Sims 4 Urban Homage Proves A Sequel Should Exist For One Notoriously Underrated Game

Xbox Game Pass has added Little Kitty, Big City to its ever-expanding content catalog. This is the first day-one release to reach Microsoft's subscription service in May 2024, as well as the third overall addition to Xbox Game Pass since the turn of the month.

has made waves as a live-service game that offers the complete package of fun gameplay, an engaging community, and interesting updates, but one move could undo a huge portion of what it's built over the past few months. As a sequel to the modestly popular top-down shooter, the third-person follow-up has managed to go toe-to-toe with major IPs and stands out as one of the biggest successes of 2024. Not everyone has been able to get in on the fun – isn't available on Xbox – but that hasn't slowed its momentum much.

There's a lot to enjoy in the base version of , but one particular feature that didn't show up until DLC definitely should have been included for free. has always had a somewhat contentious space in the franchise, and a big part of it is a feeling that the game falls into a one step forward, two steps back problem. Enhanced gunplay and settlement building are just a couple of the significant new attractions, but missing roleplaying elements and fewer narrative complexities can be disappointing compared to prior titles.

pulls off a major narrative gambit with Orpheus's story, but when looking back at the game, it could hardly have communicated what was coming more clearly. Among the many strengths of, one that stands out in particular is how much work goes into foreshadowing and littering relevant lore across the world. It would be easy to have countless dangling threads in a world as vast and varied as Faerûn, but although not every single tease ultimately goes somewhere, very little is wasted on the whole.

's long-awaited next-gen update has now refreshed the game on both the Xbox Series X/S and the PlayStation 5, but it's still a better game on the former option thanks to one huge difference between the versions. Ever since first making its way to consoles with, the post-apocalyptic RPG series has had plenty of struggles with bugs and performance issues showing up in every game to varying degrees. The next-gen update does fix some key problems that have persisted in the game since launch, even if it introduces some of its own.

PlayStation Plus is getting some exciting new additions in May, allowing subscribers to pick up a variety of games and keep them as long as a subscription is active. A small selection of rotating monthly titles is available to download across all three tiers of the service, which offer varying degrees of benefits for different price points. On the more costly Extra and Premium tiers, May will also bring new entries to a more permanent catalog that consistently adds more games than it loses.

Xbox fans are all set to get a new game, Humanity, which was a day one PS Plus game. That's not all, as Humanity will also be available as a day one Xbox Game Pass game, which means existing subscribers will be able to try it out for absolutely free.

The soulslike genre has been shifting and evolving for over a decade now, and with the rapid release of recent entries like and , it's clear just how much has changed over that time. Although was the first game to codify many of the core soulslike mechanics, was the one that shot the concept to worldwide popularity. Within a few years, the ideas that made so compelling were starting to spread throughout the gaming industry, and plenty of titles have benefited from them since.

Based on rumors so far, the Nintendo Switch 2 seems to be mostly focused on keeping what people love about the Switch and improving on it, but a new report indicates that one iconic element of the system could be going away with its successor. The long wait for news on the console has been full of ups and downs, dating back to the time when a Switch Pro was expected before a new system entirely. More recently, a presumed 2024 date seemed to slip out the window in favor of a 2025 release, making the wait even longer.

Stardew Valley update 1.6.6 is officially here, and although creator Eric Barone says it's "mostly bug fixes and translation changes," there is a list of "balance and gameplay changes," and among them is one that's a pretty dang big deal for honey farming.

Navigating the world of isn't that tricky as a whole, but one element that's easy to get tripped up on is the game's approach to relationships. makes a major departure from both the original and by making relationship progress with party members a central part of the game, with the ultimate payoff lying in a number of potential dates at the Gold Saucer. Although the basic thrust of the system is clear enough, some key aspects aren't actually revealed until after the credits roll.

Playing through to the credits in can take a while, but anyone particularly enraptured with the game might want to keep the adventure going after the ending. tells the story of a futuristic soldier named Eve working to retake a ruined Earth, a task that requires fighting plenty of hostile creatures with uniquely challenging attacks to parry and overcome. It can be tempting to rush through to keep the focus on the action, but there's also an appeal in ferreting out secrets in its harsh world.