PCGamesN Saturday, September 27, 2025 3:00 PM Cyber attacks against the world's biggest luxury brands and the subsequent data breaches help me to appreciate my VPN's dark web monitor. |
PCGamesN Saturday, September 27, 2025 2:54 PM Here's all the details from Minecraft Live for September 2025, including The Copper Age launch date and a reveal of the Nautilus and Spear. |
PCGamesN Saturday, September 27, 2025 2:18 PM With new Minecraft drops coming around more often than ever before, we take a look at what's coming in the next Minecraft update, and when. |
PCGamesN Saturday, September 27, 2025 1:55 PM Following on from the Fall Market update, Grow a Garden seed stages and evo seeds offer a new way and reason to grow Roblox produce in GaG. |
PCGamesN Saturday, September 27, 2025 12:03 PM Dying Light The Beast biters are its most frustrating enemy, grabbing players with little time to respond, so Techland is making changes. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Saturday, September 27, 2025 5:58 PM Q-UP is a coin flipping eSports game that prides itself on its fairness that might be gaslighting me  I think Q-UP might be gaslighting me. It most certainly is a real video game, I played it myself. And yet it presents an entirely different vision of reality where it is the coin flipping eSport of choice. The worst part is that it nearly convinced me that such a reality is a pretty good one. Perhaps even more than half! |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Saturday, September 27, 2025 4:47 PM  I am genuinely unsure if MiHoYo are capable of making a game that doesn't heavily borrow from a different game you probably already love at this point in time. Denying The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's influence on Genshin Impact is like denying the sky is blue! Only recently was Honkai: Nexus Anima revealed, a game that takes Pokemon and shoves it into a blender with Auto Chess. And now there is Petit Planet, a game I can only describe as Animal Crossing but if it was in space, I guess. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Saturday, September 27, 2025 1:49 PM  Have you, like me, been unable to get that one TikTok sound out of your head that mixes Anri's iconic anthem I Can't Stop The Loneliness with the screams of Hollow Knight's very own Hornet ever since Silksong came out? It's a surprisingly good combo, but it also serves as an unintended reminder for something: these particular screams of Hornet's are nowhere to be found in Silksong. You know, the classics, like "SHAW," and "Adino!" not to mention the unforgettable "Hegale!" So of course there's a mod for that. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Saturday, September 27, 2025 1:14 PM  It's been no secret that Remedy's FBC: Firebreak landed like a piece of haddock at the fishmongers. This shouldn't necessarily be a complete surprise, after all this is their first attempt at a live service game that's all them (they also helped to make CrossfireX, and that didn't go very well either). Still, to Remedy's credit they've also committed to bring changes to the game, and those changes are coming in the form of a big update titled Breakpoint next week. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Saturday, September 27, 2025 12:14 PM  Heart Machine have had a busy year. It was only in January that they launched Hyper Light Breaker into early access, a surprise follow-up to their beloved indie action RPG Hyper Light Drifter. That launch didn't go amazingly due to a myriad of reasons, and even now the game hasn't completely managed to find its footing yet. And then there's Possessor(s), their search action (not Metroidvania) game that at long last has a release date! |
Twinfinite Saturday, September 27, 2025 2:11 PM  |
Twinfinite Saturday, September 27, 2025 12:24 PM  |
Twinfinite Saturday, September 27, 2025 12:09 PM  |
Siliconera Saturday, September 27, 2025 3:00 PM
On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance is a series that deals with being true to who you are, as well as the various masks people wear when they need to be professional and "on the clock," and volume 2 of the manga really gets into the anxieties and pressures that can plague people. While the first entry in the series felt like it focused on the fashion and budding relationship between Aki and Kanade, this second one feels like it gets more into the tension and serious issues that come from trying to meet expectations or please others and worrying about what happens if people do find out who you are.
Editor's Note: There will be some minor spoilers for volume 2 of the On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance manga below.
This dissonance and stress that can come from acceptance, as well as potentially not being accepted, is shown through two situations in this second volume of On and Off: Work-Life. One involves Tamotsu Roku, Aki's friend who teaches fourth grade. The other involves Aki (Hanku) and Kanade (Amata). While the former is a more reassuring situation that looks at what it was like to come to terms with personal style and identity while young, the latter is executed in a way that it's designed to build tension throughout the volume and build suspense as we wait for volume 3. It's a really helpful choice, as it gives us insight into Tamotsu's personality and offers a window into Aki, who is the more stoic of the two main characters.
In high school, Tamotsu was something of an honor student. He also had a strict upbringing, with his mother very concerned about image. So much so that she was actually abusive when he attempted to even get one item that represented his own wants and style. Aki was a friend to him, someone who even repaired a shirt that was important to him. We see how she was willing to reach out to people and help back then. Then, in turn, how because one person accepted him, Tamotsu grew into someone who could feel free to be himself off the clock and help offer that same sort of acceptance and outreach to his own students.
Meanwhile, the evolving relationship between Aki and Kanade during their downtime and Hanku and Amata at work highlight a different type of tension and concern about acceptance. We see that both of them seem to be different at work because of the new friendship. So that happiness and new relationship is bleeding over into their professional lives in a positive way. It's really a highlight, as we see how finding a new connection is making them each feel more confident.
At the same time, we also get this additional dynamic to their relationship. Aki and Kanade are friends. But because of some circumstances later in this volume, Hanku and Amata are becoming more friendly too! It's an interesting parallel to see the same two people interacting and growing closer, albeit in different ways. However, this does eventually build into the tension and situation that will cause a potential conflict going into volume 3. Or, at the very least, it's resulting in a hell of a cliffhanger.
I really love the execution of On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance volume 2, as the manga is presenting us with valuable backstory, lore, tension about relationship directions, and perhaps even foreshadowing as to how things could go in the future. We see how Aki and her friend Tamotsu met, which leads into how he found his sense of style and the strength to be who he wants to be. With Hanku and Amata, we're seeing how their relationship as Aki and Kanade is growing and affecting them outside of those casual moments. It also leads to hints of what might come as their relationships both at work and off will grow. It's just such a fascinating series.
On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance volume 2 is available now, and Square Enix will release volume 3 on March 17, 2026.
The post On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance Deals With Identity Anxiety appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Saturday, September 27, 2025 3:35 PM
In the last few years, Steam's library has skyrocketed. So many games come out each day, whether from small indie studios, single-dev productions, or massive AAA corporations. But if you had told me that the past few years had more games than the prior 15, I'd never have believed you.
As per wccftech (via Bloomberg), Steam's total number of video games nearly doubled between 2020 and 2024, going from 9,656 to 18,626 in just four years. That means more games have come out since 2020 on Steam than between the platform's launch in 2003 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Wild stuff, but not all too surprising.
After all, Valve has only gotten more lenient about who it lets publish games and what kinds of titles it allows on its storefront. Though the company has faced some issues with payment processors recently regarding games with super explicit, sexual themes, Steam remains generally a free market where Valve lets you put out your game no matter what it is (so long as you pay the $100 publishing fee).
With video games growing from a geeky niche to a global phenomenon, more and more companies, devs, and studios are producing content in countless genres, appealing to just about everyone who has the store installed. Market leniency combined with sheer demand tends to produce a lot of products, and Steam is no exception, for better or worse.
Casual gamers stand to gain the most because of this, given that games geared towards them come out every day, especially among indie studios. Social media has also greatly influenced the number of titles in particular genres, which have recently collectively been labeled as "friendslop," i.e. goofy casual games you play with your friends, often with proximity voice chat.
With so many factors playing into how the market behaves and reacts, we can only expect the number of games to grow, and not just on Steam. Competitors like Epic Games offer lucrative margins to up-and-coming developers and even make exclusivity deals to draw them to their store.
While most devs have returned to Steam after experimenting with their own options, Epic Games remains a looming threat for Valve, and one many creators have opted for due to better profit splits.
Hardcore gamers don't lose per se, but corporatization, marketization, and commodification of games as products and one-time experiences rather than deep, complex, and thorough art have caused a significant decrease in the latter.
However, it's also helped it stand out and succeed, prompting more studios to try their luck with crafty, story-rich, and immersive titles.
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The post We all knew Steam has more games now than ever, but the actual number is shocking appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Saturday, September 27, 2025 3:23 PM
2025 has been excellent so far for roguelike fans, with so many unique and fun games coming out one after the other. From Hades 2 to Silksong, we've seen some heavyweights drop in 2025, but indies (which these two also are) have, too, dominated the scene.
One such game is Megabonk, the latest roguelike craze that takes inspiration from games that've defined the genre, but sprinkles in some of its own ideas, with the result being an absurd, meme-packed, chaotic title that truly stands out. It was made by a single person, but it plays as if a whole team of geniuses worked on it, refining recognizable mechanics into a new and refreshing experience.
Here is our full review.
The best of two worlds
Megabonk, at its core, has two souls: each related to either Risk of Rain or Vampire Survivors. Which dominates its whole more is up for debate, as both are equally represented in its core gameplay, items, and characters.
The combat is much like Vampire Survivors: you drop into a world, have a weapon that automatically attacks swarming enemies, while you can augment yourself via items and Tomes, all of which add significant bonuses to your offense, defense, and survivability. Items are gained via chests, while weapons drop with level-ups (until you've filled your weapon slots, then it's just upgrades) alongside Tomes.
Every now and again, a boss emerges—either a smaller or a bigger one—dropping a chest at the end. They cost an increasing sum of gold to open. Shrines and vendors that give special powers or items can be encountered throughout the map.
The items, weapons, and Tomes you can get during a match depend on how much you've progressed in the game, as everything needs to be purchased via Silver, earned by playing the game and completing quests.
Being a roguelike, dying means starting over, but unlocking more items with that hard-earned Silver and completed challenges adds a sense of progress to the game that is largely absent from similar titles. You can switch on various extra challenges for any given stage once you completed it at least once, further improving replayability.
Everything is also super dependent on RNG and luck, which is by no means a bad thing as a true genre staple. Roguelikes without randomization would be as if you had Call of Duty with no guns; it just wouldn't work. However, this can end up frustrating some players not used to the luck of the draw, which is understandable, but not really the game's fault.
While reading that, you'll probably spot influences from both Risk of Rain and Vampire Survivors, and I cannot stress enough how much those two games come together in Megabonk.
A charming new take
While its core loop, with the automated attacks, enemy swarms, slot machine-esque chests, and periodically-spawning bosses that, too, drop chests, certainly comes from Vampire Survivors, RoR basically takes care of everything else. Instead of surviving for a particular time to "beat" the stage, Megabonk asks you to find the teleporter, which spawns a boss, much like it does in Risk of Rain.
You can find various Shrines that augment bosses, buff them, spawn more of them, or increase difficulty across the maps, all of which are found in just about every RoR run.
The items in the game don't "combine" in the same way they do in Vampire Survivors, with particular items or weapons creating a new one synergetically, but are rather akin to those in RoR—stacking flat or percentage-based buffs that do their own thing.
Combining these two formulas produces an entirely new experience, one where you'll feel right at home, no matter if you like Risky or Survivors more. It's the best of both worlds, introducing a plethora of contemporary memes into the mix and spicing up the comedy, while smashing the game straight into the zeitgeist.
It's charming to say the least, with the memes lending themselves to allowing the creator to experiment with ludicrous and funny designs, distancing themselves from generic fantasy, sci-fi, or other genres, and instead creating something familiar to players, but also unique and its own.
This sort of applies to most of the game, since it's a combination of established formulas and mechanics, but also new and refreshing. After all, two and two give four, a whole new number, but one inevitably made up of numbers preceding it.
Megabonk also isn't as difficult as most other games in the roguelike or Survivors-like genre. Most runs can go well for you, but higher tiers ramp up the challenge quickly, throwing everything they have at you. Coming prepared is almost a must for these higher tiers, so don't go into them without first unlocking a lot of good weapons, items, and Tomes (and characters).
Speaking of which, unlocking more stuff does increase the difficulty somewhat, which is the game's only real drawback. The more items you have, the larger the pool the game has to pull from, meaning you'll get less of what you want more often. It's a genre flaw that the dev could fix at some point, but it's not really that big of a deal. It's a roguelike, after all, and RNG is king here.
Overall, Megabonk does everything well, evolving the formula significantly and introducing new ways to experience established roguelike mechanics, all the while enjoying tons of funny memes, inspired characters, and a loop that rarely goes stale, and which the game knows when to end (by spawning guaranteed-kill enemies when the timer runs out).
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The post Megabonk review: an absurd, charming, yet potent evolution of the Survivors-like formula appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Saturday, September 27, 2025 2:32 PM
Megabonk offers plenty of items to utilize with your builds, some of which work well with any character, weapon, or tome.
The number of items at the start is somewhat limited, but you get more options as you complete different challenges, quests, and more. You can add the items with Silver, which can pop up inside the game.
This guide will help you understand which items are the best to equip on your run.
Disclaimer: We are still reviewing a few items and will update their positions in this list soon.
Table of contents
Complete Megabonk items tier list
To separate the items, I have used four distinct tiers.
S-tier
A-tier
B-tier
There's not much to add about the B-tier and C-tier choices. In short, I have added my opinions about the names on the B-tier if you fancy using them in your runs.
C-tier
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The post Best Megabonk items tier list appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Saturday, September 27, 2025 1:44 PM
Balatro revolutionized the roguelike world by transforming the simple game of poker into the most vivid sober trip you've ever been on. Visceral sounds, items that just "click," and visual feedback, unlike anything before it, made it into the phenomenon we all know.
But a new competitor has emerged, and boy, does it do many things right.
Enter: CloverPit, a gambling roguelike taking heavy inspiration from Balatro, replacing mundane poker with a hellish slot machine. Each pull brings with it much excitement, as you eagerly await the fruits or items to fall into place, form patterns, and start raking in the cash you so desperately need to pay off your debt.
And the debt never stops increasing, forcing you to spin and spin again until the end of time, as you are trapped in a small room with nothing but a table, a slot machine, and a terminal to pay your dues.
The aesthetics and the "story," if we can call it that, are super similar to Buckshot Roulette, another indie title that entered the mainstream and dominated meme culture for several months. That game, too, is also a twist on a mundane game we all play or have played before, but with lethal consequences.
So, CloverPit is a mashup of contemporary hits, but one that introduces a wave of its own mechanics and ideas, which fit perfectly well with the core gameplay loop of spin-to-win.
Like in Balatro, you go through three rounds per run, having to earn enough money to pay your debt and proceed to the next level. The debt increases with each subsequent level, going from a handful of gold to millions and billions. The only way to boost your chance of survival is to take Lucky Charms, parallels to Balatro's Jokers, which will give you better odds, buff the fruits, and provide unique enhancements to your slot and pulls.
You initially start with only a handful of available Charms, with more unlocked as you play through the game. Once a Charm is unlocked, it gets a chance to appear in the store, which can be accessed at any time (unless you're smack in the middle of a spin), restocked, and re-rolled. Charms range from giving you extra spins to giving extra triggers, money, value boosts, and so on.
Stacking a lot of synergizing Charms can totally break the game, with millions earned per spin, and utter chaos ensuing while the money is tallied, much like how subsequent triggers cause the game to speed up in Balatro.
Successfully beating a run, i.e., paying your debt off, also lets you select one powerful general buff out of three. The options can be rerolled, but cost tickets (also used for purchasing Charms), so choose wisely.
Losing means going back to round one, albeit with more Charms, wisdom, and knowledge, which should help you reach a higher level next time.
It's addictive, fun, and chaotic, and the best game of its kind since Jimbo took over our lives and culture.
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The post Step aside, Balatro—the new king of addictive gambling roguelikes is here appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Saturday, September 27, 2025 1:40 PM
The Mario Retegui Cornerstones SBC has arrived in FC 26 Ultimate Team, and it can improve your offensive line if you're still weak in that position.
The new Retegui item looks quite impressive and will fit well with the Saudi Pro League or Italy-based squads. There are two tasks to complete, and the conditions appear moderately easy. This guide will help you solve them to unlock the card, and also help you decide if the Italian is worth the gamble.
Table of contents
FC 26 Mario Retegui Cornerstones SBC tasks
The Mario Retegui Cornerstones SBC has two tasks, and here are their requirements.
Italy
Saudi Pro League
Both tasks are easy to complete as there are no chemistry requirements. You'll need to use at least one Italian card and one item from the Saudi League (separately in the two tasks). This shouldn't be a problem, and we have provided solutions to help you complete the tasks as cost-effectively as possible.
FC 26 Mario Retegui Cornerstones SBC solutions
Here are the solutions for completing the two tasks without breaking the bank.
Italy
Saudi Pro League
I personally like this Retegui Cornerstones card, and for good reasons.
There are obvious weaknesses, as the card has 3* Skills and Weak Foot. You'll have to be really proficient at creating angles to score consistently. Remember that the SBC costs only 10,000 coins worth of fodder (the final cost could be even lower).
If you already have a strong forward in your squad, I'd recommend skipping the SBC. If you're building a Saudi league-themed team or want a cheap alternative, it's worth completing, though.
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The post FC 26 Mario Retegui Cornerstones SBC tasks and solutions appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Saturday, September 27, 2025 1:00 PM
The fear that Hollow Knight: Silksong would be so amazing that players would ignore every other game release in September was not justified. Many developers, independent ones in particular, postponed launching their titles to avoid clashing with Silksong, which we now see was unnecessary.
Looking at Steam sales in September so far, Silksong was #1 in global revenue during the week of Sept. 2, the time of its release. Despite an astronomical count of over 500,000 concurrent players on Silksong two days after, the game slowly dropped in the sales charts in the following weeks. It was #4 on the week of Sept. 9, losing to Borderlands 4. For the week of Sept. 16, it dropped to #14, getting surpassed by Dying Light: The Beast, Silent Hill f, and the indie game Jump Space.
In the last 24 hours, other games released recently have also sold more than Silksong, such as Hades 2, Clover Pit, and Megabonk. While Steam is not the only digital distribution platform out there, it stands to reason that its stats would match those of others.
Silksong's player count three weeks later also shows it's a normal game with a normal player trajectory, albeit on a much larger scale than usual. While it used to peak at over 400,000 concurrent players days after its release, it now peaks below 200,000. This common trend was felt by other era-defining games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Elden Ring, which show once again that Silksong is not being more disruptive than other massive games that were released before it.
These numbers don't mean Silksong was a failure at all. It's still in the top 30 games in revenue on Steam three weeks after it released. According to Steam Charts, Silksong is the fifth most-played game on the platform today with a peak of 180,000 concurrent players, a number higher than live service games with aggressive gameplay loops like Apex Legends, Naraka: Bladepoint, and Path of Exile 2.
But Silksong's sales numbers show how much we, as an industry, are driven by hype. This is expected and actually fun to be part of when you're a player, but delaying games and thinking that a single release can change indie games' pricing forever, all that before the title is released, opens the door for an industry to be manipulated by the handful of people who hold the hype at any point.
Fortunately, Silksong developer Team Cherry ignored all that and quietly released their game as planned, without actively disrupting anyone. But now, I wonder how the industry will overreact—and it will—as we approach May 26 next year when the explosive release date of GTA 6 is set to happen.
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The post Hollow Knight: Silksong fears were wrong, and September game sales prove it appeared first on Destructoid. |
WGB Saturday, September 27, 2025 7:03 PM Rumors suggest a Halo: Combat Evolved remake is in development, featuring modern gameplay elements like sprinting and design changes in specific missions, with a separate multiplayer game also underway. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Saturday, September 27, 2025 3:00 PM Showcases a glimpse to the game's story. The post Onimusha: Way of the Sword Gets New Story Trailer appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Saturday, September 27, 2025 1:59 PM A trailer was also released. The post Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 PS5 Port Announced appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Saturday, September 27, 2025 12:46 PM A trailer was also released. The post LET IT DIE: INFERNO Announced For PC and Consoles appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
MonsterVine Saturday, September 27, 2025 3:00 PM Borealys Games has announced Lunchbreak Tactics, the first title under its new Borealys Lab publishing label. The quirky auto battler roguelite card game launches on Steam Early Access before the end of 2025, with a free demo available now. Players step into the shoes of a new superstore trainee whose coworkers have created a card […] |
MonsterVine Saturday, September 27, 2025 2:00 PM Koei Tecmo and developer Gust have officially released Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian worldwide on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. The launch comes with a brand-new trailer and a celebratory illustration, giving fans a closer look at the game's protagonists, Rias Eidreise and Slade Clauslyter, as they set out to […] |
MonsterVine Saturday, September 27, 2025 1:00 PM Games From The Abyss and publisher DreadXP have announced that their outrageous survival horror title, The Lacerator, will launch on October 9th, 2025. To celebrate, a brand-new trailer has dropped, showcasing the game's mix of over-the-top gore, dark humor, and limb-shredding chaos. Grindhouse Horror Meets Survival Gameplay Inspired by retro survival horror and 80s slasher […] |