Inti Creates is great at pumping out fun and attractive 2D action games, and 2023's Gal Guardians: Demon Purge cemented that notion further. Now a date is in place for the sequel, which PQube will publish on March 27, 2025. 

Titled Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark, the next entry is on the way to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The followup was originally revealed in September, promising more cooperative action ahead of its Tokyo Game Show appearance later that month. 

This time around, the setting shifts from a single castle to the wider demon world surrounding it. Player characters Kirika and her younger sister Masha each have different abilities, making it essential to switch between them as you explore. In addition to the single-player swapping, online co-op is available for those who would rather explore simultaneously with a friend. 

You can see the demon maid sisters in action in the release date trailer below.

Known in Japan as Grim Guardians, the first entry had to change its name in the west due to a legal claim from the owners of fantasy series Grimguard. While the western release is listed as digital-only for now, Japan is getting a physical edition in April. The limited edition version packs the game with an art book, an acrylic chain, and a two-disc soundtrack CD. 

Fitting for its expanded scope, PQube describes the sequel as a "fully-realized Metroidvania," complete with the ability to switch between Casual, Veteran, and Legend styles. Kirika and Masha's sub-weapons and abilities can be used to unlock different routes throughout the world so it should be fun to experiment with exploration when this one launches early next year. 

The post Inti Creates sets Gal Guardians sequel for March 27, 2025 appeared first on Destructoid.

I think it's fair to say that Starfield is a decent game, pretty vast in scope, but it didn't quite reach the lofty heights Bethesda was hoping for. Still, it's a year and a bit later, and it's managing to draw people in, but it's unfortunately struggling to shake off that "Mixed" review score on Steam.

However, that won't deter the modding community, the tenacious and ambitious bunch that they are, and this new one combines the world of Starfield with the carnage of modern Doom. Over on the Bethesda Creations site, "At Hell's Gate" is now available to play for free. Check out the brief trailer for it below.

The description has this to say about it:

A band of mercenaries has narrowly escaped an encounter with something that can only be described as beyond evil. Investigate this mysterious happening and prevent a vile force from invading your universe.

DoomField! (Puns are easy)

The mod – which is available on both PC and Xbox Series X|S versions of Starfield – also comes with some tasty bonuses after you complete the new quest. Once done, you'll get access to a spacesuit that's based on Doom's Praetor Suit, the Super Shotgun (natch), and the Crucible Blade.

There are also six plushies that can be crafted if you wish to decorate your Starfield outposts and homes. When you download "At Hell's Gate," you can start the mission by "approaching an SSNN broadcast pillar in any of the major cities, such as New Atlantis, Cydonia, Akila City, or Neon."

This official Creations mod comes from the minds of Kinggath Creations, the team that's also responsible for the "Bard's College Expansion" and "East Empire Expansion" quests for Skyrim, as well as Sim Settlements 2, the rather vast sequel to the city-building project that you can download for Fallout 4.

So, you know, these guys weren't just banging rocks together when they decided to blend Doom with Starfield. They seem to know what they're doing.

The post Starfield and Doom come together in this official Creation mod appeared first on Destructoid.

Marvel Rivals has launched with a host of popular names from the superhero universe, but some of them are better than the rest.

In the first couple of days, it has become quite clear that a few characters are a notch above the rest. In their respective roles, they're the best options to consider. That said, the names present on the lower tiers also have their uses. In the right hands, they can be quite powerful.

Update Changelog

December 12, 2024: Jeff has been moved to S-tier. Wolverine has been dropped to B-tier.

December 13, 2024: Luna Snow has been moved to A-tier. Iron Fist has been moved to S-tier.

Marvel Rivals S-tier list

The S-tier characters are the top choices if you want to dominate the games. Their abilities make them quite overpowered compared to the other choices available in their respective roles.

Here are some of the best characters to choose from:

• Venom is my favorite Vanguard to pick, as he's the only tank that offers an unique form of mobility. His swing allows you to move across the map with ease, and his crowd-control abilities are top-notch. His ultimate can act as the perfect nuke and wipe out multiple enemies if their health is low.
• Iron Fist can be considered as S-tier if the player knows what they're doing. My experience with him has been poor, as most of my teammates didn't know how to use his diving abilities to do maximum damage. That said, I have lately felt that his damage potential if off the charts, and unless there's a future nerf, he will continue to do well.
• Winter Soldier is perhaps the best all-round character in the current roster.
• Captain America might not be as strong as Venom in terms of being a tank, but his mobility is a bonus. His ability to hybrid in a couple of different roles makes him a good addition.
• Adam Warlock's basic abilities might not be as potent as that of Luna Snow (although they're easier to master), but his Ultimate, Karmic Revival, can completely revive your entire team. This can totally change how a round is going and catch the enemy off guard.
• Squirrel Girl is a solid DPS unit that has very few weaknesses. She works well with a Vanguard who can shield her and make sure that she survives. She does incredible damage with her abilities, and has one of the best CC potential in the entire roster.
• Jeff was originally in the A-tier, and not because he's cute; his abilities are great in team battles, and he can help you save a teammate from dying. Upon more gametime, his potential in team fights on open maps is next to none. He is very strong as a pure healer, but on open maps, you can swallow your opponents and dive off the map. This specific move can be incredibly useful in several modes, and hence, he moves to S-tier.

Marvel Rivals A-tier list

A-tier characters might not appear as attractive as the S-tiers, but they can be good choices if you're proficient with them.

These characters are worth using and can be considered S-tier if they're in the optimal situation:

• Magneto can be considered as S-tier if you can manage his slow speed. It will take a long time for you to learn and master him, but he can be a great choice for a potential Vanguard main.
• Spider-Man perhaps has the best mobility in the entire game, and he can do a fair bit of damage. That said, the skill cap for learning everyone's favorite Spidey is slightly high.
• Moon Knight can do huge damage with his Crescent Dart and Moon Blade moves, and he's one of the easiest characters to learn. That said, his Ultimate is pretty poor, and it's the main reason why he is in the A-tier.
• Thor is a great all round tank who can even qualify to the S-tier if teamed up with Hela. His awakened state is really powerful, and the self-heal allows you to get away with a few mistakes.
• Doctor Strange can enter the S-tier if you're playing with a team that communicates well. If you're playing with strangers, it will be hard to make the most out of his teleportation abilities.
• Hawkeye is one of the harder heroes to master even if he can land a lot of damage. You'll have to learn how to use his Focus mechanic well, and doing so will allow you to one-shot squishy enemies.
• Psylocke's stealth-based abilities make her pretty unique and hard for an enemy to counter.
• Groot's ability to block can often make him a good choice if your team has too many squishy characters. However, his true potential lies in team composition.
• Star-Lord is the perfect choice for aggro players, and he's a simple hero to master. That said, his abilities could be improved if NetEase wants more players to shower Peter Quill with some love.
• Loki's main strength lies in creating decoys which can be great for distracting enemies. His abilities are also pretty helpful in healing a team.
• Hela can do incredible damage in a quick time if you can manage her range. She's the equivalent of a sniper, as you'll have to aim with precision and target the vulnerable areas of your enemy.
• Luna Snow is the best support if you know how to aim with her. Her abilities are great for team heals, and her primary does both - heal allies and damage enemies. She's an extremely potent strategist, but it's pretty difficult to learn her abilities. You'll have to be excellent at aiming your moves, which isn't easy unless you've prior experience in Hero Shooters.

You'll find that the A-tier list has the maximum number of characters, which makes it a healthy set of choices for players.

Marvel Rivals B-tier list

B-tier characters are decent at best, but all of them have better choices in their respective roles.

• The Punisher is a good DPS character who relies on his turrets and Ultimate to push objectives. But there are better alternatives available for the players to pick from.
• Magik is one of the hardest characters to learn, as her melee DPS style can make her susceptible to quick deaths. If the team has good healers and tanks, she can be a gem of a character.
• Storm can double up as a DPS while being a strategist, and sadly, that's her main weakness. A more focused kit would have helped her to stand out more.
• Iron Man has aerial mobility and abilities that do range damage, but once again, his kit will need a buff.
• Rocket Raccoon isn't a bad choice as support, but sadly, the likes of Adam Warlock, Luna Snow, and Groot are better picks.
• Mantis can be considered in the A-tier if you're playing in a well-coordinated team. Her kit is entirely focused on healing, so you will need partners who understand her role well.
• Scarlet Witch has an interesting kit for sure, but she doesn't do that much damage in the first place. Given how great healers are at the moment, she will need a complete buff in a future patch.
• Wolverine is a hard nuker who can take care of almost anyone if they engage 1v1. Just make sure not to get engaged against too many enemies at a tough spot. While he can be S-tier in the right hands, he gets outmuscled in team fights. Over time, he could again move up a tier, but B-tier right now is a good spot for him.
• Black Widow is a simple hero to learn, but a hard one to master. If you're good with your aims, Natasha will be a top-tier character.

Marvel Rivals C-tier list

It's not worth thinking much about the C-tier characters. There are a few reasons why each one isn't worth choosing over some of the other characters on the Marvel Rivals roster.

• Hulk has three different forms, and his Hero Hulk form is the mightiest. Unfortunately, he has a massive hitbox (making him an easy target), and he doesn't do much damage.
• Black Panther is a hard hero to master, and his kit isn't as powerful as you would hope.
• Peni Parker's abilities and damage potential depend on your opponent and how susceptible they might be to your traps.
• Namor's USP is all about his turrets, but they are not very powerful. They can be destroyed easily, and pairing him with Luna Snow hardly makes them more durable.
• Cloak and Dagger's kit is similar to Mantis but offers more flexibility. But more options aren't always better, so if you want a pure healer, just go with Mantis.

It will be interesting to see which characters are added next to Marvel Rivals. So far, NetEase hasn't announced anything. Additionally, all the characters are available for the players, and you can also switch them in-between a match.

The post Marvel Rivals tier list (Season 0) – All Heroes ranked appeared first on Destructoid.

If you're a Quincy seeking an ability that will give you the edge against any opponent, you need to unlock Voltstanding. As a Roblox game based heavily on the Bleach anime series, there's a lot to love about Type Soul's progression system, especially with each faction's ultimate abilities.

Those playing Quincy have a special ability that's so powerful it can wipe the floor with anything you come up against. But don't think for a second that it'll be easy to unlock. Here's a complete guide on how to unlock Vollstandig, also known as Voltstanding, in Type Soul.

How to unlock Volt (Voltstanding) in Type Soul

To get Voltstanding in Type Soul, you must be Elite Grade and then complete a series of requirements. Below are the exact steps you'll take:

• Win 13 Raids, either through Ranked Wins or Clan Wars
• Get 50 Hollow Kills, 10 Elite Grips, and one Bawabawa kill without dying
• Return to Wandenreich and talk to Balance before completing Voltstanding's trials

The first task, above all else, is reaching Elite Grade. Elite Grade is the best of the best, so you'll need to work extremely hard to get your character to this level before even considering Voltstanding. You first start your Type Soul adventure at Grade 5, with higher grades unlocking as you complete quests. You'll eventually reach Grade 2, prompting you to complete your Schrift quests before eventually making your way to Elite Grade.

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Once you've hit Elite Grade, you need to visit the castle in Wandenreich City and speak to Balance. They're in the room with the blur flooring. Balance will tell you the requirements for unlocking Voltstanding in order. So, once you've completed one challenge, you'll need to return to Balance to get the next one. To keep it simple, I've collected each task below as they unlock.

Voltstanding Raid Wins task

The first challenge you'll need to do is one of the following:

• Get 7 Clan Wars Wins
• Win 13 Raids
• Win 26 Ranked (1v1 or 2v2) matches

You should complete the task that's easiest for you. I've seen some players report the Ranked wins as easiest because they're based on skill, but I'm not very skilled in Type Soul, so the Raids were easiest for me. These run every 30 minutes in-game, so look for a server that's either on the hour or half hour and try to join because they're the most likely to have a raid for you to enter and win.

You could also look for a dedicated Type Soul Discord server to join. These have moderators who can force Raids to start, making them a great way to grind these out for progression.

Aside from this, you're free to take part in dozens of 1v1s or 2v2s and farm wins to complete this challenge, or take part in raids if that's more fun to you. You can even do a mix of both, as long as you reach a total of 13 Raid Win.

If you lose track of how many Raid Wins you're at, you can visit the Unrivaled Unequaled NPC in the Karakura Town warehouse.

Voltstanding Hollow and Elite Grip task

The second challenge you'll need to complete to get Voltstanding is to complete all of the following without dying:

• Kill 50 Hollows
• Get 10 Elite Grade player Grips
• Kill 1 Jidanbo or Bawabawa

The hardest part of this task is gripping 10 Elites, but you can just find someone from another faction and grip them 10 times to complete that part. The one point to note here is that if you die in the middle of completing any of these, you'll reset your progress and must kill all the enemies again.

With that in mind, aim for the toughest enemies first so you don't need to repeat them too often if you fail. Gripping Elites is the easiest part of this challenge, and by focusing on the much larger enemies, you can set yourself up well for an easy finish.

Another challenging part of this task is killing a World Boss. Bawabawa spawns in Hueco Mundo, while Jidanbo appears in the Soul Society. Defeating World Bosses is pretty intense but just as doable as killing 50 Hollows. If you're already familiar with fighting these guys, though, you shouldn't have too much trouble here. I'd recommend doing this first before killing 50 Hollows and getting your 10 Elite Grips, but the order will depend on your preference and how easily you can do the other tasks.

Voltstanding Balance Trial task

After completing the first two tasks, return to Balance at the top of Wandenreich Castle. This will unlock the Quincy Voltstanding minigame. This will teleport you to a new area where arrows fall from the sky for around a minute and 30 seconds.

If you fail this at any point, you'll have to wait an hour or grip two additional Elite Grades. While waiting an hour isn't too bad, knocking this out from the get-go will make your life easier. Focus on dodging each projectile to have Yhwach the Quincy King spawn in to grant you Voltstanding.

The post How to get Volt (Voltstanding) in Type Soul appeared first on Destructoid.

Fortnite may have added plenty of new content over the years, but the Ballistic mode could be a breath of fresh air for the community to enjoy.

So far, Epic's battle royale has stuck closely to the genre despite all the community-created content that can be enjoyed at any given time. Ballistic will be something completely different, and it's going to be the first 5v5 FPS mode. The developers have allowed some important information about the upcoming mode, including what to expect and when it will go live.

Fortnite Ballistic release date

The Ballistic mode will have 5v5 contests with a focus on FPS rather than the traditional third-person viewpoint. The mode will launch in early access on December 11, and Epic has given out brief details regarding how the mode will work.

Fortnite Ballistic mode explained

As already mentioned, Ballistic will be a FPS mode that will pit two teams of five players against each other. It will launch with the Skyline 10 map, a limited number of items, and a starter set of weapons. As expected, it will be a no-build mode, and all your saved presets from the Locker will carry over. Any item that you have unlocked over the years, like outfits, emotes, and more, won't be supported.

Every contest will have one team playing the role of attacker, with the other being the defender. The Attackers will have to plant the Rift Point Device, while the Defenders will have to defend it before the device activates. There will be two regions across the map where players can plant the device.

The teams will switch their roles after every 6 rounds, and the one to win 7 rounds will win the contest.

Every player will start with a Ranger Pistol and 800 Credits. Players will earn credits by eliminating enemies and planting the Rift Point Device. If they manage to survive a round, they will keep all their gear and shields. Players can also help their teammates with consumables and other gear items.

Each player will also begin their journey with one of the five Flex Gadgets, and they can have a maximum of two of these items for any round. Players can't pick up the Flex Gadget of another teammate. When used strategically, the Flex Gadgets can completely change the tide of a round and the battle as a whole.

The Ballistic mode will have Ranked and Unranked, and you can choose to play the mode you like. Ranked will be much more competitive, and you'll be hit with a penalty if you leave a contest prematurely. All matches will be based on the average rank of your party to keep the contests fair for all.

The post Fortnite reveals new tactical fps mode appeared first on Destructoid.

Marvel Rivals is one of the most beautiful arena shooters I've ever played. However, if you don't set your graphics settings just right, this game will look about as breathtaking as a page torn out of a comic book left out in the rain.

Precise-maneuvering and split-second decision-making are the keys to building your skills and piling up wins in Marvel Rivals, so you'll want to ensure the game's running at a solid frames-per-second (FPS) rate. I've been fiddling with Marvel Rivals' graphics settings since I started playing it, so I have a decent handle on the best load-out. Here are the best graphics settings for maximum FPS in Marvel Rivals.

Quick clarification: I play Marvel Rivals on PC, so I don't know which settings work for the PS5 or the Xbox Series X/S versions of the game. However, the setups I have listed below should work for those consoles.

How to change your display settings in Marvel Rivals

Before you mess with your graphics, you'll want to adjust your display settings so the game can run on your monitor without lagging. Marvel Rivals' user interface is pretty easy to navigate, especially by multiplayer shooter standards.

To pull up the display settings, hit the Escape button to open the option menu, then click the Settings button. The display settings should be the first page you see. My Nitro 17 laptop uses a Nvidia graphics chip, so I set the aliasing and low latency modes to the corresponding setting. Make sure you set those to whatever graphics card your laptop uses.

Best display settings for Marvel Rivals

• Target Display: Primary Monitor
• Display mode: Fullscreen
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Resolution: 1920×1080
• Anti-Aliasing: NVIDIA DLSS
• Super Resolution Mode: Quality
• Super Resolution Sharpening: 80
• Frame Generation mode: Off
• Low Latency Mode: NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency
• V-Sync: Off

How to change your graphics settings in Marvel Rivals

Now that you've got Marvel Rivals looking crisp as a summer breeze, it's time to have fun with the graphics settings. The graphics options are on the same screen as the display ones, so grab the scroll bar and pull down to reveal them.

Best graphics settings for Marvel Rivals

• Graphics Quality: Custom
• Global Illumination: SSGI – Low Quality
• Reflection Quality: Screen Space Reflections
• Model Detail: Medium
• Post-Processing: Low
• Shadow Detail: Medium
• Texture Detail: High
• Effects Detail: Low
• Foliage Quality: Medium

To me, the best graphics set-up for any game leaves the game looking as good as possible without slowing down the performance. Preferences can vary, but the options listed below worked best for me. If you're willing to let the visual quality slip for better performance, or vice versa, experiment until you find a combination that works for you.

The post Marvel Rivals Best settings for max FPS 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.

Early last month, Monster Hunter Wilds, the newest mainline entry in the long-running series, had an open beta on all platforms to give players an early taste of the action (and the developers some much needed feedback). While the beta was received well, many players agreed on one thing: something about the combat felt.. off. Things were a little limp, and the culprit quickly became apparent: a near total lack of hitstop.

For the uninitiated, "hitstop" is a period of freezeframes that games and animated media employ during a big impact to really sell the weight of the blow. It looks unrealistic, but it's ultra-satisfying when done appropriately, and it's a Monster Hunter staple.

A new interview over at PC Gamer with the game's director, Yuya Tokuda, reveals that the change was ironically the result of us Westerners complaining too much. "Many of the users from overseas commented that the hitstop was way too [intense]," Tokuda said regarding Monster Hunter: World. He expressed relief that players wanted it back, saying the feedback was "very positive."

Newer previews of the game's latest playable build have already reported vastly improved hitstop, making combat feel weightier and more satisfying. Speaking of combat, some weapons are getting "big changes" ahead of release, those being the Insect Glaive, Switch Axe, Lance, and Sword & Shield. As a lance player who heard less-than-favorable things from the open beta, this makes me very happy.

I wish I could throw my two cents into the opinion well but unfortunately I was out of town during the open beta. From the sound of it, I too would've been disappointed by the floatier feeling combat, but I'm almost glad I was spared that month of gnawing anxiety before learning about these positive changes. Monster Hunter Wilds is shaping up to be a series great, thanks in no small part to the team's enthusiasm for feedback.

The post After beta feedback, hitstop is returning to Monster Hunter Wilds 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.

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.

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The 9mm PM pistol in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is one of the first secondary weapons you'll have in your possession. Thankfully, it's a decent option, especially if you pick the right 9mm PM loadout in Black Ops 6.

Best 9mm PM loadout choices for Black Ops 6

This pistol is a quality weapon with standard damage and rate of fire. However, it is a semi-auto as opposed to the Grekhova, which is full-auto, so it might get some getting used to. With those factors in mind, here's the 9mm PM loadout I'd recommend in Black Ops 6.

• Muzzle: Compensator
• Barrel: Reinforced Barrel
• Magazine: Extended Mag I
• Rear Grip: Assault Grip
• Fire Mod: 9x18mm Makarov FMJ

The Compensator, as the 9mm PM's muzzle, is a great choice as it improves the accuracy of the gun and the vertical recoil control of the pistol. Next, the Barrel should be the Reinforced Barrel. It improves your Bullet Velocity by 25% and increases the Damage Range of the gun.

More often than not, you'll run out of bullets with the 9mm PM during tense moments. When this occurs, the Extended Mag I as your Magazine is helpful. It slightly increases your Magazine Ammo Capacity despite it affecting your Reload Quickness by 8%.

The Rear Grip should be based entirely on your playstyle with the pistol. If you want a 9mm PM that's snappy, choose the Quickdraw Grip, as it significantly increases your Aim Down Speed. However, if you're sprinting often with this pistol, the Assault Grip would be a better option; this also works with the ASG-89. If you dive and slide often while shooting with the pistol, the Ergonomic Grip is also a good choice.

Lastly, the Fire Mod should be the 9x18mm Makarov FMJ. It increases the damage of your Scorestreaks, like the sentry turret, and your Penetration Damage. This helps make the weapon great at short-range encounters, especially against those hiding behind walls and corners.

The post Best 9mm PM loadout in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 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.

Phasmophobia dev Kinetic Games has a lot to celebrate right now. The console version of the four-player co-op horror game made it to consoles near the end of October, and just a little over a month later, it's already hit over one million copies sold.

This unit count spans PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR2, and Xbox Series X|S, all of which launched the Early Access version of the game on October 29, 2024. It's also been over four years since Phasmophobia first launched on PC. Adding those numbers in pushes cumulative sales toward the 22 million mark.

Kinetic Games CEO and development lead Daniel Knight commented on the achievement in a press release. "This incredible achievement is only possible thanks to our wonderful, supportive, and engaged community," he said. Knight added that the milestone is "the best Christmas present we could have wished for."  

Reviews for Phasmophobia continue to stay in the "Overwhelmingly Positive" zone over on Steam, where the horror game once peaked at 112,241 players. Over the last 30 days, it has enjoyed an average of over 21,000 concurrent daily players, thanks in no small part to ongoing support from the developers. The latest major update, Crimson Eye, launched with new events, upgraded physics, and more in October. 

For those looking to get in on the scares, Phasmophobia supports cross-play for teaming up with others across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms. 

The post Phasmophobia has sold over one million units on consoles 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.

The Sirin 9mm in Black Ops 6 is a full-auto SMG that has a slow rate of fire but hits hard. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to unlock; here are two ways to get the Sirin 9mm in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

The Hit List

You can unlock the Sirin 9mm in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 by participating in the Hit List event. Under the "Event" tab, you'll find that you can unlock the Sirin 9mm when the community reaches 50 billion points collectively if you swipe right with your right analog stick. Here's how the points are given:

• Multiplayer: 1 per Elimination
• Zombies: 1 every 5 Eliminations
• Warzone: 5 per Elimination

You'll see the Community Total on the top right. The event will end on December 5, giving players plenty of time to unlock all of the community awards, including the Sirin 9mm at the very top. We'll likely reach or get close to that goal as a Double XP event has been activated over the Thanksgiving weekend. Black Ops 6 also enjoyed one of the series' best first months in history, so a lot of people are getting into the FPS action.

This community event also unlocks the Buffer Weight Stock attachment, Shadow perk, Hand Cannon scorestreak, and Veteran perk when everyone reaches these goals.

Additionally, there are some personal goals you can reach. If you get 1,000 eliminations, you'll unlock the Power Drill melee weapon.

You can get the Sirin 9mm by purchasing a bundle

If you don't want to wait, you can also purchase a bundle on the store called Reactive: Cash Bandit for 2800 CP (COD Points). This nets you the Debt Collector blueprint for the Sirin 9mm, unlocking the gun for your loadout. You'll also get the following with the bundle:

• Raccoon Goon Operator Skin for Niran
• Vault Security Blueprint for GPR 91
• Disarmed Finishing Move
• Cash Flow Reticle
• Cash Eater Large Decal
• Raccoon Robber Weapon Charm
• Double XP Token for 1 hour

If you want to play as a shark-themed character, that is also available in the store.

The post How to get the Sirin 9mm in Black Ops 6 appeared first on Destructoid.

Popular indie games Palworld and Terraria will have some crossover content next year in Palworld. Very few details have been shared about the tie-in, but we know information will be coming soon.

Palworld Terraria crossover is incoming

Viewed over 1.8 million times on X since the Tuesday announcement, the official Palworld social media account posted a crossover image. It has the Terraria Guy and Palworld's main character shaking hands. Not much else is known other than we're getting information "coming soon."

Palworld also says that there will be at least one more update before the end of the year. This time, it says news about the next update will be coming "very soon."

Terraria is no stranger to crossovers. Don't Starve Together has the Eye of Terror, new bosses, and a bunch of new skins inspired by Terraria, while Terraria received one new boss and plenty of items based on the Klei property. Terraria also received Stardew Valley-based content, such as the Blue Chicken and Stardrop, while Stardew Valley implemented the Meowmere sword.

Based on past history, it's likely we'll see Terraria elements in Palworld, and vice versa. Based on the art, we could see Cattiva, Depresso, and Chillet in the world of Terraria. On the other hand, perhaps some weapons and crafting items could be craftable in Palworld.

This is the first good news for Palworld fans for a while. The game's developer, Pocketpair, has been sued by The Pokémon Company. The plaintiff claims that Pocketpair has infringed on three patents. It's been reported that the Pal Sphere system veers too close to a Pokéball.

The post Palworld x Terraria update is coming in 2025 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.

A new frame is coming to Warframe with the game's upcoming 1999 expansion: Cyte-09. Cyte-09 will be Warframe's 59th frame and the latest after Koumei, but until recently, not much has been known about him. But that's changing as developer Digital Extremes releases more information.

We don't know exactly when Warframe: 1999 is coming, although it's set for December, but there is a lot to look forward to, like Cyte-09, the Technocyte Coda, new weapons, new modes, new areas, and more. Keep reading to learn everything we know about Warframe's next frame, Cyte-09.

What are Cyte-09's abilities in Warframe?

The concept for Cyte-09 is a stealthy sniper Warframe, and that's been known for a while, but we've only learned recently what his abilities actually do, which is as follows:

• Sneak: Plant an antenna that projects a forward wave scan. Detected enemies take increased weak point damage and become visible through walls. Weapons gain punchthrough.
• Resupply: Throw two elemental ammo packs that instantly refill the active weapon’s magazine and grant the weapon an additional instance of a selected elemental damage type and status effect. Reload clears the effect. Sniper rifles gain extra damage.
• Evade: Jump backwards and become invisible for a short duration. Weak point kills extend the duration and heal Cyte-09.
• Neutralize: Summon the Neutralizer, Cyte-09’s exalted sniper rifle. Bullets ricochet off weak points to seek out other nearby weak points. Alt fire lobs a cold grenade that completely freezes enemies.

The big question when it comes to Cyte-09 is how his exalted sniper rifle will work. It's unclear not only how powerful it will be but also exactly what its mechanics are and how they might synergize with Cyte-09's other abilities. We don't have these answers yet, but Warframe: 1999 isn't too far off.

What does the Warframe community think about Cyte-09?

In general, spirits are high. Many community members are excited to see another stealth frame get added to the game, the prospect of an exalted sniper rifle many find fresh and interesting, and Cyte-09's kit seems to appeal to many Warframe fans. However, some do have concerns.

Considering the Warframe meta is so strongly focused on AoE damage potential, particularly when it comes to weapons, some worry that a sniper rifle might not be able to keep up in higher-level content. Some already anticipate replacing Cyte-09's sniper rifle ability with something else.

Others wonder how 'bullets ricocheting off weak points to seek out other weak points' will work in the context of Cyte-09's overall kit and if that ricochet power will be enough to take down tough enemies with ease or not. Of course, this is all speculation in the here and now.

The post Everything we know about Cyte-09: Warframe’s next character appeared first on Destructoid.

Xaku Prime is the latest Prime Warframe to come to the game, but alongside Xaku, we also got Trumna Prime and Quassus Prime. The Trumna is a particularly powerful weapon, capable of clearing entire rooms of enemies with the press of a single button. If you build it right, that is.

You'll need to get your Xaku relics, your Quassus relics, and your Trumna relics sorted out before you can start playing around with these new additions, but if you're ready for some explosively serious DPS, keep reading for our take on a low-cost Trumna Prime build.

How to build Trumna Prime in Warframe

Trumna Prime comes with solid critical chance and critical damage stats as well as an excellent status chance, so we'll be building it around scaling status damage with Galvanized Aptitude and getting critical hits. A weapons platform frame like Gauss is a perfect pairing with the Trumna.

The playstyle here is simple, sure, but satisfying. Simply charge up your Trumna's alternate fire by getting five kills, then activate your alternate fire for a room-clearing explosion courtesy of a bouncing grenade. If you've got a solid Riven, this weapon can get mind-bogglingly powerful.

The best Trumna Prime mods in Warframe

The name of the game with mods is mitigating the Trumna's intense recoil with Stabilizer, boosting critical chance and damage with Vital Sense and Critical Delay, adding in viral damage, and then scaling that with Galvanized Aptitude. The last mod here is flexible, so feel free to add in a Riven.

Arcane: Primary Merciless

Exilus: Stabilizer

Mods:

• Primed Cryo Rounds (Can swap with Rime Rounds)
• Malignant Force
• Galvanized Aptitude
• Galvanized Chamber
• Critical Delay
• Vital Sense
• Vile Acceleration
• Radiated Reload (Can swap with Hammer Shot, Primed Firestorm, or a Riven)

On its own, the Trumna deals heat and impact damage, while we're modding for viral and radiation damage. Together, this gives you quite a few elements to scale Galvanized Aptitude's damage off. If you'd prefer a higher status chance over extra viral damage, Rime Rounds works fine, too.

The flex mod slot here is Radiated Reload. The Trumna's reload speed is rather slow, so this mod is nice to have, but Hammer Shot is a reliable pick, increasing status chance and critical damage. With Hammer Shot, you won't need to swap Primed Cryo Rounds for Rime Rounds, either.

Primed Firestorm is another option, but keep in mind that it'll only work with the Trumna's alternate fire. And the alternate fire grenade bounces around, already dealing damage in a fairly large range. Ideally, if you've got the currency for it, a good Riven is perfect for this particular build.

The post The best Trumna Prime build in Warframe appeared first on Destructoid.

Lancetfish Paella is a complicated five-star dish you can make in Disney Dreamlight Valley, which requires tough fish to make. It's located in a far-off space that is hard to reach for newcomers to the game.

Where to find Lancetfish Paella Disney Dreamlight Valley ingredients

You'll require five different ingredients to make Lancetfish Paella. They are:

• Lancetfish
• Tomato
• Shrimp
• Any kind of seafood like Shrimp or Squid
• Rice

Lancetfish can be fished from the Forgotten Lands. It's the hardest biome to reach in Disney Dreamlight Valley, unfortunately, and will require a lot of Dreamlight to unlock. Once you've finally reached the dark area, fish from the ponds in the area and look for blue ripples. This is where the Lancetfish lurk. You may get other kinds of fish from the catch too but be persistent. I was able to find mine the first time, however.

Tomatoes and their seeds can be bought at Goofy's Stall in Dazzle Beach. The seeds can be bought for 8 Star Coins each from one of Mickey's best friends. You may be lucky because the tomatoes themselves may be up for sale too. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case today for me. You might also find a fresh Tomato from Wall-E's garden; thankfully, luck was on my side this time. They're also used as a Ratatouille ingredient.

Shrimp can be caught while fishing at Dazzle Beach nearby Goofy's Stall, thankfully. Catching two of them is easier to do for any kind of seafood addition, but if you have any spare Squid in your inventory you might as well use that. While trying to catch Shrimp, look for blue ripples in the ocean.

Lastly, Rice can be bought at Goofy's Stall in the Glade of Trust. You can buy the seeds for 35 Star Coins each or the ingredient itself for 92 Star Coins. It's worth the extra money to just get the ingredient, but if you want to save money, you can grow the Rice yourself.

Where to cook

You can cook your meal at any stove in Disney Dreamlight Valley. There's one in your house or if you've finished Remy's realm in the castle, at Chez Remy. Throw all of the ingredients in the pot, and you should have your Lancetfish Paella. Bon appetite!

The post How to make Lancetfish Paella in Disney Dreamlight Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

Baldur's Gate 3 takes you on a wondrous journey through one of Dungeons & Dragons' most iconic settings. However, your trek through the Sword Coast may hit a snag if the in-game camera gives you a lopsided view of the world.

The camera controls in Baldur's Gate 3 can be tricky to figure out, especially if BG3 is your first experience with top-down role-playing games. Luckily, I've spent almost a hundred hours playing this game, so I can tell you everything you need to know to master its camera.

How to control the camera in BG3 with a mouse and keyboard

If you're playing Baldur's Gate 3 on a gaming computer, you control the camera with select keys on your keyboard and a few HUD buttons you can click with your mouse. The game gives you a pretty nice tutorial on using the camera whenever you start a new game, but it doesn't tell you everything, so here's a more thorough rundown.

• W/S/D/W Keys—You can use the W/S/D/W keys to pan the camera around the immediate area. If that doesn't suit you, you can do this by using the arrow keys.
• Q and E Keys - The Q and E keys let you spin the camera around in a circle. You can also do this by holding down the middle mouse button.
• Page Up and Page Down Keys - You can use the Page Up and Page Down keys to zoom the camera in or out. You can also do this by spinning the middle mouse button or clicking the zoom-in and zoom-out buttons next to the map.
• O Key—Press the O key to enter Tactical View. T gives you a top-down view of your surroundings. This view is fantastic for combat situations, giving you a bird's-eye view of the action to detect hidden enemies and see whether the terrain will block your attacks.

Once you familiarize yourself with these key commands, your Baldur's Gate 3 journey will be as cinematic as it is fun to play.

How to use Edge Panning in BG3

Edge Panning is an additional camera option that allows you to move the camera by moving the mouse around the edge of the screen. This is an excellent option if you don't want to use the A/S/D/W or Arrow Keys to move the camera.

To turn on Edge Panning, open the "Options" menu and scroll down to the bottom of the "Gameplay" tab. You should see Edge Panning as the second option in the Camera section. If you use Edge Panning and have a multi-screen setup, I'd recommend flicking the Lock Mouse to Window option to "On" so your mouse doesn't go high-wire when it jumps to another screen.

How to control the camera in BG3 with a controller

Whether you've plugged a gaming controller into your computer or are playing Baldur's Gate 3 on the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, a radically different control scheme awaits you. Controlling the camera with a controller plays much differently than steering it with a mouse and keyboard, but it's still easy to get the hang of.

• Clicking up, down, left, and right on the left control stick will pan the camera left, right, up, and down.
• Tilting left and right on the right control stick rotates the camera.
• Cranking up and down on the right stick lets you zoom in and out.
• Push on the left stick to recenter the camera on your character if it ever gets away from you.
• Zooming out all the way out with the right stick will shift you into Tactical View. Zoom back in to get out of it.

With all that covered, you shouldn't have any problem working Baldur's Gate 3's camera. Be sure to check out all our BG3 if you're wondering which Feat to give your party or how to defeat challenging bosses standing in your way.

The post How to use all the camera controls in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) appeared first on Destructoid.