Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen would be the first to tell you: writing a video game is work.At least writing a novel is a one-person operation for most of the time. At least a screenplay for a film only needs to come in around 120 pages, unless you’re working for Martin Scorsese. But writing a video game? That means filling hours of space, bending the material to fit the play, and usually working with a team of other writers to make it all cohere. Sometimes to hit a deadline, you just need to throw words at the wall. Especially when it’s 3 a.m. That can still result in brilliance.All the Frenchy bits and bobs in Clair Obscur have captured the imaginations of players, but few quite like the character of Esquie, and especially one camp conversation in which the oversized gestral reflects on his friend François with Verso. Verso knows François to be a grump, but Esquie insists that “Franfran used to be all ‘Wheeee!’ But now he’s all ‘Whooo.’” Over about a minute, Esquie further defines “whee” and “woo” while players even choose their own whee/woo path through the dialogue tree. It is tremendously silly.“That was me at three in the morning trying to come up with something,” Svedberg-Yen admits with a laugh. “I needed to write seven relationship dialogues for Esquie!”Svedberg-Yen says the script for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 comes in around 800 pages long, which doesn’t even include all of the NPC dialogue or the piles of lore-related documentation written as foundation for the story. To fill that much space, the writer says she grabbed inspiration from everything and everywhere around her. For instance, Svedberg-Yen says Monoco, the floating gestral who later joins the Expedition 33 crew, is based on her dog, and when her pup needed a haircut, she decided to write that into the story. “I was like, OK, that’s going to be the conversation for Monoco and Verso about haircuts. He says, ‘you look like an overgrown mop.’ I literally said that to my dog — and I could use that.”The “whee whoo” sequence made even less sense in the wee hours of the morning, but it felt right. “I knew what I wanted to say, where it’s talking about something heavy and sad and how you can feel the joy and the grief,” Svedberg-Yen says. “And I was so tired. I didn’t have any words. So I was just like, ‘wheeeeee!’”As a fantasy writer, Svedberg-Yen says her number one goal is authenticity, sculpting characters who are born from real places and real circumstances, even if they’re otherworldly. So she doesn’t often question her instincts – even the kooky ones. There was room for moments of levity in the otherwise tragic Clair Obscur because, hey, that’s life. “Did I push it too far at all? Sometimes, when I’m at a loss for words, I’m like, what am I feeling right now? And then I put that into the script. That’s authentic because it is what I am feeling.”See More:

While some OG Nintendo Switch games will be receiving paid Switch 2 upgrades, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, several others will receive performance upgrades for free. Though a game like New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe already looked and played pretty great on the original Switch, you know Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are going to need all the help they can get. Through a system update, “you can download free updates for selected games that may improve graphics or add support for features such as GameShare. The contents of these free updates will differ depending on the game,” Nintendo said. Most of the games currently listed will receive improvements to optimize their display for the Nintendo Switch 2’s screen and higher resolution TVs. Some, like Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, will get boosts to their frame rates, and others, like The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom, will receive HDR support. Perhaps most notable are the GameShare and GameChat additions for certain games. For example, Super Mario Odyssey is receiving an update so that “two people can play together, with one player controlling Mario and the other controlling Cappy. Share locally or share online via GameChat.” GameChat is one of the Switch 2’s biggest new features as it’ll integrate Discord-like video and audio chat so you can hang with your buds while playing a game together. However, after the “Welcome Offer” expires on March 31, 2026, GameChat will require a Nintendo Switch Online membership to use it. Head to Nintendo’s official site to read about all the performance upgrades ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch on June 5. That’s right, folks — it’s almost here.

“ULTRAAAAAAAA COMBO!” A battle cry that became popular with young fighting game fanatics in 1996 has returned: Killer Instinct Gold is now available on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. And I’m thrilled.Killer Instinct Gold includes 10 playable characters and features exclusive to the Nintendo 64 game such as team battle, team elimination battle, and training mode.Admittedly, I never owned the game when it first came out — I rented it from , so I never had the joy of tearing through an N64 box to retrieve my grey KI cartridge. Yet, playing the game then and now gives me joy, regardless of whether it was historically panned upon release or not. Yes, Killer Instinct Gold has often been detailed as a downgraded port of Killer Instinct 2. Yes, Gold has inferior graphics, reduced animations, the removal of unique character endings, and worse camera controls due to N64 limitations. But criticisms be damned, I was hyped every time we rented it from Blockbuster (remember that?) and I got to play against my cousins and brothers on the N64.The N64 severely lacked a fighting game library compared to Sony’s original PlayStation. As franchises like Tekken and Virtua Fighter introduced groundbreaking mechanics in the 3D fighting game genre, Nintendo and Rare teamed up and (re)entered the ring. With the release of KI Gold, Nintendo fans could have a fighting game that could at least stand next to those aforementioned titles — even if KI Gold couldn’t truly compete with Tekken and VF due to its limitations.Still, Killer Instinct Gold was groundbreaking in its own right; the game pushed the boundaries of combo mechanics and what was possible. Rare remade all of the backgrounds into full 3D — ditching static renders of the arcade version — with interactive environments allowing players to extend and create expressive combos with the help of a random object, like a box.While KI Gold isn’t the superior Killer Instinct experience, the game deservedly earned its spot in history. And I’m glad the game has found another home and life on the Nintendo Switch.Killer Instinct Gold is available now in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack: Nintendo 64 for Nintendo Switch.See More:

Steam is shaking things up with a refreshed look for its monthly top-releases chart, now spotlighting the platform’s highest-earning games each month. Users can also browse the top 50 titles going all the way back to November 2004, when Half-Life 2 launched. The new layout features a trailer section that highlights top games one at a time, and a side menu, offering a more dynamic browsing experience. Each chart showcases at least 50 releases, divided into gold (the top 12 highest earning), silver (the following 12), and bronze tiers (the other games), though the total number may vary depending on regional availability. It’s worth noting that new DLC deemed popular enough may also appear in the top 50 of a given month, outside of the new “DLC For You” section, which highlights DLC released in the month for games users play, and new content relevant to their catalog. Previously, users could browse each month’s best-selling titles, but the latest update makes these lists much more detailed and informative. The new side menu offers quick access to live charts, including Top Sellers, Most Played, Top Played on Steam Deck, Weekly Charts, and Monthly Top Releases. The revamped monthly charts focus on the first two weeks of revenue for each new release, organizing them into gold, silver, and bronze tiers. Steam’s charts remain one of the most reliable sources in the gaming industry for insights on sales, player activity, and more. The long-standing Top Sellers chart highlights the platform’s highest-grossing games and tracks their daily shifts in ranking. The Steam team has been manually updating the monthly charts since they first launched in April 2019. Now, the process is automated, ensuring that charts will be released consistently, exactly 14 days after the end of each month, unlike the irregular schedule in the past. Check out the new look for yourself, and if you’re worried about having to reset your password after those Steam hack headlines, don’t fret, Valve has already addressed it.

Shortly after Epic Games dropped Darth Vader, in the form of a holographic conversational AI, into Fortnite, players started figuring out how to get the Sith lord to say the worst things possible. That includes tricking Darth into saying the F-word, “edging and gooning,” and, chillingly, “Skibidi Toilets.”In response, Epic says it pushed out a hotfix for Fortnite “immediately” and said “this shouldn’t happen again.” But now that Epic has set up new boundaries for VAIder, players are seeing what else they can get the former Jedi Knight to say.One of the most prominent and widespread examples of exploiting AI’s unintelligence comes from popular Fortnite streamer LoserFruit, who is also part of Epic’s Fortnite Icon Series of skins based on real-world people.“What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader?” LoserFruit asked in a widely circulated clip. After a brief pause, AI Darth responds, “Freaking. Fucking. such vulgarity does not become you,” adding that LoserFruit “speak[s] like a common thug.”Epic also responded to an instance of AI Darth saying a homophobic slur, clarifying that “Darth Vader was replying to the player’s prompt around ‘carcinogens’ in this context, and we have hotfixed so he should not respond that way.”Less offensive — to Epic, Disney, and the James Earl Jones estate — is Darth Vader saying “Skibidi Toilets.”Other Fortnite players are trying the Bart Simpson prank call approach, tricking Vader into saying things like “this Dixie Normus, you say,” which… well, you know what that sounds like.Epic Games says that the AI-powered Darth Vader has some guardrails in place; “Players under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher, will need permission to talk with Darth Vader. These players will see an in-game prompt to get parental permission,” the company said in an FAQ on the new addition to Fortnite.The company also said in a statement that players who repeatedly attempt to get Darth Vader in Fortnite to “violate our settings and instructions, he will eventually leave the squad, and the player will be unable to recruit him again in that gameplay session.”For now, enjoy — with the exception of the slurs, that is — the cat and mouse game that Epic is now forced to play with its AI-powered Darth Vader in the wild, as players toy with creative ways to get the Sith lord to say extremely dumb stuff.See More:

After visual and musical artist Antireal (aka 4nt1r34l) accused Bungie of using her artwork without credit in Marathon’s recently released alpha build, the studio has admitted to wrongdoing. On Thursday, Antireal said on X, “The Marathon alpha released recently and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs I made in 2017.” And she came with receipts, showing triangular V graphics, a series of boxed icons, and a script reading “ALEPH” in Marathon’s alpha that mirrors her designs. On top of that, she connected a graphic sheet from Marathon’s press kit to more of her work from 2017. bungie is of course not obligated to hire me when making a game that draws overwhelmingly from the same design language i have refined for the last decade, but clearly my work was good enough to pillage for ideas and plaster all over their game without pay or attribution. pic.twitter.com/G3FbPtbPJD— N² (@4nt1r34l) May 15, 2025 In response, Bungie admitted fault in the situation, posting on X, “We immediately investigated a concern regarding unauthorized use of artist decals in Marathon and confirmed that a former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet that was ultimately used in-game.” Bungie further stated, “We are conducting a thorough review of our in-game assets, specifically those done by the former Bungie artist, and implementing stricter checks to document all artist contributions. We value the creativity and dedication of all artists who contribute to our games, and we are committed to doing right by them.” The company also noted that it has “reached out to 4nt1r34l to discuss this issue and are committed to do right by the artist.” Antireal’s support community took doing right by the artist into their own hands by donating through her Ko-fi page. She posted, “Completely overwhelmed by the response to this — thank you so much for the support and especially to those who have donated, it helps enormously.” This isn’t the first time Bungie has faced accusations of using independent artists’ work without permission. In 2021, the studio acknowledged that fan art of a Destiny 2 character was used in a trailer without permission, which was resolved with Bungie acquiring permission with proper credit. In 2023, Bungie again had to reach out to credit and compensate an independent artist for fan art used in a Destiny 2 cutscene. And last year, it admitted to using fan art for a Destiny 2 Nerf gun. This Marathon incident is the latest in a pattern of Bungie lifting visual art from uncredited sources.

Hideo Kojima, known for his unconventional approach to game design, does not seem to believe in crowd-pleasers. Despite that, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach might become a mainstream hit.VGC reported that in a recent interview with Edge Magazine Kojima said, “I do wish I was a bit more controversial,” reflecting on the positive reaction Death Stranding 2 received from internal playtesters.He contrasted the internal reception for Death Stranding 2 to the original Death Stranding: “In fact, I did a lot of monitoring tests for the original Death Stranding. I’d find that four out of ten people would love the game, but six would say it was a terrible game. For me, I think that’s a good balance. But with the playtests for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, everyone seems to be positive.”That type of pre-release praise is normally music to a game studio founder’s ears, but Kojima is different. “I’m not interested in making something that appeals to everyone,” he said in the Edge interview. While the original Death Stranding — with its bold package delivery premise — was not a hit right out of the gate, more critics came around to it with its Director’s Cut edition. Amid a warming reception to the original Death Stranding, it makes sense that play testers for Death Stranding 2 are more ready to buy in.Well, there’s that improving climate, and there’s also the fact that Death Stranding 2 looks like it’s building on the first game’s already ambitious base. Natural disasters like earthquakes and sandstorms create new challenges for traversing the world. On top of highways, players can also now set up efficient, but expensive, trade routes through monorails. Combat is becoming more core to the experience, with a new arsenal of sniper rifles, assault rifles, grenade launchers, and more. Even Sam’s backpack can be put down, allowing for more nimble combat and infiltration sequences. All together, it looks like Death Stranding 2 promises more freedom in how to overcome obstacles.With all that packed inside an already unforgettable world, it is no surprise that play testers are responding positively. Balancing the desire for originality with more widespread success is a key consideration for Kojima, he said.“Of course, I can’t afford to make a failure, either. I must take care of my studio, my staff, and our production budget. But in essence, I don’t want to simply recreate something that’s already in the world,” Kojima said. “I want to make something new.”Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is set to be released June 26, 2025 on PlayStation 5.See More:

Just like Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong is getting a minor makeover as Nintendo moves into the next generation. And like the elder DK, Diddy will look a bit more like his The Super Mario Bros. Movie counterpart, with the addition of… teeth. A poster on the Famiboards forums noticed this week that the Nintendo Switch news channel showed off new artwork for Diddy Kong, and while the differences may be small in the grand scheme, they make the old, Rare-era Diddy look weird by comparison. Diddy Kong’s new look now includes a full mouth of teeth, the apparent removal of the Nintendo “racetrack” logo from his signature cap, and more realistic looking toes. Diddy’s pot belly has also been raised a bit, so it’s clearer where his tummy ends and his fur begins. Here’s an early look at the new Diddy Kong, via Famiboards poster Professor Chops: Compare that to this 2023 artwork of Diddy Kong from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass: The “new” Diddy Kong hews more closely to his Donkey Kong Country appearances than that of his brief cameo in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Yes, he had a full set of pearly whites in Nintendo and Illumination’s animated film, but the cinematic version of Diddy appeared slightly more muscular, had eyes that were set apart, and sported a basketball-style jersey, as opposed to a tummy-accentuating crop top. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Diddy with teeth, though. While many of his video game appearances render him toothless, Diddy Kong’s second amiibo, from the Super Mario collection, shows the younger DK with chompers — something the Diddy amiibo released as part of the Super Smash Bros. collection didn’t. All of this is to say that Diddy Kong has teeth now, and for the foreseeable future, no longer has to gum all of his food. Perhaps we’ll see more of this toothy Diddy in upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 games Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World, though the character hasn’t been confirmed to appear in either title just yet.

Arrowhead Games Studios CEO Shams Jorjani wants to ensure Helldivers 2 players know that, while the studio has “some really cool concepts” for its next game, it won’t be abandoning Helldivers 2 anytime soon. As spotted by VG247, Jorjani messaged Helldivers 2 players in a Discord server about the game and what the studio has cooking next. “[T]he wonderful thing is that thanks to the amazing support of you FINE people Arrowhead’s future is quite bright and we have the freedom to explore some really cool concepts that we couldn’t have otherwise. Game 6 (our next project) will happen the way it will happen thanks to you,” he wrote. His words prompted a bit of worry from players thinking that this meant the studio would be moving on from supporting Helldivers 2, but he told them to hold their horses. “[N]ah. it’s ALL Helldivers 2 for now. a very, very small team will spin up something later this year and go at it sloowly. Helldivers is our main focus and will be for a loooong time,” Jorjani wrote. How long a “loooong time” will be isn’t immediately clear; Helldivers 2 is just over a year old, which is quite young for a successful live service game, so it could theoretically have a long life ahead of it. Helldivers 2 was the third-highest-selling game in 2024 and Sony’s fastest-selling game ever, pushing 12 million units in just 12 weeks. It had quite the roller coaster ride on Steam, where Sony instituted then quickly pulled an Uno Reverse card on a policy requiring Steam players have a PSN account to play it. Jorjani wrote, “The next game is 100% funded by ourselves so we’ll call 100% of those shots,” in response to a user asking if the studio’s next game would also suffer from being region-locked in terms of being purchasable, a byproduct of Sony’s PSN requirement. Jorjani’s comments come after Helldivers 2 received a fleshy upgrade to its Illuminate enemies. The game also got several balance tweaks, which you can read about in the patch notes.

PC and mobile gamers will be able to play Persona 5: The Phantom X on June 26th, 2025. P5X features a brand new story set in a parallel universe to Persona 5. Sega and Atlus outlined the premise of the new spin-off in a news release on Thursday, and the game sounds like Persona, but gacha-fied.“Encompassed in the unique turn-based RPG gameplay and setting of Persona 5, players will lead a double life as a student and a Phantom Thief with a brand-new protagonist and band of Phantom Thieves,” the press release read. “During the day, players will build up life experience as a student and engage in various activities such as hanging out with their friends and part-time jobs, while at night, they will sneak into the cognitive dungeons to steal Treasures and change the twisted desires of corrupt adults!”Sega and Atlus also detailed some of the game’s key features, which include exclusive new mini-games, a PvE game mode called the Velvet Trials, new characters, and even familiar faces from Persona 5 who are “available through special contracts.” Furthermore, Persona 5: The Phantom X incorporates a new Guild feature allowing more social interaction amongst players in-game.A livestream for the upcoming title delved deeper into the lore behind the gacha game’s protagonist, Wonder, and his trusty owl companion, Lufel. The Phantom X’s livestream even included promotional footage illustrating the parallel universe and showing a bit about the game’s lore.Two guests on the stream played a bit of the game to give players a sense of the new gacha mechanics and microtransactions. The video also drew attention to how the developer, Perfect World Games, chose to differentiate P5X from Persona 5, citing changes to characters around fictionalized Tokyo, Japan, bosses, and more.To recap, Persona 5: The Phantom X is a gacha game, in case you haven’t realized by now.See More:

After Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link was canceled earlier this week, fans joked that within it was the most information we’ve gotten on the development of Kingdom Hearts 4 since it was revealed in an announcement trailer three years ago. Square Enix said it is “hard at work” on Kingdom Hearts 4, which will continue Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s adventures in a new story arc.The same day that it announced Missing Link’s cancellation, Square Enix casually dropped several new screenshots of Kingdom Hearts 4, causing the fandom to leap for joy. There’s so much to break down in these images that there’s enough to do a deep dive (pun intended) on all of them. Let’s take a look.Image: Square EnixThe above screenshot shows humanoid Heartless that aren’t Neo Heartless — they kinda look like Sora with that hair — but are also more human, maybe because they’re based on Quadratum humans? There are more new Heartless in the back rocking fists the shape of shields. The Form Change ability for the keyblade we saw from the trailer (Are those stars paopu fruit? Are these chains... chains of memories?) is being used to deal with the new group of Heartless instead of using it to travel as previously shown.According to Tetsuya Nomura, a new Build mechanic in the command menu (which is themed after Quadratum) will allow Sora to scrap and rebuild things. There’s also a Japanese-language version of this exact moment posted on the Japanese Kingdom Hearts social media account that shows it from another angle. In this image, we can see a third creature with long legs, a bell-shaped waist, and a long neck with a spike protruding from it. It looks more like the Pokémon Magearna and Alolan Exeggutor than a Heartless.Image: Square EnixTheGamersJoint (one of the best Kingdom Hearts YouTubers) noticed that the health and MP UI have changed to move the EX Gauge from on top of the MP bar to curve around the health bar, similar to the original Kingdom Hearts interface. He also notes that the EX gauge will most likely be renamed, as Square Enix usually does, often using EX as a placeholder. Fun fact: Sora has a smartwatch on! What does it do? No one knows.Strelitzia from Kingdom Hearts Cross Union is shown, which showcases an improved character model compared to she looked in the Kingdom Hearts 4 reveal trailer. Also, phones make a return to the series since Kingdom Hearts 3’s introduction of Gummiphones, but this time it’s a rotary phone. Will whippersnappers like Sora even know what it is? We get to play as Mickey in what would appear to be a minigame (the command menu is extremely limited, leading us to believe it’s a small gameplay section). It’s been theorized this library could be within Scala ad Caelum, since Mickey was previously tasked to look into the Foretellers from Cross Union last we saw him. The next image showcases what would appear to be a Darkside Heartless from the original trailer, albeit with a new design that includes wings and an even larger presence. But there are two forms of light rushing toward it. Could it be our hero joined alongside another? Yozora perhaps? Only time will tell.The next photo shows Sora standing in the street in the dark, with sparkles surrounding him on the ground. Some believe the sparkles to be rain, but it could also be broken glass from the surrounding cars following a battle. In the distance is a bright light, which suggests things haven’t settled down in the streets. The last image looks to be from this same scene, but from the perspective of Sora, as the light in the distance illuminates his face.Although there’s no release date or news on a new trailer, Square Enix promises it’s hard at work developing Kingdom Hearts 4. After so many years of radio silence, and in the wake of canceling a game, this was the best move the team could have made to show the fans good faith that their long wait will indeed pay off.See More:

Valve has dismissed widespread reports of a data breach that supposedly compromised the account details of over 89 million Steam users. In a brief but firm post, Valve said it has examined the leaked data and confirmed that Steam’s systems had not been breached, and users did not need to change their passwords or phone numbers. The leak consisted of old text messages containing one-time authentication codes that had all expired. These were linked to the phone numbers they were sent to, but the phone numbers were not linked to any account details. “The leaked data did not associate the phone numbers with a Steam account, password information, payment information or other personal data,” Valve said. “Old text messages cannot be used to breach the security of your Steam account, and whenever a code is used to change your Steam email or password using SMS, you will receive a confirmation via email and/or Steam secure messages. “You do not need to change your passwords or phone numbers as a result of this event. It is a good reminder to treat any account security messages that you have not explicitly requested as suspicious.” Valve said it has not determined the source of the leak, noting that SMS messages like those leaked are unencrypted and pass through multiple providers. Earlier reports had suggested that a vendor used by Valve to send the authentication codes was the source. According to the initial reports, such as this LinkedIn post by Underdark.ai, the data had been posted on the dark web for sale at a price of $5,000. So, we can all rest easy. But it’s a good reminder to turn on two-factor authentication for Steam (and all your online accounts), and to be suspicious of unsolicited messages.

Dungeons & Dragons has been working to integrate some of the biggest third-party publishers of 5E content into its D&D Beyond digital ecosystem, making it easier for Dungeon Masters to keep track of all their books, and allowing players to incorporate unofficial classes, feats, and spells into their virtual character sheets. D&D Beyond incorporated Ruins of Symbaroum earlier this month and Heliana’s Guide to Monster Hunting in March, and the latest addition to the toolset is The Crooked Moon, a folk-horror setting and adventure based on Legends of Avantris’ actual-play series Edge of Midnight. The Crooked Moon earned more than $4 million on Kickstarter in 2023, making it the most successful D&D 5e crowdfunding campaign on the platform to date. Backers received their PDFs in March, and preorders are open now for the D&D Beyond version, which will release on June 16. The Player Options & Campaign Setting book and Monsters & Adventure Campaign cost $39.99 each, or can be bought together for $69.99. The ambitious project includes a 350-page adventure taking characters from levels 1 to 13 in the spooky world of Wickermoor Hollow, where they’ll travel on the Ghostlight Express to face the Crooked Man. The campaign features 85 folklore-inspired monsters and rules for multiphase boss fights with their own minions and terrain.  Players can also embrace the horror with plenty of new subclasses and species. So a ranger can become a Grim Harbringer, a warlock can choose the Horned King as a patron, and you can play a pumpkin-headed Harvestborn or a rat-like Plagueborn. There are also rules for new spells, rituals, and items, plus Fateweaving, a system to bind characters together and link them to folklore. Prefer a physical version of the book? Preorders are available at thecrookedmoon.com, with fulfillment expected this fall, when the books will also be available at retail.

The Pokémon Fossil Museum, a Japanese exhibition that pairs man-made Pokémon fossils with real-world ancient life forms, will make its international debut at Chicago’s Field Museum in 2026, the museum and The Pokémon Company International announced Wednesday. Younger fans who started their adventure in Paldea and OG Kanto fans alike can view real dinosaurs and ancient life forms alongside their Pokémon equivalents. Attendees will discover how Field Museum icons like SUE the T. Rex and the Chicago Archaeopteryx compare to Pokémon such as Tyrantrum and Archeops, while exploring how fossils are uncovered and studied in both the Pokémon universe and the real world. The exhibition features Pokémon “Professors,” the ever-adorable Excavator Pikachu complete with a cowboy hat, and Field scientists exploring fossils from both worlds. “Aligned with the Field Museum’s mission to connect us to the natural world, the Pokémon Fossil Museum will inspire visitors to make new discoveries about some of their favorite Pokémon while offering a pathway to science,” said Jaap Hoogstraten, head of exhibitions at the Field Museum, in a news release, “especially budding paleontologists.” You can see a Japanese-language tour of the Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibition in the video below for a sneak peek at what to expect. Created by Japan’s National Museum of Nature and Science and The Pokémon Company, Pokémon Fossil Museum is a traveling exhibition usually scheduled in museums throughout Japan. This year, Pokémon Fossil Museum is currently located at Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum until May 25. It will then move to Nagasaki City’s Dinosaur Museum from June 7 until Sept. 21. Its last stop will be the Tokushima Prefectural Museum in October. Pokémon Fossil Museum will open at the Field Museum on May 22, 2026. We asked the Field Museum when tickets will go on sale, and a representative told Polygon, “We have not yet announced when tickets will be available. Anyone interested in being the first to buy tickets can sign up for email updates on our website.” If interest in the Pokémon Fossil Museum is anything like the fervor associated with the Pokémon exhibition at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, which prompted some very bad behavior when scalpers realized they could sell museum-exclusive merchandise to hardcore Pokémon fans, you’ll want to make a plan to visit sooner rather than later. Let’s hope the Field Museum and The Pokémon Company have learned a few lessons since then, because the Japanese versions of the exhibit have some extremely cool merch.

In the Minecraft universe, saddles were essentially an ancient technology whose recipe was lost to time. Nobody knew how to craft them. However, that’s all about to change with craftable saddles added into Minecraft’s upcoming Summer Drop 2025. They can be experienced now in Minecraft’s test realms (Java snapshot and Bedrock’s beta and preview). Just a simple three leather and one iron ingot recipe is ushering in a new, more easily accessible era of mounts. The history of saddles in Minecraft goes back to 2010, when they were introduced as a means to ride pigs. Over time, the uses of saddles increased beyond just pigs with rideable horses, donkeys, mules, striders, and camels. But while the demand for saddles increased, their supply did not. Players looking to foster a bond with a noble steed relied on gifts from the RNG gods. To find a saddle, players would have to find one in a dungeon chest or a villager chest, fish one out of the water, loot one off rare spawning mobs, or trade a villager for one. In some runs, this could take less than a couple of minutes, if you’re lucky to find one in the closest village. In others, it could be a frustrating, repetitive process. A common complaint with saddles, and mounts by extension, is that they are most useful in the early and midgame when they are hardest to find. Traveling on a mount doesn’t eat up hunger, and they’re great for traversing the overworld without having to jump for every one-block vertical change. Beyond that, having a noble steed chilling in diamond armor at your home bases’ stables is just cool. Turning saddles into a simple recipe, while also allowing shears to take saddles off mounts without inventories (like pigs), means that more rides than ever will be taken — giddyup!

The full reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 was largely focused on all the new games you can play. The hardware specs weren’t the focus, but Nintendo dropped a detailed list of what’s inside the Switch 2 on its website, and later provided even more detailed tech specs. Most of what we knew from the original announcement video and some leaks turned out to be true: It’s a bigger, better handheld console with a full slate of upgraded hardware.Here’s what we now know, specs-wise, about the Nintendo Switch 2.System sizeThe original base model of the Nintendo Switch is approximately 4 inches high and 9.4 inches long (with Joy-Cons attached), according to Nintendo’s official system specs. Switch 2 is a little bigger at 6.5 inches high and 10.7 inches long (also with Joy-Cons attached). The larger size also makes the Switch 2 weigh about 1.18 lbs, which is a little heavier than the .88-lbs original Switch. For another reference: That’s a little less than the Steam Deck LCD’s 1.5-lbs weight.Screen sizeImage: NintendoSwitch 2’s capacitive touch screen is 7.9 inches — bigger than both the original Switch (6.2 inches) and the Switch OLED (7 inches) — but it’s back to LCD.The new display also got a bump in resolution to 1080p (from 720p) and supports a variable refresh rate (VRR) up to 120 Hz. HDR10 support is coming too, but Nintendo didn’t specify any of the fine details on the screen’s brightness so it might not be as impressive as something like the Steam Deck OLED. And while it’s technically not a feature of the screen itself, the thinner bezel should make it just feel bigger as well.Joy-ConsImage: NintendoSwitch 2’s new Joy-Cons work a bit differently than the original Switch. They magnetically attach to the sides of the console and don’t produce that satisfying snap like they used to. The original Joy-Cons weigh around 1.7 ounces (left) and 1.8 ounces (right), and the new ones weigh around 2.3 ounces (left) and 2.4 ounces (right). That might be because the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons have a mouse sensor that lets you flip them on their side and slide them around, and the new C button for GameChat. While Nintendo says that Joy-Con 2 controllers don’t feature Hall-effect joystick technology, “The control sticks for Joy-Con 2 controllers have been redesigned and have improved in areas such as durability,” the company says.In addition to a mouse sensor, each Joy-Con 2 has a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope. The Joy-Con 2 controllers have wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 3.0, and the right one has NFC wireless connectivity.Nintendo says the Joy-Con 2 controllers have approximately 20 hours worth of battery life, and require approximately 3.5 hours to fully charge.StorageSwitch 2 has 256 GB of flash storage, considerably more than the original Switch’s 32 GB of storage.If that sounds a little small for you, you can still expand the storage with an SD card. The original Switch supported microSDHC and microSDXC (UHS-I) cards up to 2 TB, while the Switch 2 supports up to 2 TB microSD Express cards, which offer much faster read speeds.CPU/GPUSwitch 2 is powered by a “custom processor made by Nvidia,” Nintendo says. According to leaked details gleaned from the console’s motherboard, it’s supposedly a custom Tegra T239 processor. That would put the system’s processing power on par with previous-generation consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, according to analysts. But leaks suggest the Switch 2 will employ upscaling technology that can boost 720p resolution visuals up to 4K when docked, using machine learning techniques.Additionally, Switch 2 is rumored to have 12 GB of RAM.PortsImage: NintendoSwitch 2 features a port for game cartridges, two USB-C ports, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The USB-C port on the bottom of the console is purely for charging and connecting to the dock. A slot for expanded microSD storage appears to be tucked away underneath the Switch 2’s kickstand, similar to the original Switch.MicrophoneImage: Nintendo/TwitchSwitch 2 has a built-in microphone that will primarily be used for its Discord-like GameChat feature. It has noise cancellation, echo cancellation, and auto gain control so you don’t have to fuss with settings for it to pick up everyone in the room.Battery lifeSwitch 2’s battery will last around 2 to 6.5 hours depending on the games you play. That’s actually a tiny bit less than the launch Switch 1 models, which can run from 2.6 to 6.5 hours, and considerably less than the updated models that last 4.5 to 9 hours. Blame the Switch 2’s bigger and better screen for making you charge it a little more often. Thankfully, it can be charged up to full in the same three hours it took the original consoles (while in sleep mode).Nintendo will also let Switch 2 owners set the system’s battery charge to slow down at “around 90%” to preserve the system’s battery life.Wi-FiSwitch 2 supports Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, which should make downloading games faster if you have a beefy internet connection. It also means screen-sharing your games over GameChat should be smooth, too. Alternatively, the Switch 2 dock has a wired Ethernet port built-in, unlike the original Switch which required a completely separate adapter.DockImage: NintendoSwitch 2’s dock looks a lot like the original Switch’s dock, but it’s a little bigger to match the size of the new console. It comes in at 4.5 inches tall, 7.9 inches wide, and 2 inches thick. On the back, there are 2 USB ports, an HDMI port, and an Ethernet port. And when you slide your system into it, it will output video up to 4K at 60 frames per second to your TV.AccessibilitySwitch 2 offers a couple new accessibility options that weren’t available on the original Switch, including text sizing and text-to-speech. You can also turn on speech-to-text and text-to-speech specifically for GameChat. And like the original Switch, you can still remap controller buttons, change the display colors, zoom into the screen, and swap the audio from stereo to mono.See More:

Last year, Italian games studio Two Little Mice struck a deal to have Swedish tabletop publisher Free League distribute the Ennie-winning game Outgunned, which lets gaming groups play out heist or action movies like Ocean’s Eleven and Mission: Impossible. As part of that deal, Free League just released the first book in Outgunned’s genre line, Outgunned Adventure, which focuses on pulp films like Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and Tomb Raider. The standalone book uses Outgunned’s Director’s Cut RPG system, which has players roll between two and nine six-sided dice and score successes based on how many land on the same face. As the name suggests, characters are meant to be outmatched by dastardly villains they need to face through shootouts and fast talking. Failure is common, but PCs can “fail with style” — for instance, getting lost while searching for something might mean the players find something they weren’t expecting. Being too noisy on an infiltration might just lead to an exciting fight with a dangerous enemy they hoped to avoid. The $51 core rulebook includes 10 new roles, like Scoundrel, Technician, and Captain. Those combine with action movie tropes to provide a wide range of character options. You’ll explore ancient temples, run from traps, and fight on top of trains, while searching for treasure and solving mysteries. GMs looking to start playing quickly can pick up the $21 Fall of Atlantis three-part campaign — Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire is another major influence on the game — and an Adventure Director Screen, which provides a quick rules reference. The print books come with PDF copies, fulfilled through DriveThruRPG.Like the base game, Outgunned Adventure was the product of a highly successful crowdfunding campaign, raising more than €480,000 last summer. Two Little Mice has also just kicked off a campaign for its next genre book, Outgunned Superheroes. It has already raised more than €224,000, and high pledge levels include other Outgunned products, including the Action Flicks setting books and the John Wick-inspired World of Killers.

Presenting Sony’s latest financial report to investors on Wednesday, executives at the company were inevitably asked about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the business, and how they were going to respond. They had a number of different answers, including raising prices — and, incredibly, they did not dismiss the idea of manufacturing PlayStation 5 in the U.S. out of hand.“Gaming consoles […] can be produced locally. I think that would be an efficient strategy,” said Sony’s president and CEO Hiroki Totoki. “Whether [PS5] is going to be manufactured in the U.S. or not needs to be considered.”It’s a remarkable statement, since it would likely take years and serious investment for Sony to create manufacturing capability for PS5 in America. But Totoki’s words are a sign that in the current unpredictable situation, nothing is off the table, and no ideas are bad ideas.A more expected move might be to raise prices, and Sony admitted this was also a possibility, albeit in the vaguest possible terms. Chief financial officer Lin Tao said Sony was looking at a financial impact of 100 billion yen (about $684 million) from tariffs across its divisions. “We may pass on to the price,” she said, without singling out PS5 in particular. But she also said Sony was taking different measures, like shipment allocations, to mitigate the impact of tariffs.Case in point: Tao said that Sony has a stockpile of PS5 consoles in the U.S. that should last for three months. This will allow it to wait out the situation for a while and see what happens, and may mean that a PS5 price increase is still months away, if it’s coming at all.The PS5 is largely manufactured in China, which the Trump administration has subjected to higher tariffs than most other countries. This week, in a temporary de-escalation, the U.S. reduced its tariff rate on Chinese imports from 145% to 30% for the next 90 days. That’s encouraging news, but it also highlights the unpredictability of the situation — which is what has electronics manufacturers like Sony and Nintendo scrambling for answers. On Tuesday, Nintendo essentially said that it would take a hit on tariffs rather than raising prices as it usually would, because it was in the launch year for the Switch 2 and didn’t want to slow down the new console’s momentum.In summary: Company executives are as clueless about what’s going on as the rest of us and are mostly heading steady and hoping for the best. As analyst Mat Piscatella put it on Bluesky: “Big takeaway from latest video game earnings statements around the tariff situation is that a) no one is confident in predicting what will happen next b) folks are carrying multiple scenario plans, but trying to stay the course if possible c) everyone is hoping it all just goes away.”Well, we can all relate to that.See More:

After years in development, beta tests, and delays, Square Enix has finally canceled the next Kingdom Hearts game, Kingdom Hearts Missing Link. The development team behind Missing Link announced the game’s cancellation on the official Kingdom Hearts website.“Although we worked hard on developing and adjusting the game in the hope that it would be enjoyed by lots of players, we determined that it would be difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period of time, leading us to the decision to cancel development,” the team said in a statement.On a slightly more positive note, Square Enix said it is “hard at work” on Kingdom Hearts 4, which will continue Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s adventures in a new story arc.Here’s the developer’s full statement on Kingdom Hearts Missing Link’s cancellation:We have made the decision to cancel the development of KINGDOM HEARTS Missing-Link.We wish to convey our heartfelt apologies to everyone who has been looking forward to the start of service.Although we worked hard on developing and adjusting the game in the hope that it would be enjoyed by lots of players, we determined that it would be difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period of time, leading us to the decision to cancel development.We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to everyone who gave us their support and assistance with the multiple closed beta tests. We are truly sorry to have to make this announcement.The KINGDOM HEARTS series will continue. We are hard at work on KINGDOM HEARTS IV, and hope you’ll continue to support the series as you keep an eye out for further updates.Kingdom Hearts Missing Link was announced in 2022 alongside Kingdom Hearts 4. Missing Link was in development for Android and iOS devices, and was subject to multiple closed beta test since 2022. Square Enix last updated Kingdom Hearts fans’ on Missing Link’s fate in November 2024, when the publisher announced it has “made the difficult decision to delay the release” — which was originally intended for 2025.It’s unclear what, exactly, Square Enix couldn’t pull off with Missing Link, but the prospect of creating a compelling, sustainable, and profitable live-service mobile game in a crowded and entrenched market is daunting. Square Enix has also signaled it will “pursue a shift from quantity to quality” philosophy and “a regular launch cadence, focusing its development efforts and investments on titles with substantial potential to be loved by customers for years.” Apparently, Missing Link did not meet that bar.Square Enix hasn’t said much about how Missing Link tied into the overall Kingdom Hearts saga. But Square Enix has turned previous stories told through browser and mobile games into animated shorts and movies. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, for example, included the 60-minute movie Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover that recounted and added to story elements from Kingdom Hearts χ.See More:

Atlus’ new Persona-related teaser on social media is getting a ton of attention — but it’s not a teaser for Persona 6 (or a Persona 5 remake). Instead, it’s a tease about its Persona 5 mobile game spinoff, Persona 5: The Phantom X.On Monday, Atlus released a teaser on X with an image featuring The Phantom X protagonist Wonder’s glasses and a mantra from the spinoff adventure that reads, “Retake your desire!” The post also features an owl emoji, referencing the protagonist’s talking bird companion, Lufel (or Luffy), à la everyone’s favorite talking cat, Morgana.Sega and Atlus have prepared a live stream for Thursday to show off the mobile game as the companies prepare to bring the Persona 5 mobile spinoff to a broader audience. Atlus said on its Japanese-language YouTube channel that the P5X news stream will feature release date details and new information on the English-language version of the game.That live stream will go down on Thursday, May 15, at 11 p.m. JST — that’s 10 a.m. EDT/7 a.m. PDT.Persona 5: The Phantom X is a spinoff of the fifth installment in Atlus’ critically acclaimed JRPG series. The P5-inspired gacha game is being developed for PC and mobile platforms, and heavily relies on microtransactions. The Phantom X is developed by Perfect World Games under license from Sega and Atlus, and released in open beta in April 2024 in China, followed by a release in Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Macau.Again, this isn’t Persona 6. But, fans will have a chance to experience another story set in the P5 universe. Again!Persona 5: The Phantom X is set in a universe that runs parallel to the original events of Persona 5. Like Joker, the protagonist gains the power to summon and activate Persona. With his new power and lovable animal companion, an owl named Luffy, the protagonist becomes Wonder and forms the Phantom Thieves. The crew sets out on a mission to reclaim desires in their world that are being stolen and stop the root of the internal destruction.As for Persona 6, there has been no word on the next installment in Sega and Atlus’ popular role-playing franchise. So, fans will have to make do with Persona 5: The Phantom X for now.See More:

Last week, Nintendo predicted it would sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles in its current financial year. This would actually be a fantastic result — equalling Switch, and just about any console you care to mention — but analysts called the figure “conservative” and “on the low side.” That’s just how high the expectations for Switch 2 sales are.The consensus was that Nintendo’s conservative estimate was due to uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but in some unusually direct comments during an investor Q&A, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa denied this was the case. Instead, he said it was the system’s high price that has made Nintendo cautious in its outlook.“Nintendo Switch 2 is priced relatively high compared to Nintendo Switch, so we recognize that there are corresponding challenges to early adoption,” Furukawa said. “We are taking steps like bundling software with the hardware to accelerate adoption in the first fiscal year, aiming to get off to the same start we did with Nintendo Switch.”Furukawa cautioned that investors shouldn’t get carried away over the extreme demand for Switch 2 pre-orders. Due to the system’s high price, he said that “even if there is momentum around the launch, we know it will not be easy to keep that momentum going over the long term through the holiday season and beyond.”Furukawa said that its production capacity for Switch 2 was “not a factor” in settings its forecast, and neither was the unstable economic situation. “The tariff situation in the U.S. or a possibility of a recession did not affectour sales volume forecast either,” he said.He went on to give Nintendo’s fullest statement yet in response to U.S. tariffs, saying that it was working on the assumption that the current tariff rates would persist for the rest of the financial year, which would result in “a negative impact of several tens of billions of yen at the profit level.”“Our basic policy is that for any country or region, if tariffs are imposed, we recognize them as a part of the cost and incorporate them into the price,” he said. “However, this year marks our first new dedicated video game system launch in eight years, so given our unique situation, our priority is to maintain the momentum of our platforms, which is extremely important for our dedicated video game platform business, and to rapidly expand the install base of our new hardware. Consequently, if the assumptions on tariffs change, we will consider what kind of price adjustments would be appropriate, taking into account various factors such as the market conditions.”To translate this from CEO-speak: Nintendo would usually slap the cost of tariffs onto the price of its hardware, but didn’t do so in this case because it wants to sell as many Switch 2s as possible. It’s not ruling out making pricing changes as the situation evolves (but it probably won’t).The whole Q&A is worth a read, just for the bizarre spectacle of a business leader patiently explaining and re-explaining to his insatiable investors why he thinks his new product is only going to be one of the fastest-selling consoles of all time, which is apparently a terrible disappointment to them. Capitalism!See More:

Twenty years ago, the name Leeroy Jenkins rang through the halls of Upper Blackrock Spire, and now it echoes through eternity. On May 11, 2005, the famous “Leeroy!!” video was posted to WarcraftMovies, a website dedicated to World of Warcraft machinima. The video came from a guild called Pals for Life. In it, the guild leader addressed the group in a semi-serious tone, asking after coming up with a detailed plan, “Can you give me a number crunch real quick?” In response, the apparent number-crunching guy laid down the first meme of the video, “I’m coming up with 32.33 repeating, of course, percentage of survival.” Don’t ever tell Leroy the odds, because that’s when he declared, “Times up,” and delivered a battlecry for the ages, “Leeeeeeeeeroy Jenkins!!!” Soon after charging in from an AFK state, Leeroy Jenkins stepped on a bunch of dragon eggs that spawned hatchlings, killing everybody in the room. When the dust settled a bit, Leeroy was berated, “Goddamn it, Leeroy,” one said, another adding in, “You moron.” Taking things in stride, Leeroy responded with words of wisdom, “At least I have chicken.” It’s gone down in history as a defining moment for viral clips while bringing some gaming culture into the mainstream. The list of pop culture references to Leeroy Jenkins includes a Family Guy bit, trivia on Jeopardy!, a How I Met Your Mother impersonation, a Howard Stern segment, and even U.S. House Rep. Jared Huffman using the rallying call during a Speaker of the House vote. Blizzard kept Leeroy Jenkins alive by turning him into a staple Hearthstone card, rewarding the “Jenkins” title for a World of Warcraft achievement, and making a Leeroy Jenkins NPC voiced by Ben Schulz (the real Leeroy Jenkins) in the Warlords of Draenor expansion. Kotaku confirmed in 2017 that the beloved clip was staged as a comedy skit by the Pals for Life guild after much speculation about its authenticity. Ben Vinson, the video recorder (not Leeroy himself), said, “We didn’t think anyone would believe it was real, we thought it was so obviously satire, but we were wrong.” I guess everyone just wants to believe that charging headfirst into danger — chicken in hand — is the best way to go down.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might be the most fun I’ve had playing a role-playing game since 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3. Its turn-based combat is more engaging than at first blush, and defeating powerful enemies provides the same elation that taking down a boss in a FromSoftware game does. It also offers some of the more challenging gameplay I’ve encountered in some time, with dodge and parry timing that’ll leave even the most experienced soulsborne vets pulling their hair out.Clair Obscur’s six playable heroes all have unique combat mechanics, so no two heroes play the same. This is great once you’ve mastered Gustave, Maelle, and the rest, but mastering them takes plenty of trial and error. You’re only presented each character’s tutorial once, so you’ll have to learn how to use them on the fly in battles with Nevrons. How does Sciel enter Twilight again? What exactly are Lune’s stains? How does Monoco’s Bestial Wheel move? There’s a learning curve to each character, but once they click for you — knowing how to best leverage Maelle’s stance switching, quickly overcharge with Gustave — you’re off to the races.Using my A-team of Maelle, Lune, and Sciel makes the game almost too easy, and I barely felt in any danger during Act 2’s late-game boss fights. They bounce off one another well, and at higher levels, can easily knock off enemies before your opponents have even had a turn. Unfortunately for Clair Obscur’s other characters, the strengths of Maelle, Lune, and Sciel put the rest of the group on the sidelines.Image: Sandfall Interactive/Kepler InteractiveLook, I like Verso — nice guy, great hair, plays the piano, ageless wonder. But his skills mostly rely on not taking damage, which is difficult when fighting enemies for the first time as you’ve yet to learn their attack patterns. Parrying is perhaps the greatest challenge in Clair Obscur’s combat, and trying to parry as Verso just opens the door to getting hit and therefore lowering his Perfection Rank, his own special ability. (Did I mention there’s a lot to learn in Clair Obscur? Because there’s a lot to learn.)Monoco, too, ends up getting the short end of the stick in my party. He arrives in the game when I’ve already settled on a good rhythm with Clair Obscur’s three women leading my party, and timing his Bestial Wheel to make the most use out of it is something I’m still struggling with going into Act 3. Alas, Monoco and Verso are warming the bench as my “B-team Boys,” itching for some playing time.Verso and Monoco gave way to my A-team trio late in Act 2. Around when I had to go fight the Axons, I finally started to get the hang of using Maelle, Lune, and Sciel as a team, synergizing their abilities in a way that I could wipe the floor with enemies before those enemies even got a turn. Once I hit that stride, I never had any use for the other playable characters (Sorry, Monoco and Verso. See you at camp?).Image: Sandfall Interactive/Kepler InteractiveClair Obcur’s battles rely on leveraging your characters’ skills and unique mechanics, like Maelle’s Stance switching or Sciel’s Foretell stacking, to pummel your foes to dust. Lune might be the toughest hero to pin down as generating and using her elemental stains at first is a confusing matter. When using Lune’s skills in battle, the element(s) between the skill name and the Action Point (AP) cost are what stains are generated. Each of her powers can consume those stains for additional effects, like enhancing damage or increasing the duration of a power.When I fully understood how to leverage Lune’s stains, the game opened up for me. Lune can use Wildfire to burn all enemies, but I prefer positioning Maelle first and using her Rain of Fire right off the bat. Lune’s Thermal Transfer can then generate AP for her when used against the burning foe, meaning, depending on your Pictos and Luminas setup — Clair Obscur’s system for stat bonuses and passive effects — she could have the max of 9 AP by her next turn.With foes on fire, Maelle can then use Swift Stride to put her in Virtuose Stance, and on her next turn stay in Virtuose Stance with Fleuret Furyuse. Maelle’s Virtuose Stance sees her dealing 200% damage, and using it in conjunction with her high damage-dealing skills is your path toward hitting — or exceeding in Act 3 — the damage cap. Even post-nerf, she’s still a powerhouse.With Lune’s Chapelim weapon, I fall into a bit of a rhythm for each bout. At level 20, it generates an Earth Stain on each turn, and Thermal Transfer consumes two Earth Stains to allow Lune to play again and continue to wreak havoc. If Lune and Maelle are low on AP, no matter — Sciel’s Plentiful Harvest consumes all of an enemy’s Foretell and distributes AP among the party for each Foretell consumed. When in Twilight with 20 Foretell applied to a foe, this skill can easily top off everyone’s AP, leaving you free to continue your onslaught.Venturing into Act 3, with even more “Danger” areas and tough Chromatic foes ahead, knowing the end is in sight, I’ll be sticking with Maelle, Lune, and Sciel for the battles to come. They’ve gotten me this far.See More:

A former Call of Duty developer is wondering the same thing you are: if the franchise — which has released 21 mainline installments since 2003 — has run out of ideas.“It’s almost like The Simpsons — it’s been around so long that it feels like they’ve run out of ideas at times. It kind of wandered into left field,” Chance Glasco told an Oklahoma news station on Monday. Glasco is one of the founders of Infinity Ward and helped co-create the franchise with 2003’s Call of Duty.There’s a chance Glasco worked on your favorite COD game; Infinity Ward was responsible for series standouts like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2. “I wouldn’t say it peaked at Modern Warfare 2, but that was probably the best game we made,” Glasco said.While the series may or may not have peaked with MW2 (though anyone who misses running around with a silenced UMP45 might say it did — *raises hand*), there’s no arguing the Call of Duty of today is massively different than the Call of Duty of prior hardware generations. You may look at Squid Game and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossovers and think they’re cool, but longtime players might see them as signs the annual franchise is running out of steam in the “fresh gameplay ideas and innovation” department. Glasco clearly shares some of that sentiment.Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the latest entry in the franchise, and it being the sixth BLOPS should tell you all you need to know about whether Call of Duty is running out of ideas or if that even matters. Consider: the game had the best launch for the series, and was, of course, the best-selling game of 2024.Perhaps the most innovative Call of Duty has been is with the free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone. The battle-royale gameplay was a slight shift from the series’ classic multiplayer gameplay, and launching in March 2020 certainly helped boost its popularity. And yet. “These days, I don’t play much outside of Warzone,” Glasco said. You and plenty others, Glasco.Just like people are still going to watch The Simpsons, regardless of its varying levels of quality, people are still going to play whatever Call of Duty launches this fall. Regardless of its quality — or innovative ideas.See More:

Pocketpair has announced that the next major update for its hit creature-collection game Palworld will be a crossover event with Terraria — which, apropos of nothing, is something Nintendo would never do with the legally distinct (or is it?) creature-collection game Pokémon. The update, titled “Tides of Terraria,” will be released this summer. Pocketpair didn’t reveal much about its collab with Re-Logic’s 2011 indie smash in its press release. Instead, it said it would announce the contents of the update “across official Palworld social media channels over the next few weeks.” But it seems the core of the update will be adding creatures from Terraria to Palworld as, essentially, new Pals. “Catch, train, fight, and work monsters from Terraria just like Pals…?” Pocketpair teased. Official art for the update showed some Palworld hunters facing off against a giant floating eyeball that bears a strong resemblance to Terraria’s Eye of Cthulu boss, plus a horde of the older game’s signature bat enemies. “Tides of Terraria” will extend beyond the crossover content, too, with Pocketpair promising new Pals and new islands will be added in the summer patch. Pocketpair’s partnership with ReLogic is a vote of confidence from a grandee of the indie community in the midst of the Japanese developer’s legal battle with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company over alleged patent infringement, which Pocketpair has sought to portray as an unjust, David-and-Goliath situation. Last week, Pocketpair rather sulkily admitted its disappointment at having to remove ball-throwing and Pal-gliding from the game as a consequence of the court case.

Critical Role has announced a new miniseries, Age of Umbra, which will build a story using the group’s own game Daggerheart. Matthew Mercer will lead the play, with fellow Critical Role co-founders Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, and Travis Willingham all at the table. Daggerheart is a tabletop RPG system developed by Darrington Press LLC, a subsidiary of Critical Role Productions. The new system is already known for its flexibility, which has been showcased in previous Critical Role one-shots. Session 0 will air on May 22 at 7 p.m. PDT. Viewers can watch the original cast create their characters, lay down their foundations, and plant their characters’ roots in Age of Umbra’s world. The Series premieres on Thursday, May 29 at 7 p.m. PDT and will air weekly on Thursdays in that hour, airing on Beacon, Twitch, and Youtube. YouTube VODs will be available the following Monday after each episode, and each session will be split into two parts for a podcast format. Part 1 will post on Thursday after the premiere, and Part 2 on Tuesday. Beacon subscribers will receive podcasts instantly and without ads. Critical Role has taken the world by storm in the past decade. Initially starting as a group of friends playing Dungeons and Dragons, Critical Role has become one of the fastest-growing independent media companies in the world. There is no better time to get in on the hype right now, considering how hyped fans will be over the original cast reuniting for the mini.

There are games with steep learning curves, and then there are Paradox Interactive games. Equally part glorified-spreadsheets and part history simulators, Paradox games ask and offer a lot to their players. Known for their depth, replayability, robust modding communities, and ever-expanding downloadable content libraries, these games are now available for huge discounts as part of Paradox Interactive’s Steam publisher sale from May 8-15. With new information pouring out for Paradox’s upcoming Europa Universalis 5, now is a better time than ever to dive in.For both newcomers and veterans to Paradox’s grand strategy catalog, Europa Universalis 4 is a strong foundation. Past its steep learning curve, it lets players shape the course of history of the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era from an administrative point of view. It’s more concerned with intricate systems for diplomacy, trade, and warfare than it is with hereditary court politics or technology trees like other Paradox titles. The base game is a whopping 90% off, listed at $4.99 on Steam — but I would not recommend it without DLCs. The Starter Edition for Europa Universalis 4 is where the real deal lies, including 10 of the game’s most pertinent DLCs at 80% off for $11.99 total.If modern history, nation-building, and economic management are more your speed, then Victoria 3 is a standout choice. Released in 2022 in a relatively good state for a Paradox base game, Victoria 3 focuses on maneuvering goods and populations through the transformations of the 19th century. With far fewer DLCs than games like EU4, its base game discount of 70% off makes a $14.99 price point appealing. But for those who want more of what Victoria 3 can offer, its Starter Edition — which includes the Victoria 3: Sphere of Influence DLC — is $32.49 total.And for those who prefer interstellar conquests, Stellaris is the best bet. Considered Paradox’s most accessible grand strategy game, Stellaris distills the genre’s signature complexity into more manageable parts. Its base game is 75% off at $9.99, while its Starter Edition with 3 additional DLCs is 68% off at $15.99 total. According to Steam, unlike these other Paradox games, Stellaris will continue to be on sale until May 19.All in all, Paradox Interactive games and their DLC models are best enjoyed on sale. Paradox offers monthly subscription models with full access to all DLCs for its bigger titles like Europa Universalis 4, Crusader Kings 2, Stellaris, and Hearts of Iron 4, however, those subscriptions are not currently on sale. But for those making their first journey into the world of Paradox games, or for anyone looking to fill out their collection, these deals are a great opportunity to join the fun.See More:

Remedy Entertainment, the developer behind the upcoming Control spinoff FBC: Firebreak, is holding a closed technical test scheduled from May 15-19 for the multiplayer game. FBC: Firebreak will be released on June 17 for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. Accordingly, Remedy Entertainment is sending out a closed technical test call to players on each platform, reaffirming that crossplay is supported. Sign-ups for the FBC: Firebreak closed technical test are handled via firebreak.firstlook.gg, which is currently open to anyone. Remedy specified that spots for this closed technical test are limited. To sign up, you must provide and confirm an email address as well as your date of birth. Whoever is selected to participate in the closed technical test will receive an email from Remedy before May 15 with a key for their platform of choice, pending availability. Remedy needs your help! We're testing the matchmaking and balancing of FBC: Firebreak in our CLOSED Technical Test, running from May 15th until May 19th. PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players are all needed so sign up now:https://t.co/o8kgcteE3ZCrossplay is supported so… pic.twitter.com/XAAJq47MUS— FBC: Firebreak 🔻 Control (@ControlRemedy) May 12, 2025 At the end of the sign-up process, potential play testers must check a box certifying that any captured gameplay material will not be made public. In short, Remedy does not want any gameplay footage leaking from the closed technical test — it’s a technical stress test, not a marketing opportunity. Closed technical tests are typically utilized to ensure that server infrastructure and multiplayer netcode can handle various stress tests. It’s never a good look when a game can’t handle the first wave of players on launch day, so Remedy Entertainment is trying to get ahead of that potential problem. FBC: Firebreak is a bit of a departure from the renowned single-player experiences like Alan Wake 2 that Remedy Entertainment is known for. It’s set in the world of Control, another Remedy title, and players team up for mission-based gameplay with extraction-shooter elements. To boost the game’s release momentum, Remedy Entertainment scheduled FBC: Firebreak to have both day-one Xbox Game Pass availability and day-one PlayStation Plus availability.