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Tips & GuidesHow To Squeeze The Most Points Out Of Xbox Game Pass Quests
Xbox Game Pass, like many of the on-demand games it offers, has side-quests. It’s true: By accomplishing tasks relevant to Game Pass, you can earn real rewards. And just like in a real game, you can minimize the effort it takes to maximize your rewards. These Xbox Game Pass quests aren’t to be confused with…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHigh-End Fashion Designers Are Showing Off Their Couture In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
In an alternate universe, the Met Gala happened this week. The hottest and wealthiest people on the planet dressed up in the hottest and priciest clothes on the planet. Then, they descended upon New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they mingled and sipped champagne. It was a sea of leather lapels and unmistakable red…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s New Battle Grid Mode Makes The Game Worth Booting Up
On Monday, May 4, traditionally a Star Wars “holiday,” fans of the galaxy far, far away received some news: Disney+ added The Rise of Skywalker. Fans also received some good news: The Souls-like action game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order received a big, totally free update. Kotaku’s Ian Walker has the full breakdown, for those…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Walk In Front Of The TV When Someone Else Is Gaming
The social contract, in its purest form, is simple: We agree to stay out of each other’s way as much as possible. That goes for riding the subway, shopping for groceries, and anything else that brings us within arm’s distance of another soul. But this goes doubly—nay, quadruply—when it comes to navigating a room where…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesYou Can Basically Clone Your Fallen Gears Tactics Troops
Gears Tactics, like many strategy games, has a permadeath feature. The three main characters—Gabe, Sid, and Mikayla—are classified as plot-essential Heroes. (Players who pre-ordered the game received a fourth Hero, Augustus “Cole Train” Cole, the popular franchise mainstay.) If any of them die, you get a game over and start fresh from the most recent…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesSome Tips For Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ May Day Maze
Historically, May Day is a holiday with deep-seated spiritual roots, but you may know it more from its modern reinvention as International Workers’ Day. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is lorded over by the most insidiously craven capitalist in animalkind, but Tom Nook is still using the occasion to let players earn some Bells by navigating…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Make Short Work Of Gears Tactics’ Frustrating First Boss
Gears Tactics, the don’t-call-it-an-XCOM strategy game out this week for PC, flips the long-running Gears of War series on its head. Where mainline franchise entries are all about shooting big guns and having big biceps, this game offers headier fare. Surviving the lengthy turn-based battles calls for a little bit of patience, a lot of…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHere’s How To Exhibit Your Own Photos In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Fine art is all the rage in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Last week, players of Nintendo’s adaptation of Animal Farm were introduced to an in-game art dealer (in the form of a somewhat fraudulent fox). And in the real world, museums are transforming art from their collections into New Horizons designs. But true connoisseurs know…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesYou Can Download Art From A Real Museum In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Fact: Every Animal Crossing: New Horizons resident wants a killer art collection. Last week, Nintendo’s pastel capitalist vacation sim introduced its players to a new way to acquire great art: the scurrilous rube, Jolly Redd. This Fantastic Mr. Fox reject was added to New Horizons as part of a sweeping Earth Day update. A traveling…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Protect Yourself From Unwanted Spoilers
Earlier this week, massive spoilers for Naughty Dog’s hotly anticipated The Last Of Us Part II made the rounds. In addition to ruining key parts of the game for patient fans, the apparent leak also kickstarted a wider discussion on social media about spoilers: Who do they benefit? Who do they hurt? And, really, what’s…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHere’s How Summons Work In Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy wouldn’t be Final Fantasy without summons. Ever since Final Fantasy III, you’ve been able to call on superpowered mythical beasts for aid in battle, effectively turning the tide at the press of a button. Final Fantasy VII Remake, the new dance-off game from Square Enix, is no different. I’ve spent many hours with…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesTips For Playing Gears Tactics
Gears Tactics, the new strategy game out today for PC, adds some brains to the famously brawny series. Yes, you can still shoot baddies to a pulp and chainsaw Locust with abandon. But under the veneer of blood, sweat, and protein shakes, you’ll need to do some serious thinking to get through battles with your…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesThe Good, The Bad, And The Annoying Of Borderlands 3’s “Revenge Of The Cartels” Event
It’s been less than a month since Borderlands 3’s latest big expansion landed with a bang, but vault hunters already have access to another brand-new playground in which they can fire 87 bazillion guns. It’s called Villa Ultraviolet. It’s drenched in neon and gaudy gold. And yes, it’s totally awesome. The only catch? It’s kind of…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To (Hopefully) Not Get Scammed By Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ Sketchy Art Dealer
Before today, the easiest way to get ripped off in Animal Crossing: New Horizons was to strike up a conversation with Tom Nook. Now, there’s a new monster who will fleece you for all of your bells: the art dealer Jolly Redd. Redd is one part of New Horizons’ Earth Day update, which started rolling…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Crush Jules In Final Fantasy VII Remake’s Absurd Squat Contest
At Moscow’s Vystavochnaya station, in 2013, you could board the train for free—if you could bust out 30 bodyweight squats inside of two minutes. The first hints of a glorious new fitness revolution? Nope. Just a pilot program to promote good health (and the ‘14 Sochi Olympics). But what’s important here is this: Cloud Strife…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Play Both Questlines In Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s Sprawling Chapter 9
Word on the street is a lot of you are playing Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix’s dramatization of An Inconvenient Truth. And if you are, you know it’s mostly linear. Sure, some sections let you direct Cloud and friends off the main plot for a sojourn into side-quest suburbia. But Final Fantasy VII Remake…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesI Learned These Final Fantasy VII Remake Tricks The Hard Way So You Don’t Have To
Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix’s much-anticipated role-playing game about herding cats and having amazing hair, has taken the video game world by storm. Whether you’re a huge fan of the 1997 original or don’t even know what a Sephiroth is, one thing’s for sure: This game is very, very good For the most part,…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Take Care Of Your Back When You’re Playing Video Games
As officials across the country implement shelter-in-place orders in response to covid-19, many Americans are spending a lot more time at home. I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent a lot of time on my couch, most of it with a video game controller in hand. But there’s a drawback to spending hours a…
By Ari Notis -
Tips & GuidesHow To Throw A Perfect Game Of Darts In Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix’s ridiculously opulent dating sim, came out last week for PlayStation 4. After years of anticipation, players can finally romp around a lushly rendered Midgar where there’s no shortage of things to do. You can brood, battle monsters, herd cats, cast spells, drink potions and ethers, swing hilariously oversized swords,…
By Ari Notis
