Jesse Lennox

Stardew Valley is a game made by just one person, but it has seen more success than most games made by dozens, or even hundreds, of people. It’s even one of Digital Trends’ top 50 video games of all time. Since its release in 2016, the game has beenupdated regularly with new features and content to keep its avid fans coming back. This includes an online multiplayer component that allows you and up to three friends to hang out on each other’s farms. And with the recent trend of games allowing players on different platforms to join together, you may wonder if Stardew Valley offers cross-platform functionality. Here’s everything we know about cross-platform support in Stardew Valley.

Now that anyone can join in on the pirate fun in Sea of Thieves across all platforms, that means there's no reason you need to sail the seas solo. Beginners especially will benefit from forming a crew to help ease into the experience, but inviting and playing with your friends isn't always smooth sailing. Because your friends can be on PS5, Xbox, or PC, inviting friends isn't as straightforward as a traditional game. Let's raise our flags and team up for some expeditions together to learn how to add friends and team up in Sea of Thieves.

Sea of Thieves is a game that really only works with a group of friends. Rare’s live-service pirate simulator is one of the best co-op games available today, allowing you to put together a swashbuckling crew to take to the high seas, raid rival ships, and hunt for treasure. Thankfully, you don’t need to be on the same system to put together such a crew. Here’s everything you need to know about Sea of Thieves’ cross-platform support.

From the moment you begin your adventure in Fallout: New Vegas, you’ve already cheated death. Your first playthrough of the game should be done as the developers intended, though maybe with a couple of mods to make the experience a little smoother, but nothing that breaks the game. That said, it’s been over a decade since the game came out, so odds are you’ve already played through the intended way at least once. This is when you can have some fun tinkering with the game and play using console commands and cheats if you’re on the PC version of the game. There are a ton of commands you can input to manipulate your character, the world, objects, and more. Here’s a full rundown of all the cheats there are and how to activate them.

Building your population in Manor Lords is one thing, but making sure they want to stick around and continue to grow is the real challenge. You could have the ideal design for a village, or the perfect tactical mind for conquering the entire map, but if your approval rating is too low, you won't survive your first winter.

You can easily lose hours designing your village and appeasing your citizens in Manor Lords all by yourself. There are so many different avenues to achieve victory, but the only competition or help you can normally find is in the form of NPCs. Other factions around the map can be helpful or harmful depending on how you play, but what if you wanted to team up with a friend to combine resources, or perhaps compete to see who can crush the other first? Many strategy and city builders thrive on multiplayer components, but does Manor Lords offer those same modes? Make sure you know the answer before making your purchase if that’s your intention.

Building and managing your own medieval utopia is a lonely job. Sure, you have a population of citizens to grow and order around, but they can’t compare with another actual human player. At least at launch, Manor Lords is a PC exclusive, and it’s also going to be coming to Xbox consoles as well so even more people can get in on the city-building fun. We can expect basically any modern game to allow for cross-platform play, but what if Manor Lords is stuck in the Middle Ages? Here’s everything you need to know about cross-platform support for the latest and greatest management simulator.

From the very first Fallout game, the Power Armor has been every wastelander’s dream to pilot. This hulking suit of armor can make your normally squishy Vault Dweller nigh unkillable in Fallout 4. But there’s more than just one type of Power Armor, and each one has different stats and requirements to wear. Not only that, but some you might find one piece at a time and need to build yourself, while others can be found as a complete set. If you want to make even a Deathclaw think twice about attacking you, only the best Power Armor will do. Here are the best suits in Fallout 4 and where to find them.

No matter what perks or skills your character has in Fallout 4, hacking will always come down to your ability as a player. There’s no way to cheat the system here, and if you don’t grasp what the game is asking you to do, you’re mostly out of luck. Terminals will hide great loot behind their cryptic puzzles, as well as allow you to take over certain controls to turn your enemy’s security against them. Some have very interesting logs about certain characters or events for all you lore junkies out there. Hacking has tons of uses, so let’s brush up on your computer skills and give you a refresher on how to hack in Fallout 4.

We’ve all loved exploring the different regions of the wasteland in the Fallout series alone, but it wasn’t until Fallout 76 that we had the chance to do so with friends. While it wasn’t quite what people were hoping for at launch, years of support have made this an excellent world to explore and go on quests with friends in. While most games released in recent years support cross-platform play between consoles, Fallout 76 came out before that was the standard. If you’ve got a group of friends playing on different systems, will you still be able to enjoy the sights and sounds of the wasteland together? Here’s what you need to know.

There’s no shame in admitting that you enjoy the company of a teddy bear in Fallout 76 over the ghouls and mutants. In fact, we would probably prefer spending time finding these cuddly bears than playing with the other players, but these stuffed animals are a rare commodity in the wasteland. Technically, these are classified as a junk item that you can break down for materials, but who would do something like that? These are great display items to make your camp feel more like home, or just another annoying daily task you need to complete. Whatever your motivations are, here is where you can find each of the different teddy bear variations in Fallout 76.

Crafting is as important a mechanic in Fallout 76 as shooting and looting. As is the case with every Bethesda game, you will be collecting every item in the world that isn’t nailed down to use for parts until you’re over–encumbered. Being a live service game, you will often also be tasked with hunting down a specific material or item as part of a daily or weekly challenge. One fairly common one is to find burnt books. There are a few smaller stashes of these singed paperbacks around Appalachia, but one location in particular is the mother lode. There are no libraries in the wasteland, but we know the location of the secret stashwhere you’ll find all the burnt books you could want.

While it wasn’t marketed as being a particularly punishing game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is by no means easy. You will have plenty of environmental challenges that can instantly sap your life, and the enemies you face — especially the bosses — are no slouches. When you first begin, it will only take a couple of bad hits to send Zau to the land of the dead himself. Alongside the Trinkets you can unlock through hidden challenges around the map, there are also Baobab Trees where Zau can stop to reflect on his journey thus far, have a short dialogue with Kalunga, and get a small addition to his health bar. Like everything in the game, these trees aren’t prohibitively hidden, but you could easily pass one by and have no idea where it was when trying to backtrack. These are all the Baobab Tree locations so you can max out your health bar.

Your main upgrades in a metroidvania like Tales of Kenzera: Zau will always be your new abilities. These transform the way you move and fight, but there are other ways you can make Zau a more powerful shaman. Trinkets are introduced right away, but aren’t given away as freely as you might think. Each one requires you to overcome a small trial that tests your platforming abilities off the main path. Technically, you can miss every single one aside from the one you begin the game with. Even though there are a few fast travel points, backtracking isn’t a particularly fun experience. Here are all the Trinket locations in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, plus which ones you should equip.

Who would’ve thought the post-apocalypse could be such a fun time? The Fallout franchise has taken the idea of a Mad Max–like future and not only made it into a wildly popular game franchise but also a hit TV series. The core franchise has been around since the late ’90s, and yet we’ve had only a handful of mainline entries in the series since it was revived by Bethesda with Fallout 3. With Starfield in the rearview mirror and the next Elder Scrolls title currently being the dev team’s focus, it could be close to another decade before we can set foot in the wasteland ourselves once again.

Each piece of Fallout 4 DLC adds something substantial to the base experience. In the case of the Automatron expansion, an entire new questline pitting you against a robot army led by a figure known as the Mechanist. Starting it isn't as difficult as starting other DLCs like the Nuka-World expansion, but it-s still a bit cryptic. Buying the DLC doesn't automatically make it apparent how to actually start this new adventure, but we'll give you specific directions to find it in the wasteland.

Just like Zagreus’ never-ending quest to escape the Underworld in Greek mythology, it seems we too are destined to continue fighting through new levels of demons and monsters in the sequel to the amazing roguelike Hades. We’re not complaining, as that game was one of the best games released in 2020, and no one expected a sequel at all, let alone one announced so soon. Hades 2 will be the first sequel studio Supergiant Games have ever made, and it makes sense given how successful and popular the first game ended up being. Aside from some notable exceptions like Rogue Legacy 2 and Spelunky 2, not many roguelikes ever get a direct sequel, so there’s a lot of mystery surrounding how Hades 2 will be different from the first game. But there’s no need to dive into the depths of the Underworld yourself in search of answers, as we’ve pulled all the information we could from the jaws of Cerberus.

Right alongside Skyrim, Fallout 3 is one of the most modded games of all time. Bethesda took this series and transformed it into an open-world adventure that had never really been seen up to that point. As much as there was to do in that base experience, there was a limit to what could be done. However, dedicated fans didn’t let that end their fun and began modding the game with new features, quality of life improvements, and new content to extend the life of Fallout 3 to the point where you can still play it today and have an amazing time. Now that modders have had well over a decade to work with the game, there are potentially thousands of mods you can try out, but these are the best ones we’ve found.

The first major DLC expansion for Fallout 4 lets players go to the abandoned amusement park called Nuka-World. While there's plenty of fun and excitement to be had here, don't expect it to come from the roller coasters or carnival games since this park is the battleground between rival raider gangs. This new zone adds a ton of new quests and side activities to the base experience, but it isn't as simple to get to as a real theme park. Don't worry if your Pip-Boy isn't helping you get to Nuka-World — we'll show you how to start this DLC.

The video game industry is changing. As financial growth stagnates, companies like PlayStation have experimented with ways to adapt as markets and trends change. Where it was once able to rely on its first-party blockbusters to build and maintain an audience, it is looking more likely that it will need to invest in new strategies to prepare for the ways the industry is shifting. We see this with a bigger push into live-service and mobile games, but there’s another initiative that isn’t going to pay dividends in the near future but could set the groundwork for future success: the Hero Project.

The market for iPhone games has become so wide and diverse that it can realistically compete with most console and PC offerings. Where we once only got cheap time-wasters, we now have complete experiences that don’t feel any less impressive than what the competition offers. In fact, a lot of games made for consoles are appearing on the iPhone now that it is becoming so powerful. However, older games have paradoxically been mostly absent from the app store. That all could be about to change as emulation is now allowed on iPhone, though with some caveats that any retro fan should know about before getting too excited to play all your favorite NES games on your phone. Here’s what’s up with iPhone emulators, as well as our picks for a few of the best ones you can get right now.

It’s fair to say that Fallout 76wasn’t exactly what fans were hoping for when it launched. Instead of being a single-player RPG like Fallout 4, 3, and New Vegas, 76 was a pseudo MMO where you joined multiplayer servers to play in a persistent world. A multiplayer Falloutsounds great on paper, but the execution wasn’t what people were looking for. Many years and updates later, the game is in a far better state, but not quite up to the standard of some hardcore fans. However, Bethesda games are among the most famous for the quality of mods made for them, and at this point, there are thousands of mods available forFallout 76. We’ve scoured every inch of Appalachia to collect only the best Fallout 76 mods.

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is arriving on PC on May 16, and it’s coming with a new PlayStation overlay. This will allow PC players to log in or create a PlayStation account and access many features found on the console, including earning trophies.

The long, long wait for a new Homeworld title is finally coming to a close. This classic RTS series once stood toe-to-toe with the titans of the genre such as StarCraft and Command and Conquer, but aside from a more recent prequel, it hasn’t been seen since the sequel in 2003.

The Fallout games, at least since Fallout 3, have been absolutely massive games in both scale and popularity. The post-nuclear-war setting is rife with interesting stories to experience and monsters to kill. Fallout 4 was the last single-player entry in the series before Fallout 76 took the game into a persistent multiplayer experience. A large appeal of these games is how you are able to actually role-play and immerse yourself in the game world, which isn’t so easy with other players jumping around in their underwear. Thanks to mods, it has never been a better time to revisit the last “pure” Fallout game.

We first saw Hades 2 last year when it was announced, but it has yet to receive a release date. We know it will first be coming to early access, just like the first game, but the only timeframe we have is the second quarter of 2024. It appears that Supergiant might be closing in on that date, however, as you can now sign up for the first playtest and experience the game even before it comes to early access. This technical test is a said to be a major step toward early access to resolve any technical problems before a wider audience can play. Here's how you can sign up to be part of a small team selected to play the game before anyone else.

After the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita, there wasn’t much hope that Sony would create another handheld system. Both consoles failed to establish themselves as meaningful parts of PlayStation’s ecosystems despite having passionate fan bases. That’s what made the initial reveal of the PlayStation Portal so surprising, at least until we knew exactly what it was. As an accessory, the PlayStation Portal is a decent device for some situations. It makes remote play easy and combines all the cool features of the DualSense controller with a great display. However, it does leave a lot to be desired for those hoping for a bit more from a new PlayStation device. Should Sony decide to iterate on this novel idea, there are a few features we think it needs to have to be a true success.

Bethesda titles are massive, with tons of loot to acquire. From the fantasy series of Elder Scrolls VI, to the sci-fi world of the future in Starfield, the one thing they share is a wide range of weapons. In the wastelands of Fallout 4, and thenew Fallout TV show, the weapons (and their cool names) are a major perk. Some weapons might give you an edge, but others feel as if they’re just for show.

After the launch of the excellent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown at the beginning of 2024, no one was expecting a second game in the franchise so soon. And yet, The Rogue Prince of Persia was revealed during the Triple-I Initiative as a roguelike take on the genre. Coming from the developer of Dead Cells, this game was one of the highlights of the show thanks to it's slick gameplay and unique and fluid art style. There was no release date given, but the game is entering early access May 14. However, you can get your hands on it even earlier if you apply to participate in the alpha test.

Every joke possible has already been made about Netflix Games being — or not being — “the Netflix of games,” so we won’t waste your time trying to come up with another one. In the end, Netflix Games is doing its own thing rather than following the lead of other subscription services, and considering that nearly everyone has access to a Netflix account already, there’s no barrier to entry for its huge audience to check out its library of games. All you need is a smartphone and the Netflix app, and you’re all set.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the latest addition to the award-winning franchise that most of us have been playing for well over a decade. Beyond the enhanced graphics, refined mechanics, and new gameplay features, one of the biggest draws to the COD world has always been online multiplayer. Not only does multiplayer return for MW3, but there’s more to love about the competitive space than ever before.

When it launched in 2022, Elden Ring was an immediate hit. The challenging game took everything great from previous FromSoftware titles and merged it with a sweeping open world to explore — letting players venture in any direction just a few minutes after starting the game. That also made it incredibly daunting. Not only did you have to contend with nightmarish monsters and rage-inducing combat, but you had to figure out how to best reach your next destination without stumbling upon enemies that were twice your skill level.

Believe it or not, it has been over a decade since the last GTA game. While tons of people are still dumping hundreds of hours into GTA Online, everyone has been (not so) patiently waiting for Rockstar to finally confirm that a new entry is in the works. Despite many leaks and rumors, the team held strong until late 2023. Now that the game is finally confirmed, we have a lot more solid ground to cover in terms of what Grand Theft Auto 6 will be. This is going to be the biggest game of the generation, if not all time, so let’s hotwire a car and pull off a heist to get all the information about GTA 6 there is.

Obsidian has been a studio that punches above its weight with amazing RPGs like Pillars of Eternity and South Park: The Stick of Truth, as well as classic games like Fallout: New Vegas and Star War:s Knight of the Old Republic 2. While we’re waiting on the sequel to the sci-fi adventure The Outer Worlds 2, the team is taking on its biggest challenge yet. Avowed is a first-person RPG that has a lot of visual similarities to Skyrim, but is set within the original world created for Pillars of Eternity. We’ve been tracking this game since it was revealed in 2020 and it’s now in the final stretch before release. This could be the next great RPG experience you’ve been looking for, so check out everything you need to know about Avowed.

We’re all awaiting the full release of Frostpunk 2 to give us some chills during the heat of the summer, but you don’t have to wait until July to go back to the Frostlands. Developer 11 Bit Studios is hosting a beta period where players can experience some of the game much earlier. This isn’t a regular open beta where anyone is free to download it and play with no restrictions. There is one big catch to gaining access, and even then, it is only available for a very limited time. Here’s what you need to know about the Frostpunk 2 beta and how to join it.

A pirate is only as strong as their crew, but you can't always count on your usual mates to be around in Sea of Thieves. Pirates aren't so different from us in that they love having an animal companion around to keep them company on long voyages. Pets can come in the form of your typical pirate animals like monkeys and parrots, but you can also get yourself a cuddly cat, dog, or fox as well. You can't go out and find one in the wild to tame like some other games. Pets in Sea of Thieves can only be obtained in one way, and we have the treasure map to lead you right to the answer.

Fans of a galaxy far, far away are finally getting the games they’ve always wanted. After the less-than-ideal handling of the Star Wars franchise by EA up until the two Star Wars Jedi games, fans have been eager to explore new stories in this vast universe, as well as lore that isn’t addressed in the films.

Like any live service game, Sea of Thieves has its own form of premium currency. Ancient Coins are the most valuable treasure in the game and are used to buy various things from the Pirate Emporium, such as pets, costumes, and other cosmetics. Thankfully, there are no items you can get with these coins that give you any advantage over any other pirate on the seas except for making you look a little cooler. Still, some of those shop items are enticing enough to make at least you consider buying them. You don’t have to spend real cash on anything in Sea of Thieves if you’re willing to do the work. Here are all the ways you can earn Ancient Coins.

Marvel Rivals is putting the hero in hero shooter with literal superheroes. Unlike traditional hero shooters like Overwatch, this time, you will be playing from a third-person perspective to get a better look at your hero in battle. Any new multiplayer game will come with a ton of questions, especially if superheroes are involved. There is a small plot, but the main focus will no doubt be on pure PvP action. If you’re in the market for a new team-based hero shooter, let’s unmask as many details as we can on Marvel Rivals to figure out if it could be your next obsession.

The most important part of the plan in Content Warning is the last step: making money! Why else would you risk your life going into the Old World trying to film the scariest and most deadly monsters imaginable if you weren’t going to get rich doing it? Just like in real life, making money on SpookTube isn’t easy. You need to produce the best possible videos to start to build up your following and make a decent income. That money is crucial for investing in all the different items that can boost your production quality, thus leading to more views and more money in your pocket. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes things that can help you earn more cash, so try out these tricks and tips to create the next viral video.

In order to make the best viral video possible in Content Warning, you need the proper equipment. Once you and your crew of friends go down into the Old World, all manner of spooky monsters and events will start popping off, but you only have so much air and battery life to get the best shots. Each video you post to SpookTube earns you cash to invest in better items to catch even scarier stuff on tape next time, but not all the items are very clear in how they will help you rack up the views. These items can get quite pricy, so save up that ad revenue and check out what all the items are in Content Warning before quitting your job to be a full-time SpookTuber.

The original Hollow Knight was first released in 2017 and was immediately recognized as one of the most impressive entries in the Metroidvania genre, indie or not. The immaculate hand-drawn art style made even the dank, drab world full of bugs known as Hollownest a truly endearing place to explore. Combined with the tight platforming controls, light Soulslike elements, satisfying upgrades, and cryptic story, Hollow Knight soared to the top of many critics’ and players’ favorite games lists.

It’s time to brush up on your Simlish if it’s rusty because the long-awaitedThe Sims 5, aka Project Rene, is officially on the way. This has been the longest gap between main entries since the series began, and while we did get tons of expansions for The Sims 4 to hold us over, plus the change to it becoming free to play, we’re more than ready for a new entry. Each time a new game in the franchise comes out, die-hard fans always need to have a bit of skepticism about what features will be there — both new and returning. Again, the last entry eventually got to a great spot, but it certainly wasn’t there at launch. We can’t answer all your questions yet, but here’s everything we know about The Sims 5.

There are more secret items and mechanics in Dragon’s Dogma 2 than almost any other game. You can accidentally lose an entire town to the Dragonsplague or miss out on the true ending if you’re not paying close enough attention. That’s not to mention all the secret items and weapons in the world. One incredibly powerful but risky item is known as the Unmaking Arrow. This is the most powerful weapon in the game, but it comes with a very interesting caveat. Plus, there are only two known ways to get them, meaning you need to pick your targets very carefully. If you think you can handle the power of this arrow and the responsibility it brings, here is where you can find it.

We’ve had plenty of hero shooters in the past, but Marvel Rivals will be the first time we’ve had one with literal superheroes. This 6v6 multiplayer title will bring heroes and villains from all across Marvel together to battle it out in multiplayer mayhem. Aside from the game’s release date, the biggest question on everyone’s mind is what the cast of characters will look like. The only details shared so far state that there are “over a dozen” characters that will be included in Marvel Rivals, but we’ve scrubbed through the trailer and marketing materials to compile a complete list of all the heroes shown off. Here’s every hero on the roster we can confirm so far.

In a recent quote, Sony Senior Vice President Naomi Matsuoka said: “Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle.” Many in the industry took that to mean that we may be hearing about the next PlayStation console sooner rather than later.

Rumors are running rampant about a supposed PlayStation 5 Pro, or PS5 Pro for short. Just like we got a mid-generation upgrade with the PS4 Pro last console cycle, many are expecting PlayStation to release an incrementally more powerful machine the bridge the gap between the launch unit and an eventual PlayStation 6. Leaks have been coming out from some fairly credible sources with a lot of juicy and very specific details about what a hypothetical PS5 Pro could look like. As credible as these sources may be, we do still need to take everything we see with a grain of salt until Sony officially confirms this system even exists. Until then, here are all the rumors out there we could pull together regarding the PS5 Pro.

Asymmetrical multiplayer games have come into their own over the past few years, with titles like Among Us, Dead by Daylight, and Left 4 Dead pulling in legions of players. Instead of giving two teams a similar set of abilities, asymmetrical games are purposefully lopsided — one team might be larger but have less firepower, while the other team might be comprised of a single, powerful player.

A new competitive shooter is on the way, this time featuring all your favorite Marvel heroes. Marvel Rivals has been unveiled as a 6v6 third-person hero shooter with many similarities to Overwatch. Matches will launch teams of these larger-than life-characters into fierce battles across iconic locations from the Marvel universe. While the full game doesn't have a release date yet, you can suit up as one of over a dozen heroes early by joining the closed alpha test. Not everyone will get in, so make sure you sign up so you don't miss out on a chance to be one of the first to suit up and do battle.

With the rise of all-digital consoles, more and more people are doing a majority of their game shopping on digital storefronts. For PlayStation 5 owners, whether you have a disk drive or not, you more than likely have at least a couple of games purchased from the PlayStation Store. The convenience of simply downloading a game and not having to worry about the disk is great, but you also can catch some amazing deals. The biggest sales events come seasonally, and the current Spring Sale is offering deep discounts of up to 90% on some of the biggest games on the platform. If you’ve been waiting to pick up one of the great games you missed earlier this year or in years past, now might be the best time to snag it for cheap!

Dragon’s Dogma 2 likes to keep many of its mechanics and systems a secret until you discover them. You will learn quickly that you can’t fast travel around the map freely, but there’s one mechanic that is far more detrimental to your game. This is called dragonsplague and it is a disease that can’t be cured with a simple tonic. In fact, you may not even realize if you have it in your game because it isn’t something that affects your character at all; instead, it affects your Pawns. Failing to recognize you have dragonsplague and deal with it in a timely manner can ruin your entire playthrough if you’re not careful. To avoid such a catastrophe, here are all the details about this cruel disease.

One of the key missions to help prove you’re the true Arisen in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is to figure out the real identity of the false Sovran. One clue you have as to figuring this out is hidden in the Nameless Village, though not all is as it seems there. The first step will be, of course, reaching this unassuming little town. If you’re running in circles trying to reach it, here are some better directions to get to the Nameless Village.

Even before release, there were some red flags about how Dragon’s Dogma 2 would perform on a technical level. While console players need to wait and hope for patches to fix things, those on PC can already improve their games through the hard work of modders. Of course, technical improvements are only one area where modders focus. With such a massive world and many systems in place, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is brimming with potential for mods of all shapes and sizes. Aside from mods that just improve your performance, most are better saved for after you’ve reached the true ending, but no one is going to stop you if you’d rather start experimenting from the start. Here are a handful of the best mods you should try in Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Believe it or not, your Arisen in Dragon’s Dogma 2is very skilled at crafting. We’re not talking about building structures, tools, or weapons, but item crafting. By combining specific pairs of ingredients in your inventory, you can produce some extremely potent consumables. As you will discover for yourself on your first long trip across the land, there are a ton of materials to discover, leading to hundreds or thousands of possible combinations. Knowing what items are best saved to make something special can save you from having to scour the world looking for more or struggling without it. Here are the best recipes that not even the best pawns will tell you about.

As you level up your Vocations and character in Dragon’s Dogma 2, you will earn XP and Dcp. The former will contribute to you leveling up and passively getting stronger, while the latter needs to be spent on unlocking new skills for your current Vocation. There are 10 total Vocations you can eventually unlock and use, and each one has a dozen or more skills to unlock and test out, and yet you can only use four at any given time. That’s a lot of possible skills to try out and potentially waste your DCP on. Instead, we’ll help you min-max your build right from the start by recommending the best skills you should get for each and every Vocation in the game.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is full of mythological monsters and beasts. During your travels, you will encounter many classics like Cyclopses, Griffins, and Dragons, but a more obscure creature is hidden away in a cave waiting to challenge you in a different way. The Sphinx is found in the Mountain Shrine at the top of the hill once you go through Wordlsend Cave. It won’t attack you when you approach, but instead, it will challenge you to a test of intellect. There are a total of 10 riddles to be solved, with a reward given for each one you manage to crack. Dragon’s Dogma 2 never holds your hand with anything, so we’ll help you unravel these riddles.

Following in the footsteps of the Nioh games, Team Ninja’s Rise of the Roninis absolutely bursting at the seams with loot. Between mission rewards, materials in the open world, drops from enemies, and loot from treasure chests, you will be managing your gear very often to keep your character as strong as possible. Aside from your two weapons and armor slots, you begin with a single Accessory item to equip. These are more unique items that fall into certain categories that focus on buffing specific stats or aspects of your character. Picking the right one, or multiple once you unlock additional slots, really ties your build together. Here are a few of the best Accessories to keep an eye out for while exploring Japan.

Mojang has continued to churn out Minecraft updates at a regular pace, allowing its community to thrive for over a decade. Along with Mojang, modders are constantly launching their own updates to the game — the most exciting of which might be shaders.

It wasn’t the combat that intimidated me most when starting Rise of the Ronin — it was the history.

While you do pick a starting class of sorts in Rise of the Ronin, that doesn’t lock you out of using any of the game’s numerous weapons or abilities. That initial choice simply determines your starting stats and skills, and you can still freely mold your ronin’s proficiencies with as much detail as you can their appearance. Previous Team Ninja games have had some less-than-friendly UIs for their leveling system, and while it is much better here, it is still quite overwhelming. You have multiple branches of skills spread across the four main categories, plus most skills can be leveled up more than once. If you’re ready to learn the ways of the samurai, enter our dojo to learn which skills are the best.

Open-world RPGs can be anywhere from around a dozen hours long to well over 100. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is very unique, even among others in the genre, for not adhering to a lot of traditional design philosophies, such as how it handles fast travel. If anything, that will only add to your total playtime, plus there are all the optional quests to do, Vocations to try out and level up, and more if you’re a completionist. If you’re wondering if you have the time to fit Dragon’s Dogma 2 into your schedule among all the other games releasing, here’s how long you can expect this adventure to last.

The expanded open world of Rise of the Ronin is so big that not even a trusty horse and fast travel systemare quite enough to make traversal as fun and fast as needed. While it might seem a little fantastical, you won’t complain about the inclusion of a glider once you get your hands on it and feel how freeing it is to soar above the rooftops and countryside. This has been a heavily marketed mechanic, and yet you can miss your first chance to get it if you don’t explore a little before moving on with the main quest. If you want your ronin to truly rise, make sure you check out how to get the glider here.

Rise of the Ronin is structurally a very different game from Team Ninja's previous series, Nioh. This new game not only features a new story, but a full open world as opposed to smaller stages to navigate. The games do share two main components: challenging combat and tons and tons of loot. Between all the materials you can snag while roaming the countryside and drops from fallen enemies, you will be collecting hundreds of items every hour. While mission rewards are automatically added to your inventory by default, normal items are not and require a button press to collect. Luckily, you can enable an auto-pickup option despite the game never telling you about it.

Your Vocation defines your role in combat in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Everything from your skills to what weapons and armor you can use is tied to this class. You will pick from just a handful at the beginning of the game, but can easily change Vocations later on, as well as unlock more than twice as many new options than what you start with. It can take a while to really get a feel for a Vocation and how it performs in combat, as well as to look through all of its skills and augments, before knowing if it’s worth sticking with to level up. Personal preference will play a part to some degree, but these Vocations have the most potential to make you the strongest Arisen in history.

One lesson you will learn very quickly in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is that your Arisen isn’t built to carry as many materials as you want it to. On a single trek through the world, you will be snagging fruits, herbs, monster parts, ore, weapons, and more. All that weight adds up fast, and you only need to go over half your weight limit before seeing negative effects. Sure, your pawns can shoulder some of that burden, but even then, you will need to start leaving things behind. There are no backpacks or stats you can increase to increase your carrying capacity, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. You just need to look in a different place.

It’s hard to know if a game has multiple endings, especially one as unique as Dragon’s Dogma 2. You can finish the game and not have any clue as to whether or not you’re missing anything. And in this case, there’s quite a bit more hidden if you’re able to unravel a few cryptic hints. If that’s too much work for you, we can guide you like a faithful pawn to the solution.

I never had reason to give much thought to fast travel in games before starting Dragon’s Dogma 2. In most open-world games that include the feature, the only requirement for accessing it is reaching points of interest. Once players do so, they are generally free to zip from point to point around the map with little to no inconvenience. That isn’t how Dragon’s Dogma 2 operates — fast travel is based around a limited currency called Ferrystones — and it has completely changed my mindset on the mechanic as a whole.

Death comes at you fast in Dragon's Dogma 2. While you have the luxury of being able to restart from your last save after death, and pawns can be revived or summoned again, if an NPC bites the dust, then you need to act fast if you want to bring them back. Just like fast travel, however, reviving the dead will cost you a rare and limited resource. This isn't an item you will happen across during normal travel or find on sale in a shop. If you lost an important ally and need to bring them back to life, we'll show you the way.

As skilled as your character may be in Rise of the Ronin, there are some challenges you will want to bring in some backup for. After you’re thrust into the open world after the tutorial, however, you won’t find any clues as to how co-op works here, or if it even exists at all. While co-op certainly does exist in Rise of the Ronin, it isn’t accessible right away and may be more limited than you would hope for in a game like this. It’s time to draw your katanas as we prepare to cut through all the mystery surrounding how to play co-op.

There’s a lot to see in Baldur’s Gate 3, but you’re not going to get far without a few good companions by your side. Thankfully, you’ll stumble upon a wide assortment of NPCs that’d love nothing more than to accompany you on your journey. These friendly faces fill several different roles — from mages and healers to archers and warriors, there’s bound to be a companion that augments your playstyle.

Books are not completely new to Stardew Valley. Prior to the 1.6 update, you could find lost books that gave some background details about Pelican Town but didn’t give you any in-game benefit. Now, there is a new collection of books that grant your character some nice buffs or abilities. You can find a few of these new books hidden in the world, like the new Powdermelon seeds, but there are some exclusive ones you need to buy from a new bookseller NPC. Despite not making any business sense, they are only open for brief windows of time in a specific place. Here’s when and where to find the bookseller.

We all love a good, secret Easter egg in games, especially Stardew Valley, which is absolutely full of them. We were already excited about all the new content in the 1.6 update, but there was one item included that was never even teased. The Meowmere is a new, super-secret sword that pays a nice little tribute to Terraria. The complex sequence of events you need to perform to get it calls back to that classic crafting game. The Meowmere is intentionally hard to get, but you can save a lot of time by following these steps.

While it had quite a few bugs at launch, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is in a much better place in 2024. It’s not perfect, but many of the technical wrinkles have been ironed out — making it one of the best Pokémon games you can play today. However, if you’ve already invested hundreds of hours into the game, you may not have much left to explore.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is one of the biggest Lego games ever made. Along with giving you access to hundreds of playable characters, you'll get to work your way through key moments from across the nine Skywalker saga films — each brought to life with a new dose of Lego-inspired humor. It'll take dozens of hours to unlock everything it has to offer, and there's no denying the journey is much more enjoyable with a friend.

Introduced in the massive 1.6 update to Stardew Valley, Powdermelon is a brand new crop to try your hand at growing. It’s the most interesting among the new additions due to the fact that it is one of the rarer winter crops. With this handy melon, you can keep your farm producing even in the snowy months, but you won’t find the seeds to start growing it in your general store. Get your soil and farming tools ready as we show you how to start growing this chilly melon.

Hogwarts Legacy is the best Harry Potter game to ever land on consoles and PC, and the title’s open-world setting is one to be reckoned with. You’ll spend hours exploring the fantastical universe, completing an array of inspired side quests and puzzles, all while evolving your character. The Merlin Trials is a particular set of challenges you’ll want to take on, as you’ll earn additional inventory slots when you beat one. And if you’ve ever played an open-world RPG, you’ll know just how vital these extra digital cubbies can be.

Once you've been sorted into your house in Hogwarts Legacy and are free to roam around the campus, you might stumble upon some mysterious doors with various symbols surrounding it and strange numbers on the front. Naturally, you will be drawn to open it, only to find it locked. These aren't doors you can open with your normal lockpicking spells, no matter how high you level them up. Instead, you will need to use your wits to overcome this obstacle. That, or simply follow this guide to open the Arithmancy doors in Hogwarts Legacy.

The world of Elden Ring is filled with mysteries. The game doesn't hold your hand for long before letting you venture out in any direction you like – which is both a blessing and a curse. Stumbling upon new weapons, enemies, or another gorgeous viewpoint is what makes Elden Ring so entertaining, and if the game simply pointed you towards all these locations, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting.

Multiplayer games began as purely local events. If you wanted to play with, or against, your friends, there was no other option than to get together either at someone's house or, if you're going even further back in time, at a local arcade. While playing locally is still a great way to play, it isn't always an option. Online multiplayer is not only more convenient most of the time, but it has become the norm for nearly all modern multiplayer games.

Staying alive in Elden Ring is easier said than done. The game throws a gauntlet of nightmarish enemies your way, and one wrong move can deplete your entire health bar. That makes it imperative for you to master all your abilities and equip the best gear possible – but you should also consider using spirits.