The number of games inspired by Wordle seems to get larger every day, with that list now including dungeon crawler Dungleon, the rude-words-only Lewdle, the Swiftie-themed Taylordle, and now a battle royale game called Squabble, as picked up by Polygon.

Squabble, developed by Ottomated, takes the chill, once-per-day formula of the original Wordle and turns it into a hectic battle to the death, with up to 99 players competing to guess the most correct words. With other player’s color-coded guesses visible in real time, Squabble rewards rapid-fire typing over well-considered words.

I made a game
Squabble #2/123https://t.co/DWWRR1V4bf
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
πŸŸ©πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
πŸŸ¨πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›β¬›

β€” Ottomated (@Ottomated_) February 3, 2022

Rather than players being eliminated upon failing to guess an answer, the game instead gives each player HP. Your HP goes down at a regular rate of 1 per second, and you also take damage for incorrect answers. Making a correct guess will deal damage to other players and heal your own HP. The winner, like in other battle royale games, is the last player left standing.

You can choose between two modes in Squabble–Blitz, for 2-5 players, and Battle Royale for anywhere from 6 to 99 players. You can invite friends to join you using a room code, or just play with whoever Squabble matches you up to.

The game’s rapid-fire pace requires a different approach to regular Wordle, but is just as addictive–with no daily limit on how much you can play.

This isn’t the first time a game has mixed up the battle royale genre with a word game, surprisingly. Late last year developer Everybody House Games released Babble Royale into early access, mixing up a traditional Scrabble-style game board with the battle royale genre’s intense competitive warfare.

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After previously collaborating with some of the biggest horror franchises in the world, Dead By Daylight‘s latest chapter will be based on the chilling Japanese horror icon Ringu. The new chapter, Sadako Rising, is due to release on March 8, bringing with it new Killer Sadako and a new Survivor, Yoichi Asakawa.

A new trailer for the chapter shows both new characters, with Sadako climbing out of her well to terrorise the survivors of Dead By Daylight. In keeping with the game’s naming conventions, Sadako will be known in-game as The Onryō, after a Japanese term meaning “vengeful spirit.”

Yoichi Asakawa, a character who appeared in the first two Japanese Ring films as a young boy with psychic abilities, is the Ringu installment’s new Survivor. Dead By Daylight’s version of the character shows Yoichi all grown up, as the only hero of the Ring films to have faced Sadako and made it out alive. In a surprising move for the franchise, the continuation of Yoichi’s story will happen exclusively in-game.

The Ringu update sees Dead By Daylight exploring new territory, departing from the classic slasher films it was originally inspired by to explore a different style of horror. “Ringu introduces psychological horror to our game, which is very different from the slasher style our fans are used to,” explains creative director Dave Richard. “They can expect Sadako to come with creepy and surprising gameplay mechanics that are not found in other Killers. Survivors beware, she will freak you out!”

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The New York Times’ acquisition of Wordle has already stirred up a few controversies, from players’ streaks being wiped to removing offensive words from the valid word list. Today we have confirmation that it’s not just the valid word list that the NYT has changed–it’s the solutions as well.

Wordle 241, which is the puzzle for February 15th, has a different answer depending on whether you’re playing on the live NYT site, or on a downloaded or cached version of the original powerlanguage.co.uk site. The NYT hasn’t fully changed the solution list, it’s just removed a few select answers, which means players who are sticking to the original version of Wordle will now be one day behind everyone else’s solutions.

The following will contain spoilers for the original, cached version of Wordle:

The word that was intended for Wordle 241 was “AGORA,” a word originating from Ancient Greek that refers to a city’s central public space. That word has been removed from the NYT version of the game, and instead the original solution for Wordle 242 has been moved up a day. Contrary to claims that the publication would make Wordle harder, the NYT has said in a statement that it has chosen to remove obscure words from the answer list, as well as “insensitive or offensive” words.

Just got this explanation from the NYT… pic.twitter.com/0gqHh23Eyi

β€” Michael Slezak (@MikeySlezak) February 14, 2022

“AGORA” was removed from the solution list due to its obscurity, along with future solutions “PUPAL” and the British-spelled “FIBRE.” The NYT has also removed future answers “SLAVE,” “LYNCH,” and “WENCH” under its “insensitive or offensive” rule.

For players who continue to use the original version of Wordle, whether by having a browser tab open to the original site, or by having the webpage downloaded, the diverging solution list constitutes a problem.

Part of the appeal of Wordle has been that everyone around the world shares the same daily answer. The social appeal of the game starts to wane when people have different solutions to the same puzzles, which can lead to arguments and accusations of cheating, as NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns recently found out.

For what its worth, those with the old word list can update quite easily if they choose to do so. The word list will update automatically if players refresh their browser window, or they can move to a live version of the site rather than a downloaded one. This solution isn’t all that useful to those who are making the choice to play the pre-NYT version of the game, however.

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Niantic wants to give Pokemon trainers plenty of time to prepare for the Pokemon Go Tour: Johto, so the company has announced a week-long event to do just that.

The Pokemon Go Tour Poke Ball Prep Rally will begin Friday, February 18 at 10 AM local time, and run until February 25 at 8 AM local time. The event is designed to let players earn plenty of Poke Balls while looking forward to the Johto-themed event on February 26.

Poke Balls, Great Balls, and Ultra Balls will serve as the main prize for completing Timed Research tasks during the event, while Buddy Pokemon will also bring Poke Balls back to the player as gifts. Several ball-shaped Pokemon will become more available–including the debuting Hisuian Electrode–while new Ball Guy-themed avatar items will be added to the in-game shop.

The full list of events for the Pokemon Go Tour Poke Ball Prep Rally is below:

Timed research tasks will give Poke Balls, Great Balls, or Ultra Balls as prizes.Hisuian Electrode will make its Pokemon Go debut. Players can evolve Hisuian Voltorb into Hisuian Electrode using 50 Voltorb Candy.Foongus, Voltorb, and Hisuian Voltorb will appear more frequently in the wild. Lucky trainers will also be able to spot Amoongus, Electrode, and Galarian Stunfisk.A new avatar outfit themed around Ball Guy will be added for purchase.

The Pokemon Go Tour Poke Ball Prep Rally will lead directly into the Pokemon Go Tour: Johto event taking place February 26 and 27. Niantic has confirmed that Apex Shadow Lugia and Ho-Oh will be added to the game during the Johto event, each one having a special move that can be enhanced by purifying the Pokemon after it’s captured.

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Though it’s been in early access since October 2020, Baldur’s Gate 3 won’t be officially launching any time soon. Larian Studios says that the game won’t be leaving early access until sometime next year.

In a panel interview, Baldur’s Gate 3 Director Swen Vincke told Fanbyte, “We’re at the end-stage of development, but we still will release a number of patches. We think we have about a year left of development at this point. So, it’s not going to be for the next couple of months at 1.0 stage, but we’re dealing with burndown charts that are going down rather than up.”

Larian Studios most recently released Patch 7 for Baldur’s Gate 3, which adds the Barbarian class to the tabletop-inspired RPG. That brings the game’s total number of classes to nine.

We also now have confirmation on when we’ll get to see the conclusions to the game’s companion romances (currently, none are live in the game). According to Larian Studios, they’ll be added to Baldur’s Gate 3 alongside the full release.

“We still have quite some work on finishing the companions, which is where the romance scenes come into account,” Vincke told Fanbyte. “We still have a bunch of them to make. We’ve been experimenting, we’ve done a lot of stuff, and we still have some tweaks to do. So, I would imagine that most of them will come online on 1.0, because they will be ready late.”

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Larian Studios has released Patch 7 for Baldur’s Gate 3. The update adds a new character class to the tabletop-inspired RPG: the Barbarian. On top of that, Patch 7 adds improvised weapons, makes improvements to nearly 700 cinematics, and overhauls the HUD UI.

With the addition of the Barbarian, Baldur’s Gate 3 now boasts nine playable classes–you can also play Sorcerer, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock, Wizard, and Druid. Like many of those other classes, the Barbarian is also split into subclasses. The Barbarian subclasses are Berserker and Wildheart.

If you’re the type of person who’s always telling your Dungeons & Dragon DM, “I would like to Rage,” then Berserker is for you. The subclass is built around using Rage to tank hits and deal more damage.

Wildheart, on the other hand, offers a less traditional take on what you might find for a D&D 5e Barbarian. A Wildheart Barbarian can learn combat abilities that are shaped by the character’s animal guide, of which you can choose the eagle, elk, tiger, bear, or wolf.

The improvised weapon mechanic is also pretty noteworthy, adding the option to use furniture, animals, and even NPCs as melee weapons. Patch 7 expands on what you can throw as well, turning most of these new improvised weapons into potential projectiles as well.

For all the changes, check out the full patch notes for Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 7. We’ve detailed the full patch below. Be warned: It’s lengthy. Maybe grab a drink before diving into it.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 7

Highlights

Added the Barbarian class with two new subclasses – Berserker and Wildheart.Berserker: Grow your Rage into a relentless frenzy and gain the ability to deal additional damage in the heat of battle. When you are filled with Rage, you can use improvised weapons as a bonus action to do extra damage.Wildheart: Draw from the power of your Bestial Heart and wield ferocious combat abilities inspired by the eagle, elk, tiger, bear, or wolf. As a Wildheart Barbarian, you can flaunt unique facial piercings based on which animal you choose to guide you.Overhauled the HUD UI. We are continually refining and improving all of these new features, but we’re excited for you to try them out!Designed a brand new hotbar to better help you explore all the options and features your characters have to offer. The hotbar, now more intuitive and less cluttered, allows you to thematically collect common actions, class-specific actions, and spells and items into β€˜Decks’. We’re also working on β€˜Custom Decks’, which allow you to fully customise your hotbar tabs – you can dip your toes into this feature through the custom deck we’ve made available. The new hotbar also allows for resource-based filtering, especially useful in combat.Introduced brand new Character Sheet and Party Panel views, which combine the old Equipment, Inventory, and Stats panels. You can now continue to play while you have these open and move them around the screen as needed.Added extensive quality-of-life search filters for items, weapons, and abilities.Updated the Turn Order UI to appear at the top-centre of the screen and allow for scrolling.Added a Party Management panel (and an associated tooltip) below the party member portraits that includes toggles for Group Mode and Group Sneak.Vertically aligned the party member portraits.The minimap is now a circle – the most noble shape.Added new melee combat options.Thrown weapons: You can now throw a new class of weapons from a distance. Thrown Weapons like Daggers, Javelins, Handaxes, and Spears do damage based on their Damage stats rather than their weight. Barbarians will begin the game with two Handaxes in addition to their primary Greataxe weapon.Improvised weapons: You can now attack by using furniture, instruments, animals, limbs, and NPCs as Improvised Melee Weapons.Expanded throwing: You can now throw objects or characters that weigh up to three times your Strength ability score. The range of the throw scales based on your Strength and the object’s weight. Rile enemies up by throwing a badger at them or yeet a goblin to test their aerodynamics.Placed 24 new hand-crafted Magical Loot items throughout the world. Seek out the Hamarhraft – an Uncommon Maul that deals 1d4 Thunder damage within a 10ft radius upon landing after a Jump. Or find a pair of Linebreaker Boots and gain +1 melee damage for one turn after a Dash.Implemented a new β€˜Room Portal’ system, which conceals the details of characters and objects in closed-off or unexplored rooms. This brings more surprise and tension to exploration.Added new music.Added a new live orchestral suite to the Character Creation playlist.Added new ambient pieces to Grymforge.Added a new piece to the main Camp.Added brand new spell-casting animations that are tailored to each spell-casting class, giving each class a unique look.Improved the detection of light and dark areas.You are now less likely to miss during combat in lit regions.Your ability to hide from NPCs is now more accurately affected by how dark it is.Improved how Darkvision is visualised: characters with Darkvision can now see in the dark via a cone of vision.Improved cinematic pacing and visuals.Refined animations and cameras across nearly 700 cutscenes.Implemented over 400 new animations.Improved animal and creature animations across over 200 interactive dialogues.Added Barbarian reactivity to interactive dialogues.Re-recorded and remastered portions of the narrator’s voice-over audio.And the update we’ve all been waiting for: we’ve improved the chicken wing flap SFX and enhanced the VO for nervous squawking to bring you a truly authentic depiction of chicken anxiety.

Balance Changes

Companions no longer self-heal after being recruited.The Ranger’s starting kit now includes an Arrow of Ice instead of grease bottles.Wizards now benefit from the Savant feature of their subclass.Added Poison Resistance to duergar as per D&D lore.Lowered the Armour Class of the Goblin Warriors Kramp, Clack, and Skrut to be more consistent with other goblins.Characters who are Downed during their turn now automatically give their turn to the next character with shared Initiative.*NPCs affected by a Polymorph or Charm spell will now have a negative attitude towards the spellcaster. At least say you’re sorry.Removed Sleeping Advantage from your Ability Check when you attack Astarion at Camp.The Intransigent Warhammer now causes knockback and applies Prone on a critical hit or when dealing a killing blow.When wearing the Poisoner’s Robe, you now deal additional damage when casting Chromatic Orb: Poison.*

Tweaks

Gameplay Some NPCs are now Barbarians and will act accordingly.Improved aim for the Jump action to make it easier to descend into the Underdark in the Whispering Depths.Krolla now shoves the chicken accurately the first time during the chicken chase. The chicken signed a waiver so it’s fine.Astarion’s default proficiencies are now applied to him before he is recruited to your party.Arka and Memnos will now react to Kanon even if you change into a Wild Shape in front of them. #prioritiesParty members now stop following you if you are caught trespassing and enter into dialogue about it.You can now jump across the pillars behind the Druid Grove with 9 Strength to reach the heavy chest.*You can now complete the Saving Arabella quest with Mol before rescuing Mirkon.The default action for Poisonous Slime Bombs is now Throw instead of Coat Weapon. Still pretty gross though.In addition to a broken spear, Edowin now drops random loot when he dies.Usability Fixed an issue blocking players from overwriting existing saves from the previous patch.*Redesigned tooltips so they are more compact on screen.Added new keybinds and reassigned some old ones to be more intuitive. The Inventory (I), Spellbook (K), and Character Sheet (N) keybinds open and close your character’s Character Sheet. When in Party Panel view (TAB), these same keybinds let you access those panels within that view.Pinned tooltips can now open and close with a secondary keybind.An error message now appears if you have a modded UI that can’t be loaded in the game.When playing on Stadia, you are now able to actually throw items with the controller using the Throw action.Visuals Replaced the black void in Mol’s Lair with stone walls that are now visible if you have a light source or have Darkvision.Made the explosion at the Zhent Hideout more explodey.Made the entrance to the secret Myconid area slightly less obvious and thereby more secret.Increased the lighting in the Owlbear Cave to make the owlbear egg more visible.Added extra lights in Grymforge to highlight the levers used in the Adamantine Forge fight.Gave pikes longer shafts and wider tips. Please be careful where you stick those things.

Fixes

Crashes, Freezes, and Blocks Fixed a crash that would occur if you had a modded game. A pop-up will now indicate that files have errors and the game will close.The game now shows a ‘Game Over’ window if all players are Downed and there are no more Short Rests left.CloudManager no longer crashes when trying to delete cloud saves when there are multiple profiles.Fixed a crash that occurs when creating or switching in-game profiles.Loading a savegame where a character is under Nere’s control no longer causes a crash.Fixed a crash in the AI system.You can no longer name your savegames using reserved file names, so you can now access the files and load these savegames without the game crashing.The game no longer crashes after you throw a runepowder vial at the cave-in.Casting Cloud of Daggers on the Nautiloid no longer freezes the game.The game no longer crashes after the cinematic at the Myconid Circle.ContinuityFixed an issue blocking you from being released from your chains after you’re rescued by an NPC from Priestess Gut.Fixed the Frightened condition not disappearing after you see the dragon in the Githyanki Patrol scene.You are no longer blocked from interacting with your surroundings after talking to Jeorna in the Druid Grove.Halsin and Kagha no longer skip certain lines of dialogue.Fixed a dialogue continuity error in β€˜Find the Mushroom Picker’.A specific dialogue with Andrick now only triggers if the owlbear has been killed.Fixed the response options in the dialogue about the attack on the Druid Grove.Zarys no longer repeats her dialogue when you inform her that you’ve found the missing Zhent shipment.The Escape Artist inspiration point is now applied correctly once triggered.Multiplayer If you rejoin a multiplayer session, you now regain control over your old character.*Items that weren’t being shared automatically between users in multiplayer will now transfer successfully.If you’re hosting, your character no longer becomes stuck when you recruit Us and switch characters with a client player.Improved the message when you encounter a NATPunch server failure issue when you start multiplayer.Travel You can now leave the Nautiloid if you touch the Transponder while another character is in dialogue.If Us dies on the Nautiloid, you can activate the Transponder to leave the ship.You can no longer pass through a wall on the Nautiloid by squeezing through a fleshy wall texture. Use a door like the rest of us. This is a society.Fixed a platform on the Nautiloid so you won’t get trapped inside it. You can now jump on and off after climbing the platform with low Strength.Made sure Gale’s recruitment cinematic always plays after you teleport to the Roadside Cliff for the first time.Fixed issues with door buttons in the Dank Crypt.You can now enter Kagha’s lair in the Emerald Grove and look through her things. But have you no shame?The door to the Druids’ Chambers now remains open.You no longer get stuck on the door to the Servants’ Quarters in the Druid Grove.You must now actually be inside the Thayan Cellar to access the lever behind the trick wall.*An area in Grymforge that looked safe but was actually a GIANT CHASM is no longer accessible. The Chasm death trigger has been removed, so you will no longer die unexpectedly.Made a small room in the small, basement-level camps accessible through an equally small door.Fixed certain ladders and knotted ropes so they can be climbed.The trap near the Cragged Rock in the Underdark now launches you into the chasm as intended. Enjoy.You no longer teleport through the floor of the Merregon room in Grymforge.Tweaked the rope netting in Grymforge so you can’t fall through and into the lava. Please don’t touch the lava.Characters no longer become unresponsive if they take fall damage.Combat Fixed an issue causing you to move before casting a ranged attack even though your position was valid.Characters no longer skip turns in combat after being Downed or following a long rest.Adjusted the Rush attack so you correctly attack one enemy instead of two.Ensured NPCs who apply invisibility on themselves don’t immediately remove it. Way to stay stealthy, hot shot.NPCs no longer skip a turn if they fail to use a consumable during combat.NPCs are less likely to get stuck when trying to pick up a weapon while having no remaining Movement.The weapon you start with in Character Creation now carries over into the game.Force Tunnel now works correctly on characters and containers.Characters are no longer unresponsive after interrupting dialogues through combat.You can now exit Turn-Based Mode if you become Prone.Fixed a bug that could block you from ending your turn while in Turn-Based Mode.Tweaked the combat with Herdmaster Skarjall to ensure he is always armed with a whip.The Spore Servant’s immunities now match D&D lore.Redcaps will now only join the fight with Auntie Ethel if they are within range.Fixed the Absolute’s Warboard shield providing an extra +2 bonus on top of the base bonus.*Fixed Hook Horrors not being able to multi-attack Prone characters in some situations.The Underdark Spectator no longer gets stuck if it moves to certain coordinates.Fixed an issue causing dismissed companions to become hostile if you pick up a Supply Pack that you dropped at Camp.The Magma Mephit can now fly back onto platforms without getting stuck.*Auntie Ethel no longer continues to be hostile when you choose the Lolth-sworn option as a drow to strike a deal with her.If you cast a Friends or Charm spell on Scratch, he no longer becomes hostile towards you at Camp.The Guardians in the Thayan Cellar will now attack after they have all been freed. We insulted their taste in crypt decor, and now they’re angry and ready to fight.Applied Light Armour proficiency to Stonemason Gergerann.Fixed an issue causing Auntie Ethel to end her turn without moving or attacking if Mayrina’s cage is lowered before she can attack it.Nere’s Coerced condition now disappears with non-psychic damage.Spells Spells that target an area around you will now more accurately highlight the affected area.Burning Hands no longer benefits from the Metamagic: Extended Spell.The Megamagic: Careful Spell can now be applied to Acid Splash.Adjusted the Metamagic: Careful Spell so it can’t be used on spells that don’t target allies.Fixed a bug causing Flaming Sphere and Moonbeam to have an incorrect Difficulty Class.*The Ranger class can now replace spells at Level 4.Adjusted the Metamagic: Heightened Spell so it works with the Reduce, Heat Metal, and Light spells.The Metamagic: Subtle Spell no longer affects spells that can be cast while Silenced.Spike Growth now properly disappears after Concentration is broken.*NPCs affected by a Friends or Charm spell will now react appropriately when you approach them after the spell ends.Removed the Prepared Spells gauge from the UI for non-spellcasting classes.Crown of Madness no longer causes the target to roll a Saving Throw with Advantage.You no longer receive damage when you cast the Ring of Absolute Force’s Thunderwave spell if you aren’t branded with the Mark of the Absolute.The bodies of halflings and dwarves no longer stretch in cinematics after casting Disguise Self.Items Increased the weight of the Idol of Eldath from 1kg to 35kg despite it looking like an enormous chocolate figurine.The Nautiloid’s doors can no longer be targeted and destroyed.You can now reach all items in Waukeen’s Rest.*Adjusted a floating chest in the Druid Grove so it complies with gravity.Made it easier to pick up items in the Acrid Workshop.Fixed duplicate containers appearing at the Putrid Bog.Removed a bunk bed in Waukeen’s Rest so you can’t accidentally fall down onto the balustrade when you climb to the top bunk.A fireplace in the SelΓ»nite outpost is no longer clickable.The book β€˜Fables of FaerΓ»n V: The Boy and the Beholder’ is now on the floor in the Blighted Village and can be reached.*Removed random Bandit Armour from the Duergar skiff in the Underdark. Clean up after yourselves, bandits.The Eldritch Rune now disappears from your inventory upon use.You are now only rewarded with a single lock of Auntie Ethel’s hair, not two, if you make a deal with her.Tweaked a guard’s vision cone so it’s not obscured by the Grated Iron Doors in the Worg Pens jail.Fixed an issue causing Gloves of Fire Resistance not to take effect if you equip the gloves with less than half your health.Wearing a Whispering Mask now applies the Ephemeral Whispers condition, allowing you to walk through the Gnarled Door.Added a ‘Split Items’ option to the context menu for splitting items in the Traveller’s Chest.Gameplay Animations Fixed an animation issue causing your character to pop into their idle animation after cancelling or casting a spell.Shadowheart’s ponytail now abides by the laws of physics.Sazza no longer walks through her cage if she catches you lockpicking the cage door.The correct idle animation now plays for halflings’ Jump, Throw, Help, Disengage, and Shove actions.The Protection from Poison spell now features the correct casting animation.Made changes to the Light spell’s casting and hit reaction animations.Made changes to Minthara’s buff and hit reaction animations.Adjusted halflings’ heads so they no longer look too high when targeting an enemy with a ranged weapon.The Rush attack animation now plays correctly.Killing Shadowheart will now trigger the dying animation rather than the idle animation.Updated the preparation and casting animations and the VFX for the Shadow of Menzoberranzan’s Shrouded in Shadow spell.Improved the Dipping weapon animation so your character’s upper body no longer appears frozen.Adjusted the animation for NPCs so they appear more natural when turning to look at you.Damage and reaction are no longer delayed after an object hits a character.Sitting down right after unsheathing a weapon no longer causes the animation to freeze.Unsheathing a dagger right after turning around no longer causes the animation to freeze.The sitting animation now only plays once if you trigger the Hide bonus action while moving into position.Pressing the CTRL key no longer triggers the animation for preparing an attack twice when playing as a shielded female dwarf.Fixed slight animation overlaps when casting spells with the Touch range.Improved the Electrified Steam Cloud surface and added electricity and lightning VFX.The correct hand-glow effect now appears when preparing to cast Lesser Restoration, Cure Wounds, Healing Word, and Crown of Madness.Cinematic Animations Torgga’s pants no longer float in the air if she is dead. But she still wakes up at night thinking about that one time it did happen.VFX are now present when using the Speak with Dead spell in a cinematic.Fixed camera issues during Aradin and Zevlor’s confrontation.Improved the Adamantine Golem so it appears Superheated in its cinematic.The Auntie Ethel animation is now more fluid during dialogue at the Druid Grove.Fixed animation issues with Gale in the dialogue after you rescue Mirkon from the harpies.Fixed the player positioning in the cinematic with the Scrying Eye.Repositioned the camera so Barcus Wroot appears slightly further away after being freed from the windmill in the Blighted Village.When you choose to cure Thulla with Noblestalk in the Myconid Circle, the animation now shows you giving her Noblestalk instead of a bottle of antidote.Shadowheart now looks at characters correctly on the Nautiloid.Astarion now claps as Abdirak tortures you. Thanks, pal.Fixed the flute disappearing or being misaligned when you play the wrong note for Gale’s resurrection.Updated the Mindmeld visual effect so it appears correctly around your character’s head.Fixed the Speak with Dead visual effect appearing around your character’s head.Added missing Speak with Dead VFX for the deceased bugbear in the Blighted Village.Re-staged the Mindmeld shot to avoid two Mindmeld VFX playing simultaneously.Fixed the wrong Camp being shown in the cinematic if a dead companion is in a different region.Added VFX for Abridrak in the Goblin Camp.Halflings’ hands no longer clip into Nere’s body during the decapitation in Grymforge.The eyes and mouth of the pale corpse now glow as intended when you trigger Speak with Dead.Adjusted the camera so Volo’s cage doesn’t block your face if you are playing as a halfling.The addled frog is no longer submerged underwater in the Putrid Bog. Things are looking up for that guy!Fixed an issue causing Shadowheart to teleport during the scene where her magic manifests in the Blighted Village.Gale no longer stands right behind Astarion while he’s trying to have a conversation with you at camp, like a weirdo.Tweaked the camera angle in the cinematic where the goblin children are kicking a dead body in the Goblin Camp.Returned the goblins’ missing weapons in the Nautiloid crash cinematic.Added missing Mindmeld VFX and SFX in the cinematic featuring Lae’zel and the Githyanki Patrol.Wyll’s animation no longer freezes when he tortures Liam.Made numerous animation fixes for Astarion during the conversation about hunger at Camp.Fixed the positioning of Asharak’s forearm and elbow in the cinematic before the attack on the Druid Grove.Fixed weird camera changes and freezes in the dialogue between Halsin and Kagha after saving the tiefling child and siding with tieflings.If named leader of the Grove, Cerys no longer slides and freezes during the cinematic that follows the attack on the Druid Grove.Fixed an issue causing you to teleport during the attack on the Druid Grove cutscene after speaking to Cerys.Camera The camera now stays at the correct height at the entrance to the Hag’s Lair.The camera no longer jumps to different heights near the rocky slide in the Underdark.The camera no longer slides up and out of reach in Grymforge.The camera no longer gets blocked when you walk through the hidden door in Grymforge.The freecam can no longer scoot out of bounds on the Nautiloid.Lighting Moving the camera towards the Shar Temple from the platform behind Nere’s cave no longer causes the environment to fill with sunlight.Fixed artefacts and lighting problems when playing the game on Vulkan.Fixed specular flicker in depth-of-field scenarios.Fixed the lighting in the Worg Pens at the Goblin Camp.Fixed the lighting on the Nautiloid where Shadowheart is freed from the Mindflayer pod.Fixed the lighting in Minthara’s betrayal scene.Fixed the lighting in the BOOOAL scene.Fixed a light bloom issue near the fishermen at the crash site.Improved the lighting in the cinematic with Warrior Trinzas.Fixed a sudden bright light appearing when you enter the Underdark via the lift.Audio In combat with harpies, their musical luring vocals are now synced to the music and positioned in 3D space for more accurate presentation and feedback.Shadowheart now groans in pain if she is knocked out on the beach when you approach her.Imps no longer continue speaking to the Cultist once combat has begun.Added a slight delay to the dialogue with Johl and Demir once they leave you after your initial encounter.You now react to the rat trap in the Shattered Sanctum only after it’s been activated by a rat.Added Halsin’s missing voice-over and subtitles.Fixed a bug causing missing voice-overs.Fixed a looping sound emitted by a barrelstalk when entering the Myconid Circle.Text Added missing information on Saving Throws and Attack Rolls to the combat log tooltips.Added missing Saving Throw indicators for Web, Ray of Sickness, Shatter, and Melf’s Acid Arrow.Resistances now display correctly in the Examine UI.Fixed the supply total not updating when picking up or dropping containers with supplies.Tooltips no longer show an incorrect βˆ’1 level on some enemies.The tooltip for Prepare and Brace no longer displays in metres if the game is set to the imperial system.Correct tooltips now appear in the Combine/Insert/Extract Item panel.The tooltips now correctly display the condition-related info for certain consumables.The tooltips now correctly display the description of certain throwable items.The text indicating the keyboard shortcut for pinning tooltips now fits in its designated box.The Spike Growth tooltip now displays correctly, showing 2d4 damage.Fixed a mismatch between the Draconic Resilience tooltip within Character Creation and in the Character Sheet.Healing potion tooltips no longer have duplicated information.Fixed inconsistencies in the Circle of the Land druid subclass tooltip.Fixed the Potion of Speed tooltip description.Fixed duplicate Quasit scrolls and improved the Shovel’s scroll text.Fixed text relating to the Spider Infested condition on the ettercap.Fixed the Hunt the Devil quest journal entry not displaying correctly even if you complete the quest.Fixed your companion’s condition text following the first dream at Camp.Icons Fixed missing icons for Gekh Coal’s Enlarge and Animate Dead actions.Fixed missing icons for the Goodberry, Rotten Chicken Eggs, and Duergar’s Antidote.Fixed missing icons for conditions given by food.Fixed the missing icon for the Witness condition.Follower portraits no longer disappear after a save and load.Clips, Pops, and Other Questionable VisualsYour legs no longer swing back and forth like a weird pendulum during the owlbear cinematic.Fixed Guex’s vanishing sword prop and curbed his weird tail spasms.Lia and Cal now move their heads more naturally during Rolan’s magic trick cinematic and the camera angle has been improved throughout the scene.Fixed issue causing Welso’s neck to twist into nightmarish pretzel during dialogue.Improved Studded Leather Armour so it doesn’t clip the gloves of tall female characters.Characters no longer clip through the wall when moving towards the shelf in the tollhouse.*Astarion’s ‘The Exorcist’ legs have been exorcised. He stands as he should throughout the recruitment cutscene.Lakrissa’s chin has been fixed and no longer clips into the collar of her armour.Barcus Wroot’s necklace no longer clips through his sleeve and hand.Your eyes no longer clip through your eyelids during the first Mindmeld with Astarion.Liam no longer clips into the torture rack because he’s been through enough.Improved VFX and fixed clipping for Wyll and the Unfortunate Gnome quest.If you are playing as a halfling, your head will no longer do a crazy spin thing when you talk to Aradin.Equipping Tarnished Charm no longer causes your hands to disappear.Fixed an issue causing Gale to stretch during dialogue after using Disguise Self to become a smaller race.Removed jitters in Shadowheart’s pod scene on the Nautiloid.Adjusted the cinematic so Shadowheart’s body doesn’t shift downward suddenly at the beach.Untwisted the twisting heads in the cinematic during the Githyanki Patrol scene.Over-encumbered characters no longer begin to slide when sneaking.Fixed character positioning and clipping and characters not holding items correctly in the cinematic in the Nautiloid helm.Fixed minor jittering in Shadowheart’s cinematic after the confrontation between Aradin and Zevlor at the Druid Grove.Fixed a mocap pop for halfling heads.Fixed pops and the missing sickle in the BOOOAL scenario.Fixed clipping, pauses, and issues with the dagger during Astarion’s recruitment scene.Fixed multiple mocap pops in Wyll’s practise duel cinematic.Fixed mocap pops in the BOOOAL situation.Removed a twitch in the Mizora cinematic.Fixed Doni’s animation pop.Fixed Nettie’s animation pop and ensured that she now looks in the correct direction when speaking to you.Fixed clipping on items worn by characters in the cinematic that plays when you return a locket to Barth.Fixed Brakkal clipping through the cage.Removed mocap popping and freezing from the Goblin Toast cinematic.Fixed Memnos having little animation jerks and twitches. In short, Memnos is no longer a jerk. πŸ₯Fixed clipping and animation issues in the Nettie cinematic.Improved the cinematic between Halsin and Kagha to remove freezing and popping.Fixed minor twitching issues with Tracker Kirz’s head.Fixed a jittering animation present when you jump.Fixed cinematic clipping in the Crusher scene.Fixed a camera pop in Aradin and Zevlor’s confrontation.Fixed characters’ outlines turning purple after they leave the party.Fixed character positions in the scene before you enter the Druid Grove.Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

If you’re interested in the Xbox Series S, now’s the time to buy one. Staples has the Xbox Series S in stock for $255 if you enter promo codes 40765 and 29767 (thanks Wario64). For some reason, you can use two coupon codes in one transaction, which slashes $45 off the price. This is the best deal we’ve seen on the Xbox Series S so far. Chances are it will sell out very quickly or perhaps Staples will turn the coupon codes off.

And yes, we weren’t aware that Staples–the office supply store–carried Xbox consoles either. Pretty cool! Staples offers free one- to two-day shipping on the Series S, or you can pick up the console at your local store if stock is available.

The Xbox Series S has been much easier to find over the past couple of months. It’s almost always in stock at major retailers, including Amazon. A few weeks back, we saw the first deal on the Series S at Woot, dropping the price to $280. We’d be surprised to see the Series S available for less than $255 any time soon, though.

The Xbox Series X, on the other hand, remains extremely scarce. We haven’t seen very many restocks in 2022. During the holidays, we saw the Series X in stock at least a few times per week, but nowadays it’s rare to see it (outside of in pricey bundles) even once a week. Hopefully that trend breaks soon. Make sure to bookmark our Xbox Series X restock tracker, as we update it every time a new restock is announced.

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Cyberpunk 2077‘s latest update has finally given players a bit more to do with their hard-earned Eddies. Aside from cars, armor, and weapons, players can have V invest their cash in real estate by purchasing a new apartment or renovating their own. Getting your own apartment redone or picking out a new pad for V is as simple as logging onto a computer and having a ton of Eddies in your account. Here’s how you can buy and customize apartments in Cyberpunk 2077.

Use the computer in your apartment

Head to V’s computer and go to the EZEstates page to start buying new apartments.

Beginning your latest real estate escapades in Cyberpunk 2077 starts simply. Head to V’s apartment, which can be found in Watson’s Megabuilding H10, and hop on the computer. From there, select the net tab and then select the EZEstates website. You’ll be brought straight to a webpage showing off apartments that you can purchase for yourself.

In total, there are four extra apartments players can purchase, each with a unique interior and price tag. The cheapest apartment in Cyberpunk 2077 is in Northside, close to V’s usual apartment, and costs 5,000 Eddies. For 15,000 Eddies, players can get an apartment in Japantown that offers a slicker, more refined atmosphere.

If you have a lot of cash to spend, the last two apartments available in Cyberpunk 2077 are for you. 40,000 Eddies can get you a high-end apartment located in Glen, while a massive 55,000 Eddies can net you a home located high above the Night City skyline.

A home of your own

Apartments can be customized with six different makeovers.

While getting the keys to a swanky apartment is nice, making the place your own is even better. You can renovate any apartment you purchase by heading to the makeover tab on the EZEstates website. There are four renovations you can purchase in total, each costing just 10,000 Eddies. However, you can’t makeover an apartment from anywhere. Instead, you have to be at the apartment you want to renovate to give it a new look.

Apartment renovations aren’t massive overhauls to V’s living space though. They’re simple palette swaps, changing out the primary and secondary colors of the apartment for something new. Some styles add a bit more flair with extra patterns such as leopard print, but don’t expect any new furniture to be added to your pad.

If you’re less of a homebody and more of a road warrior, be sure to check our guide on how to find Cyberpunk 2077’s most iconic vehicles, including the game’s Porsche 911.

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Earlier this month, we bid adieu to Control, Code Vein, The Medium, and a handful of other titles whose time on Game Pass had come to an end. Microsoft has since revealed a new list of games leaving the service later this month, giving you just under two weeks to test out some of ’em out–and maybe even pick them up at a steep discount–before they leave the program.

During this second wave, titles leaving Game Pass include Hypnospace Outlaw, Killer Queen Black, Stealth Inc. 2, and Touhou Luna Nights. As always, Game Pass subscribers can currently purchase these games for 20% off if they wish to keep playing them after they’ve left the catalog.

In other news, Microsoft has recently announced Game Pass now has 25 million members–an impressive number that’s slated to grow even larger if Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through.

You can check out the full list of Game Pass titles leaving the program this month below. Also be sure to have a look at the lineup of Game Pass titles coming to the service throughout the rest of February.

Game Pass Titles Leaving in February

February 28

Hypnospace Outlaw — cloud, console, and PCKiller Queen Black — cloud, console, and PCStealth Inc. 2 — cloud, console, and PCTouhou Luna Nights — cloud, console, and PCRead MoreGameSpot – Game News

Platinum Games recently made headlines by expressing interest in reviving Scalebound–the canceled action-RPG it has been developing for Xbox One and PC until 2017. Though you might think the comments were made in jest, director Hideki Kamiya has confirmed he has serious interest in the game.

Speaking to VGC, Kamiya–who has directed games like Resident Evil 2 and Bayonetta–said he’s actually expressed a desire to revive the game “many times,” and it seemed like people didn’t believe him. He also seemed to troll the interviewer a bit when asked if he was in contact with original publisher Microsoft, neither confirming nor denying it.

“That’s something that I thought I’d been saying, or I’d been trying to say for years now,” he added. “I’ve said it in interviews before and gotten no reaction, but now finally I got a big reaction, and I was glad to see that. But no, not a joke: I’m totally serious about [reviving Scalebound], yeah.”

Previous problems with Scalebound were attributed to Platinum Games’ unfamiliarity with online games, as the project was set to have cooperative gameplay as multiple human characters fought alongside dragons. Since its cancellation, Platinum Games has gotten more experience with online play, including a novel approach in Nier: Automata as well as the upcoming Babylon’s Fall.

Should Scalebound be revived, it’s unclear what form it would take. Gameplay demos prior to its cancellation were oddly passive for a Platinum project, with the studio focusing more on supporting the dragon companion than direct, flashy combat with protagonist Drew. Platinum Games has several projects in the works at the moment, including Bayonetta 3 as well as the soon-to-launch Sol Cresta.

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