-
Tips & GuidesPSA: Game Pass Members, Cancel Your Outriders Pre-Order
It was true nine years ago and it’s true today: Stop pre-ordering games. The latest case in point comes by way of Outriders, the upcoming looter-shooter from developer People Can Fly. Earlier today, Microsoft confirmed that Outriders will be part of the Xbox Game Pass library when it releases next month for pretty much everything…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesSo, Which Bethesda Game Pass Game Should You Play First?
Starting today, you can play a bunch of Bethesda-published games on Game Pass, thanks to Microsoft and ZeniMax’s recent marriage. Some were previously available. Many are new. However you slice it, if you’re a member of Microsoft’s games-on-demand service, you now have 20 largely excellent games at your fingertips. You obviously cannot play all of…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesPSA: Surviving Mars and Metro 2033 Are Currently Free On PC
Each week, the Epic Games Store puts up a free game, which you can add to your library no strings attached. This week’s offering is Surviving Mars, the space-faring city-builder game about…surviving on Mars. It’ll be available until March 18. Surviving Mars, if you haven’t played it, is more or less exactly what you picture…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesTips For Playing Loop Hero
A lot of people have started playing Loop Hero. How do I know this? It hit 50,000 concurrent users on Steam over the weekend. I was one of them. I’ve now put over 25 hours into the deck-building roguelite, and I have some tips for everyone else who’s just getting started with it. At its…
By Ethan Gach -
Tips & GuidesHow To Get Around The PS5’s Screenshot Restrictions
Hitman 3 is a looker. But if you try to take a screenshot on PlayStation 5, you’ll run into an issue: Hitting the Create button causes Hitman 3 itself to pause, meaning you’ll only be able to get a screenshot of the game’s menu. It’s a lovely menu, for sure, but not exactly on par…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesYou Can Claim PlayStation Plus’ Monthly PS5 Games Before You Get A PS5
PS Plus continues to offer “free” games to subscribers, and, in recent months, has even started offering PlayStation 5 games. If you don’t have a still-impossible-to-find PS5, you’re not quite S.O.L.. You just have to claim those games through a web browser. For $10 a month (or $60 a year), PS Plus allows members to…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Beat Bravely Default 2’s Brutal Boss Battles
Bravely Default 2, the new Nintendo Switch game about watching numbers go up, isn’t easy. The boss fights in particular are guaranteed to mess up your day. If you’ve been playing the game since it launched last week, you’ve likely found yourself banging your head against a wall on more than one occasion. Yes, in…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesDon’t Miss Bravely Default 2’s Excellent Card Game
Like every massive RPG, Bravely Default 2 features a game within the game. It’s called Bind & Divide, or B&D (yes, yes, like the game). It’s a compelling card game you don’t want to miss, but you could easily roll the credits without ever playing a round. B&D is more or less Bravely Default by…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesTips For Playing Bravely Default 2
Bravely Default 2, a game about grinding, finding crystals, and saving the world (but not about climate change), is out now for Nintendo Switch. And it’s no cakewalk. Yes, Bravely Default 2 is a whole lot of game, with a complex network of interweaving systems and methodical, relentless battles that will mess you up if…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Build An Unstoppable Party In Bravely Default 2
Bravely Default 2, out now for Nintendo Switch, is both a lot like and not at all like many other JRPGs you’ve played. For starters, combat is defined by the Brave/Default system, which allows you to shake up the turn order in battles for strategic gain. But the main big wrinkle is the job system.…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesPSA: Go Sit At The Campfire In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla [Updated]
Last night, former MTV News staffer Stephen Totilo sent me a text about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: “Go sit at the campfire.” We’d been talking on and off about the game, and he suggested that I check something out. Apparently, even though I’d sunk 90 hours into last year’s biggest game—even though I’d completed all of…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesYou Can Instantly Summon Bowser In Bowser’s Fury With An Amiibo
The most infuriating part of Bowser’s Fury is Bowser himself. King Koopa’s arrival can both ruin your day and grant access to previously inaccessible areas, meaning the bite-sized Bowser’s Fury is somewhat of a waiting game. But you don’t have to wait for Bowser to do his thing. You just need a Bowser Amiibo. Amiibo,…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesOvercooked 2 Is Free On Switch This Weekend, If You Want To Be Alone On Valentine’s Day
Have any plans cooked up for Valentine’s Day? From tomorrow through February 16, relationship ruining co-op game Overcooked 2 will be playable at no extra cost for anyone with a Nintendo Switch Online membership—“just in time for Valentine’s Day!” Overcooked 2 is a game that involves preparing meals in the pressure-cooker environment of a busy…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Make Sure You’re Playing The PS5 Version Of A PlayStation Game
Following recent updates for Destiny 2, Control, and the terrific Nioh games, PlayStation 5 owners are in a golden age of cross-gen games. But, if you’re not careful, you could very well end up playing the PlayStation 4 version of a cross-gen game on your PS5. The horror! Microsoft’s newest consoles, the Xbox Series X…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Play A Single-Player Game With Two People
A co-op game doesn’t necessarily have to be a multiplayer game. You can turn any single-player game into a cooperative one by simply…taking turns passing the controller back and forth. What a concept! But before you start, keep in mind that there’s a code of etiquette at play. Stick to it as best you can…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Mute Jerks In Destruction AllStars
Anyone who’s ever been online could’ve predicted this. Give people an internet connection and a microphone, and some will quickly reveal just how much they suck. Following yesterday’s release of the PS5-only Destruction AllStars, players almost instantly reported instances of serious verbal harassment, exacerbated by the game’s bewildering absence of tools to prevent such behavior.…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesWhere To Find Every Banana In Hitman 3
Hitman 3 is b-a-n-a-n-a-s. IO Interactive’s latest stealth game puts you in the spit-shined oxfords of international assassin Agent 47 and tasks you with eliminating various well-protected targets. But the most effective tool at your disposal isn’t a firearm or vial of poison. No, it’s an ingredient you’d most likely find in smoothies, sandwiches, and…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHere’s Every Major Cross-Gen Game
Console gaming is at a crossroads, finding itself in the center of that transitory phase between console generations. Many games are landing on both last-gen and next-gen hardware. And given that getting your hands on a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series whatever remains damn near impossible, this is a boon all around. But three…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Actually Access The New Dead Cells DLC
Dead Cells recently got a lot bigger. This week’s Fatal Falls expansion adds a crop of weapons and enemies to the game, plus two new biomes. Trouble is, actually accessing those two zones—the Fractured Shrines and the Undying Shores—eludes simple explanation. Classic Dead Cells, right? Here’s how to find them. Fractured Shrines This one’s easy…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHere’s Where Dead Cells Is At In 2021
It’s safe to say that Dead Cells is more alive than ever. First released in 2018 for PC and consoles, the excellent side-scrolling roguelike casts you as a reanimated soldier. You wield randomly chosen weapons, which you use to kill randomly spawned enemies as you roll through randomly generated biomes. It’s delightfully chaotic Developer Motion…
By Ari Notis