GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:44 PM Revealed during gamescom's Future Games Show earlier today, Heart Machine and Arc Games' stylish co-op roguelike Hyper Light Breaker is getting that much bigger with today's free major update "Double Down." The post Hyper Light Breaker Double Down Update Live appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:54 PM The world of Funcom's Dune: Awakening is getting that much bigger with the release of the Chapter 2 Free Update and The Lost Harvest DLC on September 10. The post Dune: Awakening DLC and Free Content Update Coming September 10 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:43 PM A comedic adventure from Draw Me a Pixel, Crushed in Time features a new meta-mystery that features time travel, classic detectives, and more. The post Comedic Adventure Crushed in Time Coming in 2026 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:03 PM Making its debut during gamescom's Future Games Show segment earlier today, naval combat and Amon Amarth took center stage with the latest trailer for Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord's War Sails Expansion. The post Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord War Sails Amon Amarth Trailer Released appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:53 PM Combining the depth of action RPGs and replayability of roguelites, Streumon Studio announced that their first-person slasher Daimon Blades will launch in Steam Early Access September 3. The post First-Person-Slasher Daimon Blades Launching in Steam Early Access September 3 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:07 PM A frozen wasteland of horrors with KUKRGAME and Level Infinite's atmospheric survival horror title Dread Meridian for VR devices. The post Atmospheric VR Horror Title Dread Meridian Revealed appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:02 PM Announced during the Future Games Show earlier today, Arc Games and Chief Rebel revealed that their multiplayer online dungeon adventure ("MODA") Fellowship is entering Early Access on October 9. The post Fellowship Launching in Early Access October 9 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:54 PM A cozy adventure fused with delicious deckbuilding awaits with the release of Timberline Studio's Beastro next year. The post Cozy Cooking Adventure Beastro Launching in 2026 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:38 PM Making his debut at gamescom 2025, HoYoverse has revealed the first in-game look at Genshin Impact's new character Flins. The post Genshin Impact Reveals New Character Flins at gamescom 2025 appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
GamersHeroes Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:25 PM From Grand Prix to World Match to Time Trials, see how players will be able to compete in SEGA's Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds with the latest trailer for the title. The post Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Modes Detailed appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:56 PM
This new Halloween game is set to arrive on consoles and PC sometime in 2026 The post <i>Halloween: The Game</i> Announced, Will Feature Multiplayer And Solo Story Mode appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:53 PM
The port of FromSoftware's RPG is being shown at Gamescom, but you won't see footage on the internet The post Early Switch 2 <em>Elden Ring</em> Impressions Sound Not Great As Bandai Namco Locks Down Footage appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:40 PM
Cloud Chamber is losing a third of its staff with BioShock 4 still MIA The post <i>BioShock 4</i> Reportedly Cuts 80 Developers Following Development Delays appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:39 PM
The don's daughter will remain fully clothed most of the time in the latest Mafia game The post <i>Mafia: The Old Country</i> Nude Mod Removed By Take-Two appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:55 PM
The president's trade war is making the PS5, Xbox, and Switch harder to buy The post Trump Take Game appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:30 PM
Lucy from the Edgerunners anime is coming to the fighting game and bringing a lot more Cyberpunk with her The post <em>Cyberpunk</em> And <em>Guilty Gear Strive</em>'s Crossover Looks Awesome, But Has One Disappointment appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:10 PM
Borderlands, Ghost of Yotei, Battlefield 6, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Just Dance 2026, Ball x Pit, and so many more are arriving in the span of 31 days The post Oh No, Too Many Games Are Rushing To Fill The <i>GTA 6</i>-Sized Hole In October appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:21 AM
A new PlayStation 5 of any kind will cost $50 more in the United States The post Sony Raising Price On PS5 Consoles In America Tomorrow appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:03 AM
Indiana Jones apparently isn't the only big Xbox game coming to Switch 2 next year The post Switch 2 Already Shaping Up For A Big 2026 With <i>Starfield</i> Also Reportedly Getting Ported appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:54 AM
The ROG Xbox Ally is out in less than two months, and can play Gears of War: Reloaded The post Xbox PC Gaming Handheld Is Out In October, But Microsoft Delays Revealing The Price appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:15 AM
Onimusha, Pragmata, and Resident Evil are all learning the right lessons from old games The post Capcom's Upcoming Blockbusters Feel Old In The Best Way appeared first on Kotaku. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:54 PM August 20, 2025: Riddle and Phoebe will be added to the P5X tier list on release. What's the Persona 5 The Phantom X tier list for patch 1.1? Now available worldwide after a successful run in certain regions, the global release of P5X features a slightly different launch lineup. And while the strongest character is who you're likely expecting, rooting for a single unit is far from the best angle. Get the bigger picture with this P5X tier list. It'll be interesting to see how the meta changes in Persona 5 The Phantom X over the coming weeks and months. Looking to get into some of the other best gacha games? Just need a refresher course on the best units around? Check out our HSR tier list for more turn-based battles, or our Genshin Impact tier list if you're looking to mix things up with real-time brawls in vibrant open worlds. Continue reading Persona 5 The Phantom X tier list - best characters and reroll guide MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Persona 5 The Phantom X codes, Persona 5 The Phantom X tier list, Best turn-based RPGs |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:55 PM August 20, 2025: We'll be scrubbing through the latest live broadcast for new P5X codes for the release of Phoebe. You can get 600 Meta crystals just for logging in when Patch 1.4 goes live. What are the new Persona 5 The Phantom X codes? If you're keen to jump into the Persona 5 spinoff now that the global release of the gacha game is here, you're going to need all the free goodies and rewards you can get. Here are the latest codes. Persona 5 is one of the best RPGs on PC, and Metaphor ReFantazio was one of the best PC games to emerge from Atlus in 2024, so we're excited that a new Persona 5 game is here. You take on the role of new characters, and some old ones return, too. Persona 5 X codes are particularly handy to get hold of in-game currency and items to use on banners for the chance of getting your favorite character, so here are all active codes. Continue reading Persona 5 The Phantom X codes August 2025 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Persona 5 The Phantom X codes, Persona 5 The Phantom X tier list, Best turn-based RPGs |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:53 PM August 20, 2025: Check out today's new free Bingo Blitz credit giveaway. What are the new free Bingo Blitz credits? You won't be playing much bingo without them, that's for sure. Even if you've exhausted your usual free credits in Bingo Blitz through login rewards and premium subscriptions, the secret to playing another round is through our Bingo Blitz credits links. New Bingo Blitz free credits links work in much the same way as Monopoly Go dice links. One click and your account is automatically topped up with credits ready to be used on multiple rounds or one big blow-out session with multiple cards. The choice is yours. Continue reading Free Bingo Blitz credits August 2025 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Bingo Blitz credits, Best card games, Best PC board games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:20 PM Over the years, games like Metal: Hellsinger, Crypt of the NecroDancer, and Hi-Fi Rush have proved the value of mixing rhythm action mechanics with other genres. There's also BPM: Bullets Per Minute, a part-FPS, part-rhythm game roguelike, which launched to some glowing reviews in 2020. As part of a recent Gamescom showcase, we've now learned that BPM creator Awe Interactive has been hard at work on a new spinoff called BPM Bitcrush, which looks a lot like BPM mashed up with pixel art shooters Enter the Gungeon and Nuclear Throne. Continue reading BPM dev ditches FPS action for new top-down dungeon crawler spinoff MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:05 PM Between Hades 2, Slay the Spire, and Against the Storm, there are plenty of great roguelikes out already. There are also a number of solid strategy options on the horizon, with Anno 117: Pax Romana and Endless Legend 2 fast approaching. EverSiege: Untold Ages, a new project from the studio behind Aliens: Dark Descent and Battlefleet Gothic: Armada, looks to blend both of these genres into something new, while adding influences from Warcraft 3 and MOBAs like Dota 2 into the mix. It's also just unveiled launch details during Gamescom and, better yet, announced a playtest you can check out right now. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:00 PM Path of Exile 2 The Third Edict marks season three for Grinding Gear Games' opinion-splitting sequel. While its campaign and meaty combat have proved popular, the slower pace and comparatively light endgame to its decade-old predecessor have seen many return to the free-to-play original. The new update doesn't give us another class, which is certainly somewhat disappointing, yet I'm actually more excited for The Third Edict as a result. GGG has focused its attention on some core pieces of the ARPG, and might have finally solved one of the series' longest-standing frustrations in the process. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Path of Exile 2 builds, Path of Exile 2 classes, Path of Exile 2 quests |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:58 PM When you think of extraction games, your mind probably goes to shooters like Escape From Tarkov or Hunt: Showdown. Combining the high stakes looting of these projects with RPG game mechanics is a rich vein, though, especially as evidenced by hits like Dark and Darker. Wolcen Studio, the team behind Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem, seems to agree, given that its newly announced game, Gods, Death, and Reapers, looks to follow in Dark and Darker's footsteps, while taking notes from Diablo 4, too. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:29 PM Before it put out Stellar Blade, Shift Up already enjoyed enormous success with its free action RPG Goddess of Victory: Nikke. Part of Nikke's appeal has always been its crossover events, which have included characters drawn from fellow games like Nier Automata and Dave the Diver as well as the classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. The latest of these collaborations was just announced during the Future Games Show and it looks like a good one for anyone eagerly awaiting the launch of Resident Evil 9. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best free games, Best anime games, Best RPGs on PC |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:08 PM All the way back in 2012, a studio called Lunar Software announced Routine, a sci-fi horror game in the vein of Alien Isolation, Soma, or a futuristic Outlast. It was initially planned to launch in 2013. Over the many years that have passed since, it's gained a Half-Life 3 style reputation for being another highly anticipated game that may never actually see the light of day. Today, though, Routine surfaced once again, returning with a new trailer and, most importantly, a fast approaching launch window. |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:56 PM For all of its faults, World of Warcraft does a mean dungeon. Whether I'm avoiding the snapping jaws of the lycan-filled Shadowfang Keep, delving into Blackrock Depths, or grabbing another Ravager from Scarlet Monastery (spin to win, baby), there's always a good time to be had. Chief Rebel's Fellowship seeks to isolate the joys of dungeoning, turning it into a standalone experience away from skilling and problematic guildies. During the Future Games Show, the studio announced Fellowship is entering early access this October, and it's even getting an open beta ahead of time to give you a taste of what's to come. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:44 PM A stylish co-op roguelike base in the world of one of the all-time great indie hits, Hyper Light Breaker's elevator pitch seemed like a strong one. However, since its early access launch at the start of the year, it's really struggled. Sure, early access is designed to be a time of learning and improvement, but it failed to make a lasting impact with fans of the genre and its celebrated sibling, Hyper Light Drifter. With 1.0 coming next year, developer Heart Machine is putting in some serious graft to turn things around, and today it's shadow-dropped a new Hyper Light Breaker update that I believe is its most important to date. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best roguelike games, Best multiplayer games , Best RPG games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:36 PM I don't know about you, but all my cities end up going outwards. No matter how many skyscrapers I build, nor turrets on my castles, the sprawl of agriculture and increasing demands for housing force my capitals to spread wider and wider, engulfing suburbs and nearby villages as they do so. Like a malignant melanoma, they quickly spiral out of control and before too long the traffic situation becomes a migraine of unfathomable proportions. However, new city builder DarkSwitch flips that whole problem on its head. Or, more specifically, its axis. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:11 PM If you're a fan of FPS games and haven't played Hell Let Loose, you're missing out. The hardcore World War Two shooter pits two teams of 50 players against one another in tactical combat that makes the likes of Call of Duty look like an arcade game. RTS-inspired resource gathering adds another layer of depth to the multiplayer game, which few of its competitors offer. Developer Expression Games has announced a followup to the hit title, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, which transports the first game's core mechanics thousands of miles and dozens of years, to the horrifying jungles of the Vietnam War. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:12 PM What's been announced at Gamescom 2025? Gamescom is here, and with announcement after announcement coming in thick and fast for the next few days, following an action-packed Opening Night Live, you'd be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed. Luckily, we're both on the ground in Germany and working hard at the office to bring you news of all the upcoming games announced during ONL, the Future Games Show, and other showcases. We're also getting our hands dirty with the most anticipated games right now, including Silksong and Resi Requiem, so here's everything we're up to and the latest announcements live from Gamescom so far. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:29 PM When are the next DBD 2v8 mode dates? 2v8 is one of a few game-changing DBD game modes that Behaviour runs on a regular schedule to breathe new life into the asymmetrical multiplayer. As two killers go against a team of eight survivors, the chaos is off the charts, and we know when the event returns next. As more maps and killers get added to the roster each time, Dead by Daylight 2v8 mode gets more evolved and more chaotic with every new launch, and this next event is no different. Below, we take a look at when the next event takes place and which killers are learning to play with others in the horror game this time around. Continue reading DBD 2v8 mode release date and details MORE FROM PCGAMESN: DBD killer tier list, Best horror games, DBD codes |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:02 PM What are all the BO6 Zombies easter eggs? Over the years, it's become less of a secret that Call of Duty's Zombies mode has hidden puzzles and quests. These easter eggs can do anything from uncovering fun secrets, like musical tracks, to unlocking some of the games most powerful weaponry. In the latest Black Ops Zombies adventure, you can discover a metal soundtrack, turn yourself into a superhero, and even craft certain Black Ops 6 Wonder Weapons, well known to be among the best available in the zombie game. You can always look for these Black Ops 6 secrets yourself, but if you'd rather someone else did the hard work for you, well, you're welcome. Continue reading Every Black Ops 6 Zombies easter egg MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Ops 6 guns, Black Ops 6 review, Black Ops 6 loadouts |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:44 AM You can't keep El Presidente down. Tropico 7 has been confirmed during the 'Xbox at Gamescom' live show, although we'll be waiting a little longer for the strategy game sequel to actually arrive. More gorgeous than Cities Skylines 2 and certainly a lot more laid-back than Frostpunk 2, the Tropico games have always been a treat. Its short teaser features the series' long-time figurehead in a fresh white suit, and he says we'll be returning to the "greatest country on Earth" some time next year. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:35 AM If you're excited for the upcoming release of Borderlands 4, Nvidia is giving you the opportunity to snag a free copy if you buy one of its select gaming GPUs, desktop PCs, or gaming laptops. The Borderlands 4 system requirements don't exactly call for the best graphics card from our buying guide, but there's nothing wrong with upgrading your gaming PC ahead of a major game launch. Nvidia and Gearbox have teamed up for this latest free game bundle, but you'll need to make sure you buy the right products from the right places to be eligible. Continue reading Grab a free copy of Borderlands 4, thanks to Nvidia MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 review, Best graphics cards |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:20 AM The Rogue Prince of Persia has been simmering away for a while now. After entering early access last year, the latest entry in the iconic platforming series, helmed by Dead Cells DLC developer Evil Empire, has undergone some big ol' changes. We've known the full 1.0 launch was on the cards for August, and now the developer has given us an exact time: this very second. Surprise. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best roguelike games, Best platform games, Best indie games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:19 PM After many, many years of waiting, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 seems to be on course to actually land in our laps this October. The long-awaited successor has been through developer changes and delays, but now it's real, we've played it, and it's set to launch in just a couple of months. Unfortunately, there's still controversy swirling, so we sat down with developer The Chinese Room at Gamescom 2025 to talk about the decision to lock two of its six playable factions behind a DLC paywall. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best vampire games, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 release date, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 clans |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:57 AM When is the Hollow Knight Silksong release date? Silksong is the long-awaited sequel to 2017's immensely popular Hollow Knight. We don't use the phrase 'long-awaited' lightly either, since over half a decade has passed since its announcement. Just like its predecessor, Hollow Knight Silksong is a 2D Metroidvania game set in an underground realm inhabited by bugs. You can expect to explore gloomy grottos and ancient citadels in classic platform game style, fight off their quarrelsome occupants, and unlock powerful skills and equipment. Here's everything we know about when to expect Hollow Knight Silksong, including gameplay and trailers. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Indie Games, Hollow Knight Silksong release date, Upcoming PC Games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:12 AM What are the new Black Ops 6 events this week? If you're on the hunt for even more cosmetic goodies and unlockable weapons in BO6, you're in luck. Black Ops 6 has brought back limited-time, seasonal events that reward you handsomely for completing various challenges. The Black Ops 6 events that we've experienced so far include the Hit List and Gobblegum Mania, each with individual and community rewards up for grabs, and we're sure there'll be plenty more events to come in future Black Ops 6 seasons. So, polish off your best BO6 loadouts, get out onto the latest BO6 maps, and start racking up all the rewards the FPS game has to offer. Continue reading Current Black Ops 6 events and rewards MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Ops 6 guns, Black Ops 6 review, Black Ops 6 loadouts |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:46 AM When is the Crimson Desert release date? First announced in 2019, Crimson Desert is a story-driven adventure from the team behind the Black Desert MMORPG. Four years since its initial reveal, there's still a significant wait ahead for the Crimson Desert release date following a surprise launch delay into 2026. Based on the gameplay footage of Crimson Desert so far, it does seem as though nature and animals play a massive part in the action-adventure game. At first glance, the region of Pywel resembles a medieval continent, but it soon becomes apparent that it's filled with magic and mystery. Here's everything we know about the Crimson Desert release date, along with all the latest trailers. Continue reading Crimson Desert release date window, story, gameplay, and latest news MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best action games, Best fantasy games, Best action-adventure-games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:21 PM Trying to define what constitutes a 'soulslike' is like attempting to comprehend the inside of a black hole. It's the steep difficulty! No, wait, it's the punishing consequences of death. That's not quite right either. Maybe it's the stamina bar? Maybe it's all of those things. Maybe it's none of them. After the last round of Silent Hill f previews went out earlier this month, series fans quickly began affixing the moniker born from FromSoftware's unforgiving RPGs to NeoBards' upcomer. As game director Al-Yang tells Lauren at Gamescom, the studio really wants people to stop thinking SHf is a soulslike. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:51 AM What are the best Delta Force loadouts? Taking its gameplay cues from other modern shooters, it should come as no surprise that excelling in Delta Force requires fine-tuning its litany of weapons into pinpoint-accurate death machines. Fortunately, Delta Force provides a rich suite of attachments to get the most out of your weapons. While generally, the weapon balance is pretty even across the board, some weapons in the FPS game are more devastating than others. Read on to find out the best Delta Force builds possible for the game's top weapons, the optimal equipment, and which Delta Force operators can use them. Continue reading Best Delta Force loadouts and builds MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Delta Force guns, Delta Force operators, Delta Force loadouts |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:00 PM  If you're looking for a solid PC build but don't want to spend a fortune, you could do a lot worse than this iBuyPower option at Walmart. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:00 PM  I drop the house into the great maw (not that one). It screams as it falls away from the clutches of my mouse clicker. It disappears from view, but there's a sickeningly wet crunching that betrays its fate. Oh and the fact that the entity's jaws immediately flare open once more, teeth and tongue dripping with anguish to cram vegetation, trees, towerblocks into its gullet. This is In Full Bloom, a game that scores the full 10/10 in the wonderfully ironic naming category. Set in a greyscale universe sucked free of all hope and colour, it tasks you with accomplishing an impossible task. You've got to keep the infernal child of constant consumption happy by tossing an unending stream of junk into its mouth. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:00 PM  Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's forthcoming Legacy of the Forge expansion introduces a new home customisation system, as part of a story about restoring a legendary burnt-down blacksmith's joint where your dad once worked as an apprentice. Out September 9th, the expansion takes Henry of Skalitz back to Kuttenberg to climb the ranks of the blacksmith guild, with unique armour and weapon blueprints. Expect "quirky" requests from clients, but above all, expect a nagging sense of failure, because the aforesaid customisation system "supports over 136 million combinations", and always, always at the back of your mind, the creeping suspicion that yours is the very worst. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:45 PM  Xbox's handhelds have a confirmed release date, and yes, it's the one that leaked. As for how much the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X will cost you, Microsoft aren't sharing a price yet, because there are some macroeconomics to take into account, don't you know. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:19 PM  If the creators of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War 4 get their way, the grim darkness of the far future is actually going to be a lot like that halycon summer I spent back in 2010, playing through the first Dawn Of War for the very first time. In a new interview following last night's announcement, KING Art Games co-founder Jan Theysen has described Relic's original real-time strategy game as the new sequel's "guiding star" - specifically for its grander battles and greater emphasis on base-building versus the second game's more focussed, borderline action-RPG campaign and the third game's MOBA-inflected, something-for-everyone approach. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:47 AM  This week, dozens of Microsoft employees occupied the company's east campus in Redmond, Washington in protest against the use of Azure and generative AI technologies by the Israeli military, during their on-going assault on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:33 AM  The best gaming keyboards are entirely subjective, but we always have our eyes peeled for deals on our personal favorites. |
Siliconera Wednesday, August 20, 2025 6:00 PM
HoYoVerse, iBuyPower, and Hyte announced there will be a new Honkai: Star Rail PC collection involving the character Firefly, and the companies set up a survey asking for feedback about it. The idea is to gauge what kind of merchandise people might like. Presumably, this will help shape decisions about final products.
The Hyte Honkai: Star Rail Firefly PC case and accessory survey offers six options. The five pre-determined ones are a Y70 case, a case fan shroud kit, a desk mat, a keycap set, and a keychain. The sixth one lets you select other and write-in an option for something you'd like to see. Someone then also needs to supply an email, as offering that feedback will also sign you up for updates on the collection.
We did get a teaser for what these Firefly items could look like on the Hyte page for this Honkai: Star Rail collection, as the Y70 PC case seems to appear at the top. We can see the bottom of the case, which features the five-stars representing the character's rank and some iconography and images associated with her. On the side panel we can see part of her skirt and leg, showing she'll be in her standard outfit and not the Spring Missive costume for Firefly that debuted in 3.4.
Here's how that teaser image looks:
Hyte, iBuyPower, and HoYoVerse already teamed up in the past for some Honkai: Star Rail PC merchandise. That involved a collection based on Silver Wolf. Among those items were a desk mat, keycaps, and Y70 case.
Honkai: Star Rail is available for the PS5, PC, and mobile devices.
The post Honkai: Star Rail Hyte PC Collection Feedback Survey Appears appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:00 PM
Another pair of Umamusume: Pretty Derby banners is about to debut, with the Narita Brian playable character Trainee one and SSR Sakura Chiyono O Stamina Support Card both appearing on August 20, 2025. These will show up this evening around 3pm PT/6pm ET. Once done, both the racer and card will be added to the general pool.
While Narita Brian is capable of running Mile races, she's designed to be a Medium or Long runner in Umamusume: Pretty Derby. She's also best used with any style other than Front, with her Pace Chaser and Late Surger ratings at A, due to her Unique Skill Shadow Break. It will only kick in and increase her velocity if she is "passing another runner on the outside on the final corner or later." The stats easiest to improve for her are Stamina and Speed, with the former having 20% and latter 10% increased rates. One of her best Potential Skills is In Body and Mind, but that's a level five unlock.
As for the Sakura Chiyono O SSR Stamina Support Card, it is fine, but no Super Creek replacement. Its major Career Event skill is granting access to Speed Star. This can be handy for Pace Chaser characters to help them break into first.
Here are the infographics showing off both:
As the Umamusume: Pretty Derby August 2025 schedule showed, the Narita Brian Trainee banner is the last "new" character one to appear this month. The one debuting next week on August 28, 2025 involves alternate versions of existing racers. Wedding versions of Air Groove and Mayano Top Gun will appear.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is available on the PC and mobile devices.
The post Meet Narita Brian Ahead of the Umamusume Character's Banner appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:00 PM
The annual The Rising Final Fantasy XIV event is about to return next week, and Square Enix announced the 2025 installment of the event references FFXIV Dawntrail with a Wind-up Gulool Ja Ja Minion. We can start working toward earning the item on August 27, 2025.
To kick things off, we'll need to head to Limsa Lominsa, Upper Desks. A Wandering Minstrel will be at X:11.3, Y:13.7. As long as a player is at level 15, they can take on "An Adventurous Ambition" to earn this year's reward. Actually finishing Dawntrail isn't involved or required.
We first met Gulool Ja Ja in FFXIV Dawntrail once we reached Tuliyollal, and the Mamool Ja Minion based on the character has two heads just like him. As part of the MSQ storyline, we watched him search for his successor.
Here's a closer look at the FFXIV The Rising Wind-up Gulool Ja Ja Minion.
As usual, Square Enix noted past The Rising rewards will show up once this year's event kicks off. The 2024 "prize" was another Minion. That time, we could get Brushed-Up Krile Minion. That version of her looks like a Pictomancer.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and The Rising event will appear in FFXIV between August 27, 2025 and September 11, 2025.
The post FFXIV The Rising 2025 Adds Wind-up Gulool Ja Ja Minion appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:00 PM
The 1.4 Persona 5: The Phantom X update arrives on August 21, 2025, and it includes the new Phantom Idol bartender character Yumi "Phoebe" Shiina and her Persona Urania. Her Synergy Story will also update as a result, so we can continue to learn about her background.
Yumi Shiina worked at the Shibuya Underground Bar in Persona 5: The Phantom X ahead of her debut as the playable character Phoebe. We could stop by at night to visit her. Doing so also meant we'd get various drink mixing skills. As part of our initial introduction, we needed to help her with a stalker by changing his heart in a Mementos Request. She's a Navigator supporter and five-star character. Her banner and Synergy both will appear after the update.
Here's her latest teaser trailer, which Atlus only shared on social media. It highlights her role as a bartender in Persona 5: The Phantom X before also teasing her role as a Phantom Idol.
We also know some of the other features arriving after this update. We'll be able to start helping and interacting with Ayaka Sakai in her Synergy Story. Metro of Desire will involve more routes to pursue. We can challenge ourselves with the Trial of Thorns. We will also be able to head into the Mindscape to improve character's capabilities.
Here is the full 1.4 Persona 5: The Phantom X stream on YouTube:
The last additions were Persona 5 heroine Makoto "Queen" Niijima and the 75-year-old Phantom Idol Chizuko "Vino" Nagao.
Persona 5: The Phantom X is available on the PC and mobile devices, and Navigator Yumi "Phoebe" Shiina will be added in the 1.4 update on August 21, 2025.
The post Persona 5: The Phantom X Bartender Phoebe Debuts in 1.4 appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:00 PM
At gamescom 2025 on August 20, 2025, Shift Up announced a new Goddess of Victory: NIKKE crossover with Resident Evil. It started with a social media snippet that involved a ceremony, a peek at a mansion, and hints at characters appeared. However, the Future Game Show at 11am PT/2pm ET/8pm CET on August 20, 2025 was when we got to see confirmation that characters like Jill Valentine will appear in NIKKE.
Here's the initial teaser that set the stage for the crossover. It began with Poli, an existing Goddess of Victory: NIKKE character, watching the ceremony with caped characters. She's not wearing any special costume, as the appearance is based on her standard A.C.P.U. uniform. That imagery looked like something that could have appeared in a later entry, like Resident Evil Village.
After that, we saw the backs of two figures heading toward what looked like Spencer Mansion. The appearances suggested the man present could have been Chris Redfield. It is unknown who the woman with him was, due to a black cape covering much of her. A short-haired woman's silhouette could be seen inside, and it appeared to resemble Jill Valentine.
And here's what Jill Valentine looks like in Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, taken from the showcase.
We saw two other crossovers appear in Goddess of Victory: NIKKE recently. The Stellar Blade crossover showed up at the beginning of June 2025. The NieR: Automataevent came back with new costumes in July 2025 too.
Goddess of Victory: NIKKE is available for the PC and mobile devices, and the Resident Evil crossover is on the way.
The post Resident Evil Is the Next Goddess of Victory: NIKKE Crossover appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:00 PM
At gamescom 2025, HoYoVerse shared a new Genshin Impact trailer highlighting the upcoming character Kyryll Chudomirovich Flins, and it also seemed to suggest he might use both the Hydro and Electro elements in combat. This is our first time seeing him in action, as his July 2025 reveal and following announcements only involved pieces of official art.
The gamescom 2025 Genshin Impact trailer shows Aether, the male version of our avatar options, wandering through a Nod-Krai graveyard along a beach. A number of enemies featuring headless characters and a more hulking opponent approach him. It's then that a blue light attacks some of those foes. We then see Flins appear, holding up his lantern. When he first attacks the foes with his polearm, he's using blue light energy, presumably dealing Hydro damage. However, we see the icons for Hydro and Electro appear. Flins then deals electric enemy. The footage ends with him warning Aether about the area and escorting him to safety.
Here's the full trailer:
We already know when Flins will become a playable character in Genshin Impact, as HoYoverse confirmed he is one of the initial 6.0 folks. He'll be playable alongside Aino, the creator of Ineffa, and Lauma. Ineffa was the sole 5.8 newcomer.
Genshin Impact is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices, and the 5.8 update arrives on July 30, 2025.
The post Genshin Impact Gamescom Trailer Teased Flins appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:00 PM
Capcom opened a Resident Evil 30th anniversary website ahead of the big event in 2026, and it features key art of major characters with references to villains from their major entries. Six people are highlighted on the site in total. This also means an initial teaser for one of the major enemies in Resident Evil Requiem, as there's a reference to it behind Grace Ashcroft. This image is the current focal point on the site, with the other messages acting as placeholders for next year.
From left to right, the six Resident Evil characters in the 30th anniversary artwork are Leon S Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Grace Ashcroft, and Ada Wong. Each one sits on a golden throne. Behind them are references to a type of Resdent Evil enemy. So behind Chris is a reference to Albert Wesker. A Licker shows up on Claire's chair. We can see a reference to Nemesis behind Jill. The interesting element here is the creature behind Grace Ashcroft, as it seems to be an unknown enemy from Resident Evil Requiem. It features a full mouth of teeth and some white bindings or bandages around it.
Here's the full piece of art:
As part of the gamescom 2025 kick-off, we did get to see the 2026 Resident Evil game again. A trailer appeared that showed some story segments and gameplay. Grace and her mother seemed to be at home when, after a strange call, the power goes out in the building. Her mom quickly tried to usher the two of them out, but it's clear things are awry. The video left off on a cliffhanger.
Resident Evil Requiem will come to the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on February 27, 2026, and Capcom will celebrate the game series' 30th anniversary in 2026.
The post Resident Evil Characters Highlighted on 30th Anniversary Site appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:00 AM
Animaru revealed that it will open temporary pop-up stores that sell crossover merchandise featuring Umamusume and Sanrio characters throughout the first half of September 2025. This collaboration will more specifically cover the Umamusume: Cinderella Gray anime and Sanrio's Hapidanbui unit.
As a note, the Hapidanbui unit comprises six of Sanrio's male mascots: Keroppi, Pochacco, Tuxedosam, Bad Badtz-maru, Hangyodon, and Ahiruno Pekkle. The unit name is a shortened form of a Japanese sentence that means "Boys who want to be Happy aim for a V-shaped recovery."
This crossover will primarily pair the following Umamusume characters and Sanrio mascots:
And here is the full list of merchandise that will be available, along with their prices in Japanese yen:
The pop-up stores will appear simultaneously in five cities across Japan. All of them will have the same opening and closing dates from August 29, 2025, until September 15, 2025. Animaru will afterward open online orders for the same items in late September 2025.
The physical outlet location list is as follows:
The Umamusume: Cinderella Gray - Sanrio Hapidanbui crossover pop-up shop will be available in multiple locations across Japan from August 29, 2025, until September 15, 2025.
The post Umamusume Sanrio Characters Merchandise Debuts in Japan appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:59 PM
Rhythm games are about recognizing patterns and pressing the right buttons at the right time. A few minutes of Guitar Hero, osu!, or Beat Saber will teach you that.
These rhythm games were my obsession in the 2000s, but I was part of the group in the mid 2010s that got tired of Rock Band DLCs and didn't want to learn guitar with Rocksmith. We retired our rockstar dreams and put our plastic guitars in the basement. Rhythm games winter started, and the titles that came out later and survived were mixing music with other genres, like Brace Yourself Games' roguelike Crypt of the NecroDancer.
"For the gamers who love music, the next step to enjoyment is weaving the songs directly into the fabric of the game's design, whether that's a beat-em-up, platformer, or roguelike" NecroDancer communications director Madeleine Gray exclusively told Destructoid. "Which is why I think we've seen a lot of success in recent games like Hi-Fi Rush, Metal: Hellsinger, and Dead as Disco, who do this really well."
Gray spoke about what other variants of rhythm games could exist and even explained why a soulslike action RPG would make sense.
"Soulslikes are already rhythm games of sorts," Gray said. "Both genres rely heavily on pattern recognition, memorization, and perfectly timed actions to overcome difficult challenges. Someone just needs to integrate music as a core cue."
While Gray didn't say a souslike NecroDancer game is coming, she kept our hopes up that after the Rift of the NecroDancer experiment, "there's still a lot of space for us to explore within these [Rift variants] alone, but our designers are always noodling on different ways to push the franchise."
Gamescom previews included a lot of soulslikes, so much so that the genre is close to fatigue. I'm not a fan of hardcore RPGs, but I would love to play one with music and rhythm. Maybe it would be as if Hi-Fi Rush met "rhythm violence" game Thumper.
A rhythm soulslike becoming mainstream is as unlikely as a Super Mario soulslike. The game would likely become easier if music was tied to combat, since it would be an extra queue aside from boss animations and other visual queues that already exist in genre staples like Dark Souls and Elden Ring. If you remove visual cues, however, you're back to square one with a pure rhythm game.
Beat and rhythm can use complicated time signatures and become hard to follow. Rhythm Heaven does that, and I would love to see bizarre tempos in soulslike combat. And who knows, maybe we'll get to play something like this in the future and hear more thoughts from the NecroDancer team on it.
Wait, so RuneScape is a rhythm game?!
Gray opened my eyes to how RuneScape is actually a rhythm game. Well, her friend Freddy did, but she was generous to share his wisdom and prove that rhythm games exist in unlikely places.
"The [RuneScape] server only updates once every 0.6 seconds, so every click you do in the game is bound to that kind of restriction," Gray explained. "Basically, there is a 100 [beats-per-minute] rhythm to the game where you can only fit in so many actions in one game tick, while also needing to click accurately because of the way the inventory, prayers, and magic are managed."
As a pro-tip for RuneScape players, Gray advises you to put on a song with 100 beats per minute and click to the beat while playing. Kendrick Lamar has a bunch of songs in that tempo, like "All the Stars" and "Not Like Us." If you're a music nerd, instead, just put a metronome at 100BPM.
This shows how rhythm can be part of successful games like NecroDancer in multiple ways, even if we're not living in the rhythm game craze of the 2000s.
"I think there will always be an audience that will crave new ways to interact with that music," Gray said. "The creative innovation of devs in this genre will always amaze me."
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:54 PM
The gamescom Future Games Show 2025 is now live, and welcome to our live blog for what's set to come in the world of video games.
If Opening Night Live was all about the big AAA titles, this one will include plenty of global premiers, developer deep dives, and more.
Disclaimer: The blog is being updated live.
Table of contents
All gamescom Future Games Show 2025 announcements
The first trailer of the Future Game Show is now live, and it's Hell Let Loose Vietnam. This one is a sequel coming in 2026, and you can wishlist it on all available platforms.
Edge of Memories
A brand new JRPG that looks esthetically different from our typical games. There appears to be a lot of influence from games like Genshin Impact, but this title will be available only on PC and consoles in 2026.
Den of Wolves
From JRPG, we jump to the world of FPS and espionage. The game's official release date is yet to be revealed, but it can be wishlist on PC.
Skate
A new game is in development, and we found the first glimpses of the upcoming title. While it will have the staple mechanics of the Skate franchise, the new game will be set in a massive online world. You'll interact and compete with your buddies in the shared world. A selected set of players has also been included in the development process to ensure the gameplay remains authentic and enjoyable. The game is launching in early access later in 2025.
1348 Ex Voto
Our next game trailer takes us to medieval times where the protagonist seems to be tributing her parents. The gameplay seems to be gladiatorial in nature as you take on enemies in 1v1 combat. 1348 Ex Voto will be available later in 2026 on PC and consoles, and you can add it to your wish list.
Resident Evil Requiem
We found more gameplay footage regarding the upcoming Resident Evil adventure. The focus shifted to Grace and her background, along with more details about the FPS mode. The upcoming adventure hits PC and consoles on Feb. 27, 2026.
Additionally, Nikkei Goddess of Victory is having an exclusive collaboration with the Resident Evil series, which will have Jill make an entry to the game as a playable character.
Hell is Us
A brand new trailer for upcoming solo-adventure Hell is Us revealed more lore behind the protagonist, along with revealing certain gameplay elements. Available on PC and consoles, the upcoming game will launch on Sept. 4.
The Blood of Dawnwalker
Developed by Rebel Wolves, The Blood of Dawnwalker will be an open-world RPG set in medieval Europe. Play as a warrior in the day, but turn into a blood-thirsty vampire in the night. As a vampire, you'll be far more powerful, but there will be greater consequences if you fail in your quest.
While combat will be the main focal point of the game, you'll have to make important decisions at every step. In fact, you can choose to not do anything, but that will also have consequences. The upcoming RPG will be available on current-gen consoles and PC in 2026.
Dark Switch
We have a new resource-management sim on our hands, which is set in fantasy world. The objective will be to survive, but that won't be an easy task. You'll have to develop your resource base, protect The Tree (which is key to your survival), and take on your enemies. Dark Switch's demo is now available for PC on Steam.
Lost Rift
Those who have enjoyed titles like Rust, but want something more casual will find home in Lost Rift. The upcoming title will be available on early access starting Sept. 25.
13Z
The next game revolves around a cool concept about the search for the 13th Zodiac. You'll have to ace hard tests in order to be selected, and there plenty of different challenges along the way. Titled 13Z, you can try out the demo on Steam.
Pizza Bandit
If you loved making pizzas and chopping undead at the same time, Pizza Bandit could become the perfect adventure for you. You can customize your characters, unlock new skills, and recipes along the way. Early access begins on Aug. 25, and available on Steam.
Servant of the Lake
A new Rusty Lake mystery is coming to PC in 2026.
Hotel Barcelona
This side-scrolling adventure will be a rogue-like slasher where you take on America's most notorious serial killers. An end is inevitable, but you come back better with the help of new equipment and upgrades. The game will be releasing on PC and consoles in September.
7 Deadly Sins Origin
A new open-world RPG is being made by Netmarble where you get to explore and play as the characters found in the 7 Deadly Sins franchise. Unlock new characters, upgrade their builds, and take on the challenges.
Dome Keeper
Dome Keeper is getting a multiplayer update pretty soon, and it will be available to all existing owners of the game at no extra cost.
Tormented Souls 2
A brand new horror adventure is coming to PC and consoles on Oct. 23, and it has extremely old-school Resident Evil vibes.
Gods Death and Reapers
A new ARPG is coming to PC and consoles, and you can wishlist and participate in the playtest if you want. Similar to all good ARPGS, you can defeat enemies, loot gear, improve your builds, and do much more.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
While not being new games, Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator are coming to consoles.
Little Nightmares 3
We saw plenty of gameplay footage of the upcoming adventure, where players will be able to play together in a co-op adventure. Expect the same spooky universe, but things could be smoother as you play with a friend. Little Nightmares 3 releases worldwide on Oct. 10.
Active Matter
Active Matter is shaping up to be the next thrilling squad-based FPS title that could arrive later in 2025. We saw aspects of team-based gameplay where players will be taking on anomalies like the undead and more. There also appears to be vehicular combat, so that's another interesting aspect.
Pragmata
We got glimpses of more gameplay footage from upcoming title Pragmata, with special limelight on concepts like hacking terminals, aim mechanics, and a massive robot enemy.
Halloween
A new stealth horror game for the Halloween franchise has been announced. It will release worldwide in 2026.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:03 PM
Before all eyes and controllers tune in to 2035 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Black Ops 6 is turning back the clock to the '90s for a special event.
The 90s Action Heroes event in BO6 integrates multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone into a reward track where players can grab more than 10 items to add to their collections going into BO7, which will include some kind of Carry Forward system.
It's worth grabbing these items before they're gone, so here's what you can get and how to get them in BO6's 90s Action Heroes.
BO6 and Warzone: 90s Action Heroes rewards and challenges
The 90s Action Heroes event in BO6 is an XP event, meaning players only need to earn XP by playing multiplayer, Warzone, or Zombies to earn the 10-plus rewards available. Below, you can find the XP requirements for each of the rewards in the event which begins on Aug. 21.
The main Mastery Reward for this event is the Boxing Gloves, a new permanent melee weapon that players can unlock once all other rewards are secured.
"Slip on the Boxing Gloves and knock out foes with a swift barrage of jabs and uppercuts," Activision said of the weapon. "Though their range is short and multiple hits are needed to down a foe, these pack a tremendous lunge distance along with formidable speed, , so get up close and start swinging. For a KO they won't recover from, hit 'em where it hurts with a devastating heavy attack."
And that's all there is to it. 90s Action Heroes is only available for a limited time, so make sure to grab all the rewards before they're gone.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:38 PM
The floodgates have opened on another new Call of Duty, and there's a lot of new info to digest about it.
Black Ops 7 made its full debut during gamescom's Opening Night Live, and it's coming to consoles and PC players in just a few months. Offering a campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies modes, there's plenty of tidbits of intel within each that players can now sink their teeth into in anticipation.
Here's everything we've learned about BO7 so far, directly from Treyarch and Activision.
Table of contents
Black Ops 7 confirmed information - Everything we know
This is an exhaustive list of what we know so far to be true and confirmed about BO7. This list will grow over time leading up to the game's launch later in 2025.
Multiplayer
Omnimovement evolved
BO6's omnimovement is back with some new changes, like a wall jump, the removal of Tactical Sprint, and the inability to ADS while sliding, diving, or wall jumping, but these movement features can all be re-enabled using specific Perks.
30 weapons at launch
Here's an incomplete list of all of the game's launch weapons.
18 maps at launch
Scorestreaks (known so far)
Perks (known so far)
Combat Specialty
This feature from BO6 has been tweaked, as equipping two Perks of the same specialty can now offer a hybrid bonus with a third as opposed to having to equip three of the same to earn the bonus.
Overclocks
Every piece of equipment, Field Upgrade, and Scorestreak can be leveled up to unlock modifiers that increase their functionality. This is reminiscent of Pro Perks from past CoD games, but for equipment.
Weapon Prestige
Weapon Prestige returns. Once a gun is max level, you can Prestige to reset its rank to unlock a unique attachment and camo. This can be done twice before reaching Master Prestige on the gun, with 250 additional levels and a unique camo to unlock.
Specialist Wildcard
The Specialist bonus will be a Wildcard you can equip in your loadout in BO7. This means you can earn a new Perk at 200, 400, and 600 score, with all Perks unlocking at 1,200 total score streak.
Campaign
Co-op is back
The entire campaign can be played in co-op for up to four players. You play as Specter One unit soldiers David Mason, Mike Harper, Eric Samuels, and Leilani Tupuola. BO6 character Troy Marshall also appears in a scene with Mason as they visit the grave of Frank Woods. The campaign takes place in 2035 and the main antagonist appears to be The Guild, a company utilizing AI and robots to do its dirty work.
A trippy story
In the footage shown, David Mason and his Specter One team are attacked with some kind of hallucinogenic gas, which makes them see things like massive machetes falling from the sky, twisted architecture, and more.
Treyarch described the campaign as having "surreal dreamscapes," where you have to deal with "a weapon that turns fear into a tool of war" that will leave the characters "trapped in paranoia."
Menendez lives?
Raul Menendez appears to be alive somehow, even after David Mason killed him in the canon ending of BO2. Something is up, and the team heads to Avalon to figure things out at the start of the story.
New Endgame feature
The 12th and final mission of the campaign is a 32-player map of Avalon with "endless sessions," called Endgame. Players can rank up their operators and level up until they can reach high tier difficulty areas, but progression is reset upon dying.
Little else is known about this mission and feature thus far, but it can be played in co-op and tasks players with leveling up and equipping new abilities to help defeat the enemies within as they delve deeper into Avalon to find out the truth.
Campaign Camos and XP
The campaign and Endgame will feature their own set of camos, including four Mastery camos, and XP that can be earned no matter what you play, so that you are always leveling up your account or battle pass no matter what.
Zombies
New round-based map
The new map for BO7 Zombies is "the biggest round-based map ever." It features a Wonder Vehicle that players must construct to drive between locations on the map. The only location revealed thus far is called Farm.
OG crew returns
Richtofen, Dempsey, Nicholai, and Takeo return in the Dark Aether. Treyarch said that this is a "new iteration" of the original crew.
Survival maps coming
Each section of the larger RBZ map will be turned into Survival maps, which are smaller, self-contained areas of the map that players can jump into and play with all Perks and necessary items present instead of having to experience the overarching map.
Dead Ops Arcade returns
The top-down, twin-stick shooter arcade mode will return in its fourth iteration.
Warzone
Nothing has been confirmed for Warzone yet. Info about the battle royale mode will likely come later this year at Call of Duty Next before BO7 launches. However, given past years, it's probable that Warzone will get BO7 guns, movement, and equipment as part of an update in season one.
This article will be updated with new information as it becomes available.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:11 PM
Now that we've helped Disney Dreamlight Valley's villagers feel happier after bouts of extreme sadness, it's time to talk to Sadness herself. At the moment, she needs some alone time, prompting your character to offer to build a pillow fort. Agreeing to this officially begins the Fortress of Saditude quest.
Table of contents
Starting the Fortress of Saditude quest
Starting the Fortress of Saditude quest requires completing Joy's level four mission, Mood Swings, and reaching level four friendship with Sadness. You'll also need to advance far enough into Disney Dreamlight Valley's story to unlock characters such as Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and WALL-E. Once you reach these requirements, talk to Sadness to start the quest.
Taking pictures of potential Cozy Pillow Fort locations
After a short conversation with Sadness about building a pillow fort, you'll be inspired to find suitable locations for it. You'll need to take photos of spots next to your house, Scrooge McDuck's shop, and near Merlin's Dreamlight Library. The exact locations don't matter as long as your three photos have these buildings within most of the frame.
Crafting Sadness's Cozy Pillow Fort
Now that we've mapped out some potential locations for the pillow fort, it's time to craft it. You'll need the following materials to make it:
Most of the pillow fort comprises flowers found around Dreamlight Valley. In particular, you'll need to head to Dazzle Beach, the Forest of Valor, and the Glade of Trust before foraging for them. Softwood is much easier to collect, as it spawns around most trees, while aquamarines are obtainable by mining Dazzle Beach's rocks.
If you don't find all eight of each, collect every flower in each area before leaving, doing other side tasks, and returning before repeating the process. You may also have to temporarily remove some paths, decorations, and structures to make room for more flower spawns.
Finding Donald's Fallen Feathers
Another tricky component to this is Donald's fallen feathers. There are 10 you have to find, with them primarily spawning in the Plaza, Peaceful Meadow, and Dazzle Beach. They appear on the floor as white feathers.
At the time of writing, it's unknown if they have predetermined or random locations. Nonetheless, if you're struggling to find them all, here are some tips for spotting Donald's fallen feathers:
Once you have every item, head to any crafting station to make the Cozy Pillow Fort before placing it anywhere in your village.
Gather extra pillows for Sadness
After placing the pillow fort, Sadness will mention how Riley occasionally places extra pillows around for more comfort. You offer to ask other villagers for more pillows, prompting you to visit WALL-E, Goofy, and Scrooge's Shop.
Our first stop is Scrooge's store. Talk to Scrooge and ask him to check his list of furniture. You'll find a button to filter by Sadness's quest, letting you purchase the pillow for 480 Star Coins.
Next, we need to talk to WALL-E. You'll quickly discover that WALL-E threw the pillow away, so you'll need to break a cube of compressed trash within his house. However, you won't find this option until after you talk to Goofy.
Lastly, we need a pillow from Goofy. He'll reveal that he accidentally dropped his pillow in Dazzle Beach's water, requiring you to retrieve it. Focus on orange fishing spots in Dazzle Beach's waters to find it.
With all three pillows on hand, head back to Sadness's Cozy Pillow Fort and place them inside. Sadness will give you one of her pillows to place next to the fort, which you can do through your furniture menu. You'll also need to arrange five additional furniture items that are blue, purple, white, or black around the fort. The furniture menu will automatically filter these for you through Sadness's quest category, but you can also manually filter them if needed.
Placing each item down, taking a quick picture with Sadness and Joy, and having one final conversation with Sadness will wrap up the Fortress of Saditude quest. You'll now have direct access to Joy's next friendship mission once you reach level seven with her and meet her quest's prerequisites.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:45 PM
Gamescom 2025 had a lot of surprises big and small, but none really captured our attention quite like Valor Mortis. This indie title from the minds behind Ghostrunner blends Napoleonic French vibes with Prototype horror, and we're all for it.
During Gamescom 2025's Opening Night Live, we were given a sneak peek at Valor Mortis, a new horrifying action-RPG from the devs behind the iconic first-person action series Ghostrunner. Set in Napoleonic times, Valor Mortis is a first-person title where body-altering chemicals grant immense power to whoever consumes them, and oftentimes turn the wielders into horrifying monstrosities, much akin to Prototype and Resident Evil.
In the sea of announcements during ONL at Gamescom 2025, Valor Mortis stood out to us with its aesthetics, horror, and unique setting, and, though it was just a little peek at what is to come, we saw enough to award this upcoming title the Best Gamescom 2025 Announcement award.
Valor Mortis is slated for release in 2026, with more details on the game to be unveiled leading up to launch.
What we do know is you're a soldier of Napoleon risen from the dead in a world where corruption breeds power and death is only the beginning. I am super excited to see what else this title has in store for us, and hopefully we won't have to wait long.
And, if it's anywhere near the quality offered by Ghostrunner—it's almost guaranteed to be a good time.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:43 PM
If you're heading to Gamescom this year, you might want to consider where to spend your time and where to get the most bang for your buck. After all, it's expensive to go to Gamescom, and you're gonna be waiting hours in queues to get a small look at some of the best upcoming games.
So, before consumers can get into the halls from tomorrow, we took it upon ourselves to survey everything on offer at the show and come to the consensus of which company brought the best lineup of games. We say "best lineup," which means we're including companies with multiple third-party games at their booths, not just exclusives.
You might think this is unfair, but when it comes to a lineup, publishers hold the most sway, and that's why we have given both Nintendo on Xbox this award, not only for their first-party offerings but also for what they bring to the table.
After all, Nintendo has Pokémon, Metroid, Kirby, and a bunch of other first-party titles alongside a hunkering of third-party support, and over on the Xbox side you can try things like the new Indiana Jones DLC, Ninja Gaiden 4, a bunch of new Indies like Power Wash Simulator 2, and of course sample the Asus ROG Ally, which is Xbox's first handheld console to see what all the fuss is about.
The only downside to both booths is they don't offer as many stations for some of the more popular games. However, they both have something that the other booths don't.
And that is Hollow Knight Silksong.
It was tough to choose one, and I have to give a shoutout to both lineups, including Bandai and Capcom, which have gone all out with their offerings, and believe that these booths would win if we were to only pick first-party exclusive lineups. But Silksong is the difference here.
Xbox only has four stations and Nintendo only a dozen, so if you want to try it out, make sure to rush to these booths tomorrow and pray there aren't hour-long queues.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:25 PM
It's been a long wait for Borderlands 4, but it's nearly over. The FPS looter shooter is set to launch in a few short weeks, and the hype has been building steadily for months.
Destructoid sat down with Gearbox developers behind Borderlands 4 at Gamescom this week, and the discussion centered around the game's new location of Kairos and what sets it apart from the planet of Pandora, which has been a focal point of the franchise up until now.
The full interview can be found below.
Note: Parts of this interview were edited to avoid repetition and allow for better text clarity.
I wanted to first of all talk about this new world you're creating, and I want to have an idea from the both of you about how this world, you feel, differs from Pandora and other locations we've seen in the franchise so far.
Jason Reiss (Borderlands 4 World Building Director): I mean, it all starts with the seamless world. It's all interconnected, we're actually building a fully realized world. So, in the past, you would pretty much teleport to another location every time you would transition to a new area. This time, everything's got to kind of fit in the world and so it feels that much more real when you're actually going through it. You've recognized spaces, you get used to traveling the world, and we've opened it up so that players can tackle it in any order that they want with the nonlinear progression. I would just say that we are tackling exploration in a whole new way than we've ever done in Borderlands, and we have all of the traversal skills to do that and we have all of the other goodies that we get to hide out in the world in order to tackle that. There's so many ways that the game differs as far as dynamic events and things like that, but that's some of the stuff that calls to me.
Anthony Nicholson (Borderlands 4 Senior Project Producer): I think for me, Pandora is very destitute. It's very dry, it's very sandy, and we have some of that in [Borderlands 4] because we wanna make sure that people can see and get that same feeling. But, if you notice, if you play over there in the Fade Fields map, it's very bright, lush, and green, and looks very welcoming. It is not.
Obviously you're pushing this non-linear storyline and structure. What are the challenges you've found with doing this non-linear story to allow as much freedom as possible for the player but still keep that core Borderlands experience?
Nicholson: Well, you wanna make sure that players are able to enter missions at the right point and exit missions at the right point. So one of the challenges that we had was, how do we make it to where you can just drop in the world and go do whatever you want to do but still be connected and the narrative and the missions that you're playing through actually make sense? So, it's not completely non-linear, you get to a point and then the world just opens up for you. And then of course, at the end, it comes together and kind of ties itself together, so it's making sure that the characters that you introduce, the danger and the sense of despair that you introduce all make sense whenever you're kind of tying into those individual missions so that it still makes sense. Because, it's a really, really big world, and there's a lot of different factions and NPCs and different characters that you meet, and you want to make sure that they're in it in a consistent way so that it's not just telling a bunch of different stories at one time, and now you beat the game.
Reiss: Balance was an issue, you know, if players went all the way to one side and played the whole area and then came back and it was too easy or something like that. So, we had to develop a whole system, a back-end system that understood if you work this hard over here, we need to elevate this other one, but we still want to give you that sense of power at the same time. So, it needed to almost be like an elastic band that kind of moved with you because we want to challenge the player, but we want you also to feel like a badass because you're gaining power and things like that. And so, we had to come up with a system that we lovingly call Infamy, that adapts to the player and grows with the player, and introduces new enemies whether you've been in one zone or the other, and it advances with you so you actually explore this world, but also still feel like it's still a Borderlands game, it's still an RPG.
Nicholson: And it's all done under the hood, so it doesn't feel like it's a task or a chore or anything like that. The game just responds, like Jason talked about in the presentation with the systems that react to the player and that are dynamic in nature. As you go through and you progress through these things and you start destroying all these different people, you'll start to see new enemies spawn, harder looking enemies, bigger badasses. And then whenever you go to a different area, you're just one-shotting everything, it's still lifted and balanced for you without it having to be a chore. The world just knows and feels you as you move throughout it.
It very much just feels from the time I played that this world is alive, like it's not just set in stone. Like the events that can happen sporadically or from player interactions in such. How do you balance having these events feel very natural, a core essential part of the world, but also have events that are like "oh, I as the player caused this event to happen"?
Reiss: I think that is obviously a huge challenge, and we had to work through a lot of the systems there. I think one way we approach it is looking at different types of possibilities, you want the quick "popcorn" ones and those can spawn around the player, and we can kind of pepper the landscape with those. But then, you want to have this large world event that shows up every once in a while, and that attracts a different type of playstyle or amount of time that you want to dedicate. And then, something that actually really helps the world feel real is our migrations and patrols that move from town to town. That becomes more of a, you understand where these guys are going, you understand that they're on the move, and it makes sense. It makes the world feel real because, of course they're moving from the supply depot over there to their headquarters on the other side. And, of course the cats are walking through the forest, and we make sure to populate those near the player and around them wherever they're located.
Nicholson: One of my goals early on in the project when we first got started was, we need to be able to have something that you can engage with or that happens in the world every 30 seconds or so. You don't want the world to feel empty, and if we're trying to push and give the player the agency to claw forward and explore and do these different types of events and activities, you want to have those things that just happen. For me, there's this personal thing that I've always been pushing in our games that we haven't been able to realize until we started the power of Unreal 5, which is the weather system and our critter system. There's lots of games that have been doing this for a super long time. But Borderlands, we have it to where there's so many different avenues for the player to be able to go out and explore and engage in this type of content, now we have the foliage and the fauna of all these different things that can happen throughout the world. Like, a snowstorm comes in, or if you're in [one area of Kairos] there's a huge sandstorm that happens, and it feels really good and really makes the world feel alive on top of all the actual gameplay things that you can engage in.
When it comes to the open world, was there anything that you really wanted to implement originally, like an idea or concept, but it sadly just didn't work?
Nicholson: I don't think that there's anything that I would consider like a big ticket feature or anything like that, but what I can say is, this Borderlands has given us the opportunity to do some of the things that we weren't able to before. In the same vein as your question, like mission replay. Now, this is the first time, and we've been wanting mission replay since Borderlands 1. So now you're able to go in, do a main mission if you really liked it, you can go back into your menu seamlessly and hit the button and run the whole mission again. I was head of DLC for Borderlands 3, and people for years have been save-loading, save-quitting. Now you can just walk straight to the arena after you finish the mission, use Moxxi's Big Encore Machine and spawn the boss right there without having to go back to the main menu, and jump in and farm that legendary. I think we used this as an opportunity with the technology that we have now and the brawn and everything that we've learned over the years with the team, to be able to say "what are some of those things that we've always wanted to do," and get those.
Reiss: We had those activities going early on where you would go and do the activity, but it wasn't a mission before, and so it didn't feel quite fulfilling. Over development, we've been able to evolve that so that the player seamlessly gets a mission when they show up in these activity areas, they're able to press forward and complete it quick, and get the reward right then and there. So, I'd say we started down some paths that we were like, "that's not quite clicking," and then we were able to figure out activities need to be hanging out in this sphere.
Nicholson: Yeah, like really refine it. So it's a mission to us. Under the hood, it's a mission, but it's really like going into a room and now the room says "do these things," but if you leave that room, it just goes away. So, you don't have to feel like you have a time sink or, if you're like me, I don't wanna opt into this, it's just like 'oh, here's this crawler, go get this battery, go find this part,' and you just do it right then and there.
Reiss: And it's this subtle thing. It's subtle, too, because it's not clogging your mission log also. It's inviting you to explore the world and "let's go check out the seamless world and check it all out."
Thinking of moments like a Minecraft mention in Borderlands 2, or a Penn and Teller reference in Borderlands 3, are there any easter eggs in Borderlands 4, and if so, how well have you hidden them?
Nicholson: There's always easter eggs. Always easter eggs.
Reiss: There absolutely are.
Are you expecting players to not find some of these easter eggs for a while?
Nicholson: For sure, there's definitely some that you have to spend time doing or seeking out. And then there's my favorite, easter egg that I bothered this guy about to create that's his own, that people will get to experience also. What do you think?
Reiss: It may include Tannis, as always.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:50 PM
Disney Dreamlight Valley is full of woe during Joy's Mood Swings quest. Despite Joy being all about happiness and energy, her recent Capture the Sun game has inadvertently led to some villagers feeling gloomy and exhausted. Let's check up on everyone and see what's causing this.
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Starting the Mood Swings quest
Starting the Mood Swings quest requires reaching level four friendship with Joy and completing Sadness' Storm's A-Brewin! mission. Upon reaching these requirements, you'll be able to talk to Joy, who'll tell you about Donald, Goofy, Merlin, and Vanellope's recently developed sadness.
Check in on the Capture the Sun players
After discovering this new predicament, your next task is to check on everyone. Talk to Donald, Goofy, Merlin, and Vanellope to learn how they all feel uncharacteristically tired and sad. They have no idea why, making the situation even more suspicious.
Break some of Donald's furniture
After a brief chat with Joy and Sadness about your findings, you'll all help Donald Duck first. Enter his house and tell him about your current plan—destroying his furniture. More specifically, you'll break his couch, table, and bookshelf in an attempt to release some of his bottled-up emotions.
All three furniture items are inside his house. The table is beside his bed, while the couch is in front of the door. The last item, the bookshelf, is right next to Donald Duck.
Unfortunately, destroying everything doesn't make him feel better. You and Joy decide to help Merlin next in hopes that your next plan will bear some fruit.
Help Merlin by cleaning the Dreamlight Library
Our next objective is to help Merlin feel happier. After entering his Dreamlight Library home, you'll quickly notice it's a disaster, with potions all over the floor and spiderwebs scattered around. We'll need to clear away everything before talking to him.
Most of the potions are out in the open, with one tucked away behind some books in the back corner of the library. Similarly, you'll find the spiderwebs in relatively open areas, with two on the right side of the room and one behind Merlin's desk. You won't need any of your Royal tools to clear everything, but you will need to return the potions to the book pile next to the library's entrance.
Cook a Joyful Meal for Vanellope
While Merlin appreciated our help cleaning the library, he doesn't feel better just yet. While this is enough to make anyone feel dejected, Joy instead encourages us to help Vanellope next. Her latest plan is to create a Joyful Meal in hopes that it'll bring back Vanellope's sweet tooth.
After claiming and reading the Joyful Meal's recipe book, you'll be able to make it using the following items:
Fortunately, these are all early-game items you'll find after unlocking the Peaceful Meadow, Dazzle Beach, and the Forest of Valor. You can grow wheat using seeds you buy from the Peaceful Meadow's Goofy Stall, while the other three fruits grow on bushes and trees in these three biomes.
With all four items on hand, head to any stovetop or to Chez Remy's kitchen to make the dish before returning to Vanellope.
Craft a shiny new fishing rod for Goofy
By now, it's unsurprising that this meal didn't affect Vanellope's mood. Helping Goofy is a last-ditch effort. In an attempt to make him feel better, the two of you decide to make him a new fishing rod.
You'll need the following resources to craft the shiny new fishing rod:
The easiest material to obtain early on is softwood, as it drops around trees within most biomes. You'll need one seaweed to craft fiber, while iron ingots and ore appear in the Forest of Valor and beyond. Be sure to make extra iron ingots, as you'll need two to make tinkering parts.
Once you have everything, head into Functional Items within your workbench to make the fishing rod. Returning to Goofy will prompt you to fish in the large pond on the right side of Peaceful Meadow. Targeting orange fishing spots here will reward you with some plush bear thread, which you can learn more about by talking to Merlin again.
Talking to Merlin and Joy about the Plush Bear Thread will conclude the Mood Swings quest and prepare you for Sadness's level four mission.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:44 PM
The Emotional Rescue update that arrived on Aug. 20 for Disney Dreamlight Valley introduced plenty of exciting new features. One of the best ones is the added ability to set up important stalls around DLC worlds.
Stalls are incredibly useful for stocking up on key resources, but adding them to other worlds is a bit trickier than you might expect. If you're having trouble figuring out what needs to be done to get them where you like, here's how to place stalls in DLC worlds in Disney Dreamlight Valley.
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How to place stalls in Disney Dreamlight Valley
You can place stalls in DLC worlds by visiting one of them and selecting a stall from the "House" tab in Furniture Mode. They're a bit tricky to find since they fall under a category that doesn't actually apply to them, so here's a full breakdown of how to get these shops set up.
What do DLC stalls sell in Disney Dreamlight Valley?
All DLC stalls sell items from around the local region. The items you can buy vary depending on what type of stall it is. For example, when you place Aladdin's Gem Stall down in Storybook Vale, you'll find resources like Magma, Opal, and Star Sapphire for sale, while the one placed in Eternity Isle will have items like Evergem, Alexandrite, and Blue Zircon available for purchase.
All Stalls in Disney Dreamlight Valley
There are seven types of stalls you can place around the valley, Eternity Isle, and Storybook Vale. All seven base stalls come in two variants that can only be placed around the specific DLC worlds.
There's plenty more to get done around the valley once you have these helpful stalls stocked with supplies you can use. Next, you might work on all Retro Roadtrip Star Path duties, finishing the Dream On! quest, and unlocking Sadness.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:39 PM
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is one of the major releases in August, and despite being a remake, fans are excited.
It's been ages since we have had a Metal Gear Solid release. While Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater isn't a new title (as it's a remake), it feels like a fresh launch. Everything has been reworked from the ground up to change how the gameplay looks and feels, but let's first take a look at the release date and time.
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Metal Gear Solid Delta Release Countdown
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will release on PC and consoles. Typically, the games on consoles can sometimes follow a regional launch. That's not the case with the upcoming Konami release. The game goes live on Aug. 28, but players have an early or advanced-access period.
The early-access period is available for up to 48 hours and is part of the Digital Deluxe Edition. Simply put, you can start your adventure on Aug. 28 if you opt for the Standard Edition. If you opt for Digital Deluxe, you can start playing as early as Aug. 26.
The countdown here is applicable if you opt for the Standard Edition. If you go for the Digital Deluxe Edition instead, your countdown will be a couple of days shorter. The countdown is based on the following timings:
The timings are based on the numbers available on the game's official PlayStation and Xbox store pages.
Metal Gear Solid Delta features
The remake of the 2004 classic has the same narrative adventure for you to enjoy, but everything else is different. The battle damage system, for starters, has been upgraded. Elements like wear and tear of Snake's clothes and bruises on the body will reveal the brutal side of the combat.
Players can also opt for a more modern control style that will be familiar to them. But the classic control scheme will be available for veterans. Apart from the campaign, there will be additional game modes for all to enjoy.
More content will be added to the base game post-launch, so expect plenty of gameplay from the remake.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:31 PM
Gears of War Reloaded is set to be the biggest overhaul of the original game released over two decades ago, and there are only a few days left until its release.
Currently available for pre-order, the remastered edition is a complete retelling of the first game that kicked off the franchise. If you're an existing Xbox Game Pass member, you're automatically entitled to the game on the first day of launch.
Let's look at the countdown to help you stay on top of the upcoming launch.
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Gears of War Reloaded countdown
Gears of War Reloaded launches globally on Aug. 26. There are no separate editions or early access. Everyone (whether they own a separate copy or play via Game Pass) will start at the same time. If you're unsure of the time, the countdown below will help you stay on track.
The countdown is a direct replica of the official variant available on the Xbox app. At the time of writing, there doesn't appear to be any regional launch. In simpler terms, you can't change the time on your console to play early.
Here are the detailed timings that the countdown follows.
Gears of War Reloaded features
The Reloaded version is a complete overhaul from the ground up, but it will follow the same storyline. However, we will have immediate access to all post-launch content that was added over the years. This includes a bonus campaign act, characters, cosmetics, and multiplayer maps at no extra cost.
A dual control system will allow veterans to enjoy the classic feel, while beginners can enjoy the new system more. There will be cross-play on all platforms and cross-progression to ease your in-game adventures. Finally, expect to enjoy in-game textures and visuals in 4K with ultrawide support, 7.1 surround sound, and variable refresh rate that supports up to 144 FPS in multiplayer.
All things considered, it will be a new experience that is perfect for everyone. If you, like me, have never played the first Gears of War, make it a must-have addition to your catalog.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 1:12 PM
A new update for Marvel Rivals will go live tomorrow, Aug. 21, and it includes a handful of hero balancing changes but not much else.
The game's newest hero, Blade, will be getting a slight buff while another Duelist and one Strategist are being taken down a peg or two in the update that will hit live servers at 3am CT. With just a few weeks left until the new season should be arriving, this may be the last game update until then.
Read on for the full list of patch notes and hero buffs and nerfs coming to Marvel Rivals this week.
Table of contents
Marvel Rivals Aug. 21 patch notes - Buffs and nerfs
Duelist
Strategist
The post Marvel Rivals buffs Blade but nerfs 2 others in latest patch notes appeared first on Destructoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:56 PM
One of the cutest additions in Disney Dreamlight Valley's Inside Out update is the introduction of a Bing Bong Plushie. This cute elephant can live in your village forever as long as you find all of its required crafting ingredients.
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How to craft Bing Bong Plushie in Disney Dreamlight Valley
You can obtain the Inside Out update's Bing Bong plushie by crafting it at any workstation. Below are the ingredients you need to make it:
All of these materials are available within the Inside Out realm. You can find them while progressing through the realm's storyline or return later and collect them all if you missed a few. Once you have all four materials, head to any crafting station, select the Furniture category, and choose the Bing Bong plushie to craft it.
Everlasting Cotton Candy location
Our first ingredient, Everlasting Cotton Candy, appears inside lockers within the Inside Out realm's headquarters. If you're near Joy and the emotion console, turn toward the room's crafting station and run forward until you see a staircase to your right. There'll be five lockers, with one of them holding this cotton candy.
Tiny Bowler Hat location
You'll find the second item, a tiny bowler hat, inside the long-term memory room. During the Out of the Blue quest, you'll enter this room to search for Sadness and Riley's piano lesson memories. If you're starting from the memory room's entrance, head out of the room, turn right, then make another right turn at the intersection to spot the hat next to a pallet of golden memory orbs.
Tiny Bowtie location
Our next stop is the Dream Production studio, which you first encounter after finding Sadness and reuniting with Joy. You'll find it on the floor next to one of the furniture platforms to the left of the main stage.
How to craft Rainbow Energy
Crafting Rainbow Energy requires getting your hands on two items:
The first item, a flashy diamond, is available as soon as you enter the Inside Out realm for the first time. As you search for console parts for Joy, you'll find a sparkling shelf of vials that, upon interacting with it, will drop the flashy diamond. Just watch out, as the diamond might spawn behind the wall, making it slightly difficult to spot.
Our second item, the bright bulb, requires solving an orb puzzle that you'll first encounter during the Get Up and Glow quest. As you search for pop concert memories during it, you'll find an orb puzzle with a blank terminal alongside two normal ones. Press this and the middle console's buttons to lower its orb all, letting you claim the bright bulb lamp.
With both resources on hand, go to any crafting station to make the Rainbow Energy through the Functional Items menu, giving you the final material needed to make your Bing Bong plushie.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:22 PM
Super Meat Boy 3D is the upcoming new iteration on the classic series, which was primarily a fast, chaotic, and gruesome 2D platformer. With this new title, the perspective shifts as an extra dimension is added, providing for an entirely fresh Super Meat Boy experience.
At Gamescom 2025, we sat down with Christian Patorra, co-founder of SMB 3D developer Sluggerfly and the game's level and game designer. He spoke on the shift from 2D to 3D, inspiration from other 3D platformers, and provided insightful details regarding the game itself and its development in collaboration with Team Meat.
Here's the full interview.
Note: Parts of this interview were edited to avoid repetition and allow for better text clarity.
Since Super Meat Boy is a game that's predominantly 2D and obviously has a history focused on 2D, could you talk about how the team looked to adapt that into 3D, as well as what challenges you faced during development?
Christian Patorra (Super Meat Boy 3D game and level designer): Yep, so we actually tried out different prototypes and just looked at other titles that made the jump from 2Dto 3D. Basically Mario did it back in the day, so we looked up some of the Mario titles and checked out modern versions, like Super Mario World, for example. Then tested out different stuff, [and asked] if we'd want to have larger worlds, free camera, and so on, but ended up with a locked camera because we want to have precision platforming, and want the player to focus on the movement and not on the camera.
When the team was actually looking to turn Super Meat Boy into 3D was there any point that you thought of going a different route? Maybe, like you said, a Super Mario route, where it's more of a collector game, [with] collecting stuff, or was it always the idea to stick to the core routes of tight level design, speed running, and keep Super Meat Boy what Super Meat Boy is?
Our main goal was really to go back to the roots, back to Super Meat Boy 1, [and] pick what was so iconic in this one and just translate it into 3D [and] add a bit of element here and there. [Things] like maybe a better looking world map, for example, because we're now in 3D. But besides that, [we just] stuck to the formula that made Meat Boy so great.
Coming up to design this game, and when you were originally pitching ideas, did you talk to the original creators about the 3D pitch? Did they have any insight or input into directions to go, or was it just really the team going on their own laurels and trying to make things work?
We work hand-in-hand with Team Meat. They are in contact with us, and we get a lot of feedback regarding movement from Team Meat, so that [we can nail] this Super Meat Boy 1 movement feel. So, yes, they are there, and helping us nail it.
Given your work as level designer, could you talk about how the team took the 2D worlds that you saw? How were they designed more visually and graphically, and then expanded upon to make this game work in a 3D space?
Because we wanted [to achieve] this precision platforming, we only created levels that have 45 degree angles. That supports the fact that [Super Meat Boy 3D] has eight-directional movement by default. You can disable this in the options, and play just like any other regular 3D platformer. But, just for precision, we have eight-directional movement and 45-degree angle levels and geometry. And yes, we do expand the levels with all the 3D elements, a bit more fluff here and there. But our main goal is, especially in the polishing phase, just to kind of color code every single design and in a way that the player can, most of the time, easily read where to go and what to do.
When actually designing these worlds and making it so that it's fair, were there any kind of decisions made to make sure that these worlds were curated correctly? So, if the player dies, it's the player's fault, and not so much the world design being unfair?
Yeah, that's super important. The player needs to feel like, okay, it was my fault and not the game's fault, to die there. And, yes, we do have the issue that we're in 3D now, [so] there are depth perception issues, which we try to tackle with features like a helper marker that is visible in the air between gaps, for example, like the latest Crash game has done. So we try to manually help the player to not have the feeling of losing control because of depth perception. That is most of the time the main issue, [where] players feel like: "Ah, it's the level, not me."
Is there anything else that the team added specifically to the character in the game, like the drop shadow, where there's a shadow where you're gonna fall? What else has the team curated or looked at when coming up with the design ideas to make sure that the player was fully in control of their own experience?
Besides the eight-direction movement, we basically borrowed the dash mechanic from Super Meat Boy Forever, and translated it into 3D. And in 3D, it's so easy to use the dash when it's always horizontal. So, you always have control over this specific movement, and know that, "If I press the dash button, I will end up there." This will also help players get to areas where they want to end up.
On the topic of movement and mechanics, taking the 2D playstyle of Super Meat Boy that has very tight controls, how difficult was it to bring those tight 2D controls into a 3D space?
The foundation of the whole game was the movement. So, before building everything else, we just had a tiny little test map with specific playtest areas with specific movement areas that also have been there when Tommy, the founder of Team Meat, and the developer of Super Meat Boy, had in the first one. We tried to kind of copy this behavior so that it fits in and feels like it had in 2D 15 years ago.
When it came to actually designing this game, your first obvious thing was to bring the game from a 2D to a 3D space. But what is your team actually bought to the game and the development of this game that's your own, and sets you apart from Team Meat? Are you trying to take Team Meat's original core philosophy, but then bring your own spin into it, to make sure that it's not just a labor of love, but something that is your own work?
One of our main trademarks also [found] in all of the other 3D platformers that we have created, is this cute, crude humor. So yeah, we're a bit hot sometimes. You can find our humor in the game, which, luckily, most of the time fits the humor of the first one. It's a bit more melancholic. It's a bit darker. The first setting is just the start. With the second setting that we played, it gets a bit darker, but there's more to come.
Would you say that working on an IP like Super Meat Boy brings some added pressure into the actual job and making sure that this is a success and keeps fans of the original games happy? How does the team deal with that pressure when actually designing games [and] making sure [they're] putting out a good product?
First of all, it was an honor to work on this IP, obviously, because it was one of the major first indie hits ever. As for us, there was no real pressure at first. Now, after the reveal and after the first feedback we kind of now recognize people really want to play this game, there is hype building up there. Yeah, there is some form of pressure, but the feedback also helped. And also the feedback that we get on Gamescom is that we are on the right path.
Looking at the game and what you've shown off so far, it very much feels like a very typical Meat Boy experience where, you're going from world to world, trying to beat them as quickly as possible, with bosses at the end of each world. But have you thought of any ways that you might try to mix things up or add to the experience? For instance, a multiplayer component, where people can load in and try to speed run and beat levels before their friends. Is that something that you're looking to do, or are you just primarily trying to make a good Super Meat Boy game?
Yes, currently, we are trying to make a good Super Meat Boy game, but we do have a lot of ideas on how to expand everything that might be in some parts a bit more modern.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:04 PM
Sadness has arrived, and she's ready to start moping around your village in Disney Dreamlight Valley. If you want to unlock her as an official villager, there's quite a bit of work you need to get done first.
Like most villagers, Sadness has a few prerequisites and key quests you need to tackle before she's willing to join your valley. If you're struggling to figure out what needs to be done to recruit her, here's how to unlock Sadness in Disney Dreamlight Valley.
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How to get Sadness in Disney Dreamlight Valley
You can unlock Sadness by entering the Inside Out Realm, unlocking Joy, and completing some quests. There's a lot to get done in this process, so here's a full breakdown of all the key steps you need to tackle to recruit her.
Unlock the Inside Out Realm in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Your first mission is to unlock the Inside Out Realm, which costs 15,000 Dreamlight. Once you've paid this price, you also need to tackle two additional quests before you can enter, which are:
Complete the Emotional Rescue quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Next up, you need to fully finish the Emotional Rescue quest. There are quite a few tasks to get done in this one, including:
Complete the Out of the Blue quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Your next task is to complete the Out of the Blue quest. This is where you first meet Sadness and help her bring some memories back up to Headquarters. To do so, you must:
Complete the Dream On! quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Next, you must finish the Dream On! quest. This mission centers around you helping Joy and Sadness put on an epic Dream Production to inspire Riley. This is accomplished by:
Unlock Joy in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Joy unlocks as a villager as soon as you place her and Sadness's home down during the Dream On! quest, so you should already have this step complete. After this, there's one more mission you need to get done to recruit Sadness.
Complete the Get Up and Glow quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
The final mission you need to get done to unlock Sadness is the Get Up and Glow quest. For this one, you need to help Sadness find some more memories, which can be done by:
Head back to the valley to officially have Sadness move into your village. She lives in the same house as Joy, so luckily, you don't have to pay Scrooge McDuck additional Star Coins to get her moved in.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:01 PM
Now that we've wrapped up Joy's part of Disney Dreamlight Valley's Inside Out storyline, it's time to help Sadness. We need to figure out how to help Riley make fun, pleasant piano memories rather than the embarrassing ones she recently experienced, thanks to Embarrassment's interference.
All pop concert musical memory locations in Disney Dreamlight Valley
During the Get Up and Glow quest, you'll find four pop concert memories scattered around the long-term memory zone. This area has drastically changed, though, with its orb puzzles getting more complex and peculiar pink boulders scattered around to block your way. Here's a complete step-by-step guide to finding all four pop concert musical memories.
You'll spot the first pop concert musical memory shortly after entering the long-term memory area. Break the pink boulders blocking your way before following the winding path. You'll eventually spot your first orb puzzle behind more boulders. Press the middle and right buttons to lower the wall and collect the first memory. Look for golden music notes hovering around the orb to find its exact location.
Before leaving this area, break the rocks near this memory. One of them will drop a lost control switch to use in the next puzzle. If you don't encounter the switch here, continue breaking boulders around the long-term memory area until you find it.
Once you grab the switch, head out of the first orb's area. Turn right and move toward another orb wall. You'll notice a missing button in the middle console, letting you use the lost button we found earlier to repair it. You can now activate all three buttons to find Riley's second memory.
After finding the second memory, turn around and run toward the next nearby orb puzzle. Rather than interacting with it, however, stop right before it to spot the third pop concert memory's music notes directly to your right.
An optional task you can do while you're here is to complete this orb puzzle. Although it doesn't have the fourth memory, you'll find another quest item to use later. You can solve it by pressing the left and middle console. You'll spot a bulb lamp to use in a future mission.
Once you collect the third orb, turn around, run forward, and look to your right to spot the final pop concert orb.
Once you have all four piano memories on hand, return to Sadness before sending them through the recall tube. Doing so will advance you through the Get Up and Glow quest, bringing you one step closer to unlocking Sadness as a village friend.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:40 AM
The unfortunate trend of price increases for gaming hardware and software of late has hit the U.S. again, this time for PlayStation gamers.
Sony announced today that U.S. PS5 hardware will be jumping in price. Without specifically naming the reason, like every other company, it's due to tariffs imparted by the U.S. government on many regions in the world where technology like the PS5 is manufactured.
"Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment," Sony said in its announcement today. "As a result, we've made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. starting on August 21."
This "difficult decision" means all of the PS5 models will be $50 higher. The base PS5 is now $549, the PS4 Digital Edition is $499, and the PS5 Pro comes in at a staggering $749, starting tomorrow. So, I guess if you were on the fence about picking up a PS5, today's the day to do it if you wanna save a little bit.
Sony's decision follows the disappointing trend of companies having to up their prices in order to offset tariffs. For example, Xbox increased the price of its consoles and accessories at the start of May, and some Nintendo Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World are being priced at a new high of $80.
For now, at least, Sony says the MSRP of PS5 accessories "remain unchanged" and the company said it has "no other price changes to announce for additional markets." But don't be surprised to see even more price fluctuation in the opposite direction than most would like.
Regardless of anyone's thoughts on the state of the world economy, the fact that gaming continues to become a more and more expensive hobby is not what anyone who's playing them would like to see.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:33 AM
Handheld gamers, rejoice! We now have a confirmed date for when the Xbox ROG Ally and the Xbox ROG Ally X will become available globally. The hyped console will launch right before the holiday season, making it perfect for gamers to buy for themselves and their loved ones.
The release date has been a matter of speculation thus far. The official news has finally arrived from Xbox at Gamescom 2025, and it's time to plan your budgets.
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Xbox ROG Ally release countdown
The upcoming consoles (standard and X variant) will be available on Oct. 16 in selected countries. Xbox shared the details on Aug. 20 at Gamescom, but the pre-orders have yet to open.
While we have no confirmed news about the prices yet (as of writing this guide), here's the release date countdown. The countdown will slightly vary depending on where you live, as the numbers are based at Chicago Time. The initial batch of releases will be in selected countries before being made available in more markets.
Let's now take a look at the market availability of the upcoming console.
Which countries will offer the Xbox ROG Ally?
The console will be available in the following countries after Oct. 16.
Markets where existing ROG Ally products are sold.
Pricing and pre-order details are expected to arrive at a later date.
Xbox ROG Ally features
A fresh announcement about the Handheld Compatibility Program has been made, which will help players understand which games will run well. Compatible games will have Handheld Optimized and Mostly Compatible badges.
Here's a rundown of the major features that will be present on the console.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:12 AM
We've officially unlocked Joy as a friend in Disney Dreamlight Valley. Now, it's time to chat with Sadness and help her recover Riley's piano memories. It turns out Embarrassment took control of the situation briefly, causing Riley to embarrass herself in front of her friends.
This situation leads us into the Get Up and Glow quest, where we, as the protagonist, are now in charge of figuring out how to recover Riley's memories. Let's dive right into it.
Table of contents
Starting the Get Up and Glow quest
You'll begin the Get Up and Glow quest immediately after concluding Joy's Dream On mission. Following her introduction and subsequent light stick crafting task, you'll end the quest, leading you directly into Get Up and Glow. Initially, we deliver the glow stick to Sadness, which turns into a dilemma involving Riley's piano performance.
Pop concert memory locations in Disney Dreamlight Valley
After Sadness explains the situation to us, it's time to search for some pop concert memories to turn this situation around. Here's a complete list of every memory location within the long-term memory area.
You'll find the first pop concert musical memory immediately after leaving the first room of the long-term memory area. After clearing away the rocks and running forward, go straight down the path until you find your first orb wall puzzle. Press the two triple switch buttons to lower the wall, leading you directly to the first orb.
Along the way, break the rocks inside this room. They'll give you a lost control switch, which you'll need for the next pop concert memory.
You'll find the second memory after leaving the previous one. As you step out, turn right until you find another orb wall. This time, there's a missing button for you to search for. Fortunately, we found this button during the previous task, allowing us to insert it here without any issues. Once you do, press all three buttons once before entering the room and collecting your second pop concert memory.
The third memory is very close to this one. As you exit the room, run straight forward toward another orb puzzle. Before reaching its consoles, though, turn right to find your third memory.
The final orb is close by. While the nearby orb wall puzzle is necessary for a future quest task, you won't find the memory behind it. Instead, turn around and turn right before making another immediate right. You'll find the memory's music notes next to two boulders.
Before returning to Sadness, we can solve that orb puzzle from earlier to help us finish this quest quicker. As you approach it, you'll quickly notice one of its consoles has no indicators to show which colored pieces it controls. By interacting with it once, we'll learn that it controls the blue and orange ones. Interact with this and the blue-red-green console to lower the wall, revealing a bright bulb lamp and a green chest containing some furniture.
With all four piano memories on hand, return to Sadness before sending them through the recall tube. We're now ready to help Riley with her piano memories once more.
Decorating Dream Productions
We're back in Dream Productions to help Riley create some new memories. Our new goal is to decorate the area with pop concert furniture, much like we did during our last visit here. Move the two light beams, the DJ table, the two speakers, and the red cannon to the stage before talking to Sadness.
Next, we need to dress up like a pop star. Using Sadness's Bold filter in the Wardrobe menu, equip any colorful clothes that fit the theme before talking to her again. If you don't have enough for the quest, you may need to buy more from Scrooge before continuing.
After dressing up for the show and giving Sadness the glow stick from the previous quest, head up to the stage and start singing before checking in with Sadness. You can now head back to Dreamlight Valley, where you'll officially welcome Sadness as a permanent village.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:11 AM
The Inside Out-focused Emotional Rescue update has introduced some exciting new characters to Disney Dreamlight Valley. One of the villagers you can add to your valley is Joy, but recruiting her takes a bit of work.
Once you have Joy in your valley, she has plenty of quests you can tackle to level up your friendship and earn special prizes. She's not a character you want to miss, so if you're hoping to add her to your village, here's how to unlock Joy in Disney Dreamlight Valley.
Table of contents
How to get Joy in Disney Dreamlight Valley
You can unlock Joy by entering the Inside Out Realm and working through a few quests she gives you. There are quite a few steps you need to get done before she's willing to join your village, so here's a full breakdown of how to unlock her.
Unlock the Inside Out Realm in Disney Dreamlight Valley
The first step toward unlocking Joy is gaining entry to the Inside Out Realm. It costs 15,000 Dreamlight to unlock, but you also need to tackle a few extra steps before you can explore inside.
Interacting with the door causes a memory to pop out from it. You need to restore some joy and sadness to this memory, which can be done by:
Once both of these tasks are complete, return to the Inside Out Realm door to restore the memory and venture into this new location.
Complete the Emotional Rescue quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Your next task is to work through the entirety of the Emotional Rescue quest. In this mission, your primary goal is to help Joy fix the console in Headquarters by finding missing pieces scattered around the Realm. Here are all the key steps in this quest.
Complete the Out of the Blue quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
Next, you need to track down Sadness in the Out of the Blue quest. To do so, you must:
Complete the Dream On! quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley
The final mission you need to get done is Dream On!, which asks you to help Joy and Sadness put on a Dream Production for Riley. To complete this task, you need to:
Joy joins your village as soon as you place her house down in the valley in the Dream On! quest, but it's best to finish the one extra step that comes after it to fully wrap up her storyline. Now that she's an official villager, you can work on recruiting Sadness next.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:09 AM
It's only August, but the hype for 2026 games is already building thanks in large part to Resident Evil: Requiem dropping at the end of next February.
To be honest, RE9 didn't have to show much for us to be excited for it already. Capcom's track record with the franchise over the past eight or so years has done enough to warrant the hype, but the footage coming out of Gamescom has only heightened it.
Destructoid is in the building at Gamescom for some hands-on time with RE9 this week, but we've seen enough to mark this down as our winner for the Most Anticipated Game as part of Destructoid's Gamescom Awards for 2025. Congratulations to Capcom, and be prepared, because this likely will be just one of many awards the title receives at this event.
The most exciting thing about RE9's prospects is Capcom has only shown a small portion of the game featuring new character Grace Ashcroft being stalked by a horrific, gangly monster woman called the Witch. But it evokes such terror and discomfort that we can only expect even more in the full game.
RE9 also offers the opportunity to play in third or first person perspective, which could make for some interesting playthroughs and even add a little variety for subsequent ones, so that's even more exciting to think about.
Beyond that, the Resident Evil series always has a lot more going on under the hood and behind the scenes for players to unravel as they make their way through the game. Is Grace the only character? What does the ruins of Raccoon City have to do with the story? Why is Grace an important figure?
All of these questions and mysteries will hopefully be revealed when Resident Evil: Requiem launches on Feb. 27, 2026, and we will be there on day one to find out for ourselves.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:05 AM
When it comes to the best Weapons or Styles in Hunty Zombies it all comes down to the damage of the moves and mobility/defense. The higher ranks will have a mix of great AOE damage and dashes or iFrame moves. The lower ones are still good but lack these safety tools. I'll also show you all the weapon moves and all weapon traits. Let's analyze them all in my Hunty Zombies weapon tier list.
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Hunty Zombies Weapon and Style Tier List
There's no bad weapon in the game so this Hunty Zombies weapon tier list just ranks weapons based on damage, defense, flexibility and mobility. You'll notice that the higher ranks usually have some dashes or moves that grant iFrames which are key to staying healthy in the game. The lower tiers aren't bad, they just lack these tools to keep your HP high or rely too much on you just walking to reposition and avoid getting swarmed. Either way you get all weapons either from spins or grinding quests. Let's dive into each weapon and all moves individually below.
S-Tier Weapons
A-Tier Weapons
B-Tier Weapons
All Weapon Traits in Hunty Zombies
You can boost the effectiveness of your weapons by forging weapon traits. Here are all of them and what they do:
That's it for my Hunty Zombies weapon tier list and weapon trait guide. Don't forget to check out our Hunty Zombies codes for free goodies.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:51 AM
World of Tanks 2.0 is set to be the biggest innovation in the game's history, and it goes live in early September on all versions of the game.
Revealed on Opening Night Live during Gamescom, Wargaming shared a special trailer to celebrate the occasion. Since then, we have received plenty of information about the upcoming update, including all new tanks, changes, and more coming to the game.
World of Tanks might not get a sequel, but 2.0 could be that much required change players have been asking for. Let's take a look at all the important details, starting with when the update will be available for all.
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World of Tanks 2.0 release countdown
The date and time of World of Tanks 2.0 release will depend on which version of the game you're playing. The Asian version goes live on Sept. 1, while the EU and NA versions get the update on Sept. 3. The countdowns below will help you stay on track with the release timings.
Asian version countdown
The countdown is based on CT 6pm on Aug. 31. However, players in the US, and EU, should track the following countdown as it's applicable for them.
This timer is based on the following launch timings.
World of Tanks 2.0 changes
While we wait for details about World of Tanks 2.0, Wargaming has already given us a fair glimpse of the new features. The first major talking point is the release of Tier XI vehicles, which will have 16 unique tanks.
Heavy
Medium
Light and TD
Garage and UX improvements
The Garage is being completely redesigned from what is currently available. The new layout will feature vertical menus, an expandable carousel, and an armor viewer that allows you to study your own tanks carefully. The last feature could be a game-changer, especially for beginners who might not know the armor profiling on their tanks.
Tank rebalance
Over 100 tanks will receive changes as part of update 2.0. For example, Light Tanks will be given a significant buff with more HP without losing their current strengths. Overhauled modules will strengthen stock tanks at the start of a match, increasing your chances of success. Premium vehicles are also expected to get major buffs, allowing players to enjoy them again.
Personal Missions 3.0
A new Personal Missions campaign is coming to the game, which will test your prowess in three different operations. Complete the conditions, and you'll get close to adding the Tier VIII Windhund, Tier X Dravec, and the Tier XI Black Rock. While completing main missions is the way to go, you can make additional progress with the help of daily and weekly quests.
New map and Operation Boiling Point
Nordskar will be the newest map in World of Tanks following Update 2.0, and it will be home to random battles and Operation Boiling Point. The latter will be a story-driven solo PvE mission where you can switch from a Tier VIII tank to three Tier XI variants. The objective will revolve around calling in airstrikes to prevent a data leak.
2.0 Operations Room
An interactive Operations Room will be the central place of your journey, allowing you to do the following activities:
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:42 AM
Now that you've found Sadness and the memories for Riley, it's time to work with Joy and inspire her in Disney Dreamlight Valley. To progress and get closer to unlocking Joy and Sadness, you need to navigate through the Dream On! quest.
Like most quests, this one has some pretty tricky components, which means you may need some help working through it. Here's a complete walkthrough for the Dream On! quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley.
Table of contents
How to complete Dream On! in Disney Dreamlight Valley
To complete the Dream On! quest, you need to help Joy and Sadness put on some Dream Productions to inspire Riley. There's a lot to navigate through in this mission, so here's a full walkthrough for all key steps in this quest.
Enter Joy's Dream Productions space
Now that you're back up in Headquarters with Sadness after completing the Out of the Blue quest, chat with Joy to discuss what happened and what needs to be done next. Next, follow her over to the sparkling spot near the right wall and interact with it to enter Joy's Dream Productions space.
Once you're inside, walk over to the camera and talk to Joy again. Before the Dream Production can begin, you need to set the stage with the right clothing and furniture for the job.
Decorate the stage with classy furniture
Open Furniture Mode and scroll over to the stage cluttered with furnishing near the left end of the room. You need "classy, gold-trimmed furniture" to progress to the next step in this quest, so grabbing the right items here is crucial.
Pick up each of the three items from the stage near the left end of the room and move them over to the main Dream Productions stage in the center. You can place them wherever you want here, but they all need to be on the main stage to progress. Once everything is in place, talk to Joy about what comes next.
Dress up in elegant clothing
Before the show can start, you need to look the part, which means dressing up in elegant clothing. You must be wearing three elegant items to progress. Open your wardrobe to filter by this tag and change your outfit if required, then return to Joy again.
Head over to the piano and interact with it to start playing. After this, you'll be teleported back up to the main Headquarters, where you need to have another chat with Joy about how things are going.
Next, exit the Realm and return to the valley so you can place the Remote Headquarters down. Pay Scrooge McDuck 10,000 Star Coins to officially set up this home so Joy and Sadness can move to the valley.
Gather colorful materials for the light stick
Next, you need to craft a light stick. Before you can make this item, you need an array of colorful materials, including:
Make sure you have all of the required resources in your inventory. If you have them stored away in a chest, they won't count, so you either need to go work on gathering fresh items or pull materials you already have out of storage for this mission.
Once you have the right resources, meet up with Joy to progress. She'll make the light stick for you, then ask you to return to the Realm to talk to Sadness. Joy is now an official villager, but there's still more work to be done if you want to recruit Sadness too. For now, though, the Dream On! quest is complete, and you can start working on other tasks, like completing all Retro Roadtrip Star Path duties.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:41 AM
In Disney Dreamlight Valley, after unlocking Joy and advancing through the Emotional Rescue quest, you'll begin Out of the Blue and meet Sadness for the first time. She reveals that she's looking for Riley's piano lesson memories but doesn't want to convert them into memories.
Since we want to keep these memories the way they are, it's our job to search for them. But you'll need to look for specific clues to find them. Here's a complete step-by-step guide to finding all four of Riley's piano lesson musical memories.
How to find Piano Lesson memories in Disney Dreamlight Valley
When searching for Riley's piano lesson musical memories alongside Sadness, you'll need to look out for music notes coming out of the orb walls surrounding you. You'll also encounter multiple routing wall flippers to solve, letting you unlock new routes and find additional memories. Here's a complete list of all four memories and their locations:
Starting from the long-term memory's starting room, solve the first routing puzzle by pressing the red-blue and blue buttons. Turning right at this intersection will lead you directly to your first orb, which you'll spot on your left next to a golden orb cart.
The next piano lesson memory is in this same corridor. After collecting the first, turn 180 degrees and solve the second routing puzzle by interacting with the red-blue and green buttons. Doing so brings down the second orb wall, letting you run directly forward and collect a second memory.
There's a chance you'll encounter a bug with this orb wall, causing it to immediately fly back up, preventing you from accessing this memory. To fix this, head to Disney Dreamlight Valley's title screen and log back in. If this doesn't resolve it, fully close your game and reopen it before traveling back to this spot.
The next piano memory requires traveling further through this maze. Shortly after collecting the first two, run through the maze until you find a two-way intersection. Turn right and follow the path until you find another orb puzzle. Select the red-orange and orange-blue buttons to lower the orb wall and find your third memory. You'll also spot a green chest containing a pink furniture pouch.
The final piano memory is right next to Sadness. Head back to the two-way intersection from the previous step. This time, go left and select both buttons to lower the orb wall. Once you reach the end of the corridor and meet Sadness, you'll spot this memory and its music notes right next to her.
Upon collecting all four memories, talk to Sadness once more to advance the Out of the Blue quest, bringing you one step closer to concluding Disney Dreamlight Valley's Inside Out realm storyline.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:12 AM
During Disney Dreamlight Valley's Emotional Rescue quest within the Inside Out realm, you'll meet Joy for the first time and help her regain some of Riley's long-term memories. Along the way, she'll reveal that Sadness is also handling her memories, prompting you to investigate.
Before you go and find Sadness, you'll need to wear a Mind Worker helmet and some gloves so you don't hurt yourself. But you won't find them on the floor, and there's no crafting recipe for them. Fortunately, all you'll need to do is snoop around a few lockers.
Mind Worker Helmet and Gloves location in Disney Dreamlight Valley
You'll find the Emotional Rescue quest's Mind Worker helmet and gloves inside some lockers under a staircase. There are five lockers to interact with, with one set having a bundle of Everlasting Cotton Candy and the other set holding some clothing bags. Open these bags to claim and equip your Mind Worker gear.
Starting from Joy's console, turn toward the crafting bench before running forward. As you pass the orb displays, turn right to spot a staircase leading up to a small structure. You'll find the five lockers underneath this staircase.
There are five symbols on each locker. Opening the purple and orange ones will give you some Everlasting Cotton Candy, which you'll need for a future quest task. The Mind Worker helmet and gloves are in the red and blue lockers. They'll initially appear as clothing bags, so you'll need to open these and either equip them through their redemption screens or open your Wardrobe and interact with Joy's quest category.
Once you equip your Mind Worker helmet and gloves, the Emotional Rescue quest will automatically progress, letting you use the realm's elevator to access the long-term memory domain of Riley's mind. Entering this area immediately completes the Emotional Rescue missions and starts Out of the Blue, introducing you to Sadness after traversing a brief maze.
Although you'll only need the Mind Worker helmet and gloves for the Inside Out realm's questline, you can equip them whenever you wish through your Wardrobe menu if you like how they look or want to use them for a DreamSnaps competition. If they're introduced during additional quests in future updates, you'll be able to find them through the Hats and Gloves sections of the wardrobe menu, by interacting with the quest's category, or using the wardrobe menu's filters.
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Destructoid Wednesday, August 20, 2025 10:04 AM
Sadness has gone missing in the Inside Out Realm, and it's up to you to find and rescue her in Disney Dreamlight Valley. To do so, you need to navigate through the mazelike Long Term Memory area in the Out of the Blue quest.
Making your way through this area is quite a daunting task, and you're left entirely alone to tackle it. If you're having trouble figuring out how to progress, here's a complete walkthrough for the Out of the Blue quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley.
Table of contents
How to complete Out of the Blue in Disney Dreamlight Valley
To complete the Out of the Blue quest, you need to work your way through Long Term Memory and find Sadness. Just like in the Inside Out movies, this area is quite tricky to navigate, so here's a full walkthrough for all parts of this tough quest.
Find Sadness in Long Term Memory
Your first task is simply to find Sadness in Long Term Memory, but to even enter this area, you need to solve another flipper puzzle, similar to the ones you tackled in the Emotional Rescue quest. Approach the three consoles by the wall and interact with the button on the far right first. Next, hit the button on the far left. With both buttons pressed in this order, the wall will drop, unlocking a pathway forward.
Once you're on the other side, turn left and continue following the pathway. When you reach a branch where you have the option to go left or right, head left again. Go around the corner and approach two more flipper consoles waiting for you.
Press the button on the left first, then hit the one on the right. The wall in front of you will drop, and on the other side, you'll find Sadness cowering in a corner. Approach her to have a chat about what's going on. She's not ready to head back up yet, as she's still got some memories to find.
Search Long Term Memory for music notes played by Piano Lesson Musical Memories
Before you can head back up to meet Joy, Sadness needs your help finding some Piano Lesson Musical Memories. There are four of them hidden around Long Term Memory, all of which are marked by small moving yellow musical notes floating by the wall. Here's where to find them.
While trying to collect these memories, you might encounter a bug with the walls blocking the path forward dropping down, and immediately rising again. If this happens, quit the game and reload to fix the issue.
Once you have all four Piano Lesson Musical Memories, talk to Sadness. Head back over to the Long Term Memory entrance with her and have a chat once you're there to progress to the next step. Transfer over all four Piano Lesson Musical Memories to the table next to her, then interact with the table a second time to send the memories up to Headquarters.
Chat with Sadness one last time, then head back up to Headquarters to meet up with Joy. As soon as you do, the Out of the Blue quest will officially be complete, and you're one step closer to unlocking both Joy and Sadness.
If you're not sure what to do next, consider tackling all Retro Roadtrip Star Path duties, making a Joyful Meal, and working through all week one routine duties.
The post Out of the Blue quest walkthrough in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid. |
WGB Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:55 PM Tropico 7, the seventh entry in the series, launches in 2026 on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. It introduces new features like terraforming, expanded maps, and a revamped political system. |
WGB Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:38 PM Sony announced a $50 price increase for all PlayStation 5 models in the U.S. starting August 21, raising the cheapest option to $500 amid challenging economic conditions. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:00 PM A trailer was also released. The post Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Release Date Announced appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Wednesday, August 20, 2025 4:17 PM The announcement trailer shows new game details. The post Lords of the Fallen II Release Window And Trailer Released appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:42 PM Videos were also released. The post ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X Release Date Announced appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:14 PM Starting soon. The post Sony Announces PlayStation 5 Price Increase in the U.S appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 5:44 PM SEGA released a new trailer for their upcoming Sonic Racing game, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Along with the trailer we were given a list of game modes that will be included with the game on release along with a small descriptor about them. Along with the game modes, the trailer revealed the newest racer announced for […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:10 PM Fans of Heart Machine's roguelike adventure Hyper Light Breaker got a surprise today during the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2025. Publisher Arc Games and developer Heart Machine revealed and immediately launched the game's first major Early Access update, "Double Down", available now on Steam. To celebrate, Hyper Light Breaker is currently 30% off until […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 3:00 PM Level Infinite is bringing survival horror into virtual reality with Dread Meridian, a terrifying new title from developer Kukrgame, revealed during today's Level Infinite Showcase. Built specifically for PC VR and Meta Quest 2, 3, and 3S, the game will plunge players into a frozen island filled with monsters, puzzles, and paranoia. A Frozen Wasteland […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:51 PM Arc Games and Chief Rebel have officially announced that Fellowship, the first-ever "multiplayer online dungeon adventure" (MODA), will launch into Early Access on Steam starting October 9, 2025, for $24.99. The announcement was made during this year's Future Games Show at Gamescom, accompanied by a brand-new trailer that teases dungeon-diving chaos and epic loot. Early […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:41 PM Today, during the Xbox broadcast at Gamescom, Square Enix dropped some news that at least a few of us had been hoping for since release. Triangle Strategy, the Tactical RPG originally released only on PC and Nintendo Switch, has finally been released on PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Releasing on PlayStation and Xbox, Triangle Strategy will […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:59 PM Capcom has finally pulled back the curtain on Pragmata, its mysterious sci-fi adventure, giving fans their first opportunity to go hands-on with the game at Gamescom 2025. Alongside the playable demo, Capcom unveiled new character and enemy artwork, fresh details on the game's combat systems, and a closer look at the Hacking mechanics that set […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:30 PM At Gamescom Opening Night Live 2025, Square Enix and Capcom surprised fans by revealing a brand-new crossover between Final Fantasy XIV Online and the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds. The collaboration will arrive this autumn, bringing unique crossover events and encounters to both titles. Guardian Arkveld Joins Final Fantasy XIV In early October 2025, Final Fantasy […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:43 AM Capcom has unleashed a brand-new trailer for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, spotlighting both the eerie depths of its dark fantasy world and the intricate swordplay fans can expect when the game arrives in 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. The Horrors of Dokyo's Laboratory The new footage introduces players […] |
MonsterVine Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:35 AM Horror fans waiting for their next nightmare were treated to a chilling extended look at Resident Evil Requiem during gamescom Opening Night Live 2025. The latest footage dives deeper into the story of Grace Ashcroft, the young FBI analyst at the heart of Capcom's next survival horror chapter. Grace Ashcroft's Past Comes Into Focus Set […] |
Level Up Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:11 PM  Rising video game and console prices have frustrated consumers this year, and today, Sony is… |
Level Up Wednesday, August 20, 2025 11:14 AM Xbox Reveals ROG Xbox Ally X Handheld Release Date But Not Price, Due To 'Macro-Economic Conditions'  We're officially in the Gamescom cycle, which means a steady stream of previews, <a href="https://gameinformer.com/gamescom-2025/2025/08/20/we-played-the-first-level-of-hollow-knight-silksong-heres-what-we-think">like our… |