I'm still in awe of the city's old age and architecture every day. My university was established in 1451, long before the United States was. Emma Padner Many of the architecture and landmarks in Scotland are older than the United States.The US wasn't founded until 1776. Meanwhile, The University of Glasgow, where I pursued my degree, was founded in 1451 and it's still only the fourth oldest university in the UK.The campus and city are beautiful, and I get to walk through and past centuries-old buildings, cathedrals, and clock towers daily. I'm still in awe of being surrounded by so much history.Finding a "local" is incredibly important. I have spent a lot of time at The Aragon. Emma Padner Shortly after moving to the UK, I realized just how important it was to find a "local" basically, a pub that feels like home that you can visit for any occasion.Fortunately, I was quickly able to find mine by sticking to a routine. Every Monday, my friends and I would pile into a pub near our university for weekly trivia to share pints and (usually) finish in fifth place.Eventually, it became a go-to shared space for us, where we'd drag extra stools around the big wooden tables to toast birthdays, celebrate graduations, and host going-away parties.It's been odd adjusting to having the "right to roam." There are so many beautiful places to hike in the UK. Emma Padner Many years ago, Scotland established the "right to roam," which allows visitors recreational access to most land, as long as it's done so responsibly. This is quite different from what I'm used to in the US, where a gate in a field feels like a sure sign to turn around, and I'd be hesitant to wander off any labeled trail.However, in some parts of Scotland, there aren't even labeled paths to follow especially when it comes to munros (mountains over 3,000 feet).After many months of hiking, I got used to making my own trails through farmers' fields and learned to wayfind with maps and compasses. Now, instead of relying on marked paths, I'm accustomed to making my own decisions about where to go while ascending and descending peaks.It really does rain a lot and locals seem to love talking about it. I'll never complain about rain again after living in the UK. Emma Padner It took me a while to adjust to Scotland's rainy weather, but I no longer let some water stop me from going outside or running on trails. I've also gotten used to how talking about the weather never seems to get old here. Oftentimes, it feels deeper than even small talk locals seem genuinely interested in discussing why or how much it's raining.However, I still get excited when I check the weather app on my phone and see even one day that doesn't have a raindrop.Public transportation has been a dream. I like taking the public ferries in Scotland. Emma Padner Although I don't drive, I've been able to get anywhere I've wanted to go without a car in Scotland. Despite some delays and cancellations, the public-transportation options I've had access to have really impressed me. For example, I've been able to explore Scotland's highlands and islands by train, bus, and ferry.Last April, my partner and I were even able to take our bikes to the scenic Isle of Mull for a long weekend just by toting them on a train and ferry. I've picked up a lot of new phrases, but the way I speak and write is still changing. Glasgow basically has its own vocabulary. Emma Padner When I first moved to the UK, I quickly learned vocabulary I'm not used to at home, like using "wee" to mean "little" or calling "eggplant" an "aubergine." It no longer rains, it "pisses down," and I don't "go to the store," I simply "head to the shops."However, even two and a half years later, I'm still picking up new phrases and spellings and jumbling them into ones I grew up with.I've had an especially rough time adjusting to the subtle spelling differences. My writing is now a blend of American and British English spellings, sometimes interchanging "s" and "z" in words like "organise" and "analyze." I'm never sure how I'll spell "colour," but I still spell "favorite" like an American.

Its been 12 years since Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie published her last novel, Americanah, to overwhelming acclaim. In the time since, shes delivered a viral TED talk on feminism, been sampled by Beyonc, been denounced by students for anti-trans speech, and denounced those students in turn for cancel culture. Now, at last, Adichie has finally released a new novel: Dream Count. Sometimes its hard to read Dream Count cleanly. It feels as though you have to scrub away the cultural silt that has accumulated over its authors image to meet the text in good faith. In places, it reads as though Adichie feels the same way. She keeps having her characters go on bitter tangents about the piety and hypocrisy of American liberals, or recite ex-tempore speeches on Feminism 101. (Dear men, I understand that you dont like abortion, but the best way to reduce abortion is if you take responsibility for where your male bodily fluids go.) In other places, though, Dream Count reminds you of what made Adichie such a phenomenon in the first place: Those precise sentences; that biting satire; all those vivid, complicated women. Dream Count is built around four Nigerian-born women, all living in or having recently departed from America, in spring 2020 as lockdown descends. Each narrates a section of the novel, the two extroverts in first person and the introverts in third person, as one by one they consider the men in their lives who have loved them and betrayed them. Theyre thinking about their body counts, says one character toward the end of the novel. No, going back over ones love life is a dream count, returns another. One craves a deep connection, another a partnership, a third stability; one flourishes on her own but worries that she is missing the chance for something more. All were betrayed by men who at their worst behaved like animals and at their best were simply not enough to build a life around. Instead, as the novel goes on, they find theyve built their lives around each other. Dream Count is not a perfect novel, but it offers you the kind of fully textured polyphonic female friendship that only Adichie can render so beautifully and precisely. As we make our way through the end of Womens History Month, here are three other recent books that offer us portraits of women in complicated, visceral detail. On the shelfThree Days in June by Anne TylerThree Days in June is a slim novel of enormous warmth and sweetness, featuring one of the prickly, closed-off women Anne Tyler writes so well. Gail, a 61-year-old assistant headmistress at a private girls school, finds herself getting pushed out of her job with the explanation that she lacks people skills. Gail is outraged: No one, she tells us, had ever said such a thing about her before, or at least Not in so many words. But Gails ex-boss has a point. Gail nitpicks grammar, clothes, the way other people chew their food. She cuts her own hair so she doesnt have to make small talk with the stylist. She doesnt particularly enjoy most people and isnt particularly good at dealing with them. Never mind: Gail doesnt have the time to spend too long mourning her lost job. Her daughter is getting married the next day, and Gails ex-husband and his cat show up on her doorstep looking for lodging for the wedding. Before long, so does the bride, who suspects the groom of infidelity. Sour, crotchety Gail has to keep things together, which she does with mingled affection and annoyance for everyone around her. The results will melt your heart.No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce by Haley MlotekHaley Mlotek began dating her future husband when she was 16 years old, she tells us in this tender, shivery, shadowy memoir-cum-cultural history. They stayed together, surprised as anyone else that things seemed to keep working out for them, for 12 years, and eventually got married for immigration purposes. A year after their wedding, they divorced. Mlotek never tells us directly what led to her divorce, or of what the end looked like. Instead, she circles around abstractions of events, while her descriptions of how it all felt land with shocking emotional intensity. I could tell you about our last night, she writes of the end of the marriage, but mostly I think about how the night passed no matter what we did to hold still.Mlotek seeds details of her own divorce through a larger cultural history of the divorce plot. Feverishly, she explores memoirs, novels, movies, looking at how the divorce plot mirrors and subverts three centuries of marriage plots. The bibliography Mlotek builds can feel generic in comparison to the specificity of her own experiences, but occasionally she hits gold as with her long analysis of The Continuing Story of Carel and Ferd, a 1970s documentary about a couple who filmed their wedding, wedding night, and subsequent divorce, and then watch and discuss the whole thing on public access television. I have looked for guidance everywhere but real life, Mlotek tells us. I want you to ask if Ive read Anna Karenina. I do not want you to ask what I would do for love. Shes nonetheless at her most compelling when shes implying the answer to the second question.Woodworking by Emily St. JamesIf youve been reading Vox for a while, you might recognize Emily St. Jamess name. Shes an institution here. She founded Voxs culture section (and hired yours truly) and, as our critic-at-large, wrote some of the most insightful cultural criticism youre likely to find anywhere. Now, shes written her first novel, Woodworking. I am obviously biased (all the more so because the book contains a character named Constance; Emily tells me there is no relation), but I think youll love it. In the 1980s, woodworking was trans slang for going deep, deep stealth: transitioning, getting bottom surgery, and cutting off contact with anyone who ever knew you pre-transition, so that no one could ever say you were anything but cis. You simply fade into the woodwork. In this snappy, propulsive novel, woodworking remains far, far out of reach for Erica, one of the books two narrators. Shes a 35-year-old English teacher in small-town South Dakota in 2016, and she has only recently allowed herself to realize that she is trans. Erica is also more than half convinced that its too late for her to do anything about it. She has already gone through puberty, and already built a whole life as a man. If she transitions, Erica tells herself, she will lose her job and her life, and she will never even be able to pass, let alone woodwork, so whats the point?Woodworking remains an aspiration for teenage Abigail, our second narrator and the only other trans person Erica knows of in Mitchell, South Dakota. Having already fled her anti-trans parents, Abigail is biding her time until she can afford to pay for bottom surgery, cut off her beloved sister, move to a city, and woodwork. When Abigail realizes that her dorky English teacher is trans and closeted, she is disgusted to find that shes the only one in a position to guide said teacher through those early, fumbling days of transitioning. She buys Erica nail polish, shows her how to put it on, and convinces her to wear the polish to school. Erica wonders if she is a lesbian because shes still attracted to her ex-wife; Abigail assures her that she is the most lesbian. St. James writes with a breezy charm, especially in dialogue, but the playfulness of her voice belies the darkness running under this novel. Abigail tells her story in a defensive first person that occasionally lifts right out of her body; Erica, meanwhile, has dissociated into the third person as she tells her story, redacting her dead name with a hazy gray bar. These characters are living during the election of 2016, and they can tell that right-wing animus against them is mounting. They dont know just how dark things will get eight years later. Off the shelfThe Great Gatsby turns 100 this year! I wrote about why its lasted so long, and why we keep reading it wrong. At VQR, Will Boast surveys a literary history of indigestion. Editor Sean deLone and novelist Lincoln Michel explore the numbers showing that the latest generation of writers doesnt appear to be publishing all that much. Amanda Fortini wonders why so many writers and artists are obsessed with the color blue. Would you start the day by memorizing a poem?A version of this story was also published in the Next Page newsletter. Sign up here so you dont miss the next one!See More:

TechMagic The Gathering's Tarkir Dragonstorm is the set I've waited years forIf you're looking to lay waste to your opponents with big, flying reptiles (and who isn't), Tarkir Dragonstorm could be Magic The Gathering's most exciting Universes Within set since BloomborrowdailystarBookmarkShareTechByLloyd CoombesGaming Editor17:30, 18 MAR 2025BookmarkThe new art is predictably mesmerising After the powersliding fun of Aetherdrift, were getting another Universes Within set for Magic: The Gathering with Tarkir: Dragonstorm. As the name suggests, the set is all about returning to Tarkir, a Plane that debuted more than a decade ago, and spending time with a series of clans that are battling dragons. I got a sneak peek at whats coming, and for a dragon-loving fantasy nerd like me, I couldnt be happier. In fact, I feel like Ive been waiting for this set since I got into Magic: The Gathering a couple of years ago let me explain. Its Dragons, dummy This set features storms that are literally spitting out dragons Whether youre a fan of Charizard, Smaug, the Blue Eyes White Dragon or just about anything else, dragons are as much of a fantasy trope as elves and goblins. Theyre been around since the very beginning, and when I started learning to play Magic, they offered the deck I gravitated toward with Draconic Destruction a starter deck that, despite costing 20 when I bought it, now costs much, much more. The point is that dragons have an enduring quality, and while weve seen plenty of them in sets since Tarkir, they are front and centre here so much so that every clan has their own dragon leader, and every Commander deck (there are five this time) has a dragon to lead it. If youve been looking for a big, winged lizard to decimate your foes, this might be the best bet yet, and the selling point for many I suspect (myself included) will be its dragons, dummy. Big ol' Dragon Deck Expect new and familiar faces Thats not to say these cards only look cool, though. Each of the clans, signified in a trio of colours, has their own mechanic that leans into their in-game lore. With each clan named after its own color wedge, like the Mardu Horde and Jeskai Way, longtime Magic players can instantly spot a type to build around while newcomers will know at a glance what cards can fit where. Ive always been keen to attend a prerelease event, but the idea of building a deck and leaving so much out has put me off more than once. Tarkir: Dragonstorm fixes that in three nifty ways. For one, there are the mechanics of each, which help facilitate certain playstyles. Mardu can mobilize, creating temporary attacking tokens, while Sultai and draw power from the graveyard. Temur can channel mana from creatures to play from the graveyard, and there are more besides. Hybrid mana is another smart addition, preventing that feeling of being unable to summon because you have two of the colour mana you need by letting you replace it with double the colourless mana instead. Finally, a prerelease-specific tweak is that five boxes will be available to choose from but while they each have a series of random boosters (as is usually the case), they also have a seeded 14 card pack which helps set the tone for your deck. That means before you even crack open the randomised packs, youll have some idea of what youre trying to build. Final Thoughts I could write for another few hundred words and still not cover everything Im excited about, like the new Ultimatum reprints that look like world-ending Final Fantasy summons and the Behold mechanic that should help my old Dragon deck gain new power, but suffice it to say, I cant wait until Tarkov: Dragonstorm lands. With prerelease on April 4, Arena launch on April 8 and the full launch on April 11, were so close now that Im already struggling to pick my Commander precon of choice let alone which prerelease box to buy. You can preorder here Preview access provided by Wizards of the Coast. Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.More On

Assassin's Creed Shadows is a fantastic game in the series, and a wonderful RPG in its own right that blends excellent stealth and combat with a staggering open worldTech17:00, 18 Mar 2025Shadows is frequently stunningIts perhaps fitting that, after years of fan requests, the most important entry in the Assassins Creed franchise yet finally turns the series' attention to Japan.Assassins Creed Shadows feels like a long list of community demands made manifest, doing its best to be all things to all fans. Looking for the best RPG in the series since Origins? Youll find it. Looking to focus on stealth a la Mirage? Thats here, too. Fancy managing your own personal army like Brotherhood? You got it.Article continues belowDespite arriving amid a wave of controversy, then, Assassins Creed Shadows is the most ambitious game in the series almost two decade history and marks the new high water mark for the series' modern era.Each protagonist feels great and has an interesting storyMuch of what makes Shadows feel so impressive are its leading duo. Yasuke and Naoe are two drastically different characters in every way, from their origins to their gameplay, and while some missions are exclusive to each, players can switch between them regularly.Yasuke is a mountain of a man searching for his place in a world that feels alien to him, looking to improve the fractious Japan setting for the commonfolk while bearing his own burdens of guilt, while Naoes quest for vengeance feels ripped straight from Kurosawa movies.The two dovetail in a staggeringly-detailed world, packed with secrets to discover and people to help, and one that somehow feels personal and much bigger than our protagonists' own journeys at once. Suffice it to say Ill leave spoilers out of this review, but it didnt take long to feel something for each of our protagonists. And, when the talking is done, both are equally fun to control.Naoe can climb higher thanks to a grappling hookNaoe slides between enemy attacks, retorting with deadly prescision from her katana, but is something of a glass cannon shes not fragile, but she cant withstand too much damage before needing to vanish into the shadows to plan her next move.Yasuke, on the other hand, feels closer to the weighty, RPG era of the series' combat. He swings huge weapons and can charge through doors, but hes also slower and can snap ropes by trying to scurry across them.That means that experimenting is not only fun but necessary, letting you decide whether to knock down the front door of an enemy encampment or grapple hook over it.There are always more towers to climbAfter so many years of fans asking for the series to go to Japan, Ubisoft has absolutely knocked it out of the park with its recreation in Shadows.In the first few hours, theres a moment where Naoe needs to head down from a sort of mountain on horseback. No combat, no set piece, just riding down the terrain as the climate gets warmer. Wildlife roams the area, shrines are dotted along the pathway, and theres a mist that hangs in the air.On PS5 Pro, it looks incredible, and while Assassins Creed Valhalla may have kicked off the current generation, at times Shadows looks like another generational leap beyond. Theres an incredible amount of detail in every frame, backed up by a fantastic photo mode thatll likely keep me busy for hours.The change in seasons is a nice touchStitching on clothing, blood on blades, and the stylised black and white combat abilities look great, while a new Seasons system means that areas change regularly. In Summer, grass grows longer, letting you slip through long grass to get the drop on opponents, while colder months see snowfall that muffles footsteps.None of it leads to a drastic change in how each character plays, but add extra considerations for missions. Ubisofts traditional array of map icons have also been trimmed down, leaning more into the magic of discovery by just moving around its world and seeing where your virtual feet take you.That extends to objectives, which will now give you a series of prompts that give you the rough idea of where you need to go or you can narrow it down by sending spies.You can customise your hideout with new buildings and NPCsThat leads into the sheer mass of things to do in Assassins Creed Shadows. Scouts can be recruited, safehouses founded, and contracts taken out, but Naoe and Yasuke can also recruit civilians to their cause.These can then help out at a homestead which can be customised, with new buildings helping store weapons and more, while also bringing in additional resources and offering a hand in combat. Its not quite Animal Crossing, but I spent more than a few hours messing with its systems.Then there are open world activities like hunting legendary animals, experiencing Naoes flashbacks, and a gear system that feels like itll lead to the best kind of gameplay customisation for both protagonists.In short, Assassins Creed Shadows is absolutely gargantuan, and to its credit the seams are hard to spot. There are some sections where youll slay an entire room of well-meaning security guards only for the NPC you were guarding (and supposed to sneak up to) to act as if theyre not stood atop a mountain of corpses.But these instances are few and far between, with Shadows offering possibly the most cohesive blend of gameplay styles and volume of activities in the series thus far.Article continues belowSimply put, Assassins Creed: Shadows is the biggest game in the long-running series, but also one of the finest. From its gameplay variety to its gorgeous open world, its the first game in the franchise to truly grab me in its vice grip since Origins.And, like Bayeks adventure, I think I'll find myself thinking about it for a long, long time afterward.Reviewed on PS5 Pro. Review code provided by the publisher.

Lego has chosen Pikachu (Lego)A new line of Pokmon themed Lego sets have been announced, with a multi-year deal that is going to cost fans dearly.Not only do Lego and Nintendo get on very well but its amusing that theyre both quite similar companies, beloved by their fans but notorious for their secrecy and insistence on doing things their way.Their first partnership was for the ongoing Super Mario line of Lego sets, which rather than just being recreations of scenes from specific games, with ordinary brick built minifigures, involve giant-sized Bluetooth figures and customisable courses.Theyve also dabbled with sets aimed at adults, such as the upcoming Mario Kart model, as well as a 2-in-1 Legend Of Zelda creation, and a whole line dedicated to Animal Crossing. And now its the turn of Pokmon.How many other Nintendo franchises might be turned into official Lego sets is difficult to say but in some cases it seems theres been a delay because theyve licensed the property out to other companies first.For a few years there were Mario Kart sets for KNex and, over the years, there have been officially licensed Pokmon sets for both Nanoblock and Mega Bloks.Inevitably, they werent very good but even though its The Pokmon Company that organises merchandise for Pokmon, not Nintendo, theyve been brought into the fold and a line of Pokmon sets will be coming out in 2026, as part of a new multi-year deal.None of them have been revealed yet but the teaser video above clearly shows Pikachus tail. As if there was any doubt that hed be one of the first to show up.Mega Bloks toys tended to be brick-built versions of the most popular pokmon, including Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, but theres no clue as to what direction Lego may take other than theres likely to be some sort of twist to it.This new partnership will bring the world of Pokmon to life in entirely new ways, allowing fans to build beloved Pokmon in Lego brick form, says Lego.More TrendingFor the first time, the Lego Group will be bringing the most loved Pokmon to life in a brand-new way, with play experiences that will delight new and existing fans alike.While a Generation X video game sequel is likely to be announced by 2026, if not released, the sets wont necessarily have anything to do with that.The recently released Mario Kart sub-line is based solely on Mario Kart 8, in part because new Lego sets take a surprisingly long time to design and produce just like video games.There could be some connection to this years Pokmon Legends: Z-A but more likely Lego will, at least at first, go for the obvious iconic pokmon and locations. Or maybe theyll opt for something more outside the box, like the fan creation below. This fan-made set looks really neat (The Brothers Brick/Grant Davis)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Assassins Creed Shadows a relatively dynamic duo (Ubisoft)Ubisofts pivotal new entry in the Assassins Creed series features two different playable characters in 16th century Japan.The Assassins Creed franchise is notionally about the millennia-spanning conflict between the Order of the Assassins and their arch-nemeses the Templars. Experienced in the modern world via the Animus, a machine that lets people inhabit the memories of long dead ancestors, early releases in the series made a big deal of current era interludes between bouts of remembered historical assassination.At some point, Ubisoft realised those were easily the dreariest parts of the games and decided to abandon forays into the modern era. But while Assassins Creed Shadows doesnt bring them back, it does feature mysterious glitches in the Animus that let you hear the voice of The Guide, a sort of digitally enabled Deep Throat who wants to lead you to discoveries beyond the memories youre playing through.Moment to moment though, Shadows is still all about quietly creeping up on unsuspecting characters and stabbing them in the neck, and while its Feudal Japanese setting provides an entirely new architectural style to leap around, thats still the games focus. Or at least half its focus, because in this instalment you play not only as stealthy ninja assassin Naoe but also as hulking samurai Yasuke, whos not nearly as stealth orientated.Yasuke is a real historical figure and a former slave, having arrived in Japan with Portuguese Jesuit missionaries. Thats also the case in the game, where hes taken under the wing of enjoyably evil warlord Oda Nobunaga, who trains him as a samurai before setting him to work burning villages and brutalising fellow clans in the name of unifying Japan. Yasukes colossal, muscular frame does not lend itself to climbing or creeping about, but it does make him feel like an unstoppable Terminator style killing machine.While most extremely large video game characters are slow and ponderous, his bulk is accompanied by fearsome speed and, especially in the first part of the game before baddies get more wily, he can feel practically untouchable. Running straight through locked castle gates, enemies stand about as much chance against him as bread does against an electric slicing machine, with approximately the same outcome.Naoe is more in line with traditional Assassins Creed protagonists. Her shinobi skills make her exceptionally fleet of foot and her grapple hook gives an instant escape route, allowing her to scale pagodas or nearby rooftops in seconds, so she can strike rapidly and then disappear.Because enemies level with you, In the latter parts of the game they get tougher and more resourceful and you quickly find that Naoes skills lend themselves to taking out entire castles full of guards and daish samurai, where she can scuttle up onto roofs without getting mobbed.Meanwhile, Yasuke is better at laying waste to smaller, more rustic enemy camps. Typically, that means facing off against half a dozen soldiers without much cover or opportunity to hide, where his tankiness, extra health rations, and brutal damage give him the advantage.Its actually quite refreshing to abandon stealth and charge in like an angry bull, especially in a game of this enormous scale, where fatigue regularly sets in through endless repetition of the core mechanics. If it were all simply hiding in tall grass, things would start to feel one note worryingly early.What never feels monotonous though, is its glorious setting. 16th century Japan looks utterly spectacular, from its majestic towering pagodas to the fleeting pink cherry blossom in spring. Youll be seeing plenty of that, not just for its ability to render the setting recognisably Japanese, but because the turn of the seasons plays an important role in Shadows.As well as controlling Naoe and Yasuke, you recruit allies who you can call for assistance when the going gets tough. Its a call back to Assassins Creed Brotherhood, when Ezio Auditore da Firenze could wave a hand and have his assassins materialise from thin air to annihilate nearby foes. Shadows goes a little further with that meta game, in a twist that also addresses the series map marker overcrowding. Naoes activities are more traditionally Assassins Creed (Ubisoft)Past complaints about the sheer number of quest symbols that pop up in Ubisoft games have apparently not gone unheeded, and Shadows borrows its structure from stablemate Tom Clancys Ghost Recon. Framed as a series of investigations, you gradually pick off members of different bad guy cadres in your pursuit of the real, hidden enemy.Each target offers clues to their whereabouts, but even with all elements of the HUD switched on, youre not simply given a location. Instead, you need to read the hints and then use your map to assess roughly where they might be, before sending scouts to confirm a precise location. Send your reconnaissance team to the wrong area and theyll come back empty handed, and while you can recruit new scouts, theyre a finite resource that only refreshes when the seasons change.Like previous outing Valhalla, youll need to engage in a little base building, which has been slightly beefed up in Shadows. Now, rather than just unlocking preset structures, you can lay out your hideout as you see fit, constructing and upgrading buff-conferring rooms, and adding cosmetics -from gravel paths to statues to pets that you unlock or buy from merchants as you explore.While there are other distractions from your main business of quietly killing hundreds of people, theyre not particularly well formed. There are all sorts of collectibles, including the above mentioned pets, and updates to your codex about the wealth of authentic historical detail, along with a series of basic rhythm action mini-games that let you learn new weapon techniques for Yasuke or meditations for Naoe.Those activities reward you with knowledge points, which youll need to open up the more powerful techniques in the games skill trees. Experience levels characters up, improving their base stats, while knowledge points unlock new abilities. Fortunately, no matter which protagonist youre playing, the other receives the same amount of experience and knowledge points, maintaining parity in their progression.Unlike the vaunting ambition of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which used its immense scale to inculcate you into an entire medieval life simulator, Assassins Creed Shadows conforms to the expectations of its long running franchise. Its lightning fast combat has been given a distinctive new feel and switching between its contrasting characters creates broader dynamics within its fairly narrow core stealth and assassination gameplay loop, but much else about the game feels familiar.The opening 20 or so hours are probably its least inspiring, with both Naoe and Yasuke feeling overpowered. Its only as both start to unlock more skills and equipment from their huge sets of historically accurate ancient Japanese weaponry that enemies start getting more persistent, making it trickier to simply vanish into the rafters like a stab-happy Batman. The open world is very nicely designed and rendered (Ubisoft)Is Assassins Creeds Shadows worth playing?For Assassins Creeds detractors, and those filled with ennui by Ubisofts formula, there will be little here to change minds. However, for those who still enjoy its schtick, this is a lightly refreshed take that at least deals with some of the series more frequent complaints, namely the profusion of quest markers, the endless stealth/homicide repetition, and the bugs.More TrendingDespite its scale, and apart from a couple of memorably macabre moments when headless corpses sprang back up and continued to fight, this is an almost completely bug-free experience.Its also beautifully acted, its story attempting to explore the tension between a desire for murderous revenge and the possibility of forgiveness. Considering that central thesis, its odd that you can still assassinate unarmed servants in return for a modest XP reward, the game only penalising you for accidentally hacking bystanders to death.For Assassins Creed nostalgists, its unlikely anything will ever beat tooling around renaissance Rome as Ezio, or the magical first half of Black Flag before it got bogged down in unnecessarily tricky combat and naval engagements. Assassins Creed Shadows walks a fine line between modest innovation and delivering on longstanding expectation, but it does so with polish and panache, even if things inevitably start to feel repetitious long before the closing credits roll.Assassin's Creed Shadows review summaryIn Short: If youve never liked Assassins Creed this wont win you over but Shadows is a well-made and exciting iteration thats impressively well-polished, even if it lacks any significant new ideas.Pros: Ultra-fast shinobi and samurai combat thats genuinely fun. Ancient Japan looks gorgeous with a huge, and hugely impressive, open world. The script and voice-acting are very competent.Cons: Dull mini-games and an inevitable sense of repetition and shallowness. Despite some minor innovations you cant help feeling a more significant reboot is overdue.Score: 7/10Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: 69.99Publisher: UbisoftDeveloper: Ubisoft QuebecRelease Date: 20th March 2025Age Rating: 18 Yasuke is not a subtle fighter (Ubisoft)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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By Isaac Schultz Published March 18, 2025 | Comments (0) | A fossilized feature in volcanic rock. Photo: Edoardo Terranova Fossilized feathers discovered 136 years ago are still revealing new secrets. Researchers found that the volcanic rock preserving the feather holds microscopic details preserved within the fossil. The teams researchpublished today in Geologyfound that the feathers are preserved in zeolite, a mode of preservation that hasnt been reported for soft tissues until now. Fossil feathers are usually preserved in ancient mudrocks laid down in lakes or lagoons, said Valentina Rossi, a researcher at University College Cork and lead author of the study, in a university release. The fossil vulture is preserved in ash deposits, which is extremely unusual. When analyzing the fossil vulture plumage, we found ourselves in uncharted territory. These feathers are nothing like what we usually see in other fossils. The Doom of the Alban Hillsa digital painting depicting a possible scene just before the vultures carcass was buried by the pyroclastic current. Dawid A. Iurino The soft sediments at the bottoms of water bodiesand for that matter, non-solid land, like mudslidescan cover dead organisms, keeping them from being scavenged and preserving their remains in deep time. But preservation in zeolitesaluminum- and silicon-rich minerals that are common in volcanic settingsis a new finding, one that could mean more volcanically preserved fossils down the line. The feather belonged to a vulture that lived in Italy some 30,000 years ago. The animals entire body was preserved in three dimensions, from the birds eyelids to the tips of its wings. Ergo: A feather fossil that is preserved down to the microscopic pigment structures in the fossils wing.We are used to [thinking] that volcanic deposits are associated with hot, fast-moving pyroclastic currents that will destroy soft tissues, said Dawid Iurino, the studys coordinator and a researcher at the University of Milan, in the same release. However, these geological settings are complex and can include low temperature deposits that can preserve soft tissues at the cellular level. Indeed, the volatile and extreme conditions of volcanic eruptions are surprisingly good at immaculately preserving the most delicate tissues, in the right circumstances. Last month, a team of researchers confirmed that the eruption of Italys Mount Vesuvius in 79, which devastated and buried the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, also turned one victims brain into glasspreserving the organs microscopic axons and neurons in a solid state.Volcanoes spew hot gas, ash, and of course, lava when they erupt, often with fatal effects for life in their immediate vicinity. The nature of the vultures preservation is an encouraging sign that more extremely well-preserved fossils may lie in wait for paleobiologists to discover.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Margherita Bassi Published March 18, 2025 By Margherita Bassi Published March 9, 2025 By Margherita Bassi Published March 6, 2025 By Adam Kovac Published March 2, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 27, 2025 By Adam Kovac Published February 21, 2025

By Germain Lussier Published March 18, 2025 | Comments (0) | Cujo, seen here in his 1983 movie, is coming back to the screen. Image: Warner Bros. Cujo is chomping his way back to the movies and his new owner is someone very good at terrifying you. Darren Aronofsky, the director of Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan, mother!, and The Whaleis in talks with Netflix to direct a new adaptation of the Stephen King classic about a killer dog. If this is the first youre hearing about the film, that makes a lot of sense. It was only last week news broke that Netflix was working on a new version of the story, but at the time there were no names attached. No director, no writer, no star. Which certainly seemed odd because, how the heck does that work? But, if Aronofsky is on board, it makes a lot more sense. Hes got a great track record across genres and is sure to get all kinds of awesome people interested. The InSneider first broke the news of his involvement, which was then corroborated by multiple trade publications. Originally published in 1981, Kings book is about a dog who contracts rabies after being bitten by a bat and then goes on a rampant killing spree. Two years later, it was adapted into a hit film starring E.T.s Dee Wallace but that was that. However, Netflixs Roy Lee has found lots of success producing Kings stories, such as both installments of It, and brought this new adaptation to light at the streamer. Theres no writer yet which, again, seems oddhow do you have a director without a writer?but Aronofsky is not a filmmaker known for compromise. From his earliest days willing a gritty thriller like Pi into existence, all the way through his Oscar-winning fare with Natalie Portman and Brendan Fraser, Aronofskys work has always been visceral. Its intense. Its emotional. Its often incredibly messed up. And if you think of all those things wrapped in the frame of a Stephen King story about a killer dog, well, it sounds like a winning combination. Of course, theres no guarantee the project with Aronofsky will come to light. Hes currently finishing a crime film called Caught Stealing which will be out this summer. But we hope he does return to the world of intense horrors that made him famous in the first place. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Isaiah Colbert Published March 18, 2025 By Isaiah Colbert Published March 17, 2025 By Cheryl Eddy Published March 13, 2025 By Cheryl Eddy Published March 13, 2025 By Sabina Graves Published March 12, 2025 James Whitbrook and Gordon Jackson Published March 12, 2025

Nature, Published online: 18 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00789-7Attacks on vaccines and the cancellation of research into what causes vaccine hesitancy puts people in harms way.

Nature, Published online: 18 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00805-wPlans to broadcast TV to villages in India to improve literacy rates, and camels that have settled in the Nevada desert, in our weekly dip into Natures archive.