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Persona 5 Strikers has finally launched worldwide for PlayStation 4, PC, and Switch, and you probably know by now that it’s a sorta-sequel spinoff that continues the timeline of Persona 5. But with the original RPG not being available on non-PlayStation platforms, the question of whether or not newcomers can still enjoy Strikers is a pertinent one. And the simple answer is: Yes, but your mileage will vary.

In my Persona 5 Strikers review, I praised the game’s action-RPG combat mechanics, excellent soundtrack, and new characters, among other things. And the fact that I got to see my old friends, the Phantom Thieves, again as they go on a summer vacation to enjoy life and save the world one more time was a real treat. The opening hours do spend time plainly re-establishing the personality traits of its returning cast, but of course, it’s not the same as seeing them grow into who they are in their 100-hour journey prior. So if you want to have a really deep bond with the cast, I’d recommend playing Royal first.

Nevertheless, the charisma of the Phantom Thieves shines through in how they express themselves and fight in the Metaverse, the alternate dimension where all the battles take place. If they don’t make a strong impression on you when meeting them in their normal lives, they’re sure to win you over with the way they stylishly tear through demonic adversaries. Their personas, special attacks, and unique animations in Strikers really embody the Phantom Thieves’ fighting spirit, and that alone says a lot about who they are.

When I take a step back and think about Strikers’ callbacks to the original story of Persona 5, they help provide context for who the characters are, why they carry a specific demeanor, and draw parallels between the two games. Other than taking place a few months after the end of Persona 5, very few story-critical things in Strikers are a direct continuation of previous storylines. There is no “the story so far” kind of recap, but that also wouldn’t be entirely necessary.

Knowing Persona 5’s story is not imperative to understanding the events of Strikers, as most of the major story beats early on harken back to what a particular character experienced in that game. However, having a frame of reference and context certainly enriches the characterization. For example, Ann deeply sympathizes with the first villain because they faced similar struggles–you then come to understand that a few important factors in life led them down very different paths. It’s a narrative device that’s used with Yusuke and Haru in a similar fashion. While this historical context doesn’t obscure the story’s events to the point they lose all impact, you won’t get the full connection and may be left wondering why the Phantom Thieves act or feel a certain way.

As you get further into Strikers, it starts to take on a direction of its own. That can mostly be attributed to the characters Sophia and Zenkichi, who make their debut in this game. As their stories come into clearer focus in the second half, the Phantom Thieves become more of a lens to perceive these characters and a vehicle to help them grow, and many of the overarching messages would still come through. There is a late-game dungeon that spells out a decent chunk of what happens in some of Persona 5’s concluding hours, but so much happens in the original game that it’s more about the journey than the destination.

Another question is if you need to play Persona 5 Royal (the definitive version that features exclusive story content). I mean, you should; it’s one of the few games that has earned a coveted 10/10 from GameSpot. However, Strikers doesn’t pull anything directly from Royal. There are a few lines of dialogue that could be perceived as allusions to what transpired in Royal’s story content, but even that’s debatable. As long as you finished the original version of Persona 5, you’ll be set going into Strikers story-wise.

Given the relatively light reliance on knowing exactly what happened in the original RPG, Persona 5 Strikers just might be what draws you into the series, and it could be your next favorite thing.

At the end of the day, Persona 5 (and Royal, in particular) is one of the best games of the previous generation. But given the necessary time investment, it’s still a lot to ask to play it just so you can check out Strikers. Instead, you can think of Strikers as a more streamlined experience of what a Persona game can offer while being meaty enough to hold its own in its 40-ish hour runtime. The exceptional combat system, premise of going on a road trip across Japan, and incredible soundtrack are reason enough to jump in. As to whether or not you need to play the original RPG before giving Strikers a shot, I’d say it’s a strong recommendation that you do, but not a necessity.

Admittedly, I’ve played some games within a series out of order and came away hooked enough to seek out previous entries. I can see a scenario where you play Strikers and come away with a strong curiosity for where these characters came from and how the Phantom Thieves came to be. Given the relatively light reliance on knowing exactly what happened in the original RPG, Persona 5 Strikers just might be what draws you into the series, and it could be your next favorite thing. I’d go as far to say that there is no wrong way to go about it.

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Could Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson become president of the United States of America one day? Honestly, at this point, anything seems possible. Currently, the WWE wrestler-turned-action movie icon stars on NBC’s Young Rock, which is about his childhood, though through the framing device of Johnson being interviewed while actually running for president. That’s fictional for now. However, WWE legend The Undertaker sounds like he wishes it were really happening.

In an interview with TMZ Sports, The Undertaker–who officially retired from the squared circle in late 2020–supported the idea of Johnson seeking the office of president. “That man works his tail off and he dives in wholeheartedly in everything that he does and if he gets his mindset that he wants to make a run at politics, ya know what? I think he’ll do it,” The Undertaker said.

What’s more, the former leader of the Ministry of Darkness and the self-proclaimed American Badass thinks Johnson would be a good fit for the job. “He’s so charming, he’s so witty, I think he can be the uniter that people are looking for,” The Undertaker continued, adding, “I don’t know man, there’s so many possibilities and if that’s what he chooses to do, I’ll support wholeheartedly in his efforts to do so.” That’s a nice thing for him to say, considering in the past The Rock–in the name of pro wrestling–told the Undertaker he had Mickey Mouse tattoos and a 33-pound head.

Would The Rock run, though? The actor has been asked the question many times, while he’s never committed one way or the other, he says he would “consider a presidential run in the future if that’s what the people wanted.” As always, The Rock is the People’s Champion. Now he just needs to enlist vice presidential candidate Mick Foley, so the Rock ‘n Sock Connection can stand tall one more time.

Alternatively, he can just keep making movies and documenting his over-the-top workout schedule and cheat meals on Instagram.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is almost 10 years old, originally launching for Nintendo Wii in November 2011. The game was released five years after the last home console entry, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and we wouldn’t get the next home console release, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for almost six years–though we did get some other Zelda games along the way like A Link Between Worlds, so it wasn’t completely empty.

The Wii is an SD console with games outputting at 480p, so despite the PS3 and Xbox 360 being around and HD being a thing in 2011, Skyward Sword was only ever seen in SD before now. You’ll also notice in this comparison video that the Switch version is running a lot more smoothly in comparison to the original Wii version. On Wii, Skyward Sword runs at 30fps while the Switch version looks to be running at 60fps.

The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess both got the HD treatment back on Wii U, so it was only a matter of time for Skyward Sword to get the same treatment. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD releases on Nintendo Switch on July 16 with newly added button controls as the original version only had motion controls.

TV writers are usually working on the season that’s currently airing or, at most, the upcoming season. But Rick and Morty flouts convention left and right, and so, too, do its writers. The Rick and Morty writers’ room is now working on Season 7, before even Season 5 has debuted.

Writer Alex Reubens, who also put in time on Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon’s NBC show Community, revealed the news with a cheeky post to Twitter asking, “Am I allowed to say we started writing Rick and Morty Season 7? (if not we didn’t and I’m not).”

Way back in October 2020, Dan Harmon confirmed at Paleyfest NY that the writing team was “more on schedule than we’ve ever been,” with the team “very late into the process of writing Season 6.” At the same time, Harmon said he was reviewing animatics for Season 5 episodes.

“If we simply just keep writing in real time as fast as we can write…that puts us years ahead of the air date of the most recent episode. The last thing we’d want to do in an environment like that is have a plan. We are the plan because we are the future. We’re the guys who wrote the stuff that they’re now drawing, so we make a tremendous effort to stay in the moment and never box ourselves in,” Harmon said at the time. With the words for Rick and Morty Season 6 in the can, Harmon seems to be making good on this promise.

While the writers’ room is way ahead of schedule, neither Adult Swim nor Dan Harmon have revealed a premiere date for Rick and Morty Season 5 just yet. In the meantime, we can look forward to the new show Harmon has in the works for Fox, which will be set in ancient Greece.

Streaming services give us access to thousands of hours of content, with only licensing agreements to act as curation. That’s tantalizing for us grown-ups, but it’s a far cry from the crafted experiences of specific television channels or a DVD collection. Parental controls are crucial to help make sure our kids–from toddler to teen–are able to watch the shows appropriate, and while Disney+ has lacked them since its launch in 2019, that’s no longer the case.

Disney+ added parental controls this week, which feature a variety of age ranges, as well as the ability to add a PIN to lock profiles that have access to mature content so that you can still watch the Muppet Show on your profile, but keep control over what your children see. By default, accounts are set to view TV-14 and PG-13 content and below, which encompasses everything currently on Disney+.

Age Profiles for the service are as follows:

• 0+
• 6+
• 9+
• 12+
• 14+
• 16+
• 18+

In addition to creating a PIN, you can also restrict profile creation, enable “Kid-Proof Exit” to keep the little ones from leaving their pre-set profile, or set up a Kid’s Profile, which drops the age restrictions and shows only content considered friendly for all viewers.

While Disney+ only features content only rated for TV-14 and below in American territories, the service just added Star, which brings in more mature content and is likely the reason behind these controls. In America, though, this might open the door for the service to bring in more of its Fox content, from mature superhero flicks like Logan and Deadpool, to Fox’s Alien franchise.

Razer has revealed a brand-new, high-end webcam that features an adaptive light sensor and a wide-angle lens. The adaptive light sensor compensates for darker and overexposed lighting environments, while the wide-angle allows for an adjustable image, letting users customize how much of their scene their audience can see. The Kiyo Pro webcam is $200 at Amazon right now.

$200

The Razer Kiyo Pro webcam works well in low-light environments, features HDR support, and boasts an adjustable FOV. The basic 1080p and 60fps feed can be enhanced with HDR for a tradeoff of 30fps. This makes it an excellent choice for streamers looking to make their webcam pip look great.

If you’re looking for more options, check out our guide to the best webcam. There are several options available, including 4K, stream-focused webcams, and more.

While all resources in Valheim take an investment of time and effort to uncover and use, Iron is particularly tough to come by. You’ll get to it about halfway through your quest through the game, but unlike Copper and Tin, which you’ll use to make Bronze for weapons and armor, Iron isn’t available to mine at first. Instead, you can only find Iron in specific places in the Swamp biome, and it’s impossible to unlock those locations without taking down the boss of the Black Forest, The Elder.

Here’s everything you need to know to harvest Iron, including where you can get it, what you need to do to earn it, and what you can turn it into once you have it.

What To Do First

Before you’re ready to start harvesting and using Iron, you need to make some serious strides through the Meadows and Black Forest biomes. Iron is located in the Swamp biome, which is home to some tough customers in Valheim’s mid-game. The Swamps have enemies that wield poison, like Blobs, plus tougher combatants such as Draugrs who can make quick work of you with their bows if you’re not paying attention.

To hang in the Swamp, you’re going to want to invest in Bronze armor. Once you’ve defeated Eikthyr, Valheim’s Meadows boss, you’ll gain the Hard Antler, which you can turn into a pickaxe. Use that to mine Tin (found near water) and Copper (found in the Black Forest), which you can combine at a Forge to make Bronze. Combined with leather, you can make Bronze clothing that will offer a lot more protection than the Leather and Troll armor you’ve probably been wearing. You’ll also want to invest in Bronze weapons and a Finewood bow.

Once you’ve got better gear, start searching for Swamps. These dark areas border the ocean and are marked by sparse trees and muddy areas that are tough to traverse. You don’t just want any Swamps, though–you’re searching for dungeon structures in the Swamp called Sunken Crypts. You won’t be able to enter these right away, but mark them on your map because they’re your focus when you go hunting for Iron.

Defeat The Elder

Once you’ve got Bronze armor and a better bow, you’re ready to take on your second target in Valheim: the Elder, the Black Forest boss. You’ll need to locate its altar by interacting with rune tablets, which are usually located in underground Burial Chambers or near destroyed stone towers. Check out our full guide to killing the Elder for tips and strategies.

Destroying the Elder gets you a Swamp Key, which you’ll need to actually locate the Iron that’s hidden in any Swamp area. The Swamp Key can open the aforementioned Sunken Crypts, the only places where you can find Iron at this point in the game. You’ll also need the key to find and take down Bonemass, the Swamp biome boss and the next target on your hitlist.

Explore The Sunken Crypts

Hopefully you’ve marked some Sunken Crypt locations by now and can put your Swamp Key to work. Crypts are similar to Burial Chambers in that they sometimes contain enemies–in this case, Draugrs–so be careful as you open doors or clear pathways. Try to take out Draugrs from a distance if you see them whenever possible, since you don’t want to get stuck in a tight location where it’s tough to escape from trouble. Crypts are also fairly flooded, which can make it difficult to get around in the midst of a fight.

You’ll find Scrap Iron in two locations within Sunken Crypts–first, in the various chests that are scattered through these dungeons, and second, in Muddy Scrap Piles. The latter are big black piles of goo in Sunken Crypts, usually blocking doorways. You can smash through them with your pickaxe, although you’ll find that the Hard Antler Pickaxe will require fairly regular repairs as you go.

Smelt And Forge Your Iron

The last step for building Iron armor and weapons is to smelt it as you would Copper and Tin. You’ll need a Smelter in your base to do so, which will likely also require a Kiln, which can produce the Coal you need to run the Smelter.

If you’re employing portals in your adventures, you’ll also want to note that metals like Scrap Iron can’t be carried through them–you’ll have to walk or sail with your Iron haul to bring it to other locations. Because of this, it’s a good idea to try to find Swamps with several Sunken Crypts and build an outpost base near them where you can do your Iron forging. You can travel through portals with armor and weapons, but not with metals that haven’t been forged yet–so save yourself a lot of marching or sailing by making your gear near where you find your Iron and use portals to travel instead.

With Iron gear, you should be strong enough to take on Bonemass. Defeating it will earn you the Wishbone, which you can use to find buried Iron outside of Sunken Crypts. You’ll also need it to locate Silver, the next metal you’ll require to amplify your gear.

Now Playing: Valheim First-Person Mod Gameplay

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