September 2023

People attempting to use Discord on September 29, 2023 may have encountered a "sorry, you have been blocked" message. It turns out this is an error. The official social media account for the messaging app noted the company is aware of the issue. It did not offer an update on when things could be fixed. However, it did direct people to the official Discord status site to keep updated on the outage. Update: As of 12pm ET, it seems the issue is fixed.

It seems the issue is affecting different areas. For example, I am getting the Discord "sorry, you have been blocked" message on a PC using the app. However, there are no issues when using the app.

Here is the official Discord social media announcement about the "sorry, you have been blocked message."

We are aware of an issue preventing users from accessing the app. Our team is on the case and investigating the issue! 🔎

Check our status page for more updates: https://t.co/ypt16TArbX pic.twitter.com/knuHoCbK0S

Kadokawa released a preview for its upcoming ASMR voice drama featuring Miyu and Illya from Prisma Illya. The full video title is “Prisma Illya ASMR: Great Prisma Ear-Cleaning Incident,” and it will come out on Mimicle on September 29, 2023. In order to hear it, it will cost 2,200 JPY (around $14.75) or 2,200 Mimicle coins. [Thanks, KaroshiMyriad!]

The preview video is around a minute and a half long. It doesn’t look like they’re using a dummy mic. While Illya’s voice sounds close to your right ear, Miyu’s sounds like it’s coming from the back of your head. A dummy mic would make it possible for her voice to emanate from the left. Since this is a voice drama, there is technically a plot. You’re trapped in a room where they have to clean your ears in a little sister way. So they're taking turns doing so, with your head resting in their laps.

Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.4 “Jolted Awake From a Winter Dream” will come out on October 11, 2023. That’s when the current patch, Version 1.3, will end as well. PS5 players can expect to download the game from that date.

During the special program, HoYoVerse revealed what you can expect from the new patch. First, HoYoVerse already showed off the three new playable characters. Jingliu will be on the first banner. Sampo, Tingyun, and Qingque will be on pick-up. The second banner will feature Topaz & Numby. The 4-stars on pick-up will be Guinaifen, Luka, and Sushang. Seele will also re-run during this time.

Other things to expect in Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.4 include a continuation of the Belobog plot. It looks like unlike Genshin Impact, Star Rail will return to previous worlds and continue their stories outside of character quests or limited events. You will also be able to get a free 4-star Jarilo-VI character in the Aetherium Wars event.

It is a Special Program day, and that means new Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jade codes to herald the arrival of the 1.4 update. As usual, there are three codes to claim. Each one offers 100 Stellar Jades, as well as a number of other in-game items to make the experience a little easier. All of them can only be redeemed on September 29, 2023.

Here is the full list of new Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jade codes from the Special Program 1.4

You can use the following codes three codes to claim your items in-game. Note that for a single pull on one of the Warp banners, you need 160 Stellar Jade. This means that you get one pull and would need to either earn or pay for more currency for a second one.

• JSPRZ272S9JB – 100 Stellar Jade, 5 Traveler’s Guides
• MT79YKNKARJX – 100 Stellar Jade, 4 Refined Aether
• TAP8H27JBRGP – 100 Stellar Jade, 50,000 Credits

During the 1.4 special program for Honkai: Star Rail, HoYoVerse shared some details on the upcoming new characters who’ll be in the game. It had previously shared teasers of them on Twitter. Jingliu and Topaz will be the new limited five-star characters, and Guinaifen will be a new four-star. They will be on the new banners, and the Seele banner will also return in this update.

Jingliu will be an Ice Destruction unit. Like Blade, she uses a stance system. After she uses her Skill or Ultimate, she gains stacks and when she gets two, she enters the Spectral Transmigration state. During this state, she enhances her ATK and can only use her Skill. She also consumes HP from all other allies, increasing her ATK based on how much they lose.

Topaz will be a Fire Hunt character. She can debuff an enemy with her Skill, which increases how much DMG they take from follow-up attacks. She can also cause follow-up attacks using Numby using her Talent. Her kit looks like she can work very well with an Erudition character. Topaz can also summon Numby on the field to help her look for things and gain extra Credits after battles. She can also use this to gain random Curios in Simulated Universe.

Worrying signs on the horizon for fans of sci-fi stories told a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Sony have quietly yanked posts and videos for Embracer's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, in what could be the first indication that the publisher have finally cancelled the game, after shuffling developers and delaying release indefinitely last year.

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Oh god, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm trying to fix it. Oh, hello everybody! Welcome to the fourth chapter of the great Starfield no-planets run, in which my character, rancid astro-buccaneer Mary Read, tries to play the entirety of Bethesda's so-big-it's-small RPG in space. When last we caught up with this galloping galactic nuisance, Mary was beginning to lose momentum. She had grown weary of happy-slapping freighter after freighter, though there's one particular wandering geologist she'd like to settle the score with. She had even lost her enthusiasm for boarding actions - the spice in every pirate's cup of grog - having mastered the art of standing at the bottom of a ladder.

A new Elder Scrolls game has been released! Is it The Elder Scrolls VI??? No you poor, sweet summer child, it's another spin-off mobile game, of course. The Elder Scrolls: Castles is a Tamriel-set spiritual sequel to Bethesda's 2015-released touchscreen property sim Fallout Shelter, which swaps the latter's underground Vaults for big gorgeous hunks of medieval masonry, yours to expand, decorate and lord over as you please.

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She’s watching me, I think. Her eyes, like her wrists, are obscured by gauze wraps, but I pickpocketed a corpse while exploring Bloodborne’s ruthless, forsaken Cainhurst Castle, and now she’s floating toward me.

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Have you ever caught yourself doing something mundane, like picking at a blade of grass or walking on the sidewalk’s curb, only to be hit with the intrusive thought that your group of friends won’t be able to attend each other’s funerals? Heavy stuff, right? Well, the new fantasy anime Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End…

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The Nintendo Switch isn't the easiest console to work with. Packing a low-power mobile processor with technology dating back to 2015, it lacks the technological grunt to keep pace with last-gen console systems - and this can result in some lacklustre third-party ports. In putting together this piece, we decided to circle back and examine some of the most disappointing Switch conversions - and we were happy to discover a range of improvements. In the case of Hello Games' No Man's Sky, we even see the developer deploy the first example we've seen of FSR 2 upscaling on the Nintendo hybrid - and the results are excellent.

NMS was always going to be a tough Switch port. The open-universe game is understandably taxing on Switch hardware, resulting in poor frame-rates, plenty of pop-in and somewhat dire image quality when it launched last year. The constant flicker and muddy image was probably the worst of the game's issues - I described it as being "one of the worst offenders on Switch" - with a 648p and 504p resolution split in docked and portable play respectively, slathered in ineffective TAA. However, the introduction of dynamic resolution scaling working in concert with a customised version of FSR 2 optimised for Switch is transformative.

Don't go into Dragon's Dogma 2 expecting it to feel massively different from Dragon's Dogma or Dark Arisen. Despite the dozen years since the original game's launch (Dragon's Dogma 2 is set to arrive for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in early 2024), there's no huge change in gameplay, while the visual style of Capcom's fantasy RPG series also feels familiar.

The game's open world is way more dense in terms of flora and fauna, but its presentation remains similar to that of the original - with its grey, green, brown colour palette used in almost every game released in the early 2010s. And while this was a pre-release build, it did also suffer performance-wise on PS5, with what felt like big frame rate drops during busy battles. I also witnessed a variety of weird bugs involving NPCs and enemies - albeit things that trended towards the funny, meme-worthy side of glitches rather than anything game-breaking.

The original Dragon's Dogma also felt rough around the edges, so seeing these kinds of things in its sequel almost felt in keeping with the series. Dragon's Dogma 2 feels almost like a chaos simulator, where you wander its living world constantly being attacked by a variety of mythical beasties and shouted at by random NPCs. Your three AI pawns run around doing half-wacky and half-actually helpful stuff as they chatter incessantly with you and each other.

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Mediatonic, the UK developer behind Fall Guys, has been severely impacted by expected job losses as a result of yesterday's layoffs by Epic Games, though the studio itself will not be closed.

Epic Games acquired Mediatonic back in March 2021 after the studio's battle royale Fall Guys blew up in popularity. The deal was meant to secure Mediatonic's future. Now, despite the studio remaining open, that future looks very different indeed.

Last night, rumours swirled that the cuts were so deep the whole studio would close. But this isn't the case, team members I've spoken to have said, and Epic Games itself has now confirmed.

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Kotobukiya revealed a painted prototype for a plastic model kit to make a figure of Roll from the Mega Man Battle Network series. The company added a disclaimer that the newly published images may yet represent the final product. It is still awaiting design approval from Capcom as the franchise's licensor.

The non-scale model kit will faithfully reproduce Roll.EXE's appearance on all sides from front to back. The images also revealed that the set will include multiple facial expression plates.

Bandai Namco has updated the Japanese website for Spy x Anya: Operation Memories, which is alternatively known in Japan as Spy x Family: Operation Diary. It revealed that the Spy x Family video game starring Anya Forger will appear first on Nintendo Switch in Japan in late December 2023.

As the English title implies, the game will focus on Anya Forger as she tries to complete her picture diary. She will attend school on weekdays and go on family outings on weekends. For the latter, there will be 10 locations available to visit, ranging from parks and beaches to museums and hotels.

Oh, the Wii U…you poor sad thing. Nintendo’s first foray into HD gaming, the Wii U was set to bring all the casual fun of its predecessor, the Wii, while also providing powerful hardware and capabilities for more hardcore gamers. It was set to be Nintendo’s best system yet…until it wasn’t. It became Nintendo’s lowest-selling home console and was a black sheep for the company at a point in time.

On the plus side, the Nintendo Switch brought Nintendo back guns blazing, and the publisher managed to learn from the mistakes of the Wii U to craft a much better system. Many Wii U exclusives also saw a second life with re-releases on the Switch. That said, there are still more than a few games that fetch a pretty decent price online, as you’d expect from a console that was discontinued six years ago. Here are 10 of the rarest and most expensive Wii U games.

Taylor Swift has been weaving magic with her words ever since a young age, writing lyrics that resonate with audiences across the globe. Her songwriting abilities have only sharpened with time, allowing her to explore more profound and complex emotions with each new album.

The narratives Swift shares through her lyrics often speak to the human experience’s universal themes—love, loss, heartbreak, and the spirit of youth. Her skillful storytelling and candidness have turned her into a generational voice, making her one of the most influential lyricists of the 21st century.

Starfield has pushed the literal astronomical limits of creativity for players everywhere, whether it’s building some incredibly unique (and sometimes ridiculous) ships, beachfront outposts with features we didn’t know were possible, and of course the mods that allow character creation on a whole different level. Sometimes though, it’s the simpler things that can prove just as much of a personal triumph for someone, and one particular player had an example of it to share with the Starfield community on Reddit.

A player who goes by ‘Muaxh03’ on Reddit shared his unique little experiment that puts the game’s notable physics to the test in a very interesting way. In what looks like the basement area of the The Lodge at New Atlantis on Jemison, he set up an entire domino line, or circle rather, of sandwiches, one of the many consumable food items in the game. It stretches all the way back up the stairs to a row of books and board games where it all starts.

Payday 3 on PS5

The launch of Payday 3 was certainly off to a rough start, as players were met with matchmaking issues and log-in errors. I was, of course, a part of that bunch that had to constantly refresh the game just to play a few minutes of it, only to be shut out once again with another error. 

But I never like to judge a book by its cover, or in this case, by its launch, no matter how infuriating it may have been. On the surface, Payday 3 has all the makings of an excellent franchise continuation, but honestly, that’s all it truly is: a good start. It just doesn’t feel as complete as the past installments, given that it now requires an online connection, account log-ins, and lacks missions.

It’s OK to get a little hyped sometimes. It happens to the best of us. Occasionally you’ll be let down. Sometimes things are just ‘good’. But every once in a while a game comes along with impossibly high expectations – and exceeds them. Whether it was because of an incredible trailer, a technological leap, or just a really darned long delay, here are 10 games that were hyped through the roof and actually delivered.

Love ’em or hate ’em, it is eminently apparent that Resident Evil remakes will remain in Capcom’s pipeline for the foreseeable future. In the last four years alone, we have received the spectacular Resident Evil 2, the rejuvenated Resident Evil 4, and Resident Evil 3, which was also a thing.

Between them, they have netted over 25 million units sold, with RE4 likely to supplant RE3 in Capcom’s top 10 all-time bestsellers before all is said and done. No bones about it, the remakes are here to stay, and the only question remaining is which game is next in line.

EA FC 24 on PS5

For the first time since 1993, FIFA and EA Sports have no longer partnered to release what has become the most popular footballing video game in the world. But the end of that long-term relationship was never going to slow down EA Sports. They’re the king, baby, and from the ashes of that split rose a simpler title: EA FC 24.

But did a better game make the trip with them? Well if you know anything about me and sports titles, you know that’s a loaded question.

Tokyo Game Show 2023 has single-handedly converted me into a Final Fantasy VII Rebirth believer. That unexpected revelation compelled me to look further into TGS to see what other surprises were in store, which left me even more hyped.

Some new announcements had me laughing, while other known quantities wowed me with in-depth gameplay. Not a bad show by any means, but we’ll save Final Fantasy Rebirth for last because it was just that awesome. Onward to the best trailers and announcements from Tokyo Game Show 2023.

The high-octane racing adventure of F-Zero 99 shifts into a higher gear with a new update rolling out this week. Five brand-new circuits are coming, adding a fresh layer of competition and excitement for players.

In the normal F-Zero 99 mode, racers will be able to navigate through three additional circuits:

ConcernedApe, creator of the hit farming sim Stardew Valley, has posted an image on Twitter that teases the next free content update that’s in development. He is currently working on version 1.6 of the game, which brings a substantial list of new features to the game.

Top on the list is the introduction of a new major festival, which will likely provide a fresh communal experience. Additionally, players will be able to participate in two new mini-festivals, ensuring that there’s never a dull moment in the valley.

Activision has just released Warzone 2 Season 6’s patch notes bringing a host of balancing, content updates and Halloween-themed operator skins. Among the buffs and nerfs to a wide range of weapons, the Kastov-762 looks to have been hit the hardest.

The 2010 psychological tour de force Black Swan is an award-winning ballet movie with a dark twist. The female-led film weaves themes of mental illness and obsession through the intense and competitive world of professional ballet. Viewers who were bewitched by the beautiful but unsettling vibes of Black Swan will be happy to know there are plenty of other cinematic experiences that provide the same highs. Read on for the top 10 best movies like Black Swan.

The indie space has always been full of surprises in the gaming space, taking risks and making changes that established players are more reluctant to try, and that has provided plenty of gems down the years. Now, there’s one more addition to the list, with the 12-person team over at The Astronauts delivering a diamond in the rough that is Witchfire in Early Access on the Epic Games Store.

A roguelite first-person shooter might not seem like the kind of game that the folks behind The Vanishing of Ethan Carter will create, but the team’s experience with both Bulletstorm and Painkiller is put to good use for this outing into a magical medieval world, full of dangerous creatures and environments engineered to do just one thing – give the player hell.

Anyone who’s played enough of Baldur’s Gate 3 will have encountered Ketheric Thorm — one of the three leaders of the Cult of the Absolute, and the most significant villain you encounter during 0the Act 2 storyline.

Upon meeting Ketheric for the first time as my Tiefling Rogue character, he didn’t leave that much of an impression on me. At first glance, he appeared to be cold, strict, and hellbent on achieving his goals – typical villain stuff. I just presumed in due time I’d kill him off without a second thought. After all, my Tiefling character is a wild chaotic evil herself, so this was more or less the norm when someone gets in her way. However, I did not expect Ketheric’s story to unravel in such a subtle yet fascinating way during the progression of Act 2.

The recently released Separate Ways DLC for Resident Evil 4 Remake brought not only plenty of perfectly tuned nostalgia to complement the game’s stellar main campaign, but it introduced some very clever surprises and new additions. One such addition was the (almost) invincible monster known as Martinico that Ada is ambushed by during Chapter 6 of her campaign. This ruthless mutated beast goes on a rampage, and begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse sequence that must be done perfectly to avoid getting chomped. However, thanks to someone with a keen eye, it turns out there’s a trick to make things easier and quicker. Here’s how to effectively speedrun the Martinico sequence in RE4 Remake Separate Ways.

Outpost building has since become one of the most popular pastimes in Starfield, and just like with shipbuilding, players are able to get exceptionally creative and come up with some rather impressive ideas. Given the incredible variety of cosmically beautiful backdrops that are available across the star systems, players are often going for scenic points just as much as practicality ones. In fact, one such player took to Reddit to show off an outpost creation that many of us probably didn’t expect to see, or that was possible for that matter.

Starfield enthusiast ‘Caliartist’ recently shared various screenshots on Reddit of a long, indoor pier-style hab structure they built out into the water of a ‘Coast’-type biome area, on what looks to be the planet Sumati in the Narion star system. From what can be seen, they started with an Airlock module at the coastline, followed by a standard hab structure that then connected to a long sequence of Hydroponic hab modules, until they pushed it all the way to the edge of the outpost perimeter.

4X games are a special breed. They give you a taste of godhood, granting you an all seeing eye and the ability to manage an entire planet — or even the cosmos itself. Today, I wanted to peer into this incredible genre and search out the 10 best 4X games.

What is a 4X Game?

But first, let’s go over what a 4X game actually is…

There are no guarantees when it comes to releasing a new game into the crowded live service space. Whether it’s an FPS, card game, or MMORPG, players already have so many great games to choose from that wooing a big enough player base to sustain continued updates is no easy task. Each year, more and more new games attempt to plant their flag in the ground, but only a few are ever considered real success stories. Of them, these are 10 live service games from 2022 that are still going strong.

Pikachu has long been synonymous with the iconic Pokemon franchise, and the world’s most famous (and cutest) little yellow mouse has proven itself able to do just about anything, even solving elaborate crime mysteries in the world of pocket monsters. As it turns out, fans of Pokemon, and in particular the mobile game sensation Pokemon Go, may soon have a special new event to look forward to, if a mysterious new post on X (formerly ‘Twitter’) that popped up today is anything to go by.

In tandem with the upcoming Switch release of Pokemon Company’s anticipated video game sequel ‘Detective Pikachu Returns‘ on October 6, Niantic’s Pokemon Go looks like they’re preparing to commemorate the occasion with another iteration of their own Detective Pikachu event sometime very soon. The first one rolled out back in 2019 to ring in the premiere of Warner Bros live action adaptation film Detective Pikachu. Both were well-received, and with the new game set to come out in a couple weeks, it’s not too surprising that Niantic is looking to give it another go.

Avid players of Warzone 2 will remember the shaky start this Battle Royale had and how far it has come since it transitioned from Call of Duty: Vanguard to the familiar combat of Modern Warfare 2. The developers over at Activision-Blizzard have made a true effort to mold Warzone 2 into the best Battle Royale it can be, and that’s something worth celebrating. So, let’s take a look at their hard work with a list of our picks for the top 10 best Warzone 2 changes Activision-Blizzard has made in 2023.

After being announced earlier this year, Valve unexpectedly launched Counter-Strike 2 this week! In this archived Twitch stream, watch editors Alex Van Aken, Marcus Stewart, and Kyle Hilliard team up to chase victory in several matches of this revamped sequel of the popular team-based shooter. 

To keep up with all of our archived livestreams, you can check out our Twitch channel and our Game Informer Shows YouTube channel to find all of our long-form videos including Replay/Super Replay, The Game Informer Show, and All Things Nintendo. 

CD Projekt have detailed Cyberpunk 2077 2.01, the game's first patch following update 2.0, which implemented a top-to-bottom reset of the once-ailing but at present, rather triumphant sci-fi RPG. According to the provisional changelog, the latest update encompasses general performance improvements and minor fixes plus a fatal bug which sees V falling through an elevator floor to their death when the performance falls too low. Now that's what I call a plunging frame-rate.

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