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Path of Exile 2: The Third Edict – Introducing Some of the 12 New Bosses in the Latest Update
Mark Roberts & Kane BennettGame Director & Audio and Narrative Director, Path of Exile 2
The Third Edict, the next major update for Path of Exile 2 in Game Preview, is out now, and brings a massive amount of new content alongside overall improvements to the game. One of the largest additions is the introduction of Act Four, with 12 new bosses to challenge players.
Alongside diving deeper on some of those bosses, we’d like to offer an introduction to some of the new areas included in The Third Edict.
In Act Four, you will have 8 islands to explore, each with its own dangers and, of course… bosses! As each island has a distinct identity, we were able to create a completely unique set of monsters on every single island, allowing us to explore many different cultures of Wraeclast. In total, Act Four brings over 100 new monster varieties to Path of Exile 2!
With nature left to its devices, it seems the creatures on these islands have evolved in rather interesting ways. One such fierce creature is The Great White One. This boss is a trophy kill, dropping a quest item for an optional quest. This is just one of many optional boss encounters throughout Act Four.
The Great White One is a shark – at least at first. As you approach the edge of the rocks on its island you’ll see its fin swim by. You feel safe and comfortable on land, but only for a moment – because, in short order, it will leap out of the water to reveal a very unexpected form. It’s at this moment the player will think “Of course I should have seen this coming… It’s Wraeclast!” as you begin in an epic battle against this land-shark, which attacks with vicious bites and tail swipes, and frequently burrows underground to attack you from below. If it manages to land a bite on you, you’ll find it frenzied by your blood loss, making its attacks more accurate, and more deadly.
After you’ve faced the creatures of the island above, you’ll descend into the Singing Caverns beneath. In these eerie caves, a beautifully disturbing voice echoes throughout, enticing you to its origin. The Siren, Diamora, Song of Death, is the reason the settlements have been abandoned on the shores of Whakapanu Island. Countless Karui and wanderers have met their end here, but perhaps you can put a stop to it.
Diamora is an awesome boss fight that utilizes some pretty difficult mechanics. Diamora initially appears as a Siren, singing and conveying absolute beauty as she shines and maneuvers in the serene water filling her arena. As you approach, you are lured in by her voice and glow. Just as you get close, that’s when things turn dark – she immediately goes into the water, and what emerges is the opposite of what initially brought you there. She is a mutant hybrid fish creature that uses a human form to attract people in to be eaten.
As she dives in and out of the water, summons walls of water, fires concentrated water beams and performs deafening screeches, you’re left fighting to survive. Look closely at her arena and you’ll notice that, in the darkness, there are figures turned to stone – unlucky victims preserved as pets until she grows tired and uses them for food.
This attention to detail is reflected in a mechanic in the fight – as she dives back into the middle and begins singing, you find yourself turning to stone if you look at her directly. You must avoid looking at her, while fighting off swarms of her siren spawn. As you progress through this mechanic, walls of reflective water appear around the outside of the arena too, which can also turn you to stone if facing in the wrong direction. You’ll need to keep moving, face in the right direction, and survive the swarm in order to overcome Diamora. Good luck!
In your travels you may eventually visit the most sacred of all Karui locations: The Eye of Hinekora, a massive sinkhole in the middle of the ocean. After venturing down into the Eye, the worthy are invited into The Halls of the Dead, where notable Karui spend their afterlife. If you are so lucky to be invited, you will face many tests of mettle within.
One such test comes from The Mother of Death’s Speaker – Navali. Navali gives this task to her faithful companion, Yama, the White. This monkey may not look like much at first, but don’t be fooled… his true form reveals a challenging final test you must pass before you can speak with the Mother of Death herself.
Yama, the White combines high agility combat with two powerful spells to truly test your limits. He is extremely agile, able to maneuver around the arena with ease, and jump on top of clusters of totems to get a height advantage over you – only to flip off them, slamming down back onto you. On top of that he embraces Chaos Magic, a type of damage rarely seen in Wraeclast, which shreds your Energy Shield, and your Life.
His true power, though, is one granted to him by Hinekora herself – the power of Foresight. Yama has the capability to see many futures all at once, meaning he can predict what you will often do. This is reflected by a unique mechanic where, all of a sudden, the arena becomes completely dark. You are alone – until you see a copy of yourself running and dying. Then another… and another. These are alternate futures, showing what will happen to you if you follow them. Your job is to find the one version of your future where you don’t die, and attempt to follow it – easier said than done…
As if all of that wasn’t enough, the final boss of Act Four is an entirely different challenge — but we will not be spoiling that fight for you today. Let’s just say we can’t wait to see your reactions…
Path of Exile 2: The Third Edictis available on Xbox Series X|S now.
This game is a work in progress. It may or may not change over time or release as a final product. Purchase only if you are comfortable with the current state of the unfinished game. Path of Exile 2 is a next generation free-to-play Action RPG created by Grinding Gear Games. Journey across the deadly continent of Wraeclast, meeting multiple immersive cultures while facing off against evil in many forms. Path of Exile 2 features twelve character classes, 240 Skill Gems, hundreds of equipment base types, a six-act campaign, more than a hundred unique boss fights, a deep endgame system and so much more. Play with your friends without losing any progress with couch co-op, cross-play and cross-progression on all available platforms. Full details on the latest status of the game, how you can give feedback and report issues can be found at pathofexile2.com.
This past week players snuck through Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and shared memorable moments using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:
Michael_Jamborshares a detailed close-up of Snake’s face
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. As for next week…Share of the Week will be taking a short break! Check back in a few weeks when we focus our lens on Fall games.
While we eagerly await Resident Evil: Requiem to give us a good scare next year, Amazon’s dropped an excellent deal on a slightly older Resi title that’s worth picking up to keep you on your toes in the meantime. The excellent Resident Evil 4 remake for PS5 has dropped to just $15 at the retailer. Yes, you read that correctly! This marks its lowest price yet, according to price tracker camelcamelcamel, making now an excellent time to scoop it up for your library if you haven’t had the chance to yet.
Resident Evil 4 for PS5 Down to $15 at Amazon
Considering when it first came out it was listed for $59.99, this makes for a 75% discount from that original price, which is an incredible amount of savings for a game we absolutely adored (awarding a shining 10/10 in our review). IGN’s Tristan Ogilvie said at the time that, “Its combat is friction-free but no less stress-inducing thanks to its ferocious cast of creatures, its story rapidly shuttles through a series of action scenes that are diverse in structure but uniformly unwavering in intensity, and its world is rich in detail and full of fun and often snarling surprises.”
If you’ve yet to add it to your libary, there’s truly no better time than now to do it. Especially considering Resident Evil: Requiem is set to arrive next year in February. Plus, with spooky season right around the corner, now is the perfect time to have a scary game ready to play when October hits. And if you’re curious which order these games should be played in before the new one drops, check out our breakdown of how to play the Resident Evil games in order so you can set yourself up for success next year.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
For most of his game-making career, Australian developer dweedes has projected an image of cheeky, punkish rebellion. His website WET GAMIN has accumulated a trove of experimental games over the last decade: short works by various freeware developers that exemplify a scribbly, DIY spirit. Now, making and selling games on Steam under his studio Nonsense Machine, dweedes finds himself in the position of stepping up his commercial and craft ambitions while trying to stay true to his anti-corporate roots.
“I’ll put out games for free because it kind of lightens the load off my head,” he tells me as we chat over Discord. “I don’t have to market it, I don’t have to invest time in it. I just want to get the idea out, and then people can play it. There’s no quality target, so it’s fun for trying new ideas and throwing whatever you want out and not thinking too hard about it.”
I fear and covet no videogame genre on this Earth like the bullet hell shoot ’em up. I find these scions of the arcades irresistibly beautiful. They look like how I imagine human nervous systems appear to thunder spirits. By the same token, I’m not sure they’re actually designed to be processed by the human nervous system. They’re the kind of game the androids will play, once they’ve hunted down and incinerated the last of our kind.
Not long before joining Rock Paper Shotgun, I wrote a feature for Edge magazine about the origins of the very silly term “AAA game”. The overall conclusion I came to is that “AAA game” is possibly a boardroom-level borrowing from the credit rating industry and Hollywood, and that it has little meaning beyond “most expensive/biggest”.
Hollow Knight: Silksong, much like its predecessor, is known for featuring quirky voice roles to represent the numerous NPCs you’ll encounter along your journey.
One these roles features a developer with which you might be quite familiar: Eric Barone, A.K.A. ConcernedApe, A.K.A the creator of a little game called Stardew Valley. As spotted by The Verge, Barone’s name can be seen in Silksong’s credits under the ‘Additional Character Voices’ section.
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for September 8 to 12
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox on PC, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
Borderlands 4 brings intense action, badass Vault Hunters, and billions of wild and deadly weapons to an all-new planet ruled by a ruthless tyrant. Crash into Kairos as one of four new Vault Hunters seeking wealth and glory. Wield powerful Action Skills, customize your build with deep skill trees, and dominate enemies with dynamic movement abilities. Pre-order and receive the Gilded Glory Pack, one Vault Hunter Head, and one Vault Hunter Skin both usable by all Vault Hunters, a Weapon Skin, and an ECHO-4 Drone Skin!
Play like a superstar in EA Sports 26. That starts with Ice-Q 2.0, now powered by NHL Edge data, so your favorite superstars think, move, and play like their on-ice selves. That includes data-informed attributes and tendencies which make star players perform in true-to-life fashion, with their playstyles and decision-making game-aware and impactful. Start playing today with the EA Sports NHL 26 10-hour EA Play early access trial, available on Xbox Series X|S for Game Pass Ultimate members. You can also pick up the NHL 26 Deluxe Editionto start playing on September 5.
New season of a game about love! Swap blocks to help hearts have a date, but avoid the black heart, spikes and other obstacles. Optional challenge: make the hearts meet specifically in a romantic zone – a special part of some of the levels.
Face unpredictable dangers head-on, fight perilous fires with your crew, and save lives in Firefighting Simulator: Ignite. Step into the boots of a U.S. firefighter in a sprawling city in the American Midwest, where every mission pushes your skills to the limit.
Hellstuck: Rage With Your Friends is a punishing platforming game where you start in the deepest depths of Hell and must escape. But the way out is a long way up and the only thing in between you and escape is how much rage you can endure.
Follow a college student named Jaden Black who’s on the run from the government. Jasmine Miles who’s hired by the CIA is sent after him to kill him. But the task isn’t as easy as she thought it would be. Follow two amazing stories, one being Jasmine and Jasmine the main story then follow Villainous Situations which is a story following 3 young adults Hakeem, Chris and Tyler.
Snack and Quack is a 2D pixel art puzzle game designed for casual players. The goal is to guide all the ducklings to eat the scattered bread in each level. The game focuses on logical challenges and progressive difficulty across two distinct maps to keep players engaged.
Play as Loki – the fluffiest house defender – and fight off endless pests until your humans return! Dodge, upgrade, and fiercely survive with your 9 lives and infinite zoomies. Unlock Lokis from other dimensions, equip useful amulets, and build the weirdest card combos in this chaotic cat roguelike!
Ready to race against a real heavyweight? Garfield, Odie, Nermal, and the whole crew are at the starting line, raring to go! Play as one of the eight cult characters from the Garfield universe, fill up your karts, customize your look, and race away at breakneck speeds.
It’s time for some good old-fashioned gambling with all the fun and none of the risk! Hot Stakes Casino – American Roulette is a game designed to be casual and infinitely replayable, letting you enjoy the classic game of roulette at your own pace. Choose from four playable characters, each with their own unique skills, and place your bets using a pool of credits granted at the start of each game.
A first-person cinematic psychological thriller set in a dystopian world where the Leviathan Corporation is omnipresent. The year is 1984, the place is East Germany, and things are not quite what they seem.
A fantasy-themed puzzle game where a brave knight ventures into a dungeon filled with deadly traps and ancient secrets. Your goal is to clear the path and collect all the treasures to complete each level. By pushing blocks, sealing acid holes, and unlocking gates, you’ll create a safe route for the knight to reach every treasure.
Forge your squad to your liking with permanent upgrades. Decide upon how you’d like to progress and if you change your mind just reset and try something else. Pursue the specialization you enjoy the most and observe how your team becomes death, destroyer of worlds.
Trapped in a terrifying deathloop, surgeon Cole Mason is kidnapped and brought to an underwater facility, forced to operate on a patient to extract an evolving parasitic horror. Dead Reset is a blood-soaked interactive horror, where each death brings you closer to the truth.
Bananitro is a 2D runner that combines speed, action, and a unique gravity mechanic, bringing an amazing mix of monkeys and bicycles. Race with Monkey and his bike, using Bananitro to reach insane speeds, ride on walls, perform crazy maneuvers, and make jumps that defy the laws of physics! But be careful, each track presents a new challenge, filled with obstacles that require agility, skill, and precision!
Otherwar is a surprising mash-up of Tower Defense and Bullet Hell with the charm and classy aesthetic of the timeless pixel art. Embody the role of the defender angel who has been called forth to stem the tide of an encroaching hell horde. It falls upon your halo to plan out the defenses, however your adversaries shall not stand idly as they will blot out the sun with fire just to clip your wings. Yet, you are not defenseless as the angel can smite enemies on his own if need be.
The explosive finale to the Trasmoz trilogy: a retro arcade platformer built like a lost 1980s cabinet. Featuring ultra-crisp pixel art limited to 16 colors and an authentic YM2203 chiptune soundtrack, it’s a love letter to the golden age of coin-op gaming.
Welcome to Theme Park Jam, a vibrant and fast-paced puzzle game where organizing chaos is all part of the fun. In this whimsical world, your task is to sort theme park visitors by color and seat them in the matching roller coaster carts before the ride takes off.
Enter the brutal world of Baki Hanma: Blood Arena, a thrilling 2D action game inspired by the anime phenomenon Baki. With gameplay reminiscent of classic fighting titles, this game blends precision, timing, and shonen-style flair to deliver a high-energy combat experience.
In Claim the Forest, you enter a magical clearing where two unusual clans compete for territory: brave wolves and calm capybaras. Your challenge is to organize the pieces of these animals, along with logs, stones, and bushes, to fill the board without letting rivalry disturb the harmony.
A first-person, multiplayer cooperative horror game that offers an unforgettable journey into the realm of nightmares. With an emphasis on exploration, puzzle-solving, and atmospheric storytelling, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Pre-order now to get the exclusive Labyrinthine – Werewolf Deluxe Edition!
Get ready for a splashing good time in Smoots Crazy Wave! This fast-paced arcade racer brings the beloved Smoots characters to thrilling water tracks where you’ll compete for victory. Whether you prefer classic Slalom races, power-up-filled mayhem, or intense Battle Royale showdowns, there’s a mode for every type of racer.
A mesmerizing journey through breathtaking landscapes inspired by Viking mythology. In this relaxing exploration game, you take on the role of a small, graceful bird soaring through the skies, experiencing the pure joy of flight while uncovering the secrets of an ancient Norse tale.
Start a fashion and dance adventure with your BFFs, the Bratz Pack! Rule the runway and take the stage with Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha, and Jade. Conquer the world in style, creating customizable fashions in the Bratz Fashion Studios. Showcase your signature looks and groove to your favorite songs from the Bratz universe, including ‘So Good’.
In a world plunged into eternal night and torn by conflict between the living and the undead, one faint glimmer of hope still flickers in the hearts of two special souls. Gloomy Eyes tells the tale of Gloomy, a sweet zombie boy, and Nena, a mischievous human girl, who defy the rules by teaming up and embarking on a quest to bring back the daylight.
A top-down detective adventure with point-and-click mechanics and puzzles to solve, inspired by classic games. Follow a young Waffles, a cunning and witty cat, in his first days as an Inspector. Your partner, Pancakes, is an experienced Inspector and probably the only one at the police station that isn’t an incompetent policecat. With this top-tier team, catching bad guys could sound easy, but beware… Your future worst enemy is hiding in the shadows, waiting for you to make the first mistake.
Welcome to Hollywood, the fabulous land of VIPs! Here, fashion rules, and all the amazing celebrities and fabulous models need to look their best to maintain their star status. That’s where you come in – you’re the stylist to the stars! Everyone’s talking about the incredible looks you created at the latest red carpet event!
In The Devil is in the Details, is an Anomaly detection meets Escape Room meets Survival Horror hybrid, played from a first-person perspective. You find yourself trapped in a hellish mansion. Each step forward is a gamble in this ever-changing nightmare, where no two playthroughs are alike.
Play as a young Christopher Wells whose job is ensuring the peaceful coexistence of monsters and humans. Tired of feeling stuck in an unimportant bureaucratic position, he requests a transferal to Saint George, the city with the highest population of monsters in the country. Unfortunately, not everyone around is happy about having to work with a human. Explore themes like identity, belonging, and the lengths people are willing to go to reach their goals.
Get ready for a thrilling retro journey where you command your tank to face off against enemies and navigate through obstacles. Your mission: destroy opponents and blast through blocks, walls, and anything else in your path.
You are the neuro-salvager…You dive into deep, dangerous neural networks…And your rent is due…You need this job badly, but you have a feeling this can be…different…in a bad way…This time, will you be able to silence the echo in your mind? The Echo is a retro-cyber punk themed, first-person horror/mystery game…
It’s time to see which PS5, PS4, PS VR2, and free-to-play games topped last month’s download charts. August continued sports supremacy as Madden NFL 26 led the charge on the charts in the US, while Mafia: The Old Country had success on both the US and EU charts for PS5, and Delta Force dominated the free-to-play charts in both the US and EU.
Check out the full listings below. What titles are you playing this month?
PS5 Games
US/Canada
EU
Madden NFL 26
Mafia: The Old Country
Ready or Not
Grand Theft Auto V
Mafia: The Old Country
Ready or Not
Gears of War: Reloaded
Forza Horizon 5
College Football 26
Minecraft
Grand Theft Auto V
METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER
METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER
Gears of War: Reloaded
Minecraft
The Crew Motorfest
Forza Horizon 5
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
It Takes Two
HELLDIVERS 2
Among Us
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2
Hogwarts Legacy
WWE 2K25
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
CarX Street
Midnight Murder Club
WWE 2K25
Mortal Kombat 1
Grounded
MLB The Show 25
F1 25
CarX Street
Split Fiction
Grounded
No Man’s Sky
Phasmophobia
Raft
*Naming of products may differ between regions *Upgrades not included
PS4 Games
US/Canada
EU
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2
Batman: Arkham Knight
A Way Out
A Way Out
Batman: Arkham Knight
Battlefield 4
Grand Theft Auto V
Need for Speed Heat
Need for Speed Heat
Grand Theft Auto V
Unravel Two
Mortal Kombat X
Minecraft
Minecraft
Batman: Return to Arkham
Batman: Return to Arkham
Battlefield 4
STAR WARS Battlefront II
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Watch Dogs 2
Alien: Isolation
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Gang Beasts
The Forest
Watch Dogs 2
Mortal Kombat X
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
The Forest
Mafia: Trilogy
Bloodborne
Battlefield V
Injustice 2
Assassin’s Creed Origins
*Naming of products may differ between regions
PS VR2 Games*
US/Canada
EU
Beat Saber
Beat Saber
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition
Alien: Rogue Incursion VR
Job Simulator
Among Us 3D: VR
Alien: Rogue Incursion VR
Job Simulator
Kayak VR: Mirage
Skydance’s BEHEMOTH
Skydance’s BEHEMOTH
GORN 2
Among Us 3D: VR
Pavlov
Dead Land 2 VR
Arizona Sunshine 2
Flight Simulator Delivery 2025 VR
Before Your Eyes
Horizon Call of the Mountain
*PlayStation Store purchases only. Game upgrades or games bundled with hardware not included
