Relationships News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

During the first day of the Capcom Highlights event, the Japanese publisher announced the release of a free character creation tool for Dragon's Dogma 2.

The director of Dragon's Dogma 2 has warned future players to take care of their favorite NPCs, as the developer takes death "seriously" and isn't afraid to kill characters off. 

Earlier today, rumours started swirling that PlayStation was moments away from announcing its acquisition of Arrowhead Game Studios, the Swedish team behind the wildly successful Helldivers 2. While the two parties already have a strong relationship – Sony has published both of the Helldivers titles – founder Johan Pilestedt was quick to pour cold water on the reports.

Outward developer Nine Dots is moving into third-party publishing.

Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 probably have the most in-depth romance system that the series has seen. If you enter a relationship with someone, you'll be able to take them on dates and you'll unlock multiple special scenes that play out at set points during the story. The waifu wars have never been quite so engaging.

One of the most memorable moments from the original Final Fantasy 7 is the date scene at the Gold Saucer. There was no way that Square Enix would leave that part out of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. In the original, it was almost an Easter egg of sorts to learn that you could end up going on a date with almost every member of the cast, not just Aerith. That’s because the relationship system was hidden and almost impossible to manipulate without a guide. Thankfully, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth makes things much clearer with the new bonds system that shows you just how strong your relationship with each character is. That plays directly into who you end up sharing a touching moment with near the end of the game.

The United States' Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) has released its verdict on Dragon's Dogma 2, detailing its sexual content among other things.

Bonds between friends is one of the core themes in Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, and plays a bigger role than ever in terms of gameplay. By building strong relationships between Cloud and the entire cast of characters, you will not only unlock powerful new moves for every pair you can perform, but also open them up as potential partners on a date in the latter part of the game.

The team behind Helldivers 2, presumably fully aware that Steam Deck and PC players would go digging into the game's files, have left a funny little detail in there.

It looks like Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista could one day return to the MCU, but only if a bigger and better role is offered to him. 

When you get into your vehicle for the first time in Pacific Drive, it doesn’t feel any different than your average junker. Sure, it seems like it could fall apart any minute, but it somehow manages to stay mostly together… as long as you don’t run it into trees or through mysterious anomalies. It’s just an average car — until your friends on the radio start questioning how it exists at all. They say it should be impossible for a car to work in the Olympic Exclusion Zone, where the game takes place. The car also has some interesting characteristics: It’s able to take some technologically advanced upgrades like a champ, and despite being a 1950s station wagon, it can handle a paranormal storm with only minimal damage.

Andrew Haigh’s dark love story All of Us Strangers arrived to Hulu on Feb. 22, after two quiet months of building up word of mouth in theaters. Debuting just before Christmas and competing with a lot of more bombastic releases, it initially reached a small audience — but it was evident that it made an impression, as critics and viewers spun out lengthy online analyses and discussions of its memorable, divisive ending.

“If he plays League, run,” they told me. I didn’t listen.

Dungeons of Hinterberg, a gorgeous new Xbox exclusive indie that mixes Stardew Valley-like relationship building with Breath of the Wild's exploration, has a release window. It'll be out this summer.

Director of the Mother series Shigesato Itoi has finally told the story of where the name for the iconic RPG series comes from, and it's not as simple as the other explanations that have spread over the years.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth reviews are out now, giving us a taste of what the highly anticipated sequel has to offer. And while we won't delve into spoilers just yet, one thing that's stood out from our time with the game is that Rebirth is full of queer representation, much more so than previous games.

The live-action version of Sokka in Avatar: The Last Airbender is still the character "we know and love" according to actor Ian Ousley – amid fan backlash to the perceived changes from the Nickelodeon cartoon in the upcoming Netflix series.

Times & Galaxy has been revealed by publisher Fellow Traveller and developer Copychaser Games, and it places players a robot intern at a galaxy spanning news outlet. The game has been developed by former journalists, and in it players will be sent off to find stories, chase leads, and interview people. You will also be able to create the headlines to try and make a big of a splash as possible.

Times & Galaxy has been revealed by publisher Fellow Traveller and developer Copychaser Games, and it places players a robot intern at a galaxy spanning news outlet. The game has been developed by former journalists, and in it players will be sent off to find stories, chase leads, and interview people. You will also be able to create the headlines to try and make a big of a splash as possible.

Despite the name, True Detective has really never been about tying up every loose end to a mystery. Sure, the detectives at the heart do their damnedest, but if you’re here for procedural and ethical police work, you’re probably barking up the wrong tree; this tree is more about glimpsing supernatural terror, refracted through the prism of human cruelty and violence.

John Eric Bentley - the actor behind machinegun-armed party member Barret Wallace in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - has dished on the character's role in the upcoming sequel and his thoughts on the original's depiction. 

Many people have compared the addictive nature of social media to cigarettes. Checking your likes, they say, is the new smoke break. Others say the unease over social media is just the next round of moral panic about new technologies. We are a pair of researchers who investigate how social media affects the mental health of young people. More than 75% of teens check their phone hourly, and half say they feel like they're addicted to their devices.

After a staggering 12-year run on Kickstarter, board game publisher CMON will take its crowdfunding and pre-order business exclusively to Gamefound. The founder of the Polish crowdfunding platform, Marcin Świerkot, told Polygon he was unable to disclose the terms of the agreement. What is certain, however, is that this maneuver marks a massive change in the relationship between Kickstarter, long the leader in the crowdfunding space, and one of its biggest competitors.

Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 6 is here, and it's huge. As Larian teased, the patch does indeed add a bunch of new kisses, with every romance option getting multiple unique smooching animations to cycle through.

 of  will debut on the streaming platform TVING in February 2024. Over the previous nine episodes, the Korean reality dating show has become highly popular among audiences. The show has the engaging concept of bringing former lovers into the same house, where they make new romantic connections.

In an interview with PC Gamer, former Narrative Director Steve Danuser confirmed his quiet departure from Blizzard last November, concluding an eight year career with the World of Warcraft development team from Warlords of Draenor through Dragonflight. Responsible for guiding the World of Warcraft story and collaborating with other teams to develop the ongoing narrative, Danuser was a particularly visible member of the team, participating in several different interviews, which naturally made the director a target of community feedback throughout the very divisive reception of Shadowlands story arcs, though early Dragonflight content was generally better received. As reported by PC Gamer, Danuser says his departure wasn't related to the return of Chris Metzen, who has largely been celebrated as the mastermind of the upcoming three-expansion World Soul Saga — he was simply ready for something new after working on the same game for eight years. Wanting to continue working remotely was also a factor, as Blizzard finally began to enforce their long-expected return to office policy. While his role as narrative director guided most of the ongoing narrative, some of the parts he personally worked on include:

Avatar: The Last Airbender had more pressing things on its mind than romance — as you may recall, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked, and Avatar Aang had a lot to learn before he could save anyone (let alone the world). But love, like life, finds a way. This is a show about teenagers, after all, and the characters found connections that for some would last a lifetime.

It’s the season of romance — and what better way to spend a cozy evening than binge-watching a romantic anime with your boo?

It sounds like Bloober Team and Konami’s relationship is under further strain after an interview emerged in which the developer of the Silent Hill 2 remake pointed the finger at its own publisher for a recently released and divisive gameplay trailer.

It's common to have a checklist in the quest for finding love. People set all sorts of criteria, both in their minds and explicitly in their online dating profiles, specifying what sort of mate or lifestyle they're seeking. If you can't imagine a life without your dog or cat, screen for pet lovers. If having kids is a deal breaker for you, then toss that into the mix. And as marketers remind us every Valentine's Day, entire dating apps exist to cull potential prospects based on age, political views, religion, occupation and even height.

Konami has handed the keys to one of their most beloved games ever, Silent Hill 2, to Polish developer Bloober Team, which you’d think would indicate the two companies have a close, trusting relationship! Unfortunately, that… doesn’t seem to be the case. Bloober Team has made a number of pointed comments about Konami’s promotion of their Silent Hill 2 remake (or lack thereof) and now they’ve made their sharpest comments yet, outright criticizing the trailer shown during Sony’s most recent State of Play.

One of the bigger stories to come out of 2023’s Toronto International Film Festival was Bertrand Bonello’s science fiction movie The Beast, a dizzying, surreal story about a woman, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux), reliving three past lives as part of a process to purge her memories and emotions. In each of these lives, she encounters Louis (George MacKay of 1917 and Marrowbone) in a series of emotional relationships that lead in dangerous directions. Critics’ responses were split between strong positives and dubious negatives, but they seemed to agree that it’s a remarkably image-driven, idea-packed film that’s sensual and challenging. The comparison to the Wachowskis’ Cloud Atlas seemed obvious, too, given the separate but linked stories of people echoing across time together.

Earlier this month, IGN revealed that Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones, Breaking Bad) and five others had been cast in Sonic 3. Many assumed that she would be playing Rogue or Amy, introducing new animal friends to the film universe. However, according to Daniel Richtman who leaked Ritter's involvement before the announcement, she's a human character called Captain Rockwell.

Players of the original Final Fantasy VII and its Remake returning for the upcoming Rebirth have been anticipating a particular gondola ride for a very long time. The Gold Saucer date scene is shaping up to be more dynamic and romantic than ever; the mysterious system that determines your potential partner laid bare, as it were.

In the digital age, where online dating has become increasingly nuanced, a new trend is emerging that prioritizes more than just compatibility in interests or physical attraction. This is signified and the trend is set to be captured by the launch of the new Score dating app, which will debut on Valentine's Day in the United States. And it has already stirred conversation with its unique approach: pairing potential matches based on their credit score!

Football fans and/or Swifties are wondering “?” The Kansas City Chiefs take the title home and reunited with Taylor Swift on the field. Here’s all you need to know about Kelce and Swift’s Super Bowl celebrations.

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As the first anniversary of Resident Evil 4 Remake approaches, the game's producer has addressed lingering questions regarding The Darkside Chronicles, clarifying whether or not a certain chapter in the 2009 on-rails shooter is considered canon to the current main story of Resident Evil.

Upcoming life simulation game Paralives is planned to release in early access on PC via Steam at some point in 2025, it’s been confirmed.

Today we’re excited to share a new look at the action-packed gameplay of Rise of the Ronin. We at Team Ninja are crafting a liberating open world bristling with tense combat opportunities that are woven together with a complex storyline. Let’s take a new look at freeform traversal options, combat mechanics, and the development of character relationships based on your actions.

Disney announced a $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games, acquiring an equity stake in the maker of Fortnite and Unreal Engine. It's part of a wider partnership to create a new persistent universe within Fortnite based on Disney's prized franchises.

The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV has set the gaming world abuzz with its recent trailer, providing a glimpse into the chaos of Vice City and introducing two protagonists, Jason and Lucia. While the excitement around GTA 6 launch is palpable, the narrative details of the game remain shrouded in mystery, giving rise to numerous theories that attempt to decipher the storyline.

No matter how often the argument resurfaces, we aren’t really running out of movie stars — especially not as far as fandom is concerned. There are still plenty of actors out there with devotees who eagerly track their faves from project to project. Jenna Ortega has built that kind of following, from her child-actor phase as a Disney TV stalwart to playing young Jane on Jane the Virgin, the title role in Netflix’s Wednesday, and one of the new crop of knife-fodder-to-be in the Scream reboot series. Her fans have been vocal about the excitement of seeing her take on more adult, more independent, and more ambitious roles. But they’re going to have an interesting time figuring out how to swallow her new movie, Miller’s Girl.

Although Tekken has hinted at some kind of romance between Lars and Alisa for a few games now, Tekken 8 takes things to another level and shines a massive spotlight on it.

Rocksteady has revealed 's first post-launch playable character, and his inclusion may not look great for Harley Quinn. It had long been confirmed that the studio would be adding free post-launch content to the game with new storylines, environments, and characters, but it wasn't clear how these would play into the game's main campaign, considering its titular premise and the finality that comes with killing the Justice League.

The best-selling game of 2023, Hogwarts Legacy, has sold over 24 million units to date. The news came from Variety, which also outlined the ambitious plan Warner Bros. Discovery has for growth in the gaming space. The company values Harry Potter (the IP behind Hogwarts Legacy), Mortal Kombat (which has sold three million units since its debut last September), DC, and Game of Thrones franchises $1 billion each for their gaming potential, and it plans to capitalize on them all.

Well, it looks like more Switch successor rumors are swirling. A new report has emerged today stating that the Switch 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) is indeed targeting a 2024 release, and with an LCD screen.

Arthur Lee (AKA Mr. Podunkian), a game developer who previously worked on the 1.4 and 1.5 updates for ConcernedApe’s farming sim Stardew Valley, has unveiled the title and planned release window of his own urban life sim game. 

Dating sims are harder to create than people give them credit for. Hundreds of thousands of words, dialogue trees that stretch to the horizon and take into account successes and failures, trying to fit in as many characters as possible to suit different preferences; the complexity piles up and threatens to collapse. It gets more difficult when you try to merge it with another genre.

Major technology companies pouring money into artificial intelligence could come to dominate the emerging technology, Aleph Alpha GmbH Chief Executive Officer Jonas Andrulis said. 

In March, Capcom will release Dragon’s Dogma 2, the long-awaited sequel to its inventive 2012 action RPG. It’ll be the first mainline release in the open-world fantasy series in 12 years, and fans are eager to see what Capcom will bring to the table after a decade-plus of advancement in technical innovation and open-world game design.

Fntastic, the developer of The Day Before, has released a new statement aiming to address what it referred to as “misinformation” that has surfaced online from “supposedly anonymous sources.” It claims that a “hate campaign” towards The Day Before “inflicted significant damage” on gamers’ perceptions of the game.

Atlus and Nintendo have a long history, with many of the Persona maker’s games coming to Nintendo platforms (often exclusively) over the decades. That said, in recent years new Atlus games being on Nintendo platforms has ceased to be a lock, with games like Soul Hackers 2 and upcoming titles like Persona 3 Reload and Metaphor: ReFantazio skipping the Switch. Has the relationship between Atlus and Nintendo soured? Not so fast.

These days, a “water cooler” conversation can flare up and burn out in days. It’s rare to see any movie or TV show still spark any kind of unifying online discussion more than a week after its debut on a new platform, or after the final episode airs. For every Barbie or Oppenheimer or Barbenheimer, where critics, fans, reactors, streamers, podcasters, and others keep talking about the project for months after its debut, there are dozens of Netflix shows where the conversation stops after release weekend, or would-be blockbusters that make some money at the box office, but that viewers seem to have forgotten before the final credit rolls.

NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang has paid a visit to China, to celebrate Beijing's New Year Party, marking his steps into mainland China after several years.

A developer on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has revealed that they want to make a Legend of Zelda spin-off, which doesn't seem too far-fetched considering Nintendo and Ubisoft's previous collaborations.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the newly titled next video game starring everyone’s favourite whip-wielding archaeologist, is set in the year 1937. But where does that place it in the grander Indy timeline? Well, we know it’s set in-between the Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, the first and third films in the original trilogy respectively. But it’s a little more complicated than just that, with other films and games coming both before and after Dr Jones’ latest adventure. Let’s take a quick look at his story so far, the artifacts he’s already discovered, and the relationships he’s forged (and broken).

Mighty Kingdom shareholders today voted against a resolution brought by the studio's former CEO Shane Yeend to oust its current board of directors.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is right around the corner, and our month-long IGN First covering the game has revealed tons of new details about its incredible new monsters, systems, and vocations. In our conversations with creator Hideaki Itsuno, we also learned about a number of new features of the NPC systems in Dragon's Dogma 2, including one that might result in NPCs fighting one another over the player character.

Naughty Dog's is a devastating tale of parallel protagonists. Its inciting incident is a brutal torture sequence, and the game only spirals into more stomach-turning violence from there on. By the time reaches is unflinchingly bloody finale, it's difficult to feel as though something has actually been accomplished after experiencing a narrative that has only plummeted wildly into chaos. 's core tenet seems to be a warning that violence only begets violence, and the game's focus on insatiable revenge only leaves those involved with traumatic uncertainty.

It’s safe to say the first season of video game adaptation Halo was divisive. Even then, one of its most talked-about moments lingers long in the memory: that of Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) having sex with human-turned-Covenant agent Makee (Charlie Murphy).

The Apple Vision Pro is priced at $3,499, so it is likely that out of the initial estimated 60,000 to 80,000 units that make up the first batch, the majority of buyers will take advantage of the Apple Card to facilitate payments through installments. After all, undertaking an expensive purchase such as this is not feasible for everyone, and the mixed-reality headset has caught the attention of the masses, so it is natural for them to be lured into trying out the device. In the end, Goldman Sachs should be pleased with the outcome, as Apple Card loans are expected to reach $1 billion thanks to the upcoming launch.

We have the solution to Wordle on January 17, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We’ve placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday’s answer.

I own a jacket that’s eerily similar to Tess’ in Open Roads. It’s a blue bomber with yellow and burnt orange accents, and it’s not the only thing that Tess and I have in common. As she leisurely explores her childhood bedroom in the first few minutes of the game, Tess comes across set pieces that ground her environment in the early 2000s. There’s a chunky black television set and scattered DVD cases, little bottles of bright nail polish, a black-and-white strip from a photo booth, newspapers remembering 9/11 and hunting for bigfoot, and a bright pink tube of sickly sweet lip balm. These are the leftovers of her adolescence — the room is disheveled and largely empty, with most of her possessions packed away, ready to move. Tess picks through the room’s remaining photos and yearbooks, her hand-drawn fingers reaching out to interact with 3D objects, revealing more of her backstory with each touch. The cuff of her jacket is jarringly familiar every time it enters the frame.

Unhinged Studios has officially announced their roguelite deckbuilder, dev_hell based on the soul-crushing experience of working as a programmer in an office environment. It’s set to release on PC this year.

Prison Architect 2 has been announced, a full 3D sequel to the hit prison management simulator coming from Double Eleven and publisher Paradox Interactive. Promising deeper simulation, more player control and more creative options, Prison Architect 2 will launch on 26th March 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Cody Christian, the actor behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Cloud Strife, has addressed the fandom «shippers» saying he believes «overtly» sexualized relationships can «ruin» a story's development.

Prison Architect 2 has been announced, a full 3D sequel to the hit prison management simulator coming from Double Eleven and publisher Paradox Interactive. Promising deeper simulation, more player control and more creative options, Prison Architect 2 will launch on 26th March 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Baldur's Gate 3's latest hotfix addresses a bug that was causing Gale to disappear from the game permanently. This comes after players would go to the camp chest to get a magical item for the wizard to snack on, only for him to leave the party forever the second they turned their back.

The actor who plays Cloud in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has addressed the game's "shippers" and commented on the character's relationship with Aerith and Tifa.

An unannounced Halo Battle Royale was reportedly cancelled, according to XboxEra co-founder Shpeshal_Nick.

Artificial intelligence raises serious concerns for jobs but it will also create new positions, the head of Adecco, the world's biggest temporary staffing agency, told AFP. From meteorologists to lawyers and screenwriters, generative AI capable of creating content -- such as the chatbot ChatGPT -- could change the contours of many professions. But it will also create new positions, according to Denis Machuel, the chief executive of Zurich-based Adecco.

Following a solid albeit not outstanding 2023, adventure games fans can look forward to the release of several long-anticipated titles throughout 2024. As usual for this genre, the selected titles offer a unique mix of intrigue and serenity (sometimes seamlessly intertwined) that you are unlikely to find elsewhere.

Just as Final Fantasy VII Remake featured a predetermined endpoint – the escape from Midgar – Final Fantasy VII Rebirth players also know when their adventure will culminate in this game. The Forgotten Capital, the location that plays host to one of the most impactful moments in any video game, is the destination for the story contained within Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Star Wars fans have mixed opinions about Jedi becoming warriors after Obi-Wan Kenobi praised Anakin Skywalker for being a great fighter.

Final Fantasy VII is full of iconic scenes. Whether you're talking about the well-known sequences already depicted in Remake or the upcoming gut-punch at the Forgotten Capital, the Remake trilogy allows fans to experience these moments in their most fully realized forms. While this middle portion of Final Fantasy VII, which Rebirth depicts, focuses on Aerith and the looming specter of Sephiroth, so much of Rebirth's depiction emphasizes the deepening of relationships.

Let’s dispel any trepidation you might have from previous seasons of True Detective, and all the baggage they carry: True Detective: Night Countryis astoundingly good television. A six-episode stunner where a macabre murder unspools into a layered exploration of an Alaskan town at the edge of Earth, its relationship with its Indigenous population, and the things the Arctic’s long night can do to a person, Night Country is about as good a start to television in 2024 we can ask for.

Here’s a great opportunity to catch up on — or revisit — two of the best role-playing games of the early 2000s. Golden Sun and its sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, are coming to the Game Boy Advance collection on Nintendo Switch Online (with the Expansion Pack tier) next week, on Jan. 17.

Martin Scorsese’s compelling, righteously furious crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon is now available to stream at home on Apple TV Plus, and it’s well worth watching if you didn’t catch it in theaters. Starring Robert De Niro in diabolical uncle mode, Leonardo DiCaprio in tortured idiot mode, and a luminous, movie-stealing, award-winning Lily Gladstone, the film tells the incredible, appalling true story of the wholesale murder of members of the wealthy Osage tribe in 1920s Oklahoma. Based on David Grann’s nonfiction bestseller, Scorsese’s movie focuses on the marriage of Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) and Osage heiress Mollie (Gladstone), and the machinations of De Niro’s cattle baron Bill Hale as he attempts to secure Mollie’s family’s oil rights. It’s a damning portrait of American complicity, greed, and erasure.

At the end of every year, gamers are faced with an undeniable fact: far too many video games are released in a 12-month span for anyone to reasonably play them all. It's literally my job to play video games and I bet someone could fill a reasonable top ten this year of titles I didn't even get time to touch. But even as it's a universal, undeniable truth, the revelation that you missed out on something popular is always met with the same incredulous statement.