. This isn’t an open-world map, and there was a clear target that we had to infiltrate, but the path there felt open-ended. My squad, split into pairs, tiptoed down both sides of the street, following some NPC teammates in clearing buildings we passed on our way to the objective, in this case a hotel under control of rebels who were holding hostages somewhere in the building. We entered the building through the front, where the heaviest fire was being exchanged from the lobby plaza to our entrenched spot in the entrance. We could have found a side door and attempted to flank the lobby shooters as well, I found out later, and though you don’t have Hitman-levels of freedom, it is refreshing to know that if this ****** Hawk Down has difficult chokepoints, the answer may lie in just finding a safer route. Shadow mentioned that the feeling of relief and reward for overcoming stacked odds was a driving sensation in the design, and this was a great example of it. This mission was a little more linear than the next one we tried, which saw us sprinting through a claustrophobic shanty town attempting to get to the crashed ****** Hawk helicopters. The mission’s pace and setting was very reminiscent of the original’s Valiant Heroes mission, which features a maze of buildings players had to navigate while freeing stranded friendly soldiers from incoming militia. Both used the labyrinth as an advantage for the enemies, who could pop out from around corners without warning, but where the original made you differentiate between hostile militia members and disgruntled civilians (penalizing you for harming the latter), this updated mission treated everyone in the branching alleyways or dusty markets that wasn’t you as an enemy. Team *****’s take does add snipers who can shoot at players from long distances from the relative safety of a clock tower several blocks away, uses modern environment design trends to make the city dense with small, open shacks and streets to navigate, and checkpoints that bottleneck the sprawling neighborhoods into points of entrenched resistance where more direct assault is required to continue. This was where the difficulty was its most intense, as enemies appeared from all directions, constantly moving while obscured by buildings and searching diligently for angles to take us by surprise. I did miss the detail of having to show some semblance of trigger discipline under these conditions, though. It was certainly engaging and fun, but even in the face of the obvious danger, it felt like a step backwards from the kind of provocative design of the original. And in our limited test, we only tried out two of the seven total missions in the campaign, but neither gave the sense of dynamic scenario switching like the original’s River Raid, which starts as an on foot trek across the desert, turns into a frantic car chase through a minefield, then transforms into a Metal Gear Solid 3-esque tiptoe through the a Somalian river full of crocodiles, and then finally finishes with a multi-stage raid on a village. Of course this, or something equally as energetic, could be in the full three- to four-hour campaign, and I won’t discount the remake’s dedication to the original’s boldness of mission design before deploying myself when it launches on February 21st. View the full article

In the latest Wandering Waters update, Dota 2 has introduced a new crafting system for Neutral Items. This new system drastically changes how Neutral Items function in the game, shifting the focus from Neutral Tokens to separate components that can be forged into an item via Madstones. This is everything you need to know about how Madstones work. View the full article

A new Natlan map feature for Genshin Impact 5.5 has leaked, and despite the possible excitement it could bring to exploration in the rumored new areas, it could also irritate a portion of the players. The action RPG by HoYoverse is at the very start of Version 5.4, a smaller patch in comparison to Version 5.3. The current update is mostly centered around limited-time events, such as the flagship event set in Inazuma that is offering a free 4-star weapon. The contents of Genshin Impact 5.4 are more limited, but that may soon change with Version 5.5, according to leaks. View the full article

Cosmo D's unwavering passion for pizza is infectious. It's also possible that the pizza I've just made in the demo for Moves Of The Diamond Hand is infectious, though I have invested all my points into the cooking skill, so hopefully not. You should be able to play the demo yourself by the time you read this. It's one for Betrayal At Club Low fans, taking the failure-is-fun dice rolling RPG systems from that, spicing them up, and letting you properly explore freely in first person this time. I first-personed my way straight to the nearest pizza shop. It almost literally killed my character, but I have baked a pie, and now I feel like a god. Read more View the full article

The Riot Games co-founder said during a recent interview that the League of Legends MMO development continues and that it is the project he has spent the most time on. The League of Legends MMO is still a mysterious project that nobody knows much about, though Riot Games continues to work on it, with the game already accumulating many years of development. View the full article

Valve have unleashed Team Fortress 2’s client and server game code into the wilds of the internet by way of a Source software development kit update, allowing modders to release their own Steam games based on the long-serving hat-powered FPS – as long as they give them away for free. Read more View the full article

I'm loving the Hades-like renaissance happening right now. Plenty of excellent projects are taking what Supergiant Games created and morphing it into something totally new. I've been playing The Callisto Protocol spinoff [Redacted], the King Arthur-infused Sworn, and Windblown to name but a few. There are so, so many more waiting to be played, however, and Reignbreaker is one of them. With a demo you can play now and the release date coming soon, you can step into the shoes of an anarchist with an awful lot of weapons. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Reignbreaker is a punchy punk roguelike with a unique weapon system Gritty new roguelike Reignbreaker is like Hades, but punk View the full article

Many choices you make in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage affect Swann’s relationships with the other girls and parts of the story. In the moment, you can feel rushed to make a choice, so let us help you make the right one. Which girl should Swann choose to walk with in scene 10? Scene 10 begins with some filming for their music video. If you find the motorcycle you can also film an awkward romantic scene where Kat and Nora pretend to be Corey and Dylan. After filming is complete, the girls cross the log bridge and come to a path. At the start of the path, Swann must decide who she wants to walk with. The choices are to go left with Nora, right with Autumn, or wait with Kat, who eventually goes right. Whatever you choose, you will have slightly different outcomes. If you are trying to become best friends with one of the girls, then it is best to choose them and stick to positive and encouraging responses. View the full article

Much has been made of the scarier monsters in the new DnD Monster Manual, with the designers touting the jaw-dropping might of high challenge rating monsters like the Blob of Annihilation. Now one DnD fan and physicist, Tom Dunn, has dunn the math to find out exactly how much stronger the new-and-improved fiends are, comparing monsters that appear in both versions of the tome. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: DnD Fighter 5e class guide DnD Druid 5e class guide DnD Cleric 5e class guide View the full article

Mario & Luigi: Brothership version 1.0.1 is out now with many fixes relating to the Luck Charm DX, damage numbers, progress blocking bugs, and more. View the full article

Crossplay is a must-have for many online titles these days. The feature lets you play with your friends (or enemies, if you're that way inclined) no matter the platform they are on - after all, who can even afford to own more than one platform these days? The recently released Civilization 7 does have crossplay, but it's technically disabled on PC. Luckily, Firaxis has offered a workaround, meaning you can still play with console players, it'll just take a tiny bit of work to get things up running. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Civilization 7 guides Civilization 7 mods explained Best Civilization 7 settings for max fps View the full article