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The final puzzle has been revealed in The Haunted Floating Festival event, and it involves correctly answering a series of questions presented by Haunted Armor in Disney Dreamlight Valley. Question-based puzzles are always tricky to work through in this game, so it's a tough one. Since these questions involve counting items around the island and uncovering secrets, it's easy to get tripped up by them. The prize you get for working through it is well worth the effort, though, so here are all the Haunted Armor puzzle question answers in Disney Dreamlight Valley. Table of contentsAll Haunted Armor questions in Disney Dreamlight ValleyHow many blue pumpkins are there on the island in Disney Dreamlight Valley?Which animal is hiding inside the Scary Surprise Box on the Floating Festival in Disney Dreamlight Valley?How many graves are there in The Haunted Floating Festival in Disney Dreamlight Valley?What is the favorite food of the Zero Fox in Disney Dreamlight Valley?Haunted Armor quiz answers in Disney Dreamlight ValleyAll Haunted Armor questions in Disney Dreamlight Valley Screenshot by Destructoid The Haunted Armor featured in The Haunted Mansion puzzle has four unique questions for you to solve, all of which involve uncovering key information about the special The Haunted Floating Festival island. The questions you're given in this trial are: How many blue pumpkins are there on the island?Which animal is hiding inside the Scary Surprise Box on the Floating Festival?How many graves are there in The Haunted Floating Festival?What is the favorite food of the Zero Fox?How many blue pumpkins are there on the island in Disney Dreamlight Valley? Your first question to solve is how many blue pumpkins there are around the island, which is six. This is one of the tougher questions to solve, as all the blue pumpkins sitting around the island are hidden in groups of orange pumpkins, making them easy to overlook. Here's where to find each pumpkin. One pumpkin can be found on the ground underneath the cat tile on the wall for the Combination Pillar tile puzzle.One pumpkin is on the ground near the left side of the Potion Brewer's House.One pumpkin can be found on the ground near the witch tile by the Ghostly Zero Fox's grave. One pumpkin is sitting on top of The Haunted Mansion Hearse.One pumpkin can be found on the ground beneath the spiderweb tile on the right side of The Haunted Mansion. One pumpkin is sitting on the ground near the right end of the pumpkin patch. Which animal is hiding inside the Scary Surprise Box on the Floating Festival in Disney Dreamlight Valley? Screenshot by Destructoid The animal hiding inside the Scary Surprise Box is a cat. You can find this interactive item near the Halloween Town Hall and the spiral hill from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's sitting on a pedestal on the right side of the town hall. Interact with it to open the box and reveal the cat inside. How many graves are there in The Haunted Floating Festival in Disney Dreamlight Valley? There are seven graves hidden around the island. Similar to the blue pumpkin question, you need to work your way around the entire island to locate them all. Here's where to find all graves. One grave is behind the scarecrow near the pumpkin patch, close to where you can collect ****** Feathers from fearless birds.One grave can be found on the left side of The Haunted Mansion.One grave is sitting on the ground by the Combination Pillar tile puzzle.One grave is by the wall near the cat tile, close to the well.One grave can be found on the right side of the Potion Brewer's House.One grave is near the Skeletomobile by the entrance to The Nightmare Before Christmas area.One grave can be found right in front of Halloween Town Hall. What is the favorite food of the Zero Fox in Disney Dreamlight Valley? Screenshot by Destructoid For the purposes of the Haunted Armor's quiz in The Haunted Mansion puzzle, the Ghostly Zero Fox's favorite food is Blue Skele-Fish. If you've already uncovered the favorite food for the Ghostly Zero Fox by completing the Ghostly Zero Fox puzzle, this might be a bit surprising to you, as the favorite food is called Haunted Skeleton Fish for both this puzzle and the Terror-rific Tree puzzle. These strange Fish also barely look blue, so this is one of the trickier questions to get right. Haunted Armor quiz answers in Disney Dreamlight Valley Now that you have all the information you need gathered from around the island, you can finally answer the Haunted Armor's questions. There are four questions and answers to work through, and the correct one for each question is, in order, six, a cat, seven, and Blue Skele-Fish. To ensure you align the right answer with each question, here's a breakdown of the answers next to their corresponding questions. QuestionAnswerHow many blue pumpkins are there on the island?SixWhich animal is hiding inside the Scary Surprise Box on The Floating Festival?A catHow many graves are there in The Haunted Floating Festival?SevenWhat is the favorite food of the Zero Fox?Blue Skele-Fish There's plenty more to get done after working through this tricky quiz. Next, you might work on some Witchful Thinking Star Path duties like feeding the Sunbird critters their favourite food, collecting some shoreline shellfish, and crafting any refinement item. The post All Haunted Armor puzzle question answers in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

The Spaceport Trench Tower key can help your ARC Raiders grind with some excellent rewards, but to do so, you'll first have to gain access. Finding non-quest-related keys in ARC Raiders isn't a difficult task. However, the task gets harder if you're looking for a particular key. This guide will help you with the possible locations of where the Spaceport Trench Tower key can spawn, and update where you can use it. Table of contentsHow to get the Spaceport Trench Tower key in ARC RaidersWhere to use the Spaceport Trench Tower key in ARC RaidersHow to get the Spaceport Trench Tower key in ARC Raiders There are two perfect spots to look at if you're going for the Spaceport Trench Tower key. Ruby Residence is the location from which a few of my friends managed to obtain the key. The building is located in the northwestern part of Dam Battlegrounds. Screenshot and Remix by Destructoid I have also marked the Research and Administration building on the screenshot above. I have managed to find the Trench Tower key just once, and it was from this location. The Trench Tower key spawns randomly, and you'll need to search through every container in the locations that I have mentioned. If you don't find the key, the only option is to extract and return. The loot you get, keys included, mainly depends on round-based map rotation. Where to use the Spaceport Trench Tower key in ARC Raiders There are two parts of the Trench Tower - North and South. You'll have to be at the North Trench Tower in Spaceport to use the key. I have marked the exact spot where you'll need to be. Once you reach that spot, you'll find a set of stairs in front of you (right in front of the North Trench Tower). Screenshot and Remix by Destructoid Take the stairs, and it will lead you to the locked door. Use the key from your inventory to open the loot spot, and grab everything you can. A note of caution, though, since ARCs are guarding the riches. It's better to dispose of them first before you and your buddies start looting the place. The post Spaceport Trench Tower key guide in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

You don't have to hold your breath much longer, as Enshrouded's Wake of the Water update is finally close to release after being pushed back. If you're eager to dive underwater and start exploring, you'll want to know exactly when it's launching. It's been a while since a big new update has launched for Enshrouded, with the last major one releasing back in May. Players are due for some exciting new content, and the devs are ready to deliver some huge additions and changes, so here's the exact date and item when the Wake of Water update will be released for Enshrouded. Enshrouded Wake of Water update release date and time Screenshot by Destructoid The Wake of Water update for Enshrouded is officially set to arrive on Nov. 10. It was originally slated to launch sometime in October, but was pushed back "in order to give Wake of the Water all the polish it needs," according to an official dev update blog. An exact launch time hasn't been shared yet, but all past patches, including both major updates and smaller ones focused on bug fixes, have all launched between 7am and 8am CT. It seems likely then that this one will too, so we've set our timer to 7am for now. We'll update this countdown if a different time is revealed so you can check back here to see how much longer you need to wait. [hurrytimer id="1137904"]PT: 5am on Nov. 10CT: 7am on Nov. 10ET: 8am on Nov. 10BST: 2pm on Nov. 10CEST: 3pm on Nov. 10JST: 10pm on Nov. 10AEST: 11pm on Nov. 10Enshrouded Wake of Water update features Screenshot by Destructoid As the name hints, Enshrouded's Wake of Water update primarily focuses on introducing water to the world of Embervale. There are plenty of other exciting additions, both water-focused and otherwise, to look forward to as well, though, so here's a breakdown of all key update features. Water – Water finally exists in Embervale, as the Wake of Water update adds water with physics. Water biome – A new water-focused region is being added in this update, and it includes a gorgeous-looking temple-like structure nestled among a tropical environment. Swimming mechanics – Dive under the surface and explore everything hidden underwater with new swimming mechanics. Weapons overhaul – Weapons are getting a massive rework to better align their names with their actual abilities. The goal of this overhaul is to "better match [weapon] visual and thematic identities," according to an official dev update blog. An example of this new vision is the Ice-Coated Daggers, which will now deal pierce and ice damage, plus have unlockable ice damage perks with upgrades instead of just dealing cut and pierce damage as they do now. Weapon durability has been enhanced across all weapons, and now scales with level and rarity.Aquatic enemies – New ways to explore also mean new foes to face, and there are plenty of them lurking underwater. Fishing – In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment featured at about 52 seconds into the teaser trailer, two players are fishing, which means this is yet another water-focused addition arriving in the update. Screenshot by Destructoid Craftable lore weapons – Any lore weapon unlocked at any stage can now be crafted. This also means you can craft better versions of lore weapons, so if you find a weak one you like early on, you can always craft a higher-level version of it. There are craftable lore weapons for every weapon type, so there's something available for all classes.New enemy weapons – More weapons can now drop from enemies, including items like the Fell Thunderbrute Greatsword to the Scavenger's fearsome Acid Cleaver. Enemy weapon drops also scale with enemy level and range in rarity from common to legendary. Regeneration balance – Health regeneration, stamina regeneration, and mana regeneration have all been reduced. This change is designed to make combat more interesting and something you have to prepare for ahead of time by eating, making potions, and building your character.New Mage spell – A fresh spell called Fire Bolt is now available to Mages. It's an early game spell that has been added to address the lack of support for this class early on. Removed exploit – A chest loot exploit used by many players has been officially removed with this update. Loot chests now save their looted state, which means you can no longer reload the game to try and obtain different items from them. If you're not sure what to do while you wait for the update to arrive, there's plenty to work on in Enshrouded. You might work on gathering all building blocks and materials, acquiring Dried Fur, finding gems, and changing your appearance. The post Enshrouded Wake of Water update countdown: Exact release date and included features appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Idea Factory International has begun physical standard and limited pre-orders for its delivery service RPG Calamity Angels: Special Delivery on PS5, PS4, and Switch. View the full article

Battlefield 6 developer BF Studios has announced a “major” overhaul of Challenges and Assignments, with “substantial” adjustments across the board. BF Studios said that these changes, outlined in patch notes below, build on the recent updates that increased the XP earned in official matches and reduced the XP needed for the first 20 attachment ranks. “This update makes significant reductions to challenge requirements, cutting down on time investment while maintaining a focus on skill-driven progression that rewards consistent play,” BF Studios explained. “Challenges and Assignments are tuned around defined playtime targets, and these changes bring their requirements in line with those goals to make them more achievable within a reasonable session length." BF Studios continued: "Assignments will continue to range from goals you can complete through regular play to a few that reward true mastery, particularly those tied to cosmetic items. Some of the original criteria did not fully reflect that intent, and we have updated them to make their difficulty and purpose clearer.” The first set of changes went live today, November 5, through a server-side update and are available immediately. Any progress you’ve already made will automatically be applied when you enter a match, unlocking any challenges or assignments you now meet based on the updated criteria. BF Studios said the scale of its plans for Challenges and Assignments is “large and will take place over multiple server-side and client-side updates,” so players can expect additional updates in the future. While Battlefield 6 has enjoyed a record-breaking launch, some have critisized the pace of in-game progression, which this update looks to address. Other hot topics include the size of Battlefield 6's multiplayer maps compared to those in previous games, and out-of-place soldier skins. We've got plenty more on Battlefield 6, including word on the hidden firing range room that players are investigating for secret Easter Eggs and hints at future content. Those looking to brush up on their online skills can also read our multiplayer tips and tricks guide. Community Update - Challenge & Assignment Changes patch notes: In this first set of changes we made a total of 90+ adjustments to Challenges and Assignments. Below we’ve highlighted a few examples. Class Challenges Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon challenges now complete much faster. Assault 2: Have Squadmates deploy on your Spawn Beacon.Reduced from 50 deploys to 5.Support 2: Revive teammates as Support.Reduced from 200 revives to 60. Weapon Assignments All weapon-type assignments (ARs, SMGs, LMGs, Shotguns, DMRs, Snipers, Carbines) have been significantly simplified. Rapid Fire 1/Assault Rifle: Inflict damage with Assault Rifles.Reduced from requiring 10000 inflicted damage to 3000. Mode & Unit Assignments The majority of our mode-specific assignments (Conquest, Rush, Breakthrough, Domination, and others) have been standardized to require two wins per tier. This change makes it easier to pursue these challenges with clear intent. Conquest 2: Wins in Conquest.Reduced from 5 wins to 2.Conquest 3: Objective kills in a round of Conquest.Reduced from 30 objective kills in a round to 10. Gameplay & Mastery General “Expert” and “Master” assignments that require multi-kills, headshots, kill streaks, or revives have been adjusted to better match the natural rhythm of gameplay. For example, multi-kill and streak goals now align with average round performance rather than rare, outlier achievements. Explosives Expert 2: Get Multi Kills (2+ Kills Onwards) with explosives.Reduced from 20 Multi Kills to 5.Adaptable 2: Repair damaged Vehicles in a life.Reduced from requiring 3000 damage to 500. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

Xbox Game Pass has added a day-one title called Dead Static Drive to its library, while also expanding the availability of one previously introduced game. Regularly priced at $29.99, Dead Static Drive marks the third addition to Microsoft's subscription service for November 2025, as well as the 192nd new Xbox Game Pass release since the beginning of the year. View the full article

The devs are looking into the feature nonethelessView the full article

Dr. Robotnik’s Ring Racers is a thoroughly great kart racing game made by fans of the Sonic universe, and a big new upgrade makes it better than ever. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

There will be 2500 Dungeons of Hinterberg PS5 physical copies available to order from November 13 through Super Rare Games. View the full article

Pokémon Paldean Fates is one of my favorite expansions of the Scarlet & Violet era. That's not only because it has my ultimate chase card (Mew ex #232), but because all of the cards were collectible - even the most basic Pokémon cards in this expansion felt worthy of keeping in my binder. As stock levels drop, it's quickly gone up in value, but you shouldn't buy from big retailers to get a booster bundle at below market value. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Walmart finally sets a buy limit on Pokémon TCG products after viral 'Pure Greed' Tiktok provokes fan fury Pokémon TCG Pocket's Mega Blaziken card looks OP, but it's getting demolished in every tournament How many Pokémon are there? Full list in 2025 View the full article

Today, November 5, marks 10 years to the day Battlestate Games unveiled its extraction shooter, Escape from Tarkov. And now, 10 days from its 1.0 release, the developer has revealed preorder and beta rewards. Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore MMO mixture of first-person shooter / third-person shooter and role-playing gameplay. Players need to find a way out of the isolated Russian city of Tarkov, survive deadly hazards, and unearth the mysteries of the city. It's been playable in early access form since making its debut in 2016, and it's finally coming to Steam as part of the 1.0 launch on November 15. For anyone thinking of preordering the shooter ahead of its November 15 release — or those who've already preordered it — players can get following awards: Clothing set: USEC Legionnaire Olive Clothing set: Bear Sumrak ReversePMC Dogtag: ImmortalPrayer Armband: Head, EyesHideout Style: Echo of BattleShooting Target: HatchlingMannequin: poses While those will be available to all who preorder, there's also a handful of additional goodies for players who have the Unheard and Edge of Darkness (EOD) editions: Gamma Container: Battle-wornHideout Style: ForgottenPrayer Armband: LootShooting Target: Ace of Spades Unheard Edition owners also get: Prayer Armband: SEBU KOMARPMC Dogtag: Acolyte Information about the special PMC dogtag, unique armband, and customization for owners of the Edge of Darkness edition "will be announced later." "Today marks 10 years since the release of the very first Escape from Tarkov trailer. As the beta test comes to an end, we want to thank you for your support and for the opportunity to create a universe that has united players all over the world," the team said. "Countless updates, TarkovTV episodes, and in-game events — none of this would have been possible without you, our players. "On November 15, we will turn a new page together with you. In the meantime, we invite you to check out the rewards that will be available for preordering and participating in the beta test." Escape from Tarkov's 1.0 release hasn't been without controversy, however. Fans criticized Battlestate Games after the developer confirmed players will be required to repurchase the full game if they want to play it on Steam. It'll be interesting to see how Escape from Tarkov measures up against the current extraction shooter darling, Arc Raiders. It has a peak concurrent player count of 354,836 on Steam, making it one of the biggest extraction shooters ever on Valve's platform. Another key competitor could be Bungie's upcoming Marathon. Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky. View the full article

Obsidian has said it’s well aware that whenever it announces a new game, people ask where Fallout: New Vegas 2 is, but it loves how it’s been able to create new IP and even release sequels to them — and its owner Microsoft sounds like it supports that approach. Fallout Season 2 is set to hit Prime Video this December, and while Bethesda has a new Fallout: New Vegas bundle up its sleeve, there’s no word yet on a Fallout remaster or a Fallout: New Vegas 2 to capitalize on the surge of interest in the franchise. Obsidian is of course the developer of the much-loved 2010 RPG Fallout: New Vegas, so fans often wonder whether it will return to the setting for a sequel, especially given it’s owned by Bethesda parent company Microsoft. Obsidian, though, has focused on making brand new games, and it is prolific in doing so. It’s released Grounded (Grounded 2 came out this year), fantasy RPG Avowed (which came out this year), and sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds (The Outer Worlds 2 came out this year). Pentiment, which came out last year, was another brand new game, although I wouldn’t expect a sequel to that any time soon. In an interview with The Game Business, Obsidian’s VP of operations Marcus Morgan and VP of production Justin Britch touched on the fan calls for a New Vegas follow-up, but pointed to its work establishing new franchises as a “joy.” “I know everyone on the internet, on every game we ever announce, will constantly reference back to, ‘When’s the next New Vegas? Or when’s the next whatever?” Morgan said. “But this year, in addition to it being a celebration of shipping three games, all three of those games are IP that we’ve created, that are Obsidian IP. Our history, prior to the Microsoft acquisition, really was surrounding around working on others’ IP. And this is the joy that we get of… how do we start to define our own and how do we build our own IP? And we’ve got to the part where we have sequels to all of them. All of them are sequels to the IP we created.” And it sounds like Microsoft has supported Obsidian’s desire to do just that, even though you’d think the mega corp might have gone hard on Fallout, especially with the hugely popular Fallout TV show breaking through into the mainstream. “Xbox has been pretty supportive of the stuff we want to do,” Britch insisted. “It’s been great.” There was no mention made during the recent Fallout Day broadcast of a Fallout: New Vegas remaster, which some (including Danny Trejo!) have called on Bethesda to develop. Indeed, there were no new Fallout games announced at all. Find out everything announced during the Fallout Day broadcast here. But there are all sorts of rumors floating around about potential Fallout remakes now that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is out the door (Fallout 3 Remastered was leaked back in 2023, but those plans may have changed). And we know Bethesda wants to eventually get to Fallout 5, albeit after The Elder Scrolls 6. The last we heard on Fallout 5, by the way, was back in June 2024, when Bethesda Softworks head Todd Howard said he wasn’t interested in rushing it out the door. Howard opened up about the future of the hit post-apocalyptic RPG series during an interview with YouTube content creator MrMattyPlays. "For other Fallout games in the future, you know, obviously I can’t talk about those right now, but I would say, sort of rushing through them, or we kind of need to get stuff out that is different than the work we’re doing in 76… we don’t feel like we need to rush any of that," he said. "The Fallout TV show fills a certain niche in terms of the franchise and storytelling." The last mainline Fallout game was Fallout 4, which was released in 2015. DLC content for the entry was steadily released for PC and consoles over the next year, and in 2018, Bethesda launched its multiplayer-centered offshoot, Fallout 76. While fans flocked to the West Virginia-set open-world RPG over time (and after a rocky launch), it wasn’t until the premiere of Prime Video’s Fallout TV show that the Bethesda series leveled up in terms of attention. Still, Howard wouldn't budge when it came to desires for a substantial video game release. For him, it comes down to wanting to treat Bethesda's franchises with care. "Totally get the desire for a new kind of mainline single-player game," he said. "And look, those things take time. I don’t think it’s bad for people to miss things. We just want to get it right and make sure that everything we’re doing in a franchise, whether it’s Elder Scrolls, Fallout, or now Starfield, that those become meaningful moments for everybody who loved these franchises as much as we do." In the meantime, The Outer Worlds 2 has strong New Vegas vibes. Check out IGN's The Outer Worlds 2 review for more. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

Want another good deal? Humble Choice for November 2025 has Total War: WARHAMMER III and some other wonderful looking games. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Sonic Rumble from ***** has arrived on Steam, and although it has anti-cheat it is enabled for Linux / Steam Deck so you're good to go on this one. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't go berserk if a new Fallout New Vegas got announced - especially if Microsoft and Bethesda let Obsidian take the reins again. While other entries come close, it remains my favorite game in the post-apocalyptic series. However, even if the trigger did get pulled on New Vegas 2, I genuinely don't think Obsidian would want the gig. It's been cheffing up its own projects at a remarkable rate, and is even finding the time and passion to go and cram turn-based combat into Pillars of Eternity, for crying out loud. In a new interview, a prominent figure at the studio discusses how it's found a lot of "joy" in nurturing its own ideas and forging a true 'Obsidian identity' - one that doesn't rely on other peoples' IP. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The best Fallout New Vegas mods The best apocalypse games on PC 2025 New fan-made Fallout New Vegas remaster is the game I wish Bethesda would make View the full article

The World Championships of Warhammer is almost upon us. Qualifying players from around the world are flying into Atlanta right now, no doubt fretting as their carefully crafted armies are committed to the horrors of international air travel. The battles begin on November 6 - but what are the top Warhammer 40,000 players in the world bringing to the fight? Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New Games Workshop teaser video hints at a return of the coolest Warhammer 40k spinoff I never played Is 3D printing actually going to transform tabletop games? Join our live AMA with MyMiniFactory to find out Painting miniatures - the complete beginner's guide View the full article

The Magic: The Gathering card Ashling the Extinguisher has tripled in price in the past month, going from roughly $5 in mid-October to about $15 today. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: MTG's Dockside Extortionist triples in price as fans cross fingers AGAIN for a surprise unbanning Best MTG Arena decks November 2025 The 16 rarest and most expensive MTG cards in the world View the full article

If Bethesda has a singular passion, it's releasing updates that break your mods. Last year, the studio released a "next-gen" update for Fallout 4 that sent reams of mods to the phantom zone, and that sent a brand-new mod—one that simply rolled back Bethesda's update—rocketing to the top of the charts... Read more.View the full article

The Magic: The Gathering card Ashling the Extinguisher has tripled in price in the past month, going from roughly $5 in mid-October to about $15 today. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: MTG's Dockside Extortionist triples in price as fans cross fingers AGAIN for a surprise unbanning Best MTG Arena decks November 2025 The 16 rarest and most expensive MTG cards in the world View the full article

The full episode list for The Mighty Nein season 1, the next animated Dungeons and Dragons series from the Critical Role team, have been revealed. The titles and summaries shared to TheMovieDB confirm that the debut season will largely be setup for the grander story - and it'll feature plenty of moments that we never got to see in the original campaign. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: [Hidden Content] DnD Tiefling 5e - the full species guide Best DnD games on PC in 2025 View the full article

Diablo 4 Season 11 is set to make some big changes to fundamental mechanics, but it's the news about what's coming a little further in the future that's got me excited. Diablo 4 YouTuber and Twitch streamer Ryan 'Raxxanterax' sat down with Colin Finer and Zavin Haroutunian from Blizzard to talk about what we can expect in Season 11 and beyond. Among the discussions are future difficulty scaling, the creative potential of the new Tower activity, and the reintroduction of support builds, and it sounds like we're finally getting a feature I and many others have been wanting since the game first launched. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The 15 best games like Diablo Diablo 4 Season 11 update and features Diablo 4's new enemy rework is what will win me back, not Blizzard's latest loot overhaul View the full article

One of my favorite books is Travis Baldree's Legends and Lattes. As a high fantasy fanatic and self-professed coffee connoisseur, it's literally the perfect story for me, and while its sequel, Bookshops and Bonedust, didn't hit quite as hard, I love the juxtaposition of the seemingly mundane with the magical. Tavern Keeper, a cozy RPG with flickers of Stardew Valley's management, does exactly the same thing: you open pubs across a sprawling fantasy world, and are tasked with keeping them running. If you're a seasoned Coffee Talk barista, Greenheart Games' latest is perfect for you, and we're giving away ten free Steam keys - and an extra special surprise - to celebrate its early access launch. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: This new survival horror game had me at 'Grand Theft Cthulhu,' and it swerves onto Game Pass and Steam today Mixing Stardew and Dreamlight Valley, this cozy MMO's new update tasks you with cooking 20 million dishes New co-op dungeon crawler from a trio of Valheim devs sees you face the scariest enemy of them all: the taxman View the full article

Valor Mortis, the first-person soulslike action game set in an alt-history Napoleonic era, is out next year. And with developer One More Level especially pushing the “Soulslike”-ness of the whole thing, it seems only natural that at some point before or after launch there’s going to be a discussion about the game’s difficulty - is it too hard? Is it hard enough? Should it have an easy mode, or something else? The difficulty discussion, of course, is one that crops up every time a new Souls game is released. What makes difficulty fun, and what makes it obnoxious? Should games have easy modes? What sorts of accessibility features are helpful to ensure everyone can play the game and experience its design friction as intended, without experiencing other, undesirable friction due to controls or other functions? I played Valor Mortis at the Game Industry Conference in Poznań, Wielkopolska, and while I’m only of middling Soulslike skills, I can confirm it’s pretty tough! I also spoke with game director Radosław Ratusznik, who says that the team is still in discussions as to how they will approach all this. For now, he says, Valor Mortis just has one difficulty setting. But that may change in the future. “If we decide at one point to change it, I think we will change it for easy mode and normal mode, just two of them. Because I think that players should have similar experiences when they're playing these kinds of games. So personally, I'm fine with the easy mode, if someone wants to just experience the story, learn a little bit about how the game works. But if we have a lot of options, like there are like tens of difficulty options, then each person can play a totally different game. I think what connects Soulslike players is that they are all struggling in these games. If they manage to succeed in this game, they can share this experience with other players. And this is something that has a huge value I think for them, for this community.” But there’s nuance here, because while Ratusznik may be against having ten difficulty options ranging from Story Mode to Ultra Hard Giga Death Difficulty, he agrees that discussions around difficulty often don’t take into account the nuance of accessibility. He’s not a fan, for instance, of games that let you turn on and off certain mechanics (such as parries), because he thinks that players “lose something from this experience.” But he also adds that, as far as accessibility goes, “we can have a lot of things that can assist you without lowering the difficulty of the game.” Accessibility isn’t solved with an easy mode. Ratusznik isn’t alone in this belief. FromSoftware’s Hidetaka Miyazaki has said similar of Elden Ring, “We are always looking to improve, but, in our games specifically, hardship is what gives meaning to the experience. So it’s not something we’re willing to abandon at the moment. It’s our identity.” But also notably, Elden Ring was far more flexible than FromSoftware’s past games in the ways in which it allowed players to eventually conquer challenges. You could outlevel bosses to make them trivially easy if you wandered off and defeated enough weaker enemies, there are some builds that turn certain bosses into jokes, and there’s so much to do in the game and so many paths to victory that if you’re struggling with something, Elden Ring encourages you to leave and do something else. Another recent Soulslike, Hollow Knight: Silksong, is similar in this structure. How Valor Mortis will ultimately handle its difficulty remains to be seen, as Ratusznik himself says that the team is still working out what they want to do. We won’t know til next year when the game launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series. We also spoke to Ratusznik at GIC about Valor Mortis’ soulslike credentials, and why it’s challenging to make a game in that tradition in the first-person. You can read our conversation right here. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article

Epic Games has celebrated the launch of Fortnite's new The Simpsons mini-season, which it says has welcomed "the biggest number of new and returning Fortnite players since last holiday season." Public player data tracked by [Hidden Content] shows that a peak of 2.6 million players logged on both Saturday and Sunday, firstly to watch the live event that introduced The Simpsons aliens Kang and Kodos to Fortnite's battle royale Island, and secondly to then play on the game's new Springfield map when it came online. The live event saw Fortnite's heroes scooped up in a UFO and transported to Springfield Island, a mash-up of Fortnite and The Simpsons filled with familiar locations and Easter eggs from the long-running animated series. Fan response to the new season and its highly-detailed map has been positive, and Epic Games seems pleased with player numbers. "In 48 hours, we welcomed the biggest number of new and returning Fortnite players since last holiday season," the developer wrote in a social media post. "The first Fortnite | The Simpsons short popped to #1 on Disney+ today in the US. Move over Shelbyville..." Fortnite's player numbers have dipped somewhat this year, amid tough competition from Roblox and a string of battle royale seasons that feel like they haven't landed with fans quite as expected. In September, during the game's alien bug season, the game's average daily numbers briefly sagged to around half a million players, though player counts then rallied as Fortnite began its annual Halloween celebrations. While 2.6 million players this past weekend is impressive, Fortnite has recorded several higher player spikes this year for other events. A peak of 5.7 million players logged in on June 7 for Death Star Sabotage, the game's live event that served as the finale of its Star Wars mini-season. Fortnite also saw a spike to 3.9 million players on August 2 for its superhero season finale, and 3.3 million players for the launch of its Daft Punk Experience. What remains to be seen is how many of those new and returning players stick around over the rest of this month, as Fortnite's The Simpsons season culminates in a big live event on November 29. This is expected to usher in the game's next big era — Chapter Seven — that looks set to feature a crossover with Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill and, potentially, the return of Fortnite's heroic Seven faction. Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social View the full article

With Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7 just around the corner, Activision has laid out exactly when players will be able to jump into the action, and has confirmed everything players need to know about the official PC system requirements and pre-load times. While pre-load goes live at the same time across all platforms on November 10 — 9am PT (scroll down to see when that'll be in your part of the world), launch times vary depending upon where you are, and what platform you're playing on. It's a bit confusing, so we've outlined the release times across key territories below. We also have confirmed PC specs for ****** Ops 7, so you can check to see if your PC is up to the task. Confirmed Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7 PC specs: System Requirements Minimum: Minimum specifications needed to play Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7. OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update)CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or Intel Core i5-6600RAM: 8 GBVideo Card: AMD Radeon RX 470 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / 1060 or Intel Arc A580Video Memory: 3 GBStorage Space: SSD with 116 GB available space at launch Recommended: Recommended specs to run at 60FPS in most situations with all options set to high. OS: Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update)CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600X or Intel Core i7-6700KRAM: 12 GBVideo Card: AMD Radeon RX 6600XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or Intel Arc B580Video Memory: 8 GBStorage Space: SSD with 116 GB available space at launch Competitive / Ultra 4k: Competitive specs to run at a high FPS for use with a high refresh monitor, and Ultra specs to run the game at a high FPS in 4K resolution. OS: Windows 11 64 Bit (latest update)CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X or Intel Core i7-10700KRAM: 16 GBVideo Card: AMD Radeon RX 9070XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 / 5070Video Memory: 16 GBStorage Space: SSD with 116 GB available space at launch Recommended Drivers: AMD: 25.9.2NVIDIA: 581.42INTEL: 32.0.101.8132 Required For All Specs: All specifications require a broadband internet connection and DirectX12 compatibility.Additional storage space may be required for mandatory game updates.Specs are valid for product launch and may be updated in the future. We've had a great time with what we've played so far of Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7 Multiplayer, writing in our preview: "I'm hoping CoD keeps to its promises, because the new features sound pretty sick: trading loadouts with friends and even copying them from enemies who killed you, XP carrying across all modes instead of on a per-mode basis, and the ability to re-roll the daily challenges, which I love. Also, the final game promises some of the sweetest gun camos yet, and I'm really excited to spend hours and hours of time I'll never get back just so I can have a gun that's all shiny." Don't forget that PC gamers cannot play unless they enable TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. It's all part of an effort to crack down on cheaters, and while it seems some still managed to get into a game despite this, Activision recently revealed that 97% of Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7 cheaters were caught within 30 minutes of signing into the beta, and "fewer than 1% of cheating attempts reached a match." Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7 Pre-load times on PC and consoles: Monday, November 10, 2025 PST (San Francisco): 9pm CST (Mexico City): 11pmTuesday, November 11, 2025 EST (New York): 12am midnight GMT (London): 5am CET (Paris, Rome, Berlin, Stockholm): 6am SAST (Johannesburg): 7am GST (Dubai) 9am KST (Seoul): 2pm JST (Tokyo): 2pm AEST (Sydney): 4pm Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7 launch times on Steam and Battle.net: Thursday, November 13, 2025 PST (San Francisco): 9pm CST (Mexico City): 11pmFriday, November 14, 2025 EST (New York): 12am midnight GMT (London): 5am CET (Paris, Rome, Berlin, Stockholm): 6am SAST (Johannesburg): 7am GST (Dubai) 9am KST (Seoul): 2pm JST (Tokyo): 2pm AEST (Sydney): 4pm Call of Duty: ****** Ops 7 Launch Times on Xbox, PlayStation, and Xbox on PCThursday, November 13, 2025 Xbox + Xbox on PC: Various, unlocking between 3am-10pm PT depending upon local timezone PlayStation: Various, unlocking 3am-10pm PT depending upon local timezone Much like prior Call of Duty launches, those desperate to get in on the action may be able to 'time travel' and unlock early if they use what's called the 'New Zealand trick.' If you're playing on the Xbox PC app (but only the app — this won't work on [Hidden Content] or Steam) you'll be able to jump in early if you change your PC region to New Zealand, and change your Call of Duty account to a New Zealand address on the website. Similarly, if you change the address on your COD account to a NZ address and your region to New Zealand, you may be able to play early on Xbox and PlayStation, too. Just make sure you restart your systems and then double-check the ****** Ops 7 launch timer to see if you've travelled forward in time… Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky. View the full article