Whoever owns a Steam Deck knows that the little Valve beast can handle mostly anything you throw at it, especially regarding emulating old consoles. But if you are looking for something more portable that is also more affordable, there are plenty of affordable emulation alternatives to the Steam Deck.

Let's take a look at the best ones.

What are the best cheap emulation alternatives to the Steam Deck?

Do keep in mind that consoles from China often get bundled with games in Chinese or Japanese, so you may need to provide your own games to play in English. All of these devices support SD cards, so it's possible.

Also, we only list safe devices. Avoid connecting any random device to your WiFi, as that might cause safety issues. Finally, while some of these devices support Bluetooth, it's unlikely that your wireless headphones or controllers will work. Wired alternatives likely will, however.

Anbernic RG35XX - the cheapest handheld worth your money

If you want to run games from the 8- and 16-bit eras, then the Anbernic RG35XX is a great choice. With a cost hovering around the $40 mark, this affordable little device has a pretty decent 3.5-inch screen and a rechargeable battery that should last you around six hours. This is a great device if you want to keep your emulation simple and easy.

The controls are not fantastic, but they work pretty well and should fit most games from the 80s and early 90s. While the device does support games up to the PSP era, the performance of 3D games won't exactly impress with this tiny device. You can also run Nintendo DS games with the Anbernic, but they will drain the battery quite quickly so it is not recommended to go beyond the 90s in terms of emulation.

Miyoo Mini Plus - an affordable and sturdy option

While the Miyoo is slightly more expensive than the Anbernic, with prices at around $70, it is well-built and features great, responsive buttons. Its interface is built around the Retroarch emulation frontend, which means it can run most things you throw at it without updating the firmware. You will need to download specific emulation cores, but the flexibility is easy to appreciate. As it is a tiny device, again, the specs won't make it possible to run any complicated 3D games on it.

The Mini Plus features a rechargeable battery as well, guaranteeing several hours of play on the go. As opposed to other Miyoo or Anbernic devices, we feel the Mini Plus nails that balance between portability and a big enough screen while still featuring a bright display and great controls. Weighing in at just 162 grams, you can really bring it with you anywhere you go.

Anbernic RG353PS - for those DS lovers

With a form factor that will immediately bring smiles to Super Nintendo lovers of old, the RG353PS is a superior device to the original RG35XX, featuring more CPU power and the ability to emulate more recent systems. Since it features a touchscreen, the RG353PS is the device to go for if you are looking to emulate games from the Nintendo DS era. They're not bad, even despite the single screen on this device.

As opposed to others on this list, the PS is slightly less portable. You can jam it into a pocket, if only barely. It's also one of the few devices on the market that ditches the usual "verticality" for a more horizontal look, with a more PSP/Vita vibe. By plugging it into a TV via the mini HDMI port, you can use it as a controller with your favorite emulated games as well. Costing around the $70 mark, this is a great compromise if you are looking to emulate games beyond the 8- and 16-bit eras without breaking the bank.

Retroid Pocket 3+ - the classic that never dies

The Retroid is one the first devices to cater to those who wanted emulation on the go and, since then, has been evolving and improving. It still often pops up on lists of favorite emulation devices since it's both affordable and sturdy. As opposed to other devices on this list, the Pocket 3+ is based on Android. It also has a touch screen, which makes navigating the Android 11-based system a simple affair.

You can swipe and tap in the standard Android launcher instead of relying on clunky directional controls or an analog stick to control the mouse pointer. The Pocket 3+ is slightly more expensive, but it makes that up with its fantastic screen and supports most consoles up to the 5th generation, making sure you can play most games without issues.

Still, the Android-OS means there is some configuration involved for each system you want to emulate. If you don't mind setting up emulators, the Pocket 3+ will be one of the best choices at its price point.

Powkiddy X55 - one of the most powerful devices

Probably one of the biggest devices on this list, but also one with the best specs. The X55 has a bright 1280x720 5.5-inch screen, plus 2GB of RAM and a fairly powerful processor underneath, meaning that it can run several recent games with no big issues. It's well set up for 3D, and the dual lever controls are very decent.

The price is under $70, so it's budget-friendly, too. But consider this as more of a stay-at-home device for the sofa since portability is not the name of the game here. Still, if people are lugging around the Deck, no reason you cannot bring your Powkiddy with you.

If you prefer a bigger device that is ready to emulate many more recent 3D games, the Powkiddy X55 has one of the best quality-to-price ratios you can find on the market.

The post Affordable emulation alternatives to the Steam Deck appeared first on Destructoid.

Sonic fans have been frantic these last while because of an unofficial Sonic Unleashed PC port making the rounds. If one single person was able to bring the game over from Xbox 360 to PC, how come the company is not interested?

That may be seen as a symptom of the Japanese company's often complicated relationship with conversions. What happened over the years?

The 90s and the first Sonic ports by SEGA

There was a time, now quite far away, when Sega was very jealous of its properties, thus having little to no interest in converting their games to other platforms. This started to change after the mid-90s when Sega saw the potential for a new audience on a platform where there wasn't much competition for 2D platform games.

In 1996, Sega decided it was time to port some of their games over to PC, creating an internal division just for that. Called Sega PC, the team was headed by hardware expert Shun Arai. Their first ports were indeed Sonic games but, for some reason, they skipped games that people wanted (like Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2) and, instead, released a Sonic & Knuckles collection, with Sonic CD following soon. Excellent games, mind you, but why not start from the beginning? We might never have the answer to that.

The division ported quite a few classic Mega Drive / Genesis games on PC, such as Comix Zone, Virtua Cop, and Daytona USA. These ports ranged from okay to the bare minimum to get them running, and today they are probably better ignored if you are looking to run these games on PC. An emulator would probably give you less trouble and much more customization options. Not to mention the boxed versions are very expensive to get.

There were also some rather strange choices, like on Sega Smash Pack, released in 1997 which included classics such as Out Run and Golden Axe. So far so good, but not only the chosen Sonic game for that compilation was Sonic Spinball (why??) but The Revenge of Shinobi included was a Japanese prototype version.

Probably the crown of weird will have to go to the Sonic & Garfield Pack, a 1999 compilation disc featuring three Mega Drive games: Sonic & Knuckles collection (yep, again), Garfield Caught in the Act, and for some ungodly reason, the puzzle Baku Baku Animal. I am not sure what the lasagna-loving meme cat has to do with Sonic, but I am surprised he still hasn't made a loving cameo in any of the Sonic movies.

Sega PC continued working well until 2000, when the whole division was merged into the company Smilebit, known mostly for their quality Xbox and Dreamcast games until Sega officially disbanded the company in 2004.

SEGA and PC, the later confusing years

From 2005 until 2015, Sega was in a weird place with their PC ports, since many of their games would receive a PC version, but others seemed to be left out. Case in point Sonic Unleashed or the quite infamous Sonic 2006. Not to mention the several Wii-exclusive Sonic games that are still just stuck on that one platform and can't seem to get out.

Things get even weirder if one ventures outside of the Sonic games, with titles such as Toejam & Earl 3 that have been stuck on Xbox since 2007, or even appreciated sequels such as The House of the Dead 4 and Virtua Tennis 2. But hey, we did get Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg on PC in 2006...

Things started to change for good after 2016 when Sega apparently embraced the presence of Steam and started a successful relationship with the digital platform. Senior VP of commercial publishing John Clark, interviewed by PC Gamer in 2017, mentions how Sega's relationship with Steam was important for the company.

He also went on a strange tangent about needing "to make sure that they’re good PC games, making sure that technically they really, really deliver what the community wants and for what the tech-savvy community wants on Steam".

Which sure, speaks to the fact that Sega would not want to deliver a shoddy PC port, bless them, but the problem remains that their selection of games to be ported on PC seemed to be a bit of random guessing. Or more like blindly throwing dirt at the wall to see what sticks. This changed with the success of the Yakuza series.

The Yakuza series and a new cycle

The growing popularity of the series formerly known as Yakuza made Sega realize there was a completely new audience on PC that they wanted to reach. From 2019 on, every title in the series was slowly but surely made available on PC.

While it might be hard to believe, it is possible today to play every title in the series on PC. Well, okay, not every title in the series. The weird survival horror spin-off Yakuza: Dead Souls is, sadly, still nowhere to be found, but hey, you can't win them all.

While the Like a Dragon series was lucky enough, no such luck for the Fist of the North Star series, where titles like 2018's Lost Paradise, developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku studio, remain a PlayStation 4 exclusive still today. Now, it would be easy to argue that it's not a necessary game at all, but it would still be nice to have the option.

And now, the big question: can you play the original Sonic the Hedegehog on digital platforms today? Yes, with Sonic Origins, which even includes the 8-bit versions. But the story is not as straightforward as it might seem. There used to be a Steam version of the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive classics that allowed users to buy individual games they wanted to emulate, but that was delisted in December 2024.

As for other Sega classic games, such as Golden Axe or Shinobi, the situation is quite muddy and, as of today, I don't think there's any digital version available on PC. It is possible to grab them on the Switch Online service, however.

Over the years, the porting efforts by Sega have surely been commendable, but it is hard to say what the company's plans are for their most famous series. With all the interest and money in retrogaming, one would think that their entire catalog would already be available digitally.

Still today, that's not the case. And Sega, let me end this by asking a very direct question, where is my port of the beautiful Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder?

The post Unofficial Sonic Unleashed port a symptom of SEGA’s fraught relationship with conversions appeared first on Destructoid.

The action RPG showdown is on! Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves bring fluid combat, rotational mechanics, and high-speed action, which are best-in-class in the market, but each executes them uniquely. But which reigns supreme? The answer isn’t so simple, but it may surprise you.

My Expertise in Both Games

Before we start throwing punches, let’s get one thing straight: I know both of these games like the back of my hand. I have completed all available endgame content in Wuthering Waves and Zenless Zone Zero with max scores. That means total clearing of Wuthering Waves’ Overdrive content, Holograms, Tower of Adversity, and Whimpering Waste (triple-S this season). For Zenless Zone Zero, this means surpassing floor 100 in Battle Tower (both versions) and flexing over 30,000 points on all Deadly Assault stages this season.

Needless to say, if there’s a challenge, I’ve conquered it. If there’s a mechanic, I’ve mastered it. So rest assured, this isn’t just speculation. This is a take from someone who has tested the limits of both combat systems.

Complexity vs. Control: A Matter of Approach

Wuthering Waves – The Freeform Fighter

Wuthering Waves thrives on flexibility. It lets you string together attacks, abilities, and swaps in a way that feels organic and open-ended. Want to animation cancel into a parry? Go for it. Chain ability after ability into a rapid-fire onslaught? Absolutely. The game encourages experimentation, rewarding those who push its combat to the limit.

However, this freedom comes with its own set of problems. The fluidity of combat can sometimes feel a little too loose, making certain high-intensity fights harder to control. Worse, most event activities strip away the need for skill expression due to just how ridiculously easy they are. You have so much power under your control with the intricate combat system, yet there's hardly anything to use it on when it comes to Wuthering Waves events.

Endgame-wise, let's talk about Whimpering Waste, for example. It is one of Wuthering Wave's latest endgame modes, but it's all about mass AoE fights, which means you can clear it by spamming attacks with enough DPS rather than outplaying your enemies. There is a strategy to it, as many of the enemies in the game mode have large health bars, but it still boils down to "Do I have the AoE DPS needed to clear waves quickly?". There's not much else beyond that, which is why the mode is so disappointing to not just me but also the community in-large.

Zenless Zone Zero – The Precision Brawler

On the flip side, Zenless Zone Zero is all about tight, controlled, momentum-based combat. Instead of overwhelming players with endless attack variations, Zenless Zone Zero refines its approach with timing-based dodges, tag-in combos, and a strong emphasis on synergy. Each character has a clear role, and executing a perfect counter or assist attack is as satisfying as landing a critical hit in a fighting game.

Rather than an open sandbox of mechanics, Zenless Zone Zero gives you structured tools and asks you to master them. And because the game’s enemies are balanced around this structured system, fights feel consistently challenging, which is a big advantage over Wuthering Waves, where absurdly powerful buffs can often undermine combat depth.

Early Game Combat: Wuthering Waves Starts Strong

If we’re talking about which game throws you into the action faster, then Wuthering Waves takes the lead. From the very start, it forces players to engage with mechanics like parries, dodges, and cancel animations, rewarding those who learn its intricacies early. You’re not just mashing buttons; you’re actively learning how to master the game.

By contrast, Zenless Zone Zero’s early game is a bit of a snoozefest. You can get by with basic attacks, and meaningful combat depth doesn’t kick in until much later. When you start encountering enemies that demand counterplay and synergy (the later half of the game), only then does Zenless Zone Zero start taking itself seriously. While this isn’t a deal-breaker, it does mean that Wuthering Waves provides a more engaging combat experience out of the gate.

The Great Parry Debate

Parries are a huge part of both combat systems, but they’re implemented very differently:

• Zenless Zone Zero uses Defensive Assists, which act as powerful parries that deflect attacks and play a big role in staggering enemies. However, they are finite, so you must rebuild them over time. They are also rather forgiving, hence the limitation.
• Wuthering Waves has a more skill-intensive parry system that requires precise timing but isn’t as strong as Zenless Zone Zero’s version. However, they can be done at any time, provided the enemy's attack can be parried in the first place.

Which one is better? Really, it depends on what you want. If you love a high-risk, high-reward system, Wuthering Waves has the edge. If you prefer a forgiving yet powerful parry that plays into structured team mechanics, Zenless Zone Zero wins.

High-Level Combat: Who Wins?

Now, let’s talk about real difficulty -- the kind that separates the casual players from the combat gurus.

While it is undeniable that Wuthering Waves has a higher skill ceiling and a more complex combat system, Zenless Zone Zero offers a more consistently rewarding challenge. The reason? Wuthering Waves rarely forces you to master its own mechanics.

• Whimpering Waste is just a mass AoE fest. If you don't have the DPS, you won't be clearing it.
• Tower of Adversity focuses more on rotational gameplay. Yes, some team comps get away from this, but the Intro Outro system in Wuthering Waves heavily encourages rotational play.
• Many combat events grant buffs that let players easily brute-force fights.

Meanwhile, Zenless Zone Zero consistently demands precision, proper team synergy, and mastery of its mechanics. Battle Tower floors get excruciatingly difficult the further up you go, forcing players to actively use all available tools to win. Because the game is built around controlled, skill-based execution, it ensures that every hard fight is actually challenging.

So Which Game Has the Best Combat?

While both games have incredible combat, Zenless Zone Zero currently holds the edge for one simple reason: its combat is consistently rewarding across endgame content. Wuthering Waves, for all its depth and creativity, often undermines itself with encounter design that doesn’t always demand high-level play and buffs that trivial any sense of combat accomplishment the moment you enter a fight. Until Kuro Games provides more skill-intensive endgame challenges, Wuthering Waves will remain a game with amazing combat mechanics but without enough opportunities to truly utilize them.

So, if you want a combat system that is satisfying where it matters most (the endgame), Zenless Zone Zero takes the crown. But if Wuthering Waves ever gets the skill-expression-focused high-level content it deserves, it will undoubtedly be the ultimate action RPG. For now, we’ll just have to see where the future takes it.

The post Zenless Zone Zero vs Wuthering Waves: Which one really has the better combat system? appeared first on Destructoid.

When it comes to cozy farming sims, it seems like Stardew Valley dominates the space. It’s the OG, the role model that any other farming sim aspires to live up to. However, in 2024, a new challenger appeared in the shape of Fields of Mistria, but which should you play?

If you’ve never played a farming sim before and you’re thinking about diving in, everyone will tell you that Stardew Valley is the best place to start. It’s finished, offers hours of gameplay potential, and there are guides aplenty on all aspects of the game. However, is it really the best for everyone? Is there a possibility that Fields of Mistria could be more suitable for some?

As someone with hundreds of hours sunk into each of the farming sims, I am apparently well-placed to offer a comparison between the two games. In the interests of honesty, I do have a favorite of the two, but I’ll try to be as subjective as possible when drawing comparisons and considering similarities. 

Future updates

Yes, Stardew Valley is what many would consider the OG farming sim, despite it being created using direct inspiration from games such as Harvest Moon. Since it was initially released back in 2016, Stardew has received multiple huge updates and has surged past Harvest Moon in terms of popularity, still regularly entering into the most-played charts on Steam and other platforms. 

By comparison, Fields of Mistria is incredibly early into its lifespan. It’s still in early access and, therefore, not finished to the extent that developer NPC Studios plans for it to be. This does mean that there’s a limit to what you can do, and once you’ve reached the end of the currently available content, you’re stuck waiting for the next update. I don’t think that should be a point against Fields of Mistria, though. 

With its early access status (and ConcernedApe stating he plans to work on Haunted Chocolatier rather than further updates for Stardew), Fields of Mistria offers something that Stardew Valley no longer can — potential. 

There will be more story quests, more features, more areas, and just generally more to do with every future update to Fields of Mistria. So yes, you might run out of things to do temporarily, but there is more to come. With Stardew, once you’re done, you’re done. That’s not a bad thing, considering the hundreds of hours you can sink into one playthrough, but it is a point to remember. 

Art style

Both Stardew Valley and Fields of Mistria are made using a pixelated art style, with sprites for everything that are easily recognizable despite their blocky simplicity. However, while the pixel graphics style in Stardew Valley is now synonymous with games of its type, the style employed to make Fields of Mistria is cleaner and more vibrant when compared to the muddy tones featured in Stardew Valley. 

Neither of the art styles is better than the other, and this point comes down to personal preference. The biggest difference is in the characters themselves when you compare the portraits in Stardew Valley with the larger character images in Fields of Mistria. The latter goes with an almost 90s anime style for its characters, which goes well with the overall ‘kawaii’ aesthetic laid out in the rest of the game. 

Accessibility options

When it comes to accessibility, while I’m trying to be objective here, I can’t help but admit that Fields of Mistria just does it better, especially after one notable difference in the second major update — the ability to change how long a day lasts. I mean, let’s face it: it was left to fans to create mods for that to happen in Stardew Valley, but it’s now one of the basic options in Fields of Mistria. 

And I know Fields of Mistria very likely learned that lesson from Stardew Valley, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s an excellent feature to have in the game itself. Many of the accessibility options are shared between both games, but this day-length option definitely gives Fields of Mistria the edge.

While we're on the topic of accessibility, one thing I've noticed is that the Fields of Mistria settings menu is much easier to navigate than the options menu in Stardew Valley. Fields of Mistria separates the settings into individual labeled categories, making finding the specific setting you need easy. Stardew Valley, on the other hand, lumps all of the settings into one long list that you'll need to endlessly scroll down and hunt for specific settings.

Character movement

At this point, I’m throwing objectivity out of the window, and I will openly say that Fields of Mistria absolutely dominates when it comes to character movement. Why? Because you can jump and swim. Again, fans have made mods to add both jumping and swimming into Stardew Valley, but it’s just a basic feature in Fields of Mistria, and I’m not ashamed to admit that it made me extraordinarily happy when I first dived in to play hundreds of hours ago. 

You can swim in any water just by jumping into it, and there are gameplay mechanics such as Fish Schools and Diving Spots that rely on the ability to swim. Jumping might not be a necessary mechanic in a farming sim, but it’s almost freeing simply to be able to. You can jump off ledges to avoid going the long way around, you can jump over obstacles, and you can hop from place to place if your heart desires. It’s nice. 

Character customization

After creating your character in Stardew Valley, you’re stuck with them as they are until you reach four hearts of friendship with the Wizard to gain access to his basement and the Shrine of Illusions; then you’ll need to spend 500 Gold every time you so much as want to change your hair because you’re feeling a little bit bored of your current style. It’s all a bit complicated. 

In Fields of Mistria, the option to change everything about your character, including their hair, name, and clothes, is right there from the very beginning, and it will cost you absolutely nothing to change things up a bit. While it’s not a big thing, being able to change your name (or even the name of your farm) is a lovely option to have. 

Pronoun options

Stardew Valley does not feature pronouns. While you can pick between a male and female character, that’s the limit of your options when it comes to your gender identity. With many players identifying as non-binary, having the ability to switch up your pronouns at any time without fuss is definitely a welcome one. Fields of Mistria offers this as a basic option at any time.

Is it strictly necessary? No. Is it inclusive? Yes. Is it a welcome change in the world of gaming to include this option for those who feel seen by it just being there? Absolutely. There are many options, ranging from basic she/her or he/him to he/they and it/its. In a world where everyone is (or should be) free to be who they truly feel they are, and gender dysmorphia is a genuine problem faced by a lot of people, having the ability to be addressed as you want to be is a welcome addition. 

Fishing mechanics

I’ve written about my conflicted feelings towards fishing in Stardew Valley before, but even now, I think that the mechanic in ConcernedApe’s game is overcomplicated and frustrating. You can get the hang of it, but it’s all a bit of a learning curve, and it’s easy to mess up and lose the fish. If it’s a basic fish that you don’t need, that’s fine, but it becomes more of a problem if you’re hunting for legendary fish. 

Fishing in Fields of Mistria is simple, more like Animal Crossing than any other game I could compare it to. You see a fish, you cast, the fish touches the bobber a couple of times, and then when it bites, you click once. Voila, fish! It’s a simple mechanic, but that’s what makes it fun. You can spend hours fishing to increase your fishing skills, and completing Museum collections is easy as long as you can find the right fish. 

Magic

If you want a touch more fantasy in your gameplay, then Fields of Mistria is definitely for you. Admittedly, there are a Witch and Wizard in Stardew Valley (complete with their own complicated and doomed love story), but if you want to actually use magic to make your life easier, then Fields of Mistria wins this round. 

There are currently four spells, all of which are useful in their way and even used to progress the story once you reach a certain point, particularly Dragon’s Breath. Stardew has its own type of magic, with teleportation that unlocks eventually, but that’s about it. 

Animals and breeding

In a general sense, Fields of Mistria feels like a simplified version of Stardew Valley. That’s not a bad thing, mind you. Gaming doesn’t have to be and shouldn’t always be complicated. However, while most of the gameplay in Fields of Mistria feels pretty straightforward, breeding animals takes things up a notch. 

In Stardew Valley, you buy animals from Marnie, and they provide you with ingredients to sell or use. The quality of these ingredients increases depending on how much your animals like you. In Fields of Mistria, you can buy animals from Hayden, but you can also breed them. 

Breeding animals will result in new animals, and there are multiple different Tiers of rarity for each animal. The rarest are seasonal animals, birthed or hatched within a specific season, and then comes the gold-colored Tier 5s. To get a Tier 5 animal, you need to breed two Tier 4 animals, and so on. 

Another point for Fields of Mistria comes from Animal Cosmetics. All animals have their own hats and other accessories that can be worn. It only adds to the increased cuteness of the beasties in Fields of Mistria over those in Stardew Valley, in my opinion.

Skill system

Both have multiple different skills that can be increased to unlock new things. In Stardew Valley, each skill has 10 levels, with each level rewarding new items or recipes to help you along the way. After reaching level 10 in all skill, you’ll be able to unlock the Mastery Cave for additional rewards. 

In Fields of Mistria, there are no individual level rewards for any of the skills, and each of them can currently increase to level 45. However, there are Skill Perks to unlock every five levels in each skill, unlocking additional features or abilities that help speed things along. 

Stardew Valley Vs. Fields of Mistria: Which should you play?

We’ve covered the major differences and similarities between both games, but at the end of the day, which one appeals more to you will be entirely personal. If you’re looking for something more fanciful and magical, then Fields of Mistria is the winning choice. If you want something more realistic (in a way), then Stardew Valley comes out on top. 

I think it’s clear by now that my favorite of the two is Fields of Mistria. The '90s anime aesthetic and magical elements appeal to me more, and I like the ability to customize my character whenever I like. Both offer the ability to craft and decorate the farm as you see fit, but the items in Fields of Mistria are more to my taste. 

That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy Stardew Valley, though. I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into my farm, but the lack of potential further content or features means I’ve run out of things to do short of starting all over again. But, if you’ve not begun a playthrough in either, the hundreds of hours worth of gameplay in Stardew Valley is definitely an appealing prospect.

The early access status of Fields of Mistria means there’s more to come, and that’s always exciting. Of course, you might want to wait until the game is out of early access before taking the plunge, and that’s a valid decision. However, even in its early access state, there are upwards of 50 hours of story gameplay to work through without counting additional features like exploring the mines or work to do on the farm. 

The post Stardew Valley vs. Fields of Mistria: Which should you play? appeared first on Destructoid.

As you may or may not be aware by now, Helldivers 2 plays host to a pretty hefty number of guns. Big guns, small guns, laser guns... The funny thing is that they all share various attachments and doodads, so is there a customization system hiding somewhere in the background?

The answer to that question should be obvious to anyone who's ever taken a second glance at about two-thirds of Helldivers 2's armory: yes. Gear standardization doesn't only make sense from an in-universe Super Earth point of view in this game, after all. It's a perfectly sensible decision to run the same kind of optics on virtually all of your gear from a development viewpoint, too, as it shortens dev time and introduces interoperability for all the guns you create. Heck, we do it in the real world, too, with STANAGs and standardized railing systems.

Weapon customization is a crucial aspect of modern shooters. It adds an extra layer of personalization and allows players to fine-tune their gear however they see fit. It should be no surprise at all that Arrowhead Games had, at the very least, considered adding it to Helldivers 2 at some point in time. The bit that may come as a surprise, though, is that Arrowhead appears to have half-implemented it already.

To begin with, Arrowhead CCO Johan Pilestedt himself mentioned subsonic ammunition and suppressors early after the game came out. A statement that was subsequently lionized in the leak/datamine community with a massive list of weapon attachments already present in the game. Not long ago, a different dataminer even posted a simple Liberator getting kitted out with various sights, barrel attachments, grips, magazines, skins, and so on, though the post got taken down. Datamining is like that sometimes. Crucially, it's all in there, fully supported by Helldivers 2 as it currently stands.

None of this is surprising or a secret if you've kept an ear close to the ground, but the curious bit is that you don't even need to look outside of the game to get a sense of how Helldivers 2's weapons actually work. Many of them are the same baseline gun with different thingamabobs attached. Same as it is in Destiny 2!

Of course, all the different Liberators are obvious examples of this, but all the SG pump-action shotguns are built on the same platform, and the same can be said about the Breaker shotguns as well. This goes beyond standardized weapon classes, to boot: the Eruptor bolt-action rifle is just a customized JAR-5 Dominator. The list goes on and on.

I'm not criticizing Arrowhead's choice to handle Helldivers 2's weapons this way. I'm thrilled with it beacuse there's evidently a backend weapon customization framework that the team may choose to share with the community at some point in time—hopefully soon, because it would add a huge amount of variability to the experience. Customization is always a good thing, and Arrowhead has proven that it's got the moxie to handle some pretty wild crossover content. What's a new scope compared to something like that?

Obviously, then, Helldivers 2 has everything it needs to support the usual suspects: a framework for weapon mods (specifically, ammo types, aiming modules, grips, magazines, stocks, optics, and barrel assemblies that we've seen so far) to fit onto most guns' basic railing systems. Skins, too, are clearly implemented, but this is where we come to the first problem with Helldivers 2's potential guncrafting feature. Specifically, if you can switch everything from optics to ammo loads on any given gun, what is left in place to differentiate between, say, a basic Liberator Carbine and a Concussive Liberator? Because the latter is just a skinned-up Liberator Carbine with a drum mag, explosive ammo, and a few other bits and bobs.

This may be one of the main reasons why Arrowhead may be reticent to release weapon customization in Helldivers 2. Many Premium Warbonds have simply featured revamped, customized variants of base weapons, and allowing players to tweak and tune attachments however they wish would make it impossible for Arrowhead to keep doing that in the backend.

Regardless of that, I do think Arrowhead is going to give us gun attachments, skins, and all the other related greeblies sooner or later. It is one of the last missing aspects of the original Helldivers in the sequel, after all, and that has a been a pretty good signifier of what's to come.

The post Helldivers 2’s backend weapon customization systems should go public appeared first on Destructoid.

Most enemies from Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Bloodborne would naturally fit in any medieval-themed horror story simply for how easily they'll tear you to pieces after you make one simple mistake during combat.

Still, some have such uniquely off-putting looks that they deserve to be observed in very well-guarded cells in the video game museum of grotesquerie. Let's look at the gnarliest-looking monstrosities in this series, and check out if they're perhaps even worse than they look, shall we?

10. Nightmare Apostle (Bloodborne)

Ok, I'll start off simple. Don't ask me for sources, but 40% of the human population is afraid of spiders, and 50% is terrified of them. Even those who aren't probably wouldn't like them ten times our size. Spiders don't need anything other than sheer scale to be some of the scariest things in existence, but Bloodborne does you one better.

The Nightmare Apostle's room is a horror masterpiece because as soon as you enter it, you see a bunch of huge spiders hanging from the ceiling, and you just know they're going to drop to ambush you, leaving only the "when" as a mystery.

I won't spoil it, but this is one hell of a memorable encounter that would elevate any full-on horror game or film.

9. Great Feline (Dark Souls)

The case for the Great Feline is the exact opposite of the one from the entry above. Mostly everyone loves cats — especially people who have ever been in contact with the internet — but this isn't a regular cat. This isn't even like a lion or a tiger, big cats that might — even when they don't want to — eviscerate you with ease.

Something about these huge roided-up cats just looks wrong — intentionally so. They're clearly sick and, sadly, capable of equally sick moves that will immediately obliterate any poor fool wasting time wondering if the game features any secret way of petting them.

8. Glow Worms (Elden Ring)

Did you know that Australia has actual glow-in-the-dark worms? I've been haunted by that knowledge for many years. Still, I've always enjoyed the solace of knowing Australia is so far away from where I live that it barely even counts as a real place.

Miyazaki isn't ok with us feeling safe, so he brought Glow Worms closer to everyone by putting these things in something more real than Australia to most: Elden Ring. What the hell even are these things? They don't really do anything other than just creepily stand there and use their bioluminescence to prevent players from forgetting they share reality with them — but they're really good at that.

7. Deep Accursed (Dark Souls 3)

Even though the Deep Accursed features various creepy elements in its design, the scariest thing about him is how his ambushes provide jumpscares worthy of the best horror movies out there. The Souls series is known for its ambushes, but there's being ambushed by everything else, and then there's being ambushed by this grisly, long-legged, shiny-eyed beast.

The Deep Accursed is great at scaring the player like a huge predator would scare a tiny rat. He rarely shows up in the game, but as soon as he's dropped from the ceiling to get you the first time, your era of nonchalantly entering new rooms on Dark Souls 3 without fearing for your life will be over.

6. Monstrosity Of Sin (Dark Souls 3)

I don't know if one of the artists was trying to come up with the most off-putting thing they could come up with for Dark Souls 3, then asked their colleagues to come up with a fitting name, or if FromSoft's name-giver came up with the most egregious name for a beast and then the artists did a wonderful life realizing that vision.

The Monstrosity Of Sin has a human-like body, but at the end of every single one of his limbs, there's a hand with way too many fingers. Even its head is a gigantic hand — also with too many fingers. That would've been enough to earn it a place on this list, but this head/hand is also covered in eyes or strange parasites that produce a type of goo you don't see anywhere else in the game.

This is one of the rarest enemies in the game, and that's probably because the developers were well aware that one encounter would probably be enough to ensure no player would forget about the Monstrosity Of Sin.

5. The Beggar (Bloodborne)

It should come as no surprise that Bloodborne populates most entries on this list, and that's because it features all horrors of all kinds. This guy doesn't feature a suspicious number of eyes, tentacles, or any goo-secreting organ, but he's a walking, talking, stalking, blood-spitting red flag.

The afflicted beggar presents himself as but a skinny guy covered in blood and in need of your help. The problem here is that when we first encounter this man, he's munching on a human corpse. Yarhnam is already a place where consuming blood is the norm, so can you really blame them for giving this man the benefit of the doubt? Who's to say what the consensus on cannibalism is in this god-forsaken, elder god-invaded realm? That's what the main character is likely thinking while they interact with this man, all the while the player controlling him is probably petrified by what he's witnessing.

Then, surprise, surprise, it turns out that any suspicions would be correct, and the Beggar reveals himself to be a figuratively and literally huge monster. Still, its original appearance more than would've sufficed to grant him a place on this list.

4. Chaos Eater (Dark Souls)

When you look at the Chaos Eater from afar, he looks goofy. When you get closer, his multitude of eyes combined with his pervy tentacles will make you realize he's one of the creepiest-looking entities in the game. When you let him get too close, you'll realize that every step towards this thing was an obviously dumb mistake.

I, like many other innocent players before me, originally imagined the Chaos Eater would get his nourishment by sucking things up through his tentacles. Nasty, but it's even worse than that, it turns out.

The Chaos Eater is closer to a human than I thought, as he also chews on his food just like we do. Unfortunately, however, I went on to learn that instead of jaws, his head serves as the home for a rotating teeth-covered hell pit that he loves feeding players to.

3. Grafted Scion (Elden Ring)

This cobbled-together monstrosity is the very first thing we face on Elden Ring — the classic FromSoft boss that exists solely to put players in their place — and that's reason enough for it to populate the nightmares of many players. Still, that's far from the worst thing about it.

The Grafted Scion is composed of the bodies of many deceased adults — already not great — but upon closer inspection (or simply by looking at the head), you'll see how it also features the limbs of many children. If you thought the worlds of games were dark but at least kind enough to protect children by not featuring them at all, then I apologize for dispelling that illusory wall in your mind.

2. Winter Lantern (Bloodborne)

The later segment of Bloodborne isn't as challenging as its early and middle sections — except for the part where we have to deal with this thing. The Winter Lantern is such a masterpiece of enemy design that even though it doesn't look threatening on a physical level — and it kind of isn't — one glance is all it takes to inform your brain that you're about to have a bad time. You'll get the idea that this thing is terrifying just from looking at screenshots, but nothing beats looking at it in motion, killing you simply by existing and looking ugly.

This is like if Naughty Dog had a slider for creepiness when making the infected from The Last Of Us and accidentally turned it up to 11.

1. Brain of Mensis (Bloodborne)

The Brain of Mensis is number one and it isn't even close. If the Winter Lantern terrorizes you, this should affect you in a way we don't even have words to describe yet. In essence, the Brain Of Mensis is a gigantic Winter Lantern, an entity powerful enough to ultimately kill anyone in its line of sight — and it's very good at looking.

On top of its tremendous power, the Brain of Mensis is also the gooiest and most eldritch monstrosity we've seen in FromSoft games, an amorphous mix of giant eyeballs and what looks like decaying brain matter.

The optional segment, when we finally come face to brain with this thing, features no combat or any sort of deadly trap, yet it remains one of the most eerily memorable moments in gaming.

The post The creepiest enemies in Dark Souls games, ranked appeared first on Destructoid.

MercuryStream, the studio behind bangers such as Metroid Dread and Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow, has finally lifted the veil from Blades Of Fire via a fantastic gameplay reveal.

I've seen enough to say I want to play it, but I understand how others have immediately drawn comparisons to the newer God Of War games and the Souls series. I believe a better look into the context of the studio behind the game will likely leave you assured that there's no lack of originality at play and perhaps even blow your minds.

Regarding the allegations that Blades Of Fire looks too much like God Of War, I gotta say that the biggest similarity is how Kratos' favorite weapon is, well, a pair of flaming blades. Aside from the similarities that will inevitably come in a game about cutting down monsters in a fantasy setting, Blades Of Fire seems like it is trying to be its own thing.

It's when it comes to the comparisons with the Souls series that I think things get really interesting. It's true that the combat looks "Soulslike" — or GOWlike — because that reboot definitely took a page from the Souls book. Still, MercuryStream is composed of veterans from Rebel Act Studios, a defunct studio responsible for one of the most slept-on titles of all time:

Blade Of Darkness, originally known as Severance: Blade Of Darkness is a dark medieval fantasy title from 2001 that received excellent feedback from players and critics but that failed to sell enough to even keep the studio afloat.

In case you don't know, I’m quite fond of the Souls series. That’s in large part due to how FromSoft's games immediately reminded me of Severance, the magnificent game that laid out many of the elements that made Dark Souls resonate with players. Massive areas inspired by a nightmarishly corrupted European medieval setting? Check. Wide variety of weapons and specific move sets? Check. The possibility of complementing your melee combat with long-ranged options? Check. But, more importantly, the need to keep your stamina in check to avoid getting killed by the measliest of enemies? Definitely Check. Severance didn't invent stamina in games, but it's the first title where smarts will have to accompany even the strongest of fighters at all times if they're to prevent dying in ridiculous ways.

If you look at their gameplay videos, you'll see how BOF seems to be playing exactly like a modernized and more complex version of Severance would, and that's just fantastic. Another thing you'll see that Blades Of Fire has that you don't see in either Elden Ring or GOW are combos that work more or less like they do on Tekken, yet another awesome staple of Severance. Also, Blades Of Fire also puts a lot of emphasis on severing the various limbs of your opponents. I don't need to tell you where that's coming from, but I will, because it's glorious.

I'd be abusing the power of my nostalgia goggles if I were to claim that Severance was as far ahead of everything else as Dark Souls was upon release. Still, Dark Souls might not have even existed without Severance. It's only fair that Mercury Stream now gets to make use of everything all other studios built upon Severance's foundation to help them create the spiritual successor imaginable.

Interestingly, Sony's bigwig Shuhei Yoshida infamously also thought Demon's Souls was crap when he first got to play it, resulting in Sony scrapping plans to publish the game in the West. Had Demon's Souls not grown immensely in this part of the world through organic word of mouth, Dark Souls simply might've never come to be. With a deserved extra push, who knows how far Severance could've gone?

Here's hoping Blades Of Fire gets luckier than its predecessor when it releases for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on May 22.

The post Blades of Fire isn’t a Dark Souls clone, it’s the spiritual successor of the game that inspired the souls genre. appeared first on Destructoid.

Elden Ring and its offshoot, Nightreign, are the culmination of decades of game design evolution, one I've been a part of for over a decade. Then, I sat down with one of the largest Souls PvP streamers, Peeve, to talk about being there from the beginning.

Hey Peeve, thanks for chatting with me today about Elden Ring: Nightreign and your career in the wider Soulsborne series. Can you highlight your history with the franchise, starting with your introduction to the original PS3 Demon’s Souls?

Well, I remember a friend visiting our house in 2009. “You’ve gotta check out this game,” he said. He throws in Demon’s Souls, and we all take turns trying it. He mentioned hearing that players could show up in your game world to hunt you down, which I refused to believe. After he left a few hours later, I went to the store and bought my own copy. I had a college class that night…I didn’t make it. Many invasions, fight clubs in 4-1, and skipped college courses later, Dark Souls 1 released.

I started recording and uploading PvP videos to YouTube in late 2011 and streaming on Twitch a few months later. The transition was easier because of series I’d made, like “Gankers Pay the Price,” where I hunted groups of players waiting around all day to jump invaders as they spawn. We call them gank squads. I also started an annual community event for Demon’s Souls called “Return to the Nexus” in 2013. We’d simulate launch day by making new characters and engaging in multiplayer organically as we played. The idea was popular enough that the community organized similar events for the other titles over time.

Then, in Dark Souls 3, the odds for invaders were terrible, and I decided to revisit an idea I had in Dark Souls 1: player covenants. My community and I made shared-theme builds and invaded the area after Pontiff Sulyvahn. We called ourselves the Bloodshades, a name radiating the edginess I’d become known for.

Other player covenant ideas popped up, too, but there were a lot of people who were not fans and were not shy about sharing it.

In the six years leading to Elden Ring’s release, I continued playing Dark Souls 1, 3, and Bloodborne, with a brief side trek into Sekiro. Dark Souls 2 was also in there, I guess.

With all that experience under your belt, what was your initial reaction when you first saw the reveal trailer for Elden Ring: Nightreign?

I was co-streaming the reveal event, and I’ll just say it was mass confusion mixed with excitement — but mostly confusion. After the trailer went up, I was silent for a while, trying to reach Bandai Namco representatives to get some answers. Nightreign was literally the last thing I expected, mainly since it involved Elden Ring.

You and I both had a chance to try Nightreign during the network test, and it’s hard to properly describe in a few words. What advice do you have for players who’ve only experienced Elden Ring or want to get Nightreign as their first FromSoftware game?

I’m concerned about the game overwhelming newcomers — or those with only some Elden Ring experience — trying to learn boss patterns in the open world. If FromSoftware intends to utilize most of its past boss catalog, how difficult will it be for those players to learn the fights? When will they see that boss again, and what will they fight in between? Certain Nightreign encounters are designed to have everyone holding their own, sometimes one-on-one, so you’re only as strong as your weakest link.

Beyond playing the rest of the Souls games, my best advice for anyone trying Nightreign as one of their first FromSoftware games is to keep the following in mind:

1. The ultimate rule: level Vigor. Almost any health upgrade you find is worth it. I had a run in the network test where I had an HP bar that took up two-thirds of the screen. The final boss was literally a joke.
2. Watch your Stamina during fights. Stamina management is key to handling tough encounters in From games. While it’s tempting to throw out as many attacks as you can, without Stamina, you won’t be able to get away when the enemy retaliates.
3. Control your rolls. Many bosses are designed to punish “panic rolling,” or when a player mashes dodge instead of timing it correctly. Wait to roll when an attack is just coming at you. Otherwise, you might get hit and queue up an extra roll input, and the boss’s next attack is designed to hit you when your character exits their invincibility frames. 

One of the main concerns about Nightreign is its longevity. The network test was a very watered-down version of the final product, but knowing that, is there anything that still worries you about the final release?

Honestly? Replayability and longevity are my biggest concerns as well. I’m pretty sure the network test was only two combinations of map layouts and enemy encounters in a single biome. Their intention with the experience was to offer a small sample of the final product, not have people destroy their sleep schedules to make every test session. That’s me. I’m people.

That aside, if Nightreign utilizes FromSoftware’s massive enemy catalog and brings enough map layout variety across different biomes, that’d be a great start. Build variety feels like it’s in the right spot, too, but I worry about how long it’ll be before you steam-roll every run, no matter who your teammates are. I hope the difficulty ramps up significantly across the different encounters.

If the game’s fun, has enough variety between runs, and is challenging enough to keep my attention, I’ll be satisfied.

Rogue-like elements are at the heart of Nightreign’s progression. While Elden Ring is very much its heart and soul mechanically, there are also a lot of evolutions in ER’s gameplay to accommodate the new systems. How well do you think FromSoftware married the two concepts, and what, if anything, would you say needs improving?

It’s hard for me to answer this question, considering we’ve only seen two map seeds. I sometimes grew tired of the same starting points, knowing what enemy camps were the best to rush and what boss was coming up. I see the potential, and if Nightreign releases and I only recognize a few world encounters on my first run, I’ll be very relieved.

As for the build crafting, it feels so strange. It’s bizarre that the game accounts for the bonuses from ALL your equipment, not just the gear you have out. If I make a build focused around a halberd and greatshield, I’ll also pick up items I don’t intend to use just for their passive bonuses. 

These games have always been at their best when they give the player the freedom to make their own characters shine, so seeing dedicated “Heroes” does disappoint me a little. It makes sense for the game, though. Maybe we’ll get some nice fashion customizations as rewards.

The communicative experience between randomly matched players could be improved, as well. In the test, queuing with randoms felt awful because everyone was unorganized. You and another player could be fighting a boss while your third was dying in the rain because he spent too long searching a random castle for Rivers of Blood. There will supposedly be opt-in voice chat, which is great, but not everyone will use or listen to it. Maybe an option to have offscreen gestures appearing on everyone’s HUD could help. Or they just bring back the loud “HEY!” scream from Dark Souls 3 and give it full map range.

Switching gears a bit, one of the main things that drew me to your content was your distaste for relying on top-tier meta builds to succeed in Souls games. Can you explain that desire and why you focus more on character-building than build-making?

Well, PvP players tend to make multiple builds that stop at specific levels for matchmaking and, ideally, promote build variety in opponents. Limited stat allocation makes for far more diverse encounters than everyone at max level having everything.

So, if I’m making multiple builds for replayability, I want each one to have its intended playstyle and themed setup. That way, it’s set apart from my other characters and gives me a reason to switch between them. I’ll find a weapon or spell/incantation that looks cool, come up with a theme, and then find other combat options that can fit the theme to give it some playstyle variety. From there, I’ll min-max the stats as much as possible within a group of boundaries I set. 

I often develop loose backstories for each build over time, and a character can form around them. That’s where some of my most popular characters, like Red-Eyed Ino, come from. Sometimes, the backstory of one character results in spin-off characters. That could be because of another weapon or spell or because the backstory of an existing character inspires a new build with a connected theme. 

I find that if I haven’t played Elden Ring for a while, I’ll miss my characters more so than the actual game. If all my builds were just named Dex Build, Strength Build, etc., I'd lose interest even with every optimal weapon at my disposal. I need to keep up my immersion in these games, even in PvP.

How do you think that desire for unique characters and build concepts meshes with Nightreign? Do you see yourself gravitating toward specific, more off-the-wall strategies in a run, or is there a specific strategy you landed on in the network test?

Considering I don’t have direct control over my character and equipment in Nightreign, you better believe I’ll take every opportunity to make some bizarre build by the end of a run [laughs]. Despite RNG removing control I have over my build’s uniqueness, I enjoy having a strong setup using what would be an extremely odd combination in base Elden Ring.

And maybe, just maybe, Nightreign’s RNG loot will inspire players to use more interesting weapons within Elden Ring itself. At least let me dream, ok?

One of the greatest challenges you’ve faced in your Souls career was beating the final boss of the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC at NG+7. Can you tell the story of your 110-hour brawl with him?

Ah, the good ol’ days. It was my first DLC playthrough, and I went in at New Game +7 with my level 200 main character, a Meteoric Ore Blade-wielding Pyromancer. I reached the boss when I had pre-launch access, and I thought, surely, I could beat him in time for the full release.

I was mistaken. 

After retreating to explore and not spoil my viewers, I went back to try again. I had the Spear of the Impaler and was at level 18 Scadutree Blessing. I did next to no damage. At probably 60 hours into the fight, I decided to revert back to the original version of the build, which utilized the Meteoric Ore Blade, all because I realized how well Freyja's Greatsword matched its style. This change, purely for the sake of fashion and immersion, just made the fight more difficult. Why? Now I did even less damage. How much less? My DPS was lower than a gear-optimized level one build on NG+7 with zero Scadutree Blessing.

I relied on the Deflecting Hardtear for attacks that would instantly kill me, but my fight lasted eight minutes, three longer than the buff’s five-minute duration. As a fallback, I decided to give myself my own “Phase 2,” starting after he’d lost roughly 60 percent of his health. I’d switch off the Ore Blade to Freyja’s Greatsword and use a shield to parry him (which I didn’t want to rely on exclusively to win). Then there was figuring out phase two and ignoring my Twitch chat’s advice about the cookie-cutter builds everyone else had used.

Then came the final battle. Pure cinema. I landed every free-aimed Giant’s Flame Take Thee. I took no damage outside of deflects until past the 60 percent mark…and then all hell broke loose. One near-one shot broke the rhythm, and I burned through every resource I had as the fight dragged on. That included the one Blessing of Marika I’d been saving for more than 50 hours. 

I had nothing left to heal with and had finally reached my breaking point mentally. I’d started that day’s attempts confident he’d go down early. Then, 7 hours passed. With no heals left and stress levels through the ceiling, I needed to land three parries in a row to win the fight and salvage my sanity.

One successful parry. Then two. The third, in desperation. Then, after 110 hours in that boss room, silence. God Slain. I laid my character down, and a massive wave of relief hit me. I sat back in my chair without talking for several minutes as my heart rate came down.

I’m genuinely nostalgic for the endless torment in that boss room, but I know I can’t recreate that feeling of the initial win.

I did save a highlight of the final fight on my Twitch channel for those who want to see it.

Spending 110 hours in a boss fight is a testament to anyone’s endurance and is likely longer than most players take to run the whole game and DLC. What about overcoming that challenge differentiates it from, say, a level one or no upgrades playthrough?

In 16 years of these games, I’ve never had any interest in a level one playthrough. Any challenges I end up doing have to involve the characters I make. It’s just that this hyper-specific scenario was more challenging than most no-leveling runs. 

If you want to make a playthrough difficult, you don’t necessarily need to do one of the traditional go-to challenge runs. Consider making a unique challenge tailored to your playstyle.

Were there any boss fights or roadblocks in the Elden Ring: Nightreign network test, or in the marketing we’ve seen for it, that could give players the difficulty level as your DLC final boss?

[Laughs] For everyone else’s sake, I hope not. Just between us, though, I’d love to see it.

Last question now. What are you most looking forward to watching when Elden Ring: Nightreign comes out?

I’m looking forward to playing a “Wild Card” role and jumping into crews of all sorts. That includes streamer pals both within the Souls community and those outside of it. I think I’m mostly looking forward to watching groups of more casual players play together. Forget cool, calm, collected veterans of the game. The pure chaos within those teams will be the real content.

The post Expert advice: How a 16-year Souls veteran approaches challenge and buildcrafting in Elden Ring and Nightreign appeared first on Destructoid.

The HASTE demo is an exhilarating platformer that feels fast-paced and relies on your reflexes. You have to time your jumps and landings at the right moments, creating tension as you propel yourself forward.

HASTE: Broken Worlds, so far, makes you wish Sonic the Hedgehog would take some notes and keep fans of the platforming genre on their feet.

The HASTE demo is spectacular

Momentum is both your friend and enemy as you try to avoid obstacles at breakneck speed and move fast enough to avoid the curse throttling behind you. You're leaping off hills and trying to land in a perfect downward position to get a speed boost of and progress the stage. If you land on the wrong side of a slope, you'll get hurt and/or you'll slow down. You have to pay close attention and try to survive as you avoid trees, rocks, and other obstacles like rockets from a nearby turret.

It's almost like an endless runner, but every level ends with a portal that leads you to the next room or level. It also implements a rogue-like system similar to Slay the Spire, in which you pick the rooms you want to go to. There is a shop that lets you use in-game currency to buy upgrades like increased health or energy that propels you forward.

Additionally, there are event spaces that give you additional health or levels in which you have to survive against an onslaught of attacks. There's also a dangerous lava level where you have to find the portal to escape within a time limit.

Because of how tough the demo was, I was only able to experience one boss throughout my time with the game. You go up against a robot called the Jumper that launches fire all across the stage, which is difficult to dodge as it rushes through the grassland area. It also creates a wave of flame which is hard to avoid, especially if you're trying to find a hill to jump off quickly. The boss is well-designed and does challenge you as you try to hit its exterior pipework four times to win.

The game is procedurally generated, but with a second run of this demo, however, I began to see similar obstacles and level design appear. Hopefully, the game doesn't get repetitive when it fully launches. If you run out of the three lives you have, you have to start from scratch with the biome you choose.

A pretty game

HASTE: Broken Worlds, despite this being a Steam Next Fest demo, is highly polished. Despite all the chaos happening on screen like pillars of flames and giant bullets being shot in the sky, the game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second. The colors really pop as you explore these vibrant levels, and when it wants to create a tense atmosphere, the darker aesthetic works well.

Unfortunately, the music lets down the game a bit. It does keep you pumped up at points with its dubstep-like soundtrack. However, it can get monotonous, especially when the chasing curse from behind tries to take you over if you're too slow to outrun it. The music gets reverberated, making it annoying to listen to. It's effective at causing distress, but at the same time, it would be nice to turn off this feature.

Overall, HASTE: Broken Worlds has plenty of potential, especially with the different biomes the hub world promises. It could become repetitive, but right now, the demo succeeds in gaining my interest. If Sega ever decides to hire this team to make a Sonic the Hedgehog variant of this game, I'd be oh so interested.

The post HASTE is a fast-paced platformer Sonic the Hedgehog wishes he could be in appeared first on Destructoid.

Growing fears about online communities and rampant extremism often take advantage of the slack content moderation policy on Steam. Is the online platform a haven for far-right groups, is the overall culture to blame, or is it simply an issue of gaming humor being edgy and offensive?

Steam: a haven for far-right extremists?

Launched more than 20 years ago, Steam started small, as a way for Valve Corporation to sell their games online, but it would soon become one of the most used gaming platforms in the world. As of 2023, it featured a total of 33 million concurrent users, with an annual revenue of almost 9 billion dollars.

Steam seems to be the platform of choice for far-right extremists to thrive, finding like-minded individuals and sharing content that they would be prohibited from doing on other platforms. Naturally, this is no coincidence, as Valve’s platform features an obscure and slack content moderation policy, even compared to other platforms that share (or at least shared, until recent years) the same problems, such as Twitch and Discord.

Going through the content guidelines of Steam, the word “extremism” is not mentioned. Nor are there any measures highlighted throughout which the moderators can ban or block content in games that support and propagate far-right content. Also, the burden of reporting, as mentioned in the content guidelines, falls on the users, rather than on moderators or filters.

It is interesting to note that, despite this laissez-faire approach to moderation, in 2018 Steam removed almost 200 games. The removal of titles like Ethnic Cleansing and Jesus Strikes Back: Judgement Day was often criticized by users. While creators defended their games as "satire", users often commented how Steam would ban these, while still keeping “Japanese porn games” on the platform.

Curiously enough, despite these measures, Valve clarified that its removal of games and content was not because of xenophobic or misogynistic behaviors, but rather because these games were posing “unknown costs and risks to Valve, developer partners and customers”. Valve concluded that these developers and studios “were not producing games in good faith”.

Steam and the flood of extremist content

How widespread is the problem with extremism and far-right groups? Recent research by the Anti-Defamation League found 1.5 million unique Steam users and 73,824 groups that used at least one potentially extremist or hateful symbol, copypasta, or keyword on the platform. The problem is not even limited to amateur games or small indie titles.

Mods are often a way to attract far-right and extremist individuals. By modifying the content of a game, especially those easy to mod such as Hearts of Iron IV and Crusader Kings, players can access tailor-made content to be consumed by extremists. Using mods this type of propaganda can get around the amateur look and hardship of producing new games, presenting a façade of technical competence and professional development.

But, generally, these extremist communities seem content in gathering around famous games such as Counter-Strike or DayZ, where users were found to be organizing a “right-wing death squad” or getting together to kill black characters in Grand Theft Auto Online. Thus, it seems many are playing games to project an identity of extreme-right, rather than using these games as a way to recruit new members.

While one might think the sharing of content online would stop at a virtual level, a 2021 paper authored for the European Commission by Suraj Lakhani from CIVIPOL, underlines how communities expressing support for non-violent forms of far-right extremism “are interlinked with those affiliated with paramilitary activity and forms of white supremacist activity”.

Still today, there are several Steam groups related to far-right organizations still active and propagating sensitive and extremist material. These groups have links to movements such as the Nordic Resistance Movement, a group with links to bombings in Gothenburg in 2016 and 2017.

The paper reports how thousands of Steam users have demonstrated far-right violent extremist support on their profile pages, with clear pro-Nazi references, which “incorporated into their profiles Nazi imagery such as SS bolts and Nazitotenkopfs, or death’s heads, glorified prominent Nazi figures or fantasized about the 4th Reich”.

Not only that but many referenced serial killers or glorified figures such as mass murderer Anders Brevik. There were also references and links to videos on anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and White supremacist narratives. Terrorism is also another topic that seems to pop up again and again, with profiles and images dedicated to ISIS and Hezbollah, among others.

As for its conclusions, the author calls for Steam, but also companies such as Twitch and Discord, to update their moderation policies to include terms such as “extremism” and “terrorism.” Plus, the author calls for widespread research that would need access to data provided by companies that are becoming more and more reluctant to do so, such as X.

A new shared moderation policy is the key?

In a paper from July 2024, Shiraz Shaikh from the Global Network on Extremism and Technology identifies several key features that Steam should work on. A shared moderation policy with Twitch or Discord would be key in limiting how many users seem to be present on several platforms with multiple “burner” accounts. Plus, Steam could work with established organizations studying online hate and harassment on gaming platforms. 

Last November, following ADL's report, US Senator Mark Warner issued a letter to Steam asking what the company was doing about the widespread use of text-based images depicting hate and about its content moderation policy. Despite a deadline to answer before December 13, Steam doesn't seem to have responded and it is doubtful that the Trump administration will be interested in pursuing this matter further.

Still, not everybody agrees on the definition of Steam as a haven for extremists, some call ADL's attack on Steam "misguided" and see the danger of leaving moderation in the hands of a company that has no experience in the gaming community and doesn't understand edgy gamer humor. In particular, the use of the Pepe the Frog meme has been called into question since even the original author doesn't want to be linked to any far-right groups or extremists.

Despite one's view on the matter, it is hard to deny the growing issue of online extremism, especially linked to gaming. While it might be impossible to force Valve to modify its content moderation policy, it is possible to act at a gaming industry level. Developers should be encouraged to spend more time moderating and curating their audience, especially if they care about the image they are projecting to the audience. Letting extremist groups run rampant in the fanbase is not only damaging to one’s company and products but can also lead to future legal problems.

In the '90s, games such as Doom and Mortal Kombat basically created the need for rating agencies overnight and were, probably, first responsible for classic edgy gamer humor. Still, today the problem with content moderation is far more complex and difficult to control. How far should freedom of expression be pushed when tolerance itself is being threatened? How much tolerance should be extended to people who are often intolerant in the first place?

The post How Valve is ignoring the rise of extremism on Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

If you’ve ever played The Stanley Parable, you’ll know that Davey Wreden has a certain knack for creating a narrative that makes you question things. He’s done it again as part of the development team Ivy Road, and the result is the wonderfully cozy Wanderstop.

Wanderstop is a tea-centric, narrative-driven game about time and its ability to change things in unexpected ways. You play as Alta, a previously unbeaten warrior who finds herself stuck in a tea shop in the middle of a fantastical forest. The premise is simple - grow plants, serve tea, and make the shop your own. 

However, as players learned with The Stanley Parable, things aren’t always what they seem in Davey Wreden's projects. Wanderstop is bizarre and filled with moments that make you question what’s really going on underneath it all. Has Alta finally been defeated? Is this a commentary on burnout and the perils of pressuring yourself, and a reminder that it’s okay to slow down?

The questions aren’t just limited to the gameplay or narrative, but also somehow woven into the game's 11 achievements. If you were to glance at the list on Steam, none of it makes any sense, especially to someone who has yet to play. Want to know a secret? They make no sense even if you have played and got them all, because unlocking them is almost random, and there is no sure-fire way to get a single one outside of just playing the game. 

And honestly? That’s refreshing. 

Even the coziest of games on Steam have long lists of achievements tied to completing certain tasks. In Stardew Valley, you must cook every recipe to unlock the “Gourmet Chef” achievement. Similarly, cooking 900 meals in Disney Dreamlight Valley will unlock the “Chef Cook” achievement. Not all of them are cooking-based, of course, but those are the two that spring to mind.

There are no such requirements tied to any of the achievements in Wanderstop. The only secret to them is simply playing the game, spending time in the world created by Ivy Road, and getting to know the people you meet. As with real life, there are no shortcuts to success in Wanderstop. There’s no rush to serve 100 cups of tea to get an achievement, and you don’t need to do anything special to hit those completionist goals. 

Instead, you’ll actually get to enjoy planting seeds on the hexagonal grid system, creating certain patterns to grow new and interesting ingredients for your tea-making endeavors without counting down to a certain number that unlocks an achievement. You can collect trinkets to decorate the tea shop, knowing that they'll eventually disappear, and that doesn't matter because you had fun decorating.

All of this reminds you to slow down and enjoy the ride, rather than rushing to the end with a certain goal in mind. You’ll either love it or hate it, depending on how much you desperately need a goal to play towards. Either way, Wanderstop is a beautiful experience and worth diving into if you want to slow down and appreciate things a little more. 

The descriptions of the achievements themselves back up the concepts at play throughout the story:

The achievements system works so well with the story’s narrative because it backs up the theme of removing the pressure to act, to be perfect. You don’t have to act like a performing monkey to get something, you’re rewarded for simply keeping going, and that’s a message we all need to hear every now and then. Life is hard, and it gets tiring, but taking another step is an achievement in and of itself. 

The post Wanderstop comes with seemingly random achievements, and it’s honestly refreshing appeared first on Destructoid.

There are a million different reasons why we love handheld devices. In some cases, they're our main gaming machines, often the case with the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch. Others like to have a pocket-sized console dedicated to gaming on the go.

And then some of us just love how a classic Nintendo handheld feels in our hands. If that’s you, then consider this. A Gameboy Color in decent condition costs about $50. A single game cartridge can be even more expensive.

For less than the price of those two, you could get a brand-new console instead, one that can emulate much more than just GBC games and whose appearance is, let’s say, very reminiscent of those classic consoles. If that intrigues you, welcome to the world of stylish retro handhelds.

Miyoo Mini Plus

The Miyoo Mini Plus is a favorite of many, and you can easily see why. It looks really cute. It’s like that Gen1 Pikachu drawing where he looks like a sack of potatoes. The Miyoo Mini Plus is the Gameboy’s awkward little cousin that you can’t help but love. It sure helps that it plays a lot more games than its cousin, it doesn’t need any maintenance, and it’s way more comfortable to hold.

The Mini Plus isn’t as mini as the name implies, which gives it the space to place all the buttons needed to play many games (even from the Sony PlayStation). Not that it will play most PS1 games, but you’re free to try. What it will play, a rarity in this space, is Pico-8 games, the fantasy retro console that hosts Celeste’s debut and its sequel, Celeste Classic 2. If you’re willing to spend some time setting it up, you can even browse and download Pico-8 games directly from the console.

ModRetro Chromatic

The ModRetro Chromatic might not be what you expect from a retro handheld. Most consoles in this space are based on messy software emulators that aren’t set up properly for the hardware they run on and are often outdated. The Chromatic takes a completely different approach by emulating the console on the hardware level (without replicating the hardware itself) and supporting only Gameboy and Gameboy Color games.

The Chromatic certainly looks unique. A Gameboy Color that was painted over to be even more of a nostalgia trap. The screen is a much fancier version of the one found in the original Gameboy, with proper illumination this time. The price of $199, on the other hand, isn’t so bright. Loading ROMs is hard, too, and it only emulates GB and GBC games. A passion project like this would normally garner sympathy from potential buyers, but does that apply when the founder is the extremely rich inventor of the Oculus Rift and all-around unpleasant guy Palmer Luckey? Odds aren’t great.

Anbernic RG35XXSP Transparent

Anbernic makes a lot of retro-inspired handhelds, but none are quite as, uh, devoted to replicating the old hardware look as the RG34XX and the RG45XXSP. If you want some Gameboy Advance replicas that are not original and not perfect, it doesn't get much better than this. They can play every game that can be put in ROM format. And if you want something better, you want the white transparent RG35XXSP.

There’s something mesmerizing about a see-through clamshell design and I can’t believe Nintendo didn’t capitalize on it in 2003, especially following the success of the transparent Gameboy Advance. That dream is now a reality, even though it had been a reality for a while thanks to custom console cases. The main difference between the RG35XXSP and a custom Gameboy Advance SP is that the Anbernic can play a lot more retro games than the three GBA titles you still have cartridges for.

Analogue Pocket

The Analogue Pocket might be the only emulator-based handheld that is as premium as it looks from afar. It better be, for $219.99. Add to that the extra cartridge adapter set and the dock, and you’ll end up paying $420 dollars, a troubling number more in line with the price of a (cheaper) Steam Deck than a high-end retro handheld.

But let’s forget about the console’s design and its equally dazzling price. Why would anyone buy this good-looking piece of plastic? The Analogue Pocket has two advantages over other retro handheld emulators: the impressive 1600x1440 screen and the hardware emulation. Don’t let that confuse you: when aimed at handheld consoles from 25 years ago, “hardware emulation” is indistinguishable from decent software emulation, if not for its ability to read game cartridges and, potentially, physical accessories.

Powkiddy RGB20 Pro

If you’re going to get the Powkiddy RGB20 Pro, it will be for its look. The size and shape are almost identical to the more powerful Anbernic RG351V, which doesn’t look half bad itself. However, what Anbernic’s 4:3 high-rez Gameboy homage doesn’t have is a neat see-through plastic body with some LEDs that are only there to look cool.

The screen resolution is quite decent, with 1024x768 pixels crammed into a 3.2-inch screen. It’s not going to play anything more elaborate than SNES or Gameboy Advance pixel art anyway, maybe some fan-translated PC Engine if you’re a weirdo (like me). It can technically do more, including N64, PlayStation 1, and Dreamcast, but don’t expect any of those to run properly.

Powkiddy RGB30

The RGB30 is one of the most basic-looking products in Powkiddy’s line of retro handhelds and it still looks stunning. The plastic is not premium quality, and as with most of those products, you shouldn’t expect a nice finish, but the overall design is easy on the eyes. The RGB30 is available in a few different colors, including a nostalgic banana yellow.

The RGB30 comes with a 720x720 pixel screen, which, for its sub-$100 price range, is not bad. It offers handheld emulation of retro games as recent as the Sony PlayStation 1 and the Nintendo 64, though it hardly excels in those. And since the RGB30 is a popular model, you can find plenty of customization kits on sale online, from buttons to grips to sticker skins.

DY19

This DY19 might be ridiculously flimsy up close, and putting a power bank inside a retro console isn’t the brightest idea, but at least it looks kind of cool! The rounded design and monochrome palette don’t scream “sub $20 impulse purchase”, which is the only market that the DY19 could ever call home. The screen border and the three mini-buttons are coated in a not-quite-gold color that doesn’t exactly look premium but adds a nice contrast to the rest of the design. Unless you pick the light rose model, in which case it looks washed out and ugly. Don’t get the light rose model.

I’d love to tell you about what’s inside the DY19, the operative system that powers it, which consoles it can emulate, and how well it does, but there’s basically no information about this console. I don’t even know who makes the DY19 (EZGHAR is sometimes named in the listings). It seems to be sold only on Aliexpress and similar cheap import product websites, and it doesn’t have a consistent manufacturer listed. If you buy this console, you do so with no way of knowing what you’re really getting beyond the size of the integrated power bank (6000mAh) with USB mini, USB-A, and USB-C connectors. But hey, at least it looks cool.

Anbernic RG ARC-D

Most retro handheld consoles don’t exactly hide their, uh, “inspiration”, and Anbernic is no stranger to copyright disputes. But credit where it’s due, it’s not hard to distinguish yourself when making a copy. Instead of mimicking the popular Nintendo handhelds from the 1990s and 2000s, Abernic’s RG ARC-D shakes things up by taking inspiration from Sega’s failed GameGear handheld and the almost-forgotten Saturn.

It might be more appropriate, if a little mean, to say that Abernic’s console looks like how the GameGear might have looked if it hadn’t been extremely ugly, with a curve and button placement resembling that of the Saturn controller. The RG ARC-D is available in various colors, including cream white, dark grey, and a purple see-through reminiscent of the Gameboy Advance. While it doesn’t have analog sticks, it’s not very good at emulating any console that uses them anyway.

The post 8 Sleek Retro Handhelds To Revisit Your Childhood With Style appeared first on Destructoid.

While the classic Grand Theft Auto series only became popular for many after the release of Vice City, it had actually been going on since 1997 when it was in strict 2D. But are those GTA games from the past still worthy of being revisited, or are they better left forgotten?

The forgotten Grand Theft Auto games you should play before GTA 6

Grand Theft Auto (1997)

Released by UK company DMA Design, previously famous mostly for the puzzle series Lemmings, the original Grand Theft Auto is a top-down 2D game that started development in 1995 and originally focused on a police officer in pursuit of criminals. The publisher noted that that had been done before, and DMA Design was quick to reverse the roles in order to make it more interesting.

It is strange to consider that the GTA series is so old that the first game in the series actually received a (pretty competent) Game Boy Color port. But yes, that's where we are. The original Grand Theft Auto featured the same kind of story as many other games in the series, with a criminal trying to raise the ranks of several organizations by trying to help other members of the gang and commit crimes of their own.

While the perspective and the lack of 3D graphics make the game feel like a relic of the past, the overall freedom and complete recklessness of the experience were unmatched back then. In this one, the objective is not to complete missions but, instead, to reach a certain number of points, arcade-style. Those points can be reached by doing mostly anything that the game rewards, including some quite evil things.

Compared to other games in the series, the original Grand Theft Auto also brings quite a unique sense of wack and chaos. Imagine being able to drive a classic yellow school bus into a crowd with the game praising your combo, making doughnuts with your motorbike on top of a hospital building, or driving a tank onto incoming traffic. Those were the days, for sure.

Grand Theft Auto also spoke to DMA Design's willingness to let the player experiment with how easy it was to mod the game. You could easily change the entire script simply by editing a text document that was in the same folder as the game. Did you want the criminals to have the names of your friends? Two minutes in Notepad, and it would be done.

The game already features all the cities that would make part of the series in the future, including San Andreas and Vice City, except they were simply different levels of the same game. Clearly, they were much smaller in size than what we would see later in subsequent titles of the series. The most interesting thing about the original GTA is how close it is to the current gameplay of the series and its style, despite so many changes to the gameplay and the overall size and vibe.

Sadly, playing this today is a little difficult. Rockstar once offered them as free PC executables, but those links have since been removed, and official releases don't appear in modern stores.

The Grand Theft Auto London expansions (1999)

There is not much to say about the two expansions that were released in the wake of the commercial success of the original Grand Theft Auto. It is the same kind of gameplay and overall story, except that now it takes place in London and, specifically, in 1969.

It would have been quite a great experience if, at the time, Rockstar had enough money for a fully licensed psych-rock soundtrack from the time. But, alas, no such luck. Interestingly, this was the first title in the series developed by Rockstar Games through the Rockstar Canada studio. Everything in the game was actually developed by using a third-party mod, GTACars, so basically, the mod scene was already so big that even the developers took advantage of it.

Overall, while both expansions were fine for the time, they are not really worth your time today, as they replicate the basic gameplay of the original game with limited additions. This is a must-play for fans who are madly in love with the idea of driving a double-decker bus in late '70s London, though.

That is the one idea we would like to see come back for the series; since Vice City, there haven't been any more treks to the past. Nailing the vibe of late '60s London was quite the catch for many, instead of a generic Scarface-like '80s.

Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)

Released the same year as the London expansion, this time Rockstar was taking the series into the future. It is not very clear what year the game is supposed to take place, but we are apparently playing in "Anywhere City" and in a generic dystopian future. Again, the objective is to rise the ranks of a criminal organization, this time by completing missions.

Except for this quite unique setting (which is also one we would like to see replicated in the future of the series), a slight graphical upgrade, and additions like hover cars and vaguely futuristic weapons, there is not much worthy of note in this sequel. GTA2 did introduce the idea of having a selection of different radio stations to listen to, though.

Overall, this is one that is safe to skip, as the sequel failed to innovate or feature any new gameplay ideas. Sure, there were some improvements, such as finally getting a health meter instead of trying to judge how long your character has before they die, but not much else.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005)

Released in October 2005, initially as a PSP exclusive, this was the first time the series went with a mobile-exclusive title that acted as a counterpart to the plot in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

It wasn't simply a port of the classic gameplay of the series. Instead, Liberty City Stories went in a different direction by making the whole empire building a key part of the experience. A sort of cross between the gang wars and properties of Vice City and San Andreas, we are tasked with operating several businesses taken over by enemy gangs, making them profitable and keeping them safe from other hostile takeovers.

A unique feature of the PSP version was the ability to add custom music tracks and make your personalized radio station. It may not sound like much, but in a pre-Spotify world, this was much appreciated.

While Liberty City Stories doesn't reinvent the wheel, it does stand on its own as a unique experience in the world of GTA. This is a great way to experience a new story in the world of the series without resorting to mods. Unfortunately, if you are looking to play it legally today, you are pretty much limited to the mobile version, which has been pretty much abandoned since 2014. Ergo, do not expect the game to take advantage of your modern and powerful smartphone.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006)

Following up on Liberty City Stories was another chapter in the same sub-series. Released in late 2006, Vice City Stories acts as a prequel to the events of the game, following a disgraced U.S. Army corporal who tries to raise money to pay for his brother's medications.

While there are no big improvements, Vice City Stories allows you to interact with the many bodies of water, not just by swimming but via a JetSki and being able to dive briefly underwater. There are some minor additions to the gameplay that had never been seen before in a GTA game, such as the ability for players to bribe policemen or nurses, so you can keep all your arsenal intact even after getting caught or "Wasted." A new Beach Patrol mode lets you play a Baywatch simulation on the beaches of Vice City, with Victor out to save people's lives from drowning or dispatching thugs to take care of situations.

This is another quite worthy addition for any fans of the series looking for some extra quality time to spend in Vice City. Unfortunately, as opposed to Liberty City stories, this one -- for some reason -- was never ported on mobile, so it is even tougher to obtain legally. The only way to play it today is either to own a PSP or have the PlayStation 2 re-release. But it is worth it; who would want to miss the first videogame in which Phil Collins appears as himself?

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (2009)

Released in March 2009 for both Sony PSP and Nintendo DS, along with later mobile ports, Chinatown Wars has been, as for the time of writing, the final entry into the secondary Grand Theft Auto stories. It is also a fan favorite and, also, one of my favorite titles in the series.

Against the background of the then-current GTA IV plot, Chinatown Wars tells the story of how Huang Lee arrived from China, survived an attempt on his life, and then set out to find out what really happened while trying to make his way to Liberty City.

With a hip-hop and electro-rich soundtrack, plus rich references to past games in the series (like the return of gun store Ammunation in the form of a website), Chinatown Wars is a great way to spend some time while waiting for the sixth official chapter. But there are a couple of things before you dive in.

It is strange to recommend the technically inferior version of a game, but in this case, I think the Nintendo DS version of GTA Chinatown Wars is what makes the game worth playing, not only because of the overall cel-shaded look in the cutscenes (which makes this one stand out from the classic 3D era of GTA), but also for the touchscreen controls.

While the top screen shows the current action and information on what you have to do, the touchscreen is where the real action takes place. By swiping up and down on the touchscreen, you could change radio stations, select things on your PDA, re-route the directions on your GPS, and even throw Molotov cocktails and grenades.

If you want to play one extra Grand Theft Auto title outside of the main series, make it Chinatown Wars on the Nintendo DS -- though it might be hard to get today. Will video games get cooler than being able to whistle down a taxi just by blowing into the DS's microphone? I honestly don't think so.

The post Which past GTA games are still worth your time? appeared first on Destructoid.

Crucial disclaimer right off the bat: I like Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. It's a great game that handles its subject matter well and delivers on all its promises with gusto. Regardless, I bounced off of its post-campaign Operations content because I just felt too weak, which was wild.

There's a bunch of context I'd like to go over for this article because all of it matters a fair bit, but the gist of my point is that the developer Saber Interactive has failed to deliver on a key aspect of the Astartes fantasy, and I can't help but feel that the newly announced Space Marine 3 will have those same issues.

Many Space Marine 2 players are unhappy with such a fast announcement turnover for its sequel because it might mean less post-launch support for the currently relevant game, but that's not the case with me. I'm very much looking forward to Space Marine 3, however long it might take for it to come out, but I fear it will fall into the same trappings as its predecessor did in Operations Mode.

Space Marine 2 makes you feel weak in Operations, and that's no good at all

The majority of my problems with Space Marine 2 don't apply to Campaign Mode. Or, at least, not its highest difficulties. The main Campaign is all well and good, and Titus is an appropriately powerful protagonist for a game such as this. Carefully curated combat encounters and properly balanced enemies ensure as much.

No, my issues stem almost exclusively from the post-campaign Operations Mode, which is supposed to keep players busy for dozens of hours on end. The thing is, you are extremely weak in Operations. So weak that even the regular run-of-the-mill enemies can melt tank-wearing Übermensch in mere seconds when push comes to shove. Now, I wouldn't mind the Astartes' apparently crummy armor all that much if I could grind my way through enemies at a reasonable enough pace. Yet, I cannot because Space Marine 2's vision of a Bolter is effectively that of a shoddy sub-gun. It takes ages to whittle down anything but the weakest of enemies in this game, and this only gets worse the further you go in Operations Mode.

Crucially, Operations' entire progression loop is centered around slowly upping the difficulty to access higher-grade weapon upgrades and resources. If you're not increasing the difficulty, you're not progressing, and the higher the difficulty, the tankier and harder-hitting the enemies get. Sure, your Astartes does get more capable over time, but there's such a ridiculous discrepancy between players and enemies in Space Marine 2 that it gets downright unplayable if you're not abusing meta strategies even at medium difficulties.

I fully understand and appreciate that Space Marine 2 generally gives you all the tools you need to overcome most situations in Operations Mode. Keep in mind that I also don't claim to be anything but average at this game.

My point is purely that at no time while playing Operations have I felt like an Astartes. Sure, my character's footsteps would echo and those Bolters sure did sound awesome, but they fired to no effect and I'd die to the faintest modicum of gunfire in key situations.

Saber Interactive can do challenging difficulties, but this failed to materialize in Space Marine 2

Before someone jumps at me in the comments, I'm reasonably well-versed in 40K lore and understand just how powerful a Tyranid Warrior or a Lictor truly would be. Having them tear down through Marines like a hot knife through butter makes sense at some level, but is that really what the game is supposed to be about?

Space Marine 2 pitches itself as a game about the Astartes: it should be able to sell the fantasy of controlling what is effectively a super-human tank. Instead, Space Marine 2's Astartes are underpowered in every sense of the word, and they face huge numbers of extremely tanky and hard-hitting enemies no matter where they go and what they do.

The strange bit, to me, is that Saber Interactive's prior flagship release, WWZ: Aftermath, did a much better job of cranking up its difficulty while still allowing the player to feel powerful. WWZ's challenge lies in its hordes of weak zombies, where even "special" enemies can be taken down quickly if you coordinate appropriately. In Space Marine 2, this is only possible if all players in your fireteam have many upgrades and an optimum combat loadout. Even then, it sometimes takes a while to get through encounters.

Space Marine 2 fails to deliver on a crucial aspect of the Astartes fantasy due to its overreliance on high health pools and a frankly subpar weapon roster. Do I really have to min-max my way through medium difficulty levels in Operations Mode?

The true kicker is that Saber Interactive hasn't changed how Operations Mode works after player feedback. Things are now better than they were on day one, yes, but the gist of the Astartes being fairly weak glass cannons hasn't changed. Will it be any different in Space Marine 3, then? I've got my hopes, but I've got my doubts, as well.

The post Can Space Marine 3 fix Space Marine 2’s biggest problem? appeared first on Destructoid.

As the Sony PlayStation 2 remains the highest-selling console of all time, it should come as no surprise that it's home to some of the best-selling games in video game history.

It's also received a wildly interesting collection of offbeat, strange, bad, and sometimes great games that, for one reason or another, never sold very much and are now extremely rare and valuable. Let's look at the PS2's biggest rarities, shall we?

10. Wild Arms: Alter Code F

The remake phenomenon is in full swing nowadays, but the concept of game remakes isn't as young as many would like to make you think.

Wild Arms: Alter Code F is a rich PS2 remaster of the original PS1 Wild Arms, featuring heavily updated 3D graphics and new characters. Despite its awesomeness and name brand, its success didn't quite carry over to the new version. Was it because people were unimpressed by the upgrades? Because they'd simply rather try out new stuff instead of going for a shinier version of something they knew? Because publisher agetec's masterplan was to have the rarest games on the system (you'll see what I'm talking about)? Who knows. Whatever the cause, nobody seemed too confident in Alter Code F, as it didn't even come out in Europe. The result is a rare classic that's worth over $300 nowadays.

9. .hack Quarantine

.hack was a very popular RPG series back in the heyday of the PS2. Even before the release of World Of Warcraft, .hack was already telling a tale regarding the possibly negative influence a super-popular MMORPG could have on the populace.

.hack Quarantine served as the culmination of the four-game series, but, likely due to the rule of diminished returns, .hack Quarantine ended up becoming a harder title to get than the other games in the series. Though it's not the most expensive game on this list, it's quite peculiar to find a game from a once-popular series at over $300.

8. Obscure

Don't let the name fool you. ObsCure's original take on survival horror saw us play as a team of teens trying to survive a mysterious monster attack on their high school, and it proved surprisingly popular upon release. Still, ObsCure came out just a year before Resident Evil 4 took horror games — and a large part of the gaming industry, really — in a new direction, so ObsCure ultimately lived up to its name. You can get an unused copy of ObsCure for a little over $330.

Interestingly, ObsCure got a sequel in the end, but copies of ObsCure 2 are far more common than those of the original game.

7. Echo Night Beyond

This is one of the few titles on this list that I only learned about when researching, and there's a reason for that. Echo Night Beyond, a sci-fi tale where the player's choices matter, only featured a very small print run, and, even out of it, relatively few copies ever got sold.

Nowadays, Echo Night Beyond is one of those games that mostly just collectors know of and care about, even though it's seemingly not bad at all. I'd love to give it a try! Too bad I'm not about to shell out the internet's minimum asking price of $300.

6. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

This is a surprising entry because Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, the original remake of the first Silent Hill game, was actually quite a hit... on the Wii. For some reason, even though the game caused a huge splash on Nintendo's console — and Sony's consoles are the place where more Silent Hill fans tend to inhabit — Shattered Memories' PS2 version had a very limited print run and its copies are now perhaps just as elusive as the titular town itself.

Even though it's part of an extremely popular game series, you'll be lucky to get a copy of this game for less than five hundred bucks.

5. Haunting Ground

Unlike Shattered Memories above, Haunting Ground doesn't carry the name of a huge franchise, but it's still the spiritual successor to the once-popular Clocktower series. This one's rarity might be due to mismanaged marketing — sometimes you should really make use of your brand names, Capcom.

Haunting Ground's apparent lack of commercial success might also have come about due to the game releasing right about when the paradigm-shifting Resident Evil 4 was coming out, so that's already two ways in which Capcom might've accidentally caused Haunting Ground to become one of the rarest and — at over $700 for a new copy — one of the most expensive games on the system.

4. Blood Will Tell

I don't know about you, but I always find it so appropriate when the rarest games belong to the mystery or horror genres, and the PS2 has that in spades. Blood Will Tell is a cult classic from Sega where a samurai teams up with a thief to — I kid you not — retrieve parts of the samurai's body.

Despite its grisly premise, that's not why Blood Will Tell has become so rare. It is just not that good of a game and was also probably too niche to become a mainstream hit, so it became a cult classic — and, at over $500 for a new copy, a very expensive one at that.

3. Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Plot twist time: games belonging to popular franchises don't tend to show up on these lists, even more so when they're extremely good and popular.

To this day, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 remains one of the most talked-about fighting games of all time. Still, its PlayStation 2 version is exceedingly rare and expensive. Why? Because of copyright shenanigans between Capcom and Marvel that took place shortly after the game's release, the game had a limited print run. That's why you may have to shell out $900 if you want a sealed copy of Marvel vs Capcom 2 today.

2. Rule of Rose

If you're a video game collector, Rule Of Rose likely pops up in your mind dozens of times a day. Another horror classic that became the stuff of legend, this time likely because its psychological horror elements were deemed too insidious and thus prevented the game from even getting distributed in most places. While it's true that Rule Of Rose features some rather disturbing themes, I'd say none of it justifies turning the game into a cursed artifact.

Rule Of Rose initially sold most of its very limited stock, so any sealed copy is expected to set you back by over eight hundred dollars.

1. Kuon

Here it is, the final boss of rare PS2 games. Kuon is, guess what, a survival horror game. This time, however, we're not talking about a game that owes its rarity to disturbing themes that prevented uncourageous publishers from localizing the game and trying to sell it overseas, but rather just bad marketing.

There are no surprising or even possibly haunted elements to this tale. Kuon only ever had a very limited print run and barely had any marketing from US publisher agetec — which you probably only know from this list because, well, it was seemingly way more discrete a publishing company should ever be. Still, they inadvertently managed to create the legend of Kuon, whose new copies sell for over $1,100 now, so congrats, I guess.

The post Rarest PS2 games, ranked appeared first on Destructoid.

Ubisoft revealed today that an all-new game mode, Dual Front, is coming to the tactical FPS Rainbow 6 Siege as part of its Siege X showcase which is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. I had a chance to play a few rounds of the innovative new mode, and it's an absolute game changer for Rainbow 6 Siege.

The new Dual Front mode essentially breaks the map into different sections and splits it between the two teams. Rather than teams of 5, Dual Front utilizes teams of 6, creating a new tug-of-war style of gameplay in 6v6 battles. Each team is split into two groups of three, with one of the groups assigned the role of attacking, and the other assigned the role of defending.

You aren't bound by your group's assigned role—you can opt to run across the map and join the attackers if you were assigned to defense, for example—but that of course can create a weakness for your team. Both teams have one of those split sections of the map with an objective you must defend from the other team taking.

If you manage to secure the objective, the map updates, essentially changing the turf of the section, and changing the new attack/defend objectives for each team. Of course, this would be odd with the normal 1-life per round nature of Siege, so instead death results in a brief cooldown before you can respawn in one of your team's claimed sections.

As someone who loves Siege but has only played a handful of times since its release 10 years ago, this is exactly the kind of mode to get me back into it. A mode that still utilizes the well-optimized and tight gunplay that Siege is known best for, while raising the stakes a bit to create a more fast-paced environment. Camping is essentially a debuff to your team in this mode, which is a natural way to eliminate another one of my frustrations with the core gameplay mode.

The tug-of-war style gameplay still rewards players for being tactical, as securing a location and keeping it defended is equally as important as pushing forward and securing the objective to expand your team's control of the map. I'm excited to see how strategies evolve from the core game into Dual Front as more experienced player's figure out the best ways to attack and defend at the same time.

Those interested in checking out the new Rainbow 6 Siege Dual Front game mode can do so during a closed beta running from March 13 through March 19.

The post Rainbow 6 Siege new Dual Front mode is a game changer for the decade-old shooter appeared first on Destructoid.

In a striking development, Ubisoft has revealed that the humble Steam Deck should be able to run Assassin's Creed Shadows basically from the get-go. Now, do keep a pinch of salt at hand, but I think this is genuinely great news, even if only from the perspective of hardware support.

This information comes from Ubisoft's official Assassin's Creed Twitter account, where the publisher claimed that it would support Valve's acclaimed gaming handheld with the caveat that the official classification of the game's performance was still pending. At the time of writing, Shadows is classified as "Unsupported" by the Steam Deck with no explanation as to what might be going on with it. Not a great look, but it's not a deal-breaker by any stretch of the imagination.

A crucial tidbit to keep in mind here is that Ubisoft claims the old GTX 1070 is a baseline minimum to be able to run Shadows at all. The Steam Deck APU performs roughly at the same level.

Is the Steam Deck really that underpowered, then?

I was firmly in the "Steam Deck is too weak for AAA gaming" camp until very recently, when I gave Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 a fair shake on the handheld. To be perfectly honest, you do need to cap the game at 30 FPS for the Deck to keep up with it, but come on. That's a ridiculously impressive feat for a tiny little APU running in a frankly meager 20W envelope. This same point was driven home further still when Ubisoft pushed out claims of AC: Shadows being playable on the Deck as well.

On that front, I'd advise waiting for third-party reviews (I recommend SteamDeckHQ's assessment, specifically). Regardless of that, the idea that Ubisoft might be championing its own flagship make-it-or-break-it release as Steam Deck compatible in 2025 is excellent news for the device.

Though I do use my OLED Deck a whole lot almost daily, I don't play cutting-edge titles on it. Instead, it's used for older games, like the awesome MachineGames Wolfenstein titles, and a whole host of indie releases.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that the Deck can pull its weight in Civilization 7, Warriors: Abyss, Two Point Museum, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and Sonic X Shadow Generations just fine. To say nothing of the aforementioned Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which is a joy to behold on a handheld. I grew up with dedicated Java games on classic old Sony-Ericsson feature phones: to see a Steam Deck pull this off is nothing short of phenomenal in my book.

It's all too easy to forget just how capable the Steam Deck actually is in context. It's going to be particularly interesting to see how the Deck fares compared to the Nintendo Switch 2, as that'll be the next low-end baseline for years to come.

There are no two ways about it: the Steam Deck's hardware set is definitely getting long in the tooth by now. If you can't handle low FPS caps, it won't be a good fit no matter what you do with it, but I've previously discussed why a high frame rate isn't the only thing that matters when it comes to PC gaming performance. Besides, there's no denying one simple fact: the Deck is a neat and lovingly designed device that punches well above its weight. How much longer before that stops being the case? Well, that depends entirely on the specific games you're playing, doesn't it? The next Asassin's Creed game after Shadows is unlikely to do well on it, though.

The post Assassin’s Creed Shadows should run on the Steam Deck, proving a curious point appeared first on Destructoid.

Back in 2018 when Two Point Hospital first came out, I don't think anyone truly expected the developer to spin out a whole franchise. In 2025, though, we have Two Point Campus and Two Point Museum, and the latter, in particular, is an absolute delight.

Make no mistake, I adored both Hospital and Campus in their own ways. Two Point Hospital came about as an honest-to-goodness, albeit goofy, follow-up to the legendary Theme Hospital, and it very well could've stood on its own as a standalone product. Two Point Campus, on the other hand, proved that there was merit in making a franchise out of this Wallace & Gromit-esque schtick. The game had its own set of issues, however, most of which stemmed from the fact that all the actual management was done between semesters, with Campus playing itself when things truly kicked off.

Two Point Museum, however, solves all the problems I had with its predecessors. It doesn't have the automation issues that came about in Campus, and it doesn't suffer from being an essentially solvable game, like Hospital. No, Museum keeps players on their toes for way longer than any other Two Point title, and I'm thrilled to report that Zoey Handley's preview for the game was spot-on in a few key ways.

There are two fundamental improvements Two Point Studios has delivered upon with Two Point Museum:

• The gameplay loop is such that you're rewarded for coming back to your old, previously "solved" facilities.
• Expeditions keep throwing curveballs at you as you go.

The first novelty, in particular, cannot be overstated: whereas you used to be able to wrap up a facility and simply move on to greener pastures in Hospital and Campus, Museum instead specifically tasks you with improving and upgrading old levels over and over again. You might head on over to an afterlife-themed facility later on in the campaign, which leads to a whole bevy of thematic (and goofy!) upgrades. All of them can subsequently be applied to your older museums, which in turn increases their ratings and nets you more currency and even more unlockables.

Levels are no longer "solved" after just one playthrough, which makes them rewarding to replay over and again, each time iterating upon your optimal exhibition layout to a greater extent. This is the ultimate solution to the prior Two Point titles' biggest problem, and makes Museum the kind of game that's hard to put down. There's always something going on, and there's always something you could be iterating on.

Management games aren't everyone's cup of tea, that's a given. Yet, I can't help but feel that Two Point Museum shows that you don't have to sacrifice accessibility to make a truly compelling game of this kind.

The last couple of months have given us some of the best games we've seen over the past years. Between Avowed, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, there's absolutely no shortage of awesome, dynamic, and immersive action games to play for hundreds of hours on end. Yet, I can't help but play Two Point Museum instead. It's so good of an experience that I can't set it down.

Crucially, I hope Two Point Museum is a crucial turning point for the franchise. Two Point Studios has seemingly figured out how to elevate its management gameplay loop beyond issues present in its older titles. I'm not saying it's going to be easy or straightforward to apply a similar approach to whatever the next Two Point game might, but it's a delightful sign of things that are hopefully to come.

That's a different can of worms, however. In the interim, the main takeaway is that Two Point Museum is an absolute joy to play. Between its humor, the lovely visuals, and an inviting gameplay loop, there's really not much else a genre fan could ask for. So go and play it, already!

The post Two Point Museum is awesome, and now’s the time to check it out appeared first on Destructoid.

If the sadist in you likes playing one of the more frustrating games out there, you can be rest assured there are a few options. From Surgeon Simulator to I Am Bread to Octodad to Getting Over It, there's seemingly no shortage of ways gaming can make your blood boil.

If that's your thing, here's something to add to your pains: Make Good Choices. Released at the start of 2025, this small indie title will test the resolve of your shaky mettle. It was created by a small studio called TM Games, and it's been gathering a bit of momentum on YouTube over the past few weeks.

The premise is simple: get to the end of the street in one piece. Now, we can already ascertain things will not go according to plan, especially considering the game has the user-defined tags "survival," "choices matter," and even "psychological horror." Still, I decided to give Make Good Choices a try to see how much of a frustrating game it really is. Safety precautions are recommended from hereon out.

Cherish every moment

Immediately check your surroundings. No, seriously. Scrutinize all potential hazards before you take even one step. The loading tips even warn you about this by clarifying that if something can go wrong, it will.

I begin with mild aplomb, certain that I can best the game within a few attempts. All it takes is a little bit of patience and enough repetitions to understand how it all works, right? Walk slowly and with purpose; keep your eyes peeled.

But hark, what is this? A falling lamppost, an exploding moped, a collapsing balcony? This is truly a dangerous street to walk down. Alas, I start over, ready to take on the challenge once more. And again. And again. And again. Then, a toilet break. And then again.

The essence of Make Good Choices is to celebrate tiny steps and make progress count, however small it may seem. There are dangers all around, and until you are safely at your destination, just assume the worst. If I can make it to [X], you think to yourself, I'll be happy.

What's interesting about the game is that there are small changes here and there with each reset. The street remains the same, but the obstacles differ each time you restart (and you have to restart every time; no save states here). Objects like the moped, air conditioning unit, gas pipe, or stationary van may not be there the next time around, and now that you understand what they do, you can actually start to plan. Sort of.

But you'll forget something. You'll always forget that one thing you neglected to look out for. Then it's back to the start for you.

Wait, who's that guy?

So how far have I got at the time of writing? It's hard to say in terms of intangible progress. In terms of distance, I've made it to the first junction crossing, a feat that's taken me more time than I care to admit, especially given I could still see the starting point if I were to turn around.

Is it a frustrating game? In the way you would expect, given that it boasts exploding objects. The thing that adds that extra layer of vexation in Make Good Choices is that there seem to be certain permutations of the game's obstacles that render a winning scenario impossible. If you notice x, y, and z in your path, you may as well give up. It's hard to say whether this was intentional or a curse of item randomization. Either that or I'm not as cautious as I first thought.

In any case, it doesn't quite lend itself to that frustrating game aesthetic that the aforementioned Surgeon Simulator or Octodad are known for. For starters, those games are notorious for their intentionally unintuitive control schemes, while Make Good Choices is an exercise in cursing yourself for forgetting there was a satellite dish above your head.

It also has something of a creepy vibe to it, which is not surprising given it's literally tagged as being a psychological horror. Some elements gave me pause for thought, beyond wondering where to make my next move. Like, what's with that news report I can hear in a nearby apartment? Or, who's that guy on the roof?

If you want to see someone complete the game to show it's actually possible, check out this speedrun (spoilers, obviously). But if there's one thing to take away from this, it's that Make Good Choices is an almost chess-like strategy experience. Only with more exploding bins and excessive use of expletives from the player.

The post Is this the most frustrating game ever? appeared first on Destructoid.

Performance is a hotly contested topic in gaming, much like visual fidelity. Some feel 30 FPS is fine, while others aren't happy unless they get upwards of 120 at maximum settings. The truth is, as usual, smack-dab in the middle, but it's not entirely straightforward.

PC performance is something I'm passionate about, as cheesy as that might sound. In the nerdy, min-maxing kind of way, of course. In case you've previously come across my AI frame generation explainer here at Destructoid, this probably sounds quite self-apparent, but the same approach could be applied to a wealth of other related topics, too. There's a huge amount of nuance to how a game runs, and the more the gaming industry matures, the better we understand this specific aspect of game development.

Now, this doesn't necessarily mean newer games perform better as a rule. Uh, quite the opposite, actually, if you consider crummy releases such as Monster Hunter Wilds. New games mean new rendering techniques, and the cutting-edge is not cheap to run. There's an entire science's worth of effort that goes into game optimization and performance measuring, and I genuinely think that knowing and understanding what goes into making a game performant is a crucial aspect of PC gaming.

I can't shove an entire industry's worth of performance understanding into a single article, obviously. What I can do, however, is to try and explain how to make a game perform smoothly. Or, if you will, how I believe "good performance" should be measured.

When does a game perform well?

I've been repeating this over and over again to anyone who listens, but frame rate alone is not a good quantifier of how well a game will run. If you're relying exclusively on average frame rate for performance assessment, as benchmarking often does, you're using an outdated and frankly inadequate measurement that barely tells you half the story of what's actually going on. Instead, you need (at least!) frame rate and frame time information via preferably a graph UI. MSI Afterburner still works great in this respect, if you need it.

The rule of thumb is that no matter your frame rate, your frame-time graph needs to be as flat as possible. Spikes indicate stutters and performance issues, and unless the game is deeply broken or running on Unreal Engine 5, the way to get around these spikes is to play around with your graphics settings and change your FPS target.

An objectively good performance isn't even that hard to achieve. At least, not on paper. Here's my first hot take, though: removing the cap from your frame rate and going ham isn't a good time for the average gamer. Personal preferences and all that, yes, but you really want your frame time graph to be as stable and flat as possible. This isn't happening when you've got one scene rendering at 200 FPS while the other drops you as low as 80.

Good performance, as a term, should be used to describe a situation in which a game can always hit its target frame rate at an appropriate frame time. Surely you've noticed by now that not every game properly caps out at 60 FPS, right? You're only getting a perfectly silky smooth 60 FPS if there's exactly 16.67ms between each rendered frame, and since human eyes expect consistency, that's what makes certain games performant.

How much FPS is enough FPS?

The more FPS you get, the better. That's always going to be the case. The more nuanced and practical assessment, however, is once again that consistency is a crucial part of it. And so we come to my second hot take of the day: your FPS cap should be just under whatever your lowest average frame rate in a game is.

Optimizing your graphics settings on PC is all about balance. Let's say you've got a 120 Hz display that you want to fully saturate while playing a certain game. Your first goal should be to see if you can't hit the 120 FPS target, of course, but if you're closer to 80 or 90 FPS most of the time my recommendation is to call it quits and go for a 60 FPS cap instead. Crank those settings up a tad, and I promise you'll have a better experience at a stable 60 than you would if your FPS was all over the place but closer to 120.

I say 60 FPS, specifically, because in this example we've got a 120 Hz display. At 120 Hz, your performance targets should simply be 120, 60, 40, and 30 FPS depending on what your hardware can reach in a given game. Your monitor's refresh rate has to be able to evenly divide your rendered frames for your frame-times to be stable and constant.

60 FPS will look awful on a locked 144 Hz display because the display will render each frame twice and then some. You do not want this. Your frames should be displayed in extremely even intervals, with each staying on-screen for precisely the same amount of time. The alternative is a nasty, cyclical stutter that won't go away.

All of this is to say that you don't actually want too much FPS unless you're a competitive gamer. Instead, figure out what performance target looks the best to you and remains achievable with your hardware, cap your frame rate to that specific target, and you're golden.

Wrapping it up

Let me reiterate something I mentioned at the start of this diatribe: I've only just scratched the surface of good video game performance here. I've barely touched upon technologies such as G-Sync, for example, and how it effectively enables variable frame rates without screen-tearing. Or how you can use RivaTuner to fine-tune your frame rate caps per-game to a greater extent than actual GPU driver software allows you to.

There's a wealth of tools we can use to truly fine-tune what our hardware does and how games are rendered. Back in the day, on the other hand, all we really had to go on when it comes to performance assessment was Fraps: a crummy frame rate counter that was honestly quite wrong half the time.

Now? You can have actual frame-time graphs drawn for you in-game, allowing you not just to see why your 120 FPS gameplay feels like trawling through mud but also making it easy to pinpoint what might be causing your latency spikes. With so many of these applications at our disposal, why aren't more of us using them to actually tune our games for perfect, rock-solid performance instead of going after the highest frame rate possible? Give my advice a shot, either way. I don't think you'll be disappointed with what you find.

The post What does ‘good performance’ really mean in the context of PC gaming? appeared first on Destructoid.

Dragon Ball DAIMA, the anime that celebrates the franchise's four decades of history, has recently come to a close. It's a beautiful love letter to the fans, perfectly encapsulating the excitement the franchise brings in just 20 episodes. It, after all, features numerous Super Saiyan and even canonizes Super Saiyan 4.

Dragon Ball DAIMA, however, is more than just a recap. It wonderfully expounds on the Demon Realm, while also introducing new nemeses and curious items. One of these items are Join Bugs, though the anime seemed to have completely forgotten about it.

A variety of powerful creepy crawlies

The first quarter of the show were rightfully spent on exploring the Demon Realm. During which, the trio of Goku, Nahare, and Glorio had a number of misadventures. After their ship was stolen, they had to find a more efficient way than traveling on foot. That was when they stumbled upon a curious souvenir shop. Glorio managed to get them a special means of traveling called the Sky Seed, wherein they would be shot into the sky a la harpoon.

However, it was in that very same shop that Goku and Nahare first encountered the Demon Realm's various bugs. There were a variety of them, but five were highlighted: the Revive Bug, Achichi Bug, Zutsu Bug, Beaut Bug, and Join Bug.

The Revive Bug works like a Senzu Bean, restoring the eater's health and stamina. The Achichi Bug heals burns, while the Zutsu Bug cures headaches. As the name implies, the Beaut Bug gives its consumer a silky-smooth skin. Finally, there's the Join Bugs. Should two people share the bug, they would temporarily fuse into one. Basically, it worked just like the Potara earrings.

Suddenly, the Join Bugs were forgotten

At the time, it was obvious that these critters were gonna play an important role in the mini Z fighters' quest on regaining their original bodies, especially as Goku bought a number of them. To be fair, they kinda did. Goku and Vegeta frequently ate Revive Bugs to replenish their strength.

At one point during their fight against the Tertian-Oculus-buffed Gomah, Goku dropped the bug bag. Since there was still ample of time in the final episodes for Goku's camp to somehow recover the bag, it just didn't happen. Super Saiyan 4 Goku takes the spotlight and beat Gomah, our hopes of seeing the Join Bug's effects get buried in oblivion.

Interestingly, the more trivial Beaut Bug beats it in terms of screentime, as it made a re-appearance at the end of the final episode. Just as our heroes are going to return to Earth, they stopped by the same shop. Goku replenished his stock of Revive Bugs as their Senzu Beans were supposedly running low. As Bulma was facing the woes of having not-so-baby skin anymore, she was introduced to the miraculous Beaut Bug. Of course, there was no mention or acknowledgment of the Join Bug.

A true missed opportunity

New forms are always welcome in the Dragon Ball verse. Fans are always eagerly waiting for how Goku or any of the Z fighter will transform. Case in point, the moment Goku mastered Ultra Instinct sent waves across the entire Dragon Ball fandom. This is exactly why the omission of the Join Bug’s effects feels like such a massive oversight.

Fusion is also not a new concept. In fact, the moment Goku heard about the Join Bug, he immediately compared it to the said technique. To achieve that, the only known methods are either through the Fusion Dance or the use of Potara earrings. It's not even the same. Using a different Fusion technique results to a different character. With the introduction of Join Bugs, we could have gotten a third method and myriad of possible new characters. Even with Goku and Vegeta aside, it would have been epic to see Kuu fuse with Duu.

Unfortunately, that is gone with the bug bag, though not all hope is lost. Perhaps in a future installation, or even in Dragon Ball Super, the elusive Join Bug will make an appearance once again. Hopefully, at that time, it does more joining than just falling into obscurity.

The post Dragon Ball DAIMA just completely forgot about Join Bugs appeared first on Destructoid.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has been out for about six months now, keeping a loyal niche happy and playing all throughout. This might be a sign that Space Marine 2 is, in fact, pretty good, and that you don’t need live service trickery to maintain a healthy player base.

But that’s not the kind of insight we care about today.

You’re here because you want more Warhammer. Weirder Warhammer, if such a thing exists. Troublingly unbalanced, entirely untested Warhammer. Too many enemies, a dozen friendlies, multiplayer bots in single players, stuff that will make your game crash — the works. If that’s you, here are a few Space Marine 2 mods to get you started.

Project Rubicon

Project Rubicon is a small, unique mod that completely changes the combat of Space Marine 2 by making kills restore a fraction of your health. Think DOOM Eternal, but a lot jankier and without glory kills. The specific rules are a little different (kills restore armor, finisher moves restore health) but the objective is the same.

Together with the damage increase for both enemies and players packaged in the same month, Project Rubicon turns Space Marine 2 into a much swingier game in which there’s no safety behind your massive armor. Relentless aggression is the only viable strategy.

Disable Intros

A staple of every game mod list, Disable Intros does exactly what it says on the cover. There isn’t much to add, it’s just a mod that removes the unskippable logos that play every time you turn on the game.

Hopefully, you’ll be able to keep this mod installed when participating in online games, even if Space Marine 2 doesn’t allow mods in public matches anymore. If the game won’t let you join a public lobby with this mod on you can just disable the mod. Please don’t risk getting banned to skip 10 seconds of logos. You can get a mod that lets you use mods in online public matches, sure, but is it really worth it?

Deluge

Deluge - Larger Squads and Enemy Spawns is a long name for a mod, but at least it makes itself clear. If Space Marine 2 left your craving for tyranids and chaos unanswered, or if you wish every mission would inundate you and your squad with just too many enemies, this is the mod for you. However, a deluge of practice targets requires an adequate number of manned guns, and for this, too, you can trust Deluge.

Your squad can have as many as ten members, though that depends on the kind of squad you pick. The Nexus Mods page mentions that Deluge is not balanced, nor is it meant to be. Let’s be honest, if you’re eyeing a mod like this your first thought is probably not “Does this provide a fair and balanced challenge?”

Better Feeling Weapons

Despite its name, Better Feeling Weapons is as much about game feel as it is about rebalancing difficulty by adjusting the weapons’ damage, mostly in the player’s favor. Needless to say, this is another not-quite-balanced mod. But then again, so are they all. Better Feeling Weapons changes the behavior of most weapons in the games in a few key areas, with the damage increase being the least interesting.

Staggering was changed significantly, with some weapons now able to interrupt the tankiest units in the game in a few hits, making those massive guns feel more like their size. Weapon spreading, which normally increases the longer you hold the trigger, now regenerates at different rates depending on the weapon. Finally, the weapon kick has been somewhat tweaked.

Enhanced Melee

Unlike other combat overhaul mods, Enhanced Melee isn’t unbalanced. In the words of the creator, “This mod is technically overpowered”, an important distinction that I’m grateful was made clear. The bonuses granted to close-quarters fighting in this mod are frankly absurd, and hand-to-hand fighting is completely broken.

Common weapons get a damage bump of 60%, faster combos, and easier parrying that triggers early and stays active for longer. Better melee weapons get even better bonuses, with Relics being 240% stronger and a parry time that is seemingly five times longer than before.

Astartes Overhaul

Warhammer Workshop’s Astartes Overhaul is probably the biggest mod for Space Marine 2, with new weapons, reworked existing equipment, three new classes, and more customization. But while this is the flashiest part of the mod, much more has been changed than has been added. This includes rebalanced player health and damage, longer enemy waves, and better companion AI (though it’s hard to tell exactly how it has been made better).

Astartes Overhaul is a great mod if you want a slightly harder, probably less balanced experience that trades immediacy for depth and accuracy to the Warhammer 40K lore.

Active AI

Unlike some elaborate AI overhaul mods, Active AI is a simple modification that reduces the downtime between actions taken by enemy and friendly NPCs. In vanilla Space Marine 2, it’s not rare to see enemies form a crowd around you without doing anything, waiting politely until you’re done killing their friend. The same can happen to your bot companions, which is even weirder since they take turns shooting their ranged weapons.

What Active AI does in practice is to remove the countdown between simple actions like attacking and dodging for every NPC, friendly or foe. It also makes it more likely that your companion will change their target when necessary and makes their ultimate ability charge up faster. Like many other mods, Active AI assumes you’ve installed the Astartes Overhaul mod, though it should be possible to run it alone.

Noclip

Noclip sounds like a very straightforward mod, something that lots of games come packaged with as a cheat or console command, but that’s not entirely accurate. Noclipping, in this case, doesn’t refer to the ability to phase through walls and go out of bounds by removing collisions between your character and the game world. Instead, in this case, the limitation on the flight distance of Camera Mode is what's lifted.

For some reason, Space Marine 2’s otherwise solid Camera Mode kept a tight leash on the player, forcing them inside a tight range around the main character. This made taking panoramic shots impossible, as well as forcing the not especially appealing protagonist into every picture. Noclip is the long-awaited solution to an extremely minor problem, as every good mod should be.

The post Best Mods for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 in 2025 appeared first on Destructoid.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft is arguably the most influential master of horror to ever have lived. Though oftentimes plagued by tragically regressive views and sometimes written in a rather infuriating way, his works remain ever-fruitful in inspiring other writers, filmmakers, and even video game devs who thought we wouldn't notice.

As the man seemingly had already shed most of his more unlikable beliefs by the time of his death, I believe it fair for us to remember his best works, even if only to help inspire horror writers or developers looking for a serious bout of inspiration — we know it works.

10. The Call Of Cthulhu

The Call Of Cthulhu is about a detective's ill-fated investigation of an eerie and mysterious cult. This synopsis seems like the most clichéd of plots right now, but that's only because of its immense influence.

Though it's easily the most famous tale by Lovecraft, The Call Of Cthulhu is rather far from his best. That's not to say it sucks, but rather to state just how great some of his stuff is. Also, newcomers will likely be disappointed to learn just how little Cthulhu does in the book, despite being the poster boy of all things Lovecraft. That's not Lovecraft's fault, though, but that of the people who needed to find a cool figure to promote his stuff.

9. The Thing On The Doorstep

The Thing On The Doorstep tells the story of a man who may not be who (or even what) he says he is. It's a riveting mystery tale about a man desperately trying to tell a truth that might prove too strange to believe.

If you're into stories about possession and believe tales of demonic possession influenced by Christianity have become stale, then you should probably give the original a try.

8. Dagon

Before we began exploring space, our very own seemingly bottomless seas were just as scary — if not more — than the dark skies above. Dagon is a tale of a man adrift at sea that perfectly mixes the natural horrors anyone would experience in such a scenario with the otherworldly torments Lovecraft is known for.

Dagon is a fantastic story, though one that should come with a trigger warning for its themes of suicide.

7. At The Mountains Of Madness

At The Mountains Of Madness is about a geologist's attempt to prevent a team of scientists from going on an expedition to Antarctica that will inevitably unleash upon them horrors beyond what their human science can prepare them for.

Are you the kind of person who cringes at seeing tourists blissfully risking their lives to take pictures at the top of snowy and life-threatening mountains? Then this is the one for you.

6. From Beyond

From Beyond tells the story of Crawford Tillinghast, a brilliant scientist who goes too far in one of his experiments and then has the people around him inevitably deal with the consequences.

This is one of the most common tropes in Sci-Fi literature — even in Lovecraft's body of work, really — but this is more or less where it started, and this is where it's done the best. Tillinghast's search for other dimensions and the discovery of what horrors plague them remain some of the best examples of "Fear Of The Unknown" literature.

5. The Dunwich Horror

Despite the unrelated name, The Dunwich Horror is actually a much more compelling "Cthulhu mythos" tale than The Call Of Cthulhu.

It's a better, more compelling, and more straightforward tale that begins with the investigation of a very peculiar family that naturally takes a turn into more otherworldly and horrifying territory.

4. The Rats In The Walls

If Lovecraft's prejudiced views do in any way shape or form cause you pain, then The Rats In The Walls is definitely not the tale for you — but mostly for a stupid simple reason. That reason is a cat in that story, which is named after a racial slur. That really sucks, especially in a story supposedly about rats, where a cat is always going to be important.

If you manage to ignore that ridiculously stupid name, The Rats In The Walls is one of the most thrilling and riveting mysteries ever written, one that will keep you guessing and want you to know more every step of the way until you reach its tremendous closing act.

3. The Shadow Over Innsmouth

This is the story of a man who travels to investigate an eerie town thought to have been ruined by the government only to find out things are worse than anyone could've imagined. The Shadow Over Innsmouth provides a welcome breath of fresh air for detective stories and is likely single-handedly responsible for the "mystery town" trope seen in classics such as Twin Peaks.

Don't let the title throw you off. The Shadow Over Innsmouth — not The Call Of Cthulhu — was the basis for the spectacularly underrated Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth video game.

2. The Whisperer In Darkness

If you read The Call Of Cthulhu and end up feeling overwhelmed, then the Whisperer In Darkness might just be the one for you. Though it's not a remake in any way shape or form, It's a similar tale of investigation, and a much better-told one at that.

The Whisperer In Darkness is not the deepest of Lovecraft's tales, but it's the most horrifyingly fun and arguably the most likely to get others hooked on his writing and mythos.

1. The Colour Out Of Space

The Colour Out Of Space tells the tale of a man who's either going insane or dealing with the beginning of an alien invasion — long before stories of alien invasions were a thing. Instead of little green men, flying saucers, or robot tripods, this man has to contend with a lifeform capable of emanating an incomprehensible color.

When combined with the overall quality of the tale, the brilliant and possibly even dangerous concept that might bring readers to the brink of madness as they try to conjure a new color in their minds makes this a truly transcendent tale.

The Colour Out Of Space has been adapted to movie format on two different occasions, one making use of extremely vibrant colors, the other in black and white, and both rock.

The post Best HP Lovecraft stories, ranked appeared first on Destructoid.

Phoebe, the latest 5-star character in Wuthering Waves Version 2.1, relies heavily on the Spectro Frazzle debuff, making her unviable without it. This design flaw limits teambuilding options, threatening the game's long-term character design philosophy, and it must be addressed before it’s too late.

The Spectro Frazzle dilemma

Phoebe's kit revolves entirely around Spectro Frazzle, to the point of absurdity. It is a debuff that must be applied to enemies for her to function effectively. Only Spectro Rover, one specific character, can apply this debuff consistently. Without it, Phoebe becomes dramatically weaker, bordering on useless. This rigid dependency forces players into a narrow, restrictive team composition.

But let's break this down even further. Most characters in Wuthering Waves have a level of flexibility built into their kits. They can function decently on their own but shine when placed in the right team composition or with the proper set of buffs. Phoebe, however, is an entirely different story. If the enemy does not have Spectro Frazzle applied, her abilities may as well not exist. She can't deal damage, she can't contribute meaningfully, and she becomes dead weight in a fight. This is the kind of design that kills excitement for a new character. No one wants to pull for a five-star unit only to realize they need to have another very specific character to make them work at all.

Creating the problem, selling the solution

This feeds into a troubling monetization strategy often seen in live service and gacha games: "Create the problem, sell the solution."

By introducing a character almost entirely dependent on a single mechanic, developers create artificial demand for future units that will "fix" the issue. If a future 5-star character is released with Spectro Frazzle application built into their kit, it would be easy to see how this was a deliberate move rather than an accidental oversight.

This is a slippery slope. If every future limited-time character is shackled to a single mechanic or unit, it will stifle the game's diversity and alienate players who enjoy flexibility in their gameplay experience. The beauty of Wuthering Waves has always been its mix-and-match potential. Phoebe's design works directly against that. To be clear, all players get Spectro Rover for free, and they apply Spectro Frazzle for Phoebe, but this isn't about that fact. This is about what this sort of design represents.

How to fix Phoebe (because she needs it)

Two clear solutions can fix Phoebe's overreliance on Specto Frazzle:

• Reduce her stance switch cooldown

If Phoebe could switch between her Absolution and Confession stances much faster than the 24-second cooldown she currently has built into her kit, this issue would practically disappear. By letting her apply her own Spectro Frazzle more frequently, she would no longer be forced to rely on specific teammates just to function, while maintaining the team aspect of having a teammate apply it for her if desired (reducing her need to stance swap). Instead, she could generate her own opportunities and actually feel like a self-sufficient character. This would make her gameplay loop far more enjoyable while preserving the unique mechanics of her kit.

Right now, her long cooldown locks her into a frustrating and clunky playstyle where she spends more time waiting than actually doing anything meaningful. Lowering that cooldown would allow her to shine without breaking the game, keeping her fun while avoiding the pitfall of restrictive team compositions.

• Reduce her reliance on Spectro Frazzle

If adjusting her cooldown isn't an option, another way to fix Phoebe is by making her entirely less reliant on Spectro Frazzle. Right now, the damage difference between hitting a target with or without it being applied is astronomical. Without it, she deals negligible damage, effectively making her unplayable without Spectro Rover.

She should still gain a bonus against Spectro Frazzled enemies, but not to the extent that she is completely worthless without it. By shrinking this damage spectrum, Phoebe could remain functional even when Spectro Frazzle is not present, allowing her to work in more team compositions without being utterly dependent on a single debuff.

Why this cannot become the norm

Phoebe's release represents a dangerous shift in character design philosophy that should not be allowed to continue. If future characters are designed with such rigid, singular dependencies, Wuthering Waves will suffer long-term. Players will feel boxed in and forced into specific, restrictive team compositions to make a character viable. That kind of game design is the opposite of fun.

Fortunately, Kuro Games has a reputation for listening to its player base. By raising awareness of this issue now, the community can voice concerns before this becomes an accepted norm.

A hard no to future Phoebes

Phoebe is fun, but her design philosophy is flawed. This isn’t about minor balancing issues; it is about maintaining the integrity of Wuthering Waves and ensuring that future characters are built on a foundation of strong, independent design. Kuro Games listens, but only if we, the players, make ourselves heard.

This absolutely cannot become the standard. If you care about team-building flexibility, character versatility, and fair design, now is the time to make your voice heard. When future surveys come out, take the time to fill them out and decry this design flaw. Make it crystal clear that this type of deliberately negative character-balancing is unacceptable. If you stay silent, you risk letting this issue fester and spread into future banners. This is the time to push back before the problem infests and infects.

Kuro Games can do better. And we should expect better. Speak up, take the surveys, and make sure this problem starts and stops with Phoebe.

The post The last thing Wuthering Waves needs is another Phoebe appeared first on Destructoid.

With the thrilling new Born Again trailer making waves, the excitement surrounding this gritty series has reached new heights as we anticipate the return of the iconic Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

Set to debut on March 4th, this MCU series will bring back Charlie Cox in his role as attorney Matt Murdock, also known as the superhero vigilante Daredevil. Created by the legendary Stan Lee and Bill Everett, Daredevil has been defending Hell's Kitchen and its inhabitants from crime for over 60 years.

With such a rich and significant history, Daredevil has been involved in some of Marvel's most compelling storylines and major events. The character's rich lore has been expounded on by some of the industry's finest comic creators, including Waid, Bendis, and Brubaker, showcasing an assortment of engaging narratives.

To help prepare you for the arrival of Born Again, I’ve leveraged my decades of comic expertise to curate a comprehensive list of finely selected Daredevil reads, setting the tone for Ol' Hornhead's return.

Daredevil: Born Again (1986)

Born Again, a compelling storyline presented in Daredevil #226-233, is crafted by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. It follows the devastating impact of the Kingpin's actions on Daredevil's life after he learns Daredevil's secret identity through his former lover, Karen Page. Armed with this knowledge, Kingpin systematically dismantles both Daredevil and Matt Murdock's lives, culminating in the destruction of his apartment complex and his defeat at Kingpin's hands.

However, Daredevil finds redemption through divine intervention and the help of Sister Maggie, his estranged mother, which reignites his inner strength and leads to his remarkable comeback. In closing, Born Again is rich with influential plot elements that resonate in the Daredevil TV series, including characters like the Gladiator Melvin Potter, journalist Ben Urich, and the Kingpin, making it an essential read for fans.

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (1993)

Widely regarded as a must-read for Daredevil fans, The Man Without Fear reimagines Daredevil's origin, focusing on his early life and superhero career. Crafted by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr., this engaging narrative highlights the significant impact of his mentor, Stick, in shaping his upbringing and his formative interactions with Foggy Nelson, Elektra, and the Kingpin. Moreover, this read articulates the consequences Daredevil encounters while seeking justice for his father, like the accidental death of a call girl.

Ultimately, this best depicts the moment Daredevil channels his inner wildness—once feared—into saving the teenager Mickey and how such moments fuel his drive to protect the innocent. Much like The Dark Knight graphic novel and its profound effect on ushering in a new era for Batman, Man Without Fear heralded Daredevil's coming of age, leading him to embrace God's plan for him as The Man Without Fear.

Daredevil (1998)

Kicking off the most lauded Daredevil series run to date, Daredevil (1998) #1 begins with the emotionally charged 'Guardian Devil' arc. When a young mother leaves her newborn with Matt, claiming divine instruction, Daredevil will have his faith, a hallmark of the character, tested like never before. The situation only worsens when the shady Mister Gabriel enlists Bullseye to deal with Daredevil and the "savior child".

Featuring staple characters like Black Widow, Karen Page, and Foggy, this best represents profound pain and loss for Daredevil, testing his faith in humanity and the divine. With its mysterious, religious twist, 'Guardian Devil' delves into the devoutness of Marvel's most religious hero, culminating in shocking fashion.

Daredevil: Yellow (2001)

Following the award-winning formula from Spider-Man: Blue, a best-read on Spidey, the acclaimed duo of Loeb and Sale present a pastel-colored homage to Daredevil's early trials and tribulations and his first love, Karen Page. Here, Daredevil, still haunted by Karen's sudden and horrific death, takes Foggy's advice, writing a letter to Karen, and putting words to his feelings with flowing prose.

Daredevil: Yellow elicits smiles throughout, from Daredevil donning the iconic canary costume to his first showdown with a supervillain, Electro, to his rescue of Karen. Easily one of Daredevil's most heartfelt tales, Yellow is a melodic account of all the choices, the guilt, and the joy, that lead him to this point, leaving a lasting impression leading into Born Again.

Daredevil: Father (2004)

An artistic gem honoring a son’s love for his late father, this Daredevil best unfolds in a sweltering Hell's Kitchen, where a serial killer known as Johnny Sockets preys on former clients, taking their eyes. As Daredevil navigates this chilling threat, he finds himself haunted by childhood memories. Complicating matters are his mysterious client, Maggie Farrell, and the introduction of the Santerians, a new superhero outfit. The plot thickens with a frame job targeting Matt Murdock, adding more tension and culminating in a shocking conclusion.

This series marks a triumphant return for acclaimed creator Joe Quesada, who expertly revisits his Daredevil roots. In particular, his exploration of the profound ways added perspective can shift our understanding of others and the crucial role fathers play as role models for their sons makes this a priority read for fans of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

Daredevil Vs. Punisher (2005)

Daredevil Vs. Punisher: Means and Ends is a gritty six-issue series that follows the Punisher, a notable Deadpool antagonist, as he declares war on the mob and leaves a devastating trail of bodies in his wake. In response to his brutal approach to justice, Daredevil tasks himself with confronting the Punisher and halting his lethal methods. For fans of the Daredevil TV series, the Punisher's notorious willingness to take lives is well-known, making their inevitable confrontation all the more compelling, especially at this stage in their respective careers.

In particular, this Daredevil best masterfully explores the stark contrasts between these two iconic vigilantes, with Daredevil's disdain for the Punisher's cold-blooded executions clashing sharply with the Punisher's perception of Daredevil as cowardly for his restraint. Most notably, after an innocent is caught in the crossfire and they battle through an apartment complex, both heroes are forced to confront the consequences of their actions on innocent lives.

Shadowland (2010)

After years of fighting the criminal elements in Hell's Kitchen and coping with significant losses, Daredevil's faith begins to wane. Feeling cornered, he makes the drastic decision to take over the leadership of the Hand, declares Hell's Kitchen under his protection, and institutes martial law. At a critical turning point, Daredevil crosses a line he never thought he would and slays his archenemy, Bullseye, spurning his descent into darkness.

In response, Daredevil's closest allies, including the Heroes for Hire and Spider-Man, unite to save or stop their longtime ally. However, they may be too late as an ancient, malevolent entity may have already engulfed his eternal soul. This Daredevil best marks the darkest chapter of his life, and begs the question: does even he possess enough fortitude to resist the sinister Beast and reclaim control of his soul?

Daredevil (2015)

Marking the first time where Daredevil and Matt's goals align, Daredevil #1 portrays Daredevil, back in black and working as a prosecutor after his temporary sojourn on the West Coast. Here, fans are introduced to Sam Chung, aka Blindspot. Appropriately dubbed 'the Devil's Advocate', Blindspot will become Daredevil's first, true understudy. Thus, when the nefarious Tenfingers threatens the Kitchen with his Church of the Sheltering Hands, Daredevil and Blindspot intervene. However, they face multiple setbacks, especially when Daredevil discovers that Tenfingers’ mystical powers were stolen from the Hand, who will stop at nothing to reclaim them.

This series, penned by acclaimed Star Wars scribe Charles Soule, effectively captures Daredevil's complex character growth as he takes on his first sidekick and grapples with the guilt of keeping everyone in the dark about his identity. Perhaps most relevant is the debut of the villainous "artist" Muse in the chilling 'Dark Art' arc. This deranged serial killer, who delights in turning his murders into grandiose works of art, is an antagonist in the highly anticipated series Born Again, and I cannot wait to see how the macabre Muse is adapted to live-action.

Daredevil (2019)

Chip Zdarsky's Eisner award-nominated run begins with Daredevil (2019) #1, featuring a reborn Daredevil after a traumatic injury left him fighting for his life. As Daredevil strives to rebuild his life and heroic status, he faces numerous challenges, after he seemingly kills a robber while thwarting their heist, leading to a murder charge. This draws the ire of Detective Cole North, a good but conflicted transplant from Chicago, who's set to appear in the upcoming Born Again.

Witnessing Daredevil fighting to reclaim his place and overcome his past while confronting formidable foes like the Owl and the ever-present Mayor Fisk strikes all the right chords. Sprinkle in the accompaniment of his longtime allies, the Defenders and Spider-Man, and readers are left with all the makings of one helluva read and a Daredevil best.

Devil's Reign (2021)

The Devil's Reign series is undeniably a standout Daredevil storyline. It explores Daredevil's worst fears as his nemesis, the Kingpin, leverages his recent notoriety under the Darkforce Dome to win the New York City mayoralty. Once in power, Kingpin enacted the Powers Act, which criminalizes the existence of superheroes in the city. To ensure compliance, he mobilizes the Thunderbolt Corps and assembles a covert team of Thunderbolts tailored to his agenda.

Daredevil naturally rallies in support of the superhero community against his greatest adversary. However, he grapples with intense guilt when he realizes that his actions, particularly those involving the Purple Children who altered people's memories to protect his secret identity, have contributed to Kingpin's aggression toward heroes. This arc also hints at themes likely to unfold in the upcoming Born Again series, setting New York City as the epicenter of rising tensions between the government and superheroes.

The post The 10 Best Daredevil reads to get you in fighting shape for Born Again appeared first on Destructoid.

What is a cozy game if not something that embodies what you find cozy in real life? Your relaxing rituals, real or imagined. The things you would do on a lazy summer afternoon if it wasn’t for your pesky life rearing its head.

On the other hand, demos are far more black and white. Which Steam Next Fest demos should you play? Those ones.

Why those demos in particular? To be frank, the reason is that I like them, but you’re free to infer a logic to this selection. They’re all great cozy games and most are close to release. More importantly, they’ll all leave you wanting more. Except the ones you don’t like, but that's life.

The Bench

What’s more cozy than an exploration game featuring a senior protagonist who moves by throwing slices of bread to a swarm of loyal pigeons? I’ll tell you what’s not very cozy: throwing a brick at a security guard. And yet, The Bench is no worse for it.

The Bench is a surprising game, first of all, because it takes a wild premise and manages to stick the landing. And then there’s the exploration, which is core to the game, paired with a protagonist that can only move by teleporting from bench to bench, kind of like in a VR game. Somehow, that works great.

Wheel World

Wheel World is a cozy game, sure, but it’s also a somewhat realistic bike racing simulator with drafting and a vague approximation of stamina. And then there’s the exploration of a fully realized open world, even if it's not entirely accessible yet, full of curious characters and bike parts.

Wheel World is also about saving the world, but no pressure. Your floating skull companion has no intention of un-cozying your vacation.

Promise Mascot Agency

We’re really stretching the definition of cozy here, but the eternal lazy afternoon spent on a small pickup truck just about qualifies. Promise Mascot Agency is the story of a Yakuza member exiled to a cursed island. If you’ve played the developer’s previous game, Paradise Killer, you know that things are about to get even weirder.

While you’re in exile, would you mind taking over a mascot agency where the mascots are horribly mutated living beings? Maybe take care of this disembodied finger’s emotional issues? I’m asking, but this is one of those games where you don’t have a choice. By the way, the mascots know where you live.

Solarpunk

To some, the world of cozy games is as wide as video games themselves. To others, it’s when you craft and farm without having to fight zombies. Solarpunk definitely errs closer to this strict definition, with its idyllic scenery and cottage building.

In a world where floating islands rule the landscape, it’s up to you to chill, build a cozy little house, and then take a little break (you wouldn’t want to overdo it). Will you grow enough plants to secure a food supply? Probably, it’s not a hard game. If not, you can hop on your airship and see if the neighbors can share. They seem nice.

Sugardew Island

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. In this cozy farming game, you play as the go-getter new farmer in town. Once your inherited/gifted farm is looking a little better, you open a shop for the nearby people and learn of the magical creatures that used to inhabit the land. It’s up to you to tear the Thorns of Inharmony and make peace with nature.

Sure, Sugardew Island’s demo won’t win any awards for originality, but it’s a solid farming sim. It doesn’t need to break new ground, even if it might do it later in the game. If we can have 23 Call of Duty titles, we can probably afford one Rune Factory clone.

Tall Trails

“Find your purpose”. With those words (and some art that looks rather like a placeholder) your Tall Trails adventure begins. On this island, every little clay creature has a goal, except you. You just exist. Do you want a purpose? Guess you’ll have to find your way to the sorcerer who created you. Now, if that isn’t a purpose, I don’t know what it is.

But how does Tall Trails play? In practice, this is a 3D platformer with a focus on exploration over challenge and some inspiration taken from Breath of the Wild. Oh, and you have a trash-powered jetpack that makes the whole affair a lot more fun.

Locomoto

You can’t get more cozy than a coal train conductor life sim where no one has places to be and the black smoke is just a flourish of the pastel art style. In Locomoto you get to make your own train and your own train conductor. The rest is kind of secondary if I can be honest.

The full game promises a large explorable world full of different travelers and unique furniture. For now, I’m happy to watch my cute chimera of unclear descent run along their ugly pink and purple train.

Is This Seat Taken?

Would you like to sit in a dirty chair? I ask so I can get this kid next to their parent and the parent next to this other kid who needs to steal some popcorn. I’m sure you understand. If you don’t, you should play the demo for Is This Seat Taken?

Is This Seat Taken? seems like a great game for short sessions that inevitably spiral into hours of play. It has a unique premise based on fitting odd groups of sentient geometric shapes in mundane places, making sure to follow their requests. It also seems to want to tell a story, but I wouldn’t expect anything fancy.

Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game

Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game is exactly what it promises to be: a detective game just like The Curse of the Golden Idol but instead of solving a grand conspiracy one murder at a time, you solve little problems. Things like “Who broke the cup?” and “Why is this girl crying?”.

Not exactly breaking new ground, but thankfully the way those mysteries are solved is quite interesting, even if it is an exact copy of the Golden Idol series. That said, the demo shows some potential. Here’s hoping the story gets a bit more intense than “Who called dibs on the last cupcake?”.

Wanderstop

The Wanderstop demo stands out for many reasons, one of which is the polish on display. The game seems to be pretty much done, and it better be, since it’s supposed to come out on March 11. That’s just two weeks before the new game from the creator of The Stanley Parable!

I should have led with that. This is an all-star indie dev team, including Minecraft composer C418, and Tacoma and Gone Home writer Karla Zimonja. What else… you grow tea and brew it for the various characters that come to visit you. It looks to be more tongue-in-cheek than your average farm sim, but what else did you expect?

The post 10 Coziest Demos of Steam Next Fest February 2025 appeared first on Destructoid.

Lara Croft is one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world, and she has totally earned it. Still, her games have put her in a myriad of absolutely ridiculous situations that would easily derail the career of any other popular gaming hero.

Let's look at the dumbest moments in the Tomb Raider series, shall we?

Lara Croft kills the same guy in two different games (Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider Chronicles)

In Tomb Raider Chronicles, Lara intentionally causes the unarmed henchman Pierre to plunge to his death. That's bad already because killing defenseless comic relief goons is bad, but the main problem here is how it breaks the Tomb Raider timeline.

Why? Because Lara also kills Pierre in the original Tomb Raider — as she should, because he's shooting at her in that game. So, when you begin playing Chronicles, you assume it takes place before the original game because Lara is up against henchmen who don't survive the events of the game. Fans asked the devs what the hell had happened and got the most hilarious response imaginable.

One of the devs explained that Pierre's segment on Chronicles wasn't a prequel and was actually supposed to take place after the original. The funniest part of it all, however, is that neither option would ever make sense because people tend to only ever die once. So, why did this happen? Well, the developers explained that they just didn't bother with the series' continuity.

The devs destroyed Lara's origin and made it weird (Tomb Raider The Last Revelation)

For the first three games in the series, Lara's background and reason for becoming a survivalist was a plane crash that killed both of her parents and forced her to fend for herself.

Then came The Last Revelation, which features a tutorial segment in Cambodia where Lara is learning her survivalist ropes from an old mentor even before the crash and death of her parents. This not only sh*ts on the cool pre-established origin story but also makes it weird because what kind of still-living parents would let their teenage daughter fly to a dangerous and remote location with a creepy old dude?

Lara has a license to kill until she doesn't (The entire series)

Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness begins with Lara running from the cops for a murder she didn't commit. This murder takes place inside a Parisian apartment without any witnesses present. Still, Lara has to spend a large part of the game running away from the police. That's a very strange state of affairs, given how the previous games in the series had seen Lara, a popular figure in that world, going on killing sprees in densely-populated cities such as Rome, Venice, Cairo, and London without facing any sort of repercussion.

Lara kills to prove her innocence (The Angel Of Darkness)

While on the run from the cops, Lara goes to steal an artifact from the Louvre. I think that's the opposite of what an archeologist is supposed to do, but this time, she's trying to prove her innocence, so I'll give her that.

Too bad she then kills the poor innocent guards working at the Louvre, which, again, I think is the opposite of what a person who's been framed for murder should be doing.

I guess she was originally meant to use a non-lethal option, but the game's messed-up development didn't give the devs enough time for such mechanics.

Lara kills a bunch of innocent people in pretty nasty ways (The entire series)

Most of her killings are understandable — in video game logic, at least — as it's either their deaths or Lara's. What's weird is how so many of these games feature cutscenes where Lara just murders some possibly defenseless people, which the game plays as a pretty cool thing, actually. What the hell is up with that?

One of Lara's big claims to fame was the murder of bigfoot (Tomb Raider)

Do the people who came up with the concept for Lara Croft and Tomb Raider even have the faintest idea of what an archaeologist is supposed to do? I'm no expert, but I'm certain they aren't out there hunting cryptids. That's not the notion you get from the original Tomb Raider. It's a blink-and-you 'll-miss-it moment, but the scene where Lara is introduced to villain Natla shows a magazine cover where Lara is stepping on Bigfoot's corpse.

So yeah, remember that whenever you're playing Tomb Raider, you're entering a world in which Bigfoot isn't real but only because world-famous preservationist Lara Croft has already made him go extinct.

Lara Croft doesn't know how to use an elevator (Tomb Raider)

Please watch the cutscene above and tell me if you've ever seen anyone use an elevator by cutting the cable, grabbing it, and hoping it would take them to the top without getting crushed against the ceiling? You could say that she's doing that to infiltrate the villain's lair, but then why not just do it in a sneaky and not extremely dangerous way?

Also, what kind of elevator do you enter from the outside of the building?

Lara Croft drowns... skeletons (Tomb Raider The Last Revelation)

I bet you thought I was going to mention Lara murdering another innocent in another extremely vile way, but no. This time, she's only murdering what should already be dead — albeit in an extremely dumb way.

I don't care that skeletons shouldn't be able to move — I'm completely ok with the idea of them being controlled by otherworldly entities — hell, isn't that the case with Lara herself? Still, I draw the line at skeletons that die because they cannot breathe with the lungs they don't have. And you know what makes this even sillier? The fact that the series would spiritually double-down on this for its next entry:

Killing cyborg with gas (Tomb Raider Chronicles)

If modern times have taught us anything, it's that we should probably curb our enthusiasm regarding all things automated. Tomb Raider Chronicles, however, came out in the earliest of the early 2000s, a time when we could still have fairly hopeful dreams about robots and AI without sounding utterly delusional. Weird, because that's the game where Lara somehow fills a room with noxious gas to kill a robotic bodyguard, and it totally works.

I don't doubt for a second that any of the so-called visionaries of the 2020s would think a robot who needs to breathe — and that can die from inhaling anything other than oxygen is a great idea, but it just doesn't make sense in that game. Still, big props to the developers of the remaster, who award you with the "Gassassin" achievement for this.

Lara died so that the developers could live (Tomb Raider The Last Revelation)

Spoiler warning: Lara Croft dies at the end of Tomb Raider 4.

Sure, we don't see her death, but the developers will have no problem clarifying that they really intended for the character to die there. They did so because the incredibly demanding development of these games was destroying their lives, and they probably thought this would put an end to their torment. It didn't. They had to come up with another game the following year, just like they had to in the previous three years of the series.

Even worse, the developers also had to come up with a half-assed reason for how Lara came back to life, then scrapped the cutscene showing her resurrection, which left players with no real explanation as to what the hell had happened there.

The post 10 dumbest moments in the Tomb Raider series appeared first on Destructoid.

The next Mario Kart on Switch 2 holds a lot of possibilities, and the footage we have so far from the console announcement trailer hints at 24 players on the track at once. If this is the case, we'll need an expanded roster to fill out a race.

So in the spirit of speculation, these are the Nintendo characters we want to see in the next Mario Kart for Switch 2. We've also released a list of all the confirmed characters in the next Mario Kart on Switch 2 if you're interested!

Ashley (WarioWare)

Strangely, the WarioWare series characters have been largely left out of the main Mario spin-off titles like Mario Kart, Mario Party, and the sports games. Perhaps, the next Mario Kart could foray into the characters of this whacky mini-game series.

Ashley is one of the most well-known with a charming personality and a memorable song titled after her. One of the tracks could be the Diamond City mansion she lives in rather than the same old Luigi's Mansion that keeps coming back. Her origin series has multiple recent entries on the Switch, so her inclusion is more likely than ever.

Pit (Kid Icarus)

Someone who hasn't had a recent game in a long time, however, is Pit from the Kid Icarus series. He would fit straight into the whacky chaos of Mario Kart with third-wall jokes and funny animations inspired by his 3DS entry Kid Icarus: Uprising. He would ride in a chariot-like vehicle, racing around the gorgeous Skyworld alongside Mario, Luigi, and Peach.

It would be great to have more representation in the next Mario Kart from other Nintendo series like the Splatoon Kids and The Legend of Zelda's Link from the last entry.

The Broodals & Madame Broode (Super Mario Odyssey)

One of the newest sets of characters in the Super Mario series is The Broodals in Super Mario Odyssey. They're the bosses you'll come across throughout the game who are hired by Bowser to organize a wedding between King Koopa and Princess Peach.

Their bunny-like designs would stand out in this Mario Kart entry with Topper's St. Patrick's Day-like get-up and Hariet's stylish purple dress. You could also include Madame Broode's golden chain chomp as a weapon variety if that item returns to the series.

Honey Queen (Super Mario Galaxy)

The Honey Queen made her one and only appearance in Mario Kart 7 and should be brought back into the Switch 2's Mario Kart. She would act as a larger character like Donkey Kong and Bowser, offering more variety to the roster. Super Mario Galaxy was also recently released for the Switch under the Super Mario 3D All Stars collection, making this character more relevant.

R.O.B (Gyromite)

Another character that hasn't returned for a long time is ROB, who appeared in Mario Kart DS. This robot came during the classic NES era and was a neat accessory for a game called Gyromite. It also had an essential role in the storyline of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

If Mario Kart 8 Deluxe can have more recent characters like the Splatoon Kids, it would be neat to see Nintendo referencing icons from an older period of time. The ROB-BLS kart is also a neat reference to the classic NES game that could return in the next Mario Kart for Switch 2.

Fox (Star Fox)

Fox is a beloved Nintendo character from the Star Fox series that would fit well into the Mario Kart franchise. He is already proficient at driving vehicles like the Landmaster and the Arwing, so a kart would be no problem at all. The sci-fi-oriented tracks he could bring into the game would be wonderful to see, especially on a next-gen system like the Switch 2. Additionally, it would be a great way to treat Star Fox fans after the disappointing Star Fox Zero and the arduous almost decade-long wait for a new game.

Captain Falcon (F-Zero)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a fantastic game, but one mistake it made is not including Captain Falcon from F-Zero.

His vehicle the Blue Falcon and some of the franchise's legendary tracks like Big Blue made an appearance, but not the enthusiastic man himself. That should be fixed in the next Mario Kart entry on Switch 2 as the character's upbeat personality would fit alongside the likes of Mario and Yoshi. While Nintendo's at it, it should bring back F-Zero GX or a completely new entry to show the power of the new system at breakneck speed.

King Bob-Omb (Super Mario 64)

One character from my childhood I remember fondly at the top of Bob-Omb Battlefield is King Bob-Omb. His massive frame and funny white mustache would match the bonkers nature of the Mario Kart series, so it's strange he hasn't made an appearance yet as a playable racer in a mainline game.

He is unlockable in the mobile Mario Kart Tour. It would also be lovely to get a track based on the classic Super Mario 64 level.

Monty Mole

After many appearances as an obstacle in the Mario Kart series, Monty Mole finally got his break as a playable character in Mario Kart Tour. Unfortunately, he hasn't made the leap as a roster member in a mainline entry, while he's been playable in the Mario Party titles.

He is an adorable creature that would fit right in, and after many years of being hit by karts and shells, I think he deserves it.

Paper Mario

We've had Mario, Baby Mario, Metal Mario, Cat Mario, and other forms of the characters but never Paper Mario. It seems like quite a strange omission as there are many fans of this alteration of the Italian plumber.

It would be neat to see how flat the character would be when compared to other racers in the game. Nintendo could also implement paper effects to the items and kart effects during the race. The Paper Mario track would also be quite the sight to behold in the next Mario Kart entry on Switch 2.

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Achievements are a mainstay of modern gaming, even if you're the kind of gamer who doesn't want a magnificent scene interrupted by a popup saying "Achievement unlocked: lord tearjerker".

I generally loathe achievements, though that might be out of yearning for a time when games did achievements discreetly. If you happen to be ancient enough to recall, the Tomb Raider series of games was one of the first to feature some sort of non-point-based achievements, which came in the poignant form of archeological secrets discovered.

The original Tomb Raider games did achievements right

Sure, the first game had secret achievements in the form of med packs and ammo clips that didn't really make much sense in the context of undiscovered tombs. Still, Tomb Raider 2 fixed that by including dragon-shaped artifacts. They were useless for gameplay purposes but did a great job of making players feel like an accomplished entertainment archeologist, which is the term I use to describe movie and video game archeologists who steal stuff instead of doing an actual archeologist's job.

On top of hitting the mark on a visual and gameplay level, the Tomb Raider 1-3 Remaster nailed the spirit of the game, meaning it also upped the ante for the original games' achievements. The first remaster package brought in dozens of new achievements — some offer a neat challenge by being really hard to figure out, some are hilarious, and many are both. Luckily, the team at Aspyr behind the second batch of classic Tomb Raider classics (and the not-so-classic Angel Of Darkness), did it again.

The best achievements in the Tomb Raider 4-6 Remaster Trilogy

The remaster features 168 achievements of varying difficulty levels. Unlocking many of them is a straightforward affair, like "Finish the Cairo Chapter", for example, but it gets so much better.

The best achievements in a game about solving mysteries and finding stuff are those that require mystery-solving skills and then reward players with a hilarious achievement name.

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation starts with a secret achievement named "What's Up, Doc?", which you get by lying down next to a skeleton. That's not a regular skeleton, however, but rather a skeleton donning a hat and a whip, so an obvious reference to Indiana Jones.

There's also "Self Defense Guide", which you get by tricking three scorpions and three jackals into getting killed by fire. Among other things, this trilogy is infamous for having Lara partake in various acts of unnecessary evil, so it's nice to see the devs daring players to do even worse.

Any average pun enjoyer will like "Blade Outrunner", which you get by avoiding getting hit by any pedestal blades.

The "This is fine" achievement probably requires no explanation, but you unlock it by taking the time to find all the secrets in a specific level despite it being on fire.

When it comes to mystery-solving, skill, and pure evil, it's hard to beat "Cooler than Henry". You'll unlock it by blinding three assassins, poisoning them, and then one-shot them in a row.

I'm also partial to "Prop with no purpose", which you get by grabbing Von Croy's glasses, provided it's meant a comment on the nature of achievements.

I don't much care for the name "Jason's Apprentice", but that's the achievement you get for drowning five skeletons in water — one of the most bizarre things to happen on any of these already pretty out-there games.

"Scarabicide" is the beautifully-titled achievement you get for running over a scarab with your motorcycle.

"Theomachist" is a really cool achievement you can get from doing a handstand in front of a bunch of statues.

Then there's the very darkly-comedic "High Five to Maahes", which you get by obliterating five enemies with one grenade.

Lastly, TLR features an achievement called "Oops", which you get from breaking every destructible item in the game. Now that's video game archeology done right.

Tomb Raider Chronicles begins with "To the Envy of Venus", which Lara naturally gets by showing off with a handstand in front of a gate.

There's also the hilariously cruel "Fail Compilation", which you get from watching all of Lara's failures on the young Lara level.

One of the funniest achievements in the entire series is "Gassassin", which you get by killing a guard with gas. Why is this so funny? Because the guard is a robot. Good thing this achievement isn't optional otherwise it would prove pretty hard to guess for many.

Tomb Raider 6 features an achievement called "Darwin Awards", which you get by finding all the silliest ways to die, and thus is something I have no idea how to unlock since this game features infinite dumb ways for Lara to perish.

There's also the hilarious "Chococollection", which you get by collecting all the chocolate bars in the game and eating none.

One of my favorites is "Snake Eater", whose description reads "Why are you still here? Just to suffer?". That's a brilliant double reference, this time to the Metal Gear Solid series, as well as to the lackluster state in which the game was released. You unlock it by climbing a long ladder that takes you to a large area with nothing for you to do.

The Angel Of Darkness culminates with "I Feel Stronger Now", which you get from beating the game. This is a brilliant reference to the infamous phrase that Lara says whenever she "levels up" and I believe a welcome congratulatory note to anyone resilient enough to beat that game. Do you know why I believe that? Because the achievement for beating the game in New Game+ is called "Never Again".

You can now achieve all of these on Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered on PC, Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

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Comparing generally incomparable games has, somehow, gotten to be my jam. This time around, though, the comparison makes way more sense. You see, I got a bit of whiplash playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 back-to-back with Avowed, and the respective successes of both of these games made me think.

No, really, bear with me: this isn't like that one time I threw Starfield and Destiny into the mixer, I promise. The fact of the matter is that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Avowed sit at almost entirely different ends of the role-playing spectrum. Regardless of that, both of them achieved commercial and critical acclaim virtually at the same time. This is even more notable considering just how big of a question mark Dragon Age: Veilguard ended up being, which I feel attempted to target the same niche as Avowed did. Several different things to keep in mind as we go, then, though it'll all make sense by the end.

Complexity, simplicity, and the muddy stuff in-between

Whereas most other video genres ebb and flow between popularity and obscurity (take dedicated stealth games and real-time strategies as prime examples of this), some of them are absolutely mainstays in the industry. Shooters, simulators, and role-playing titles are, as far as anyone can tell, the kinds of games that generally don't fall out of favor no matter what.

They do change as time goes on, however. Depending on whether the audiences want it simpler or more complicated, titles in flagship genres will evolve accordingly. Don't believe me? Just take a look at what's happening in shooters as we go, with the vast, vast majority of them adopting extremely in-depth weapon customization systems that were previously nowhere to be seen. Are they necessary? Not really. Are they fun and engaging? I'd say so, yes. And most players seem to agree, given how pervasive it's all become.

Back on track, we've seen something very similar happening with RPGs, too. As of From Software's success with Dark Souls, an entirely new sub-sub-genre popped up to celebrate the trend and, more cynically, make money off of it. Thankfully, not all modern RPGs have turned into Soulslikes. Not yet, at least.

When Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 came out, I was frankly awestruck with the sheer amount of acclaim and adoration it received. Don't get me wrong: I knew the game would find its audience and success, but the scope of it blindsided me. In context, this made me think that Avowed would get overshadowed because everyone would be playing Kingdom Come 2 still. Cue yet another case of blindsiding, where a strikingly simple RPG found success right after an extremely deep RPG did the same.

Niches within niches (within niches)

Here's the thing: it's not that I expected Avowed to be a bad game. I just felt it would go the way of Dragon Age: Veilguard. Regardless of how you feel about Veilguard, it's hard to claim that it's not a technically accomplished and genuinely fun experience in its moment-to-moment gameplay. I put it in the same basket as Borderlands 3, wherein playing these games is a great time, but actually engaging with their stories and dialogue gets painful really quickly.

Avowed, thankfully, isn't that, though it is adjacent to Veilguard in a wholly different way. We've had a bunch of such simpler, more streamlined RPGs over the years. Classic hack 'n' slash ordeals such as Diablo kind of fall into this niche, but more concretely, it's stuff like Mass Effect, Kingdoms of Amalur, and Greedfall. On the other end of this spectrum, we've got the likesof Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, and Baldur's Gate 3.

The distinction is plenty obvious by now: the former RPGs are sleek, streamlined, and fast. They give you a pre-selected role and scope within which you act, and though you do have freedom in how you accomplish your tasks, the way these games are designed means you can't do wacky, sandboxy stuff like you can in the latter games.

Avowed plays like a fantasy version of DOOM, if we're being honest. Built properly, your character moves like they're a squirrel hopped-up on speed. Combat is chunky and satisfying, and the sheer number of collectibles to chase after makes even short playing sessions meaningful. The characters are decently executed and interesting, while the actual narrative that happens in the background poses some interesting questions for those who care to learn more.

Kingdom Come 2, on the other hand, is slow and plodding. It's the ARMA of RPGs: you've got to weigh your options carefully, as it's deeply unafraid of punishing the player for being careless. Heck, you can't even save your game if you don't have a stock of Savior's Schnapps in your inventory. Sure, you're in control of a particular character in this game, but Henry can be whoever you want him to be.

In practice, Avowed and Kingdom Come 2 couldn't be more different than one another. The RPG community has embraced both of these games, however, for entirely different reasons.

Misreading the room

Luck plays a huge role in a game's success, for sure, but it's important to note that this isn't what happened with Dragon Age: Veilguard. Whereas Avowed knows how to keep its audiences happy, Bioware's supposed flagship fails to do the same.

Gameplay-wise, the two games aren't that different. They're both action-heavy, eager to allow the player to have fun in combat, no matter their class or stat investment. Neither of the two titles is looking to outright punish you for messing up like Kingdom Come 2 does, either. So, what's up? Why has the RPG community embraced Avowed, while Veilguard's being ignored?

My take on the situation is that Bioware failed to identify its audience, which in turn led to a massive mishandling of Veilguard's setting, tone, and narrative. Even though Avowed is a huge departure from its progenitor, Pillars of Eternity, it stays true to established lore and tone. Sure, it's a Weird game if you take note of its grander, overarching narrative, but that's just bonus flavoring on top of what PoE players know and love.

In the case of Veilguard, on the other hand, comparing it to Dragon Age: Origins gets you absolutely nowhere. It shares precious little of its DNA with the specific vibe that Dragon Age fans love, which in turn means that the community wasn't interested in embracing it.

RPG players are eating well nowadays, then. I fail to remember the last time we had two phenomenal RPGs releasing back-to-back, each targeting an entirely different audience and both finding well-deserved success. Most times, one major release takes the wind out of another's sail, and I'm thrilled that Avowed didn't fall victim to this.

In a grander (and sadder) sense, Bioware had recently given us an example of how to fail to deliver on this front. Veilguard could've been last year's equivalent of Avowed, but that didn't materialize in the end. Between Kingdom Come 2 and Avowed, though, I think we've got no shortage of RP to G.

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