CD Projekt has announced that patch 2.21 for Cyberpunk 2077 is rolling out to players on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. The brunt of the changes are largely fixes for photo mode, as well as DLSS 4 support for PC players.
While patch 2.2 added a much deeper look at customization in photo mode, 2.21 adds heaps of fixes for the mode. One of the most notable is the ability to finally save characters and V’s rotation and position within your Photo Mode presets.
There are also fixes present for “texture and color inconsistencies for vehicles that have CrystalCoat applied,” in addition to several other menu fixes for the vehicle customization system added in patch 2.11.
For those looking at creating a character in future runs, you can now also preserve randomizer settings within the character creator after further customization of character attributes.
There are also a handful of changes to allow Johnny Silverhand to appear more in the passenger seat of your car if you’re ever feeling lonely while driving along the streets of Dogtown. Patch 2.2 originally sought to resolve this by having Johnny sitting shotgun around 25% of the time, which didn’t happen. The inverse also occurred, where Johnny could appear duplicated in the passenger seat in quests where he is set to appear during a scripted event. The new patch will solve any ghostly duplications of Silverhand, and have him spend more time with V in a car this time around.
Most notably, the game has also added DLSS 4 support for PC players, as well as Multi Frame Generation for RTX 50-series GPUs. This tool will now allow players to boost their FPS by “up to three times per traditionally rendered frame,” so long as you have the new GPUs to run it.
RTX 40-series users can also enjoy “faster single frame generation with reduced memory usage." All Nvidia RTX GPU owners can also choose between the traditional CNN model in DLSS features to the new Transformer model, which CD Projekt claimed can enhance “stability, lighting, and detail in motion."
RTX users can also enjoy enhanced Ray Reconstruction, with fewer artifacts and smudging in patch 2.21. CD Projekt has not announced whether or not this might be a final update to Cyberpunk 2077, as the company transitions to full development on The Witcher 4.
Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.21 patch notes:
Patch 2.21 for Cyberpunk 2077 is being rolled out on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S!
This update adds support for DLSS 4 on PC and introduces various fixes, notably to SmartFrames on Xbox and Photo Mode across all platforms. For details, check the full list of changes below:
Photo Mode
Nibbles and Adam Smasher can now be spawned while V is in the air or in water.
Fixed the Facial Expression option for Adam Smasher.
Fixed an issue where Adam Smasher's glowing chest cyberware was missing.
Fixed an issue where, if Johnny's Alternate Appearance was enabled, both options to spawn him (default and alternate) resulted in the alternate look.
Characters spawned while V is in the air or in water will no longer snap to the ground.
Characters will now be properly saved in presets.
Spawned characters will now be visible after adding a background.
V's rotation and position will now be properly saved in presets.
Fixed an issue where adjusting the Up/Down slider for V wouldn't change their position between certain values.
NPCs that turn invisible after disabling the Surrounding NPCs option will no longer have collision.
Fixed an issue where loading a preset could cause additional light sources to appear even when disabled, or spawn them in incorrect positions.
Fixed an issue where the camera could get stuck on walls after setting Full Collision to ON.
Fixed an issue where camera settings would only apply after loading a saved preset twice.
Enabling a background will no longer change camera position.
Rotating the camera will now work properly with a background enabled.
Fixed an issue where the prompts for Move Camera and Rotate Camera would appear when the camera cannot be moved (e.g. when using the First-Person Perspective camera).
Fixed an issue where it wasn't possible to move the camera after spawning a character while highlighting the Edit Character option.
Disabling Chromatic Aberration in the Graphics settings will no longer affect the ability to adjust it.
Fixed an issue where some items in scenes disappeared after setting the Surrounding NPCs option to OFF.
Fixed an issue where enabling PhysX Cloth would unfreeze NCPD vehicles.
The rule of thirds grid will now properly adapt to the selected aspect ratio.
Fixed an issue where the image in a SmartFrame wouldn't be visible if accessed while V was not facing it.
Fixed an issue where opening Photo Mode simultaneously with Wardrobe or Stash caused the game to become unresponsive.
Fixed an issue where it was possible to access Photo Mode before a save file fully loaded, causing it to open without UI and block any further action.
Fixed other minor Photo Mode issues related to spawned characters, camera movement, controls, and more.
Fixed various UI issues in Photo Mode, SmartFrames and Gallery menus, including slider inconsistencies, localization errors, missing sound effects, incorrect behavior when interacting with certain features, and more.
Vehicle Color Customization
Fixed several texture and color inconsistencies for vehicles that have CrystalCoat applied.
Fixed an issue where the explanation of the spray paint icon was missing in the Autofixer tutorial pop-up after a vehicle contract was completed.
Fixed several minor UI issues in the CrystalCoat and TwinTone menus.
Character Creation
Randomizer settings in Character Creation will now be preserved after advancing to the Customize Attributes step.
Fixed an issue where the Piercing Color option would not be available in Character Creation after enabling piercings if V initially had none.
Fixed other minor issues in Character Creation, including appearance options not applying correctly, visual clipping, inconsistent UI behavior, functionality issues after using the randomizer, and more.
Miscellaneous
Run This Town - Fixed an issue where, under certain circumstances, it wasn't possible to deactivate the Aguilar imprint after meeting with Bennett.
Fixed several instances where Johnny could appear duplicated in the passenger seat during some quests when he was already present in the scene.
Fixed an issue where Johnny did not appear as a passenger often enough.
Introduced several fixes to NPC and vehicle behavior for various small events throughout Night City.
Fixed an issue where some vendors were not interactable as intended.
Fixed an issue where voiceovers on TV news channels could be missing or too quiet.
Fixed an issue where the Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech used a description of Quadra Turbo-R 740 instead of its own unique one.
Fixed the missing 2.2 "check what's new" pop-up in the main menu.
Console-specific
Fixed an issue where screenshots appeared as blank in the Gallery on Xbox if they were taken with HDR10 enabled.
Added a pop-up in the Gallery to notify players when access to screenshots is blocked by the console's privacy settings on Xbox.
Screenshots deleted on Xbox outside the Gallery UI will now be correctly marked in the Gallery and will disappear from occupied slots after reopening the Gallery.
Fixed an issue where the Graphics Mode on Xbox Series S could be set to Quality instead of Performance by default.
PC-specific
Added support for DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation for GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics cards, which boosts FPS by using AI to generate up to three times per traditionally rendered frame – enabled with GeForce RTX 50 Series on January 30th. DLSS 4 also introduces faster single Frame Generation with reduced memory usage for RTX 50 and 40 Series. Additionally, you can now choose between the CNN model or the new Transformer model for DLSS Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Super Resolution, and DLAA on all GeForce RTX graphics cards today. The new Transformer model enhances stability, lighting, and detail in motion.
Fixed artifacts and smudging on in-game screens when using DLSS Ray Reconstruction.
The Frame Generation field in Graphics settings will now properly reset after switching Resolution Scaling to OFF.
Sayem is a freelancer based in the UK, covering tech & hardware. You can get in touch with him at @sayem.zone on Bluesky.
EA’s Origin App was introduced in 2011 so you could browse and purchase EA’s PC games on its digital storefront instead of Steam. The most notable launch from this time was a strict Origin requirement for Mass Effect 3 in 2012. However, it never really seemed to take off.
Due to clunky UX and frustrating login processes, many PC gamers chose to outright avoid using Origin as much as possible. Despite this, EA persisted, but has now finally decided to outright replace Origin with the equally clunky EA app.
This comes along with several caveats. Own Titanfall on Origin but can’t access your account? Too bad, if you don’t make a formal account switch from Origin to EA, you’ll lose access to the games you’ve paid for.
Along the way, anyone running a 32-bit system will also be left behind, as the EA app supports 64-bit OS only. To be fair to EA, Steam itself also dropped support for 32-bit operating systems in early 2024, with a scant few users on 32-bit systems remaining.
It’s extremely unlikely that anyone who has purchased a new PC or laptop, or assembled a custom gaming PC in the last five years will be running on a 32-bit OS. However, Microsoft did sell 32-bit versions of Windows 10 up to 2020. If you’re on Windows 11, there’s no sweat. 64-bit support was first introduced in Windows Vista’s release almost 20 years ago.
A quick way to check is to see how much RAM your system is running. A 32-bit OS can only use a maximum of 4GB of RAM, so if you’ve got more than that in your system, you’ve likely got nothing to worry about. However, if you’ve accidentally installed a 32-bit version of Windows, you’ll have to wipe your entire system and reinstall a 64-bit version of the OS.
While support being dropped for 32-bit systems isn’t too surprising in 2024, it calls into question the nature of digital ownership. It’s no fun losing access to a library of games that you’ve owned for years due to hardware changes. Steam isn’t free from this either, as Valve has also dropped 32-bit support, leaving players who can’t upgrade to modern systems high and dry.
Invasive digital DRM solutions like Denuvo are also becoming increasingly commonplace in PC games, since some elements require deep kernel-level access to your PC, or have arbitrary installation limits, despite your purchase.
One way of preserving a legitimately purchased digital library is to support GOG, run by CD Projekt. The DRM-free nature of every game listed on the store means that once you download a title, you’ll be able to run it and own it on whatever hardware the title supports, forever.
However, the window this opens up for developers is the possibility of software piracy. But, that’s not stopped new titles from being released on the platform, with the upcoming RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 “coming soon” to GOG.
Sayem is a freelancer based in the UK, covering tech & hardware. You can get in touch with him at @sayem.zone on Bluesky.
Our favorite Game Pass deal is back for the first time in 2025. Woot! (which is owned by Amazon) is offering three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for only $33.99. There's a 10% off coupon "SAVETEN" that drops the price to $30.59 with free digital delivery. The normal monthly cost is $19.99. This coupon only runs for 24 hours and will expire end of day.
Note that you can purchase multiple Game Pass codes and apply them to your account up to a maximum of 36 months, however SAVETEN is one-time use and will only work on one of your Game Pass codes. The coupon field is at the final step of checkout right under the "Place Order" button.
3 Months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $30.59
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gives you access to a library of hundreds of Xbox games, including day one releases. If you don't own a console and don't want to pay for one, there's even a legitimate way to play Game Pass games without an Xbox. Although you do lose access to the library once your membership is over, all your past achievements and progress will be saved. New release games are not cheap, and being able to play them at launch without paying retail price for them will save you a lot of money. This perk alone will easily recoup the cost of the membership.
Other perks include access to Xbox Game Pass for PC, exclusive membership discounts, Xbox Cloud Gaming, a bonus EA Play subscription, extra in-game content and rewards, and more.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
The greatest strength of CBS’ new medical drama Watson is its potential for audacity. This is a show built for big, wild swings that either knock the ball clear out of the park or whiff so bad that everyone ends up in the hospital – whatever happens, it should be fun to watch. (And in the event of that mass hospitalization: Sounds like the seeds of a great episode of Watson.) Unfortunately, the series’ first five episodes are occasionally modest with their exam-room conundrums, and they come close to wasting both an excessively creative premise and a steady leading performance from Morris Chestnut. Because Watson isn’t just a new CBS medical drama, it’s also yet another modern revival of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes universe… that also happens to be a medical drama. And a mystery show. And a light thriller about the machinations of an evil villain. And sometimes a commentary on America’s healthcare system. And sometimes it’s about how high-functioning addicts can gaslight the people around them.
But perhaps most audacious of all is the fact that this has been done before, for eight whole seasons on Fox’s House. There are some very crucial differences between Watson and House, though, including the tone of both shows (mirroring its title character, House tended to be gritty and dark, while Watson is overtly optimistic), but the most explicit difference is that House’s Holmes influences were just that: Influences. Watson, on the other hand, straight-up takes place in a world where Chestnut’s Dr. John Watson went on a bunch of adventures with renowned detective Sherlock Holmes in London. He then returned to the United States to open a clinic after Holmes’ apparent death at the hands of the evil Professor Moriarty, which, as depicted in Doyle’s The Final Problem and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows, involved the Reichenbach Falls.
This all works best when the backstory is integral to what’s happening onscreen and isn’t just color, like when it factors into the overarching plot or when Watson imparts some Holmesian lesson. But, at the same time, it is kind of fun to watch run-of-the-mill doctor stuff going on while thinking “Sherlock Holmes existed in this world” or “the guy doing this medical examination presumably met versions of Inspector Lestrade, Woman-with-a-capital-W Irene Adler, and the famously lazy Mycroft Holmes.”
That’s where the audacity comes in: Watson just works so hard to be interesting. There have been decades of medical dramas on TV that didn’t have to jump through this many conceptual hoops, but they’ve rendered the genre pretty dull and formulaic. Watson’s gimmick doesn’t go as hard as it should or could, but it’s a better gimmick than you’ll find in most of its peers – especially since so many are simply “What if there were a doctor who just cared a whole lot?”
There’s a fascinating potential for silliness in Watson, and its early goings contain at least one stand-out moment that might make you leap out of your chair at how impressively deranged it is. While those moments are too few and far between, it does at least always feel like one could pop up out of nowhere and make an episode a whole lot more fun than it was before.
The struggle of Watson is in those moments in between. When it’s just a straightforward doctor show with an emphasis on weird genetic mysteries (Watson’s speciality, apparently), it meets the bare minimum of being compelling, watchable television. This type of thing is popular for a reason, since it presents a dangerous situation and then makes you feel for the person in that situation and then everything works out in the end. The average episode of Watson follows that arc to a T.
Thankfully, Morris Chestnut’s casual magnetism makes the more generic material a little more appealing. He’s a great leading man, as his years on television would attest, and he does bring a sense of playful joy to the role that feels consistent with how Dr. John Watson is often portrayed in the typical Sherlock Holmes story. If he enjoys puzzling out a patient’s ailment so much, it makes sense that he’d throw his old life away so he could hang around with an acerbic English detective (and would then be devastated by that man’s death).
Watson just works so hard to be interesting.
Less successful is virtually everyone else around him. Watson has (for lack of a better term) a House-style team of younger physicians (Eve Harlow, Peter Mark Kendall in a dual role, and Inga Schlingmann) who do most of the medical work, and each one is explicitly a gimmick unto themselves. It’s clever that those gimmicks are actually part of the plot and that everyone is aware they are a gimmick, but it’s clear that some of the characters were designed to carry storylines themselves and others are just there for the quirks of their personalities or backstories. Ritchie Coster also appears as classic Holmes side character Shinwell Johnson, who often feels like he was added to Watson at the last minute to deliver clearer exposition about the larger Holmes-y mythology of it all.
But there’s still that potential for silliness. There always seems to be a chance that Watson will pull the trigger on a ridiculous plot twist or a show-shaking reveal, and then the less-exciting parts will suddenly become Worth It. And if that doesn’t happen in a given episode… well, it might happen in the next one. That’s the weird trick of Watson: It’s not always great, and it’s not always fun, but when it is fun, it makes you want to stick around.
In the nearly 40 years since the one-two punch of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek: The Next Generation ignited my enthusiasm for Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi juggernaut, I’ve seen the franchise through highs (the Dominion War arc on Deep Space Nine, the movie First Contact, the ongoing Paramount+ series Strange New Worlds) and lows (the Voyagerepisode “Threshold,” the Enterprisefinale, the morose tedium of Picard’s first season). But with it all, there’s a phrase I’ve never said in reaction to any film or show under the Trekumbrella – especially since it’s the rallying cry of so many bad faith bozos who monetize negativity on the internet. But the direct-to-streaming Star Trekfilm Section 31 has initiated a core breach in my soul, and my reaction is simple: “This isn’t Star Trek.”
Initially conceived as a spin-off series for Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek: Discovery character, Terran Emperor-turned-undercover-Federation-do-gooder Philippa Georgiou, Section 31 arrives on Paramount+ as 100 minutes of generic schlock containing only trace elements of Star Trek. If you were to scrub the tricorder sound effects from the mix, brush out an occasional Delta shield, and cut out its titular black-ops organization’s connection to Starfleet, you’d just think, gee, this chintzy Syfy movie sure knows to copy from The Hunger Games and Guardians of the Galaxy(and X-Menand The Fifth Element) but doesn’t know a damn thing about being original. Or engaging.
Though it would still be boring, Section 31 might actually be better if you come to it with no knowledge of Star Treklore. This way, at least, you won’t end up wondering how writer Craig Sweeny and director Olatunde Osunsanmi completely bungled the entire Trekethos – its admittedly corny core tenants of exploration, optimism, and the pursuit of righteous achievement. (There’s a reason we Star Trekdorks got bullied a lot in junior high.) Section 31is nothing but a lousy, uninteresting caper picture with middling special effects, bad acting (yes, even Yeoh), cringeworthy dialogue, and characters you don’t care about.
I’ll try to lay out the premise as quickly as possible, though Section 31’s boiled-down form doesn’t make that the easiest task. After flashing back to Philippa’s bloody ascendance to the throne of what we used to call the Mirror Universe, we find where she landed after peacing out from Section 31 in Discovery’s third season: “outside of Federation space,” running a cosmic Rick’s Café Américain where the main attraction seems to be low lighting and music that sounds like it was produced in 2024. Her former, secretive outfit has been reimagined as an Impossible Mission Force or Charlie’s Angels – with Yeoh’s Everything Everywhere All at Once pal Jamie Lee Curtis handing out assignments – and somehow the group has tracked Georgiou down and knows that some bad guy is coming to do an illegal weapon trade at her club.
Thus, a ragtag group of zany, Guardians-esque characters are dispatched to intercept and prevent this dangerous development. In addition to the cool guy leader (Omari Hardwick), there’s a quippy shapeshifter (Sam Richardson, who does the best he can with this material, and comes out of Section 31 okay), an “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch!” type mecha brute (Robert Kazinsky), a sexy Deltan (Humberly Gonzalez), and a wacky Vulcan (Sven Ruygrok) who actually is not a Vulcan, but rather a microscopic organism in a tiny spaceship inside a Vulcan-shaped Golem body. (Think Men in Black.) When his little ship moves around it looks and sounds like the flying cars from The Jetsons, which is unintentionally hilarious.
Embedded with this bickering crew is an observer from Starfleet, a young woman named Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), who hardcore fans know will grow to become a pre-Picard Captain of the Enterprise. Garrett’s presence, combined with that of a figure from Georgiou’s past, throw the when of Section 31 into utter confusion – as if Sweeny tossed the nerds a bone by giving us people we kinda recognize, but made no attempt to actually make the fit within a consistent timeline. Agonizing over this, however, is the least of anyone’s worries, because the rest of this movie is so dreadfully dull.
Section 31 will infuriate Star Trek fans and bore everyone else.
With Georgiou (who, mind you, viciously murdered thousands, including her parents and baby brother) part of the new, fun Section 31 gang, we experience some hijinks, like a phase-shield fight with the arms smuggler which was done a lot cooler in Dune(both versions) and a runaway train-style chase straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,but now made to look like CGI slop. There’s also the discovery that someone in the group is a mole – but these are characters we all just met, so there’s absolutely nothing at stake here. Someone whose name you barely know isn’t who they seem? Who cares?
Even with the golden opportunity to play interplanetary outlaws, none of the cast (except Richardson) are anything but annoying. Blame can be spread around, though. There’s not just unoriginal writing, but totally uninspired direction. When the team all present themselves for Georgiou once she’s officially been recruited, everyone stands still on their mark and barks backstory at her with an almost defiant lack of pizzazz. These lugubrious deliveries are intercut by editing that tries to add spice, but winds up disquieting and feels forced. Yeoh is chomping up every moment, which actually worked on Discovery when she was a supporting character playing off Sonequa Martin-Green or Anthony Rapp. But when she’s in the center seat, her dry, haughty tone quickly becomes irritating. The great athleticism of her fight scenes aside, there’s not much that’s likable here.
There’s a lot more fighting, a lot more chasing, and several examples in which the writing seems dictated from TikTok of three years ago. “You’re a chaos goblin!” the future Captain Garrett is told. “I love that for us,” she responds to a later prompt. Most importantly, there are none of the thought provoking elements that make Star Trekso special. There’s no wonder, just a push to expand the IP in a way that landed well with the Paramount suits. I suppose if I were to search for a thesis to Section 31 it’s that being a bloodthirsty tyrant eventually leads to some brief moments of introspection. So noted.
The weirdest thing is that this little cul-du-sac in the Star Trekuniverse – which I predict almost no one will remember in a year – exists when Lower Decksjust ended and Strange New Worlds is readying for its next season. These are two shows that understand, on a molecular level, the joy and specificity of Star Trek. The franchise is still alive.
As such, it’s best to just consider Section 31 an aberration and move on. If I’ve learned anything from Starfleet, it’s to keep positive. I’m simply dispatching a warning buoy to all other ships to avoid this area of space and warping out of here.
There were a lot of great books that came out last year, but perhaps the biggest standout on the Amazon best sellers list for 2024 was one that didn't even release until this week. I'm talking of course, about the latest title in the Empyrean series: Onyx Storm.
If you aren't familiar with those names, you may have still heard of the first book in the series called Fourth Wing. The popularity of these novels by Rebecca Yarros is largely thanks to them going viral on BookTok, which is where other romance books have gone viral in the past. Perhaps the most famous book to get picked up on that corner of TikTok was It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, which skyrocketed the series to the top of the best selling list in 2022 and eventually got turned into a movie.
Why Is The Empyrean Series So Popular?
It's easy to point toward TikTok as the main driver of the virality of this series, but the plot and genre of the books were set up for success from the very beginning. I have read both Fourth Wing and Iron Flame and can honestly say they are hard to put down. There are elements familiar to the Harry Potter books, romance similar to the Twilight series, and dragons similar to the Inheritance Cycle. Reading these books feels familiar, and yet somehow very new.
The other, perhaps more obvious reason for the popularity of this series is the very graphic descriptions of the main character's sexual encounters. What initially feels like your standard young adult novel suddenly gets really steamy really fast and never really slows down after that. It's an epic fantasy romance with dragons and sex, what more could anyone really want from a book?
What Were the Other Amazon Best-Selling Books of 2024?
Onyx Storm was only the second best-selling book on the 2024 list. The overall top novel on the list was The Women by Kristin Hannah which came out in February 2024 and topped The New York Time's best seller list at time as well. Here is a quick look at the top ten books that made Amazon's list in 2024.
Today, I've got an eclectic gaggle of deals for you to play through over the weekend. There's a VR-y decent BYO Bundle for the headset-inclined, an Erdtree Edition for the masochists among you, and a bunch of CoDs (old and new) worth catching. Failing that, score some cut-price LEGO, because I'm obsessed with that also.
In retro news, I'm celebrating the 28th birthday of Kirby Super Star, a SNES...er, super...star that we called Kirby's Fun Pak down under. The inclusion of two-player co-op was an uncommon feature in platformers of this age, so a neighbourhood pal and I were all about slowly unlocking and smashing through this eight-game omnibus at launch. In particular, we had a blast in Spring Breeze (Kirby's Dream Land abridged) and The Great Cave Offensive (a Metroidvania filled with Nintendo stablemate references). That mechanic of P1 swallowing an enemy and then vomiting out a helper minion controlled by P2? Timelessly cool.
Best Buy just brought back a Black Friday deal and made it even better. Right now you can pick up a pretty massive 75" Samsung DU6950 Crystal 4K Smart TV for only $529.99 after a savings of $220 and get a second 43" Samsung DU6900 Crystal 4K Smart TV for free. The second TV will be automatically added to your shopping cart. This is also $20 cheaper than the deal we saw during Best Buy's 4-Day Sale over the weekend, and the bonus TV wasn't even included at the time. Here's your chance to upgrade your main TV and get a second TV for your bedroom or gaming den at a super price.
Buy a 75" Samsung TV for $530 and Get a Free 43" TV
If you want to stick with the Samsung brand and you want a big TV at an affordable price, there isn't any other TV that offers up a 75" screen size at a better price. This is a no frills TV with a native 4K resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, and Samsung's Tizen smart interface. This is an entry level TVs that sits below other TV models equipped with QLEDs, Mini LEDs, or OLEDs, but costs hundreds less and still offers up great image quality in most situations.
The DU6900 is a "Crystal 4K TV", which according to Samsung, means that it boasts a wider spectrum of colours via Dynamic Crystal Color technology that adds more contrast to the images. It also supports HDR, a feature that enriches the luminance, contrast and colours so you can actually see the details in the picture even in the darkest dark and the brightest bright scenes. Note that these improvements in picture quality are mostly software based, as opposed to more expensive hardware-based panel technologies.
The free 43" TV that you get is from the same DU6900 series but with a smaller screen size. TVs under 45" are still commonly found at lower resolutions of 1080p or 720p, but this model sports a true 4K resolution. It also has built-in speakers and integrated smart interface, so it's ready to go out of the box with all of the bare essentials.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Monster Hunter is one of the biggest game franchises out there right now, with the highly anticipated release of Monster Hunter Wilds set for next month. If you've ever wanted to square up with towering beasts and monsters, this is the perfect series for you.
Right now, Humble is offering the Monster Hunter New Year Hunting Collection, which packs in ten total items for only $25. This is a great starting place for beginners, as it gives you the biggest Monster Hunter games available on PC with their expansions. Check out the details below, and don't miss out on this incredible bundle!
Monster Hunter New Year Hunting Collection at Humble
This bundle is the ultimate deal if you've yet to purchase any Monster Hunter games on Steam. Depending on how much you'd like to pay, you can score up to 10 items! For $10, you can score Monster Hunter Rise, the Deluxe Kit upgrade, and two coupons for the Monster Hunter Stories games. $15 will give you Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak as well, which is a major DLC expansion featuring new monsters and areas to discover.
Next, $20 will grant you Monster Hunter World and its deluxe kit, while the final tier at $25 unlocks Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. At this max tier, you will score the following:
In total, this bundle has a value of $204, offering an unbeatable price for these games and expansions. Like all Humble offerings, part of your payment will go to charity. The Monster Hunter New Year Hunting Collection supports Breakthrough T1D, an organization focused on global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy. Your purchase will help support Breakthrough T1D as it continues to work toward more solutions and improve access to health care. Only three days remain for this deal, so head over to Humble Bundle now to take advantage of this offer before it's gone!
For fans of the 2D platformer Celeste, you'll be sad to hear that the developers' next game, Earthblade, has been canceled.
In a blog post titled "Final Earthblade Update," Extremely OK Games announced that its follow-up to the award-winning game Celeste has been canceled. In the post, EXOK Director of R&D Maddy Thorson detailed the reasoning behind the decision, and what's next for the studio.
"Lat last month, Noel [Berry, EXOK Computer Programmer] made the difficult decision to cancel Earthblade... We made this decision in December and felt it best to wait until now to announce it."
Thorson's post details that at some point last year a dispute arose between Thorson and Berry and Earthblade art director Pedro Medeiros over the IP rights of Celeste. Thorson declined to detail the dispute other than to say that there was a resolution reached and Medeiros parted ways with the team and is now developing a separate game titled Neverway.
However, this dispute gave Thorson and Berry a chance to examine where they were at with Earthblade and discovered that the project was not coming along the way they had hoped. "Noel and I also began to reflect on how the game has felt for us to work on day-to-day and realized that it has been a struggle for a long time. Sure, working on one project for so long is bound to become a slog, but this feels like a deeper problem."
Thorson says Celeste's success "applied pressure on us to deliver something bigger and better with Earthblade, and that pressure is a large part of why working on it has become so exhausting." Thorson also says the dispute with Medeiros "has given us clarity to see that we have lost our way, and the opportunity to admit defeat."
As for what's next, Thorson says she and Berry are are prototyping new ideas again and trying to return to a game development process similar to how they made Celeste and TowerFall.
Celeste was released in 2018 as a throwback to the pixel 2D platformers of old. The game's brilliant level design, difficulty, music, and everything else around it earned it a perfect score in our Celeste review. A trailer for Earthblade was released in 2022 showing that it was going to be a new 2D platformer.
You don't have to wait for the new 2025 LG TVs to drop to score a great deal on an older generation model. Right now, you can pick up a 2023 65" LG Evo C3 4K OLED TV for just $1,196.99 with free shipping on Amazon. This is a better deal than what I saw during Black Friday. This TV is about $200 pricier than the 65" Samsung S85D that's currently on sale for $998, but according to Rtings, the LG Evo C3 is a technically superior TV with better picture quality and more HDMI 2.1 inputs.
65" LG Evo C3 4K OLED Smart TV for $1197
The LG Evo C3 is a 2023 model, just one year behind the 2024 LG Evo C4. So what are the differences? Aside from the $650 price difference, not much. The most important trait -- picture quality -- is more or less identical. Where the C4 improves on the C3 are an upgraded processor, newer WebOS smart interface, and a higher 144Hz refresh rate.
OLED TVs are considered the best TVs you can buy right now. Compared to traditional LED LCD TVs, they offer better image quality, deeper blacks, better contrast ratio, wider color gamut, and super fast response times. Because of these advantages, the OLED TV are easily the best type of TV for viewing 4K HDR content in all of its intended glory. LG OLED TVs particular have been out for years and benefit from several generations of optimizations.
The LG C3 also has all the features you'd want in a gaming TV as well. It has a native 120Hz panel and all four HDMI 2.1 ports for running 4K at 120Hz on a PS5 or Xbox Series X. It also supports variable refresh rate (VRR), auto low latency mode (ALLM), and DTS audio, which is good for people who still watch Blu-ray discs. The C3 is also much easier to set up than its predecessors; the rear cabinet housing is made of a composite fiber that drops the weight to a mere 36 pounds.
The LG Evo C-series TV is our favorite high-end 4K TV of 2025 because of the brilliance of its OLED display along with a host of quality features that don't quite push it to the point of an excessively high price. This model brings better contrast and clarity than the previous year's already luminous LG C2. It’s a sight to behold, especially when you add in the deep blacks and well-balanced colors on the crisp 4K screen. Once you choose OLED, it's hard to go back to anything else.
How Does This Compare to the Upcoming LG Evo C5?
The LG Evo C5 hasn't yet been released, but it was showcased during CES 2025. At least on paper, the improvements of the C5 seem to be incremental, with no major ground breaking updates that would make you want to hold off until its launch. More importantly, the C5 will probably release at a very high retail price which will take months to get down to a level that's competitive with other TV deals.
Looking for more options? Check out all of the best TVs of 2025.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
EA has announced today that it is revising its outlook for the fiscal year after a slowdown in Global Football net bookings growth, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard missed the company's internal targets by nearly 50%.
In a press release, the company said it was reducing its expectations for the fiscal year ending March of 2025 from mid-single-digit growth to mid-single-digit decline. The largest culprit, EA says, was global football, aka EA Sports FC, which it says experienced a slowdown last year in Q3 after two consecutive fiscal years of double-digit net bookings growth. In the press release, EA CEO Andrew Wilson specifically pointed to EA Sports FC 25 as underperforming.
But in addition to global football, EA also mentioned that Dragon Age "engaged" 1.5 million players during the quarter, which was down nearly 50% from the company's projections. Notably, EA does not say the 1.5 million number was unit sales - Dragon Age: The Veilguard was also available as a part of EA's Play Pro subscription service. Additionally, it's not clear whether EA is counting a free trial of the game that was available through the cheaper EA Play subscription in the 1.5 million number either.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard released on October 31, 2024, and EA's report only covers the final quarter of the year through the end of December, meaning these engagement totals encompass the game's first two months on the market. It's worth noting that 1.5 million (or thereabouts) isn't an awful sales number, and companies overestimating sales targets is nothing new. In its first three days on the market, The Veilguard managed to debut at No.6 on Circana's charts for the top-selling games in the US, and that's not including Steam digital sales. However, an analyst we spoke to in November suggested that Veilguard had a tough road ahead:
"Just looking at the first days of sales and initial engagement levels via Circana's Player Engagement Tracker, it's been a good - but not great - launch," said Mat Piscatella at Circana. "Dragon Age: The Veilguard did not reach the launch week sales levels of either Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth or Dragon's Dogma II, and it will be a bit of an uphill battle to reach Inquisition's lifetime sales."
We also thought Dragon Age: The Veilguard was amazing, saying it "refreshes and reinvigorates this storied series with enjoyable action combat, a fantastic cast of companions, and moving character writing."
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
With the debut of Invincible: Season 3 fast approaching, Prime Video revealed the new lineup of voice actors joining the series this time around. That group includes Aaron Paul as Powerplex, John DiMaggio as The Elephant, and Simu Liu as Dupli-Kate’s brother Multi-Paul. But the most intriguing reveals in this announcement are also the most mysterious. Both Breaking Bad’s Jonathan Banks and Hellraiser’s Doug Bradley are also joining the cast, but we don’t know which characters they’re playing.
It’s safe to say that Prime Video is holding back those reveals so as not to spoil some big developments coming up in Season 3. Which Invincible characters could Banks and Bradley be playing? And for that matter, what’s the deal with Christian Convery’s Oliver? How is he aging up so quickly, and what does it mean now that Invincible has a new sidekick? Here’s what you need to know about the most important new characters we think are appearing this season.
Warning: some basic plot spoilers for the Invincible comic ahead!
Jonathan Banks as Conquest
Breaking Bad star Jonathan Banks is joining the cast of Invincible: Season 3, but Prime Video isn’t revealing which character he’s playing. That said, we have a pretty good idea of the role for which Banks has been chosen. He’s a master of playing grizzled, hardened killers, and that immediately brings to mind one particular villain from the Invincible comic.
Most likely, Banks is playing Conquest. This villain first debuted in 2009’s Invincible #61. Like Steven Yeun’s Invincible and JK Simmons’ Omni-Man, Conquest is a Viltrumite. Even by the standards of his people, Conquest is an especially strong and powerful warrior, carrying the scars of many a successful battle.
Conquest appears in the aftermath of a particularly devastating conflict on Earth, bringing with him an ultimatum from the Viltrumite Empire. Either Invincible carries out his duty and conquers his homeworld in the name of the empire, or Conquest will kill him and finish the job himself. Thus begins the most violent and desperate battle of Mark Grayson’s life (so far).
Season 2 already set the stage for this confrontation when Mark was forced to accept his father’s burden as the future conqueror of Earth. We’ll likely see that tease pay off in Season 3, as Mark is forced to make a one-man stand against Conquest. As we’ve seen in past seasons, Mark is still too young and inexperienced to truly hold his own against veteran Viltrumite soldiers. But somehow he’ll have to find a way, because the alternative means his own death and the enslavement of his world.
Who Is Doug Bradley Playing in Invincible Season 3?
Banks is pretty much a shoo-in for Conquest, but what about Bradley? Bradley is best known for giving life to iconic horror villain Pinhead in the various Hellraiser movies. We have to assume he’s also playing a villain in this series, but which one?
Two characters come to mind, given the way the comic book series unfolds and where the animated series is in that timeline. The first is Dinosaurus, a character who debuted in 2009’s Invincible #68. Dinosaurus is the next major villain to appear on the scene after Conquest, though his motivations could hardly be more different. Dinosaurus seeks to heal the world from the toxic effects of human civilization. At one point, he targets Las Vegas for destruction, seeing the city as a blight upon the natural beauty of the desert.
Bradley’s gravelly voice could certainly help lend extra gravitas to a villain who is admittedly pretty cartoonish in appearance. Dinosaurus is a compelling character because he’s simply doing what he feels is necessary for the greater good of the world. Even Invincible comes to understand and identify with his views.
Another option is Grand Regent Thragg, the character who serves as the true main villain of the Invincible saga. Thragg is introduced fairly early into the comic book series, first appearing in 2004’s Invincible #11, but we haven’t seen any trace of him in the animated series yet. It’s about time for that to change.
Thragg is the ruler of the Viltrumite Empire. As you’d expect from a society built around survival of the fittest, Thragg is incredibly powerful. He’s thousands of years old, trained in every form of combat known to Viltrumites, and he was a major force in the civil war that nearly destroyed the empire. He’s a true nightmare on the battlefield, and he’s a character Mark and Earth’s other heroes will have to contend with sooner or later.
Bradley would certainly be ideal for this role. He has the charisma and menace to bring to life one of the most important and powerful villains in the Invincible universe. We may not see much of Thragg in Season 3, but we wouldn’t be at all surprised if the series at least teases Mark Grayson’s final and greatest antagonist.
Christian Convery’s Oliver Grayson
Season 2 introduced Mark’s younger half-brother Oliver. As we learned, Oliver was born when Nolan fled to Thraxa and took a new lover. Half-Thraxan and half-Viltrumite, Oliver could almost pass for a normal human if not for his purple skin. That, and the fact that he ages far quicker than any human or Viltrumite.
That fact will be a major plot point in Season 3. In Season 2, Oliver had the appearance of a toddler, despite being just a few months old. By Season 3, his accelerated growth means Oliver will look like a preteen. That’s why Christian Connery has been cast to take over the role in Season 3. Oliver is now walking, talking, and even flying.
Thanks to his unique hybrid DNA, Oliver is already manifesting his powers, where it took Mark until nearly the end of his high school career to develop his superhuman strength and flight. We’ll see Oliver seek to follow in his father and brother’s footsteps in Season 3. He’ll don a costume and even take the codename Kid Omni-Man as he follows a bemused Invincible into battle.
Expect Oliver to play a huge role in the series going forward. Not only is Mark still struggling to figure out what kind of hero he wants to be, now he’s also responsible for guiding and shaping his little brother. Oliver is a powerful new ally, but also a potential liability. There’s nothing Mark fears more than having his loved ones put in danger because of his actions as Invincible. Now he has to worry about what happens to Oliver should he fail on the job.
Which Invincible villain do you hope to see in Season 3? Cast your vote in our poll and let us know what you think in the comments below:
Handheld gaming PCs – the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go – have been the talk of PC gaming in recent years. The portability and functionality of a Nintendo Switch, but with the power and capabilities to run your PC library has been a game changer. However, none of them come packed with a handheld docking station; something the Switch comes packed with. Given that PC games can be played, well, on a PC, these handhelds are more of an alternative which makes a dock more of a convenient nice-to-have than a primary feature. At this point, you can search “Steam Deck dock” and find 20-something options that presumably work just fine.
Razer is giving it a shot with the Handheld Dock Chroma, a universal docking station for handheld gaming PCs (or any portable device that interfaces via USB-C). It’s sleek, compact, well-built, and equipped with all the ports and inputs you need, along with a little RGB for Razer’s signature aesthetic. Like much of Razer’s gear, you’re also paying top dollar for the brand, though. Plenty of cheaper alternatives exist (like the $40 Anker charging station) which makes the $80 price tag hard to swallow, but you’re definitely getting a quality product that works exactly as advertised.
Razer Handheld Dock Chroma - Design and Features
The Razer Handheld Dock comes in a small box not much bigger than the dock itself; that’s because there isn’t much to the package – it’s just the dock. It’s a compact but dense gadget, built mainly of aluminum along with rubberized grips at the bottom and in the wedge where your handheld sits. The notable design choice here is the foldable back panel, allowing the dock to flatten like a set top box for easy storage or fold out to prop up a device between at angles from 45-degrees to 75-degrees when it’s in use.
When it comes to that Razer flair, there’s one RGB light strip at the base of the dock that creates an underglow effect that adds a nice touch. There’s a button on the side of the dock to cycle through the built-in lighting effects as well. Other than that, the Razer logo is etched onto the back panel and the Razer name marks the front of the dock.
You connect your device through a short three-inch USB-C cable built into the dock. This cord sticks out of the back and easily reaches the top ports on the ROG Ally and Steam Deck. The dock itself needs to be powered via an external USB-C power source, and unfortunately, the package does not come with one, which is disappointing especially considering its price point. Any of the power adapters that come with a Steam Deck, Switch or ROG Ally will work with the dock, though. As for wattage, it has a 100-watt passthrough that charges with a 85-watt delivery, which is enough headroom to power handhelds currently on the market and have them run games in high-performance modes while still charging.
Of course, you get an HDMI 2.0 port to connect to external displays and it works seamlessly as you’d expect. The gigabit ethernet port also works as intended in case you want faster download speeds or lower ping for multiplayer (although my wireless connection is plenty fast for my handhelds). Lastly, there are three USB-A 3.0 ports to expand possible inputs – while the dock is most convenient for easy TV connectivity, it can be effective if you want to transform your handheld into a desktop PC thanks to the extra ports.
Razer Handheld Dock Chroma - Hands-On Experience
Well, the best part about the Razer Handheld Dock is that it works as advertised. I mostly tested its capabilities with my ROG Ally, and aside from the usual Windows 11 hiccups on the device, the dock got the job done. I hopped into Cyberpunk 2077 and set my ROG Ally to run on Turbo mode (25W), and I got lost in a few hours doing side gigs in Night City. Granted, running 1080p resolution at low-medium settings and managing to average around 45 fps isn’t exactly ideal for a PC gamer. But I find that to be competent enough in this particular context; connecting my handheld to my TV and having that option for gaming just like a Switch.
Cyberpunk 2077 was more of a stress test and it’s definitely playable; thus, having a dock can be much more useful for games that aren’t graphically demanding. There are plenty of smaller scale games in my backlog that I’d love to play portably, but I can also have them run just fine on a 4K TV if I want to switch it up. I put some time into the indie games Arco and Blade Chimera, both of which have great visual styles using pixel art, and I loved being able to throw them up on the TV for a session.
For a device like the ROG Ally, you’ll probably want a keyboard-mouse combo to at least navigate Windows 11 easily, so the extra USB ports come in clutch. When gaming, I used a wireless controller and wireless headset connected through their own 2.4GHz USB dongles, and they worked without a problem through the Razer dock. The Steam Deck (or any future handheld PC running SteamOS) is much easier to navigate with just a controller since it’s designed for that kind of console-like experience. That’s a perk of the specific system, of course, but it makes using a dock to switch to a TV or monitor and picking up on games so much simpler.
You pay a premium for the Razer design, but at least you know you’re getting a top-notch product.
Like any proper dock, the Razer dock let me turn my ROG Ally into a portable PC as well. This isn’t something I’d do at home since I have a high-end desktop PC, but I could use it in this manner as a temporary setup elsewhere (made easier by the Razer dock’s fold-up design). With a proper keyboard and mouse, I didn’t mind running matches of Counter-Strike 2 since it’s a low-lift for the hardware. And if I needed to move files, the USB 3.0 ports on the Razer dock can transfer data quickly, as I tested with a USB flash drive.
Technically, you can use the Nintendo Switch with the Razer Handheld Dock since it outputs the HDMI feed and charges the console. But the Switch’s particular design makes things less than ideal. Given that the USB-C port is on the bottom (letting it connect seamlessly on the Switch dock) and you have to plug in the Razer dock’s USB-C cable, the Switch sits uneven on the dock upright, which is the case with most universal docks. You can also set it vertically in portrait style to have the port sideways or upside down for the easiest connection. The latter is ill-advised since this would block the Switch’s exhaust fan and disrupt airflow. If you don’t mind the awkward orientation, the Razer dock could double up as your Switch dock.
With the 100-watt passthrough and 85-watt delivery, the Razer dock has more than enough room to power any handheld on the market. Take note that the dock itself takes up power as well, so you won’t get the full wattage of the power adapter you use. Your device may not charge as fast as it would otherwise and, naturally, high-TDP performance modes on handheld PCs will make it even slower to charge unless you get a more powerful USB-C power supply. That said, I didn’t have any issues using any of my devices' stock charger to power the Razer dock.
Players prepare themselves each time a new Monster Hunter is released, wondering how their favorite weapon will feel in their hands in the upcoming game.
Each of the 14 weapon types displays its own unique characteristics while still changing to fit the design of each new title. Monster Hunter: World did away with segmenting off each area during a quest, while Monster Hunter Rise is notable for its Wirebug action. The weapons that feel at home in the hunters' hands show a new side of themselves in line with a game's design. So, what kinds of concepts guided the tuning of each weapon in Monster Hunter Wilds, a game that aims to create a seamless hunting experience?
To hear about these weapon details that act as determining gameplay factors, we spoke with the Monster Hunter Wilds art director and executive director, Kaname Fujioka, and Wilds director, Yuya Tokuda. Fujioka was also the director of the first Monster Hunter game, while Tokuda has had a hand in the series since Monster Hunter Freedom.
In the interview, we heard about the concept and development process for various weapons, garnering new details on weapons that players have been particularly interested in, as well as the kinds of adjustments made for the release version of the game after the feedback they received from the November 2024 Open Beta Test.
Adjustments for a Seamless World
Tokuda starts by saying that significant changes needed to be made to how a number of weapons are used due to major shifts in the gameplay loop, affected by Wilds’ seamless map and changing weather conditions.
"There are a number of large changes to the Light and Heavy Bowgun, as well as the Bow," he says.
While previous Monster Hunter titles featured a routine of returning to your base to replenish your resources after each quest, Wilds aims to offer seamless play, making this process no longer required. Ranged weapons in Monster Hunter historically use consumable ammo and coatings, so there was a possibility that they would be more of a burden to use in Wilds without an established time to restock these items.
"That's why we designed it so that basic damage sources can be used without expending resources,” says Tokuda. “We balanced it around the idea that things like normal, pierce and spread ammo for Bowguns and coatings for Bows can fire unlimited times while managing your gauge. But we still wanted it to be possible to use what you’ve prepared ahead of time or what you find in the field on top of that, and so our balancing took into account the presence of design that allows you to create powerful ammo with attributes from gathered materials."
One change after the next was made to each of the weapons while considering the new elements found in Wilds and the game's concept, with ranged weapon changes being the most notable. Fujioka says that this goes beyond playstyle and mechanics, even stretching into design.
"We had the idea of wanting to properly show the movement of charging a Bowgun for a special shot,” he says. “Shots that cancel out a monster's attack look properly convincing as they perform that canceling. Ever since the previous game in the series, we've put a lot of work into making it visually clear to the player what they're doing in the moment."
He says that advances in technology increasing the ability to create such depictions also play a major role in these animation changes. Players can swing weapons, put them away, and switch between them. Tokuda says that adding more fine detail to the transitionary animations that connect each action changed even what hunters can do.
"One common concept shared by all weapons is that we made sure it's possible for hunters to use them in a natural way given the situation at the moment,” he says. “Our goal was to do this particularly when you can't make any inputs."
For example, in previous games, you needed to stow your weapon and stop moving before using a healing item. The greater ability to depict actions through animations played a role in changing that.
Fujioka continues: "The Focus Mode that we added to [Wilds] is something we put a lot of work into when it comes to action. You can move while facing a specified direction, making continuous attacks possible while on the move but slightly off-center from your target. Players can properly go in the direction they want. We wanted to make a game that made possible the image players have in their minds about how they want to play.
“There have been incredible technical leaps for the development environment in recent years, such as in managing animations, and there have been even greater changes in how games themselves are played. For action games, in particular, the question of how you meet the players’ desires to play in a certain way in the moment they actively want to make a movement is an important one. During development, we're always conscious about not being left behind by changes in the times."
Focus Strikes
One major change in Wilds is the new system that allows you to wound a monster if you continuously attack a specific spot on its body. Whether or not a wound is formed is generally determined by the amount of damage dealt to that area. Some acts wound a monster more easily, such as attacks that use environmental elements like falling rocks or battles between monsters. When it comes to attacks from player weapons, though, they generally form due to accumulated damage, which is why there aren't any differences between weapon types in this regard.
Hunters can deal massive damage to wounded monsters by using Focus Strikes while in Focus Mode. Completely different animations were prepared for each weapon type, such as acrobatically flying all around a monster with the dual blades, making it appear at first glance like there are differences in abilities here. So do different weapons have different Focus Strike effects aside from the visuals? Tokuda gives us an answer.
"For Focus Strikes, we wanted to have animations that show each weapon's uniqueness,” he says. “But I admit that this also created a variation between weapons during the open beta test where some were far too strong, while feeling the strengths of others was difficult. Though we do allow differences between weapons in order to give them personality, we don't want the disparity between weapons to be too extreme, and so we're tuning them to be more standardized for the official release of the game."
The wound system gives hunters a new option when hunting. For example, if you're attacking the head while using a hammer to flinch a monster, the accumulated damage can create a wound there. You're then able to deal a large amount of damage by then hitting it with a Focus Strike, but that wound will turn into a scar, meaning that you can no longer create a new head wound. You can of course continue to focus on the head, or you can target another body part that can be wounded. Once players are in the latter half of the game, they will learn that there are ways to use the environment that lead to unexpected scars. Tokuda says that, like flinching and part breaking, the wound system acts as a new option for players, where they may expect to create a wound on a monster by hitting it just one more time in a certain location.
"Monsters are unwounded when a quest begins, but you can hunt monsters as you explore the locale in Wilds, so as the situation in the locale changes, monsters can have turf wars even without a hunter's involvement,” he says. “This means that a monster may already have multiple wounds by the time it interacts with the player. You can think yourself lucky and hunt a monster when it's in that state. There may also be special additional rewards for felling monsters wandering the locale. In some cases, there are even monsters that give gems as additional rewards."
In this game, the use of Focus Mode and wounds has made it easier than before to land dramatically damaging attacks, like the Great Sword's Charged Slash. So were changes made to monster health and toughness to go along with the addition of these features?
"It's not as if that was our intention from the start, but health did end up being a little bit higher than World once we thought about maintaining appropriate playtimes and player satisfaction, compared to past titles,” says Tokuda. “Elements like flinch resistance are also higher, but this doesn't mean that hunts will be tedious. Part of the purpose of Focus Mode is to allow players to feel more accomplished through shorter loops. We tried to design it so that the time they spend hunting is even more concentrated than before."
The Tempo of the Great Sword
You can imagine that tuning each of the 14 weapon types requires quite a lot of development work. We asked Tokuda if each weapon type had a dedicated director or designer.
"There are some staff members who oversee multiple weapon types, which ultimately makes for about six individual planners, who are responsible for player experience,” he replies. “We don't just have game designers, of course. We include artists and animation designers to discuss details like what kinds of movements would be good and how that may mean a weapon could be better off used in a different way as we polish the weapons. We didn't have staff members assigned to weapons from the start; their number grows as development progresses. We generally begin by developing the Great Sword as a prototype, then verify weapons like the Sword and Shield and Heavy Bowgun, applying the knowledge we get from there to the other weapons as we create them."
Designers and artists work together to create a weapon's action as they think about how much fun it is to use along with how good it feels to look at. It seems that Focus Strikes were an inspiring idea for the art team led by Fujioka as well.
"Attacks like the Focus Strike didn't exist in the series before, so now that we had this new form of expression available to us, we began by coming up with ideas while focusing on making it feel good over anything performance related,” Fujioka explains. “The Great Sword is an all-rounder weapon, so we generally begin with it when creating animations. It's one of the first weapons we created for the original Monster Hunter, and there's a strong sense of wanting to challenge ourselves with the Great Sword first. We felt excited when we first made the Focus Strike for the Great Sword, thinking that if we were able to create something that feels this good, we'd be able to do even more with the other weapons."
It seems that the Great Sword has an even larger presence when it comes to the development of Monster Hunter's animations than we expected.
Tokuda continues: "I feel like weapons with a sense of heavy tempo like the Great Sword are rare in other action games. That's why it's a Monster Hunter standard to begin by making sure that the Great Sword is fun to use. The concepts for the other weapons come together in part by placing the Great Sword at the center and seeing how we can differentiate each of the other weapons from it.
“I guess you could say that once you're used to the game, you'll have noticed that the Great Sword is the most rounded of them all. While the speed of weapons like the Dual Blades or the Sword and Shield will always result in there being technical elements needed in order to earn damage in small ways, you're able to go straight to defeating a monster once you're good at using the Great Sword's style as it exists. It can even block, it has area of effect attacks, and it can create moments where you can deal solid damage. It's actually made so that you can go back and forth with a monster in the most straightforward way if you can just get used to its weight."
"Creating a game that's fun to play using the Great Sword's weight makes it easier to create weapons that fight with a quicker tempo,” adds Fujioka. “If high-tempo weapons become the focus, or if we match the speed of the monsters to them, movements will just get quicker and quicker. I think that we're able to create a game that feels like Monster Hunter when you play it by making sure that both sides are properly tuned with a weapon that has the Great Sword's tempo."
Weapons with Personality
Every hunter has a favorite weapon, with strong feelings about weapon types in general. But at the same time, it's an unavoidable fact that there will always be a most used and most popular weapon along with a 14th-place weapon. Players will make themselves heard if they feel that a weapon is being treated unfairly, and many players will inevitably pick a weapon up if its strengths are easy to understand. There are no right answers when it comes to weapon tuning, which is why these creators aim to bring out their individuality instead.
Fujioka explains, "We always think that it's better to focus on how to design what makes a weapon unique rather than trying to make all weapons equally easy to use. That said, we do think it's a problem if players can't have the gaming experience we want them to have. Of course, it's not a good thing to have a weapon that's both easy to use and overpowered, so there are weapons we've made a lot of changes to for the release version of the game given what we saw in the open beta."
What exactly does he mean by "what makes a weapon unique?” Tokuda explains, using the example of the Hunting Horn.
"At the outset, I told the team that I wanted the concept of this weapon to be that it can produce proper amounts of damage when used where it performs best, the area around you,” he says. “Instead of being able to unleash one attack after the next, you can use something like an Echo Bubble to deal damage by controlling the area. Since we have this element of sound that other weapons can't produce, how do we make use of that while outputting damage? That's the kind of thing we challenged ourselves to do with the weapon. Instead of thinking that it's all about damage, we care more about making the most out of each weapon's personality.”
“Now that you're able to carry two weapons in this game, there was some discussion during the open beta about the most powerful choice being to buff yourself with the Hunting Horn before switching to another weapon and fighting. We're tuning the release version, balancing with the end content in mind, to make sure that the Hunting Horn isn't the only choice for a secondary weapon by having self-buffs be worthwhile but not too strong."
There are always going to be certain weapons that do better or worse against each individual monster. The developers accept that these discrepancies are going to exist, but they want to avoid there being a certain build for a certain weapon that would allow anyone to hunt every monster in the most efficient way possible. Of course, the range of monsters that players target will narrow the further into the endgame they go, and weapon usage will narrow to some degree from an efficiency standpoint. Yet flattening the uniqueness of the game's weapons and monsters would be to erase the roots of Monster Hunter.
Fujioka has this to say. "While I think that weapons that stand at the top in terms of time efficiency–ease of use and ease of hunting–are going to see more popularity, we have made it so that if you really care about a weapon type, you'll be able to beat a monster through enough trial and error."
Regarding this, Tokuda brings up the fact that hunters can carry a primary and a secondary weapon in Wilds.
"Even if you have somewhat specialized weapons, it'd make me happy if players brought two in order for them to complement one another as they play," he says.
Build Your Own Skills
When thinking about weapon performance, one ultimately begins to wonder about the endgame content that is decorations. The decoration system affects skill builds, so what does it look like in this new title? Tokuda explains.
"Decorations are currently similar to the system in World, with decorations having specific skill abilities,” he says. “These skills are still activated by placing them into weapon or armor slots (In Wilds, weapon and armor skills can each be activated separately). However, you can make single-skill decorations through something like alchemy. So in [Wilds], players won't have the issue of never being able to get a specific skill."
Fujioka nods vigorously from his seat beside Tokuda before speaking about his experience with World. "I never ended up getting it once. My Shield Jewel 2... I ended up finishing the game without having completed my build." (Read more about how equipment skills work in Monster Hunter Wilds.)
Now that we are on the subject of builds, I decide to ask the duo about their favorite weapons. Tokuda says he often uses long-range weapons like the Heavy Bowgun and Light Bowgun, and the Sword and Shield which has high adaptability to show monster actions and movements, because as the game's director, he needs to explain what's going on as he plays. He says that he'd like to take plenty of time after the release of Wilds to try out all the weapons now that hunters can carry two. Meanwhile, fans are aware that Fujioka's favorite weapon is the Lance.
"I'm a Lance main, or rather, I only use the Lance,” he admits. “I think that the Lance is a weapon where positioning is very important, as you stick to a monster's feet or some other part. Until now, you had to perform this kind of positioning by walking or sidestepping, but in Wilds it's now a lot easier to make minor adjustments, like shifting over slightly as you attack. It's a simple change, but it's important for players to have more choices, so in that sense I think that's one of the positives for Lance users in this game."
Then again, the Lance is also the weapon that generated the largest reaction during the open beta. While the developers have already announced that major tweaks will be coming to a number of weapons before the official release, we ask Tokuda about the user reaction they received during the beta.
"We received a lot of feedback during the open beta test, and to be honest, one of the largest reactions we got was that the Lance isn't embodying its concept as a weapon,” he says. “Our intention was for players to guard in a variety of ways, sticking to a monster as required and counterattacking. But there were a lot of actions that weren't working properly, such as it being hard to use and perform the right action at the right time, actions going off by mistake, actions coming out late, and so on. Surrounded by so many other actions that worked properly, it ended up feeling like a pretty dull weapon. We're now making major improvements to this for the release version, and we hope you look forward to that."
Even at the time of our interview, the Wilds creators were working tirelessly in order to give hunters the best time they can. They've heard what players had to tell them during the open beta. Both as developers who've made Monster Hunter for many years now and as hunters, they're coming face to face with the 14 weapon types to build the greatest gaming experience. Monster Hunter continues to be an unmatched action game series because of the support it receives from both the players' passion and the developers’ tireless spirit of inquiry.
You can see for yourself just how much the Monster Hunter Wilds developers take feedback from passionate players into account in their official detailed community update video, where Tokuda covers performance enhancements, detailed weapon changes, and more.
Shuka Yamada is a freelance writer for IGN Japan. This article was translated by Ko Ransom. Casey DeFritas is deputy editor of guides for IGN.
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