Shadow Warrior 3 will be released on March 1, publisher Devolver Digital has announced, with a release date trailer breaking the fourth wall and generally poking fun at marketing materials.

Shadow Warrior 3 is described as a “fast-paced first-person love song dedicated to action.” You play as Lo Wang, a former Yakuza mercenary who is trying to save the world from a disaster that he might have had a hand in kicking off in the first place.

“By nearly plunging the world into a full-blown apocalypse, Lo Wang accidentally opens a multi-dimensional prison cell holding a humongous world-eating dragon. Now, finding himself in something of a prophetic predicament, and–more importantly–with his mojo lost, Lo Wang is forced to team up with his own nemesis, the ex-billionaire Orochi Zilla, and his newly enlisted ally Motoko, to set things right,” reads a line from the game’s description. “However, the road to redemption is spiked not only with ultra-malevolent Yokai demons but also with equally damning distrust between Lo Wang and his team of discount heroes.”

Shadow Warrior 3 is developed by Flying Wild Hog, the Polish developer behind the previous two Shadow Warrior games, as well as the Hard Reset series. The studio was acquired by THQ Nordic parent company Embracer in 2020. Shadow Warrior 3 is releasing on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

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After you’ve defeated Yang, the final boss of Sifu, there’s still unfinished business left to attend to. That’s because revenge is not the way of kung-fu, and defeating all of the game’s bosses does not give you the true secret ending. Instead, you must spare all of the people who killed your family, but the game doesn’t explicitly tell you how to do that. Here’s how to earn Sifu’s true ending and how to spare all bosses.

How to get the secret ending in Sifu

After you finish the game, you’ll be able to replay each stage and fight the bosses all over again. What you need to do is spare each boss instead of killing them. Sparing a boss will not only get you one step closer to the true ending, but each one rewards you with a special talisman. Below are the bosses and each corresponding talisman:

Fajar – Wood TalismanSean – Fire TalismanKuroki – Water TalismanJinfeng – Metal TalismanYang – Earth Talisman

You can spare them in any order, so pick whichever boss you’re most comfortable with so you can practice. But how do you spare bosses?

How to spare bosses in Sifu

Deplete a boss’ white health bar to spare them.

Up to this point, you’ve defeated bosses by breaking their structure and using a finisher to take them down for good. If you notice, each boss has a separate, white “health” bar beneath the structure meter. You need to deplete this white health bar to spare them, which is easier said than done.

To do so, play each fight like you would normally. Break their structure, use a finisher, and begin the second phase of a battle. At this point, do your best to actually damage the opponent instead of simply raising their Structure meter. The best strategy is to parry, which allows you to follow up with an attack, depleting the white health bar.

Eventually, you’ll get to the point where the boss’ Structure will break, but don’t finish them off. Instead, back away and wait for their Structure to reset so you can repeat the process once again. You’ll have to break their Structure a couple of times before getting the prompt to spare.

Once again, the finisher prompt will appear, but so will a new option to “Spare” the opponent, which is done by pressing left on the D-pad. Spare them, and a new cutscene will play, indicating that you have let them live. Repeat this process for the rest of the bosses in the game.

The Yang fight plays out a little differently, but the strategy is mostly the same as before. Reach the second phase of the fight, skip finishing him off a couple of times, and then press left on the D-pad when the spare option appears.

At this point, you’ll have one last phase to get through with Yang, and this time, you won’t have the ability to come back to life. This section requires you to break Yang’s Structure, and he can do the same to you. Your health bar disappears, and the ability to age and retry is not available.

For this part, just block, avoid, and parry him as you’ve done in the past to break his Structure one last time. And this time, you do want to use your finisher on him. Doing so will unlock a secret cutscene and the true ending of the game.

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Just shy of a week before launch, Sony has released a sliver of new gameplay for Horizon Forbidden West running a base PlayStation 4.

The footage, which is just over 20 seconds long, is quite visually striking. That’s especially true when you consider it’s a 2022 game running on hardware that’s nearly a decade old at this point, showing off just how well Guerrilla Games’ sequel has improved over the first entry. There’s definitely some visible fuzziness thanks to the reduced resolution, but overall the game still manages to look rather beautiful.

Of course, this is far from an exhaustive look at how the game will run on the lowest spec hardware its launching on, especially given that there’s no combat or erratic camera movements in the gameplay. But after the showing of Horizon Forbidden West on PS4 Pro recently, you can probably rest assured that if you haven’t had a chance to upgrade to a PS5 yet, you’ll be well-served still. It’s a welcome showcase too, given how releases from other publishers on older hardware has, in some cases, remained hidden until release (Cyberpunk 2077 was notorious for this).

Horizon Forbidden West continues the story of Aloy, as she travels to the west coast of the post-apocalyptic ruins of the United States. It features some improvements to overall traversal, melee combat, and more, all of which you can catch-up on in our guide to everything we know about Horizon Forbidden West. It launches on PS5 and PS4 on February 18, with several editions and collector’s items that you can still preorder.

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PUBG developer Krafton has become the latest gaming company to make moves into the NFT space. The company said in a news release that it has invested more than $6.5 million into multiple companies to advance its efforts in this space, while it also plans to make its own NFT-related projects.

Krafton is investing $2.5 million into Seoul Auction Blue and $4.1 million into XBYBLUE, while it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to make its own NFT projects.

Seoul Auction Blue runs the art purchasing platform SOTWO. XBYBLUE, meanwhile, runs a service called XXBLUE that acquires and curates digital content IP that can then be sold to consumers.

Krafton’s game studio, Bluehole, will lead the charge in working with these new companies to use Krafton’s technology to make and sell NFT avatars for use in the metaverse “in the future.”

Krafton CEO CH Kim said the company is confident it can come up with NFT solutions are that are “fun and engaging.” Kim teased that this is “just the beginning” of what Krafton has planned in this space. Partnerships with other companies around the world will be announced later.

As for the NFT projects, Krafton said in a second release that it’s working with NAVER Z to make new Web 3.0 and NFT projects to create an “NFT metaverse platform.” NAVER Z runs the ZEPETO metaverse platform, which boasts 290 million users globally.

Krafton said it is leveraging its experience in making a big online game, PUBG, to help fuel its efforts in the metaverse space. It will also create a user-generated content tool and make a “high quality virtual world” using Epic’s Unreal Engine to make its metaverse.

The announcement of Krafton’s NFT/metaverse plans comes just days after Elden Ring company Bandai Namco announced it would spend $130 million to create its own IP metaverse, according to VGC.

NFTs, in particular, have been one of the most-discussed elements of games and the wider technology space for the past year or so. Recently, the indie games platform Itch.io slammed NFTs and the companies that support them. Check out GameSpot’s roundup to find out more on where video game companies like Ubisoft, EA, Nintendo, EA, and Xbox stand on them.

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Bandai Namco and From Software have responded to the ongoing technical issues surrounding the Dark Souls franchise on PC, saying the servers for Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls III will remain offline as the companies investigate the matter. The servers will stay down until after Elden Ring launches on February 25, Bandai Namco and From Software said in a statement posted on social media.

If you’re just catching up, it’s been reported that the Dark Souls games contain security vulnerabilities that make the games and the computers they are played on reportedly susceptible to breaches. Similar underlying issues exposed in Elden Ring’s network tests suggests it might affect that game as well. From Software was reportedly informed of this risk earlier but did not act on it.

In its statement, Bandai Namco and From Software said the companies have “extended the investigation” into Elden Ring and will make sure “the necessary security measures are in place for this title on all target platforms.” The game remains on schedule to launch on February 25.

#DarkSouls pic.twitter.com/ZRhX9OcvQe

— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) February 9, 2022

The Dark Souls servers have been offline since the end of January due to this issue. We’ll report back with any new developments as they come to light.

Elden Ring will launch on February 25 one week after another high-profile title, Sony’s Horizon Forbidden West, launches for PS4 and PS5. Both games are part of a stacked February for new releases, which also includes Destiny 2’s Witch Queen expansion on February 22.

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Pokemon Legends: Arceus reimagines Sneasel as a Fighting/Poison hybrid with a brand-new evolution to boot. Sneasler, its Hisuian evolution, reflects its type change with its ability to scale steep landscapes across the different regions. However, it still uses the same evolution item as Sneasels of the future: the Razor Claw. This mysterious claw evolves Hisuian Sneasel into Sneasler and, if you happen to find one in a space-time distortion, a regular Sneasel into Weavile. Here’s everything you need to know about the Razor Claw and how to evolve Sneasel with it.

Where to find Razor Claw

Razor Claws can be found at the trading post/item exchange

Razor Claws mostly pop up in shops or as drops. It isn’t easy to find a Razor Claw, but you can use one of these methods to earn one through some good ol’ grinding. Any one of these should work, though some will be more convenient depending on your luck.

Buy with Merit Points from the Item Exchange: The Item Exchange sells Razor Claws for 1,400 Merit Points. Merit points mainly come from retrieving lost satchels, so keep fetching them until you have enough points for a Razor Claw. It’s one of the most popular ways to get the Razor Claw because it’s in a fixed location.Buy from Ginter in Jubilife Village: Ginter, one of the peddlers right outside of Galaxy Hall, sells expensive but valuable items to passersby. He switches the item every day, as in a full day and night cycle. Keep checking in with him in case he mentions a “Mystery Claw,” which you can buy for 10,000 Poke. This so-called Mystery Claw is actually the Razor Claw.Ginter likes to keep special products especially mysteriousKeep beating up Sneasels and hope for it as a drop: Wild Sneasels sometimes drop Razor Claws after being captured or defeated in battle. It’s unclear what the exact drop rate percentage is. Some players report finding one right away or searching for way too long.Space-time distortions: You can also find Razor Claws inside space-time distortions. However, considering how drops and items can vary, it isn’t the most reliable way to find Razor Claws.

Where to find Sneasel

Sneasel appears in Alabaster Icelands and Coronet Highlands. Watch out: These keen-eyed Pokemon attack on sight! Thankfully, you should have plenty of chances to catch them because of how common they are.

How to evolve Sneasel with Razor Claw

Sneasel Pokedex entry in progress

Sneasel evolves into Weavile at nighttime in Diamond and Pearl. However, Sneasler is different. It evolves during the day instead of at night. More specifically, the Razor Claw won’t show as “compatible” with Sneasel until its morning or midday. Wait for the sun to rise or speak to the Galaxy Team guard to rest until one of the aforementioned times.

So far, the Razor Claw only seems to work on Sneasel. This isn’t surprising, considering other evolution items like the Black Augurite, Metal Coat, and Peat Block also only work with one specific kind of Pokemon. As mentioned before, Johto Sneasel can also appear in space-time distortions. You can evolve it into Weavile at night like in other modern era games.

Need help finding other rare Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus? We also have a guide for finding Shiny Pokemon, catching the almighty Arceus, and more.

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The cheapest version of Valve’s Steam Deck comes with just 64GB of internal storage, but that might not be as much of an issue as it sounds, with early tests suggesting games will run surprisingly fast off a micro SD card. YouTubers who have their hands on the devices early have started testing the Steam Deck’s load times, with some games running only slightly slower, or in some cases at the same speed as off the SSD, PC Gamer reports.

The speed testing comes courtesy of tech YouTubers Linus Tech Tips and The Phawx, both of whom have been able to put the Steam Deck through its paces ahead of the handheld device’s launch on February 25. The results, when it comes to loading games off an external micro SD card, are promising, especially during a time when a lot of games come with huge install sizes.

While the number of games available for testing at this point are limited–and likely the best optimised for the system at launch–The Phawx found that load times on games like Dead Cells and Street Fighter V were almost exactly the same between SSD and micro SD, with the longest delay around 2 seconds long. Other games like Portal 2 and Ghostrunner took a longer time to load on the micro SD, with the longest delay coming in at around 17 seconds.

Both YouTubers concluded that players had very little to lose from loading their Steam Deck games directly from a micro SD card, which is good news with the Steam Deck’s internal storage maxing out at 512GB for the most expensive model. Even the entry-level 64GB model will make a great gaming machine with a 1TB micro SD slotted in.

The Steam Deck’s portable hardware does have some drawbacks, with other tech tests showing that players will have to be more mindful of their game settings to get the most out of the device’s battery life.

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With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, Pokemon Go players will be feeling the love with new challenges, bonuses, themed Pokemon, and the debut of flower Pokemon Flabébé, Floette, and Florges. The flower-themed Pokemon will have five different colors available, with three of them region-locked and another two available as a rare encounter.

The Valentines Day event will begin on February 10 at 10 AM in players’ local time, and run through to 8 PM on February 14. For the duration of the event, players will benefit from double Lure Module duration and double Catch Candy, as well as Buddy Pokemon bringing players gifts more often.

The event comes with a new Global Challenge, which will unlock a reward if all players worldwide reach a cumulative total of 70,000,000 Gifts sent. If the goal is reached, an additional bonus of 3x Transfer Candy will be in place for the remainder of the event.

On a smaller scale, trainers will be able to participate in two new Valentine’s-themed Collection Challenges, which will unlock encounters with a female Frillish and a male Frillish.

As with all Pokemon Go’s themed events, the main way trainers will be interacting the game’s Valentine’s celebrations is through the themed Pokemon that will pop up more often in the wild. Expect lots of pink, with Pokemon like Chansey, Luvdisc, Miltank, Audino, and Alomomola popping up more often, as well as paired Pokemon like Plusle and Minun, and Volbeat and Illumise.

With #PokemonGOValentines nearing, it’s almost time to catch more than just feelings—it’s time to catch some more Pokémon! 🙂

Blooming into the world of Pokémon GO are…

🌸 Flabébé
🌸 Floette
🌸 Florges

💌 Learn more: https://t.co/Ya7iB3vk6z pic.twitter.com/uLY67OGjXY

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) February 7, 2022

A new Pokemon is also debuting with this event–Flabébé, which can be evolved into Floette and Florges. Trainers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will get a Flabébé with a red flower, blue flowers will be appearing in the Asia-Pacific region, while the Americas will get a yellow Flower Flabébé. All regions will be able to catch the rarer white and orange flower Flabébés if they’re lucky.

Along with these new arrivals, poodle Pokemon Furfrou will be getting a cute new Heart Trim form. To change your Furfrou’s trim, use the Change Form button in Pokemon Storage, and choose from available trims at a cost of 25 Furfrou Candy and 10,000 Stardust per change.

Players who are able to evolve Kirlia into either Gallade or Gardevoir during the event will be able to unlock the special charged attack Synchronoise.

For the full list of bonuses and Pokemon that will be available through wild encounters, raids, and field research during the event, check out the full Pokemon Go blog post.

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With the Steam Deck’s release coming up at the end of February, testers have their hands on the device and are revealing more about how it’ll play. One tidbit coming out from a number of YouTubers testing the Steam Deck is that the handheld device’s battery life will be heavily reliant on what settings are used to play, as reported by PC Gamer.

Officially, Valve has said that the Steam Deck will provide 2-8 hours of batttery, depending on the game and settings being used. Tests from YouTubers Gamers Nexus and The Phawx have shown this range to be generally accurate, though both managed to run the battery down in less than two hours, and neither managed to reach the 8-hour upper limit.

In a battery strain test, Gamers Nexus managed to run the battery down in 87 minutes by running Devil May Cry 5 with an uncapped framerate and Vsync disabled. With a 60fps framerate cap and Vsync enabled, DMC5 lasted around 2 hours instead, scraping the lower end of the Steam Deck’s official battery life.

Similar tests run by The Phawx showed that the Steam Deck gets considerably better batttery life when playing less demanding games like indie or older titles, with Dead Cells running for around six hours with Vsync enabled. The Phawx failed to reach the advertised eight-hour upper run time with any game, despite testing various options.

On the plus side, it looks like the Steam Deck will charge fairly quickly, with Gamers Nexus’s test showing the device charging to 80% in around 100 minutes while turned on and running idle. Like other devices using lithium-ion batteries, the Steam Deck slows its charging rate at 80% to preserve the battery, and takes about three hours to reach a full 100% charge.

While the tests showing the Steam Deck running out its battery in under 90 minutes are an extreme case with settings players don’t have much reason to use on the handheld device, it’s a reminder that the Steam Deck is fundamentally different to handheld consoles like the Nintendo Switch. With the Steam Deck functioning more like a mini-PC that players can theoretically load any of their PC games onto, players will have to be more mindful of how their game settings will impact battery life.

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After releasing in Korea at the end of 2019, MMORPG Lost Ark will be available in western markets from February 11, with Amazon on board as a publisher. The game is free-to-play, relying on microtransactions for revenue. Here’s everything you need to know about getting into Lost Ark.

Players will be able to download Lost Ark for free from Steam or the game’s website from February 11, though the game is already available for those who have unlocked early access by purchasing one of the game’s Founder’s Packs. You can find more details on getting into Lost Ark early here.

For players who don’t pick up a Founder’s Pack, the game will be fully free-to-play from February 11. While Korean MMOs are particularly notorious for predatory microtransactions, the western release of Lost Ark has modified the way its microtransations work in order to cater for those cultural differences.

Those changes include making sure that microtransactions are optional–in other words, giving players ways to earn the same content through regular gameplay if they choose, even if the process is fairly grindy. Players will also be able to trade any purchased items through the in-game economy.

The biggest microtransaction Lost Ark players should be aware of is the Crystalline Aura, a kind of monthly subscription that confers a number of useful buffs onto players including free fast travel, extra Bifrost slots, and reduced cooldowns and crafting time for the Stronghold. All

Lost Ark will also offer more conventional microtransactions, unlocking skins, pets, and other cosmetic items for players with cash to burn. However, as it’s being published by Amazon, players with active Prime subscriptions can keep an eye out for freebies through Prime Gaming. The first of Amazon’s free bundles is live now, offering a free Crystalline Aura, an Amethyst Shard pack and a Battle Chest bundle.

To celebrate its launch, Lost Ark has also made use of Amazon’s ownership of Twitch, using the streaming platform to give away even more free loot to prospective players.

If you’re ready to jump into Lost Ark now, or when the game launches for free on February 11, check out our Lost Ark guide for beginners.

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