This weekend, instead of setting aside time to grind through a number of smaller titles ready for GOTY season, I started a newBaldur’s Gate 3playthrough and promptly sunk 15 hours into it. I have no regrets, and my tiefling druid is already in love with Karlach and flirting with party members like no tomorrow. Except Gale and Wyll, they’ll have to settle with being besties. I hadn’t finished my first go at Baldur’s Gate 3, but I was away long enough and did enough things wrong that going in fresh felt like the right decision....

I’m a few hours into Assassin’s Creed Nexus, Ubisoft’s new VR title that leverages the full power of the Quest 3, and I’m pretty impressed. It does a great job of taking Assassin’s Creed’s core mechanics - stealthing, parkouring, and sword fighting - and reworking them for VR. There’s nothing particularly revolutionary about it, as I’ve crawled around enemies, climbed walls, and parried enemies in plenty of VR games before, but the Assassin’s Creed flavor does a lot of the heavy lifting, and I think fans of the series will instantly feel at home in the VR version....

AKingdom Heartsfan has created a mod forKingdom Hearts 3that gives Sora his realistic look and new clothes from Kingdom Hearts 4, which is as close to news on the upcoming game that we’re going to get this year. Although the recent release of theKingdom Hearts Missing Link closed beta test did give fans of the series something to talk about, it’s mostly been a quiet spell, especially when compared to 2022....

Mortal Kombat 1’s second season of Invasions might have only been out for a few days, but players have already figured out XP farming methods that can boost characters to their max level in an hour. After a disappointing first season that divided players,Mortal Kombat 1’s second round of Invasions began just a few days ago and has already made some big improvements to the formula. Not only has the super armour finally been removed and modifiers turned down, but players have figured out that Invasions' second season contains a great method for farming experience points and getting fighters and Kameos to level 35 as fast as possible....

Anyone with even a slight interest in the games industry can tell you that making a game is pretty expensive. The biggest blockbuster out there can cost hundreds of millions, so it’s important to ensure that you stick to a budget to make sure you don’t go overboard on spending. That’s what most developers do anyway, butPalworlddeveloper Pocketpair recently revealed it had a novel approach to game development, instead choosing to ignore a budget and keep developing until the studio ran out of money....

Palworldwas only released in early access on January 19, but it’s already taking the gaming world by storm. With more than two million players onSteamright now, it’s safe to say that there is an audience for a more adult-orientatedPokemon-like, or at least a monster-catching game that also borrows from other genres. Now, with Palworld’s popularity still at its peak, it looks like the developer wants to capitalise on this. In a picture shared by Pocket Pair CEO Takuro Mizobe, we can see that Palworld merch already exists - and there’s even some kind of Palworld card game....

Summary If you’re a fan of thePokemon TCG, every new release brings more opportunities to pick up cards of their favorite Pokemon. With the release of Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift, the distant past and the far-off future of the Pokemon world combine to bring a new twist to the game. Paradox Pokemon finally join the card game with this expansion, bringing two new card types, Ancient and Future to help designate them....

It’s looking like a return toSilent Hillis on the cards for 2024, as we finally got more news about the highly-anticipated Silent Hill 2 Remake during PlayStation’s latest State of Play showcase. While we didn’t get the release date that we were all hoping for, we did finally get some gameplay for the first time, which was surprisingly action-focused given how somber and moody the original game is. To start with, the trailer very briefly goes over some of the game’s puzzles, including the laundry chute that is included in the first few hours of the game....

Skyrimis12 years old now, but it’s easy to forget that it started way back on the Xbox 360 and PS3. There have beenso many re-releases and new editionsin the interim, but now players are going all the way back to the old days to revisit their original characters and, once and for all, say goodbye. “This is gonna sound cheesy, sentimental, and a bit much, but hear me out,” Scutarior posted on the game’s subreddit (as reported byIGN)....

Like many modern releases,Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueput its short early access period behind a paywall. While the game fully launches on February 2, anyone who paid for the Deluxe Edition is meant to be able to play 72 hours early. However, that is not working in practice. Just an hour into the early access launch in New Zealand, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was taken offline. Since the gamerequires a constant internet connection, this means that no one can play it right now, even if they’ve paid to be able to access it from today....

The Kaiju genre, featuring giant monsters like Godzilla, is one that has endured in cinema for decades. In recent years the Kaiju movie has seen a revival, with both big names and newcomers to the silver screen alike. With this influx of great monster movies, it raises the question, which ones are the best? You could easily filter Kaiju movies by their critical reviews or popularity, but the fact is you’d be looking at a list of Godzilla films....

In the originalPokemongames, Red & Blue, the trio of Legendary Birds were almost certainly the first legendary Pokemon you would encounter as a young trainer. Everyone has their favorite between Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos with debates going back and forth for over 25 years about just which bird flies the highest both in terms of design and on the competitive scene. The debates became more complicated thanks toPokemon Sword & Shieldtaking a bold leap and introducing the first-ever instance of regional variants for Legendary Pokemon....

Summary While it’s hard to pin a number on the exact amount of NPCs populating every nook and cranny ofBaldur’s Gate 3’smaps, there are luckily lots to choose from and love. Every single character comes infused with their own distinct personality, character design, and memorable dialogue moments, and that’s part of why Baldur’s Gate 3 gets the praise it rightfully deserves. Act 1 has some of the best areas to exploreand there’s a ton of character variety across all races and backgrounds to get to know....