Quick Links While you will spend most of your time in the career mode ofUmamusume: Pretty Derby, it’s not the real endgame. Once you train your characters, you’ll get all the major rewards by using them in PvP modes like the Team Trials. However, these modes aren’t particularly easy to beat. In this game mode, you challenge another player’s characters in different types of races while competing with some bot characters as well....

The appeal of most anime video games is very simple: getting to play as yourfavourite characters and duking it out while reliving a story you’ve already fallen in love with. Sometimes there’s an original narrative scenario instead of the usual recapped arcs, andsometimes it might transcend fighting games to an entirely different genre, but, more often than not, that’s the well-known formula we’ve grown accustomed to. That’s been the case for recent games likeDragon Ball: Sparking ZeroandDemon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles, but when it comes toHunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact, things are different....

Video games make people happy. It’s a valuable form of entertainment in an ever stressful world. Being able to write about video games makes me happy, because I enjoy knowing that like-minded folks out there can benefit from the wisdom and perspective I provide. And with theNintendo Switch 2, there’s a lot to say. That’s what I told myself when this truly… unique… job came across my desk, a job too interesting to pass up....

Summary TheNintendo Switch 2takes a console design that worked and updates it for the next generation. With magnetic controllers, a bigger screen, and a power boost, this console has plenty going for it right out of the gate. The question on everyone’s mind is, which games will get a sequel? The original Switch not only had their fair share of original titles, but remakes of existing titles as well. This sparks debate as to which games are on Nintendo’s mind....

It’s a favourite pastime of gamers who spend a lot of time online to jeer and say ‘I told you so’ when a game launches to an overwhelmingly negative reception. I don’t like being one of those people – despite what my overwhelmingly unpleasant disposition might otherwise indicate, I don’t take any joy in watching games crash and burn. Right now,MindsEyeis that game. After releasing witha litany of awful bugsandto bad reviews(to be fair, most outlets haven’t filed their reviews, as the publisher also didn’t send out any codes), it’s being called the “worst game of the year”....

Summary There are a ton ofboard gamesout there that have strict rules. And some of these rules really can’t be bent or broken without the entirety of the game falling apart. But, I say, where’s the fun in that? Some rules are just meant to be broken, and breaking these rules can often make games feel more fun. Plus, some games encourage deception and the breaking of rules in the rules themselves....

Summary One of the most reliableWarner Bros.gaming leakers has not-so-subtly hinted that the next game from NetherRealm Studios isInjustice 3, not anotherMortal Kombat. Nearly two years ago,NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. threw fans a major curveball. While the studio has mostly been known for bouncing between Injustice and Mortal Kombat after a new release in each series,the pattern was completely broken for Mortal Kombat 1’s launch, which was the second MK in a row likely due to the success of Mortal Kombat 11....

Quick Links There’s more going on mechanically inKilling Floor 3than you might expect; at its heart, it’s still just a game about decimating waves of Zeds, but there’s more to it than simply clicking on their heads. (Though clicking on their heads is still probably the most important thing.) Damage types have a pretty important part to play here too, and can change your performance from middling to exceptional. Taking advantage of enemy weaknesses and exploiting the damage buffs that are present in certain rounds can make for a much easier time, particularly if more than one player is utilizing them....

Live-service games, and especially free ones, have lots of currencies. Having a lot of different currencies isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just of keeping content in different parts of the game relevant. However, a lot of the time, this concept is used nefariously to confuse the player with currency overload, making it difficult to see where a given currency comes from, so you’re more likely to buy it outright....

Quick Links Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Timehas a plethora of Lives to choose between. Each “Life” is what, in other games, the developers might refer to as job classes, or vocations, or something along those lines. Unlike some games, there’s a great deal of fun to be had in the grinding and powering-up process for every single Life. That doesn’t make them all equal. Certain Lives stand out to us as more vital than others....

Mario Kart Worldis a pretty great game, butNintendohas been doing its utmost best to try and sabotage it at almost every turn. For starters, it’s just implemented an extremely unpopular update,one which Mario Kart fans say has killed the game completely, while Nintendo also managed to annoy everyone before release by being the first company to release an $80 game. Every time Nintendo showed off Mario Kart World online before launch, it was met witha flurry of demands from fans asking for the price to be dropped, but Nintendo stood firm and now Mario Kart World is officially our first $80 game....

The first season of theMass Effectshow might just be an adaptation of the first game, according to a plot synopsis being shared around online. This would mean that the show would have to create its own version ofCommander Shepardand decide which choices they would make. This would be avery different approach than the Fallout show took, which was also put out by Amazon Prime Video. If true, then it’s bound to prove divisive, since so much about Shepard’s personality and character is left in our hands in the games....

While the future ofBatmangames andWarner Bros. gaming division as a wholecontinues to be murky, assets from a canceled Batman spin-off that would have put players in control of Damian Wayne continue to leak online. This time, test footage of the game has been shared by YouTube creator The Atomsmith, where Wayne is attempting to chase Killer Croc on the Batcycle. Sounds pretty mundane, right? Well, in this universe, Killer Croc himself would also be driving a motorcycle....