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_{[CJ and Holmes Disagree is a series where Destructoid Features editor CJ Andriessen and washed-up Dtoid Show host Jonathan Holmes disagree about video games. Who will you agree or disagree with?]}

Some game developers love making hard games. They thrill at the idea of inspiring players to dig deep for the courage to get through a seemingly impossible situation and to use their heads to devise strategies that are beyond anything they've ever planned before.

It's a risky move. Any time a developer might intentionally or unintentionally extend the player's time with a game past the point of enjoyment with some nearly unstoppable force or unmovable object, they run the risk of being accused of being "lazy" by adding "padding" through the route of "fake difficulty." Bullet-sponge bosses and level designs that require memorization through trial and error are two easy examples of the kind of design elements that will cause many critics to feel personally disrespected by the devs of the game in question. 

Electronic Arts is really putting the "EA" in "Steam."

Let's pretend I didn't write that.

EA has been aggressively adding some of its back catalog to Steam, breaking free from the Origins shackles by which they were once bound. It started with a baker's dozen two weeks ago, followed by nine more last week.

In advance of today's EA Play stream, another six-pack have been listed on Steam. Among them, Titanfall 2 -- one of the finest games EA has ever published. It's on sale too! You can pick it up for $9.89 (even though it has been on sale and even free many times over the years).

Here are today's EA Steam additions and their sale prices:

Physical media lovers Merge Games has announced its intention to release a hard copy of future-noir delivery game Cloudpunk. Already available on PC, the neon-drenched thriller is headed to PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch later this year, with Merge planning physical editions for all four formats.

Cloudpunk will be given a standard physical release on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch, while the latter two platforms will also receive a special "Signature Edition." This set includes Cloudpunk for PS4 or Switch, a soundtrack CD, two slick enamel pins, and a numbered art print, all housed in a collector's box. This edition will retail for around $45 on PS4 and $50 on Switch. Pre-orders for the Signature Edition go live on the Signature Games Store on Thursday, June 25, at 07:00 PT / 10:00 ET / 15:00 BST.

Cloudpunk is available now on PC and will launch on PS4, Xbox One and Switch later in 2020.

The endless summer of video game news streams rolls on for another week. Are you burned out yet?

Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest is hosting its first Developer Showcase in collaboration with Day of the Devs on Monday, June 22, starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific. The event was already on the calendar, but today, details surfaced about who's bringing what, including a triple-A surprise (Crash Bandicoot?).

Pathway, a 1930s pulp adventure turned squad-managing strategy RPG, is free on the Epic Games Store until June 25, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific. It's worth a look for tactics-loving Indiana Jones fans.

The 2019 title from Chucklefish and Robotality involves treasure-filled temples, occult rituals, and turn-based shootouts with Nazis – quite the Venn diagram. It's a cool concept for a game, but it struggles a bit with repetitive elements. It's worth playing more than it's worth finishing, if that makes sense.

The other PC freebie lined up for this week, The Escapists 2, was "temporarily delayed."

Next week, from June 25 to July 2, Epic is giving out Stranger Things 3: The Game and AER Memories of Old. The former game has co-op support (I'm glad they're still putting in that work), and the latter is a secret-finding adventure that lets you animorph into a bird to soar around floating islands.

Take your pick!

Now that The Last of Us Part II is finally out, folks are diving in and might run across a puzzle or two that stumps them.

So, we decided to make a set of spoiler-free guides. Read on for the boathouse safe solution!

Well, this is a new experience. Compile Heart has debuted 10 minutes of footage taken from the next entry in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, VVVTunia - which is headed west on PS4 as Neptunia Virtual Stars in 2021.

The novel twist here is that the VVVTunia is itself being played by two more virtual characters. Upd8's Hibiki Ao is controlling out the action, while being hosted and cheered on by "virtual YouTuber" Ilheart. While I wrap my old man head around this meta-beyond-meta concept, check out the gameplay footage the video below, courtesy of... Ilheart... I guess?

Gameplay begins at 05:28. Be warned, the first 20 seconds of this video are pretty intense.

Now that The Last of Us Part II is finally out, folks are diving in and might run across a puzzle or two that stumps them.

So, we decided to make a set of spoiler-free guides. Read on for the garage safe solution!

Well, we're pushing on through non-E3 and still no sign of a new Silent Hill title. At the least the franchise continues to make its presence felt elsewhere, as the nightmarish series is the latest horror franchise to crossover with Behaviour Interactive's Dead by Daylight.

The Silent Hill season is now live in the asymmetrical stalk 'n' slash title, bringing with it new survivor Cheryl/Heather Mason and a new map in the form of Midwich Elementary School - one of the very first locations ever explored in the Silent Hill franchise. But what would Dead by Daylight be without a terrifying killer? And in this case the update "welcomes" the iconic and otherworldly monster known as Pyramid Head. Scary stuff.

The summer of gaming streams is going full steam as we head toward the back half of June. There are still many big presentations to come, including shows from Ubisoft, EA, CD Projekt Red, and more. Of course, the one I'm most looking forward to features none of those publishers and most of the Japanese developers I love.

New Game+ Expo is happening next week, and today, organizers revealed the streaming schedule for the June 23 show. It kicks off at 8:00 am PST with a showcase featuring games from Sega, Inti Creates, Idea Factory, and more before switching over to streams from several publishers.

Despite playing every one of their recent award-winning games, I still can't believe Naughty Dog went from "the Crash Bandicoot company" to a cornerstone of the age-old "games are art" conversation. Every once in a while when looking at Joel or Nathan Drake, I imagine Crash going "Booyah Grandma."

But that just goes to show you how impactful Naughty Dog really is when it comes to the wide world of gaming. Crash, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and Last of Us all made big splashes when they were released and arguably have enduring appeal (I'm going to bat for the first few Jak games here).

Last of Us Part II is no exception, improving what its predecessor did all those years before it.

Does it feel like E3 week has come and gone? Not really, right?

I mean we got the PS5 stream, but it's just not the same without a Nintendo Direct giving us that single piece of huge news that dominates the June conversation. Alas, there are no "surprise out right now!" announcements for the Nintendo Switch: yet! Instead we're mostly chilling out with ports.

As Nintendo points out, the one surprise this week is Jump Rope Challenge, a breezy fitness game that's already out. Burnout Paradise Remastered is coming on June 19 and Ninjala is finally arriving on June 24.

Now that The Last of Us Part II is finally out, folks are diving in and might run across a puzzle or two that stumps them.

So, we decided to make a set of spoiler-free guides. Read on for the break room door solution!

CD Projekt RED has announced that its epic-looking RPG Cyberpunk 2077 will not meet its September 17 release date, and is now scheduled to launch a little over two months later on November 19.

The developer/publisher broke the news on Twitter just minutes ago, noting that although the highly anticipated adventure title is essentially good-to-go, further time was desired in order to add a final layer of polish to the game. CDPR will use the extra development period to fix bugs, balance game mechanics, and generally tweak the final product to offer fans the best experience possible. You can check out CDPR's full statement in the tweet below.

This is, of course, not the first time CDPR has delayed Cyberpunk 2077 in order to make it the game the best it can possibly be. With years of hype behind this particular title - building to almost fever-pitch in the past 12 months - it's understandable that the developer wishes to make sure its audience will be pleased with their eventual trip into Night City. Hopefully, these delays have also gone some way to decreasing pressure on the developers themselves.

Cyberpunk 2077 will now launch November 19 on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Stadia.

After a long hard week covering press conferences and finalizing my review for The Last Us Part II, I figured I was ready to hunker down and enjoy the weekend: Activision had other plans.

Arriving at my doorstep was an unmarked 200 piece puzzle with embargo information. There was no guide, just the blank box and the puzzle.

Challenge accepted. My job can be so weird sometimes, even if we are no strangers to jigsaw puzzles here at Destructoid.

Pokemon Sword and Shield: Isle of Armor launched yesterday, and although the critical path storyline is only a few hours long, there's more ways you can spend your time in the new area.

Here are a few ideas you may not have thought of yet, beyond the obvious: catching more Pokemon!

[Update: NIS America has confirmed that Mad Rat Dead will launch in North America and Europe on October 30, with Australia and New Zealand to follow on November 6. The publisher also released a new English language trailer, which you can check out below.]


Nippon Ichi Software has revealed its mystery new title, Mad Rat Dead, a stylistic and frenzied rhythm-action adventure currently in development for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Mad Rat Dead is the morbid tale of a poorly-treated laboratory rodent who is on the brink of death, visited by the showy Rat God in his final hours. Our hero is granted one final day of opportunity to leave his glum cage and wreak vengeance upon those who consigned him to such a miserable life. And so, guided by the Rat God and... umm... his own sentient talking heart, Mad Rat sets out to earn back just a modicum of street justice.

While gameplay looks like your standard side-scrolling platformer, Mad Rat Dead is actually a rhythm-based title, with Mad Rat's movement and action designated by beat-based button presses. Think Crypt of the NecroDancer but from a platforming perspective. Keep a steady rhythm and make the right choices to guide yer boy through enemy territory, whacking baddies and dodging hazards en route to the cheese waiting at the end of each course. A funky, big-band-style soundtrack is provided courtesy of a string of artists including a_hisa, Kouichi Sakita, Dyes Iwasaki, and Camellia, among others.

There are entirely Too Many limited-time PC demos to try this week thanks to Steam's Game Festival, but one of 'em – The Wild at Heart – stood out to me as a longtime Pikmin fan who's wondering where the next game is and why more designers haven't tried to build on the herd-commanding subgenre.

If you're of a similar mind, you should play the demo before it bows out on June 22. It's adorable.

The Steam demo runs about 30 minutes long, and it's taken from the opening segment, so it's a bit on the tutorialized side – but not in a dull way. Wake, the 12-year-old protagonist, has run away from home and somehow stumbled into a magical forest that's teeming with monsters, commandable critters, a peculiar yet helpful order called the Greenshields, and an ancient encroaching darkness.

Wake can toss the Twiglings in a small arc and they'll bust up poisonous mushrooms, build bridges, and fend off monsters if they're in range. (The damage indicators are on-point.) He's also got a super-powered Gustbuster vacuum that he'll use to suck up scraps (for crafting and Twigling-revival purposes) and solve puzzles (like knocking down a tree to form a bridge over a stream). Luigi would be proud.

The Pikmin-inspired mechanics are very familiar – in a good way. And mistakes don't feel quite so tragic.

In a particularly groundbreaking moment for the medium of gaming, 11 bit studios' acclaimed release This War of Mine has been designated "recommended reading" by the Polish Educational System. Originally released back in 2014, This War of Mine deals with the besieged city of Pogoren, Graznavia, tasking players with the survival of a handful of citizens, huddled together beneath the chaos with meager food and supplies.

This new motion is the result of a campaign by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the country's Ministry of Education, who have determined that the award-winning game has brought significant value to Poland's cultural heritage. This War of Mine will now feature in a variety of school and college programs, and will feature in classes related to the human sciences: sociology, ethics, philosophy and history.

After Spider-Man: Miles Morales was revealed during the PS5 event, all sorts of confusing statements started to come to light. Wait, it wasn't a full sequel? Is it a DLC? Is it a standalone game? Well, we now have a more definitive answer.

Kicking off this new (seemingly impromptu) developer video, Insomniac's Brian Horton (creative director on Miles Morales) spells it out at the very beginning: "this is a standalone game." A PlayStation blog post echoes this statement, noting: "You’ll experience a full story arc with Miles, one that’s more akin to a game like Uncharted: The Lost Legacy in terms of overall scope." For reference, that game was roughly 10 hours long.

Further expanding on why Insomniac felt the need to bring this adventure to the PS5, they boast that it'll sport "near-instant loading, ray-tracing, 3D audio and the DualSense controller." Character models will now use "4D scans" that result in a visual overhaul, with "updated city assets."

Insomniac leaves things with a tease, saying that they "still have much of Peter's story left to tell," and that he is "OK." Given that he's in the below video seemingly teaching Miles the ropes, that much is clear. The timeline for Miles' story is also confirmed: it's "a year after the events of the first game," dealing with "a war between an energy corporation and a high-tech criminal army."

Now that The Last of Us Part II is finally out, folks are diving in and might run across a puzzle or two that stumps them.

So, we decided to make a set of spoiler-free guides. Read on for the thrift store safe solution!

If you fancy getting away to Ancient Egypt for a spell, then you're in luck, as Ubisoft is letting Uplay users check out 2017's open-world adventure Assassin's Creed Origins for free all weekend.

If you have Uplay installed on your PC, then all you need do is download the game from the store, and then you can enjoy all of the pyramid-climbing, neck-stabbing action that this, the 10th installment in the storied franchise, has to offer. The free-to-play period begins tomorrow, June 19, and will run until Sunday, June 21.

It has been several months since Onion Games has uttered a peep about the localization process for Moon, its upcoming Switch port of Japan-only Moon: Remix RPG. Back in September, it said it'd be a quick turnaround, but in December, studio head Yoshiro Kimura did an about-face on a quick release, saying it would take more time than expected. After that, it was radio silence from the developer on the localization process.

Now, Kimura is ready to talk about the game once more. In a blog post, he explained the localization of the title is in the last stage of debugging. The COVID-19 epidemic has not been kind to the process, but the team was able to finish the first draft of the English script a while ago.

However, according to Kimura:

Moon is full of so many subtleties in the characters, their strange personalities, and idiosyncratic ways of communicating. We wanted to do even more testing than usual to make sure all of that came through clearly, felt special, and guided you properly through its world.

The blog post goes on to say the game has entered another round of debugging and that the end is in sight. While it doesn't give a target release date, there's no doubt we're closer now than we've ever been before to getting this curious title into our hands for the first time.

As Summer Approaches, Another Update On Moon [Onion Games]

Now that The Last of Us Part II is finally out, folks are diving in and might run across a puzzle or two that stumps them.

So, we decided to make a set of spoiler-free guides. Read on for the grocery store safe solution! (NSFW language on an in-game note below).

[Extremely John Mayer voice] Fathers, be good to your daughters. Daughters unite as a crew. Girls become warriors who kill all the monsters. So mothers, be good to your daughters too.

In February, Jordan introduced us to Othercide -- the horror tactics RPG with a neo-noir look. There's a lot to like about that description even if it sounds like it's biting off a lot. Here's the official wording from publisher Focus Home Interactive: "The Daughters, echoes of the greatest warrior to ever live, are all who stand before the Suffering -- dread creatures made from humanity's worst sins. Lead your army of Daughters in turn-based battles, shape their abilities and personalities, and if you must, sacrifice one to save another. Those who survive will become stronger, ready to fight again."

If you're intrigued, you won't have to wait a whole lot longer to see it in action. Othercide launches on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on July 28. The Switch version is coming sometime later in the summer.

As for the launch date trailer, we're given quick cuts of combat, but it's mostly to show off the stylish flow of fighting. The tactics chops aren't conveyed at all -- and that's something that's very tough to do in a trailer -- so we don't actually know how it'll play. The heart of a tactics game is in making the player feel like they masterminded all the strategy. We'll need hands-on to see if Othercide can live up to the big names in the genre.

Well howdy partners! Ole Mike here, and I am back with another giveaway for a game that I think is pretty darn neato. Colt Canyon is the title in question, and I think it's quite the banger. It's a top down, wild west, roguelite-ish blast. Punchy shooting, good movement (and a blessed dodge roll), and a surprising amount of blood loss. Never been great with words (it's why I don't review stuff!), so let's look at the video, and then read from the official page: 

Dear Diary, it is only Day 7 of The Summer of Endless E3 but I fear it may never end. Stops are continually added on this perpetual march, seemingly quicker than the events themselves take place. Like a hydra, cutting off one head causes two more to spring up. Summer technically ends with the autumnal equinox in late September, but there's very real concern that E3 will persist anyway. I grow weary.

Here's another one for the calendar:

The gargantuan roster of Bandai Namco's anime brawler One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is set to grow and grow. As revealed by the latest issue of Japanese magazine V-Jump, the latest character joining the DLC queue is the Commander of the Germa 66 himself, Vinsmoke Judge.

A towering and imposing figure, Vinsmoke Judge is the leader of the powerful Vinsmoke Family, rulers of the Germa Kingdom and conquerors of the North Blue. Obsessed with status and command, there are no lengths that Judge will not go to in ensuring the top-of-the-food-chain nature of his kin. This including teaming with the most dastardly villains in the One Piece universe, and even mutating his own children in order to make them strong fighters.

There are no trailers or screenshots of Vinsmoke Judge in-game as of yet, but we do know that he will keep his enemies at bay with long-ranged spear attacks. Judge is the third character to be revealed for the One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 character pass, and joins the previously revealed Charlotte Smoothie and Charlotte Cracker.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 DLC character Vinsmoke Judge [Gematsu / Ryokutya2089]

I don't cover a ton of regular gaming news, so if you see my name in the article you can just assume it's going to be in the running for Greatest Game Ever. I have an eye for this sort of thing.

At 33 years old, Say No! More is exactly the kind of game I need in my life. And as mentioned in the headline, I need it now.

Pokemon Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor expansion is out today, and it ushers in a few new features for this particular generation.

In what is probably the most superfluous addition, you can now walk side-by-side with your lead Pokemon while out and about. Here's how to enable it and manage it.

A new promotional picture for the PlayStation 5 shows what both models look like when they're placed horizontally. We already saw the PS5 Digital Edition on its side, but the standard disc-drive-having model? Let's just say the rampant memes aren't about to slow down. The big boy looks better upright.

New official #PlayStation5 image shows both console versions placed horizontallyhttps://t.co/p8gFdEqgOP pic.twitter.com/f5aOnnIxci

— Nibel (@Nibellion) June 17, 2020

The longer I look at this comparison, the more I feel like I'm gazing into an optical illusion. I'm sure most of you caught it, but it's interesting to note that the PS5 uses a stand vertically and horizontally.

I'm undecided on whether I'll end up getting the pricier standard PlayStation 5 or the Digital Edition console – I couldn't tell you the last PS4 game I played from a disc – but right now, I'm fixated on one question: where will this thing go? I might have to sneak it behind my TV next to my Switch.

While there were plenty of exciting titles showcased in the PS5: Future of Gaming presentation, one game which really seemed to strike a chord with viewers was Bugsnax, the latest project from Octodad developer Young Horses. While people were definitely hooked by the trailer's odd characters and catchy theme song, many were left wondering what kind of game Bugsnax actually is.

Fortunately, studio President Philip Tibitoski has offered a little more info about the delightful-looking title. Speaking in an interview with US Gamer, Tibitoski revealed that Bugsnax is a first-person adventure set on the tropical paradise that is Snaktooth Island. Players will step into the role of a journalist who travels to the island at the behest of explorer Elizabert Megafig, and therein begins the sweet-tasting adventure.

Guerrilla Games pulled the curtain back a little further on Horizon Forbidden West after last week's reveal at the PS5 event. Let's get the big obvious one out of the way first: Horizon Forbidden West isn't a PS5 launch title in late 2020. Instead, Guerrilla says it's coming in 2021.

But there's a lot more in the way of interesting details in this quick developer video. For instance, director Mathijs de Jonge explains that the world is "a bit bigger" than Horizon Zero Dawn but that there are "virtually no loading screens." The PS5's SSD means that fast-traveling across the map will be almost instantaneous.

There's also a vague overview of the overarching conflict. A hostile tribe has found a way "to override machines and use them as beasts of war in combat." At the same time, there's a red blight that's killing the land and collapsing the biosphere, which is also causing massive and volatile storms. Everything in this game is very dangerous!

I've mostly summed up everything in the video, but you should watch it for yourself just to get a glimpse at all the mecha-creatures. I can't get enough of these things, especially the chunky moss turtle.

Mortal Kombat 11 players who held off on picking up recent DLC expansion Aftermath can now purchase its three new characters separately. Wind God Fujin, Shokan Queen Sheeva, and Old Detroit's own RoboCop are now available to download individually for around $6 each.

Last month, Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath bundled these characters alongside a two-hour story epilogue back in May for a $40 price-tag. Given that the bill for all three new fighters will set you back a total of $18, that's less than half the price of the entire expansion for the three new roster additions.

While it's still relatively early days, all three newcomers have proven themselves hardy in kombat. Sheeva is a terrifying force in close proximity, while RoboCop is conversely a problem at long-range. Fujin - though complex - has a great mix of attacks from seemingly all directions. Check out our finisher guides for Fujin, Sheeva, and RoboCop if you want to break some bones and spill some claret in style.

Mortal Kombat 11 is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

It'd be disingenuous to say PUBG is getting C4 today. Since its launch in January, the ultra-small Karakin map has had "sticky bombs" littered all around it. They're meant for breaching walls, but enterprising players will chuck them at others with hopes that the extremely small blast radius will cause some damage.

But, PUBG is getting a different spin on C4 today, one that's a lot more powerful and a lot more latent. PUBG's 7.3 update adds C4 to all the non-Karakin maps (Erangel, Miramar, Sanhok, and Vikendi) as a throwable explosive that takes 16 seconds to detonate. Unlike real C4, there's no way to detonate on cue. It's just 16 seconds of ever-increasing beeping until everything in close proximity gets blasted to bits.

It sounds like you'd have to be geriatric to get hit with C4. Well, that's not necessarily the point. It's more of a tool for flushing other players out of cover. The blast radius is 25-meters wide and the explosions penetrate cover. If someone throws C4 in your vicinity, you need to move. If you're so pinned down that C4 kills you, you were trapped between a rock and a hard place (or between a bomb and a bullet).

Besides these revamped extremely lethal frag grenades, PUBG overhauled the way vehicle damage works. Now, vehicles take full damage on shots to the engine area, but only 75 percent damage on the body and 50 percent damage on the roof. Also, there's more of a grace period between a vehicle catching on fire and when it explodes. It'll now blow up after 5 seconds. Lotta stuff blowing up in this update!

The PUBG site has the full list of 7.3 changes if you're so inclined. You should have plenty of time to read if while waiting for the C4 to detonate.

Today alongside of some other Pokemon announcements and launches, Pokemon Home just got a minor update that fixes a rather major bug.

For weeks Home users have been annoyed by what Game Freak calls "impossible search conditions," that allowed players to create fake potential trades that could never happen. Whether through folly or deliberate trolling, the online system could be a pain at any given time. That changes today.

Thanks to update 1.2.0, Home now prohibits those conditions, on top of support for today's Isle of Armor expansion, better box labeling and "various other fixes." Progress! Hopefully they'll stay on top of Home as more and more inevitable bugs from the two expansions arise.

The new season is now live in Ubisoft's tense multiplayer shooter Rainbow Six Siege. Operation Steel Wave brings with it two new operators, a classic map rework, and several small but significant additions to the floor-bustin', flash-bangin' action.

Joining the roster of highly skilled, highly deadly operators are new Norwegian Attacker Ace, whose SELMA Breacher is set to make quick work of barricades, walls, and shields, while joining the Defenders is South African tracker Melusi, whose Banshee Sonic Defense device has been causing nightmares on the PTR for weeks. You can find out more about these characters in our previous breakdown right here.

For several years now, Nintendo fans have clamored for an upgrade for the mostly underwhelming My Nintendo program.

Right now the system heavily focuses on discounts and offers for old Wii U and 3DS games, all of which are digital-only. But most of you probably remember the olden days of Club Nintendo, where physical rewards were flowing freely, and folks couldn't stop singing its praises. Just yesterday the publisher implemented a few of those golden age rewards, which sold out instantly.

Following a tweet from Nintendo of Europe that the My Nintendo store was stocking exclusive Hanafuda card packs and postcards for "400 Platinum Points plus shipping," everyone was whipped into a frenzy: several hours later, they sold out. That includes all three sets: the Mario black and red SKUs and the "President Hanafuda" pack.

While this post won't do you much good if you're looking to buy the packs right now, Nintendo could always restock them, so consider this a prescient PSA. Also, I think it's important for Nintendo to know that these sort of promotions are on our collective wish lists: especially for other regions!

Hanafuda and Playing Card Sets [Nintendo]

I'm one of many fans super-excited for Hollow Knight: Silksong. And although Team Cherry has been very quiet so far this non-E3 season, that hasn't stopped the developers from whetting people's appetites with the reveal of crunchy new bugs.

As reported by Rock, Paper, Shotgun, fans on the Hollow Knight Discord server were tasked with solving a series of riddles, which led to the reveal of the password "Huntress," which in turn unlocked a folder containing a small .gif file. The .gif in question features the debut appearance of a new NPC, a polite but somewhat threatening mother, looking for sustenance to feed her young. The following text accompanied said clip:

"A towering old predator, awaiting her children to come. Though her attention is fixed on her task, she seems to know much about the waning state of Pharloom, scorning the Citadel above and the hapless pilgrims that make their ascent towards it... 'Ssssppiiiderr, Your ssstench is strange yet similar… Have you come bearing the organs of others? Or would you offer your own? Gift your sshell’s warm insidess as ssweet feast for my brood'sss birth-meal?'"

Yikes! Get outta there, Hornet, ilu!

When Star Wars: Squadrons was announced, it felt like more of an extended tease. Only cinematics were shown, details were scarce and more info was promised "later in the year" in addition to gameplay at the upcoming EA Play event this week. But buried in all that bluster was Ian S. Frazier, creative director on the game, who took to Twitter to cautiously answer fan questions.

I say "cautiously" as Frazier still can't talk about Squadrons openly yet, but after "double checking," was able to confirm that the game will support "full HOTAS rigs with a throttle." For those of you who are unaware or otherwise haven't sprung for an all-out flight simulator setup, HOTAS stands for "hands on throttle-and-stick," and in the context of gaming, is meant to replicate the feeling of flying a real plane.

At the moment, PC HOTAS support is a given, but the jury is out on consoles. Frazier notes that further info on HOTAS plans will come later. For now, you can take solace knowing that your rig will work with VR, with cross-play support. On paper, that sounds pretty sweet.

Ian Frazier [Twitter]