July 2022

Combat is a major focus of Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s gameplay, in addition to its open-world exploration. If you want to have any chance at all of surviving in Aionios, then you are going to need to become stronger. Let’s look at how to level up fast in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

Leveling Up Fast in Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Like in most JRPGs, you need to increase your character level to become stronger in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Here are all the ways you can gain experience and level up quickly in the game:

• Battling enemies
• Completing quests
• Discovering new Landmarks

Battling opponents is the most straightforward method of gaining EXP in Xenoblade Chronicles 3; simply head out into the open-world, find a large group of enemies, and begin working your way through them. Be sure to base yourself near Rest Spots (more on those in a moment), and engage enemies at or slightly above your current level. Just remember not to bite off more than you can chew!

Defeating enemies in this manner will earn you EXP, and once you reach the required threshold, your characters automatically level up. This will improve their stats, and make them more powerful, thus allowing you to take on more powerful opponents, who in turn will reward you with more EXP.

In addition, you will earn Bonus EXP by completing quests and uncovering Landmarks out in the world. Bonus EXP can only be used at Rest Spots once you have amassed enough for a full level up; it cannot be used to simply raise the total amount of EXP a character has earned.

Live A Live is a remake of the Japanese-exclusive Super Famicom JRPG, and one of the things that makes this game unique is that it features multiple protagonists across various scenarios. These scenarios are split up into different chapters, and when you start up the game, you’ll see that seven of them are available from the start. You might be wondering if there is a best chapter to play first or a correct order. Here is the answer to what order you should play Live A Live’s chapters.

What Order Should You Play Live a Live’s Chapters? Answered

It might be surprising, but there is no canonical order in what order you should play the chapters or scenarios in Live A Live. You can start with any of the first seven that are presented to you at the start of the game, and you can play them in any order you wish.

There is no right or wrong order to play them in, and the final chapters of the game will not be different if you decide to play the first seven chapters in a different order than somebody else did.

If you’re still feeling stuck on where to begin, there are a few suggestions we can make on what order to play them in.

Chronological Order

Of course, you can always choose to play the chapters in time-sequence chronological order. Each chapter takes place in a different time period, so if you’d like, you can start with the Prehistory chapter, which takes place the earliest, and go all the way through time until you reach the Distant Future chapter. This order would help you see how the characters’ eras change over the course of human history.

After years of many fans asking for a more intricate school experience, the High School Years pack has finally launched an interactive educational system. Find out what this new class schedule is in The Sims 4 and other things you can do around campus.

Class Schedule in Sims 4: High School Years Explained

For the first time, the franchise has a class schedule that players must follow in the High School Years. Like the Get to Work pack, you must complete a set of objectives throughout the day to advance further in this new adventure. However, this version has a strict timeline and will result in Detention if you don’t consistently attend class.

Here is a breakdown of what your Sim’s school schedule will look like:

• 8 a.m. – Go to school
• 10 a.m. – First Period
• 11 a.m. – Lunch Period
• 2 p.m. – Second Period
• 3 p.m. – End of school

When you first get to school in The Sims 4, you’ll have a free period to do whatever you want for two hours, such as claiming your locker, talking to your classmates, or having a quick workout before class begins. If you aren’t sure what to do, you can look at the top left corner to fulfill the minor quests for the day.

The latest update of The Sims 4 features a state-of-the-art system for the mobile device of the game. So, you may wonder, what are the new apps in this phone redesign? Here’s everything you need to know about this debut and the exciting interactions you can do with your Sim.

New Apps in The Sims 4 Phone Update

The phone redesign for The Sims 4 launched just in time for the High School Years pack. With this tool, you’ll be able to change your mobile device’s background, customize your phone cover color, and play around with two new apps: Trendi and Social Bunny.

Trendi is a tool that allows you to live out your fashion dreams by selling or buying looks in the game. You’ll be able to create outfits at the ThrifTea store and pawn them off using the app. If you don’t want to make your own outfits, you can still sell finished products by hyping them up. In addition, you can increase your follower count and boost sales by continuously interacting with the application.

Since there is a lot to unpack in The Sims 4 High School Years, we’ve put together this list of all Build Mode items in this newest exclusive. With these latest tools and decorations, you’ll be able to customize the school, events, your bedroom, and many more. Furthermore, you can see how to unlock items that aren’t available at the beginning of the journey.

All Build Mode Items in The Sims 4 High School Years Pack Listed

To ensure that you know what to expect from the High School Years pack, this list of items will be divided into each Build Mode category, including preorder and unlockable items.

Today Sony announced its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2022, related to the period between April 1 and June 30, 2022, including an update on PS5 and PS4 shipments.

2.4 million PS5 units were purchased by retailers worldwide during the latest quarter (between January and March), which means that as of June 30, 2022, the console has shipped 21.7 million units in its lifetime.

As of this quarter, Sony has stopped reporting PS4 unit sales, which means that those remain at the 117 million figure disclosed in May.

In the slides below, you can find an overview of the performance of the Game & Network Services business (which includes both PlayStation and PlayStation Network), with all the relevant figures including software sales and more.

Sales dropped 2% year-on-year (11.7 billion yen) due to a decrease in sales of first and third-party games, partly offset by the weak yen.

Today, during Sony’s quarterly conference call for investors and analysts, chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki talked about the situation of the PlayStation business.

We hear that during the quarter between April and June 2022, gameplay time for PlayStation users declined 15% year-on-year. In June it improved by 3% compared with May, and it was down only 10% versus June 2021, but this is still a much lower engagement level than Sony anticipated in its previous forecast.

Things are not looking great for the sequel to 2018's Tomb Raider film adaptation, which starred Alicia Vikander as a young Lara Croft searching for her father on the island of Yamati.

A new report from The Wrap has revealed that following its buyout by Amazon, MGM has lost the rights to the Tomb Raider films. The studio reportedly had until May of this year to move ahead with a sequel, but that ship has now sailed.

As a result, a "host of Hollywood movie studios" are currently making bids on the rights to the film, with insiders revealing that this has resulted in Alicia Vikander being removed from the project.

Read more

We have a conclusion! The secret church in Nier: Automata that's been puzzling players all week has been confirmed to be a mod.

Earlier today, reddit user sadfutago - behind all the videos so far - posted a link to a Twitch stream that revealed all behind the previously unseen secret church area and its use of Nier: Replicant assets.

The stream showed various assets from the game and the secret church area, before admitting all was done through an in-game mod, which will be made available publicly. The VOD wasn't saved but you can still watch clips of the broadcast.

Read more

Dicebreaker Recommends is a series of monthly board game, RPG and other tabletop recommendations from our friends at our sibling site, Dicebreaker. This month, the team go on the hunt in one of the best video game board games around - Bloodborne: The Card Game.

The Soulsborne series has had a mixed showing on the tabletop so far. Arguably the series' most popular entries before the release of Elden Ring earlier this year, the original Dark Souls and cosmic horror Bloodborne, have both seen full-blooded board game and card game adaptations, with Dark Souls also making a recent leap into a D&D-like tabletop RPG.

Until Elden Ring inevitably gets its own tabletop outing, the Soulsborne board games are well worth revisiting when you need a moment to stop dying to Malenia and unwind with some good ol' fashioned cardboard for a couple of hours.

Read more

For several weeks, a Nier: Automata player has caused intrigue and excitement by posting mysterious images and videos from an area no one had seen before. Was it a secret area? An unfinished area? A hoax? Viral marketing? A mod? If it was a mod, it was far more complex than any so far. Turns out, that's because a group of fans have secretly been making their own mod tools, and plan to release them soon. In the meantime, I've enjoyed pranksters memeing on the mystery by creating secret churches in other games, including Half-Life 2 and Super Mario 64.

Read more

Last night, a free upgrade for What Remains of Edith Finch was officially confirmed during Annapurna's recent showcase. This was following rumours the game would be getting Xbox Series X/S and PS5 versions earlier this month.

However, if you are one of the many who got their hands on the game when it was included as part of PlayStation Plus, there's bad news. The new upgrade is only available to those who actually purchased the game, rather than getting it via Sony's subscription service.

This has been checked and verified by Eurogamer.

Read more

Sony is still to see its promised accelaration in PlayStation 5 production, the company's latest financial results show.

During the three months ending 30th June, Sony shipped 2.4m consoles, only a slight increase on the 2.3m it managed during the same time last year.

This contrasts with Sony's forecast for the year, during which it expects to sell 18m consoles compared to the 11.5m it sold in 2021.

Read more

Valve is introducing new rules on what developers can include in their graphical asset capsules.

The new rules, which were announced yesterday, will take effect from 1st September.

Valve is making these changes to ensure the browsing and shopping process is as "clear and straightforward as possible" for customers.

Read more

Capcom has announced that Resident Evil Village will receive a free update of accessibility options alongside its long-awaited Winters' Expansion DLC and Gold Edition in October.

The update will add in: subtitle size, colour and background toggles; speaker name display in story mode; closed captions; and a permanent reticle.

It's a small but notable list of options that will hopefully open the modern horror classic to a wider audience.

Read more

Former Assassin's Creed creative director Ashraf Ismail has returned to the games industry with a new role at Tencent, two years after being fired by Ubisoft.

Ismail was let go from Ubisoft in August 2020, two months after stepping down from his role as creative director on Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Multiple women, including some Ismail had met as Assassin's Creed fans, alleged Ismail had contacted them privately and encouraged relationships while concealing the fact he was married.

Read more

A modder created a battle royale between all the creatures in Elden Ring, and the pacifist turtle pope won.

YouTuber BjornTheBear decided to pit the top 21 animal field bosses against one another in a battle to the death on Caelid's battlefield, to determine which was the strongest.

This was done over a series of rounds, firstly with each creature at their usual strength and then scaled to match.

Read more

Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've found ourselves playing over the last few days. This time: dogs, time, and emergent gameplay in the garden.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.

I know just about every jump scare in the Resident Evil remake, so imagine my surprise when the famous zombie dogs bursting through the east wing windows set piece produced a surprising and undignified squeal from me in Resident Evil: Director’s Cut.

Read more

FFXIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida has announced a delay for the planned NA data center expansion. Originally planned for August 2022, Yoshida revealed that the first phase of the expansion will instead start in November 2022. The schedule for the second phase of the expansion will remain unchanged.

Yoshida explains that the main reason for the delay was related to recent semiconductor shortages. Specifically, the company's server vendor had informed Square Enix that it would be unable to deliver the required equipment due to the shortage. While Square Enix had tried to find another solution, it ultimately decided to delay the first phase of the expansion.

The planned data expansion will add a total of eight new worlds for North American players to play in. The newly added worlds will arrive in two phases and will fall under a new logical data center. The first phase will add four worlds, with the second phase adding an additional four worlds. Square Enix expects the second phase of the expansion to roll out sometime in the Spring or Summer of 2023.

HoYoVerse has released some information on what players can expect for the Phase II of Version 2.8 of Genshin Impact. As a reminder, this will be the final update to the game before the Sumeru region debuts in Version 3.0. Yoimiya will be one of the limited 5-stars available to pull for. Players will also have a higher chance of pulling Yun Jin, Xinyan, and Bennett from this banner.

For those who wish to pull for weapons instead, the weapon banner will feature Thundering Pulse (Bow) and Summit Shaper (Sword) as the exclusive five-stars. There will also be an event story of sorts featuring Yoimiya and Heizou, judging by the official art for the second phase of Summer Fantasia.

https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1552204643534528513

From August 4 to August 15, the game will run the Reminiscent Regimen event. It will take place in the Golden Apple Archipelago, and players will need to first finish the Summertime Odyssey: I quest. This event will be a time challenge using your Waverider. Prizes include the usual Primogems, Mora, and Hero’s Wit experience books.

From August 12 to August 22, Genshin Impact will run the Evermotion Mechanical Painting event. You will need to restore mechanical parts and then combine them; most likely, there will be a puzzle element to this event. You will get a Furnishing alongside the usual Primogems, Weapon Ascension Materials, and Mora.

The Xbox Game Pass is consistently adding games every month, expanding upon its staggering list of available titles and increasing its overall value. Arguably the best part of Xbox Game Pass is being able to play games from just about anywhere, even on mobile, using Xbox Cloud Gaming. If you’ve been on the fence about the Xbox Game Pass, here are the top 10 best games available on Xbox Cloud Gaming to help you make a choice.

Half-Life: Alyx is widely considered one of VR’s greatest games to date, marking a triumphant return for a beloved and iconic video game franchise back in 2020. Like so many Valve games, Alyx’s source code supports modding, which prompted a group of talented individuals to create their very own expansion of the game. It’s called Half-Life: Incursion, an action-packed hour-long campaign that pits players against waves of enemies as they complete various non-linear objectives.

The mod’s story premise sees Alyx Vance “caught on the wrong side of the Quarantine Zone,” with only her “wits, guns, and Russell to help her get back to City 17.” Unfortunately for Vance, she’s stuck at one of the Combine’s checkpoints, and she’ll have to battle her way through.

Players are tasked with scavenging weapons, including various firearms and explosives, as they attempt to survive the onslaught. You can check out some of the action in today’s new launch trailer:

We haven’t played the mod here at Twinfinite yet, but judging by the early Steam reviews it’s receiving high praise from the game’s community. Here’s the download link for anybody wanting to give it a go.

Halo Infinite's upcoming Forge mode recently leaked, and we are now seeing some interesting recreations of other games made within this mode popping up online.

For example, someone has taken inspiration from the truly horrifying PT demo, and remade it using the tools from Forge mode.

Spotted by PC Gamer, cosplayer Death Templar shared their PT x Halo hybrid creation on YouTube. As with PT, the player starts in a barren and gloomy room, with only one exit. The difference here, however, is that they have a gun (and I didn't spot a cockroach on the floor).

Read more

Former Xbox executive Peter Moore has said his team "encouraged the console wars" during his Xbox 360-era tenure - as a way to drive competition between Microsoft and Sony.

This competition has helped the industry, Moore continued, and saw Microsoft continuing to commit to video games despite the Xbox 360's costly "Red Ring of Death" debacle.

"We encouraged the console wars, not to create division, but to challenge each other," Moore said, speaking on the Front Office Sports podcast (thanks, IGN). "And when I say each other I mean Microsoft and Sony.

Read more

The delayed Smash Bros. amiibo for Minecraft's Steve and Alex now finally have a release date.

These blocky little champs will be heading our way on 9th September, Nintendo has revealed, asking us all to "block off [our] calendar" for the occasion. Very good, Nintendo. Very good.

These amiibo were originally meant to be released along with Min Min from Arms earlier this year.

Read more

In October 2022, a new accessibility update will go live for Resident Evil Village. This free update will include the choice to toggle subtitle sizes, as well as color and background. Speaker names will also appear in the subtitles when you play the game in story mode, and closed captions will be available.

The final portion of the accessibility update will add a permanent reticle on the screen. The accessibility update will launch at the same time as the Winters’ Expansion and Gold Edition. That means it will likely appear in-game around October 28, 2022. The accessibility update will be available for all versions and platforms of Resident Evil Village.

The Gold Edition of Resident Evil Village will be the base game and the contents of the Winters’ Expansion. Winters’ Expansion will consist of three main parts: third person mode, The Mercenaries Additional Orders, and Shadows of Rose. Chris, Lady Dimitrescu, and Heisenberg will be playable in The Mercenaries with Additional Orders. Meanwhile, Shadows of Rose is a sequel of sorts in which you can play as Ethan’s daughter, Rose.

The Chainsaw Man Anime has received a new key visual, and it’s paired with some good news for those eagerly awaiting new snippets of content.

In a post to the series’ official website, a new key visual was revealed as the backdrop for the site. Though it doesn’t show much aside from Denji in his Chainsaw Man transformation, it does feature an impressive amount of detail and a landscape littered with chunks of concrete and other debris. There’s also a hefty amount of blood and guts for good measure, with a decent amount of the stuff dripping down from the sky in healthy globules.

The full image can be viewed down below, or via the official website’s homepage.

Today Aquaplus announced that its upcoming Utawarerumono JRPG Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten has been delayed.

The game was supposed to release for PS5, PS4, and PC via Steam on September 8, but now fans will have to wait a bit less than two months longer, with the new launch date set for October 20.

Localization publisher Shiravune matched the announcement with the same release date, and re-released the previous trailers to reflect it.

Luckily the delay is not too long, so the fans of the series will be able to explore the new game soon enough.

You can watch them below.

As a part of its July 29, 2022 showcase, publisher Annapurna Interactive confirmed that the Heart Machine-developed Solar Ash will be heading to Xbox Game Pass and Steam on PC following a year of Epic Games Store exclusivity. What’s more, the game will also also be receiving ports to both Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. With this exciting news, what players want to know is when will Solar Ash be added to Xbox Game Pass?

Solar Ash Xbox Game Pass Release Date

Although the game will be heading to Steam on December 6, there is currently no specific release date for when Solar Ash arrives on Xbox Game Pass, but it does have a release window of Winter 2022. Even with the absence of a specific date, however, the tentative Winter 2022 release window makes it very likely that the game will be on Xbox Game Pass sometime in December as well.

Solar Ash is the second game from developer Heart Machine, the California-based development team that released 2016’s Hyper Light Drifter to critical acclaim. Solar Ash was similarly well received by many outlets, including Twinfinite, with considerable praise given to its excellent movement and level design despite a somewhat repetitive gameplay loop.

Throughout the years, The Sims 4 has released various exclusives and items to expand the universe. Since there are so many different purchasable options, we’ve compiled this list of all The Sims 4 Expansion Packs.

List of All Sims 4 Expansion Packs

Currently, 12 packs are available in The Sims 4, which include unique features and a variety of gameplay. Here is a list of the expansion packs and what you can expect from them.

Today Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse released a new trailer of the popular online action RPG, and it’s a juicy one.

The video provides a new look at the new region that will be introduced with version 3.0, Sumeru.

Interestingly, while before we have seen its forests, now we also take a look at its deserts, and at the fact that it comes with a definite Egyptian inspiration.

We hear about its society and the groups we’ll encounter, and even more interestingly, we take a look at some of its characters, which will likely become playable in time.

We see Thignari, Alhaitham, Dehya, Nilou, Nahida, Ganeral Mahamatra, and Cyno.

You can take a look below, and make sure to turn subtitles on with the cc button.

The Prom feature in The Sims 4 is one of the many things you can do in the High School Years pack. In this latest debut, you’ll be able to dance the night away and make some memories with your friends. So, here’s everything you can do at Prom in the game.

Everything You Can Do at Prom in High School Years

Prom in The Sims 4 High School Years is set for every Saturday, allowing you to party every weekend after school is over. To begin this journey, you can start by asking someone to dance or confidently go solo.

If you do want to ask someone to Prom, here are the four ways you can do it:

After you’ve completed the eight scenarios in Live A Live, you’ll be ready for the final chapter of the game. The first thing you’ll need to do is choose one of the protagonists to be the main character of this chapter. You may want to pick a favorite character, but you also might wonder if it is really the best choice. Here is the answer to which character is best to choose in Live A Live’s final chapter.

Which Character Is Best To Choose in Live A Live’s Final Chapter? Answered

There are three important points to keep in mind for choosing your protagonist for this chapter. One, you cannot change once you’ve picked them and they must stay in your party the entire time. Two, all of the characters that don’t get picked are then recruitable during the chapter. Three, picking Oersted changes the final chapter very dramatically.

That being said, here are a few points to keep in mind for each of the characters should you choose them to be your protagonist.

Pogo (Prehistory)

• High HP
• Good attacks to cause status effects
• No healing moves

Shifu (Imperial China)

• Potential to be the strongest if only one student was trained
• Great pick if Lei or Hong was chosen and trained alone
• Bad pick if Yun was chosen and trained with others

Oboromaru (Twilight of Edo Japan)

• Strong special attack stats
• Has long-range moves
• Has access to great items, if found and equip in his chapter
• Not great defensively

Sundown Kid (Wild West)

Live A Live is a remake of the Japanese-exclusive Super Famicom JRPG, and each of the game’s scenarios are split into different chapters. Seven of these chapters are available from the start, and two of them are unlocked after the ones before they are completed. You might be wondering how long each chapter takes to finish and if some are shorter than others. Here is the answer to how long each chapter in Live A Live is.

How Long Is Each Chapter in Live A Live? Answered

The initial seven chapters that are available from the start take roughly 2-3 hours on average to finish, though that may vary a bit depending on skill and how much exploring you do.

The shortest chapters of those initial seven are the Wild West and Present scenarios. Assuming you are successful on your first try with them, they may take you only an hour or two to complete.

The longest chapters of the initial seven are the Twilight of Edo Japan and Distant Future scenarios. These chapters have the most exploring to do, and it can take a little while to figure out where you’re supposed to go to progress. They may take you up to three or four hours to complete.

After finishing each of the initial seven chapters, an eighth scenario is unlocked. This one is roughly the same length as the others but may take a while longer as there is more story-heavy elements than the rest.

Once all eight scenarios are finished, the final chapter unlocks, and this one is the lengthiest. It can take anywhere from five to seven hours depending on if you decide to complete some optional parts or head straight to the end goal.

Ultimately, it will take roughly 20-25 hours on average for most players to complete the entire game.

It all started with a question: “How do you get into the church?” The answer, it turns out, is simple: You don’t—at least not yet. Yes, Nier: Automata’s baffling secret door was all just an intricate mod.

Read more...

Itch.io, an egalitarian site for hosting, posting, and downloading indie video games, is filled with cum. As a refuge for creative nobodies to harness an audience without worrying about the money, Itch is stuffed with plenty of other things too, like medieval comic books, murder nuns, and cat assets. But the cum is…

Read more...

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the new Dungeons & Dragons movie looks a lot like a Marvel film. Though I’d argue it has a much more alluring color palette than your standard, often dry, modern comic book adaptation, the latest trailer for the tabletop-based movie otherwise reveals the calculated Hollywood formula…

Read more...

Earlier this month, RPS turned 15 years old, so it only seemed right that this month's Time Capsule entry should be the year of our birth: 2007. Looking back, it was a good year for PC gaming, with the release of Valve's Orange Box alone giving us three new stone-cold classics to enjoy. But what other games from the year of our Horace deserve to be preserved and saved above everything else? Find out which games made the cut below.

Read more

"A new chapter is about to begin amidst a tangled web of factions." This line accompanies the latest teaser trailer for Genshin Impact, the incredible free-to-play RPG from miHoYo. The trailer dives into the game's fourth region, Sumeru, which is home to people who can't dream and worship the God of Wisdom.

Suermu looks lush in foliage, with mushroom creatures scurrying about the trunks of sizable trees. It also contains a desert area and looks to be just as sizable as the game's other areas.

The trailer also introduces a host of companion characters that players will meet as quests are completed. The first new character is Tighnari, a forest watcher who we see holding a magical firefly. In Port Ormos, players will run into Alhaitham from the Haravatat in the Akademiya. Further into the game, players meet Dehya of the Desertfolk, who is also a mercenary for the Emerites. There are also Nilou, a character who is pursuing art and dance, Nahida, a mysterious being, and Cyno, the General Mahamatra.

All of this content is a part of Genshin Impact's 03 update, which doesn't have a release date yet, but appears to be close, given how much miHoYo has revealed. Genshin Impact is currently available on PlayStation consoles and PC, and works just as well on Android, and iOS.

Are you still invested in Genshin Impact? If so, what do you hope to see from the new update?