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Lots of people love it for its dark, radioactive aesthetic. Others get engrossed in its hardcore survival elements. Sharpshooters get hooked on its realistic gunplay. But one thing that everyone appreciates in Stalker 2 is how its vast open world and the NPCs within it are constantly evolving and reacting to your decisions. The A-Life system powers this dynamic world, and it's been the one area that fans have been requesting improvements for the most. Well, Stalker 2's latest update makes some new A-Life related changes, alongside dozens of other tweaks and fixes, but GSC Game World says some of its biggest bugs will be fixed in a future patch instead. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Best Stalker 2 mods If you're done with Stalker 2, this fan-made prequel is the best mod of 2024 Stalker 2 is a more convincing and complex survival game than any Fallout View the full article

Konami announced the release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater during the latest State of Play presentation. The remake of the classic stealth game is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on August 28, 2025. View the full article

Konami has announced a new side-scrolling game, titled Darwin's Paradox, in which the player takes control of an octopus. This eccentric game is the newest addition to Konami's impressive catalog of side-scrollers. View the full article

If you're playing Pokemon Go during Valentine's Week, you'll be able to enjoy the Hoopa Unbound Raid Day, where you'll have plenty of chances to get the special Pokemon and add it to your in-game collection. The developers have made the date and time official, and it will take place over the upcoming weekend. Let's take a look at all the important information you need to keep in mind before jumping into the Raid Day festivities. Pokemon Go Hoopa Unbound Raid Day Date The Pokemon Go Hoopa Unbound Raid Day will be taking place on Saturday, February 15. There will be a three-hour window for the players to try to catch Hoopa Unbound, the spawn rates of which will dramatically appear. You'll be able to enjoy the event between 2 pm and 5 pm local time. During the event, Hoopa Unbound will be spawning at gyms as a 5-star raid. Additionally, the frequency of such raids will also increase during the event, making it easier for you to catch. Thanks to the update, you'll be able to switch between Hoopa's Confined and Unbound forms. [Hidden Content] Pokemon Go Hoopa Unbound Raid Day Bonuses There will be a set of bonuses applicable throughout the event of the Raid, allowing you to complete more raids. You'll get five extra Raid Passes for free, taking your total to seven. You can also use up to 20 Remote Raid Passes between 5 pm PST on February 14 and 8 pm PST on February 15. You will also have the chance to buy an additional Raid Day Ticket from the shop if you're willing to get involved with microtransactions. For $5, you'll get the following benefits. Eight Raid Passes for free from Pokemon Gyms. Higher chances of getting Rare Candy XL after completing raid battles. 50% more XP when you complete a Raid battle. 2x Stardust after completing a Raid battle. That's all you need to know about the upcoming Raid Day. Make sure to use all your tickets to maximize your chances of getting Hoopa Unbound. The post Pokemon Go Hoopa Unbound Raid Day Guide appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Starseed: Asnia Trigger is the latest addition to the world of gacha titles, and the opening months have seen the introduction of some really interesting characters. As with any gacha, you'll want to focus on getting a strong start, and that means selecting units that are relatively overpowered in the early days. Doing so will help you clear out all the content quicker and earn more rewards in the process. During the opening week, I felt that the overall balance of the characters was decent, but some of them clearly stood out. Starseed: Asnia Trigger tier list To rank the characters, I have used four different tiers. While the SSR units are clearly better, you shouldn't sleep on some of the more commonly available girls as well. S-tier: Absolutely broken units in the current meta. A-tier: Great units that are bound to remain viable for a long time. B-tier: Ok units, but you should look to replace them as you get better characters. C-tier: Underpowered units that should be replaced as soon as possible. Starseed: Asnia Trigger S-tier characters Eradica Elina Freyja Hallona Itus Kaito Aile Leila Rayhou Rachel Sia Yuna Starseed: Asnia Trigger A-tier characters Ambrosia Angelica Erica Eulgiya Fei iD Kaito.aile Lilian Leila Mea Patricia Snowfrill Shale Starseed: Asnia Trigger B-tier characters Airen Belita Fei Hellen Isabella Serapulsar Taina Valencia Starseed: Asnia Trigger C-tier characters Arcels Archphase Belebeta Crimson Daria Eiko Ino Iras Melissa Perrel Renas Please note that this tier list will undergo changes based on future patches and events coming to the game. Additionally, new characters are likely to be more powerful than most of the existing girls, so that's another point to remember. Compared to traditional gachas, getting characters in Starseed: Asnia Trigger is pretty easy, but you'll have to focus on getting dupes in order to power them up. The post Starseed: Asnia Trigger tier list of best units (February 2025) appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

The Ferland Mendy Grassroot Greats SBC is now live in EA FC 25, and you can complete the challenge to add a new defensive unit to your Ultimate Team squad. This is the first time that a special card of the French defender has been released as part of a SBC. This will allow everyone with an equal chance to play with the card. To do so, you'll have to complete all the tasks before the SBC expires from Ultimate Team. EA FC 25 Ferland Mendy Grassroot Greats SBC tasks The Ferland Mendy Grassroot Greats SBC has seven tasks, and here are the requirements. Task 1 - France Min. 1 Players from: France Min. 1 Players: Team of the Week Min. Team Rating: 85 Task 2 - Real Madrid Min. 1 Players from: Real Madrid Min. Team Rating: 86 Task 3 - Top Form Min. 1 Players: Team of the Week Min. Team Rating: 86 Task 4 - LaLiga Min. 1 Players from: LALIGA EA SPORTS Min. Team Rating: 87 Task 5 - 87-Rated Squad Min. 1 Players: Team of the Week Min. Team Rating: 87 Task 6 - 88-Rated Squad Min. Team Rating: 88 Task 7 - 88-Rated Squad Min. 1 Players: Team of the Week Min. Team Rating: 88 EA FC 25 Ferland Mendy Grassroot Greats SBC solutions Here's a set of solutions you can use to unlock the new Mendy item in Ultimate Team. Task 1 - France Any 9 85-rated items Tchouameni 85 Any 83-rated TOTW item Task 2 - Real Madrid Lavelle 87 Blundell 84 Pajor 87 Sommer 87 Palacios 84 Ruben Neves 84 Vlahovic 84 Gundogan 87 Engen 84 Modric 86 De Paul 84 Task 3 - Top Form Lavelle 87 Blundell 84 Pajor 87 Sommer 87 Palacios 84 Ruben Neves 84 Vlahovic 84 Gundogan 87 Engen 84 Any 86-rated TOTW item De Paul 84 Task 4 - LaLiga Osimhen 87 Palmer 85 Musiala 87 Pedri 86 Pajor 87 Mateo 85 Gabriel 86 Hansen 90 Girellli 85 Bruno Fernandes 87 Benzema 86 Task 5 - 87-Rated Squad Osimhen 87 Palmer 85 Musiala 87 Pedri 86 Pajor 87 Mateo 85 Gabriel 86 Hansen 90 Girellli 85 Any 87-rated TOTW item Benzema 86 Task 6 - 88-Rated Squad Pajor 87 Renard 88 Osimhen 87 Gundogan 87 Hegerberg 89 Gabriel 86 Mead 88 Messi 88 Kobel 88 Ederson 88 Reiten 88 Task 7 - 88-Rated Squad Pajor 87 Renard 88 Osimhen 87 Gundogan 87 Hegerberg 89 Gabriel 86 Mead 88 Messi 88 Kobel 88 Any 88-rated TOTW item Reiten 88 This Mendy SBC offers cracking value, as you get to obtain a stunning defensive item for 600,000 coins worth of fodder. The card can only operate as a LB, but it has great defending and physical stats. The card has Quick Step+ and Block+, along with three roles++. The SBC is well worth the price, which is similar to the recently-released Andrea Pirlo Future Stars Icon SBC. The post EA FC 25 Ferland Mendy Grassroot Greats SBC solutions appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Publisher QUByte Interactive and developer Bleem have announced that the console ports for the beloved 90s puzzle-platformer Glover will be launching on February 27. Considered by many to be a cult classic, Glover is currently available on PC via Steam and will soon be making its console debut on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. View the full article

Like many RPGs, Avowed features companions that will travel with the player, but will they be romanceable?Romancing companions are a staple of the RPG genre, though the extent to which it’s included varies from title to title. However, that isn’t to say all RPGs must include romance options, and some do decide to keep the player’s relationships platonic. Players familiar with other Obsidian RPGs likely know that the company has not been shy about skipping romance mechanics in the past. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

One of the first 2025 State of Play's brand-new reveals was Digimon Story: Time Stranger, a turn-based RPG in the same vein as Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. Bandai Namco announced the game is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam) and showcased a bit of its gameplay and a story teaser in the first trailer. View the full article

***** has announced Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, a new entry in the company's classic action series, during Sony's first State of Play of 2025. The game will be coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC (Steam), PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 29. View the full article

What does Armageddon look like to you? Is it a nuclear exchange a la Fallout? A fast-spreading zombie virus in the vein of World War Z and The Last of Us? Or is it more like an old-school disaster movie? I lean towards the latter; humanity's downfall will come at the hands of Mother Nature, with tornadoes and earthquakes reshaping the earth. It's not exactly the happiest of topics, sure, but it's a reality we'll have to face in Exoborne, a gritty new extraction shooter from Sharkmob. With the game's playtest now live, we here at PCGamesN are giving out a bunch of codes so you can dive headfirst into the fray. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Upcoming extraction shooter Exoborne gets new playtest, available now Apocalyptic extraction shooter Exoborne opens new playtest signups New extraction shooter Exoborne reveals beta launch date, and it's soon View the full article

Metal Eden, a new sci-fi first-person shooter from the team behind 2017's Ruiner, will be released on May 6, 2025. Part of PlayStation's recent State of Play, the reveal of Metal Eden came alongside tons of other exciting game announcements, like Lies of P's Overture DLC, Borderlands 4's release date, Days Gone Remastered, and Housemarque's new IP Saros. View the full article

Where Fighter is mostly about attacking and Ranger is mostly about shooting and stabbing, the Wizard class in Avowed is about blasting. For a traditional Wizard build, you'll pick your element then go all in on it. So while all those abilities on the menu screen might look intimidating at first, you cut it down by a lot once you're settled on how you want enemies to die. As with every class in the game, you can go in a variety of directions, but for our purposes, the classic fill-the-screen-with-fire approach will do. View the full article

For all of any developer’s faults, it’s always good to see when the teams working on games listen to and apply feedback swiftly. Recently, Marvel Rivals maker NetEase Games has done very well at this. This past Monday, NetEase announced changes coming to the game’s Competitive mode, where a midseason rank reset was set to drop with the game’s update next week. The dev quickly walked back the move after near-universal negative feedback. Now, NetEase has turned around another change that was announced earlier this week, which was putting a time limit on the ability to earn the first ranked-exclusive skin, the Blood Shield costume for Invisible Woman. View the full article

LoLdle is back with its latest quote for players to wrap their heads around, and this one is a fun one. Today’s quote falls into a similar word category as yesterday’s “What is broken can be reforged.” This quote definitely threw me at first, because I instantly thought it was Viktor. I was just imagining him from the Arcane series saying a line like this, but it turns out I was completely wrong. It certainly required a lot of time to think, skimming through the 170 League of Legends champions, just hoping something would just come to me. View the full article

NetEase Games has announced that Marvel Rivals players will soon have the opportunity to earn free skins for Invisible Woman and Human Torch. Invisible Woman made her debut alongside Mister Fantastic at the beginning of Season 1: Eternal Night Falls. Marvel Rivals also announced that Human Torch and The Thing will be added to the hero shooter's ever-expanding roster at a later date, rounding out the members of The Fantastic Four. View the full article

In Sid Meier's Civilization 7, the Antiquity Age contains ten unique civilizations (so far) that each have their distinct features, including Civic Trees, abilities, buildings, improvements, quarters, and most importantly, unique units. Each civilization has two unique units from various unit types, from powerful ranged units, like the Mississippian Burning Arrows, to Great People, such as the Han's Shi Dafu or Egypt's Tjaty. View the full article

The English translation of the Omega 6 manga now has a release date. Omega 6 is the latest creation of Takaya Imamura, the former Nintendo artist best known for creating characters for such games as F-Zero and Star Fox. The English version of the manga, which was originally released in France, will be 216 pages long and will be released in the U.S. by Dark Horse Comics on October 21 at a price of $14.99. Read More... View the full article

The N'Golo Kante Grassroot Greats SBC has been leaked on X by @Fut_scoreboard ahead of the promo's launch, and you will be able to complete the challenge pretty soon in EA FC 25 Ultimate Team. The Frenchman has been a popular name in the Ultimate Team community, and the upcoming card being part of a SBC makes it easier for players to obtain him as well. EA FC 25 N'Golo Kante Grassroot Greats SBC release date (expected) The Grassroot Greats promo is going to go live on Friday, February 14. This will be a week-long promo, so it's guaranteed that the release date won't be too far away. There's a great chance for EA Sports to release the SBC on the opening night of the promo (February 14) at 6 pm *** time. However, there's a strong chance for it to appear during the weekend as well. Typically, EA Sports releases big promo SBCs on Saturdays and Sundays. Hence, make sure to be on the lookout on February 15 and February 16. EA FC 25 N'Golo Kante Grassroot Greats SBC costs (predicted) Thankfully, the leakers have revealed the official stats and playstyles of the card. Here's what the card should look like if the rumors turn out to be true. Overall: 90 Position: CDM Pace: 86 Shooting: 70 Passing: 82 Dribbling: 87 Defense: 90 Physicality: 85 Playstyle+: Press Proven+, Anticipate+. If this SBC costs between 300,000 and 350,000 coins worth of fodder, it will offer great value for players. I predict the SBC will cost around 450,000 coins since Kante always tends to be a popular choice. If the overall rating turns out to be 90, there's a chance for the SBC to be slightly cheaper as well. The post EA FC 25 N’Golo Kante Grassroot Greats SBC leaked: Expected release date, cost, and more appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

In previous Civilization games, the main point of healing units was to, well, restore some health so they could go back to fighting or scouting the map. While this is also the case in Civilization 7, there's an added feature of needing to heal units before deleting them. How to heal units in Civilization 7 Civilization 7 offers two ways to heal your units over time: Skip their turn Heal the unit over time When you first select a unit on the field, you'll find options to build temporary fortifications, move to a specified location, or skip their turn. Skipping a unit's turn gives them some time to rest and restore their health, becoming active after you end the turn and move on to the next. Alternatively, you can use a separate healing order through a secondary unit menu. To find this, select your character before clicking the arrow next to their portrait. Here, you'll find options for ordering your unit to heal, sleep, or wake them up if they're idle. Similarly, if your unit is fully healed, you can delete it permanently from the game in this same menu. Screenshot by Destructoid There are pros and cons to both options. Skipping the unit's turn will only heal them for that turn, making them ready to go if you only want a quick refresh before jumping back into battle. However, this can get tedious if you have a massive army that just ended a war and needs several turns to recuperate. That's where healing comes in. Healing will keep the unit inactive until they're at full health, even if it takes numerous turns. If you're not in immediate danger or just recently ended a fight, returning to friendly territory and healing for a few turns will help you forget about your damaged units for a little while to focus on other matters like building some Wonders and figuring out the next civilization or city-state to destroy. How to heal your units faster Civilization 7 also offers multiple ways to buff your health restoration per turn. Here are some tips for healing your units quicker: Stay in friendly territory Invest in Army Commander promotions like Field Medic, Resolute, and Field Commission Set your Town Focus to Fort Town Pick the God of Healing when selecting a Pantheon Regardless of how far you are in your playthrough, being in friendly territory will heal your units much quicker than being out in the wild or within an enemy zone. This effect only strengthens as you invest in town specializations like Fort Town, granting +5 to healing for any units in that town's radius and +25 health to its walls. If you have a fort town and can spare a turn or two to get there, the increased healing per turn will help you get back into fights much quicker. Screenshot by Destructoid As you advance through your save and unlock more Army Commander promotions, you'll unlock options like Field Medic, Resolute, and Field Commission that provide healing-related benefits both within and outside friendly territory. Field Medic gives your units within the commander's radius +5 healing in enemy and neutral territory, helping to offset the downsides of being outside your civilization's control zone. Similarly, Field Commission lets you upgrade your units outside friendly territory and restores health when they do, while Resolute lets land units heal five health after attacking. Your last option comes when choosing a Pantheon. Each Pantheon belief influences your influence, happiness, culture, and other aspects depending on their theme, while the God of Healing focuses on giving you +5 healing for units in rural tiles. While other methods are slightly more practical, God of Healing is a solid option if you spend most of your time engaging in combat and have patches of rural land to retreat to. The post How to heal units in Civilization 7 (Civ 7) appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Across the various maps in Avowed, you'll come across gold, rectangular Essence Generators. These generators can be on walls or separate from anything, but they're always connected to some sort of power source. In order to get the generator working and restart its power, you need to shock them open with electricity. But if you're not playing as a wizard in Avowed, how can you do that? Ways to shock generators open in Avowed Opening an Essence Generator with a lightning spell. Screenshot by Destructoid There are a couple of different ways to provide a shock to the Essence Generators and get them working again. However, one of the methods isn't going to be available to you until you reach the second map in Avowed, which unlocks after the events unfold in Paradis. So, to start, I'll go over the first and often best way of shocking Essence Generators. Use the Grimoire Book of Elements While you might think only players who want to play as wizards can wield a Grimoire Book of Elements, that's not the case in Avowed. Regardless of what abilities you unlock or weapons you use, you can use a Grimoire Book of Elements as a secondary weapon, giving you access to all of its spells. The only caveat is you'll need to at least grab the level 5 Wizard ability, "Grimoire Mastery." This allows you to use basic spells in the books. The Grimoire Mastery ability allows you to use basic spells. Screenshot by Destructoid With that ability, you can use a common Grimoire book and it will usually have some kind of lightning spell that you can use on the Essence Generator. All you have to do is bring up the Grimoire book's spell hotbar, aim at the generator, and unleash the lightning spell. If you're using a basic book of elements, the lightning will likely be a direct bolt that can travel fairly far, so it can be used to shock generators from a solid distance. However, rarer Grimoire books use more advanced lightning spells that might not be able to shock generators from as far away. So, you want to always keep a common Grimoire Book of the Elements in your inventory to quickly equip when you have to shock open a generator that's not close to you. You can loot common Grimoire books quite frequently in Avowed or simply purchase them from various vendors around Paradis or any of the other maps. It's also important to remember you don't have to use a wand when using the book as a secondary weapon; you can use any other one-handed weapon and still unleash the spells from the book. Giatta's Companion Ability The second way you can shock Essence Generators is through a companion named Giatta. Giatta isn't a companion option until you reach Fior mes Iverno in the Emerald Stair map of Avowed. Once you get there and go through some story events, though, you can recruit Giatta to be a companion that travels with you. The maximum number of companions you can have is two, however, so if you're traveling with Kai and Marius at this point, you have to send one of them to camp to make room for Giatta. With Giatta in your party, you can take advantage of her companion ability called " Spectral Jolt." This allows her to shock open any generator that you come across. All you have to do is bring up your Ability Radial (E by default on PC) and choose Giatta's ability while aiming at a generator. From there, she'll take care of the rest and power on the generator for you. Giatta's Spectral Jolt ability. Screenshot by Destructoid This method only works once you reach Emerald Stair and as long as Giatta is in your party in Avowed. So, to ensure you never get stuck, it's still safe to always have a Grimoire book as a backup. What do Essence Generators do in Avowed? Now that we've covered how to shock open Essence Generators, what do you actually accomplish by powering them on? For the most part, Essence Generators are used to open locked doors. You'll often a see glowing orange symbol above a door or generator. The orange color means the door or generator is not being powered. However, when you shock the generator, the symbol turns blue to indicate it's powered on. Some doors only open by powering on Essence Generators. Screenshot by Destructoid Sometimes, you'll see two symbols above a door, which means you have to find and power two generators. The generators aren't always close to the door they open, though, so you have to look in some strange spots to find them. You'll also have to get creative with how you power them on, as your lightning spell might not have the distance to reach the generator. The key thing to keep in mind with Essence Generators is they always need to be shocked and they usually open a door nearby in Avowed. The post How to shock open Essence Generators in Avowed appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Usually, base-building RTS games are pretty serious in tone. Maybe there's an intense military conflict, or an armada of spaceships are fighting to control a solar system. The beauty of Runner Duck's chaotic Bomber Crew was that it didn't take itself seriously at all while still offering some fun and dynamic strategic action. That continued on with 2020's Space Crew, and now it's time to try out the third game in the Crew series. With Mad Max-style vehicular combat, Badlands Crew just dropped its new Steam demo early, so you can jump in and give it a go right now. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

Usually, base-building RTS games are pretty serious in tone. Maybe there's an intense military conflict, or an armada of spaceships are fighting to control a solar system. The beauty of Runner Duck's chaotic Bomber Crew was that it didn't take itself seriously at all while still offering some fun and dynamic strategic action. That continued on with 2020's Space Crew, and now it's time to try out the third game in the Crew series. With Mad Max-style vehicular combat, Badlands Crew just dropped its new Steam demo early, so you can jump in and give it a go right now. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

There are several choices and critical decisions you have to make through your time playing Avowed. The decisions you make stack up throughout your playthrough, dictating how people treat you and the events that unfold, even as early as meeting Ilora shortly after you land. When you initially meet her shortly after your ship crashes, and you explore the fort, she doesn’t give you the best impression. She’s off-put by how you look, given that you’re godlike. However, because of your history like this, everyone has this immediate impression of you and doesn’t know how to take it. Based on her starting impression, she might not encourage you to release her from jail despite her future impacts. Here’s what you need to know about whether you should free Ilora in Avowed. View the full article

The Ranger is a longstanding D&D tradition, and it sticks to its roots (no pun intended) in Avowed. Even if just solo classing, there are a lot of ability tree options in Avowed to choose from here that allow you to go in the direction of a melee or ranged build (bows and guns for the latter). From there, you have the option of a stealth playstyle, ranged control, or an active one. View the full article