Category: Video Gaming

Defeating Sister Splinter in Hollow Knight: Silksong is one of your first major boss challenges on the main track through the game. It’s a taste of what’s to come in terms of utilising everything in your arsenal to take down some of the tricky bosses later on.

Sister Splinter might seem annoying, but with a few simple tools you’ll definitely be able to overcome her, and then you’ll get to face the Widow—a boss that’s arguably much, much worse.

Elden Ring Nightreign will, very soon, get its higher difficulty mode – The Deep of Night. The game is clearly about to have a moment again. FromSoftware knows this, of course, so the developer decided to roll out a big update to tweak several things ahead of the new mode’s release.

This latest patch, version 1.02.2, arrived moments ago across all platforms, bringing with it a number of unexpected balance changes and gameplay tweaks that were no doubt made with Deep of Night in mind.

Patch 1.02.2 released following an hour of server maintenance. While it does contain Deep of Night content, that higher difficulty mode won’t be available until tomorrow, September 11, as previously announced.

What you are going to see today, however, is a list of wide-ranging balance changes to all of (except Ironeye) the game’s Nightfarer character classes. Here are some of the highlights: Wylder now has increased poise while casting Claw Shot, and the ability now deals increased Stamina damage to blocking enemies. Guardian now gains more Strength and Dex with each level, and their Steel Guard passive has a wider range.

Duchess has a lot of changes of her own. She gets more Dexterity with each level up, and some of her dagger attacks deal more damage. Her ever-popular Finale Ultimate now lasts longer, too. Executor gets a flat attack power increase while Cursed Sword is in use, and a boost to the skill itself. While Aspects of the Crucible: Beast is active, the class now deals more damage. Revenant is the recipient of another interesting change, as other players can now pass through her summoned spirits. Their transparency has also been adjusted, perhaps to better signal to players that they can be passed through.

Beyond the individual changes for each Nightfarer, 1.02.2 makes changes that affect everyone using certain weapons. For example, dual-wielded jump attacks performed with small and medium weapons now deal more stagger damage, but doing the same with larger weapons will deal less.

Death Flare of Eclipse Shotel, a weapon skill that applies Death, should now be more effective at doing so. Interestingly, there’s now a cap on the cumulative effects of the Power of Vengeance and Power of House Marais passives, which is something that might mess with some builds out there.

The other big component of the patch affects a couple of the Everdark Sovereign bosses. Everdark Sovereigns are more challenging versions of the game’s Nightlord bosses, and though some have seen balance tweaks in the past, today’s changes have a wider reach. Everdark Sovereign Sentient Pest, Equilibrious Beast, and Darkdrift Knight have received a mix of buffs and nerfs to their attacks, as well as how they respond to attacks/status effects from players.

Read on below for the full change log.

Nightfarers adjustments

Wylder

• Increased Poise while casting Claw Shot.
• Increased Stamina damage dealt by Claw Shot to blocking enemies.

Guardian

• Increased Strength and Dexterity gain when leveling up.
• Increased the Steel Guard passive ability angle range.
• Increased the range of the Wings of Salvation Ultimate Art’s weapon portion.
• Increased the attack power of Halberd guard counters.

Duchess

• Increased Dexterity gain when leveling up.
• Increased the attack power of some Dagger attacks.
• Decreased the two-handed Dagger’s second heavy attack damage.
• This change does not affect charged attacks.
• Increased the duration of the Finale Ultimate Art.

Raider

• Increased the Greataxe’s and Great Hammer’s ability to stagger enemies with attacks.
• Increased the attack range of the Retaliation skill.

Revenant

• Adjusted the transparency of Revenant’s summoned spirits.
• Players can now pass through Revenant’s spirits Helen and Frederick.

Recluse

• Increased the offensive spells attack power of Magic Cocktail.
• Decreased the time required to cast spells using Magic Cocktail.

Executor

• Increased attack power while Cursed Sword is in use.
• Increased the attack power of the Cursed Sword weapon skill when the skill is in use and the blade is in its unleashed state.
• Increased the attack power of some attacks while Aspects of the Crucible: Beast is active.

Weapons, Passive Effects, and Special Effects adjustments

• Increased the stagger damage with dual-wielded jump attacks for some small and medium weapons..
• Decreased the stagger damage with dual-wielded jump attacks for some large weapons.
• Increased the potency of the death status ailment applied by the weapon skill Death Flare of Eclipse Shotel.
• Set a cap on the cumulative effects of the Power of Vengeance and Power of House Marais passive effects and adjusted their potency accordingly.
• Adjusted the stagger effect of the “Guard counters trigger holy bursts” passive’s explosion to ensure that it doesn’t reset the enemy’s posture break state.

Relic Effects adjustments

• Adjusted the effect “[Wylder] Standard attacks enhanced with fiery follow-ups when using Character Skill (greatsword only)” to consume stamina when performing follow-up attacks.
• Increased the attack power of the “[Wylder] Art activation spreads fire in area” burn effect.
• Adjusted the effect “[Wylder] Art activation spreads fire in area” so that the burn effect’s attack power does not vary between one-handed and two-handed weapon wielding.  Increased the duration extension of the “[Ironeye] Extends duration of weak point” effect.
• Increased the potency of the “Continuous HP Recovery” effect.
• Increased the potency of the “HP restored when using medicinal boluses, etc” effect.
• Increased the potency of the “[Recluse] Activating Ultimate Art raises Max HP” effect.
• Changed the “[Recluse] Activating Ultimate Art raises Max HP” effect so that the HP increase persists until an attack is received, even after the art’s duration ends.
• Increased the amount of Runes obtained through the “Critical Hits Earn Runes” effect.
• Increased the potency of the “HP Restoration upon (specific weapon type) attacks” effect.
• Increased the potency of the effect “FP Restoration upon (specific weapon type) attacks” effect.
• Reduced the duration of the “Improved Poise & Damage Negation When Knocked Back by Damage” effect.

Other Nightfarers adjustments

• Adjusted the visibility of the “Rykard’s Rancor” sorcery.

Everdark Sovereign adjustments

Everdark Sovereign Sentient Pest

• Increased attack and stamina attack power against guarding Nightfarers while possessed by Animus, Ascendant Light.
• Adjusted and modified the attack actions of Animus, Ascendant Light, Gnoster, Wisdom of Night, and Faurtis Stoneshield.
• Reduced the stagger duration when Nightfarers is hit by some attacks of Animus, Ascendant Light.

Everdark Sovereign Equilibrious Beast

• Adjusted the effect granted to summoned condemned Nightfarers so that it can be dispelled by Law of Regression.
• Increased the enhancement granted by the light dropped by defeated condemned Nightfarers.
• Reduced the attack power of the condemned Guardian.
• Removed the effect that increased damage negation upon re-summoning condemned.
• Reduced the death status effect resistance of condemned Nightfarers.
• Adjusted the reaction of condemned Nightfarers to player character’s ranged attacks.
• Adjusted the targeting priority of condemned Nightfarers under specific combat rules.

Everdark Sovereign Darkdrift Knight

• Increased the HP and stamina attack power against guarding Nightfarers for Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow.
• Increased the attack power of some attacks from Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow.

Other enemies

• Adjusted the reaction to player character’s ranged attacks of condemned Nightfarers that appear during events.
• Added a stagger reaction when strong attacks, such as Ultimate Arts, hit the Red Wolf of the King Consort boss.
• Fixed a bug where some attacks of the Marionette Soldiers were less likely to hit player characters.

Limveld adjustments

• Increased the Night’s Tide damage after defeating the second night boss.
• Adjusted the spawn locations of Sentient Pest incursions so they are less likely to occur far from player characters.

Menu adjustments

• Adjusted the design of the Holy attribute icon.

Penalties for disconnecting from online sessions

• Adjusted the penalties rate for session disconnection.
• Disconnecting from a session due to network issues or quitting the game during a session in progress will result in penalties, which may limit multiplayer capabilities. Rejoining the session you left will remove the penalty imposed upon disconnection.

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where the post-attack delay for right-handed Greatswords when handled by Wylder was shorter than expected when using Sorceries or Incantations with a left-hand weapon right after attacking.
• Fixed a bug where Guardian’s Wings of Salvation Ultimate Art could be interrupted by enemy attacks or other factors during its activation.
• Fixed a bug where Guardian’s Wings of Salvation Ultimate Art could be deflected and interrupted.
• Fixed a bug where backstepping as Duchess did not accept pre-inputs for skill commands.
• Fixed a bug where spells cast through using the Magic Cocktail skill could be casted again under certain conditions.
• Fixed a bug where allied player characters could clip through tombstones when Totem Stella was used.
• Fixed a bug where spirits summoned by Revenant did not revive if their HPs were depleted.
• Fixed a bug where special effects applied to spirits summoned by Revenant would appear above Revenant.
• Fixed a bug where Executor could not perform critical hits using the Cursed Sword while holding a weapon in the right hand that cannot land critical hits.
• Fixed a bug where the Relic Effect “HP Restoration upon Thrusting Counterattack” did not apply to the attacks of Executor’s Cursed Sword.
• Fixed a bug where Executor could not use pre-inputs for actions after deflecting an enemy attack with the Cursed Sword under certain circumstances.
• Fixed a bug where accumulated effects of Power of Vengeance and Power of House Marais Passive Effects would disappear when opening the large door and moving to the final battle area by using the “Open the door” action prompt in the Spirit Shelter.
• Fixed a bug where the rarity of weapons placed directly on the field from Dormant Power might not be displayed correctly.
• Fixed an issue where Passive Effects triggered by walking did not activate during horizontal movement with precision-aimed shots using “Bow” and “Crossbow”.
• Fixed an issue where the player character could become unresponsive for several seconds after performing an attack from a stance with certain Skills.
• Fixed an issue where the passive effect “Improved Charged Sorceries” was not applied to the sorcery “Shattering Crystal”.
• Fixed an issue where the status ailment “Frostbite” could be inflicted on the player character due to the accumulation of the frostbite status ailment from some enemy attacks while using an Ultimate Art.
• Fixed an issue in the battle with the Everdark Sovereign “Equilibrious Beast” where “Libra, Creature of Night” could move below the ground under certain conditions.
• Fixed a bug where levels would decrease without healing from flasks when False Blessing occured during the battle against Everdark Sovereign Equilibrious Beast.
• Fixed a bug where the player would level down if the False Blessing effect was activated during the battle against Everdark Sovereign: Equilibrious Beast, even if the action was interrupted by an enemy attack before the HP recovery effect occurred.
• Fixed a bug where blessings would become usable again after defeating the second night boss.
• Fixed a bug where the player character could perform unintentional moves when using the Spectral Hawk.
• This addresses issues that were not fully resolved in App Ver. 1.02.
• Fixed a bug where the player might not be correctly transported to the battle area if they died from falling during the cutscene while moving to the final battle area in the Spirit Shelter.
• Fixed a bug where Dormant Power might not appear upon defeating an enemy under unstable network conditions.
• Fixed a bug where the effect of an used Wending Grace could activate when rejoining a session after a disconnection.
• Reduced rendering load for some attacks of the Everdark Sovereign Tricephalos on PS4 and Xbox One.
• Fixed a bug where it was difficult to switch targets with a diagonal input (PC only).
• Improved game stability in some environments (PC only).

EA Sports has revealed the top 26 players in both the Premier League and WSL for EA Sports FC 26.

In the men’s top league, after a dominant romp to the title last season Liverpool have come out on top with 8 players in the top 26, just beating Arsenal who have 7.

With a few high-profile departures as club legends reached the end of their time up North, Man City have just 5, including 2 downgrades for Rodri and Dias and 2 new players in Donnarumma and Reijnders.

Newcastle and Chelsea have 2 midfielders in the top 26 a piece, while Youri Tielemans makes it for Villa with Bruno Fernandes rounding out the list as the last vestigial reminder of Manchester United at the top end of the Premier League.

In the WSL though, underdog Champion’s League winners Arsenal have 3 players in the top 5, but it’s 6-in-a-row title winners Chelsea who have the most strength in depth, with a mighty 11 of the 26 highest rated WSL players (despite downgrades for key players like Sam Kerr and Lauren James following injury-hit seasons).

New additions include the popular Ultimate Team pick Grace Geyoro after her move from PSG to London City Lionesses (however that does mean she now no longer links with male PSG players), as well as Chelsea defender Naomi Girma who was the first women’s player to be transferred for more than $1 million.

These ratings come after the top 26 male and female players from every league around the world were revealed earlier this week, with Lamine Yamal seeing a huge +8 upgrade while Mo Salah and Kylian Mbappe claimed the top spots.

The full FC 26 database will be revealed on September 12, but the list of new Icons joining Ultimate Team is already out, including legendary names like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta and Francesco Totti.

EA Sports FC 26 drops, fittingly, on September 26 for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo consoles as well as PC.

The full list of the 26 highest rated players in the Premier League and WSL is as follows:

Today is a big one in the world of Genshin Impact. The long-awaited Version Luna 1 update – formerly known as version 6.0 – has arrived, bringing with it the game’s seventh major region, Nod-Krai.

But that’s not the only thing worth getting out of bed for, because Genshin is also celebrating its fifth anniversary with a whole lot of community content, and an unexpected collaboration.

MiHoYo announced that it’s celebrating the release of Version Luna 1, and the game’s fifth anniversary, with a number of events, both in-game and outside of it. The biggest one, of course, is the special collaboration with Among Us.

Available from September 10 to October 10, this particular event lets you unlock Paimon Cosmetic Set for free in Among Us, simply by logging into the game. The set comes with the Paimon Wig, Paimon Costume and a Crest of the Best Travel Companion Nameplate – all of which are available to use in Among Us.

It’s a little strange that you don’t get anything in Genshin Impact as part of that collaboration, but there are plenty of freebies you’ll be earning on that side of the aisle simply by logging in. Some of the rewards include a free 5-Star character from the Standard Wish Pool, as well as enough ascension materials to get it to level 60. Starting now, you’ll also receive ten Intertwined Fates, 1,600 Primogems, two special Nod-Krai-themed gadgets (in the mail), and more.

The celebrations also extend to some community events, which include a new HoYoFair Genshin Impact Fan Art Special Program. This two-hour show will feature plenty of content from fans and MiHoYo, and it’s set to air on September 20.

In case you missed it, Version Luna 1 is a significant update for Genshin Impact, adding a lot more than the new playable area, new characters, new story chapter, and new mechanics. It also comes with changes to some of the game’s systems to make for a smoother levelling experience.

If you’re planning to jump in today, be sure to check out our guide that’ll help you learn all the ways to get to Nod-Krai, and don’t forget to browse the list of our most updated Genshin Impact codes.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Collection is finally releasing on 4K Blu-ray. The 15-film box set has been available on standard Blu-ray since 2012, but 4K Hitchcock collections up until now have been smaller, 5-film collections. That changes October 14 when The Ultimate Collection arrives on 4K Blu-ray for $125. The 15-disc box set includes over nine hours of special features, a collectible booklet, and digital versions of each film. You can add the films to your Movies Anywhere library to download or stream on all of your devices.

Universal Pictures is also reissuing the 1080p Blu-ray edition for the first time since 2017. The Blu-ray version also comes with digital copies of each movie and mirrors the 4K box set’s bonus features and packaging. Preorders for the 2025 edition of The Ultimate Collection on Blu-ray are available for $88 at Walmart and $101 at Amazon.

Let’s take a closer look at The Ultimate Collection compared to the existing Hitchcock Classics Collections on 4K Blu-ray. You should also check out the Amazon hub we created with notable Hitchcock box sets and 4K Blu-rays in one place. Amazon has limited-time deals on a pair of Hitchcock 4K Blu-ray box sets with five films.

$125 | Releases October 14

The Ultimate Collection comes with the following 15 Hitchcock movies on 4K Blu-ray and digital:

• The Birds
• Family Plot
• Frenzy
• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• Marnie
• North by Northwest
• Psycho
• Rear Window
• Rope
• Saboteur
• Shadow of a Doubt
• Topaz
• Torn Curtain
• The Trouble with Harry
• Vertigo

All 15 movies have High Dynamic Range (HDR10) and support DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Some of the movies support DTS:X and/or Dolby TrueHD surround sound. Special features vary by film, with classics like Psycho, The Birds, and Rear Window having a more robust list of extra content compared to Frenzy or Family Plot. In total, The Ultimate Collection offers more than nine hours of bonus content, including documentaries, commentaries, interviews, and behind-the-scenes features.

The discs are spread across two oversized plastic cases and packaged inside the cardboard display box shown above. The Ultimate Collection also comes with a 64-page collectible booklet with storyboards, production photographs, letters, trivia, and more.

The full list of special features for all 15 movies can be found in the product description on Amazon’s store page.

$88 | Releases October 14

If you’re interested in the standard Blu-ray version of The Ultimate Collection, you have a decision on your hands. The upcoming edition is likely to have better video/audio since it’s based on the 4K restorations. It also comes with a voucher for digital editions.

The 2017 edition, meanwhile, has 15 hours of bonus features, 7 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and 3 episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. The collectible booklet also appears to be the same or very similar. This version only includes Blu-ray, no digital. There is a substantial price difference between the two, as you can get the 2017 edition for only $56.63 (was $100) at Amazon.

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collections (4K Blu-ray + Blu-ray)

All of the Hitchcock films in The Ultimate Collection are already available on 4K Blu-ray, and you can get all but one of them by purchasing the three Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collections below. The only movie not included in these sets is North by Northwest. Each Classics Collection retails for $70, though there are limited-time deals on two that drop their prices to around $30 each.

The digital codes in these box sets are likely expired, but it is worth noting the Classics Collection box sets come with 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs. You will miss out on the collector’s booklet by skipping The Ultimate Collection.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection – Limited Edition

North by Northwest may not be included in the Classics Collection series, but it was one of six films chosen for last year’s Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection. This 4K Blu-ray and digital box set is limited to 5,150 copies and has a stunning book-style display case with storyboards, sketches, previously unseen photographs, and new artwork. The Iconic Collection has 15 hours of bonus features–even more than the upcoming 15-film Ultimate Collection. Five of the six movies are also in the upcoming box set, with the lone original entry being To Catch a Thief.

The Iconic Film Collection – 4K Blu-ray + Digital:

• The Birds
• North by Northwest
• Psycho
• Rear Window
• To Catch a Thief
• Vertigo
• 15 hours of bonus features
• Book-style packaging

The Iconic Film Collection retails for $180 and is on sale for $125.89 at Amazon, so it’s almost exactly the same price as the upcoming Ultimate Collection.

If you want The Ultimate Collection but are disappointed that To Catch a Thief isn’t included, it’s worth checking out the recently released, collectible 4K Blu-ray edition. To Catch a Thief’s Limited Edition Steelbook launched in July and is available for $26 at Amazon. There’s also a Paramount Presents Limited Edition from last fall for $30.79.

There are only a few Hitchcock 4K Steelbook Editions in print today. The Birds Limited Edition Steelbook launched last December and is up for grabs for $21.45 at Amazon.

And if you only are interested in one or two Hitchcock movies, you can find 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray combo packs for the movies in all of the collections mentioned above. Several of Hitchcock’s most popular films are super cheap right now on 4K, including Rear Window and Vertigo for $12 each and Psycho for $14.

Alfred Hitchcock Movies on 4K Blu-ray

Sign up for GameSpot’s Weekly Deals Newsletter:

You know something is off in Battlefield when piloting a multi-million dollar metal box with a building-leveling cannon mounted on the end is a bigger risk than hoofing it across the map.

That was the state of last month’s Battlefield 6 beta: tanks, helicopters, jets, and especially jeeps could never get much room to vroom before getting blasted by any number of anti-armor rockets, laser-guided missiles, stationary cannons, mines, or sticky explosives.

When was the last time you turned the radio on? I imagine for some of you younger readers, the answer is probably never. To be clear I’m not judging you here if that is the case, or even if it’s just been a while, it’s a format that feels hard to reckon with when its main point – listening to a range of pieces of music – is made borderline moot in the era of streaming services. All of which makes Omega Point, a game where you control a mech but the only thing you can do in it is change which radio station you’re listening to, all the more interesting. A severe epilepsy warning is needed for this game as it has a lot of flashing images.

Omega Point is a new game from indie dev Cathroon, whose work you may have previously seen in The Devil. A quick aside, if you haven’t played The Devil, and you’re desperate for a brutalist retro horror game, make sure you take a look at it alongside Omega Point. Speaking of, back to the point!

There is no protagonist in Omega Point, only you, the game starting with your body dissipating into nothingness, leaving you with no choice but to board your mech. This mech is the last surviving Doctrine, a machine that exists at “The Conjunction of Science and Religion.” Once you’re inside, you flick each individual switch to turn the metal giant on, eventually arriving at a timer and a message that says once it runs out, whoever is speaking will be here for you.

And after that? All you can do is explore a ruined world, and listen to the radio. There’s rock tracks, chiptune, lo-fi beats, jungle, spoken word, looking at the credits there’s at least upwards of 50 different songs to listen to.

With nothing else to do but listen to the radio, you do just that, and it makes this experience of watching the aforementioned timer count down feel a little bit less lonely. It’s a curious little game that runs at just over 30 minutes (the timer itself is a full 30 minutes), so it’s not a long experience, but it packs a lot to mull over in a short window.

There’s that classic thing that many a mecha story does of what the pilot’s relationship is to their mech in conjunction with feelings over the body. There’s also the fact that even in such a desolate world, something as simple as the radio can still persist, each station sharing a small expression of itself for whoever happens upon it. A lot of big feelings for such a short run time!

A big recommendation from me for those in search of a short, punchy game that feels fitting for the times we live in. You can pick it up, for free I might add, on itch.io.

Logitech G (Logitech’s gaming-focused storefront) is offering a fantastic deal on its most popular racing wheel set. Right now the Logitech G923 Trueforce Racing Wheel and Pedal Set is down to $299.99 after a $100 off instant discount. Apply two coupon codes “F-SHIFT” and “DRLUPO” to drop the price to $214.99 and a free Driving Force Shifter is automatically added to cart. Finally, there’s an option to add a free pair of Trueforce Racing Gloves. This is far and away the best deal I’ve seen for this racing wheel and I highly doubt we’ll find a better deal for the rest of the year. There are all brand new, ship for free, and you’re buying it directly from Logitech so you’re eligible for the excellent 2 year warranty.

Logitech G923 Trueforce Racing Wheel Set for $214.99

Includes free Driving Force Shifter and Trueforce Racing Gloves

Keep your hands at 10 and 2, drivers, as Ironwood Studios has just offered up a first look at Pacific Drive’s first big expansion, Whispers in the Woods. Where the survival game has a sort of Stalker-but-you’re-in-a-car kind of feel, this DLC looks like it’s fully leaning into some horror vibes. The first half of the trailer has some real ’70s era, found footage horror vibes, which feels laser targeted at my artistic proclivities.

It’s sounding like a pretty meaty expansion too. According to the DLC’s Steam page, the full thing runs between 8-12 hours long, with the whole thing fully voiced, complete with new characters and “additional side narrative to discover.” I’m quite fond of this ominous line describing the expansion’s plot: “They have come to the Zone and left their mark. Travel into the whispering woods of the OEZ – a disturbing vision of the once familiar forests.”

There’s new maps and junction types to be found, some fresh parts and cosmetics to kit your car out with designed by this mysterious group, and of course more anomalies and anomaly behaviours. The big addition that’s coming with Whispers in the Woods is a new gameplay system called Artifacts. These are mysterious objects that change and affect both you and the world itself, adding a bit of challenge while also being something you’ll need to use to not be sent to the scrap heap in the sky.

On top of all that, there’s more garage stations, route modifiers, garage cosmetics, and a new lot of music from composer Wilbert Roget II – great name by the way.

No release date on the expansion, but it is slated to arrive before the end of the year. And the base game is 50% off on Steam, so now seems like a great time to head out for a test drive.

Hello! I’m Blake from the Ironwood Studios team and we’re proud to introduce Whispers in the Woods, a major narrative and gameplay expansion to Pacific Drive.

When Pacific Drive first launched in February 2024, players joined their trusty station wagon to brave the haunting, anomaly-filled Olympic Exclusion Zone. The game’s unique blend of driving, tense exploration, and scrappy car maintenance quickly resonated with fans of car and survival games alike. Now, we are excited to bring players back to the driver’s seat and back to the Zone in Whispers in the Woods, coming later this year for Playstation 5.

Return to the Zone

Whispers in the Woods takes you on a brand-new adventure back into the Olympic Exclusion Zone. Available after your first few hours in the game, the expansion can be pursued alongside your main campaign and explores the rise of a terrifying group of anomaly obsessed fanatics hidden deep within the depths of the forests.

With their appearance, the expansion brings a change to the woods of The Zone unlike anything you’ve seen before. Not only do new anomalies roam the forests, but massive effigies adorned with cryptic symbols fill the landscape as the game’s atmosphere takes on a darker more horror focused tone.

“From the very beginning, we knew we wanted to take the mysteries of the Olympic Exclusion Zone in a new direction for this Expansion.” says Cassandra Dracott, Creative Director at Ironwood Studios. “We had heard so much feedback and so many stories about the fear people had experienced in Pacific Drive and in With Whispers in the Woods, we knew we wanted to lean hard in that direction.”

It’s not just a tonally different experience either. We’ve added an entirely new fully voiced narrative in the expansion and with it, we are able to continue building on the world of the game and the surreal nature of the Zone. We’ll leave you to theorize what happens next – but it wouldn’t be Pacific Drive if we weren’t also giving you new experiences to have with your 4 wheeled companion.

Discover Artifacts

Whispers in the Woods brings more of everything you’d hope for in a Pacific Drive expansion. New items, car parts, cosmetics, junction types, and anomalies await. We’ve even added new behaviors to old anomalies to help keep you on your toes. The largest and most significant addition however, are the brand new Artifacts.

“As you collect these mysterious objects, you will have to contend with their unpredictable car and world altering effects, forcing you to constantly adapt and change your strategy on the fly.” adds Richard Weschler, Lead Designer on Whispers in the Woods.

Created by our mysterious group of fanatics, Artifacts are the expansion’s gameplay centerpiece. Inspired by our quirk system, each Artifact is imbued with a condition and an effect said condition creates. Perhaps every time you jump, your car horn honks. Maybe when your car horn honks it also takes damage. While some may grant you strange advantages, others will add twists and turns to how you play. Artifacts can even play off of each other to create chain reactions.

It is up to you to figure out which Artifacts are the right ones for your time in the Zone. No matter what type of Artifact you and your wagon find, two things are true: collecting many of them will be critical to your time in the Whispering Woods, and if you hold too many, much more dangerous things deep within the forests will slowly awaken.

A major expansion for new and returning players

Since its release, we are proud to have more than one million players globally. In the 18 months since launch, we’ve continued to support the game with multiple free updates like April 2025’s Endless Expeditions update, which added endless trips into the Zone, doubled the size of the radio tracklist, and added  the suspend run feature.

Whispers in the Woods however, is the studio’s most ambitious update yet. With hours of new gameplay and story content, plus an explorable region close to one-third the size of the base game, the expansion represents a significant step forward for both new and returning fans and we’re incredibly excited for everyone to experience it.

“We see this release as both for our longtime players and a welcome sign for newcomers,” Cassandra adds. “If you’ve been driving through the Zone since day one, Whispers in the Woods is going to add a brand new, more terrifying  take on the Olympic Exclusion Zone. And if you’re just starting out, this expansion marks the best version of the game to date with new systems and content to find and explore.”

Whether you’re returning to your familiar station wagon or starting fresh on your first trip into the Zone, Pacific Drive: Whispers in the Woods offers a haunting new journey and we can’t wait for you to experience it later this year on Playstation 5.

With Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate, the Destiny development team launched a new saga for Guardians everywhere. In the expansion, players explore the planetoid of Kepler, located on the edge of the Sol system, offering intrigue, adventure, and access to strange powers that Guardians used to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and progress deeper into the location’s mysteries. 

Today, the next chapter in the story is unveiled with the Ash & Iron major update. Ash & Iron will feature, among other rewards and activities, a new Exotic Mission (coming in October) and a new three-player activity known as Reclaim. A fast-paced and constantly evolving Fireteam Ops activity, Reclaim will find Guardians searching for Golden Age tech in the Plaguelands, which just so happens to be the foothold for antagonist Maya Sundaresh. 

“The Vanguard is sending Guardians in on what feels like a form of guerrilla warfare — short, sharp strikes to reclaim territory and recover Golden Age assets before they can be turned against us,” said Destiny 2 design lead Clayton Kisko. “The Vex are the primary force holding these zones, but they’re not alone. Reclaim is all about methodically dismantling Maya’s presence, uncovering what her motivation is for pursuing the Golden Age technology, and reestablishing control in an area that’s been contested for too long.”

What will be standing in Guardians’ way is more than just those pesky Vex. One of the pillars for Reclaim was variety and dynamic challenge. “No two runs should feel exactly alike,” said Destiny 2 creative director Ben Wommack. “One run might ask you to defend a point under waves of enemies, while the next could push you to unlock a Vex code password. Enemy lineups shift between the different versions of Reclaim, and enemy compositions shift between runs. You may face off against Vex forces in one activity and a different enemy faction the next. Bosses are randomized, and between activities, each comes with its own set of mechanics that evolve in higher difficulties.”

The strategic elements that result from those dynamic challenges give Reclaim its replayability, offering players multiple ways to complete an encounter. “You might uncover hidden chests tucked away in the environment, track down and eliminate roaming high-value targets, or choose from any of the available encounters scattered around the space — each with their own mechanics and enemy compositions,” said Destiny senior design lead Jason Reynolds. “You’ll also find research objects that can be gathered and turned over to the Vanguard to advance the mission. The ‘problem’ isn’t just about surviving the fight in front of you, it’s about deciding how you want to move the progress meter forward. Do you split up to cover more ground and gather efficiently, or stick together and muscle through one encounter at a time?”

That Golden Age tech that you’re hunting for in Reclaim is more than just a sci-fi MacGuffin, too. Uncovering Golden Age devices will offer a chance at buffs that will change a fireteam’s approach to an encounter. “They aren’t entirely predictable, which adds to the excitement, but they also reward exploration and awareness,” said Kisko. “A team that communicates, checks side paths, and experiments a bit is going to have a better chance of uncovering these advantages than one that just burns straight through the objective. It’s another way for us to reward attentiveness and teamwork. And how about this for a tease: We have one that makes you eternally radiant AND amplified for the remainder of the activity.”

“When you layer in the Golden Age buff system, suddenly every run becomes a mix of tactical decisions and on-the-fly problem solving,” said Wommack. “That’s the essence of Reclaim: different fireteams can succeed in different ways, and your choices shape the path through each playthrough.”

The new Reclaim activity is available today with the launch of the Ash & Iron major update in Destiny 2. 

In addition, today Bungie revealed the next expansion in the Fate Saga, Destiny 2: Renegades, inspired by the Star Wars universe. Following the events of The Edge of Fate, players will defy the Vanguard to pursue Drifter across Sol, navigating a world of shadows and syndicates in the new social hub, Tharsis Outpost, as they work across story missions to build a crew and resist a rising faction tied to the Nine.

At the heart of Renegades is the Lawless Frontier, a chaotic, cooperative new game mode, where players take on a variety of high-risk jobs and contracts to earn reputation, unlock all-new Renegade abilities that change the tide of battle, and wield weapons that include the iconic Praxic Blade and an energy-based arsenal from the new Blaster archetype. Beyond this frontier, players will venture off-planet to face unique challenges in a new dungeon launching shortly after release.

Destiny 2 Renegades is available for pre-order now and launches on December 2. 

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

View and download image

While the world was officially introduced to PlayStation back in 1994, this month heralds another special occasion in PlayStation history worth celebrating. September 2025 marks 30 years since PlayStation launched in North America and Europe, bringing players together across the world with the gift of gaming. 

To keep our 30th anniversary celebration going, we want to see and hear your stories with PlayStation over the last three decades. To do that, through the month of September we’re inviting players to share the memories of your journey with PlayStation. Here’s how:

How to Participate

Starting today through September 23, 2025, players can share pictures or videos of their memories with PlayStation – unboxing a console from the original PlayStation to PS5, receiving one as a gift, holding a favorite controller or PlayStation exclusive title – on X or Instagram using the hashtag #PlayStation30Memories*. Make sure to tell us your name, where you’re from, and the story behind your memory. 

At the end of that submission window, we’ll select memories to be included in a 30th Anniversary highlight reel to commemorate our journey together and share on our blog and social channels.

We can’t wait to go on this trip down memory lane with you, and to continue making new ones. 

*By posting a photo or video with the #PlayStation30Memories hashtag to X or Instagram between now and September 23, 2025 you are agreeing that Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC may use the content (including your social media username, name, and location) as described in your post, edit and display it alongside other content and to promote it as part of the PlayStation 30th Anniversary campaign. Posts should comply with the X and Instagram terms of service (as applicable). This promotion is not associated with or sponsored, endorsed, or administered by X or Instagram. 

Disney Lorcana launched its ninth set, Fabled, last week, and from stunning Goofy Movie cards to new Iconic and Epic rarities, there’s an awful lot to like about it.

For starters, that includes the new Mickey Mouse – Brave Little Prince (Iconic), which’s already selling for over $1000 on resale sites like TCGPlayer and eBay, while its new “Iconic” pairing, Minnie Mouse – Sweetheart Princess, isn’t exactly cheap either, and currently fetching around $865 market price.

Prices will continue to fluctuate in the coming weeks and months, but with the full set out now, we’ve also been taking a deep dive into all the prettiest, priciest cards from it.

While the first-ever Iconic cards are, understandably, fetching sizeable fees, plenty of the other “Enchanted” cards are also reaching hundreds of dollars already, and are definitely worth chasing as well. Using data from our friends at TCGPlayer, here are the most expensive cards in the Fabled set of Disney Lorcana, and where to find them.

Powerline – World’s Greatest Rock Star (Enchanted)

Circle of Life

1

Sitting just above Powerline is the Enchanted version of Circle of Life, coming in at around $177.

The artwork is gorgeous, you can bring back a discarded card, and I’m always happy to see anything from The Lion King. Which brings us nicely to…

Scar – Finally King (Enchanted)

Scar – Finally King

1

Sitting at around $205, Scar – Finally King’s Enchanted version has more amazing artwork showing the one-time ruler of Pride Rock chatting to a skull and smirking.

He buffs allies, then turns that into card draw, which is basically what you’d expect from the self-centred brother of Mufasa.

Winnie the Pooh – Hunny Wizard (Enchanted)

Winnie the Pooh – Hunny Wizard

1

Reprints are great ways to lower the cost of cards, but this Fabled version of Winnie the Pooh – Hunny Wizard is going for $220.

And you know what? We get it. Look at him, all happy with his borderless treatment.

Hades – Infernal Schemer (Enchanted)

Hades – Infernal Schemer

1

Laying my (Lorcana) cards on the table here, Hades – Infernal Schemer (Enchanted) might be my favorite card on this list.

He’s another reprint, and looks incredible. His value is rising, too, with a market value of $250 but already selling for more than that.

Lilo – Best Explorer Ever (Enchanted)

Lilo – Best Explorer Ever

1

This adorable Lilo – Best Explorer Ever card isn’t a reprint, and grants Challenger to allies. The standard artwork, with Stitch lurking in the background, is great, but this one makes him even harder to spot so that Lilo can be the clear focus in her spacesuit.

The card is sitting at $255, marginally more than Hades, but it does seem to be dropping slightly.

Belle – Accomplished Mystic (Enchanted)

Belle – Accomplished Mystic

1

Belle – Accomplished Mystic marks the first of a quartet of ‘classic’ Disney characters that finish off this list, and she’s a reprint of a Super Rare that appeared in Ursula’s Return.

She’s at the $315 mark right now, but has sold for under $300.

Dumbo – Ninth Wonder of the Universe (Enchanted)

Dumbo – Ninth Wonder of the Universe

1

Another new card, Dumbo – Ninth Wonder of the Universe is currently sitting at around $365 and selling for around that, too.

He’s not only adorable in this picture, but he’s handy to have if you’re looking to rack up lore with his abilities.

Minnie Mouse – Sweetheart Princess (Iconic)

Minnie Mouse – Sweetheart Princess

3

Surprising no one, it’s the new Iconic artwork that takes the top two spots of our list, starting with Minnie Mouse – Sweetheart Princess.

She’ll set you back around $865 right now, but has sold for around $120 less than that. Will she climb further, or is that a sign of an imminent drop? We’ll know more in the coming days.

Mickey Mouse – Brave Little Prince (Iconic)

Mickey Mouse – Brave Little Prince

1

“Oh boy!” – Mickey Mouse, upon seeing that his Mickey Mouse – Brave Little Prince (Iconic) card has a market value of over $1000, presumably.

Mickey’s the most expensive card on this list by some distance, and will set you back $1,022. Still, he’s sold for just shy of $900, so there’s some wiggle room.

Being one of the first iconic cards, and an absolutely beautiful looking one at that, I’m not surprised this is demanding a pretty penny right now. At the time of writing, it’s the most valuable Disney Lorcana card ever.

Where to Buy Disney Lorcana’s Fabled Set

Thankfully, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to get started with Lorcana.

The Fabled set sees the debut of a new Collection Starter Set to help you get started with collecting the heroes and villains of the Disney universe, and it includes 4 booster packs (a total of 48 cards), a portfolio binder for Mickey Mouse – Brave Little Tailor, a collector’s guide, and a Glimmer Foil variant of Tinker Bell – Giant Fairy.

Then there are preconstructed decks, Illumineer’s Trove boxes, and boosters you can buy, too.

Disney Lorcana – New Epic and Iconic Rarities Explained

As I mentioned, Disney Lorcana has expanded its rarity system in the new Fabled set with two new tiers: Epic and Iconic. Epic cards sit between Legendary and Enchanted, making them rarer than the former but easier to find than the latter.

These are alternate versions of existing cards that reuse Standard artwork but get a premium treatment, including an “open air” frame, rainbow foiling, and glossy highlights.

Iconic cards, meanwhile, now take the crown as Lorcana’s rarest chase cards. Only two appear per set, each featuring alternate full-card artwork that continues behind the text box, along with a raised 3D hot stamp effect and a shimmering custom lore star foil.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.

This article contains contributions from Robert Anderson.

My personal pick for 2024 Game of the Year was Pacific Drive, a game that is hard to describe briefly. It’s a game in which you upgrade and repair a station wagon that you drive through a very strange stretch of forest roads in the Pacific Northwest, known in the game as the Olympic Exclusion Zone. It’s a game that, at different times, gave me feelings of Stalker, The X-Files, and Remedy’s Control, with SCP-like weirdnesses lurking on the roads or in the woods. It wasn’t exactly a horror game before, but thanks to its upcoming expansion, Whispers in the Woods, it will be one soon.

Whispers in the Woods is Pacific Drive’s upcoming 8- to 12-hour expansion that gives it a haunting overhaul. It’s the game’s first “true expansion,” Ironwood Studios founder and creative director Cassandra Dracott told me, following a number of patches and content updates since the game debuted in February 2024. It’ll be playable from within the base game and focuses on a group of “fanatics” who are obsessed with the game’s many anomalies.

Back when I reviewed the game, it definitely creeped me out, so I’ve always felt like it was a horror game, but I learned that wasn’t everyone’s experience.

“[Pacific Drive] is a story about you and your car, and for some people, driving around in the woods is a very scary experience. But we didn’t do a lot to intentionally build on that horror. We just wanted to build on the atmosphere,” Dracott said. But the team at Ironwood was influenced by “how scary the game was for some people,” leading to them taking this expansion much farther down that path. “And it felt very natural as well. Like, we built a very atmospheric experience […] Our game is built on the familiar, right? We have this car. It is your car. You have your garage. It’s your space, right? And it’s very easy to start to question the safety of, like, ‘How alone are you right now?’”

Dracott explained how the expansion adds a gameplay element called Artifacts, which are “mysterious objects that are left behind by this enigmatic group” that build on top of each other to create new experiences with each trip outside of the warm light of your garage.

“So it could be something like when you jump, your car horn honks, and we tell you what it is right away. But then you may get another one later that says when the car horn honks, your car takes damage, and they’re important for the progression of the expansion, so they play a critical role in how you’re making your way through the new areas of the DLC. But holding too many of them causes bad things to happen, and can draw the attraction of some less-than-positive things out in the Zone. And so we want to present players with this choice of, ‘Which artifact do I take? Which one interacts with the ones that I already have? Is this too many? Do I want to push my luck?’”

The thing about the original game’s anomalies is that they could be harmful and disruptive, but they were more or less naturally occurring elements of the game’s weird woods. I wondered if, in the expansion, those types of encounters are being altered to reflect something more like a traditional horror game, such as chase sequences or true “enemies,” rather than anomalies that may spell doom, but did so without malice or intention.

“From a high level, we aren’t changing up the structure of how we deliver narrative. So, you know, we are introducing new voiced characters into the game, but they are voices, right? Like that is the primary way that we communicate. We’re not reinventing the wheel there–pardon the car pun. But, but there is something out there, and what that is and how alone you really are, I think that’s something to leave to the players when they get a chance to check it out. But yeah, I think you’re picking up on the right questions.”

Given that some players played Pacific Drive like me–already a bit creeped out–Dracott explained how the team sought to lean into a new-ish genre without abandoning the core gameplay “verbs” of Pacific Drive.

“I’ve always been fascinated with any horror that takes something that is comfortable and shifts it,” Dracott said. “Comfort is the thing you want to mess with when you start to introduce these elements that can make you nervous, make you afraid, make you not expect the thing that may happen. But at the same time, we do want to change up some of the systems, because we want the players to engage with the game slightly differently, but we’re pretty careful about that.”

Dracott said a new anomaly called Harvestmen is a good example of how Whispers in the Woods will walk that line between tweaking older systems and building in new ones.

“[Harvestmen] are part of the resource economy in the expansion, and so you have to go and engage with them,” she said. “There is no other way to get the resources that they are connected to. We really did want to double down and focus on saying, ‘Okay, let’s create some anomalies where the player has to go and engage with them.’ And so in that sense, we did change [the game’s loop]. And that’s a positive change because the car is a story generator. ‘Did I forget to put it in park? Is it rolling down the hill?’ But the anomalies are multiplicative on that. So, ‘Is the abductor grabbing my car and pulling it along? Do I have a leech that is making my lights do funny things?’ There are all kinds of different ways [it can go]. So by pushing the player towards anomalies directly, we spice that up. We add more opportunities for those stories.”

Dracott left me to consider who those cloaked figures in the trailer may be, and the broader story implications of driving in the Olympic Exclusion Zone with the sudden emergence of threatening cultists, but I’m happy to make sense of that story myself when the expansion releases later this year. Pacific Drive wasn’t a horror game, at least not definitively. At least not until now.