One of Metaphor: ReFantazio’s subtle improvements on Persona may be better than you think, saving you time and actively earning you some dosh or recouping precious magic points if you play your cards right.Metaphor approaches combat a lot like Persona does – baddies potter around ‘dungeons’ until you run into ’em and fight through turn-based combat. What’s neat about Metaphor, though, is that you can whack and insta-kill them if you’re appropriately strong. No fuss, no fight loads, just a modest helping of experience points.Now, that’s not totally new to JRPGs and is an evolution of what we’ve seen in Persona – Ryuji could insta-flatten weak Shadows in Persona 5, and spooking fiends in Persona 3 Reload before fighting them gave you an advantage. But! Throwing all of that together and making it more accessible to your main character – suck it, Ryuji – got an approving nod from me when I played Metaphor’s demo.It doesn’t stop there, either. Metaphor is like many RPGs in that you’ll need cash – called Reeve – to buy stuff, though players are quickly finding ways to game the system. An early Metaphor Archetype you can unlock called The Merchant is pr…

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Dragon Age: Inquisition won multiple Game of the Year awards in 2014, but if you played it for the first time 10 years later, you might not know it. Inquisition is a fascinating microcosm of its place in video game history, a time when everything needed to be an open world in some way. What results is a game that shines in its moments of complex storytelling, but gets bogged down by needless fetch quests and open world design. But perhaps what’s even more fascinating is Inquisition’s final DLC, Trespasser, which manages to be the absolute pinnacle of the entire franchise. It’s a glorious encapsulation of everything the series does well, and one of the single most important pieces of story heading into the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard. In fact, Trespasser feels so vital I have a hard time imagining anyone going into Veilguard without that vital context, but unfortunately, it’s not the easiest thing to play. Nobody expects the inquisition What comes next? Our Dragon Age: The Veilguard preview includes over seven hours of playtime, along with interviews with the game’s creative directorOriginally released in September 2015, Trespasser functions as an epilogue to Inqu…

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Delta Force, the tactical first-person shooter from 1998, is back and more explosive than ever, and it’s one of the most popular Steam Next Fest demos.At the moment, developer Team Jade’s Delta Force reboot is both the most-wishlisted Next Fest demo and the demo with the most active daily players. For FPS fans, it’s easy to see why. Team Jade, an offshoot of Call of Duty: Mobile developer TiMi, seems to have created a chillingly realistic free-to-play military shooter with a bevy of engaging game modes.Rather, soon-to-be engaging game modes. Team Jade promises in Delta Force’s Steam description that the early access version of the game, which does not yet have a release date, will include an extraction mode and large-scale PvP.Until then, the story goes like this: you’re a Delta Force army operative, in either the year 1993 or 2035, and your job is to gun stuff down. The 1993 timeline is a recreation of the original Delta Force’s Black Hawk Down sequel from 2003, which gets players dirty in the real-life Battle of Mogadishu, a disastrous fight with hundreds of casualties.In Team Jade’s version, Black Hawk Down exists in Unreal Engine. It renders Somalia’s markets and rubble in stea…

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Atlus’ new JRPG hit Metaphor: ReFantazio offers loads of ways for you to quickly strengthen your protagonist and his party, but perhaps the funniest of them all is handed out as a reward for practicing good hygiene.Fighting in battles isn’t the only way to earn EXP in Metaphor: ReFantazio, as after you get access to your Gauntlet Runner (your four-legged method of transportation around Euchronia) your protagonist is soon able to hop into the on-board shower to freshen up. Doing so, for whatever reason, also nets him a small amount of EXP. It’s nothing major, but every little helps, and you can’t help but feel it’s sending a bit of a message to those playing at home with the dialogue, “I need to stay hygienic to help facilitate living as a group.”That’s not the only way you can boost your protagonist’s powers while simply living his life, either, as for whatever reason, using the Gauntlet Runner’s toilet on an Idlesday will permanently buff his Luck stat by one. You can only do this once per Idlesday, and I have no idea why this helps him in such a tangible way, but it’s hilariously one of the easiest ways to get some guaranteed boosts to your critical hit rate. This has also led to…

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2024

TBC

When it comes to all the upcoming Bethesda games in the works right now, there’s a lot to get hyped for. Sure, Starfield and Hi-Fi Rush impressed us enough last year, but 2024 is proving to be an exciting time for the Skyrim publisher. Earlier this year, we finally had our first look at MachineGames’ upcoming Indiana Jones action game (as well as an official title for it). The success of the Fallout TV series has also drawn our attention back to the question of when we might see the eventual fifth installment of its video game inspiration, and of course, we’ve been patiently awaiting a Skyrim sequel for years now.With the studio now owned by Microsoft, we’re expecting to see many of the games listed below being released as Xbox exclusives. We’ll keep you updated on that, and in the meantime, you can always check out some other upcoming Xbox series X games and upcoming PC games outside of Bethesda’s wheelhouse. That said, we’re here to take you through every upcoming Bethesda game in the works right now – starting with what to expect first.Upcoming Bethesda games currently in development2024Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Developer: Machine…

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Upcoming Marvel Games

There are loads of upcoming Marvel games on the horizon and we’re psyched for every single one. Last year saw the release of the much-anticipated spidey sequel Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but there are plenty of new Marvel projects in the works from myriad top developers that will put some major Marvel characters in the spotlight. We’re talking Wolverine, Blade, Iron Man, and a WW2-era Marvel game from Skydance New Media that sees Captain America teaming up with Black Panther. As if they weren’t cool enough on their own.Now that it’s finally got a name, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra is set to join the legions of stellar Marvel games that have launched in years past, from digital card collector Marvel Snap to the story-driven likes of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the tactical RPG Marvel’s Midnight Suns, and loads of others. Rise of Hydra will be in good company, too; as seen from the unfortunate Insomniac leak that spilled the Spider-Man studio’s future release schedule, plans for new games are not in short supply. For now, though, we’ll be sticking to the official information and announcements as given by developers to bring you a look at…

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Fortnite toilets were once a prominent sight on the island, with a giant lavatory marking the Flush Factory named location and an entire production line of them contained within. These days the loos are generally tucked away in more sensible locations, but if you’re working your way through the Fortnite quests attached to the current Fortnitemares event then you’ll need to destroy five toilets once you reach the Nitemare Two section. To save you having to hunt around for the nearest bathrooms, here’s where to find toilets in FortniteWhere to find toilets in Fortnite More Fortnite guidesFortnite charactersFortnite SHADOW BriefingsFortnite Stark Fan Club questsFortnite Stark Industries ChestsIf you’re looking to destroy toilets in Fortnite, then I’ve marked various locations on the map above where you can find them. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every single toilet on the battle royale island, but it should give you more than enough options to work with so you can complete this task. As you need to destroy five of them in total, there are several places that have more than enough Fortnite toilets available to take care of this in one go – Sandy Stepps is the…

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Upcoming Obsidian games

With last year having been a quiet one for the developer, these upcoming Obsidian games have our full attention in 2024. We’re more than ready to get stuck into another lush new world with all the complex storytelling Obsidian is known for – after all, it’s been quite some time since Grounded and Pentiment impressed us on Xbox Game Pass back in 2022. There’s one game slated to join countless other new games next year in 2025. And after news of delays and months of waiting, it’s safe to say we’re anxious to learn more about what Obsidian has been cooking up for us.The Fallout New Vegas studio was acquired by Microsoft in 2018, meaning the titles listed below are expected to launch exclusively on its flagship Xbox Series X console and PC platforms. For that reason, they’re definitely top of the list when it comes to the upcoming Xbox games to keep an eye on as we venture further into 2024. Here’s a closer look at every upcoming Obsidian game we currently know to be in development while we await more news from the studio, starting with one that’s tied to a well-loved fantasy IP.Recent updatesThis living list of upcoming Obsidian games …

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The October Steam Next Fest has arrived, which means that there are plenty of stunning indie demos to hop into – and Luma Island might already be my favorite.While Feel Free Games’ debut title isn’t quite here just yet, its demo is now playable and it’s got me hooked. The breathtaking visuals are what struck me first – Minecraft-esque textures, crystal-clear ponds, vibrant fruit trees, and comforting designs that make me feel as though I’m a child playing with real-world toys rather than a video game. It’s simply a beautiful atmosphere, from the sights to the sounds – and the gameplay is even better. Think Stardew Valley, but with little magical creatures and a lot more RPG flair thrown in for good measure, and you’ll get something close to Luma Island. It’s even got a bit of a Fantasy Life kick to it, offering players seven professions to choose from and specialize in. I started the game as a fisherwoman since I tend to love fishing minigames in cozier titles and farm sims, but I also spent a bit of time trying my hand at just about everything.There’s so much to do, it’s almost overwhelming – and this is just the demo we’re talking about here. From crafting and farming to f…

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Alongside the reveal of system requirements for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, EA and BioWare have given PC players a classic good news, bad news combo. The RPG won’t feature the controversial Denuvo DRM software, but that means you won’t be able to preload the game on PC.”Dragon Age: The Veilguard won’t include any third-party DRM (such as Denuvo) on any platform,” the devs say in a new blog post, which also runs down the full system requirements. “The lack of DRM means that there will be no preload period for PC players,” they add. Instead, if you’re on PC, you’ll have to wait for the global launch time of 9am PDT / 12pm EDT / 4pm GMT on October 31 to start downloading before you can play.Denuvo is a form of digital rights management software – or DRM – intended to make it more difficult for pirates to crack games and distribute them online, and historically it’s been far more effective at thwarting pirates than other forms of protection. Denuvo’s precise impacts have always varied from game to game, but there have been enough reports of degraded performance for the software to have become infamous among PC players.Announcing upfront that The Veilguard won’t feature Denuvo is a…

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