The Solstice of Heroes is well underway in Destiny 2, bringing a bunch of new armor pieces and cosmetics for players to chase. The objectives will take you through a bunch of activities in the game, so you’re going to want to stock up
Xur returns to the solar system every weekend in Destiny 2, starting with the daily reset at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET each Friday. Xur’s inventory also changes each week, so it’s worth revisiting him on the weekends for new weapons and rolls on Exotic armor. You can visit him any time between his arrival Friday and the weekly reset at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET the following Tuesday when Xur departs the solar system. We’ll update this post as soon as Xur shows up in the solar system on Friday.
Each week, Xur offers one Exotic weapon and three pieces of Exotic armor: one for each character class. The inventory is random, as are the stat rolls you can expect on each of his armor offerings, so if you’re looking to fill out your collection or if you’re hoping for better versions of Exotics you already have, it’s worth visiting him. Xur also brings an Exotic Engram, which is guaranteed to drop something you don’t already have, if there are Exotics missing from your collection on that particular character–but that doesn’t include Exotics you have to earn through activities, including the new Exotic armors added each season, which can only be claimed from Legendary or Master Lost Sectors.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a delightful little RPG adventure with a cheerfully simplistic demeanor that belies its true nature. As a spin-off of Capcom’s popular Monster Hunter series, it retains much of the nuance and complexity that the main games are best known for, reinterpreting it with approachable, easy-to-understand turn-based combat with a strategic edge. Below, we outline some essential tips to ensure you’re always on the right foot in this creature-collecting adventure.
Scavenge, Scavenge, Scavenge
MHS2 wouldn’t be a Monster Hunter game if you didn’t have to forage constantly. Many of the game’s systems are driven by the resources you gather, often requiring specific components to craft many of the essential items you need to survive, such as potions, armor, and weapons.
You never want to be short on supply of anything in MHS2, so make sure to scour every nook and cranny for anything you can pick up. That means herbs, honey, ore, stones, bugs, spider webs–literally anything that isn’t bolted to the ground and you can put into your pocket.
It’s also crucial you develop this habit, as many of the game’s subquests require you to turn in copious amounts of items you obtain from the environment. You don’t want to be without the substantial XP rewards these subquests typically offer, so do not hesitate to be as the wild melynx wandering the treacherous wilds, collecting all the junk forever and ever.
Accept Every Subquest And Consider When To Turn Them In
Speaking of subquests, you’ll typically want to accept every single one available from the quest board before embarking out into the world. Many have conditions tied to slaying specific monsters, so it’s best to have those active if you intend to spend a lot of time outside the village.
Another handy pro tip is putting your lowest-level monsties into your party before turning in your completed subquests. Always take a moment to check if you have any on reserve you want to level up, or if you have some eggs you know will hatch a new kind of monster you’ll want to make a mainstay to your lineup. Consider getting those into your party first, as subquest XP rewards can be an easy way to power level weaker, newborn monsties.
Fight Every Monster Type You See
After slaying a monster, you’re rewarded with a handful of parts from them. These are just as essential as natural resources, so you’ll want to frequently kill various monster types to ensure a steady pool of parts you can use for crafting and upgrading weapons and armor.
It’s also imperative to make it second nature to fight every new monster type you encounter in the world, not simply for the sake of satisfying your own curiosity, but because defeating a new monster type will typically unlock its associated weapon or armor set to craft from the Smithy. Even small monsters yield important ancillary parts needed to create weapons and armor sets, emphasizing the importance of never passing up a fight against a fresh new foe.
Always Have Multiple Weapons/Armor Sets On-Hand
The reason why it’s crucial to have as many resources as possible is because of how essential crafting and upgrading new weapons and armor sets is to the loop of MHS2. Like mainline Monster Hunter games, keeping a varied arsenal of weapons and armor is crucial for survival. Each has its own unique skills that either enhance your character’s physical properties or give them special attacks, so you’ll want to have several on-hand for the various situations where their strengths can be best utilized.
Above all, you’ll want to prioritize expanding your weapon arsenal–something the game naturally introduces early on with attack type efficiency against monsters, which relates to the three weapon properties: slash, blunt, and pierce. You’ll start the game with the great sword (slash) and hammer (blunt), but once you spend more time exploring what the Smithy can craft, you’ll want to expand your efficiency by acquiring more weapons, such as the sword & shield (slash), bow (pierce), hunting horn (blunt), and gunlance (pierce).
The bow or gunlance will fill your pierce blindspot, so jump on either of those first. On the other hand, the hunting horn can be a solid alternative to the hammer that focuses on healing/buffs, while the sword & shield is just a more defensive version of the great sword that can mitigate some of the power of devastating attacks.
It’s not necessary to dump all your money and resources into crafting every weapon type, but as long as you have weapons covering the slash, pierce, and blunt categories, you should be golden. The nitty-gritty in-between that you choose to emphasize, such as elemental properties and equipment skills, is primarily up to your preference. You’ll want to follow the same strategy with armor–though crafting sets tends to come at a higher monetary and resource cost. If you’re short on cash and parts, we recommend investing in all-arounder sets that enhance your HP, defense, or attack.
Regardless, try to maintain a “jack-of-all-trades” approach, and you should be ready for most encounters.
Be Mindful Of When To Upgrade Weapons And Armor
On the other hand, try to be smart about when you acquire certain weapons and armor sets. The upgrade cap for every weapon and armor set is level three.
If you notice a particular weapon or armor set’s max stats isn’t cutting it against a tough monster, it might be better to invest in stock with higher base stats to balance yourself against the current difficulty curve better. For instance, if an existing set you own maxes out its upgrade path at a defense of 38 when there’s another set available with a base defense of 36, it’s best to craft that more powerful set instead of upgrading your current one. This same principle also applies to weapons.
Always be mindful of how your current equipment’s statistics stack up to the latest stock. With every new monster type you kill, available equipment changes, so make it a habit to check up on the effectiveness of your current loadout frequently. While it generally pays to be prepared for a wide range of circumstances in MHS2, negligence toward best leveraging your resources with the equipment available will only spell doom (and wasted money).
Utilize The Prayer Pot
As you explore MHS2’s village hubs, you’ll notice an altar called a Prayer Pot. This is a handy utility you can use to give yourself passive bonuses while you’re out in the field. There are two options when you interact with one: Pray and Offer Charm. When you pray, you get a temporary minor experience boost, but the best bonuses come from offering charms.
As you loot treasure and complete subquests, you’ll find charms that activate when you offer them to the Prayer Pot. They also last for a limited time but provide valuable bonuses, such as larger XP boosts, rare drop chance increases, reduced Smithy and Market prices, and more. There’s typically a charm that’ll enhance any activity you’re looking to complete in MHS2, so be sure to offer one up to the Prayer Pot ahead of time.
Try to Sneak Up on Monsters for Rear Attacks
Like many recent RPGs, enemies are visible on the world map for you to initiate battle encounters. While you might be inclined to jump straight into a fight, it’s usually best to approach monsters from the rear. This is because initiating an encounter directly behind a monster’s field of vision will start the fight with a Rear Attack, giving you a free turn to lay into a monster without them being able to retaliate.
However, do try to be careful because monsters can also sneak up on you to initiate a Rear Attack phase. If you’re opening a chest, for example, a nearby monster can quickly rush you from behind. To avoid these situations, make sure the coast is clear before interacting with anything in the environment. It’s a monster-eat-monster hunter world out there, so try not to get jumped.
Be Mindful Of Your Party’s Turn Actions
MHS2’s combat system doesn’t have you managing many actions aside from your own and occasionally your monstie. Combat is generally quite reactive, forcing you to adapt to an opponent’s attack patterns on the fly. While you can quickly shift your strategy against an enemy monster at a moment’s notice, your monstie and battle buddies will frequently follow the beat of their own drums–sometimes in favor of the party, other times not so much.
While you can’t do anything to prevent battle buddies from using an attack that will cause the enemy to overpower them, you can at least adjust your monstie’s attack via the monsties menu. If they don’t have an ability that’ll properly counter the enemy’s upcoming attack, or if they lack the kinship energy to use the right move, try switching them out with a monstie with the correct attacks instead. There’s no need to take a senseless hit, after all.
There are a few exceptions when you want to go with the flow of your party. For instance, when you’re a bit worse for wear, your battle buddy will typically want to heal you. Pay attention to when they’re about to do so–not only to save yourself from double-healing but also to optimize your strategy further so that you can continue to pile on the damage against an enemy.
Being mindful of your party’s turn actions can also help you use the powerful Double Attack maneuver repeatedly and more effectively. Obviously, you can Double Attack with your monstie when you both use the same attack type against an enemy when they’re focusing their attention on you or your monstie. But you can also do the same with your battle buddy’s monstie if the enemy’s gaze is on them instead. Always pay attention to your party’s turn actions in this way, as the more opportunities you have to Double Attack, the better.
Don’t Forget To Sell Your Trade-In Items
Your time spent gathering resources and winning battles will accumulate what’s known as Trade-in Items, which are meant to be sold at either the Smithy or Market. If you’re not one to sell your stuff too frequently, you might miss this option altogether. Be sure to jump into the sell menu often to offload any Trade-In Items you’ve got for a quick buck.
Make Frequent Visits To Melynx Inc.
In the opening hours of MHS2, you’re introduced to Melynx Inc., an industrious businessmelynx that sells all sorts of items you can’t get anywhere else. However, he only accepts bottle caps as currency, so you’ll need to raid a few dungeons called Everdens to earn enough to purchase what he has in stock.
There are quite a few helpful commodities to be purchased from Melynx Inc. The most useful of them all are the various Stable Upgrades, which increase the number of monsties you can keep in storage. However, he also stocks unique weapons, armor sets, crafting recipes, and talismans you can’t get anywhere else, or at least not until later in the game. Be sure to check with Melynx Inc. often throughout your adventure, as he’s bound to have something that’ll be of use to you.
You Don’t Need To Stick With The First Egg You Pick Up
When you reach the end of a Monster Den, you get the opportunity to pick up a monster egg. The egg you get is randomly pulled from a set of monsters that are known to be native to the area you’re exploring. However, something to note when you’re picking up an egg is that you have the option to discard the one you’ve picked up to grab another one. You’ll typically want to do this if you’ve acquired an egg for a monster you already have.
This is an especially critical practice when you’re in Rare Monster Dens, which are dens with gold-colored entrances that yield higher-quality monster eggs. When you switch out eggs at the nest, you’re typically guaranteed a high-quality egg every time. So if you’re looking for a particular monster egg, be sure to utilize this to increase your chances of nabbing it.
Be careful, though, because doing this too many times can sometimes yield consequences depending on the circumstances. For example, if you’re at an abandoned nest or one with a sleeping monster, discarding eggs too many times may summon or reawaken the nest’s monster. Fortunately, being jumped by a monster while you’re holding an egg doesn’t harm you, so long as you come out of the encounter alive.
Note The Color And Pattern Of Monster Eggs Before Hatching Them
To help you better identify monster eggs, try to take note of the color and pattern of the egg before hatching it. Whether you write down details about the design or capture a screenshot, do whatever you need to start improving your ability to identify eggs. It becomes paramount the further you get into the game, as the need to acquire more monsties for the Rite of Channeling increases (more on that later).
Don’t Be Afraid To Get Creative With Rite of Channeling
When you first unlock the Rite of Channeling, it can seem a bit intimidating. This complex system has you splicing monstie genes into other monsties to enhance their power and capability.
To explain: an individual monstie’s genes are laid out on a 3×3 grid. Some nodes are active with combat skills or passive abilities, while others open with even more combat skills or passive abilities when that monstie achieves a certain level. Some nodes can’t be accessed unless you feed a monstie a stimulant, a special item you can purchase from Melynx Inc.; these unlocked nodes will appear as open slots that you can freely insert a gene into. If you slot the same type of gene three times in a row, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, that monstie will receive a bingo bonus that further enhances their power. On the other hand, overlapping a gene with the same gene will increase its effectiveness.
Rite of Channeling isn’t required to contend with the challenges that MHS2’s story throws at you, but it can be a fun diversion to pour time into in order to min-max your monsties. Part of the appeal comes from simply getting creative with it and not worrying too much about the consequences. With this form of gene splicing, you can imbue monsties with certain attacks or elemental abilities they wouldn’t naturally have otherwise. You can even defy a monstie’s natural skill affinity by giving them access to every type in the game, or maybe you want to enhance the strengths that monstie already has. The sky’s the limit when it comes to Rite of Channeling, so don’t hesitate to have fun and see how things turn out. After all, you can always get more monsties.
Hunter’s Arena: Legends arrives on PS4 and PS5 next month, and it will be free for PS Plus subscribers. As revealed during Sony’s latest State of Play presentation, PS Plus members will be able to download the fantasy battle royale game at no charge from August 3 to September 6.
Hunter’s Arena: Legends is a 30-player, combat-based battle royale game set in ancient Asia. You play as a hunter who must use swordplay and martial arts to hunt down demons and rival hunters. The game features two types of battle royale modes: solo and trios. The former is described as a 30-player free-for-all, while the latter lets you team up with two other players to take down demons together.
Unlike many other battle royale games, Hunter’s Arena: Legends is focused on precise hand-to-hand combat. You’ll outfit your hunter with different melee weapons like swords and scythes and need to deliver counters and combos at the right moment to best your foe. The game features 17 different hunters to choose from, each of whom has a distinct play style.
That wasn’t all we saw during Sony’s latest State of Play. The publisher also revealed Moss: Book II, a sequel to the popular PSVR game, as well as Arcadegeddon from Friday the 13th developer IllFonic. We also got better looks at Death’s Stranding: Director’s Cut and Arkane’s upcoming PS5 shooter, Deathloop.
PlayStation’s State of Play premiered and showed off many upcoming titles including the video game adaptation of the popular manga and anime series Demon Slayer. Fully titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles, it covers two story arcs: main character Tanjiro’s Unwavering Resolve arc and the Mugen Train arc. In the trailer below, you can see more of the third-person action game which showcased combat and exploration.
Fans of the anime and manga will recognize many of the story moments in the game’s single-player component and presents them in a familiar arena-fighter style of gameplay that developer CyberConnect2 is known for. You can control Tanjiro in addition to supporting characters like the demon slayers Zenitsu and Inosuke in these single-player scenarios, and they’re said to play differently with their own skillsets to reflect the source material. You’ll also have a local and online multiplayer component similar to the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm games as well.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on October 15 this year. You can read more about it on the official PlayStation Blog.
FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch, a stylish sidescrolling platformer that stars one gruff bunny with a big metal fist, officially has a release date–September 7, 2021.
The game, described as a “dieselpunk” metroidvania by developer TiGames, is set in a world filled with anthropomorphic animals and will release on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC and retail for $29.99. PlayStation Plus members get 10% off when pre-ordering the game via the PlayStation Store.
Players will take on the role of Rayton, a former resistance fighter who is thrust back into action after his friend is forcibly arrested. From there players will be able to explore the various interconnected regions of Torch City, solving puzzles, overcoming platforming challenges, and pummeling foes in combat.
A new PlayStation blog post dives into the creation of Rayton, with TiGames saying an animal was chosen as the main character because of their universal appeal. As for why Rayton is a rabbit, it’s not only because of his iconic bunny ears, but also because rabbits are typically viewed as weak, which makes for a nice surprise when players learn Rayton is a grizzled war veteran.
Players will master three different weapons, the fist, the drill, and the whip, with each weapon having its own strengths and weaknesses. The game’s new trailer shows off some of the combat in action, as well as previewing some bullet-hell-ish boss battles. Running on Unreal Engine 4, FIST looks impressive, with detailed textures and an overall visual fidelity not commonly seen in 2D sidescrollers.
The game was first announced last July and originally slated to release a few months later. That obviously didn’t happen, and will now be releasing this fall on an additional platform in the form of the PS5.
During Sony’s State of Play livestream, developer Arkane Studios unveiled a new Deathloop gameplay trailer showcasing the various powers and weapons at your disposal–including Blink from the Dishonored series.
The gameplay video jumps several hours into the game, where protagonist Colt “The Captain” Vahn attempts to take down Aleksis “The Wolf” Dorsey. To make this happen, Colt uses powers like Blink for faster traversal and a gravitational lift to hurl enemies into the air before filling them with lead. We also see antagonist Julianna “Jules” Blake invade the game (which could be another playing doing it), though she doesn’t seem to stay for too long. Check out the gameplay video below.
Alongside the gameplay trailer, publisher Bethesda shared a blog post outlining seven things players might not know about the time-bending shooter. For example, the early ability Reprise stops players from immediately restarting after death by rewinding a few moments. Expanding it gives players greater control, ultimately letting Colt rewind just himself.
Sony showed a new trailer for Death Stranding: Director’s Cut during its State of Play presentation. The video gave a release date for the special edition, September 24, and showed off a wide variety of new tools Sam can use as he makes his way through the wasteland.
The trailer promised new battles and advanced mechanics to deal with these tougher enemies, like improved melee combat and a electrifying master gun. You can also practice your skills at the firing range.
While exploring the world and making your way between apocalyptic settlements, you’ll have a few new tools at your disposal. Those include a cargo catapult, support skeleton, buddy bot, and jump ramp. A new fragile circuit appears to be some form of race track for you to test your driving skills. We saw some of the new tools in action, like the cargo catapult which launches your wares far across the map.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut was announced at the Summer Game Fest event. Kojima Productions and Sony have not announced the upgrade path yet. Given the added content, it may be similar to the Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, which is similarly a Sony exclusive and will cost a premium to upgrade on PS5.
During PlayStation’s July State of Play, a new trailer for Sifu was released. The trailer revealed that Sifu has been delayed, now launching in early 2022. Sifu is scheduled to launch for PS5, PS4, and PC.
In the trailer, we also get another look at Sifu’s gameplay, especially its aging mechanic. In Sifu, every time you die, your character will age a little more. Die enough times and the young warrior will become an elderly but highly skilled master fighter.
Sifu’s combat focuses on close-range fights. This encourages you to use the environment to your advantage, such as slamming enemies into walls or tripping them over furniture. You can also pick up weapons. Unfortunately, your enemies can use these same tactics against you, and–if the trailers are anything to go by–that makes for a pretty difficult-looking game.
Sifu comes from developer Sloclap, the studio behind Absolver, a combat-heavy game set in an online world. In GameSpot’s Absolver review, critic Richard Wakeling wrote, “There’s a significant challenge involved in learning Absolver’s combat intricacies, but it’s the kind of struggle that rarely frustrates. Defeat is part and parcel of the experience, but your demise always teaches you something new that you can take with you into the next battle–and Absolver’s deep, nuanced combat always finds ways of enticing you back for one more fight.”
The heroic mouse Quill is returning for more virtual reality adventures as Polyarc has announced Moss Book II for PlayStation VR during the July 8 State of Play.
A brief trailer showed Quill traversing multiple new locales–one featuring icy terrain and another sporting a steampunk-style look–while fighting enemies both new and old with some brand-new weaponry, including a giant hammer. The game also confirms the player will once again control a ghost-like figure, guiding Quill through each level and using a small floating orb to help solve puzzles.
The official press release for the game confirms that Book II takes place directly after the first game, noting that “Quill’s adventure is far from over” and mentioning “a greater danger from those who seek to unmake the world we’ve grown to adore.” No specific release date was included in the release nor the trailer, only a mention that the game is “currently in development.”
The first Moss adventure first launched for PlayStation VR in February 2018. GameSpot’s review of the game scored it a 8/10, calling it “a platformer that isn’t just full of charm and surprises, but one that wouldn’t feel at home outside of VR.”
Arcadegeddon, a co-op looter shooter, was announced during today’s PlayStation State of Play. Developed by Illfonic, best known for Predator: Hunting Grounds and Friday the 13th, Arcadegeddon is a third-person shooter taking place in a colorful cyberpunk future.
Players can go solo or with three friends, shooting through enemies and collecting piles of colorful loot. The art style is more cartoonish, with big damage numbers flying out of enemies and character customization. Players can take on additional challenges from local gangs in order to gain street cred. There are nine different gangs in Gilly’s Arcade, each with its own challenges and style. Completing challenges from them will unlock special abilities and skins.
Arcadegeddon is centered around Gilly’s Arcade, the only remaining arcade, and Gilly’s attempt to save it from being bought out by the mega-corporation, Fun Fun Co. Gilly connects all of the arcade games together in order to create a super game, but Fun Fun Co. injects it with a virus, which is where you come in. You will need to take down the virus across different biomes and game types in order to save the last hometown arcade.
In a PlayStation Blog post, head of creative and design at Illfonic Jared Gerritzen said that they plan to have Arcadegeddon in early access for seven months, during which there will be regular patches and seasonal updates before the game enters full release.
Arcadegeddon features a mix of PvP in addition to PvE game modes. Arcadegeddon is available now in early access for PS5 and PC via the Epic Games Store for $20 USD, with a full release coming in 2022.
