Where can you find Tar Pits in Valheim? Tar is a new resource introduced in Valheim's Hearth & Home update. It's a versatile crafting resource that you'll need before you can make many of the update's new items, including Darkwood furniture and building materials, Raven and Wolf Adornments, and — last but never least — the hot tub.
A new Sea Of Thieves content update heralds the start of a new season today, encouraging pirates to plunge overboard and explore the beautiful halls and mysteries of the Sunken Kingdom. All sorts of coral-y PvE surprises await, with Shrines to quietly explore and Treasures to plunder by force. As beautiful as the game's water is from above, I'm very keen to see more from below.
Ever since Chorus first broke out of hyperspace during Microsoft's Xbox Series X showcase last year, Fishlabs' enigmatic space shooter has been a tricky thing to pin down. The first trailer gave us a taste of its high speed combat and third-person battles, but its deep, ominous narration, hints of a mysterious cosmic power, and that final image of a planet being sucked into a black hole almost looked like it was verging into horror territory rather than plain sci-fi. Having now played around an hour of Chorus, I can safely say it's very much a pure breed of space combat shooter, following in the same, adrenalin-fuelled vein as EVE: Valkyrie and Star Wars Squadrons.
Discord has started testing official YouTube integration, rolling out a new feature named Watch Together which, well, allows users watch YouTube vids together. It comes just a few weeks after Google's lawyers shut down several third-party Discord bots with a similar function. Watch Together has reportedly been enabled in a limited number of Discord servers for now, with plans to roll it out to everyone by the end of October.
Bandai Namco's first Tales Of game, Tales Of Phantasia, weighed in at a previously unheard of 48MB when it released in 1995. That's a mere wisp of data nowadays, but a veritable beast for a Super Famicom game cartridge. The cost of these high capacity carts, combined with westerners' ho-hum attitude towards RPGs at the time, likely axed any chance it had of being translated. Later Tales games have had better success in the west - 2003's Tales Of Symphonia was arguably its first breakout hit outside Japan - but the series as a whole has always seemed to exist on the fringes of the JRPG dynasty. While the Tales games certainly have a following outside Japan, western JRPG fans still tend to gravitate toward Square Enix's Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games, or Atlus' Persona series.
But the Tales series' low-key existence is seemingly coming to an end thanks to the recently released Tales Of Arise. With its bright, eye-catching visuals and its uniquely frantic battle system, it turns monster slaying from a chore into an addiction, and has won the hearts of many curious newcomers in the process (including yours truly). With this influx of new blood, Tales might stand a chance of grabbing a throne at the heart of the JRPG genre. I recently talked to Arise producer Yusuke Tomizawa, who worked hard to tailor the adventure for a new Tales audience as much as its established fans. He explains how Arise's development went down a long, risky road, but it paid off in excellent review scores, happy fans, and a refreshing new direction for Tales.
Puzzled about how to open the Storehouse Door in Kena: Bridge Of Spirits? The smallest area of the game, the Storehouse, is also one of the more confusing and puzzle-dense areas of the world - and the confusion isn't helped by the fact that you've just been given a new power and must quickly learn how it works in order to get through the Storehouse in one piece.
Below we'll walk you through exactly how to activate the two Power Crystals and open the Storehouse Door in Kena: Bridge Of Spirits. You'll find both a written and a video walkthrough of the Storehouse puzzle below, so what are you waiting for? Let's dive in.
Splendid snowy survival sandbox The Long Dark will launch the much-anticipated fourth episode of its story campaign on the 6th of October, developers Hinterland Studio have announced. Named 'Fury, Then Silence', episode 4 of the 'Wintermute' campaign sees one of our protagonists captured by murderers sheltering from the strange superfreeze in a prison complex. Have a peek at that in the new trailer below.
If you've tried to play Apex Legends over the last week or so and noticed that things have been pretty slow, you're not alone. Since the game's Evolution Collection event launched last week, the battle royale and its servers have been struggling, and Respawn Entertainment have been tinkering away to try and sort it all out. Yesterday, they issued a patch to resolve a number of bugs and improve stability, but having played a few matches myself last night, it seems we're not out of the woods just yet.
While Valve haven't been overly secretive with the Steam Deck, there are still plenty of burning questions to ask about the upcoming handheld PC. For me, these are usually along the lines of “Will it slip into my big coat pockets as easily as the Switch does?” or “Will it survive my cat pushing it off literally any flat surface?” but the newly-launched Steam Deck FAQ covers enquiries of a generally more techy nature.
The dastardly multiplayer invasions of Deathloop are some murderous hijinks. But not everybody wants to see a player-controlled assassin with vicious human instincts pop up as they sneak through their time loop adventure. That's fine, say developers Arkane, you can simply switch to single player mode, which will replace player incursions with periodic visits from an NPC Julianna who is (let's be diplomatic) a less feisty opponent. I am here to ask, nay, beg: do not do this. Leave it in Online mode. Welcome malice, embrace pain, receive with warmth that sudden mortal stab in the back. You are strong and capable of overcoming such things. I'm not just giving you an ego boost here. As the tenacious Colt, the fight is fixed in your favour.
Fantasy sports management sim Blood Bowl 3 is delayed again, with the early access launch now pushed out of September and into the nebulous future. The official word is that after beta feedback, they realised yeah it wasn't ready. They say, "our teams are more committed than ever to make Blood Bowl 3 the most comprehensive and polished instalment in the series yet." Yeah go on, please do that.
Step on in and please don't mind the badly-labelled vials I've left lying about the shop. Potion Craft is now in early access with all its myserious brewing and haggling and alchemy-ing. I've been quite taken with the demos and playtests for this one so far, not least because it brings some spirit back to the act of crafting. It's out now in early access, during which Niceplay Games will be adding even more crafting options to toy with before its full launch.
As you might expect from a game set on a desert planet, Sable has a lot of sand. You traverse it on your floating motorbike as the titular character, a young woman who's part of a nomadic culture where adolescents leave home to complete their Gliding. During this gap year of sorts, the Glider does odd jobs and explores the world until they figure out what they want to be for the rest of their life. Sand is a feature. But as they say, sand is coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Each individual grain of sand is small, but a pinch of sand in your bed will change how you feel about your entire sleep experience.
Time-looping murder puzzle Deathloop sure seems like it's worth putting on repeat. For all the usual action romp reasons that Arkane are good with, but also for some of its sillier bits. Kicking baddies off ledges sounds like it's the real backbone of Deathloop's comedy. Colt has one damn powerful boot and, according to a new chat with Deathloop director Dinga Bakaba, it's all thanks to Arkane's choice to scrap most of their melee combat system. Here's why Colt traded arm day for leg day.
The legal battle between Epic Games and Apple continues as it seems that both are probably willing to cut the proverbial Fortnite baby in half. Earlier this month, the court ruled that Apple must allow third-party payment systems, which was apparently not enough for Epic, who decided to submit an appeal last week. Now, Apple have informed Epic that they will not be allowing Fortnite back into the App Store clubhouse until they've exhausted all their own avenues to appeal. Which means Fortnite could remain off the store for years yet, according to Epic.
Get In The Car, Loser! begins as all RPGs about young protagonists with magical powers do—just a lot more bluntly. The world is being threatened by the evil Machine Devil and the Machine Devil cultists, and apparently no one is going to save it if not your plucky party of heroes. So hop on in the back seat, you dork. Get In The Car, Loser!, a free game written by Christine Love of Ladykiller In A Bind fame, is now fueled up and headed out on its self-proclaimed "lesbian road trip RPG".
Lots of good sci-fi has made up languages, but I don't think many could claim their fictional languages were developed through song. Enter Jett: The Far Shore. It's an upcoming interstellar adventure made by Sword & Sworcery developers Superbrothers with Pine Scented Software, in which a team of scouts take off in their jetts to explore an uncharted planet. Better yet, it features its very own language that sound designer Priscilla Snow developed after finding meaning in the gibberish words she used to form the game's music.
While the initial plan was never to have their own in-game language, the Jett team now have a dictionary around 2000 words strong, and I had a chance to talk to them about how it all came to be.
Oh rejoice, a Sims 4 update that's all for me. Maxis have just dropped a free update which they say their art team totally took over by whipping up around 1200 new color swatches for 149 different Buy and Build Mode objects. There are tons of new window drape colors, new countertop swatches, wood furniture choices, and even plants. That is a lot of new color choices for a lot of items and oh boy I will probably use them all. Fellow builders, this one is for us.
Last time, you decided that fiddling with environmental objects (henceforth known as fiddlebits) is better than rocket jumping. A toughie there, no doubt; I thank you for your careful deliberation. Next up, we're settling an issue of whose hand shapes game, whether you're getting hands-on with your mens or having someone else lovingly handcraft the entire world for you. What's better: unit designers, or handcrafted art?
Want to know how to make and activate a Beacon in Minecraft? Beacons have two very important uses in Minecraft, as they give you status effects whilst also emitting a beam of light that can act as a waypoint marker to guide you and your friends home.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to make and use a Beacon in Minecraft, including how to get a Nether Star, which is one of the ingredients you will need.
Happy 10th anniversary Dark Souls! Here's to you, Sin the Slumbering Dragon. And to you, Crossbreed Priscilla. Chin-chin! Oi, not to you Ornstein, or to you, Smough. How did you even get in, anyway? This is an invitation only event for bosses who have cuttable tails.
There's a tinge of sadness to this celebration, though. Cuttable tails were all the rage back in the original Dark Souls but now they're lost to time, never to be seen again, just like the tails you cut off themselves. Although a part of me hopes that the cycle will renew (like the sort of tails that grow back after you cut them off). And just like skinny jeans are slowly going out of fashion in favour of the 90s wide leg, I'm hoping FromSoftware's bosses won't cling so closely to their tails in Elden Ring and maybe, just maybe, they'll let us lop them off again.
I went hands-on with roughly an hour's worth of Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy last week, and I have come away pleasantly surprised. I'll admit, I judged a book by its cover on this one, thinking it would be an action adventure game only Marvel stans with decades worth of MCU facts beamed into their brains could rally behind. But no, even I, who's watched precisely three Marvel films in the last ten years, had a lot of fun with it. Good fun, at that.
Mainly, I liked how the game's combat takes cues from JRPGs, of all things, cribbing off the likes of Final Fantasy XV and Tales Of Arise so your fellow guardians feel just as - if not more - important than yourself.
Today brings the autumn equinox and the start of the season where things, like, fall. It's a good season! I will always mourn the end of summer but I relish the brief window to hike through golden forests, swimming through shoals of leaves in rivers, cosy up around bonfires with cocoa, and break out the warm duvet again. But while we wait for the season to properly kick in, I'm curious: which autumns in video games do you enjoy? Yes, Halloween included.
If you play Valorant, you undoubtedly know one of those Jett players. The sort that will very un-tactfully launch all three of their smokes in a messy line so they can dash into or out of fights, bamboozling their teammates just as much as the enemy team. It should be a little harder for these speedy knife-slingers to perform such daft feats in the future, because Riot Games have taken away one of Jett's smokes, and they've nerfed her knives to boot.
Want to know how to spawn and defeat the Wither boss in Minecraft? The Wither is one of the most formidable enemies in Minecraft, and is one of only two boss mobs that can be encountered in the game.
If you’re ready to fight the terrifying monster then gear up and read on, as this guide will walk you through everything that you need to know to find and beat the Wither in Minecraft.
So, thought you’d take all your great Lordran chums out for a drink to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dark Souls, did you? Bad times, pal. Sure, they’ll take care of any everlasting dragons you happen to have hanging around on your lawn, but when it comes to a night on the bevvies, they might well be the sorriest bunch of cheapskates since Final Fantasy VIII’s GFs. Consider this your one and only warning before these fantasy grifters clear you out for the month.
New Arkane Studios sneak-o-shooter Deathloop is a good'un, but the PC launch was marred by technical problems which caused the framerate to stutter for many players. One week later, they've put out a patch which should fix the stuttering for many folks playing with a mouse. However, you might not find the game hunky-dory now, as they say they're still investigating another potential stutterorama. Always tricky when multiple issues create similar-looking outcomes.
I spend roughly 90% of my free time watching what the YouTube algorithm offers me. I've not been radicalised yet, although I do now refer to any shopping I buy as a "haul" and end all my conversations by thanking Skillshare.
To my surprise, the algorithm has recently started throwing indie games my way. Hero's Hour is among the most interesting it's shown me: a strategy RPG in which you construct armies of pixelated fantasy beasts who then have automated battles.
Phoenix Point's fourth DLC is due on October 1st. Corrupted Horizons adds a new corruption mechanic which can sap the will of your squad, as well as new Mutoid soldiers, pictured above. The Mutoids are immune to corruption, can learn any class's skills, but are unable to heal.
I feel as if the header image successfully conveys the appeal of Joe Richardson's work. He makes point-and-click adventures which take real Renaissance paintings, animate them in cut-out style (think Monty Python), and juxtapose them with modern vernacular.
His next game was announced today. It's called Death Of The Reprobate, and there's a trailer showing both pointing and clicking below.
Microsoft have put their PC Health Check app back online. The simple tool is designed to tell you whether Windows 11 is compatible with your computer, but it was pulled offline back in June when it kept telling people with modern PCs that they couldn't run the new operating system, with little information as to why not. It's more recently been available to members of the Windows Insider program, but it's back now for all.
Following its debut on PlayStation 4 and Switch in July, Square Enix plan to bring Neo: The World Ends With You over to PC on the 28th of September. That's next Tuesday, day dudes. It's the sequel to an RPG from the Nintendo DS in 2007, set inside a colourful and weird version of Tokyo where young'uns get drawn into a deadly game.
If you're not too busy Deathlooping, Kena: Bridge Of Spiriting, or Diablo 2: Resurrecting this weekend, perhaps you'll have a spare moment to drop into Halo Infinite's next technical preview. Between Thursday and Sunday, players registered as a Halo Insider will have a chance to try out the sci-fi FPS's 4v4 Arena mode. But that's not all! 343 have announced that the following weekend, Insiders can jump into another tech test, and have a crack at the game's 12v12 Big Team Battle mode too.
Call Of Duty: Vanguard's multiplayer feels familiar, have I been here before? Yes, in the past, but also in the future. Despite its World War II setting, Vanguard's open beta has me thinking back to the days of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare. Having played a sizable chunk of it now, I'm not kidding when I say that it's like the Modern Warfare lot LARPING on a WWII set. For some this will be good. For others this will be bad. For me? It needs Warzone.
Looking for the secret cow level in Diablo 2: Resurrected? The cow level became Diablo 2’s worst-kept secret in the decades following its release. This infamous hidden zone contains armies of halberd-wielding Hell Bovines that swarm players, plus the goofily named Cow King boss. The cow level is a fun little side area to run, and it will of course be present in Diablo 2: Resurrected. If you missed out on the original and don’t know how to find the portal, we’re here to help.
Looking for the best Crossbow loadout to bring into Warzone? It's certainly a unique option to consider in a game all about firearms and high tech weaponry. Still there's fun to be had when wielding this modern take on a medieval weapon, and it's more than capable of one-shotting enemies if you have the skills to wield it. Just don't take the Crossbow into Warzone with the expectation of dominating. It's a novelty at best, and you should be using the best guns in Warzone if your goal is to win.
You've got a checklist for Halloween: peeled grapes (eyeballs); cold spaghetti (worms); 12-foot skeleton (skeleton); 25 metre bolt of black cotton (costume). But wait, what will people play? Friendo, you're in lucko. Jackbox Games have announced that The Jackbox Party Pack 8, their latest collection of funny party games, will launch on October 14th. It'll pack five games, from murder mystery to a new version of fan-favourite Drawful, this time having players animate their drawings.
Everything about Rogue Lords is very Halloween-y. It's an upcoming gothic roguelike in which you, the devil, send disciples out into the world to wage war with demon hunters and cause general mischief in the mortal world. Having played a bit myself, I already feel the need to start carving pumpkins and hanging up fake cobwebs around my house. It reminds me of all the spooky animated films you see on the telly throughout October, which makes sense because the developers at Cyanide and Leikir Studios tell me the game's art style is partially inspired by Tim Burton films.
Want to know how to make a Book in Minecraft? Books are very important, as you will need them to enchant your armour and weapons with various effects. You can also make pretty bookshelves to spruce up your home, if you aren’t interested in becoming an all-powerful wizard.
This guide will walk you through everything that you need to know to make a Book in Minecraft, including how to get Paper and Leather, which you will need.
