Summary An RPG can only be as good as their lead character or villain sometimes. For example, the dynamic between Cloud and Sephiroth inFinal Fantasy 7gripped people in 1997. The world of video games was changing as they were becoming quite literally cinematic. Another good villain example would be Magus fromChrono Triggeralthough Crono, as a lead, was not as engaging as a silent protagonist. That didn’t diminish what Magus brought to the table though....

Summary GameStophas kicked off a new initiative that will see select stores begin selling a wide variety of retro consoles and games. The latest blow to game collectors came earlier this summer when Xbox 360 shut down its digital marketplace. Hundreds of digital games and DLC became permanently delisted, some of which aren’t available anywhere else. In the preceding months, many gamers turned toGameStopor other retailers to try and snap up key titles before their digital counterparts were gone for good....

Quick Links Envisaged Echoes inGenshin Impactis a new cosmetic that players can equip on characters they own. The only way you can complete the challenge is with your chosen character atLevel 90 and Friendship Level 8. Since the characters in the challenge aren’t on trial, players have to verify to build them well enough to complete the challenge on time. There are five characters to choose from and Ningguang ofGenshin Impactis one to choose from the list....

Quick Links The Seabird at Noon Achievement inGenshin Impactis related to a hidden quest. As Travelers approach the table stacked with fish on the small island southeast of the People of the Springs, Pania will tell her genius plan to players. After the brief conversation, Travelers mustboop the Flowcurrent Birds to shoreso they can eat the fish and clear the water for Iwai and Pania to play. After the littleGenshin ImpactSaurianand Pania enjoy the cool water, they will give players a Precious chest as a token of their gratitude....

Elden Ringisn’t a game that holds the player’s hand when they start it up. It gives playersa simple set of instructionsand the vague direction they’re supposed to travel, and lets gamers do their thing at their own pace without any real restrictions. This is great for immersion, but it leads to many players missing some of the more nuanced mechanics the game has to offer. Exploring the world andunlocking the mapis great, but exploring the possibilities for the Tarnished is just as interesting, and possibly even more useful in the long term....

Summary The 5-star characters inHonkai: Star Railrecently overtook their 4-star counterparts when it comes to volume. There are over 34 5-star units in HSR (including theTrailblazer’s three current forms) and just 22 4-star characters. This is a significant jump fromHSRversion 1.0, which only had 11 5-stars (including the Trailblazer’s two forms at the time) and 13 4-stars. MiHoYo is focusing its best designs and mechanics on limited 5-star units since they’re the most profitable and even F2P fans can get guaranteed pulls for them....

Quick Links Crafting new armor and weapons will quickly be unlocked as players progress through the main story ofBlack Myth: Wukong. Crafting new gear pieces will be one of the main ways players get stronger, with upgrading your staff offering a flat boost in damage done. While there is a skill that can upgrade your damage, it requires players to reach afairly high level, making staff upgrades your best bet for the first few chapters of the game....

Quick Links Sword Of Convallariahas lots of items and resources players will get while playing, but Hope Lucites are by far one of the most important. Hope Lucites can be used only for a few things, but the most important by far isbuying Secret Fateswhich are used to summon characters and new weapons. Despite being a common and high-demand item, there are only a few ways to farm this resource, with some being much more straightforward than others....

Summary Fans are inches away fromDeadpool & Wolverine’s long-awaited theatrical release after a flurry of positive reviews spurring the anticipation, but the film’s impending success has already had a big effect on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe according to the man in charge. Deadpool & Wolverinenot only serves as a threequel to the highly regardedDeadpoolfranchise but also plays double billing as the very first appearance of the Merc with a Mouth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, keeping the raunchy spirit of the franchise to gift Marvel Studios with its first R-rated offering....

Announced during Summer Game Fest,LEGO Horizon Adventurestakes PlayStation’s robot dinosaur-hunting, post-apocalyptic first-party exclusive series and distills it down into a fun, family-friendly co-op action-platformer. ThoughLEGO andHorizonaren’t an immediately obvious pairing, the trailers released so far forLEGO Horizon Adventuresdo paint the collaboration in a good light, with the game seemingly capturing the series' unique combat well while injecting plenty of trademark LEGO charm into the formula. Soon after its initial reveal, previews forLEGO Horizon Adventuresstarted to hit the internet, most of which praised the game for its light-hearted humor and unique take on the source material....

Summary Borrowing heavily from pioneering games likeDemon’s SoulsandDark Souls, the Soulslike genre has some strong RPG DNA at its core, and that can be seen pretty clearly when it comes to games' gear and weapons systems. In most Soulslikes, players will be able to equip a variety of different weapons and armor. The complexity of these armors and weapons varies heavily between different Soulslikes, but in games likeFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn, players have a lot to experiment with....

Strandsis a daily word-search game that can be pretty tough. Every day, it presents fans with a 6x8 grid filled with seemingly-random letters and one little clue. to solve it, you need to find eight different words inside of the grid without knowing what they are. Today’s puzzle is one of the hardest puzzles the New York Times Games has ever come up with; it’s way harder than how therules of how to playStrandsmake it sound....

The New York Times GamesStrandsis a short, daily word-search puzzle game. If you want to beat this one, you will need to figure out the theme from context clues and then find all the themed words inside the jumbled letters without knowing what they are first. But today’s theme will make this puzzle even more challenging thanStrands’rulesmight make it sound. This one has weird little theme and a lot of challenging words inside of it....