Dragon Age: The Veilguard is out tomorrow, October 31. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of developer BioWare’s fantasy RPGs or a newcomer looking to see what all the fuss is about, it’s worth noting that The Veilguard represents a pretty drastic shift from the tactical, open-zone RPG gameplay of its predecessor, Dragon Age: Inquisition. So no matter what your previous experience, there are a few things worth noting before you dive into this long-awaited return to Thedas. I’ve put over 60 hours into the game, so here are a few things I’ve learned for you to keep in mind as you get started. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
Many of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s choices are personal and focus on your team’s relationships and life paths. However, one of the big, world-changing ones comes early on, shortly after you recruit Davrin, the Grey Warden companion. Right now, you might be staring at a choice between helping either the Tevinter city of Minrathous or Treviso, the home base of the Antivan Crows, from coordinated dragon attacks. If you’re unsure of what decision to make and want to know what the results of each option are, we’re here to lay them out for you.
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This choice has an impact on your party and your faction allies, as both the Tevinter mage Neve and the Antivan assassin Lucanis are from the affected cities. You’re essentially making a choice on which city and faction will be in a better position to help you when the time comes, and putting Neve or Lucanis on a specific path in their stories and even combat roles. Here’s the rundown of the consequences.
The person you don’t help will temporarily leave the party
When they return, they will be considered “hardened,” which locks out parts of their skill tree and makes it harder to progress their relationship without higher approval throughout the game
You will lose some choice in Neve and Lucanis’ personal storylines, and they will be forced to go down one direction because of the circumstances
The city you don’t save will be blighted, altering quest lines and dialogue, and cutting off access to the local faction’s shop
The Shadow Dragons or Antivan Crows will have a baseline loss in allied strength points, meaning it will be impossible to max them out
Screenshot: BioWare / Kotaku
Overall, it’s still a binary choice that evens itself out, but it will have pretty direct ramifications on your relationship with Neve and Lucanis above all else. It’s still possible to reach the end of their storylines (including having them become a Hero of the Veilguard, which is the equivalent to reaching maximum Loyalty in the Mass Effect series) and make up for the loss in allied power, but it will take more sidequests to make it happen, and you won’t have the shop to sell valuables to in order to juice those numbers.
What I’m unsure of as of this writing is whether or not it locks you out of Neve and Lucanis’ respective romances. I saved Minrathous in my playthrough and my relationship with Lucanis was slow to progress for a bit, so I didn’t see any further options to flirt and eventually locked in my romance with Davrin. We’ll update this guide as that becomes clear.
If you’re reading this guide, you’re probably a decent way into The Veilguard, but if you’d like a few extra tips to help you as you take down the elven gods, we’ve got those, too.
Photo: Roblox Corp / Kotaku, Image: Black Tabby Games, Bungie, CSA Images / Sony / Kotaku, Treyarch / Activision
This week saw the arrival of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and with it, the return of a classic Zombies experience. It’s terrific, and took our writer right back to the nights he spent happily playing the mode with friends back in the days of Black Ops 3. Meanwhile, the arrival of Destiny 2‘s latest content update, and the terrible drop rate for god rolls on its hottest weapon, has some fans certain that there’s a statistical disadvantage for that drop to occur. The result is a compelling conspiracy theory about how loot drops actually work in Destiny 2, and given that the community has the statistics to back it up, Bungie is now conducting its own investigation. Find these stories and more in the pages ahead.
With the release of Vessel of Hatred, Diablo IV has seen its most significant changes since its original launch in June 2023. Adding a completely new region, Nahantu, along with a wealth of added characters and modes and a brand-new story, the expansion pack is the very definition of a game changer. But it goes even further than that, bringing in entirely new ways to upgrade items, a revamp of the World Tiers, new animal-morphing classes, and a new level cap. However, we meet change without fear, offering a litany of guides to get you up to speed.
For instance, Diablo IV now has NPC Mercenaries you can hire to come with you on your brawling, but you’re only going to find them by following a specific series of quests. Then there are those Spiritborn classes that let you pick between being able to possess the powers of a Jaguar, Eagle, Gorilla, or Centipede…Wait, centipede? No, we’ve checked, that’s definitely correct—and apparently one of the best choices for end-game content.
And this all follows on from piles of massive changes earlier this year, which saw the introduction of loot-fest The Pit, a new way to improve loot called Tempering, the addition of Mythic Uniques, and Infernal Hordes to battle. It’s mayhem!
But worry not, as here we’ve collected every guide we’ve published for Diablo IV’s big changes, which will see you flying toward the new level cap in no time at all.
Each year, The Pokémon Company holds a competition to find a new illustrator for their Pokémon TCG cards. Only in the last couple of years has this been opened to entrants from outside of Japan, and with that has come controversy. However, after a tumultuous period, the finalists for this year’s contest have finally been picked, and damn, it’s all beautiful work.
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After people made a fuss, The Pokémon Company acknowledged the issue, and said they’d be disqualifying the cheat, and allowing other legitimate entries in to fill the spaces. It remained concerning that such obvious shenanigans had been let through, but TPC is notoriously enigmatic and incommunicative, so even this was a surprising move.
However, we can now sweep that all aside, and instead celebrate the legitimate artists who deserve their wins. And wow, there’s some great stuff here.
The Official Pokémon YouTube channel
The competition is broken into a number of categories, with the emphasis on the smaller, landscape images that appear in the windows on a regular Pokémon card. While the prized cards are generally the portrait full-art designs, it makes sense to constrain entrants to the windowed images, with its inherent limitations.
The categories are Best Standard Card Illustration, Best ex Card Illustration, and a Grand Prize.
The middle category is the odd one out, since non-alt-art ex cards are highly restrictive in their nature, leaving little room for originality. It’s a great piece of Toxtricity art by Anderson, certainly, and it won because of its use of the space to depict a unique angle for the Pokémon, but it’s harder to get excited about.
Image: Anderson / The Pokémon Company / Kotaku
What’s so lovely about the two other winners, however, is quite how different they are.
The Pokémon Company is getting better and better at featuring ever more lavish art, but is still quite conservative on style, so seeing the pick for Best Standard Card Illustration is a real treat. It’s a stunning depiction of Feraligatr by artist Acorviart, inspired by linocut and risograph printing.
Image: Acorviart / The Pokémon Company
The Grand Prize is certainly more conventional, but makes up for it in adorable. Pikachu perhaps seems a little on the nose, but Kazuki Minami’s painting is breathtaking. What works so incredibly well here is the intricate detail of the background flowers, contrasted with the far simpler depiction of Pika, in such a cute and recognizable pose. And that light on his face…come on.
Image: Kazuki Minami / The Pokémon Company
I want to highlight a few of the runners up, too. Firstly, another Feraligatr, this time by tayu, which appears to be one of the most spectacular pieces of embroidery I’ve ever seen. There are so few multimedia artists making Pokémon cards, despite how popular the wonderful Yuka Morii’s clay art has been for 25 years. Also, it’s a wonderful picture beyond the media.
Illustration: tayu / The Pokémon Company
In a contest that was upset by AI slop, it’s lovely to see a piece that AI would try to copy, and get horribly wrong. This Melmetal by gohealth feels so gloriously metallic, and yet so cartoonishly stylized. Also, when did you last see a Melmetal sit down?!
Image: gohealth / The Pokémon Company
Shiho So’s Pikachu is one of the 15 Judges’ Award winners (alongside so many more Feraligatr!), and would be one of those cards that’d make you smile every time you pulled it from a pack. It’s just joyful.
Image: Shiho So / The Pokémon Company
And why not end with yet another Pikachu? satoutubu’s art here is…I just want to hug it! I want to exist in a world where creatures look like this. If satoutubu became a regular Pokémon TCG artist, I’d immediately begin collecting all their cards.
At the beginning of the year, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealthlaunched a hell of an opening salvo. The latest installment in the long-running Like a Dragon/Yakuza series is comically full of things to do. On one hand, it’s a turn-based RPG epic, splitting its narrative between two larger-than-life protagonists in entirely different settings complete with their own villains, party members, and side stories. On the other hand, it is more game than anybody could possibly need, housing several side activities, minigames, and at least two-full sized games within itself. If you’re a person whose chief concern about a game is getting the absolute most bang for your buck, there has rarely been a better game to pick up than Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which is now discounted at $42 on both PlayStation and Steam. – Moises Taveras Read More
Graphic: Kotaku / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Who doesn’t love free video games? It’s the best way to expand your backlog of titles you’ll never touch – at least not until you retire, which is what you keep telling yourself to assuage the guilt. To help feed this cycle, Amazon Prime is giving subscribers three fan-favorite The Lord of the Rings games as part of its latest promotion for The Rings of Power, which airs on August 29.
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The television series is fantastic and all, but how about those games? They include:
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Amazon Luna)
Lego The Lord of the Rings (GOG)
If you’re a Prime subscriber, you can claim all three games from now until September 30. If you wait too long, the promotion will disappear and other titles will take their place as part of Amazon’s rotating free game offerings.
All three The Lord of the Rings titles provide enough gameplay to keep even the most voracious players satisfied, with the Middle-Earth games both requiring between 30-60 hours for completionists who want to see and do everything each has to offer. As for Lego The Lord of the Rings, it’s a bit more niche, with a kid-like aesthetic that’s sure to turn some people away. But that’d be a mistake! It’s easily one of the better renditions of Lego gaming, retelling the story of the Fellowship from start to finish, including the Balrog, the Battle of Helm’s Deep, and the ever-fearsome Cirith Ungol!
Suppose you’re not into The Lord of the Rings. In that case, Amazon Prime has a diverse range of other free games to offer, including Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Grime: Definitive Edition, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Loop Hero, Hard West 2, Beholder 3, Midnight Fight Express, Forager, SteamWorld Heist, Trek to Yomi, Maneater, and countless others. Honestly, the list goes on, with something for everyone!
A lot of The Veilguard’s systems seem to draw heavily from Mass Effect, and that includes a spin on Andromeda’s ability loadouts. Since you can’t access all your abilities on a wheel like you used to, The Veilguard has you decide on what attacks you’ll have at your disposal on a given quest and assign them. The showcase had a warrior version of protagonist Rook kitted out with a “This Is Sparta”-style kick, a grappling spear used to draw enemies in close, and a shield-like aura to protect her from damage. They definitely seem to be going for a tanky, brawler build, and picking the abilities best for whatever approach you’re going for will be key to defining your playstyle.
Also in the loadout is an Ultimate ability called Warden’s Fire, which rains down an area-of-effect attack on enemies. It sounds like this might be exclusive to Grey Warden Rooks, one of the origins you can select for your hero in the character creator at the beginning of the game.
It’s now possible to quickly and easily play the original 1997 Diabloon your PC or phone via a simple website. Just load it up on your browser and you can start killing demons and skeletons like it’s the ‘90s all over again.
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The original Diablo was developed by Blizzard North and released in January 1997 for PC. Its single dungeon, evil monsters, creepy town, and loot-filled catacombs forever changed the action RPG genre. Today, the OG Diablo might seem a bit small and simple compared to the wild open-world adventure we find in 2023’s Diablo 4. But Diablo’s vibes are still unmatched by any of its sequels, and now you can experience the classic ARPG for free on your phone or PC browser.
As spotted by PC Gamer, a new website has popped up that lets you play the shareware version of the original Diablo in your browser. This new web-based port of the game was built using Diablo’s original source code, which was previously reconstructed by GalaXyHaXz and the Devilution team and can be found on GitHub.
Blizzard / Izie
Now, keep in mind that unless you own Diablo and upload the “DIABDAT.MPQ” file, you won’t have access to everything found in the retail release. Still, the shareware version of Diablo lets you play as a warrior who can’t talk to NPCs, but can kill demons and loot weapons in the dungeon under the church in Tristram.
In my testing, this browser-based port of Diabloplays really well. I had no issues exploring the dark corridors and killing zombies and skeletons. Just toss your old Diablo save and DIABDAT.MPQ file onto a service like Google Drive or a USB stick and you can play Blizzard’s seminal ARPG anywhere with an internet connection.
In fact, you could be playing Diablo right now on the device you are currently using instead of working or reading the last sentence of this blog.
The Crimson Diamond is AVAILABLE NOW!! (Launch trailer)
Play it on: Steam Current goal: Solve an old-fashioned mystery
A few weeks ago, I mentioned how I was captivated by Unavowed, a point-and-click adventure from the folks at Wadjet Eye. Well, I’ve finished that one (it was great) just in time for a brand-new entry in the genre to come along. And while Wadjet Eye’s output is most reminiscent of ‘90s adventure games that offered full voice acting and elegant drag-and-drop interfaces, this new game, The Crimson Diamondfrom designer Julia Minamata, is influenced by an earlier era of adventures, ones that ran in EGA and had you typing in what you wanted your character to do. I can’t wait to explore its mysteries.
The Crimson Diamond is perhaps most reminiscent of Sierra adventures, especially the Clara Bow games which saw their plucky heroine tossed into murder mysteries during the roaring ‘20s. Itcasts you as Nancy Maple, a young woman investigating the discovery of an unusually large and valuable diamond in a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It’s clear from the trailer that her investigations will find her encountering people with motives of their own, some of them sinister, and land her in no small amount of peril. Sign me up!
People often talk about the evolution of adventure games from text parsers to purely graphical interfaces as a net good, as if text parsers were just a crutch, a relic from the genre’s early days that we no longer needed, but I’ve always thought of them as two fundamentally different approaches, each with their own strengths. I think there are ways in which the presence of a text parser can encourage creative thinking that a purely graphics-based interface doesn’t always allow for, and in addition to digging into the plot of The Crimson Diamond, I’m eager to see how it uses this design element that so rarely gets employed in modern games. All in all, it sounds like a perfect fit for a cozy weekend. —Carolyn Petit
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Austin Williams, Carolyn Petit, Moises Taveras, Kenneth Shepard, and Ethan Gach
Cat Quest III departs from the first two games of this light-hearted action-adventure series in a variety of ways, especially with its pirate-themed naval combat. Still, it also retains a lot of familiar gameplay mechanics and concepts that ensure if you played the previous games, you’ll feel right at home. Whether you’re a returning player well-versed in Cat Quest’s history, or you’re brand new to the franchise, we’ve compiled a solid list of tips to help you get started in this feline-focused adventure. – Billy Givens Read More
Baldur’s Gate 3just celebrated its first trip around the sun this past weekend. Have you, by chance, neglected to play the rightful Game of the Year 2023 (I’m not bitter) thus far? Well, if you have a PlayStation 5 and you’ve been waiting for the right time to jump into it, Larian Studios’ masterclass in RPG design is on sale.
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I tend to buy a lot of games right as they’re coming out so I don’t partake in PlayStation’s Summer Sale that often. But Sony’s cooking with gas this year and there’s still time for you to grab some of the best games on the PS5 for cheap. I’m just trying to scroll through the list right now and keep getting caught up on things I would buy if I didn’t already have them. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the entirety of Hades developer Supergiant Games’ catalog, and plenty of other gems are on sale until August 14. But right at the top of the page is Baldur’s Gate 3, which has dropped from its usual price of $70 to a slightly less intimidating $55.99.
Larian’s Dungeons & Dragons RPG captured the hearts and minds of many an adventurer last year, and if you waited an entire trip around the sun to play it, now’s a great chance to do so on PlayStation 5. It’s got a few rough edges compared to its PC counterpart, but it’s still pretty damn incredible. Play it as your own custom character and live out your fantasy dream, smooch a bunch of complex heroes who are just trying to survive literal brainworms, and engage in some of the most complex tactical combat you’ll find on a PS5. If you haven’t jumped on it yet and you’ve got a PlayStation, now’s the time to see what all the fuss is about.
As you wander the wasteland of Appalachia, you may notice what looks like an oddly dressed ghoul stumbling down the cracked pavement toward you. It’s actually a Scorched, which isn’t anything special, but lately you might’ve seen them dressed in holiday attire. The bright red and white frock of a Scorched Wanderer stands out in the bleak post-apocalypse, and if you manage to beat your fellow survivors to the punch, you can actually farm Holiday Scorched in Fallout 76 for fantastic rewards. Why would you want to? Well, read on. – Brandon Morgan Read More
We’re about halfway through the summer and I’ve given up on avoiding sweat You’re probably about halfway to giving up on Elden Ring’s Shaddw of the Erdtree DLC, but we can help with that. We’ve also got a tip for a free game for you to snag, and some FF14 advice. Read on for more of this week’s best tips.
Above all else,Zenless Zone Zero is beautiful to look at. HoYoverse’s latest action RPG gacha title, following 2020’s Genshin Impactand last year’s Honkai: Star Rail, has a lot much going for it, with a beautifully detailed world, characters, and animations. Underneath that style there is even some substance, but the game may not be able to best HoYoverse’s other successful titles in the long run.
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Smart features that lessen the gacha grind make ZZZ perhaps the most player-friendly title in HoYoverse’s growing library, but it lacks a good hook that will keep the player coming back for more. In the dozen or so hours I’ve spent with ZZZ it takes shape as a promising melting pot of useful features and gorgeous design that I’m worried won’t garner the same avid fan base as its siblings.
Damn, Zenless Zone Zero has style!
In Zenless Zone Zero you take on the role of a Proxy, a person who guides agents (the characters you control in combat) through dangerous pocket dimensions called Hollows. These Hollows have valuable resources, so the residents of New Eridu (where the game is set), are always in want of a good Proxy to guide them in hopes of turning a profit. At the start of ZZZ,you help a trio of agents escape the Hollows and fall into a rabbit hole of intrigue and mystery that only gets deeper the more you play.
Image: HoYoverse
Immediately upon starting, New Eridu and its inhabitants stand out visually, thanks to the game’s incredible urban punk aesthetic that blends the futuristic and nostalgic. The protagonist duo Belle and Wise (per HoYoverse’ tradition since Genshin Impact, you get to pick to play as a female or male main character) are another great example of ZZZ’s wonderful design. Belle has a simple gray and orange color palette only contrasted by the dark blue of her stylish short hair. She’s wearing a fashionable ensemble with geometric patterning that alternates between her main colors while also sporting a walkman-like device on her hip. It’s a fit that would be right at home in the most fashionable neighborhoods of New York City.
That high-quality design extends to the rest of the game’s cast, each of whom is stylish and could very well be your new favorite character, which is the ideal for a game that asks you to pay real-world money to get the characters you want. I especially love the variety ZZZ offers, which includes non-human characters, like a bear named Ben Bigger, a first for aHoYoverse game. Similarly, New Eridu is a shining city filled with a love of the real world’s past. The central neighborhood you explore while not actively on missions (we’ll get to those) is littered with stores dedicated to physical media (what a concept). Belle and Wise run a video rental store that you get to manage while they aren’t doing their less-than-legal activities guiding people through the Hollows.
ZZZ’s core gameplay loop is centered around the Hollows. You can accept missions that send your party of three into the dangerous dungeons to fight and gain loot. Some missions progress the story, some are side activities, and some are combat-focused challenges to test your skill. In contrast to the open-world of Genshin Impact or the more expansive space traveling escapades of Honkai: Star Rail the world of ZZZ feels small. That extends to missions, which you begin not by traveling a long distance to a location, but by launching into them from a simple menu. It reminds me most of HoYoverse’s Honkai Impact 3rd, but that’s not where the similarities end. ZZZ’s entire combat system feels most like HI3.
Image: HoYoverse
Even when it works, I kind of wish I was playing something else
In ZZZ, you control one member of your party at a time in real time combat against hordes of enemies. Each character has a basic, special, and ultimate attack, with the latter two charging up as you perform basic attacks. This alone is fairly simple and probably will feel familiar to anyone who has played HI3 or Genshin Impact. However, ZZZ’s special sauce is it sassist attacks. Before an enemy attacks, a short sparkle signals to switch characters. If timed perfectly, you dodge the incoming attack and can in turn do some big damage. With this system, combat encounters take on a certain flow that can feel exceptionally good when you string together assist attack after assist attack, unleashing ultimates and decimating the enemy in no time.
HoYoverse constantly iterates from one title to the next, and ZZZ’s combat is clearly the result of some great iteration on Genshin Impact, which to this day has a pretty boring combat loop. Combat shines even brighter thanks to some of the best animations I’ve seen HoYoverse put to screen. When compared to Genshin Impact, it’s a wonderful improvement, however it can’t reach the same heights as this year’s HoYoverse competitor, Wuthering Waves. WuWa still feels much more engaged than ZZZ, as even in the latters’ most challenging fights the combat loop can lean towards button-mashing without the need for much thought.
Naturally, ZZZ’s combat loop is in service of gaining in-game resources by which you can unlock and upgrade new characters and weapons. Thankfully, that gacha grind isn’t nearly as bad as something like Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail. Everything feels more easily accessible to the player through the limited collection of activities. You can probably get your favorite character with a lot less work than it would take in other HoYoverse games due to ZZZ’s approach, which shows the developer is clearly attempting to make quality of life improvements to its games (and something I desperately hopes makes its way back to Genshin Impact and HSR). Combined with the smaller world and simple mission design, ZZZ is HoYoverse’s most approachable and player-friendly title. Yet it still hasn’t gotten its hooks into me.
HoYoverse
Ironically I think the reason for that is because ZZZ sands maybe one too many edges off the HoYoverse formula. While combat is the most impressive it’s ever been in a HoYoverse title, it feels too easy, which makes moment-to-moment gameplay unengaging. The characters and world are gorgeously designed, but the story itself isn’t very enticing as of yet. The stories of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail are what keep me coming back, but even with ZZZ’s a lower barrier to entry I find its narrative to be easy to bounce off of. To be fair, the game is in its first week and has barely gotten started on the narrative front, so things could get better, but right now, it’s not gripping me. More than anything, while playing ZZZ I find myself wishing its improved features could just be put in the HoYoverse games I’d rather be playing.
As much as I love many things in Zenless Zone Zero, I can’t quite place it in the HoYoverse portfolio. Alongside Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Honkai Impact 3rd, Zenless Zone Zero feels like it has the biggest hurdles in the way of its success. Genshin is already an established hit with an avid fan base thanks to a sprawling open-world matched by an equally sprawling story. Honkai: Star Rail has become popular in its own right after only being released a year ago on the strength of its tight turn-based combat and enthralling space opera adventure. Then there’s Honkai Impact 3rd, which despite releasing back in 2016, still has loyal fans. This all stretches the potential player base for ZZZ even thinner. I hope it does find its audience, however, as there is a lot to love.
Zenless Zone Zero is now available on Android, iOS, PC, and PlayStation 5.
A screenshot I took while Remote Playing the Elden Ring expansion this weekend.Screenshot: From Software / Bandai Namco / Kotaku
I used to consider myself a certifiable cloud hater. I’ve never enjoyed my experiences trying to engage with cloud gaming, which allows players to stream their console games to PCs, smartphones, and dedicated handhelds, as well as adjacent remote play technology. In my limited experience, it was always too laggy, made the games look ugly as shit, and needed far too potent a signal to work even passably well. However, I went away this past weekend and didn’t want to lug around either of my consoles, so I gave it an earnest shot again and I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised with how far cloud and remote gaming’s come. – Moises Taveras Read More
If there’s one thing we can all agree on about Destiny 2, it’s that it has a lot of menus, where you probably spend lots of time managing all sorts of little things, from bounties to excess inventory, quest tracking, and more. Honestly, I think I spend a quarter of my time with Destiny not shooting aliens or exploring the surface of Europa or Nessus but just trudging through unintuitive menus laden with tabs and subpages.
But there’s a better way to play Destiny! All you need is an iOS or Android device. If you’re already a regular user of the Destiny companion app, then I don’t need to sing its praises to you, though it’s worth noting that with the Prismatic class introduced in Destiny 2’s latest expansion, The Final Shape, the app is arguably more useful than ever. For those who aren’t acquainted with how it dramatically improves and streamlines the experience of playing Bungie’s sci-fi shooter (especially on PlayStation and Xbox), let me outline a few excellent use cases for this more-than-handy tool.
This guide will only cover app functions that let you manage bounties and inventory. Clan and fireteam management, as well as other social features, are outside the scope of this piece. – Claire Jackson Read More
As Bungie continues to tease out the release of Destiny 2: The Final Shape, it has finally unveiled how Keith David (The Thing, Halo, Mass Effect) will sound when he assumes the mantle of Commander Zavala. Zavala, a key character in the Destiny series, had been played by the beloved actor Lance Reddick until last year, when he tragically passed from coronary heart disease.
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As part of the upcoming expansion’s marketing cycle, Bungie is in the midst of releasing a series of short documentaries on the making of The Final Shape. The first part of this doc, which debuted on May 23, contains two brief scenes debuting David as Zavala. They are, predictably, a gut punch.
The first scene, which comes about three minutes into the first part of the ViDoc, features Zavala telling an unseen character that he would’ve given anything to bring them back. He is presumably talking to Cayde-6, a character who was killed off in 2018’s Forsaken expansion and with whom Zavala had a close relationship (who is returning and will be voiced, once again, by Nathan Fillion). Later on, there is another cutscene of Zavala telling his fellow vanguard Ikora Rey that he won’t “lose another soldier in this war.” It’s impossible not to read the lines as the game’s developers and fans alike wishing Reddick could still be here for this momentous moment in the series.
Reddick’s character became an increasingly integral part of Destiny’s long-running story, but the actor was a positive fixture of the game’s community in real life, too. Fans adored Reddick, who often took the time out of his day to engage with them on social media. He’d often field questions from fans on Twitter even when he wasn’t actively working on the game or promoting it. When he passed,countless players amassed near his character in Destiny 2’s hub and publicly mourned Reddick’s passing while celebrating his contributions to the series.
After his passing, many Bungie developers who’d worked with Reddick shared how fond they had become of him over the years. Reddick, who’d been with the series since day one, seemed to have fostered an especially strong affinity for Destiny, and he often played the game. In a heartbreaking and completely unintended gesture, it was eventually discovered that Reddick was playing Destiny 2 the night before he passed away.
At the time of his passing, Reddick had recorded some lines for Zavala for some of the content following 2023’s Lightfall expansion. Over the course of some months though, Zavala’s role in the story diminished, and players understood before long that they’d probably heard the last of Reddick’s posthumous work. Beginning with The Final Shape, David is taking over the role, and though he has a commanding voice and certainly has the gravitas, Reddick’s unique take on the character he originated will be missed.
Stellar Blade, the Nier: Auotmata-ish PS5 character action game, has a bunch of chests to unlock that give you all kinds of sweet rewards, from healing items to gold to crafting resources. Many of these chests require that you input a sequence of buttons in an allotted time limit, while others need a passcode to open. There’s one in Xion, the game’s main hub world, that’s like this, demanding a passcode before unlocking. It’s called Aaron’s Locker and, truth be told, you may already have what you need to get the chest opened. – Levi Winslow Read More
Fans of the original Dragon’s Dogma never dreamed the wonky fantasy RPG might get a sequel. Over a decade later, Capcom delivered a successor that improved on the flaws of the first without shaving off the sharp edges that earned it a cult following to begin with.
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Weeks after it launched, Dragon’s Dogma 2 hasn’t just sold well, it’s been the perfect breeding ground for fun discoveries and strange player tales. It’s also been a lightning rod for debate, despite being one of the highest rated games of 2024. Here are the ups, downs, and everything in-between since Dragon’s Dogma 2’s launched on March 22.
Fans freak out over Dragon’s Dogma 2’s microtransactions
Screenshot: Valve / Kotaku
The game’s Steam page displays all the things you can buy with real money, many of which are included in the Deluxe Edition. They include camping kits, Wakestones, Portcrystals, and other in-game items that save time and impact gameplay. Reviewers of the game point out that most of the resources are earned easily enough just by playing, but for some players the mere existence of the option to buy them feels like a corrupting influence. The paid item for changing characters’ appearances gets modded into the game on day one.
Steam reviews are a mess
While early reviews were glowing, the game gets slammed on Steam. With a less than 40 percent positive rating in its first day, PC players complain about poor optimization. Performance issues range from glacial framerates in some areas to occasional freezes and crashes. A Capcom rep tells IGN ahead of release that it’s aware of CPU issues and is looking into them.
Players discover the horrors of Dragonsplague
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s NPC companions, called Pawns, are vulnerable to a mysterious illness called Dragonsplague. If left untreated long enough, it triggers a deadly transformation that can wipe out cities. “One of the pawns nukes the entire village because of Dragonsplague and I had no inkling at all that they had caught it,” one player reports. “No voice lines, no comments of staying away from them, no glowing red eyes. My save is now just fucked because of this mechanic.”
One of the surest ways to spot the illness is if Pawns start acting rudely. Players listen carefully for any signs of bad manners, while some kill their companions before ever sleeping over at an Inn. The easiest way to do that is throwing Pawns into the bodies of water inhabited by Brine, misty creatures that kill everything they touch. As a result, players start hurling NPCs off cliffs en masse.
A Pawn pyramid scheme creates free money
Screenshot: Valve / Kotaku
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s economy is all over the place, with things like Ox cart rides between cities being relatively cheap, while haircuts cost hundreds, and rooms at Inns can cost thousands. Fortunately, players figure out an exploit for quick cash involving sending Pawns out on quests online for things like killing monsters.
By setting the quest rewards for 10,000, other players can hire the Pawn and collect the bounty. While the first player has to pay it out to send the Pawn on the quest in the first place, an endless number of other players can rent the Pawn to snag the reward. The result is that Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Rift dimension becomes flooded with free Pawn money.
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s first patch adds do-overs
One of the weirdest things about Capcom’s RPG ends up being the fact that there’s only one save file that constantly gets updated. Players can’t even start their game over from the beginning until Dragon’s Dogma 2’s first patch on March 29. The update also adds more graphics options for console, makes it easier to get a house earlier in the game, and changes the number of Art of Metamorphosises that can be purchased from 2 to 99.
Capcom takes pity on unwanted Pawns
A player by the name of MrFoxer on the Dragon’s Dogma subreddit notes that Capcom appears to be manufacturing artificial players to rent out Pawns if nobody real is doing it. “You can tell whether an actual player rented your pawn by attempting to view their profile while looking at your pawn’s report,” they write. “If the option is greyed out, it’s a ‘fake player.’” Some fans are crestfallen. “Well thats nice but also kinda sad since no one wants to actually use our Pawn,” one writes. “Oof, 99% of my rents are greyed out,” writes another. “Feels bad, but never mind.”
The server-hopping companions continue to be one of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s most fascinating playgrounds. Pawns who are rented out for real start returning to their players with rotten food as fans try to devise ways to warn one another about possible Dragonsplauge afflictions. Other players prank one another by sending Pawns back with forged Ferristones as gifts.
The worst NPC in the land
Image: Capcom / FX / Kotaku
Meet Martin, the human magistrate from Vernworth that everyone hates. He’s hard to find, breaks quests, and is just an all-around sack of griffon turds. Players can kill him after finding him in Melve yelling at Ulrika for treason and they do.
A one-hit kill “Unmaking Arrow” is a godsend
Survival can be tough in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Massive mythical creatures stalk you at every turn. But none of them can stand up to the Unmaking Arrow, an item so powerful Capcom autosaves the game after you use it. At least one player managed to circumvent this save-scumming safeguard using cheat engine tools and proceeded to kill everything they came across. Regular fans debate the best vocations in the game. Many believe it’s obviously Mystic Spearhand or Magick Archer while others claim the base Thief and Sorcerer roles remain superior.
Players debate the game’s friction
Dragon’s Dogma 2 limits fast travel, doesn’t let you fully restore health unless you’re in town or have camping equipment, and severely limits the amount of junk you can carry in your inventory. The consensus is that the fantasy RPG is friction-heavy compared to other open world games like modern Assassin’s Creed titles, but less unanimous is whether that’s always a good thing or occasionally masks genuine shortcomings. Theresultingconversationisinconclusivebut enlightening.
A second major patch nerfs Dragonsplague
After untold death and destruction, the development team decides to dial back Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Pawn disease. In addition to being more noticeable, the sickness is also less frequent. The April 25 update also reduces how much NPCs banter during quests and removes old treasure chests from players’ maps, in addition to other fixes. What it doesn’t do is markedly improve performance on PC.
Capcom shareholders get an unexpected payout
Dragon’s Dogma 2sells 2.5 million copies in its first 10 days where the first game took a whole month just to sell less than half that amount. That brings the franchise’s lifetime total sales up to 10 million, pushing it well past the cult status it had previously enjoyed for years. “Dragons Dogma 2 was released in the fourth quarter and has performed favorably,” Capcom announced in a revision to its earnings forecast. It increased its projected dividend per company share by $.03. Not enough to afford a night in Bakbattahl but enough that the company also increases salaries for new graduate hires.
