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This is an advanced review for Season 1 of Netflix’s Shadow and Bone. The new fantasy series premieres on Netflix on Friday, April, 23.

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Told over the course of eight episodes, Netflix’s Shadow and Bone feels like a homecoming for those of us who never grew out of reading young adult fantasy. Though there are some hiccups with weaving together its two primary stories, the series captures Bardugo’s talent for balancing large scale world-building with theatrical action sequences, sweeping romances, and elements of horror—some of my favorite parts of young adult fantasy. Like the classics that came before it, Shadow and Bone works best when it’s fully committed to the dramatics of spectacle and emotion.

The show adapts Leigh Bardugo’s immersive, best-selling book of the same name (first in the Grishaverse trilogy) while writing new material for the wonderfully acidic characters of Six of Crows (first of the duology, set two year later). It takes place in war torn Ravka, a fictionalized Russia, where the magical class of Grisha are persecuted following the creation of a hostile region called The Fold. Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) ascends from army cartographer to Sun Summoning Grisha, the only one who might dissolve The Fold—and is separated from her from her old life, including best friend and gifted tracker Malyen Oretsev (Archie Renaux). Meanwhile, in the seedy “Barrel” underbelly of Ketterdam (a fictionalized Amsterdam, where teens run rival crime factions) a crew assembles for a fun Ocean’s 11 style heist.

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While Shadow and Bone fits well with Netflix’s other fantasy adaptations, like The Witcher and Umbrella Academy, it’s even better contextualized by the recent wave of horror-tinged teen dramas like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Fate: The Winx Saga. Unlike these comparable stories, the books Netflix’s Shadow and Bone are based on are already dark in tone—and that is a huge part of the appeal. The Fold is grand and inky-black, and the show captures the dread of crossing via ship, as passengers attempt to fend off monsters who live there. And rather than portraying the more archetypal nurturing but secretive Hogwarts-style magical school, The Little Palace is a punishing and socially stratified place where Grisha not only train, but are also sequestered for their own protection.

Bardugo’s reimagining of typical fantasy lore is lovely to watch. Grisha don’t practice “magic;” they call it the Small Science. They are split into three orders: Corporalki, Etherealki, and Materialki, with subclasses under each, like Inferni who manipulate fire, or the Heartrenders and Healers who manipulate the human body. Netflix hits these notes well, with scenes of Grisha in The Little Palace playing with fire, or “tailoring” faces—a process of augmenting one’s appearance, akin to putting on makeup. (Though Netflix can’t quite match the ostentatious visual effects of a mega-popular hit like Game of Thrones, which had a budget of nearly $10 million per episode by the final season).

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The show’s heist scenes also shake up the classic young-adult Chosen One story. Big-budget, early aughts fantasy films created a kind of formula: a teen learns they’re supernaturally powerful, goes through magical training, and is part of at least one love triangle before saving the world. Ketterdam refreshes this with a Western-tinged edge—smoke filled gambling dens, dark alleys, corporate goons in lavish mansions—where no is far from a gun fight. In Shadow and Bone, we’re rooting for both Alina and Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman), Jesper Fahey (Kit Young), and Barrel boss Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), even when they’re working against each other.

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Netflix does make a few tweaks to its source material for its screen adaptation, and some of these work really well. Where the Shadow and Bone book was written in first person, with Malyen’s story recounted to Alina, the show gives Mal his own focused storyline. This builds him into a much more compelling character, one whose tracking and fighting skills—Mal braves the frigid cold to hunt a mythical stag, fending off attackers along the way—make for a more suspenseful arc. Meanwhile, actors Li and Renaux also do a great job of creating a base level of chemistry in a limited amount of time. It makes the anguish of their separation more believable, adding an urgency to their reunion that might otherwise get lost in the stock tensions of a love triangle.

Mal and Alina are also cast as mixed race—of Ravkan and Shu Han (fictionalized China or Malaysia) descent—a decision that Bardugo felt strongly about. (In the books, Alina’s race was never specified, though she was described as looking “pale and sour, like a glass of milk that’s turned”). It’s a well-intentioned choice, particularly because Bardugo’s work grapples with geopolitical conflict, and her later books have a more inclusive cast of characters.

In execution, being mixed race ostracizes Mal and Alina, subjecting them to racist bullying like being called “half breed,” among other offensive labels. The screen adaptation doesn’t delve into Ravka’s relationships with its neighboring countries to the same extent as the books—choosing instead to foreground the tension between Grisha and plainclothes civilians, and trusting us to understand these racist comments against Mal and Alina as inappropriate.

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The largest departure from the books, of course, is the way the casts of the trilogy and the duology collide, creating some interesting storytelling wrinkles that are especially enjoyable for those who know this story already. Rather than delve into the plot of the Six of Crow books, the adaptation writes in new material for what those characters were doing during the events of Shadow and Bone (though this new material often references moments from the books). This makes space for new scenes and plotlines, some of which—like a trip across The Fold in a rickety train—are season highlights, offering valuable comic relief. Jesper particularly shines, with his alchemy of charisma and sharpshooting making him equally fun to watch whether he’s shooting holes through coins or charming a stableboy.

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But the two stories don’t always sit easily together. There are quite a few plotlines to balance, which isn’t unheard of for fantasy stories, but it does mean this one season has to run through quite a bit of character introduction in order to tie it all together. That means that certain storylines, Nina and Matthias for example, feel a little abrupt or out of place. The Six of Crows plotlines also don’t get the same scale of action sequences, mostly focusing on world-building, and laying groundwork for fan favorites Kaz, Inej, and Jesper. The show prioritizes comedic bits where Inej vanishes or unloads her massive collection of knives, for example, over sequences where she’s actually fighting. (Though there are still enough fun comeuppance scenes that fans will likely enjoy).

It all leaves me wondering how Netflix will choose to balance the two storylines in the following seasons, and what big action moments the heist crew has in store. Mostly, I look forward to moments in the book I’ve already imagined in my mind’s eye—like seeing Inej in her full acrobatic, knife-wielding glory.

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Destiny 2‘s Olympics-like Guardian Games competition, which pits each character type against the others in a big contest to see who’s best, has returned for its second year. Like last year, it brings an Exotic weapon for you to earn: Heir Apparent. This machine gun has the added benefit of projecting an Arc shield around you while you fire it, protecting you (but forcing you to move slowly) as you use it to cut down anything in your path.

If you earned Heir Apparent last year, then your goal in this year’s Guardian Games (apart from beating the Titans, of course) is to complete a new quest to earn its Exotic catalyst–check out our Heir Apparent Exotic catalyst guide for tips on how to do it quickly and efficiently. But if you still need to unlock Heir Apparent, you can do that pretty fast in this year’s games. Here’s everything you need to know to get the machine gun and turn yourself into a lead-slinging fortress.

How To Earn Heir Apparent

The good news is that, unlike last year, Heir Apparent is pretty painless to nab in 2021. You just need to put a little time into the Guardian Games to grab it. But while it doesn’t take much to acquire, it’s not immediately clear what you need to do to get it–the Exotic quest for the gun doesn’t drop until you’ve completed certain prerequisits.

Step 1: Take Part In The Guardian Games

First off, you’ll need to get into the Guardian Games and start participating. Getting started is easy: Drop by the Tower and talk to Zavala, who will provide you with a new class item for your chosen character subclass. Equip that class item, because it’s essential to how the Guardian Games scoring works.

Once you’re done with Zavala, head to Eva Levante.

Step 2: Complete “The Games Begin” Quest

Eva will give you a quest called “The Games Begin,” which requires you to gather Laurels. These are drops that are specific to the Guardian Games, which you can create yourself or pick up from other players, but you’ll need your Guardian Games class item equipped to do it. Laurels are colored motes that drop when you kill enemies with your abilities, like grenades, powered melee attacks, and Supers. You’ll also get Laurels to drop when you kill elite enemies, so the ones you see with orange and yellow life bars.

The idea is that you want to create Laurels for yourself and your teammates, while making sure to pick up any Laurels dropped by other players, even if they’re in another subclass. But you earn more motes if you grab them from players with the same subclass as you. You earn 3 Laurels per mote you pick up if it was generated by the same subclass, and 1 Laurel per mote if it was generated by the other class. You can tell where the motes came from by their color and symbol: red are Titan motes, blue are Hunter motes, and yellow are Warlock motes.

You need 100 total Laurels for this step, and they’re easy to come by in various activities. Probably the quickest way to get them, however, is in Strikes. There’s a new Strike playlist you can activate from the Tower that will pair you with only other players from your subclass, allowing you to quickly and efficiently earn triple the Laurels as compared to other activities.

Step 3: Complete Your First Contender Card

After you rack up 100 Laurels, return to Eva Levante to access the other new element of the Guardian Games this year: Contender Cards. These are special bounties you can purchase with Laurels that give you medals, which are what you actually need to earn to score points for your subclass in the Guardian Games competition. Contender Cards are specific to each playlist and dish out the best medals in the competition. You can get top-tier Platinum medals from the Trials of Osiris and Nightfall Strike Contender Cards, and Gold medals from the Gambit, Crucible, and Strike playlist Contender Cards.

Knock out one of these to finish up your introduction into the Guardian Games. Again, a Strike card is probably the quickest, but make sure to read its requirements. It’ll likely ask you to rack up kills with a specific element and provide bonus progress for earning things like grenade kills or precision kills, so pay attention to what it asks to minimize your grind.

Step 4: Earn 50 More Laurels

Once you complete your first Contender Card, you should have unlocked Eva Levante’s whole inventory, which will include Guardian Games Ghost shells, various bounties, and Platinum Contender Cards. That should also provide you with the opportunity to snag the Exotic quest for Heir Apparent. Don’t worry, the steps are pretty simple.

Your next objective is to earn more Laurels, but not as many this time. Stock up on bounties and a Contender Card and head back to the Strike playlist. According to Bungie, there are two known bugs that can affect this step that you’ll want to avoid: First, only Laurels you pick up from the ground count toward this step. Second, Gambit and Crucible matches are not currently dropping Laurels, but instead delivering them straight to players. So while you might find that the Crucible or Gambit are more efficient ways of earning Laurels, right now, neither activity will advance your Heir Apparent quest. Stick to Strikes and Nightfalls to complete this step.

Step 5: Rack Up 100 Machine Gun Kills

Your final requirement is to prove some prowess with machine guns. You can do this with any weapon, and again, it’ll go pretty quick. If you have an accurate machine gun like Commemoration, you can squeeze off a bunch of precision kills quickly and without a lot of ammo, especially in Strikes. But any gun will do and the requirement goes pretty quickly. If you want to provide yourself with more targets, head to the Moon and take part in the Altar of Sorrow activity.

Once you’ve got your kills, you should be able to return to Eva and pick up your Heir Apparent. You’re not done, however, because you can also earn the machine gun’s Exotic catalyst during the Guardian Games, which significantly boosts the Arc shield the gun provides you when you fire it. Check out our Heir Apparent Exotic catalyst guide for more information.

Earlier today, Entertainment Weekly gave fans a first look at the Harry Potter store coming to New York City on June 3.. The store, seemingly called The Harry Potter Shop, is set to house the largest collection of Harry Potter merchandise there is, much of which will be unavailable anywhere else. In the exclusive EW interview, vice president and general manager of Warner Bros. Retail Destinations Karl Durrant said the store is “looking forward to bringing some magic back into people’s lives.”

Located near the Flatiron Building at 935 Broadway, the three-story shop boasts a whopping 21,000 square feet and contains “15 different theme areas with magical elements.” One of these is areas is an interactive wand table, where customers can take their wands on a “test run.” The store will also offer fans an area to have their wands personalized, making it the only place outside of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (located within Universal Studios Orlando) to do so.

In addition to shopping, The Harry Potter shop aims to offer Harry Potter fans unique experiences. According to Durrant, two virtual reality experiences are coming to the store: ‘Chaos at Hogwarts’ and ‘Wizards Take Flight.’ While the finer details about ‘Chaos at Hogwarts’ have yet to be revealed, ‘Wizards Take Flight’ allows players to take control of their very own broomstick and fly above the River Thames in London. Durrant has also stated that due to Warner Bros. being in a “uniquely privileged position to work directly with the [Harry Potter] filmmakers,” the store will house authentic props and recreations of items from the Harry Potter films. These props include Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore’s wands, the original golden snitch, Harry’s broomstick, Tom Riddle’s Diary, and more.

Outside of the store’s grand opening, the Harry Potter franchise has been in the news quite often lately, primarily due to the number of scandals surrounding author J.K. Rowling and former Hogwarts Legacy designer Troy Leavitt. Only time will tell if or how these incidents will impact the future of The Harry Potter Shop and upcoming Harry Potter game, Hogwarts Legacy.

Gearing up for Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster‘s launch on May 25, Atlus released a second trailer. The first trailer introduced the world of Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne, and this new trailer gives a primer on the game’s faction leaders and their ideologies.

Without spoiling too much, players will choose to ally with one of the factions and its belief system for a new world. You can select Chiaki Hayasaka’s reason, Yosuga, which envisions a society ruled by strength and power, or Isamu Nitta’s Musubi reason–which believes in isolation and the individual pursuit of fulfillment. The final faction is Hikawa’s Shijima reasoning that believes in eradication of emotions in order to prevent conflict.

Nocturne is the third game in the Shin Megami Tensei series and received multiple version releases over the years–leading to the question: Which edition is included in the HD remaster version? In a bit of a remixed situation, Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster will include Devil Summoner’s Raidou, with crossover character Devil May Cry‘s Dante available in a paid DLC.

To explain the history of SMT Nocturne’s releases: The initial Japanese version in 2003 did not include Raidou or Dante. SMT Nocturne’s subsequent Western version did incorporate Dante. A third edition, released in 2008, replaced Dante with Raidou from Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon.

Explaining why Atlus and Capcom decided Dante and the Demi-fiend were a match made in heaven, SEGA explained, “Dante is a Devil Hunter and Demi-fiend is part human, part demon.”

There will be a Digital Deluxe Edition of SMT III that automatically includes the Dante DLC. The regular version will cost $50 when it arrives on PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch on May 25, while the deluxe edition will run for $70.

The newest iPad Pro not only features Apple’s own M1 processor, but it also supports both the latest Xbox Series X/S controllers and the PS5’s DualSense, complete with haptics.

Speaking during Apple’s Spring Loaded event, iPad Product Marketing Manager Raja Bose was discussing how the graphics of the new iPad Pro are vastly improved thanks to the M1 processor’s 8-core GPU when he also revealed the news about the controllers.

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“You can also play the latest games with console-quality graphics at super-high framerates. This raw performance, along with the ProMotion display, four speakers, and now, support for the latest PlayStation or Xbox game controllers with haptics, makes playing games on iPad Pro insanely fun.” Bose said.

While Bose didn’t go into any further detail, a DualSense was shown on screen as he was discussing the controllers and haptics, hinting iPad Pro developers may be able to take advantage of the unique feature set offered by the DualSense, as well as the latest Xbox controller.

This also means that the new iPad Pro will have better PlayStation controller support than the PS4 currently has, as it doesn’t currently support the DualSense natively, even though the PS3 does.

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The 11-inch iPad Pro will retail for $799 and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro costs $1,099. Preorders on both models open on April 30th and will release in the second half of May.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Cyberpunk 2077’s cancelled wall running feature has been brought back into the game thanks to a modder named Saturne.

As reported by PCGamesN, Saturne’s wall-run mod is still a work in progress. However, it is available on Nexus Mods for players to try out right now. Once installed, double jumping near a wall will cause your V to run along said wall.

There are a few caveats, however, as not looking forward when wall-running can cause players to go through the wall. Furthermore, not all walls are suited for wall-running.

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“Don’t expect anything sick, it’s barely usable at the moment – it’s more of a proof of concept for myself,” Saturne says.

Wall-running was featured in the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay reveal demo at E3 2018 in a scene where V used the ability before using Mantis Blades to stay in place on a wall, survey their surroundings, and then drop down to assassinate an enemy.

Unfortunately, CD Projekt Red decided to cut the wall-running mechanic in Cyberpunk 2077 due to “design reasons.”

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This mod is another example of the community working to unlock more of Cyberpunk 2077. Other modders have made unused quests playable and has worked to make V appear as they did in E3 demos.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Destiny 2‘s second Guardian Games are upon us, bringing a spirit of competition between character classes to the game for the Olympics-like event. The event is similar to the one Bungie introduced last year, but some of the details about how it works have changed. The alterations can allow you to quickly and efficiently complete goals and earn rewards, if you know how to exploit them.

If you’re new to the Guardian Games, the whole affair can be a bit confusing. It introduces two new currencies–Laurels and Medals–that do specific things. You’ll have to bank a bunch of both in order to drive your class to victory and to unlock Heir Apparent, the event’s Exotic machine gun, and other rewards. Here’s what you need to know about the Guardian Games, including everything you can nab for competing in it.

How To Take Part In The Guardian Games

The Guardian Games are a free activity to all Destiny 2 players, so in order to have access to it, you need to complete the Cosmodrome introduction missions and unlock the Tower. Once you’ve done that, talk to Zavala and choose a class item for the character class you want to compete with in the Games. Make sure to equip that class item–it’s essential to how the Guardian Games works. More on that in a second.

Next, head to Eva Levante and get the new quest called “The Games Begin.” You’ll need to complete it to gain full access to the Guardian Games; the quest doubles as a quick introduction to teach you the ropes.

Earn Laurels To Buy Contender Cards

Your first step in the Guardian Games (and the first thing you’ll do for Eva’s quest) is to earn a new item called “Laurels.” These are similar to the Motes of Darkness you pick up in Gambit matches, but they’ll appear in all activities you play with other players, so long as those players are wearing their Guardian Games class items. You’ll also create Laurels yourself, which you and other players can pick up.

The idea of Laurels is that they’re markers of doing something cool. Laurels drop when you kill enemies with one of your abilities, like your Super, charged melee, or grenade. They all drop when you kill elite enemies, the ones with the yellow or orange life bars. Laurels come in three colors, depending on the type of character that created them. Each mote is worth more Laurels if it was created by a player who’s using the same character class as you–so Titans get more for picking up Titan motes, Hunters for Hunter motes, and Warlocks for Warlock motes. You earn one Laurel if you pick up a mote from a different subclass, and three Laurels if you pick up a mote from your own subclass. Red motes are Titan Laurels, blue are Hunter Laurels, and yellow are Warlock laurels.

Visit Eva Levante and you can use your Laurels to purchase Contender Cards, which are your real goal in the Guardian Games. Contender Cards are special bounties that give you objectives to complete in specific activities, and doing so earns you your second currency: medals.

Earn Medals To Score Points

Medals are the thing you really want in the Guardian Games. Each medal you earn can be turned in at the podium in the Tower, which will then give you rewards and points toward your class’s overall score. At the end of the Guardian Games, the character class with the most points wins, so this is how you help your team succeed.

Medals have different point values depending on their type:

• Bronze: 1 Point
• Silver: 2 Points
• Gold: 5 Points
• Platinum: 15 Points

Bronze and Silver medals are awarded for completing activities like Strikes, Gambit and Crucible matches, and Nightfalls. To get Gold and Platinum medals, you’ll want to complete Contender Cards–you get Gold medals from cards for playlist Strikes, Gambit matches, and Crucible matches. Platinum medals are tougher to come by and require completing Nightfall Strikes and taking part in the Trials of Osiris. Platinum cards are also much more expensive, so you’ll need to save up your Laurels to buy them.

Pay careful attention to Contender Card objectives, as you’ll want to knock them out as quickly and efficiently as possible. For the Strike cards, for instance, objectives often require you to kill enemies with a specific elemental damage type, with bonus progress awarded for either precision kills, grenade kills, multi-kills, and so on. Progress is also earned for completing the activity itself.

Apart from Contender Cards and activities, you can also get medals from completing Guardian Games Triumphs, which are found under the Season of the Chosen tab on the Triumphs screen. They’re a quick and easy way to score more medals by doing other objectives, like racking up machine gun kills or picking up Laurels, so keep an eye on them.

Get Laurels Fast: Use The Guardian Games Strikes Playlist

The big addition to this year’s Guardian Games is a dedicated Strike playlist you can access from the Tower map. This playlist puts you into a matchmade Strike with only members of your particular subclass–so you’ll jump in with teams that are all Titans, all Warlocks, or all Hunters. That means that, during those Strikes, any Laurels created by you and your teammates count for triple. If you’re looking to earn Laurels fast, this is how to do it.

However, the Guardian Games playlist has other caveats. Depending on where your class is in the standings, you’ll receive buffs and debuffs when playing these Strikes. If your team is ahead (the Gold standing), you’ll get better buffs than players with lower standings–but you’ll also have additional challenges. Here’s the list of benefits depending on your standing:

Guardian Games Strike Positive Modifiers

• Gold: Health, shields, and recovery are increased. Kinetic weapons deal more damage.
• Silver: Melee abilities recharge faster. Elemental damage increased from Guardian sources. More Heavy ammo available.
• Bronze: Grenade abilities deal more damage and recharge much faster. Elemental damage increased from Guardian sources.

However, the further ahead you are, the more negative modifiers pile up in this playlist. What’s more, the negative modifiers are thematic depending on where each team is in the standings. If Titans are at Gold and Hunters are at Bronze, then Titans will receive a Hunter-themed negative modifier in their Strikes–and vice versa. The class in the Bronze standing has no negative modifiers; Silver gets one modifier (themed after the Bronze class); and Gold gets two modifiers, one for each of the others:

Guardian Games Strike Negative Modifiers

Titan

• Bronze: Combatant melee attacks deal more damage
• Silver: Combatant melee attacks deal significantly more damage

Warlock

• Bronze: Incoming damage increased while airborne
• Silver: Incoming damage increased significantly while airborne

Hunter

• Bronze: Radar is disabled
• Silver: Radar is disabled and combatants don’t flinch when damaged

It’s worth noting also that Strike Contender Cards count in the Guardian Games Strike playlist, so if you’re comfortable there, you’ll get the most benefit for earning Laurels in that playlist.

Take Advantage Of The Daily Focus Playlist

This year’s Guardian Games also adds the Daily Focus Playlist, which gives you extra Laurels and other benefits. Each day, the Daily Focus rotates through activities–on Day One, Strikes were the Daily Focus, but expect the Crucible and Gambit to rotate in with each daily switch.

You can quickly determine what playlist is the current Daily Focus by checking the Medal Case, which you’ll receive as part of the introductory quest for the Games. The Daily Focus is also important for the Heir Apparent Exotic catalyst quest, “Contender Catalyst,” so keep an eye on it.

How The Medal Case Works

As part of the quest to get you acclimated to the Guardian Games, Eva Levante will give you an item in your Quests tab called the Medal Case. While this looks like a quest–it even includes a line that says “Step 1 of 1” at the top–it is not a quest. The Medal Case is just an organizational item to help keep your inventory from getting filled up with medals and Laurels, so you can see quickly what you have without having to clear anything else out of your inventory.

The Medal Case can only hold so many medals and Laurels at a time: 500 Laurels, five Bronze medals, five Silver medals, three Gold medals, and three Platinum medals. While it might look like your goal is to fill it up, that’s actually the opposite if what you want. If your Medal Case is full, you’ll miss out on medals, so be sure to empty it. If you’re full up on Gold medals, for instance, you won’t be able to purchase new Gold Contender Cards until you empty it out. What’s more, if you unlock Triumphs that award medals when your Medal Case is full, you’ll lose those medals. So make sure you make frequent trips to the Tower to turn in your medals and empty your case.

How To Get Heir Apparent

Last year, the Guardian Games introduced a new Exotic machine gun called Heir Apparent. Not only is it a powerful machine gun, but it produces an Arc shield around the user that protects them from incoming damage–at least until it breaks. If you missed Heir Apparent last year (or you weren’t playing then), you can earn the gun by participating in the Guardian Games this year.

How To Get The Heir Apparent Exotic Catalyst

For players who did nab Heir Apparent last year, this year’s Guardian Games adds the gun’s Exotic catalyst as a reward. The catalyst amps up the gun by making the Arc shield more resistant and partially refilling the gun’s magazine when the shield is shattered by incoming fire. To get it, you’ll need to complete a new Exotic quest, which randomly drops when you deposit Gold or Platinum medals in the Tower podium. Note that you have to complete the Exotic quest during the Guardian Games to gain the catalyst.

How To Get The Guardian Games Sparrow

Once you’ve gone after the Exotic weapon and catalyst available during the Guardian Games, you’ll probably want to move on to other cosmetic rewards. Most Games-themed items can be purchased from the Eververse Store, but there’s also a specific sparrow you can only earn through participation. That sparrow is Color of Speed, and you can grab it from Eva Levante once you’ve completed certain objectives.

Earning Color of Speed requires you to complete a Triumph called “World-Class Point Scorer.” Essentially, you just need to bank medals during the course of the Games. If you’re working on Heir Apparent or its Exotic catalyst, chances are very good you’ll make a ton of progress on this without much effort. You’ll progress especially quickly if you focus on Platinum and Gold medals from Contender Cards, and you can probably knock out the Triumph requirement in a few hours of effort.

When The Guardian Games End (And How Scoring Works)

You’ve got between April 20 and May 9 to compete in the Guardian Games. Each Friday at the 10 AM PDT daily reset, Bungie tallies each class’s score to determine the standings for that week. You’ll want to check out the Tower on Fridays then, as you’ll see some live celebrations of the standings, including fireworks.

The Guardian Games has a closing ceremony that starts on May 7 and runs the final weekend of the event. That suggests we’ll know which class is the winner on May 7, with some appropriate celebration for the rest of the weekend. You’ve still got until May 9 to complete your objectives, but you’ll want to hang out in the Tower for the ceremony during the weekend–there’s a Triumph associated with it if you participate.

Guardian Games Has Some Known Issues

Bungie has pointed out a few bugs and problems to keep in mind while you’re working through the Guardian Games.

• Last year’s Guardian Games class item won’t work to generate Laurels
• You must pick up Laurels off the ground–they won’t go to the Postmaster if you miss them
• Gambit and Crucible matches award Laurels straight to your character; they don’t drop on the ground in those activities
• Right now, only Laurels you pick up from the ground count toward the Heir Apparent Exotic quest, so make sure to do Strikes or other activities for that step

You can find the rest of the issues on the Guardian Games guide page on Bungie’s website.

After nearly 20 years, Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan has announced that he is leaving Blizzard Entertainment. As soon as this news broke, many from around the internet began sharing their appreciation for his work at Blizzard and how, in some cases, his positivity and passion helped inspire and change the lives of the people he met.

Overwatch League Lead Observer Maikol Brito said they were in “pure disbelief” over the departure, and that those who used the phrase “Don’t meet you heroes” have never met Jeff Kaplan.

Principal Designer Craig Morrison, who worked on the cancelled Project Titan with Jeff, shared a story about how, even though he hadn’t been at Blizzard for very long, Jeff had his back.

 

Jeff Kaplan joined Blizzard in 2002 as a designer on World of Warcraft, developing quests for the MMORPG that had yet to be released. He was eventually credited as a game director on World of Warcraft and, in 2009, he was put in charge of the now-cancelled first-person shooter known as Project Titan.

Even though Project Titan never saw the light of day, Jeff and many of the team members took the ideas they had for that game, redesigned them, and turned them into the team-based hero shooter we all know now as Overwatch.

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“The Overwatch Community Won’t Be the Same Without Him”

Not only did those who worked with Jeff have great things to say about him, but members of the over 50 million strong Overwatch community also took the time to share how important and meaningful his tenure at Blizzard was.

While some are a bit worried as to the future of Overwatch, its sequel, and Blizzard without Jeff, none of that stopped them from also saying how much of an impact Jeff had on the game and its players.

IGN’s Armando Torres shared a video of Jeff Kaplan giving him tips on playing Reinhardt, while saying the Overwatch community won’t be the same without him.

figured it’s a good time to re-float this video of Jeff Kaplan giving me tips on playing Reinhardt.

the ow community won’t be the same without him pic.twitter.com/HE9H5wDhFk

— mellon collie and the infinite dadness (@_mandotorres) April 20, 2021

The Reddit Overwatch community also shared their appreciation for Jeff Kaplan using an iconic Wolverine meme.

Another Reddit user named /Investandhopefordub said that, without Jeff and the Overwatch team, they wouldn’t know who they would be.

@timthetatman said that it will be hard to imagine Blizzard without the “absolute legend” that is Jeff Kaplan.

The Game Awards’ Geoff Keighley wished the best to Jeff Kaplan, who he called “one of our industry’s most gifted and passionate designers.”

@PharaohOW on Twitter praised Jeff’s track record, saying, “20 years and the guy hasn’t missed once.”

@Jaymcastello shared a story that when they interviewed Jeff Kaplan, they felt that they were “Doing The Damn Thing which led to me having a lot more confidence in my career & shooting for cooler stuff.”

@SamitoFPS stated that, while “Jeff Kaplan will go down a Blizzard Legend,” the new leadership for Overwatch “will need to make up for the poor direction the game has taken.”

@PhilReyes_11 said Overwatch will never be the same following Jeff’s departure.

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Jeff Kaplan leaves Blizzard while Overwatch 2 development is still underway. For more on the much anticipated sequel, check out Jeff’s answers to questions about Overwatch 2 and 55 new details revealed about that game at BlizzCon 2021.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.