Respawn Entertainment has sprung a surprise patch for Apex Legends this February 24, 2025 on all platforms. Players shouldn’t expect anything major outside of fixes, given we just got the big Takeover patch two weeks ago.
Alongside the client download, which players will see as Apex Legends update 2.78, the studio has also recently rolled out server-side updates that are worth nothing.
Updated Ash’s dash to prevent players from accidentally triggering it
Resolved a visual delay when deploying Wattson’s fences
Mythic R-301 attachments are no longer lost after being respawned
Resolved a crash when viewing your Match Summary
An issue causing the incorrect total of RP to be shown in Ranked Match Summary
Resolved a crash that was happening on Xbox Series X/S consoles
Wraith’s Slow Clap emote will now display correctly
Fixed a crash that
As of this article going live, Respawn hasn’t mentioned the fixes included in this title update, though we do know what they’re working on via the official Apex Legends Trello board.
INVESTIGATING
[Arsenals] Collision extends over visual model
Mythic Ordnance skin inconsistent with Fuse’s passive
Founder’s badge shows as locked, but can still be equipped
Weapon Mastery + Trackers show different values
FIX IN PROGRESS
Incorrect total RP being displayed in Ranked Match Summary
Some optics disappearing/swapping after weapon swap
[Wattson] Fences visually delayed after placement
[Switch] Changing video settings during match results in crash
[Ash] Jump input while in air can trigger Dash
[Xbox] FPS drops with Bloodhound Ult
Just a few days ago, the studio also relayed a list of fixes they rolled out via a server-side patch:
Weapon tuning for L-Star and Rampage to 19 (was 20) & overheats slightly faster
Weapon tuning for Rampage to 29 (was 30
Assault Class scan reduced to 2s (was 4s)
Mirage’s health bars no longer appear with Assault Class Scan
Ash’s Upgrades have been shuffled (double ult moved to level 3)
Ash’s Dash cooldown has been doubled to give you more time to react against this Apex assassin.
Once the official patch. notes are out; we’ll update the article with the info.
With the Delta Force Black Hawk Down campaign now officially available, many have begun to turn their eyes to the next big release from Team Jade, that being the console version of Delta Force.
FromSoftware is one of the studios behind some of the toughest games in the world. The Japanese studio became famous for creating the soulslike genre back in 2009 with the release of Demon’s Souls for PS3. Since then, many players have fallen in love with these challenging games, pushing themselves to complete difficult tasks that only the most dedicated fans could manage.
The most recent example is a streamer named Dinossindgeil, also known as Nico, who completed Demon’s Souls, the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring in sequence, one after the other, without taking a single hit. And it wasn’t just about completing these games; Nico did it without leveling up in any of them.
Streamer Completes All FromSoftware Soulslike Games in a Row
To make this achievement even more impressive, Nico didn’t just complete this challenge in a few days or weeks. He spent nearly two years working on it. He couldn’t hold back his tears when he finally defeated the Soul of Cinder in Dark Souls 3. “Almost two years, almost two years. Oh my God, we did it… It was perfect, it couldn’t have been better,” Nico said, celebrating with a friend on his livestream, which concluded over the weekend.
However, Nico is no stranger to the FromSoftware games. He had already completed a similar challenge in 2022, but with slightly different conditions. Back then, he was allowed to level up and use items. The challenge then was to finish all the games consecutively, without playing any downloadable content (DLCs), and not taking a single hit in any of them.
But, if an enemy hurt him, he had to restart the challenge from the very beginning of the remake of Demon’s Souls.
In other news, an Elden Ring player has announced plans to sue FromSoftware, claiming the game contains a hidden area that is inaccessible due to its extreme difficulty. The player argues that other FromSoftware titles, including Sekiro and Bloodborne, feature similar hidden content.
FromSoftware’s next game is Elden Ring Nightreign, which will be released on consoles and PC in May. You can read our hands-on impressions of the recent Network Test right here.
With FromSoftware launching Elden Ring's first and only DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree later today, some might be wondering what the future holds for the studio.
The Monster Hunter series is Capcom’s most successful franchise by units sold. The release of a mainline entry is a big deal, and there are very high expectations to live up to. Can Capcom possibly keep the momentum up with their newest entry? The answer, in our Monster Hunter Wilds review, will probably not surprise you.
While the Monster Hunter franchise might be one of Capcom's biggest sellers in their catalog, the barrier to new players is a major concern for developers.
An Epic Narrative
Monster Hunter Wilds features a fully-voiced, cinematic campaign that most people will find enjoyable. You play as a Hunter, tasked with trying to find an expedition team that seemingly got lost in the Forbidden Lands, an area that is supposedly uninhabited by people, while being rife with monsters. Naturally, things don’t go exactly as planned, and before you know it you and your crew are involved in the affairs of unexpected strangers, helping others as they ask for your help.
The campaign’s voice acting is pretty good. Cutscenes vary in length from a handful of moments, to several minutes, with some truly surreal moments involving huge, towering behemoths, talking cats, raging sandstorms, and other scenarios which feel epic while you’re fighting through them. From the game’s opening moments, involving a ship sailing through sand, and a leap of faith from said ship onto a winged creature called a Seikret (think Chocobo, but more like a feathered dinosaur than an oversized chicken) in order to rescue a child from large sandworms and a massive sinkhole, you know you’re in for a heck of a ride.
There are moments of levity and outright silliness between massive set pieces. You have a companion sentient cat, a Palico that you get to name and outfit with various weapons and armor. This cat isn’t just there for an occasional quip, they also serve as another team member. They’ll gather materials as you roam open areas, and can help distract your latest target or patch you up with heals from time to time. I don’t recall ever having to resuscitate them in battle, either, so they never become dead weight – the game is likely simply coded to never have them completely out of the fight, even if they get stunned for a while. Also, while Palicos technically speak their own language, you can opt to have them speak English instead, which I’d recommend simply to hear them pronounce certain words in a punny manner, such as “catch the latest mews here!” Outside of voice work, the audio in Monster Hunter Wilds is as epic as you’d expect a globetrotting story to have attached to it. More than just background noise, the intensity of the music ratchets up as the fight gets going, and quiets down as the target flees in a desperate attempt to get away from the player.
Looking Quite Good
The RE Engine is used for Monster Hunter Wilds, and it performs admirably. Environments and character models are very detailed, and on my decently-specced hardware (an ASUS TUF F17 gaming laptop: Core i7-13620H CPU, 16 GB of DDR5 RAM, and an RTX 4070 8GB GPU), the game tended to run around 40 FPS with the Ultra preset, modified with DLSS on “Balanced” mode, and Ray tracing set to Low. There was an issue with an area known as Azuz, where textures failed to load properly in the main town area, eventually culminating with an in-game cutscene that lost a lot of detail, causing the game to look like it was running on a PS3. This seems to have been an isolated issue, however, though other reviewers also noted the problem on a Discord set up specifically for reviewers of Monster Hunter Wilds. With a wide variety of hardware out there, if you’re on PC, you’ll want to spend some time digging into the various graphics options available until you’re comfortable with performance vs. quality.
Weird area aside, Monster Hunter Wilds’ presentation is high quality, all around. The different biomes feel alive, with wildlife you can sit back and watch, if you’re not currently tracking down a target, that is. A monster compendium has all sorts of info on every creature to read and unlock. For the multi-stage creatures, you’ll need to experiment with different strategies in order to unlock additional information, such as suggested battle tactics to use. An example is using a shock trap against a fire-breathing beast. It’ll have no effect, and your data will update to show that result for reference in the future. There is a lot of attention to detail in the world that Capcom has built.
True to its name, the best part of Monster Hunter Wilds remains the hunt. While there are optional hunts and quests to partake in, the campaign hunts naturally have a more cinematic feel to them, since they move the story along. The creatures you hunt on these missions are ferocious beasts: featuring giant arachnids (plus hundreds of her babies), fire-breathing, not-quite-dragon monstrosities, and other horrors, including some that fly. Each monster requires different tactics to slay or capture efficiently, though you are more than welcome to simply brute force your way to victory if you so desire. Whatever steps you take to perform a hunt, the result is a satisfying fight, that feels like a multi-stage boss battle, which ebbs and flows as you may struggle against the monster at the start, since they are at their greatest strength. But so long as you persevere, you will eventually cause enough damage to your prey to find an opening, at which point you can try to target wounded areas, or attempt to mount the monster, which initiates a climbing mechanic where you have a chance to inflict a ton of damage in one go. Once you get the hang of things, the thrill of the hunt becomes all too real.
If you were hoping that Monster Hunter Wilds will feature endgame, raid-like activities called a Siege by the developers, you'll sadly be disappointed by this news.
Calling for Help Is Fine
One completely valid tactic involves calling others for help. You can use something called an SOS flare, beginning from almost the very start of the campaign. Once triggered, other players may join your game, to cooperatively take down the current monster you’re hunting. If no other players join, then the game may generate CPU-controlled characters to help you out instead. No matter who joins your mission, all loot is available for everyone – though you still have to manually collect resources (or have your Palico get some for you), if a teammate previously collected some gemstones, you can still extract from that same spot as if they never touched it. A lot of the later-game enemies are very challenging, and some players might feel the difficulty is too high for solo expeditions. But, with three tries per mission, and no penalty besides receiving less money at the end of a hunt, most hunts don’t pose too large of a problem to progress the story.
With 14 different weapons to forge and upgrade, players are spoiled for choice, and that’s before accounting for the various armor, talisman, and other upgrades also at your disposal. As you fight more powerful monsters, you’ll collect more powerful resources such as parts that fall off the creatures during a fight, received as rewards following a successful capture, or are carved out of them when defeated. Those materials can in turn be used to craft ever more powerful weapons, armors, and other accessories for both yourself and your Palico. If you’re new to the series, or maybe it’s just been a while (the first Monster Hunter released in 2004 in Japan, after all), the game does offer plenty of tutorials, many of which show up as you first encounter a game’s mechanic. Furthermore, if you’re overwhelmed by the many choices of things to craft, after a couple of main missions, the smithy at each area’s campsite will provide recommendations regarding what to make next. Overall, Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the easiest entries to get into for newer players, while veterans of the franchise can probably turn all tutorials off and learn the new mechanics as they encounter them.
While each area of Monster Hunter Wilds’ map is open-world, it is trivial to play the game in a more linear fashion for those who’d rather stick mostly to the story. The Seikrats serve as mounts after completing a handful of early campaign missions. They have an incredibly useful auto-navigation feature, where if you don’t make any input to the left analog stick/character movement buttons, the Seikret will navigate to your next waypoint for you, including some pretty complicated terrain to route around, over and through. But their utility doesn’t stop there: Seikrets also enable you to bring two weapons with you on each hunt. You can swap which weapon is currently equipped while on your Seikret, and you can also use ranged weapons while on Seikretback.
Verdict
Monster Hunter Wilds is a great entry in a fantastic franchise. While there are a lot of mechanics to consider, the game’s tutorials should help most new players to quickly acclimate and join the upper ranks of hunters in no time. A full-fledged, cinematic, occasionally surreal, campaign whisks players from biome to biome, with a meaty play time of 40-50 hours just for the main story, and probably hundreds of more hours to get to 100% completion, there is plenty of content to keep hunters entertained for a while to come. Monster Hunter Wilds comes highly recommended for gamers of all types, but especially RPG fans or fans of the series.
Score: 9/10
Pros:
Well thought-out world, with great attention to detail.
Tons of weapons and armor to craft and combine.
A cinematic, meaty campaign which can be played together.
Rewarding, multi-stage hunts represent a good challenge.
Cons:
Odd texture issues being reported, though not for most of the game.
Paulmichael has been writing in the gaming industry since 2008. Living just outside of Los Angeles, he has been lucky enough to attend numerous gaming events around the world, including the last ten E3 shows (RIP)! A thoughtful reviewer, every game you see scored by PmC has been given careful attention. Paulmichael is also an aviation fan and an avid snowboarder. Favorite games include: No Man's Sky, Gran Turismo 7, skate., CloverPit.
Hi-Rez Studios has released SMITE 2 update 1.000.072 on consoles and PC, and this is for Patch 4, which brings Artemis into the game. This also brings new cosmetics, UI/UX changes, game balance adjustments and more.
The changelog is quite hefty, as with any major patch for SMITE, so read on for everything that changed today.
Recently, it was reported that NetEase had laid off the Marvel Rivals development team to "optimize development efficiency," despite the game's massive success.
SMITE 2’s New Patch for February 24 Brtings Update 4
New Gods
Artemis (Live with the Update!)
General
Deals Physical Damage
Strength Scaling
Ranged Basic Attacks
Passive: Still Target – Artemis deals 15% increased Basic Attack Damage to gods and 30% to minions that are affected by Crowd Control
New: Artemis is able to detect nearby enemy gods in stealth grass.
Ability: Transgressor’s Fate – Place a trap on the ground. Enemy gods that come in contact with it activate it, Rooting, Crippling, and repeatedly dealing Physical Damage over 3 seconds.
New: Added motion to the enemy version of the trap to make them easier to see
Ability: Vengeful Assault – Greatly increase your Movement Speed and Attack Speed.
New: While the buff is active, gain a charge each time you hit an enemy god with a basic attack. After reaching 4 charges they are consumed, extending the duration of the buff by 3s.
Ability: Suppress the Insolent – Fire a volley at the target area dealing Physical Damage and Slowing enemies.
Ability: Calydonian Boar – Summon the great Calydonian Boar that charges the nearest enemy god.
Aspect:Aspect of the Wild
A01 (Transgressor’s Fate)
Transgressor’s Fate no longer roots or cripples gods but can now target minions. Triggered traps now also heal Artemis and deal damage to enemies in a larger area.
New Cross-Gen and Classic Skins
Classic (purchasable for 100% Legacy Gems)
Foxy Amaterasu
Baron Frostchild Ymir
La Roca Hercules
Cross-Gen (purchasable for 50% Legacy Gems)
Summer Fun Medusa
Hellforged Thor
Lil Bites Sobek
Nano-Mancer Baron Samedi
Divine Legacy
Boss Man Danzaburou
General
Updated various face models including Aphrodite, Achilles, and Phantom Seas Poseidon
The Assault mode has been changed! Check out the details in the Gameplay section
Thor has a new aspect! Aspect of Thunderstruck
Thunderstruck is always active; triggering it 3 times on a god heals Thor, slowing and trembling them. Warrior’s Madness grants Protections instead of Strength. Mjolnir’s Attunement no longer deals bonus return damage, and Tectonic Rift has no damage scaling.
Two new chests are now available for Classic and Cross-Gen skins:
Classic Skin Chest – Contains 8 Classic Skins
Chaos Chest – 15 dark, fiery, and supernatural skins!
With the Delta Force Black Hawk Down campaign now officially available, many have begun to turn their eyes to the next big release from Team Jade, that being the console version of Delta Force.
Gods
Sol Nerf
Aspect of Conflagration
Unstable Manifestation
Decreased Ability Damage Increase from 7.5% to 6%
Izanami Nerf
Death Draws Nigh
Decreased Physical Penetration per stack from 0.4 to 0.3 (decreased from 20% to 15% at max stacks)
Fade Away
Increased Cooldown from 15s to 17/16.5/16/15.5/15s
Cupid Nerf
Aspect of Love
Heart Bomb
Decreased STR Scaling on initial hit from 40% to 30%
Decreased STR Scaling on Explosion from 40% to 30%
Ullr Nerf
Expose Weakness (Invigorate)
Decreased Buff Duration from 5s to 4s on both stances
Decreased Axe Stance Movement Speed buff from 10/12.5/15/17.5/20% to 8/10/12/14/16%
Aladdin Nerf
Genie’s Lamp
Decreased Base %Stats from other items from 2% to 1%
Decreased %Stats from other items per level from 0.5% to 0.4%
Decreases total stats from other items on the lamp from 12% to 9% at lvl 20
Hercules Nerf
Driving Strike
Decreased Base Damage from 90/160/230/300/370 to 80/150/220/290/360
Earthbreaker
Decreased Base Damage from 85/140/195/250/305 to 75/130/185/240/295
Aphrodite Shift
Kiss
Decreased Jealousy Damage INcrease from 5/7.5/10/12.5/15% to 6/7/8/9/10%
Back Off
Decreased Slow from 25% to 20%
Love Birds
Increased INT Scaling per tick on the Damage over Time from 15% to 17.5%
Odin Buff
Lunge
Increased Base Damage from 120/165/210/255/300 to 120/170/220/270/320
Gungnir’s Might
Increased Pulse Damage from 45/70/95/120/145 to 50/80/110/140/170
Ring of Spears
Decreased Cooldown from 110/105/100/95/90s to 100/95/90/85/80s
Bacchus Buff
Chug
Increased Heal from 0/20/35/50/65/80 to 0/40/60/80/100/120
Belch of the Gods
Increased Damage per tick from 20/35/50/65/80 to 25/40/55/70/85
Susano Buff
Wind Siphon
Decreased Cooldown from 16s to 15s
Jet Stream
Decreased Cooldown from 16s to 15s
Typhoon
Increased Max Damage of the travelling Typhoon from 210/270/330/390/450 to 220/285/350/415/480
Increased STR Scaling from 110% to 115%
Cernunnos Buff
The Wild Hunt
Increased STR Scaling from 65% to 80%
Pele Buff
Eruption
Decreased Cooldown from 15s to 14s
Volcanic Lightning
Increased Slow from 20/25/30/35/40% to 30/32.5/35/37.5/40%
Items
NEW – Magi’s Cloak
2450g
30 Physical Protection
40 Magical Protection
10 Cooldown Rate
Passive: Protects you from a single hard Crowd Control once every 60s. When this triggers, gain 1.5s of Crowd Control Immunity
NEW – Nimble Ring
2750g
45 Intelligence
20% Attack Speed
15% Lifesteal
Passive: For every 30 Intelligence, you gain 2 Basic Attack Damage and 2% Attack Speed
NEW – Bancroft’s Talon
2550g
40 Intelligence
150 Max Mana
2 Mana Regen
15% Lifesteal
Passive: You gain additional Intelligence and Lifesteal scaled from missing Health. This caps at 60 Intelligence and 10% Lifesteal at 40% Health
REWORKED – Typhon’s Fang
2700g
50 Intelligence
20% Lifesteal
Passive: Healing obtained from Lifesteal is increased by 10%. Your Intelligence is increased by 1.75x the amount of Lifesteal you have.
Soul Reaver Nerf
Decreased base % Health damage per tick from 1% to 0.5%
Lifebinder Nerf
Increased Cooldown 15s to 20s
Remove the Kill/Assist Clause
Olmec Blue Nerf
Decreased Health Regen from 3 to 2
Totem of Death Nerf
Decreased Penetration per Stack 7.5% to 6% (30% to 24% at max stacks)
The Executioner Nerf
Decreased Penetration per Stack 7.5% to 6% (30% to 24% at max stacks)
Obsidian Shard Nerf
Decreased Penetration from 20% to 15%
Titan’s Bane Nerf
Decreased Penetration from 20% to 15%
Heartseeker Nerf
Increased Cost from 2850 to 3000
Rod of Tahuti Nerf
Decreased Penetration from 10% to 5%
Genji’s Guard Buff
Decreased Cooldown of the passive trigger from 45s to 30s
Warrior’s Axe Buff
Increased Strength from 10 to 15
Sundering Axe Buff
Increased the Heal from 100 to 125
Bumba’s Cudgel Nerf
Decreased True Damage on “After casting ability” trigger from 20 to 10
Leather Cowl Buff
Increased Strength from 10 to 15
The Reaper Buff
Increased Strength from 30 to 35
Divine Ruin Buff
Increased Duration of the Healing Reduction debuff from 4s to 6s
Brawler’s Ruin Buff
Increased Duration of the Healing Reduction debuff from 4s to 6s
Learnean Bow Buff
Increased Duration of the Healing Reduction debuff from 4s to 6s
Enemies hit by this have their HP shields reduced by 50%
Increased the projectile range from 8.8m to 10.5m so it matches the currently used targeter
Pharaoh’s Curse Buff
Enemies hit by this have their HP shields reduced by 50%
Updated console cursor pings speed to be faster, similar to SMITE 1
Vulcan Lobby VFX now plays on backpack instead of ground
Global Emotes should no longer show up pixelated
Zeus ultimate VFX updated to have better visibility for airborne players, such as when Rama is aiming in his ultimate. Base Zeus and skins affected.
Fixed Ra Ascension Pass Skins having distracting bright VFX on each basic attack
Bumped up opacity on Amaterasu’s skins for her passive glow aura VFX
Conquest
Improved Naga soldiers ability to target Jungle Bosses
Fixed the Fire Giant ember’s respawn timer getting cancelled if a player stood in the same location as its new spawn location
Fixed jungle waypoint assistant pointing to the wrong location on the minimap
Assault
Fixed Meditation healing other players based on the caster’s missing health and mana
Gods
Aladdin
Fixed an issue where he could wall run outside of his lamp bounds and become stuck
Nu Wa
Fixed Clay Soldiers targeting Jungle Wisps
Fixed minion stealth aggro when fighting the Pyromancer
Danzaburou
Fixed the VO ability lines on his Party Animal skin using his default voice
Rama
Fixed his weapon glow being seen from out of relevancy
Ra
Fixed Polynomicon not always proccing on his first ability
Ullr
Fixed an issue with Bladed Arrow not passing through player-made walls or geometry
Hecate
Fixed an issue with her Lunar Hex skin where her cape would go crazy
Mordred
Fixed an issue where if two Mordred’s ulted each other near a wall, one would become stuck
UI
Fixed an issue on the EOML screen for Joust and Duel always showing a 5v5 layout, instead of a 1v1 or 3v3 format
Fixed an issue where the Pause UI would become hidden behind the store during pauses
Fixed an issue where the in-game Settings menu would block player movement when it was opened. This should now match SMITE 1 parity.
Fixed issues where Item Store prices were resetting in the All Items view from toggling filters
ART
Added Tower Area Radius Structures to Conquest and Assault
Given the game’s cadence for updates, expect a new one to be released to sort out any bugs from this patch. Don’t forget, Awilix will be released next week on March 3. Once Hi-Rez releases the notes, we’ll let our readers know.
After a launch that seemed to match PlayStation 4 Pro's early sales, it now looks like PS5 Pro is struggling to keep pace with the previous generation's mid-gen console, as it appears to be falling behind in terms of sales.
For many people, Yu-Gi-Oh was their first introduction to a trading card game or even anime, with the former targeting a younger audience than say Magic the Gathering was at the time. While the first Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime series did not revolve around a card game, the anime series based around Duel Monsters is what really brought the series to become the phenomenon that it eventually became. This naturally led to an abundance of video games based on the property, the majority of which were on handheld platforms. Now, Konami has dipped into the vault to give new life to 14 of those games with the Yu-Gi-Oh Early Days Collection.
I can't put too fine a point on the fact that FromSoftware's Elden Ring was far and away my favorite game of 2022, and its DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, was my favorite release of 2024.
Hearts of the Cards
Since the launch of the franchise and the main anime that people recognize, there have been eight separate follow-up series with new characters and mechanics that include GX, Zexal, and most recently Go Rush!! The Yu-Gi-Oh Early Days Collection does as the name says by only focusing on the earlier games in the series, with all being based around the original series starring Yugi and company.
The Yu-Gi-Oh Early Days Collection is made up of 14 different games from that era (technically 16), dating all the way back to 1998. One of the biggest appeals of this collection is the fact that five of the 14 games in the collection were previously Japanese exclusives that never made their way to the US or Europe. The three earliest releases in the collection fall under this umbrella, as Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters for Game Boy, Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories for Game Boy/Game Boy Color, and Yu-GI-Oh Monster Capsule for Game Boy Color were exclusive to Japanese before now.
While the US release order doesn’t quite sync up, as there was usually a two—to three-year delay in release, the third entry in the Duel Monsters series was brought over to the US as Yu-Gi-Oh Dark Duel Stories. However, the fourth entry, Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelist, once again remained a Japanese exclusive with its three-version release, though all were for Game Boy Color.
The Game Boy Advance era is when Yu-Gi-Oh really started to hits its stride in the West and led to more frequent releases, even including the aforementioned Yu-Gi-Oh Dark Duel Stories that came to the US in 2002 for Game Boy Color quite late. While the Japanese releases maintained the simple Duel Monsters name with numbered entries, the US entries instead got exclusive names for each entry instead. As a result, Duel Monsters 5 became The Eternal Duelist Soul, Duel Monsters 7 became The Sacred Cards, and Duel Monsters 8 became Reshef of Destruction. Duel Monsters 6 Expert 2 was a Japanese exclusive as well, but was later redone for a worldwide release as Yu-Gi-Oh Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel, though this collection includes both of them. As a result, Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2 isn’t translated into English since its redone version is already available as well.
Yu-Gi-Oh Early Days Collection also includes four other Game Boy Advance titles, including two more straightforward card battlers with Yu-GI-Oh World Championship Tournament 2004 and Yu-Gi-Oh 7 Trials To Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005, as well as the more unique Yu-Gi-Oh Dungeon Dice Monsters and Yu-Gi-Oh Destiny Board Traveler.
Diving into the games more specifically, those who have played the later games in the collection likely will have trouble finding much enjoyment in the early games. In fact, they strip the rules down immensely compared to what you would recognize to be Duel Monsters. For Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters, you start with the option to face Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura with the goal being to beat each of them five times to advance. The dueling here is super simplistic though, where all you can do is set monsters in attack or defense mode or use spell cards. There are no requirements to summon stronger monsters and trap cards are not around. In addition, you cannot even read your cards during battle, but rather have to know what they do by learning all of them when adding them to your deck. This is something you can get used to, but it’s a bit frustrating at first when you want to play around with your deck. The limited space for text usage and such in this first game really is a bit frustrating to navigate as well.
The next few games in the Duel Monsters series play very similarly, though with some upgrades along the way. Duel Monsters 2 adds in trap cards and ritual spell cards for the first time as well, which adds a little to the experience on top of the move to color for the first time. Dark Duel Stories (Duel Monsters 3 in Japan) was the first to release in the US as mentioned before, with it featuring a further expanded card pool and the mechanic of needing to sacrifice lower level monsters to summon stronger ones, which is a core element of the card game. Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelist originally released with three versions, one starring Yugi, one starring Kaiba, and one starring Joey, and this collection includes all three of them. Similar to Pokemon, the different versions had exclusive cards that required trading to get all of them, though this feature isn’t available in the game and has to be done through other means.
Jumping to the Game Boy Advance was a big deal for this series starting with The Eternal Duelist Soul, as the visuals took a major leap to where it actually looks like a legitimate duel when you battle an opponent. The quality of life enhancements here are immense compared to the earlier games, with you able to easily view cards in battle and really feel like you are playing a game of Yu-Gi-Oh even more than in the past. I still remember this being my first Yu-Gi-Oh game that I got back in the day and it still holds up extremely well. That is also the case for the follow-up game Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2, though this one is exclusively in Japanese even in this collection as mentioned prior.
Yu-Gi-Oh The Sacred Cards was always my favorite game as a kid and it’s still a ton of fun. The big change in this game for the series was the addition of an overworld that you have to travel around, in this case Battle City. This felt like a mix of games like Pokemon and Mega Man Battle Network at the time, where the rest of the game feels familiar while also having a more RPG style aesthetic added in for the first time. Reshef of Destruction continues this style with the mix of RPG and standard card battling, this time with an original story that I still really had a good time with this many years later.
Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel in a sense feels like a step back since it’s an English remake of Duel Monsters 6: Expert 2, but the core gameplay is still solid and feels more like the next few games do as well. The next two regular entries, World Championship Tournament 2004 and 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2006 continue the trend of having removed RPG elements, but instead are more focused on having the most competitive cards and rules of all of the games, which makes sense as this was when the original Yu-Gi-Oh series was approaching its end and transitioning to all of the new mechanics found in Yu-Gi-Oh GX.
While not in chronological order, the remaining three games make sense to talk about together as they are the three outliers in the collection due to being quite different from the rest. Yu-Gi-Oh Monster Capsule, originally for the Game Boy Color exclusively in Japan, features more of a strategy game style where you use Monster Capsules across a game board to try and win the Monster World Tournament to save your friends. This was one of the most unique games I played in the collection, as I certainly had not played it before and enjoyed the five floor setup where you wager Star Chips and eventually face off against the Dark Master of each floor in the end. The combat system feels akin to something like Fire Emblem, but was definitely on the more basic side.
First-person puzzle game Blue Prince has been in the works for a staggering eight years, by developer Dogubomb.
Shuffling the Deck
Also quite different is a game that might be more familiar to fans of the anime, as it’s based around the mechanics of a fan favorite character’s introduction with Duke Devlin and his Dungeon Dice Monsters. While having a grid-based battle-system as well, Dungeon Dice Monsters is quite different from Monster Capsule as there is a much larger area to play with and you are continually rolling dice to build up the board with your monsters. This one takes a lot more thinking to perfect, but is still quite fun.
Last is Yu-Gi-Oh Destiny Board Traveler, one of my least favorite games in the collection. While the earlier games in the collection were really basic, Destiny Board Traveler is just kind of weird. It mixes a board game style with the traditional card game, which does not mesh all that well at all. It does require some strategy to move around the board here, but I’d much rather be playing other games in the collection instead.
The menu system in Yu-Gi-Oh Early Days Collection is pretty simplistic as you would imagine for a collection. As soon as you load it up, you get to choose between Play Games, Online, Options, and Quit Game. When you select Play Games, you have a circular rotation of all 14 games that you can switch between. I really like the design of this part of the menu, as it includes the box art for each of the games, an icon showing the handheld platform it released for originally, as well as including the release year. For each of the games, you can also switch versions to alternate languages, which include English and Japanese of course, but also others like German or French. What is cool here is that for the ones that released outside of Japan, the box art and title also changes depending on what you are switching to language wise. It even reflects the release date in that region as well.
From the selection menu, you’ll also see an option for something called Enhancements. These Enhancements vary by game, essentially being a built in cheat code for each one. For instance, Reshef of Destruction has an option to turn off or on unlock all cards, maximum deck capacity, and maximum duelist level. Some only allow you to unlock all cards, which you may think is due to the limited nature of the early games, but that is all that World Championship Tournament 2004 has available as well. The most important game to have Enhancements probably is Duel Monsters 4, as the original trio of games relied on trading and you can overcome the lack of a trade feature by using this. Having an option to unlock all cards allows for much less grinding for cards along the way, but also takes away some of the difficulty that the games are built around too.
From the Game Options menu that you can access while playing any individual game, you have some additional settings to adjust as well as a really cool inclusion. This is where you can adjust the screen size from the original option to full or wide, the filter from options like TV, LCD, Monitor Filter, or Off, and even add in a border if you want. The only original Game Boy exclusive in the collection, Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters, has a color palette option between Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, and Game Boy Light.
In addition to these settings options, each of the games in the collection also have the fully color Instruction Manuals for you to flip through digitally. The Japanese exclusive ones are even translated fully to English manuals here, which is a step not all developers would have taken. This isn’t just for English either, as there are manual translations for each of the language variations that each has in the game. I will admit that I was pretty disappointed by a lack of a gallery otherwise in the game for artwork or music, but at least this was included to assuage this disappointment a little bit with the box art and manual art.
A new feature added into Yu-Gi-Oh Early Days Collection is the ability to rewind time during battle. This has become a major feature in a lot of retro game collections, though more so in platformers, but it still works well here. Most games typically have you able to rewind only like five or 10 seconds, but this collection allows you to rewind up to one minute prior, which is very important to be able to take back some multi-part moves that you may have made in error in battle. The earlier games in the collection also have a fast forward option added in as well, which is very helpful considering how slow some of them were in comparison to later games. I did feel this could have also been added into a few others games like Monster Capsule as well, so it was weird to not be featured in all of them.
Another new feature in this collection is the ability to play against someone else online, but it is incredibly limited as of launch. As you will notice when playing each of the games that have Versus options, it will say that this is not available in this version of the game. If you go to the main menu in the game and select Online though, you can access online versus play. However, as of launch, the only game with online versus play available is Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists. Konami promises that “select titles” will get online play added after release, but they have not stated which. I am personally hoping for some of the Game Boy Advance ones that feature much more advanced mechanics than the Game Boy Color ones do. It would also be cool if the trade feature was implemented for each game online, though having the ability to unlock all cards pretty much makes that obsolete in the end.
Verdict
Yu-GI-Oh Early Days Collection does a fantastic job at providing players with pretty much all of the important handheld titles based on the original series for the Game Boy up through the Game Boy Advance. If it wasn’t for the lack of the DS title Yu-GI-Oh Nightmare Troubadour, this would cover everything on handhelds prior to the jump to GX and beyond. Even though a number of the games in this collection may feel a little outdated due to vastly superior follow-ups also being available in the same collection, the Yu-Gi-Oh Early Days Collection offers players with plenty of content to enjoy with the card game before things got much more complicated in later iterations. Hopefully this collection being a success may also lead to additional collections focusing on the console games like Forbidden Memories and Falsebound Kingdom or the DS era games as well where things get really wild.
Score: 8/10
Pros:
Solid lineup of games to choose from
Number of previously Japanese exclusive games translated to multiple other languages
Enhancements and ability to rewind time
Inclusion of full color instruction manuals
Cons:
Online play being limited to one game at launch
No art gallery or music gallery besides the box art and instructional manual art
Some earlier games feeling a little too simplistic
Once thought to be nothing more than a pipedream after years of rumors, the Final Fantasy VII Remake was finally announced at Sony's E3 of Dreams conference nearly a decade ago.
I can’t put too fine a point on the fact that FromSoftware’s Elden Ring was far and away my favorite game of 2022, and its DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, was my favorite release of 2024. When FromSoftware and Bandai Namco announced Elden Ring: Nightreign at last year’s Game Awards, I have to admit, I wasn’t immediately sold. The idea of having to choose from a selection of eight “hero” characters, each with their own special and “Ultimate” abilities, and doing “runs’ on an ever-shrinking map to fight bosses was not at all what I wanted from the next Elden Ring title.
However, I was fortunate enough to get a code from Bandai Namco for the recent Network Test on PlayStation 5. After three Network Test sessions, which lasted about six hours in total, I have to admit that I’m still not sold on it. Only this time, it’s not just about the idea of what it is but rather about having experienced it for myself.
Bandai Namco Entertainment has announced today that Elden Ring Nightreign, the spin-off that focuses on boss fights and multiplayer, will be released on May 30 on consoles and PC.
A Cooperative Soulsborn Built on Hero Classes
As a quick overview of what a match consists of, three players chose a “Nightfarer” (hero) to enter the map, hit various points of interest for weapons and consumables, fight enemies/minor bosses, gain runes, level up, move on to the next point of interest and repeat, all while the “Nightreign” closes in around the players, funneling them to a final boss of the first (of three) respective nights. Once that night boss is defeated, the next day begins, and the cycle repeats until you get to the night two boss. Once that boss is defeated you enter a sort of portal that takes you to the Nightlord boss of that session. Once that boss is defeated, the match ends, and players will be dropped back at the Roundtable Hold to do some things I’ll discuss later.
This preview is solely based on the Network Test and my experiences in my play sessions. My first session began in an alternate version of the Roundtable Hold from Elden Ring. The most notable difference is I was able to venture outside to a “sparring grounds’ where some text targets are set up to let players get their bearings on the new controls/combat. The basic combat for light and heavy attacks is mapped to the R1 and R2 buttons, blocking is mapped to L1, and the respective weapons, Ash of War, are mapped to L2. Left and right on the D-pad cycle through weapons. Jump is still X (I refuse to say “cross’), and sprint is still the circle button. With the game being designed around speed, gone is the crouch button mapped to L3, and instead, L3 is a super sprint.
The differences don’t just end here. Square is solely for your Flask Cerulean Tears, and consumables are used by pressing up on the D-pad while pressing down cycles through the four consumable slots. The biggest change to the combat is the special and ultimate meters on the bottom/center of the screen. Each flanks the character and for each character, they do different things. In my sessions I was able to play as all four available characters. For the sake of this preview, I’ll list them in the order I played them.
Elden Ring Nightreign was recently announced as a standalone adventure in the iconic Elden Ring universe.
To start a match, I approached the Roundtable and began matchmaking. Unfortunately, the password matchmaking was disabled due to a disastrous first test session where a lot of people weren’t able to connect. Finding a match with randoms was extremely quick. Once a party of three was found, I was taken to the character select screen. In the base game, my first playthrough was a magic build, so I chose the Recluse, i.e., the magic user.
Once her ultimate meter is full by pressing triangle and R2, you’ll be able to cast Soulblood Song, which puts a blood mark on an enemy, and for a short time, attacks of any kind that hit the target replenish Vigor and Focus Points (aka mana). The Recluses character skill is called Magic Cocktail. When an enemy is hit with an element – magic, fire, holy – a colored ring appears on them, depending on the element. Blue is magic, red is fire, yellow is holy. By holding the triangle and L2, the Recluse will siphon that element and store it in one of three tiny circles around a symbol. Once all three circles are full of an element, pressing triangle and L2 again will cast a larger spell that has a different effect based on the combination of three elements that were stored. For example, if all three circles are magic-based, the Recluse will cast a blue light that will circle the target and eventually damage the enemy with multiple magic slashes. Lightning and fire did a thrust of fire and lightning. And a mix of fire and magic casts a bomb-like explosion that has the capability of knocking enemies down if it doesn’t outright kill them. It’s worth noting that every time you siphon an element, it restores some FP, making it entirely possible to never run out. This contributed to Recluse being my favorite character to play.
Next up, I played as the Guardian. The “tank” of the four, Guardian, has a shield and halberd to start, and his abilities are Whirlwind as the character skill and Wings of Salvation as his Ultimate. With Whirlwind, the Guardian sprouts wings and does a whip spin that creates a brief cyclone that can lift enemies in the air, knocking them to their backs and doing damage in the process. Wings of Salvation has the Guardian leap high in the air and come down with a strong AOE attack. Holding triangle and R2 gives the other players a defense buff. Maybe I just didn’t “get it” but this character was easily my least favorite to play. I rarely saw any significant damage done by either skill and, in general, find tanky characters not much fun to play. I admit, this is very much a “me” thing, so take that as you will.
The third character I was able to play was Wylder, who is basically the knight hero and general “all-around” character. Wylder’s passive ability, Sixth Sense, allows him to “cheat death” a single time where he will automatically dodge an attack that would put him into a downed state. Wylders character skill is the Claw Shot. A grappling hook on a 7-second or so cooldown that can be used to pull smaller enemies closer or pull Wylder closer to the larger enemies, including bosses. His Ultimate is the Onslaught Stake which is a thrust out and up attack with a powerful explosion, Admittedly, getting the distance and timing right on this can be finicky at first but once it clicks it’s a fun move to pull off. Wylder seems like a good beginner hero with the ability to automatically dodge a killing blow.
Lastly, I was able to play as Duchess. In simple RPG terms, the Duchess is the “Rogue.” What she lacks in power, she more than makes up for in quickness. Her character skill, Restage, is by far one of the most useful in clutch situations as it allows the enemy to retake recent damage by generating a sort of phantom of the enemy that retakes the damage and applies it to the corporal form of the enemy Timed just right it can make a big difference. For example, you can have the enemy retake critical damage to take double the chunk from the enemy’s health bar. Her Ultimate is called “Finale,” and it basically turns her and any heroes nearby invisible, allowing them to hide from enemies. Either to rush past without drawing aggro or to reposition yourself to get in a critical backstab. Easily my second favorite character to play of the four available in the Network Test.
Gameplay Tweaked for Fast-Paced Action
As mentioned earlier, just like in Elden Ring proper, killing enemies yields runes to be spent to level up. Every Nightfarer begins each run at level 1, and visiting a Site of Grace allows you to level up with one button press. Since the only on-screen “stats” are vigor, FP, and endurance, leveling up simply raises each of these a pre-determined amount per level. There is no choice for paralysis to be had. The choice is made for you and for the gameplay loop of Elden Ring: Nightreign, which is to advance as quickly as possible, it’s one of the smarter design decisions of the game.
Traversal is also simplified. Since Torrent isn’t in the game, his speed is transferred directly to the heroes by pressing L3 for the aforementioned super sprint. Climbing is simplified by double jumping and mantling most surfaces with a ledge.
There are chests throughout the world that contain randomized loot, which will either be a weapon or a passive buff. Generally, these will be better than what you’re already carrying, so it doesn’t take much time to choose. You can either use the weapon or not and move on. Consumables are usually found in crates that glow from the inside. These can be projectiles like pre-crafted cracked pots, throwing knives, or neutralizing blouses to cure status ailments, meat and such that gives temporary buffs, and grease to apply to weapons for added elemental damage. As mentioned before, only four slots are available, so choose wisely. Quickly, but wisely.
There are also churches that have extra flask charges that are worth seeking out as quickly as possible.
When a hero is downed, the only way to help them up is by hitting them, which takes chunks away from the meter above them. Every successive time a hero is downed another purple meter appears above them that needs to be depleted before the ally can get back up and get back into the fight. This is where the Duchess and especially Recluse are the most useful. Duchess’s speed allows for quick hits, and Recluse can lock on to a teammate and raise them from a distance, keeping you out of the fray. If a downed teammate isn’t raised in time, the teammate loses a level upon respawning.
Once the Nightlord of the match is felled, players receive a choice of one gemstone that applies a permanent passive buff as long as the gem is equipped. They’re color-coded, and each Nightfarer has a combination of three gemstone slots. I have a feeling more slots will become available as some of the gemstones available were different colors than the available slots in the test but had clear indications that the gemstone was for a specific hero.
One of the biggest surprises at The Game Awards for fans was the announcement of Elden Ring: Nightreign, a new online cooperative game, created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.
There is also a currency that can be chosen at the end of the match, but at the time of the Network Test, there were no merchants in the Roundtable Hold at which to spend it.
Elden Ring Nightreign can be great fun if you get matched up with people who know what they’re doing. People who know how to use their chosen heroes well, pay attention to their teammates in case they need to be rezzed, and pay attention to the Nightreign circle. Unfortunately, during my sessions, it was all too common to be stuck with the exact opposite of that, including players who disconnected when things didn’t go their way. While successful runs are relatively short, about forty minutes each if you’re successful, it seems paramount that you play with friends. Pinging, at least in the Network Test, was solely used to mark a waypoint on the map. I didn’t see anything else that could be used to silently communicate with teammates. Meaning chat will be very important in most cases. Matchmaking with randoms seems like it will be a total crapshoot.
Another concern I have, and it’s the biggest one, is that I don’t see this game having legs. With passive buffs being the only thing that carries over from match to match, I can see the drive to continue playing drying up for all but the most hardcore fans once the base game Nightlords have been beaten. This, of course, will depend on what is purchasable with the in-game currency and post-launch support. But with DLC already being announced, I don’t see FromSoftware spending time and resources giving free updates.
By the time I played the second available test session, I had already teamed up with at least one player who knew the optimal path for the best results. With only eight Nighlords in the base game, I can see this getting old quickly since progress isn’t really progress. Ultimately, and most tellingly, for me anyway, I didn’t have that urge to get back in there when I wasn’t playing it. Which is an entirely new experience for me as far as a FromSoftware title goes. I felt like I had enough by the time I was done. I am still going to give the full game a shot because there is fun to be had, but so far nothing I played comes close to the thrill and fun of playing Elden Ring. Yes, I know it’s a different type of game, but the fact remains that FromSoftware chose to use the Elden Ring branding and iconography, so comparisons are inevitable and valid.
I guess we will all find out on May 30, 2025, when Elden Ring: Nightreign releases on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
While The Blood of Dawnwalker is being crafted by former staff of CD Projekt RED, and its Creative Director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz is the former Lead Quest Designer of The Witcher 3, don’t expect developer Rebel Wolves’ new vampire action-RPG to have the same open world size, and it’s by design.
According to Tomaszkiewicz , they opted for a smaller open world design so that players will feel like they actually know the game’s locale.
In Rebel Wolves' upcoming dark fantasy RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, players will be playing half-human, half-vampire protagonist Coen.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Open World Will Be Smaller Than The Witcher 3’s
Speaking to Games Radar, Tomaszkiewicz states, “It was an open world, but it was much smaller, and it kind of made me experience it differently compared to these behemoths where it’s just impossible to really know every nook and cranny because it’s so big, so you kind of rush through it.”
Adding to that, Tomaszkiewicz says,”But when the world is a bit smaller and you explore it more calmly and more relaxed, you kind of get to memorize these places, and it feels more like you actually know the place. It makes you feel like you’re more inhabited.”
Even if Blood of Dawnwalker’s world is smaller than The Witcher 3, the game won’t feel any less epic, especially since Rebel Wolves is implementing what they call a “narrative sandbox” in terms of game design.
Tomaszkiewicz explains this in the latest issues of PC Gamer (via Games Radar), stating, “”It’s how we allow you, the player, to interact with it. So the core of it is maximizing players’ agency and freedom of choice, while, at the same time delivering the high-quality narratives that we are known for crafting in the past.”
Design Director Daniel Sadowski also weighed in on this and explained the development team doesn’t want their “dynamic” world to feel like it’s “waiting for the player all the time, so both action and inaction in Dawnwalker have serious consequences.”
Earlier this week, Rebel Wolves, the studio comprised of former CD Projekt RED developers, unveiled their debut game, The Blood of Dawnwalker.
The Blood of Dawnwalker’s Side Quests Will Affect the Main Story
Tomaszkiewicz also confirmed that side quests or “seemingly inconsequential, smaller activities in the world” will somehow impact the game’s central storyline, which is similar to how The Witcher 3 handled its side content.
As someone who has a family to look after, and a ton of other real-world activities, the fact that I don’t need to face a 100-hour RPG and super massive open world is music to my ears. Not only do you usually get sidetracked in games like these, but my attention span is too active to not get lost in the open world as well.
Earlier this month, Rebel Wolves also confirmed they are targeting The Blood of Dawnwalker to be around 30-40 hours long, which is a fine story gameplay time for me.
The Blood of Dawnwalker has no release date yet, though it is confirmed for release on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Rebel Wolves has announced that we’re getting our first official gameplay look in Summer 2025.
In the reveal trailer for The Blood of Dawnwalker, the last bit of it showed a few seconds of gameplay that gave us a look at how powerful the game's protagonist, Coen, is once he has the powers of the vampires in him.
First-person puzzle game Blue Prince has been in the works for a staggering eight years, by developer Dogubomb. Publisher Raw Fury invited MP1st to get some hands-on time with this upcoming first-person puzzle game, and we happily obliged. Having spent some time drafting up rooms in a mysterious, ever-changing manor, we have our initial impressions ready to see how the game is shaping up.
At a recent Raw Fury event earlier this month, MP1st managed to get our hands on developer Red Soul Games’ upcoming survival horror game, Post Trauma.
All Ya Gotta Do Is, Find a Hidden Room
The title is a play on words: a major goal in Blue Prince is to find blueprints that add permanent upgrades to the manor, which persist, roguelike style, between days. The setup of the story is that you have been named as the heir of Mt. Holly, a manor set in some idyllic cliffs in a nondescript country. However, as part of their will, your dearly-departed family member has tasked you with finding the 45-room mansion’s heretofore unknown 46th room. How this mysterious room can be found is something that will be explained only by playing the game.
The mansion’s internal structure isn’t set until the player opens a door, and picks the next room to enter from a set of three options. Each room has a certain number of doors, from which more rooms can be drafted and created. Some rooms, such as storerooms, offer no additional doorways, meaning they are a dead-end. But this usually means they will contain resources. Rooms also have attributes such as color, while some generate resources including gems or coins, currency that can be spent in yet more varied rooms.
Each day, the player begins with a set amount of steps, one or more of which is spent each time they walk into another room. Some rooms, such as bedrooms, can restore a couple of steps each time they enter it, which means those rooms should be strategically placed whenever possible, to extend how long the player can walk around each day. If the player runs out of steps or otherwise chooses the end the day, the manor loses all of its rooms and the house must be re-drawn, basically starting over from scratch, unless the player happened upon some blueprints which permanently upgrade the mansion in some way.
Puzzling Room Drafting
During my demo session, we were quickly taught the mechanics of the game, which is a first-person puzzler where, for the most part, you’re simply moving around and interacting with objects. It was easy to learn how to choose what room I was going to walk into next, with a map that served as a quick way to preview how each room choice would affect the overall layout of the mansion. One room even included a puzzle involving a trio of boxes that had statements on them. My job was to figure out which of the three to open for my reward. In the interest of time, I was given the answer since there was no second chance, but I could see how Blue Prince encourages you to play with others, because writing out all three statements and coming to a group conclusion about which box to open would be entertaining.
While we only got a small sampling of the whole game, there were already multiple mechanics at play here. I managed to draft one room which caused all green-colored rooms to generate a gem, used as currency to draft some special rooms. This not only affected rooms I built in the future, but also affected the rooms I had already placed. I imagine at later stages in the game, you’ll have to do the calculations to see if you have enough steps left to re-visit all of those rooms, or if that energy might be better spent elsewhere.
Curiously, the steps are not affected while you are outside of the mansion. While stepping outside does cost one step, that’s all you’ll pay as you are free to explore the grounds surrounding the manor. It’s here where some evidence of your progress may be found, including a campsite to rest at/end the day inside as the mansion resets, and some areas which were seemingly inaccessible…for now. There seems to be a good amount of lore to read through and uncover, and I’m sure more of the story will be unveiled after multiple in-game days and many manor rebuilds.
High Quality All Around
When our time with Blue Prince was just about up, I happened to draft as my final room one that included a fortune teller machine. Thankfully, I still had at least one gold coin in my possession, which I fed to the machine. A cinematic, narrated by the mechanical fortune teller, then played, telling of my failure to find the 46th room. I’d love to come back and laugh destiny in the face as I find that coveted room after countless resets of Mt. Holly.
My time with Blue Prince gave me every indication that this is one puzzle game that most gamers will enjoy. It struck me as being very well-polished, thought out, unique, and refreshing. The roguelike mechanic where the mansion mostly resets with each passing day will provide with countless combinations of rooms that can be drafted up, while the upgrades found will ensure steady progress towards the overall plot, which any good roguelike game does these days. From what we saw recently, though, all signs are pointing to a great game most anyone can enjoy.
Paulmichael has been writing in the gaming industry since 2008. Living just outside of Los Angeles, he has been lucky enough to attend numerous gaming events around the world, including the last ten E3 shows (RIP)! A thoughtful reviewer, every game you see scored by PmC has been given careful attention. Paulmichael is also an aviation fan and an avid snowboarder. Favorite games include: No Man's Sky, Gran Turismo 7, skate., CloverPit.
In case you missed the news, Lost Soul Aside has finally gotten a release date after nearly 10 years of development. PlayStation and PC gamers will soon be able to get their hands on this much-anticipated title, as it is launching this May.
But PC players may want to ensure they have the hardware to run the game, especially those aiming for the highest settings possible, as Lost Soul Aside PC specs are now out, with the highest setting recommending Nvidia’s latest GPUs, the RTX 5000 series.
Nvidia has moved beyond just making graphics cards for gaming and is now a big name in AI technology.
Lost Soul Aside Ultra Ray Tracing Configurations Demands for an Expensive System
As listed on the official PlayStation webpage for Lost Soul Aside, the PC specs are down below. It doesn’t list any specifics in terms of resolution and framerate, though, in general, the game doesn’t seem all too demanding. That is unless you decide you want to run with full ray tracing on the highest possible settings, in which case, you’ll need at least a NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti.
Minimum
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060 or AMD RX 5500 XT
CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600
RAM: 16 GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 10 / Windows 11
Storage: 80 GB SSD
Recommended
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2060 or AMD RX 5700 XT
CPU: Intel i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600
RAM: 16 GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 10 / Windows 11
Storage: 80 GB SSD
High
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3070 or AMD RX 6800 XT
CPU: Intel i7-11700 or AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
RAM: 16 GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 10 / Windows 11
Storage: 80 GB SSD
High – Ray Tracing on
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4080s or AMD RX 7900 XT
CPU: Intel i7-11700 or AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
RAM: 16 GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 10 / Windows 11
Storage: 80 GB SSD
Ultra – Ray Tracing on
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti
CPU: Intel i7-13700K or AMD Ryzen 7 7800X
RAM: 16 GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 10 / Windows 11
Storage: 80 GB SSD
As I said, it’s not the most demanding when it comes to specs for anything that doesn’t involve ray tracing. But if you want some better reflection and, assumedly, ray trace lighting, shadows, and other ray tracing graphical features, you’re going to need at least an RTX 4080 or AMD RX 7900 XT for high, while ultra ray tracing is asking for an RTX 5070 Ti.
Considering how long Lost Soul Aside has been in development and how the RTX 5000 series just released this year, something tells me something might be a little off about those requirements. Either that or the multi-frame generation DLSS 4 is going to be doing some massive heavy lifting when it comes to performance here, as the RTX 5070 Ti is barely stronger than the RTX 4080 and weaker than the RTX 4090.
These specs may be updated closure to launch.
Lost Soul Aside releases on May 30, for PS5 and PC.
After a launch that seemed to match PlayStation 4 Pro's early sales, it now looks like PS5 Pro is struggling to keep pace with the previous generation's mid-gen console, as it appears to be falling behind in terms of sales.
A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.
Once thought to be nothing more than a pipedream after years of rumors, the Final Fantasy VII Remake was finally announced at Sony’s E3 of Dreams conference nearly a decade ago. It may have taken five years from that time to get Remake, followed up four years later with the highly anticipated middle entry of the trilogy Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Initially launching as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has arrived on PC just a year after its original release.
While Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth just launched on PC, it seems to have already established a new record and is already faring better than its predecessor, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade.
Into the Unknown
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth picks up directly after the events of both Final Fantasy VII Remake and the Intermission DLC, where Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Aerith, and Red XIII have made their way outside of Midgar, now having arrived in Kalm. Before we get to that, though, the game takes us to what appears to be a parallel timeline of some sort where Zack is still alive and comes across the aftermath of the end events of Remake, but in this world, Tifa and Barret are captured while Red XIII is killed trying to protect a comatose Aerith. Jumping right into the Zack story was a very interesting story decision that pays off immensely as the game goes on, and we continually get to see the world through Zack’s eyes as well, which we certainly did not get in the original Final Fantasy VII. This builds even more on the idea that this is a new world entirely from the original game and not just a remake as we first thought going into the Remake.
After the Zack segment, we cut to Kalm, where Cloud begins to explain his backstory and connection with the mysterious Sephiroth to the group. However, those who have played Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII before will know there are some major discrepancies in his story here, which Tifa picks up on while not shattering Cloud’s memory of these events at the time. Those new to the game on PC for the first time may be quite confused here as a result, but this is definitely answered as the game goes on. Like in Remake, Rebirth is built on many mysteries in the game, some returning and some brand new, but they are paid off by the time the game is over or at least are setup to be answered in the third and final entry.
This flashback gives us our first combat section where we even get to play as Sephiroth for a bit as he and Cloud arrive in Nibelheim to check on the Mako Reactor and meet Tifa for the first time back then. This is where we are very quickly introduced to arguably the most important new addition to the combat in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Synergy Skills, and Synergy Abilities. This builds on the Synergy Materia from the Intermission DLC that Sonon held but is much more widespread here.
While each character has their own unique playstyle that you can switch back and forth between, it is vital to use Synergy Skills and Synergy Abilities if you want to survive the toughest of fights by combining the strengths of two party members. Synergy Skills do not use up anything in battle, and you can witness this with Cloud and Sephiroth in this opening section. Using different pairings in your party allows for different kinds of Synergy Skills, so it’s smart to mix them up.
Unlocked through a new Folio system in the game, essentially the game’s take on a skill tree, you can unlock new Synergy Abilities as well between each character up to a level of three. Using a certain number of abilities and spells in battle, you can use powerful Synergy Abilities, which can be offensive or defensive depending on the pairing. For instance, you could unleash a powerful combo attack with both Cloud and Tifa or instead use the common United Refocus ability to get three ATB bars instead of two in battle for a period of time, allowing for quicker spell casting.
From Kalm, the world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is rather incredible in scale, with the different locales you get to visit, including Junon, Gongaga, and the Gold Saucer. I won’t go much more into the story here as there is no point in spoiling it as you either have already played the game and are just reading to see how the PC version is or are playing through for the first time and will want to experience as much as you can story-wise for the first time here. I’ll leave it as there are very few games that left me with my jaw dropped as I did in this game between the story and environments I was witnessing.
The scale of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is massive and you may even find yourself lost at times between all of the various sidequests. For someone like me who enjoys an abundance of side missions and world-building, I personally adored how this was handled in the game. However, some people may view the amount of sidequests and mini-games as overkill. I will say that some of the mini-games on Hard were rather insane and took so much time to complete. In fact, if this is the type of game you are looking to 100% complete by finishing all side missions and mini-games as well as every chapter on Hard, you could easily spend in excess of 250 hours on this game. I spent nearly that on the PlayStation 5 version last year and I was glad to experience it all again on PC due to how well done the majority of it is.
In general, each area of the world map in Rebirth features set tasks for you to complete on the side if you wish, including Activation Intel, Expedition Intel, Fiend Intel, Divine Intel, Excavation Intel, Moogle Intel, and Phenomenon Intel. These still vary by area, but the basic idea of them remains across them. The Phenomenon Intel still remains my favorite, with the various mini-games associated with them, like Fort Condor and more. I still think I prefer the Fort Condor from Intermission and wish the little changes had not been made, but it’s still a lot of fun here.
Naoki Hamaguchi, the director of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, had previously requested PC players to avoid creating offensive and inappropriate mods for the game.
Each region also has its own special type of Chocobo for you to find and use, giving abilities such as running up mountainsides and even gliding. These really help with traversing this large world, as well as other vehicles that you come across along the way, some of which are even required. Fast travel is also available in the game, which helps you eventually get around as large as this world can get. The speed at which you can fast travel from one place to another is still super impressive on PC as it was on PS5.
Beyond the original playable four characters of Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and Barret from Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth greatly expands the party to nearly double before everything is said and done. This includes the playable Red XIII, which was only used for story purposes in Remake, plus the introduction of Yuffie from the Intermission DLC to the crew. After not being in Remake or DLC outside of a quick shot of the character in a cutscene, Cait Sith is introduced as yet another playable character.
While I really enjoyed using all of these characters, there is still a section of the game where you have to play only Cait Sith, which is one of the most arduous in the entire game. The frustration level increased greatly here due to the solo character usage and difficult fights, but the character is very enjoyable otherwise. There are also a couple of other party members from the original Final Fantasy VII that get introduced here and play a big part in the story, but they are not useable in combat this time around, unfortunately, essentially playing the Red XIII role this time around.
A Grand Adventure on the Go
As this was my second playthrough of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I greatly enjoyed getting to play around with the game’s relationship system between Cloud and your party members, which culminates on a date later in the game at the Golden Saucer. Having a bit better idea of how the relationship meters for each character work now, such as using them more at parties, taking advantage of certain conversations, and even using Synergy Skills and Synergy Abilities with them more often. My first playthrough had Tifa as my partner, which I felt was the most natural option based on the story of the game, but I enjoyed trying to manipulate this along the way to get Aerith instead the second time around.
I can’t review Final Fantasy VII Rebirth again without discussing one of my favorite elements of the game that I’m still waiting for a spin-off mobile game for, Queen’s Blood. Queen’s Blood is a card game found within Rebirth where you face off against others in the battle to try and earn more points than the opposition by taking lanes of cards. This is something that can be avoided mostly in the game outside of some story-required battles on the cruise ship while traveling to Costa Del Sol, but I can’t imagine wanting to skip what is such a fun mini-game. By obtaining better cards, you can improve your deck and be better suited for different and much more difficult battles later in the game. In fact, some of the battles near the game will likely take you many times of retrying and strategizing, but it’s well worth it for that feeling once you win and possibly find yourself yelling out in excitement.
The soundtrack in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is once again an absolute treat to experience throughout this release. From the little moments where you are walking around the map to the intense story moments, composers Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki deliver again and again. Adding in Nobuo Uematsu’s work on the theme “No Promises to Keep” with the vocals by Loren Allred just takes things to another level. In fact, replaying this game again pushed me to buy a ticket and travel for one of the last concerts for the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour that is coming up soon.
The Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PC version is officially out! Like almost any PC game, the PC version of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth offers the benefit of customizable settings, from high textures to framerate and other graphical options.
As far as the PC port itself, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth does not bring any new content story or gameplay-wise. Instead, like most PC releases, there are a lot more graphical options at your disposal. In fact, there are three default graphical presets that you can use, with the ability to customize them even further to suit your specific PC. With the highest-end PC that the game requires, you can get frame rates up to 120 FPS and even more improved lighting and detail in the environments. One of the complaints about the original release was blurry environments due to the massive areas leading to pop-in at times, which looks better here on PC. I can’t say how well the highest-end version of the game runs on PC, but it still looks quite good in my experience.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is also Steam Deck Verified, making one of the best games of recent years available on a portable. I can’t even imagine the number of hours more I would have added to my playtime last year when the game came out on PS5 if I had it available to play on the go (I did not yet have a PlayStation Portal), but having this available in a way that works very well and looks fantastic too is phenomenal.
Verdict
After the year wait, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PC was well worth it. While there is not much reason to get the game on PC already if you already played through it fully on PlayStation 5, adding in the ability to play portably on the Steam Deck, as well as the fact that the the PC port is still every bit as impressive as the game was when it released prior and is finally available for those that were not able to play prior, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for PC is not one to overlook.
Score: 10/10
Pros:
Every bit as great as the original release
A captivating story that is still great on replay
Combat that doesn’t grow tiring
Fantastic soundtrack
Can now play portable on Steam Deck
Cons:
No new content in this port
Will need a very high-end PC to take full advantage of the graphical capabilities
Recently, it was reported that NetEase had laid off the Marvel Rivals development team to “optimize development efficiency,” despite the game’s massive success. This has raised concerns that the company may be going through a difficult phase, with these recent changes pointing to a bigger issue. New information shared today by Game File (paywalled) has revealed even more.
It seems that NetEase is indeed undergoing a major restructuring, and many of its development studios could be affected if certain conditions aren’t met. The most worrying part is that some of these studios are highly known, like Quantic Dream, the developers of Detroit: Become Human.
Surprising news has surfaced today, when members of the Marvel Rivals development team were laid off.
Dozens of NetEase Studios Could Shut Down
NetEase is reportedly considering cutting ties with all of its non-Chinese studios. These teams could face closure if they don’t find a way to secure funding after NetEase stops supporting them financially. This also means that if these studios don’t get bought by other companies, they could be forced to shut down. Among these studios are:
Quantic Dream
Grasshopper
Nagoshi Studio
Pincool
GPTRACK50 Studio
Studio Flare
Jackalyptic Games (Warhammer MMO)
Anchor Point Studios
T-Minus Zero Entertainment
Rebel Wolves (The Blood of Dawnwalker)
Skybox Labs (big Microsoft support studio)
+ Netease teams and smaller devs
Additionally, other games from NetEase, like Marvel Rivals, could suffer budget cuts, particularly in their marketing campaigns.
What do you think about all this? It would be a real shame if no other company shows interest in these talented studios. However, sooner or later, other companies will recognize the opportunity to bring in such talented teams, even if it’s unclear what will happen with them in the end.
NetEase Games, the developer behind Marvel Rivals, has announced a strict policy against using mouse and keyboard adapters on consoles, labeling it as cheating.
After a launch that seemed to match PlayStation 4 Pro’s early sales, it now looks like PS5 Pro is struggling to keep pace with the previous generation’s mid-gen console, as it appears to be falling behind in terms of sales.
Analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted this in a recent report from Circana about the North American market for January 2025. He pointed out that there was a 15% drop in hardware sales, as previously reported.
During PlayStation's recent State of Play, it was confirmed that Days Gone will receive a remaster.
Huge Price Difference Between PS5 Pro and PS4 Pro Likely Contributing to Slower Sales
When focusing on the PlayStation 5 Pro, Piscatella explained that it’s struggling compared to the PS4 Pro. It’s important to note that PS4 Pro launched with a price of $399.99, while the PS5 Pro started at $699.99. That’s a huge price difference, even considering inflation.
However, Sony’s president, Hiroki Totoki, has stated that he believes the price of the PS5 Pro hasn’t affected its sales. He explained that their target audience isn’t the typical casual gamer, but rather the hardcore gaming community—those seeking the best experience regarding both fidelity and performance.
It’s hard to say whether Sony expected the sales trends for the PS5 Pro to go this way. However, considering that their most recent financial report showed a record-breaking quarter, it’s likely they thought it would do well. But with a price like that, it’s easy to assume that the PS5 Pro is mainly attracting hardcore fans.
Furthermore, major game releases like Monster Hunter Wilds or the upcoming GTA 6 may boost PS5 Pro sales, as these titles are expected to run best on the more powerful console.
In other news, Shuhei Yoshida, former president of Sony Worldwide Studios, called the arrival of Xbox games on PS5 a “win” for PlayStation owners. He pointed out that PlayStation fans will now have access to games they couldn’t play before, thanks to Microsoft’s new approach.
Donald Trump has been re-elected as President of the United States, and one of his campaign promises could significantly impact the video game industry.
However, can you imagine this hero shooter without the famous Marvel characters? According to a report from Bloomberg, this almost happened. William Ding, the CEO of NetEase, didn’t want to pay Disney for the Marvel licenses, which nearly caused the game to be canceled.
Surprising news has surfaced today, when members of the Marvel Rivals development team were laid off.
Marvel Rivals Nearly Canceled Over NetEase CEO’s Refusal to Pay Marvel Licenses
At one point during development, the game was under review by Ding, who refused to pay for the licenses. He even asked the game’s artists to replace Marvel characters with original designs, which nearly led to the project being canceled. Bloomberg claims that this decision cost NetEase “millions of dollars.”
Despite this, NetEase has firmly denied these claims, with a company spokesperson insisting they have had a strong partnership with Marvel since 2017.
In other Marvel Rival news, Producer Weicong Wu shared that the team is experimenting with new gameplay modes, but no specific plans for PvE are in place. However, Executive Producer Danny Koo acknowledged the audience’s interest in a PvE mode and mentioned that the team is exploring options for a lighter version.
Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play hero shooter available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Studio Wildcard has released the latest Ark Survival Ascended update on PC and consoles. This update fixes an exploit and other issues. Those on PS5, you’ll see this as Ark Survival Ascended new update 1.061.031, while PC players will see this as 61.31 for Steam clients.
Check out whats new per Studio Wildcard via the patch notes.
Following yesterday’s Phasmophobia patch that added voice recognition on consoles, Kinetic Games has released a follow-up patch today, which players will see as Phasmophobia update 1.000.008, and this aims to fix the crashing issues players have been experiencing since yesterday’s patch.
Check out what Kinectic Games has to say about today’s console patch for the horror game.
Phasmophobia Crashing Issues Resolved in Latest Patch Out on Feb. 21, 2025
Regarding the patch, Kinetic Games said, “We have just published an update to #Phasmophobia on consoles that addresses the issue causing the game to crash for some players.”
The studio added that they will continue monitoring any reports, though they believe this patch should fix any issues.
As for yesterday’s fixes, it included:
New
Implemented VOSK Voice Recognition for players on PlayStation 5, PS VR2 and Xbox Series X/S.
Added a loading icon to the splash screen to help diagnose loading issues
Changes
Voice recognition modes have been reworded for better in game translation
VOSK has been changed to Voice
Windows Voice has been changed to System Voice
Fixes
Fixed an issue preventing some Xbox players from receiving achievements while offline
Various Localisation adjustments
Various other fixes
There are more updates for Phasmophobia in 2025 and beyond per the game’s roadmap.
Author George R.R. Martin has revealed that a movie based on Elden Ring might be in development soon. However, despite creating the game’s mythology, he may not be directly involved in the project. The popular 2022 game, developed by FromSoftware, could be making its way to the big screen.
Ironically, Martin mentioned the possibility of a movie while avoiding a question about his involvement in a potential Elden Ring 2, which IGN asked him during the IGN Fan Fest 2025.
While Elden Ring will forever be known as one of FromSoftware's best work, some might not know that author George R.
An Elden Ring Movie Might Be Coming
“Well, I can’t say too much about it, but there is some talk about making a movie out of Elden Ring,” Martin said. This isn’t the first time a potential Elden Ring movie has been mentioned, but his statement was very clear this time. Martin had spoken about it before, and even Hidetaka Miyazaki, the game director, has been very open about the possibility. So, there’s no real secret about this idea.
Martin suggested that an Elden Ring film could indeed be in the works but explained that he may not be involved due to his ongoing work on his long-awaited novel, The Winds of Winter.
“We’ll see if that [the Elden Ring movie] comes to pass and what the extent of my involvement was, I don’t know,” he said. “I’m a few years behind with my latest book, so that also limits the amount of things that I can do.”
Following the patch that permanently re-introduced the Tower Raid, Techland has released Dying Light 2 update 1.64. This patch aims to fix crashes and technical issues more than anything else.
Those on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, this patch should appear as Dying Ligh 2 download version 1.064, which should be a small file install.
With the Delta Force Black Hawk Down campaign now officially available, many have begun to turn their eyes to the next big release from Team Jade, that being the console version of Delta Force.
Dying Light 2 Gets a New Update This February 21 to Fix Crashes
The announcement from Techland regarding today’s patch states, “📢 Pilgrims, we hear you! We just released a small hotfix for PC that will address a couple of crashes. The console version will also be available later today at around 2:00 PM CET.”
As far as we know, there are no gameplay-related changes in today’s title update, which is understandable given the huge anniversary patch, which included a host of fixes. We’ve included them below for your reference.
Co-op
Fixed electric and fire VFX visible from the third-person perspective
Improved VFX of Evolving items when seen from the third-person perspective
Tower Raid
Closed gaps in selected areas
Fixed soft locks on selected floors
Fixed random flickering on selected floors
Cosmetic changes to selected floors (cleaning up assets that shouldn’t be visible, overlapping)
Fixed an issue with co-op players disappearing when in an elevator
Fixed soft locks related to co-op joins
Fixed accessing drawer through the wall
Updated animation for pressing floor buttons while in the elevator
Gameplay
Implemented changes for the prologue to improve its flow
Adjusted first GRE encounter difficulty
Rebalanced the prologue to make players feel stronger (extra skills and weapons)
Fixed the missing quest marker for the ‘Crystal White’ mission
Fixed issues with the Crowd Runner skill while using firearms layout (equipped firearms must be holstered in order to trigger it while moving forward)
Police cars are now lootable
Encounters between survivors and zombies can be interrupted with a kick
After throwing a weapon, the next equipped one will be drawn (even if not equipped in the first slot)
Technical
Fixed audio issues related to sound disappearing
Fixed biomarker placement on Krampus Outfit
Removed Tower Raid pop-up after canceling any Survivor Mission
Fixed bow and arrow alignment
Fixed hand placement on ladder when looking around
Fixed animations after using Afterboost so it now works properly
Fixed occasional misalignment of the Scorpio weapon
Funkadelic bow can no longer be dropped (and lost)
Fixed elemental VFX on Kama
Fixed rain falling inside military containers
Fixed animation and audio after killing a Suicider with headshot
Adjusted VFX for Evolving items
Adjusted lighting of Gas Tank Biters in Resolution mode
Fixed a handful of random crashes
UI
Improved blueprint descriptions
Fixed Balanced and Resolution video settings to display with the proper name
Removed visible Open World objectives when entering the metro
Once another patch is out, we’ll let our readers know.
The big Marvel Rivals 1.5 update is out today! The mid-season patch, which will show up as Marvel Rivals update 1.000.010, brings new heroes in The Thing and the Human Torch, new cosmetics, a major balance pass, and more.
As part of the patch roll out, players should expect server downtime on all platforms.
The Marvel Rivals server outage will start at 1 a.m. PST/4 a.m. EST/5 p.m. HKT and last for three hours. During this time, servers will be offline, and players will not be able to access any part of the game.
Yesterday, the gaming scene was rocked when members of the Marvel Rivals US development team in Seattle revealed that they were let go by NetEase.
Marvel Rivals Update 1.000.010 Mid-Season Patch Unleashes New Content on February 21, 2025
1. New Content
1.1 All Platforms
Heroes and Costumes
– The Thing and Human Torch are ready to rock out and flame on!
– New Costumes: The Thing – Trench Coat and First Family, along with Human Torch – Negative Zone Gladiator and First Family!
Maps and Modes
– Enter the new Convergence map – Empire of Eternal Night: Central Park.
– New: An extra 0.5 seconds of grace time will be added at the end of the overtime in all modes, optimizing situations where games may end abruptly (like when players cannot be detected due to certain hero abilities or when accidentally drift slightly outside the valid range).
– New: In Quick Mode, matchmaking for substitutes will no longer occur when a quick match is about to end.
– Optimization: Improved loading speed at the start of matches.
Season Battle Pass and Season Story Events
– The season event Midnight Features II is here!
– The first round of the season 1.5 Twitch Drops event is live! Players can earn the “Two-in-One” spray and Hela’s “Great Galaxy” emote. Also, stay tuned for a second round, expected to arrive mid-season 1.5, featuring a brand-new costume reward! (Keep an eye on official announcements for exact times!)
– Players who purchase the Luxury Battle Pass and redeem all its rewards can now convert any leftover Chrono Tokens for Units at a specific ratio.
Ranked
– New: Season 1 has been split into S1.0 and S1.5, with S1.0 concluding on February 21, 2025, at 8:00 AM (UTC+0). Rewards including the costume and Crest of Honors will be distributed accordingly. In S1.5, players will retain their ranks from the end of S1.0.
– New: S1.5 Gold Rank costume rewards include Invisible Woman – Blood Shield and Human Torch – Blood Blaze.
– New: Crest of Honor rewards for S1.5 will feature distinct designs for Grandmaster, Celestial, Eternity, and Top 500.
– New: A “Hide Own Name (Competitive)” feature is now available for players at Diamond III and above. Once activated, your true identity will be under wraps during the loading screen, hero selection, and the start of the match. Other players won’t be able to see your name right away! After a short period in the battle, your real name will pop back up.
General
– Career System: Season statistics will now distinguish between S1.0 and S1.5, with the added ability to filter Tournament data only.
– Account Deletion: A new account deletion option has been added under Settings – Other, allowing players to initiate the account deletion process.
– Inactivity Detection: AFK timers will pause during the wait to respawn.
– Reticle Customization: All changes will now automatically upload to server storage, preventing loss due to local issues.
– Graphics and Settings: Optimized the brightness of some scene floors when “Reflection Quality” is set to “Off.”
– Discord Binding Interface: Adjusted to generate an invitation code only upon clicking “Generate.”
1.2 PC
Graphics and Settings
– NVIDIA DLSS 4 is available now, featuring DLSS Multi Frame Generation for GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU. DLSS Multi Frame Generation generates up to three additional frames per traditionally rendered frame, providing even faster performance for gamers.
– AMD Radeon Anti-Lag 2 is available now, reducing the system latency (the time between user inputs and visual responses). It works best in GPU-limited scenarios. (Anti-Lag 2 Requires AMD Radeon RX 5000 Series or newer GPU)
Shuhei Yoshida, the former president of Sony Worldwide Studios and a key figure in PlayStation's history, recently commented on Microsoft's recent shift in gaming strategy and the arrival of Xbox games on the PS5.
2. Fixes and Optimizations
2.1 All Platforms
General
– Fixed an issue where some UI prompts in the team voice system would occasionally delay or disappear.
– Resolved a rare issue where players couldn’t operate after reporting a player.
– Corrected a variety of language and text issues.
Maps and Modes
– Fixed terrain issues that could cause characters to become stuck or clip through odd locations.
– Resolved various issues including floating broken objects, collision errors, etc.
– Addressed several sound issues on maps.
– Corrected a rare bug in Doom Match, that displayed multiple players in first place.
– Rectified an issue in Conquest mode where, after reconnecting to a match, indicators, such as KO Streaks would not be displayed.
Heroes
– Fixed various hero SFX issues.
– Resolved a series of quirky pairing performance issues between various heroes.
– Spider-Man’s Wall Crawl Woes: Fixed an issue where Spider-Man sometimes couldn’t use his abilities while falling from the top of a wall. The web-slinger can now strike without a hitch—no more sticky situations!
– Hulk’s Banner Backtrack: Resolved a glitch where Hulk couldn’t be detected by vehicles or mission areas during his transformation back to Bruce Banner. The big guy’s identity shift is now seamless!
– Doctor Strange’s Portal Precision: Fixed a bug where Doctor Strange’s portals could get destroyed if they intersected with broken Recursive Destruction objects during the rewind phase in Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown. The Sorcerer Supreme’s portals are now as reliable as his magic!
– Iron Fist’s Jumping Jack: Addressed an exploit that allowed Iron Fist to perform rapid consecutive jumps under specific conditions. The martial artist’s acrobatics are now finely tuned!
– Loki’s Revival Riddle: Fixed an issue where Loki would incorrectly indicate he was out of Adam Warlock’s revival range while transforming within Adam Warlock’s ultimate range.
– Mister Fantastic’s Elasticity Error: Fixed an unexpected interaction where Mister Fantastic’s ultimate bounce range preview was affected by Cloak’s Phased state. The stretchy hero’s powers are now back on track!
– Captain America’s Unbound Shield: Corrected an issue where during Captain America’s ultimate, he couldn’t be stunned by Spider-Man’s ultimate.
– Squirrel Girl’s Sonic Surprise: Resolved a sound issue where Squirrel Girl’s hit sound effect was occasionally too sharp. Her acorns now land with a perfect pop!
– Venom’s Damage Dilemma: Fixed a problem where Venom’s ultimate sometimes failed to deal damage. The symbiote’s ferocity is now fully unleashed!
– Mister Fantastic’s Elastic Aim Adjustment: Fixed an issue where Mister Fantastic’s arm orientation sometimes didn’t align with the targeting reticle when using his abilities. Now, the stretchy hero can hit the mark with precision—no more twisted arms!
– Magneto’s Magnetic Misfire: Addressed an issue where Magneto’s ultimate could pass through characters without dealing damage due to discrepancies between collision models and visual effects. The collision body is now properly optimized to better suit the visual presentation.
– Portal Peril Prevention: Fixed an issue where if certain heroes were eliminated by terrain after using their abilities to pass through Doctor Strange’s portals, it would sometimes not count as a KO for the Sorcerer Supreme. Now, every portal pitfall will be counted!
– Doctor Strange’s Visual Vanishing Act: Fixed a problem where other players sometimes couldn’t see Doctor Strange’s ultimate effect. The Eye of Agamotto will now dazzle everyone on the battlefield!
– Doctor Strange’s Control Conundrum: Resolved an issue where Doctor Strange’s ultimate control effect could be overridden by Luna Snow’s or Scarlet Witch’s control effects, prematurely ending his control. The Sorcerer Supreme’s spells now hold strong—no more magic mix-ups!
– Cloak & Dagger’s Ice Imprisonment: Resolved an issue where, while using their ultimate, if being frozen by Luna Snow, Cloak & Dagger would remain frozen even after taking damage. They can now break free from Luna’s icy grips!
– Peni Parker’s Cyber Conundrum: Fixed a quirky situation where if Peni Parker was defeated while using Cyber-Bond and resurrected by Rocket Raccoon’s beacon, she would be stuck in her Cyber-Bond animation. She will now be revived without any lingering effects!
– Mister Fantastic’s Stretch Cancel: Fixed a glitch where Mister Fantastic’s Stretch Punch could be interrupted by Distended Grip during its wind-up phase, yet still erroneously deal damage. Now, the stretchy hero’s attacks are consistent—no more bouncing back from unfair hits!
– Loki’s Ultimate Illusion Fix: Resolved an issue where, after transforming into another hero and using their ultimate, the ultimate’s effects could remain in the scene if Loki was defeated during the process. We’ve ensured that his tricks vanish appropriately—no more ghostly ultimates haunting the battlefield!
– Rocket’s Revival Resurgence: Fixed an issue where heroes revived by Rocket Raccoon’s B.R.B. occasionally became unable to move. Now, everyone can get back into the action without a hitch—no more stuck-in-place moments after a heroic comeback!
– Moon Knight’s Bounce Damage Fix: Resolved an issue where Moon Knight’s bounce attack would occasionally fail to deal damage. Now, his strikes hit true.
– Winter Soldier’s Targeting Trouble: Addressed an issue where Winter Soldier’s ultimate sometimes visually appeared to hit targets but would actually miss. The sharpshooter’s aim is now spot on!
Marvel Rivals Hero Balance Changes in Mid-Season Patch 1.000.010
VANGUARD
Captain America
Steve will receive some enhanced survivability, his Vibranium Energy Saw will feel smoother, and his Ultimate Ability will be more attainable thanks to a reduced energy cost.
– He will be able to shield himself with Living Legend mid-leap.
– Increase Vibranium Energy Saw’s projectile speed from 60m/s to 80m/s, with ricochets ramping up from 100m/s to a supercharged 150m/s.
– Reduce the energy cost of Freedom Charge (ultimate ability) from 3100 to 2800.
– Enhance Captain America’s combat experience by separating Sentinel Strike from melee attacks. Captain America will be able to use melee attacks while his shield is thrown or during the Team-Up Ability Charged Aegis state to activate the first two hits of Sentinel Strike. Additionally, while airborne, using melee attacks will no longer trigger the Super-Soldier Slam ability.
While Delta Force launched last year as a free-to-play multiplayer game, Team Jade's ambition for the franchise is much bigger than that, as the developers are poised to release the Black Hawk Down campaign for free this Februaary 21, 2025.
Doctor Strange
Our beloved Sorcerer Supreme will take a modest hit to his survivability.
– Reduce base health from 650 to 600.
Groot
We’ll be increasing the threat range of everyone’s favorite Flora Colossus.
– Increase Thornlash Wall placement range from 15 meters to 18 meters.
Magneto
The Master of Magnetism will experience a slight dip in survivability but will be compensated with a small surge in offensive ability.
– Increase Iron Volley projectile damage from 35 to 40.
– Increase Metallic Curtain’s energy consumption from 50/s to 65/s; Reduce its Maximum Duration from 2s to 1.5s.
Thor
The mighty Asgardian will offer a greater user experience after unleashing Awakening Rune. Unleash the thunder!
– Remove the shared cooldown time after the duration of Awakening Rune ends.
Venom
The symbiote menace will enter the fray more menacing than ever, with a heightened threat upon entering the battle and a leaner energy appetite for his Ultimate Ability.
– Adjust the knock back effect of Frenzied Arrival from vertical to inward, with an inward knockback angle of 75°.
– Reduce the energy cost of Feast of the Abyss (ultimate ability) from 2800 to 2500.
DUELIST
Black Widow
Natasha’s combat effectiveness has been enhanced, increasing the threat level to enemies after using her Ultimate Ability.
– Increase the magazine capacity of the Red Room Rifle from 8 to 15.
– Enhance the slow effect of Electro-Plasma Explosion (Ultimate Ability) on enemies from 80% to 55%. Additionally, it will apply a 15% Vulnerability effect to hit enemies for 4 seconds.
Hawkeye
We’re sharpening Clint’s survival instincts and honing his close-quarters capabilities, while his Ultimate Ability takes aim with greater peril.
– Increase base health from 250 to 275.
– Reduce projectile damage of Blast Arrow from 20 to 15, while the spell field damage will be increased from 25 to 32.
– Reduce the cooldown time for Crescent Slash from 15s to 12s.
– Increase bow draw speed during the duration of Hunter’s Sight (Ultimate Ability) and raise damage multiplier from 1.2 to 1.35.
Hela
The Asgardian goddess of death will cast a longer shadow with an increase to her mid-to-long-range suppression.
– The Damage Falloff of Nightsword Thorn at 30 meters will be changed from 70% to 80%.
Iron Fist
Lin Lie will bring fresh techniques to the martial arts mix, enhancing his Yat Jee Chung Kuen with both fortitude and finesse.
– Reduce the damage of Jeet Kune Do’s 1st, 2nd, and 5th strikes from 32 to 30, while the 3rd and 4th strikes will deal 15 damage instead of 16. The final, devastating 6th strike has been dialed back from 55 to 50. The cooldown reduction for Dragon’s Defense has been extended from 1s to 1.5s. The damage of each hit from Yat Jee Chung Kuen will take a hit, dropping from 19 to 10 flat damage (including during Living Chi). However, each strike from the Yat Jee Chung Kuen now delivers an extra blow, dealing damage equal to 1.7% of the opponent’s maximum health (including during Living Chi).
– Increase the additional maximum health granted by Harmony Recovery from 50 to 150. A new decay mechanism for the extra health has also been introduced: one second after the ability ends, the additional health will deplete at a rate of 25 health per second.
– Increase the maximum Bonus Health converted from damage blocked during Dragon’s Defense from 150 to 200.
– Increase base health from 250 to 300.
Iron Man
Tony will crank up the heat with his Unibeam, ensuring that even without Gamma Overdrive, foes will feel the burn.
– Increase Unibeam damage from 120/s to 140/s.
– Increase Unibeam (Armor Overdrive) damage from 180/s to 190/s.
Magik
The Queen of Limbo will see her damage capability be slightly reduced, but the energy cost to unleash her Ultimate Ability will be slightly lowered. It’s time to behold Darkchild!
– Decrease the damage dealt by Demon’s Rage (regular state) from 80/s to 72/s.
– Reduce the energy cost of Darkchild (ultimate ability) from 3700 to 3400.
Mister Fantastic
Reed will stretch his nuisance factor with a greater impact from his Ultimate Ability.
– Increase the spell field radius after landing from Flexible Elongation from 2.5 meters to 5 meters. Additionally, Flexible Elongation will now feature a knockback effect, launching enemies outward within the area upon landing. The recharge time for a single use of Flexible Elongation will be adjusted from 8s to 10s.
– Increase the damage of Brainiac Bounce (Ultimate Ability) spell from 50 to 70. Increase the energy cost from 2800 to 3400. Additionally, a new damage decay mechanism has been introduced: spell field damage will begin to decrease starting at 3 meters and will reach a maximum reduction of 50 at 10 meters.
Moon Knight
The Hand of Khonshu will offer improved reaction times for foes and an optimized damage logic.
– Reduced the Hand of Khonshu talons falling speed.
– Correct the damage trigger logic for Hand of Khonshu. The previous mechanism that dealt 75 damage when positioned at the center of the spell field has been removed. Increase the damage of each hit from 75 to 150.
Scarlet Witch
We’re boosting her survivability when unleashing her Ultimate Ability.
– Gain an additional 100 Bonus Health upon activating Reality Erasure (Ultimate Ability). After the ability ends or is interrupted, this Bonus Health will decay at a rate of 50/s.
Spider-Man
We’re slightly reducing Web-Cluster cooldown to increase his offense.
– Reduce Web-Cluster energize time from 3s to 2.5s.
Star-Lord
Peter’s mobility is getting a stellar upgrade.
– Increase Rocket Propulsion’s maximum energy from 1200 to 1800.
Storm
We’ve toned down her tempest from long range and recalibrated her bonuses, offering less of a boost to herself but more to her allies in the eye of the storm.
– The Damage Falloff of Wind Blade at 30 meters will be changed from 70% to 60%.
– Reduce Storm’s damage increase from Thunder during Weather Control from 16% to 12%. However, the damage increase for allies within range has been increased from 8% to 10%.
– Reduce Storm’s damage increase from Enhanced Thunder during Weather Control from 30% to 25%.
STRATEGIST
Adam Warlock
Adam’s damage capability will be enhanced, along with a slight increase in healing ability after activating Soul Bond.
Increase the damage of Quantum Magic from 55 to 60. Additionally, the Damage Falloff at 40 meters will be changed from 50% to 60%.
Increase the healing amount provided by Soul Bond to linked allies from 10/s to 15/s.
Cloak & Dagger
Survivability and healing ability during the activation of their Ultimate Ability will be increased, while the frequency, duration, and intensity of the Ultimate Ability reduced. Additionally, Tyrone’s threat level will be enhanced.
· Increase the energy cost to activate Eternal Bond (Ultimate Ability) from 3400 to 4000. The healing amount of each segment will be increased from 220/s to 250/s, the duraiton will be reduced from 10s to 8s, and the pause time between segments decrease from 1s to 0.67s. Now, the healing effect from each segment will not stack; when overlapping, only one healing effect is applied. Additionally, camera control is unlocked during the activation of Eternal Bond.
· Increase the Vulnerability inflicted on enemies by Terror Cape from 20% to 28%.
Invisible Woman
We’re reducing the frequency of her Ultimate Ability.
– Increase the energy cost of Invisible Boundary (ultimate ability) from 4000 to 4300.
Loki
We’re reducing the trickster god’s Ultimate Ability frequency, while slightly enhancing his survivability.
– Increase the energy cost of God of Mischief (ultimate ability) from 3400 to 4000.
– Increase Mystical Missile charges from 10 to 12.
Luna Snow
We’re reducing her Ultimate Ability frequency.
– Increase the energy cost to activate Fate of Both Worlds (Ultimate Ability) from 4000 to 4500.
TEAM-UP ABILITIES
Atlas Bond
We’ll be enhancing the capability of Luna Snow’s side of this Team-Up ability.
– Increase the healing amount of Frozen Chi from 50 to 75, and the slow effect on enemies from 20% to 30%.
Dimensional Shortcut
We’re increasing the sustained combat capabilities of Black Panther and Psylocke.
– Reduced the Rewind Time for Psionic Disc from 5s to 3s. Additionally, the conversion ratio of lost health to blue armor will be increased from 0.5 to 0.8.
– Reduced the Rewind Time for Wakandan Master from 5s to 3s. Additionally, the conversion ratio of lost health to blue armor will be increased from 0.5 to 0.8.
Gamma Charge
We’re reducing the damage capability of Gamma Overdrive, and Hulk’s benefits from the team-up.
– Reduce Unibeam (Gamma Overdrive) damage from 220/s to 200/s.
– Reduce Hulk’s Team-Up Anchor health bonus from 150 to 100.
Lunar Force
We’re enhancing Moon Knight’s survivability after using the Team-Up Ability.
Full Moon New Effect: Continuously heal Moon Knight for 25 health per/s while within the effect area.
Symbiote Bond
Peni Parker and Spider-Man will enjoy enhanced survivability thanks to Suit/Armor Expulsion enhancements.
Reduce Spider-Man’s Suit Expulsion duration from 4s to 1s. Replace the 50% damage reduction effect with a new invincibility effect during the duration.
Reduce Peni Parker’s Armor Expulsion duration from 4s to 2s. Replace the 50% damage reduction effect with a new invincibility effect during the duration.
That’s about it. Don’t be surprised to see a follow-up patch be released for any bugs that surface from this one.
With the Delta Force Black Hawk Down campaign now officially available, many have begun to turn their eyes to the next big release from Team Jade, that being the console version of Delta Force.
While initially meant to come out during the first quarter of 2025, the studio has sadly announced that they have delayed the console release, though for good reasons.
While Delta Force launched last year as a free-to-play multiplayer game, Team Jade's ambition for the franchise is much bigger than that, as the developers are poised to release the Black Hawk Down campaign for free this Februaary 21, 2025.
Team Jade Wants to Address Input Fairness Before Releasing Delta Force’s Console Versions
As revealed in the latest Ask Shadow Anything” Q&A episode, game director Shadow Guo took to answering some of the community’s most burning questions. One of the biggest questions to be answered was an update on the console release of Delta Force. Sadly, it’s not good news, as the answer provided alluded to it getting delayed with no updated time window. He explains that while progress is going well for the port, one of the key reasons for the delay was input fairness, ensuring that console players of all skill levels could have a fair and balanced aiming experience. This is likely referring to crossplay, controller versus mouse, and keyboard users, where heavy aim assistance is often given to console players to compensate against PC players.
Additionally, Shadow also said that another reason for the delay is the UI (user interface) for Delta Force’s extraction mode. They didn’t want to release an “unfinished” game as the UI isn’t suited to consoles at the moment. He goes on to apologize for the inconvenience.
As saddened as we are by this news, it’s understandable. Hopefully, the wait isn’t too long.
For now, PC gamers can at least enjoy the new Black Hawk Down campaign (read our hands-on here), which is now available to download, for free.
In case you didn't know, Delta Force, Team Jade's new free-to-play military first-person shooter, will have a separate add-on campaign released this week.
A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.
KOEI Tecmo has released Dynasty Warriors: Origins update 1.003 on all platforms, and this brings new features to the hack-and-slash game, alongside bug fixes.
PC players will see the update as version 1.0.0.5, and both consoles and PC share the same changelog in terms of fixes and new content.
For those planning on taking on the treacherous seas in SEGA and RGG Studio;s Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, you'll be prompted to download the day one update before playing the game, or it'll be part of your download for those who op for digital.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins Adds Gold Serpent Spear via Update 1.003
Additional Features and Adjustments
The Gold Serpent Spear has been added to the game. After obtaining a weapon of the Lance type, a letter will arrive at your current base.
Solved an issue that caused text rendered at high resolutions to appear less clear than it should.
Added Rumor Settings to the Configuration menu. These new settings allow you to make the rumors that play automatically when on the World Map occur less frequently or make them play without sound.
Added Frame Skip to the Graphics Settings menu. Turning it off when using VRR may make graphics smoother.
Shortened the length of time that enemies are invulnerable during the animations that play out when they enter Rage mode.
Added a feature that allows events to be paused by pressing the TouchPad button and allows UI elements to be hidden.
Adjusted controller vibration for the Steam/Xbox Series X|S versions so that when Vibration Settings are set to Full Experience, more areas of the controller vibrate during actions like attacking and charging.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug that caused officers to be highlighted as though the Highlight Officers setting in the Display menu had been set to the default even when the feature was turned off.
Fixed a bug that was causing the portable item Incense of Vitality to not always heal allies properly when used.
Fixed a bug that disabled the upgrade boost for the Adamantine Flesh Battle Art (Crescent Blade) after mastering it.
Fixed a bug that caused the strength of Crescent Blade Battle Art Azure Dragon Bellow to not increase in line with its upgrade level.
Fixed a bug that caused unintended damage when certain Battle Arts were canceled with Battle Arts with Sp. effects.
Fixed other minor bugs.
Note: Controller buttons have been labeled according to PS5 console standards.
That’s about it from KOEI Tecmo. Once another patch is released, we’ll let our readers know.
It looks like Koei Tecmo the company behind games Ninja Gaiden, Nioh and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, is gearing up for something big, as the studio is opening a new studio this April that will be developing a new AAA title.
