It’s almost distressing to think that the Switch was released in 2017. It still feels brand new to me, but then, time has lost all meaning since I got old. But now we’re all waiting for the big reveal of Nintendo’s successor, and you can kind of feel that with the big releases this year.

Going to be real with you, this was a much slower year for the handheld, which feels like a weird thing to say when it saw the release of a new Zelda game. However, it was a subdued Zelda game, like it’s been a subdued year for the console. But regardless of that, we still got plenty to play on the little hybrid.

It’s time to name the best of those games. As with every year here at Destructoid, the window of eligibility for our nominees runs from the beginning of December 2023 to the end of December 2024 (sorry, Uncle Chop). We also have a rule that a game can only be included in one category, so if something seems missing from this list, you might find it in another category.

Here are the nominees for Destuctoid’s Best Switch Game of 2024.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Yeah, one of the nominees this year is technically a GameCube game, but Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was one of the best on the console, and all of that charm is retained for its glow-up. Largely, it’s just a remaster of an already great game, but also, it’s an already great game. Everything on top is just gravy.

Star Wars Hunters

Star Wars is no stranger to online games, and Star Wars Hunters grows its footprint with a hero-based Overwatch approach to PVP. Despite recent high-profile failures in the genre (such as Concord), Star Wars Hunters found its audience and is thriving.

Steamworld Heist II

It’s hard to believe Steamworld Heist II arrived eight years after the original, but the wait has been worth it. The sequel takes the 2D, turn-based tactical gameplay even further by taking it to the high seas. It’s incredible that any game could even top the satisfying feeling of Steamworld Heist. Or, as Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp put it, "SteamWorld Heist II is a phenomenal title that offers you the best when it comes to short, tactical encounters with thrilling turn-based gameplay."

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition

I’m never far from an NES (it’s a few feet away in my living room), but it’s well-trodden ground for me. I always love finding new ways to interact with my favorites in its library, and Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition does just that. A series of concise time trials give you the chance to compete on the world stage in miniature speed-running. It’s a celebration of the company’s roots.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

A Zelda game actually starring its titular character has been on quite a few wishlists, and this year, it finally arrived. It may not have the grandeur of Tears of the Kingdom, but it makes up for it with inventive gameplay centered around summoning whatever you want. Lots of problems can be solved with beds, but it takes more than a mattress to save the kingdom.

Super Mario Party Jamboree

Mario Party games can be very hit-and-miss, but this year, we got a direct hit. There’s nothing insanely mindblowing about Super Mario Party Jamboree – it doesn’t completely change the recipe – but it combines the best parts of Super Mario Party with the classic formula and comes away with one of the best games the series has seen since its inception.

Athenian Rhapsody

It’s hard to describe Athenian Rhapsody, so I’m just going to quote the developer, “a souls-like platonic dating simulator with cooking-mama and WarioWare style battle mechanics... and by that, I mean it's a choose-your-own-adventure action RPG with the ability to trade ENTIRE PLAYTHROUGHS between friends!!” I’m sure that answered your question. What you really need to know, however, is that it’s offensively good. Hence being on this list.

The post Nominees for Destructoid’s Best Switch Game of 2024 appeared first on Destructoid.

A Lobster Roll in Disney Dreamlight Valley is a wonderful five-star dish you can make for your Disney pals like Elsa and Jack Skellington if they request it. It will need five different ingredients.

All Lobster Roll Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

To create this delicious dish, you'll need the following ingredients:

• Lobster
• Garlic
• Wheat
• Butter
• Lemon

Lobsters can be caught from the Glade of Trust within golden ripples in the water. Keep fishing out of other ripples if you can't find any that are golden, as they'll keep refreshing into new colors. Also, take a companion who has a fishing specialty so you can increase their friendship level and gain a chance to get more lobsters with each catch.

Garlic is a bit easier to find. It can be picked up within the Forest of Valor. Look at the ground, and you'll see green leaves flowing from the soil. Grab them, and you'll get Garlic.

Wheat is bought from Goofy's Stall at the Peaceful Meadow. The seeds can be bought for 1 Star Coin and grow within a minute of being planted and watered.

Lemons are found from trees in the Forest of Valor and Glade of Trust. Go up to any of these trees and pluck the fruit for your gastronomic needs.

Lastly, Butter is purchased from Chez Remy, the rat's restaurant, for 190 Star Coins. You'll need to finish the Ratatouille realm in the main castle to unlock the restaurant and the ingredients that await in it.

Once you have all the ingredients, head to a cooking station within your house or Chez Remy. Throw all the ingredients in the pot, and you'll soon have a Lobster Roll ready to eat. It counts as a 5-star meal, so this should help towards your Dreamlight goals. You can sell the Lobster Roll for 1,959 Star Coins or eat it for 4,928 Energy.

If you want to expand your culinary repertoire, try to make a Ratatouille. You'll never know when the restaurant critic will appear.

The post How to make Lobster Roll in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

I remember reading a preview for The Thing in a magazine back before its release. The game, I mean, not the movie. It’s certainly a game that sounds interesting on paper. So, it’s been stuck in the back of my mind for decades, but I never really made the move to play it.

Why would I? I hadn’t watched the movie, and reviews at the time of launch were lukewarm. I knew it developed something of a cult following since then, but even among fans, I heard the same thing: The whole psychological element was too ambitious and didn’t actually work very well. I’ve been left to imagine its failings.

But I rarely miss a remaster from Nightdive Studios, and since they’ve taken on the task of polishing up The Thing, then the stars have certainly aligned. I even went and watched the movie while running a fever and cuddling with my dog, just to make things memorable and a little awkward. But you don’t necessarily need to have watched the movie to understand what’s going on in the game. I think you should, though, because then you will truly appreciate how completely daft this game is.

The Thing: Remastered (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch)
Developer: Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks
Publisher: Nightdive Studios
Released: December 5, 2024
MSRP: $29.99

The end of The Thing: The Movie was left pretty ambiguous. I don’t really want to spoil it for you beyond that. It’s a great movie. And since its ending was left so open, a narrative follow-up had a lot of room to breathe. A story could be really delicate with things and even heighten the mystery of the original. That’s not what The Thing: The Game does, however. It stomps right up to the movie and starts breathing down its shirt. The only mystery it heightens is how this wrecking ball got here.

This was 2002, and the standards for video game storytelling couldn’t get much closer to the floor. This is especially true for shooters. It was a time when Half-Life was still naively hailed as having spun a tale rivaling Citizen Kane. So, I probably shouldn’t have expected much, but The Thing: The Game has the sort of narrative I would come up with off-the-cuff if I was trying to make fun of the concept of a sequel to The Thing: The Movie.

You play as Captain J.F. Blake who sounds so much like Kyle Travers from Final Fight: Streetwise, I actually had to look up the voice actors to convince myself it wasn’t. It takes place right after the movie, so it’s still the 1980s, but he has one of the most popular hairstyles of the late ‘90s, right down to the spiked-up bangs. He’s Special Forces, and that’s all there is to him. He’s the only competent person in the universe, and he knows it. There isn’t an ounce of humanity to the guy; he’s just a brick. A big, grumbly block who wears forest camo pants in Antarctica but won't put on a hat because it would mush down his hairdo.

It starts off interestingly enough. Blake’s Team arrives at U.S. Outpost 31 from the movie and start sorting through the wreckage. It’s a very understated time in the game, as it mostly just introduces you to the concepts of the game while allowing you to visit set pieces from the movie. It’s kind of quiet and tense, which is so uncharacteristically restrained for the game in hindsight.

The team did consider what made the movie great when they came up with the design. The one thing they added that I think works well in the game and doesn’t get enough credit is the fact that you can’t linger outside for long. It’s winter in Antarctica and nobody brought a toque. You’ll freeze if you don’t find shelter. This gets squandered when 80% of the game is in tight concrete corridors, but the hostility of the open air is a nice touch.

What gets the most marketing hype is the trust/fear system, which is just… I get why they’d focus on it in advertisements, because it’s something that makes the game unique, but it’s so poorly implemented that it might as well not be there at all. The Thing: The Game is a squad-based third-person shooter, and the idea is that you need to keep your squad from freaking out when any one of them could be a thing in disguise. The idea is that you, as a player, don’t know who to trust.

The fear aspect works the best, but it’s not very impactful. Your squadmates start getting nervous when they’re around gore and dead bodies, but the problem is that the areas you traverse are absolutely lousy with corpses, so it's hard to tell when you're in a fear zone. It usually only becomes a bit of a problem if you stand around in a room with a mess on the floor. Once (and only once), I had to physically push a squadmate out of a room so he could get a breather and get a grip. So, it kind of works; it's just really clumsy.

When I completed the game, I got an achievement that said I never let a single squad member reach maximum fear level. That means I actually don’t know if something cool happens when they completely lose it because I was apparently a really soothing presence for those around me. Maybe it’s because I constantly live in fear and anxiety, so I know how to empathize with others feeling it.

The trust system is completely pointless, though. Sure, some dudes will refuse to follow you because they think you might have a thing in your pants, but getting them to come around is just a matter of shoving ammo into their pockets. Their trust is only between you and them; squadmates always trust each other unless it’s for story reasons. They don’t need to kiss and trade ammo. For that matter, it's hard for them to distrust you once you've loaded them up. They’ll only start feeling iffy again if you keep shooting them. They don’t seem to think it’s weird that you obsessively check every notepad and carry an armory on their back. Ammo is the only thing they trust.

The whole idea that any one of them could be a thing is the least meaningful layer. It’s true, some of them will sprout tentacles. You can do a blood test to see who’s human, but it doesn’t really work. Like, at all. Dudes you already tested might turn out to be full of things anyway. That doesn’t matter though, because the moment they start to change, all your teammates will suddenly snap and start shooting at them before they’re even done transforming. Even if they didn’t, the friend-things aren’t any tougher than any normal thing. They aren’t a threat. So, who cares if you can trust them?

That’s the biggest problem with The Thing: The Game’s superfluous systems; it doesn’t try for tension. You play as some generic good guy. Practically a super-hero. At the best of times, The Thing: The Game is a dumb shooter. It smells like the early ‘00s. It’s not really a horror game; it just has some gross bad guys.

Your squad isn’t consistent, either. They get swapped out at almost every loading screen. They don't have charming personalities to get attached to. It doesn’t matter if Simmons exposes his thing. Simmons wasn’t special. There’s an identical dude down the hallway.

It’s a good remaster, though. Absolutely solid. You can tell the tech folks at Nightdive had fun working on a post-millennium game since they loaded it up with all kinds of fancy lighting effects. True to their M.O., they kept it looking like something you’d expect from the era, but it’s not hard to see and appreciate the glow-up. It also ran flawlessly on my PC.

There isn’t as much in terms of extra material as a few of their previous releases. You can view the game’s original trailer and there’s some concept art, but not a whole lot that’s insightful. I was kind of hoping that a game that looks to have fallen apart in production would have more of a story to tell, but if it does, it won’t be found here.

They clearly couldn’t do anything about the game’s weaknesses. That would take more than a remaster. It’s not just that the fear/trust/infection systems were buggy or weren’t fully implemented. No, the original developers had some high-concept ideas and tried to put them into a dumb shooter, and they didn’t fit. The dumb shooter was the prevailing force, and there’s no undoing that.

I also ran into a lot of glitches. I’m not sure which ones were already there and which were introduced in the remaster. I’m also not certain which ones will be fixed by the time you’re reading this since I got to touch The Thing early for this review. And really, the glitches I ran into were mostly just hilarious. I did have to load a recent save to undo a bug a couple of times, but more often, they were just funny, benign things.

The best one happened early. Your squadmates will sometimes throw up when they’re in a bad situation. I can relate; anxiety makes me throw up, too. However, one dude apparently started the puking process right as a cutscene started. The camera snapped back to show the two of us walking into frame, he continued the process of throwing up, but it wouldn't interrupt the animation. Instead, it played the retching noise, and all the vomit came out from between his legs, so it looked like he was violently evacuating his bowels onto the floor. I laughed so hard. I still giggle whenever I think about it. I caught it in my gameplay capture, and I keep watching it.

Really, as much as I think The Thing: The Game is kind of terrible, I did find it entertaining. The story is just so braindead and full of cliches that I wanted to see more to find out if it was going to be so obvious the whole way through. It definitely has reverence for the source material, but it wasn’t exactly gentle when it came to building on it. To be fair, I would have been surprised if it had even come close to matching the movie in terms of storytelling, so it’s maybe what I should have expected from a 2002 licensed title.

I still applaud Nightdive for this remaster. They’re the only ones with the guts. Regardless of how I feel about the game itself, they gave it the same loving attention that they normally do. More importantly, it’s a licensed game, and those tend to be the most unlikely candidates for a re-release.

Part of me wishes their effort was spent on a better game, but the other part is happy that I got to experience the absolute mess that is The Thing. I know it sounds weird to hear, “This is a mess; you should totally check it out,” but that’s what I’m saying. The Thing is a fascinating cluster of missteps, and a completely unconvincing facsimile of its source material. But it’s hard to look away when it turns itself inside out.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: The Thing: Remastered appeared first on Destructoid.

An assortment of Mods make up any build in Warframe, but there are several essential Mods that you must never go without having in your inventory. Don't all need to be equipped at once, but just having them available makes formulating builds that much easier.

Best 20 Essential Mods in Warframe

Below, you will find a list of the most important Mods to get in Warframe. Whether you're a new player, or a veteran trying to round out your mod collection, the following mods are must-haves and should be acquired as soon as possible.

Adaptation

Many Warframes have a built-in defensive system that allows them to survive in high-level content, but equally, many are lacking in the survivability department. Adaptation is a must-have Mod for this reason, as it solves this crucial problem in all but the most fringe situations. Why?

Adaptation provides any equipped Warframe with a ridiculous stacking damage reduction to any attack type that lands. The damage reduction increases by 10% for each hit (at max rank) for a max reduction of 90%. This makes your Warframe nearly immune to damage at low-level gameplay and makes high-level gameplay much comfier. Adaptation is one of the game's best defense-oriented mods, and I cannot overstate this enough.

How to Obtain:

• Adaptation - Arbitration Runs, Trading

Core Damage Mods

Every weapon category (Primaries, Secondaries, Melee, Archguns, Incarnons included) in Warframe has access to Core Damage Mods that will buff up a weapon's raw damage, and making use of these is extremely important in making your weapon viable for pretty much all of Warframe's content.

These Mods may not fit into every weapon build, but they’re versatile and reliable, making them long staples in the Warframe community for years. While there are upgraded versions of many, their essential purpose remains unchanged, making them invaluable for both new and seasoned players. If you haven’t added these to your arsenal yet, now’s the perfect time to start playing and hunting them down to elevate your loadout.

How to Obtain:

• Serration (Primary) - Random Drops from most enemies in the game
• Point Blank (Primary) - Random Drops from most enemies in the game
• Hornet Strike (Secondary) - Random Drops from most enemies in the game
• Pressure Point (Melee) - Random Drops from most enemies in the game
• Primed Point Blank (Primary) - Bought from Baro Ki'teer (Ducats)
• Amalgam Serration (Primary) - Orb Vallis Fractures (Venus)

Flow

Every Warframe, regardless of which type you're using, requires Energy to make use of their unique abilities. As such, a large Energy Capacity is necessary, which is why Flow is yet another must-have Mod for any Warframe player.

Flow is a Mod that boosts a Warframe's max Energy, doubling the amount at max rank (5), allowing for many more casts of a frame's abilities. Like many Mods on this list, it is a staple Mod for many builds so it is highly valuable. Thankfully, it is very common, so it isn't difficult to obtain if you don't already have it.

Primed Flow is this mod's evolved version, boosting a Warframe's max Energy Capacity by a staggering 185% at max rank. It is much harder to obtain, however, as it cannot be farmed and is only purchased for Ducats from Baro Ki'teer.

How to Obtain:

• Flow - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
• Primed Flow - Bought from Baro Ki'teer (Ducats)

Continuity

While not a Mod to be used with every Warframe build, Continuity increases the duration of time-based Warframe effects, letting them persist longer before ending. For many Warframes, it is a core Mod for making use of long-lasting buffs, indirectly reducing Energy usage, and allowing for powerful mechanics to persist over very long periods of time. Like Flow, it is not difficult to obtain.

However, also like Flow, there exists an evolved version of Continuity called Primed Continuity. This enhanced version further boosts the duration of Warframe-based effects, allowing for even more crazy builds that make use of long-term buffs. The Warframe, Wisp, for example, adores this Mod thanks to her Mote buffs.

How to Obtain:

• Continuity - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
• Primed Continuity - Bought from Baro Ki'teer (Ducats)

Streamline

Many of the best Warframe builds make use of Streamline to reduce the Energy cost of their often expensive abilities. When used with Mods like Flow, Streamline makes using your abilities a matter of your choice rather than one influenced by how much Energy you have at any given time. Even without Flow though, Streamline is yet another staple Mod in the Warframe community, and you should have it ready to use at any given moment. Fortunately, it's not hard to get your hands on.

How to Obtain:

• Streamline - Random Drop from most enemies in the game

Intensify

Intensify is a Mod that is commonly used in various Warframe builds that focus on empowering a Warframe's abilities, strengthening their buffs, and improving offensive potency. Depending on which Warframe it is used on, Intensify can offer significant buffs with no downsides other than a meager Mod Capacity cost (5). As with the other Utility-based Mods on this list, you should always have a max rank Intensify on standby, just in case you need to use it.

However, if you're looking to get even more power out of your frame, you can instead opt for Archon Intensify, which offers a large 30% boost when restoring health with abilities on top of its normal effects. Warframes like Wisp can take full advantage of this.

How to Obtain:

• Intensify - Alad V, Angels of the Zariman, Captain Vor, Stalker, Cetus Bounties (Earth)
• Archon Intensify - Garrison (New War)

Stretch

In the early days of Warframe, the Stretch Mod was one of the strongest Mods in the entire game thanks to the meta focus of deleting entirely rooms of enemies with wide-spread abilities. The mod allowed you to extend the maximum range of any Warframe abilities that had a Range stat. These days, large, widespread AOEs are still extremely strong and sought after, even if they aren't nearly as oppressive, thus Stretch remains a hot commodity in the community for builds.

How to Obtain:

Stretch - Random Drop from most enemies in the game

Multishot Mods

Multishot Mods work with Core Damage Mods to greatly enhance the effective raw damage of any weapons they are attached to by allowing the weapon to fire extra bullets per normal standard bullets. These additional 'shots' receive all of the bonuses and benefits standard bullets do, thus making Multishot a multiplicative mod in terms of damage boost calculations. Without going to those, just know that Multshot Mods are must-have mods, and you should go pick them up immediately especially if you want to boost your weapon damage dramatically.

How to Obtain:

• Split Chamber (Primary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game.
• Hell's Chamber (Primary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game.
• Galvanized Chamber (Primary) - Arbitration Runs
• Barrel Diffusion (Secondary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game.
• Galvanized Diffusion (Secondary) - Arbitration Runs
• Amalgam Barrel Diffusion (Secondary) - Orb Vallis Fractures (Venus)

Elemental Mods

When you combine Core Damage and Multishot Mods with Elemental Mods on a weapon, you get yourself a viable build that allows you to take that weapon into Warframe's endgame. Thanks to Warframe's robust Elemental System, the Elemental Mods you use on your weapon will greatly determine their effectiveness against enemies. Thus, it is important to get as many of these Mods in your inventory as possible so that you can mix and match them on different weapons for powerful results.

How to Obtain:

• Electricity

  • Charged Shell (Primary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Primed Charge Shell (Primary) - Bought from Baro Ki'teer (Ducats)
  • Stormbringer (Primary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • High Voltage (Primary) - Tethra's Doom and Eris: Naeglar Sabotage Runs
  • Shell Shock (Primary) - Tethra's Doom and Eris: Naeglar Sabotage Runs
  • Convulsion (Secondary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Jolt (Secondary) - Tethra's Doom
  • Shocking Touch (Melee) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Voltaic Strike (Melee) - Tethra's Doom

• Fire

  • Hellfire (Primary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Incendiary Coat (Primary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Wildfire (Primary) - Nightmare Runs
  • Blaze (Primary) - Nightmare Runs
  • Thermite Rounds (Primary) - Neptune: Nereid, Kuva Fortress: Pago, Sedna: Kelpie
  • Heated Charge (Secondary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Primed Heated Charge (Secondary) - Bought from Baro Ki'teer (Ducats)
  • Scorch (Secondary) - Neptune: Nereid, Kuva Fortress: Pago, Sedna: Kelpie
  • Molten Impact (Melee) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Volcanic Edge (Melee) - Earth: Cambria, Mars: Arval, Venus: Unda, Mercury: Suisei

• Cold

  • Cryo Rounds (Primary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Primed Cryo Rounds (Primary) - Bought from Baro Ki'teer (Ducats)
  • Chilling Grasp (Primary) - Corpus Enemies
  • Primed Chilling Grasp (Primary) - Bought from Baro Ki'teer (Ducats)
  • Frigid Blast (Primary) - Neptune: Nereid, Kuva Fortress: Pago, Sedna: Kelpie
  • Rime Rounds (Primary) - Cryotic Front, Saturn: Dione, Ceries: Bode, Lua: Pavlov, Europa
  • Deep Freeze (Secondary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Ice Storm (Secondary) - Nightmare Runs
  • Frostbite (Secondary) - Cryotic Front, Saturn: Dione, Ceries: Bode, Lua: Pavlov, Europa
  • Northwind (Melee) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Vicious Frost (Melee) - Cryotic Front, Saturn: Dione, Ceries: Bode, Lua: Pavlov, Europa

• Toxin

  • Infected Clip (Primary) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game
  • Contagious Spread (Primary) - Electric Crawlers, Scavenger Drones, Eris: Naeglar Runs
  • Malignant Force (Primary) - Corrupted Vor
  • Toxic Barrage (Primary) - Corrupted Vor
  • Pistol Pestilence (Secondary) - Corrupted Vor
  • Pathogen Rounds (Secondary) - Corpus Enemies, Eris Naeglar Runs
  • Fever Strike (Melee) - Random Drop from most enemies in the game, The Duviri Circuit
  • Primed Fever Strike (Melee) - Bought from Baro Ki'teer (Ducats)
  • Virulent Scourge (Melee) - Corrupted Vor

• Radiation

  • Radiated Reload (Primary) - Albrecht's Laboratories, Deimos
  • Atomic Fallout (Primary) - Albrecht's Laboratories, Deimos
  • Accelerated Isotope (Secondary) - Albrecht's Laboratories, Deimos
  • Focus Radon (Melee) - Albrecht's Laboratories, Deimos

Rolling Guard

If you intend to run the hardest content Warframe has to offer, then you should consider obtaining Rolling Guard. When this Mod is equipped to your Warframe, rolling not only removes all DoT effects afflicting you but also makes you invulnerable for a few seconds. This is incredibly valuable in situations where dying is a real problem. The only downside to this Mod is that it should be used near max rank, which is rather expensive (12). However, if you can fit it on your build, it will be an incredibly strong safety net in the worst situations.

How to Obtain:

• Arbitration Runs
• Trading

Growing Power

The first essential Aura Mod to make this list, Growing Power offer you and your entire squad a near-permanent 25% increase in Ability Strength with no downside and little mod power investment (7). Naturally, this effect stacks with all other increases in Ability Strength, making it one of the best Aura mods in the entire game. Everyone should have this mod, as it is nothing but net positive for everyone when equipped.

How to Obtain:

• Growing Power - Knave Specter

Handspring

Getting knocked down in Warframe can quickly lead to death, especially in endgame missions where enemies hit hard and fast. It’s a common and serious issue for many players. Enter the Handspring mod: a game-changer that significantly reduces Knockdown recovery time. With this mod equipped, you’ll bounce back almost instantly, keeping you mobile and ready to tackle even the most intense battles without missing a beat.

How to Obtain:

• Handspring - Random Drop from most enemies in the game

Power Drift

In a similar vein to Handspring, Power Drift aims to counter the effects of Knockdown by preventing them altogether. The Mod gives you a 30% chance to resist a Knockdown, which is rather substantial. As a bonus, Power Drift also grants you a nice 15% Ability Strength bonus on top. Finally, to tie everything together with this must-have mod, it can be equipped in the Exilus Mod slot on any Warframe, so it doesn't even take up precious space.

How to Obtain:

• Power Drift - Orokin Moon Halls (Puzzle Room)

Blind Rage

Blind Rage functions similarly to Intensify, as both Mods provide you with increased Ability Strength. Where Blind Rage differs, however, is that it offers significantly more Ability Strength at the severe cost of Ability Efficiency, which makes your Warframe's ability cost more Energy to use. Certain Warframes suffer this downside more than others. Even so, with a properly measured build, you can easily mitigate this downside and make of this must-have mod.

How to Obtain:

• Blind Rage - Orokin Vaults

Overextended

Overextended is like Blind Rage in that is provides a massive boost to Warframe Ability Range, at a significant cost of Ability Strength. Depending on which Warframe and build you're using, this negative could have little to no consequence, making Overextended an absurdly powerful Mod in the right circumstances. For builds, Overextended is a must-get mod, as you can do some incredible things with it, if you know what you're doing.

How to Obtain:

• Overextended - Orokin Vaults

Transient Fortitude

When you decide to use Transient Fortitude, you are willing to surrender a massive amount of Ability Duration for an equally significant amount of Ability Strength. Much like the other combination Mods already mentioned on this list, this Mod is exceptionally strong when paired with a build and Warframe that makes sense with it. While it is not used on every single frame, I highly recommend you pick this one up as well, as it is too potent to ignore.

How to Obtain:

• Transient Fortitude - Orokin Vaults

Galvanized Aptitude

One of the most potent damage mods in all of Warframe when used properly, Galvanized Aptitude is an endgame mod that provides your weapon with a significant increase in Status chance, while also granting it a stacking damage bonus when killing an enemy with Status effects.

The number of stacks gained on a kill is based on how many Status Effects the target had before death. This means you want to apply numerous Status effects to your target before killing them to gain the full benefit. This effect stacks up twice, nearly doubling your weapon's damage in the process, and lasts for 20 seconds. Get this one.

How to Obtain:

• Galvanized Aptitude - Arbitration Runs

Mobilize

In Warframe, movement is everything. Whether you're trying to survive an onslaught or free farming other loot, you want to be able to move as quickly as possible through any given level. Mobilize is a relatively cheap Mod (5) that boosts your Parkour Velocity, allowing you to move faster while already in motion. Along with its cheap cost, it can also be placed in the Exilus slot, thus not taking up necessary Mod space. These factors together make Mobilize a must-use Mod.

How to Obtain:

• Mobilize - Drekar Grineer, Uranus: Desdemona

Condition Overload

At Max Rank, Condition Overload boosts your melee weapon’s damage by 80% per Status effect on the target. To be clear, this is an absolutely game-changing Mod for any melee build. Why is it a must-have? Simply put, it’s one of the most powerful melee Mods in Warframe.

What makes it so devastating is how it synergizes with other damage bonuses like Combo Multiplier, buffs, and more, all while stacking its insane effect. The result? Massive damage potential that can obliterate even the toughest enemies. If you don’t already have Condition Overload in your arsenal, make it a top priority to acquire, especially if you're a melee player. It’s a true powerhouse.

How to Obtain:

• Condition Overload - Deimos Infested

Narrow Minded

For certain Warframes and builds, Ability Range isn’t a top priority and can be traded off for more valuable stats. That’s where Narrow Minded shines, significantly boosting Ability Duration at the cost of Ability Range.

This Mod is incredibly powerful for Warframes that rely on long-lasting abilities rather than wide-reaching ones. If your build benefits more from extended duration than range, or just flat-out want more duration by any means necessary, Narrow Minded is an essential addition to maximize your Warframe's potential.

How to Obtain:

• Narrow Minded - Orokin Vaults

The post Top 20 essential Warframe mods in 2024 appeared first on Destructoid.

The Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcane Garlic Crab recipe helps you create a four-star dish to wow your pals like Remy and Elsa. Thankfully, most of the ingredients are easy to find.

All Arcane Garlic Crab Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

Arcane Garlic Crab is made with four different ingredients. Two of them require The Storybook Vale DLC.

• Sorcerer Hat Hermit Crab
• Salt Crystal
• Garlic
• Any Spice

You'll find the Sorcerer Hat Hermit Crab by fishing at The Bind. Head to the water and try to find a golden ripple within the waves. Get your fishing rod and catch this Sorcerer Hat Hermit Crab from within it. There's a possibility of getting an extra Sorcerer Hat Hermit Crab if you hang out with a buddy who has a fishing specialty.

Salt Crystals are found within the waters of Everafter. Fish in a spot other than a ripple to gain Salt Crystals for the recipe.

Garlic is an easy ingredient to find in Disney Dreamlight Valley. Head to the Forest of Valor, and you'll see the crop growing within the grass. You can pick up the cooking ingredient from the soil. It has green leaves flowing from the ground.

Lastly, you can pick any spice for the Arcane Garlic Crab. One of Storybook Vale's spices is Black Pepper, which can be bought from Goofy's Stall in The Elysian Fields from Mythopia. You can buy its seeds from Goofy for 70 Star Coins. It takes an hour and a half to grow.

After getting all of the ingredients, go to a cooking station in your house or Chez Remy. Once made, you can sell the Arcane Garlic Crab for 1,429 Star Coins or eat it for 3,265 Energy.

The post How to make Arcane Garlic Crab in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

This is the start of an exciting new era for the Epic Games battle royale. You can unlock new items in the Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 Battle Pass, such as a new Disney character, cool jam tracks, and a "baller" emote called Yarn Ball.

All regular Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 Battle Pass rewards

There are 14 total pages of rewards you can get from the Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 battle pass and finishing XP quests like damaging demons. You can also get XP from completing Kendo's Calling quests.

This means there are 98 unlockables from the regular run. They include the following:

• Nyanja outfit and Lego style
• Kuro Claws pickaxe
• Cat's Prowl jam track
• Nekomata Drip wrap
• Nyanja's Catpak back bling
• Nyanja loading screen
• Yarn Ball emote
• Cliffside Soarer glider
• Neko Claws pickaxe (black)
• Woodblock Print Nyanja emote
• Kuro Catpak (black) back bling
• Kuro Soarer glider
• V-Bucks
• Wireframe Faller contrail
• Kuro Nyanja outfit
• Shamisen-sational emote
• Water Sprite emote
• Jade loading screen
• Protector Kaito glider
• Sprite Soarer contrail
• Mr. Daruma back bling
• Jade outfit and Lego style
• Blades of Shadow pickaxe
• Woodblock Print Jade emote
• Cursed Protector Kaito glider
• Cursed Daruma
• Cursed Jade loading screen
• Cursed Jade outfit
• Nomad's Drifter glider
• Modern Rōnin wrap
• Pickle Pal emote
• Determined Kendo emote
• Tomoki & Katana back bling
• Kendo loading screen
• Kendo outfit and Lego style
• Invisible Cut emote
• Banner Icon homebase banner
• Demon Hunter Kendo loading screen
• Turbulent Blade pickaxe
• Woodblock Print Kendo emote
• Demon Hunter Kendo outfit
• Ink Drop contrail
• Neko Hope emote
• Hope Star back bling
• Shadow of Hope wrap
• Night Kama pickaxe
• Shadow Blade Hope loading screen
• Shadow Blade Hope outfit
• Lilac Kama pickaxe
• Banner Icon homebase banner
• Lilac Shadow Hope loading screen
• Lilac Star back bling
• Woodblock Print Hope emote
• Lilac Shadow Hope outfit
• Mask of Balance glider
• Woodblock Print Daigo emote
• Daigo loading screen
• Shadow Shroud back bling
• Banner Icon homebase banner
• Daigo outfit and Lego style
• Spirit Strider emote
• Shadowgold wrap
• Golden Claws pickaxe
• Daigo's Masks emote
• Mask of Gold glider
• Kintsugi Crashdown contrail
• Kintsugi Daigo outfit
• Baymax Wings glider
• Care Provider emote
• Batmax Booster contrail
• Hero Baymax loading screen
• Fist Bump emote
• Hero Baymax outfit and Lego style
• Megabot back bling
• Woodblock Print Samurai... emote
• Microbot Mallet pickaxe
• Samurai Baymax loading screen
• Samurai Baymax outfit
• Puppet Dance emote
• Rose's Wrath wrap
• The Night Rose loading screen
• Cursed Marionette back bling
• Woodblock Print Night Rose emote
• The Night Rose outfit and Lego style
• Night Rose Thorns pickaxe
• Tactical Night Rose loading screen
• Night Curse Marionette back bling
• Night Rose's Song jam track
• Night Rose's Prowl glider
• Banner Icon homebase banner
• Tactical Night Rose outfit

Bonus rewards

After you finish the initial Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 Battle Pass run, there are eight pages of bonus rewards.

They include the following:

• Racer's Blade pickaxe
• Kuro Nyanja loading screen
• Banner Icon homebase banner
• Shadow-Lit Shroud back bling
• Heroic Baymax emote
• Lucky Nyanja outfit
• Rose Thorns pickaxe
• Magic Awakens loading screen
• Racer's Katana back bling
• Warrior. Artist. Hope. emote
• Waters of Mystery wrap
• Demon Hunter Hope outfit
• Puppet's Prowl glider
• Burning Rose emote
• Daigo's Claws pickaxe
• Jade's Curse emote
• V-Bucks
• Banner Icon homebase banner
• Racer Kendo outfit
• Battle Blessing emote
• Legends of a New World loading screen
• Thousand Faces emote
• Pour One Out emote
• Guardian Jade outfit
• Racer's Drifter glider
• Kintsugi Daigo loading screen
• Blades of Light pickaxe
• Banner Icon homebase banner
• Break the Curse jam track
• Strings of the Night Rose emote
• Restored Night Rose outfit

Two more pages are a mystery until December 18. However, we do know that Godzilla Evolved will be an outfit in Fortnite on January 17.

The post All Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 Battle Pass rewards appeared first on Destructoid.

Barley Salad in Disney Dreamlight Valley is a healthy option for your friends like Flynn Rider and Mickey in the game. It's a four-star dish from the House of Mouse that is relatively easy to make for your pals.

Barley Salad Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

To gain access to the ingredients in this recipe, you'll first require The Storybook Vale DLC for Disney Dreamlight Valley.

Once that's purchased and installed, you can make Barley Salad in Disney Dreamlight Valley with the following ingredients:

• Barley
• Radish
• Cauliflower
• Any Spice

The star ingredients, Barley (its seeds) and Cauliflower seeds, can be bought from Goofy's Stall in The Bind. They're on the top shelf for 10 Star Coins and 15 Star Coins each. Once you have these planted and watered, Barley will take 15 minutes to grow, while Cauliflower only needs 10.

Radish Seeds can be purchased from another Goofy's Stall, this time in Everafter's The Wild Woods. These ingredient seeds cost 100 Star Coins each, making them more expensive than the Barley seeds and Cauliflower seeds combined. They take a lengthy one hour and 45 minutes to grow after they're planted and watered. You should perform other tasks like helping Hades with his leadership issues in his friendship quest or catching Snippets.

You can pick any spice for this dish. You can get Black Pepper seed from Goofy's Stall in Mythopia for example. He sells it for 70 Star Coins. Spices from other regions like Ginger and Cinnamon also work.

Once you have all of the ingredients, put them all in a pot at a cooking station and you'll have the Barley Salad in your inventory. You can sell it for around 325 Star Coins, depending on the spice you choose. You can consume the meal for 1,261 Energy as well.

The post How to make Barley Salad in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is one of the best in the series, thanks to the new omni-movement system and its fantastic maps. In this Black Ops 6 beginner's guide, we'll give you the best multiplayer tips to keep that K/D higher than your competition.

Get the proper equipment, soldier!

Before you step into the battlefield of Call of Duty Black Ops 6, you should have the right headset on. It will dramatically improve your performance as you can hear enemy footsteps behind you, and you'll be more ready to attack at a moment's notice. You can also listen out for enemy equipment like scramblers, which make an annoying ring in the distance. This is a great way to spot them. If you don't have a headset on or you're listening to loud rap music in the background, for example, you won't be able to key into these clues.

The Acoustic Amp is also a solid field upgrade in tactical game modes as it makes enemy footsteps around you louder for a duration.

Mark your enemies

In team-based modes like Search & Destroy, it's essential to communicate with your team for success. A great way to do that is to mark an enemy if you spot them. While playing on a controller, double tap the up D-Pad button to summon a red marker on the UI. Additionally, you can mark enemy equipment by tapping the same button once. This will give you a tactical advantage.

Bring out your knife

If you want to run faster or use a quick weapon to take out foes, you can bring out your knife. Simply hold the melee button (usually hold the right analog stick) to have your soldier bring it out.

Use the right attachments

The weapons you choose may not have the right attachments on. Make sure you read the weapon's description and read its weaknesses. For example, the Model L has a slow rate of fire. To counter that, you can equip the Reinforced Barrel to improve its firepower. The 5.56 NATO Overpressured Fire Mod also helps with that issue. Focus on the gun's positives and negatives, and try to make the best gun imaginable with the attachments available to you. You can read our loadout guides too.

Take advantage of the perks and specialty system

The perks and specialty system in Black Ops can be a game-changer. If you want to pick a stealthy build, Recon perks are the best. Ghost lets you be undetectable by enemy Scout Pulse and UAV when moving, planting, defusing, or controlling Scorestreaks. Ninja also lets you move more quietly around the map. Tracker lets you see enemy footsteps as well.

If you have all three perks of the same color, you'll gain a specialty. The Recon specialty lets you see enemies through walls after you respawn, and a HUD edge indicator flashes when an enemy is outside your view. Additionally, the Recon specialty stops death skulls from showing up when you kill foes.

Change the FOV Slider

The default FOV (Field of View) can be restricted to those who want a wider angle of the action. Many stick with the default field of view and stay oblivious. In the settings, you can change the Field of View to give you a wider look into the battlefield, letting you see enemies quickly. Go to the Graphics section of the options menu, and then switch to the View tab. I have it set to 116, but it's entirely up to you. You can make the weapon look smaller as well by picking Wide in the Weapon Field of View option. Tinker around with these settings until you get a great advantage on the action.

Use your XP tokens and play during Double XP events

During Double XP events, your progression will increase two-fold. The timing of these events is often shared on social media and official Call of Duty accounts, such as on X.

You'll also gain double XP tokens from the battle pass, and it's sometimes easy to forget they're there. While on the main menu (or even while in-game on the menu), press the left analog stick and you can select a variety of double XP tokens for your level, weapon, and battle pass. During a double XP event, unfortunately, you can't quadruple your XP rate.

Best trap placement and defensive tips

While placing traps like Shock Charges, for example, you'll want to make sure they're set in the right position. You don't want them out in the open. Instead, try to find a cheeky spot like the top of a staircase or behind closed doors. Blast Traps are your friends in this instance. On that note, it's best to close doors behind you so you can hear when an enemy is appearing behind you or around the room.

Use weapon blueprints while levelling up

To close out this Black Ops 6 Beginner's Guide, you should use weapon blueprints while leveling up your guns in the game. Rather than having a gun with no attachments at the beginning of the process, you'll have increased stats. For example, the Boomslang weapon blueprint for the Marine SP improves your accuracy and handling quite dramatically. Once you have the attachments you want unlocked, you can then make your own perfect loadout.

The post Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Destructoid.

Greek Potatoes in Disney Dreamlight Valley is a strange mix of potatoes and fruit in the same dish. While it does sound odd, this qualifies as a five-star meal that can help you get Dreamlight and other rewards.

Greek Potatoes Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

To create Greek Potatoes, you'll first need the Storybook Vale DLC installed in Disney Dreamlight Valley as this recipe is exclusive to it. After getting started in this new region of the game, here are all of the ingredients you'll need:

• Potato
• Garlic
• Any fruit
• Any spice
• Salt Crystal

To find a Potato, head to the Forgotten Lands in the original Valley. You can buy the seeds or perhaps even the ingredient itself from Goofy's Stall. The seeds themselves are 55 Star Coins each.

Garlic can also be found in the original Valley. This time, fast travel over to the Forest of Valor. You'll find it growing within the ground. Look out for a large green stalk and pick it up amongst the grass. Any fruit and any spice would match the next two ingredients. For example, you can grab some blueberries from the Forest of Valor and Oregano from the Plaza.

The last ingredient Salt Crystal is from Everafter. Get your fishing rod and cast the rod in the water outside of the ripples. You can also make Aquatic Escargot with a Salt Crystal.

Once you have all of the ingredients, head back to any cooking station at your house or Chez Remy. Place all of them in the pot and them it will create the Greek Potatoes dish. You can sell it to Goofy's Stall for around 439 Star Coins (depending on the ingredients you choose) and eat it for 1,486 Energy.

The post How to make Greek Potatoes in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

The Pumpkin Soup Disney Dreamlight Valley recipe is a magnificent appetizer for your pals like Mickey or Remy. It counts as a four-star dish, which will help you finish some Dreamlight tasks.

Pumpkin Soup Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

To create Pumpkin Soup, you'll need to find the following ingredients, and thankfully, you won't need any of the DLC like The Storybook Vale:

• Pumpkin
• Ginger
• Any vegetable
• Milk

Pumpkin Seeds or, if you're lucky, the squash vegetable itself can be bought from Goofy's Stall in the Forgotten Lands. The seeds are 275 Star Coins, while the vegetable is 996 Star Coins. By the way, if you plant many Pumpkins, they are a great way of making money as there's a lot of profit in selling these to Goofy.

Ginger can also be found in the Forgotten Lands. This time, it doesn't require your wallet. Look to the ground, and you'll find the ingredient planted in the ground. Look for a long green stalk poking out of the ground. Pick up the crop.

Milk can be bought at Chez Remy for 230 Star Coins. You'll need to finish the quests from the Ratatouille realm to unlock the restaurant. You can find the realm in the castle. For the vegetable, you can use another Pumpkin or grow a crop that grows quickly like a Carrot from Goofy's Stall in the Peaceful Meadow.

Once you have all four ingredients, go to a cooking station like your house or Chez Remy. Throw all of them into the pot, and you'll have a lovely Pumpkin Soup in your possession. You can sell it for around 1,461 Star Coins (depending on the vegetable you choose) and eat the dish for 1,591 Energy. If you have the Storybook Vale DLC, you can also make Stuffed Ring Squash.

The post How to make Pumpkin Soup in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

The Blue Star Lily in Disney Dreamlight Valley is a pretty flower you can pick up in one of the original locations of the game. It can help you make several blue-themed items like the Blue Retro Portable Radio and others.

Blue Star Lily Disney Dreamlight Valley Location

You can find a Blue Star Lily from the original valley within the Forest of Valor. Thankfully, you won't need any of the DLC like The Storybook Vale.

Run around the Forest of Valor (you can also find Emeralds here) and look for a blue flower growing from the grass. You don't want the bell-shaped flowers; the Blue Star Lilies have normal petals.

You'll be able to find around three or four of the flowers at one time. One respawns every 30 minutes, so it will take some time to craft the items you need, unfortunately.

What can you craft with this flower?

One cute item you can make with the Blue Star Lily is a Blue Retro Portable Radio. You'll get the instructions on how to create it after picking up a Blue Star Lily. Collect the following materials and then head to a crafting table at your home or at Scrooge's shop.

• 1 Blue Lily
• 5 Softwood
• 1 Iron Ingot

You can also craft Iron Ingot by collecting five Iron Ores and one Coal Ore, which you can get from mining nearby rocks. Once you have the Blue Retro Portable Radio made, you can place it as furniture inside your home. It will put on some familiar music if you interact with it.

The post Where to find Blue Star Lily in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

It may be one of the best times to get a Nintendo Switch, as the library is expansive and the system itself is getting cheaper. Despite the next console on the near horizon, here's a Nintendo Switch beginner's guide to help you make the most of the hybrid system.

Nintendo Switch Beginner's Guide - Which system should you get?

There are three different systems to consider while buying a Nintendo Switch: the Nintendo Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED. The regular Nintendo Switch was the first to launch and can be taken on-the-go or be played as a regular console on your TV. The Nintendo Switch Lite can't be played on the TV and can only be played portable. The Switch OLED is the premium option with a better, bigger 7' inch OLED screen.

If you want the best experience for you or a loved one, the Switch OLED is likely the way to go. In addition to the bigger and brighter screen, it has an improved vertical stand, better audio, and 64GB of internal storage. You can also directly plug in an ethernet cable, improving the online experience.

However, if you're not fussy, the regular Nintendo Switch is just fine. The screen might be smaller, but it is significantly cheaper than the OLED model, especially if you get the console used. The Nintendo Switch Lite is a decent choice for a younger gamer. I began with that model because of its cheaper price point, and it was uncomfortable to hold in my hands for longer periods of time. Those with smaller hands would likely enjoy the system more. It's a great little Pokemon machine you can take with you.

Best family-friendly Nintendo Switch games

You can stream YouTube and Crunchyroll on your Nintendo Switch, but the main reason why you're getting this device is for the games, right? There are plenty of family-friendly titles on the system from Nintendo itself.

A game that anyone in the family can play, however, is Nintendo Switch Sports. Similar to Wii Sports, you're playing a bunch of competitive games like football (soccer), badminton, volleyball, and more. The controls are easy to figure out, and they're all fun to play with friends and family. You can even play the game online if you want to test your skills.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is another game you should consider. It's easy to pick up and play, and it's thrilling to race against your pals. There are many creative tracks to race on, and there are a bunch of items to master, like the almighty Blue Shell and Bpb-Ombs, to stop your opponents from winning.

Lastly, the Jackbox Party Pack games are fantastic for everyone in the family as you only need a phone as your controller. In one of the games Fibbage, you're given a prompt, which includes a fact. There's a blank within the prompt you can fill as a lie. If a player chooses your lie, you win points. If you get the prompt correct, you also win points. There are also drawing games like Tee K.O., which allows you to compete for the best shirt design. Another fun party game includes Super Mario Party Jamboree; each mini-game is entertaining, and there are none I would want to avoid.

Best single-player games for Switch

For those who want to game alone, there are many options available to you. The easiest recommendation I can make is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As Link, you get to explore a fascinating open world with beautiful vistas and plenty of puzzles to figure out along the way. The environment itself becomes a puzzle as you try to counter cold or warm weather or overcome rocky cliffs. There are a bunch of epic moments within the story, and you meet many characters in your journey to save Hyrule and Princess Zelda.

Super Mario Odyssey is a fantastic title for fans of 3D platformers. It has imaginative worlds to explore, well-designed levels, and a vibrant art style that delights many who play it. "Odyssey does what any sandbox game should — give us a heap of areas that feel different and fun to run around in," said our review.

One of the best indie games you can play on Nintendo Switch is Celeste. It's a challenging 2D platformer that has you climb a tricky mountain. You'll fail many, many times, but the storyline comes hand-in-hand with the struggle and leads to a tear-worthy conclusion (the happy kind). It feels very satisfying to conquer the game by the end, and Celeste is well-designed.

Epic role-playing games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are also available on the system. They both have surprisingly good ports for the Nintendo Switch. "Yes, it’s certainly a graphical downgrade, but the story, voice work and gameplay are all intact," said our review for the Switch port of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. "Combat is smooth, and the frame rate is consistent even when you’re being attacked on all sides."

Best accessories for the Nintendo Switch

If you want to game regularly on the Nintendo Switch, the Joy-Con that come included won't cut it. Hours of hand strain can attest to that. You may want to invest in a Pro controller. It has a more comfortable feel, like a DualSense or an Xbox controller, and has many battery hours included. It also features HD rumble and motion controls, which enhance the experience.

You'll also want to consider a decent headset. The Recon 50 has a neat blue and red design to match with the console's Joy-Con colors. Turtle Beach headsets usually have a good build and can last a while. It's also fairly inexpensive.

Another note to consider

Unfortunately, you'll need to purchase a subscription to access online multiplayer. If you or someone you love wants to play online with a friend, they'll need to be subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online. You can get the standard subscription, which comes with the following:

• Online multiplayer
• Access to an NES, Game Boy, and SNES library
• Online saves backup
• Tetris 99 and F-Zero 99

Or you can get Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, which has additional features like:

• Access to Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) games
• Additional DLC for free, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, Animal Crossing New Horizons: Happy Home Designer, and Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion.

The regular Switch Online costs $19.99 a year, $3.99 a month, or $9.99 for three months. Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack can only be bought for a one-year subscription and costs $49.99. There are also family plans you can consider that let up to eight accounts access Switch Online at the same time.

The post Nintendo Switch Beginner’s Guide – Best games, accessories, etc appeared first on Destructoid.

I really enjoyed the grab bag that was Taito Milestones 2. It featured some predictable hits but then flanked them with some hilariously dreadful games, or, as I put it in that review, “bad in an almost impressive way.” So, I’ve been looking forward to Taito Milestones 3 for another injection of titles.

This collection is dominated by a coalition of the Bubble Bobble and Rastan series. But, like before, there is also a smattering of more obscure titles. However, this time around, I wouldn’t say any of them are “impressively bad.” But rather than just talk about them vaguely in the preamble, I’m going to take the approach I’ve started doing with arcade collections, and I’m just going to do a short review of every game in the collection. There are 10, so brace yourself.

Taito Milestones 3 (Switch)
Developer: Hamster
Publisher: Inin Games
Released: December 10, 2024
MSRP: $39.99

Bubble Bobble

Bubble Bobble is the best game that lets you play as a bubble-blowing dragon that can turn people into corndogs. It’s the most known quantity in this Taito roundup, one of their longest-lived properties. I have a certain affinity for the game, having owned the Game Boy version (where the hell did it go?) and encountered it in arcades a few times, once at the hockey arena in Bobcaygeon of Tragically Hip fame. Another time was at the Toronto Union Station, where it beckoned me from across the arcade with its chirpy music.

The only problem with Bubble Bobble being on Taito Milestones 3 is that it’s one of those games where you might already own multiple versions of it. Few Taito-related collections drop without its inclusion. That’s not an issue for anyone who doesn’t own it already. If you’ve somehow avoided it, you should totally have it in some form. If you already own it, it's a bummer that it’s taking up room here. If you’ve never played it, wow, guy, get on that.

It’s great with two players (in fact, if you want the best ending, you have to beat it with another person). However, if you’re used to the console versions, you might find the lack of continues to be a bit jarring. There’s actually a secret to avoid starting over. To continue, you need to cram more credits into the machine, then hold the start button as you’re losing your last life.

Rainbow Islands

Rainbow Islands is technically the sequel to Bubble Bobble, but they’re rather dissimilar. Following the events of the first game, Bub and Bob have been transformed from radical corndog-conjuring dragons into diminutive Fatty Arbuckles who piss rainbows. And rather than try and process every monster on the map into food, the rotund twins have to climb to the top of a series of platforms.

You can use your rainbows to walk across, and stacking them up is the key to climbing. However, if you jump on them, they shatter, but this can take out enemies below you. Directly hitting enemies with rainbows will also just remove enemies; they’re deadly. Throwing rainbows at certain spots will spawn food. I haven’t seen a corndog appear, which is unfortunate.

It’s a pretty solid game, except for the bosses. The bosses just suck, barely putting up a fight and following patterns that are typically easy to exploit. The two-player mode is also alternating instead of Bubble Bobble’s simultaneous cooperative, which is extremely lame but not the collection's fault.

Rastan Saga

Rastan does not feel like a real game. I’ve described a couple of games like this previously, but pretty much every cartoon in existence had an episode where the protagonists get sucked into a video game, and it’s always way off when it comes to video game logic. Like, it’s obvious that the writers and animators know nothing about video games aside from vague concepts. That’s Rastan, except it’s a real game.

Which isn’t to say it’s bad. It’s just the fact that the protagonist is a generic, muscled, Conan-like barbarian who walks with a stiff upper body and swats at enemies with various classic weapons. The music is good, but it’s crunchy and meanders about. 

But for something that is so generic it’s almost surreal, Rastan is a pretty fun game. Its usage of pester enemies, especially during platforming and climbing sections, can get pretty vexing, but it has good flow and pacing. The bosses are surprisingly entertaining, as well. It’s not the best game, but in terms of the shirtless barbarian genre, I can dig it.

Rastan Saga 2

I think Taito Milestones 3 heard me making fun of Rastan Saga’s appearance, so it came at me hard with Rastan Saga 2. By that, I mean that Rastan Saga 2 is magnitudes worse than the first game. I’m not sure what happened. They made the sprites bigger, which was how 2D arcade games tried to flex back in the day, but they’re all low-detail and dopey looking, and there are only a few frames of animation to most actions. The bosses are all ridiculous slapfights, and the hit detection is just cruel.

But the level design is horrendous. Unlike the various scrolling methods of the first game, these are all flat and cut out of big blocks. What really ground my goat was some of the jumps they expect you to make. There are places with a ceiling directly above your head, and you’re expected to jump up and over a pit. This means that, to not hit your head and stop all upward motion, you need to scooch out until you’re hanging on the ledge by a pixel, then jump up and over. 

After making one such jump on the second level, I realized I had to play through to the end of the game in that sitting because I wasn’t willing to suffer it a second time. Unfortunately, that’s not the only instance of those shenanigans getting pulled in this game.

Champion Wrestler

I left Rastan Saga 2 in a frustrated daze, so if I’m a little too positive on Champion Wrestler, that’s why. It’s great! Well, kind of. It’s a pretty typical setup of shortening your opponent’s health bar before going in for the pin. What I like best about it is that it’s really mashy. When you get pinned, you mash the two buttons to try and get free, and when you pin, it’s the same thing. I think that’s what makes a good arcade wrestler: enthusiastic mashing.

It also has Rastan as one of the characters, so I got to beat him up a whole bunch. It turns out I’m actually really good at Champion Wrestler (at least on its default settings). After getting a feel for the controls, I didn’t lose again until after winning the title. Maybe it’s just easy, but if that’s the case, don’t tell me. Let me have this.

Each round is capped off by a detailed portrait of the winner and loser. The winner always gets to do things like drive around in a sportscar with a bikini-clad woman and rub themselves with money, while the loser often finds themselves picking through the trash. It’s, uh, sometimes kind of depressing.

Cadash

This is another one that I had prior experience with because Cadash is rad. Well, okay, Cadash is kind of basic and clunky, but it ties in RPG systems like stat building. In a way, it feels more like Dungeons and Dragons than the actual Dungeons and Dragons game that Capcom put out. That’s partially because the levels have some degree of exploration to them and there are NPCs to talk to. It satisfies arcade operators by keeping you on a timer you can replenish using items and spells.

The original version supported four players, but only by linking two cabinets. Pulling off in this version would have been impressive, but the extra mile wasn’t taken here. However, the two-player mode can still be fun if both players understand that there may be a bit of grinding required to stay ahead of the game.

I like Cadash. It has that classic tabletop RPG feel. It’s extraordinarily clunky and has a habit of screwing you over, but its inclusion of stat progression makes it a welcome change from straightforward action games. The timer system, as much as it's there to make you empty your pockets, is lenient enough to not feel rushed. It’s not the most intricate game, but it has it where it counts.

Thunder Fox

It’s easy to get some real Rush’n Attack/Green Beret vibes from Thunder Fox. It’s a run-and-stab shooter, mostly, but there are a lot of little side vignettes where you fly dopey-looking vehicles or ride them across the water. It’s, uh, not quite as good as, like, any number of games I could compare it to, but it’s also not awful.

It’s so unremarkable I’m having trouble thinking of anything else to say about it. Yeah, I guess we’ll leave it at that. It’s a pretty generic cross between Contra and Rush’n Attack.

Runark (Growl)

Weirdly, the title screen presents this game as Runark (the Japanese title), but when you launch it, it’s Growl (the international title). I guess it doesn’t matter since I don’t think there are any major differences beyond the title, but it struck me as a bit awkward.

In any case, Growl is a wild game. It’s a beat-’em-up where you play as a ranger trying to violently stop poachers. Up to four players can rip their shirts and join in, and it is chaos. Growl throws heaps of bad guys your way, and the rangers aren’t afraid to pick up guns to use them in the service of protecting animals. Just hordes of dudes and these women who are dressed like they’re using their bare legs to climb the corporate ladder.

Absolutely hilarious. You walk through a series of same-y backgrounds, freeing wild animals who will then assist you. Enemy limbs can be liberated from their bodies with a well-placed explosion. There are some incredibly funny digitized voice samples. It’s really not the best beat-’em-up, but it makes up for a lot of its deficiencies with its ludicrous premise.

Warrior Blade: Rastan Sage Episode 3

Taito really went all-out for the third game in the Rastan series. It was originally available as a double-monitor arcade cabinet, like Taito’s own Darius 2. The characters are huge, which, as I’ve already said, is the way arcade developers like to flex their graphical horsepower. And the sound and music were clearly mixed around the idea that you’d be sitting on a subwoofer.

Surprisingly (especially after playing the last game), it’s also quite decent. Rather than being an action platformer, it’s a straight belt-scrolling brawler. There are three characters to choose from, and you get to pick from four levels to decide your route through the game. The combat itself isn’t varied, so instead, you’re put through a lot of different set-piece levels where you ride on a dragon or fight while sliding down a hill. The hit detection is a lot more fair, and the bosses are huge.

Even more surprisingly, it isn’t all that difficult. That might be because the cabinets it would come in would often charge more than a dollar to play, but that didn’t stop Darius from being tough. Warrior Blade might not be the best beat-’em-up I’ve ever experienced, but it’s enjoyable in its own right and a welcome apology for Rastan Saga 2.

Dead Connection

Here’s an interesting one. Its inclusion is a special treat since, if I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that it’s been ported or re-released. It’s also a somewhat unique game, as it’s a single-screen shoot-’em-up where you run around movie set-like dioramas gunning down thugs. Apparently some FBI agents have had enough of crime and have decided to just take down Marlon Brando’s lackeys using whatever force necessary.

If I saw Dead Connection in an arcade or laundromat (and I never did), I’d definitely slot a quarter. There’s something captivating about the way it’s zoomed way back from the action. Your bullets tear through the scenery as enemies pop up behind cover. You’re free to roam as necessary to flank your foes or just explore.

The main downside is that aiming sucks. It’s eight-direction, and you need to rely on its auto-targeting since there’s no nuance between those directions. It’s also hard to tell when your shots are going to collide with obstacles, and sometimes, it feels like your bullets are lodging themselves into thin air. Enemies don’t have that issue, so you just have to keep diving to avoid incoming shots while trying your best to find good vectors. It can be a bit frustrating, but it’s something you get used to with repeated playthroughs.

I almost forgot to mention, the version here is the Japanese release. I don’t know why, but it means the text isn’t in English. This doesn’t matter when you’re in-game, but it does mean that the cutscenes are still in Japanese. That’s lame. It’s possible they’ll patch it on launch day, but I’m not certain.

The Collection

As it was last time, Taito Milestones 3 is actually just a collection of games in Hamster’s Arcade Archives series, some of which aren't yet available individually. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I don’t have much to complain about with Arcade Archives. Except maybe the price, and Taito Milestones 3 relieves that a bit by allowing you to buy in bulk.

But what I'm trying to stress is that the collection is a launcher for individual games with the Arcade Archives wrapper. It’s a bit awkward, especially since the emulator itself has gone through a few iterations, and that’s reflected here. They’re consistent enough, but some of them have a softening filter by default that you need to turn off if you want crisp pixels. Unlike an individual Arcade Archives release, you don’t get all the regional versions. This is the strangest when it comes to Growl, which is called Runark on the title screen, and Dead Connection, which, for some reason, uses the Japanese version. Weird stuff.

Despite that, I’m happy with this iteration of Taito Milestones. It’s nowhere near Capcom Arcade Stadium in terms of features and content, nor is it as robust as past collections like Taito Memories. But I’ve played enough sub-par collections recently that I’ve come to appreciate this level of care.

The post Review: Taito Milestones 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

The new Ode to Castlevania DLC for Vampire Survivors has arrived, with over 20 new characters to unlock. There are a lot of specific rules, so we've made this guide to help clear the air on what you'll need to find your favorite Castlevania characters.

The DLC has a massive map, and there are a lot of places to go. As you defeat bosses, you'll unlock persistent warp points. These will allow you to hop to specific bosses and areas of the map faster in subsequent playthroughs.

There are bosses that certain characters need to kill to unlock more content. We've created a map below with the locations of these specific bosses. Make sure to check which character needs to defeat them in the table under that.

We have a list of every character and how to unlock them here. If you're unsure how to evolve certain weapons, check out our guide here.

After the credits, there’s more to unlock

After using Richter to defeat the “final” boss, a new host of characters will be available to unlock. Without going into spoilers, we’ll help provide the information needed to unlock each of these new characters.

If you’re unsure what to do in order to roll credits, take Richter to Dracula’s throne room at the top of the map to start a special cutscene. Any time you bring Richter here, you’ll get this sequence again. After you play it out, you’ll be sent to the character select screen with a new playable character. Below are the new characters, and how to unlock them, sorted by the order you do so.

Character Name | Unlock Conditions | Details

• Dracula | Beat the Richter Scenario | Unlocked automatically upon unlocking the second round of characters.
• Lisa Tepes | Evolve the Wine Glass | Dracula’s starting weapon, evolves with Tirajisu passive weapon at max level.
• Shaft | Evolve the Luminatio | Lisa Tepes’ starting weapon, evolves with the Crown passive weapon at max level.
• Elizabeth Bartley | Evolve the Umbra | Shaft’s starting weapon, evolves with the Attractorb passive weapon.
• Albus | Evolve Confodere | Shanoa’s default weapon, evolves on fully leveling twice.
• Barlowe | Evolve the Optical Shot | Albus’ default weapon, evolve’s with Karoma’s Mana subweapon.
• Cornell | Evolve the Silver Revolver | Henry’s starter weapon, requires Karoma’s Mana to evolve.
• Carrie Fernandez | Evolve the Custos Glyphs | The three glyphs have to be leveled up together to evolve. Use Cornell if you have him unlocked.
• Isaac | Evolve the Mace | Hector’s starting weapon, evolves with the Hollow Heart passive weapon.
• Saint Germain | Evolve the Trident | Isaac’s starting weapon, evolves with the Duplicator passive weapon.
• Julia Laforeze | Evolve the Globus | Saint Germain’s starting weapon, evolves with The Empty Tome passive weapon.
• Rinaldo Gandolfi | Evolve the Star Flail | Sara Trantoul’s starting weapon, evolves with the Pummarola passive weapon.
• Vincent Dorin | Evolve the Fulgur and Keremet Bubbles | Dropped by Keremet and The Creature respectively, also Yoko and Rinaldo’s starting weapons. Requires the Duplicator Ring and Armor passive weapons, respectively.
• Mina Hakuba | Evolve the Iron Shield | Vincent’s starting weapon, evolves with the Parm Aegis passive weapon.
• Reinhardt Schneider | Find the coffin on the expanded castle map | In the south is a basement area, reachable from the southwest corner of the map. You’ll see the coffin there.
• Sara Trantoul | Evolve the Alchemy Whip | Leon Belmont’s starting weapon, evolves with the Tirajisu passive weapon.
• Maxim | Evolve the Vibhuti Whip | Juste Belmont’s starting weapon, evolves with Candelabrador passive weapon.
• Nathan Graves | Evolve the Sonic Whip | Sonia Belmont’s starting weapon, evolves with Skull O’Maniac passive weapon.
• Quincy Morris | Evolve the Platinum Whip | Richter Belmont’s starting weapon, evolves with the Clover passive weapon.

Pile of Secret characters

While you’re unlocking characters on the new map, you’ll find a new boss room in the northwest of the castle, near the Scorpion teleport. Defeat the Beelzebub boss inside that room to obtain the Pile of Secrets. This item opens up even MORE characters. This won’t even be the last of them.

If you’re having trouble with certain unlock conditions, or you just want them unlocked faster, we’ll also include the codes for each of these unlocks. You can input these from the Secrets button on the main menu.

Character name | Unlock Conditions | Details | Code shortcut

• Young Maria | “Reconnect the youngest hunter with her original guardian, his friends, and their doubles” | Play as Maria. Evolve Peachone and Ebony Wings into Vandeleir, obtain Gemini arcana. | YOURFAULTFORBEINGSOMEAN
• Familiars and Innocent Devils | Play as Julia and get two Familiar weapons | There’s one on the stage, but you’ll need another through random chance on leveling. We recommend using seals to maximize the chance of seeing it. Don’t select the same familiar twice | FRIENDLEVANIA, FORGEMASTERFRIENDS
• Cornel (Blue Crescent Moon) | “Slay the Castle’s denizens under the Blue Crescent Moon to make him a beast” | As Cornell, evolve the three Custus weapons into their final form and get 10,000 kills (estimated.) AZURECROISSANT
• Ferryman | Run on the water in front of Dracula’s Castle | Use the Sonic Dash found in the castle’s basement, or Nathan’s starting weapon. Evolve with the Wings passive weapon. Run around to break the boundary and run on the watery area in the left part of the map. | HEHHEHHEH
• Master Librarian | Buy all his weapons at least once | This can be done over multiple playthroughs. Defeat the Treant boss in the south west corner of the map to unlock him on your map. | ROCKINGCHAIR
• Hammer | Complete a run with 6 fully evolved Coat of Arms weapons | The Coat of Arms weapons are considered “mundane.” That includes Curved Knife, Shuriken, Javelin, Iron Ball, Discus, Silver Revolver, Hand Grenade, and Wine Glass. | WHATWOULDYOUSPENDITON
• Wind | “Remember who he was when he was still alive” | Spoilers for Portrait of Ruin, Wind was Eric Lecarde in life. Get his health down low to trigger his passive three times in one round to unlock Wind. | NOSPOILERS
• Jonathan and Charlotte, Stella and Loretta | Defeat Stella and Loretta with Sanctuary | Evolve the white book Refectio with a fully leveled Clover subweapon. Use the spell to defeat the bosses in the Clocktower, Stella and Loretta. This unlocks all variants of these dual characters, including the stand-alone Loretta and Stella. | Codes for the stand-alone sisters: TWINNADO, COOLTWIN
• Brauner | “Drain the Crimson Paint from his most lively works” | Use the Blood Astronomia arcana, and acquire associated weapons. At around the 24 minute mark, be in the big “X” shaped halls of the Gallery section. Kill the Painting enemies using the red circles from Blood Astronomia. | EVERYONESACRITIC
• Soliel Belmont | Defeat Soleil with Sanctuary equipped | Evolve Refectio into Sanctuary with the max level Clover passive weapon. Find Soliel’s boss fight west from the Parm pick-up and The Creature boss. | PRODIGALSON
• Dario | Complete any stage rejecting all but the flame | Only use fire weapons, like Raging Fire and Fire Wand. Passive Weapons are all fine, so evolve your weapons. Avoid Candy Boxes or Arma Dios, as they will cancel out your run. Best to use Charlette.
• Celia | Evolve both Vol Luminatio and Vol Umbra | Both weapons need to be maxed out with a Crown and Attractorb passive weapons. Once they evolve, level them both 3 more times each and they’ll evolve again. | WITHLIGHT
• Dmitri | “Undo the fused demon with Light” | Use Celia and kill Menace. This boss is found in the green sewer area under the castle, near the speed boots. | MENACINGHAIRCUT
• Graham | “Bring bad luck to the count’s belligerent bosses” | Defeat every boss in the castle after unlocking Dracula. Does not have to be in a single run. | UMBRALECLIPSE
• Joachim | Defeat the Joachim boss with Sara Trantoul | In the ice caves beneath the castle is a hidden room on the east. Inside is a boss circle to summon Joachim. | CANTHOLDTHEMALL
• Walter | Defeat the Walter boss with Rinaldo | Take Rinaldo to the new bridge section in the center of the castle. You can get there from the east of the first room where you pick up an Arma Dario in the castle. | ITSALLHISFAULT
• Carmilla | “May the power of the first Belmont break her mask” | For some reason we can’t find, you defeat the Carmilla boss with the Nightmare spell. Evolve Hex with the Skull O’Mania passive weapon. Carmilla is in the stone walkways before the Clock Tower. | WEEPINGMASK
• Count Olrox | Defeat Olrox with Dark Rift equipped | You can purchase Dark Rift from the Librarian Merchant. Use it to fight Olrox, who is located beneath the Chapel, west of the giant construct boss. | DONTDISTURBDINNER
• Cave Troll | Defeat 3,000,000 cave trolls | Doesn’t have to be in one run, thankfully. They’ll spawn mostly in the Ice Cave area under the castle. | CHUPACABRA
• Fleaman | Defeat 6,000 Fleaman enemies | You’ll do this over the course of playing. They spawn all over the castle. | FINALBOSS
• Axe Armor | Defeat Axe Armors with Stellar Blade | Discus evolves into Stellar Blade with Parm Aegis. In the southwest corner of the church is a room that has nonstop Axe Armor spawns. | MISSAXALOTL
• Frozenshade | Defeat multiple Frozenshade with Gemma Torpor and/or Jewel Gun | Gemma Torpor evolves from Rock Riot with a maxed Stone Mask passive weapon, and Jewel Gun evolves with Karoma’s Mana. In the eastern part of the Ice Cave under the castle is a hidden room that spawns tons of them.
• Succubus | “Give the deceiver a taste of her own medicine” | Evolve Hex into Nightmare with the Skull O’Rama. She can be found in the room with the red Dominus weapon in the southeast corner of the map. | THATSNOTLISA
• Keremet | Use Jonathan and Charlotte to defeat the Keremet boss | In the north near the Silver Ring is a boss called Keremet. Defeat it with either of the Jonathan and Charlotte paired characters. | CAULDRONKING
• Sniper | Defeat multiple Amalaric Snipers using Stellar Blade | Evolve the Discus into Stellar Blade using the Parm Aegis passive weapon. Defeat snipers using this, mostly found on the eastern half of the castle. | GOTHANGEL
• Blackmore | Defeat Blackmore with Barlow | Blackmore is in the hidden library section in the north. From the Paranoia boss fight, go west into the secret room. | BIZARRESHADEADVENTURE
• Malphas | Defeat Malphas with Quincy or John Morris | Malphas will appear wherever you are at the 25 minute mark. | KARASUMAN
• Death | “Make it feel at home” | In one run, acquire all 4 Clock Tower items as Richter Belmont and level them up to max. Evolve into “Clock Tower,” and confront Death in Dracula’s Throne Room. SEWARDZEAD
• Galamoth | Defeat Galamoth with the Power of Sire | Level up the 3 dominus weapons and evolve them into Power of Sire. You can find Galamoth in the green sewer area under the castle. | SIZEMATTERS

Ebony and Crimson Stones unlocks

The last item you need to unlock is found in the southeast corner of the castle. You’ll have a boss fight with Legion, who will drop the Ebony and Crimson Stones. Once you have them, you must defeat 100,000 enemies in one run with the listed characters. We recommend Endless Mode for that.

• Megalo Elizabeth | "Ravage everything and everyone in Dracula's Castle while in her demonic form" | Defeat 100,000 enemies in one run as Elizabeth. | PETRIFYINGLYEVIL
• Megalo Olrox | "Find the greatest treasure of the vampires and prove that the other Count can wreak havoc in the Castle" | Defeat 100,000 enemies in one run as Olrox. | THEOTHERCOUNT 
• Megalo Death | "Unleash maximised Death on the Castle while holding the soul-stealing stones" | Defeat 100,000 enemies in one run as Death. | EMBRACETHEREAPER
• Megalo Dracula | "Hold the stones that birthed your lineage and prove you hold dominance over all your monstrous minions" | Defeat 100,000 enemies in one run as Dracula. | MATHIASCRONQVIST
• Chaos | Get all other secrets | This is the last thing you’ll unlock. The secret code is 1-21 in roman numerals put together | IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIXXXIXIIXIIIXIVXVXVIXVIIXVIIIXIXXXXXI

The post How to unlock all characters in Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania DLC appeared first on Destructoid.

Aquatic Escargot in Disney Dreamlight Valley is a dish many would likely avoid in real life. However, some of your friends, like Stitch or Belle in the game, might love a bite of this three-star dish.

Aquatic Escargot Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

To cook up the Aquatic Escargot for yourself or restaurant guests, you'll need the following:

• Trumpet Snail
• Salt Crystal
• Garlic

Trumpet Snails can be acquired at The Bind. You can find them on the ground like an herb. They look like a strange shell engrained in the soil. Garlic can also be picked up from the ground, but you'll have to go back to the Forest of Valor in the original valley where our story began. Look for the green stems that are reaching out of the ground.

Lastly, Salt Crystals can be fished from the waters of Everafter, Maleficent's dominion in the new land. Don't fish within the ripples, however. You'll want to fish from outside them to gain the Salt Crystal you require. Thankfully, you don't need to grow any crops for this recipe.

Once you have all of the ingredients, head to any cooking station, such as your home or Chez Remy. Throw the ingredients into the pot, and you'll have the Aquatic Escargot dish. Congrats! Hopefully, our French residents like Belle or The Beast will be happy.

There are many other dishes you can make in Disney Dreamlight Valley, and these will likely make you more Star Coins than the Aquatic Escargot. You can sell this meal to Goofy's Stall for 182 Star Coins or gain 581 Energy from eating it.

The post How to make Aquatic Escargot in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

The Stuffed Ring Squash is another delicious dish you can make in Disney Dreamlight Valley. This three-star meal counts towards your Dreamlight goals.

Stuffed Ring Squash Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

You'll need these three ingredients to create this healthy dish in Disney Dreamlight Valley:

• Ring Squash
• Ambrosia
• Garlic

You can purchase Ring Squash seeds from Goofy's Stall in The Bind for 20 Star Coins each. You'll need to grow the crop. Dig up a bit of the ground, plant the Ring Squash seeds, and then water the plants. You'll have to wait 30 minutes for it to grow completely. You can use a Miracle Growth Potion, however. This has the ingredients grow immediately after watering them after drinking the potion. You can create one by using a crafting station and blending the following ingredients:

• 10 Vitalys Crystals
• 10 Rich Soil
• 500 Dreamlight

How to get the other ingredients

Another ingredient, Ambrosia, can also be purchased from Goofy at his stall in Mythopia's The Elysian Fields. It's a golden liquid within a vial. It costs 140 Star Coins to get this resource.

The last ingredient Garlic is obtained from the grounds of the Forest of Valor. Fast travel back to the original land that introduced us to Disney Dreamlight Valley. Once you get to the Forest of Valor look towards the grass, and you'll see the ingredient growing from within with green stems flowing out.

Once you have all of the ingredients, head to any cooking station, possibly within your house or at Chez Remy with the famous rat chef, you can sell the meal for 225 Star Coins or eat it for 980 Energy.

The post How to make Stuffed Ring Squash in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

Chia Seed Bread in Disney Dreamlight Valley sounds like a healthy option for Mickey, Flynn Rider, and Mulan. Thankfully, the ingredients are fairly easy to get.

Chia Seed Bread Disney Dreamlight Valley Ingredients

First, you'll need to purchase the Disney Dreamlight Valley Storybook Vale DLC to access this recipe and its ingredients. Once that's done, the three-star dish Chia Seed Bread is made with the following ingredients:

• Chia
• Shovel Bird Egg
• Wheat

Chia Seeds can be purchased from Goofy's Stall in The Bind. They are available for 5 Star Coins each. You can also find Shovel Bird Eggs from this same stall. They can be purchased for 160 Star Coins each. Thankfully, the Chia Seeds only take five minutes to grow after being planted and watered.

The last ingredient, Wheat, is also at Goofy's Stall, but you'll have to go back to the original valley. Head over to the Peaceful Meadow and visit one of Mickey's best friends there. His stall will have Wheat Seeds for 1 Star Coin.

Once you have all of the ingredients, go to any cooking station in your home or at Chez Remy and place them all in the pot. You should now have Chia Seed Bread. It can be sold for 122 Star Coins or be eaten for 478 Energy.

Other recipes that can be made

Chia Seed Pudding is one of the easiest recipes to make in the Storybook Vale DLC expansion. You'll only need one Chia in the pot to make it. You can also create a lovely Golden Apple Smoothie by mixing in a Golden Apple and Yogurt at a cooking station, providing 299+ Gold Coins or 985+ Energy.

The post How to make Chia Seed Bread in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

Scottish Porridge in Disney Dreamlight Valley is a simple two-star recipe that would make residents like Merida very happy. It's made with a new ingredient that can be spotted in Everafter.

Scottish Porridge Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

To make Scottish Porridge, you only need two ingredients:

• Oats
• Any fruit

Sounds simple, right? This isn't made like the typical Porridge from the past, however, with just wheat and milk. You'll need to get the Oats ingredient from Goofy's Stall in The Wild Woods area. It's on the west side of Storybook Vale, where Everafter is located. After starting up the stall, you should have the oat seeds available. They're 150 Star Coins each.

How to make farming quicker

After acquiring them, plant them in the ground and grow them with some water. Unfortunately, they'll grow in two lengthy hours. You can speed up the process by making a Miracle Growth Elixir. They're made at a crafting table with the following:

• 10 Vitalys Crystals
• 10 Rich Soils
• 500 Dreamlight

Vitalys Crystals are gained from the cave within the waterfall of Sunlit Plateau. Mine the rocks inside there. Rich Soil can be grabbed by digging up the ground, planting vegetables/fruit, and then gathering the crops.

Once you have all of these materials, go to a crafting table and make the Miracle Growth Elixir. Plant the oats you want to grow and then bury them in the ground. Use the Miracle Growth Elixir, take out the water can, and then start watering the crops. They'll instantly grow.

Now that you have the Oats, go to a cooking station in Chez Remy or your house. Place one serving of oats and one fruit, like raspberries, into the pot. You'll then have Scottish Porridge in your inventory.

The post How to make Scottish Porridge in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

The Disney Dreamlight Valley: Storybook Vale DLC is a delightful adventure in the worlds of Hercules and Sleeping Beauty, but it has one major flaw that has plagued the game since its release. The inventory system has to change.

An annoying mechanic that is compounded further in The Storybook Vale

The Disney Dreamlight Valley Storybook Vale DLC has been fun over the past week or so as we meet new friends like Flynn Rider and create statues for the mighty Hades. However, the inventory system is starting to spoil the magic of this game.

From day one, we have been stretched with limited inventory space that is used for everything we collect: food, quest items, ingredients, etc. It's always frustrating when you're farming, and you can't pick anything new up because of the inventory space once again being limited. This is exacerbated by the fact that your character constantly picks up soil from the ground, which is practically worthless.

You can craft chests and other storage solutions to place your items in, but after years of playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, they have become an eyesore. It's also confusing to distinguish where your resources are, and it's especially frustrating to find quest items. It's a right pain.

The inventory system has become a sore topic, especially with The Storybook Vale expansion because of the addition of the Snippets. These are creatures throughout the Vale that can be collected to redeem storybook puzzles which you can complete with the Lorekeeper. In return, you'll get rewards like chairs and other objects. The Snippets, unfortunately, go straight to your inventory system, taking precious space in your already full bag, and there are many different varieties of them.

What is the solution?

It would be great if Gameloft could finally give players more space in their inventory system. It's a constant annoyance to always go back to Goofy. At some points, I've had to sell resources to finish quests just so I can have room. It would also help if the number of vegetables and fruits you can gather goes up to 100 instead of 50 per slot. Hopefully, the inventory system issue will get resolved soon because it's one of the most annoying factors of an otherwise relaxing and rewarding experience in Disney Dreamlight Valley and its DLC The Storybook Vale.

The post Disney Dreamlight Valley: The Storybook Vale is a lovely DLC, but has one major flaw appeared first on Destructoid.

Vampire Survivors has finally come full circle (of the moon) with its latest Ode to Castlevania DLC. There's a whole arsenal of new weapons to find and evolve. This Vampire Survivors update comes with over 20 new weapons, a couple of new passives, and a whole lot more.

To unlock the new weapons, you'll basically need to unlock the characters, which we have a separate guide for. Each character comes with a weapon, and you usually unlock that weapon for other characters by surviving with the original owner for a set amount of time. You can find these specific conditions in the Unlocks section of the game.

If you haven't played Vampire Survivors in a little while, you may have missed some updates. Here's our guide to the most recent Darkasso Update, which adds new "Dark Arcana" cards. These are extremely powerful, and we recommend unlocking them as soon as you can.

We've compiled a handy guide so that you won't have to dig around through a miserable pile of secrets. But enough talk; have at you!

Secret weapons and their evolutions

At a certain point in unlocking the content above, you’ll roll credits and unlock a whole batch of extra content. The castle map will have new areas, and you’ll gain more than double the weapons and characters. If you don’t want to know about those secrets, stop reading here until you’ve unlocked the ability to find them.

Below is a list of the secret weapons and how to evolve them. Some of the secret weapons require specific combinations to evolve, so we made a special section for those further down.

(Writer note: These should be put into a grid like the previous weapons. Ping me when you’ve edited them and I can add them in if you want.)

Globus + Empty Tome (max level) = Nitesco

Hex + Skull O’Maniac = Nightmare

Iron Shield + Parm Aegis = Dark Iron Shield

Keremet Bubbles + Armor (max level) = Keremet Morbus

Luminatio + Crown (max level) = Vol Luminatio

Optical Shot + Karoma’s Mana (max level) = Acerbatus

Refectio + Clover (max level) = Sanctuary

Silver Revolver + Karoma’s Mana = Jewel Gun

Sonic Dash + Wings (max level) = Rapidus Fio

Star Flail + Pummarola = Moon Flail

Tyrfing + Spinach = Rune Sword

Umbra + Attract Orb (max level) = Vol Umbra

Wine Glass + Tiramisu (max level) = Meal Ticket

Weapons with Unique Evolutions (h2)

The Clock Tower Weapons - There are four items unlocked when you defeat the boss Menace, located in the underground cavern location. They are:

• Endo Gears
• Epi Head
• Myo Lift
• Peri Pendulum

These four weapons can be collected and maxed out to evolve into the final weapon, Clock Tower. All you’ll need is a treasure chest after leveling them all up. They’re all located in the clock tower portion of the map.

The Custos Glyphs - Three different glyphs combine to form the Trinum Custodem, an incredibly potent weapon. They are:

• Centralis Custos - Starting weapon of Cornell, you must unlock him first
• Destro Custos - Found in the underground section of the castle
• Sinestro Custos - Found in the other underground section of the castle

Once you’ve leveled all three up to level 6, and collect a treasure chest, they’ll become the Trinum Custodem. That’s also the starting weapon of Blue Crescent Moon Cornell.

The Dominus Glyphs - Another triplicate weapon, the Dominus Glyphs require all three to be maxed out in order to evolve. They are:

• Dominus Agony - Defeat 8,000 enemies as Barlowe to unlock
• Dominus Anger - Barlowe’s starting weapon, also found under the church area
• Dominus Hatred - Found in the church portion of the map

It’s a bit confusing because Barlowe starts with a glyph that’s already on the map. You won’t be able to evolve the three glyphs together until after you defeat 8,000 enemies with him to unlock Agony. Once you collect a treasure with all three at level 6, you’ll get Power of Sire.

Universitas - First, you’ll need to evolve Umbra into Vol Umbra, and Luminatio into Vol Luminatio. Then, level both evolutions up to level 3. Then pick up a treasure chest to evolve them into Universitas.

The post All new Weapon Evolutions in Vampire Survivors Ode to Castlevania appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced that they are bringing the PC classic mega-hit RollerCoaster Tycoon to Switch on December 5. RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic will contain both the first game, its immediate sequel. I’m going to assume it also has the second game’s expansions, Wacky Worlds and Time Twister, but the PR doesn’t say it. Uh, yep. Says so on the store page.

It’s funny timing. My sister texted me the other day telling me that my nephew has a new interest in roller coasters and asked if I had any recommendations for one on Switch or iOS. I recommended RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete on Switch, but now that the original is coming I… probably still would recommend RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete. He’s 12, he doesn’t care about the real classics. Yet.

I actually spent a lengthy amount of time in the late ‘90s playing RollerCoaster Tycoon. It’s one of the rare times my parents bought me a PC game (they were afraid I’d fill up the “memory,” which I probably would have). I remember quite a few mornings being vegetative in front of the screen. It’s also the game that taught me the word “queue.” I still play it occasionally, but did you know Parkitect is a pretty great successor?

RollerCoaster Tycoon is a management game where you’re given the task of building and running amusement parks. It’s a lot like Theme Park, but much deeper and with a set of tools that allow you to design your own roller coasters. It was programmed by the legendary Chris Sawyer and is interesting in the convincing way it simulates physics, right down to the G-force that the passengers are feeling. It was initially released in 1999, but the only place you can feel that beyond the graphics are in how slow it can sometimes feel to progress.

Each area you build on has an objective to complete, which is usually “Have so many people in the park” and “have this park rating” in a set number of years. You have to not only manage how profitable you rides and stalls are, but also your reputation. If you kill a bunch of people on a poorly conceived ride, some will be hesitant to visit. My favorite was creating one of those drop towers with too short of a shaft and cranking up the thrust to send the riders screaming into space.

As for how it will adjust to console controllers. According to Atari, “Our partners at Graphite Lab did an amazing job translating RCT Classic’s detailed keyboard-based controls to controller input.” I can see it working fun, since it’s grid-based. The only thing I’m having trouble imagining is the terrain deformation tools that allow you to grab and raise specific corners of a tile. We’ll see, I guess.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic is coming to Nintendo Switch on December 5, 2024 for $24.99. It is currently available on PC and mobile platforms.

The post RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic is coming to Nintendo Switch in December appeared first on Destructoid.

The Life is Strange: Double Exposure Be Great, Do Crime! trophy description is annoyingly cryptic. Thankfully, it's a fairly simple trophy or achievement to get with another playthrough of the game.

Steps to get Life is Strange: Double Exposure Be Great, Do Crime! trophy

The first thing of note is that you can't use the Chapter Select option to unlock this trophy. You'll need to make multiple decisions throughout two different scenes. It's best to go for the Be Great, Do Crime! trophy while trying to get the Bay or Bae trophy, which has you complete the game with and without Chloe living.

In Chapter 2, you have to snatch Safi's Camera away before Detective Alderman finds it. After retrieving it, he will ask Max for her cooperation. To get the trophy, you must agree to help the authority figure. Select the "Agree" choice.

Later on in the chapter, Max speaks to Moses in the dark room downstairs in Max's house. Choose the option of not actually cooperating with Alderman. Shortly after the conversation choice, the Life is Strange: Double Exposure Be Great, Do Crime trophy should pop.

Another cryptic trophy to get

There are a few trophies that are hard to notice during your first playthrough. For example, you can easily miss the timid guy wanting to get into the bathroom, which gives you a trophy. It starts in the Table for Three scene in Chapter 2: Penumbra. You'll have to head outside onto the patio to talk to two guys about the bathroom key. Then, you can help a timid guy you can overhear in the bar with getting into the bathroom by getting the key from the other reality.

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My absolute favorite among the game's wide array, the Paragon personality can be seen as the perfect choice for those looking to get a huge boost in strength and one-shot enemies no matter their game stage in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake.

But how can you get the personality at the start of the game? And for those looking to battle with a Paragon duo, is it possible to switch to it later on or get a party member with it? Here are all the ways to get the Paragon Personality in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake.

• Table of Contents:

  • How to Get the Paragon Personality at the Start
  • How to Switch a Personality to Paragon

How to Get the Paragon Personality at the Start of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake

You can get the Paragorn personality at the start of your journey in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake by completing the Monster Personality Test without killing more than 2 NPCs. You can unlock the test by answering the questions asked by the goddess in the following way:

• Question #1: Do you believe that victory can be won in the field of battle? Yes
• Question #2: Do you prefer spells and sorcery to swords and sweat? No
• Question #3: Do you find the company of unfamiliar people tiresome? No
• Question #4: Are you able to prevent failure from preying upon your mind? Yes
• Question #5: Do you find yourself unable to argue with others, even if you disagree with them strongly? No
• Question #6: Do you enjoy physical pursuits? Yes
• Question #7: Can even the most minor of matters irritate you? No
• Question #8: Do you believe that a promise, once made, can under no circumstances be broken? Yes (Answering this question or the one below in any other way will lock you out of the Personality Test)
• Question #9: Do you believe in a power higher than that of man? Yes

Although it is possible to unlock the test by following a path different from the one above, I recommend that you restart your playthrough until your first question matches ours. Apart from that, all the following inquiries will be directly related to your previous answer. Differently from the Vamp and like the Tough Cookie personality, Paragon is not gender locked.

How to Complete the Monster Personality Test

After answering the questions as shown above and starting the Monster Personality Test on DQ 3, you can complete it without killing more than a single NPC by avoiding the dog and then making your way down the main path. Keep in mind that it is impossible to complete the test without torching the villager by the well.

How to Switch a Personality to Paragon in Dragon Quest 3

If you fail to get the personality at the beginning or just want to turn a party member into a Paragon, you will be able to do so by either using The Champion's Code book or equipping the Mighty Armlet. Keep in mind that equipping the item will only change your chosen character's personality when they are wearing it. When creating a party member on the second floor of Patty's Party Planning Place, using five Seeds of Strength will allow them to come with the Paragon personality, although whether or not they will get it will still be up to chance.

The post How to Get the Paragon Personality in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake appeared first on Destructoid.

There’s always been some debate around whether or not games are art, but in the late aughts and early ‘10s, some decided to really push for it. Sometimes, this resulted in kind of mostly successful experiments like Citizen Abel: Gravity Bone or Limbo, while other times we got more unfortunate, pretentious attempts like The Path.

It was a really insecure time for video games. We seemed to want some sort of permission to take this hobby seriously, so it’s like, collectively, as players and developers, we tried to prove video games were something they weren’t. Oh, they’re totally art. You can see that in games about flipping eggs and trimming hedges. But it’s more about harnessing the interactive element to get that piece of yourself across. A developer might try to capture how they think or see the world by asking you to live it. I’m not sure what The Path was supposed to say. Don’t do what you’re told?

We’ve largely moved past that, or at the very least, games that are 100% message have more of a purpose. A self-assuredness. It often feels more earnest and less pretentious. Which makes Miniatures something of a blast from the past.

Miniatures (PC [Reviewed], Switch, Mobile)
Developer: Other Tales Interactive
Publisher: Other Tales Interactive
Released: November 14th, 2024
MSRP: $5.99

Now, I’m not actually saying Miniatures is pretentious. No, I'm the pretentious one today. But, it’s at least making no mystery of the fact that it’s a digital art exhibit. What I mean is that it is only interactive-adjacent, and it is very art. I wouldn’t even call it narratively focused because the stories are pretty abstract. You’ll either connect with them, maybe just find them amusing, or maybe you won’t.

For me, it reminds me of extremely late nights of being bored in front of Teletoon. Nights when my parents were out, so I had free reign of the TV and could watch whatever bizarre concoction was on the station in the later hours.

Teletoon would often air things from The National Film Board of Canada, which was actually the butt of a Simpsons joke back in the day (not while they were still good). Very cultural stuff, but a lot of it was extremely strange. Sometimes, it would be something relaxingly amusing. Other times, it would be a piece of Canadiana, with the deepest of it being something from our aboriginal cultures. When you’re a pre-teen at 11 pm, it doesn’t matter what it was. Any attempt by an animation student to stretch their legs would hit like some sort of forbidden fever dream.

That’s what Miniatures took me back to; a decaffeinated Saturday night in my father’s La-Z-Boy. It’s four short chapters that sometimes make you poke the screen. On Switch and mobile, you can literally poke the screen, but here I was just poking it with my mouse pointer. Clicking, if you will.

I’m not trying to be dismissive, but the interactivity is very basic in Miniatures. One of the chapters has you trying to arrange a band of small sand-critters in a little sand-critter town in an extremely roundabout way. This was by far the most amusing one for me, as you largely press on places you think something should happen and then watch while that something happens. It’s well-animated and amusing, so that’s something.

There’s one where you pan the screen around to follow a story, and every so often, you need to click on something in the environment to uncover a trigger that allows you to move on. This one was my least favorite, not because of the lack of interactivity but because I didn’t connect with it. As far as I could see, it was a directionless story that wanted to look like it had something to say but didn’t say anything at all. Or maybe I just didn’t see the message.

As for the other two, I can at least understand what they’re trying to communicate, but I think a lot of Miniatures fails because it will elicit a feeling and then not do anything with it. They don't use that feeling to deliver any sort of message. These are short, short little chapters – miniature, if you will – so if they want you to just soak in the feeling, then there isn’t much time to do so. One strength in the artistic side of video games is that by having the player take part in something, you can hold their head beneath whatever you’re trying to convey, and when they're good and soaked, hit them with what you want to say. Miniatures neither has a point nor does it drown you for very long.

But, with those last two, I at least got the vibe they were putting down. One seemed to focus on childhood loneliness and discovery, while another gave a sense of tension and dread. I’ve found I’m typically able to pick up on subtext, even in games that aren’t taking an art-first approach, so I’m not deaf to what’s going on in Miniatures. I mostly have two problems. Number one: I don’t think it leverages the advantages of an interactive medium for conveying ideas. Number two: I don’t connect with the ideas that are here.

This makes it kind of hard to review a game like this because its effectiveness will vary from person to person, and I can’t speak to what you’ll feel. Maybe you’ll see yourself reflected in one or all of the games here. What I can say is that from an interactive standpoint, as well as a narrative one, I find Miniatures lacking. In comparison to other games that I would applaud for their contributions and approach to the art form, this wouldn’t be high on the list, but I wouldn’t throw it away wholesale, either.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Miniatures appeared first on Destructoid.

Words have weight, which is why I swing them around with reckless abandon. I’m not sure that’s what Great God Grove is about unless you only take it literally. It’s more about identity, authority, communication, and misunderstanding.

It’s the follow-up to Smile For Me by Limbolane. But while the two games have similarities, you might miss the relation just by looking at it. One game has you interred in an asylum, while the other has you fixing the relationships of the gods. However, what they have in common is head nods and fixing people.

Great God Grove (Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC [Reviewed])
Developer: Limbolane
Publisher: LimboLane, Fellow Traveller
Released: November 15th, 2024
MSRP: $19.99

Great God Grove puts you in the boots of a Godpoke, which is, as far as I can tell, a sort of courier. To be honest, I’m not clear on a few concepts here. For all I know, a Godpoke might just be someone who wears a poncho. You arrive at the eponymous grove just in time to see the gods close a giant rift in the sky that threatens to end the world. The problem is that the gods aren’t entirely interested in saving the world. They’re far too wrapped up in their own problems.

Previous to your arrival, the last messenger of the gods, the mysterious King, sent letters out to all the gods. The letters are obvious attempts to drive wedges between them, but as King had always been a trusted friend and reliable enough to be elected to become the next god, they took those words at face value. Now, nothing is right in the grove despite being a crucial time for the whole world.

Before you even get to the grove, King’s trusty mail cannon, the Megapon, lands directly in your lap. With this device, you can suck the words out of one person’s mouth and slap them in the face of another. Or just right back at them. That happens sometimes.

Being the wise person you are (or maybe just because it’s a linear narrative), you set to work righting King’s wrong. Immediately, you’re deputized by Inspekta, the God of Leadership, to help their lackeys, the Bizzyboys, figure out what happened to King and why they decided to hurt everyone’s feelings. However, the leader of the Bizzyboys, Capochin, is only out to please his boss, while the rest of the members are completely incompetent and hapless. So, it all comes down to you.

Largely, Great God Grove resembles a point-and-click adventure game. You can’t suck up any sentence or grouping of words you want; only specific, highlighted things that characters say can go in your Megapon. In this way, they work like any item in something like Secret of Monkey Island. You find hints in the words of the people you’re talking to and deliver something that will get them to perform some task for you, even if that’s just moving out of the way.

There’s a bit of a learning curve. For the first area, I wasn’t picking up on the cues, but after the second, I was able to proceed with some expedience. I didn’t get hung up very often, but I have to wonder if that’s going to be everyone’s experience. Great God Grove has an unusual design language built around its central hook, and I’m not sure if gaming literacy will be as important here as actual literacy. I’m not sure if every player can adjust, or maybe I’m the odd one because I had some issues in the first area. I can only speak to my own experience, though, and in my experience, I didn’t have much of a problem for most of the game.

Each area of the grove is home to one or two gods. In each one, King has spread some sort of misinformation to throw things into chaos, and your overall goal is to sort things out to restore the status quo. Sounds easy, but being an adventure game, it takes more than an apology to work things out.

What really elevates Great God Grove above a typical adventure game is an abundance of style. It mixes 2D characters and objects with a 3D world Paper Mario-style. It’s based around Day Lane’s distinctive, sketchy, expressive style. While animation is sparse, each character has a massive range of poses and emotions that they transition to each new window of dialogue. It can be quite captivating.

Many of the gods are rendered in full 3D, but they’re styled in such a way that it can be hard to tell. Like the 2D folks, the gods spring from pose to pose, with more traditional animation thrown in occasionally to spice things up.

There are also live-action puppet vignettes that you can watch for not much reason aside from enrichment. They generally just involve the Bizzyboys giving advice and some background information about what’s going on in the world. As it turns out, I’m really into puppets eating sandwiches. 

There isn’t much out that that looks quite like Great God Grove. The style is executed so consistently and with so much blunt-force pizzazz that it’s incredible that just a handful of people put the whole thing together. There are so many facets of its visual style that look as though they would be very difficult to execute, so the fact that they didn’t choose an easier, more conventional route is impressive. It pays off because, if absolutely nothing else, the way this game looks will be seared into your eyeholes.

Great God Grove has a lot to say about identity and the way people will stomp on others just for recognition. The gods themselves aren’t much different than ordinary people. They just exist on a less accessible plane of existence. As such, even though you can walk up and talk to them, their followers seem to just believe what they hear and speculate on what they might be thinking, which often is what leads to miscommunication. Misinformation is rife, and people take advantage of that.

Humans seem hardwired to climb. There’s a fear that our lives will be meaningless or forgotten, so we strive for recognition. And to secure our recognition, we’ll often stomp down the people beneath us. We yearn to wear the stomping boots, and a decent person can turn awful the moment they put them on. You face a lot of that in Great God Grove.

At the same time, it’s a very optimistic game. With your intervention, the troublemakers you meet see the error in their ways and express a desire to atone for their actions. Call me cynical, but I find most people are more likely to become defensive when faced with the consequences of their actions. People dig their stomping boots in and seek justification for what they’ve done. Maybe I just need a stronger word cannon.

In terms of gameplay, I could honestly take or leave Great God Grove. It has great pacing and a unique approach to the adventure genre, but I find the situations in which it’s applied generally unexciting. Not overly mundane, but I think with urgent focus on the threat and more dangerous situations, the dialogue would have more of a chance to shine. But it already shines pretty brightly.

Great God Grove is an immensely polished and precisely executed game, and that’s the most impressive part about it. Its pacing and aesthetic are finely honed and there’s nary a loose thread to be found. A bit more punch and the narrative would be perfect, but it presents a good amount of depth to sink into. It also features puppets gnawing on a gigantic hoagie, and really, what more can you ask for?

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Great God Grove appeared first on Destructoid.

I always love hearing about no-brainer tips that are easily overlooked. They're small advice tidbits, yet they're impactful over time and make you do a double-take for failing to notice them. For my fellow Stardew Valley fans who enjoy caring for animals, this one goes out to you.

Caring for animals, at least in Stardew, is simple. Despite this, it can be overwhelming for new players who just want to farm fruits and vegetables forever. Fortunately, we have a one-stop shop for all the animal care info you'll ever need.

Where to buy animals in Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley offers multiple ways for you to unlock pets and farm animals. Below is every animal you can purchase or obtain throughout your playthrough:

• Dog, cat, and turtles
• Horses
• Chicken
• Duck
• Rabbit
• Cows
• Goat
• Sheep
• Pig
• Ostrich
• Dinosaurs
• Slimes

After earning at least 1,000 gold in your playthrough, Marnie will approach your farm, asking if you want to adopt a dog or cat. For the most part, your choice is final unless you buy Butterfly Powder from Krobus. From Year Two onward, you can buy a pet license from Marnie at her ranch, allowing you to unlock turtles or buy more cats and dogs.

Speaking of Marnie's Ranch, her shop is the key to unlocking other animals. After building a barn or coop on your farm through Robin's Carpenter, head to Marnie's Ranch south of the farm to buy some animals. Below is every animal option and their prices:

The exception to this is dinosaurs, ostriches, and golden chickens. Ostriches require you to get Ostrich Eggs from solving Ginger Island's tenth journal scrap or opening Volcano Dungeon chests, making them one of the rarest animals in Stardew Valley. Dinosaur Eggs are slightly easier to find, as they spawn in artifact spots around the mountain, fishing treasure chests, and from Pepper Rex drops. Lastly, Golden Chickens are a Perfection reward, requiring you to 100 percent Stardew Valley to unlock.

Another exception is slimes. As you explore the mines and defeat slimes, there's a small chance you'll pick up their eggs. Although these eggs alone sell for quite a bit, you can also build a Slime Hutch to incubate them, allowing you to have your own slime family. Just watch out; they'll inflict damage if you walk into them without a Slime Charmer ring on.

How to build Coops and Barns

If you haven't built a coop or barn yet, Robin's Carpenter Shop up in the mountains is your first stop. Head up here and interact with her shop to find various building options, with coops and barns being among your choices.

Here's every farm animal-related building and their material costs:

Once you build a coop or barn, you can walk in and place items like the auto-collector or heater to make the space more comforting for your animals. You'll also find a feeding area at the back to place hay. If you have a silo, it'll automatically dispense hay here as long as you have it full.

How to pet animals in Stardew Valley

Petting your farm animals and pets is one of the best ways to raise your friendship, as it'll gradually increase your friendship, barring any issues that significantly decrease it. You can pet your animals by right-clicking, tapping, or pressing A on each animal, depending on your platform. When in doubt, press your interact button.

You know how you need to greet/pet your farmyard animals each day to get a little heart and grow your bond so they produce the highest-quality goods? Well, for many of us – especially those of us with more goats, chickens, cows, and pigs than we probably need – the morning ritual can be fussy. Stardew animals can get all bunched up in close quarters, and it's a little pesky to greet them once so that you don't accidentally bring up their friendship rating menu when you tend to them.

Although you can go up to each animal and pet them, you can take things a step further by holding the pet/interact button and running up to them – it'll work perfectly. You'll get friendship points with every animal, and you won't have to pull up the dreaded menu.

Here's a demonstration of the trick on PC from Reddit user Boiled_potato8:

It'll save you time in the long run, making it relatively easy to raise your friendships as you gain more farm animals.

Alternatively, you can purchase the Auto-Petter from JojaMart for 50,000g or pick it up in Skull Cavern chests. It also can appear in mines during Danger In The Deep and with the Shrine of Challenge active. Having an Auto-Petter in either a coop or barn lets you pet your animals automatically without you ever having to interact with them.

The only downside is that your animals will receive half the friendship points they'd get from you doing it manually. The moral of the story? Human-animal interaction is more important than having a machine do it for you.

How to raise animal friendship in Stardew Valley

Alongside petting your animals, you can also increase their friendship by milking and shearing those that live in your barn. Although keeping them fed with hay will prevent them from losing friendship, letting them outside to eat grass will raise it, with blue grass doubling the effect.

The real challenge comes from preventing your animals from getting upset. Not feeding them and leaving them outside overnight will decrease their friendship significantly, with the latter having a small chance of wild animals coming by and making a mess of things. Not petting or talking to your animals will also lower their friendship.

In short, paying attention to your animals and feeding them will naturally raise their relationship with you over time. Interacting with them twice shows a profile detailing their age, mood, and hearts toward you. The maximum you can earn per animal is five hearts or 1000 friendship points.

Once you reach Farming level five, you can unlock the Rancher or Tiller professions. Choosing Rancher raises the value of animal products, allowing you to make more money later. More importantly, though, you'll unlock Coopmaster and Shepherd at level ten, letting you befriend animals quickly. If you want to create a massive farm full of animals, picking Rancher and Coopmaster or Shepherd is a solid call.

What does max animal friendship do?

The higher your friendship is with an animal, the higher their odds of producing higher-quality items. Their daily mood also determines this, which can fluctuate depending on how well you cared for them the day before. For example, a happy five-star rabbit has significantly higher odds of producing a rabbit foot than an unhappy zero-star one.

All animal produce types in Stardew Valley

Every animal has their own products you can sell, cook with, or turn into artisan goods. While some are more valuable than others, they're all useful in their own way. Below is every animal and their product list.

Like with most Stardew Valley items, quality and professions matter. Similarly, while Coopmaster and Shepherd help you befriend animals quicker, Artisan in the Tiller branch raises Artisan good value by 40 percent, making it extremely useful if you sell a lot of cheese or wine.

Do animal hearts decay in Stardew Valley?

Yes, they do decay, albeit very slowly. Much like with villagers, you won't notice much animal heart decay unless you go weeks or entire seasons without feeding or petting them. If you just forget to pet them occasionally or go a day or two without refilling their food, they'll express annoyance but won't rapidly drop their hearts. Generally speaking, raising their friendship is much easier than decreasing it.

Can animals die in Stardew Valley?

Although morbid, the answer is yes: your Stardew Valley animals can technically die. Although it's impossible for them to die from starvation, temperature, or low friendship, leaving them outside overnight can cause wild animals to wreak havoc on your farm. Thankfully, you won't see the wild animals in action, but you will hear it happen.

What's the solution, then? Make sure you keep your animals fenced in and repair any broken ones that degrade over time. You'll also want to either leave them in their barns and coops or only have them out during the day before herding them back inside and repeating the process.

What if you can't find an animal but haven't seen the wild animal cutscene? More often than not, your animals will roam around your farm, especially if you have broken (or no) fences. I've seen my animals appear in the corners of my map, stranded for days until I finally noticed their disappearance. I'm lucky I didn't get the cutscene. Your best bet is clearing out any obstacles that can mess up animal pathing or be very proactive in building fences.

The post Stardew Valley Animal Guide – How to raise animals and slow heart decay appeared first on Destructoid.

I have so many arcade games available on my Switch; it’s obscene. Also, kind of expensive, which we’ll get to. But with the short length of your standard arcade title, they’re easy to dive into when you need a snack.

So, here’s Irem Collection Volume 2, which is, as you have most likely guessed, the follow-up to Irem Collection Volume 1. Irem is perhaps best known for their R-Type series, but the developer was among the best in the arcade days with hits like Kickle Cubicle and Undercover Cops; games that could go under the radar and are therefore ripe for inclusion in collections.

But perhaps the most important contribution from Irem is Metal Slug. Not the actual game – that was Nazca and SNK – but it was the place where the staff behind Metal Slug first stretched their legs before setting out on their own. And nowhere is this more apparent than in Gun Force II, one of the games in this collection. There are also two other games here.

Irem Collection Volume 2 (Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Switch [Reviewed])
Developer: Irem
Publisher: ININ Games
Released: November 14th, 2024
MSRP: $24.99

I’m going to go through the individual games included in this collection, but I want to give a word about how they’re packed: awkward. Kind of awkward. Not every game collection needs to be Atari 50, but Irem Collection Volume 2 is barebones on top of unintuitive. The volume of the menu, for example, is substantially higher than the games themselves. Each game has a “casual” and “classic” mode, the difference being that you can’t participate in the leaderboards in casual mode, but you get access to game settings, cheats, and rewind. I’m guessing that they’re presented separately for leaderboard reasons, but I don’t see why they can’t just warn you when you try to turn cheats on. You can use autofire on both, which seems strange.

It uses an emulation platform that I’ve seen before in Ratalaika/ININ re-releases like the Cyber Citizen Shockman games and the Ninja Jajamaru: Retro Collection. That’s not necessarily a good or bad thing. I just want you to know what you’re in for, if you’re familiar.

There’s no supplemental documentation or credits for the original games, which lacked them at release, and we still don’t know who some of the developers were for the games. What’s galling is that the physical collector’s edition of the game comes with things like reproduction arcade flyers and a visual compendium, so it’s not like they don’t have anything to show, they just chose not to include them in a digital format.

Annoying, but let’s talk about the games.

Air Duel

The odd one out in the collection is Air Duel. It’s the only scrolling shoot-’em-up of the bunch. It’s extremely challenging, but you’re not exactly going to run out of quarters here. It'll be a real climb if you want to place on the leaderboards, though.

You can choose between a helicopter and your typical futuristic jet-thing. The jet thing works about how you’d expect one to work in this kind of game, but the chopper’s gunfire will turn in the direction you’re pressing. It’s awkward at first, but learning to use it gives you the advantage of being able to stay out of the direct line of gunfire and still attack. I didn’t like it the first time I tried it, but after clearing the first level, I can’t imagine playing without it.

About a zillion of these types of games were released through the ‘80s and ‘90s, and you can get a lot of them on Switch. In comparison, Air Duel is fine. I like it, but it’s not likely to be the game I reach for next time I’m in the mood. That will probably be something like Raiden or Raystorm. On the other hand, I now have the worldwide high score on this game. Take that, three other people who have early access to Irem Collection Volume 2. You suck.

GunForce (Arcade)

I’m technically going out of order here, but I feel like the arcade version should come first. GunForce is a run-and-gun like Contra, except with more vehicles and way clunkier. Its subtitle is “Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island,” which is just an incredible mash of words.

GunForce is so clunky that it might take a bit to acclimate. Your dude moves so stiffly, and enemies just pour in from the side of the screen. Crowd control and learning to dodge don’t come as naturally as you’d probably find in a Contra derivative. 

Once you do get a handle on things, it can be an enjoyable game. It gives you a new vehicle practically every few steps and these range from jeeps to helicopters. Powerups drop constantly, and you’re able to grab onto overhanging objects. It’s just getting into or out of a helicopter, climbing a ladder, or letting go of an object that can take a bit of fighting, and in a game like GunForce, a little bit of fighting can mean another lost life.

GunForce (Console)

I keep forgetting that GunForce even came out on SNES/Super Famicom. That’s probably because it’s not talked about all that much. Not in my experience, anyway. Its inclusion here is more of a “good to have” than a “need to have” situation. It’s largely the same as the arcade version but squished down for less powerful hardware. It plays very faithfully, with the biggest difference being that, on classic difficulty, you’re saddled with a handful of continues. Occasionally, there are too few continues since a bad situation can make you drop lives fast. Other times, there are too many because there are only a few levels.

The biggest drawback is that it’s a lot less colorful. GunForce wasn’t a colorful game to begin with, but anything vivid it did got flattened out on SNES. It’s a shame because the console was capable of more. It’s still an okay translation of an okay game, but being a shadow of another game in the collection makes its inclusion feel somewhat unnecessary. Good to have, though.

Gun Force II

Gun Force II is the last arcade game to be developed by Irem. Named Geo Storm in Japan, it’s largely a different beast from the original GunForce. What links them is the fact that they’re both run-and-gun shooters, and they have you jump into a tonne of different vehicles throughout the levels. Otherwise, they feel pretty distinct.

There’s still a noticeable degree of clunk to be found in Gun Force II, but it makes up for it by being absurdly over-the-top. Your dude comes equipped with two guns at all times, and at any given time, 80% of the screen is covered in explosions. It’s a game that never lets up, constantly throwing new situations at you. Turning on autofire just makes things more insane. And more fun.

It’s not Metal Slug, but you can see the similarities. You rescue captured people who, in this case, are scantily clad women in torn clothing. The enemy's screams are exactly the same. You can also see a lot of art style similarities between the two, though it’s less pronounced and consistent in Gun Force II. Only Takeshi Okui is confirmed to have worked on the art, but I’d be very surprised if he was the only one from the Metal Slug team.

The Collection

Gun Force II is easily the standout of the bunch. I’ve talked to smaller developers who have worked on run-and-gun shooters, and they often cite it as an inspiration. It maybe doesn’t make the whole collection worth it, but it’s definitely worth playing.

And that’s kind of the hang-up here: whether or not the collection is worth it. It’s one standout title (Gun Force 2), a good one (Air Duel), and one that is simply okay (GunForce). You get different regional versions where applicable, as well as the console port of GunForce. There isn’t really any supplemental material (which isn’t totally unusual), and the UI could be better. The value isn’t quite where it should be. It’s slightly more expensive than buying three Arcade Archives titles and worse value than something like Taito Milestones.

So, overall, Irem Collection Volume 2 is less than spectacular. If the games really appeal to you, then the collection doesn’t diminish them, but it also doesn’t elevate them. In terms of value, you could do worse, but it’s not an immediate recommendation. They’re your quarters, do what you want with them.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Irem Collection Volume 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Visual novels have found a bit of a home on the Nintendo Switch. The combination of portability and easy pick-up, put-down feel of the Switch goes really well with long, involved, engrossing visual novels. Hence I decided to put together this list of the best visual novels on the Nintendo Switch.

Ever since I got my Switch, I've read a good amount of VNs on it, whether in a hotel bed, on the couch, or on a plane. It helps that the genre has been drawing more attention, with mainstays like Ace Attorney or surprise hits like Paranormasight offering plenty of promise. There's also a lot to sift through — another reason I threw this list together.

These are 20 fantastic visual novels to try, whether you're a newcomer to the genre, or just looking for something a little different. Of note: I'm trying to keep this list mostly to a traditional VN interpretation. (I brought up "what's a visual novel" in Slack and it started a mild conflict.) So if you're wondering where fantastic games like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim are, there's a decent chance I excluded them, in the interest of keeping this list narrow and focused. (I do wholeheartedly endorse 13 Sentinels though.)

With that in mind, let's open up the Switch library and talk about visual novels.

The House in Fata Morgana

Why not start the list off with a heavy hitter? The House in Fata Morgana: Dreams of the Revenants Edition brings the 2012 classic to the Nintendo Switch with both the main story and a bevy of extra content. After waking up in a strange, eerie mansion, you relive the lives of various people with the assistance of an unnamed maid.

Events will intertwine across history, with lots of intrigue and suspense. If you like period dramas and/or ghost stories, this will probably be up your alley, as it's also frequently hailed as one of the best visual novels to grace the Switch.

Danganronpa series

Okay, I'm twisting the rules a bit, mostly because many of these series are in collections like the Danganronpa Decadence physical version for Switch (each entry is available individually on the eShop). Each entry in the series centers on some sort of killing game, where the best and brightest students are locked in a location and told they can only leave if they "graduate." As in, kill a fellow student and get away with it in the ensuing trial.

Your job is to find the culprit!

Alongside roaming the world and hanging out with characters for social links between murder investigations, there's also a bunch of trials with minigames to help you find the truth. It's a compelling, interesting series that pulls a few fantastic left-field twists out.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

The original run of Phoenix Wright games on the Nintendo DS opened me up to this genre in the first place. With the collection on Nintendo Switch, it's easy to play the trilogy of Ace Attorney entries that set the stage for many to follow after.

As defense lawyer Phoenix Wright, you have to defend your client from going to jail. Individual cases are good fun, but they also wind together throughout the whole trilogy in ways that make this a very, very fun read. Absolutely recommended for cautious first-timers looking for a visual novel for their Switch.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

If you're looking for something that feels more modern, then head back in time for the historical fiction take on Ace Attorney. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles follows Ryunosuke Naruhodo, as he gets swept up in courtroom drama in the late 19th century. This particular version packs the two Great Ace Attorney games together into a duology that is, honestly, still some of my favorite storytelling on the Switch. It's a roller-coaster of ups and downs, with some great sleuthing and deducing, memorable characters, and incredible payoffs in the second game's trials. It's good for newcomers, but an absolute no-brainer if you liked the original Ace Attorney and want some more.

Steins;Gate Elite

Another classic and often-recommended visual novel, Steins;Gate is the story of an amateur scientist who accidentally discovers a method for time manipulation. Obviously, this leads to some complications. Different branches and alterations get messy, and Rintaro Okabe has to try and figure out a way to fix everything.

The Elite version packs in animations from the also popular anime adaptation, which is good; I really like the art of Steins;Gate, but the last time I went back to it, the early hours wore on a bit. With a little bit of polish and an ideal form factor, it's much easier to see why this made such an impact.

Paranormasight

As one of my favorite visual novels on the Switch, Paranormasight is a haunting meta-narrative about several people gathered in the Sumida Ward of Tokyo, Japan. They all have reasons for being there, mostly centered around the Rite of Resurrection; a promise that, if they indulge in some cursed entanglements, they can bring someone back to life.

Things don't go so neatly, however. While "horror VN" might lead you to think this is all about the scares (and there are some good ones, to be clear), this is really a good get for those who like the meta-narrative twists of games like NieR: Automata or Undertale. Square Enix's VN is a sleeper gem with some serious legacy behind it.

AI: The Somnium Files / Nirvana Initiative

The Zero Escape series has, sadly, still not made it over to the Nintendo Switch. We do have another series from writer Kotaro Uchikoshi, though: AI: The Somnium Files.

The Somnium Files follows Date, an investigator for a special crime unit that's able to brain-dive into people's memories to elicit information. The first is good, but the follow-up Nirvana Initiative is where I felt the series truly hit its stride.

Shifting the focus to two protagonists, the Nirvana Initiative has a lot of that twisting, winding narrative that makes a visual novel great, plus some genuinely intruiging puzzle room concepts. It's standalone, so you can play Nirvana without playing The Somnium Files, but both are certainly worth your time.

Raging Loop

This is a personal favorite of mine, and one I wish got a bit more chatter, so here we are. Raging Loop sees protagonist Haruaki Fusaishi stuck on the road, leading him to wander into a remote village in rural Japan, Yasumizu.

Here he befriends some locals and gets ready to head back out on his way, when oh no, the mist rolls in, and now he's wrapped up in a yearly ritual of the feast, where a villager becomes the embodiment of a death god and kills another each night until they're found.

Yes, it's a game of Werewolf. But it's a surprisingly well-told story around this classic set-up. A few weird tone issues aside, this is definitely one to look into for some further reading.

VA-11 Hall-A

What more do you need to know about VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action than a title and screenshot could suggest? It's a visual novel-meets-bartender sim, with an instantly recognizable look.

It's got a UI that would feel at home on the PC-98. It packs in heavy anime inspiration, alongside a plethora of goofs and gags. It's got some heart, too. And an absolutely solid soundtrack, to boot. Do you want to serve drinks in a cyberpunk future to a bunch of anime girls?

This is the game you want to play. For more like it, check out the less alcohol-infused Coffee Talk.

The Silver Case 2425

While you might know Goichi Suda for his work on killer7 or No More Heroes, there was a point-and-click adventure that came before it all. The Silver Case 2425 is a collection of The Silver Case series, which combines all the disparate and strange elements you'd be looking for in a Suda game. You'll follow three perspectives to track down the truth behind a series of supposed suicides.

Like the other murder mysteries on here, there are plenty of twists and turns to uncover. But the reason to pick up The Silver Case is not just the story alone, but the vibes. It's got a style and aesthetic that keeps fresh as the story goes along, where I never really felt like I was just reading text, but also taking in an over-stimulus of visuals in the best way.

That's what makes it one of the top novels on the Switch.

Famicom Detective Club

This collection of two Famicom Detective Club games is a bit of a historical pick, if nothing else. Nintendo's remakes of the original Famicom mysteries are absolutely gorgeous, paying homage to a series that carved the path for many to follow.

It's a two-pack, with The Missing Heir following a rich family's tragedy and The Girl Who Stands Behind digging into the supernatural horror elements. Two distinctly different flavors, but it's a really neat way to see how the medium has evolved, and even how old pieces of it still hold up today.

Necrobarista

Another personal favorite of mine, Necrobarista dumps you into the Terminal, a hipster coffee bar that also serves as a segue between life and death. For one night, the dead are allowed to hang out among the living here, getting some coffee and exploring the meaning of it all.

It's not just the emotional story that really caught me, but the way it's told. Route 59's approach takes as much from film and anime as it does from visual novels, using text as a visual and framing the camera as conversations bounce around.

It's stylish, memorable, and might even make you tear up a bit. Definitely worthy of it's status as one of the Switch's top visual novels.

Collar X Malice

For this Switch visual novel list, I knew I would need to include at least one otome game. For those who don't know, that's a genre that's generally focused on dating cute anime boys. I am, admittedly, not a knowledgeable connoisseur of these games, so I turned to the internet's experts for guidance, and one game kept popping up: Collar x Malice.

You play as a young police officer who, after an attack, has a venomous collar attached to their neck. Your best chances, it seems, rest with five different hot cops who can help you figure out what's happening.

I know this list has been a bit crime-and-mystery heavy, but I like the premise here, and the art looks great too. This seems like an obvious get if you're into the boy-dating subgenre with a solid narrative hook.

CLANNAD

I was honestly a bit torn on this one, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention CLANNAD. It's arguably one of the most recognizable stories from developer Key, following third-year high school student Okazaki Tomoya, dealing with the direction his life has taken, and meeting a variety of anime girls along the way.

It's a love story, but with a lot of heart, and everyone who's made it to the end usually has good things to say about it. I have not, as the writing has always just worn on me.

You can't ignore CLANNAD's historical importance though, and I think if you want an easy-going, slice-of-life story with some gut-punches as it goes further in, CLANNAD and its side stories may be worth your time investment.

Witch on the Holy Night

Speaking of genre pillars, writer Kinoko Nasu's Fate, Tsukihime, and other related works are absolutely massive. These works, undoubtedly brilliant, have given rise to plenty of spin-offs and related games.

One of these, and one deserving of its place as a fantastic Switch visual novel, is Witch on the Holy Night. The well-received story that takes place within the broader Nasu-verse. I'm only a little ways in at the time of writing, but so far, it has everything you'd want from this particular subset; absolutely gorgeous visuals and lots of magical fighting.

Witch on the Holy Night is solid on art alone, but the writing also looks to put it as a solid recommendation for anyone wanting a little more action in their Switch visual novels.

If Found

For the (literally) more Annapurna take on the genre, let's turn to If Found. This tale follows two stories. In one, astronaut-scientist Cassiopeia heads to Planet X, only to find a black hole that will soon destroy Earth. Back on Earth in the journal portion, we follow Kasio, a transgender woman who's just finished her Master's degree and is headed back home to Achill Island, Ireland.

It's not an emotionally easy read, as it's got some real heart-rending moments and a tense final act, along with lots of family drama. But if you're down to explore that narrative territory, I think you'll find something quite special in the pages of If Found.

Gnosia

Okay, this is where I twist my rules a bit. Gnosia is, arguably, more of an RPG or management game than a "proper" visual novel. But after some internal discussion, we felt it passed the VN vibe check. And also, it's a particular favorite of mine.

Gnosia is, like Raging Loop, framed around a Werewolf-style social deduction game. But rather than a narrative framing for a traditional VN-style story, it plays out in story segments, as you literally fight debate battles each day to determine who is the intruding Gnosia on board the ship.

From gorgeous art to an underrated soundtrack, to some highly memorable characters that endear themselves to you through text and their individual debate quirks, this is one for folks who want a heavier helping of buttons to push and game to play amid their visual novel reading.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus

Okay, I know at least a few people scrolled pretty far down this list wondering, "where's DDLC?" Yes, Doki Doki Literature Club is on here. Yes, it's worth reading. It's got some neat twists and feels like a good representation of what the medium can do with its framing devices.

It's also neat that this visual novel got put on Switch and other consoles, considering all the hijinks happening that, to me, felt best suited to PC. That said, there are caveats. I do think Doki Doki Literature Club relies heavily on its surprises, so don't read up too much on it, unless you feel you need a content warning; in that case, please do look for that online.

I also wouldn't recommend anyone play this as their first VN. That's just my personal recommendation, but I definitely think it's better to have some familiarity with the format going in.

We Know The Devil

Three teens named Neptune, Jupiter, and Venus are at summer camp, and they have one task left ahead of them. They have to spend 12 hours in a cabin in the woods, waiting for the devil. Will they live or die? Well, that might just depend on what you do.

We Know The Devil is a short, interesting game that could probably fill just one evening, but leave you thinking about it for a while. It's also priced at $6.66. Very good. Sadly, Pillow Fight and Worst Girls Games' also excellent VN Heaven Will Be Mine is not on Switch, but do seek it out if you enjoy this eerie night in the woods.

Perfect Gold

Let's close the list of Nintendo Switch visual novels off with a selection from our own Zoey Handley. This romance VN is all about two people falling in love while figuring themselves out, and while it's not heavily choice-driven, it does have multiple endings.

This story about two mages learning their crafts, while also sneaking out of detention to attend the local Sunflower Festival, seems like a good time for those who want a little love in their virtual life.

And that's where this list of the best visual novels you can find on the Switch. There are many more to choose from, and some I wish I could've included on this list, so don't let your visual novel journey end here.

Consider this your introduction, and the rest is up to you!

The post 20 of the best visual novels you can play on Switch right now appeared first on Destructoid.

If you’re a fan of the more frustrating side of Mario gaming, then one game that you’ve likely dived into at least once is Mario Golf. Originally released on Nintendo 64 back in 1999, it’s also available on Nintendo Switch as long as you have the right subscriptions. 

You’ll need a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online that includes the Expansion Pack content, which comes in a $49.99 for a years subscription per individual, or $79.99 for a family of up to 8 gamers. If you’ve got that, you can once again dive into the incredibly annoying yet enjoyable game that is Mario Golf. 

Whether you’re playing on a Nintendo Switch, or going old-school and playing on your classic N64, you’ll be happy to know that there are a few cheats and secrets that can be accessed. Of course, you could play the game the “right” way, but that does come with the issue of having to actually win, which is easier said than done in this case.

Mario Golf cheats on Nintendo Switch

There’s only one cheat that works for Mario Golf on the Nintendo Switch, but you’ll be happy to know that it’s the “almost everything” cheat. Usually, you’d need to take on each character one-on-on (and actually win) to be able to play as them, but this cheat unlocks most of the possible player characters in the game, as well as most of the courses. 

It’s worth noting that this cheat will not unlock the four Transfer Pak characters, or the Mario’s Star course. Other than that, you’ll unlock every character and course by pressing the following buttons:

D-pad

• Down, Down
• Left, Left, Left
• Right, Right, Right

C buttons

• C-Down, C-Down (ZR + B x2)
• C-Left, C-Left, C-Left (ZR + Y x2)
• C-Right, C-Right, C-Right (ZR + A x3)

While the Nintendo Switch doesn’t have designated C-Buttons, you can use the X, Y, A, and B buttons while holding down ZR in order to effectively turn them into the needed directional C-Buttons. When you’ve input the code correctly, you’ll hear a chime, and have almost everything available to suffer through. Sorry, I mean enjoy. 

Mario Golf cheats on Nintendo 64

While there aren’t too many cheats that work on Nintendo 64 but not Nintendo Switch, it’s still always good to know all of your options. 

“Almost everything”

The “Almost everything” cheat has always worked on the Nintendo 64, arguably better because you don’t have the hassle of trying to convert Switch buttons into N64 C-buttons. To use this Mario Golf cheat on Nintendo 64, just use the same code laid out in the previous section. 

Promotional Tournament Passwords

If you have the North American version of Mario Golf, then you have access to three cheat codes that will unlock new tournament courses. To get to the screen where you can input the codes, you’ll need to follow the following instructions:

1. Highlight “Clubhouse”
2. Hold down Z and R, and press A on the N64 controller
3. Enter one of the codes below into the “Code Entry” menu

Note that even though a couple of these course are called “Camp Hyrule” they aren’t Zelda inspired courses. Camp Hyrule was a forum that graced the internet with its presence back in the 1990s, and this is where the codes were given out, hence the name. 

Secrets in Mario Golf

Okay so these aren’t what you could label cheats, but there are a few little secrets hidden around the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Golf, and they’ve carried over to the game on Nintendo Switch:

The post Mario Golf cheat codes and secrets for N64 and Nintendo Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Fortnite's Chapter 2 Remix event features plenty of nods to stories of the past. One particularly secret story deserves an appropriately secret set of quests. This guide will help you to hunt down 10 hidden Lawn Gnomes for a hefty chunk of battle pass XP.

War of the Gnomes

Back in the original Chapter 2, eagle-eyed players noticed certain props moving around the island between updates. Through the chapter, a story was told about a confrontation between the Lawn Gnomes and the Teddy Bears. Unlike most games, however, it wasn't told through cinematics or audio logs. It was told through the incremental changes made to props between updates.

Eventually, the war was won by the Teddy Bears, and the Gnomes were exiled from the island. However, they've been periodically spotted by players every now and again. With Chapter 2 Remix here, we thought perhaps we'd relive the early days of that fated war. Instead, it appears that the Gnomes and Teddy Bears now get along! They're hanging out in locations throughout the island, ready to hand over chunks of battle pass XP to players who find them.

Gnome locations in Fortnite Chapter 2 Remix

There are ten gnomes throughout the island. As you get near them, you'll see an exclamation point icon to help track them down. They're hidden away quite sneakily, so this map will help you locate them all.

• In Craggy Cliffs in the north of the island
• Under an umbrella in the sand of a secluded beach to the north
• Under a pylon from the power lines that run from Steamy Stacks to Retail Row
• Hanging on the shore of a river bend southeast of Frenzy Farm
• Watching TV inside a white house in Holly Hedges
• Playing Hide and Seek under a tree with a nearby Teddy Bear east of Holly Hedges
• Hanging out in Weeping Woods
• Standing next to a waterfall, reachable by dropping from the top or plunger-gun
• Relaxing near Misty Meadows
• Freezing head-first in the snow next to an abandoned camp

Each lawn gnome is worth 10,000 XP, with a bonus of 20,000 XP for collecting all ten. That should help you rocket through the expedited Battle Pass for this season. Remember to work fast because everything goes away at the end of the month!

The post All secret Gnome locations in Fortnite: Chapter 2 Remix appeared first on Destructoid.