GamersHeroes Wednesday, March 18, 2026 7:31 PM Resonating with audiences, Liquid Swords' hard-hitting action title Samson: A Tyndalston Story has seen an impressive 250K+ Steam wishlists ahead of its launch early next month. The post Samson: A Tyndalston Story Sees 250K+ Steam Wishlists Ahead of April 8 Launch appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, March 18, 2026 6:00 PM Dark Souls has often been used to measure one's gaming prowess, but that measuring stick has changed with Crimson Desert. The post Forget Dark Souls – Crimson Desert Is The New Measuring Stick – Our Review appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, March 18, 2026 5:51 PM Nightfarers will be able to savor every moment before the Night falls with the new Elden Ring Nightreign Limited Edition Vinyl Collection. The post Elden Ring Nightreign – The Limited Edition Vinyl Collection Pre-Orders Live appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:57 PM Featuring 45 minutes of back-to-back trailers, Evil Empire's The Triple-i Initiative Showcase is returning April 9 at 9am PT. The post The Triple-i Initiative Showcase Returning April 9 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:12 PM Let the tournament begin - pre-orders for the new line of Funko Metaphor: ReFantazio POP! Vinyl Collection are now open. The post Funko Metaphor: ReFantazio POP! Vinyl Collection Pre-Orders Live appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:23 PM A top-down 2D open world space RPG, Corefun Studios has unveiled their new title Solar Echoes: Star Fated. The post Top-Down Open World Space RPG Solar Echoes: Star Fated Revealed appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:10 PM Three epic showdowns will await players when the SEGA Villains Stage DLC for Lizardcube's SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance launches April 3. The post SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance SEGA Villains Stage DLC Launching April 3 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 7:09 PM  The initial reviews don't match some of the early hype |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 5:52 PM  Crystal Dynamics is cutting another 20 people from its team |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 4:31 PM  Netflix is reportedly negotiating with concert promoters to take Huntr/x on the road |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 4:15 PM  Quick Resume is perfect except for this one little problem |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:58 PM  The question has been on Resident Evil fans' minds since we saw him put on a wedding ring |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:36 PM  It can be tough getting to grips with Mega Crit's new deckbuilder, but we'll put you on the right track |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:13 PM  Cryo Archive seemingly won't unlock until UESC forces are decimated |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 2:24 PM  A robot waiter in a California hot pot eatery had to be restrained by three staff members because it wouldn't stop shaking that thing |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:11 PM  The tech analysis team called out people who sent death threats over their recent Nvidia video |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:02 PM  A digital version of the late Batman actor will play a priest in the upcoming film As Deep as the Grave |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 12:54 PM  Yes, people are building amazing towns, but yours has its charms |
Kotaku Wednesday, March 18, 2026 12:05 PM  We'll answer your biggest questions about the gorgeous, massively hyped open-world game |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 18, 2026 6:00 PM Crimson Desert is a feast for the eyes, but it holds back too much, and doesn't have the narrative strength to carry the drudgery. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:59 PM Thomas and Friends Wonders of Sodor is an unassuming enough release, but its PlayStation launch post, surprisingly, racked up millions of views. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:41 PM The free Cities Skylines 2 anniversary update adds an arena and is joined by two new DLC creator packs, Office Evolution and City Stations. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:26 PM Street Fighter 6 is the real king of fighters, but Capcom needs to do more to see the series reach its full potential. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, March 18, 2026 6:00 PM _KtOpNub.png?width=690&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp) Reviews of Crimson Desert, the new open world fantasy RPG from Black Desert Online studio Pearl Abyss, are surfacing across the internet as you read these words. Out on 19th March, it's the story of Kliff McDuff of the Greymanes, who is trying to rally his scattered comrades following a vicious attack by their rivals, the Black Bears. It's one of those Much-Anticipated games, possibly because it appears to have inhaled the entire third-person action genre, with mechanics that range from sorcerous air-hopping through momentum-based damage to Dynasty Warriors-style crowd control. Predictably, this glut of ideas can feel a smidge… inelegant and unwieldy. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:22 PM  Exodus was announced as a fulsome narrative experiment with time dilation, aided and abetted by extremely non-AI-generated Matthew McConaughey – a story told over millennia-long time jumps, featuring super-evolved versions of human beings. But let's face it, some of you are just here for the Mass Effect parallels raised by the presence of former BioWare devs on the ticket. The new sci-fi RPG's latest footage, below, certainly leans into them. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:21 PM  Hollow Knight: Silksong devs Team Cherry have put out what they're aiming to be the "last significant update" prior to the Metroidvania's first major expansion, Sea of Sorrow, arriving at some point this year. As with a fair few of Skong's post-launch patches, it's largely focused on translations. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, March 18, 2026 12:04 PM  I was five minutes into the excavation of my very first, procedurally generated Lucid Blocks map when I struck Dogblock, Catblock and S'more, in that order. I didn't excavate them, actually. I conjured them by feeding gobbets of occult, dreamlike material into the "Apotheosis" magic circle that is possibly this sort-of-survival game's crafting screen, and possibly a gateway to some astral sphere. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 18, 2026 6:00 PM
Almost a year after the first Metaphor: ReFantazio Funko Pop of protagonist Will showed up, Atlus and Funko confirmed five more figures based on characters in the series. These will all launch on June 10, 2026. Each one will cost $14.99, just like the first one. However, the one of the main character now can be found at places like Amazon for under $10.
As always, every character in this collection features a bobble head and proportions based on the Funko Pop style. Like Will, all of his allies come equipped with their signature weapon. People will be able to pick up Eiselin Burchelli Meijal Hulkenberg, Euphausia "Eupha" Etoreika, Heismay Noctule, Leon Strohl da Haliaetus, and antagonist Louis Guiabern. This means the only major characters not represented in this collection will be Basilio Lupus Magnus, Fidelio Aureus Magnus, Gallica, and Juani "Junah" Cygnus. All of them are about four inches tall. They will be numbers 1,227 (Strohl) through 1,231 (Louis) in the line.
Here's how all of the figures will look. The original Funko of the protagonist is included alongside them for context in one of the two round-up images.
The Metaphor: ReFantazio Funko Pop figures of Eupha, Heismay, Hulkenberg, Louis, and Strohl will launch in June 10, 2026, and the game is on the PS4, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. The manga is available to read in English via MangaPlus.
The post More Metaphor: ReFantazio Funko Pop Figures Shared appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 18, 2026 5:00 PM
Idea Factory International confirmed it will release the fan disc and follow-up to the Switch otome horror game 9 RIP, with the new game called 9 RIP Sequel. It will appear on the console in 2026. A first trailer is live, and the official site is open. Idea Factory International also announced it will release both physical standard and limited editions, just like it did for the first installment.
The official page for the game went over the different modes present in this sequel. Some of them pick will pick up after the Godly Route and Heavenly Route endings from the first installment. There will also be a Nine Wonders of Narimigahama storyline tied to the Heavenly Routes in this entry. All nine bachelors from the original game will return, which means we'll be able to see Misa's continuing romances with Hibiki, Koharu, Koyo, Kureha, Minami, Seiya, Sena, Yukimaro, and the hidden route.
Here's the trailer revealing the English release and showing off all of the new and returning characters we'll see in the game. We can also hear one of the theme songs.
As for the physical copies, product pages are only showing up on IFI's Online Store as of time of writing. No prices were mentioned on either page, but it is possible to wishlist them. Each one will come with a trading card and copy of the game on a cart, and the standard version page shows the cover art. The limited edition page doesn't note which bonus items will appear.
Here's the cover art, which shows Misa and all of the love interests.
9 RIP Sequel will come to the Switch in 2026 globally, following the Japanese release in September 2025 on the system, and the original horror otome is available worldwide.
The post Horror Otome 9 RIP Sequel Heads to Switch in 2026 appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 18, 2026 4:00 PM
While the new Sword Art Online game Echoes of Aincrad will involve us creating a new, original character and learning from our ally Iori, Bandai Namco confirmed series staple Argo will return for this title. She'll serve as an information broker for players, just as she did for Kirito in other adaptations. There's also initial official art for her and a profile.
Some of the classic Argo Sword Art Online design elements are present in the depiction of the character in Echoes of Aincrad. For example, she still has her whiskers on her face, with three on each side under her eyes. She's shown wielding a dagger in the image, and there are no signs of the claws she's known for in the series. In addition to appearing in the original story and games, she also was known for appearances in other MMOs in the series thanks to titles like Sword Art Online: Lost Song and Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet.
Here's the official art and profile Bandai Namco shared:
While Argo will be back, so far the Sword Art Online icons Kirito and Asuna aren't confirmed as being part of the Echoes of Aincrad game. However, they will be connected to it in a way. The Unanswered//butterfly anime will feature the two of them and new characters Emirun and Rex. That is the bonus included in the Ultimate Upgrade Pack DLC with the Ultimate Edition of the game.
Here's the official trailer for that Polygon Pictures anime, in case you missed it.
The Sword Art Online game Echoes of Aincrad will come to the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on July 10, 2026, the original anime series is on Crunchyroll, and Yen Press handles manga, audiobooks, and light novels based on the series.
The post Argo from Sword Art Online Is in Echoes of Aincrad appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:00 PM
Ensky and HAL Laboratory announced both Kirby and Waddle Dee will join the Kumu-kumu 3D jigsaw puzzle line. The two will launch in June 2026. Each one will cost ￥2,090 (~$13). The official Ensky storefront has pre-orders live for each one and ships worldwide with Buyee. We've also seen past puzzles in this line appear on the Ensky Amazon storefront, with the Pikachu one ranging from $12.99 to $20, so these will show up eventually worldwide.
Both the Kirby and Waddle Dee 3D jigsaw puzzles will build a small figure someone can display. Each one is just over two inches (60mm) tall when finished. There will be 30 pieces used to build Waddle Dee. Kirby might be slightly more complicated, as there are 36 pieces to that one.
Here are the first official photos for both items. In each case, Ensky shared images of some of the pieces around finished puzzles to provide a sense of scale. The Kirby one's box also appeared.
Ensky frequently releases merchandise based on the Kirby games. In addition to toys and plush, it's been behind board and card games based on the character like Kirby: One Night Werewolf. That debuted in June 2021.
The Ensky Kumu-kumu 3D jigsaw puzzles that let people build figures of Kirby and Waddle Dee will debut in Japan in June 2026, then appear worldwide after. The most recent game to star both characters is Kirby Air Riders for the Switch 2.
The post Ensky 3D Jigsaw Puzzles Let Us Build Kirby and Waddle Dee appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 18, 2026 2:00 PM
Empty and Konami announced a new line of Silent Hill f merchandise featuring characters like Hinako Shimizu and Fox Mask drawn by Bkub Okawa. This collection will consist of plush toys, keychains, acrylic stands, pins, a bag, and a mug. Most items will begin shipping in June 2026, but the plush pins and plush dolls won't show up until August 2026. Amiami, which does ship outside Japan, is one of the retailers for the items and already opened pre-orders for items like the plush keychains, acrylic keychains, omamori, tote bag, and mug.
Both Hinako and Fox Mask are drawn in Okawa's style on every item, and there are multiple poses for each character used. Some of the items are in blind boxes, such as the small acrylic stands, the tin pins, and the acrylic keychains with quotes on them.
This is the full list of items and their prices:
Here's how all the new Silent Hill f merchandise looks.
There's a trailer announcing it all too:
While Bkub Okawa is best known as the mangaka behind Pop Team Epic, the artist also often is called upon to create designs for other properties. For example, Okawa drew Honkai: Star Rail stickers for HoYoVerse and designed Persona merchandise for Atlus.
The Bkub Okawa Silent Hill f merchandise of Hinako and Fox Mask will begin to appear in Japan in June 2026, and the game is available on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC worldwide.
The post Bkub Okawa Character Art Used for Silent Hill f Merchandise appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:00 PM
Atlus confirmed the 3.4 patch for Persona 5: The Phantom X will bring the Royal new heroine Kasumi "Violet" Yoshizawa to the mobile game alongside reruns of Futaba "Oracle" Sakura and Haru "Noir" Okumura. She'll also be a part of the new event storyline. Everything will roll out after maintenance on March 19, 2026, though the rerun banners won't show up until March 26, 2026.
Since Kasumi already appeared in Persona 5: The Phantom X ahead of this worldwide debut, we have an idea of what to expect from Violet in the game. This is going to be a five-star character. She will be an Assassin type character like Makoto "Queen" Niijima. She's also tied to the Blessing affinity like Minami "Marian" Miyashita. Her Persona, as expected, will be Cendrillon. She'll show up right after maintenance, and that's when the Crossroads of Fate: Laboratory Arc Part 1 with her will appear. That first part of the event ends on April 2, 2026. She'll also be at Cafe Leblanc when you're enjoying City Life.
As for Futaba and Haru, their rerun banners show up on March 26, 2026. Both are five-star units as well. Oracle is a Navigator with the Support affinity. She has Necronomicon by her side. Noir is a Sweeper who has Psychic affinity. She's paired up with Milady.
A number of other additions were confirmed. Mayumi Hashimoto Synergy will appear as a new bond. There will a login bonus event for up to seven Platinum Milicoins. Tycoon Typhon season 4 will start. Jose's Dicey Adventure will be around. There will also be a Phantom Pass present between March 19, 2026 and April 30, 2026.
Here's the full 3.4 Persona 5: The Phantom X stream.
Persona 5: The Phantom X is available on the PC and mobile devices, and Kasumi "Violet" Yoshizawa will appear alongside a new event after the 3.4 patch arrives on March 19, 2026.
The post Persona 5: The Phantom X Gets Kasumi Alongside Futaba and Haru Reruns appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 6:10 PM
Crimson Desert is the sort of game that suddenly appears on everyone's radar. The ones that captivate us with great marketing and cinematics, but leave everyone skeptical as to whether they can deliver on what they promised. And Pearl Abyss's first voyage into the sphere of singleplayer, narrative-driven video games proves they really understood the task and delivered exactly what they told everyone they would.
Here, we have a huge open world filled with loads of content, exciting locations to visit, and stories to experience. Wherever you turn, you'll find some genuinely intersting activity or side quest. It's a concise, player-driven, sandbox experience attached to an epic overarching story of loss, revenge, and bloodshed.
Crimson Desert's medieval fantasy, which combines elements of the entire Middle Ages from swords to cannons, stands as a unique case of a good fantasy world that does not mindlessly follow the standards set by Tolkien. It's a great game through and through, though one that severely lacks polish, balance, and quality-of-life improvements that can and will hinder your experience, but never ruin it even in the slightest.
Here is our full review.
The wolf and the bear
Crimson Desert takes place in the mystical world of Pywel, a medieval continent where technological advancements vary from early tribal to the level of the Age of Exploration and swords and cannons coexist in harmony.
You primarily play as Kliff, a high-ranking clan warrior of a tribe in Pailune, itself a tribal country within Pywel. One night, you are ambushed by another clan, the Black Bears, who slaughter many of your kinsmen and scatter or enslave the rest while landing the killing blow on you as well. As your consciousness wanders between the planes, you are contacted by a strange being who brings you into the Abyss, a dimension that exists high in the clouds but is invisible to the naked eye.
Resurrected and discovering new allies beyond the grave, Kliff returns to Pywel, set on seeking out his lost comrades and freeing Pailune from the tyrannical, murderous grip of the Black Bears. A lot more happens in between and after, and from the POV of several characters that you swapp between as you would in GTA 5.
For example, you can swap to Oongka, a huge orc with a penchant for slaughter, finding him embroiled in battles and fights. Or you can switch to Damiane and see her roaming the world on her own, doing whatever it is ladies of Demeniss love doing. I can't say I did much of this swapping, as I preferred to stick with Kliff for the sake of narrative consistency, but in some cases, swapping is mandatory but never detrimental to the story (which can't always be said about the gameplay).
Your gang of Greymanes can also be managed and sent on missions, as you get a camp early on and even more later, which you can upgrade and expand and use as a home base, with numerous mechanics tied to this particular part of the game. Planting seeds, ranching animals, selling them off at back-alley farm fences, all of that is an extension of the otherwise familiar experience, and gives you a sense that you are indeed an important person, leading and helping your people rebuild.
The overall story quality is strong. Initially, the game suffers from a huge disconnect between the quests, and it is hard to keep track of what is actually going on. You frequently switch from sci-fi to medieval fantasy, and that doesn't help maintain coherence or consistency in tone and atmosphere whatsoever.
After the first few hours of that, once Kliff starts making progress in rebuilding the Greymanes, everything starts falling into place, and tone is seldom broken by any sort of narrative digression.
Though the characters are a bit superficial at first, most of them eventually come into their own, and you grow to like or dislike them based on their very strong characteristics. They do genuinely feel like real people.
Where I did feel an overall lack of quality was the writing itself. Pearl Abyss is a Korean studio and likely wrote the game in its native tongue, and the translation does not always carry over well. This is, like quite a few things in Crimson Desert, inconsistent, and you'll get pure aura farm moments and ones where you cringe at the dialogue and the writing in equal measure.
This is not a huge problem, however, and though I would have liked to have better voice acting in the game, it's important to note that the most crucial characters are performed spectacularly well, even if the writing isn't always on point. The voice actor of Kliff, the main protagonist, certainly does the best job, and that's enough for me.
Pywel is a world worthy of exploring
Speaking of characters, a point I would love for you to really understand is that Pywel, the world in which the game is set, can itself be considered a character. So much time and effort clearly went into building this universe from the ground up, with cultures and nations, and the backstories of each radiate from every rock, every tree, every ruin and ancient shrine.
The locales are vastly varied, from oakwood forests to autumn woods to entire deserts or crescent havens out by the sea. Mountains and stone pillars and hills cover the land, as do open fields of wheat and barley and other grains more beautiful yet. It's such a diverse continent, where so many different people exist in different environments, climates, and circumstances that have helped shape their unique cultures.
There are kingdoms and duchies and tribal states, and the politics between them also come through in the stories you get to experience. How they operate and how arrogant they are, how caring some are for their people, and how some others are cold and heartless and bent on power and domination and little else. It's incredible, and traveling really feels meaningful when there are so many interesting, different places to visit.
And exploration is really the primary goal of this game. Being a sandbox like RDR2 and GTA, Crimson Desert wants you to go out into the world and motivate yourself to explore and experience everything it has to offer. And though you need to make yourself do it, there are side quests that always send you in some new direction, while progressing the main story is a guarantee that you'll visit some new area, much like you would unlock the next town over in San Andreas (but everything is unlocked from the get-go in CD).
It's one of those cases where you climb a tall hill or mountain or just climb up a spire somewhere and see a lot of potential points of interest in the distance and say, "Can I go there?" and the answer is ubiquitously yes.
That tall spire on top of a massive mountain? Maybe it is a college of mages that wants to learn about the stars and the mystical world of the Abyss. See that huge walled castle nestled on top of a hill? It could be some fortress with a strange history where people are on edge. There is enough here to make your imagination run wild.
Rock formations reminiscent of Chinese national parks? Yep, the home of monks who live in pagodas and temples thousands of feet up in the air. Everything you see can be reached and explored and oftentimes used to reach new narrative threads, and by following them, you're taken to lands more breathtaking still.
And none of these places ever pulls you into a loading screen, unless you're using fast travel spots—which, due to the game's incredible optimization, will often be very quick on most modern hardware.
The game gives you many different tools to make exploration a lot more fun. The horse, your primary vessel, controls so well that it puts many other AAA games to shame. I've played and loved other titles with horses, like The Witcher 3, but nothing compares to what Crimson Desert has done here. Leveling it up and increasing its stamina is entirely based on use, and the controls are incredibly smooth.
The horse never gets caught on things, doesn't spaz out at the slightest inconvenience, and can actually climb places you never thought it could. You also get gliding, using the Abyss as skydiving points, jetpacks, and many other tools to improve and speed up your exploration and traversal.
Oh, and you can rock climb, too. You can climb basically anything, but be mindful of your stamina. I've reached the ground face-first too many times to count, and it was no one's fault but my own.
There are potentially hundreds of hours of exploration here, and I haven't even scratched the surface despite trying my best, playing five to six hours per day for the last two weeks. It's gigantic and could become the new standard for what an open-world game should do with its massive level. Content is everywhere. Stories, quests, points of interest, factions, bases to be liberated, you name it.
Pywel is, for what it's worth, one of the best open worlds ever created.
Amazing combat, horrible balance, frustrating lack of polish
Now we get to the actual gameplay. On top of exploring things and watching the narrative unfold, you will be fighting quite a lot. The game, understanding its position as an action-oriented adventure title, made sure that you have the right means to execute any sort of fight you want, and the amount of content on this side of the game puts many others in the genre to shame.
Combat is melee-oriented for all characters, and you can use any number of weapons, great and small, including melee and ranged options. Ranged are both bows and guns, and there are countless variants of each that you can find around Pywel.
Melee combat is where the most fun is to be had, I think, and it's incredible how varied and deep it is. You can chain combos in ways you never thought possible, and though I wasn't much of an expert, I am confident we'll soon be seeing cinematic edits of Kliff doing the most incredible combination of moves imaginable. Weapons can be either found or crafted, while some unique arms drop from the plentiful boss fights.
Every weapon has unique move sets. While some have a strong right-click attack, others may be better utilized by focusing on piercing or other benefits. You can also upgrade each weapon by refining it to increase its base stats, or embedding cores (gems) into sockets, adding entirely new skills and abilities. The same applies to armor pieces, which are all stylish and great, though some (gauntlets, boots) also double as weapons since unarmed combat is a perfectly viable way to play.
You can also utilize your Axiom Force, a mystical ability granted to you by those creatures of the Abyss, to perform "impossible tasks" as the name calls them, i.e., to manipulate gravity, grab enemies, do ungodly things to them, or slap them using spirit attacks. All in all, the combat is both as deep and as wide as an ocean, and there's a world of builds here that I didn't get to truly experience on account of, well, finding very strong stuff and sticking to it for most of the game.
But the combat fails to make up for the massive amount of frustration caused by the game's overall lack of balance, which severely ruins the pacing and the good vibes you get by playing the game in general. The most notable examples are region liberations and boss fights.
In the former, you can come to a place that is occupied by bandits or rival factions and start liberating it by basically killing enemies until the liberation bar reaches zero. At that point, enemies start to scatter, and the area is declared free. The issue here is that these liberations take far too long, and there are so many foes constantly respawning and coming at you that small mistakes can really ruin the flow, while being attacked by several elites generally means certain death if you aren't equipped well.
Several main story beats feature mandatory liberations, with a boss fight at the end of this onslaught and gauntlet. The experience is rather unfair, both in the open world and in the main story events, since you have to fight the big bad and the enemies around them simultaneously. That is especially the problem when Crimson Desert's frustrating and completely unfair bosses are taken into account.
Most of the game's bosses, despite being cool and unique and interesting design-wise, are totally unbalanced. They are too fast, too strong, and have so many sucker punches in their arsenal (which they tend to spam) that no-hit runs or even just good fights are few and far between. A lot of the fights hinge on your use of respawn pills, which revive you mid-fight with 30 percent of your max HP. That is particularly true when you're fighting one of the many multi-phase bosses, which sometimes have a third phase to struggle through.
It's as if no one at Pearl Abyss playtested or even tried to think of the balance. The only saving grace here is that respawn pills can be rather easily obtained, and that many bosses have a very specific weakness that tends to trivialize them. This works for some but not for others, as those have to be brute-forced by just attacking and dying over and over in a battle of attrition.
When you have such gimmicky bosses at the end of massive gauntlets of enemies that are themselves very powerful, you get frustration unlike anything you've ever experienced. Regardless of my skill, or lack thereof, my overall experience with the bosses just wasn't pleasant, even if I did like how they looked.
In some cases, it is mandatory to swap from Kliff to other characters for certain segments of the story, which include brutal, difficult boss fights. After spending 50 hours as Kliff and then being forced to use a new character I never played before with new skills and items that might not be up to snuff with that part of the game, I got my a** handed to me by a particular boss for the sole reason of that character just not being as good or as leveled as Kliff is.
This threw me off, but it's not that big of a deal and doesn't account for a lot of playtime anyway.
Overall, there is a strong lack of polish. Though the developers did issue several patches during the review period, key issues still remain present as of launch. Inventory remains limited, there is no proper storage for unnecessary but still wanted items, and many puzzles are almost impossible to solve without help.
This is a problem because the game relies on so many puzzles for you to progress that it becomes an actual chore to do them. Some are simple and understandable, some take a little more focus and effort, but some are just nigh impossible unless someone tells you what to do. Brute-forcing much of the game's content detracts from the overall experience, but I think the devs can and will fix many of these flaws over time.
Fast travel also sometimes requires puzzle-solving, as you can only use it to move between set points on the map. Finding these points also felt like a chore compared to doing, well, literally anything else.
And yet, a beautiful and great game
Outside of those very specific frustrations that I experienced, I don't think Crimson Desert deserves anything but praise. Given how big it is and how nice it looks, the game performs so incredibly well that I cannot believe AAA publishers have been putting out muddy, oily, horribly-looking titles with single-digit FPS counts for so long.
Crimson Desert runs at 4K native at around 70 fps on my RX 9070XT, but I did notice a significant dip in performance in the last few days of the review window. I used to run Ray Regeneration and an Ultra preset at 4K using FSR at Quality, giving me around 65 to 70 FPS, but I was forced to turn RR off and set the Lighting to Cinematic manually to win back my performance after a patch a few days prior to this review's release.
This had to do with how RR was tied to setting the Lighting to Max, decimating performance across the board. I hope this changes by the time the game releases, and the devs did tell us that they're monitoring this quirk.
At the end of the day, though, Crimson Desert is a fine title, with a story, characters, and world worth exploring. Coupled with entertaining gameplay, memorable bosses, and deep, engaging systems, it has just about everything a good game should have. Polishing these elements a little further would have done a world of wonders for the title, but the rough edges don't take away from the core experience that much, as the game is impossible to put down once you get going.
Pearl Abyss has made a place for itself among great AAA developers, and I'm excited to see where it will take us next.
The post Crimson Desert Review – Vast, violent, and impossible to put down appeared first on Destructoid. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 6:00 PM
Monster Hunter Stories 3 has plenty of monsties to collect across four different locations, and this guide will help you to find all of them. With 84 monsties to find, it's always useful to know their applicable regions, which also makes it easy to collect their eggs.
From powerful Leviathans to the weaker Bnahabra, monsties come in all shapes and sizes. With the revamped exploration system of Monster Hunter Stories 3, you can find some powerful regions pretty early on.
Table of contents
All monsties in Monster Hunter Stories 3
The tables below have information about all the monstie that are hatchable. Some, like the Rathian, will need to be unlocked by defeating Invasive monsties.
All Azuria region monsties in Monster Hunter Stories 3
All Canalta Timberland region monsties in Monster Hunter Stories 3
Canalta Timberland is the second location you'll unlock in Monster Hunter Stories 3, and you'll find more Rank 4 and 5 monsters (compared to Azuria).
All Tarkuan region monsties in Monster Hunter Stories 3
The third region offers plenty of upper-rank monsties for you to find.
All Serathis region monsties in Monster Hunter Stories 3
The final location has the highest concentration of Rank 6 and 7 monsties you can find.
There are some names that you won't find on this list.
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 5:09 PM
The mystery of Leon Kennedy's wedding ring has been circulating around Resident Evil discussions since the game first came out. We see the character put a ring on at the conclusion of one of the endings, implying that he is, in fact, no longer that bachelor rookie we've come to know but a man who's, at least in some respect, settled down.
Who holds the other ring is never stated, but fans have created loads of theories about who Lady Kennedy might be. The most common argument points to Ada Wong, whom Leon comes in contact with time and again throughout the games and even shares a kiss with in Resident Evil 2. There's a lot more to it than I'm letting on, but that's the leading theory. But the game's director, Koshi Nakanishi, doesn't think the identity of the person matters as much as the fact that Leon has some place to call home.
Talking with Eurogamer, Nakanishi said that this mystery will be resolved "some day, but not just yet."
"What we wanted to convey in the final scene is simple: Leon now has a 'place to go home to,' and we hope you can imagine the peaceful moments he spends there," Nakanishi added.
He then asked the very, very loaded question of "Isn't that enough," and while it should be in some sense, I think Nakanishi knows full well that no, it isn't. Aside from the completely unhinged plot and lore, Resident Evil games have always been about awesome characters going through utterly incomprehensible ordeals that would put most folks to death at the first instance.
Their relationships create an interconnected narrative web where each story falls into place like a jigsaw piece. And knowing that some of them came together in holy matrimony? Then boy, does that make for a rather gigantic jigsaw puzzle, indeed.
Nevertheless, Nakanishi describes Leon perfectly, and the significance of the ring only adds details to the broader picture that is Leon Kennedy.
"Leon is a man who says very little about the things that truly matter, but he would sacrifice himself without a second thought to save a life right in front of him. So what does his ring signify? Resolve? Or a vow? He may never voice the answer himself," Nakanishi said.
That's some beautiful poetry right there, and it does show Leon as the man he is: selfless, daring, and brave, a person willing and ready to give it all up if someone gets to live for another day. Whoever the lucky lady is, she's surely living the dream sharing her time with the man, the myth, the RPD legend.
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 4:13 PM
For years now, Nvidia has totally dominated the consumer GPU market, not only because it has very powerful graphics cards with incredible raw rasterization performance but also due to its robust feature set and ecosystem, the crown jewel of which has always been DLSS.
This upscaler, which allows players to render games at lower resolutions but upscale them to their screen's external output, is considered to be one of the best technologies ever created for gaming. It also prompted AMD to follow up with its own FSR, giving non-Nvidia users some of that great upscaling tech as well.
It genuinely solved performance issues for many players and especially those with less-capable hardware, as it sacrificed little graphical fidelity and image clarity to significantly boost FPS and performance due to the lower internal rendering cost.
So you would be joyful to hear, I'm sure, that Nvidia is completely butchering DLSS with its AI-sloppified DLSS 5, coming later this year. We've already covered the news a couple of days ago, and the internet also voiced its opinion on the tech, but the TLDR is that Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to significantly improve lighting in games at a lower cost, but uses generative features to "fill in the gaps" so to speak, producing results that are far removed from the original game.
Since the outrage, Nvidia's chief Jensen Huang said it's not actually generative AI but generative AI plus pro max, whatever, defending the company's decision to pursue this technology, which at the time requires two entire 5090s to run, because it surely is because gamers want it, not because AI is the driving force behind Nvidia's (and AMD's for that matter) trillion-dollar revenue stream.
Now, Insider Gaming has revealed that developers at companies involved with Nvidia's DLSS 5 showcase (Capcom, Ubisoft, etc.) had no idea about the project nor had any say in its implementation.
The outlet was "told that the DLSS 5 tech was revealed to them at the same time as everyone else."
Capcom developers claimed that "the announcement and the publisher's involvement were particularly shocking," as the company "has previously been historically very 'anti-AI' with projects such as Resident Evil Requiem and other unannounced projects in development." As a result, those at the studio now fear it will become more lenient toward AI solutions as Nvidia continues to push for implementing such technologies in games, seeking out more and more big partners to sell its product to, as well as to show off as proof of trust and quality.
Most fans called out Nvidia's filters as "slop" and could not justify the naming scheme using DLSS' recognizable brand to sell what is fundamentally an entirely different technology. DLSS was and is an upscaler, and these additional layers of "enhancement" should have just been separate and their own thing, but since we live in a corporate world, things like brands have come to mean very little.
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:53 PM
When I interviewed some Exodus devs late last year ahead of a new trailer at The Game Awards, it was easy to feel the upcoming game's Mass Effect influence.
Many of those working on Exodus at Archetype Entertainment previously worked at Bioware, including those I spoke to: vice president and general manager Chad Robertson, game director Chris King, and narrative director Drew Karpyshyn.
The devs told me that they are aiming to make another "science fiction RPG that stands the test of time with players" just like Mass Effect, and judging by this new gameplay, it's definitely nailing the aesthetic and gameplay angle that fans of EA's RPG series enjoy.
The debut gameplay footage above, via IGN, is short but sweet. Exodus isn't due out until some time in 2027, so it's still got a lot of time in the oven before releasing, but this quick tease has me excited for some combat that is very Mass Effect-ish, and traversal that looks like something new.
Exodus is a third-person, cover-based shooter RPG where you play as a custom character, recruit squadmates, and take them into battle while forming relationships with them (one of whom is a sentient squid in a mech suit). The short combat snippet shows off the HUD, which features controls to command the companions, along with a time slowdown effect while swapping weapons. And those HP bars above the enemies are uncanny.
The devs told me that the game features a time dilation mechanic, which will greatly affect the game's story, events, and even its characters. "When you leave the world, a few days will pass for you, but years will pass for everyone back home," Karpyshyn teased.
"Early on, we decided on this notion of Indiana Jones meets Interstellar," King said of the game's core concept. "And it was this notion of, 'I'm gonna explore space and recover this ancient celestial tech which we call Remnants and I sort of choose what to do with the technology,' and that's sort of what impacts how the world changes."
The watermark on the video is very clear that the game is a work-in-progress, and the footage does show some roughness around its edges, but the base for what could be the next great sci-fi RPG looks like it's there. At the very least, it's exciting to have a Mass Effect spiritual successor in the works.
EA and Bioware are still working on an actual Mass Effect sequel, but that game still feels like it's a long ways off. Until then, maybe next year Exodus can breathe some new life into the genre in the meantime. It's looking rather promising so far.
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:48 PM
It seems Stellar Blade developer Shift Up is falling prey to the video game industry's trend-chasing fallacy and is allegedly working on a gacha game that suddenly shifted (pun intended) from a hunting to a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33-style game.
As per Dante Alexandru of Need4Games, Project Spirits is currently in development at Shift Up. It's a gacha game styled after the wildly popular Expedition 33, itself a turn-based JRPG with loads of modernizations that break the mold and really make it its own genre. According to his report, this wasn't always the case, and it seems the game changed from a PvE-oriented hunting game into one following in Sandfall's footsteps.
Thankfully, Alexandru says this is being made by Shift Up's secondary studio, almost entirely produced in China rather than the company's home of Korea. The main studio in that country is still focused primarily on Stellar Blade 2, which we spoke of last year. While it's unclear when Stellar Blade 2 will come out, this reported gacha clone is apparently aiming for a 2027 release, i.e., next year, but since it's being made by a separate team, it likely won't have much of an impact on the sequel's schedule.
It's also good to note that the report says the Korean side's employees were not at all excited for the gacha, so it would appear that side of the business isn't going to make its way into the main series. At least one would hope so.
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:17 PM
The 1 of 4 88+ Campaign Mix Player Pick SBC is now live in FC 26, and you can complete the challenge to get a guaranteed promo card.
The latest version offers you four picks, which is one more than what we've had the previous time around. However, EA Sports has also removed some of the outdated promos and added newer ones. Let's look at all the available cards in rewards before you decide to spend your fodder.
Table of contents
Complete list of FC 26 1 of 4 88+ Campaign Mix Player Pick SBC rewards
The 1 of 4 88+ Campaign Mix Player Pick SBC includes cards from Winter Wildcards, Time Warp, TOTY HM, and Future Stars. Only cards that are rated 88 or higher have been included in the pool of rewards.
Winter Wildcards
Time Warp
Honourable Mentions
Future Stars
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 2:28 PM
The Party at the Back Evolution is now live in FC 26, and you can use it to upgrade a defensive unit in your Ultimate Team squad.
The latest evolution is available for 75,000 coins, and it offers some massive boosts. Let's look at the best defensive cards to use in this evolution based on the requirements and offered upgrades.
Table of contents
FC 26 Party at the Back Evolution requirements
Here are the requirements of Party at the Back Evolution in FC 26.
FC 26 Party at the Back Evolution upgrades
The evolution has five levels of upgrades, each with certain conditions to fulfill.
Level 1 upgrades
Level 2 upgrades
Level 3 upgrades
Level 4 upgrades
Level 5 upgrades
Level 1 upgrade requirements
Level 2 upgrade requirements
Level 3 upgrade requirements
Level 4 upgrade requirements
Level 5 upgrade requirements
Best players to use in Party at the Back Evolution
Here are some of my best recommendations for inclusion in the evolution.
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 2:15 PM
Games still feel like one of the few digital refuges from AI slop, but Nvidia's new DLSS 5 aims to change all that. The tech turns the faces of your favorite characters into creatures uglier than the monsters from RE9, and the Internet isn't having it.
At least DLSS 5 is sparking creativity (that's being used against it)
The update feels less like something carefully engineered by the best minds of a generation to look as off-putting as possible. DLSS 5 perfectly proves Enshittification Theory is real and that the world of tech, consumer products, and video games might be about to get even more dystopian, so let's look at the funniest reaction on the Internet to try and get a breather.
Twitter users were quick to show off hypothetical "upgrades" that this hot new AI tech could bring to existing games, and the results are beautiful. Ever wondered what the protagonist from Disco Elysium would look like if forced through an AI filter that caused him to lose all personality? Look no further.
Remember the Deus Ex remaster that was shown a few months ago that everybody hated? Well, maybe DLSS 5 is all it needed to win gamers over.
It's gotten so serious that people are even DLSS-ing other memes, and the result is always beautiful.
And the laughs are great, but DLSS 5 is even worse than it seems.
DLSS 5 hides an even bigger issue
Even though DLSS 5 never makes anything look better than a creepy AI "yassification" filter, it somehow always makes female characters look even creepier.
Though it makes it look like Leon got plastic surgery from Dr. Mr. X during the bombing of Raccoon City, you can still tell that's Leon. Female characters, on the other hand, lose their original facial features and become soulless dolls.
We all thought it too dumb to be true, but the memes from a few years back that poked fun at out-of-touch players who only wanted hotter female protagonists are now what one of the most valuable companies in the world wants to be "the future."
The Cult of Lamb devs show they know exactly what's up with the image they posted to the game's Twitter account.
How can we prove to Nvidia that making tech to please not the gamers, but the people who spend their days on Twitter complaining that games need "more attractive female models" isn't a great business model? Even if you ignore the soullessness and only count the supposed realism of it, it still pales in comparison to what real devs can achieve.
And no, I'm not asking Nvidia to come up with even better AI. I'm begging the company to stop. Gaming hardware is expensive enough as is—because of this—and having to pay so much for tech that only has this to show for is just disheartening.
There's a reason graphics are judged on artistic merit and technical prowess. It's the merging of the two that makes a bunch of polygons feel like magic. This DLSS update betrays the artists by pushing the entire artistry out of the equation, and, well, the tech people, too. This just ruins the work by the technical wizards that brought the fantastic models of Leon and Grace to RE9 with a coat of slop, and nobody wants this.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has tried to address the criticism by doubling down on DLSS5, claiming that devs can "fine-tune the generative AI" in a way that aligns with the game's vision and that "doesn't change the artistic control." We as fans will be the judge of that.
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:47 PM
Ranked mode is finally coming to Marathon as part of the Season 1 content, and not long is left for it to go live.
The Ranked mode is expected to be a more hardcore version of the standard gameplay experience. However, it will only take place on weekends and in different planet-side zones. Let's first look at when the Ranked mode arrives on Tau Ceti IV.
Table of contents
Marathon Season 1 Ranked mode release countdown
The first Ranked mode will go live on Saturday, March 21. It will be available for three whole days, and the following countdown will expire once the first Ranked mode goes live.
The countdown is based on the following timings.
The timings are based on the official information as shared by developers Bungie. The same countdown will be applicable for players on PC and console alike. For the first season, Bungie has declared the Ranked mode to be in the beta phase as the developers will be collecting feedback ahead of the next few weeks.
What to expect from Marathon Season 1 Ranked mode
The Ranked mode, for starters, will be a weekend-exclusive experience where different planet-side zones will be used. For the first event, players will be fighting on the Perimeter map. You can check out this complete guide about how the Ranked mode works.
The Ranked mode won't be available for all, and you have to reach Runner level 25. The matchmaking pools will be divided into two types.
The Ranked mode will be a high-risk, high-reward experience as you'll be bringing expensive loadouts. Die, and you'll lose all your items. Succeed, and you'll be able to return with items that will greatly help you on your run. We will know more once the mode goes live in the next few days.
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Destructoid Wednesday, March 18, 2026 12:52 PM
Ranked modes in FPS games are usually pretty straightforward: get kills and wins and you rank up.
But when it comes to an extraction shooter like Marathon or even ARC Raiders, it's not so simple. The genre is all about getting the best gear, and less about racking up kills or high numbers on the scoreboard. It truly is all about the loot, baby.
So, how does a Ranked mode work in an extraction shooter like Marathon? Here's everything Bungie has said about it.
Table of contents
Marathon Ranked mode, explained
Holotags
A Holotag is an item you must bring into your backpack when you queue for Ranked. These items can be found in the Armory and purchased for Credits, and they come in six tiers that match Ranked's different skill divisions: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Pinnacle.
You can purchase a Holotag up to your own current specific rank division:
Choose Your Stakes
Marathon's Ranked mode has two different matchmaking pools: Low Stakes and High Stakes. Every time you enter a Ranked match, your Loadout Value determines your stakes. Low Stakes has a minimum gear "ante" or 3,000 Credits, while High Stakes has a minimum of 10,000.
The pricier your gear and loadout is, the higher the risk, but also the higher potential reward.
Ranked Scoring
Marathon's Ranked scoring system is a bit complicated, but basically, each match will feature a target score that is determined by your team's Holotag values. To win and rank up, you have to extract with expensive gear once you've reached your target of the gear score in your loadout. Exfiltrating before reaching your gear score will not reward any ranked rating points.
If you die, you lose ranked points, but you can get "overperformance capacity" scoring by looting other players' Holotags or special Tag Chips items found from UESC enemies or world events in a match. This will be how to rank up most efficiently.
The more valuable gear you extract with, the more points you earn, thus climbing through the ranks of the different divisions in the ladder.
Weekends only
Similarly to Destiny 2's Trials of Osiris competitive PvP mode, Marathon's Ranked mode is only available on weekends, usually beginning at 12pm CT on Saturday and ending at 12pm CT on Tuesday. Each week, a different map will be featured.
Season 1 Rewards
Reaching different ranks will unlock rewards, such as gear caches filled with items. But each season, reaching certain thresholds unlocks exclusive rewards, like these in season one:
For more info on Ranked in Marathon, check out the Bungie website.
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Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Wednesday, March 18, 2026 12:10 PM According to a report. The post Subnautica 2 Early Access Release Date Announced After Legal Battle appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
iDev Games Feed Wednesday, March 18, 2026 2:12 PM Battle Chess: Iron Crown Battle Chess: Iron Crown is a fully offline, HTML5-powered chess game that brings the classic board game to life with medieval warriors... |
MonsterVine Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:21 PM Bandai Namco has released a brand-new gameplay systems trailer for Captain Tsubasa 2: World Fighters, offering a closer look at the game's overhauled football battle mechanics ahead of its launch later this year. Inspired by the long-running Captain Tsubasa series, the upcoming title blends high-speed arcade soccer with anime-style action, emphasizing dramatic clashes, strategic playmaking, […] |