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The first thingBaldur’s Gate 3tells you about Honour Mode is that it will propel you into “an intense campaign recommended for experienced players.” Next, it goes on to explain what exactly that means. Stronger bosses, stricter rules, and – most devastatingly – the following: “You cannot reload older saves in Honour Mode if events go awry. Your choices and consequences always stick. If your entire party is defeated in combat, your Honour Mode run will end....

Many video games allow you to do things that you may’t do in real life. Necromancy is certainly one of those things. However, even in games, it’s still fairly rare that you can practice that sort of dark magic. After all, creating undead hordes and messing around with spirits is seen as unethical in several gaming universes. It’s certainly not a practice fit for a noble hero. Thankfully, someRPGsgive you a bit of freedom when it comes to morality....

Sonic X Shadow Generationsis a strange game to review. It’s both a fairly straightforward remaster and a new game entirely, in that theSonicportion of the game is more or less exactly what we got in 2011, and the Shadow half gives us a glimpse at the future of the series. Much like the characters themselves, it almost feels like Sonic Generations and Shadow Generations are competing against each other. The basic outline of each half is much the same - beat some stages from the character’s past, then defeat some bosses - but the vibe of each one couldn’t be further apart....

I jumped into the new gameplay video for Star Citizen:Squadron 42with curiosity and cynicism. An hour-long look at a game that has been delayed multiple times, despite developer Cloud Imperiumstating it was basically finished in 2023 and just needed some last-minute polish? The standalone companion to Star Citizen, a game that hovers in some sort of limbo between early access, beta, and alpha? A largely fan-funded project featuring famous actors like Henry Cavill, Gillian Anderson, Gary Oldman, and Mark Hamill?...

Summary Star Wars Outlawsfinished in fourth place in the UK’s September sales charts, falling behind The Crew 2,Space Marine 2, andEA Sports FC 25. This comes amidstreports that the game is selling poorly across the board, prompting aninternal investigation at Ubisoft, who admits there have been “recent challenges” at the company. This comes from figures reported byGamesIndustry.biz, who has shared the full UK games charts for September 2024. Here, it’s revealed that Star Wars Outlaws is currently selling slower than fellow Ubisoft titleAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoradid when it launched in 2023....

As you journey through the ruins of Fourth Age Khazad-dum inLord of the Rings: Return to Moria, you must arm your dwarven explorer with the best protection your crafting prowess can muster. The dark Mines of Moria are infested with fearsome beasts and marauding goblins, enough dangers to make you consider them the best armor for your exploration. Restoring the broken statues of past dwarves with the iron hammer is the only way to unlock each piece of armor you can create in the forge, and it’s important that you mine for the many types of ore with the best tools for the job to brace yourself for the Long Dark of Moria....

Summary TheNintendo DSfirst launched in North America on July 14, 2025, before arriving in other regions like Japan and Europe. The console was a massive leap forward from its predecessor (the Game Boy Advance) and introduced new concepts like dual-screen gaming and touch controls. The DS went through multiple iterations (from the DS Life to the Nintendo DSi XL) during its lifespan before it was eventually replaced by the 3DS in 2011....

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that quests form the backbone of content inFinal Fantasy 14, and that is still the case in its most recent expansion: Dawntrail. You will be picking up quest after quest in your never ending journey of unlocking content, exploring the world around you, and experiencing the vibrant characters that inhabit Tural, the expansion’s setting. Every quest is unique, from regular side quests to (especially) the main scenario questline, but some are a cut above the rest in terms of what you’re able to get out of them....

Summary The Crew fans have been a little irritated withUbisoftover the course of 2024, all stemming from the publisher shutting down the first game’s servers because of “server infrastructure and licensing constraints.” With The Crew being an online only title, that meant the game was made unplayable, and Ubisoft made matters worse byseemingly revoking the game from people who had bought it. It was claimed that one of the reasons Ubisoft did this was to try and stop fans from making the game playable again,something which a dedicated group of modders have been working on since it was shut down....

The Elder Scrolls OnlineUpdate 44 completely overhauled the PvP mode Battlegrounds, swapping the 4v4v4 mode added with the Morrowind chapter in 2017 for 4v4 and 8v8 modes. That’s not the only big change, either. In Team Deathmatch, every death now reduces your team’s lives counter until you run out and the round ends. However, ZeniMax toyed with introducing a permadeath version of the mechanic closer to something likeCounter-Strike: Global Offensive: you die, that’s it....

The Plucky Squireis a jolly little game. Its storybook visuals in 2D and cute chunkiness in 3D combine with bright colours, whimsical enemies, and shamelessly silly plotlines combine to make a very happy experience. Five chapters in, I’ve seen some clever mechanics - theMagic: The Gatheringcard being my favourite (a sentence I’ll never write again) - but nothing that has fully sold me on The Plucky Squire’s hook. However, I have met an enemy I hope never to see again....

Summary The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timeis often considered as the best game ever made. While it may have aged a little bit since it launched back in 1998, you can’t deny the sheer amount of influence the title has had on the games industry as a whole. You could potentially argue that there aren’t many ways you could improve Ocarina of Time, but it turns out you can make any game better by adding an army ofPikmin....

Something that many game designers seem to forget is that the whole appeal of a game is that you get to PLAY it. However, as graphics and processors have gotten more advanced, we have had more and more instances of prolonged cutscenes. Yes, they can be very impressive and entertaining, but if they take up too much of the game part in a video game, then they might be missing the point....