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FantasticIf Absolum, from the devs behind Streets of Rage 4, is a sign of where beat-em-ups are headed, Im excited for the future of the genreI got hands on time with DotEmus and Guard Crush Games' next beat-em-up, and as far as first impressions go, this ones a scorcher.Image credit: DotEmu Article by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on March 4, 2025 It's unfair and frankly stupid to say that beat-em-ups are a "solved" genre. There is no such thing. Especially in recent years, with indie developers pushing boundaries across the medium, we've seen all manner of ambitious releases revitalize norms in new and refreshing ways. But is DotEmu, fresh from the success of Streets of Rage 4, alongisde Guard Crush Games the right developers to do it? This question became silly once I tried out Absolum.Absolum is a new beat-em-up coming later this year to all platforms except from the Xbox, and I do feel it's a loss they'll feel deeply. It's this wonderful blend of classic side scrolling action with rogue-like mechanics, in which each run invigorates not only your characters, but the overall narrative too. It's incredibly moorish.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. I'll touch on the gameplay first. In the preview, I was able to play with two characters: Galandra and Karl. Galandra is this sleek elf lady with a big sword, able to weave hard-hitting and wide-spread combos, whereas Karl is a mean dwarf taking on the world with his gun and his fists, popping enemies off the ground which in turn allow for more stylish damage conversions.You get all the beat-em-up staples here, secret cubbies with food that restores health, bottomless pits you can throw enemies into, etc. But what is truly refreshing here is those aforementioned rogue-like staples! Return from a run with another special currency and you can unlock not only passive upgrades, but new special moves. These have the potential to totally flip your playstyle on its head. Shout out to this magical uppercut, which acts as a great combo ender. | Image credit: DotEmuA fantastic example comes with Karl, where he can unlock a new aerial attack which lets you to bounce off enemies for good damage and more air time, allowing for hilarious and frankly outrageous juggles. Or perhaps an aerial dash, in which Karl can use his gun to shoot off in multiple directions mid jump - multiple times!All this is kept in check with some wonderful game design. Combo an enemy too long and they'll take a massive spike of damage before spiraling out of your range. A smart way of say, no no, no infinites for you, but here's a nice cash out for your effort. Rewarding players for mixing and matching attacks, playing with the systems, is a great way of turning casual interest into diehard obsession.Okay, but what about the narrative? In the preview, I was limited to the first major zone, but there were multiple paths to get there. Go north, and I pass through a village with its own enemy type and boss fights. Go east, and you fight Goblins with their own champion. Okay, no big deal right? Well, what if I tell you that each path has its own side quests, which require you to venture down along another path the next time around? These quests unlock different paths with harder enemies, shortcuts, and various other prizes that make those early zones in a rogue-like dull over time. Absolum will have Co-op too. Get a friend involved! | Image credit: DotEmuThis is important because... We've all been there! Once you get really good at a rogue-like, those initial levels do feel like dead time, good only for picking up items for a build you're planning to capitalize on later. Take, Enter the Gungeon, which added the Oubliette as a way of skipping a floor at the cost of keys and harder fights. Here, I didn't feel that desire to skip through those initial paths - I wanted to reexplore them to see what new events had popped up!All this, wrapped in a lovely inked art style courtesy of French art studio Supamonks, and the game has this peculiar fantasy vibe to it. It's dark, but not grim and sullen. It's colourful, but not fangless. Absolum rides that line in a way that feels very, well, French. I mean that as the highest of compliments - Absolum brings a French comic style a la Asterix and Blue is the Warmest Colour. A triumph in aesthetic that sets this game apart.By the time I had finished, I had beaten the first boss on two seperate runs (at both points a DotEmu dev made sure that I not see more, despite my desire to do so) and unlocked a third character, which I did not play nor can write about. What I can say is that, if content outside the bounds of the preview retains the same level of slick style and quality as what I played, Absolum is one to look out for.Absolum is launching in 2025 on the PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.Absolum was previewed at the DotEmu offices in Paris, with travel costs covered by DotEmu.

Story of the YearSplit Fiction reviewEverything couch co-op fans want and more, Split Fiction is a smorgasbord of belly laughs and references to cult classic media that will likely make you cry.Image credit: VG247 Review by Kelsey Raynor Guides Writer Published on March 4, 2025 Hazelights latest co-operative romp, Split Fiction, is the studio at its best.Having clearly built upon its spiritual predecessors (A Way Out and game of the year 2021, It Takes Two) while simultaneously striving to celebrate creative media, the end result is a game that feels magical, weighty, and one that you wont want to put down. Youll spend much of the game, right from the very beginning, gasping. Your jaw wide open. You'll gawp at the locales youre whisked away to, at just how beautiful they are, and what they inspire. And don't get me started on the mechanics and the gimmicks.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Lets start with our protagonists. Youll be playing as sci-fi author Mio and/or fantasy author Zoe. These two writers, who are both striving to be published in an ever-competitive and cruel world, find themselves taking part in an experiment for Rader Publishing, who vows to break them out of obscurity and get their writing in front of an adoring public. Though, this is an experiment that sees them hopping into dystopian bubble-shaped machines that will extract their ideas directly from their brain. Doesnt sound fishy at all, does it?Well, Mio clearly has her suspicions about Raders plot is going. As she tries voice her concerns about the experiment, she winds up falling into Zoes cosmic, idea-extracting bubble. And thats where their unconventional friendship and our co-op journey begins; the pair need to explore their ideas, and try to find a way to escape with them intact. Stranger than fiction. | Image credit: HazelightThe end result is one of Hazelights most ambitious games yet, and one of the most ambitious co-op games in years. A fast-paced romp through worlds reminiscent of a mixture of cult-classic media, from literature to movies to video games. One moment, youre flying through a futuristic world reminiscent of properties like Star Wars, Tron, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Terminator, and the next, youre thrown into a fantastical setting thatll quickly remind you of Fable, Prince of Persia, Limbo, and The Legend of Zelda.This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Split Fictions references to wider pop culture, and at no point does it feel cheesy or distasteful; it feels like a real celebration of the media-at-large and all of the iconic stories told before Zoe and Mios. Its an amalgamation of all the tales that have informed these two authors writing - and now, our gameplay experience.And what gameplay that is. Split Fiction elevates the co-op experience to a new level. At times, it feels like youre playing 10 games in one, seamlessly. Its like Ive slipped an R4 card into my Steam library somewhere, and Im flipping between each game at the speed of light. One moment, youre a space-faring ninja with an electric whip. Next, youre a pig who can fly using their own farts. Before long, you are quite literally a hotdog who has to cook itself. It gets weird, okay.Later, youre a wizard, a gorilla, a fairy, a dragon-tamer, or a potion seller. At one point, you even get to compete in a snowboarding showdown akin to SSX, and later, much to my excitement, you can become a pinball machine. You're going to be better at some of these sections than you are others, and this may result in you having one very frustrated partner (Im sorry for launching you to your death constantly, and I will no doubt do it again).The game truly shines as it deftly tabs from gimmick to gimmick, all whilst showcasing side stories that you can truly get lost in. During many of these distractions, myself and my partner found ourselves exploring for ages because there is simply so much to interact with and do, and well... theres also plenty of hidden achievements to accidentally discover, too. And none of this feels like time wasted! A fantasy based on reality. | Image credit: HazelightAll in all, Split Fiction often feels like an older brother to It Takes Two and its a phenomenal feat in itself to best an award-winning game. Split Fiction has more meat on its bones, a multitude of gameplay styles that pay homage to those before it (and keep you on your toes), and offers more of a challenge to players. Boss fights are better than ever, offering plenty of surprises. In some instances, things get rather dark the Birthday Cake level that has you re-enacting a dentist-fearing childs worst nightmares can attest to that.As level design and boss fights have evolved in Split Fiction, Hazelights storytelling has too. It feels more mature here, and despite quite literally not being grounded in reality whatsoever given all the space-faring and wizardry, the over-arching narrative feels incredibly lucid. Hazelight has been able to tread the line between goofy shenanigans and serious storytelling wonderfully in the past, and this only gets better in Split Fiction, providing a game that is a fitting allegory for the politics of AI and the theft of human creativity, while - importantly - not putting a damper on the whole experience. Here be dragons. | Image credit: Hazelight Studios / Electronic ArtsUltimately, we not only get an insight into these authors ideas, but their fears and insecurities as they try to become published, known writers. The trauma that is informing their ideas, lurking deep in their subconscious, manifests delicately and intriguingly as we venture further into their psyche. These are fully fleshed out characters that, much like It Takes Twos Cody and May, youll project yourself onto and become attached to.Split Fiction, just like Hazelight's projects before it, will not only have you belly-laughing throughout the experience, reminiscing about games, movies and literature the game regularly reminds you of, but itll also tug at your heartstrings and have you wiping tears from your eyes. The game's biggest victory is that it reminds you that endeavours as wonderful as Split Fiction (and those that it pays homage to) were created by the passion, devotion, and authentic experiences of humans such as Zoe and Mio, and the team over at Hazelight not idea-extracting machines trained solely for profit off the human ingenuity that's so rawly at the beating heart of Split Fiction.Split Fiction was reviewed on PC with a code provided via the publisher.

Image: DotemuWhat would you get if you crossed Dead Cells with Streets of Rage 4? Well, to save you the hassle, well tell you. You get Absolum, a Rogue em Up from developers Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, and Supamonks which we recently got the chance to play via a streamed preview build. It takes the slick, stylish, and accessible combat mechanics that you might expect from a classic beat-em-up title and adds in unique runs with branching pathways, permanent upgrades, items, and quests.Trading in the urban environments of Streets of Rage for lush, colourful landscapes that look like theyve been plucked straight from Tolkien (or, perhaps more aptly, Golden Axe), Absolum sees you take on the role of one of four rebels in a quest to defeat Sun King Azra, an all-powerful entity that rules the fantasy land of Talamh. In the short preview build, we had access to two of the four playable characters: Galandra, an agile sword-wielding fighter and Karl, a brutish dwarf whose rifle lets him damage foes from a distance.Images: DotemuThe game wastes no time getting you into the action, and its clear that Dotemu and Guard Crush have used their experience with Streets of Rage 4 to craft a combat system that feels instantly satisfying yet deceptively deep. We played with an Xbox controller for this preview, and you simply tap Y ('X' on Switch) to dish out a quick melee combo, X ('Y' on Switch) to whip out your weapon and deliver a heavy attack, and RB ('R') to unleash a powerful special ability thats guaranteed to send multiple foes flying into the air.Fights are introduced frequently as you make your way through the environment and, in true beat-em-up fashion, the road ahead is blocked until you defeat all enemies. Whats different here, however, is that some successful bouts result in optional upgrades for your character, and its here that Absolum really leans into its roguelike elements.Like Dead Cells and Hades, the upgrades are often presented in groups of two or three, giving you the option to choose which one sounds more appealing and best fits your playstyle. You could opt for something that adds a burn effect to your basic combos, or maybe youre more keen on a deadly bolt of lightning manifesting from a perfect dodge.Images: DotemuWe can only imagine the possibilities that will be on offer with the full game, but even with the relatively short preview, the added abilities had a tangible impact on combat, making you feel noticeably more powerful as you make your way further through the levels. Of course, its still no cakewalk, and death may come swiftly if youre not careful or happen to find yourself unexpectedly overwhelmed.Again, taking inspiration from Dead Cells, each death results in a new run of the games world, letting you take stock of your situation, recover your health, purchase a few handy items, and finally set out on a fresh adventure. The layout changes with each run, but thanks to the remarkably stylish art design and gorgeous fantasy world, youd be forgiven for thinking that every playthrough has been lovingly hand-crafted each and every time.The preview ended with a pretty formidable boss with its own big health bar displayed at the bottom of the screen. Whether playing on your own or opting for a co-op session with friends, these boss battles seem designed to have you take full advantage of your skills and abilities to achieve victory. Its thrilling stuff, and we have to admit that we had our asses handed to us a few times before vanquishing the demos big honcho.Images: DotemuIn terms of presentation, the visuals certainly take some inspiration from the hand-drawn approach seen in Streets of Rage 4. Here though, it's a bit more stylised and abstract, almost like it's been pulled straight from an Image-produced fantasy graphic novel. There's a moment in which the protagonists are running in the foreground, completely blacked out like silhouettes, while in the far background an explosion destroys a stone bridge under the hazy light of the rising moon. It's a gorgeous-looking game, for sure.The same can be said for the audio design. Typical fantasy tunes really bring your combat encounters to life, while every swing of your fist and swish your sword is amplified by wonderful, punchy diegetic sounds. A few more quips or comments from the characters as you work together to take down your foes might be welcome, but we're equally satisfied if they remain stoically silent.The preview version we played was bereft of any unsightly bugs or performance issues, though we obviously cant comment yet on how it might hold up natively on the Switch, although given the solid state of Streets of Rage 4, we have high hopes. Were excited to see how this one shapes up later this year.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube797kAbsolum is scheduled for Switch and other platforms in 2025, although no specific release date has been announced just yet.What are your thoughts on what you've seen so far? Excited to see more? Let us know by leaving a comment down below.

Golden generation.The Switch turned eight this week and Nintendo Life contributor and friend of the site Gonalo 'Shiryu' Lopes posted this touching tribute to the console and its effect on his life on Patreon. With kind permission, we're publishing an adapted version of his personal Switch story...The Wii U sadly fizzled so I had picked up a secondhand PlayStation 3 and went on playing 'catch up' with every game I had missed out on. And then, eight years ago, I got home with that bundle you see in the image below. Nothing was ever the same.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Solar installer Sunnova issued a going concern warning as the company runs short on cash.The stock is currently down around 68% as investors gauge the risk that Sunnova is headed for bankruptcy, a frequent outcome for companies that issue such warnings. In a bid to stave off insolvency, Sunnova said Monday it is planning to refinance debt, raise new debt, and cut expenses.Houston-based Sunnova is one of the largest solar installers in the U.S., bringing in $840 million in revenue last year. Sunnova reported a net loss of $447 million in 2024, a narrower loss than the previous year. The company had once been valued as much as $4.5 billion. Its market cap has since plunged to around $63 million.The news comes as the solar industry has been bracing for a rough road ahead. Last week, Sunrun, the countrys largest installer, lowered its guidance for cash generation in 2025 on expectations that installations will be flat this year.Much of the industrys turbulence can be traced to high interest rates and uncertainty about the future of the Inflation Reduction Act.Solar installers have benefitted in the past from low interest rates, which make solar loans and leasing attractive to consumers. By spreading the cost of rooftop solar out over many years, consumers dont have to pay up front and often save relative to their monthly utility bills. But as rates have risen, it can take longer for consumers to benefit financially.On the policy front, the Inflation Reduction Act extended tax credits that were set to expire at the end of last year. The new credits run through 2032, though the Trump Administration has vowed to unravel the law.The outlook isnt bleak everywhere. First Solar, a large solar manufacturer, beat the street in its Q4 earnings report, sending the stock up. And in many cases, solar remains the cheapest form of new generating capacity.Theres a reason that insiders refer to the industry as the solar coaster.

In BriefPosted:8:17 AM PST March 4, 2025Image Credits:Getty ImagesDidi reportedly seeking funds for self-driving unit at $5B valuationChinese ride-hail firm Didi is on the hunt for fresh funds for its autonomous vehicle technology unit that could value it at $5 billion, according to Bloomberg News.Investor interest in self-driving cars is high in China on the backs of IPOs from WeRide and Pony AI, which have a market capitalization of $4.7 billion and $5.25 billion, respectively, as of Tuesday morning. Didi Autonomous Driving, the unit Didi created in 2020, has raised a total $1.55 billion to date, per PitchBook data, including a $298 million round in October 2024. Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the unit aims to raise several hundred million dollars more and is in talks with investors, including a Beijing-based fund, to gauge interest.The Chinese AV company is testing a fleet of roughly 200 autonomous vehicles across Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, but it has not yet begun commercial robotaxi operations.Didi may use the upcoming funds to continue developing AV tech and speed up mass production of its electric robotaxis built in partnership with EV maker GAC Aion, the first of which are set to be produced in 2025.TechCrunch has reached out to Didi for more information. Topics

Breakdown & ShowreelsThe Killers Game: VFX Breakdown by EDI Effetti Digitali ItalianiBy Vincent Frei - 04/03/2025 The punches land harder, the shootouts hit deeper, and the gore is cranked up to the maxthanks to EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani! In The Killers Game, their VFX work heightens every brutal moment, ensuring Dave Bautistas latest action thriller is as intense as it gets!WANT TO KNOW MORE?EDI: Dedicated page about The Killers Game on EDI website. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025

Charles Henry Farnam (1846-1909) was a lawyer, genealogist, and the son of Henry Farnam, a wealthy railroad industrialist in New Haven, Connecticut. Following his fathers death in 1883, Charles, who may have inherited a small fortune in the will, purchased a house lot on the finest residential street in New Haven, Hillhouse Avenue. The existing house on the lot, the Benjamin Silliman House, was relocated to front Trumbull Street (and recently relocated again to 85 Trumbull Street), clearing the site for his new mansion. He hired esteemed architect J. Cleaveland Cady, who designed a large, Queen Anne/Romanesque masonry home unlike anything else on the Avenue. The house features an asymmetrical plan, corner tower, a Flemish style gable, fancy brickwork and terracotta detailing, and a slate mansard roof. Charles H. Farnam would sell the property to Henry S. Parmelee, a noted businessman and piano manufacturer, who also is credited with inventing the first automatedsprinkler head and as a result, owning the first building in the United States to be equipped with afire suppression system, his piano factory. Parmelee hired local architect Leoni Robinson, to design a rear addition for the house. Parmelee died in 1902, and the property was maintained by his widow and daughter, until it was acquired by Yale University in 1920. Today, the Farnam Mansion is occupied by the Economics Department.

Gold in the Underwater category: Daniel Flormann, Lenuk Tasi. Olive ridley sea turtle, Kasait, Timor Leste. All images the photographers, courtesy of World Nature Photography Awards, shared with permissionOur Beautiful and Fragile Planet Takes Center Stage in the 2025 World Nature Photography AwardsMarch 4, 2025NaturePhotographyKate MothesFrom the glowing Milky Way above a Montana lake to firework-like flowers in the Brazilian savannah at sunset, the winners of the 2025 World Nature Photography Awards highlight the endless wonders of our planet. In categories running the gamut of animal portraits, landscapes, urban wildlife, and more, photographers around the globe captured incredible views of creature behaviors, terrestrial vistas, and astronomical phenomena.The World Nature Photography Awards were founded in the belief that we can all make small efforts to shape the future of our planet in a positive way, says a statement, and that photography can influence people to see the world from a different perspective and change their own habits for the good of the planet.Bronze in the Bird Behavior category: Mohammad Murad, A sword in the chest. White-cheeked terns, Kubbar Island, KuwaitThe 2025 edition of the contest saw thousands of entries submitted from 48 countries. The grand prize went to Marua Puheks bold image of two deer leaping through a vineyard.Many of the winning photos highlight the vulnerability of the earths inhabitants and juxtapositions between nature and the human-built environment. In Daniel Flormanns Lenuk Tasi, for example, a baby sea turtle glides just beneath the surface of the boundless sea, and in Ael Kermarecs Reclaim, a lava flow from an Icelandic volcano completely engulfs a road.Some of our other favorites include Marcio Esteves Cabrals vista full of rare Paepalanthus flowers illuminated by the sun in the Veadeiros Tablelands, Brazil, and Mohammad Murads capture of two backlit White-cheeked terns battling over territory on Kubbar Island, Kuwait.See many more winning photos and purchase printsincluding top picks from previous years competitionsin the WNPA store.Gold in the Plants and Fungi category: Marcio Esteves Cabral, Fireworks. Paepalanthus, Veadeiros Tablelands, BrazilBronze in the Mammal Behavior category: Donna Feledichuk, Might as well jump. Baby fox, Lac La Biche, Alberta, CanadaGold in the Landscapes and Environments category: Jake Mosher, Hyalite Twilight. The Milky Way over Hyalite Lake, Montana, U.S.Gold in the Nature Photojournalism category: Ael Kermarec, Reclaim. Volcanic eruption, Svartsengi, Reykjanes, IcelandSilver in the Urban Wildlife category: Elizabeth Yicheng Shen, Critical moment. Great grey owl, California, U.S.Bronze in the Animal Portrait category: Ngar Shun Victor Wong, The safari beauty. Guinea fowl, TanzaniaGold in the Amphibians and Reptiles category: Georgina Steytler, Mudskipping. Blue-spotted mudskipper (Boleophthalmus caeruleomaculatus), Roebuck Bay, Broome, Western AustraliaNext article