The MCU’s favorite web-crawler will return to theaters in 2026. Spider-Man 4 will debut shortly after Avengers: Doomsday that year, with star Tom Holland confirming that production will begin mid-2025.
Spider-Man 2’s New Web Wings Make It Feel Like A Proper Sequel
“Next summer we start shooting. Everything’s good to go, We’re nearly there,” Holland said in an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this week. “Super exciting. I can’t wait!” Spider-Man 4, the follow up to 2021’s No Way Home, will officially release on July 24, 2026.
That puts it just a couple months after Avengers: Doomsday, which debuts on May 1 of that year, and stars Robert Downey Jr. as the titular Fantastic Four villain, as was revealed earlier this year at San Diego Comic Con 2024. That grouping recreates the previous one-two comic book punch when Far From Home released shortly after Avengers: Endgame, capping off the multi-year, multi-movie MCU saga.
The sequel will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who made Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and presumably have some tie-in with the greater MCU, though it’s not clear how exactly yet. “I’ve been speaking to [Robert Downey Jr.] a lot, especially about him making his [Marvel] return, which is super exciting,” Holland said on the Rich Rollpodcast earlier this month. “That was a tough secret to sit on because I have a reputation for ruining things and I strategically have done no press.”
The young actor, who also starred in 2022’s Uncharted, an adaptation of the hit PlayStation games, said the script for Spider-Man 4 had him excited. “We have a creative and we have a pitch and a draft, which is excellent. It needs work, but the writers are doing a great job. I read it three weeks ago and it really lit a fire in me,” Holland told the Rich Roll podcast. “Zendaya and I sat down and read it together and we at times were bouncing around the living room like this is a real movie worthy of the fans’ respect.”
Once in a while, a remarkable game comes along to the too-often underdeveloped space of VR, that challenges the belief that magic head-goggles are a niche product. Could Batman: Arkham Shadow be one such example? Here’s everything you need to know.
The Week In Games: Killing Your Heroes, And More New Releases
Early word suggests that like Half Life: Alyx before it, Batman: Arkham Shadow could be a stellar showing for the VR world, that grants full control of the world’s greatest detective as he solves a new mystery in Gotham City—and beats down a bunch of bad guys in the process, obviously. If you’ve been curious about Batman: Arkham Shadow let’s see if we can answer your questions.
Is Batman: Arkham Shadow a direct sequel?
It’s been a long while since we’ve received a game in the Arkham series, so you might be delighted to hear that Batman: Arkham Shadow is set within that same universe.
Taking place between the events of Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Asylum, it casts you as the Caped Crusader once again, as he seeks to protect Gotham City from a fresh threat known as the Rat King. This new villain has abducted a variety of officials from the city, with plans for their execution, giving Batman only a week to rescue them and enact justice once more.
Despite being part of the grander Arkham universe, though, you shouldn’t feel the need to have played the other games in the series. While there are plenty of references and plot points that franchise fans will no doubt pick up on, Batman: Arkham Shadow remains a perfectly enjoyable standalone Gotham adventure.
Who developed Batman: Arkham Shadow?
Batman: Arkham Shadow was developed by Meta-owned developer Camouflaj, the team behind 2020’s fairly well-received PSVR exclusive, Iron Man VR. Before getting bought by Meta to work in-house on VR games, Camouflaj also made episodic stealth game, République.
What platforms is Batman: Arkham Shadow available for?
Batman: Arkham Shadow is exclusively available for the Meta Quest 3 VR headset. As of this writing, Camouflaj has not revealed any plans to bring the game to competing headsets like PlayStation VR2, although given they’re owned by Meta, that seems very unlikely. It’s Meta Quest 3 or nothing if you’re interested in playing it anytime soon.
The good news is that anyone who buys a Meta Quest 3 or Meta Quest 3S before April 25, 2025 will receive Batman: Arkham Shadow included with the purchase of the headset. If you’ve been VR-curious but haven’t taken the plunge yet, I’d say that’s a pretty good incentive!
That being said, the Meta Quest 3 can feel a bit pricey at $499. If you don’t mind the slight (though admittedly noticeable) downgrade in pixel count and resolution, the Meta Quest 3S retains a lot of the same technology for $299.
Who voices Batman in Batman: Arkham Shadow?
Screenshot: Oculus Studios / Kotaku
Fans will be thrilled to hear that Arkham Origins’ Roger Craig Smith returns once again to voice The Dark Knight himself. Smith, also known for voicing popular video game characters like Ezio from Assassin’s Creed and Chris Redfield from Resident Evil, is often rated as one of the best actors to bring life to Bruce Wayne and his ass-kicking detective alter ego, since the sad death of Kevin Conroy in 2022.
Other notable stars in the game include Elijah Wood as Scarecrow, Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, Troy Baker as Harvey Dent, and The Walking Dead’s Khary Payton as The Ratcatcher (not to be confused with the Rat King). All in all, it’s clearly a star-studded cast.
How long is Batman: Arkham Shadow?
Many VR games are on the shorter side, so you may be surprised to hear that Batman: Arkham Shadow can take quite a while to complete. As a matter of fact, clearing the game without any side content can take 8 to 10 hours. If you want to see and do everything in this VR recreation of Gotham City, you can spend up to 15 hours tracking down various types of collectibles and completing unique challenges.
Batman: Arkham Shadow is available now on Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S for $49.99.
Game developer Insomniac confirmed that the studio has no plans to develop story DLC for 2023’s action-adventure Spider-Man 2, likely disappointing many fans who had been hoping for more content.
Spider-Man 2’s New Web Wings Make It Feel Like A Proper Sequel
On October 18, Insomniac and Sony announced that Spider-Man 2 was coming to PC in January, just 15 months after it launched exclusively on PlayStation 5 to rave reviews. It’s one of the fastest turnarounds we’ve seen for a PlayStation-published exclusive title to make the leap to PC and seems to indicate that Sony is fully committed to bringing its hit games to Steam. But for fans hoping that today’s PC port news would come alongside the reveal of story DLC for Spider-Man 2, well, bad news: That’s not happening.
In a post on the official PlayStation Blog announcing Spider-Man 2‘s PC port and what fans can expect, Insomanic’s senior community manager Aaron Jason Espinoza confirmed that the studio isn’t working on or planning any further story DLC for Spider-Man 2 on PC or PS5.
“While we have no additional story content planned for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we’re delighted to bring all of our previously released post-launch content to the PC version, including New Game+, new suits and color variants, Photo Mode features, and more,” said Espinoza.
Fans had hoped for Spider-Man 2 DLC after the first Insomniac Spider-Man game received three paid DLC episodes that made up an expansion known as The City That Never Sleeps. However, Miles Morales, a standalone Spider-Man spin-off game launched in 2020, never got DLC. Still, fans were hopeful, even wondering if they’d get more Venom content. Today’s news confirms that Insomniac is moving on from Spider-Man 2. The studio is working on a previously confirmed Wolverine game as well as an unannounced X-Men game, which we learned about via malicious hack in late 2023. A Spider-Man 3 is also reportedly happening, too.
We’re firmly in the era of the video-game-to-prestige-TV-adaptation pipeline, and you know what? It might not be all that bad. Coming off the impressive results of HBO’s The Last of Usand Amazon Prime’s Fallout TV show, we now have the first full trailer for Like a Dragon: Yakuza and it’s looking really good so far.
Total Recall: Why Yakuza Is So Much More Than A Japanese GTA
Out on Prime Video on October 24, Like a Dragon: Yakuzaadapts the hit Sega sandbox action series beloved for mixing criminal underworld drama with fun open-world gaming hijinks. While we don’t get a ton of the off-kilter humor and quirky flamboyancy of the Like a Dragon games (previously known as Yakuza in the West) from the first extended trailer, we do get an introduction to some slick action and high-stakes dialogue.
Here’s a look:
The show will follow former yakuza Kazuma Kiryu, played by Ryoma Takeuchi of Kamen Rider fame, as he’s drawn into a conspiracy of rival factions and conflicting allegiances on the streets of Tokyo. Drawing mostly from the original 2005 Yakuza game, the first trailer shows a lot of familiar faces, including the Shimano Family mad dog Goro Majima. About a minute into the trailer, longtime fans are rewarded with his iconic “Kiryu-Chan!” line delivery.
The timing of Like a Dragon: Yakuza’s arrival has been surprisingly fortuitous. While the streaming wars appear to be losing gas, video game adaptations have helped breathe some new life into online TV. And while a subtitled Japanese thriller might have previously seemed like a tougher sell, Hulu’s Shōgun stole the show at the recent 2024 Emmy Awards, and Sony has already doubled-down on further adaptations of its Ghost of Tsushima series, including for its upcoming sequel, Ghost of Yōtei.
And for anyone who’s somehow managed to remain on the periphery of the Like a Dragon/Yakuza games these last several years, there have never been more ways to dip your toes into the Kamurochō district, from the Yakuza Kiwami remakes of the early games to recent turn-based spin-offs like Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. And another game in that lineage has already been announced, with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii starring Goro Majima arriving early next year.
I was staring at a wall. It was an early mission in Ubisoft’s latest behemothic RPG, Star Wars Outlaws, in which I was charged with infiltrating an Empire base to recover some information from a computer, and this wall really caught my attention.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Kotaku
It was a perfect wall. It absolutely captured that late-70s sci-fi aesthetic of dark gray cladding broken up by utilitarian-gray panels covered in dull blinking lights, and I stopped to think about how much work must have gone into that wall. Looking elsewhere on the screen, I was then overwhelmed. This wall was the most bland thing in a vast hanger, where TIE Fighters hung from the ceiling, Stormtroopers wandered in groups below, and even the little white sign with the yellow arrow looked like it was a decade old, meticulously crafted to fit into this universe. I felt sheer astonishment at the achievement of this. Ubisoft, via multiple studios across the whole world, and the work of thousands of deeply talented people, had built this impossibly perfect area for one momentary scene that I was intended to run straight past.
Except I ran past it three times, because the AI kept fucking up and I was restarted at a checkpoint right before that gray wall over and over.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Kotaku
I’m struggling to capture the dissonance of this moment. This sense of absolute awe, almost unbelieving admiration that it’s even possible to build games at this scale and at this detail, slapped hard around the face by the bewilderingly bad decisions that take place within it all.
To be excited about a beautifully crafted wall is to set yourself up for an aneurysm when you start to notice the tiny, inflecting details on characters’ faces, or the scrupulous idle animations of a bored guard. Then as I tried to conceive that this same level of care was taking place across thousands of locations in multiple cities over a handful of planets, my genuine thought was: “It’s ridiculous that we mark these games on the same criteria as others.” How can someone look at this, this majesty, and say, “Hmmm, seven out of ten?” And then a guard sees me through a solid hillside and ruins fifteen minutes of painstaking stealth, and I wonder how it can be on sale at all.
In 2024, we have reached the most deeply peculiar place, where AAA games are feats that humanity would once have recognized as literal wonders, and yet play with the same irritating issues and tedious repetition as we saw in the 90s. This contrast, this dissonance, is absolutely fascinating.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Kotaku
Ubisoft strikes me as the leader in this bizarre space. I have, for years, been delighted and bemused by what that company is capable of creating, albeit often not in positive ways. The Assassin’s Creed series routinely builds entire cities, even countries, in authentic detail, to the point where we almost take it for granted. It has always struck me as the most horrendous waste that a game like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey can recreate ancient Greece in such wonderful detail, and then gets thrown away, that entire digital space never used again for anything else. It could be given to the world, offered as a setting for a thousand indie games, reused and recycled as such an achievement deserves. Instead, it’s there for that single game, where we reasonably kvetch about the frustrating details of a broken quest, or at how crowd AI bugs out at crucial moments.
And this is only to touch on the art and architecture. We’re not even mentioning the fantastic writing, the exquisite voice acting, the sound effects, the musical score, the lighting, the concept art that makes such designs possible, and the direction and leadership that can bring all these disparate parts together. All as a backdrop to my repeating the run across the gantry because a distant AI decided to be triggered by a Nix it couldn’t possibly see, or because that time when I pressed Square it decided to throw a punch instead of trigger a takedown.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Kotaku
I’m old enough to remember a time when we’d lament that a beautifully drawn point-and-click adventure was no fun to play, and be so disappointed that such lovely artistic skill had been the backdrop for illogical puzzles and bad writing. Imagine the camera shot pulling out from that adventure game and revealing the room it’s in, the house that contains that room, the town that house is in, the city that town forms part of, and the country in which that city exists—that gets you close to the scale at which the same issue plagues us 40 years later.
Just that opening city in Outlaws, Mirogana, is more than gaming was capable of ten years ago, let alone 40. It, alone, would be enough for an entire game, with plots and missions and characters. And it’s a blip in this game’s mindblowing breadth. I cannot over-express the scale of what’s offered here, and how incongruous it feels that it can all feel so easily dismissed given such fundamental errors. Errors that mean the game attracts headlines like, “Star Wars Outlaws Is Too Simplistic For Its Own Good.” And I get it! I know what the article means! It’s right that its stealth is banal and badly implemented, and yet such a core element of the game. But God damn, why are we able to reasonably call this creation “simplistic”?
I’ve no idea what the solution can possibly be, but I feel it sits somewhere in a new order of priority. One that involves scaling back the ambition of everything that a large-scale developer knows it can achieve, and re-focuses resources on fixing the absolute basics that it so often cannot. Because the tragedy of a piece of art like Outlaws—or any number of other architectural masterpieces that we see come and go in this industry every month—being able to be sniffed at with a (deserved) 7/10, is too awful.
At Gamescom this year, I saw a talk (currently embargoed) about how wind will cause a game’s world to behave differently, and on one level it was incredible stuff, a technological marvel. But on another, it’s going to offer absolutely nothing if that game’s basic loops are dreary, or if the enemy AI is going to endlessly run into beautifully rendered walls. It could end up being a 7/10 game with technologically astounding wind.
And so I come back to that wall. And I thank everyone involved in making it so special, the artists who spent so long ensuring it felt authentic, and the level designers who placed it, and the people responsible for collision detection who ensured I couldn’t walk through it, and the people who coded the Snowdrop engine so it could exist at all, and the producers who encouraged the developers who implemented it, and every single person who was in some way responsible for making me that wall to momentarily stare at. And I wish I hadn’t had to sneak past it quite so many times.
Reports of a game set in the universe of Matt Reeves’ The Batmanare, apparently, greatly exaggerated. The internet was swirling with rumors of such a game’s existence on the morning of August 30, with many hoping that such a project was real. However, none other than James Gunn, the head of DC films, weighed in to set the record state.
Tears Of The Kingdom’s Newspaper Questline And The State Of Hyrulean Journalism
The rumors stem from an article on news site Puckdiscussing the state of Warner Bros. and the outlook of its CEO, David Zaslav, on selling assets. The article states that former Warner Bros. parent company AT&T decided against selling the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment division responsible for games because it was “too valuable to unload.” The article goes on to claim that, in addition to the upcoming Penguin HBO show, there is a game in development “rooted in the 2022 The Batman movie.” This one line made fans theorize on what this could be, and if the game itself would be more closely tied to the movie or the Colin Farrell series. If true, this would be the first Batman game set in the Reeves’ universe. However, it seems the game does not actually exist.
On social media site Threads, a user directly asked James Gunn if there was any accuracy to the rumors. Gunn succinctly shut them down by saying, “Sadly there is no truth to this whatsoever.” For hopeful fans, though, the use of “sadly” may suggest that he does hope a project like this will exist at some point. Batman fans are long overdue for another great game starring the caped crusader. 2025 will mark the tenth anniversary of Batman: Arkham Knight’s release, which is arguably the last good Batman game Warner Bros. has released. If you are really craving another Batman game, however, the VR title Batman: Arkham Shadowis set to release this fall, and it actually looks kind of good! Still, hope springs eternal for another amazing AAA Batman game.
Image: Kotaku / Ubisoft / Sony / Rocksteady / Nosyrevy (Getty Images), Digital Sun, Vicky Leta / Blizzard, Nintendo, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios / Sega, Cyan Worlds Inc
This week, Ubisoft released a statement addressing what might generously be called a “controversy” about the upcoming Assassin’s Creed game, Shadows. Let’s be real, though. It’s just the latest salvo from a reactionary hate movement. You can read our thoughts on that, the terrific texture of Yakuza 0, the missteps of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, the amazing sound design of the Riven remake, and more, in the pages ahead.
Since the announcement of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, fans of the series have been expressing their excitement over Zelda’s unique gameplay. Chiefly, they are overjoyed about her ability to copy (or echo) items in the environment and use them against her enemies in battle.
Tears Of The Kingdom’s Newspaper Questline And The State Of Hyrulean Journalism
Echoes of Wisdom finally drops players into a mainline entry of the series as the titular princess. When Link goes missing just as he rescues her from Ganon, dark rifts begin to tear apart Hyrule, and Zelda just barely escapes them. With Hyrule’s typical savior out of the picture, it falls on Zelda to save her land and people, and she accomplishes this with the help of Tri, a fairy she encounters as all is falling apart. Tri grants Zelda the Tri Rod, which allows her to copy objects and other creatures in the world in order to navigate environments, solve puzzles, and carry out battles, and it looks great, and indeed poised for numerous jokes and in-game hilarity.
It all started when a clip of the game’s debut trailer showed Zelda copying a boulder, lifting it and throwing it at an enemy. Many fans noted the fact that in most Zelda games, Link has needed a bracelet that allows him a similar ability, and claimed that Zelda had been quietly getting stronger than her stalwart protector and savior.
Eventually, the memes about Echoes of Wisdom’s new copy ability got progressively out of hand. Many of the ones I saw within a few hours of the announcement poked fun at how Zelda might use a table or a chair in battle, akin to a professional wrestler. By comparison, Link has largely used more typical weaponry like the Master Sword, as well as a bow and arrow or bombs. The emphasis on furniture has spawned its own series of posts about domesticity and interior decoration. From there, things spiraled out of control until we hit the natural conclusion that the internet always escalates to: giving Zelda a glock.
But if I had to pick favorites, these final three are the pinnacle of the posts I saw. Sometimes, the internet can be a really funny place.
It’s actually been really joyous to see communities getting excited for what appears, on its face, to be a novel take on the beloved series. I feel my own fervor for Echoes of Wisdom being stoked with every bit of fanart or memes that I see folks posting online, so please keep it coming. This is the kind of energy I can get behind any day of the week. And yes, you’re all right, we should absolutely give Zelda a gun.
Do you like action movies? Do you like the ones where a bunch of crazy nonsense is happening that seems like it defies all the laws of physics? Do you like video games? Good news, all three of those itches are going to be scratched with an adaptation of the Just Cause games.
Will the Fallout TV Series Radiate the Tone of the Video Games?
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Universal’s picked up the rights to the open-world franchise and enlisted Blue Beetle’sÁngel Manuel Soto to direct. Action movie studio 87North will produce the film via Kelly McCormick and action guy David Leitch, coming off the heels of The Fall Guy from earlier in May. Also producing is Story Kitchen, a company that’s already involved in the recent live-action adaptations of Tomb Raider and Sonic the Hedgehog.
The Just Cause games center on Rico Rodriguez, a secret agent tasked with traveling to various islands and saving the people by overthrowing the current regime of whover’s in charge. Since 2006, the series has been well-liked, largely due to the sequels enabling players to create as much carnage as they can by destroying government property with whatever they’ve got on hand. The stories are cliche and not all that interesting, but the games make up for it by allowing players to wreak havoc and pull off some wild death-defying stunts with Rico’s handy grappling hook and wingsuit. If you can imagine a Mission Impossible game that doesn’t take itself all that seriously, that’s basically these games.
Interestingly, a movie adaptation was reportedly getting off the ground back in 2010 (the same year Just Cause 2 released), but nothing came of it. In 2017, Jason Momoa was tapped to play Rico in an adaptation from Atlas director Brad Peyton, which also never happened since at the point, the two were both individually pretty busy. After another false start in 2020, it looks like the stars have aligned for a movie to finally happen. Now if only there were a game along with it: the last entry was Just Cause 4 back in 2018, and Avalanche is currently working on the open-world co-op game Contraband for Xbox, which we haven’t really heard much about since its initial reveal in 2021.
One of the biggest questions heading into MultiVersus’ 1.0 launch has been answered. WB Games’ crossover platform fighter dropped in Open Beta in 2022, and the plan at the time seemed to be a smooth transition to a full launch. Instead the game was temporarily shut down, despite having run multiple Battle Passes and taking real money for skins and other cosmetics. Several months later, a relaunch is right around the corner with 1.0 scheduled for May 28, 2024. So, what happens to all that purchased content, and would there be any compensation for those founding players when MultiVersus returned? The latest wave of info from developer Player First Games has laid it all out, and we’re here with the condensed version. – Lucas White Read More
The ultimate Star Wars selfie, Lego-style.Screenshot: Lego
Nowhere in Star Wars will old Han Solo meet young Han Solo. Yoda is not likely to ever meet Grogu. Princess Leia won’t cross paths with General Leia. Some things are just not going to happen. Unless, well, it’s Lego, where any and everything is possible.
‘I Started a Yoda Fan Club’
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Lego making Star Wars sets and the result has already been excellent. Set after set has already been released immortalizing some of our favorite moments and ships from the Star Wars galaxy. Today though, Lego Star Wars has also released a delightful video showing characters from across the full Star Wars saga—we’re talking High Republic, original trilogy, sequel trilogy, prequel trilogy, Disney+, Rebels, video games, and more—into one massive celebration. It’s sure to bring a smile to your face.
LEGO Star Wars – 25 Years | Celebrate the Season
Obviously, that’s just for fun but it got us thinking about one team-up in particular. Cal Kestis could, hypothetically, meet Cassian Andor right? He’s already met Saw Gerrera who is in this clip with the two of them. That would be pretty awesome, right?
Besides that, I think what I love most about this video are the transitions. They’re so imaginative and energetic. Certainly made with an abundance of care and love for the series.
To grab yourself a little Star Wars Lego action, head here.
Well, this is weird. Pinups of Lara Croft appear to have gone missing inTomb Raider I-III Remastered following a patch earlier this month to fix a bunch of bugs. Whether intentional or not, some fans are now calling it out as heavy-handed censorship of retro classics.
The Week In Games: Reignited Rivalries And More New Releases
Publisher Aspyr released the game’s second update on April 11 and mentioned a litany of changes, but nothing about up-scaled posters of Lara Croft being removed from the locker room in the Sleeping with the Fishes level for Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artefact. Though they still appear when playing with the original graphics settings on, where they look like pixelated postcards, the walls they’re on are now blank when players switch to the remastered graphics settings.
Their removal was first noticed on the Tomb Raider subreddit, before the discovery began trickling out to other corners of the internet last week. “I thought it was bullshit, but nope, Crystal Dynamics played the OG fans. They censored out the pictures in the update,” tweeted one person. “Updates should never be used to retroactively censor games, it’s a form of theft. Any company that engages in this bait & switch behavior should go bankrupt,” tweeted another. To be clear, the original versions of the posters are still available in the games when played in the 1990s mode.
A warning at the start of the remastered collection informs players that Crystal Dynamics, the studio behind the original games, chose to retain offensive stereotypes and imagery to “acknowledge its harmful impact” rather than erase those parts of the series’ legacy. Neither Crystal Dynamics nor Aspyr seemed to have a problem with the pinups previously. In fact, they were promoted as one of “ten remastered details you might have missed” a week after the collection’s launch.
Shortly after the latest patch removed the posters, NexusMods user Dario108 uploaded a mod to restore them in the PC version of the game. Timur Gagiev, the maker of popular open-source port OpenLara, who ended up working for Aspyr on the remasters, retweeted Dario’s link to the mod without saying anything further. Some took this as a sign that the change was intentional despite some potential disagreement behind the scenes.
Aspyr and Gagiev did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft’s long-running open-world RPG series, and Vanderpump Rules, Bravo’s long-running reality TV series, are connected—kind of. It’s rare that two of my biggest, most disparate interests collide so spectacularly as this, but here we are, and it’s all thanks to a man named Jax Taylor.
The Week In Games: Pokémon With Guns And More New Releases
Taylor, one of the former stars of VPR (he left/was fired after season eight, depending upon who you ask) has been claiming for nearly 15 years that the face on the Assassin’s Creed I box art(or II, depending upon who and when you ask) is based on his visage. Taylor, who was previously a model, even lists it as one of his (unverified) credits on his old Model Mayhem page.
Before we go any further, it’s important to note that Taylor has, historically, been considered to be, well, um, a liar. As any VPR fan knows, and as a 2019 Vulture article pointed out, Taylor was accused of infidelity in back-to-back seasons and “both times [he] convinced both the show’s behind-the-camera staff and his friends that he was wrongfully accused; both times, he was caught red-handed as the season ended.” Taylor was also tied up in a lie in season six, after he was caught cheating on his future wife (then-girlfriend) with another co-star. There are other lies you’ll find deep in the Bravo subreddits: that he was roommates with Channing Tatum, that he almost got a job working for the NHL, that he loved the tea set Lisa Vanderpump gave him as a wedding gift.
But the reality TV star doggedly insists that he is, indeed, the face on the cover art of an Assassin’s Creed game. He recently doubled down on this claim at Lexington Comic Con, which took place in the Kentucky city over the March 7-10 weekend. Taylor and several of his former and current castmates (he’s starring in a new Vanderpump Rules spinoff called The Valley alongside his maybe-future-ex-wife, Brittany Cartwright) had their own tables at the convention, which were decorated with images of their professional appearances. On Taylor’s table: A picture of the Assassin’s Creed I cover art.
Is Jax Taylor the face of the Assassin’s Creed box cover art?
Screenshot: Jax Taylor on X / Ubisoft
Now, here’s where things get confusing. Taylor first claimed this video game connection back in 2012, when he posted “Me on the cover of assassins [sic] creed II” on X (formerly Twitter). The picture accompanying the text certainly looks like cover art for an Xbox 360 game, but there are some notable discrepancies. First, the image depicts Assassin’s Creed I, not II, and second, that picture doesn’t appear to have ever been used for a physical release of the Ubisoft game. An intrepid reporter asked about this alleged cover art back in 2022, and the replies only unearthed more questions: It appears that the image Taylor posted is from a website called Customaniacs, which, back in the Xbox 360 era, would share hi-res, downloadable, custom pieces of box cover art for people to print out and slip into the plastic shells.
On March 12, I reached out to Taylor’s PR via email, who initially confirmed that Taylor was “on the first season” of Assassin’s Creed. When pressed for clarification, the representative confirmed that he was the model for “the very first game” and “just the box art.” I thanked them for the clarification.
An hour later, unprompted, Taylor’s representative emailed me an image that only made things more baffling: a picture of the cover of PlayStation: The Official Magazine’s Holiday 2009 issue, which featured the publication’s review of Assassin’s Creed II. Yes, a review of the sequel, not the first game like his representative initially confirmed. To add more layers to this confusion cake, the PlayStation mag cover does not depict the box art for any Assassin’s Creed game, but bespoke art. (Unrelated, but hilarious: the image is clearly just the cover torn off the magazine, the rest of which Taylor ostensibly threw out.)
Screenshot: Jax Taylor Instagram / PlayStation: The Official Magazine
Not long after my conversation with his PR person, Taylor posted a picture of the PlayStation: The Official Magazine cover that had been emailed to me to his Instagram story, with the caption “Flashback to when I did the cover art/box art for #assassinscreed 2009.” He tagged the Instagram accounts for Lexington Comic Con and PlayStation.
The thing is, a French-Canadian model named Francisco Randez has been widely credited as the face of series protagonists Desmond, Altair, and Ezio. Randez has done interviews about his role in the series and has an IMDb credit for it. In a 2011 interview, Assassin’s Creed devs discuss creating the digital likenesses of the character, referring to the “handsome model” as a “neighbor” of the game’s producer in Montréal…though they have trouble remembering his name and call him “Rafael.” (It’s around the 8:50 mark.) Is there more than one “Assassin’s Creed guy”? Is Jax Taylor one of them? Is he none of them?
I reached out to both Ubisoft and Francisco Randez. Ubisoft declined to comment, and Randez has yet to respond.
So, it’s still unclear if Jax Taylor is, indeed, the face on the cover for either Assassin’s Creed I or Assassin’s Creed II. As a VPR fan, I’m inclined to believe he’s not, but what do you think?
Sony is currently running a pretty awesome sale for a number of its first-party games, particularly those in the action genre. Whether you’re looking to check out Nathan Drake’s swan song in Uncharted 4, Sam Porter Bridges’ strange trip through the apocalypse in Death Stranding, or Kratos’ dramatic shift into sad dad mode in 2018’s God of War, there’s a ton here to check out.
Most of these deals are for PS4 versions, many of which you can upgrade to the PS5 version either for free or at a small cost. All of these deals run from now until April 1, 2024.
We also threw in a list of action-adjacent games you may wish to check out as well.
Hey, remember that little game Palworld? Well as of today, it’s surpassed a staggering 25 million players, all within about a month of its early access launch. That’s a lot of people shooting at or alongside their legally distinct “pals,” not Pokémon. Love it or hate it—or don’t get it all, like myself—people have certainly been showing up in droves to see what Palworld is all about after being hyped up as “Pokémon With Guns.”
What’s Coming Out Beyond Pokémon: The Indigo Disk | The Week In Games
According to developer Pocketpair, its open-world survival game Palworld has crossed this impressive milestone across both the Steam and Xbox versions of the game. On Steam at least, where the game is in early access and for purchase, Palworld has sold nearly 15 million copies. The remaining 10 million players in that figure are on Xbox and Windows, where Palworld is available as part of the Game Preview program via Xbox Game Pass. Though it has slowed over the course of the last month, it’s still an impressive figure that makes Palworld the biggest release of the year two months in.
Palworld’s ascendancy from meme to legit hit has been an astonishing sight. For a while there, it seemed to be growing by a million or so players a day. By the end of January, Palworld was sitting pretty at about 20 million players, dwarfing pretty much any other release at the time. Not all the attention Palworld has received in the month since has been great, though. Its popularity raised concerns about the potential use of AI in its development, and of course, some very valid points about how closely its “pals” resemble a number of existing Pokémon. It was all enough attention to get a statement out of The Pokémon Company claiming they were essentially keeping an eye on Palworld.
Nonetheless, Palworld’s rise continues, even if some of its initial engagement has dropped off over the last month, and I’m sure we’ll be updating these numbers for a while to come.
The Thaumaturge, an upcoming narrative-focused, turn-based RPG, was planned to launch in just a few days on February 20. However, the game has now been delayed until March as the developers and publishers hope to avoid a “busy” February and give the game more “breathing room.”
The Top 10 Most-Played Games On Steam Deck: July 2023 Edition
As we warned late last year, the first few months of 2024 have been stacked with popular video game releases. This is bad news for folks hoping they could catch up on their 2023 backlog in what is usually a quiet time for the game industry, as the first weeks of 2024 have already delivered hits likePalworld, Helldivers 2, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Tekken 8, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. And the rest of February isn’t empty, with games like Pacific Drive, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Star Wars Dark Forces remastered, and Skull and Bonesall launching before March 1. As a result of this packed start to the year, The Thaumaturge is going to wait for the dust to settle a bit.
On February 12, developer Fool’s Theory and publisher 11 Bit Studios announced on Twitter and explained in a press release that even though The Thaumaturge is already in the hands of some critics, it was going to be delayed until March 4 in order to avoid all this chaos.
“Taking February’s busy launch period into account and the opening for a better release window,” the two companies said in a statement, “we’ve decided to take this opportunity to give more breathing room so it receives the attention we believe it deserves. We want you to have enough time to enjoy the game in full, and we feel that the current release window is not the perfect moment for it.”
While folks who have been waiting to play the game are probably a bit sad that they have to wait about two weeks longer, it’s a smart move to get away from so many big and small hit games and try to find a bit of a gap in the release schedule to give your game a better chance to find an audience, as well as the attention of over-worked critics and content creators. We’ll have to wait and see if the move pays off.
The Thaumaturge, an isometric RPG set in 1905 in an alternate-universe Poland filled with magical powers and tough choices, will now arrive on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 4.
Video game publisher Krafton released a report that seemed to imply underwater survival sim Subnautica 2 would be a multiplayer-focused live-service game, which disappointed and frustrated many fans. But now the devs have quickly clarified that no, this isn’t the case and instead the game is going to just receive regular updates during early access, like the original Subnautica.
The Week In Games: Pokémon With Guns And More New Releases
Over the last year or so “live service” has become a nasty term, one which gamers seem more and more disgusted by, even if it seems a lot of studios and publishers are betting the farm on these so-called “forever” games being the future. So it’s not surprising that some people panicked when it appeared that Subnautica 2—a sequel to the popular, single-player story-driven underwater survival game from 2018—looked to be another live-service thing.
As reported by IGN, a February 8 financial report from Krafton caught the attention of folks when it mentioned that the upcoming Subnautica 2 was being designed using the “Games as a Service” model. Folks quickly assumed the worst: that this was a live-service game that would feature battle passes and seasons and all that stuff. It didn’t help that the report also claimed the sequel was going to be multiplayer-focused, a big departure from the first game. Quickly, people got out their pitchforks and began yelling that yet another franchise was being ruined by live-service shenanigans. But thankfully for those concerned players, that’s not the case.
Subnautica 2 devs set the record straight
Shortly after the report went public and news spread of Subnautica 2 being a live-service game, the developers—Unknown Worlds—stepped in and clarified in a blog post that it isn’t that kind of game.
“In reference to ‘Games-as-a-Service,’ we simply plan to continually update the game for many years to come, just like the previous two Subnautica games,” explained the devs. “Think our Early Access update model, expanded. No season passes. No battle passes. No subscription.”
The studio also claimed the game isn’t “multiplayer-focused.” Instead, co-op is “optional” and folks will be able to experience the full game by themselves.
Finally, the devs also explained that Subnautica 2’s early access launch isn’t planned for 2024 and that they will share more info “later this year.”
“Thanks for keeping an eye out for any news about our progress on the next game,” the devs added. “We’re so excited to show you what we’ve been working on and hope that you love it as much as we do.”
While it might seem like a lot of folks overreacted, the reality is that with reports of so many live-service games in development and after so many have failed to stick around or turn out well, a lot of gamers are jumpy about games-as-a-service and live-service “forever” games.
I expect—in an effort to avoid these situations—we will see some studios try to come up with a new term for games that just get occasional updates and patches, but which have no other “live” elements, like battle passes or seasons. For now, you can all relax. Subnautica 2 isn’t going to be a live-service thing like Suicide Squad.
After years of trailers, delays, controversy, and leaks, Rocksteady’s big, live-service, open-world, villain-themed, DC third-person looter shooter—Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League—is finally out (for real). The narrative that has formed around this game over the last few years has grown as large and epic as a superhero movie. Some folks want Suicide Squad to crash and burn. Others want it to succeed, hoping Rocksteady has built something amazing, a game worth their money and time. Sadly, as with many modern superhero films, the ending to this saga is anticlimactic and won’t appease either folks hungry for blood or hopeful for fun. Instead, what we have here is something decidedly middle-of-the-road.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice Leagueis not only developed by Rocksteady, the makers of the popular Arkham games, but also set in that same universe. The game takes place a few years after the end of Arkham Knight. Batman faked his death, joined up with the Justice League, and headed over to Metropolis to be super pals with Wonder Woman, Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern. Things were going well, until Brainiac and his alien minions arrived, mind-controlled all of them—except Wonder Woman—and turned the powerful heroes against their own planet. Now, it’s up to Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, and Deadshot—DC supervillains with bombs implanted in their heads—to save the world by, well, as the game’s name implies, killing the Justice League.
While the Suicide Squad’s story never truly surprised me or broke any new ground in the superhero genre, it’s still a well-written comic book adventure with enough twists and turns to keep you hooked. It also helps that every character in the game, even those barely involved in the action, are fleshed out, with their own goals, flaws, personalities, and feelings.
WB Games / Gamespot
As you might expect, Harley, Deadshot, King Shark, and Boomerang get the biggest spotlight. Rocksteady has done a fantastic job not just visually capturing these characters with some of the best-looking faces I’ve seen this generation, but also making them feel distinct. Each character in the squad also has their own arc and they all intertwine throughout the game so that by the end I was totally on board with these loser misfits coming together to save the day. It also helps that their dialogue—both in the game’s gorgeous cutscenes and out in the open world during gameplay—is peppered with solid jokes and genuine moments of reflection and growth.
But boy howdy, is this game talkative! I lost count of the number of times when up to three different conversations were happening all at once, sometimes overlapping each other or completely blocking out important or interesting lore. To the game’s credit, I didn’t hear many repeated chats, but sadly, I also missed a lot of stuff because while the squad was chatting about one thing, I’d shoot a drone and trigger a conversation about something else, ending the one that was already happening. Still, even overlapping dialogue isn’t too bad. What is bad is almost everything else between the dialogue and cutscenes.
Over and over and over…
Suicide Squad’s main campaign features a strong and impressive intro that quickly establishes the “heroes,” explains how the team’s boss—Amanda Waller—controls them, and sets up the stakes of the invasion. This confident and perfectly paced first few hours instantly won me over. However, once the game opens up more and lets you loose in its digital city, things quickly go downhill. Do you like guarding locations, shooting crystals, or saving people? Well, I hope so, because that’s basically all this game is outside of the intro and a few boss fights.
The structure of Suicide Squad goes like this: You watch a cool cutscene, learn what the next step is in the plan to save the world, and then do a type of mission that you’ve already done before but maybe in a new location or with some new enemies. Maybe. Repeat that for about 15 to 20 hours depending on how much of the game’s side content you check out. (Though, be warned, all the side content in this game beyond Riddler challenges are the same types of missions you do in the main campaign.)
It’s a credit to Suicide Squad’s fantastic and satisfying combat that during most of these missions, I wasn’t bored out of my mind. But I’d be lying if I said I was having fun guarding the same plants or destroying the same crystals over and over and over again. At one point, I was tasked with escorting a slow-moving vehicle through a dangerous area. Normally, escort missions aren’t anything to celebrate, but it was a completely new type of mission, after 10 hours of play. I was pumped! And then that same type of mission popped back up multiple times afterward. (And yeah, escort missions still suck.)
Worse, Rocksteady seems to understand how boring this might be, so some missions add annoying modifiers that force players to complete missions in specific ways. The problem is that sometimes these mods—like enemies only dying to grenades—didn’t fit with my character’s build. While you can switch between all four playable villains at any point in the open world when playing solo, during missions you are stuck with whoever you started the mission as. This made some missions extremely frustrating.
It’s a shame because, as I said, the combat in this game is awesome. Top-notch shit. Guns feel dangerous and loud. Blasting purple alien monsters with a sniper rifle that sets them and nearby baddies on fire remained fun even after I did it 200 times. Also, shout-out to the shotguns in this game. They destroy enemies and feel incredible. I also enjoyed how mobile each squad member is, even the big tank-like character King Shark. Zipping around as a giant shark with a chaingun or flying around with a jetpack as Deadshot during big firefights is fun, even if I’m doing the same missions I’ve done a number of times before.
Screenshot: WB Games / Kotaku
There’s also a lot to dig into with the game’s combat system. There are elemental afflictions, various stats that can be modded, perks that can be unlocked, attributes to improve, ways to earn back your shield, ways to counter enemy attacks using precisely timed special moves, and a host of other things to keep in mind during and outside of fights. At times it can feel overwhelming and I imagine most players will pick a few strong guns, upgrade them when needed, and do fine. But for folks who like to really get into a game and craft perfect builds with tons of synergy, Suicide Squad provides more than enough options.
Funnily enough, for the most part, at least, you can ignore that Suicide Squad is a live-service, always-online shooter. I played through the entire game solo and, with one exception, didn’t run into any server disconnects. The game also doesn’t bang you over the head with messages telling you to “Hop Online And Play With Pals,” or lock any content behind having a clan or playing with others. For a long time, it felt to me like a decent-enough game with some live-service stuff I could engage with if I wanted to, but that didn’t really interfere with my experience at all.
Then I reached the end of the game, and things changed.
Suicide Squad hides its true identity until the end
Before the credits even rolled, as the game built toward a climactic encounter with Brainiac, I was told that, actually, there are 13 Brainiacs across the multiverse and I’ll need to kill all of them to save the day. To do this, players will need to engage in Suicide Squad’s endgame which consists of repeated missions and boss fights that award you a currency that lets you challenge new Brainiacs in different universes. When you arrive, guess what? You have to do a few more of those same missions you’ve been doing for hours and hours already before you get to fight Brainiac. Oh, and the final fight against Brainiac (spoilers) is a reskinned boss fight from earlier in the game against Flash. Womp womp. Credits roll.
Instead of ending on a triumphant note with our squad proving they are more than just dirtbags, Suicide Squad ends by going, “You need to play for months and months to truly finish your mission. Get ready to play even more of the same shit over and over again, too.” It robs the game of a dramatic, satisfying ending and reveals its true nature to all: This is a forever game. A live-service shooter. WB and Rocksteady want you to play this game for a long time, all the while hoping you buy up skins and battle passes to make this extremely expensive bet pay off. It’s an extremely sour note to end the game on.
Screenshot: WB Games / Kotaku
Sure, the combat is some of the best third-person shooter action I’ve played in years. And the story, cutscenes, and writing are as compelling as anything in the Arkham games.
Yet, unfortunately, Suicide Squad just had to be something bigger than another 12-15 hour single-player adventure. It had to be a live-service video game that could support months or even years of content. The game does a good job of hiding this fact for a large chunk of its runtime, but by the end, it’s laid bare and impossible to ignore. That’s assuming you even reach the end and don’t get bored by the same six missions being copied and pasted around the city to pad things out and make Suicide Squad feel bigger than it really is.
In the end, Suicide Squad is just…okay. Fine. Not amazing. Not a trainwreck. Folks wanting this game to be a complete disaster will be disappointed to discover a totally fine shooter that only succumbs to live-service corruption at the end. And for folks wanting something they can play for years, well, I hope you like shooting purple crystals over and over.
Suicide Squad is a poster child for the kind of games that live between great and awful. While that might be enough for some, I can’t imagine the devs who worked hard on Suicide Squad (or publisher WB, who footed the bill for the game) wanted it all to end with what amounts to a shrug emoji. Yet, here we are. At least the shotguns are cool.
Rocksteady developers behind the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League—a DC villain-themed open-world co-op looter shooter—revealed some new details and thoughts behind the game’s battle pass, seasons, and endgame content. And while it’s still a live-service game that will likely have its own issues come launch, I’m feeling optimistic about it based on these recent answers that, at least on paper, sound good.
The Week In Games: Pokémon With Guns And More New Releases
First revealed back in 2020, Suicide Squad is the next game from Rocksteady, the devs behind the earlier Batman: Arkham games. And while this new shooter is set in that same universe, since its reveal, fans haven’t been terribly excited about the game. Whenever we see more of it—via trailers or leaks—it looks a lot like a live-service shooter, even if Rocksteady is unwilling to admit that. Mixed previews earlier this month didn’t help win over folks, either. However, in a recent Discord Q&A, the devs laid out their plans for Suicide Squad’s endgame and seasons, suggesting that this game is fully playable solo and won’t make you grind for weeks to play limited-time content.
On January 26, over in the official Suicide Squad Discord server, the devs held a second Q&A after the previous one was so well received. This time around, many of the chosen community questions and developer answers seemed focused on convincing folks that this game won’t demand you treat it like a second job.
“We all love playing games, but we also have lives,” said Axel Rydby, Game Director on Suicide Squad.
“That’s been a big part of our design philosophy making this game. We don’t want the game to feel like a life commitment or be a game where you have to sacrifice a lot to see all the content on offer, or feel like you’re not making good progress in the game if you can’t play hundreds of hours,” explained Rybdy.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – Suicide Squad Insider Episode 3 “Introducing Elseworlds”
A good example of this is that seasonal battle passes—which Rocksteady reminded folks multiple times in Discord only contain cosmetics—and all the content that is added to the game with each new season, can be done at any time. All that stuff, like battle-pass-exclusive outfits, new locations, missions, and the game’s first new playable character, The Joker, will not leave the game once the season is over. According to Rocksteady, you can always go back and make progress in a battle pass from a previous season or even buy the premium version well after its release.
“We believe that our team has created some of the best-looking cosmetic items ever,” added Darius Sadeghian, studio director at Rocksteady. “We want those to be available for our players to enjoy without fear that they’ll miss out on anything.”
As someone who plays a lot of Fortnite, a game that is built on battle pass FOMO and limited-time items in its ever-rotating store, this sounds very nice.
You can play all of Suicide Squad solo
Another example of Rocksteady claiming the game will respect your time and not demand you spend every day playing it is that every mission and activity in the game, even the toughest endgame content, can be completed solo. This, Rydby pointed out, is part of the studio’s philosophy when developing the co-op game.
“We want this game to be generous, both with your time and with all the features we have to offer,” said Rybdy.
Adding to this, Rocksteady confirmed in today’s Discord Q&A that you will be able to go back and replay any and all missions from the game’s story. And if you play with friends, and move past your current point in your own game, the devs say you’ll be able to skip those sections when you hop back into your solo world. Another example of the team trying to respect players’ time, which I appreciate.
Of course, just because a game has great endgame and season pass plans, doesn’t mean it will be good. If Suicide Squad’s combat is bad, its traversal gameplay clunky, and/or its narrative boring, it won’t matter how nice the season’s cosmetics are or how generous the battle pass might be; people will stop playing.
We don’t have to wait long to see if the game will be fun enough to invest any time into future seasons, characters, or more, since Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launches on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on February 2, 2024. If you pay the publisher-created ransom fee and pre-order the deluxe edition, you can play three days earlier.
Ubisoft Montpellier’s 2.5D side-scrolling Metroidvania Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is finally out on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It’s a long, challenging action-platforming game with lots of tough bosses and intricate puzzles. Here are a handful of essential tips to make your journey a bit easier.
The Week In Games: Pokémon With Guns And More New Releases
The Lost Crown follows the young Sargon, the newest member of the warrior clan known as The Immortals. He’s tasked with tracking down the kidnapped Prince Ghassan, who’s been dragged off to the cursed city of Mount Qaf. The game has plenty of paths to unblock, collectibles to find, and equipment to unlock. It’s easy to get lost or stuck, but I’ve got you covered.
Throw Your Chakram Often
About an hour or two into the game, you’ll unlock a new weapon: a bow. This weapon doubles as a throwable chakram that serves several functions, including calling down platforms and opening gates. The double-edged weapon can also be used in combat as a projectile that gets faster and stronger every time you parry it. More than that, though, you can use the chakram to reach those elusive resource caches without having to pull off a complex platforming feat. Be sure to use that chakram often, as it’ll make collecting stuff a little less frustrating.
Upgrade Your Gear Regularly
The fiery blacksmith—and absolute goddess—Kaheva opens up her forge to you not long after you reach the hub area of The Haven. But she’s not the only shopkeeper who can improve your equipment. While Kaheva can buff the damage of your bow and swords, The Mage, an elderly woman who operates an equipment shop in The Haven, can increase the number of health flasks you can hold and improve the potency of their healing. On top of that, both shopkeepers can power up the status effects of your Amulets, equippable pieces of gear that provide benefits such as increasing your melee damage at low health or reducing the damage of environmental hazards. It’s worth coming back to The Haven to upgrade your gear as often as possible. These bosses don’t play around, so you’ll need all the buffs you can get. Trust me.
Don’t Forget The Swordmaster
Speaking of The Haven, another person you should visit regularly is the swordmaster Artaban. Artaban is Sargon’s trainer throughout the story, teaching you effective ways to dispatch your foes in fights. You should also do his combat challenges to get Time Crystals, one of the currencies used for buying wares and upgrading gear. The challenges themselves are simple, and with enough practice and patience, will help you become more comfortable using all of Sargon’s abilities to kick serious ass.
Take Images Of Memorable Spots
With The Eye of the Wanderer, a true innovation within the Metroidvania genre, you can take screenshots that show up as icons on the mini-map, which helps make backtracking easier. Instead of trying to memorize where something is, you can use the upgradable resource known as Memory Shards to snap a quick photo to remember the spot. And when you’re finished with the image, you can delete the screenshot to free up space for more photos. Just hold down on the D-pad and snap away. Your brain will thank you for it.
Make Sure To Finish Those Side Quests
As you explore Mount Qaf, you’ll come across characters in need of help. It might be deciphering an ancient text or finding an old woman’s children. Either way, these side quests reward you with some good stuff, from currencies to use at the various shopkeepers to resources to upgrade your gear. Depending on the complexity and length of the objective, you might even get a Soma Petal, which increases your max health when you’ve collected four of them. Be a good Immortal and help some people out. It’ll be worth your while.
Take Advantage Of Guided Mode In The Settings
You’re presented with two game modes when you start: Exploration and Guided. Exploration mode is the default setting, giving you little direction for story quests and side errands on the mini-map. With Guided mode, you get much more assistance as the mini-map populates icons for mission objectives, doors and paths, and the upgrades you’ve unlocked. guessing game. You’ll still get lost, so don’t worry about that. Guided mode will just make it so you don’t stay lost. You can toggle this setting at any time—you’re not locked into what you chose at the beginning of your playthrough.
Tweak The Difficulty To Your Preferred Playstyle
The Lost Crown is a masterful example of accessibility in video games. In the extensive settings menu, you can make parries easier, extend the invulnerability you receive while dodging, skip challenging platforming sections, show markers for interactive elements in the world, and so much more. This game really lets you customize the experience to your liking, so you should do that. There’s bound to be a setting here that will give you the kind of Metroidvania experience you’re looking for.
Always, Always, Always Buy The Area Maps From Fariba
Fariba has extensive knowledge of the cursed city, and she’ll often have maps on her for sale. These maps reveal everything you need to know about that given area, including potential secrets and unexplored spots. Her location varies, and she’s usually a bit of a pain to find, often holed up in some room gated behind a complex platforming section. But picking up the area map from her will save you time in the long run. The best part? Unlike some of the other shopkeepers whose wares can be a bit more expensive, Fariba sells her services for just 50 Time Crystals. That’s a bargain in my book.
Don’t Do Much Backtracking Till You Get The Last Power
The Lost Crown is predicated on returning to areas you’ve previously visited with new powers, so it’s tempting to backtrack once you’ve acquired a new time-bending ability. But take it from me, you should wait until you’ve gotten the very last power, the Fabric of Time. You don’t get it until about three-fourths of the way through the story, but waiting to get this grappling hook of sorts will save you time and frustration. Before this point, a majority of your backtracking will be blocked by floating hooks that require the Fabric of Time to reach. There’s no clever way to get around these sections without it, so you might as well wait. Besides, by the time you unlock it, you’ll be so OP not even the toughest boss could stop you.
And there you go, nine tips to help you bend time and survive death in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Although I’ve beaten the story, I’ve still got plenty of collectibles to find and side quests to finish. So, good luck in Mount Qaf. Prince Ghassan needs us both.
