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Quick Links In the third episode ofAce Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, the stakes only seem to get higher (despite this case taking place entirely on the ground, which makes a change!). The Kidnapped Turnabout features as many twists and turns as a Haunted house full of mirrors, and it both starts and ends with exactly one of those. This episode sees the introduction of a very important person, the return of some fan favourites (and Wendy Oldbag, who may be nobody’s favourite), and plenty of puzzles and cross-examinations to ace....

Quick Links The second episode ofSam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouseis something of a misnomer - you actually don’t get to play as the titular characters much at all! Instead, you’re reliving the events that their great-grandfathers, Sameth and Maximus, went through, via Max’s odd new psychic powers. As you’d expect, however, this requires the same zany adventuring brain that Sam and Max’s other adventures will have conditioned you to have....

Pixarreminded us over the weekend that not only will there be a Toy Story 5 coming to theaters in the summer of 2026, but that Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and “the gang” would be returning for the new installment. I say reminded because this wasn’t really an announcement, per se – technically, the first confirmation of Toy Story 5’s existence was in a February 2023 Q1 earning call, tacked on to Disney CEO Bob Iger’s announcement that 7,000 Disney employees were being laid off....

Until Thenstarts with an alarm clock. But our main character doesn’t simply awaken. We are subconsciously tasked with mashing buttons to stretch the obnoxious beeping of his snooze function until he has no choice but to slam it quiet in frustration. From here you wake up, get dressed, and commute to school like every other day of your young, uneventful life so far. This narrative adventure from developer Polychroma Games starts slowly, deliberately pulling you into the mundane existence of protagonist Mark Borja as he gives graded presentations with friends, flirts with a potential sweetheart, and bathes in the melancholy of a fleeting way of life that is held back by some form of invisible oppression....

While not all games fit neatly inside a genre definition, the labels given to them help us find similar games we might like. Fans ofElden Ringknow that the feel of the game is very special, and that’s because it is part of a rather unique genre: the Soulslike. But what is a Soulslike, and how can we identify when something is part of that genre? Not all games made by FromSoftware are Soulslikes, but we can use their games as a starting point to understand what it means to be a Soulslike, and why they aren’t just third-person action games....

Summary I’m not having a great time at the moment, folks. Instead of tackling myalready insurmountable backlog of great 2024 games, I’ve shot a decade into the past to try to finally finishDragon Age: Inquisition, a game I’vebounced off twice already. This time around I’m more engaged with the plot (and actually made it far enough to become the Inquisitor), but every mechanic is grating and seems to be actively discouraging me from carrying on....

Quick Links Two of the scariest things inMagic: The Gatheringare powerful enter the battlefield triggers, and an overwhelming swarm of tokens. Many decks rely on both of these to win, and, thanks to the offspring mechanic introduced in Bloomburrow, you’re able to do both at the same time. Offspring is similar to lots of other mechanics in Magic, but the way it could be used could make it an all-timer for the game....

Quick Links You are a meta-human in the survival horror world ofOnce Human. In this MMORPG, you will be tasked with hunting Deviants and helping survivors. In doing so, you’ll be collecting resources and crafting various tools and machines. There are several communities where different merchants have set up shop situated across the region. Meta-humans can buy certain items from them, but those unavailable at the stores may be found inVending Machineowned by other meta-humans....

Summary A slightly unusualWarhammerpainting video has been doing the rounds in hobby circles recently. Martin Kovac is a hobby YouTuber who goes by the name Night Shift, but he doesn’t often dabble in Warhammer. Mostly, Kovac paints historical tanks. There’s a lot of World War 2 stuff on his channel, mostly in 1/35 scale. In his own words, he’s “obsessed with rough steel textures and weathering”. Sounds Warhammery, no? Kovac’s techniques take miniature painting to another level, and applying his experience creating realistic historical dioramas to the tanks of the 41st millennium is impressive....

Shaaloani is the fourth map inFinal Fantasy 14: Dawntrail. This dry, desert-like region is a stark contrast to the verdant forests you’ve explored in Tural this far. Luckily, for the people of Shaaloani, ceruleum deposits are plentiful in this region, creating a business that enables essential infrastructure like railroads. If you want to learn how to fly in Shaaloani, you’ve come to the right place. While you’re able to certainly find all the Aether Currents in this zone using the Aether Compass, our way is much faster....

Summary I was at Blizzcon 2023 when Chris Metzan, formerly-retired World of Warcraft narrative architect, took the stage to reveal the Worldsoul Saga - a three-act story spread over a trio of upcoming expansions, starting with this year’s The War Within, that promises a payoff for the biggest mysteries in the Warcraft universe. I’ve been to several Blizzcons, including when Diablo 4 was first announced in 2019, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the crowd react with as much intense enthusiasm before....

Summary As so many shows, games, and movies are either being revived or adapted, news that your favorite series is next up can be both scary and exciting. WhenMarvelannounced it would be building on X-Men: The Animated Series via X-Men ‘97, there was fear among fans of the show’s original run that whatever followed might taint its legacy. Thankfully, to say X-Men ‘97’s creators did it justice would be an understatement, and now one of the first momentsX-Menfans knew the reboot was going to be great has been turned into a collectible....

Summary Animeis sometimes criticized for being a lesser form of media and storytelling, but the truth is, anime exceeds conventional entertainment in a lot of ways. When it comes to animation, many studios have slowly been stepping up their game in many ways, becoming more and more visually appealing. With higher budgets and better technology, animation has never been more stylistic and beautiful, and, in most regards, anime beats out other cartoons....