Billions.Network, intended to be a universal human and AI network, is launching to transform digital identity verification.Read More

Pokmon TCG Pocket reaches 100m downloads | News-in-briefMobile adaptation of Pokmon Trading Card Game launched in October 2024Image credit: The Pokmon Company News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Feb. 28, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Pokmon TCG Pocket reaches 100m downloads

Amazon has been trying to make virtual assistants happen for more than a decade. Alexa is, by many definitions, wildly successful, but it has so far failed to become the kind of omnipresent, omnipotent helper the company imagines. (It has also, by all accounts, failed to become a compelling business for Amazon.) This week, though, Amazon launched the most ambitious version of Alexa yet, with new technology underneath and some big new ideas about how you might interact with AI.On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk a lot about whats next for Alexa. David Imel who you might know as the co-host of the Waveform podcast joins the show to help us figure out what to make of Alexa Plus, and the whole idea that large language models can make virtual assistants both more useful and more accessible. Amazons description of Alexa Plus makes a lot of sense, and sounds pretty compelling, but we have reservations both about the user experience and about Amazons ability to actually pull this off.After that, we dive into a busy week of gadget news, beginning with one of the more unusual camera launches weve seen in a while. We also talk about the iPhone 16E, and the ne …Read the full story at The Verge.

DJI has announced the third iteration of its drone-in-a-box solution designed for missions like safely inspecting power lines and emergency response. As with previous versions, the DJI Dock 3 is small enough to be transported in the back of a pickup truck, but its the first that allows DJIs new Matrice 4D and Matrice 4TD drones to be launched from a moving vehicle using an optional gimbal mount accessory.Although the company hasnt revealed how much that special mount for mobile launches will cost, the new DJI Dock 3 will be available in two bundles priced for enterprise customers with sizable budgets. It can be purchased with the DJI Matrice 4D drone for $21,059, or with the Matrice 4TD for $23,409. Those prices dont include installation, deployment services, or optional hardware upgrades and software features.The weather-resistant Dock 3 opens to allow DJI drones to launch or take-off remotely. Image: DJIThe new dock carries forward several features from previous versions like a built-in weather station, antennas, surveillance cameras, and an internal backup battery. It still needs access to power and the internet, but can be upgraded with a cellular 4G dongle for remote deployment.The DJI Dock 3 has an improved IP56 rating for dust and water-resistance and its operational temperature range has been expanded to as hot as 50 degrees Celsius, or as cold as -30 degrees Celsius although DJI says preheating will be needed when temperatures are that cold.It can communicate with drones on missions as far as 10 kilometers away, but that range can be extended to up to 25 kilometers for fixed deployments (such as on a highrise building) through the use of relays mounted at elevated locations. But thats assuming your local jurisdiction allows drones to fly automated routes or be remotely operated at those distances. In the US, the FAA requires drone operators to obtain a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver for remote operation at extended distances.The Dock 3 is compatible with weather-resistant versions of the DJI Matrice 4 Series drones. Image: DJIThe Dock 3 is designed to work with new IP55-rated water and dust-resistant versions of the DJI Matrice 4 Series of drones that launched earlier this year. The Matrice 4D and 4TD both feature ant-ice propeller blades, 47 minute flight times, and a combination of wide-angle, medium tele, and telephoto cameras. The Matrice 4TD has expanded night time capabilities with the addition of an infrared thermal camera and a near-infrared auxiliary light for added illumination.Correction, February 28th: An earlier version of this article misstated the DJI Dock 3 was an autonomous solution. Automated flight routes need to be programmed by human operators.See More:

EA have just released the source code for several games in the Command & Conquer series ( Command & Conquer (Tiberian Dawn), Red Alert, C&C Renegade, and C&C Generals and Zero Hour ) under the GPL v3 license. They also added Steam Workshop support to several titles in the C&C series. This is a different code-base than the 2020 release that went alongside the Steam release of Command & Conquer Remastered.Details from PC Gamer:EAs announced that its releasing the source code for a bunch of old C&C games andheres the bit where I, as a man who enjoys modding but is also very lazy, gets excitedadding Steam Workshop support to a few more.The games getting a source code release areCommand & Conquer (Tiberian Dawn), Red Alert, C&C Renegade, and C&C Generals and Zero Hour. Theyre being released under the GPL license, meaning folks can mix, match, and redistribute them to their hearts content without EA lawyers smashing down the door. You can find them all onEAs Github page.As for the Steam Workshop? Thats getting switched on forC&C Renegade, C&C Generals and Zero Hour, C&C 3 Tiberium Wars and Kanes Wrath, and C&C 4 Tiberium Twilight(they cant all be winners). EAs also gone and updated all the Mission Editor and World Builder tools so you can publish maps directly to the Steam Workshop.Plus, its putting out a modding support pack that contains the source Xml, Schema, Script, Shader and Map files for all the games that use the SAGE engine. I lack the useful skills to know what that really means for the modding scene, but I look forward to reaping the benefits down the line.Key LinksEA GitHub RepositoriesC&C Remaster Sale on SteamOther previously released commercial game source projects include:Team Fortress 2Rogue LegacyDecent 3Amnesia Dark DescentMeridian 59OvergrowthStar Ruler 2You can learn more about EA releasing the source code to the Command & Conquer series and more in the video below.

The director of The Witcher 4 has clarified that a new video features the same in-game model of Ciri after some had thought her face looked different.Yesterday, CD Projekt released a behind the scenes look at The Witcher 4s cinematic reveal trailer, and fans noticed two brief clips that show new looks at Ciri up close.These clips, at the 2:11 and 5:47 marks, zoom in on Ciris face as the camera spins around her character model. The comments are packed with fans highlighting how Ciri looks slightly different in the face in these moments that she does in the cinematic reveal trailer itself. One commenter called Ciri at the 5:47 mark the perfect representation of an [sic] slightly older Ciri. I'm well happy! She looks fantastic!Ciri at 2:11 in the new Witcher 4 video. Image credit: CD Projekt.This initial speculation tapped into a response from some corners of the internet that Ciri looked ugly in The Witcher 4, based on her appearance in the reveal trailer. The response to the two new clips was overwhelmingly positive from commenters, and some reports suggested CD Projekt might have changed Ciris face after this supposed backlash.Not so, according to CD Projekt. Taking to social media, The Witcher 4 game director Sebastian Kalemba said the developer had not modified Ciris in-game model, and clarified that these new looks were a snapshot taken before the developers applied the cinematic touches we see in the reveal video.The behind-the-scenes video features the same in-game model of Ciri as seen in the original trailer, Kalemba said.We have not modified it. What youre seeing is raw footage without facial animation, lighting, or virtual camera lenses. While its still in-engine, it represents a work-in-progress snapshot taken before we applied cinematic touches for the purpose of that video.This variation is a natural part of the game development process. At this point, any character's appearance may vary depending on the medium whether its in a trailer, a 3D model, or in-game.Or, as commenter Fehndrix put it on the Witcher subreddit: Redditor discovers the effect that lighting can have on an in-game face model, is confused.Ciri at 5:47 in the new Witcher 4 video. Image credit: CD Projekt.The Witcher 4 is the first in a new trilogy of Witcher games set after the events of The Witcher 3. But rather than star Geralt as protagonist, Ciri is the main character this time around.Speaking exclusively to IGN ahead of the reveal, executive producer Magorzata Mitrga said Ciri was the very organic, logical choice.It was always about her, starting from Saga when you read it in the books. She's an amazing, layered character. And of course, as a protagonist we said goodbye to Geralt previously. So this is a continuation. I guess for all of us its like she was meant to be. That was always her.Kalemba added that because Ciri is younger than Geralt, players will have more freedom to define her character in a way they couldnt with Geralt. This also affords the developers more space to explore her character.Ciri in one shot from the official The Witcher 4 cinematic reveal trailer. Image credit: CD Projekt.While both Mitrga and Kalemba acknowledged a potential backlash from some corners of the internet at Ciris role as protagonist in The Witcher 4, they insisted Ciri was always going to be the games main character.There was an intention behind this choice, Kalemba said. It was far from roulette. It wasn't random. I remember we had discussions nine years ago, we were talking about who's next? The very, very instant answer was Ciri. There are many reasons behind that. We've already mentioned a few. But she really deserves a stage and we want players to really experience her story because she has so much to tell, so much to prove. The amount of challenges that are in front of her give us so much amazing energy and fuel to create an epic saga that we had no choice but to go with it. We all felt that this is the way. I believe this is the super right choice.PlayIn January, speaking to IGN as part of a wider interview on Netflixs upcoming animated film, The Witcher: Sirens of The Deep, Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle backed CD Projekts decision, even though it sees Geralt take a back seat.I'm really excited, he said. I think it's a really good move. I mean, I always thought that continuing the Saga, but shifting to Ciri would be a really, really interesting move for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because of things that happen in the books, which I don't want to give away because people, I want people to go read. So yeah, I think it's really exciting. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what they've done.Weve got plenty more exclusive content on The Witcher 4, including a trailer breakdown and an interview with CD Projekt where the developer explains why The Witcher 4 will avoid a Cyberpunk 2077-style launch disaster.Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

In the leadup to its global launch, Monster Hunter Wilds broke pre-order records on both Steam and PlayStation. It effortlessly followed in the footsteps of its extraordinarily popular predecessors, 2022s Monster Hunter Rise and 2018s Monster Hunter: World, achieving sales that truly cements Capcoms unique and esoteric RPG series as one of the biggest video game franchises in the whole world.But that wasnt always the case. Less than a decade ago, the idea of a Monster Hunter game attaining such remarkable popularity across the globe would have seemed alien. Rewind the clock even further, back to when Monster Hunter hit the scene in 2004, and it would have seemed even more farfetched: the original game was met with mixed reviews. It wasnt until a year later when Monster Hunter made the jump to the PSP did the series really blow up in Japan. Thats right. For a long time, Monster Hunter was the poster child for the game series bigger in Japan than the rest of the world phenomenon. The reasons for this were simple, as this story will explain, but that didnt stop Capcom from trying to figure out how to break Monster Hunter through to the international market. And, as Monster Hunters World, Rise, and now Wilds proves, it was well worth the effort. This is how Monster Hunter went from a domestic hit to a global force.Monster Hunter Wilds is already proving to be immensely popular. | Image credit: CapcomAround the time of Street Fighter 5s launch in 2016, Capcom underwent an internal reorganization in order to prepare for a new generation of games. These games would run on the companys brand new RE Engine, a replacement for Capcoms ageing MT Framework. But this change was about more than just tools. Alongside the engine upgrade came a new mandate to ensure Capcoms games were being made not just for existing, territory-specific fans, but for a global audience. It was a few factors that came together, says Hideaki Itsuno, a former game director at Capcom best known for his work on Devil May Cry. The change of the engine and also all teams were given a very clear goal at that point to make games that reach the global market. [Games] that are fun for everyone.If you look at almost all of Capcoms games released during the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, you get the feeling that the company was going all-in on trying to capture an imagined version of the Western games market. The action-heavy Resident Evil 4 was a big hit, true. But the more gun-focused spinoffs like Umbrella Corps, as well as the sci-fi shooter series Lost Planet, were all clearly chasing late-2000s Western gaming trends to no avail. After several years, Capcom realized it needed to create games that could appeal to everyone, not just fans of traditional Western genres.All teams were given a very clear goal to make games that reach the global market.I think that we had that clear goal of just focusing and not holding anything back, Itsuno says. Towards making good games that would reach people from all over the world. Itsuno notes that the time leading up to 2017 was pivotal. The changes in organization and the changes in the engine, all these elements came together around that time, he says. When Resident Evil 7 launched that year, it kickstarted a Capcom renaissance. No other series embodies this new company goal for global success better than Monster Hunter. While it had its diehard fans in the West, for decades Monster Hunter was much, much bigger in Japan than the rest of the world. The series was never conceived to be something that was only big in Japan, but there were real-world factors as to why this happened. Firstly, Monster Hunter found tremendous success moving from PlayStation 2 to the PSP with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. The handheld gaming market has always been much stronger in Japan than in the West, as seen with the success of not just the PSP but also Nintendos DS and, more recently, the Switch. The popularity of handhelds in Japan is rooted in a number of factors, but the thing that really worked for Monster Hunter, according to the series executive producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, was that Japanese gamers were able to reliably play with friends thanks to the nations heavily developed wireless internet network. It was years ahead of anything available in the United States at the time.Monster Hunter Freedom Unite saw the series arrive on PSP, a pivotal moment for Japanese gamers. | Image credit: Capcom20 years ago, Japan was in a very, very solid state in terms of the network environments available to people, and being able to connect and to play online together, Tsujimoto says. And of course, were not speaking for everyone there, because we realize that there are people who may not have had the chance to play with friends back then. But by moving over to handheld systems, we were able to grow that player base that was interacting and playing multiplayer together.Monster Hunter, which is built on a core pillar of cooperative play, recognized that this aspect would best be served when friends could quickly jump into hunts together. There was no better avenue for that at the time than handheld consoles. Thanks to Japans advanced internet, it meant Monster Hunter was being developed for a local market first, even if that wasnt an intentional approach.This created a loop of sorts. Monster Hunter games would become best-sellers primarily in Japan, and to keep pace with the audience, Capcom would release Japan-only content and host Japan-only special events, further reinforcing Monster Hunter as a Japan-only brand.Monster Hunter did have fans in the West, and they were enviously looking from the outside in.But the reality was that Monster Hunter did have fans in the West, and they were enviously looking from the outside in as Japanese players received exclusive tie-ins and quests. But as the Western world improved its internet infrastructure and online play became practically mandatory for most console gamers, Tsujimoto and the team saw an opportunity to launch their most advanced and most globally-accessible Monster Hunter game to date.Released in 2018 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, Monster Hunter: World was a gigantic change for the franchise. Rather than being scoped for small, less-capable handheld consoles, it delivered large-scale, AAA console quality action with souped up graphics, bigger areas, and, of course, bigger monsters.Our approach to the globalization of the series and Monster Hunter in general really ties into not only the themes that we had going into designing the game, but also in the name of the game, Tsujimoto reveals. The fact that we called it Monster Hunter: World is really kind of a nod to the fact that we wanted to appeal to this worldwide audience that we wanted to really dig into and experience Monster Hunter for the first time.Monster Hunter: World was a turning point for the series, turning it into a true global phenomenon. | Image credit: CapcomIt was also vital that Monster Hunter: World not do anything that gave off the impression that Capcom was prioritizing one market over the other. Monster Hunter: World would be released simultaneously worldwide, and there wouldnt be exclusive content locked to Japan, something Tsujimoto says comes with realigning ourselves to hit those global standards that people come to expect of titles around the world.It wasnt just a matter of making sure other regions got Monster Hunter: World at the same time as Japan (though it certainly helped). Tsujimoto and co. drilled deep to see what other ways Monster Hunters formula could be tweaked to broaden its appeal with players from all around the world. We did focus tests and user tests across the world, and some of the impact of those the feedback and the opinions that we got during that really affected how we designed our game systems and really affected how much success we had as a global title for that game, Tsujimoto says.One important change that resulted from these playtests was simply showing damage numbers when players hit the monsters. Little tweaks here and there to an already successful formula drove Monster Hunter to the greatest heights it had ever reached. Previous Monster Hunter games had typically sold around 1.3 to 5 million copies, not including re-releases and special editions. Monster Hunter: World and its 2022 follow-up, Monster Hunter Rise, both recorded sales greater than 20 million copies.This explosion of player growth didnt happen by accident. Instead of changing the spirit of Monster Hunter to suit Western tastes, Tsujimoto and the team found ways to open up the series unique (and, admittedly, obtuse) nature to a wider audience without making sacrifices. This approach continues with the series latest game, Monster Hunter Wilds.At its heart, Monster Hunter really is an action game, and that sense of accomplishment you get from really mastering that action is an important aspect of Monster Hunter, Tsujimoto explains. But for newer players, it's really getting to that point. The steps involved in getting to that sense of accomplishment is really what we're trying to strategize for, in terms of designing for new players. So with World and Rise, for example, we were taking really great care to analyze where players got stuck, what was hard to understand, what they were having trouble with, getting player feedback, and also doing our own kind of research into that. And all of that kind of knowledge has impacted how we've implemented new systems into Wilds.Within 35 minutes of its release, Monster Hunter Wilds hit 738,000 concurrent players on Steam, a figure more than double Monster Hunter: World's all-time high. And so theres every chance that Capcom's latest hunt may go on to quickly exceed even World and Rises lofty achievements. And thanks to a collection of glowing reviews and the promise of more content to come, it seems incredibly likely that Monster Hunter Wilds will continue the series mission to take over the world.This article is an excerpt from an upcoming IGN story that explores how Capcom turned itself around after a chain of missteps and failures. Discover the whole story of Capcoms fall and rise soon, only on IGN.Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.

When most people sign up for a Disney+ subscription, theyre probably thinking about catching up with Disney Channel Originals they loved as kids or watching the latest Marvel movie at home. For most, Disney+ means access to endless streams of frothy entertainment, with social issues presented in the form of cartoon allegories like Zootopia. The documentaries that get pushed to the front page tend to be self-mythologizing stories such as the behind-the-scenes Marvel Disassembled series or beautiful nature pictures.Most of those nature films come via National Geographic, an underappreciated wing of the Disney+ service. In addition to showing the beauty of the natural world, National Geographic also offers films about pressing social issues with more complexity than an animated rabbitfilms like Sugarcane, one of five nominees for this years Best Documentary Oscar.Sugarcane is not like most movies on Disney+. An investigation into the abuses committed against First Nations peoples at an Indian residential school operated by the Catholic Church of Canada, Sugarcane exists to tell the truth about horrific crimes. Yet its because these crimes happened to humansand people who still exist and whose legacy continuesthat Sugarcane must be watched.Uncovering the TruthI felt dirty as an Indian all my life, says Martina Pierre, grand-aunt of Sugarcane co-director Julian Brave NoiseCat. The Residential School taught us that.Once an open, shameful secret across North America, residential and boarding schools that were used to force Christianity and assimilation onto Indigenous children have become a prominent subject matter in popular culture. Episodes of Reservation Dogs and True Detective: Night Country deal with the phenomenon, as does Tommy Oranges most recent novel, Wandering Stars. However, all of these works have the distance of fiction to ease the truth. Sugarcane offers no such escape. NoiseCat and co-director Emily Kassie do not flinch from the details that get uncovered after the discovery of an unmarked grave outside of St. Josephs Mission in Williams Lake, BC, Canada. Even though the school closed in 1981, the horrors committed there linger still, most directly in the form of NoiseCats troubled father Ed.Sugarcane begins with NoiseCat phoning Ed on his birthday and inviting him to come along on the investigation. In particular, Ed hopes to close what he calls a gap in his childhood, some explanation for why his father abandoned him and his mother left him at St. Josephs. A soulful man, rarely seen without his stylish hat, ever-present cigarettes, and a braid across his chest, Ed strikes viewers as an aging hippie or punk rocker, someone with a cynical smile who will suddenly start singing a Neil Young number. Yet when faced with memories of what occurred, not just to him, but to other survivors he meets, Eds facade breaks. Despite his best efforts, the tears come quickly, reminding us that the scars of the past have yet to heal.Across GenerationsShortly after the visit with Martina Pierre, NoiseCat confronts his father about his own childhood. NoiseCat tries to tell Ed that he too was abandoned by his dad, that he and Ed share this quality, even if Ed was the perpetrator. NoiseCat cannot stop crying enough to make a more impassioned charge, and while Ed sputters out a defense and offers an apology, tears quickly drown his words. The moment doesnt end in any sort of resolution. We see the two separate to work through their feelings. The next day, they travel on, avoiding the subject.But lest any of us watching from the outside feel compelled to judge Ed, Sugarcane puts his life in larger context. For their next stop, the father and son visit Eds bully at the school, a boy who broke his cheekbone. Instead of finding a brute, the two find yet another man broken in childhood, left at the school by his mother and molested by the same priest to whom he gave confession. Theres no anger in Eds response. He just bows his head as he listens, understanding that the two of them are victims.This ability to circle beyond Ed and NoiseCats experience gives Sugarcane its strength. We also see Rick Gilbert, a former Williams Lake First Nations Chief and true believer in Catholicism, despite the abuses he endured, visit Vatican City for a reconciliation event. Likewise, we see current Williams Lake First Nations Chief Willie Sellars, who uses the news of the unmarked graves to gain attention for continued mistreatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Gilbert and Sellars manage to get responses from people on the top, folks like Pope Francis and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. These are institutional leaders who, at last, will admit to Indigenous people that their institutions did a grave and profound wrong. But the Indigenous never hear the word reparations uttered, nor about concrete actions to help the victims.Instead the only catharsis Sugarcane offers comes through the findings of investigator Charlene Belleau and archeologist Whitney Spearing. Throughout the movie, we see the two of them pouring through archival records and calling potential leads, doing the sort of searching youd find in a procedural TV show. These two provide the closest thing to justice, when they find a man willing to confess to burying the bodies of incinerated infants at a priests commands, or an elderly woman who fights through the effects of Parkinsons Disease to identify another grave site.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!The Beauty of JusticeYes, Sugarcane is difficult to watch, unsparing in its pursuit of the truth. But it is also very beautiful.The cinematography from co-director Kassie and director of photography Christopher LaMarca makes every space look rich and dynamic. Light falling on Belleaus profile deepens the lines on her face, underscoring the determination in her eyes and the compassion she gives the victims. The mountains and forests through which NoiseCat and Ed travel have never looked more majestic, especially as Ed reminds viewers, Everything you see is Indian land.Most of all, Sugarcane is beautiful because it loves its subjects. It takes time to show NoiseCat dancing at a ceremony, to show Gilbert sitting in a pew, to show Sellars going fishing with his children. Just the sight of Gilberts child reclining on a rock and watching the water flow by is enough to make Sugarcane a worthwhile watch.The beauty of seeing kids be kids makes the rest of Sugarcane more urgent, demanding that justice be done for those who had their childhood taken from them and ensuring that the next generation gets to live in peace.Sugarcane is now streaming on Disney+.

After leaving high school behind in the season 3 finale, Buffy the Vampire Slayer struggled to find its footing in young adulthood. Season 4 was an epic mix of highs and lows, with each episode being a toss-up between a series-defining masterpiece and a well-intended misfire. In the wake of that often disappointing 22-episode run, it was clear that Buffy needed a change of pace. By perfectly blending the shows signature supernatural elements with relatable, grounded drama, season 5 is brave, moving, and masterful thanks, in no small part, to the introduction of Buffys (Sarah Michelle Gellar) brand-new little sister Dawn, played by Michelle Trachtenberg, who tragically passed away on Feb. 26, 2025.In what remains one of the best teen drama twists of all time, season 5s opening episode drops a bombshell before a quick cut-to-black: the young girl briefly shown in Buffys room is, according to their mother, her little sisterdespite never being part of the series prior to this moment. As the season continues on, Buffy eventually learns that Dawn was created by a group of monks, transformed from a magical key into a person that Buffy herself would ultimately die to protect from an angry god. While this premise is as harebrained as it gets (and par for the course in the series supernatural wheelhouse), Dawns evolution from annoying little sister to beloved pillar of the show all circles back to the brilliant writing elevated by Trachtenbergs vulnerable and moving performance.Dawn herself could have easily devolved into nothing more than a plot device. Her presence in the fifth seasons story is straightforward and often predictable, and, in less capable hands, its easy to see how one-note this key-turned-sister couldve been. But from her very first full episode on the show (titled Real Me, season 5 episode 2), Trachtenberg imbues her with a tangibility that is only matched by Gellars early work on the series as Buffy herself.Theres a gentle touch behind every move Dawn makes, where her charming, troublemaking streak blends with her heartbreaking, grounded fear layered with a heavy dose of supernatural symbolism. Dawn questions whether or not shes a real person deserving of love, mirroring the fears of many teenagers as they try to develop into themselves. Dawn acts out when Buffys larger-than-life stakes overshadow her teenage drama, injecting an even stronger inferiority complex against Buffys godly position within her family and friend group.In one of Trachtenbergs greatest moments on Buffy, Dawn and Buffy regroup after a fight with the seasons Big Bad, and Buffy asks if Dawn is alright. Dawn asks why Buffy cares, shes not really her sister, after all. Shes just an object that a group of monks made flesh, why should Buffy concern herself with her feelings? Whos to say she even has them? But when Buffy takes her own blood and clasps Dawns bloody hand within her own, its clear that these two women are bound for life. Even without the Summers blood running through her veins, Buffy loves Dawn, and no amount of cosmic intervention could change that.While Gellar is often the focal point of the scene, Trachtenberg gives such a stunning performance, even after her lines have finished. You can see as she puts up her walls, preemptively shutting Buffy out before her sister can hurt her by insisting that shes not a person at all. Those walls slowly come down throughout Buffys heartfelt speech, genuine love and surprise clouding Trachtenbergs wide, blue eyes. When Buffy finally hugs her, her face fully collapses, crying into her sisters shoulder as she finally admits that shes just a scared kid, facing problems and obstacles far beyond her reach.Its that admission that defines Dawns arc throughout the rest of the season, elevated by the absolutely pitch-perfect performance given in that moment. Nine episodes later, when Buffy tells Dawn that the hardest thing in this world is to live in it before she jumps to her own death to save her sisters life, its that blood-tying moment that Buffy flashes back to. Of course, its to explain just how and why Buffy can sacrifice herself in Dawns place, but its also to remind audiences that Dawn is, truly, just a scared kid who doesnt believe her life is worth saving, especially over Buffys.Even if Dawn didnt believe she was worth Buffys sacrifice at the time, Michelle Trachtenberg made us believe she was. She made us believe she was the little sister we never had, but always wanted; she made us believe in the power of teenage whims and the weight of heartache and sorrow on a soul too young to have gone through so much; she made us believe in the magnitude of both being a teenager and being a lynchpin in one of the greatest supernatural stories ever told.As the series goes on, Dawn becomes further enmeshed in the canon, despite only appearing in the final three seasons. She becomes Spikes (James Marsters) odd-couple friend, she becomes Tara (Amber Benson) and Willows (Alyson Hannigan) number one shipper before it was cool, and she becomes the narratives beating heart, long after Buffy herself lost some of the light that used to shine in her eyes.Trachtenberg brought humor, heart, light, and relatability to Dawn that allowed her to become one of the series most iconic figures, picking up the baton from Gellar to bring grounded, teenage drama back into a series that knew its hero needed to grow up. While fans have rallied for decades behind their assertions that Dawn was annoying and stilted the shows evolution, this one-dimensional take on this ultimately iconic character diminishes not only importance of the teenage aspects of Buffy to the shows everlasting legacy, but also the incredible performance Trachtenberg delivered across 66 episodes.In the twelfth episode of the final season, Xander (Nicholas Brennan) sits Dawn down for a pep talk. With their house overflowing with potential slayers and an apocalypse looming on the horizon, Dawn is feeling useless and frustrated as her sister and their friends all prepare for battle. He tells her that he knows what its like to not be chosen, to not be special. Youre not special, he flat-out tells her. Dawn takes a tearful pause, Trachtenberg plays her humility and disappointment with a marked grace; but Xander isnt done: Youre extraordinary. Shes special not because she has infinite power and a calling to save the world, but simply because she cares enough to stand by those who do. If Buffy herself represents heroism by force, Dawn represents heroism by choice, inspired by her sister to do what is right and good, no matter the cost.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Extraordinary feels like the perfect word to describe both Dawn and Trachtenberg. The kind of perfect storm created by a character and performance so moving and incredible that it defines the series itself, that it becomes seminal to the genre in a way that is absolutely undeniable. The world is infinitely less bright without Trachtenberg in it, but, at the very least, her performance as Dawn SummersTVs greatest little sister, still, to this daywill live on as one of the best to grace both the series and the genre itself.

The Monster Hunter series is packed with detail from 14 weapon types, each effectively changing what kind of action game youre playing, to its many items, to the huge range of monsters to take down which can also make it overwhelming to a new player. With Monster Hunter Wilds (launching on Xbox Series X|S today) offering the biggest, most seamless hunting experience yet, its good to go in armed not just with a massive weapons, but with knowledge.With that in mind, we spoke to the games developers to get their tips on using some of Wilds newest features, ensuring that you enter The Forbidden Lands with the know-how to succeed, whether youre a new hunter or an old hand.Choosing WiselyAs I mention above, just picking a weapon in Monster Hunter can be a difficult decision. With a huge variation in attack types, and some real depth to their abilities, new players can get lost in that simple choice. Thankfully, Wilds has a solution:Another key learning from past games relates to the 14 weapon types. This is quite a lot of choice for first-time players and many people werent sure which weapon to choose, resulting in them choosing weapons that werent a good fit for their personal play style. To help avoid this, Monster Hunter Wilds includes an NPC conversation where players are recommended the best weapon for them to start from.Dont skip the chance to speak to your Handler Alma for a breakdown of what you want to use (but dont forget that you can switch to a new weapon at any time youre at camp, so dont be afraid to experiment, either!).An Unexpected Hunting Tool Other MonstersBuilding on the teams work in Monster Hunter World, the new game doesnt just build a world, but an ecosystem. With multiple monsters, large and small, wandering the maps, youll find that different species will react to one another, even if youre not starting the fight. And, crucially, that can be a major advantage:Wilds features much larger maps than any previous Monster Hunter title, and they have lots of monsters in them. This means that not only will you see turf wars happen between large monsters as in past titles, but there are also times when aggressive small monsters take their chance to attack large monsters. Players can utilize this behaviour to their advantage by luring their hunt target into such an attack.The game is also more seamless than ever before, allowing you to hunt monsters you encounter out in the locale by seamlessly making them into quests, without having to go back to the base camp, so you can explore the area, discover a monster, hunt it, and once its defeated decide on what to do next. While all this is happening, there are turf wars and other encounters happening in real time, so you may for instance come across a wounded monster whos just come out of a fight you werent even involved in!Seikret TechniquesA key part of Monster Hunter Wilds is the addition of Seikrets, animal mounts that can track monsters, and help you travel to them at speed. But they also come with the added bonus of being rideable at any time meaning you can use them to your advantage in battle. You can also attack while mounted on your Seikret.The actions you can perform while mounted on a Seikret are limited, so you generally need to dismount in order to dish out any substantial damage to the monster. However, while you are on it your Seikret it will avoid monster attacks to an extent and you can use items, so hopping on when youre in a pinch can be a smart way to recover during a hunt.Switching ApproachAnother key change to proceedings is that your Seikret will allow you to switch between two chosen weapons, even mid-fight. This is a major shift in how Monster Hunter works you could pick a longsword for melee combat but switch to a bowgun when your quarry flees, or use a hammer to deal stun damage, before switching to a greatsword when your target is sufficiently hazy. The developers also suggest a more nuanced approach:The most appropriate weapon for a given hunt or situation can vary greatly depending on the monster type and attack patterns, breakable parts and so on, so its definitely a good idea to switch weapons depending on the situation. If you really like a particular weapon, you could take two of the same weapon type with different elemental properties and use them strategically that way.Sharp FocusA big change to your battles in Monster Hunter Wilds comes through a new system:Wilds introduces a new wound system where, as you attack monsters, you will open up wounds on their body and can then attack them for increased damage. Keep attacking a wound and it will break, for even bigger damage.However, Monster Hunters enemies often have wild attack patterns, making concentrating on a single part of their body tough so the developers have layered in another new system to help. Focus Mode will lock you onto a monster, letting you exploit those weak spots, even using new attacks to do so:Focus Mode is not only a way to let players more precisely control the camera when aiming attacks, it also highlights those wounds, making them easier to aim for. You can also use a special Focus Strike on wounds while in this mode, so its a good way to make it easier to aim your attacks even for less experienced players you just need to get the distance right and line it up. You can also use Focus Mode to aim for breakable parts of a monsters body and make it easier to break them and get the extra rewards that brings.Show Your SkillsAnother big change comes in the form of your skills. In previous Monster Hunter games, only your armor would offer you extra skills from gathering materials more quickly to dealing more damage. Monster Hunter Wilds adds more freedom by adding skills to your weapons, too:In past titles only armor had skills on it, but with the new ability to carry two weapons, this would mean that any armor skills specific to a particular weapon would not be useful when changing weapons. This would mean players would be limited in the gear they could wear, or their weapons could be less effective. To avoid this, weve moved attack/weapon related skills such as Attack Boost or Guard to the weapons themselves, while more generally applicable support skills such as Speed Eater remain on the armor pieces, to allow players to bring the most effective skills for each hunt.Make sure to pay attention to skills across your loadout, and ensure youre building something that complements how you want to play.Monster Hunter Wilds arrives for Xbox Series X|S today.Monster Hunter WildsCAPCOM CO., LTD.Get it nowPre-order to receive a bonus!Pre-order BonusReceive this bonus content by pre-ordering Monster Hunter Wilds:Hunter Layered Armor Set: Guild KnightTalisman: Hope Charm*The bonus content listed above may be available by alternative means at a later date.The unbridled force of nature runs wild and relentless, with environments transforming drastically from one moment to the next.This is a story of monsters and humans and their struggles to live in harmony in a world of duality.Fulfill your duty as a Hunter by tracking and defeating powerful monsters and forging strong new weapons and armor from the materials you harvest from your hunt as you uncover the connection between the people of the Forbidden Lands and the locales they inhabit.The ultimate hunting experience awaits you in Monster Hunter Wilds.StoryA few years past, a young boy named Nata was rescued at the border of the Forbidden Lands, an unexplored region the guild has yet to survey.After hearing the boys tale of his lone escape from a mysterious monster that attacked his village, the Guild organized an expedition into the Forbidden Lands to investigate.A Living WorldEnvironments within the Forbidden Lands can drastically change as the weather shifts constantly and suddenly. During the harsh Fallow and perilous Inclemency periods, ravenous monsters will venture out to hunt in packs, yet during the Plenty periods, wildlife is rich and abundant.MonstersThe monsters who inhabit these environments have been forced to adapt to the dynamic changes that occur, using their unique characteristics to survive and thrive.Hunting As the world around them changes, so must the hunters and their tactics. Not only will hunters have a multitude of weapons and armor to choose from, but the art of the hunt itself has evolved as hunters learn to anticipate monsters behavior and familiarize themselves with their environment.CharactersFrom hunting partners to fellow expedition members, youll encounter plenty of those who will support you on your journey.