464 parties have already finished the new permadeath Honour Mode in Baldur's Gate 3, but it's also killed 34,000 player-characters so far

Although Honour Mode in offers a unique challenge, the heightened difficulty also comes along with a single save slot, which can put much more focus on one of the game's biggest shortcomings. Added in the game's fifth major patch, Honour Mode is a difficulty setting that goes beyond even the previous hardest mode, Tactician, buffing enemy stats, changing their tactics, and giving bosses unique Legendary Actions to make them even more challenging. Along with the added in-game difficulty, though, Honour Mode also comes with the caveat of only allowing a single save, effectively eliminating save-scumming from the equation.

Wordle was a lockdown phenomenon: one of those games that, merits aside, simply landed at the right time. I've kicked the habit now but like pretty much everyone else I had a Wordle phase with the family WhatsApp group and, yes, when I'm nearly out of chances I have gone running to my six-letter friend Google. Wordle's enormous popularity was such that, in January 2022, the New York Times purchased the game from creator Josh Wardle for a sum «in the low seven figures.»

It's been three weeks since Baldur's Gate 3 added Honour Mode, a new difficulty more punishing than Tactician. Tougher bosses, smarter AI, and most importantly, one save file. Mess up a roll? Face the consequences. Die? Start over. It's gruelling, but pushing through earns you an achievement and some swanky golden dice.

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As if anyone needed another reason to play Baldur's Gate 3 again, the recently released Honour Mode provides as good an incentive as any, especially for masochists. Veterans of Tactition, formerly the most difficult in the game, are finding Honour Mode — where a story-focused run will last regular players around 50 hours — to be a different beast entirely.

Larian Studios has released a new hotfix for Baldur’s Gate 3, which brings Patch 5 and its features – like the new Epilogue and Honour Mode – to Mac players. There are also fixes for various issues, starting with a potential crash that could occur in Honour Mode when trying to load a save file.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 fans itching to return to New York for some New Game Plus action will need to wait just a little while longer; developer Insomniac Games has announced it's delaying the previously promised mode — alongside a number of other features — into «early» 2024 for some additional testing ahead of release.

The most recent patch for adds two new gameplay settings, one of which is the ultra-difficult Honour Mode. It's one of two new modes added in Patch 5 of , in addition to the highly flexible Custom Mode. In many ways, it's similar to the hardest default difficulty setting in , Tactician Mode, but is far from a simple expansion thereof. In fact, it's so much harder, it includes a lengthy pop-up window warning about all the ways it can screw players over. It's less than ideal for a first playthrough, but could be interesting for a repeat or challenge run.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Honour Mode is inherently hard — not only is it played at the game’s highest difficulty setting, but it limits players to a single save file. No save-scumming here! Since the Honour Mode update was released on Nov. 30, 464 Baldur’s Gate 3 parties have completed the game in that mode, compared to the 34,000 players who have failed their attempts, according to statistics released by Larian on Dec. 5.

Baldur's Gate III took home the top honour at The Game Awards 2023, held early Friday in Los Angeles, besting its lead competitor Alan Wake II. The Dungeons & Dragons-based sprawling RPG, which was strongly revered by both fans and critics alike, bagged six trophies, including Best Community Support and Best Performance. The latter was collected by Neil Newbon, who played Astarion, the silver-haired vampire spawn, holding our attention with his melodramatic persona and the occasional high-pitched screeches. Meanwhile, Remedy's Alan Wake 2 won four awards across some of the most important categories, with co-directors Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley emerging as the best game directors of the year, alongside a writing/ narrative nod.

Baldur's Gate 3 nabbed The Game Awards' coveted Game of the Year title, and Larian Studios founder and CEO Swen Vincke graciously accepted it wearing half a suit of shining armor. 

Ninja Theory shared a new gameplay trailer for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, and it looks simply fantastic with cutting edge graphics and performance capture throughout. Hellblade 2 is set for release in 2024 across Xbox Series X|S and PC. It will be day one in Xbox Game Pass.