Eurogamer

A demo for upcoming action RPG Granblue Fantasy: Relink is now available on PlayStation 4 and 5.

The demo allows players to try out three different modes. Story mode includes a "small slice" of the main story, while quest mode lets players complete a "sampling" of three quests. These quests can be played solo or through online co-op with up to three other players.

There are 11 characters to choose from in quest mode, and there's a tutorial mode which introduces players to the basic controls.

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Sand Land, the upcoming game based on Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's manga, will release on 26th April across PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Sand Land, for those unaware, is set in a post-apocalyptic desert world where water is in short supply for everyone. Yes, demons and humans. Obviously, something needs to be done about that, and so a rag-tag team sets off in search of the Legendary Spring to bring an end to this thirst.

Sand Land was first announced last year at Summer Games Fest, where we got a look at its arid setting and gorgeous art style. You can see it again now thanks to its new release date trailer, below.

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The cat's out of the bag. No, really. It is. Konami and Limited Run Games are bringing retro classics Felix the Cat and Rocket Knight Adventures back for the modern age.

The upcoming Felix the Cat release will include the feline's NES title and Game Boy title. Both games will come with a range of new features and "quality of life fixes" for today's gaming enjoyment.

This release will be available physically for those with either a PlayStation console (it is coming to both 4 and 5) or a Nintendo Switch. Konami is handling the digital side of things, and is yet to announce a release date.

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Capcom has rolled back a recent update to 11-year-old game Resident Evil Revelations which added a DRM called Enigma Protector.

The DRM was noticed after Steam players began reporting errors when launching Revelations last week, including a reduced and unstable framerate, as well as broken mods.

Steam users review bombed Revelations with complaints about Enigma, which prompted Capcom to roll back the game on 9th January (which can be seen on its history via SteamDB).

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I think I first heard the term memory tax when I was writing about chess. In chess, at the really great levels of play, memory tax is a huge part of what you're dealing with. You don't just have to remember what a bishop does and how castling works - I hate castling. You have to remember whole openings and end-games, and remember how to counter this kind of move, and where that will leave you, and how to regain tempo. Lots of memory tax is chess!

Often these days, though, I find myself thinking about it in all kinds of games. And this point is worth restating up front: when you're reviewing a game you play it in a very different way to how you might play it if you were playing it purely for fun. The biggest difference is focus. If I'm reviewing a game, I plough through it and I don't leave huge gaps between putting it down and picking it up again.

If I'm playing something for fun, though? Oh boy. I might put a game down for a month before returning to it. Six months. A year. And this is where memory tax comes in. It's the eternal question for this particular middle-aged player of games: where was I?

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Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has admitted the Amazon-owned streaming platform isn't profitable.

Clancy led a Q&A stream on Twitch following the news earlier this week the company is laying off over 500 members of staff, equating to around 35 percent of its workforce.

"We've implied this before where we say we need to run it sustainably," said Clancy, "but I'll be blunt: we aren't profitable at this point."

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There's something about a magic door. Who could resist them? I can't. I don't know anyone who can.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a lot of things. It's the latest game in a beloved series whose lineage stretches all the way back to the glory days of home computing. It's a metroidvania so beautifully put together it almost feels like a Plantonic example of the form. It's a promising sign that Ubisoft is starting to let a series' soul dictate the ultimate structure of a game, rather than pouring its molten life into the same open-world mould. And it's a game that really knows the value and impact of a magic door.

To wit: I'm in a kind of hub area, done up like a breezy Persian marketplace. There are people nearby I can talk to for various kinds of upgrades and trinkets, for a bit of training on the nuances of combat, and even for a bit of story background. But there's also this wall, and when I walk past the wall, a shape emerges, warmly picked out in gold. It looks like a door, but it's a door that would take me deeper into the world, into its third dimension, and this game is largely a 2D side-scrolling affair. Is it a door? Is it just a quirk of the lighting? What's going on here?

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Ubisoft will fix a small amount of text-to-speech generated dialogue in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown as part of a future update.

The upcoming 2.5D Metroidvania game features the regular human-voiced cast you'd expect, bar one character: a tree spirit named Kalux. Kalux only has a small handful of lines throughout the game, but these have been left with work-in-progress generated dialogue.

Ubisoft has said it plans to add human-recorded dialogue at a later date.

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Golden Sun and its sequel Golden Sun: The Lost Age are coming to Switch next week.

Both games will be added to the Game Boy Advance library on Nintendo Switch Online on 17th January. Note the Expansion Pack subscription is required.

The Golden Sun series of RPGs was developed by Camelot, otherwise known for its work on the Mario sports games.

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Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week: dice, Bond, and trains.

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

I'd forgotten how much I like this game. Sometimes time away can do that, can't it, reinforce our feelings about a game? I suppose if you feel strongly about it weeks or months later then you really do like it. You weren't just caught up in the moment.

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In a move that feels a little like being catapulted back in time several decades, Ubisoft has released a free playable Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown demo - for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC - ahead of the game's full launch next week.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown revives Ubisoft's shamefully long-dormant action-platforming series for a new generation - a new generation that wouldn't even have been born when the last game came out in 2008, thanks to Ubisoft's dallying - this time sending the prince's protector Sargon on a Metroidvania-style quest packed with side-scrolling combat and platform action.

Early word on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - which has been developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, the studio behind the wonderful Rayman Legends and Origins - is reassuringly positive, with Digital Foundry's John Linneman calling it a "supremely polished, ultra smooth game that perfectly leverages every platform it has shipped on."

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Well here's one way of getting yourself some free publicity: casually announce your product will be releasing alongside Switch 2 this "September" so everyone excitedly thinks you might have just accidentally splurged Nintendo's big secret, then, when you're confronted about it, give a little shrug and admit you were just "guessing".

That's pretty much what happened today when audio company Altec Lansing shared a press release unveiling a partnership with GameShark (now AI Shark) that'll see it release a new AI-powered GameShark successor - an announcement casually tossing in the sentence, "The official launch is planned to coincide with the Nintendo Switch 2 in September 2024."

Unsurprisingly, Nintendo fans desperate for Switch 2 news following persistent reports the console is launching this year (hello, I am one of these people) immediately began to wonder if Altec Lansing - not a small company by any stretch of the imagination - might have just inadvertently shared some highly confidential information they shouldn't have.

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In a week that's already seen Unity and Twitch announce signifiant job cuts, Discord has reportedly told staff it'll be laying off around 170 employees - approximately 17 percent of its workforce - as it seeks to "sharpen our focus and... bring more agility to our organisation."

As reported by The Verge, employees at Discord were informed of the job cuts today by CEO Jason Citron in an all-hands meeting and accompanying internal email.

"Today we are making the unfortunate and difficult decision to reduce the size of Discord's workforce by 17 percent," Citron wrote in the email shared by The Verge. "This means we are saying goodbye to 170 of our talented colleagues. This is a decision we did not take lightly, but it is one that we have conviction in to better serve our users, our business and our mission over the long term."

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What with the launch of couch co-op, Adventures mode and a variety of other free content updates, a Switch version, a new engine, two paid expansions (including an Among Us collaboration), plus news of an animated TV adaptation, 2023 was a busy year for Vampire Survivors. However, creator Poncle isn't done yet, and it's now share a revised development roadmap (of sorts) for its perennially vampire-free minimalist survival RPG, which includes an update on cross-saves and a potential online co-op mode.

All this comes in a new goodbye 2023/hello 2024 post shared over on Steam, which begins with a recap of the year just gone and a thanks to players before moving onto matters in Vampires Survivors' near and not-so-near future.

That includes a word on the progress of online co-op support for the game, which Poncle confirmed it was "investigating" back in September last year. A little over three months on and the studio says it's "still investigating" the feature, explaining that to "retro-fit online multiplayer in a game as simple as this, but with so much content, is still a huge challenge."

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If you're big of years but small of shelf space, you might be interested in the newly announced 400 Mini, an officially licensed scaled-down version of Atari's four-and-a-half decade old home computer, the Atari 400, which launches on 28th March this year.

Created by Retro Games Ltd - the company previously responsible for the C64 Mini and Amiga 500 Mini - the 400 Mini sports a similar design to Atari's 1979 8-bit computer (albeit approximately half the size) but can do a little more beyond its inspiration.

As per Retro Games' announcement, the 400 Mini (styled THE400 Mini) doesn't just emulate the Atari 400 hardware, it's also emulates the entire 8-bit Atari range, including the 400's pricier sibling the Atari 800, plus the XL and XE series, and the 5200 home console.

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Actress Isabela Merced will play Dina in The Last of Us Season 2.

The show describes Dina's character as "a free-wheeling spirit whose devotion to Ellie will be tested by the brutality of the world they inhabit."

"Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable," said series co-creators and executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann in a statement following news of Merced's casting.

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With Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, UbiSoft has completely eschewed its typical open world formula, instead choosing to narrow its focus building a side-scrolling, exploration-driven platform game - and it might just by my favorite thing the publisher has released in the last ten years. The Lost Crown is not pushing cutting-edge visuals, instead focusing on delivering a supremely polished, ultra smooth game that perfectly leverages every platform it has shipped on. That's right, no matter which platform you might choose to play this game on, you can expect something special.

The Lost Crown begins a new chapter in the storied history of Prince of Persia - and for UbiSoft Montpellier, the studio behind the game. Montpellier was previously responsible for the creation of Rayman Origins and Legends over a decade ago and I've awaited their return in the platforming space for quite a while. The Lost Crown does not disappoint. Compared to Rayman, the team has shifted towards a search/action design that tasks you with exploring a colossal, interconnected map while gaining abilities necessary to further your progress. Yes, there are passing resemblances to Metroid and indeed 'Vania - a genre that has perhaps worn out its welcome in recent years - and I was skeptical going in but in time, I became hooked.

Platforming ramps up beautifully with players asked to navigate increasingly intricate rooms and puzzles using a mix of jumps, dashes, wall runs and more. Just running through the world is a joy. Combat too, which is primarily melee based, is fast-paced and challenging - playing as Sargon, a warrior sworn to protect the Prince of Persia, enemies can wipe you out faster than you'd expect. You'll need to know how to evade and parry if you want to survive - the extra stakes keep you on your toes.

Paramount has released a new trailer for its Halo TV adaptation, as we approach the start date for season two.

The story picks up where the first season left off. Here's the official blurb for season two: "Master Chief John-117 leads his team of elite Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant. As humanity's best hope for winning the war, John-117 discovers his deep connection to a mysterious alien structure that holds the key to humankind's salvation, or its destruction - the Halo."

Take a look at the trailer embedded below.

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Remember last year, when The Last of Us composer Gustavo Santaolalla first suggested a new version of Part 2 was on the horizon? He said players would be able to make his in-game character "play certain themes" during the then-unannounced remastered's release.

Now, we have a closer look at just what Santaolalla was talking about, thanks to a new marketing beat for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered.

Santaolalla's cameo will actually be part of the game's Guitar Free Play mode. Although, rather than playing the guitar as we have seen Joel doing in promo shots for the upcoming release, he will play the banjo.

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Hitman: Blood Money - Reprisal will launch on Nintendo Switch in two weeks time, on 25th January.

This release will be a souped up version of IOI's 2006 title Hitman: Blood Money. It promises a host of improvements across 12 "highly-replayable" missions, including new features such as Instinct Mode, an ever-present minimap, and an array of gameplay improvements inspired by later games in IOI's Hitman series. Of course, outfit changes and using as many different weapons and/or methods as you can is fully encouraged.

Here is a little trailer for it all, showing off some shenanigans across the globe. While I have no interest in becoming an assassin myself, I am rather jealous of Agent 47's travel opportunities.

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Developer Core Engage and publisher Daedalic Entertainment have shared a gameplay overview of upcoming city builder New Cycle ahead of its release into early access next week.

New Cycle is described as dieselpunk by Core Engage, as the player is tasked with rebuilding society following a "global catastrophe" caused by solar flares. Settlements begin as very basic and players must progress into industrialisation, then capitalism, all whilst tackling the challenges thrown at them by the environment.

The gameplay overview takes us through each of these stages briefly, showing the transformation from a small hunter-gatherer settlement, to a larger industrial town with electricity and factories, before expanding and building a railway to enable trade and tourism.

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Pokémon Go's next major in-game event will add a pair of powerful and game-changing new abilities you'll need to obtain special creatures to use.

Pokémon Go Tour: Sinnoh will debut Origin Forme Dialga and Palkia from 2022's Pokémon Legends Arceus - ancient versions of the Legendary creatures from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (the appearance of which is not a surprise, as they were first revealed a little earlier than planned last year).

Befitting their powerful status and space-time warping properties, the pair will debut a new feature for Pokémon Go named Adventure Effects. These are gameplay-changing abilities unlocked by interacting with the creature itself that can also be boosted further using in-game resources.

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Nintendo has shed light on the new features available in its Mario vs. Donkey remake for Switch.

The game was announced in September as an 'updated' version of the original Game Boy Advance title. At the time, Nintendo didn't say much else about the re-release, but did say multiplayer will be added.

The new trailer reveals multiplayer will come in the form of local co-op, and it looks like a second player will get to control Toad. Take a look at what's in store for Mario in the trailer below.

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Diablo 4's next season is now confirmed to go live later this month, despite Blizzard so far providing us all with very little detail on what it will actually contain.

Season of Blood - the game's current season - is set to come to a close soon, with the next season then starting up on 23rd January. So, in just under two weeks.

While Blizzard itself has not 'announced' this date at the time of writing, a message has been spotted in Diablo 4 itself proclaiming it to be so. As you can see in the image below, when players boot up the game, they are met with a notice on the character selection screen that reads: "Season 3. Next season begins January 23, 2024".

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We're gearing up to record another episode of Supporter podcast Inside Eurogamer tomorrow (Friday 12th), and I wondered if you had any questions for us?

Specifically, the "us" is deputy news editor Ed Nightingale, features editor Christian Donlan, and me. And we'll be talking primarily about our exciting feature plans for the year ahead, which will be led by Ed in January with a big piece he's working on.

We'll talk about those plans in more detail anyway, but perhaps there's something else you'd like to know. What are the plans for Supporters this year, maybe, or what pyjamas did Bertie get for Christmas? Maybe there's something about our gaming ambitions for 2024 you'd like to know. Or it could be something about how the site works.

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An unsettling AI-powered hologram of Nintendo mascot Mario at the Consumer Electronics Show 2024 event in Las Vegas was unlicensed and unofficial, the company behind the technology has now admitted.

The odd-looking and robotic-sounding Mario was the work of Proto Hologram, a company that creates holograms held within large box-like structures that you can talk to and interact with.

More bizarre still, the Mario hologram was supposed to be a collaboration with the AARP, an American advocacy group for people over the age of 50 - apparently to demonstrate how AI holograms could combat loneliness in the elderly. But with Mario? And more to the point - with a poorly-voiced, dead-eyed broken 3D model of Mario?

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Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis. There are some great Indiana Jones titles out there. There is also Dial of Destiny, but this is not the time or place to discuss that particular release.

Now, the internet thinks it has worked out the title of MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones game. And it is... Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

This assumption comes from social media user @Kurakasis, who shared their discovery on X last night. The user revealed that Lucasfilm has been registering a number of domain names that are variations on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle over recent days.

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A new model of the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller with improved battery life has been spotted on a retailer website.

The V2 version of the controller is currently listed on Best Buy Canada at $89.99 and while its features are almost identical to that of the regular DualSense, there are a couple of notable differences.

The V2 DualSense will have an "exceptional 12-hour battery life, on a full charge" according to the Best Buy listing, and also includes the DualSense charging station (which usually must be bought separately).

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This time last year, we shared our gaming ambitions for 2023. We looked at the road ahead, seemingly endless before us, and dreamed big. There seemed to be nothing we couldn't do. Then a year went by and here we are. Here we are again.

So, how did we do? Did anyone manage to achieve their ambitions from 2023? This is our confessional. It's also an invitation to do it all over again, and to join us as we dream ahead and lay out our gaming ambitions for 2024. What will you do this year?

Last year I said I'd run a role-playing game, a tabletop role-playing game, and I failed. I didn't manage to do it. But it wasn't a complete failure. I spent more time playing Dungeons & Dragons than any other game last year, and my partner did actually run her first D&D campaign, so technically I did, I suppose? Can you give me that?

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Nintendo's shares have hit a record high as expectations around Switch 2 continue to grow, and amid speculation Saudi Arabia is set to further invest in Japanese video game stock.

That's according to Nikkei Asia (thanks VGC), which reports shares of Nintendo temporarily hit a record 7,902 today on Japan's Nikkei stock index - up 5% from yesterday - pushing its market capitalisation over 10 trillion yen ($69bn) for the first time since November 2007.

The publication notes the reason behind the recent surge in Nintendo's share price is two-fold. Firstly, growth expectations for the company are high in general, thanks to the success of its intellectual property related business, which recently announced a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, alongside the expected launch of Switch 2.

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Nintendo's shares have hit a record high as expectations around Switch 2 continue to grow, and amid speculation Saudi Arabia is set to further invest in Japanese video game stock.

That's according to Nikkei Asia (thanks VGC), which reports shares of Nintendo temporarily hit a record 7,902 today on Japan's Nikkei stock index - up 5% from yesterday - pushing its market capitalisation over 10 trillion yen ($69bn) for the first time since November 2007.

The publication notes the reason behind the recent surge in Nintendo's share price is two-fold. Firstly, growth expectations for the company are high in general, thanks to the success of its intellectual property related business, which recently announced a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, alongside the expected launch of Switch 2.

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UPDATE 17/01/24: Following an earlier slip on the EA App, The Sims 4 team has officially confirmed that its Castle Estate Kit is indeed on the way. In fact, it is available from tomorrow, 18th January (so not October 2099, you'll be pleased to hear).

In addition, the game's Goth Galore Kits will also be available from tomorrow across platforms. 'Oh my goth!', and all that.

"Say hello to contemporary goth fashions inspired by mesh, leather and that signature moody makeup," The Sims 4 team proclaimed. "Elevate everyday goth outfits with platform shoes, and sleek silhouettes embellished with belts, buckles and straps, perfect for the gloomiest of days and any occasion where your Sim wants to stand out."

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Cast your mind back to May last year and you might remember EA canvassing The Sims 4 players to see if they'd prefer to see the game receive a Medieval Castle or High Tech Futurism themed building pack at some nebulous future point. Well, Medieval Castle (wrongly) won the vote, and some eight months later it looks like the DLC is ready for an imminent release.

That's according to a presumably premature reveal on the EA App (thanks SimsCommunity), which provides full details and screenshots of the The Sims 4 Castle Estate Kit, as the new DLC is officially known. It also offers up a release date of 15th October, 2099 - which is almost definitely a placeholder, unless EA really is in it for the long haul where The Sims 4 is concerned.

Weird date aside, everything else in the listing looks accurate. Alongside two screenshots featuring the new DLC pack's various building bits in action, we get some blurb explaining the Castle Estate Kit will enable The Sims 4 players to "capture the classic grandeur of a castle".

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With the launch of last year's Forza Motorsport - and an initial flurry of patches and fixes - behind it, developer Turn 10 Studios has confirmed its next steps for the racer will be to address three key community concerns over the "coming months".

"While we have been heads down adding cars, tracks, patches, and other improvements," the studio wrote in the first of a series of planned quarterly development updates on its website, "we want to acknowledge the top three areas of feedback we haven't addressed directly".

Those areas, specifically, are driver AI, car progression, and race regulations, and it sounds like fixing AI issues - which, as per Turn 10's update, include "abruptly braking and slowing down; not accelerating out of exits, braking too hard on mild corners, and following racing lines too strictly" - is first on its to-do list.

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With the launch of last year's Forza Motorsport - and an initial flurry of patches and fixes - behind it, developer Turn 10 Studios has confirmed its next steps for the racer will be to address three key community concerns over the "coming months".

"While we have been heads down adding cars, tracks, patches, and other improvements," the studio wrote in the first of a series of planned quarterly development updates on its website, "we want to acknowledge the top three areas of feedback we haven't addressed directly".

Those areas, specifically, are driver AI, car progression, and race regulations, and it sounds like fixing AI issues - which, as per Turn 10's update, include "abruptly braking and slowing down; not accelerating out of exits, braking too hard on mild corners, and following racing lines too strictly" - is first on its to-do list.

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Mojang and developer Blackbird Interactive have officially brought development on Minecraft Legends to a end today with one final content update, wrapping up a little under nine months of post-launch support for the real-time strategy spin-off.

Releasing in May last year, Minecraft Legends unfortunately didn't especially impress, proving to be a decidedly average RTS that failed to do much to justify its use of the Minecraft licence. "It feels too overwhelming and poorly explained for kids," Eurogamer contributor Caelyn Ellis wrote in her review, "too rudimentary for older players and too frustrating for both. Minecraft is, at least for me, about creativity and experimentation, but there's no room for that here."

Still, Mojang and Blackbird Interactive have continued to support Minecraft Legends with a series of post-launch content updates since its arrival, but Mojang has now confirmed today's Snow vs. Snouts update - initially announced during last year's Minecraft Live event and originally planned to launch in December - will be its last.

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Mojang and developer Blackbird Interactive have officially brought development on Minecraft Legends to a end today with one final content update, wrapping up a little under nine months of post-launch support for the real-time strategy spin-off.

Releasing in May last year, Minecraft Legends unfortunately didn't especially impress, proving to be a decidedly average RTS that failed to do much to justify its use of the Minecraft licence. "It feels too overwhelming and poorly explained for kids," Eurogamer contributor Caelyn Ellis wrote in her review, "too rudimentary for older players and too frustrating for both. Minecraft is, at least for me, about creativity and experimentation, but there's no room for that here."

Still, Mojang and Blackbird Interactive have continued to support Minecraft Legends with a series of post-launch content updates since its arrival, but Mojang has now confirmed today's Snow vs. Snouts update - initially announced during last year's Minecraft Live event and originally planned to launch in December - will be its last.

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Young Mazino has joined the cast for the second season of HBO's The Last of Us adaptation.

The actor, known for his role as Paul Cho in Netflix series Beef, will play Jesse.

In the game, Jesse is a Jackson resident and a friend of Ellie's. The show's description calls Jesse "a pillar of his community who puts everyone else's needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost".

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Young Mazino has joined the cast for the second season of HBO's The Last of Us adaptation.

The actor, known for his role as Paul Cho in Netflix series Beef, will play Jesse.

In the game, Jesse is a Jackson resident and a friend of Ellie's. The show's description calls Jesse "a pillar of his community who puts everyone else's needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost".

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Another month means a fresh heap of additions to Sony's PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue for subscribers of its PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers, with January 2024's headliners including the Resident Evil 2 remake and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

From 16th January, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands will be available for both PS4 and PS5 (the PS4 version is also streamable), giving PlayStation Plus subscribers the chance to sample Gearbox's well-received tabletop RPG spin on its raucous shooter series. As for Capcom's Resident Evil 2 remake, also available for both PS4 and PS5, it gives the 1998 classic a thorough modernising with splashy new presentation and ample mechanical tweaks, and the results are sublime.

Elsewhere, there's an opportunity to revisit the PS4 version of the utterly wonderful LEGO City Undercover, developer TT Fusion's wildy imaginative and genuinely hilarious open-world take on the familiar Lego game formula, which plays out very much like a family friendly GTA.

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