GamersHeroes Sunday, September 21, 2025 12:19 PM From fandubs to music to even full-fledged fan games, celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Undertale with DETERMINATION via our guide! The post 5 Ways to Celebrate Undertale's 10th Anniversary with DETERMINATION appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
Kotaku Sunday, September 21, 2025 9:45 AM
Apple likely isn't happy watching Amazon play so freely with its prices. The post Amazon Is Going All In, Selling the New AirPods Pro 3 Cheaper Than Apple appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Sunday, September 21, 2025 9:20 AM
One of the most efficient and stylish tower fans available. The post Dyson Is Going Nuts with Its Tower Fan, Now Selling for Peanuts Ahead of Prime Day appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Sunday, September 21, 2025 8:55 AM
This charger powers all your devices, including your laptop. The post If Your Laptop Needs Power, This 145W Portable Power Bank Is Selling for Peanuts Ahead of October Prime Day appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Sunday, September 21, 2025 8:25 AM
This sub-$200 laptop is flying off the shelves on Amazon. The post 3x Cheaper Than Apple Headphones, This HP Laptop with Windows 11 Is Flying Off the Shelves appeared first on Kotaku. |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 21, 2025 12:30 PM Megabonk brings together the structure of Risk of Rain 2 and the leveling systems of Vampire Survivors, and it just keeps getting bigger. |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 21, 2025 11:01 AM We all know that Battlefield 2042 didn't hit the right notes, but the developers of Battlefield 6 say things feel different this time. |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 21, 2025 10:00 AM Cultic Chapter Two is out now, and it's "even larger and more detailed" than the first act of Jasozz Games' old-school boomer shooter. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Sunday, September 21, 2025 11:00 AM  Hello reader who is also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week - the only regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool industry folks about books that has no conception of space, time, responsibility or consistency. Also, I can't read. Still, I'm feeling confident we can get through this together. In that, I have no other choice. This week, it's editor and author for books like Digital Love and Well Played, and writer on games like Orion Trail and Bramblewood, Heidi McDonald! Cheers Heidi! Mind if we have a nose at your bookshelf? |
Twinfinite Sunday, September 21, 2025 1:59 PM  |
Siliconera Sunday, September 21, 2025 3:00 PM
The Emperor's Caretaker manga is a shojo piece building up to a romance between Liu Linhua, a caretaker for the child emperor Zhiyou, and the prince regent Souren, his brother currently ruling until he comes of age at 10. However, it's been more gradual about that, also focusing on Linhua's role in her family and society, what it is like for Zhiyou, and the obligations Linhua, Souren, Zhiyou, and other members of court all must fulfill. So even though the fourth volume is starting to get into what it means for Linhua and Souren to be engaged, it also handles the political elements and appropriate behaviors for the two as we see the potential development of other new relationships.
Editor's Note: There will be some spoilers for volume 4 of The Emperor's Caretaker manga below.
As a quick catch up, volume 4 of The Emperor's Caretaker manga begins with Linhua and Souren engaged. She's pleased with it. He's pleased with it. However, because of the nature of the community, they can't discuss it or let anyone know it happened. There are people in the court and country who support Souren over Zhiyou, and Zhiyou won't be considered old enough to rule for five more years due to the Imperial Age of Maturity being 10. Linhua also promised to stay with him as one of his caretakers, and if she did get married she'd possibly need to quit. So people who do need to know, like her family, are aware. Others aren't.
Which is the crux of the whole volume. It's dealing with that knowledge, while also helping Zhiyou with his affairs and training him. Early on, we see both Souren and Linhua's sides of this situation. After the events with the previous Chancellor of the Left, his son Lee Songhua is being sworn in as the new one as this book begins. Linhua needed to help Zhiyou with the ceremonial outfit and memorizing the massive texts and formalities needed for the appointment because, even though Souren handles many things, the actual emperor needs to be in charge of these affairs. Meanwhile, Souren is handling things until his brother's parts and engage in peaceful interactions with this rival.
Because that's what we're seeing here: a new rival. Songhua seems to be a better person than his father. There are no manipulations in his first meetings, and he agreed that his father's behaviors were unacceptable. He heeds Zhiyou and seems to want what is best for the young emperor too. But his personality is completely at odds with Souren's, and he also proposed to her immediately after meeting her. There are hints that he's wise though, which could prove an issue, but he's also provided helpful information to protect staff around Zhiyou and Linhua. Basically, he's a wrench in the gears and a mystery, but one that won't hopefully hurt his highness.
What I also love is that this new development doesn't shift the focus in The Emperor's Caretaker away from court life, as the manga still prioritizes showing what Linhua's role involves. Aside from preparing Zhiyou for that Chancellor of the Left ceremony, we also see her working to assist with finding him attendants. That means aiding him in making friends and handling that meeting. It's as insightful as ever.
The Emperor's Caretaker remains one of those manga series that perfectly balances what goes into raising an emperor, managing court life, and love, especially with so many kinds of relationships here. The fourth volume gives us windows into so many examples. There's the newly engaged couple, Linhua and Souren. There's the new Chancellor of the Left Lee Songhua and his dealings with the two of them and young Emperor Zhiyou. Then there's Zhiyou and the other children who will potentially become his friends and attendants. It covers so many different facets.
Volume 4 of The Emperor's Caretaker manga is available now, and Square Enix will release volume 5 on November 4, 2025.
The post The Emperor's Caretaker Manga Volume 4 Deals With Relationships appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Sunday, September 21, 2025 9:00 AM
Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game is quite possibly the most self-explanatory title ever. It's a detective game with a laid-back, low-stakes cases involving ordinary problems everyone faces. Help a young woman assist people through ten cases. Maybe if you can, space it out so you can spend a full two weeks taking on one assignment each day. It's never too difficult or taxing, and taking your time with it means you'd also be able to overlook issues with it being potentially repetitive or quite brief.
Mary and her friend Sara got into Starford University! She wants to make the most of her first year, and she plans to keep a diary throughout it. Clearly, the goal is to become a responsible student and productive adult. Which means throughout the adventure, you need to help her solve ordinary, everyday issues to ensure everyone around her is happy and her life as a college student goes well. Aside from that, there's not a really strong story to things. You basically see scenes in her life and work out what's going on by observing people around Mary or going through messages she receives.
Now, when I say these are ordinary issues, I mean it. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I'll go over only the first case. That situation involves a missing USB drive with a group report with a presentation Mary is doing with Sara and Andre. This means clicking to find the USB in Mary's room, clicking on her phone, and clicking on the underlined "Sara," "Andre," and "USB" words when checking the messages there. This then allows you to press the Solve button on the screen to see the problem and come up with the solution. Statements will be there with missing words that can be filled in with clues you found. So, because the situation involves that presentation on the drive, the one that reads, "My _______ stick broke! I don't have a backup of the group presentation, so I had to redo the whole thing…" would have the USB clue plugged into the spot. By filling in all the blanks, you get a Completion Rate score, an explanation of what happened, and an option to either stay to explore more or "finish the case."
All of the situations involve stakes like that which are usually simple, but might take a few steps and logical puzzles to figure out dates, times, identities, orders, and such. So there's a missing USB stick and dealing with how to get the new presentation redone. Finding out who broke a mug. Knowing what to add to a grocery list. Finding out when orders at a restaurant will go out. Determining who got the highest and lowest group project grades. Working out why someone is crying.
For those who aren't as familiar with detective games like this, there are also optional elements to assist with getting through the adventure. The big one being a "show/hide clue markers" option. This will cause a question mark to show on items you should pay attention to when trying to solve a mystery. But also, when going through story segments, you'll see little notes like "clues X/Y" so you can know if a clue is present and be able to click on highlighted words to add them to things you need to know for investigations. It's all very visible. There's also an option to take in-game notes on post-its. Though if you're on Steam Deck, it'll be difficult to take those down without an actual keyboard.
I will say that if someone isn't familiar with detective and deduction games like Duck Detective: The Secret Salamior The Case of the Golden Idol, the tutorial isn't the best at explaining what to do. Each scene really relies on you clicking around to explore the environment, investigate what might be hidden in bags, and clicking on people or things that stand out in the environment to get the word "clues" you need to plug in to the Mad Libs style statements under the Solve section. However, the first case involving the missing USB is so simple and swift that it does act as an solid introduction, so I'm sure people will get the hang of it after that.
I feel like Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game is a game you open up and play when you're looking for a slight challenge to wind down. It isn't excessively challenging. Going through it all in one or two sittings can call attention to its more tedious elements. Just spend a week or two helping Mary with some assignments at a relaxed pace, and you'll probably have a pleasant time. But if you do want to go through it all at once, know it will take less than four hours to help Mary resolve all these situations.
Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game is available for PCs.
The post Review: Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game Is Quite Simple appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 3:36 PM
There are all kinds of app developers out there in the world, from those who make health and wellness apps to others who make games for phones and tablets. BitLife simplifies it into a job that, although it starts with a low salary, can easily turn you into a millionaire.
Table of contents
How to become an app developer in BitLife
Here's a complete step-by-step guide to becoming an app developer in BitLife:
As a bonus, creating a character with high smarts stats will make it easier to land university scholarships later on in your playthrough. Similarly, you can commit crimes in-game if one of BitLife's challenges requires it, but getting caught will cause future employers to deny you unless you emigrate to another country. Your best bet is to avoid crime altogether.
Once your character graduates from secondary school, head into Occupation, Education, and University. Look for computer science in the program list. If it doesn't appear, age up and recheck the list or close and reopen your BitLife app to refresh its results. You'll likely get a scholarship that covers your tuition, but you can also pay it off later using student loans or ask your family to help out.
From here, head into the jobs menu and scroll through until you spot either App Tester or Jr. App Developer. Like before, you can age up or close and reopen BitLife to refresh the list. Once you find one of these roles, apply for the position and pass the interview to become an app developer.
How to become a famous app developer in BitLife
There are two ways to become a famous app developer once you initially land the job:
The easiest way to become a famous app developer is to buy the Hollywood Star from BitLife's in-game marketplace. This item automatically turns you famous within the first year or two of landing the job.
If you prefer a free-to-play route, select your job in the Occupation menu to find an Hours and Work Harder option. The Hours menu lets you work more per week, while working harder gives you a boost in performance. Setting your hours to around 60 per week, working hard per year, and aging up will eventually lead to you becoming famous.
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The post How to become a famous app developer in BitLife appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 3:33 PM
Every week, we take a look at games from the industry's past, looking at those that were received poorly at the time, flew under the radar, or have largely disappeared from our current zeitgeist.
This time, however, I want to dedicate the entry to a particular title that enjoys quite a large crowd even today. Crowned by many as the best city builder of all time, this game remains at the top of the genre, with a sequel dreaming of ever achieving what it did.
The game, of course, is Cities: Skylines, the undisputed king of city building that has reigned supreme for a full decade, since first launching in 2015.
Lately, I've been restarting my city builder binge, as I do just about once a year. Every time I'd scour the market, looking for a new and refreshing city-building experience to make me feel something again. And, of course, I'd end up running into loads of indies, ambitious attempts, and all sorts of genre mixtures, but would never truly think I've found the new best.
And that puts me on the path of returning to Cities: Skylines. No matter what I do, or what games I play, Cities: Skylines, for me, represents the pinnacle of the city-building genre, a game with infinite possibilities, not least because of its robust modding scene.
Released all the way back in 2015, when the proverbial grass was far greener than today, Colossal Order's colossal title quickly earned itself the moniker of "best city builder." Ten years down the line, with loads of DLCs and countless mods, Cities: Skylines has only grown and been improved, grasping that title ever harder.
If you have never given it a try, it's a game where you're given a big plot of land, some rudimentary zones to place, and the possibility of a village, town, and, eventually, city. You lay down roadwork, provide services, ensure all zones are properly placed, and watch as your small hamlet evolves into a metropolis bustling with people and tourists. You prop up a whole small country, really, given how big of a town you end up making, which is truly a network of smaller cities all converging into one big metropolitan area.
There's no political simulation to the game, but every single citizen has their own job, goals, preferences, social status, and so on, making Cities: Skylines a robust social sim, though far from games that strictly focus on that end.
But you can still expand on the quality of life of every citizen, pretending at least that they're functional living beings who love what you're doing for them as mayor. You can build detailed parks of all kinds, whether merely a forest to walk through, an amusement park of epic proportions, or a historical plaza for tourists to pour money into; the possibilities, like in many other parts of the game, are truly endless.
Industrial zones, offices, stadiums, skyscrapers, megabuildings, the damn Statue of Liberty—you think it, you can place it, which most other games don't offer.
All of the above can be taken further with the introduction of mods, which range from adding new assets to reworking the entire simulation of the game, providing more realistic housing, demand, supply, traffic, and so much more. It's so expansive that it's almost overwhelming.
With so many DLCs released over the past decade, and mods that just make the game better in every way, Cities: Skylines has the most content, possibilities, and fun out of any city builder, and it has held a special place in the genre for 10 whole years.
Though not a dead game by any means or obscure, I had to dedicate an entire Save File Sundays episode to it for two reasons.
One, Cities: Skylines is 10 years old. That puts it into unc territory and almost retro for most young people today. Just imagine: kids born when Cities: Skylines came out are well into their elementary school age now, with only a few years left before they start high school. Those who were growing up around the time the game launched now consider it a childhood classic, which, though still active, is nowhere near as popular as it once was. We've grown old.
Secondly, Cities: Skylines is simply better than most other city builders out there, including its sequel, a game lacking in so many ways that playing the original is still the superior option.
What's more, Cities 2 has had two years of active post-launch development and still nothing's come of it. Sure, CO introduced new asset packs and other fixes, but core features are missing from the game. And, what's more, there's no official asset editor, a fundamental tool that'd allow people to make their own assets for the game.
The simulation is broken half the time, the game displays false information about your city, while mods in general are way smaller and more limited than they are in the first game. There's even no Steam Workshop, as Paradox has forced CO into opting to use Paradox Mods instead, which, though usable by all means, just introduces confusion and breaks an established ecosystem.
A lot of stuff in Cities 2 is fundamentally great. The assets are larger, many things are more realistic, and there's potential in there, absolutely. But with two years of horribly-received DLCs, half-baked additions, and constant delays of a console release and asset editor (and many other things) CO truly fumbled the bag with this one, making Cities: Skylines, the original, that much more of a cornerstone of city builders.
It's such a good game that not even its own creators could re-create it or make it better with a sequel, proving that Cities 1 might have been a divine intervention in the city builder genre, which we should cherish for as long as we're around.
I usually give re-reviews in Save File Sundays for games that are our focus. So, here goes.
Recompiled Review Score: 10 years ago, we gave Cities: Skylines (the original) a 9/10, praising everything it had to offer. Now, a decade later and with all the DLCs, mods, and a sea of improvements, Cities truly deserves the perfect score of 10/10.
Nostalgia Factor: 1/10 - Cities: Skylines remains in most city builder fans' minds even so many years later, and returning to it doesn't give that much of a nostalgic kick. Even so, some younger players who grew up alongside the game will consider it their comfort nostalgia play, so for them, the score here would probably be much higher.
Closer: Cities: Skylines remains the undisputed king of city builder games, with mechanical complexity and content rivaled only by the likes of SimCity 4. Even the latter, great though it is, suffers from age, whereas Cities endures even a decade later, having not aged a day.
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The post Save File Sundays #6 – Still the king of city builders appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 2:57 PM
The Pokémon community has been inundated with news recently, as the launch marketing for Pokémon Legends Z-A is in full swing. A big part of this has been the reveal of new Mega Evolutions, and with the new designs, there's a growing trend that might actually be proving a certain fan theory correct.
If you're an obsessive Pokémon fan, you may have spotted the reveal of the upcoming Mega Dimension DLC also included a look at the new Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y, which mark the third pair to have both X and Y versions, including Mega Mewtwo X and Y, and Mega Charizard X and Y. Well, what if every single Mega Evolution is based on the shape of an X or Y?
I'm in love with the shape of you
This particular theory may have been pointed out before, but it was popularized by content creator Tahko. In February 2025, Tahko posted on the social media platform X, saying, "it has been over 15 years and Pokémon fans and fakemon artists have yet to catch on that pretty much all mega Pokémon up to this point have been shaped like an x or a y."
Naturally, like anyone sharing an opinion on Pokémon on the internet, people responded in a calm and reasonable manner. If you didn't note the sarcasm there, people actually leaned a bit reactionary.
One person commented, saying that essentially any Pokémon design could be "simplified into an X or Y" and that the theory was a bit of a reach. While another person also took a swipe at the theory, saying that with enough creative license, "anything with 2 arms and legs" can be made to look like an X.
Some other people agreed with Tahko's theory and backed it up. Giving it some legitimacy, one person said they could see some Pokémon are "clearly X or Y shaped," such as Mega Altaria and Mega Metagross. Meanwhile, another person adds fuel to the fire, saying they "connected the dots" with Mega Abomasnow and Mega Glalie, but hadn't seen it explained properly until now.
Adding some legitimacy to the theory, if you look at the box legendaries for Pokémon X & Y, Xerneas and Yveltal respectively, what do you see? The Pokémon are designed to mimic the shape of an X and a Y. So, this is something The Pokémon Company had on the brain when crafting the 'mons of this generation.
Tell me Y
Not every Pokémon fits neatly into either camp, but there is evidence to support the theory. Let's look at some of the main culprits. As mentioned, Mega Abomasnow is a clear win for the X column, as is Mega Gengar, Mega Metagross, and Mega Scizor. All of the above use either their limbs or other appendages to form an X in some way or another.
In the latter camp, creatures like Mega Slowbro, Mega Altaria, and Mega Pidgeot can all be interpreted to look like a Y. After those, it's clear that while some others fit in, there isn't a direct correlation, as not all of the Mega Evolution forms fit neatly into an X or Y. Some creatures like Mega Sableye and Mega Camerupt really deflate the theory, and Mega Rayquaza is likely a big S or Z if anything.
This theory has been bubbling up in the Pokémon community occasionally ever since it was posted, and while some ridicule Tahko for even mentioning it, some have taken the idea to heart and look at the Pokémon in a new light. Come Summer 2025, things seemed to be calming down. That was, until the reveal of Mega Dragonite.
No Pokémon has ever looked as much like a Y as Mega Dragonite. I spotted it immediately and thought back to Tahko's post from months prior, and I wasn't the only one, as comments and quotes were flooded by people backing the theory up. One person quoted Tahko's original theory, saying, "Mega Dragonite is Y-shaped. This post has only aged like fine wine so far."
Naturally, not every Pokémon is designed to fit into an X or a Y shape, but a LOT are. Mega Hawlucha? Clear Y. Mega Malamar? Clear Y. Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y? Do I even need to say anything?
Like with many theories, this one isn't a hard and fast rule. It's possible the Pokémon team is having fun with the concept of X and Y-shaped Pokémon, and deploying it where it feels appropriate. A slew of other new Mega Pokémon also got revealed at the most recent Nintendo Direct, and from what I can tell, the Mega forms of Chesnaught, Delphox, and Greninja do not easily fall into the X or Y camp.
From the Ponyta's mouth
This was the story up until the Nintendo Direct last week, but there has been one final development. After months and months of online bickering around the post and some choice words from strangers, original theory crafter Tahko has released a video addressing the controversy.
It's a really interesting breakdown of the arguments they faced online and the actual reasoning behind the original theory.
It's also interesting to see Tahko back up their claims with more than just the key art provided, diving into character models, the movement they have in-game, and the way they're represented in other media. A lot of people seem to have reacted to nothing more than official key art without investigating the idea any further, so although it's a lengthy watch, the video explores every possibility.
I'm not here to convince you any further. Tahko's video dives deep into the subject, and it's a really well-constructed counterargument to the months of weird comments and borderline harassment they've had to deal with. To me, it's more than enough to finally admit that the theory is mostly correct.
Should it have taken something as obvious as two new Raichu literally shaped like an X or a Y to stop people from going crazy online? Perhaps not. But it's been a fun saga and one that stirred up a lot of fun conversations. Tahko, as far as I'm concerned, you've been vindicated.
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The post An unlikely Pokémon Mega Evolution theory keeps being proven correct appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 2:42 PM Despite lacking official support, modders are making classical art masterpieces in Cities Skylines 2
Cities: Skylines 2 remains in a very rough condition, almost two years after its initial release. Lacking in core features from its predecessor, Cities: Skylines also doesn't have an asset editor, making asset mods borderline impossible to pull off. Impossible for most, perhaps, but not this modder.
Modder fraggn.aut has managed to create a literal classical art masterpiece, faithfully rendering the Saint Stephen Cathedral from Vienna within Cities: Skylines 2. It's a massive asset carefully crafted to match the real deal, with special attention paid to even the smallest of details. But the most impressive part of this mod isn't its good looks—it's the fact that it even exists, given that Cities: Skylines 2 has no official asset editor, making asset creation borderline impossible in the game.
Fraggn.aut made this whole thing using other community-made assets and loads and loads of tiles from the game's creator packs, a smaller kind of DLC that expands the game's assets. "This building just consists out of hundreds of UK garden walls," the modder explained to a player rightfully surprised by this creation, believing the asset editor had finally been launched at some point.
His addition provides excellent means towards creating a realistic city in Cities: Skylines 2, since most cities, towns, and villages on our planet have some place of worship, temple, or religious building. In Europe specifically, churches are often the central part of any given town, with the rest of it sprawling out of it.
For whatever reason, Cities: Skylines 2 doesn't feature religious buildings yet, aside from some smaller churches within the UK pack that adds a chapel to the game's cemetery asset. That helps, but it isn't nearly enough. I guess it's not a top priority for Colossal Order, given how many other features are entirely absent from Cities: Skylines 2, but were in the previous game.
Two years down the line, not even half of what should be in there has been added, but at least modders like fraggn.aut are doing all they can, with the limited tools they have, to fill in the gaps left by CO and Paradox Interactive.
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The post Despite lacking official support, modders are making classical art masterpieces in Cities Skylines 2 appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 2:28 PM
The Early Access Challenge 1 SBC is an interesting puzzle challenge available for all FC 26 players in Ultimate Team, and you can use your fodder cards to win a new pack.
While there are no special cards on offer, completing the challenge is really simple. However, there's a chemistry requirement to keep in mind. This minimum chemistry could make it tricky if you don't use the correct cards in their designated positions.
This guide will help you complete the SBC without much fuss and unlock the available rewards.
Table of contents
FC 26 Early Access Challenge 1 SBC tasks
Like all fodder challenges in the past, there's only one task, and here are its requirements.
Early Access Challenge 1
As mentioned earlier, the trickiest aspect is to use cards of at least three different nationalities and still hit the quota of 25 chemistry.
EA FC 26 Early Access Challenge 1 SBC solutions
The aim is to use lower-rated fodders already available in your club. You won't have to spend coins to complete the process, thereby raising the value of your rewards. Alternatively, you can use this solution if you're stuck.
The SBC gets you an untradeable Rare Gold Pack and costs approximately 4,500 coins. The pack offers 12 Rare Gold Player and Club items, with three of them guaranteed to be footballers. One of those three cards will be rated 81 or higher, and there's a chance for you to get a walkout if you're lucky enough.
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The post FC 26 Early Access Challenge 1 SBC tasks and solutions appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 1:49 PM
The Nicolas Pepe vs Yuri Berchiche Showdown SBC presents an interesting choice for FC 26 players to improve their Ultimate Team squad.
Players can complete both challenges or choose one. Based on real-life results from the upcoming match between Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao, the card on the winning side of that match will result in an upgrade, which makes it essential for you to choose carefully.
Table of contents
FC 26 Nicolas Pepe Showdown SBC tasks and solutions
First, we take a look at the Nicolas Pepe Showdown SBC. This SBC has three tasks.
82-Rated Squad
LaLiga
Spain
Here are the solutions for completing the challenge.
82-Rated Squad
LaLiga
Spain
FC 26 Yuri Berchiche Showdown SBC tasks and solutions
The Yuri Berchiche card has two tasks to complete.
LaLiga
Spain
Here are the solutions.
LaLiga
Spain
If you had to pick one, I would go with Pepe. Villareal is in tremendous form, and their fixture with Bilbao has them as firm favorites. Despite being one task costlier compared to Berchiche, I would personally put my money on Pepe.
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The post FC 26 Nicolas Pepe vs Yuri Berchiche Showdown SBC tasks and solutions appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 1:33 PM
Released on Sept. 19, Jump Space is proving to be one of the most interesting games I've played this year. With great combat, a straightforward structure, and a pretty fun gameplay loop, I have to say I'm surprised to the utmost, and its launch numbers show me I'm not alone.
Jump Space came seemingly out of nowhere on Sept. 19, getting massive numbers on Steam as soon as it dropped. It didn't launch in a full capacity, instead going first into Steam Early Access as the developers continue to work on and expand it. That didn't deter people, though, as SteamDB shows a 21,000 peak concurrent player count a day after its release, alongside 2,000 reviews, of which 90 percent are positive.
Now that's a response you don't see often for an indie game that isn't Silksong or other well-established series. It's also developer Keepsake Games' first project, adding another layer to Jump Space's surprise indie hit vibes. But I've been blabbering about numbers long enough, so what was it that truly captivated me about Jump Space and led me to write up this piece?
Well, first and foremost, Jump Space is one of the most responsive games I've played in 2025. Movement feels smooth at high fps, the aiming is snappy and intuitive, and the combat has more feedback than I could ever want. Clicking a clanker's head is accompanied by visceral audio effects, while using any weapon feels weighted, impactful, and powerful. This is all one could want out of a game, but Jump Space, as the name implies, goes to infinity and beyond with its overarching story and missions.
The game is structured in a way reminiscent of Armored Core 6. You pick a mission, set assignments and goals, and venture out into the deep cold of space to search for scrap, new technologies, or follow the storyline. Each mission has several levels for you to play, either in space itself or on the ground. Transitioning from one location to the other is fast and easy, while ship controls are some of the best I've ever had the pleasure of using.
Unlike other space-faring games like No Man's Sky, Jump Space doesn't really let you explore space and play as a cosmic adventurer. Departing a planet manually leads to radiation blasting your ship, ultimately destroying it if you do not turn back. Traversing huge distances on your own is also borderline impossible, as the game requires you to use jump drives to go from level to level.
This is by no means a bad thing, since cutscenes and loading are as rare as they get, with every level being completely seamless for its entire duration. Levels are big enough to have several locations for you to explore to gather more loot, so you shouldn't feel like you're stuck within small mission boxes.
The ship combat is also amazing. You can pilot the thing yourself, or sit aside and control weaponry while another player flies the ship. Or, if you're playing solo, a robot companion will control some of the weapons while you're in control of maneuvers. It's a great co-op or solo experience, the former being much more fun.
If you do prefer to venture out alone, don't worry. Though you have a mouth, no one in space can hear you scream, but your robot buddy I've mentioned above will accompany you through thick and thin, transporting cargo back to the ship, helping during enemy encounters, and overall supporting you by lessening your sense of isolation and loneliness, and breaking the monotony.
Ships can be customized, retrofitted, expanded, improved, upgraded, you name it. There's also a lot of character customization, while missions and looting runs feel satisfying and give you a great sense of accomplishment, prompting you to embark again.
Going into the game based on its numbers, I have to say I didn't know what I was getting into. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, and I will certainly be sticking around until I've exhausted all the early access content Keepsake Games has put into the game, which is as vast as you'd ever need, and certainly worth the $20 asking price.
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The post For my money, Jump Space is the most impressive indie launch of the year appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 1:05 PM
FC 26's first week in early access has seen some players miss out on their potential income from Squad Battles, all due to crashes.
The problem of Squad Battles games accidentally crashing isn't new, and it was present in FC 25. The crashes can happen on both PCs and consoles, but this year, the incidence has been higher on PCs. While any permanent fix has to come from EA Sports, there are a few potential solutions to try out in the meantime.
How to prevent crashes in FC 26 Squad Battles
One of the significant causes of crashes in Squad Battles isn't exclusive to the mode. The number of crashes on PCs has risen since the early access launch. To prevent that, you can try to choose the best display settings for your hardware. While aiming for higher FPS is useful, it can also cause problems. Instead, use a set of parameters that doesn't tax your setup.
Once again, evolutions seem to be a problem. I have encountered two crashes (on consoles) when I have a card in my lineup that's part of an active evolution. The easiest solution to this problem is to clone your current squad.
Then, start playing with the cloned squad. I am unsure why this fixes the crash problem, specifically in Squad Battles. It worked like a charm last year, and the same pattern is being followed in FC 26. Since then, I have played a fair number of Squad Battles games (including cards in active evolution), and there have been no crashes to report.
This is the best solution to try out if you're enduring crashes. In short:
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The post How to solve Squad Battles crashes in FC 26 appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Sunday, September 21, 2025 12:01 PM
Live-service games of today, particularly those that feature heroes and items and seasonal models, often swell up so much with time that new players have a hard time figuring anything out. Dota is one example, and League of Legends a worse extreme. But Arkheron has a solution.
Speaking to the developers at Bonfire Studios during an onboarding session for Arkheron, I asked them whether they took complexity into account when designing the game.
Specifically, I wanted to know if Arkheron will end up having too much content (or already does), making it a daunting task for new players to come in and learn to play the game. And what they told me was very interesting, and something I haven't heard of thus far in live-service PVP titles like this.
Bonfire Studios plans to expand Arkheron's content through a seasonal approach, adding new Eternals and Relics as time goes by. However, to avoid having too much stuff in it (as it is already quite layered and complex), Akrheron will only have 10 Eternals at any time, with particular ones taken out and swapped with new additions, meaning players at any given point will only have to learn and master 40 items total.
No matter when you decide to board the Arkheron train, you'll have just about the same level of complexity to figure out as the players who hopped on early, unlike games like League of Legends, where new champions are added every few weeks.
Swapping particular Eternals out for new ones will also bring about more interesting meta shifts and changes, the devs said. If, for example, a powerful melee Eternal is taken out, and a strong ranged one added in, the meta could very easily shift away from melee to ranged. It could even emphasize melee more, as it could be perceived as a better counter to the now-stronger ranged meta.
It's a very interesting way to balance the game out, and balance itself is another major priority the team had for the game. We've seen in League, Dota, and other similar games how balance can be thrown off, favoring one champion or playstyle through artificial adjustments in patches.
The devs told me they tried introducing 12 Eternals, or reducing the number to eight, but found that players would be overwhelmed by too many items or use too many of the same Relics, respectively.
While playing, I did feel some Eternals were better than others, but it's still early, and players are just learning the game, so I won't pass judgment on its balance yet. After all, the model above is yet to be applied, so let just wait it out.
In the meantime, I've had the pleasure to play Arkheron myself and test out just how challenging and broad its content is, and I've found it's actually quite intuitive.
With 40 Relics to learn and 10 Eternals total, it only takes a few hours to experience most of them, allowing you to quickly pick up what works for your particular playstyle, which Relics synergize well, and whether or not any particular Eternal transformation is worth forfeiting the ability to change your items.
Since these numbers are going to be persistent, I find the approach to be quite effective, but like I've said, we'll have to wait and see how it turns out. Arkheron is still running tests, so do make sure to sign up if you still haven't, and check the game out yourself.
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The post Arkheron devs have the perfect solution to a growing live-service issue appeared first on Destructoid. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Sunday, September 21, 2025 3:58 PM Adds rank changes. The post Elden Ring Nightreign Update Reduces Deep of Night's Difficulty appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Sunday, September 21, 2025 3:40 PM Announced on Twitter. The post Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Gets New 'Streamlined Progression' Cheats appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |