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Game Reviews

Xbox’s new ROG Ally handheld now available to pre-order, but it’s pricier than a home console

by admin September 26, 2025

Microsoft has finally revealed the price of its ROG Xbox Ally handheld, and it’s more expensive than an Xbox Series X.

Launching globally on 16th October, the handheld (much like its home console siblings) comes in two flavours:

ROG Xbox Ally X (£799) – comes with 24GB RAM and 1TB storage
ROG Xbox Ally (£499) – comes with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage

ROG Xbox Ally Pre-Order TrailerWatch on YouTube

For comparison, an Xbox Series X currently costs £499.99 for its disc drive edition with 1TB of storage. The all-digital Series S costs £299.99 for its 512GB edition.

The ROG Xbox Ally is in direct competition with Valve’s Steam Deck, offering a handheld device that merges Xbox and PC capabilities.

While its user interface is inspired by the Xbox console, it has controller-like grips, and there’s a dedicated Xbox button offering a Game Bar overlay, the device also offers an aggregated gaming library across Xbox and other leading PC stores like Steam.

It also offers both Cloud Play to stream your games, and Remote Play to play games from your console.

Microsoft even offers a Handheld Compatibility Programme to indicate which games play well on handheld, just like Valve’s Steam Deck Verified system.

Full details can be found on Xbox Wire.

For further comparison, Valve’s Steam Deck costs £479.99 for its 512GB OLED model and £569.00 for its 1TB OLED model. The Ally isn’t OLED, but then neither is the Switch 2 and that has a gorgeous screen.

The handheld’s release is all part of Xbox’s Play Anywhere campaign, allowing players access to its games wherever they are and across a range of devices.

There’s no denying, though, that this comes at a hefty cost.

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

This 27-Inch ASUS TUF Gaming Monitor Has Never Been This Cheap Before, Now With 3-Year Warranty Included

by admin September 26, 2025

Gamers who love multiplayer online combat games where teamwork is key — think Helldivers II or Marvel Rivals — are all too aware that it only takes one laggy teammate to kill an entire mission. It’s not always a slow internet connection or console either — a subpar monitor with a bad refresh time can spell doom for the whole team.

If you end up being that guy who says “sorry, my screen is slow” one time too many, you might find your team membership revoked. This limited-time Amazon deal that guy-proofs you and ensures your screen is totally ready for combat: Act now and save 30% off the price of the 27-inch ASUS TUF gaming monitor, a 1440p QHD gaming superstar with a blistering 260Hz refresh rate, Adaptive Sync technology, and many more features that will upgrade your gaming performance. It’s just $229 while this deal is in effect.

See at Amazon

Silky Smooth, Lightning Quick

First things first — the ultra-fast 260Hz overclocked refresh rate and 1 ms pixel response time. No blur, smooth frames, or delay, even in the fastest action of your favorite shooter or racing game. ASUS doubled down on killing the bluir with their ELMB Sync tech (Extreme Low Motion Blur), and adaptive sync options that keeps things moving even if your graphics card is having a hard time. That translates to less tearing.

The colors pop too, and the anti-glare coating is a huge plus if your rig is located with your back to a window. That, of course, comes in handy if you decide to take a break from gaming to enjoy some streaming or YouTube.

Not a Space Hog

The ASUS TUF monitor won’t require a total overhaul of your gaming space either. It’s razor thin and weighs only 11 pounds, meaning it’s also easily wall-mountable of you go that route. The display port and two HDMI 2.0 ports are located in the back of the unit along with an earphone jack, and it comes with DisplayPort and HDMI cables so you can go from unboxing to heavy-duty action in mere minutes.

The 30% off deal happening right now at Amazon on the 27-inch ASUS TUF gaming monitor translates to a $100 price break, and also to one of the best $230 gaming monitors you’ll find. Finding a gaming monitor with enough speed to keep up with the most intense action gaming at this price is beyond rare, but as limited time deals do, this one could end at any time.

See at Amazon

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Black Ops 7 highlights two Japanese maps for multiplayer as part of Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show 2025 showcase

by admin September 26, 2025

Treyarch has highlighted two of its Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer maps set in Japan during today’s incredibly dry Xbox Game Showcase during Tokyo Game Show.

The two maps – Toshin and Den – are two of the 18 multiplayer maps available at launch. These two highlighted maps will be playable in the Black Ops 7 open beta, which kicks off on 2nd October.

The first map highlighted was Toshin, which is set within a Japanese city. Split into two distinct districts, players can fight through the tight alleys of Old Town or the tech-heavy main streets. There’s a broken down monorail, and even a cat cafe present here, though thankfully no actual cats to distract from tense firefights from what we can see.

Check out the multiplayer reveal for Black Ops 7 from earlier this week.Watch on YouTube

Next up comes Den, a Japanese castle heavily converted with high tech equipment spread throughout its interior. Players can either head inside for close-quarters fights inside tight hallways and pristine throne room, or take the fight outside across tiled rooftops for more open clashes.

Earlier this week, a lengthy blog post dove into multiplayer details ahead of the open beta. This beta will feature a new game mode called Overload, in which two teams have to fight over a special overload device and drop it inside each other’s zones to score points.

Black Ops 7 has been set up as the “most mind-bending Black Ops ever”, leaning on the more psychological aspects of the series for this latest instalment. Still, with Battlefield 6 turning heads and gaining a lot of positive attention, there’s a lot of pressure for the upcoming Call of Duty to do well now it’s got some sturdy competition.

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Borderlands 4 Just Got FOV Sliders On Console And Some Other Nice Fixes

by admin September 26, 2025

Since the launch of Borderlands 4 earlier this month, the game has suffered from performance issues on both console and PC. Players have also been upset about the lack of a field-of-view slider on console. Well, good news, Gearbox’s latest patch for Borderlands 4, out now on all platforms, adds the missing FOV slider, improves performance and stability, and fixes a ton of other issues, too.

On September 25, Gearbox published the lengthy patch notes for Borderlands 4‘s latest free update. And there’s a lot to go through, but the biggest news for many console players is that Gearbox has added an FOV slider to the game. This had been one of the main requests from players, and something Gearbox has been working on since launch. Just a heads-up that increasing the FOV in Borderlands 4, like in any game, could lead to performance issues. Speaking of performance issues, the patch notes don’t specifically mention a fix for the issue of the game running worse on consoles after extended play, but it does make mention of “various” fixes for “hitching, low FPS, and crashes.” So hopefully that helps and means I don’t have to restart my PS5 Pro every so often to play Borderlands 4 at 60fps.

Another bug that is supposedly squashed is the problem of missing weapon icons when using your menu or inventory. This happened to me a lot on PC and to a few friends of mine on PS5. Oh, and for all you fans of the Doom-inspired Hellwalker shotgun, Gearbox has confirmed that the gun not being a fire elemental weapon was a mistake, and all future Hellwalkers will come with fire pellets. Tiny fix, but one that I love.

And that’s not all. While this update makes a few tweaks to the playable vault hunters, Gearbox has confirmed that there are even more buffs coming in a different Borderlands 4 patch next week. No word on nerfs to the popular knife build or the super jump, which is nice. It seems these broken strats are safe…for now. Oh, and in case you didn’t hear, the Switch 2 port of the game has been delayed. At least it will launch with all of these fixes on day one.

Anyway, here are the full patch notes:

Stability And Performance

Improvements to stability and performance.
Addressed various instances of hitching, low FPS, and crashes.
We are continuing to investigate and will make further improvements to stability and performance.
Updated character animations for performance improvements.
Graphics Preset could be set to High or Very High when using Run Auto-Detect in Visual Menu.
[Xbox] Corrected an issue where players would get a black screen after the Vault Symbol loading screen.
Addressed rare issues of infinite loading screens during crossplay.
Improved loading of characters in menus to reduce visible delays when entering character select.

Rewards And Progression

Addressed a reported issue where players could lose or be rewarded unintended extra Skill Points in multiplayer.
Addressed an issue that could prevent Contract target enemies from consistently spawning.
Updated Repkit lifesteal challenge to track lifesteal from any source.
Prevented region discovery trophies/achievements from unlocking before discovering all areas.
Prevented instances of unowned DLC content appearing in chests or in menus.
Improved clarity of DLC-related warnings and reward availability.
Addressed a reported issue where the Reward Center could stop working after claiming the Gilded Glory Pack rewards.
Rewards Center popup now correctly excludes already-claimed cosmetics.
Reduced sell prices on Gilded Glory Pack gear in Vending Machines.
Updated the Break Free Pack reward bundle to redeem properly in all instances.
Challenge timing has been updated so players can properly progress from Ultimate Vault Hunter (UVH) 4 to UVH 5 after completing the required Wildcard Mission.
- When ranking up in multiplayer, players that are not the host will not see the change to their UVH level, but will be able to switch to the higher level. This will be addressed in an upcoming update.

Updated Class Mods to prevent them from dropping with incorrect skill points.

Harlowe the Gravitar

Gravitar Ground State Capstone has been corrected to remove inaccurate verbiage about enemies taking reduced damage when they do not.
Gravitar Flux Generator no longer heals enemies with Potential Transference Capstone.
Updated Gravitar Accretion passive to consistently grant Lifesteal to allies.
Addressed various reported issues with Gravitar Unstable Energy Pocket created from CHROMA Accelerator Action Skill.
- Includes instances where it would not disappear properly, convert to Cryo Damage, or split as intended with certain skill tree combinations. Skills that saw updates: Special Purpose Magnets Augment, The Shattering Light Capstone, QED passive, Break the Ice passive, Containment Breach Augment, and Eureka! Passive.

Amon the Forgeknight

Forgeknight Primal Surge passive now properly restores Shield and Ammo.
Forgeknight Firewall Action Skill has been adjusted so Vengeance cannot be stored by Firewall before Scourge is active, as intended.
Forgeknight Onslaughter Rocket Punch now connects more reliably with shielded enemies.
Addressed a reported issue with Forgeknight Forgeaxe not consistently seeking nearby enemies.

Vex the Siren

Addressed a reported issue with Siren Grave Harvest Augment being triggered while Incarnate is not active.
Addressed a reported issue where Siren Blight Attunement passive could occasionally fail to damage the Timekeeper.
Damage caused by Siren Spirit Bomb passive now counts properly as Companion Damage and changes its color to match attuned element.

Rafa the Exo-Soldier

Addressed a reported issue preventing Exo-Soldier Blowout passive from stacking properly when repeating Action Skills.

Gameplay

Addressed a reported issue in the “Overwriting a Wrong” Side Mission where nodes would not spawn consistently.
Addressed a reported issue in the “Talk to Zadra” Mission where the objective could fail if players exited and relaunched mid-dialogue.
Updated beam hit detection, as it was causing beams to not be blocked properly. Eg: Forgeknight Forgeshield.
Repkits now consistently consume the correct amount of charges after activating Forgeknight Scourge action skill.
Prevented Forgeknight from sliding at the end of Molten Slam.
Addressed various reported instances of enemies getting stuck.
- Impacted Missions: during “Kill Order Forces” in the Fadefields, “His Vile Sanctum” Mission, and “A Lot to Process” Mission.
Addressed reported desync issues observed with Lightweight Armature enemy movement in multiplayer.
Updated Zadra’s Lab Fast Travel unlock to after discovery.

Gear

Vladof Atling Gun Heavy Weapon Ordnance now properly targets Primordial Guardian Inceptus.
Queen’s Rest Pistols with Daedalus Ammoswitcher licensed underbarrel now shoot the correct projectiles.
Gear with the Short Circuit Augment now traces properly toward enemies instead of random directions.
Addressed reported edge cases where interrupting reload could cause ammo desyncs that would prevent ammo from firing.
Gear Balance Changes:
- Hellwalker: now always spawns with Fire element.
- Tediore weapons: +10% Damage and +10% magazine size.
- Order Pistol Lucky Clover (Rocket Reload): increased fire rate.
- Order Sniper Rifle Fisheye: increased Damage.

UI & UX

Updated gear thumbnails in cases where they did not display properly, and ensured stand-in thumbnails load properly.
Updated various UI visuals for alignment, consistency, and clarity.
Adjusted inventory dropdown menus to prevent unintended selected changes.
Added D-pad navigation support to the Reward Center and improved handling of the Inventory Overflow message.
Prevented Matchmaking Menu hint bar from displaying incorrect prompts when joining another player’s game.
Addressed compass occasionally displaying incorrect location name after teleporting.
Updated localization and various text descriptions across the game.
Added various improvements to compass, custom waypoint placement, and ECHO location.

Visuals

Addressed carryable objects disappearing or appearing in the wrong location after being picked up; includes cases in Ready to Blow, Lost Capsules, and Hangover Helper Missions.
Improved triggering of Armor Segment breaks VFX when Shield Capacity effects expire.
Updated NPC and enemy pathing.
Addressed VFX concerns with various weapons, vehicles, and elemental states.
Various animation updates.
Various visual updates and improvements.
Adjusted rift portal effect to corrected visuals.
Updated ECHO-4 to have correct positioning when viewing various menus, and to prevent clipping.
Ambient critters have a more natural spawn behavior.

Audio

DJs in Carcadia Burn and Fadefields now play their VO when starting or completing Contracts.
Adjusted radio music mix for improved audibility.
Added missing audio for multiple weapon types, customization, and menu navigation.
Reduced instances of voiceover cutting out during Missions.
Updated startup movies to have correct audio.

Settings & Accessibility

[Xbox/PlayStation] Enabled Field of View (FOV) slider on console.
- Note: Increasing the FOV past the default could cause some dips in performance.
Vehicle Field of View settings will now be changed for both users when playing in splitscreen.

Misc

Addressed reported instances of incorrect or deleted characters appearing in Menu or Lobbies.
Enabled Tab key in SHiFT UI.
Added haptic feedback for controllers to Exo-Soldier Unmissable Missiles Augment.
Updated Credits listing.

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Forza Horizon 6 will come to PlayStation 5, but not immediately

by admin September 26, 2025

Forza Horizon 5 set a historic precedent earlier this year when it was released on PlayStation 5. It marked the first time Microsoft’s exclusive Xbox racing brand had appeared on a Sony machine – historically a rival in the console space. It was a landmark moment in Microsoft’s pivot to Xbox being more of a software company than a hardware-restricted one.

This move meant that when Forza Horizon 6 was announced this morning, with a Japanese setting and a 2026 release date, one of the biggest questions was: which platforms will it be released on? Will it be a PlayStation 5 game and if so, when will it be released – at the same time?

Today’s Forza Horizon 6 teaser.Watch on YouTube

Now, we partially know the answer. Yes, Forza Horizon 6 will be a PlayStation 5 game, but no, it won’t be released at the same time. A Forza Horizon 6 announcement post on Xbox News Wire reveals, in an endnote, that: “Forza Horizon 6 will launch first on Xbox consoles and PC in 2026.” And then: “Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios are also working together to bring Forza Horizon 6 to PlayStation 5 post-launch.”

A period of exclusivity makes sense, of course – why concede every advantage? It’s also worth underlining that Forza Horizon 6 will be a day-one Game Pass game as all Microsoft Studios games are. The question now becomes how long will PlayStation owners have to wait? Six months, a year, more? And in that wait, will we glimpse a plan Microsoft intends to return to as it brings more internally developed games to other consoles? This is new ground we’re breaking, remember.

We’re promised more information on Forza Horizon 6 in the spring next year.

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Forza Horizon 6 Has The Franchise’s Biggest Open World Yet

by admin September 26, 2025

On Thursday, after a lot of rumors and leaks, Xbox officially announced Forza Horizon 6. And yes, as many expected, the next Forza Horizon game is set in Japan and will launch in 2026. We haven’t seen much of the upcoming open-world racing sequel, but we do know that it will have the franchise’s biggest open world, and you can expect a lot to see and do in this big ol’ map.

In a new interview with Gamesradar, Forza Horizon 6 art director Don Arceta claimed that the open-world racer will have the “biggest map yet” in the history of the series. Considering the fact that Forza Horizon 5 was twice the size of the game before that, it seems players will have a lot of digital Japan to explore. But don’t expect Horizon 6‘s Japan to be empty or boring, as Arceta told the outlet that the new map is Playground’s “most full.”

“Like, obviously, we can’t go bigger without filling it with things to do and see,” explained Arceta. “And I think this map that we’ve created for Japan, or Horizon’s version of Japan, is big, but also dense. There’s always something around the corner for you to discover and see. But yeah, it’s bigger. I won’t put a number on it. It is bigger.”

And inside this large open world is Forza Horizon 6‘s version of Tokyo, which the game’s art director calls the “biggest city” the studio has ever created.

“[What] I’m really excited about that is also bigger, is our urban area, which is Tokyo city. That’s the biggest city that we’ve done in a Horizon game yet,” said Areta. “I think people will be most surprised about the city, Tokyo city, because I think it is probably our most ambitious. It’s really layered and complex. And I think players will just enjoy that space. It’ll be something new and fresh.”

Interestingly, as revealed in Gamesradar’s interview, the elevated roadways players will find in Forza Horizon 6′s version of Tokyo were built using the tech the studio created for the Hot Wheels tracks in Forza Horizon 5. Don’t expect any orange plastic tracks around Japan at launch, though. Forza Horizon 6 will arrive sometime in 2026 on Xbox Series X/S and PC, with a PS5 port coming at a later date.

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Hades II Review – Godlike, Indeed

by admin September 26, 2025

Hades, which left early access back in 2020, is one of the best and most influential roguelikes of all time, so there’s perhaps no greater sign of the talent at Supergiant Games that their own follow-up, Hades II, blows it out of the water. The formula is refined into its ultimate form; the combat is more complex (but just as intuitive), and the story is grander and more thrilling. Hades II is the pinnacle of the roguelike genre, a position I previously granted its predecessor, but one that its sequel has handily earned.

For the unfamiliar, the Hades games are action roguelikes, where each run has players gathering an arsenal of upgrades (known as boons) to turn their character into a god-slaying weapon. After each run, most of which will end in a death, the player immediately returns to their home base, where they can talk to their companions to access new story content and use the rewards from the last attempt to make themselves even stronger. Like much of the design in the Hades games, it’s a simple yet genius gameplay loop, turning losses into immediate gratification and fueling you to do another run as soon as possible.

Hades II takes place an undisclosed number of years after the first game, and now centers on Melinoë, the younger sister of Zagreus and a daughter of the titular god of the underworld. That god, along with most of the underworld’s inhabitants we came to know and love in Hades, has been imprisoned by Chronos, his time-wielding father. Rather than break out of Hell, Melinoë starts each run by breaking into Hell, working her way down to Tartarus to thwart her grandfather. The way Hades II recontextualizes familiar locations and characters reminds me of the relationship between The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom (a comparison I do not invoke lightly), where I’m equally excited to try new things as I am to revisit old favorites.

Melinoë is armed with six new weapons, each completely different from the last, ranging from a pair of magic wands to a heavy-hitting battleaxe. To make combat even more complex, each attack also has an omega form, unleashed by holding down the attack button, which creates more powerful, sometimes completely different moves. A normal attack with the twin blades, for example, unleashes a combo of slashes and stabs, but the omega version teleports you behind the nearest enemy for one explosion of damage. It’s such a simple and intuitive mechanic that I sometimes forget it’s not present in the original.

The amount of new content in Hades II could be overwhelming, but it’s introduced at such a steady rate that it never feels that way. On my 40th run, in a save file where I had already fought every boss the game had to offer, I unlocked the sixth weapon and encountered a god whose boons I had never seen before. Even 40 runs in, I discovered elements that make the game feel entirely new. There is a finite amount of improvements – it’s only a game, after all – but it incentivizes discovery so much that you feel like there’s something new to unlock around every corner, and for many, many hours, that’s true.

The reason Hades II has its hooks in me, above all else, is the way it rewards the player. This consistent introduction of unlockables, including weapons, boons, arcana cards, familiars, companions, fish, seeds, minerals, and more, means that even when you fail a run, that one failure is promptly interrupted by a stream of rewards. It’s hard to leave a session of Hades II feeling frustrated because it’s explicitly designed to make you feel the opposite, and I gladly welcome the relentless flood of dopamine.

The plot is similarly structured around defeat, with each loss unlocking new dialogue with those around you. This was also the case in the first game, but Hades II is larger in ways I won’t spoil, and the fact that the narrative feels completely seamless and linear regardless of your actions is extra impressive here. And despite Hades II expanding the scale of this world of Greek gods significantly, dialogue and story maintain their character-first approach. You often learn who a person is and what they care about before even learning their name or relationship to the main characters, and I greatly prefer that. The narrative, while fairly straightforward, ends in a place I did not expect, but loved, especially its mythological take on generational trauma.

These characters also continue the series tradition of being beautifully designed, with each new god or titan introduced blowing me away with their striking, modern designs. Overall, the game looks and runs gorgeously, and that includes my Switch 2 copy, where I noticed no performance issues. I also need to mention the music; Darren Korb has done it again, and I especially enjoyed hearing themes from the first game being reimagined in new ways. There’s also one dynamic, musical boss fight that’s particularly impressive, with the backing track altering when the respective musicians are removed from the battlefield.

Sixteen months of early access have sculpted Hades II into a truly unforgettable experience. After roughly 50 hours and 53 runs between its first iteration and final release, I’m somehow still itching to go back for more. Melinoë’s journey showcases Supergiant’s expert world-building, combat design, and sharp dialogue to a degree that somehow surpasses one of my all-time favorite games. Godlike, indeed.

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Bowser Leaves Nintendo – Kotaku

by admin September 25, 2025

Doug Bowser is stepping down as President of Nintendo of America after five years in charge of the North American business unit. The 10-year veteran of the Mario maker departs shortly after the arrival of the Switch 2 with his retirement taking effect December 31. He’ll be replaced by long-time Nintendo executive Devon Pritchard, who will have the distinction of being the first female president in Nintendo of America’s history.

“One of my earliest video game experiences was playing the arcade version of Donkey Kong,” Bowser said in a press release. “Since that time, all things Nintendo have continued to be a passion for both me and my family. Leading Nintendo of America has been the honor of a lifetime, and I am proud of what our team has accomplished in both business results and the experiences we’ve created for consumers. Now, it’s time for the next generation of leadership and Devon’s track record speaks for itself. She is an exceptional leader, and her promotion is a testament to her strong performance and strategic contributions to the company’s growth. I have full confidence that she will guide the company to even greater heights.”

Satoru Shibata, who at various times in the past was head of Nintendo Australia and Nintendo Europe, will be joining Nintendo of America as chief executive officer, while maintaining his role as managing executive officer at Nintendo Co. in Japan. Pritchard will be elevated to the Nintendo of America Board of Directors and join the executive officer group in Japan.

“With characters and worlds that offer something for everyone, my focus will be continuing to build on Nintendo’s legacy of surprising and delighting our longtime fans, while at the same time welcoming new players into the Nintendo family,” Pritchard said in a statement.

Bowser took over as President of Nintendo of America back in 2019 after Reggie Fils-Aime stepped down following 15 years in the position. Bowser took on a less visible role than his predecessor, but has still appeared in the occasional Nintendo Direct and at big launches, including the recent opening of a new Nintendo store in San Francisco. Bowser’s departure comes shortly after IGN reported a change to the customer service department at Nintendo of America, including more outsourcing to cut costs.

“During his tenure, Doug made numerous contributions to bring smiles to the faces of people connected to Nintendo,” Nintendo head Shuntaro Furukawa said in a statement. “I would like to express my gratitude for his strong efforts.”

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September 25, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

EA Sports FC 26 Review – Strong Potential

by admin September 25, 2025

Like almost every annual sports game, EA Sports FC 26 is exactly what you would expect it to be: an iterative upgrade on last year’s game. To EA’s credit, it’s a pretty good upgrade, all things considered. This is partly due to how off the mark EA FC 25 was, but also because of a concerted effort to solve some of the series’ longstanding issues by focusing on player feedback. The end result is an interesting attempt to appeal to every type of player. It’s not wholly successful in this ambition, but EA FC 26 is at least a step in the right direction.

The headlining change is a shift to two distinct playstyles. The series has always felt somewhat different when played online compared to offline, but the feeling is now much more pronounced and extends beyond the foibles of online netcode. Competitive and Authentic gameplay presets make a marked difference in how the match engine handles. You can choose between either one when playing offline, but online modes, such as Ultimate Team, are locked into the Competitive playstyle (even when playing Squad Battles against the CPU).

The Competitive preset is all about player skill. The pace of the game is rapid, with passes ping-ponging between players’ feet, and the spotlight is on dribbling, skill moves, and consistently high-scoring matches. Despite this proclivity for attacking football, defending has also been improved. Successful tackles actually regain possession, rather than knocking the ball right back to the attacking player’s feet, so a lot of the frustration from previous entries has been exorcised.

That’s not to say you won’t feel outmatched, though. The midfield in online games is practically nonexistent when defending. There’s so much space, passes are so fast, and it feels so responsive that it only takes a couple of passes to reach the edge of the opposition’s box. This, then, is where the vast majority of tackling occurs. I’ve tried preventing this by playing two defensive midfielders and setting instructions for them to stay back, but it makes no difference; players off the ball are too static. With so much of the game spent near the boxes, it only takes one missed tackle or a burst of speed for the attacking team to go clean through on goal. As a result, games are typically high scoring, with scorelines like 5-4, 6-2, and 8-7 being the norm.

Goalkeepers are marginally better–less likely to parry the ball back into dangerous areas–but keeping a clean sheet (or limiting your opponent to fewer than two goals) is still a miracle. There’s a significant element of skill involved in defending, mainly because you can’t just rely on the AI to do it for you, but the odds are still heavily stacked against you. If there were more of a midfield battle, tackling wouldn’t be as risky, and this would lead to fewer chances for each team overall. In its current state, Competitive matches are enjoyable when you have the ball, but mostly overwhelming when you don’t. It’s still an improvement on last year’s game, where frustration was the prevailing feeling when playing online, but it’s not without issues.

The Authentic preset, on the other hand, can be enabled when playing offline, altering the gameplay to provide a closer approximation of real football. The pace is significantly slower, placing a greater emphasis on each individual phase of play, with tactical midfield battles, physical defending, and methodical build-up play. Other variables can also affect matches, such as wind altering the trajectory of crosses and a wet pitch causing the ball to either skid across the surface or slow down. Authentic offers a more considered way of playing, although, like previous games in the series, the CPU isn’t the most appealing opponent. It’s either too easy to play against or slightly overpowered and able to keep possession of the ball for long stretches of time, so you’ll likely need to tinker with the sliders to find a suitable balance.

It’s a shame there’s no way to use the Authentic preset online, but the single-player Manager Career is at least more interesting this time around. A new Manager Live feature lets you play out different scenarios and challenge yourself beyond the norm. There’s one that tasks you with avoiding relegation after beginning the season with a 20-point deduction, and another that asks you to lead Real Madrid to a domestic double while starting Jude Bellingham in at least 25 matches. Others are centered on being top of the table at Christmas or earning a certain amount of money in transfer fees. It’s a different way to play that freshens up the experience for those who enjoy playing through multiple careers, especially if you fancy an extra challenge.

Unexpected Events is another new feature that throws a few curveballs at you throughout a season. These random scenarios inject some personality into the off-field aspect of Manager Career, breaking up the drudgery of simulating from one match to the next. This can result in your plans being disrupted by losing two players for the next game because they clashed in training and injured one another, or ate some dodgy food the night before. Another player might come to you feeling homesick, forcing you to make a decision, or the club might get taken over by new owners, altering your expectations and increasing the transfer budget. Football Manager players are no strangers to events like this, but they bring some of the unpredictability of real-world football to EA FC’s career mode, forcing you to adapt to an ever-changing landscape.

Ultimate Team has also undergone some adjustments, introducing new features while course-correcting with others. In the latter’s case, I’m referring to Rivals and the reintroduction of relegation, which banishes the days of being stuck in a division you’re clearly not good enough for. Progression in Rivals has also been improved by adding bonus objectives that can net you in-game coins and extra points for the weekly rewards. In one game, I earned 2,000 coins by starting a Team of the Week player in my team, then added more points by scoring two consecutive goals, fulfilling two of the objectives.

Doing this feels crucial because there are fewer rewards in general, and most of those you do receive are untradeable. This is part of EA’s attempt to slow the game’s power curve, which even replaces Ultimate Team’s previous season pass with a game-wide pass, allowing you to earn XP in career mode, Ultimate Team, and Clubs for rewards in all three modes. I’m not a fan. If I’m playing Ultimate Team, I don’t particularly care about unlocking FIFA 15 legend Seydou Doumbia as a manager in career mode; I’d rather have more packs and players to upgrade my team.

To compound the issue, the season pass has also been gutted to make room for a premium version that requires real money to purchase. This always feels like an egregious practice outside of free-to-play games, but especially when the series has featured a free season pass for the previous few years. It’s commendable that EA wants to slow down the power curve, but it remains to be seen how effective this will be, given that people willing to spend real money can earn more rewards from the season pass and purchase numerous packs in the in-game store.

This is one of the legacy issues that will, unfortunately, never go away, simply because it makes money. Others, such as inconsistent tackling, inaccurate passing, and a stale career mode, have thankfully been addressed in positive ways. The Competitive preset still favors the attacking team a little too much, and in an attempt to appease every type of football fan, EA Sports FC 26 misses the target. It’s close, though. There are flaws on and off the pitch, yet this is the best the series has been for a short while. It might not walk away with a trophy this year, but it’s getting closer to glory.

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September 25, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

There’s a new Fire Emblem game out today, with Among Us-style social deduction gameplay, and it’s rubbish

by admin September 25, 2025

Nintendo has revealed a new Fire Emblem game available now for smartphones, which includes Among Us-style social deduction.

Called Fire Emblem Shadows, it has three players battling enemies – but one is a traitor. Afterwards, players vote on who they think the traitor is, before battling each other.

And honestly? It’s absolute rubbish.

Fire Emblem Shadows – Launch TrailerWatch on YouTube

Fire Emblem games are known for their tactical strategy, but Shadows is simply a grid-based auto-battler where you character moves and attacks automatically. You then select from a handful of moves that regenerate on cooldowns to either heal or activate different magical attacks.

And that, really, is the extent of gameplay. There’s little interaction, barely any strategy. It’s just watching little chibi characters hit each other. You can win without selecting anything.

Then there’s the touted social deduction, which boils down to which of the other players may have accidentally on purpose hit you. It’s usually pretty obvious, but worse is the fact there is barely any consequence for guessing either way. The second round proceeds accordingly, with good players now battling evil, and if you previously guessed correctly you get a piddly amount of extra health.

The reason Among Us worked and popularised social deduction is being able to actually speak to people and screw over your friends. Here you’re matched with random players online with no form of communication. You just select another player and move on to the battle without really caring.

On top of all that is the usual gacha nonsense for a free-to-play game. There’s a season pass, multiple currencies, various weapons and abilities to attach to characters, and new characters to unlock. I spotted another player as a cute little Dimitri from Three Houses, but I have neither the cash or the will to find out how to unlock him.

I was excited to try out a new Fire Emblem, even if it is on mobile, but its deception-based gameplay is fundamentally flawed and shallow.

If you want to try it out, it’s available now for free across iOS and Google Play.

But really, just hold out for the next mainline entry in the series – Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave was revealed at Nintendo’s recent Direct and will come to Switch 2 next year.

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September 25, 2025 0 comments