Looking to buff your Anime Boss Raid squad’s stats, but are short on Stat Circuits and Trait Crystals? Well, we’ve got some codes just for you. Below, we’ve compiled all of the currently active and redeemable codes in the Roblox anime duelling game, so you can ensure your team is dealing big damage without breaking the bank.
Active Anime Boss Raid Codes (July 2022)
95KLikes – Rewards (NEW!)
lowerprices – 3x Stat Circuit, 6x Trait Crystal, 1x Super Circuit (NEW!)
UPDATE1 – 3x Trait Crystal, 3x Stat Circuit, 3x Super Circuit (NEW!)
Expired Anime Boss Raid Codes
90KLIKES
REALM6
3MVISITS
50KLIKES
1MVISITS
40KLIKES
45KLIKES
RELEASE
How to Redeem Codes in Anime Boss Raid
Before you can redeem codes in Anime Boss Raid, you’ll need to do two things:
When both steps are complete, you’ll be able to redeem codes in-game, which you can do by following the steps below:
After booting the game up, look on the left-hand side of the screen. You’ll see a “shop” icon, which is represented by a shopping basket.
Click this icon and you’ll pull up the shop tab. Scroll to the very bottom of this shop tab, and you’ll find a codes bar.
Type your code into the codes bar and then click the claim button to redeem the code.
Why Isn’t My Anime Boss Raid Code Working?
If your Anime Boss Raid code isn’t working, it’s likely due to one of two scenarios. The first is that the code was input incorrectly. Check the spelling and that the case is correct, then redeem again. You can even copy and paste the codes directly from this article over to Roblox if you want to make sure you’re inputting them correctly.
The other possibility is that the code has expired or you’ve already used it. In this scenario, you should see an error message pop up within the bar informing you that the code has already been redeemed or is invalid.
How to Get More Anime Boss Raid Codes
If you’re on the hunt for extra Anime Boss Raid codes, you’ll want to become a member of the game’s official Discord server. If you keep an eye on the server’s announcements channel, you’ll see all the latest codes as they drop.
What is Anime Boss Raid in Roblox?
Anime Boss Raid is similar to the array of popular anime-focused tower defense games currently on Roblox, but with one major twist. Instead of summoning units and then positioning them around a battlefield, you’ll take your summoned units and pit them in a duel against a single powerful opponent. To defeat them, you’ll need to assemble a squad of iconic warriors, with units hailing from Demon Slayer, Dragon Ball Z, Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece and Solo Levelling.
As you begin to take down increasingly powerful foes, you’ll sell loot from fallen enemies to purchase new heroes, reroll your units’ stats to finesse their build, and assign buffs to ensure they’re dealing optimal damage.
Callum Williams is an IGN freelancer covering features and guides. When he’s away from his desk, you can usually find him obsessing over the lore of the latest obscure indie horror game or bashing his head against a boss in the newest soulslike. You can catch him over on Twitter at @CaIIumWilliams.
Borderlands 4 has already had a launch date on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox: September 12, 2025, having been brought 11 days earlier from its previously-expected September 23 release. At the time, there was speculation that this was done to avoid the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6, but then GTA was delayed until next year. Gearbox has also already confirmed that Borderlands 4 will cost $70 at launch.
Previously, Pitchford has stated that the Switch 2 “has been a joy to work with,” but did not explain why the Nintendo version was coming later than the other versions.
We got to play a few hours of Borderlands 4 just last month, with our previewer saying, “the handful of hours I played left me fairly confident that I will find myself pulled back into this wonderfully weird world of psychopaths and extremely irritating robots.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows might be coming to Nintendo Switch 2, and Ubisoft executives might have just confirmed it.
During today’s quarterly earnings call, CEO Yves Guillemot and CFO Frederick Duguet combined their powers to provide a number of subtle and not-so-subtle hints and statements about Assassin’s Creed: Shadows that, when combined, are hard to read any other way than confirmation we’re getting a Switch 2 release of the game at some point this fiscal year.
First, Duguet mentioned that Ubisoft’s line-up for the current fiscal year (ending at the end of March 2026) includes, among other things, “a couple of other titles” that will be “announced at a later stage.”
Later in the same call, in response to an investor question, he also said “And we also have a game that will be launched on the Switch 2.” While we already know that Star Wars: Outlaws is coming to Switch 2, Duguet was talking about games “beyond the announced releases”, so it’s clear there’s at least one other.
Later in the call, Guillemot added another piece to the puzzle. In a conversation with another investor specifically regarding Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, he said, “And we have also some new versions that will come on other machines.”
Currently, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, PC and Mac, as well as GeForce Now and Amazon Luna. Now, it’s possible Guillemot was referring to other platforms, such as PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, or maybe even mobile. But the most likely possibility is that he meant Nintendo Switch 2, especially when combined with Duguet’s comments.
Of course, some investor thought the same as us. The last question on the call, to Duguet, directly asked if Assassin’s Creed: Shadows was being announced for Nintendo Switch 2.
But here, Duguet finally danced around it. “We haven’t said which other games will come on the console for that coming year.”
Rumors to this effect have already been in motion for a few months now, after an Assassin’s Creed: Shadows for Nintendo Switch 2 got a PEGI rating. While this could have just been an error, it’s just another brick in the mounting tower of evidence that Shadows is headed to Nintendo’s system in the next eight months or so.
We really enjoyed Assassin’s Creed: Shadows when we reviewed it at launch. Our reviewer, who gave it an 8/10, said, “By sharpening the edges of its existing systems, Assassin’s Creed Shadows creates one of the best versions of the open-world style it’s been honing for the last decade.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Ubisoft has announced “lower-than-expected” results for its latest financial quarter, and blamed the newly-relaunched Rainbow Six Siege X.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows, meanwhile, has continued to perform “in line with expectations”, and recently passed 5 million unique players. Ubisoft has to date not provided an exact sales figure for the game, which is also offered as part of its Ubisoft+ subscription service.
In a statement, Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot described the quarter as featuring “mixed results”.
So what went wrong? Ubisoft has pinned the blame on “temporary but signficant disruptions” in player spending within Rainbow Six Siege X, its newly-relaunched shooter that it describes as having faced “technical pricing issues”.
Launched on June 10, Rainbow Six Siege X saw Ubisoft’s veteran team shooter essentially go free-to-play, with access to various modes and operators unlockable without the need for a premium edition. Separate to this, Ubisoft said it has suffered from a “pricing exploit with prepaid currency cards that temporarily inflated virtual currency wallets” — something that has now been fixed.
Today’s new player figure for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, meanwhile, sees the game continue to do what Ubisoft needs it to do, as players wait for Claws of Awaji — the game’s first big expansion due at some point this fall.
“The first quarter delivered mixed results,” Guillemot said. “On the positive side, Assassin’s Creed Shadows delivered on its expectations, with now more than 5 million unique players since its launch, and Rainbow Six Siege X received highly positive player feedback thanks to its renewed gameplay and enhanced features that drove significant player engagement growth.
“However, player spending in Rainbow Six Siege faced temporary but significant disruptions due to technical pricing issues, which have now been identified and addressed. Despite this one-off setback, the growth potential of the game is strong with solid traction on activity and in-game spending.”
After weeks of dry restocks, Target has the Nintendo Switch 2 available again (for now). Both the standard console and the Mario Kart World Bundle are back up for order (while supplies last), giving anyone who missed out at launch a rare shot to pick one up at retail price. Target’s listings aren’t behind a waitlist like Amazon’s invitation system either. Over in the world of Pokémon, the Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box has dropped to $102.94 on Amazon, undercutting TCGPlayer’s listing by over $10. That’s a solid deal in the middle of Pokémania 2025, especially for sealed collectors or someone who needs that Illustration Rare Team Rocket’s Wobbuffet promo.
Rounding out today’s best offers, collectors can lock in a preorder for the Tamashii Nations Cyclops S.H.Figuarts figure at $100, complete with multiple optic blast effects and poseable parts straight from the GAMERVERSE. Small Soldiers fans can relive ‘90s chaos with the new 4K Steelbook edition for $25.99, while Firefly diehards get a definitive version of Serenity in its 20th Anniversary 4K Steelbook for $29.96, loaded with extras. And if you’re tired of throwing money at canned air, the RELIDOL 100000RPM Electric Air Duster is just $27.99 today, offering powerful cordless cleaning that pays for itself fast.
Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box
Now down to $102.94, beating TCG Players’ price of $114.99 plus postage. Over $10 lower than the current market value is nothing nothing to turn your nose at if you’re after sealed product during Pokémania 2025!
Pokémon TCG Stock Update
Amazon is finally killing it for Pokémon TCG elite trainer box stock and pricing, and some are the closest to MSRP the big box retailer has been for weeks. Not only is the Black Bolt ETB vastly undercutting the secondary market, Paradox Rift ETB is even cheaper (And an overlooked set in my opinion, stock up now).
There’s other great deals on ex boxes too, which are also near MSRP and around the same or just under listings on TCG Player. The sealed market is becoming more competitive, so it’s more important than ever to give eBay a quick check before hitting buy.
Nintendo Switch 2 Stock Updates
In a shocking move, Target is selling both Nintendo Switch 2 SKUs without preorders, waiting lists or raffles, so snap them up quickly. As predicted, Nintendo Switch 2’s launch window is seeing stock shortages. If you didn’t preorder at launch, you’ve probably been waiting for stock drops since launch. Amazon currently has it’s invitation system in place for both the standard console SKU and the Mario Kart world bundle, so it’s always worth getting on the waiting list whilst you wait. If successful, your purchase link will be live for 72 hours.
TAMASHII NATIONS – X-Men – Cyclops (GAMERVERSE)
Cyclops GAMERVERSE S.H.Figuarts figure from Tamashii Nations is now up for preorder at Amazon for $100, and it’s packed with the kind of articulation and premium detail the line is known for. You’ll get three interchangeable optic blast effects, from a subtle glow to full-blown superblast, plus multiple visors, facial expressions, and hand options to fully recreate your favorite poses. It even includes a special mount for background displays.
Small Soldiers 4K UHD Steelbook + Digital
Joe Dante’s Small Soldiers is back with a bang in this new 4K UHD Steelbook edition, now just $25.99 (down from $30.99) on Amazon. Combining the mischief of Gremlins with the firepower of G.I. Joe, this cult classic delivers practical effects chaos and ‘90s nostalgia in equal measure. Featuring Gregory Smith, Kirsten Dunst, and the late Phil Hartman in his final film role, the Steelbook includes a crisp remaster and digital copy.
Compressed Air Duster (100000RPM)
RELIDOL Compressed Air Duster is a powerful, eco-friendly cleaning tool that’s up to 44% off today at just $27.99 (regularly $49.99). With a blazing-fast 100,000RPM motor and three adjustable airflow modes, it clears dust, crumbs, and debris from keyboards, PC towers, car interiors, and more in seconds. The built-in LED light helps you spot hidden grime, while the rechargeable 7500mAh battery offers up to 40 minutes of cordless runtime.
Firefly fans, this is the definitive edition you’ve been waiting for. The 20th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook of Serenity is now available for $29.96 (down from $34.99) and includes 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and digital formats and a massive lineup of bonus content. Directed by Joss Whedon and starring Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Summer Glau.
The Legend of Zelda Hardcover Book Sale
Nearly every The Legend of Zelda hardcover book you need for your collection is available in this sale with some cracking discounts. It includes my favorite one, Hyrule Historia, that fills in more than a few gaps in the LoZ lore, although the timeline has already been slightly retconned. It also includes full and expanded official guides for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
KRK Kreate Powered Studio Monitors
I can personally guarantee a set of powered studio monitors will sound better than almost any sound system with or without a subwoofer. The new line of KRK Kreate studio monitors aren’t just for recording music (Although they’d do an amazing job), they’re a versatile sound option for content creation, editing, gaming, watching TV and movies and more. Buyers can even teather to them via Bluetooth for no fuss connections.
I’ve been using the 8-inch speaker models for a couple of weeks now, and they destory my soundbar and subwoofer combo that cost’s nearly double the price of these. There’s precision adjustments knobs on the back, which I keep mostly in neutral with volume up by half for a crisp flat sound with the right amount of bass. Although that can be cranked up when needed.
Personally I use an audio splitter so my Krate 8s can handle my Nano QuadCortex guitar amp moddler, my TV audio and gaming PC audio for the best experience. For me, going from a 3-inch to 8-inch speaker option is night and day. The clarity difference and range is top-tier, not to mention the jack, XLR and aux outputs available on each monitor that fits in perfectly in everyone’s setup. You’re getting top-of-the-range brand quality without the “gaming” brand tax, it’s a win-win.
Apple AirPods Pro 2
AirPods Pro 2 are one of those earbuds I keep noticing for their mix of sound quality and thoughtful features. At $199, they offer a strong balance of value and performance. The active noise cancellation blocks out a lot of background noise while adaptive audio automatically adjusts based on your surroundings. You get four sizes of silicone tips for a customizable fit, and once those are set they stay comfortable even through longer listening sessions. The personalized spatial audio and hearing aid features add extra depth, giving them more flexibility than just a standard pair of wireless earbuds.
INIU Portable Charger 10000mAh 45W
This is ideal for carrying around when you’ve forgot to stick your phone on charge overnight, 45W is more than enough power to charge anything whilst using it, from phones to Nintendo Switch 2. So who can argue for $12?
Donkey Kong Bananza
If you own a Switch 2 and not Donkey Kong Bananza, there’s something a-miss. We’ve given it a rare 10/10, and is officially Nintendo’s latest handheld’s first killer app and system seller. It’s from the same team behind Super Mario Odyssey and takes full advantage of the power packed into Nintendo Switch 2. Just get it, play it, then thank me later.
During today’s Pokémon Presents, we saw a ton of new footage of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, including a brand new Mega Evolution. But for lore nerds, what was far more interesting was the official, confirmed appearance of a very popular character from our adventure in Pokémon X and Y. And yes, I’m going to spoil it for you below this video, so don’t keep scrolling if you don’t want to know.
If you watched today’s trailer, you’ll know this isn’t much of a spoiler: Emma, from Pokémon X and Y, is officially confirmed for Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Emma has been a part of fan speculation ever since the game was announced, and theories about her presence in Z-A have only multiplied over time.
For some context, Emma is a young girl in X and Y who is adopted and trained by Looker, a detective in Lumiose City who’s become a fan-favorite character after multiple game appearances. At the end of X and Y, Looker effectively hands over the keys to his Looker Bureau to Emma. We’ve already seen that the Bureau appears in this futuristic Lumiose, so it makes sense that Emma would be running it. What’s more, her design suggests she’s still running around the city as the crime-fighting Essentia, based on the outfit under her jacket.
That said, Emma’s presence does beg some questions. When exactly is Pokémon Legends: Z-A set? We don’t know! Emma is definitely older in her Z-A appearance, but probably not so much older that there would have had time to essentially rebuild Lumiose from the ground up, from its X and Y aesthetic to the futuristic city appearing in Z-A.
Have there been time-traveling shenanigans? Is this Emma’s daughter, also named Emma? Probably not that second one. Maybe the denizens of the Kalos region are just really, really fast at building cities.
It’s also worth pointing out here that another familiar face from X and Y appeared during today’s trailer, albeit one that’s maybe a little less instantly recognizable. If you spotted Mable, the new director of the Pokémon Research Lab, you might have recognized that she’s a former member of Team Flare. She’s uh, not exactly the most moral of people in X and Y, so it will be interesting to see if she’s reformed since then or if there’s something unsavory going on at the research lab.
There were other reveals during today’s trailer, including brand new characters like Naveen, Lida, and either Urbain or Taunie. We also saw a brand new Mega Evolution, Mega Dragonite. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is coming to Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 16, 2025.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
During today’s Pokémon Presents, The Pokémon Company announced a brand new Pokémon spin-off game. It’s called Pokémon Friends, and it’s a daily brain teaser game featuring lots of Pokémon-themed puzzles.
In the trailer, we got a look at a number of examples of the sorts of puzzles we’ll encounter in Pokémon Friends. The first one showed a design of tiles with light bulbs on them, asking players to draw a line from one tile that touched every single other tile only once. Another had a player sliding lined tiles around to connect a path so that water could flow from one side to the other. Still others involved connecting train tracks, predicting which balloons wouldn’t be popped by a flying arrow, sliding around an ice maze, and more.
All the games are themed around Pokémon such as Pikachu, Piplup, Mudkip, Sableye, and more. Completing puzzles gets the player in-game Pokemon plush items that they can use to decorate a virtual room.
Pokémon Friends is out right now on iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. It costs $9.99 on Nintendo Switch, and is “free to start” on mobile but eventually will block the player from progressing without paying. The game purports to feature over 1,200 different puzzles.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
There’s a new version of Resident Evil 2 made specifically for arcades, and an early version of it is already playable at Namco Funscape in the UK.
Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot, as this on-rails lightgun iteration is known, is the product of a collaboration between Bandai Namco and Capcom to create a fresh arcade iteration of the latter’s survival horror classic.
IGN has visited Namco Funscape in Romford, north-east London, and gone hands-on with Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot ourselves — as you can see in our first footage above.
In it, we can see that Dead Shot has split Resident Evil 2’s narrative into five episodes, with the first two already unlocked. It’s believed that this arcade cabinet has been installed within Namco Funscape for testing, with early bugs ironed out after public play.
Dead Shot’s first episode is its prologue, with a second episode titled “Hunted”. Loading up the prologue, the game then introduces Resident Evil 2’s setting to players: “Leon and Claire find one another on the streets of Raccoon City. Chased by zombies, they evacuate to the police department only to discover further horrors within.”
As you select your episode, a zombified hand shatters through the screen, pulling you (and your co-op partner) in.
The opening section sees Leon and Claire fighting their way into the Raccoon City Police Department, past zombie cops and zombie dogs. The game’s visuals appear to be based on Capcom’s 2019 Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Once inside the building, the pair introduce themselves to each other before more zombie cops interrupt the party. Still, there’s time for a little bit of exposition from just-about-still-alive cop Marvin Branagh, before the action continues.
As with other arcade lightgun games, you’ll need to point the gun away from the screen and pull the trigger to reload. You’ll automatically reload when you run out of bullets, but manual reloading is faster.
It’s unclear how long Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot will remain playable at Namco Funscape, but if you’re headed down in the near future look out for the neon red-lit cabinet with images of Leon, Claire and Ada Wong.
It’s intriguing to see the Resident Evil series featuring Raccoon City here once again, ahead of the franchise’s 30th anniversary next year, and the launch of Resident Evil: Requiem.
The Edge of Fate is a title that’s perhaps a bit too on the nose for a game balanced on a blade honed by years of iteration but also worn dull by time. In the storied and rich tradition of Destiny 2, this latest expansion once again takes a few major steps back after finally feeling like maybe it’d found its footing. The 14-mission campaign is monotonous and padded to the gills with busywork (despite having a sometimes-compelling story), the RPG and buildcrafting rework is locked behind one of the worst grinds Destiny has ever seen, and the new planetoid of Kepler isn’t up to Bungie’s usual standards. But even as it stumbles in its attempt to redefine itself after the excellent ending to its original story in The Final Shape last year, I do admire the risks The Edge of Fate takes, both in the bold new direction of its story and the unexpected mechanics it tries throughout its experimental campaign – though it doesn’t exactly nail either one. I still need to play through the raid before my final review, but the 20 hours I’ve spent with it so far feel like that messy spot the MCU was in after Endgame, fumbling for what comes next following a conclusion that felt pretty, well… conclusive.
I wish I could say The Edge of Fate picks up where The Final Shape left off, or that it can easily be enjoyed on its own, but both of those are extremely not true. If you haven’t been playing every little scrap of seasonal content in the past year, you’ll certainly be off to a rocky start – there’s a new antagonist wearing the face and voice of an old character, godlike beings formerly relegated to vendors and goofy gameshow hosts who have been repositioned as omniscient puppetmasters who we’re now supposed to take seriously, and about 30 minutes of nearly nonstop info dumping, which feels like something out of a pulp sci-fi novel as voices explain how “dark matter” is totally different from “the darkness” and other such gobbledygook. It’s such a terrible opening, I feared the worst for a series that’s missed the storytelling mark more often than it’s hit by a pretty wide margin. But a weak first couple of hours makes way for a tale that was actually much better than I was expecting thanks to a very strong new supporting character in Lodi, who is shrouded in a mystery involving time travel, and a completely unexpected backstory finally given to one of Destiny’s longstanding cast members that really blew me away.
There’s still plenty of wonky dialogue, less interesting characters like Orin who mostly just fill space, and an overreliance on established lore across over a decade of content that can leave even longtime fans scratching their heads – plus, in an effort to make the new baddie intimidating, they do one of my biggest story pet peeves and retcon it so that actually all of the stuff that’s ever happened was all part of their master plan (insert massive eyeroll here). But on the whole, this is one of the better stories Destiny has pulled off, and I’m especially impressed by how many massive swings are taken to make me care about the next saga in this weird universe. This is perhaps best showcased by Lodi, who manages to effortlessly feel like an invaluable part of the cast despite literally showing up out of nowhere.
The actual campaign, and especially the planet it takes place on, fare less well though. Kepler is Destiny’s first foray beyond the celestial bodies in our immediate solar system, so one might hope to marvel at places that feel new and alien, but instead we get an overly familiar setting that reuses assets we’ve seen a hundred times and slaps them onto loads of rocky cliffs and caves filled with big yellow warts. For an excursion that’s supposed to be a bold frontier that represents the future for the shooter, this is definitely one of the most lackluster settings they’ve added – to the point where I sometimes forgot The Edge of Fate was supposed to take place on a new planetoid. Seemingly in an effort to disguise how small the new area is, you aren’t allowed to summon your sparrow, which is instead replaced with a host of gimmicky abilities you have to use to access certain parts of the map, like one where you turn yourself into a tiny ball and squeeze through narrow passageways, Samus-style. This structure has the vaguest possible resemblance to a metroidvania, but usually only succeeds in making the trek back and forth to complete humdrum quests more irritating.
The new abilities can interrupt the flow of combat in an odd way.
Although these new abilities are generally irksome when they’re required to get around, they’re much more welcome in the context of solving puzzles during story missions. One such ability has you picking up a portal gun that lets you teleport to otherwise inaccessible areas, while another lets you shift the positioning of objects in the environment to create platforms or clear obstructions. So there are times where you find some loot just out of reach and have to use a combination of the Samus-ball and the other two to clear the way, which can be pretty neat. Unfortunately, these puzzles are so incredibly easy to solve they often feel more like busywork to artificially stretch out the adventure’s 8-hour runtime than anything of note, and since you can only use these abilities by finding specific nodes that grant you their power for a short time, I spent about 95% of my time running around searching for the tools needed to complete puzzles, and only the other 5% actually solving them.
And even though I admire that Bungie has tried to incorporate these same tools into combat, they usually only serve to interrupt the flow in an odd way. For example, it’s really weird that in order to kill certain enemies or progress a boss to its next DPS phase, you’ve gotta turn yourself into a little ball of light and roll around collecting items while enemies absolutely lather you in gunfire you’ve little hope of dodging. This awkwardness is magnified by the fact that they reuse these three tricks nonstop throughout the journey on Kepler, and it starts to feel needlessly repetitive in pretty short order. Still, I’ve been saying for some time now that Destiny’s been resting on the laurels of its awesome gunplay for far too long and needs a shot in the arm to keep my interest, and these puzzle-forward abilities are at the very least an interesting attempt at doing just that, even if the execution is not always successful. Here’s hoping this is the prototype for something more engaging and fleshed out in future expansions.
The wonky abilities and forgettable location aren’t the only reasons the 14 main missions in The Edge of Fate’s story are quite underwhelming though, as characters fill empty space with exposition as you fight bosses that are carbon copies of bad guys we’ve slain repeatedly throughout the years. To its credit, there are a few new enemies here and there, like flying aliens called corsairs and little robot bees that swarm you, but their impact on moment-to-moment gameplay is pretty minor when you spend 90% of the time shooting the exact same Fallen and Vex we’ve been murdering for over a decade. Even worse than the main missions though are the handful of side quests that have you literally retreading the same places you visited in story missions to scan objects and hear some more characters chatting over comms before learning you’ve completed the quest unceremoniously. Even for a game that has struggled to make interesting supplemental content, these are some of the most boring we’ve been subjected to, offering almost no benefit for completing them to boot.
The biggest changes to Destiny 2 since The Final Shape are the reworks to guns and armor, which have been overhauled yet again. I’m not one of those players who frets when updates and power creep invalidate my hard-earned loadout, so I don’t actually mind most of the changes here. A new tier system provides extremely clear labels to just how good your loot is, so you can spend less time sweating over stuff you just dismantle, and adding set bonuses to armor is a feature I’ve craved in Destiny for many years that finally gives me a real reason to hunt for different armor sets instead of finding one good set and never taking it off. The problem is that, at least right now, there isn’t enough loot to chase, with just a handful of armor sets and a little over 30 weapons added to the pool at this point, so I didn’t feel much of an incentive to rip and replace my current loadout just yet.
The real issue is that even if I did feel compelled to hunt down the new gear available, the insane, painful grind to do so is in no way worth the effort required. Once you’ve completed The Edge of Fate’s campaign, you’re directed towards various playlists containing old content that you’re asked to replay over and over again, slowly upping your power level until you can complete activities that grant higher tier loot. What’s more, even these high level activities are just pulling from the exact same legacy content that has already been one of the main ways you’re expected to engage with Destiny 2 for years now. I was truly shocked to find that after I’d rolled credits on the new story, I was almost immediately loaded into a story mission from 2021. The new loot system has basically turned the endgame of Destiny 2 into an almost endless hamster wheel where you’re force fed the old content made arbitrarily more difficult based on the world tier and modifiers in play, all so you can get slightly better versions of existing weapons that have little use beyond (you guessed it) grinding more difficult versions of those same activities. Destiny has suffered through some pretty egregious grinds over the years, but this might just be the most brutal and ill-conceived one yet, and it almost immediately made me accept the fact that I’ll likely never have any high tier items until they decide to respect my time.
The final activity on my checklist before slapping a final score on this review is to play the new raid, The Desert Perpetual, which at the time of this writing was only very recently beaten by the Destiny community’s brave day-one raiders. I’ll be hopping in shortly to see what pleasant surprises, if any, are to be found. For now, The Edge of Fate strikes me as incredibly just okay, with some new experiments that don’t always work, a neat story attached to a weak campaign, and some cool tweaks to the loot game that are hidden behind the most monstrous and boring grind Destiny has ever had.
Stonemaier Games has an all-star lineup, including titles such as Wingspan, Scythe, and Viticulture. Vantage is the publisher’s latest hotly anticipated release, and it’s the culmination of eight years of work from studio head Jamey Stegmaier. It’s a game full of secrets and exploration, capturing some of the same vibes as mystery box series like Lost and Scavenger’s Reign. It also just may be Stonemaier’s most revelatory game yet.
Vantage begins with a simple premise. Players take on the role of crew members of an intergalactic spaceship en route to an uncharted planet. Before landing on the destination, something goes wrong, and everyone bails in isolated escapade pods. You are now hurtling towards this heretofore unexplored world with zero understanding of what you will find.
That’s the setup. While each player receives an individual named character with a specialty, there’s no lengthy backstory. You don’t even know what organization, government, or coalition you work for. Beyond a relatively light ruleset, you know nothing.
This is the mystique of Vantage. It’s an open-world exploration board game built atop the bones of video games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Subnautica. This style of board game isn’t novel. There have been some popular entries in recent years, including the fantastic Sleeping Gods and 7th Continent. But those other tabletop games are based on a foundation of historical reality with a fictional layer on top. Vantage turns this idea on its head, providing no footing for understanding or tradition. Everything is weird and unusual, sometimes bearing a resemblance to what we know, but even then, this is often used as a device to subvert expectations.
Each player arrives on the planet at a randomized location. You are lost, like detritus heaved into the wind and violently scattered across a foreign body. Your position, and the conduit for the bulk of interaction, is the location card. This large rectangular card depicts your current perspective in the first person. This is your vantage.
Each card lists a half-dozen actions, each mapped to a separate skill. These categories are broad in application, with titles such as “take”, “look”, and “help”. They are denoted by colors, with the specific use of each category given a name corresponding to the circumstances you’re currently in.
This means the location card will often list a separate colored action for each of the six categories. For example, the overpower action may be displayed as a red “steal” on the card, while the blue move could be listed as “chase”. This is where the game is murky, requiring players to lean on intuition by studying the card’s artwork and trying to infer a sense of context.
After selecting the action you want to perform, another player picks up the narrative booklet of the same color and flips to the entry with the same number as your location card. Each action type has its own bespoke book of story entries, making for a massive amount of content on the whole.
Each action type has its own bespoke book of story entries, making for a massive amount of content on the whole.
The story entries list a difficulty and a brief description of what you are trying to do. So the steal example above could be: 4 – steal the satchel laying next to the sleeping sentient. Tests in this game are straightforward. You roll a handful of dice equal to the difficulty of the action, and then either lose health, stamina, or morale based on the roll. Some dice results avoid losing any vital signs, and are typically the best possible outcome.
Cleverly, your character – as well as other cards you may have attained on your journey, such as items or other followers – may store rolled dice so you don’t have to suffer the consequence. Other players may even absorb some of these dice depending on their abilities, effectively representing support or encouragement. This is the main throughline of the system, performing actions and then eating the results while hopefully maintaining enough mental and physical integrity to keep the adventure going. The more tools and followers you can amass during the journey, the more complex your system of mitigation becomes allowing for more interesting abilities and effects.
Crucially, you never fail an action in Vantage. Every test automatically succeeds, with the tension residing completely around the cost. If any of your three core stats is lowered to zero, whether as the result of a roll or triggered effect, the mission immediately ends. The action system is also where the core frustrations may arise. The fuzzy context regarding descriptors, such as what “steal” actually means, and not knowing how many dice will be rolled prior to the selection, can feel too unpredictable. This approach folds into the central philosophy of discovery quite neatly, but it’s not a particularly strategic system and can sometimes take you by surprise. This can lead to abrupt endings that are unsatisfying.
One of Vantage’s most compelling details is the mission. You are assigned a random goal at the outset of play that the whole group must work towards. This could be something like “attain two artifacts” or “build a home”. These are invented to avoid spoiling content, but the actual missions parallel this methodology. In pursuing your goal, you may also come across a destiny. Destinies are organically discovered objectives which can be pursued in tandem with your mission. They’re more impactful emotionally, as they arise naturally through play and often flow from actions. As a device to spur creative dynamic interest, they’re superb.
While I don’t view the murkiness of Vantage’s action system as a substantial flaw, I do have a more critical view of the destiny and mission structure. Mostly, this system is problematic in conjunction with the unique format of multiplayer play. Since each player is scattered in an unknown land, sessions can often feel as though several characters are playing their own separate games. This leads to slow progress, uneven investment, and a finish that can be unsatisfying. In one session, a player was pursuing a series of odd developments and weird discoveries. They were learning a mysterious craft and building a life for themselves on the planet. Meanwhile, another player on a completely separate side of the world accomplished our goal and triggered the end game. The first player was never able to pursue their own interests and felt as though they were not linked to the greater story at all.
Vantage tries to correct for this. It allows you to keep playing if you’d like, but this rarely feels satisfying. Should we all have sat by, spending another hour or so wandering around while we waited for the other player to reach the conclusion of their own goals? It’s not a great position to be in.
The isolated positioning of players works much better when pursuing a destiny or mission that can be accomplished in pieces. Occasionally, narrative will align perfectly with players calling out landmarks they’re near and trying to orient themselves. Sometimes you have to work together across massive distances. When this occurs it’s magical. Everything feels right and Vantage is hitting its peak. These moments, however, emerge unpredictably. This is why the game works much more reliably with lower player counts, or even as a solo board game. With no downtime, the tempo just hums along and the exploration is wholly immersive.
Beyond the unique approach of scattered perspectives and its quirky take on mission objectives, Vantage’s real innovation is in how it approaches discovery. Most games of this ilk are campaign board games that ask you to commit to a scenario and play it over a handful of sessions. Vantage shoves its gameplay into a single two- or three-hour engagement. Although, that’s not the whole story.
While a game begins and wraps in a single session, the true experience of Vantage is one of extended play. The knowledge you gain is the primary achievement and what you take with you. In future sessions you’ll learn more about the world, various key locations, and the mysterious nature of “the traveler” who continually reaches out to you. It’s a single-session game on the surface, with a campaign format smuggled in. This is frankly brilliant. Much of this rides on the sheer amount of content offered and the compelling nature of discovering it. The things you will find are wild and powerful, often impressing beyond expectation.
It’s a single-session game on the surface, with a campaign format smuggled in. This is frankly brilliant.
This box will stand up to dozens and dozens of hours of play. There are hundreds of locations and hundreds of items and characters and creatures to discover. Every time you arrive at a location you can only trigger a single action. You cannot engage in a second action on that card in the same session. This is artificial, but it highlights how every single set-piece has multiple things to discover. Returning to previously seen spots yields new revelations.
This is subtle, but perhaps the design’s strongest mechanical trick. One of the weaknesses of games like 7th Continent is that you must retread previously broken ground. Many locations in that game lose their wonder and spontaneity upon repeated play. Vantage overcomes that problem by presenting richer locations, as well as mission objectives that can be accomplished in many different ways. It’s structurally very different to locate two artifacts on a planet that holds dozens, than it is to locate a temple at a specific location.
All of this ties in with the core motif of creativity. The rulebook explicitly suggests you may bring your own personal goals into a session and even forego the assigned mission. The nature of play reinforces this as well, as the outcome of any particular objective is a sparse section of text lacking fanfare. Vantage is about the journey and your agency in shaping it. This cuts right to the spirit of the design, highlighting that the central experience is yours, and yours alone. Make of Vantage what you will. What I make of Vantage is that it’s one of the best games of 2025.
