Elden Ring Nightreign Impressions, Marvel Rivals Layoff Reactions, And More Of The Week's Top Commentary
We've been playing quite a bit of Obsidian's great new first-person RPGAvowed lately, and we have thoughts about the companions who fight by your side during your journey. Also, we share our impressions on Elden Ring Nightreign after spending time with its recent network test, and look at how the internet reacted to the surprising news of layoffs hitting the team behind hugely successful hero shooter Marvel Rivals. Read on for these and more of the week's top takes.
In case you didn't notice, the console wars—the decades-long battle between mulitple companies and their plastic game boxes—ended a few years ago. And while Sony continues to fight on with its PlayStation despite the war being over, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer recently confirmed that, yeah, it's all over, and the company is no longer trying to steal users away with exclusives. - Zack Zwiezen Read More
On February 18, NetEase laid off Marvel Rivals development team members, including game director Thaddeus Sasser, just two months after its incredibly successful launch. The hero shooter has been such a runaway success that the news blindsided people across the video game industry. According to a statement the company issued to Game File, NetEase made these cuts 'for organizational reasons and to optimize development efficiency for the game.' The layoffs specifically affected the support team based in Seattle while the 'core' Guangzhou-based team 'remains fully committed to delivering an exceptional experience.' - Kenneth Shepard Read More
'Another win, but who's counting?' It's the stupidest thing a person could say after a fight. No one. No one was counting. Including you, Kai, unless you think 'another' is a numeral. Recognizing a win in no sense implies tallying anything. It doesn't make sense. Stop saying it, man. Just stop saying it. In fact, unless you've got something useful to say, maybe don't say anything at all? - John Walker Read More
Avowed is officially out for everyone today, February 18. Obsidian's latest RPG in the Pillars of Eternity universe is pretty damn good, and fans who paid up for the game's Premium Edition have been playing it a few days early. The aspect I'm most looking forward to in Avowed, beyond the character creator, is a companion who shares a voice with one of the most beloved characters in Mass Effect. - Kenneth Shepard Read More
A surprising contradiction sits at the heart of PC gaming: the medium's most open platform is nevertheless dominated by a single storefront. That storefront belongs to Valve, it's called Steam, and despite plenty of challenges in the two decades since it launched, no one has yet come close to unseating the Counter-Strike maker's grip on the PC gaming market. Amazon was one of the companies that tried, and one of its retired VPs recently explained his take on why nobody has succeeded. - Ethan Gach Read More
Elden Ring Nightreign looks like Elden Ring, the 2022 FromSoftware hit,and it seems like it should play like Elden Ring, an action-RPG about fighting massive bosses in a cursed open world. And in a lot of ways it does feel cut from the same cloth as its predecessor, but there are also some very important ways in which it doesn't. The biggest of those is speed. - Ethan Gach Read More
When I played Hazelight's last game, It Takes Two, back in 2021, it was with an ex who'd had different ideas about where our relationship should go than I did. This made playing as a squabbling, estranged couple in a co-op platformer more fitting for that moment in my life than I could have anticipated. So it's funny that Hazelight's upcoming co-op game, Split Fiction, also feels timely, this one due to its obvious disdain for corporate slop and art theft at a time when nearly every creative field, including the one I work in now, is dealing with the fallout of AI. - Kenneth Shepard Read More
The Human Torch is joining the Marvel Rivals roster tomorrow, February 21, and before the fire-flinging hero has even joined the scrap, fans are already scared. Part of Marvel Rivals' appeal is that its heroes are powerful, destructive, and unconcerned with the petty matters of balance and fairness. The Human Torch seems to continue this trend, as some of the early playtests have shown the flying hero to be a devastating menace. - Kenneth Shepard Read More
When you've been on the internet as long as I have, you get the distinct displeasure of watching cycles of toxicity repeat themselves ad nauseam, usually over things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things. The world is on fire and rather than devoting energy to important matters, a subset of the internet will create and participate in online campaigns to harass developers who made a video game they didn't like. These campaigns go beyond reasonable criticism and veer into attacks on people's personhood, and sometimes include gleeful celebrations of people losing their jobs after layoffs. - Kenneth Shepard Read More
Following the success of Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, along with the recurring seasonal themes and fresh start opportunities, enjoying the grind brought to us by Blizzard Entertainment is easier than ever. But sometimes it's not enough. Say, for example, you finish a season early. What then? Well, you could roll a new character and grind to max level a second time…or you could swap games for a bit while you wait for the next Diablo 4 season start date. That's likely some time in April, so what to do with the next month? Here are a bunch of other ARPGs to enjoy. - Brandon Morgan Read More
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How to Fight Elden Ring Nightreign's Everdark Sovereign Bosses
Everything you've learned about Limveld over the weeks since Elden Ring Nightreign's launch has just been flipped on its head. Developer FromSoftware previously announced that enhanced versions of the game's bosses would feature in post-launch updates, but they were shadowdropped with little to no warning on Wednesday, with full details from publisher Bandai Namco. These Everdark Sovereigns have certainly been eating their Wheaties, because they're bigger, stronger and have wicked special moves that you'll have to learn if you want to stand a chance against this new threat. But if you can conquer the next iterations of the Nightlord, you'll earn a special currency that opens up an endgame shop filled with loot. Here's everything you need to know about the Everdark Sovereigns, ranging from what they are, how to take them on and what goodies you can earn if you're skilled enough to take one of these bad boys out. What are the Everdark Sovereigns? If you've put the beat down on Elden Ring Nightreign's roster of Nightlord aspects and come out the other side thinking they were too easy, the Everdark Sovereigns are designed with you in mind. These foes are enhanced "hard mode" versions of the regular expedition bosses, and they add new moves and mechanics to the already challenging night three fights. Everdark Sovereign fights begin with the boss's second phase before shifting into a new third phase, making them some of the deadliest enemies in Nightreign. Each Everdark Sovereign expedition is available for a week, after which a new fight will become available. The first Everdark Sovereign is Adel, the Gaping Jaw, and Everdark Sovereign versions of the Sentient Pest and Darkdrift Knight will rotate in and out over the coming weeks. Eventually, there'll be an Everdark Sovereign variant of every Nightlord aspect, though there's no word on if they'll be ready after the first three hard mode bosses have rotated into the game. Bandai Namco/Screenshot by CNET How can you embark on an expedition to fight one of Nightreign's new bosses? You don't have to jump through too many hoops to try to take on the Everdark Sovereigns, but they won't all be accessible at the same time. These bosses are time-gated and are in the game for one week each. So long as you've beaten the normal version of the currently available Everdark Sovereign, you'll be able to access the special expedition during this time. A new expedition outlined in purple will appear at the bottom of the list, and embarking on the current Everdark Sovereign expedition is as simple as choosing this option and proceeding normally. If you've beaten the easier, base game version of the current Everdark Sovereign and you don't see the special expedition in your list of available options, make sure you have a functioning internet connection. You can take the Everdark Sovereigns on in solo mode (if you're a masochist), but you'll need to remain online and connected to the Elden Ring Nightreign servers to access this new content. How can you beat these hard mode bosses? If you want to beat an Everdark Sovereign, you'll have to "get good." There are no two ways about it: These bosses are much harder than their base game counterparts. They start in their second phase, have new third phases and special moves that hit like a truck. With that being said, there are still ways you can even the odds after mastering the basics of Elden Ring Nightreign. Many of the skills that you should learn to challenge base game bosses still apply to Everdark Sovereign expeditions. It's more important than ever to set up a cohesive relic build that synergizes with your class's play style. Buying chalices from the Jar Bazaar and farming Murk to buy up some more relics will help you create the right build for your favorite Nightfarer. During your expeditions, you'll obviously want to pick up weapons and shields that provide you with passive stats that pair well with your Nightfarer, as well as your general play style with the character. You should also be running the most optimized rune-earning route possible to get as close to level 15 as you can by the time you enter the third night. Most importantly, you'll want to pick up weapons that have status effects that the bosses are weak to. If the enhanced version of Adel is anything to go by, Everdark Sovereigns will move quickly and have short windows of vulnerability. Pick up a weapon that exploits their weakness to break down their poise and extend the amount of time you can whack at the boss. High damage per second is a virtue. The quicker you can knock out a boss, the less time it has to defeat you and your friends. A war of attrition is an easy way to lose an expedition in Nightreign, so plan ahead before you ever face down the new Nightlord aspect. Bandai Namco/Screenshot by CNET What do you get for beating an Everdark Sovereign? In addition to the normal expedition rewards, you'll have a chance to earn new boss relics and a special currency called Sovereign Sigils. The boss relics are incredibly powerful alterations to popular play styles. The first Everdark Sovereign, the Gaping Jaw, drops the Dark Night of the Baron relic. This relic improves the damage of critical hits twice over and makes you generate runes upon landing one of those crushing blows. It seems as though Everdark Sovereign relics will be a powerful new way for Nightreign's min-maxers to advance their build in a game where you don't pick how your stats change past the character select screen. Beating your first Everdark Sovereign unlocks a new merchant in the Roundtable Hold. The Collector Signboard is located on the beachy area just outside of the Jar Bazaar. It can be found in the southwest corner of the hub. This is where you'll spend the currency you earn from beating the new bosses. Spending Sovereign Sigils is a great way to grow your power between runs. They're also the keys to unlocking quality-of-life features that many players have been clamoring for. Sovereign Sigils can be spent to unlock a suite of new chalices that unlock more relic rites for your Nightfarers, as well as an improved version of the Scenic Flatstone that guarantees you purple-rarity relics. Nightfarer garb can also be purchased with Sovereign Sigils, but it's the same wardrobe of skins purchasable with Murk, the other currency you earn from expeditions. This currency can also be spent to choose specific Shifting Earth events for your next run, restore the Roundtable Hold to its appearance from before the defeat of the final Nightlord and change the appearance of the relic earned at the end of the Guardian's remembrance questline. Beating one of the Everdark Sovereigns for the first time will reward you with 25 Sovereign Sigils, while subsequent runs will earn you just 5 of the coveted new currency. The most expensive items in the shop -- the skins that are worth 35,000 Murk -- cost 20 Sovereign Sigils, so the earn rate of this currency is fairly generous so long as you can consistently beat these bosses.
