February 2023

Delete After Reading is a delightful looking text-based puzzler that will be familiar to anyone who’s played Simogo’s excellent (albeit sadly iOS-only game) Device 6, only with fewer spooks this time. Like Simogo's surreal thriller, most of Delete After Reading plays out like you're reading a novel, where scrolling through paragraphs of text will reveal images, clues and puzzles you can interact with. As the devs put it, Delete After Reading is a “game you can read, and a book you can play,” and looks and sounds really quite rad. Even better, it’s releasing on March 14th.

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A new bundle of games has been launched on Humble Bundle to celebrate Black History Month.

The bundle includes eight different games from Black creators or featuring Black characters, such as Mafia 3: Definitive Edition and Shadow Man Remastered.

Worth £108.75 in value, the bundle can be purchased for £8.09 or more, with money raised helping to support Gameheads - a tech training programme that assists low income youth.

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Among Us fans will be familiar with the game's MedBays, which pop up on various maps. Here, players can complete tasks like scanning themselves (although, you don't do this on the Airship, if I recall correctly).

MedBays are all fairly simply designed, with beds and other items you might expect to see. Nothing out of the ordinary, unless you count the little beans running around here and there, trying not to get got.

However, it turns out these simple room designs were unintentionally controversial, thanks to the inclusion of a red cross on the wall of The Skeld's MedBay.

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NASCAR, the governing body for America's blockbuster stock car racing series, has announced a tweaked rulebook for the coming season - and amidst the changes there's clarification that Ross Chastain's GameCube-inspired wall-ride from last year's race at Martinsville will no longer be allowed.

Chastain made the bold move on the last corner the Xfinity 500 that takes place at Martinsville - one of the smaller ovals on the NASCAR circuit, demanding a tight line from competitors - slamming his car into the wall to drive around the outside of five cars to leap from 10th to 5th position.

"I played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube which I had growing up," Chastain said after the race. "You could get away with it, and I never knew if it would actually work [in real life]."

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Writer Andrzej Sapkowski was recently at the Taipei International Book Exhibition, where he was quizzed by Polish publication Dzieje about both his future plans with the book series and his thoughts on Netflix’s hugely popular but divisive adaptation. His response to both questions was typically vague, but it’s the response to the latter which is likely to draw a chuckle or two from fans.

Sapkowski kept it very brief, explaining that “I’ve seen better. I’ve seen worse.”

His non-answer is rather typical of his usual responses to such questions, but it must be said that it’s much less enthusiastic than the ones he gave when the show started. Has he changed his tune since the divisive response to Henry Cavil’s big exit and the departure from the source material that many fans have questioned? Perhaps.

Be it because he’s iffy on the Netflix adaptation or because he still has some adventures in mind for this universe, what looks certain is that Sapkowski’s relationship with Geralt of Rivia still has some chapters to tell. Indeed, Sapkowski released his last book in The Witcher saga, Season of Storms, ten years ago, and you’d have to go back another decade since The Witcher saga officially ended with The Lady of the Lake. All that has led many to wonder whether there are any more stories in the pipeline, but there’s good news on that front.

The author plans for future Witcher books. His when questioned on the matter was short and to the point: “They are in the plans.”

Super Bowl LVII is right around the corner, with Andy Reid and his Kansas City Chiefs set to go head-to-head with the Philadelphia Eagles, the team he coached for well over a decade prior to landing in KC. Intriguing, right? Drama at its finest, it could be said. The story writes itself, and so on.

More importantly though, at least for anyone who isn’t invested in these teams or perhaps even the NFL, it’s Super Bowl Sunday — a time-honored tradition that allows folks to gather in large numbers, kick back, talk about how ham-fisted or eyeroll-inducing all of the commercials are (nostalgia forever, baby!), and stuff their faces full of anything they can get their hands on.

Sure, you don’t need the excuse of the Super Bowl to do that, but why not use it as one anyway? Whether you feel like whipping something up from scratch, ordering in, or simply sticking to the always reliable chips, dips, and appetizers, it’s time to get your Super Bowl Party snack list in order. The options are endless, yet there is plenty to keep in mind.

Prior to putting the cart before the horse, make certain you’ve picked the right spot for this food-fueled gathering.

Gaming is for everyone. Every player has a unique style of playing, and a unique way of expressing their gameplay experience. One of the features that unites people across the board is the ability to take and customize screenshots in-game. Whether you are playing a game to unwind, to delve deeper into a good story, or to simply engage in some healthy virtual combat, screenshots can provide the ability to share your favorite moments with friends. We have gone ahead and compiled a list of what we think are the 10 best game photo modes out there. These are not in any particular order, and they do span a variety of genres to fit different playstyles while also

From the cowboys to the catgirls, let’s jump into our favorite 10 games with S-Tier photo modes.

There are plenty of really clever horror movies that pull the rug from under you, and completely change how you perceive the story on a second or third viewing. Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island instantly springs to mind, as well as the entire body of M. Night Shyamalan’s work, though his quality can arguably be a little hit or miss. One that jumps straight into our heads, though, is 2012’s satirical postmodern horror hit, The Cabin in the Woods.

Helmed by Drew Goddard in his directorial debut, and written and produced by the mind behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Joss Whedon, The Cabin in the Woods is an incredibly astute deconstruction of horror movie tropes with an incredibly creative central driving mystery. Don’t worry, if you’ve not seen it yet, there’ll be no major spoilers here!

In broad strokes, The Cabin in the Woods’ narrative revolves around a handful of friends who decide to take a trip to the titular home away from home for a fun-packed vacay. From here, things get a lot stranger, a lot creepier, and a lot funnier, too. One thing I will say with confidence is: You’ll probably never guess what’ll happen in this one.

But why are we bringing this cult classic up right now? Well, over on a recent Reddit thread, horror fans are absolutely giddy as they relive the highs of such an intelligent feature, which boasts some of the most smartly executed twists and turns in the entirety of horror cinema.

If you spend any time on TikTok, you may have noticed that a certain kind of video collage is popping up all over your For You page. Maybe it has a clip of the adult cartoon Family Guy in there, or socialist Twitch streamer Hasan “Hasanabi” Piker talking about Black Lives Matter. But no matter the footage, it’s likely…

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If you’re a Pokémon fan, you have no doubt experienced the mainline games with all their catching, battling, and being the very best like no one ever was. But the series has a wide selection of spin-off games that span different genres and subject matter. Even if you’ve only ever played the RPGs, there’s probably…

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Resident Evil 4 centers on Leon’s mission to rescue Ashley Graham, daughter of the U.S. president. She’s been kidnapped by a mysterious cult and held captive in a rural Spanish village players must search and survive in. Once you find Ashley, you become both her protector and, sometimes, partner. Her mechanics and interactions with Leon have some big changes, so as part of our larger cover story, I asked directors Yasuhiro Ampo and Kazunori Kadoi to explain their reasons for making them. 

By clicking the right analog stick, Leon can tell Ashley to keep close (yelling "come on!") or to maintain some distance ("spread out"). You can no longer command her to stop; she follows no matter what. That means no more ditching her in a safe spot to clear out enemies lying ahead like in the original RE4. Capcom wants Ashley to stay by Leon’s side because, realistically, she would never want to be left alone in such a dangerous environment. 

“As a character, we wanted to have her by your side so she left an impression," says Ampo. “And as a game, having her hide while you went and fought in the original, that was fun in some ways. But having a character like Ashley and then having her basically disappear for a while felt like a waste. We wanted to avoid that in the remake.”

Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Visual Concepts
Release: March 17, 2023
Rating: Teen

WWE 2K22 relaunched the franchise on the right foot, and 2K23 aims to build upon that success. The improvements and additions from last year’s game remain intact and expanded in some cases. The legendary John Cena gives his blessing of sorts by gracing the game's cover and starring in the centerpiece Showcase mode. That’s all well and good, but the addition of the long-requested WarGames match may be 2K23’s most exciting bullet point. 

Electronic Arts has reportedly canceled a single-player game set in the shared Apex Legends and Titanfall universe. 

This news comes by way of Bloomberg, which reports that three people familiar with the matter say EA canceled the project, code-named TFL or Titanfall Legends, that was in development at Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment. Roughly 50 people were on the team working on this game and EA will reportedly attempt to find positions for these employees elsewhere within the company. If positions cannot be found, some might be laid off with severance packages, according to Bloomberg. 

The publication says Mohammad Alavi (Titanfall 2, Apex Legends designer) was set to direct this now-canceled game, but he left the company in 2022. 

It's likely this canceled single-player game set in the Apex Legends and Titanfall universe was the one hinted at back in July in job postings that referred to the game as an "Apex Universe FPS Incubation Title."

There's a new Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe trailer, and it focuses entirely on the Subgames, minigames that appear in Merry Magoland. These are brief diversions hosted in a park run by Manager Magolor. These can be played by up to four people. However, as usual, a Nintendo Switch Online account is required for online multiplayer.

Here’s the full “Welcome to Merry Magoland” Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe trailer. It begins by showing the park and introducing Manager Magolor. He brings up a Stamp Rally, with people able to earn them by playing. Each of the Subgames are highlighted in the video. Eight of them return from the original Wii version of the game. For example, the Samurai Kirby and Ninja Dojo both return. So does Scope Shot. People can also have Magolor act as a guide and take them on a Tour through certain minigames. The one used as an example sees Kirby on the Draw, Samurai Kirby, Crackity Hack, and Booming Blasters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJav9cmudMA&ab_channel=NintendoofAmerica

Nintendo already brought up these Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe minigames before. It even shared a few screenshots of some of them.

February 2023 kicked off the Fire Emblem Heroes 6th Anniversary Event. Every year, Intelligent Systems and Nintendo hold a number of in-game events and giveaways tied to the game. A Feh Channel presentation went over everything people can expect.

Since so much will be happening, here’s the full list of Fire Emblem Heroes 6th anniversary events.

An upcoming PS5 firmware update will add Discord support and other quality of life changes, and the beta for it is already in the wild. Sony announced the beta kicked off in six places. People it notified in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States should be getting email invitations to take part on February 2, 2023. They’ll get a first peek at additions that may or may not appear over 2023.

One of the big changes is the requested Discord support for the PS5. It will allow people to enable a Discord voice chat after linking their accounts. General linking is already available, so anyone could show their Discord friends what they are playing on the system. However, it is also important to note that the PlayStation Blog’s description makes it sound like you’ll still need to use Discord on a PC or mobile device for PS5 voice chatting.

FFXIV Global Community Producer Toshio "Foxclon" Murouchi will be the host of a new "show" involving housing, namely in-game looks at players' houses. Mister Foxclon's Neighborhood is on the way. Square Enix announced the first episode will appear on March 2, 2023 at 3am PT/6am ET/12pm CET/8pm JST. (That air date could change, however.) When it airs, it will appear on both Twitch and YouTube.

Square Enix asked FFXIV players to turn to Twitter to “apply” to share a potential featured house on Mister Foxclon's Neighborhood. Until February 10, 2023, They will need to include the #FFXIVHousing hashtag first, then share the theme of their estate, their estate’s name, the owner or free company’s name, its location, two screenshots, and a short comment.

Here is the example tweet it shared on the Lodestone. While this tweet does mention a theme and Square Enix asks someone explains the look they are going for, the first episode of the broadcast won’t only select houses with a specific theme.

A Monster Hunter Rise "no saved data exists" issue is plaguing PS4 and PS5 owners. Capcom announced it is aware of the issue. As such, it is currently working on a PS4 and PS5 patch for Monster Hunter Rise. That is expected to launch on February 3, 2023.

In the announcement, Capcom explained what is going on. It all has to do with data irregularity. When one comes up, it will cause the PS4 or PS5 Monster Hunter Rise “no saved data exists” error. The patch will fix that issue.

Here’s Capcom’s full, official explanation.

Several customers have reported receiving the message “No saved data exists” when attempting to load character data.

Currently, if an irregularity is detected in any part of the data such as the picture data, none of the saved data can be read.

With this specification change, the saved data can be read as long as the character data is normal.

*If an irregularity is detected, a message prompt will appear giving the option to delete the inconsistent data and proceed.

While this update will arrive tomorrow, some of the larger Monster Hunter Rise additions won't appear for a while. Capcom, for example, established that the Sunbreak expansion won't come to the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X versions until Spring 2023.

Little fluffy stuffed friends exert a strange and unknowable power over me. These days we only occasionally get offered free stuff as part of our jobs, because we are not YouTubers or Twitch streamers. When I first started websites would get sent a lot of stuff - you know, statuettes and toys and doodads. I don't like these things, and I always wished PRs sent me cake instead. Neither thing would make me like the game more, but at least I can eat cake, and the same cannot be said for a figurine of some kind of big-titted space samurai holding a sword.

I have, however, discovered that plushies of game characters I like are an exception to this.

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With the world continuing to disintegrate around us in real-time, it can be tempting to cast our eyes skyward in the hope of finding a better future. If KeokeN's Deliver Us games are anything to go by, though, life in outer space isn't all that peachy either. In Deliver Us The Moon, you may remember the scientists in charge of the moon's Earth-saving energy beam tech ended up having a bit of a Rapture moment, sabotaging all their good work (and the future of Earth in the process) and buggering off to goodness knows where to start life afresh in their newly birthed utopia. In its sequel, Deliver Us Mars, you find out those rogue astronauts didn't actually go that far at all. Yep, they hopped on over to the red planet and set up shop there, and when a strange transmission comes through revealing their location, it serves as the catalyst to send yet another crew into space to go and investigate.

This time, though, you're right at the heart of its central conflict. By casting players as Kathy, the daughter of one of those rogue astronauts, Deliver Us Mars tells a much more fraught and personal tale of what kind of future humanity should be pursuing: should we, in fact, be turning our efforts toward a life in outer space, or should we be doing everything in our power to try and save the dire, pretty much almost dead husk of a planet we call home?

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While I rob dark dungeons and luxurious castles, in my free time, I often think about how easy it would be with a friendly ghost to help me out. Spirited Thief allows you to play out that fantasy in a series of top-down, turn-based, stealthy heists. Better yet, it’s sneaking onto PC this summer and has a demo available now.

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Microsoft has listed the latest six titles set to leave its Xbox Game Pass subscription, which will include Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy's Crossfire X: Operation Catalyst campaign.

CrossfireX joined Xbox Game Pass exactly a year ago. 12 months on, its time is now up, alongside fellow February 2022 additions Besiege, Infernax, Skul: The Hero Slayer and The Last Kids on Earth.

Remedy's work on Crossfire X marked a departure for the studio best known for its spooky atmospheric shooters, as it formed part of the larger Crossfire title developed by Korean studio Smilegate. Martin dubbed it "smart dumb FPS action".

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Nintendo has announced the next course to be added to mobile game Mario Kart Tour: Piranha Plant Cove.

The all-new course is part of the Exploration Tour that begins on 7th February.

Not much else is known about the course beyond screenshots shared by Nintendo - it's an underwater course filled with stone ruins and piranha plant statues.

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When EA scheduled the latest Behind the Sims Summit to line up with a patch release, the Sims Community rumor mill started buzzing. The last BTS Summit dropped the news that a new life stage – Infants – would soon be coming to the Sims 4, and many Simmers hoped that this post-livestream update would be it.

And while we only got a due date for the arrival of Sims 4 Infants, this update did add something pretty epic – top surgery scars – making yet another huge leap forward in terms of diversity, both in The Sims and in the entire gaming industry.

The Lightfall DLC is about to arrive in Destiny 2, and with it comes a brand new Darkness subclass, Strand. From the trailers and gameplay we’ve seen thus far, Strand looks to be very powerful and a lot of fun. However, that can’t be said for the first Darkness subclass we received over two years ago, Stasis.

Stasis has been in a slump with an abundance of nerfs for quite some time now, and one keen fan pointed out on Reddit that the Stasis subclass doesn’t have a proper Frag Grenade ability.

This raises many questions, but the most important one is why doesn’t it have more Grenades. Over the last year, we’ve seen all of the Light subclasses undergo major revamps, which are now top-tier choices in every activity in the game. Stasis, however, has been continually nerfed since its release during the Beyond Light DLC. While most of the nerfs were justified, considering Stasis’s strength at that time, it’s time to give the subclass some life again.

After various teases in the Behind The Sims Summit and the game’s official Twitter account, The Sims 4 Growing Together expansion pack has finally received a release date and trailer filled with family memories.

The franchise has always been about creating legacies and the adventures you take along the way. And now, Growing Together will further this aspect with exciting new content, such as the San Sequoia world, diverse family social interactions, and fashionable items.

When Does The Sims 4 Growing Together Expansion Pack Come Out?

The Sims 4 Growing Together releases on March 16, 2023. Those who want to earn bonus rewards can pre-order the expansion pack by April 27 to claim the following items:

Valorant’s cheapest SMG is back in the meta following updates toward the end of last year that not only improved its accuracy but also nerfed the accuracy of the Spectre. The shift in power between these two weapons wasn’t immediately obvious, but it’s now becoming apparent across both professional and ranked play that the Stinger might be a little too powerful. It’s something that pro player and popular streamer ShahZam thinks might need to be looked at by Riot Games.

UPDATE 02/04/2023: Riot Games has announced plans to nerf the Stinger for Patch 6.02. A Tweet from the development team explains that its cost will increase by 150 Credits, and that the Damage Fall Off would increase so that the weapon is less powerful at range.

Original story continues below.

Speaking to his stream following G2’s win over Faze during the opening match of North America’s Challengers, ShahZam said “the Stinger is busted. I don’t care what anybody says, that shit is so ******* bad,” clarifying that he meant it was not a good thing that the Stinger was so absurdly strong.

He later explained that after a headshot “you can melt people and they stand no chance,” which he believes thinks that “the Stinger needs a change,” though admitted that he wasn’t sure exactly what that would look like.

The Stinger was buffed back in Patch 5.06 of September last year with the following changes:

Nick Offerman, the actor who portrayed survivalist Bill in the knockout third episode of HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us, has revealed that not only has he not played the game the show is based on, he also hasn’t played any video game in a quarter century because he “lost a couple of weeks” to a particular…

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Sony just announced a ton of new features currently under development. Features such as support for 1440p output have been teased for some time while others, such as the ability to join a Discord voice chat natively, feel like they should have been announced sooner than several years into the console’s life cycle.

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People will see double with the latest Good Smile Company Re:Zero Rem figure. It announced an S-Fire Rem that features her holding herself as a child. It will come to Japan in September 2023. The North American release will follow in November 2023. It will cost ¥22,000/$163.99.

Both outfits are period-accurate in this 1/7th scale figure. The adult version of Rem is wearing her normal maid uniform. Meanwhile, the child version of her self is wearing the same kimono she did in the Oni village where she grew up. It will be about nine inches tall. Also, as an S-Fire figure, it is designed to look both “vibrant” and realistic.

Here's a closer look at Rem and... Rem.
[gallery columns="5" size="full" ids="949460,949461,949462,949463,949464" link="file"]

It is now easier for people in California to get toys from gashapon machines. Bandai announced a Gashapon Shop is now temporarily open for the next few months in Los Angeles, California. It opened a pop up shop in the Little Tokyo neighborhood. Until August 31, 2023, people can visit and get various merchandise and toys from the machines. It is located at 319 E. 2nd St. in Los Angeles, California and open every day except Tuesday from 12pm PT-7pm PT.

The official Twitter account shared an image with some of the various gashapon machines that will be available at the pop up store. The ones in the photo below show toys from the following anime series and games.

• Animal
• Card Captor Sakura
• Card Captor Sakura with Sanrio characters
• Demon Slayer
• Digimon
• Dragon Ball Z
• Fall Guys
• JoJo’s Bizarre
• Kirby
• Mickey Mouse
• Sanrio
• Spy x Family

Sneak peek at some of the machines available at the Gashapon Bandai Official Shop. Opening today! #GBO #GashaponUS pic.twitter.com/AX4b4uwTJF

Udon Entertainment announced it will release a one-shot Darkstalkers: Felicia comic. Tom Seeley is writing and Tovio Rogers is drawing the issue. It will appear in April 26, 2023. There will be six different cover options for it available, with two being Udon exclusives.

Some vague details about this Darkstalkers comic also came out. These hint at some of the other characters who will appear in the 32-page issue. Felicia is apparently trying to prove her “lycanthropic best friend” is innocent of a crime. This could be referring to Jon Talbain, who is a werewolf who appeared throughout the series. However, she doesn’t have unlimited time to do so. Udon noted “a certain gun-toting red-hooded girl” is after Felicia’s friend. This seems to very obviously reference Baby Bonnie Hood.

As usual, Udon will offer multiple Darkstalkers: Felicia covers. Here’s the full list of the other options, as well as their artists and prices. The Reiq covers will only be available through Udon..

As part of the Genshin Impact 2023 Lantern Rite celebration, HoYoVerse shared both a full calendar and wallpapers of notable characters. In the case of the calendar, all 12 images can be used as a mobile device's wallpaper. With the wallpapers, both portrait and landscape options are available. Each one features Aether, Hu Tao, Lumine, Paimon, Xinyan, and Yunjin. All six featured prominently in not only this year's Lantern Rite and Iridescence in Papers event, but in past ones as well.

First, here are all the Genshin Impact Lantern Rite 2023 Calendar images. Below is a list of who appears on each month.

• January 2023: Yunjin
• February 2023: Aether
• March 2023: Lumine
• April 2023: Hu Tao
• May 2023: Paimon
• June 2023: Xinyan
• July 2023: Yunjin
• August 2023: Aether
• September 2023: Lumine
• October 2023: Hu Tao
• November 2023: Paimon
• December 2023: Xinyan

[gallery columns="6" size="full" link="file" ids="949424,949425,949428,949430,949432,949434,949427,949429,949431,949433,949435,949426"]

If someone prefers, there's also a February 2023 Genshin Impact calendar with Alhaitham on it.

I've never actually finished a game of Stellaris. I doubt I'm the only ardent fan of the game that hasn't done so. The best thing about it, as is so often the case with 4X and grand strategy games, is the very beginning. That opening half-hour of limitless potential and giddy curiosity is utterly spellbinding. I don't know if any strategy game does it better.

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Now that The Sims 4 has babies and toddlers, the family unit is complete. Perfect timing too, as the game’s next expansion is all about growing up with family. The Sim 4’s Growing Together Expansion Pack is out March 16th and it’s planning to expand the way your Sims change over time and relate to other Sims

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Can I tell you a secret? I'm terrible at Battle Brothers. I'm still terrible at Battle Brothers, even after playing it on and off for a few years. It's a bit like Blood Bowl, oddly, in that it's all about mitigating risks. And like Blood Bowl, despite having a decent head for tactics and planning on the fly, I am hopeless at sticking to them when I see a new idea, thus: terrible. At it.

But since an update last March looks likely to be its last big one, it's about time to get over myself and gave it a proper look as a complete package. It's long overdue, in fact. Although I still struggle to fully enjoy it, Battle Brothers is an unusually good tactical game, and the one to beat for the burgeoning subgenre of mercenary management sims. That's partly because it sticks so resolutely to its guns. Where Bannerlord faltered by throwing extraneous stuff unrelated to the core combat that should have defined it, and other open world games typically take a varied but shallow "do and be everything" approach, Battle Brothers resists dilution of that core concept.

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Capcom’s monstrously big Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is receiving its fourth free title update on February 7th. Sunbreak’s latest update adds new Event Quests, Anomaly Research content, paid DLC, and two new Elder Dragons to hunt. I don’t think any of these additions are as exciting as the giant Sweetcorn weapon introduced last year, but I digress.

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