Both Nvidia and AMD’s latest graphics card releases, the RTX 7600 and RTX 4060 Ti, have crashed and burned – so who’s going to actually make a well-priced GPU? If you had Intel on your bingo cards, congrulations – their Arc A750 8GB graphics card is down to £230.98 on Amazon UK, marking a £20 price drop that brings this option way below the £300 RTX 3060 that it comprehensively beats.
Look, we don’t want to tell you how you should play Tears of the Kingdom. Go out, make a mess, explore the world, do whatever you want. But there are certain things in this game that if you don’t do early, you might find yourself later wishing you had chosen differently. And one of those is the order in which you tackle the Regional Phenomena quests, which lead to Tears of the Kingdom’s dungeons.
Once you pass the tutorial of Tears of the Kingdom, you’ll be handed a main quest called Regional Phenomena, which sends you to complete the game’s four major dungeons in any order you like by visiting the Rito, the Zorah, the Gerudo, and the Goron cities and people. You can put these quests off as long as you want, do them in a random order, or go wherever your heart takes you, but there is a recommended order to do these in, and it’s for pretty good reason: some of the rewards are much, much better than others, and can make the rest of the game significantly easier.
Put simply: we recommend doing Regional Phenomena – To Rito Village first. It’s the one the game pushes you toward first, so if you’re feeling contrarian, consider saving that for other areas of the game and just go to Rito Village immediately. Make sure you grab some warm clothes on the way.
Spoiler Alert: Below the video, we explain exactly why Rito Village is the best way to go. Read on at your own risk!
Rito Village partners you with the new Rito champion, Tulin, who comes with a truly awesome ability. He can create wind gusts that will blow you forward quickly in a direction when you’re on your paraglider. It’s a massive gamechanger, making it much easier to get around the world, especially in the sky. Trust me – you’re going to use this ability a lot, and once you have it, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to get it.
By contrast, the other Regional Phenomena quest abilities aren’t quite as impressive. The Goron ability, used by Yunobo, is a close second: he can use it to bust through breakable rocks, meaning you don’t have to keep grinding through rocks on sticks to mine your way through caves. We recommend heading to Goron City second for this reason.
But the remaining two abilities, used by Riju and Sidon, are more combat-oriented and less useful for traversal. Riju’s power, which zaps foes with lighting from a distance, is great when fighting mobs – especially Gloom Hands. Prince Sidon’s ability is a shield that can send out a magical orb when released, but is a little more situational in its use. It’s good to have, but probably the lowest priority of the four.
Along with heading to Rito Village first, we also recommend players track down an important quality of life feature, Autobuild, before getting too far into the meat of the game. Again, trust us, you really want this. And we have a detailed guide on how to get it.
Once you have visited Rito Village, gotten Tulin’s power, and collected Autobuild, there’s tons more to do. We have it all catalogued in our full guides to Tears of the Kingdom.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Fistfighting has been around since the beginning of time, and boxing (or some form of martial pugilism) has been around basically as long.
Celebrate the ancient tradition (as well as the modern advancements in boxing) by taking fighters under your wing, coaching them, and leading them to victory (or defeat) in World Championship Boxing Manager, which you can claim right now as part of IGN Plus.
Plus members – get your key for World Championship Boxing Manager 2 here on its IGN Rewards page. Not a Plus member? Sign up now. You can also follow the devs on Twitter.
I sat down with Andrew Marsh, the Creative Director for WCBM2, to discuss the development of the game, its goals, and what players can expect when they jump into this retro (but approachable) management sim.
Boxing games have been around since very early in gaming history, and the team at MegaCat was interested in creating a boxing management game for several reasons. One major draw was to tell a wide range of stories, from stories about up-and-coming boxers, to underground club fighters and huge prize fighters, and depicting the seedy underbelly, the massive spotlight, and everything in between.
The team also found the style of the original World Championship Boxing Manager (WCBM) appealing, so the idea of creating a sequel that built off the (beloved) original was enticing to the retro-enthusiast team, who took this opportunity to iterate and improve upon the original, adding new quality-of-life improvements and even entirely new phases of the game.
Nothing was off the table for the development team, who want to bring a classic experience for older players, while making it easy for new players to jump in, particularly those who are new to management sims, new to boxing, or new to retro-style games. Playing the original game, they started by streamlining and modernizing it, then looked for new elements they could bring in to make it more fun for players.
Just like the original, players take on the role of a boxing manager who is trying to find up-and-coming boxers and make a career for them both, but unlike the original, there is more interaction when it comes to the real fights, and not solely an adventure-game focus.
In the original game, announcers would simply tell players how the boxing match was going, but in WCBM2, players will see the fights play out, watching as the fighters land hits and expend their energy. Between rounds, the player will be able to restore either their boxer’s health or endurance a bit, then tell them whether to stick with their current strategy, or switch it up. This is all unique to WCMB2, and it creates an engaging rhythm of strategizing during the week, and seeing if the training paid off when it comes time to fight on Friday night.
I enjoyed the strategic rhythm of planning training sessions for boxers, then picking tournaments to enter and managing the ‘big picture’ strategy for the boxer as they fought, round to round, and the team at MegaCat saw that puzzle-solving and strategizing as a key part of the sport.
Another addition was the Knowledge section, which has a ton of interesting information on boxing, including techniques, equipment, and other things. Beautiful, detailed art pieces depicting different styles of boxing gloves are there, and a whole lot more, which is great for someone like me, who doesn’t know much about the more intricate aspects of the sport.
The dev team also talked to classic boxers (and their estates) to get first-hand knowledge about the sport to bring a higher level of realism, and to craft their stories, which players can enjoy in WCBM2. In story modes, you can play as more than a random boxer. You can certainly do that, but you can also manage Sugar Ray Robinson, from before his career even began. Even if you aren’t into simulation games, give it a chance, and you may find something new (and old) to enjoy.
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Brian Barnett writes reviews, guides, features, & more for IGN & GameSpot. You can get your fix of his antics on Twitter (@Ribnax), Backloggd (Ribnax) & Twitch (Ribnax) or check out his fantastic video game talk show, The Platformers, on Twitch & Apple Podcasts.
2023 has seen the closure of more big multiplayer games than, well, any time I can recall in recent memory. One after the other, developers’ dreams of making the next big Destiny-like have gradually collapsed in on themselves. Like a deflated concertina, their last honks of life have been crushed down to desperate, fizzling squeals as servers lie empty and the cost of maintaining them spirals out of control. Some are still hanging in there, sure, but the genre as a whole feels like it’s at a tipping point – and I couldn’t help but sigh as five more multiplayer shooters joined the fray last night as part of Sony’s PlayStation Showcase.
Shield with it.
It was back in Eiji Aonuma’s 10-minute gameplay demonstration for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that we first got a glimpse at the possibilities of shield fusing. The series producer took a Puffshroom, stuck it to Link’s shield, and faced a Construct head on, sending up a cloud of smoke around them both.
At the time, this was hardly a game-changing revelation. “Great,” we thought, “we can make some weird-looking shields and take on foes with various mushroom abilities”. Then the game came out and we discovered that shield fusing had the potential to be so much more than just some fungal fun.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Bungie has shared a new video documentary about Marathon, its newly announced sci-fi PvP extraction shooter.
Announced at yesterday’s PlayStation Showcase, the new Marathon is the first entry in the franchise since 1996. The game is PvP-focused and won’t have a single-player campaign, but it will honor the mythology and story of the original Marathon games.
We’ve already learned even more details about the upcoming shooter thanks to a six-and-a-half minute video Bungie posted after fans quickly solved one of the developer’s famous ARG (alternate reality game) puzzles.
We’ll get to the scavenger hunt Bungie fans went on yesterday to uncover the ViDoc, but first, let’s get to the content of the video itself.
In Marathon, you play as a Runner exploring the hostile world of Tau Ceti IV while searching for artifacts and weapons. Bungie showed off concept art for the Runners, describing them as a combination of fashion, sci-fi, and cyberpunk.
Bungie says players will be a part of the narrative in Marathon that will unfold over the course of a season. For example, one extraction team may find an alien key that unlocks a new zone. The responsibility then falls on those players to figure out how to unlock the zone for everyone else.
Marathon is releasing on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and it will have full crossplay and cross progression. No release date was given, but Bungie said it is marching towards its alpha. The team plans to go dark for a while to work on the game, saying we will see gameplay the next time Marathon emerges.
It turns out Bungie hid a ton of secrets in yesterday’s reveal trailer, including one puzzle that involved Bungie developers posting cryptic images on social media. When the community tracked down all 12 secret images and overlaid them, it revealed a sequence of dots.
Thanks to some hints from a well-hidden Marathon Twitter account, the community discovered this was a binary sequence that needed to be run through a punch card decoder. This led the puzzle solvers to a stream that needed 7,777 viewers to unlock the full ViDoc. Destiny YouTuber Skarrow9 solved the final step of the puzzle yesterday evening, and posted a video explaining the solution in full.
I SOLVED THE @MarathonTheGame ARG CODE LET’S GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!@We_Are_Mida
EVERYONE IN THIS VIDEO NOW TO UNLOCK THE NEXT STEP!!!!https://t.co/y9bo0JMJgyhttps://t.co/y9bo0JMJgyhttps://t.co/y9bo0JMJgyhttps://t.co/y9bo0JMJgy
— Skarrow9 (@Skarrow9) May 25, 2023
There are even more secrets hidden within Marathon’s reveal trailer. In fact, Skarrow9 shared a Google Doc that is tracking all of the secrets Bungie fans are working on uncovering. In less than 24 hours since the reveal, the Marathon community has already put in a ton of legwork, as this document stretches across 37 pages of clues and findings.
The unsolved mysteries include decoding pages of a Marathon Zine, figuring out purchase order and memo documents, and a lot more.
Bungie is known for teasing fans with these scavenger hunts, digging a number of deep, winding rabbit holes for Destiny fans to discover throughout the years. The developer’s ARG history stretches all the way back to the Halo days, when it promoted Halo 2 on a website called ilovebees.com.
For more, check out every announcement from yesterday’s PlayStation Showcase 2023.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
A hefty new Warhammer 40,000: Darktide content update arrives in the next week, adding two new missions as well as possibly preparing to let players on Steam and the Windows Store (that’s you, Game Pass gang) play together. It won’t fix the fundamental flaws of the grimdark Left 4 Dead ’em up but these are welcome changes. Darktide is also adding new cosmetics to earn by playing (yeah!) and resuming the release of new cosmetics sold for real money (yeahhh).
Insomniac finally revealed the first gameplay for Spider-Man 2. In an 12-minute long trailer, it showed off several new gameplay changes coming to Spider-Man 2, as well as some important new plot details. Without further ado, let’s swing into all of the big, new details we learned from the latest Spider-Man 2 trailer.
Right off the bat, Insomniac confirmed that Peter Parker will get the Symbiote Suit. While we’ll get to his new powers in a bit, this turn of events poses some interesting questions, especially when taking into account the ending of the first Spider-Man game.
After the credits of Marvel’s Spider-Man, it’s revealed that Harry Osborn, Peter Parker’s best friend, is ill and fused with the Venom symbiote. He’s last seen floating in a green tank covered in the symbiote while his father, Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin, promises to find a way to cure him.
Naturally, this suggests it’s Harry Osborn, not Eddie Brock, who is the Venom that Peter Parker and Miles Morales face off against in the first Spider-Man 2 trailer. And at some point, Peter potentially takes the symbiote from Harry. This could be why Harry’s life is in danger during this trailer and why Peter and Miles must rescue Curt Connors / Lizard to save a weakened Osborn.
Peter’s symbiote suit means he’ll be getting some new powers, which were on full display in the new trailer. While facing off against Kraven’s henchmen, Spider-Man is able to extend his reach and smash enemies against walls using the Symbiote. He’s also able to use the Symbiote to create multiple tentacles (Spider-legs?) to barrel into enemies.
At one point those tentacles can also be used to shield Peter from attacks and parry enemy blows to send them flying backwards. And lastly, he’s able to use his new arms to grab multiple enemies at once and slam them into the ground, taking out groups of enemies at once.
Kraven the Hunter’s backstory is revealed in the new Spider-Man 2 trailer and it’s not so different from his comic book origin story. A wealthy wild game hunter, this version of Kraven seems to already hunt people for sport. But having grown bored of his existing prey, his men suggests Kraven go to Manhattan where he can hunt not only Spider-Man, but several of New York City’s superhumans. Again, not so different from how he’s portrayed in the comics, but sometimes if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Speaking of New York City’s prey, it seems like Spider-Man isn’t the only one Kraven is looking to hunt. When shown a list of possible targets in Manhattan, Kraven’s men include Black Cat, Prowler, Wraith, Tombstone, Taskmaster, and Miles Morales. Later on in the trailer it’s shown that Kraven is hunting Curt Connors aka The Lizard. Rather than just hunting Spider-Man, it looks like Kraven is hunting every superpowered being, whether or not they’re Peter Parker’s allies or enemies.
Would Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 star Peter Parker just like in the first game, or would it resume the adventure of Miles Morales? The answer is both. Insomniac confirmed that while there won’t be any co-op component, players will be able to switch between Peter Parker and Miles Morales during certain segments of the game.
In the instance that was shown in the gameplay trailer, Peter Parker realizes he’s too far away to help Lizard escape Kraven’s men, but Miles isn’t and it’s here players can switch to Miles and head to the dock before Peter can get there. This also raises some interesting story possibilities we’ll dive into in a bit.
Speaking of teaming up with Miles Morales, it looks like he’ll also be getting some new abilities in Spider-Man 2. Along with an upgraded suit with wings that lets him glide across New York (Insomniac confirmed both Spider-Men will have wingsuits), he seems to have mastered some new abilities with his venom blast, looks suspiciously like Goku’s Kamehameha from Dragon Ball.
Once in the warehouse, Miles shows off some new stealth abilities too including being able to spin a line he can tightrope across to sneak up on enemies.
New York City will be a little bit bigger this time around as Queens gets added as one of the new boroughs that will be explorable in the game. In the past, only Manhattan was available, but Insomniac is teasing multiple new areas for the sequel, including Brooklyn across the river. Just how big is this city?
Throughout the trailer Peter says Lizard is the only one who is able to save Harry Osborn. As we know, Harry’s not in a great place having been last seen covered in Symbiote goop. But with the Symbiote seemingly with Peter Parker, what’s going on with Harry Osborn? This appears to be the central storyline of the game that will likely connect Venom, Peter Parker, Miles Morales all together.
At the end of the trailer Miles and his best friend Ganke are visibly worried about Peter, who thanks to the Symbiote suit is acting more and more aggressive. Now that it’s been confirmed that you can play as both characters in Spider-Man 2, there’s a chance players will have to play as Miles to try and stop Peter from falling further and further into the dark side. Can you imagine the awkward conversation after that?
This is everything we saw in the new Spider-Man 2 gameplay trailer. Let us know what you noticed in the comments below.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 offered another gameplay trailer today as part of the Warhammer Skulls Showcase, and this one finally shows off the waves of Tyranids you’ll need to stomp through in this surprise sequel. There’s a solid view of both the shooty parts and the stabby parts of combat, as our superhuman hero rips through enemies with the mechanical teeth of his chainsword. Wholesome fun below.
