Love News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Elden Ring players already know they're in for it when DLC Shadow of the Erdtree drops next month, on the 21st of June, on PS5 and PS4. Developer Fromsoftware has been cooking, going by what we've seen so far, and now the sadistic studio is teasing an enemy ripped straight from our most persistent Bloodborne nightmares.

Goku's long-term English voice actor in Dragon Ball, Sean Schemmel, has revealed that he's put between 60-80 hours of work into Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero so far.

I have to start this article by issuing an apology to Asmodee Canada – many months ago, Asmodee sent over a box of games to review, and somehow Perspectives landed on a shelf it wasn’t supposed to be on, and we missed reviewing it all together. I also have to apologize to myself, because I could have been playing one of the best detective board games currently available, but instead it was sitting on a shelf hidden among the 100s of board games in our collection.

Video game horses tend to play a fairly uncomplicated role, at least in mainstream titles. Like semi-sentient meat bicycles, they often exist as little more than a way to make the player travel faster, jump farther or occasionally defy the laws of physics. With the exception of Red Dead Redemption 2, an outlier beloved for its equine verisimilitude and breadth of riding-related activities, horses in video games are generally emotionless props, notorious for janky animations and unnatural anatomy.

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Something that makes television amazing is how it can build stories across hours, months, and years, expand whole worlds into deep and intense narratives, and beam it right into our homes, our brains. Something else incredible about TV is how sometimes the only thing people remember is the ending.

We all know that an Animal Crossing and Pokemon crossover would absolutely slap, but Twitter artist SpicyBeefu has been making it a reality for months, imagining various Pokemon from across the series as villagers.

The past has never looked so good. That applies not only to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City — Definitive Edition itself, but also the 1980s-inspired style of the titular city. This entry was a blast from the past when it was first released, and it’s downright retro today. Thanks to the face-lift this remastering has provided, it has never been easier to go back and relive the story of Tommy Vercetti and his quest for revenge in this visually overwhelming take on an exaggerated version of a crime-infested ’80s city.

While Bridgerton’s alternate history means the show is already much more racially diverse than other Regency-era romances, the show so far has still been very heteronormative and deeply patriarchal, even with Queen Charlotte ruling. If women can’t even inherit property without a man or an heir, they definitely can’t kiss other women (and same goes for dudes).

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Into the Breach, the acclaimed 2018 turn-based strategy game from Subset Games, is getting some high praise from XCOM and Marvel's Midnight Suns director Jake Solomon.

Diablo 4 is currently enjoying a bit of a redemption arc in the wake of season 4's big loot rework, and in a timely PSA regarding the new Tempering system, one player has rather sensibly urged everyone to always Temper items first and then Enchant them.

Hades 2 early access players can poke around to "find clues" about the roguelike sequel's coming updates.

This review of AGGRO DR1FT was originally published after its screening at the 2023 New York Film Festival. It has been updated and republished for the film’s limited theatrical run.

Blizzard has put together a new video that recaps all of the events and patches of the original release of Cataclysm! This video also provides a preview of what players should expect from Cataclysm Classic's release on May 20th! Cataclysm Classic Phase 1 Overview Cataclysm Classic Raids Overview

As the gaming hobby grows, so too do the mechanisms that make games run. Deck building is a tried game mechanism that has been around for a long time, to the point that it has become a genre of its own. I’ve long been a fan of deck building and it’s been a delight to see how it has grown over time and been implemented in newer games, while the core concept- each player having an individual deck to which cards are added or culled in order to make it stronger- remains a satisfying strategic exercise.

Whenever we cover Fallout: London, we get a few readers who, understandably, believe that it’s an official Bethesda release that escaped their notice. It’s easy to see why - the various screenshots and trailers certainly look the part, with a team of passionate devs using Fallout 4 as the foundation for a unique story, complete with new characters, items, textures, voice acting, and much more.

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For those who have just started their epic journey in Ghost of Tsushima, you may have heard that there is a special Digital Deluxe horse — and to help you choose the best, we’ll go over each of the horses.

When I played Gestalt: Steam & Cinder during Steam Next Fest last year, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. I was just interested in trying out every Metroidvania and this fell into that category. When I tell you that I fell in love with the demo of this game, it ended up being my most anticipated Metroidvania of 2024. Developed by Metamorphosis Games, published by Fireshine Games and executive produced by gaming personalities Jesse Cox and Dodger, Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is experienced through the eyes of Aletheia, a strong and powerful woman, an elite mercenary of the Steam City of Canaan, with a take on the art style of retro gaming we all grew to love and an all-new adventure inspired by classic Metroidvanias and action-RPGs.

While 's main story focuses on a missing child and the fate of the Commonwealth, the huge RPG also offers a plethora of faction-based and side quests to keep the Sole Survivor busy. While some of those will be lighthearted, there are many that tackle the more serious aspects of a post-apocalyptic world. And then there are some that are just plain weird or even spine-chilling.

Sony has replaced outgoing CEO Jim Ryan with an all-star tag-team partnership: Hermen Hulst will lead PS Studios and its intellectual property, while Hideaki Nishino will focus on hardware and services. The pair, together, will be tasked with leading PlayStation into a new era, as PS5 enters the latter half of its lifecycle and the company explores new initiatives, like PC, mobile, and television.

The Monster Hunter franchise from Capcom continues to go from strength to strength as the publisher has announced the series has now sold over 100 million copies across its many entries. Fuelled by recent entries like World and Rise, it sits in prime position to capitalise on the series' growing popularity in the West with Monster Hunter Wilds launching in 2025.

GreedFall II: The Dying World is the first sequel Spiders Studio has ever made, but based on a new IGN preview, the RPG still appears to be very much its own thing. Not only is it actually a prequel to the first game, but the combat system has been completely changed. Taking inspiration from BioWare RPG Dragon Age: Origins, you'll slow down time and queue up actions for your party to utilise rather than engage in real-time hack-and-slash fights.

If history has taught us anything, it's that when faced with tyranny, lovers of both Liberty and Democracy will fight in their defence to the last round of ammunition, the final drop of blood. In a bombshell development, it looks like developer Arrowhead may have a revolution on its hands, as outraged Helldivers 2 players who defended the developer just days ago rise up. They demand justice (and official canonisation into in-game lore) for the undemocratically dismissed community manager, now dubbed «General» Spitz.

Another week has come to a premature conclusion, so it's time to discuss what we're playing this weekend. There's tons to choose from, so here's what's keeping us busy.

Paper Trail is a puzzle game which takes a simple premise, folding and unfolding paper, to create a unique experience. You play from the perspective of Paige, a young woman who leaves home to pursue her academic dreams whilst meeting some weird and wonderful characters along the way.

Sony's handheld streaming device, the PS Portal, continues to defy the company's expectations as it's revealed demand for the machine has «exceeded supply for several months» in the USA. Responding to a question on Twitter, executive director at Circana (formerly NPD) Mat Piscatella said that while Sony isn't shifting «massive units», the handheld has still done well for itself.

The rumours surrounding a potential Horizon and LEGO crossover game have picked up steam today as Insider Gaming reports the title is called LEGO Horizon Adventures, and is essentially "Horizon Forbidden West but LEGO", and features «realistic graphics». In trying to envision what this game might look like, some people have pointed to LEGO Builder's Journey, which places LEGO pieces on a blank but colourful background.

Frontier Developments, the studio behind fine management sim series like Planet Zoo and F1 Manager, isn't looking to break the mould. The studio announced that it has three titles in this style currently in development, one of which has been confirmed to be a Jurrasic World game, with the developer inking a deal with Universal Products & Experience to licence the IP.

With the week Helldivers 2 players just went through IRL, distracted by Sony's regrettable own-goal and subsequent reversal, it should be no surprise that the ongoing Galactic War effort has suffered similarly, with the situation looking worse all the time. Having failed to contain the Terminid Supercolony on Meridian, the Barrier Worlds in the Umlaut System have been lost; Super Earth has shifted its efforts to the wholesale decommissioning of Automaton forces, using the associated scrap to construct a new Strategem.

Ubisoft has shared the full reveal of Assassin's Creed Shadows with a nearly four-minute cinematic trailer, announcing a PS5 version and the release date of 15th November 2024. You can catch the trailer above.

Fans of papercraft may be interested to know there are a couple of official Horizon Forbidden West paper models. Over on the series' official site, scroll down on the community page and you'll find altogether more flimsy versions of two of the game's machines, waiting for you to fold them into shape.

Here’s some potentially huge news, unearthed by the eagle-eyed Gematsu: a new PS2 emulator appears to be imminent for PS5 and PS4. As many of you will already know, Sony has been gradually deploying PS1 and PSP titles on the PS Store as part of its PS Plus Premium subscription, with all releases boasting video filters, quick save, and rewind.

The announcement that Jake Solomon, first amongst the legendary Sid Meier's pupils, had left Firaxis to start his studio, Midsummer Studios, comes as a surprise, especially with the switch from strategy to the life sim genre. Looking towards the opportunity to create something entirely different, Soloman reflected on where his last game, Marvel's Midnight Suns, went wrong.

A final update for Hi-Fi Rush released this week: a gift from developer Tango Gameworks before it closes its doors for good. The update fixes a selection of minor bugs on PS5, and will be the final title update, as Xbox has decided to shut down the decorated Japanese developer. The studio, founded by industry icon Shinji Mikami, released several acclaimed titles under parent company Bethesda’s banner, including The Evil Within and Ghostwire Tokyo.

An unexpected rumour has surfaced this weekend regarding the possibility of a LEGO-themed Horizon game. In truth, the speculation is vague, and it’s not clear at this stage whether the collaboration involves a full-blown PS5 title or a physical set, similar to the one featuring the Tallneck which sold out around the world last year.

In a bid to redeploy «resources to bigger opportunities such as XDefiant and Rainbow Six», Ubisoft has today announced the cancellation of its free-to-play spin-off of The Division series, The Division Heartland. The move arrives as part of a bigger restructuring within the French publisher that's geared towards focusing on fewer but bigger games, such as the newly revealed Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Former developers of XCOM, Marvel's Midnight Suns, and The Sims have come together to form a new studio called Midsummer Games, all in the name of rivalling The Sims in the «life simulation» genre. Jake Solomon and Will Miller, best known for their work on Firaxis titles like Marvel's Midnight Suns and XCOM, founded the company after raising $6 million in investment. Now, the team will set out to build a next-gen life sim game.

If, like us, you fell in love with the simple yet devilishly addictive Horizon Chase Turbo on PS4, you'll be delighted to know its sequel is fast on the approach. Horizon Chase 2 is confirmed to be coming to PS5 and PS4, and it's only two weeks away, launching on 30th May, 2024.

You don't see or hear too much about Among Us these days, but it remains a popular social deduction game. As it turns out, developer Inner Sloth is far from done with the title — it recently highlighted all its plans for the remainder of 2024, with some pretty big changes incoming.

God of War Ragnarok is amongst the next batch of first-party titles Sony plans to port to PC, a new report from PS Plus leaker Billbil-Kun claims. They say the official announcement could be made as soon as this month, which could line up with a potential PlayStation Showcase taking place in May.

Tom McKay, the actor behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 protagonist, Henry of Skalltz, has been putting in some serious studio time. Due out sometime in 2024 on PS5, developer Warhorse Studios revealed that his lines in the sequel are now locked and loaded, the work of 508 hours of recording time, or three whole weeks, if you prefer.

When it launches on PC later this week, the online co-op Legends mode in Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut will carry a beta tag when you wish to play with PS5, PS4 friends via crossplay. Rather than the final version of what port specialist Nixxes Software intends to ship, the developer is soliciting feedback so it can make tweaks to the feature «in the weeks following launch».

Wowhead’s Fire Bolt Sorcerer Endgame Build Guide is now live! Season 4 has finally shown some love to Fire skills for Sorcerers, and we're taking this Fire Bolt build all the way to the top! Fire Bolt Sorcerer Endgame Build Guide

The purpose of art is to inspire and incite discourse, and the recently unveiled portrait of King Charles has certainly done that. The current monarch of the United Kingdom was coronated last year, and it’s a common tradition for painters to sit down with heads of state to create a personalized portrait of them. On May 14, King Charles’ portrait by artist Jonathan Yeo was revealed to the public, and while some art critics wanted to debate the heavy use of red in the portrait and the symbology therein, other people decided to just make some banger memes out of the painting.

Helldivers 2 players failed to complete their latest Major Order, and apparently that means that the entire Galactic War is set to "escalate."

Max has released a trailer for its documentary MoviePass, MovieCrash, coming to the streaming service on May 29. And frankly, it looks awful. The trailer makes the film look like the worst kind of bubbly, hyperbolic TV news report, full of over-the-top voiceover, staccato sound bites, and sensationalist quotes, all trying to inject riffy, bouncy energy into a story that doesn’t need zhuzhing up. The actual doc may be nothing like this; trailers are notoriously unreliable about reflecting what a movie is actually like. But either way, I don’t care. I’m all in, for one reason: I just want to see the faces of the people behind the story I followed with absolute nonstop disbelief for two full years of “Oh God, what now?” schadenfreude.

In school, I once learned about British politics. I don’t remember the details, but our teacher showed us a video of a rancorous debate in the House of Commons. Shouts of Parliament members echoed throughout the chambers, and people booed in disapproval to someone speaking at a mic. People squished up next to each other like a loose mosh pit and waved papers at each other. It’s unruly, it’s chaotic — and it’s also exactly how I imagine Cloti and Clerith shippers would have it out if you corralled them all up and tossed them into a single hall to debate the best love interest for Final Fantasy 7 protagonist Cloud Strife.

As an animator, Joaquim Dos Santos has steadily carved out a career boasting credits on some of the most influential American animated series of the past two decades. The 46-year-old animator and director has gone from directing episodes of Justice League: Unlimited and Avatar: The Last Airbender to co-directing one of the biggest animated features of last year: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

Dearest Reader,

Rumour has it that the Vision Pro is finally getting ready to get shipped outside of the US. Three months after its American launch, Bloomberg reported that Apple's VR headset could be shipping in several territories worldwide as early as next month, off the back of the firm's Worldwide Developers Conference.

Alongside a slew of other PlayStation titles, Ghost of Tsushima is finally coming to PC — but in the wake of the Helldivers 2 PSN login debacle, a curious addendum has been added to the multiplayer cross-play component of the game.

2064: Read Only Memories was a game that never fully piqued my interest. I love the idea of a sci-fi anime-esque adventure, but the aesthetic of that game never seemed as tightly dialled in as I would have wanted it to be. It’s sequel, though, has looked exactly like the game I’ve been waiting for. I was hooked from the first reveal trailer for Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, mouth nearly watering at the technicolor characters and gorgeously rendered future streets. Now, after ages of delays, I’ve finally gotten to sit down and play the game, and I just desperately wish there was more of it.

Only a couple of characters can be romanced in if Zagreus builds a strong relationship with them, including the former boss Megaera, First of the Furies. Forming a strong bond of love can be refreshing compared to the violent connections made with the many monsters you face every run. You'll have to actively pursue different dialogue interactions with Megaera for any chance to deepen her bond with Zagreus.

Voice performance has become isolating work over the years — these days, for an actor like JP Karliak, a day “on set” is completed from a home studio, and notes come in over Zoom calls. But the goals are the same: find the perfect sound to match a character, and relentlessly chase the perfect take. Karliak has done voice work across the animation and video game spectrum, and is no stranger to IP demands. He’s been in everything from The Boss Baby: Back in Business to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, where he played Batman’s nemesis, Joker. Taking over the role of Morph in Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97, voiced in the original series by actor Ron Rubin, put him under high pressure from nostalgic fans. Still, alone in the room, he found it: his own pure voice.

Upcoming squad-based shooter is a fusion of gameplay elements spanning several genres made by a group of industry veterans. It's the debut title from Theorycraft Games, which boasts a team that's collectively worked on franchises like,, and. It was founded in part by developer Joe Tung, former executive vice president of the franchise, with the goal of creating a title that fans could play for 10,000 hours.

I have never crushed on a Victorian polar explorer before. The thought simply never occurred to me, mostly due to a lack of exposure: Outside of the (very good) TV series The Terror, I’ve frankly never had much time to consider them, or the many ways they might be charming. Kaliane Bradley, however, has — and she’s written a whole book that might convince you to crush on one too.

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

If there is one thing that people who make and play video games love more than video games, it’s labels. People love to label a game, to invent a genre, to categorize and sort and declare some kind of rudimentary ownership. YouTubers have built entire careers around this.

HoYoverse just addressed the Zenless Zone Zero leaks on the game’s official Bilibili account. They expressed their disappointment over the leaked content, which includes concept designs for unrevealed characters. Keep reading to get the full scoop!

The residents of Pelican Town are friendly enough when you begin a new farming adventure in Stardew Valley, but you need to do some work to really earn their affection.

One of the changes seen in the latest build of The War Within Alpha involves Demonology Warlocks, which received another small overhaul. One of these changes is the addition of a new capstone talent that involves a choice node between two talents, Mark of F'harg and Mark of Shatug.

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I love the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, but for a long time now it feels like I’m a fan of everything but the actual video games. Nep Nep and her crew of humanised game-console gals are unforgettably hilarious and consistently endearing, but there’s been nothing consistent about the Neptunia video games as of late. Each one has been a standalone spinoff adventure with their own canon and their own gameplay – and rather than building off the previous games to improve and expand, each one seeks to rebuild the wheel and comes out equally rough as a result. Despite lifting a lot of the combat and gameplay from its predecessor, Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters, the same issues persist with Neptunia Game Maker (R)evolution.

offers up plenty of new details in its take on the classic story, but there's one huge debate surrounding the original game that draws back from answering. Anything laid out in the new games doesn't necessarily override the classic canon, as it can more or less be viewed as an interpretation of a different timeline. It's still intended to be canon in its own right, however, and everything is supposedly going to link back up with the sequel film when the trilogy concludes.

The Mysterious Artefact is pivotal in helping stave off the tentacle cravings in Baldur's Gate 3, but what if was also an Xbox controller?

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As someone who loves tech and is considering getting a new phone, you know all about reading spec sheets. You check for a faster processor, more RAM, larger storage, and a higher screen resolution. But while these things matter, other smartphone specs can really make a phone go from one you like using to one you truly love.

I've spent a lot of time on the road. Or should I say, in the air. I've flown about 75,000 miles a year for the last several years. And in that time, this simple iPhone accessory has become my must-have travel companion.

Players love to customize their characters — whether that be through transmog, fun transformation toys, consumables, or even stealing someone else's look with Reflecting Prism. The War Within will take that even further with a fun new consumable focused on transforming your race on demand: Glamour Scrolls! These Glamour Scrolls can be created relatively easily by Enchanters, requiring only Skill 40 and a small amount of Leyline Residue and Storm Dust. The only catch is the length of time you can stay transformed: the quality of the scroll determines where you fall within the range of 20 to 60 minutes. Your faction doesn't seem to matter — as of now, there are no restrictions on the items for Alliance or Horde, so you may be able to choose any race you'd like! At this time, we've datamined Glamour Scrolls for almost every race. The current exception is Dracthyr: so far, we haven't found any indication of being able to take on a draconic form.

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

Earlier this week, Asmodee Canada invited me to their Canada Plays Trade Show in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Although this event is primarily for retailers to meet with distributors, a few select media folks were invited to attend as well, and it was well worth the trip. One of my favourite moments was getting to demo the upcoming Trading Card Game, Altered.

Helldivers 2's D&D influence, which supports a 10-million-player-strong role-playing campaign, made its way into the game "about halfway through development," according to former lead writer Russ Nickel.

Amazon Prime's Fallout TV show has inspired fans to flock back to the wasteland's radioactive monsters and even more radioactive insults, with many now celebrating Fallout: New Vegas and its… interesting dialogue.

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

If you’re a fan of motorsports, this weekend is a great time to see if the World Endurance Championship is for you. It’s the 6hrs of Spa today – starting at midday in the UK – with a now bustling field of Hypercar teams having to weave through the GT3 class competitors, and this iconic track will act as a prelude to the 24hrs Le Mans next month. I love seeing all these cars going flat out for hours at a time, the contrasting strategy calls and reactions to incidents.

, the beloved former professional basketball player, has never been quite public about his relationships. However, rumors of his latest love interest, including potential, have been floating around. Here’s what we know.

Every new era of Doctor Who begins with a new Doctor. That’s always the most exciting part: As a nigh-immortal alien whose personality shifts with his looks after he regenerates into a new form, meeting a new Doctor is like meeting a best friend all over again. Then comes a few other things: A new companion, a facelift for his spaceship/time machine, the TARDIS, and, finally, a new costume. A signature look that comes to define that version of the Doctor — from a stalk of celery on the lapel of the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) to Eleven’s (Matt Smith) affection for bow ties.