Kotaku Thursday, December 25, 2025 8:05 AM
These might very well become your new favorite headphones. The post Apple Quietly Drops the Beats Studio Pro by 49% to Offload ANC Headphone Stock appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 25, 2025 8:00 AM
FromSoftware delivered a banger, the Fortnite Simpsons season was better than we expected, a KOTOR spiritual successor was announced and more good game news from 2025 The post The 10 Best Gaming Surprises Of 2025 appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Thursday, December 25, 2025 7:05 AM
Give your workstation a much-needed upgrade for less. The post Against Mac Mini, This Mini Gaming PC (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) Crashes to Its Lowest Price in a Prime-Exclusive Deal appeared first on Kotaku. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Thursday, December 25, 2025 11:00 AM  We eight scribes from RPS are, Bearing jokes, we wrote in the past, Christmas crackers, god we're knackered, After twelve months of graft. O, reader of wonder, loved the most, Why not subscribe to Supporters posts? January leading, still proceeding, See you once we've munched our roasts. But first, time to enjoy your lovely joke! |
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Siliconera Thursday, December 25, 2025 12:00 PM
2025 ended up being one of those quieter years for mobile games. This isn't to say there weren't a ton of titles. Lots of new releases showed up for folks who prefer to play on their phones and tablets. It's more like some of the releases overshadowed the others and stole the spotlight in ways that made it feel like those two or three newcomers ended up being discussed most alongside the ongoing titles we've kept up with for years. But we did feel some of them were extra special, so check out our Mobile Game of the Year 2025 selections below.
These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. Multiplatform games are considered on the platform for which they received the most staff support. For more of the year's award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2025 archive.
Persona 5: The Phantom X
New to the rest of the world in 2025, following a Chinese debut first, Persona 5: The Phantom X builds on the world of one of the biggest entries in that series by putting us behind the masks of a whole new group of Phantom Thieves. (Don't worry though, as the old crew is there too!) While it's not as faithful to the formula, it can be a lot of fun!
Pokemon TCG Pocket
There's a new way to play the Pokemon TCG game on the go! Pocket isn't 100% faithful to the original game, but the alterations are designed to make it easier to play in shorter bursts. Though at times, it also feels like getting new cards and tearing into virtual packs is just as big of a part of the experience. Now that it's been around for a while and features an array of additional expansions and events, it's really come into its own.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby
So these characters are young women with horse ears and tails who attend Tracen Academy so they can learn to run good enough to get the center, starring spot in the concerts that involve the winners of races. Also, all of these Trainees are based on real-life horses, right down to their traits being reflected in the characters' personalities and running styles. Also, rather than controlling them as they run the races, gameplay makes you the trainers who prepare them in Princess Maker-style simulations to ensure they're at the top of their game. Umamusume: Pretty Derby is extraordinary, and it's our mobile game of the year for 2025.
The post Siliconera's Mobile Game of the Year 2025 appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Thursday, December 25, 2025 9:00 AM
Games like Slay the Spire and Into the Breach involve careful plotting, deck-building, tactical awareness, and patience to succeed, and Death Howl is the latest new title to follow in their footsteps. The Outer Zone often references both types of genres, as well as soulslikes, when discussing its strategic affair. It's an absolutely gorgeous game with some situations that can prove truly taxing. It can be a challenge! But some of the situations can prove quite daunting. I'd say in a good way, as it makes you think while surrounding you with an appropriate atmosphere.
Ro's son is dead. However, the warrior won't accept that. She is determined to do whatever it takes to retrieve Olvi, even if that means braving the dangers of the Spirit World. So she undertakes a ritual to traverse unknown areas and face opponents in the hopes of reuniting with him. It's a dangerous path, one that involves fighting and taking Death Howls from fallen foes into Ro's self. By wandering through realms, facing spirits, opening up nodes on skill trees to get Spirit Cards and abilities, grinding past spirit fights to get Death Howls and crafting materials, getting totems for boosts, and unlocking fast-travel via Sacred Groves, you can build better decks of cards with actions and attacks and come closer to Ro's goals.
While some roguelike games and strategy titles like this feature picking nodes on a map, Ro actually wanders through various realms in the Spirit World. Once you happen upon a Spirit, you choose the starting position on the grid from the initial row. You then get five cards from your deck dealt to you, with each one featuring a certain energy cost to them. Ro herself also has 20 health. Your goal will be to defeat the spirit you face, using different attacks and abilities to retaliate. Attacks may also have effects like poison or push, and actions might involve sprinting a certain distance to go further than usual or adding armor. You can have 20 cards in a deck,
I will warn you that Death Howl isn't for everyone for a number of reasons, even though it is excellent example of things happening in the deckbuilding and tactical genres. The references to soulslike refer to the ambiance and difficulty. Even some standard enemies are really challenging, until you've faced them a few times and realized what their gimmick and range is. Speaking of which, RNG itself can be brutal and result in moments when you won't have much of a chance. Which is a whole thing in standard roguelikes, but becomes extra punishing here. This means there's a lot of grinding necessary to become strong enough to actually survive. At times, it might even feel a bit unbalanced.
Especially since Death Howl falls into the soulslike trap of often not explaining things to the degree necessary. This is very much a game where I felt like I learned by doing. If you aren't familiar with titles like Into the Breach, Lost in Fantaland, and Slay the Spire, then Death Howl will confound you. It fill feature icons like skulls, drops of blood, shields, spirals, and plus signs next to cards and assume you know what that means. Enemy stats aren't well explained. There's nothing wrong with having a game where you need to work things out on your own, but it's another thing to be aware of when it's already quite challenging.
However, because there is grinding in Death Howl and quite a few side quests, it doesn't feel truly impossible. If you keep pushing forward and experimenting with which path you take through a realm, things might go better. I found sometimes I'd find a solution to get past an encounter that was troubling me or get the crafting materials I needed.
I also feel like, considering how fantastic the story is, it is worth weathering the storms you'll face when aiding Ro on her journey. It's a dark, sad tale that also incorporates lore as she encounters different individuals. It's a haunting tale about grief, beautifully executed with its spritework and punctuated with battles that feel like they test your limits. It all comes together so well.
The struggle in Death Howl is real, both in terms of its story and challenge. It's meaningful and haunting. While it can mean going through quite a bit of grinding and dealing with major foes and a bit of unfair RNG, it is a battle worth fighting.
Death Howl is available for PCs.
The post Review: Death Howl Can Test Your Resolve appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Thursday, December 25, 2025 7:22 AM
A Trello or Wiki are must-haves for Roblox MMORPGs like Arcane Odyssey since there's so much content to explore. From various weapon skills, fighting styles, clans and a ton of other customization options, it pays to have a HUB to track all info. Here are the Arcane Odyssey Trello, Wiki and Discord links.
Arcane Odyssey Trello, Wiki and Discord Links
Here's every community HUB you need for Arcane Odyssey:
I would dive into the AO Trello first since it's the best source of both Lore and in-game content info. It basically acts as the game's Wiki page, archiving everything in the game. It's got info on:
Also, the Trello acts as a sort of Dev diary for the Vetex developer group listing future ideas and lore. There's even a full Lore document in the Game Information card if you love reading about the world's story. Last but not least, it's got the patch notes for the game archiving all the changes.
This can also be found on the game's Discord though the Discord also has a list of announcements and upcoming updates with exact dates. There's also sneaks over there but moreover it's where you can ask specific questions about the game. For example, what the best weapon skills or fighting styles are.
That's it for my Arcane Odyssey Trello board, Wiki page and Discord server guide. Don't forget to check out our Arcane Odyssey codes for all the latest free goodies you can get in the game.
The post Arcane Odyssey Trello, Wiki and Discord appeared first on Destructoid. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Thursday, December 25, 2025 1:40 PM 100,000 in a year. The post Melty Blood: Type Lumina Sales Surpass 600,000 Units appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Thursday, December 25, 2025 1:34 PM The game first launched in 2007. The post G-MODE Archives+ Armored Core: Mobile 3 Announced for Nintendo Switch and PC appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Thursday, December 25, 2025 1:30 PM A trailer was also released. The post Neverness to Everness 'Co-Ex Test' Sign-ups Available Now appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Thursday, December 25, 2025 12:27 PM The director went on to clarify why it was used. The post Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Stripped of Its Indie Game Awards Wins For Using Ai appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |