Bandai Namco Amusement Europe Ltd will open its first retail experience store called ‘Bandai Namco Cross Store’ in Camden, London, on the 18th of August 2023. This will be the first of its kind outside of Japan and it focuses on a celebration of the physical market and Bandai Namco’s heritage as a worldwide entertainment company.

The store is made up of a collection of shops where customers can ‘see’, ‘touch’, and ‘experience’ characters, products, and events and feel part of an experience to make people smile whilst celebrating community and entertainment.

The first Bandai Namco store in the UK will be in Camden, London, one of London’s most famous cultural hubs and popular tourist destinations. The store is in Camden Market, and it will house seven ‘shops’ that feature Bandai Namco Group content, four of which will be the first in the UK. The shops will offer a wide selection of high-quality Japanese character products from collectibles, card games, figures, video games, and everyday items.

John McKenzie MD of Bandai Namco Amusement Europe had this to say:

Camden, London, is widely recognised as offering an eclectic mix of cultural products and art. It is the perfect location to launch our first Bandai Namco Cross Store concept in the UK which combines our expertise in locations-based entertainment with a rapidly growing demand for IP and concepts originating from our group’s Japanese culture.

The UK Bandai Namco ‘Cross Store’ will open in Camden, London on August 18, 2023.

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Bandai Namco Amusement Europe has announced it’s opening the first Cross Store in Camden, London, in a “first of its kind” deal outside of Japan. A Cross Store is a collection of shops where customers can not just see and touch the products, but also experience characters and events, with the idea that it all feels more like a an event to celebrate community and entertainment, than a standard shop.

The idea behind this particular Cross Store is to celebrate the physical market, as well as Bandai Namco and its heritage as a worldwide entertainment company. It’ll be in Camden, London, specifically in Camden Market, and there will be six shops that feature Bandai Namco content, four of which are “firsts” in the UK. There will be “a wide selection of high-quality Japanese character products from collectables, card games, figures, and everyday items”.

The shops will be:

• BANPRESTO OFFICIAL SHOP (First in the UK)
• GASHAPON BANDAI OFFICIAL SHOP
• Ichibankuji Official Shop (First in the UK)
• MegaHouse Official Store (First in the UK)
• ONE PIECE CARD GAME Official Shop
• Sun-Star Stationery Shop (First in the UK)

On top of that there will be an arcade experience, and an event space, so it should be a busy attraction, in an already busy location.

John McKenzie MD of Bandai Namco Amusement Europe explained that “Camden, London, is widely recognised as offering an eclectic mix of cultural products and art”, adding, “it is the perfect location to launch our Bandai Namco Cross Store concept in the UK which combines our expertise in locations-based entertainment with a rapidly growing demand for IP and concepts originating from our group’s Japanese culture”.

You can keep up to date with all things happening with the Bandai Namco Cross Store via the usual social channels.

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Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins, the Nintendo GameCube card-based RPGs, are getting a HD remaster for Nintendo Switch, and the package is coming on Friday, September 15th, this year.

Bandai Namco has announced the news today, and says that Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster (as the package is to be called) will “allow both original players and newcomers to again discover the endearing and emotional journey that awaits them in both Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Origins. In the first story, follow Kalas in his quest for revenge for the death of his loved ones, and then dive deeper into the secrets of the Alfard Empire alongside Sagi in the sequel”.

The remaster introduces new features such as “encounters-off, auto-battle, skip cutscenes, and auto-save to make this remaster even more accessible to new players”, says Bandai Namco, adding that “overall, the game and battle speed can be increased up to 300%. In order to slay your enemies even faster, you can now use “Instant KO” and win the battle in a single attack; in times when rest is needed, enable the function “No Encounter” to avoid battles on your way. Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster also comes with other several system settings to support game progression”.

Here’s the story information for the first game:

A long time ago, there was a great conflict between the evil god and the people. After a fierce battle, the people managed to seal off the evil god, but what was left behind was a desolate land. The people thus chose to abandon the land and live in the sky.

Such fairy tales were passed down as legends. At this time, people had wings called Wings of the Heart and lived a peaceful life. It was an era of long-lasting tranquility… But the collapse had quietly already begun.

When a young man calls upon the Guardian Spirt, the story begins to unfold. A story set on a floating continent in the sky, where thoughts and prayers intersect.

There will be a physical version of the package coming to retail, but in the UK it will be exclusive to GAME, with this link offering pre-orders already.

Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster is coming to Nintendo Switch on September 15th.

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For a lot of people, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will be their first foray into the series that, in many ways, FromSoftware was best known for. Most people either aren’t old enough, or don’t care about being cool enough to pretend they were there and into the games back then. And while some of us long for From to revisit 3D Dot Game Heroes, Armored Core is an interesting series to reboot, as those early games in the light of day are impenetrable, confusing, and more than a bit niche.

On the back of Elden Ring, and success after success, the question I kept musing upon is “why now?”, but after a hands off presentation from Yasunori Ogura (lead producer) and Astuo Yoshimura (producer), it seems pretty clear that FromSoftware wants to modernise while revolutionising, and get the Armored Core series the love it clearly craves.

This is “an action game where you fight with your own personal mech”, explains Ogura, before showing off the three pillars the team consider core to Armored Core 6. First up, the “massive and 3D level” design, then the “tactical combat system further expanded by parts and assembly”, and finally, the challenge that modern FromSoft is known for, which is probably why Ogura described this new Armored Core as “combining the fun of the AC series with the action of the current FromSoft games”.

Armored Core 6 looks smooth, with fast moving mechs, responsive controls that are reactive to inputs, and speedy combat. The mission I got to see was interesting, and there were elements of the action that changed depending on how you build your mech. You see, customising your mech changes via the arsenal is not just for fashion-Souls purposes, but more importantly to change how your mech controls, and indeed your play-style overall.

The maps do look absolutely huge, from desert biomes to icy landscapes, it’s a mix of natural terrain mixing with man-made buildings. There are industrial cityscapes and cavernous wilds, and FromSoft says the maps and how you traverse them couldn’t be done with a human character and that this level of exploration is “only possible in a mech game”.

But this is 2023 FromSoftware, the developer who has wowed fans for years with Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls, and Ogura explains that you will still need to observe, experiment, and repeat encounters to overcome the challenges. While assembly offers you a great deal of freedom, this experimentation of build might actually be how you end up winning a more difficult battle.

I got to see an early part of the game where you have to capture a large facility called Grid 086. This is “mega structure” where, essentially, the bad guys are hanging out. There is a large exterior to approach, but the map then gets tight as you go inside to the interior area.

Armored Core 6 is a reboot, so the intention is to follow the flow from those original concepts. You get a briefing video before each mission before a launch, and frankly, it looks stunning. You can fly with your boost right away (so long as you have enough energy to do it), and right away the sense of scale is almost overwhelming. Where in previous, more recent FromSoft titles, you’re faced with paths to travel, here, you can just dash off into the air in any direction you want.

While you need to get inside, you can take any route you fancy, all thanks to that mobility on offer. In my demo, the player just directly attacked enemies, flying straight over and engaging in combat. Missiles were flying around everywhere as the mech skidded across the metal grating, destroying foes.

After hacking a locked gate, the player was ambushed and has to stay calm, avoiding the multitude of attacks spraying at the mech, learning when to attack and dashing in and out to defeat the enemy. Repair kits restore health, and in the demo we saw, the player had 3, but more on that in a moment.

Inside, then, the claustrophobia is palpable. As a huge mech that barely fits inside, thankfully you have a scan function to reveal enemies so they can’t take you by surprise, making it almost feel like a stealth game… only one with a massive mech at your control.

As the demo progressed, the enemies seem to get more and more aggressive, though you have a shield to block the barrage of firepower, and can then dash in to attack when a moment appears.

What’s difficult to tell without playing it myself, is if it’s challenging, or if the person I saw playing was an expert. It really does seem like your build matters. At one point during the demo, the player was able to observe a group of enemies, and Ogura mentioned it was “too far to engage” with his current build. The ideas suddenly swirled around my head about partial sniper builds, and how you can tailor the mech combat to your needs.

But what of death? What of failure? Checkpoints are in the middle of the missions. Yes, checkpoints, in a FromSoftware title. You can even check your build and in the assembly menu, alter your loadout. Head, core, arms, legs: you can change them to be better suited for your current situation, and the numbers will change dramatically to show you a less visual idea of what your changes will be doing. There seems to be a huge amount of weapons, even at the early part of the game I saw. There are even supply points in some missions where you can grab new health kits.

After dying, the producer swapped out the mech’s legs to make it faster, and went to try again., which is when I got to see the “stagger” mechanic. If you are staggered you will receive heavy damage from attacks, but of course you can also stagger enemies, and this sounds vital to taking down stronger opponents. There’s an impact gauge at the top of the enemy (think Sekiro) that, once filled, makes them vulnerable and you can get in close and wreak havoc.

It all seems so fluid, and not like you’d think when hearing the word “mech”. At the end of the mission there are boss fights, like the one I saw against “Cinder” Carla who, wouldn’t you guess it, was a huge boss firing rockets from its body, with grinder arms you can destroy to help you out.

Really, I didn’t know what to expect before seeing it in action, but now I have, it’s clear why FromSoftware is going back to the series. There’s something there; perhaps there always was, but those worried the developer would be leaving the masocore roots behind probably shouldn’t be concerned, because everything I saw makes me think this could be a superb reinvention of the series, making Armored Core 6 a serious one to watch ahead of its August release.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X on August 25th.

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Bandai Namco has revealed Sand Land, a new action RPG based on the classic manga from Akira Toriyama is in development.

For those not aware of the name, Toriyama is also the author of Dragon Ball (and Dr. Slump), and is about a desert world where humans are experiencing extreme water shortages, and “Beelzebub, the Fiend Prince, and Rao, a small-town sheriff, form a tag team and set off on an adventure in search of a hidden water source”.

The project was announced back in December 2022, and is being made in co-production with Bandai Namco’s Filmworks studio, Sunrise, and Anima Inc, and will be coming to PC (Steam), PS4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X.

Dive into a desert world where both humans and demons suffer from an extreme water shortage. Play as and watch the Fiend Prince, Beelzebub, Sheriff Rao, and demon Thief set off on an adventure in search of a Legendary Spring hidden in the desert. Introducing himself as a “super evil fiend”, Beelzebub has a pure heart like a little boy but has superhuman strength and telepathic abilities. Rao, a small-town sheriff, seeks the aid of demons to save all of Sand Land from the water shortage. Thief, a wise old demon with thieving abilities also accompanies Beelzebub and Rao on their adventure.

Playing as Beelzebub, players will be able to explore a vast world accompanied by his unlikely group of demons and humans. Whether roaming in various vehicles, or traveling by foot, players will encounter dangers as well as helpful characters they meet in the vast desert while uncovering Sand Land’s many secrets. Vehicular and character combat is a big part of the action in the game. Players will have access to a variety of vehicles that they can customize and equip with loadouts to traverse the desert, overcome obstacles, and take on a diverse assortment of mighty foes.

Sand Land is coming to PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series S|X.

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Bandai Namco and Limbic Entertainment has announced that Park Beyond, its upcoming theme-park management/creation game, will be teaming up with cross-platform, user-generated content solution mod.io to offer a sharing platform for players of the game, with the integration launching in August, 2023.

This is part of the DLC roadmap for Park Beyond, which will add a new challenge mode, new biomes and maps, new decoration items, new flat rides, and a lot more, it seems. The mod.io integration will mean Park Beyond players can share and download creations in the game itself, or via impossify.com.

“Historically, games like Park Beyond have nurtured remarkable creator communities. In collaboration with Bandai Namco Europe and Limbic Entertainment, our goal is to expand the reach of user-generated content to a broader audience, encompassing both PC and console players. We are thrilled to join with Bandai Namco and Limbic Entertainment, as well as their creator community, in our pursuit of making UGC support universally accessible for their players”, said Scott Reismanis, CEO and Co-founder of mod.io.

“Park Beyond’s purpose is to allow players to make their childhood dreams a reality. At Limbic Entertainment we think that dreams are meant to be shared. Our goal is to allow as many people as possible to offer the world their most beautiful memories, it was clear that we wanted a cross-platform UGC solution. Thus, working with mod.io, which has a proven track record on several well-known games, was an obvious choice. We can’t wait to see what our community will create in Park Beyond and share with mod.io”, said Lionel Lovisa, General Studio Manager at Limbic Entertainment.

Mick has been playing the game a bit for preview, and likes it. He said it’s “is a great time, offering a decent level of challenge alongside a relatively stress-free management experience. There’s still a little way to go before the launch in June this year, but I’m confident it will go from strength to strength after release”.

Park Beyond will be available to on Steam and consoles on June 15, 2023.

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LEGO certainly knows how to open the wallets of fans, as it’s announced LEGO Pac-Man Arcade via a collaboration with Bandai Namco, and it’s coming on June 4th for £229.99, though if you’re a VIP you can actually get building earlier on June 1st.

As you’d probably expect, but because the companies involved have to say this sort of thing these days, “The new LEGO Icons PAC-MAN Arcade is a non-functional gaming system loaded with retro game details you’ll want to devour”. So yeah, don’t expect to play the actual game on it. That said, a light brick will illuminate the coin slot, and you can “simulate the chase with the mechanical maze”.

The LEGO Pac-Man Arcade is based on the 1980s arcade game cabinet itself, and there’s also a minifigure scene that shows someone playing the game, which can itself be stored inside the cabinet. You can even remove the back of the main cab to reveal the inner mechanics.

The LEGO group tweeted:

that this reveal is “just in time for PAC-MAN’s birthday”, while also confirming the box contains 2651 pieces. For comparison, the Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone set is very in-depth and contains 1125 pieces, so this is a seriously big endeavour to take on, which certainly makes sense, given the premium price point.

The Pac-Man Arcade will stand at 13″ (32cm) tall, be 10″ (25cm) wide, and is 7″ (17cm) deep, and will net you 1840 VIP Points if you do choose to pick it up. It’s also worth noting it’s recommended for 18+ ages, since it has choking hazards including a small ball and small parts.

Bricks are big business it seems, as we only had the Donkey Kong range announced that was joining the Mario sets in April, and there’s also a Horizon Zero Dawn Tallneck, so there’s plenty of gaming LEGO available, nowadays.

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Bandai Namco has announced it’s park-building sim Park Beyond has gone into closed beta today, and you can get involved still. Registrations are still open, and people who buy the game after trying the closed beta will even get a bonus golden Omnicar to add to their rollercoasters.

The publisher says that “Available in this Closed Beta Test are the first two missions of the campaign, which will introduce the colourful cast of characters guiding players through their visionary creations whilst training them with all the know-how needed to manage a successful park”.

The Park Beyond beta will run from May 9th to May 19th and is only available on PC, and while it’s a small taster of the full game out June 16th, it’s going to include the sandbox mode.

The Sandbox mode is also included with one of the many maps from Park Beyond. This is the perfect place to put everything learned from the missions into practice, test out possibilities, management strategies, and push creativity with the modular building, allowing for full customisation of elements as well as coasters. Impossification is also a part of this mode: amaze your visitors and watch as rides and shops get crazier, and staff gets upgraded beyond your imagination!

Our preview of Park Beyond just went up, and Mick really liked it, saying: “Park Beyond is a great time, offering a decent level of challenge alongside a relatively stress-free management experience. There’s still a little way to go before the launch in June this year, but I’m confident it will go from strength to strength after release”.

Park Beyond will be available to on Steam and consoles on June 15, 2023.

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Management sims are an acquired taste. I rarely have the patience for the minutiae, and so games like Rollercoaster Tycoon and Planet Coaster have largely passed me by. The result of this is that I was pretty blind going into Park Beyond from Tropico devs Limbic Entertainment. I played a chunk of Theme Park back in the day and Jurassic Park Evolution, but they didn’t prepare me for how ambitious Park Beyond would be.

The big selling point here is “Impossification”, a made up word that means more or less what it sounds like it means. As a theme park designer, your job is to be as maverick as legally possible, creating insane play areas for your park visitors with death-defying rides and insane rollercoasters that weave their way around your entire site.

You’re encouraged along by a cast of colourful characters in the campaign mode. There’s enthusiastic thrill-seeker Blaize, eccentric millionaire Phil, engineer Sophia, and money-fixated Izzy. They’ll guide you through the various processes and give you challenges along the way that earn you money or Amazement, the currency by which you Impossify rides, shops, coasters – even your individual staff members.

Everything is under your control in Park Beyond, from the placement of rides to the price of individual items in each of the shops and restaurants. You’ll need to place benches so people can rest, litter bins, toilets. You can also scatter decorations wherever you like for a low fee that add nothing but aesthetic flair.

A heat map lets you keep track of everything. Your priority is guest happiness, so you will need to ensure that rides are priced low enough that people use them but high enough that they still make a profit. Each group that comes into the park falls under one of three categories: Families, Teens, and Adults. You decide in a pre-mission briefing who your target demographic will be and then work to satisfy them first.

Teens like crazy rides and risk-taking, families like to be safe and secure, while adults prefer scenery and a quiet coffee over energy drinks and dead-drop rollercoasters. There are also themes to unpack such as Wild West and Sci-fi to help personalise your park. What begins with a fairly complex tutorial to build a rollercoaster through an urban city centre soon opens up into a massive sandbox that keeps on giving.

What I played was a preview build, and so I had to contend with an occasionally unruly camera, as well as a problem with the game crashing to desktop that became more frequent the further in I got until it became impossible to even play without a reinstall. Thankfully I got through a fair few missions and was able to play a large chunk of the Sandbox Mode, which allowed me to see the majority of what Park Beyond will offer.

Impossification, while a gimmick, is excellent. For shops it adds “attractors”, huge rigs that jump and dance and launch fireworks into the air; but for rides it alters the look and effect, upping the fun factor by becoming more dangerous, like a spinning top ride that literally launches the visitors into a freefall before catching them again. Coasters become faster and more terrifying, made even better by the fact that you can build them around other rides and use terrain features like canyons and tunnels to increase their fun.

Overall you’re trying to grow your Park Appeal, which is how you level up and unlock research nodes to give you new shops and rides. It requires constant monitoring, hiring staff, paying the right salaries, and keeping your guests happy enough to spend a fortune every day. You can switch to a first person camera to try your own rides, including the rollercoasters of course, or even possess the bodies of individual visitors to “ride along” inside their heads as they eat, drink, play and occasionally run to the toilet after a particularly dizzying time.

Although it can be incredibly finnicky with path and item placement – and has a tendency to place items a few feet above ground level – Park Beyond is shaping up to be a lot of fun. There’s already so much detail in it (you can even change the colours of rides, buildings, and staff uniforms) that you’d expect it to be overwhelming, but it isn’t. Limbic know exactly how to craft this kind of experience and make it constantly busy without being stressful and that’s what Park Beyond is.

A charming sense of humour rounds off the experience wonderfully, never taking itself seriously while still offering a level of challenge that means you can’t just switch off your brain. You do have to think about what you’re doing and why, and you will need to ensure that pathways are clear and guests have the right facilities in all areas of the park. But every layer of management from building the rides to tweaking the price of a cinnamon cocoa puts the power and agency directly into your hands.

Park Beyond is a great time, offering a decent level of challenge alongside a relatively stress-free management experience. There’s still a little way to go before the launch in June this year, but I’m confident it will go from strength to strength after release.

Park Beyond will be available to on Steam and consoles on June 15, 2023.

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Ahead of the Park Beyond closed beta test in May, Bandai Namco have released a trailer that gives us a first look at the management gameplay.

Following on from a look at the cast, concept, and reveal, this new trailer ” will dive into all the possibilities and resources at the hands of the players to make their business a success”. Check out the video, as well as the official word from the press release for the trailer, below.

How do shops and their inventory work? What are the visitor’s needs? How about staff? All in-depth management functions are accessible in specific tabs to keep an eye on, for a safe, fun and profitable park!

Creativity is also in the spotlight as players can use their imagination and the thousands of assets provided in Park Beyond. Those looking to make their inspiration come to life can access the Sandbox mode, create a custom game and get to work with building and decorating. Each creation can be saved and reused in future parks and contributes to the atmosphere with customised colours, light and even music! The layout of the land is also under the players’ control with terraforming and tunnelling giving an extra dimension to the parks and even rides.

Management magnates, creative visioneers, or a bit of both – all playstyles can thrive in Park Beyond!

It looks a lot of fun, and has a few nods to games like Theme Park we grew up playing. There seems to be plenty of depth, as some of the trailer shows reams and reams of things you can place, or make use of. You can control inventory and prices of stores, check expenses, and expand your lab to make even more weird rollercoasters, which can be tailored to what your Park visitors want. There’s also a sandbox mode outside of the campaign, where you can even play with unlimited funds and ignore physics to create your wildest dreams.

Park Beyond is coming to PS5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC on June 16th. You can register for the closed beta, which will start on May 9th, by clicking this link.

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Bandai Namco has announced that LEGO Brawls is getting a new level and a brand mode, and it’s all happening thanks to an update on March 30th. There will be a new Castle-themed level being added to LEGO Brawls, but adding to the many options when it comes to themes and ways to play, a new Base Race mode is also being added.

The castle themed level will mean players can mine bricks, destroy the enemy base, and build towers, all to try and get that all important win. The update will drop at 11pm (UK time, BST) on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, with an 8am UK (BST) release on April 1st for Nintendo Switch.

In the Base Race mode for LEGO Brawls, players must work as a team to collect as many bricks as possible and use them to build a giant tower before their opponent. One catch – the opposing team can also storm the other team’s base to steal their bricks. Utilising a solid mix of strategy and skill, players must learn to balance between collecting bricks and attacking the enemy base if they want to seize victory. Moreover, the new update also introduces a variety of new in-game collectibles to LEGO Brawls, including 12 castle-themed LEGO Minifigures, as well as melee weapons, powerups and emotes.

I’ve been meaning to try Brawls for a while, as I’ve heard good things about the Apple Arcade version. Bandai Namco describes it as “family-friendly, brick-based, team action brawler with cross-platform play (cross-play) and multiple game modes that can be enjoyed by players of all ages, skill levels, and play preferences”, and that cross-platform play is definitely appealing.

The LEGO brand has been diversifying when it comes to publishers recently, and while it was often Warner Bros. and its developer TT Games making LEGO games, Brawls from Bandai Namco (and Red Games Co) joins the list of other companies involved now, just like LEGO 2K Drive (2K Games and Visual Concepts) and LEGO Bricktales (Thunderful and Clockstone).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m back off to continue my Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone LEGO set…

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For fans waiting to see the triumphant return of Jun Kazama in Tekken 8, Bandai Namco has released an official gameplay trailer showing her off. Not only does the game look incredible in the trailer, Jun Kazama proves she’s a force to be reckoned with, providing fans the opportunity to see her iconic ‘Kazama style.’

Feel the power of every hit in TEKKEN 8, the latest entry in the legendary fighting game franchise from Bandai Namco.

Utilising the power and realism of Unreal Engine 5, TEKKEN 8 pushes the envelope for fighting games by taking full advantage of the power of the latest generation of consoles.

Groundbreaking new features, breathtakingly detailed character models and dramatic environments make this one of the most visually stunning and immersive titles in the genre yet.

TEKKEN 8 picks up after the gruesome battle that ended in Heihachi Mishima’s defeat in TEKKEN 7, focusing on a new rivalry, pitting father against son as Jin Kazama stands in defiance against Kazuya Mishima’s quest for world dominance.

Back in February, we got a similar reveal for Nina, and in the coming months there’ll no doubt be plenty more gameplay reveals for the roster coming to Tekken 8. It’s been almost six years since Tekken 7 released, and at the time we said, “Tekken 7 has a fantastic combat system, using a straightforward system to implement lots of combos, and the new features such as Rage Arts help to change battles when it feels you’re done for. The Story Mode is pretty short, and the online servers are currently broken, but once they’re sorted, Tekken 7 will be one of the best fighting games out there.”

Tekken 8 will be coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, although no release date has been officially announced as of yet. You can watch the Jun Kazama gameplay trailer for Tekken 8 below:

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Praise the Sun Rise, Tarnished, as an official announcement in regards to Elden Ring DLC has been made, and it’s called ‘Shadow of the Erdtree.’ Posted on the official Elden Ring Twitter account, the tweet reads, “Rise, Tarnished, and let us walk a new path together. An upcoming expansion for #ELDENRING Shadow of the Erdtree, is currently in development. We hope you look forward to new adventures in the Lands Between.” 

Rise, Tarnished, and let us walk a new path together.
An upcoming expansion for #ELDENRING Shadow of the Erdtree, is currently in development.
We hope you look forward to new adventures in the Lands Between. pic.twitter.com/cjJYijM7Mw

— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) February 28, 2023

Although no release date or information regarding what to expect from the Elden Ring DLC has been revealed, getting that official announcement will make many fans around the globe rather excited, including us. Elden Ring was a masterpiece, and became the most popular FromSoftware game of all time.

Almost everyone at God is a Geek had something positive to say about Elden Ring at the end of the year (well, all except Lyle, tut tut). Adam said, “It’s a beautiful, rich world that feels like a culmination of all of the Souls-like games FromSoft has developed over the years.” It topped both Chris’ and Mick’s GOTY lists, with all three having some strong words to say about it. “This is a From world, through and through, a kind of meta-Lordran that tells a far stronger story through the use of stunning visual design and environmental storytelling that compliments the reams of flavour text,” said Mick. Mr Hyde followed suit with, “I loved Elden Ring from the moment I first stepped out into Limgrave, and close to 100 hours later, I’m still in love.” Finally, Chris White wrote, “Every new boss presented a different challenge. Every new path opened up hours of exploration. The sense of adventure Elden Ring presented was unlike anything I had ever played before.”

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Bandai Namco has revealed Nina for Tekken 8, and even better, we get to see her in action thanks to the new gameplay trailer.

There’s precious little information additional information revealed in the trailer, really, aside the description which is simply “Target located. Nina Williams is back in business in TEKKEN 8! Get your first look at the world’s deadliest assassin, back just in time for the next King of the Iron Fist tournament”.

Feel the power of every hit in Tekken 8, the latest entry in the legendary fighting game franchise from Bandai Namco.

Utilising the power and realism of Unreal Engine 5, Tekken 8 pushes the envelope for fighting games by taking full advantage of the power of the latest generation of consoles.

Groundbreaking new features, breathtakingly detailed character models and dramatic environments make this one of the most visually stunning and immersive titles in the genre yet.

Tekken 8 picks up after the gruesome battle that ended in Heihachi Mishima’s defeat in Tekken 7, focusing on a new rivalry, pitting father against son as Jin Kazama stands in defiance against Kazuya Mishima’s quest for world dominance.

The trailer ends without giving a release date, as you’d expect, and just says “stay tuned”, and links to the official PlayStation store page, which also says “release date to be determined”.

Tekken 7 was released in 2017, and we loved it, like most people. Back then, Chris White scored it 8.5 and said “Tekken 7 has a fantastic combat system, using a straightforward system to implement lots of combos, and the new features such as Rage Arts help to change battles when it feels you’re done for. The Story Mode is pretty short, and the online servers are currently broken, but once they’re sorted, Tekken 7 will be one of the best fighting games out there”.

Tekken 8 has no release date yet, but is coming to PlayStation and Xbox.

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The turn-based combat in One Piece Odyssey is arguably the best part of the game, but I don’t think the game does a great job of explaining how all the systems work. I played the first few hours of the Luffy’s adventure through twice because of last month’s preview, and it was only during the second run through for the review that everything clicked. If you need a bit more of an explanation then stick around and prepare to talk about mechanics.

Before anything else, it’s important emphasise quite how necessary it is to attack enemies who are weak to your character’s attack type. Especially in the first half of the game you’ll often be able to kill a weaker enemy in a single hit if you use the right character to take them out, so if there’s an option to do that on your turn then bloody do it. There’s an attack triangle in the bottom left of the screen that you can reference if you forget that Power beats Ranged and Ranged beats Technique, but enemies you highlight for an attack will display handy arrows to let you know if an attack is a good idea too. If you have no enemies worth attacking at all you can also switch in characters from your bench without any punishment. If Usopp’s slingshot is useless in a fight then don’t hesitate to tag Sanji in for some power attacks, there’s no reason to avoid doing this as all EXP is shared.

The biggest combat mechanic you’ll need to learn more about to survive in One Piece Odyssey is the Scramble Battle Area system. At the start of each encounter each of your characters will be put into a different area, and they can only move to another area if the one they’re currently in doesn’t contain any enemies. This doesn’t mean you can’t attack enemies in other areas though, you’ll just need the right special abilities.

One Piece Odyssey combat guide: Use the TP

Each character has a wide range of attacks that use their TP to deal damage to different enemies and areas. Luffy for example has a powerful attack called Gum-Gum Gatling that deals damage to all enemies in his area. He also has a ranged attack that hits one enemy in any area called Gum-Gum Pistol which is perfect for taking out weaker enemies blocking your other allies. Some fights you’ll want to focus on making sure Luffy is free to move area so that on his turn he can clear out some Ranged enemies grouped together somewhere else, others you’ll need to use him to free up other allies by picking off the enemies bothering them.

Nami’s attack that hits everyone is very useful early on

When switching characters and using your best abilities isn’t helping you win a fight, you can always fall back on your items. Sanji’s cooking can provide hugely powerful healing when all else fails, from full party health boosts to resurrecting downed allies. There’s also the trick balls you can craft with Usopp that can weaken the attack, defence or even stun enemies that are giving you a hard time. There’s no shame is using those consumables to get the edge in battle, and they make a huge difference in boss fights.

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After a few hours of One Piece Odyssey, you’ve probably realised that there’s a way to fast travel but can’t quite figure out how to do it. Well don’t worry, we are here with all the answers to your fast travel questions.

You unlock One Piece Odyssey fast travel (which is done via a monkey called a Yoisa obviously) at around halfway through the Alabasta memory in Chapter 2. As you’re walking through the desert your objective marker will point you straight to the sign and the Yoisa dancing in front of it, and you’ll be taught how to fast travel then.

One Piece Odyssey fast travel: how does it work?

After you’ve unlocked the feature, you can fast travel at (almost) any time by opening the map and pressing the square button to use Yoisa travel to go to any of the signposts you’ve inspected on your adventure so far. This does mean that you should make sure to examine the signs as you go around the world as a priority, so don’t forget!

Every sign you’ve looked at so far will be unlocked for fast travel too, including all the ones on Waford outside of the memory you’re currently in, so if you haven’t unlocked fast travel yet it’s worth checking the signs as you go.

We gave One Piece Odyssey a 6.5/10 score in our review, saying: “One Piece Odyssey is an RPG that fans of the anime may appreciate, but it isn’t without its issues. The combat is a blast with plenty of nuances to master, but the pacing of the game is painful, and exploration gets old fast. If you’re really into the subject matter it might be worth playing, but otherwise there are plenty of other JRPGs I’d recommend first”.

One Piece Odyssey is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X.

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One of the first places that confused me when playing through One Piece Odyssey was crossing the Ravine of No Return. With my map all but useless and four directions to choose from, I couldn’t figure out how to proceed. If you’re having the same problem then read on and learn from my mistakes.

When you’re done, don’t forget to check out our combat guide, too, in case you’re struggling with that system, which isn’t amazingly well explained at the start of the game.

When you know what you’re looking for it’s actually quite easy to make it through the One Piece Odyssey Ravine of No Return. There’s a pink parrot on top of the stone statue in the middle of the crossroads, and that bird is your ticket out of here. Once you wander towards the statue the bird will fly in the direction you need to go, so follow it to start your journey through the mapless maze.

There are a few more crossroads to deal with after the first one, but each of them has a stone statue in the middle and a parrot to help you. Just keep following the parrot and you’ll be closer to Crocodile and the end of this arc in no time.

We gave One Piece Odyssey a 6.5/10 score in our review, saying: “One Piece Odyssey is an RPG that fans of the anime may appreciate, but it isn’t without its issues. The combat is a blast with plenty of nuances to master, but the pacing of the game is painful, and exploration gets old fast. If you’re really into the subject matter it might be worth playing, but otherwise there are plenty of other JRPGs I’d recommend first”.

One Piece Odyssey is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X.

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Due out on February 17th, Bandai Namco has released a new Tales of Symphonia Remastered trailer that focuses on the gameplay.

The game originally came out on GameCube back in 2004, but also came to PS3 in 2014, with a PC release following in 2016. It spawned a sequel in Dawn of the New World, then a collection (Tales of Symphonia Chronicles) came out in 2014, so Tales of Symphonia Remastered is very much looking to appeal to fans who loved the game back then, and can’t wait to try it out in shiny new remastered form in a month or so. It was very popular at the time, hitting an 86 on Metacritic, but aside the PS3 release, it’s never hit Sony consoles outside of Japan.

The trailer simply has the description “Build new alliances and try out different unison attacks to defeat your fiercest enemies across Sylvarant”, and you can check it out below:

In the game, players will be able to explore the vast decaying world in order to regenerate Sylvarant while saving Tethe’alla. To do so they will be able to use powerful techniques and unison attacks with their team to defeat powerful foes. In addition to the weapons and accessories that can be found in the world, crafting will also allow the party to regenerate and keep going as they will need all their strength and friendship to succeed in their perilous quest.

The fight for freedom and a better world is in full force in Tales of Symphonia Remastered, a remastered version of one of the most loved Tales Of stories.

Tales of Symphonia Remastered is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, but is also playable on PS5, and Xbox Series S|X on February 17th, 2023.

Check out the full list of 2023 game release dates.

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Bandai Namco has announced the launch date for the PS5 and Xbox Series S|X version of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, along with a little surprise. The new-gen version will be coming January 13th, 2023, and the surprise is that there will be the fourth DLC (the first from Season Pass 2) kicking off on the same date.

The fourth DLC for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will be called have the subtitle “Battle of Planet Vegeta” and be called “Bardock: Alone AGainst Fate”, and feature the chance for “players will get to take part in a story based on the TV Special from the DRAGON BALL universe focusing on Bardock, the father of Goku, in his quest to protect the Saiyans and their planet”.

This fourth DLC, Bardock – Alone Against Fate, will release on 13th January 2023 on all platforms along with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot coming to PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series X|S. The upgrade to new gen version will be free for all owners of the game playing on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. We did previously know the new-gen version was coming early 2023, but this is great news for DBZ fans to kick off the new year of gaming.

Back in January 2020, Lyle reviewed the game and said “Small complaints aside, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is the huge single player Dragon Ball game I’ve always wanted. Experiencing the story I’ve loved for years in a charming RPG, full of references and the signature sights and sounds of the anime has been a delight. The pacing may be a little slow, but there’s never been a game that’s made me feel more immersed in Goku’s world”, awarding it an 8.5/10 score.

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Teaming up again with Bandai Namco, FromSoftware’s latest announced title is Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon, revived and reimagined as an action game. This will be a co-developed effort between FromSoft and Bandai Namco.

The last Armored Core title was around ten years ago with the fifth instalment, and focused on multiplayer with a bit less story.

Here’s the latest information directly from the press release:

Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon will offer a game experience based on the mech game know-how FromSoftware cultivated over 25 years of developing games in the series, but now introducing groundbreaking gameplay found in the developer’s recent action games. The new AArmored Core title will combine these elements into thrilling action that only mechas can provide. The game promises to be a unique entry in the mech action game genre.

In Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon, players will be able to freely move through massive three-dimensional environments with rapid maneuverability while experiencing visceral vehicular combat. Signature to FromSoftware’s carefully crafted game design, the game will feature challenging and memorable battles along with a fulfilling progression system and deep gameplay, all of it now powered by assembling mechs and going to combat with massive bosses. Players will recognize the sense of satisfaction and achievement when they overcome a difficult situation and relish momentary victory, and perhaps a boost to their standing, before encountering the next challenge.

FromSoftware is a busy developer, as it’s recently sent out a free update to Elden Ring that enables colosseums for PvP multiplayer.

Fires of Rubicon is coming in 2023.

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The first content update for Elden Ring is finally here, and it’s a multiplayer based update adding PVP features, called “The Colosseum update”. It’ll also add some all-new cosmetic options, but the big thing here is that those huge locked off buildings are now going to swing the doors open, offering ideal locations to commit to some player versus player competitive action.

In terms of the other parts of the update, there are “five new hairstyles also await players returning to their adventure in ELDEN RING or taking on the new challenges in the Colosseums”.

PvP Colosseums – The Colosseum doors open for the first time to reveal a new challenge, unlocking three new arenas. Located in Limgrave, Caelid and Leyndell, each arena comes with its own sets of rules and will be theatres of fierce Player versus Player confrontations.

Each of the Elden Ring colosseums will have multiple ways to play, as detailed below:

The Limgrave Colosseum features two modes: United Combat and Combat Ordeal.

• In United Combat, combatants will be divided into two teams to fight in timed battles with the ability to respawn. Each death and respawn grants points to the adversaries, offering victory to the team with the higher score.
• In Combat Ordeal, it’s every Tarnished for themselves. Combatants in this mode can also respawn until the timer hits zero, and the one with the most points will prevail as victor.

The Royal Colosseum, located in Leyndell, features Duel Mode. Two Tarnished face off in a duel to the death, without the ability to respawn.

The Caelid Colosseum features all aforementioned modes with the addition of being able to summon Spirit Ashes to fight by players’ sides.

Elden Ring (and this free update) is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X.

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The Devil in Me is the fourth installment in Supermassive Games’ The Dark Pictures Anthology series, and as with previous games, you’ll likely want to focus on trying to keep everyone alive through to the end of the story. This will get you the Happy Ending trophy/achievement. But given all the decisions and story beats that unfold, that can be quite a challenge. So we’ve pulled together all you need to know to make it out of The Devil in Me with all characters alive and healthy.

SPOILER WARNING!

Please do not read on unless you have finished The Devil in Me at least once or are not bothered about the plot or key events being spoiled. In order to provide the information required to keep everyone alive, we’ll need to go into certain details that spoil the story. You have been warned.

Note: This is just one set of solutions to keep everyone alive. There are other combinations that work that will also keep them alive.

Also, click here for our guide on how to kill everyone in The Devil in Me

The Devil in Me | Keep everyone alive with QTEs

If you’ve played a Dark Pictures game before, you’ll know that Quick Time Events (or QTEs) play a key role in keeping people alive. There are four standard ones to know about, as well as some new ones to look out for. The standard ones are:

• Standard button press – press the required face button input on the controller within the time limit
• Button Mash – repeatedly press the same button over and over within the time limit
• Aimed Hit – You will need to aim with the right stick of the controller, and then hit with the right trigger button
• Heartbeat – Press the correct face button in time with the heartbeat.

Note: There are a lot of moments in the game where the Heartbeat QTE is used. So it is worth familiarising yourself with that, to not come unstuck later in the game.

The new QTEs are:

• Hide – For these you will need to move quickly to a designated spot (mostly likely run there – which is LB on a controller) and then press the designated hide button (LT on a controller). You then keep it pressed until the threat has passed. Whilst hiding you cannot be discovered.
• Balance – Some situations require you to cross a narrow bridge, and your characters will need help balancing. You need to offset their balance – using the Right stick on a controller – to help them make it across. Failure to do so will see them fall, and in some situations, to their deaths.

All of these are introduced separately in the Prologue and early missions of the game and can be practiced there with minimal impact on the story. If you complete all the QTEs in the game, the chance of anyone dying in your group dramatically reduces. So it is worth knowing and practicing them. Alternatively, if you are finding them too difficult, you can lower the difficulty level at the start of the games or toggle some QTE options in the Accessibility options in the Settings menu to make things easier.

Key Decisions to keep everyone alive

Take the Inhaler and use it

Your first step to keep everyone alive in The Devil in Me takes place in the Blackout chapter. After Erin has to explore the hotel in the dark with her microphone, she will end up locked in a room on her own. After panicking, she will find herself face to face with a figure who offers her an inhaler. Choose to take the Inhaler rather than attacking. Attacking the figure will not end well for Erin.

Once Erin has the Inhaler as an inventory item, be sure to take it at moments when she feels breathless or finds it difficult to breathe. This will keep her alive.

In the Silver Ash Insitute, hide in the cupboard

After Erin has finished exploring the Silver Ash Institute, Erin will hear Jamie’s voice from a mannequin. She will tell her she is in danger and needs to hide in a cupboard. You need to listen to her and hide in the cupboard. If you choose the Run option instead, Erin will die.

In the Incinerator, choose the grate

Once Charlie is trapped in the Incinerator, he will have two options: to Force the Door or Lift the Grate. You need to choose the grate. Initially, he will struggle, and then you get a second option. Choose the grate a second time, and eventually, he will pull it free and get inside. He looks done for, but this option actually saves his life.

Choose to kill Kate

When having to choose between Kate and Erin when they are trapped in the room that is losing oxygen, choose to kill Kate – and thus save Erin. Whilst Kate is struggling for air, she will notice the window has a leak of air, and Mark will break the glass and save Kate also. If you choose to kill Erin, she will die.

Make a note of who has the screwdriver

When you’re in the Director’s Suite, and you come up with your plan to capture Du’Met, Kate can choose to keep the Screwdriver or give it to Jamie. It doesn’t matter who you give it to, as there is a solution whichever you decide. But if you want to improve the relationship between Kate and Jamie, give the screwdriver to Jamie.

Make sure whoever has the screwdriver gets crushed

After the plan to trap Du’Met fails, Kate and Jamie will find themselves in a room with a moving glass wall. It will begin moving to Jamie. Assuming you gave Jamie the screwdriver, then when given the conversation choice, choose “Defiant” and Jamie will announce she’s not playing the game, and won’t press the button.

You then get the Aimed Hit QTE event to press the button. Aim away from the button, or simply wait for the timer to run out. Jamie won’t press the button, and the wall will keep moving to crush her. That screwdriver that Kate gave her though will spare her life.

Alternatively, if Kate has the screwdriver, then make sure Jamie does press the button and the reverse will happen and the screwdriver will save Kate’s life.

On the roof, save Jamie

After Kate has performed a lot of QTEs to escape the clutches of Du’Met, you’ll find he somehow gets ahold of Jamie on the roof instead. Kate can choose to flee or assist Jamie. You need to help her or Jamie dies at hands of Du’Met.

Run when you’re in barn

When you enter the barn with Erin, Jamie, and Kate (the one with the axe outside), you’ll have a couple of decisions to make. You can choose to Barricade the door, but it won’t hold for long. Erin will call out to you to Run, and you are given the option to Run or Climb. You need to Run with Erin or she will end up dying on her own. So make sure you pick Run and all three will make it out alive.

At the Lighthouse, side with Charlie

As Erin explores the Silver Ash Institute, she uncovers a cassette player behind some moveable blinds. Playing it will reveal a taped message that implies Charlie is complicit in murdering the group.

Later in the story at the Lighthouse, when Erin confronts Charlie about it, as Mark, be sure to side with Charlie and give him the benefit of the doubt, otherwise bad things will happen.

Survive the boat fight

The climax of the story, and your quest to keep everyone alive in The Devil in Me, is a fight on the boat. The simplest way to save everyone here is to be ready for QTEs and succeed in them all. Erin and Charlie need to survive a button press QTE and they will automatically survive.

Jamie can choose to simply jump off the boat and she will survive too. She can also choose to stop and fight but it doesn’t change anything. Kate can also choose to attack Du’Met or simply jump. Jumping still means Mark can survive but damages their relationship if you’re bothered by such things.

Mark will then need to succeed in QTEs to injure and suppress Du’Met before finally killing him. Then, finally for Mark to escape, you need to perform a final button press QTE to jump off the boat before it hits the rocks and explodes.

You have now completed The Devil in Me and managed to keep everyone alive, and in doing so bagged the Happy Ending trophy/achievement.

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The Devil in Me by Supermassive Games prides itself on branching narratives that impact who lives and who dies, and frankly, there’s something eerily satisfying about trying to kill everyone. Plus doing so will also get you the Unhappy Ending trophy/achievement. But given all the decisions and story beats that unfold, that can be quite challenging. So we’ve pulled together everything you need to know to kill everyone in The Devil in Me.

SPOILER WARNING!

Please do not read on unless you have finished The Devil in Me at least once or are not bothered about the plot or key events being spoiled. In order to provide the information required to kill everyone, we’ll need to go into certain details that spoil the story. You have been warned.

Note: This is just one set of solutions to kill everyone. There are other combinations that work, but this one has perhaps the most interesting and unique ending, so is definitely worth pursuing.

Also, click here for our guide on how to keep everyone alive in The Devil in Me

The Devil in Me | Key decisions to kill everyone

Don’t take the Inhaler

After Erin has to explore the hotel in the dark with her microphone, she will end up locked in a room on her own. After panicking, she will find herself face to face with a figure who offers her an inhaler. Choose to attack the stranger instead. Successfully complete the two QTE events, and you will end up stabbing the attacker with the sharp end of your microphone.

However, the stranger will recover, and aggressively stab Erin to death with her own microphone in instant revenge.

In the Incinerator, choose the door

Once Charlie is trapped in the Incinerator, he will have two options: to Force the Door or Lift the Grate. Choose to force the door.  When you get another chance, choose the door a second time. You will find that he can’t get the door open, and as the flames get more and more intense, he will end up burning to death.

Don’t press the reverse button

After the plan to trap Du’Met fails, Kate and Jamie will find themselves in a room with a moving glass wall. It will begin moving to Jamie. Whatever your conversation choices, the critical bit is the QTE where you can press the button. Do not press the button – either wait for the timer to expire or aim away from it.

Depending on whether Jamie has the screwdriver or not will affect whether she survives being crushed. But the most important thing here is we don’t want to kill Kate – yet.

On the roof, don’t save Jamie

If Jamie survived the crushing wall, do not worry, we can kill her later anyway. You’ll need to wait until Kate is being chased across the roof by Du’Met for your opportunity.

After Kate has performed a lot of QTEs to escape the clutches of Du’Met, you’ll find he somehow gets a hold of Jamie on the roof instead. Kate should choose to flee here and save herself. Jamie will then lose the struggle with Du’Met and suffer a nasty impaled death.

“Help Mark”

With just two characters left, we begin to unfurl the unique ending. After Mark has succeeded in turning on the lighthouse, he will see Kate approach the house. Du’Met however appears behind him, before we then proceed to control Kate.

Head into the Lighthouse, and up the stairs. Interact with the door to hear a commotion behind it. Open the door, and then when given the choice, be sure to choose “Help Mark”. It is revealed that this is Du’Met in Mark’s jacket, and he surprises and drugs Kate.

Agree to Du’Met’s plan

When Mark comes around he is in a small chamber, where he can see Kate on a bed, being tortured by Du’Met. A video is then played to him from Joseph Morello – the man who posed as Du’Met and ferried them to the island. He says Mark needs to do the same for Du’Met’s next group of victims if he wants to save Kate and himself from Du’Met’s clutches.

You need to agree to this and make the call to the new visitors. Do not raise the alarm, and go along with the plan all the way. You’ll experience a few cutscenes showing Mark fulfilling his role, reluctantly. Then Kate and Mark escape on the ferry, and the credits roll…

The Curator will do his usual summary and he’ll even mention the two are safe but don’t worry, there’s a key post-credit scene coming up. It will end in both Mark and Kate’s death, and you will have successfully killed everyone.

Congratulations, your mission to kill everyone in The Devil in Me is a success, and this will nab you the Unhappy Ending trophy/achievement.

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As someone who’s played and reviewed every game in The Dark Pictures Anthology, I’d like to think I know what to expect. You begin to spot the patterns and get a feel for how things will go. Dare I say it, there’s a danger that the games don’t have the impact they used to because you’ve seen all the tricks before. How delightful then, that The Devil in Me, picks up all my egotistical comfort, and throws it out the window. I’m sitting here curious, on edge, and scared. And I bloody love it.

The setting for this entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology is the Murder Hotel. It’s a tourist attraction said to mimic the original Murder Castle of H. H. Holmes – an American serial killer. A group of five filmmakers seize on the opportunity after being invited to the place. They plan on filming a successful documentary to relaunch their careers. As you can probably tell, things don’t go according to plan, and before long the group finds themselves trapped in the Hotel, fighting for their lives.

Shocked and scared

The preview build I played was just over an hour in length, towards the beginning of the game, before the ante has truly been raised. That being said, during this time, I feel like I’d experienced a lot of “game” with plenty to see and experience. The Devil in Me is the longest Dark Pictures title to date, with a playthrough clocking in at 7 to 8 hours. My impression from what I played is that this isn’t due to filler. In fact, I’d controlled four of the five characters in that time, and been shocked and scared in a variety of ways too.

You see, the setting of the Murder Hotel really does amplify your horror experience. As a player, you know you are being watched, controlled, and manipulated even before the characters fully realise it too. Their lives are potentially in the balance at any moment and at the whim of an unseen and unknown presence. You’re being tested, required to make difficult decisions like you’re starring in your own version of a Saw film. The narrow hallways of the Hotel hark back to the similarly tight corridors you face in Man of Medan, and the decisions gave me a very Until Dawn vibe in their poignancy. And I know such decisions will only likely get tougher when the full game lands.

It’s intense

There was a lot of creepy, unnerving content too. Look away now if you’re not a fan of animatronic robots, giving off a pseudo-human vibe, feeling like they’re staring into your soul, plotting, knowing. One scene, in particular, felt like you’d walked straight into a scene from The Shining. In a later scene, I had to wander around the hallways with a microphone picking up random and unnerving sounds like crying and screaming before the lights went out and I had to rely on the faint light from the microphone itself and pick up weird sounds whilst trudging around blind corners. Meanwhile, the Hotel corridors themselves seem to move when I’m not looking, meaning I can’t retrace my steps, or get the comfort of light or a familiar room. Then there are some jump scares, and blood later on too. It’s intense. And it sets things up beautifully.

Away from the scares, the new movement actions implemented in the Devil in Me were on display too. Characters are pushing and pulling objects, crouching under obstacles, jumping over gaps, and vaulting through windows. Nothing ground-breaking, but it’s an interesting juxtaposition to the slow creep during the tense sections, and allows you to explore areas in more interesting ways than the series has had before. There are also more things to see and collect, Bearings are back highlighting key decisions that affect the overall story, and the pre-emptive Pictures that show you glimpses of a potential future are still as thought-provoking as ever.

Needless to say, the preview build for The Devil in Me has me excited. In a “blimey, let me catch my breath” type way. It has lots of ideas, and they’re all on display from this early part of the story, and they seem to fit well into the overall horror narrative that The Dark Pictures is known for. The proof as always will be in how the story itself holds up, but also whether these new mechanics and features still feel interesting and integrated by the end of the game. The good news is, there isn’t long to wait to see the Murder Hotel in all its glory.

The Devil in Me is out on November 18th for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, PS4, and PS5.

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The PS5 and Xbox Series S|X version of Dragon Ball Z Kakarot has now got a confirmed release date for January 2023; specifically, January 13th, 2023. The pre-orders for physical copies are also now open if you fancy do that.

Along with a new trailer, Bandai Namco says that the new version will allow “faster loading times and fluid gameplay up to 60fps, with added details for an even greater immersion into the world of Dragon Ball”. Check out the new trailer:

In our review of the PlayStation 4 version, Lyle Carr said: “After finishing over 30 hours of story missions, Kakarot still has some significant post game content for the most dedicated warriors. This includes some particularly daunting extra “villainous” enemies, which I can’t imagine taking on myself! Almost all of the issues I had with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot are related to the slow pace of the game. From some lengthy loading screens to the occasional food fetch quest, there are some sections of Kakarot that simply feel sluggish..

Small complaints aside, it’s the huge single player Dragon Ball game I’ve always wanted. Experiencing the story I’ve loved for years in a charming RPG, full of references and the signature sights and sounds of the anime has been a delight. The pacing may be a little slow, but there’s never been a game that’s made me feel more immersed in Goku’s world”, and awarded it an 8.5/10 score.

Additionally Bandai Namco confirmed season 2 is coming on the same date:

DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT and the Season Pass 2 will release on 13th January 2023 on PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series X|S, moreover the upgrade to new gen will be free for all owners of DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT playing on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

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Man of Medan and Little Hope were the two games that started things off for The Dark Pictures Anthology, and both have been updated and brought to PS5 and Xbox Series S|X.

As well as coming to the new consoles, the free update adds features for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, as follows:

• New difficulty settings & QTE warnings,
• Improved UI & interactions,
• Updated bearing art & event triggers,
• Increased walking speeds,
• More accessibility options, including subtitle sizing,
• Additional Bonus for Man of Medan: discover a previously unseen chapter called “Flooded”, introducing new gameplay and new deaths to the climatic ending of the game.

All these improvements will also be available for new-gen players as Man of Medan and Little Hope are now added to the digital stores of PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series X|S. With this update and new-gen release, it is the perfect time to revisit or discover the first two Dark Pictures Anthology games prior to the release of The Devil in Me, the Season One finale of The Dark Pictures Anthology, set to launch on 18th November 2022.

Way back in August 2019, Chris Hyde enjoyed Man of Medan, saying: “The scares don’t last on future playthroughs, and they were never going to, but your horror experience certainly does. Searching out different scenes and secrets from the many decisions you can take is half the fun, and realising the different experiences you can have across the different modes makes Man of Medan feel like something almost brand-new. And as the first in a series of games offering a new direction, it sets its stall out perfectly, whetting our appetite for what is yet to come”.

Likewise, Little Hope went down equally well, with Mr Hyde saying: “Little Hope works as a horror experience because it keeps you on your toes throughout. It’s curious story is interwoven with an eerie setting that’s masterfully navigated through solid camera selection. The dialogue feels believable as do the characters and there’s a good mix of jump scares and uneasy foreboding to give it the horror clout. The decisions you make really make an impact demonstrating just how much thought has gone into the different outcomes. It’s an excellent adventure and one that you really will want to play again and again”.

If you do play the latter, and want to keep everyone alive, we’ve a guide that’ll help you do just that.

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The Elden Ring soundtrack is something that’s been long requested by fans, and Bandai Namco has now finally released it, along with the Tales of Arise OST, too. Bandai Namco says that “we strive to delight our fans with more than just games, so we decided to bring videogame music to as many listeners as possible, with the release of two digital albums of game background music”.

The first album is music from Elden Ring, which has sold over 16.6 million copies worldwide. Listen to 67 tracks from the composers at FromSoftware, scoring everything from thrilling battles against enormous bosses, to the wide variety of environments and situations that make up this epic adventure.

You can grab the Elden Ring soundtrack from a variety of places via this link. It includes Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes Store, Amazon music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Napster, Tidal, and more. Failing that, just use the player below to get started.

The second album released today is music from Tales of Arise, the latest instalment in the Tales of game series, which has sold over 25 million copies since the series began. Mastered under the direction of Tales of series Composer Motoi Sakuraba, this soundtrack will immerse listeners in the Tales of Arise world. Tracks range from evocative background music to epic battle themes, with a variety of styles and sounds including popular, strings, and full orchestration.

Once again, you can grab the soundtrack using whichever service you prefer, at this link. And also once again, Spotify playlist is dropped below for your convenience.

Elden Ring and Tales of Arise are available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X.

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Ahead of its August 26th release date, Pac-Man World Re-Pac has received two new trailers, showing off the old v new visuals, and the intro.

First up, then, the “graphic upgrade trailer” is only a minute long but shows off the original 20 year game (it was a 1999 title for PlayStation), which is obviously a fairly massive upgrade. It looks like a modern platform game now, which has me excited to play it, because I either can’t remember it, or missed it at the time. The bosses (like Windbag) look so much cleaner, and you can see detail everywhere: this really looks like a proper remake.

Next up is the longer “opening movie” trailer, which is exactly as it sounds. The story is pretty simple, and Pac-Man has to “journey into six mysterious worlds to rescue his family by chasing Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde”. Bandai Namco says “our hero is now chasing the Ghosts to rescue PAC-MOM, PAC-BOY, PAC-SIS, Professor PAC, PAC-BUDDY and Pooka from their clutches, only to discover a new nemesis in the dreaded TOC-MAN”.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac will also have new features including an easy mode, among others “that will help players enjoy the game at their own pace such as additional “Easy Blocks” and extended hanging time in mid-air”.

PAC-MAN will be able to use a wide array of moves to make his way through the various environments the game has to offer. But while the Bomb Attack, Bomb Dot and Metal PAC-MAN are making a comeback, PAC-MAN now has the possibility to hang in midair, extend the timing of his jump, and eat a Power Pellet to turn into MEGA PAC-MAN allowing him to attack the Ghosts.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac will be available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC on 26th August 2022.

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One of the best games ever made from the Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball FighterZ, is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series S|X, and it’s even getting rollback netcode.

Announced during Evo 2022, Bandai Namco says “the new-gen editions will harness the power of these platforms to deliver even more breathtaking visuals with incredible responsiveness to player inputs. In addition, next-gen and PC players will soon experience smoother online play thanks to the integration of rollback netcode in a future update. More information on the game’s new-gen versions and rollback netcode will be released at a later date”.

Released back in 2018, I loved the game giving it a 9/10 saying “An exquisite feeling fighter that is both approachable and deep. Time will tell if it has staying power, but it’s the best use of the Dragon Ball Z name in quite some time”. It remains one of the most accessible fighters to date when it comes to just sitting down and smashing out combos.

FighterZ is hugely successful in making almost anyone feel like a fighting game expert. It’s hard to find too much to fault with Arc’s DBZ game, and most of the concerns I have are regarding the fact it’s either too deep, or too simple. You might find you get exactly what you want from it, but I worry there’s not enough for the mid-level player here. Only time will tell, but otherwise this is yet another stellar Arc fighter, and one of the best uses of the DBZ license in some time. Dragon Ball FighterZ is fantastic, and it might finally be the accessible Arc game that shows people there is more to fighting games than Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat. An essential purchase for fans of Dragon Ball Z, and one that fighting game fans will be making look incredible for a while to come. Hopefully this is the Arc fighting game for everyone.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series S|X at a later date.

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Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is getting a new update today with two new paid downloadable content packs as well as a free update including new costumes, quests, customisation, and more.

The two packs are called the Legend Patrol Pack and the Conton City Vite Pack and are available right now, along with a free update that includes Yamcha’s White Gi costume, the new CC Mascot, Partner Customisation, new Raid Quests and more.

The Conton City Vote Pack brings two new extra missions as well as three new characters – Goku (Ultra Instinct -Sign-), Dyspo, and Vegeta (GT) – that join the ever-expanding roster of Xenoverse 2.

The Legend Patrol Pack was originally only available on Nintendo Switch but is now on all other platforms (PS4, Xbox One, Stadia, PC).

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 was released way back in 2016, and got an excellent 8/10 score from Chris White. He said in his review: “If you loved the first game, you’re going to love this. There’re loads of chances for fighting though the PQs both online and offline, along with Academy training and other battle scenarios. Customisation is varied and you get to upgrade your hero to have some fantastic abilities as the game progresses, but if you’re not a fan of the series, it may be difficult to follow all of the game’s story threads. Don’t let that put you off though; Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is rich in combat, customisation and quirky Japanese humour”.

We also covered the Switch version in 2017, which also scored an 8/10, with Mikhail Madnani saying: “If you own a Switch and even have the slightest interest in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, the purchase is worth it as long as you manage getting the original game story missions and the character unlock free. Without those, the asking price might be hard to swallow for many”.

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Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival, the latest in the Taiko no Tatsujin series (the fun looking drumming games) has been given a release date of October 14th, and there are two editions you can pre-order already.

The standard edition is, obviously, just the game, but the Taiko Drum Set edition comes with the game and the drum-set. A Digital Deluxe edition will be available later that will contain the Standard edition with a 90-days access to the Taiko Music Pass.

Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival will contain 76 songs, but there’s also a story mode and online battle, as well as party mode. You can earn “Don Coins” by playing which lets you unlock costumes and nameplates to personalise appearance.

If you have save data from Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun you will get three bonus songs and some customisation items. Bandai Namco has also announced that Taiko no Tatsujin: The Anime is now available on YouTube, which is a series that “follows Kotaro and his friends in their quest to become Taiko masters, with the help of DON-Chan and other characters from the Taiko no Tatsujin franchise”.

The Taiko no Tatsujin franchise, which started in 2001, has seen countless titles and songs in the over 20 years long history of the rhythm game franchise. Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival will be the first title to offer the Taiko Music Pass along with a 7-days free access. By subscribing to the Taiko Music Pass players will have access to a catalog of more than 500 songs with monthly updates adding new songs. More details are available on the official website.

Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival is currently only announced for Nintendo Switch.

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In today’s edition of “What’s upsetting the internet?”, we talk about how the Elden Ring update 1.04 nerfs Swarm of Flies. This popular incantation is the perfect edition to any bleed builds you might be playing, which happens to be a great way to beat some of the toughest bosses in all of Elden Ring.

As you might expect, the Fromsoft community is split on this particular change, with some cursing the devs for ruining their play style and others praising the removal of such cheese. I must admit that if I was midway through a playthrough I’d be a little peeved if one of my best incantations got hit with the nerf hammer (even if it was OP before the update hit) but it looks like the balance changes won’t be stopping any time soon.

Outside of this particular change, a whole host of weapons, incantations and sorceries have been buffed and nerfed in this Elden Ring update, which you can see here, The buffs far outweigh the nerfs, so there’s a good chance that something you’re currently using will suddenly be better now. Strength builds especially seem to be feeling the love right now, so if big weapons are your forte then go forth and swing.

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A Twitter user has discovered hidden files for Elden Ring that reveal 128 icons, all showing different enemies and non-playable characters (NPCs), which suggests a large piece of content was either not finished, or cut from the final product.

User “JesterPatches”, whose profile says they “mostly do things with FromSoftware games, mainly the souls series” has tweeted:

.

JesterPatches said: “I came across a few icons making me believe that a bestiary was planned at some point. There are 128 icons showing different NPCs. Each NPC shown has 2 icons, one greyed out and another one filled in, so it could be not found and found.”

Just after this discovery was made, an additional piece of content was revealed tweeted:

. This new item is called “St. Trina’s Crystal Ball” and had a description that says it “copies dream mist from any sleeping being”.

This item was also part of a December 2021 Elden Ring leak on Reddit, where the same description was revealed: “Dream mist was once used as an ingredient in rare and potent physicks. May the quietude of slumber come to all and sundry, even to those whose red eyes burn with the flames of frenzy.”

This is relevant because the “Flask of Wondrous Physick” is an item in the final version of the game that allows you to mix and match collected items to make an extra flask that can buff or debuff your avatar. Likewise, the “Sword of St. Trina” item made it to the game and has a skill that lets you put enemies to sleep.

It’s unknown as of yet whether the files are showing off a potential bestiary that would have been included in the game, or whether these are all related to a further rumoured NPC quest related to dreams, which might be added at a later date.

Fan theories are such that the icons are related to this missing quest, and that by applying sleep to enemies you could collect their “dream mist” using the crystal ball. This does make sense, as from the 128 icons discovered, there are no bosses present. And since you can’t put bosses to sleep, it seems a solid theory. Of course, it could just be a bestiary, but that sort of thing would seriously go against the design decisions that FromSoftware otherwise make.

Elden Ring is out now for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, and PC.

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Elden Ring introduces a lot of new elements and mechanics to the established FromSoftware formula. One of the most interesting is the ability to alter the appearance of certain armour using the Tailoring Tools. Read on for our handy guide to the Tailoring Tools Location.

How do the Tailoring Tools work?

Now before you get too excited, there are some caveats. First of all, it costs runes to do it and you must be at a Site of Grace. Second, it’s not all the armour in the game, only certain pieces. And third, it changes the appearance like a reskin. You won’t be altering specific colours, etc, like Monster Hunter or Destiny.

As a side note, the Confessor’s starting armour and hood can be changed, but not all starting armour can be.

Where are the Tailoring Tools?

Given that it’s such a cool and useful item, you’d expect it to be hard to find. But actually, the Tailoring Tools are in one of the easiest early dungeons. Head towards the coast on the west side of the starting area. You’re looking for Coastal Cave. It’s a short dungeon with a few easy Demi-human enemies, located down on the beach.

Fight your head at through and you’ll find a golden boss door. You can summon an NPC companion called Old Knight Istvan for the fight, which we’d recommend if only because there are two bosses to fight at once.

The Demi-human Chief is actually two enemies, and they are fast attackers that hit hard, but can’t take much damage. If you use the summon, the fight is pretty easy. The Knight will take out one boss on his own.

Once they’re dead they’ll drop two items. This first is the Tailoring Tools set, which you can now use at any Site of Grace. The second is Boc’s Sewing Needle, an NPC quest item you’ll need to hold onto until later.

Anything else I should know?

That’s all there is to finding the Tailoring Tools Location. Now continue following the cave tunnel after the boss fight and you’ll reach a small island, known as the Church of Dragon Communion, where you can exchange Dragon Hearts for powerful incantations.

Did you find this guide useful? You can also read our guide to changing your character’s appearance in-game here.

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There are many Talismans in Elden Ring, which act like rings in previous FromSoftware Souls games. They confer specific buffs while wearing them, which allow you to increase the efficacy of certain builds. You’ll only be able to equip one at first, but after finding Talisman Pouches you can increase that number. Read on for the Lance Talisman Location.

What does the Lance Talisman do?

Simply put, it increases your damage when attacking from horseback. It’s incredibly handy for certain Overworld boss fights, such as Flying Dragon Agheel and the Tree Sentinel. It’s most useful for melee-based characters, and will make getting through the early game a little easier.

Where is the Lance Talisman Location?

If you take a look at the map of West Limgrave, you’ll see a huge wall that stretches along the northern edge. Head to top right of the area, and explore until you see a huge golem lying inert in the grass. It will get up when you get close, and is very similar to the Guardian Golem boss.

You don’t have to kill this enemy, but it will pursue you while you’re in the area and attract the attention of nearby imps. It’s not a hard fight as you can just slash at its legs and avoid its slow attacks.

You’ll see a corpse nearby on a small pile of rocks. That is where you’ll find the Lance Talisman. It’s a great item to have early, and an easy one to miss. Most Talismans are rewarded for boss kills and treasure chests, not often just lying there.

Anything else I should know?

Explore this area fully. There aren’t many Sites of Grace at this point on the map, but there are a few notable locations along the northern road, such as a mini Edrtree that can yield items like Goldenseeds.

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So you’ve beaten Godric the Grafted and the way forward is open to you, but where do you go next in Elden Ring? Well, the next Legacy Dungeon in order of difficulty is the Raya Lucaria Academy, a magical college in the Liurnia of the Lakes area northwest of Stormveil Castle. Only problem is, the Academy is sealed to all non-students or sorcerers. So how do you get in? To do that, you’ll need an Academy Glintstone Key.

Elden Ring | Where is the Academy Glintstone Key?

So this is the tricky bit. While there may well be more, the only one we found  outside the Academy is in the lake, behind a dragon. The Glintstone Dragon Smarag is having a snooze in front of it, and you’ll need to wake him up to get it.

You don’t have to kill him for this. You could coax him out and then get behind him when he moves, but if you’re not super fast he’ll nail you. If you do intend to fight him, he’s very similar to Flying Dragon Agheel with a few notable differences.

Mainly, he uses magic instead of fire, so you’ll need to defend against that. But he also spits a targeted magic bolt at you which can one-shot you if it hits. As with Agheel, the trick is to bait his magic breath and then get alongside him to punish him for it.

Once he’s either dead or out the way, snag the key from the dead Academy sorcerer behind him. You can now access the Academy’s main gate.

Anything else I should know?

As with Agheel, Smarag can’t lose his tail, so don’t bother trying to cut it off. Also, he’s highly resistant to magic. All around him are Cerulean Scarabs, floating in the air. They will drop on you and deal damage if you get directly under them, so try to avoid that.

Did you find this guide useful? If you did, why not check out some of our other Elden Ring guides?

Elden Ring | How to use Great Runes

Elden Ring | Margit the Fell Omen Boss Guide

Elden Ring | Where to get Smithing Stones

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One thing Elden Ring isn’t great at is telling you where to go next. While we’re all for finding our own way in the dark, sometimes a little guidance is necessary. One prime example of this is the critical path. While the Guidance of Grace will tell you the direction in which to move, what to actually do when you get there is less clear. Or, worse, what to do when the Guidance simply leads you towards the next boss fight.

Although the Lands Between are pretty open to your exploration, you need to move along the critical path to advance the story of Elden Ring. And in the early game that means not only slaying Godric the Grafted, but knowing what to do with the Great Rune he drops too.

Elden Ring Great Rune | What is it?

When you kill the boss of a Legacy Dungeon, like Godric, they will drop two key items. The first is a Remembrance, which acts like a Boss Soul in previous From games. You can take it to a specific NPC who will turn it into a weapon or a spell. They will also drop a Great Rune – and in order to unlock that NPC we mentioned, you’ll need to activate the one that Godric drops. Sounds confusing, right? Well it is, a bit, especially as the game makes you piece this together on your own.

Where do I take it?

In order to activate Godric’s Great Rune, you will need to take it to a special tower near Stormveil Castle. While the instinct is to push forward after his defeat, you have to actually backtrack. You’ll need to make your way back through the castle to the front gate, heavily fortified as it is. You’re looking for access to the bridge as shown in the map image below.

Once you enter onto this bridge, you’re in for either a tough fight or a desperate run. There are three huge Guardian Golems here, and they will awaken to your presence. You could fight them one at time, but they’re incredibly tough. It’s easier to run by them, but be aware of a few things.

One, they have incredible range and do tremendous damage, and two, the final one has a greatbow that will annihilate you if you’re under-levelled. That said, the wind-up is long and you can dodge them if you’re fast.

Get past them and you’ll see a small teleporter at the end of the bridge. If you’re quick or brave enough, there’s a cool helm to be found if you explore on the left side a little, but waste time and you’ll get flattened. Head through the teleporter to reach Godric’s tower, rest at the Site of Grace, and take the lift to the top. There’s a fallen Two Fingers statue there, and you need to interact with it to activate the Great Rune.

Elden Ring Great Rune | How do I use it?

So, now you have it, what does it do? Well, in Godric’s case it bestows a buff upon you that’s equivalent to 5 whole levels in all 8 attributes, which is insane. The catch? It’s finite, and will wear off when you die. You activate it at a Site of Grace using a rare item called a Rune Arc. It provides a handy buff for boss fights and tough areas.

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Want to slay demons and monsters and Demigods in style? One of the best ways to do it in Elden Ring is with the Twinblade, the iconic weapon shown in pretty much all of the promotional material. It’s a pretty damn good weapon, too, as we’ll detail below – as well as where to find it.

What is the Elden Ring Twinblade?

As the name suggests the Twinblade is a double-ended blade weapon. It can be wielded one or two-handed, though it feels faster and more useful with both hands on the haft. It requires 10 Strength and 18 Dexterity to use, and scales equally with either stat. While it doesn’t have a massive damage output to begin with, once you’ve upgraded it a few times it’s speed and versatility make it a very good choice.

Where is the Elden Ring Twinblade?

While it’s not at the end of a lengthy dungeon, it’s still not a straightforward find. You’ll need to go to the Dragon-Burnt Ruins in the south part of Lake Agheel near where the dragon patrols. After killing the enemies (or not, if you like), you’ll want to head into middle of the ruins and look for a low wall with a view of two large pillars in the distance.

CHECK IT OUT: Elden Ring | 10 Beginner’s Tips

Summon Torrent as you’ll need his double-jump to get you over the wall. Now look for the entrance to a small cellar. The Twinblade is in a chest in there. Simple.

Anything else I should know?

Avoid the dragon if you’re in the early hours of the game. Agheel is a tough enemy and will one-shot new starters easily. If you do want to take him on, you can check out our guide to the Flying Dragon Agheel boss fight. Otherwise, just enjoy your shiny new weapon.

If you found this guide useful why not check out some of our other Elden Ring hints and tips?

Elden Ring | Lance Talisman Location

Elden Ring | How to find Patches

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Elden Ring builds and expands upon a lot of elements of FromSoftware’s previous titles, not least the bosses. There are so many optional boss fights in the Lands Between, and they’re all worth taking on. Of course, some are much harder than others, while some seem designed purely to intimidate. Take, for example, Flying Dragon Agheel.

This imposing beast first appears as you gallop across Lake Agheel, slamming into the ground like a comet to obliterate its own worshippers. Immediately it looks terrifying, and most will either run from it or die in the first attempt to defeat it. But it’s actually not that tough if you know how to beat it, and luckily we do.

Where is Flying Dragon Agheel?

Agheel is the apex predator of his domain, and can be located on Lake Agheel. Once he appears the first time, he will stay in that spot until defeated, occasionally patrolling the lake but never moving far.

He’s very easy to reach, and even if you’re defeated, the gallop back from the nearby Site of Grace is quick and unimpeded by other enemies. Well, there are some giant crabs, but you can ride right by them.

Can I summon help for Flying Dragon Agheel?

Yes, you can, but only from your collection of Spirit Ashes. We would advise not doing this though. Nothing you can summon in the early game is worth it, and you really want his focus on you the entire time.

What to watch out for

If you mount Torrent and give Agheel a wide birth, you can get in and do a few hits of damage to kick off the fight. Do not try to take him on in a straight melee, as he will one-shot you with most attacks. If you’re a ranged build or a magic user, you could try to strafe around him in circles. The problem with this is his health pool is massive, and you’ll need a lot of Cerulean Flasks or ammunition to succeed this way.

Instead, position yourself in front of him and allow him to make the first move. He has several attacks which he mixes up so it’s hard to predict which will follo which – but they all have long wind-ups. His primary attacks are long breaths of fire that he will sweep the lake with, an aerial ground slam that will one-shot you, an aerial breath of fire with a huge area of effect, and a roaring charge culminating in a sweep of his great scaled head. If you get too close to either side, front or back, he will side-swipe you, bite you, or whip you with his tail.

How to defeat the dragon

This is a battle of atrition and as such requires patience. The primary tactic we used was to stay at a mid distance, just within reach of his flame breath. As soon as you see his mouth fill with fire, push Torrent into a gallop and charge towards him and to the left. Do not go right, as Flying Dragon Agheel almost always begins his flame breath on his left side. If you time it right, youll be able to hit either his wing or his back foot around 3 to 4 times.

You won’t do a great deal of damage so be prepared for a long fight. If Agheel roars, get some distance, as he’s going to charge you. Likewise, if he takes flight, disengage your target lock and ride like hell, coming around in a wide arc to face him. His ground slam is incredibly fast, powerful, and uncannily accurate – avoid this move at all costs. His breath of fire will burn a large area of the ground, but is relatively easy to avoid.

Now and then he will jump up onto one of the structures, or try to climb the nearby cliff in an adorable impression of a puppy getting on a sofa. Stay back for the former, but punish him with ranged attacks (if you can) during the latter. If at any time you misjudge the primary fire breath, turn tail and run. It has incredible range, and a direct hit will kill you or Torrent in seconds. Use hit and run tactics, keep your patience, and don’t get greedy. His close-range attacks are fast and will stagger you or knock you off Torrent.

Anything else I should know?

Unlike in previous From Software games, you won’t get anything for cutting off Flying Dragon Agheel’s tail. Don’t waste time trying to hit it, as he’ll just punish you. When you defeat him you’ll be awarded a few thousand Runes, and a Dragon Heart. Faith-using characters can take this to the Altar of Dragon Communion and claim one of three incredibly powerful incantations.

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While there are lots and lots of things in Elden Ring that will kill you, there are a few items that will also heal you. We’re not talking about Flasks and Sites of Grace, either, but items that will actually restore your life instantly while on the fly. One such is the Assassin’s Crimson Dagger, a special Talisman that could be invaluable for certain builds. Read on, as we divulge the Assassin’s Crimson Dagger Location in Elden Ring.

What is the Assassin’s Crimson Dagger?

The Dagger is actually a Talisman, not a weapon. It’s very useful for high Dexterity melee builds such as dual-wielders or Samurai, because of its unique effect. When you land a critical hit, it will instantly heal you for 85 HP. While this sounds like a small amount, any FromSoftware veteran will tell you that any amount of health is the difference between death and a skin-of-your-teeth victory.

It also procs on any critical hit, so if you’re high Dexterity allows you to land plenty of crits, it’s very useful indeed. If you pair it with a devastating Weapon Art like Blood Rush which costs you HP, it can help balance out the health costs.

Where is the Assassin’s Crimson Dagger Location?

You’ll need to head to the north-east corner of Limgrave and search along the foot of the broken bridge that stretches across northern Limgrave. You’re looking for the Deathtouched Catacombs, a short dungeon filled with skeletons (see the location below).

Make your way through the Catacombs, defeating any skeletons on the way. They’ll keep rising again unless you destroy them for good. You do this by hitting them once as they begin to glow and rise. It’s not a difficult dungeon, either way. Once you reach the boss door, push on in and prepare to fight the Black Knife Assassin.

CHECK IT OUT: Elden Ring | Where to buy magic spells | Guide

He begins the fight with some of his health removed, but he’s incredibly fast. He’s almost impossible to hit with projectiles or magic, so it’s best to summon a Spirit to keep his attention. The jellyfish is ideal, as it can tank his damage and will keep him occupied so you can hit him from behind. He doesn’t have much health, but hits hard and very quickly.

Once he falls, he’ll drop the Assassin’s Crimson Dagger.

Anything else I should know?

If you’ve met D and Gurranq and visited the Bestial Sanctuary, you’ll be in possession of a Beast Eye. This artefact trembles when you’re near a boss that holds a Deathroot. As yoiu enter the Catacombs, it will tremble, and you’ll recieve a Deathroot when the Assassin dies. Take it to Gurranq to recieve a reward.

Did you find this guide useful? If so, check out some other Elden Ring guides below:

Elden Ring | Lance Talisman Location

Elden Ring | Flying Dragon Agheel Boss Guide

Elden Ring | Margit the Fell Omen Boss Guide

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Being a FromSoftware Soulslike with a vast open world, tons of bosses and unique enemies, and a map as deep as it is high, Elden Ring was always going to be a tough game. That said, a lot of people have been asking if this is a good entry point for the series. The answer, is yes, with some caveats. Despite a more accessible, newcomer-friendly opening area, it’s no cakewalk even for veterans of the series. Luckily for you, we’ve played a lot of it, and we’ve got ten handy Elden Ring beginner’s tips to help newcomers to the series get started.

1. Don’t fret over your starting class

This beginner’s tip is important for newcomers to understand. The starting class in a traditional From game rarely matters in the long term. In Elden Ring it will determine your starting gear and initial stats, but you’ll change that organically over the next 30 to 50 hours.

There are 10 classes to choose from, and we’d advise trying them out to get a feel for how they play at the start. The first 5 to 6 hours are incredibly formative in Elden Ring, and will give you an idea of the type of character you’d like your Tarnished to become. There are four “pure” classes, by which we mean those built with a more singular purpose.

The Knight is melee focused, the Prophet Faith-focused; for Sorceries, you’ll want the Astrologer and Ranged characters are best off with the Bandit. But there are also six hybridised classes to choose from. Take your time experimenting, but know that everything is changeable later.

2. Don’t blindly follow the Guidance of Grace

We’re not saying ignore it completely, but rather don’t be afraid to go off the critical path and explore. The Lands Between are massive; they cover a huge area across multiple biomes. There tons of hidden areas, optional bosses, and wondrous mysteries to be found.

Rise, Tarnished, and explore.

3. Dungeon delve for items

In addition to the last two tips, be on the look out for dungeons, cave-mouths, ruins and cellars. They vary in size and visibility but will usually all at least hide a treasure worth finding or a boss worth slaying.

Some may only harbor a single chest or an NPC, but there’s is very little in Elden Ring that doesn’t have a use.

4. Grab the Crafting Kit from Kale

When first stepping out into Limgrave, you’ll spot a ruined church with a Site of Grace in it. You’ll need to skirt the wandering mounted Knight, who’s actually a tough optional boss called the Tree Sentinel, but head there ASAP.

Inside is a merchant called Kale in what looks for all the world like a Santa outfit. He sells some very useful items, chief of which is the Crafting Kit. Get it as soon as you can, as it allows you to craft all manner of items from gathered materials using recipes found in Cookbooks.

5. Always look for map pillars in a new area

There’s no “fog of war” in Elden Ring, but the map will remain greyed out until you find the corresponding fragment. These are always found on green-glowing pillars, usually but not always near enemy groups.

When you get close enough, the pillars will appear on your map as tiny monolith-shaped symbols. Fill out your map ASAP in every new area. so you know where you’re going.

6. Don’t feel forced to push on

While veterans will likely only find the critical path bosses overly challenging, Elden Ring has its fair share of walls. The first for many will be Margit the Fell Omen. If you follow the Grace’s there’s a good chance you’ll meet Margit when you’re underprepared. You can of course still attempt the fight and you may succeed (nothing in Elden Ring is insurmountable at early levels, as speed runners will soon prove), but it’s not recommended.

From have given us a massive open world to explore and you don’t need to beat Margit to see a pretty significant portion of it. Go and level up, gear up, and see the world before trying again. You’ll improve your character and your understanding of the game, and have a better time.

7. Talk to every NPC until they repeat themselves

Or the short version, exhaust all dialogue options with everyone every time. Until they begin to repeat the last sentence, you’re not done. Some NPCs will give you things, or even join you at Roundtable Hold. Some might even become cooperators at boss fights. Leave no conversational stone unturned.

8. Be patient in combat

Obvious, perhaps, but newcomers in particular may not realise that carelessness when facing even lowly grunt enemies is the fastest way to a YOU DIED screen. Combat is nuanced, a delicate balance between attack and defense. Stamina management means you can’t tank endlessly with your shield, nor dodge roll forever.

You can learn to parry or backstab, emply magic, weapon grease, or use bombs and other items to give you the edge. The most important thing in every encounter is that you survive. Fighting dirty is fine, brutally is recommended, but carelessly is a major no-no. Learn your character’s weight, the swing speed of your weapon, and take time to study your opponent. They all have tells and wind-ups that you can learn to exploit.

9. Watch your equipment load

Your Stamina is as vital as Focus or Health in Elden Ring. Without it you can’t dodge, block, attack or sprint out of danger. It’s tied to two main elements, your Endurance level and your equipment load. The former determines how much stamina you have, and the latter determines how much of it you’ll expend for each action.

Crucially though, your equip load also impacts how quickly you move. From running to dodge rolling, heavier gear means less agility. At the point your load becomes “heavy” you’ll do a slow, ponderous dodge delicately termed a “fat roll” by the community. It’s why many speed runners complete their runs naked, or with very light gear. Try to maintain a medium load at most, unless you’re building a tank and have no intention of dodging anything, which isn’t recommended for newcomers.

After beating Godric the Grafted under certain conditions, you should be able to recieve the Arsenal Talisman, which increases your maximum equipment load by a massive amount.

10. Farm if you’re struggling

FromSoftware know they’ve made a difficult game, and they’ve given us plenty of ways to mitigate the difficulty. Not least of these is grinding runes and items to sell.

Enemies respawn when you rest at Sites of Grace, so you can farm that way. Alternatively and more lucratively, you can also place your summon sign down outside boss rooms and wait to be summoned. Bosses are easier with more than one player, and you’ll recieve a portion of the runes earned.

We hope you found our Elden Ring Beginner’s Tips useful. If you did, please check out our other Elden Ring guides and read our full review.

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The first proper boss you face in Elden Ring is Margit the Fell Omen. As much of a mouthful as he is, we say he’s the first “proper” boss for a reason: you can face 5-10 sub-bosses before Margit, and find them all easy, but the Fell Omen is the first true test. Technically due to the open nature of Elden Ring, Margit the Fell Omen could be encountered later, but in terms of difficulty and placement, he’s clearly the first major obstacle in your path to victory.

Margit is also the obstacle in the way of your progression to Stormveil Castle. He’s not optional, and is the only way to advance to the Legacy Dungeon that is after him. He’s considered a “Greater “Foe” and there’s a site of Grace right near him. 

Where is Margit the Fell Omen in Elden Ring?

You’ll find Margit by advancing from Limgrave to Stormhill. You can clear out the enemies one by one, including the giant, but we’d suggest getting on Torrent and riding to safety. Follow the Grace marker and you’ll get to a castle guarded by enemies. This includes one on a trebuchet that fires explosive damage.

Defeat or avoid the enemies and run into the castle corridor to find the site of grace right before the boss encounter.If you’re low level, you can have a go. If you fail badly, come back later with some Spirit Ashes that you’ll find from other sub-bosses and locations.

Can I summon help for Margit the Fell Omen?

Simply put: yes, but we don’t recommend it. There’s a sorcery user NPC you can summon right near the fog door to the boss, and of course you can summon friends as well. However, Margit is very tough if you’re a melee-only user. The AI NPC summon is very squishy and won’t last long, either.

You can also summon spirits using any of the Ashes you’ve collected. The temptation is to use the Lone Wolf Ashes as that summons multiple wolves to attack him. Again, however, they don’t do much damage and are dispatched often before you even reach the second phase of the fight.

How to beat Margit?

If you’ve used summons, and have magic attacks then keep your distance and pepper him with as much as you can. Eventually he’ll turn his attention to you and it becomes about how well you can dodge. If you’re sword and board? Dodge as much as you can. If you see him go for his yellow hammer, this is a physical attack but has a massive range. So again, dodge like the wind. 

Margit is extremely aggressive, so we recommend few attacks: but make them count. A jumping heavy attack following by a standard swing can stagger him in conjunction with the right ashes. The one that we had the most success with is the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes. Margit didn’t seem to be able to kill it quickly and it’d do poison damage, and distract him. Use that chance to jump in from behind with a heavy hit, and a follow up. Eventually he’ll stagger and you can get in a critical attack which puts him on his back. Then, get your spacing right, and repeat.

Anything else I should know?

Your weapon arts can be used to great advantage here, but only if you’re a magic user. The melee ones are slower, and Margit attacks with such ferocity you won’t have time to pull them off without taking major damage. If you’ve met Patches at this point and can afford 5000 runes, he sells an item called Margit’s Shackle, which will momentarily lock him in place during his first phase for some free damage.

Also, don’t be put off by this early boss fight. It’s supposed to be tough and ask you to use all your skills. If you really can’t do it, go and explore the world some more. There are lots of dungeons that hide goodies that will help you, so explore, then have another go!

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Remember hunting for Titanite Shards in previous FromSoftware games? We do, and it wasn’t an awful lot of fun. Sadly, it was an essential evil, though, as you needed them to upgrade your weapons and gear. In Elden Ring the same process remains, but now with Smithing Stones, which come in various levels.

Initially you can upgrade things yourself at the anvil in the Church of Elleh, but after level 2 you’ll need to visit Smith Master Hewg in the Roundtable Hold. But where’s best to actually get the damn things? Well, they’re actually a little more abundant on Elden Ring, and can often drop randomly from enemies.

Where can I get Smithing Stones?

Primarily you can find them on the patrolling knights, and camps of footsoldiers in Limgrave. They have a chance to drop whenever you loot one, but you’ll likely only be getting shards or level 1 stones, which aren’t great.

Trolls are a better source with a much higher drop rate, but these giant creatures take a little longer to kill and are generally much rarer.

CHECK IT OUT: Elden Ring | Assassin’s Crimson Dagger Location Guide

However, if you take a close look at your map you’ll see tiny little orange cave mouths dotted about the place. They’re few and far between, but these are mining tunnels.

The Limgrave Tunnels are an excellent source of Smithing Stones in the early game, and well worth delving into. Be aware though that the standard enemies in here are highly resistant to physical attacks and hit very hard. You’ll want magic or fire attacks to get through unscathed.

Anything else I should know?

The Limgrave Tunnels are also home to the Stonedigger Troll boss. He’s not to too tough, and can be easily defeated by staying close to his legs and dodging his telegraphed attacks. If you struggle use the Glintstone items you find in the tunnels on him. He’s very susceptible to magic damage.

He drops the Roar Medallion when felled, which enhances Roar skills and is handy for powerful melee characters.

Hope this handy guide to Elden Ring Smithing Stones helped. If it did, be sure to check out some of our other guides for Elden Ring: 

Elden Ring | Tailoring Tools Location

Elden Ring | How to customise your character in-game

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Elden Ring is tough enough without having to roll around battles or boss arenas like a misshapen bowling ball. If you do find yourself “fat rolling”, chances are you’ve pushed your equipment load into “heavy”. While you can increase your load and stamina by putting points into Endurance when you level up, after, say, 15 to 18 you’re often better served putting those points into other things. An item called the Arsenal Charm can help a lot with this.

Classes that benefit most from high stamina are likely to be very melee-focused, and you’ll want to be increasing your Strength, Dexterity and Vigor instead of pouring points into Endurance. Luckily, though, there is another way to boost your Equip Load, and we’re going to tell you what it is. Here’s how you can get your hands on the Arsenal Charm.

What is the Arsenal Charm?

It’s a Talisman you can equip that raises your maximum equipment load by around 10 points, which is massive. If you’re a melee fighter who wants to wear heavy armour or a jack of all trades who needs to spread the weight of a sword, crossbow and shield, then it’s one of the best Talismans you can find. It’s also pretty easy to get hold of if you know how.

CHECK IT OUT: Elden Ring | How to find Patches | Guide

Where is the Arsenal Charm?

Unlike a lot of good gear, the Arsenal Charm isn’t hidden in a chest or held by a boss. Instead, it’s in the possession of a friendly NPC called Nepheli Loux. You’ll find her in Stormveil Castle, very close to Godric the Grafted‘s boss arena. She’ll be paying her respects to a massive knight she just killed, and will talk to you when she’s done. If you can’t find her, she’s near a minor Erdtree in the castle courtyard, before the steps up to Godric’s door and the Secluded Cell Site of Grace.

You need to exhaust her dialogue until she starts repeating things, and then head off to Godric. Her sign will now be on the ground near the door and you can summon her. She’s actually very useful in the Godric fight, too. She doesn’t do a lot of damage but she draws Godric’s aggro and keeps his attention on her, and she has a decent amount of health, too.

After you beat Godric, head back to the Roundtable Hold. You’ll find Nepheli near the PvP vendor, and if you exhaust her dialogue again, she’ll hand you the Talisman as a thank you for killing Godric.

Anything else I should know?

We were attacked in the Hold by one of the NPCs when we returned, and as yet we don’t know what triggered it, so be aware it could happen. The fight wasn’t too tough and we received a nice set of armour for winning, but go in prepared after Godric falls just in case.

Also, head to the balcony in the Roundtable Hold if you met Rogier in Stormveil. Tell him Godric is dead and he’ll give you a rapier with a decent Weapon Art on it for your trouble.

Did you find this useful? If so, check out some of our other Elden Ring guides, below:

Elden Ring | How to get the Crafting Kit

Elden Ring | Where to get Smithing Stones

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Dark Souls veterans will be familiar with Patches, a sneaky little fence who usually takes every opportunity to double-cross the player. The backstabbing sod makes an appearance in Elden Ring, too, and while he’s not to be trusted, he does sell some handy gear. Read on to find Patches, and unlock his infamous shop.

Where do I find Patches?

You’ll need to find a mini-dungeon called Murkwater Cave (shown on the map below). It’s a very short, very easy dungeon with little more than a few bandits to contend with. Work your way through it until you find a large room with crates and boxes scattered in it, and a single chest.

Opening the chest will trigger the boss fight with Patches (and give you a Cloth shirt and trousers, too). This fight is barely that at all. Patches is very weak, and only has one attack: he’ll blow poison clouds at you that do very little damage.

Hit him a few times and he’ll stop fighting and start cowering. Spare his life, then leave and return (you must trigger a loading screen to make it work), and he’ll be open for business.

What does he sell?

In keeping with his history, when you do find Patches he sells some very useful stuff. First of all, he sells Gold-pickled fowl feet, which increase the number of runes you’ll earn. This is obviously very useful for farming. In addition to a rare recipe Cookbook and various weapons, he also has a Stonesword Key, which you’ll need to find some of the rarer weapons and optional areas in the game.

Perhaps of most interest, though, is Margit’s Shackle. This can be used to hold Margit the Fell Omen in place twice during the early stage of his boss fight.

What’s the catch this time?

Patches will tell you there’s a rare treasure in the chest you previously opened and you can have it if you want it. Don’t be fooled, though. It’s actually a Teleporter Trap that will drop you in Mistwood, an area filled with giant undead bears that you won’t be ready for in the early game.

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Six hours wasn’t enough time with Elden Ring. Even at lunch, I hastily scoffed down some eggs so I could get back to Margit the Fell Omen. I’d taken down the Burial Tree Watchdog, the Beastman of Farum Azula, and even the Stonedigger Troll. Grave Warden had eaten the dust, as had the Demi-Human Chief, and Pumpkin Head. In fact, I’d taken down every optional boss I could find aside from some of the ones that are clearly meant for you to come back to. Or in other words: dragons.

But Margit is a bastard. The old Souls thing rings true here: you can summon but it won’t make him easy, there’s just more of you for him to kill. I had attempted Margit 6 times already. Each time I failed, I went off to explore more of the world, but with an hour left with Elden Ring, I had to try again, and on my own, this time.

Elden Ring: swearing at my success

I had previously been using the NPC summon and the wolf spirits to cause distraction, but not this time. Instead, I used a single spirit that shoots poison at him, which he basically ignored. But this time? This time he was going down. I found the secret, you see, and it’s that jump button. Launching in when Margit stopped, a heavy attack with my sword would stagger him, and getting a critical attack to finish the fight was pure elation. I genuinely jumped out of my seat and shouted “FUCK YEAH!”. But now I only have an hour left, and I’ve explored loads, but I want to know what’s next.

This isn’t my first time playing Elden Ring. I was lucky enough to be involved in the Closed Network Test without the time restrictions many had, but I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to explore. I wanted to understand Elden Ring, and more than ever, I think I do now. First things first, for those that are worried: Elden Ring is as hard as the other FromSoftware games. But crucially, I think it might also be the most accessible, as well. There’s a map; waypoints; mid-dungeon checkpoints… in a Souls-game.

Teaching an old dog new tricks

I couldn’t beat Margit at first. Through my own experience with the other games developed by FromSoftware, I was playing like it was a Souls game. I was sword and board, barely using my weapon skills, hardly jumping in battle, forgetting I could use stealth. What about Torrent, the horse? Why not use him to kite enemies away? Oh but also, Torrent can double jump and increase your mobility and access to the world. There isn’t a health regain system like Bloodborne, but if you time a heavy attack right after blocking, you can stun your enemy. It feels similar, timing wise, and means you have to study attack patterns so you release your block at the right time.

There are massive, typical “Souls-like” dungeons in Elden Ring, and having beaten Margit, I can now confirm that. The story feels more welcoming, too. There seems to be less lore hidden in dark corners, and more just, you know, given to you via in-game cinematics and conversations. There are also smaller sections that almost feel like Bloodborne’s chalice dungeons. There’s always a boss at the end, and often you’ll have to explore the darkness to find a mechanism to open the door. I saw some really small examples of this, with a few enemies leading to a fog door. But I also saw far bigger dungeons, all optional, but all worthy.

Exploration, upgrades, and churches

Sitting down to properly play Elden Ring, you start to see the systems all coming together. There’s the “Breath of the Wild” exploration, which allowed me to work out that, at least partially, to upgrade your health flasks you’ll need to find churches. Each of these I found had an item that let me upgrade the amount of flasks I could use, and eventually getting more started to require two of those items.

The weapon skills are badass, too. I used entirely different builds, weapons, and artes to my time with the CNT, and went for a more melee based avatar, instead of the magic class I chose back in 2021. More than anything, I can’t get over how different my two sessions with this title have been. The Tree Sentinel, a wandering optional boss, posed no threat when I was a mage. On the ground, with his horse towering above me, he was a massive threat to my sword and board character.

Elden Ring is “The One”

If there’s one single thing that bugged me in my time with Elden Ring, it’s that you have to press two buttons together to use your single hand weapon. Yeah, wow, what a shitter, right? That’s it. At one point I was concerned about how the weapon skills were awkward to use without single handing your weapon. But then I discovered a guy who sold me skills, one of which lets you use the skill you want, even if the other handed weapon has a different one.

This is the one, folks. I can’t stress that enough. I’m not going to spoil things here, but through some bad luck I actually got to see more of the map than I think was intended, and this game is huge. The enemy variety; the fact you can mix and match magic and melee, for the first time this feels like a Souls-game where everything is viable, but you always want to learn all the aspects because the enemies require it. I’d be absolutely stunned if people walked away feeling short changed, here, because six hours in, Elden Ring is magnificent, sprawling, deep, and almost certainly going to be many people’s game of the year. The hype is real, the excitement is justified: this is going to be something special, people.

Elden Ring is out on February 25th for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, and PC. We played this preview on PC.

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Bandai Namco has today revealed three games coming to Nintendo Switch which continues to build their relationship with the platform. Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE, and Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival will all be releasing in 2022. You can check out more information about the new Bandai Namco Switch games below.

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series celebrates the franchise’s 25th birthday. It’ll include Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil. The visuals will receive an upgrade, as well as running at 60fps and up to 4K resolution. The remaster also has an adjustable difficulty level and a 2-player co-op option. It will also be making its way onto PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam.

SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE is an action RPG which allows players to “navigate the Gundam universe like never before.” While leading 3-unit squadrons, players will be able to experience exciting co-op battles filled with tons of characters and mechanics. It features almost chibi-like versions of Gundams known as Super Deformed (SD). SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE will also be coming out for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

Bandai Namco Switch games: Drum like a boss

Finally, Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival lets players drum along to over 76 tracks, ranging from classical to popular hit songs. It features two game modes. DON-chan Band Mode hosts 4-player live concerts for players to jam out together. Great Drum Toy War Mode is an opportunity for players to go against each other to decide the ultimate drumming master. What’s more, it’s a Switch exclusive.

“These three new titles coming to Nintendo Switch are another mark of our relationship with Nintendo and commitment to releasing games for the platform. The versatile platform has allowed us to release both brand-new games and ports of our acclaimed titles contributing to our wish to have games that appeal to all audiences, and this wherever they are,” said Herve Hoerdt, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Digital and Content at Bandai Namco Europe. “2022 will be a strong year for Bandai Namco Entertainment on the Nintendo Switch”.

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It came from nowhere, but often nice surprises do, as Bandai Namco has just announced Dragon Ball: The Breakers. It’s an asymmetrical online multiplayer game. And it’s taking place in the Dragon Ball franchise, and the trailer has a heavy focus on Cell.

Bandai Namco and the Dragon Ball franchise have a long history together with two recently released titles that were top notch. Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot were two of the better games in the history of the franchise. This new one is coming to PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC in 2022. The game will be compatible with PS5 and Xbox Series S|X but it doesn’t appear to be getting a current-gen native edition.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers is in development by Dimps, and will link save data to Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. Here’s the official word on the game: 

Taking place in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse universe, Dragon Ball: The Breakers allows you to play as one of the iconic rivals of the franchise, the “Raider” , or one of the seven “Survivors” with no super powers. The Raider will have to use its overwhelming power to eliminate the ”Survivors”. These regular civilians have been caught in a “Temporal Seam”, trapping them in a place where space and time are in disarray, and will have to cooperate in order to push back the Raider and escape using the Super Time Machine. Players can also utilize various items on the field and try escaping the field strategically.

The trailer (below) has a heavy focus on Cell (he even evolves in it), but the key art also features Frieza and Majin Buu as well. It very much looks like Oolong is one of the survivors without super powers, 

There’s going to be a closed beta test soon, and producer on the game, Ryosuke Hara had this to say:

We can’t wait for people to try this complete new take on the Dragon Ball franchise! We’re working hard with the team at Dimps to provide brand new fun asymmetric multiplayer experience that we want to be accessible for all, while offering a strong wealth and depth of gameplay and situations. We are looking forward to welcoming you during the Closed Beta Test.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers is due out in 2022.

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We all know that the Elden Ring CNT is going to be tough, so given that we’ve played hours of the game, we wanted to put some tips together for you to help. We’ve put together a list of things you need to know before you start that can be accessed here, and once you’ve had a read of that, get back here and we’ll give you some tips to get started.

Like many Souls games, Elden Ring’s first choice is the hardest: which class do you choose. You always play as a Sword & Board character in Souls games, right? Well maybe it’s time for that to change…

Elden Ring CNT tips #1: Don’t miss out on magic

While magic has often been overpowered in many of the previous Souls titles, it often felt a hard choice to make. Committing to a ranged character class is never an easy decision to make, but Elden Ring CNT makes it easier with the “Enchanted Knight” preset character. In the CNT of Elden Ring you can’t just pick a milquetoast character and start from scratch. No, it’s designed to give you a taste of some preset builds.

With 10 vigor you’ll have a decent amount of health to start with. Likewise 11 endurance is decent, and 12 dexterity is also fine. Intelligence of 16 and Strength of 15, however, means you’ve got great magic and melee skills from the get go. You will also start with two spells, one that’s ranged and one that’s a magical sword attack with great range. Try all the classes, but definitely don’t skip the Enchanted Knight.

2. Stealth is your friend, so use it

It’s going to be really easy for hardened veterans of the Souls series to forget about stealth in the Elden Ring CNT. While Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice offered a heavy helping of hiding in the grass, Elden Ring allows you to do the same by simply clicking in the left stick to go into a crouched position. Scope your enemy out; see where they will walk. Don’t rush in when you can sneak around and work out an attack plan before you go loud.

3. Stamina only counts in battle, so run away!

While speed-runners won’t be afraid of burning their stamina bar, us normal players are. We’ve all ran into trouble in the form of too many enemies, and then had to run away. Trouble is, if you haven’t been maxing out endurance, you will only be able to run so far before running out of stamina.

In Elden Ring CNT (time will tell if this makes it to the final version) you only lose stamina once engaged in combat. Both on foot and on horseback, you have infinite stamina if you’re just “in the world”. In other words, if you don’t engage with an enemy, you can sprint around to your heart’s content. So if you happen across a huge fire-breathing dragon early on… run away!

4. Clear an area to refill your health flask

Elden Ring does something a bit like Bloodborne with how you can regain health. It’s not the same, of course, and you won’t get health back by attacking quickly after taking damage. But you will refill your health flask if you clear an area. Consider this two tips in one. First of all, if you go into an encounter, you will know it’s clear if you get this bonus. After the last enemy dies, you will get the usual “sucking” sounds of “souls” being absorbed. But you will see a thicker line suggesting you’ve refilled your flask by one. Bonus!

5. What is that white icon appearing on the left?

It’s easy to miss in the Elden Ring CNT, but you’ll often see a white ghostly icon in the middle left of the screen, and might wonder what it is. Simply put, this is the game telling you that you can summon friendly ghosts to help you out. No, not the summoning system that makes up the multiplayer. These are AI specters that will fight alongside you until they are defeated.

There are at least two early on in the Elden Ring CNT you can find, both offering different combat options. Both are actually not that obvious and can be found in early, but entirely optional, caves. You don’t have to defeat any bosses to obtain them, but you can summon wolves, or a great bit burly man to help you beat the early bosses this way. They consume almost an entire bar of magic, so use sparingly!

6. The jumping attack is your friend: use it!

Another new feature for Elden Ring is the jump button. It may sound crazy, but until Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, no FromSoftware developed games had a dedicated jump button. Not only can you jump around like a madman, in Elden Ring you can attack out of a jump animation. This means you can do a jumping heavy attack whenever you fancy it. This is best used to break the guard of an enemy who has a shield up. A couple of well timed jump attacks will open them right up for the kill blow. Bare in mind you are vulnerable in this state, and can easily take damage, however.

7. Explore, spelunk, experiment!

Remember that the Elden Ring CNT is essentially a beta, or a multiplayer demo. You can’t explore the entire map as it’s got areas locked off due to being the non-final version of the game. Use your time wisely and don’t get too caught up on “progression”. This is a chance to do things you’d never do in a normal playthrough. Summon phantoms and go toe-to-toe with real people. Double, Triple, and Quadruple team a boss you’d otherwise want to do solo to prove your skills. Grab everything that isn’t nailed down, and jump off edges of rocks to see what’s below. Experiment, check out the ca10ves, check out everything. Your progress isn’t going to hold over to February, so just have fun stress-testing the servers!

Elden Ring is out on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X on February 25, 2022.

The post Elden Ring CNT tips | Getting started in the Lands Between appeared first on GodisaGeek.com.

I’ve played the Elden Ring network test. There you go, I said it. After getting extensive hands on with an early version of the game, there are many things that stand out about it, and you can read about those in more detail in the hands-on preview, but for now, I want to talk directly to the people who think this is just “more Souls”.

First of all, you can say “I told you so” if you want, because there are elements of Elden Ring where it feels and plays like a Souls-title. It’s made by the same developer, so if you thought a backstab animation was suddenly going to stop being badass, then you’re very wrong. But for all the similarities, there are actually a few significant differences that make Elden Ring feel familiar, yet also evolved. These are some of the things you really need to know before you get started. Let’s dig in, Tarnished..

Stamina is now only related to combat

This is a huge one. A huge one. When I first started running and the user interface faded away, I thought it was peculiar. I can’t see how much stamina I’m draining if the UI fades away. That’s because in Elden Ring stamina only relates to combat. If you want to sprint around the enormous map forever, that’s fine. You get a horse called Torrent very early on, and likewise its stamina is infinite.

The impact this has on gameplay is massive. No longer is stumbling into an area full of new bad-guys a death sentence. You can sprint away to your heart’s content, or even quickly summon your spirit horse Torrent to dash away even quicker.

You don’t have to sit at a rest point to fill your flasks

Another massive gameplay change, here. Previously, whether you’re playing Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls, or Bloodborne (or frankly any other game in the genre), the only way to refill your health and magic flasks would be to sit at a bonfire, or equivalent, to replenish them. With the exception of Bloodborne’s regain system that encourages aggressive play, you couldn’t fill those flasks outside of this system.

In Elden Ring you can actually refill flasks by clearing combat encounters. Let’s be clear: this isn’t like in Bloodborne where you could get some health back after losing, if you’re quick enough to attack. No, here you might come across a group of enemies, clearly in a pack of sorts, and if you manage to defeat them you’ll get one of your flasks refilled. It rewards courage when finding a new area, and gives you that urge to push on “one more fight”.

Elden Ring network test is completely free-roam

Where Souls games are pretty open in how you approach areas, they do have distinct routes that funnel you towards the boss, or next area. Elden Ring has a tutorial area, but after that it just opens up and says “hey, here’s a huge open world, work away”. I instantly stumbled upon a cave containing wolves, whom I fended off pretty quickly. Then I saw a fog door. The thought occurred that it could be a fog door to another area, but something felt different. I pushed on anyway.

A boss. Right away. I was already thinking magic was a little overpowered, but this boss taught me a harsh lesson. Despite being a seemingly optional boss this early on, he had so many attack patterns. I stayed calm and dodged, trying to mix it up with long range magic and a few close swipes, but he bested me multiple times. The enemies on the whole seem faster than ever before, akin to Bloodborne or Sekiro style foes.

Stealth is easy to forget when you’re used to the genre

Despite stealth being in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, it’s really easy to forget it’s an option in Elden Ring. The tendency to sneak up for a backstab will always be there, but having a button to get into stealth mode and sneak through bushes takes some getting used to, I can tell you. Elden Ring might have a lot of Souls about it, but the addition of stealth adds so many options to your approach.

You can use the new jump button to break guard

At first, it feels pretty weird having a jump button in a Souls game like Elden Ring. Whereas previous titles clearly had rocks that were just the right height to suggest “out of bounds”, you can jump manually in Elden Ring, and even when you’re on your horse.

But perhaps the best use of the jump button is in conjunction with the R2 heavy attack as this does a jumping attack that will break the guard of a shielded enemy. This allows you to follow up with a devastating attack that will kill most enemies in one, if you’ve broken their guard.

There’s combat when riding the horse in Elden Ring network test

Riding on a horse feels like a cheat mode right away… at least until you realise other people also have horses. Suddenly it becomes a mounted combat game, and you’re rushing at other enemies trying to outmaneuver them with your attacks. You can lock-on and circle strafe round enemies who are on the ground. This makes it easy to avoid their attacks and kill them quickly, but if they have a shield it’s a tougher fight. Horseback combat is difficult, and enemies will damage you quickly.

If you take damage while riding Torrent, you will both be damaged and it’s very easy to die this way. If Torrent does die, you can re-summon your spirit-equine by using a health flask. So it’s a choice you’ll have to make at the time.

There’s fast travel and checkpoints from the start

Right at the start of the game it’s made clear to you that the “bonfire” equivalent (Sites of Grace) are fast travel enabled. But when you die, you can actually choose to be respawned at the last rested location, or one of the checkpoints. In dungeons, these checkpoints don’t allow you to level up, or attune magic. They are simply checkpoints you can respawn at if you want to do so.

This doesn’t mean the game is “easy” by any stretch of the imagination (it’s still damned hard). But it does mean that instead of rushing through an area from a rest spot, you can just respawn at the checkpoint. It’s a nice touch. And while there’s no “easy” mode, it’s great to see Elden Ring differ from the Souls titles in terms of accessibility, even if just in a small way.

Elden Ring is out on February 25, 2022 on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X. The closed network test starts on November 12th.

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