If you are wondering why Baldur’s Gate 3’s companions were extremely… forward, it turns out it was the result of a bug.
Developer Larian told TheGamer Baldur’s Gate 3 came out with a bug that meant the companions were too horny too soon into the player’s relationship with them.
Explosive wizard Gale is perhaps the most aggressively horny of Baldur’s Gate 3’s companions. He’s very much up for a fun night at camp pretty much as soon as you pull him out of his magic hole. But red hot Tiefling Barbarian Karlach isn’t far behind. She had a burning desire for my half-elf before we’d even exchanged numbers.
Larian boss Swen Vincke told TheGamer the companions’ “approval thresholds” were set too low, which brought forward their interest in sex. “That’s why they were so horny in the beginning,” explained Vincke.
Apparently Larian has fixed this bug for some, but not all the game’s companions, which shows Larian’s intention when it comes to the relationships in the game. Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t supposed to be this horny, basically. It wouldn’t be right in real life, Vincke said. “There were a lot of people that enjoyed it. But it was too fast,” Vincke said. “It was supposed to simulate how real relationships are.” Acting this way in real life would be “problematic”, Vincke added.
In the meantime, if everything’s moving too fast for you, you can always select the dialogue that tells your determined companions to calm down.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
CD Projekt Red has detailed exactly which of Cyberpunk 2077’s upcoming changes will be offered to all players as part of the game’s major 2.0 update, and which additions will be included in the game’s massive Phantom Liberty expansion.
For much of the time that Science Adventure fans have known of its existence, Anonymous;Code has been more of a waiting game than, well, an actual game. First announced all the way back in 2016, this sci-fi-heavy visual novel was smacked with delay after delay until it finally saw a Japanese-exclusive release on Switch in 2022. Now, Western players have their chance to experience the game, and we’re happy to report that it was (mostly) worth the wait.
Developed by Mages — the company behind popular titles like Steins;Gate and the Famicom Detective Club remakes — Anonymous;Code is the sixth mainline entry in the developer’s loosely connected Science Adventure series. The game brings the action to the far-flung year of 2037, a hyper-futuristic era dominated by augmented reality, world simulators, and AI girlfriends. You are introduced to protagonist Pollon Takaoka, a teenage hacker with a heart of gold and a desire to help those in need. After a chance encounter with a mysterious girl named Momo Aizaki, Pollon finds himself caught in an earth-shattering conspiracy revolving around the mystery of Cicada 3301 and the prophesied end of the world.
Starfield is finally on our horizon and early access is now live. The game launches on Xbox Series X|S and PC (with Game Pass) on September 6 – and is playable in early access today with the Starfield Premium Edition, Starfield Premium Edition Upgrade, or the Starfield Constellation Edition – and we at Xbox Wire have been lucky enough to play it early. This is an enormous game, full of overlapping systems, mysteries and mechanics.
We’re sure you want to know more and, in the spirit of getting you ready to play it yourself, we’ve put together a series of articles focused on getting you out into the galaxy prepared for what’s to come. Allow us to present Starfield Starters, a four-part, spoiler-free guide to some of the game’s most important, complex, and lesser-known features – and how to succeed with them. For more Starfield Starters, make sure to check out our guides on character customization and planet hopping.
Space isn’t always a friendly place in Starfield. You might come across Spacers, the villainous Crimson Fleet, or the zealots of House Va’ruun – each vying to destroy you for different reasons. Then again, you might not be the friendly one – you may decide upon a life of space piracy, invoking the ire of peaceful travellers, and racking up bounties from Settled Systems’ various peacekeepers.
All of this is to say that you’ll not just need to know how to fly your ship, but how to fight with it. Space combat is a very different proposition to fighting on ground level, with numerous mechanics to consider while trying to survive in the yawning voids between planets. Consider this your first day in flight school, then – this is our guide to succeeding in Starfield’s space combat:
Ship Systems
Key to every piece of your chosen spacecraft is its distinct systems, and more particularly how they’re powered. Your systems are split up into engines, three groups of weapons, shields, and your grav drive. Your ship’s reactor dictates how much power you have to put into each of these systems and, on the game’s earlier ships, you’re unlikely ever to have enough power to go round for all of them to run at full efficiency.
This means that, as you engage enemies, you’ll need to use the D-pad (or arrow keys if playing on mouse and keyboard) to cycle power into and out of each system. With lower power, lasers will fire more slowly, missiles will restock at a sluggish pace, shields won’t reach full charge, and your engines won’t move you as fast. The key, here, is in knowing your enemy.
Against lower level ships, I feel comfortable draining my grav drive (meaning I can’t warp away) and some of my shields, and pumping all my power into weapons, meaning I can take them down quickly and easily (before scooping up their precious cargo once I’ve reduced them to space trash). But if I feel less confident about my chances, I’ll pump up my shields, leave some juice in the grav drive, and accept a knock-down-drag-out fight, soaking up pressure while I whittle away their shields and hull – and if it all gets too frightening, I can initiate a system jump and get away within a few precious seconds.
Learning how best to distribute power turns fights into a frenzy of button presses, turning you into part-Picard on the bridge and part-La Forge in the engine room – it’s far more exciting than “efficient power allocation” has any right to be.
Learn the Dance
But even with a perfect control over power, you need to consider what I call The Dance – space combat is rarely a case of just sinking all your weapons into the hull of an enemy ship, and more a considered sense of what to fire when. Enemy shields naturally soak up damage, and must be dealt with before you can start blowing holes in ships – laser weaponry is particularly effective here.
Once those shields are down, however, lasers are far less effective than ballistic cannons, which are best-placed to knock chunks of healthbar off. Missiles, meanwhile offer huge ballistic damage, but ammo is slow to restock, meaning they’re best used as precision weapons (more on that below).
The Dance, then, is knowing which weapons to power up and take down specific types of enemy defence. It might seem wise to put a bit of power into each type and keep up a sustained assault, but I’ve found it more useful to cycle my lasers up to full power, remove my target’s shields, cycle that power into ballistics and then take down the hull. Your starting ship, the Frontier is set up with a very efficient combo of lasers, ballistics and missiles, and I highly recommend getting to grips with them before experimenting with other weapon types.
But once you have, there are other options available to the enterprising space buccaneer – EMP-type weapons can take down entire systems on the enemy ship in a few good bursts, for example. You’re restricted to three weapon groups per ship, so learning your preferred set-up is key to perfecting a deadly craft.
Target Acquired
If you’re going to go down a space combat-heavy route, I have three helpful words for you: “Targeting Control Systems”. This skill, unlocked on the first tier of the Tech skill tree, unlocks the ability to lock onto enemies, slow down time, and target specific parts of a ship – it’s effectively Starfield’s take on the Fallout VATS system. This is where missiles, with their high damage and homing capabilities, come into their own.
Targeting is useful for multiple reasons. If a ship’s lasers are ripping through your shields, focus on those systems and remove them from the equation. If you’re engaging in a spot of piracy and want to ensure your prey can’t escape, hit their grav drive to prevent a jump. Most excitingly, you can also go straight for their engines, crippling the ship and making it possible to dock with the enemy ship and climb aboard. From here, you’ll be able to enter their ship, take down the crew (on smaller ships they’re usually found in the cockpit, but can pop up in other rooms), steal the contents of the cargo bay and, if you so wish, steal the entire ship itself (which can then be registered, used, upgraded, or simply sold).
It’s worth pointing out that shields need to be taken down before you can effectively hit systems (if you want to prevent this happening again, just shoot out their shield generator), and targeting also comes with a limited window – if you take too long or lose lock-on, you’ll need to target them again. It usually takes two or three solid sessions of targeting to take down a system in my experience with the early game.
Start a Movement
In a 360 combat space, your movement is as important as your ordnance, so make sure to pay attention to how you’re getting around. The key here is in learning how to turn your ship most effectively. While it’s tempting to push your ship’s engines to their limit, going too fast actually reduces some of your mobility – the gauge on the centre-left of the ship combat UI shows how fast you’re going, but it also includes a small section colored in white. This white section is the optimum spot for high speed turns – keep your speed within this window and you’ll be far more nimble, allowing you to wheel round at high velocity and keep a ship in your sights far more easily.
If you want to get even trickier, investing in the first rank of the Piloting skill unlocks thruster control for your ship – switching on thrusters allows you strafe your ship in four directions, helping you to avoid enemy fire while still keeping a bead on the target. I’ve found this particularly beneficial when I’ve been on a head-to-head flight path with an enemy, using thrusters to subtly move my ship and avoid careening missiles by inches.
Finally, boosting (achieved by clicking in the left stick on controller, or pressing Shift on your keyboard) is not just a way of getting places fast. In fact, it’s far more important as a defensive tool – enemy ships also tote missiles, and when they’ve locked on you’ll get a red warning at the top of your screen. Boosting immediately breaks a missile lock, keeping you safe from what’s likely the most damaging weapon enemies can use against you. With this in mind, keep hold of your boost as often as you can while in space combat, to save for a special, dangerous occasion.
Hull-istic Therapy
Amid the thrill of space combat, it can be easy to forget that your ship is vulnerable too – not least because, while shields will recharge, hull damage doesn’t recover naturally. There are a couple of ways to fix this – the more expensive way is to head to a ship-port at any civilized location, speak to a ship technician, and ask for repairs, which come at a cost of 1,000 credits a pop.
The less expensive way is to keep a supply of ship parts on hand. Think of these as medpacks for spaceships – they’re not especially easy to come by, and they take up a weighty amount of inventory or cargo hold space (pro tip – if you don’t understand why your inventory is so full, check the Aid section of you inventory for ship parts!), but they’re the quickest way to make yourself safe to fight again.
Interestingly, one of the easiest ways to ensure you get some ship parts is… engaging in more space combat. You’ll fairly frequently fly into a system and find yourself amid an ongoing battle between friendly forces like the Freestar Collective and more aggressive factions like Spacers. If you take part in the battle, taking down all the aggressors, the surviving side will often hail your ship, asking if they can reward you for your help – and ship parts are one of the available choices to request. Space combat – fun and useful!
Starfield is the first new universe in over 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.
***
Pre-order now and receive “Old Mars Skin Pack” in-game bonus skins:
– Laser Cutter
– Deep Mining Helmet
– Deep Mining Pack
Premium Edition includes:
– Starfield Base Game
– Shattered Space Story Expansion (upon release)
– Up to 5 days early access*
– Constellation Skin Pack: Equinox Laser Rifle, Spacesuit, Helmet and Boost Pack
– Access to Starfield Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
* Actual play time depends on purchase date and is subject to possible outages and applicable time zone differences.
Cloud play not available during Early Access
***
In the year 2330, humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. You will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of space in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
TELL YOUR STORY
In Starfield the most important story is the one you tell with your character. Start your journey by customizing your appearance and deciding your Background and Traits. Will you be an experienced explorer, a charming diplomat, a stealthy cyber runner, or something else entirely? The choice is yours. Decide who you will be and what you will become.
EXPLORE OUTER SPACE
Venture through the stars and explore more than 1000 planets. Navigate bustling cities, explore dangerous bases, and traverse wild landscapes. Meet and recruit a memorable cast of characters, join in the adventures of various factions, and embark on quests across the Settled Systems. A new story or experience is always waiting to be discovered.
CAPTAIN THE SHIP OF YOUR DREAMS
Pilot and command the ship of your dreams. Personalize the look of your ship, modify critical systems including weapons and shields, and assign crew members to provide unique bonuses. In deep space you will engage in high-stakes dogfights, encounter random missions, dock at star stations, and even board and commandeer enemy ships to add to your collection.
DISCOVER, COLLECT, BUILD
Explore planets and discover the fauna, flora, and resources needed to craft everything from medicine and food to equipment and weapons. Build outposts and hire a crew to passively extract materials and establish cargo links to transfer resources between them. Invest these raw materials into research projects to unlock unique crafting recipes.
LOCK AND LOAD
Space can be a dangerous place. A refined combat system gives you the tools to deal with any situation. Whether you prefer long-range rifles, laser weapons, or demolitions, each weapon type can be modified to complement your playstyle. Zero G environments add a chaotic spectacle to combat, while boost packs give players freedom to maneuver like never before.
Starfield is the first new universe in over 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.
In the year 2330, humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. You will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of space in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
***
Pre-order now and receive “Old Mars Skin Pack” in-game bonus skins:
– Laser Cutter
– Deep Mining Helmet
– Deep Mining Pack
Standard Edition Includes:
– Starfield Base Game
***
TELL YOUR STORY
In Starfield the most important story is the one you tell with your character. Start your journey by customizing your appearance and deciding your Background and Traits. Will you be an experienced explorer, a charming diplomat, a stealthy cyber runner, or something else entirely? The choice is yours. Decide who you will be and what you will become.
EXPLORE OUTER SPACE
Venture through the stars and explore more than 1000 planets. Navigate bustling cities, explore dangerous bases, and traverse wild landscapes. Meet and recruit a memorable cast of characters, join in the adventures of various factions, and embark on quests across the Settled Systems. A new story or experience is always waiting to be discovered.
CAPTAIN THE SHIP OF YOUR DREAMS
Pilot and command the ship of your dreams. Personalize the look of your ship, modify critical systems including weapons and shields, and assign crew members to provide unique bonuses. In deep space you will engage in high-stakes dogfights, encounter random missions, dock at star stations, and even board and commandeer enemy ships to add to your collection.
DISCOVER, COLLECT, BUILD
Explore planets and discover the fauna, flora, and resources needed to craft everything from medicine and food to equipment and weapons. Build outposts and hire a crew to passively extract materials and establish cargo links to transfer resources between them. Invest these raw materials into research projects to unlock unique crafting recipes.
LOCK AND LOAD
Space can be a dangerous place. A refined combat system gives you the tools to deal with any situation. Whether you prefer long-range rifles, laser weapons, or demolitions, each weapon type can be modified to complement your playstyle. Zero G environments add a chaotic spectacle to combat, while boost packs give players freedom to maneuver like never before.
The Witcher tabletop RPG has been placed on a “disappointing” hiatus while CD Projekt Red works on The Witcher 4, codenamed Polaris.
Tabletop developer R. Talsorian Games announced the hiatus in August but has now told IGN it doesn’t know when it can continue work on the game.
“We’re doing alright over here at Talsorian though the news is disappointing to say the least,” line manager and lead developer Cody Pondsmith told IGN. “We don’t have a time frame yet as many things are still up in the air with [CD Projekt Red].”
We’re doing alright over here at Talsorian though the news is disappointing to say the least.
Polaris isn’t launching until 2025 at the earliest so the hiatus could be lengthy. Though grander story details are likely to be locked in earlier on in development, content could be cut for several reasons later on, leaving it unclear what stories actually make it into the main game.
Pondsmith said its story — which takes place between The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — isn’t directly related to Polaris, but Talsorian and CD Projekt Red work closely together to ensure its Witcher canon remains consistent.
“The new content we have planned isn’t directly related to The Witcher 4 but it touches on a lot of parts of the lore of The Witcher that are integral to the entire canon,” he said.
Pondsmith delved into this further in the initial announcement: “As CD Projekt Red begins work on the fourth Witcher video game we’ve been collaborating to make sure that the information between our two products stays as connected as possible.
“We’ve had countless meetings covering days’ worth of time discussing the lore of The Continent and the direction of the Witcher franchise. What we’ve come to realize is that it would be extremely difficult or perhaps impossible to continue work on The Witcher TTRPG line at the moment and still maintain the connection with CD Projekt Red’s upcoming plans.”
Fans of The Witcher TTRPG might have some new content to look forward to though, as Pondsmith made clear in the post that the game “is not dead”.
He also told IGN that some smaller content drops are a possibility: “Currently, we don’t have any plans to release substantial new content during this hiatus but we are hoping to be able to release free downloadable content on our website focusing on well established concepts in the Witcher canon that won’t be touched by The Witcher 4.”
I am currently juggling two playthroughs of Starfield with very different aims. While Sayer the Space Scoundrel is having trouble getting around as they engage with the main story, I have started another character to engage in some nonsense (to the extent that there is any in Starfield) – the first of such I’ve detailed here.
I’ve said it before, but you’re my very best friend, so we’re going to play Starfield together. Join me as we step, wobbly and uncertain like Bambi on ice, into Bethesda’s huge and partially procedurally generated space RPG universe for the adventures of Turbo Eclipse (I used an astronaut name generator intended for a child’s party), a spacefaring nerd who longs only for the thrill of science. Yes, we’re going to visit every planet in Starfield. Or at least as many as possible before I lose every single one of my marbles. And hey, planets look kinda like marbles! Strap in, spacefarers. Let’s put this proc gen through its paces.
If you’re playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and feel like it could do with some Final Fantasy races, there’s a mod for that.
Dungeons and Souls’ Fantastical Multiverse 1.0, which just launched in full release form, adds 54 fantastical races to Larian’s Dungeons & Dragons-themed role-playing game, including some from Final Fantasy 14.
Races added with the mod are lifted from lands outside the game setting of Faerûn, such as D&D’s Eberron, Etharis (the official world for the Grim Hollow setting), and Final Fantasy 14’s Eorzea. This means Changeling, Kobold, Goliath, Goblins, Dhampir, Aasimar, Laneshi, Yuan-ti, and many more are included. The Final Fantasy 14 races added are the Hyur, Elezen, Roegadyn, and Garlean.
The mod even makes Ogresh (like giant humans) from Grim Hollow playable.
Ogresh are from Grim Hollow, they look like giant Humans not Ogres. I’m never making Ogres playable, I have no desire too and there is already a mod to do so. pic.twitter.com/RkVRA10vTS
Dungeons and Souls made all the new races compatible with current standards to “ensure that none of the races fall behind if they aren’t already upgraded by the source material”. “Fantastical Multiverse aims to aid players who play races outside of the vanilla and encourages the fantastical,” reads the mod’s description on Nexus.
There’s more to come, too. “Yes, all FF14 races will be added eventually,” Dungeons and Souls’ said in a post on X.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s explosive launch has come with an equally explosive modding scene, with everything from an improved user interface to a party limit increase available. In our 10/10 review, IGN said: “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”
Image credit: @DungeonsNSouls on X.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
As someone with a general aversion to online competitive modes in games, I’m always grateful when someone, for once, especially in this age of endlessly bland multiplayer experiments, thinks of the solitary solo player. I’m especially grateful when us single player preferers get a knowing nod of acknowledgement in fighting games, too, which are so naturally geared toward pitting your skills against other human beings that anything involving playing against the AI is often either an afterthought or so threadbare that you can’t help but feel like you’re missing the point.
But that’s still, for my sins, how I like to consume fighting games when I occasionally play them – which isn’t often, I’ll admit, for exactly the reasons described above – and so when I sat down for my Mortal Kombat 1 demo session at Gamescom this year, I was pleased to see not just a very slick story mode in attendance, but also a new single player challenge mode called Invasions that publishers Warner Bros described as “a giant interactive board game” that “lent into action RPG” territory. Its numerous node-based missions looked substantial based on what I played, and the idea of applying a seasonal service model to it, endlessly rotating in new locations and missions every so often – a whole different Invasion, so to speak – is actually something I’d be very much behind. It, that is, I was a) good at Mortal Kombat, and b) the missions I played during my demo weren’t quite so… err… boring.
If you’ve started compiling a collection of digital games, you probably already know just how limited the Switch’s base storage capacity is. The Switch and Switch OLED have 32GB and 64GB of internal storage, respectively. Some of that is reserved for the OS. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes up over 18GB of storage all by itself. Other must-have titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Sword or Shield tap out at 13.5GB each.
TL;DR – Best Switch SD Card Deals
There’s only one expansion slot in the Switch console so you want to make sure you get the biggest card you can afford. Below, we’ve found some of the best SD card deals right now so you can maximize your Switch’s storage space without breaking the bank.
TeamGroup A2 Pro Plus SD Card for $25.99
For now, our favorite deal is definitely on the TeamGroup 512GB Micro SDXC card. You can pick up the TeamGroup card for just $25.99 at Amazon right now, which is a great price vs the next best deal on the Samsung Evo Plus for $33.24. This is also less than the Prime Day price from a few weeks ago, so you’re absolutely bagging a bargain here. Otherwise, the 1TB is also at a great price for $57.99 right now as well.
Samsung EVO Plus 512GB Micro SDXC Card for $33.24
Amazon has the Samsung EVO Plus 512GB Micro SDXC card for only $33.24, making it one of the lowest prices currently for a Micro SDXC card of that size. It boasts a U3 A2 speed rating, which is faster than most Micro SDXC cards, including the official Nintendo Switch ones.
It doesn’t make any difference for the Nintendo Switch itself, since it will throttle any Micro SDXC card down to U1 speeds. However, it will be useful if you ever want to swap it down the road to your smartphone, GoPro, camera, or any device that supports faster speeds. Plus, it could future proof your purchase if the next Nintendo console supports A2 micro SD cards.
Budget to Best: Micro SDXC Card Deals
If you’re not married to a particular brand, then there are plenty of lesser-known but still legitimate companies that offer some outstanding deals on memory cards.
For example, TeamGroup is actually a well-known company, but people recognize them more for their T-Force branded lineup of RAM and SSDs.
The Switch isn’t the only gaming system that accepts these cards. If you’re a Steam Deck or ROG Ally owner, you can also use this card, especially if you picked up the 64GB Deck storage option.
For even more Switch deals, check out our complete Nintendo deals round-up featuring discounts on games, accessories, Switch online memberships, and more.
With how expensive gaming is getting in 2023, we’re trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy.
We’ve got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as PS5 and Xbox, and keep these updated daily with brand new offers. If you’re trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.
Nintendo has quietly launched a browser-based AR game titled Pikmin Finder to coincide with the Nintendo Live event in Seattle.
Accessible via any mobile browser application, Pikmin Finder needs to be played via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet to be fully appreciated (which we imagine is to give folks waiting in queues at Nintendo Live something to keep them occupied), as it utilises the built-in camera to implement AR Pikmin in your immediate surroundings.
