I'm a lifelong JRPG fan, but my history with Bandai Namco's venerated Tales series is spotty. I'm not sure how that happened. I might’ve been turned off by the 2001 fan translation of the original SNES game - yes, the same translation that suggested 17-year-old heroine Arche Klein “[Fornicates] like a tiger.” Or maybe it was Tales of Phantasia, in which all instances of the word “Ragnarok” became “kangaroo” thanks to a sloppy localization error. Again, I turned away. Finally, in 2019, a breakthrough. I bought Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition and was quickly enamored. Tales' traditional action-heavy combat system worked well with Vesperia's lush, ruins-dotted world, and its wise-cracking characters are honestly hilarious at times. (Foul-mouthed researcher Rita Mordio is a hoot, especially when she torments Karol, the party’s tagalong brat.)

Not surprisingly, there’s good and bad about previewing the long-awaited Tales of Arise with only Vesperia under my belt. On one hand, I can compare Arise's storytelling and mechanics with one of the best games the series has to offer. On the other hand, I can compare Arise's storytelling and mechanics with one of the best... well, you probably know what I'm getting at, here.

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In what can only be described as a natural transition, Bossa Studios have followed up physics based platformer I Am Bread with I Am Fish. The premise remains similar, but you could say that yeast has been swapped for beast this time around, as you take control of four different fish and help them escape to the ocean.

But the journey from bowl to surf is far from simple. From the early build I played, I'd say I Am Fish is an absolute nightmare, both in the sense that it's difficult and also genuinely frightening. Don't let the cutesy Pixar look fool you; this game will have you in tatters.

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At long last, AMD's answer to Nvidia's RTX 3060 has arrived. Announced just a couple of weeks ago at China Joy, the Radeon RX 6600 XT is being pitched as AMD's ultimate 1080p graphics card in their next-gen RX 6000 family - although to say this card is only good at playing games at 1920x1080 is actually doing it a disservice in my eyes. Far from 'just' being a high performing 1080p card, the RX 6600 XT is also a very capable GPU for playing games at 2560x1440 as well, able to hit a smooth 60fps or above on High settings in pretty much every game in my benchmarking suite.

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Team 17 and Ghost Town Games have added some freebies to Overcooked: All You Can Eat to celebrate five years since the chaotic co-op cooking game first graced our screens. The Birthday Party update is available now, and brings new levels, a new chef and a new recipe for you to stressfully launch at your customers. Overcooked: All You Can Eat is also free to play for a short period of time. Bear in mind this new stuff is only available in All You Can Eat however, not the original Overcooked 1 or 2.

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Nordic survival sim Valheim’s next update, Hearth & Home, will be arriving in a couple of months. The latest look at it shows how developers Iron Gate will be tackling the game’s food system, by creating a broader range of food types that’ll target specific player stats.

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This November, Forza Horizon 5 is taking us on a road trip to Mexico, and now developers Playground Games have given us a full look at the map we'll get to explore. The standout bit is absolutely the giant volcano, La Gran Caldera, which players will be able to see from all over the world. Better yet, the devs say it's full of windy tracks and areas you can launch your car off of it.

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Star Citizen’s got its head in the clouds, and all its other parts, too. Alpha update 3.14 is live, adding a new planet and city to the game. The gas giant Crusader is home to the cloud city of Orison. It’s not just a place where players can gather, but it completes all the planetary landing zone’s for the game’s sole solar system. So that's one whole system built, though it's obviously not complete. It never is. They promised over 100 systems at launch, and the Stanton system has taken eight years to craft. Slow and steady wins the space race.

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Want to learn how to create the best Xiao build in Genshin Impact? Anemo Polearm user Xiao is an adeptus and the last remaining member of the Yakshas dispatched to fight demons. His cold, edgy demeanor is a result of spending most of his time isolating himself from humans. Don’t worry, though: he also has a soft spot for Almond Tofu and the Traveler (and he’s perfect with almost any team comp!). While other Anemo characters like Venti focus more on crowd control abilities, Xiao’s strength is in his damage, making him a great main DPS.

This guide will show you how to create the best Xiao build in Genshin Impact. Below we'll cover everything you need to know about Xiao, including wishing, weapons, artifacts, ascension materials, talents, abilities, and constellations.

Xiao’s at his best when he has the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear, which grants its user a hefty attack bonus, on hand. Skyward Spine is also a great 5-star option thanks to its well-rounded set of buffs. Since 5-star weapons are tedious to obtain, Blackcliff Pole and Deathmatch are solid 4-star alternates that both grant impressive attack bonuses as well.

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Want to learn how to create the best Ayaka build in Genshin Impact? Cryo Sword user Kamisato Ayaka is poised and perfect, and she’ll make a great addition to your team. Released alongside Inazuma in Genshin Impact’s 2.0 update, Ayaka is a kind-hearted member of the Kamisato Clan and holds a high status in Inazuma.

This guide will show you how to create the best Ayaka build in Genshin Impact. Below we'll cover everything you need to know about Ayaka, including wishing, weapons, artifacts, ascension materials, talents, abilities, and constellations.

Ayaka’s damage is at its best with the Mistsplitter Reforged, a new 5-star weapon released alongside Inazuma that grants hefty elemental DMG bonuses. The Primordial Jade Cutter is also a great 5-star option that will buff Ayaka’s HP and scale an ATK bonus off of her raised HP. If you don’t have access to 5-stars, try the 4-star Blackcliff Longsword or The Black Sword, which offer different buffs to Ayaka’s CRIT stats.

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Brendon "Crown" Morris has fought, killed, and died a martyr, all for his right to duel without interruption. Little is held sacrosanct on Chivalry 2’s battlefields. There’s a reason Torn Banner Studios' Alex Hayter describes the medieval first-person-slasher as a “bar fight”. Fish kills are memorialized. Noble fools die forgotten.

But specially designated duel servers, where players partake in one-on-one combat, offer a refuge from rogues and scoundrels, away from the roar of trebuchets and the maddening squawks of cruelly-lobbed murder chickens. No hard rules are in place. Instead, conduct is honour based. Such honour is fragile, however...

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