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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

The yuri manga series The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy at All is getting an anime adaptation. The series follows Aya Osawa, a flashy and popular gyaru who develops a crush on the cute guy who works at a local record store. The only issue is that he isn’t a guy at all, […] Source View the full article

Chasing after a time-traveling thief isn’t easy, so you need to work through many different tasks to make progress in The Sims 4’s Blast from the Past event. One of the tougher quests you have to complete is overclocking a computer. This task isn’t too difficult to complete once you know what it entails, but figuring out what the event asks you to do can be tricky. If this key step has you stuck and unable to progress further, here’s how to overclock a computer in The Sims 4. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 players are mocking Bullet, one of the new multiplayer maps for Season 2 Reloaded, as it has a striking resemblance to an iconic meme map that was created by a player last year. Season 2 Reloaded kicks off on February 20 and will bring plenty of new cosmetic items, weapons, modes, maps, and more to Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6, with one of the two maps being a remastered version from a fan favorite ****** Ops game. View the full article

Red Dead Online always felt like it was destined to be a success. It was coming off the back of the absolutely phenomenal Red Dead Redemption 2, a game that was both a critical and commercial success, as well as Rockstar's years of experience in the online market with one of the most profitable and enjoyable multiplayer games, GTA Online. There was really no reason why Red Dead Online should fail, especially as Rockstar had proven itself to be a master of both single-player story-driven content and multiplayer sandbox fun. View the full article

League of Legends players are baffled by the latest Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser skin, with many calling it a subpar addition to the game that fails to capture the essence of the Iron Revenant—especially given its high price point. League players have called out Riot Games for Mordekaiser’s new skin, arguing that it lacks the quality and uniqueness compared to existing high-tier skins in the game. With the developer labeling Exalted skins as “luxury goods,” many believe this skin falls short of justifying its high cost through gacha. View the full article

Avowed is the freshly-released fantasy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, and the game has already made its mark on the PC platform Steam. The title is a solid addition to February 2025’s release calendar, joining the launch of heavyweight strategy game Civilization 7 and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage from the Life is Strange creators. Avowed has only been on the market for one day in its full capacity, and it’s already taken an impressive standing in the charts. View the full article

As part of the “Taking French Leave” main quest in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, you’ll be tasked with infiltrating the Maleshov fortress through a secret passage. Rosa Ruthard gives Henry a rather convoluted set of directions to reach the secret passage, and well, let’s just say the journal doesn’t really help. Here are precise screenshots and directions documenting exactly where you need to go to find the secret passage leading to Maleshov. View the full article

Bosses have long been a cornerstone of FromSoftware's action RPGs, and Elden Ring Nightreign is leaning heavily on that pedigree. The game itself is largely an asset flip from Elden Ring, though that doesn't mean Nightreign is derivative. Using remixed locations, enemies, and bosses, Nightreign is a session-based action roguelite, primarily designed around teams of three players. Seeing enemies from Elden Ring is unsurprising, since Nightreign takes place in a parallel world to its predecessor, but Nightreign also notably includes bosses from previous FromSoftware titles, including at least one from all three Dark Souls games. View the full article

The Nvidia RTX 50 series is dropping support for 32-bit PhysX. As a result, some games that launched as recently as 2013, like Assassin's Creed 4: ****** Flag, will look and feel far less dynamic. View the full article

War Robots - a PvP tactical Sci-Fi shooter from Pixonic - has managed to make over $1 billion in lifetime revenue. This came from an official post on the Pixonic website, which declared the grand financial victory for the mobile game. Read more View the full article

The second season of the anime series Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End may not air until 2026 according to multiple sources. A second season of the popular fantasy series was announced late last year but with no release date seemingly in mind. Studio MADHOUSE has been largely silent on the latest season over recent months. The release […] Source View the full article