Green Man Gaming Blog

Echoes Of The End Mini-Review: A Deeply-Nostalgic Magical Adventure

I’m always drawn to games that feel like spiritual successors to the late PS2 era. They don’t need to share the same setting – just the same vibe. Echoes of the End, the debut from Icelandic studio Mykur Games, gives me strong Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy energy. At least, it feels like the developers played it and thought, “We really like the idea of lifting people with our minds.”

In Echoes of the End, you play as Ryn, a vestige – a wielder of incredibly powerful magic. As you progress, you’ll grow her abilities, using them not only to defeat monsters (both literal and metaphorical) but also to solve a variety of puzzles. Magic comes at a cost, though, forcing Ryn to be strategic and deliberate with her powers.

You’ll also partner with Abram, a scholar who aids you in exploration and combat. As you level up, you can allocate skill points to enhance both Ryn and Abram, unlocking satisfying combos and skills to unleash on anyone—or anything—that stands in your way.

All of this unfolds in a linear story that slowly reveals the stunning but perilous world of Aema, as well as Ryn herself, despite her initial guardedness. The game can be a little rough around the edges at times, but overall, Echoes of the End is an immensely enjoyable action experience. It’s a reminder of a time when games were just fun, pure and simple, and it leaves you smiling while playing. I’m genuinely excited to see what Mykur Games comes up with next.

Introducing Green Man Gaming Bundles

We’ve got big news: Green Man Gaming Bundles is coming soon! Built from the ground up with one clear mission – bundles done properly – our new platform is all about delivering instant keys, massive savings, and real impact through charity. Whether gamers are looking to grow their PC library, discover hidden gems, or support good causes while they play, Green Man Gaming Bundles is designed with gamers in mind.

Why Bundles, Why Now?

When we asked our Green Man Gaming community what they wanted most, the answer was clear: bundles. In fact, 95% of our members told us they wanted gaming bundles – and we listened.

For years, gamers have had to put up with slow key deliveries, confusing deals, and even mystery boxes that didn’t always deliver the value players deserved. At Green Man Gaming, we knew there had to be a better way. That’s why our bundles will focus on clarity, value, and reliability – everything gamers have been asking for. This isn’t just “another bundle site.”

What Makes Green Man Gaming Bundles Different?

Not all gaming bundles are created equal, and we wanted to make sure ours stood out. Here’s a closer look at what will make Green Man Gaming Bundles a better way for gamers to build their collection and support good causes at the same time.

🎮 Great Content, Curated for Gamers
From themed collections and genre spotlights to deep dives into a studio’s back catalogue, our bundles will bring gamers something new and exciting. And with at least two fresh bundles every month, there’s always more to explore.

💰 Incredible Value
Bundles mean savings – and we’re going big. Expect huge discounts on highly rated PC games, but remember: they’re only available for a limited time. Avid gamers will need to lock in their bundle before it disappears.

⚡ Instant Key Fulfilment
No waiting, no delays, no hassle. With our bundles, customers get their keys instantly at checkout, ready to redeem and play straight away.

🌍 Gaming for Good
It’s not just about expanding libraries. Every bundle sold supports charitable causes, so every purchase makes a real difference in the world. By gaming, customers will be funding important work far beyond the screen.

Bundles Done Properly

This is just the start. With curated collections, unbeatable value, and charity support built into every purchase, Green Man Gaming Bundles is here to change the way bundles are done – sign up here to be the first to hear about new bundles and updates.

Voyagers Of Nera Is Shaping Up To Be The Most Enchanting Survival Adventure In A Long Time

At this point in 2025, to say that there are more than a few survival titles on the market is an understatement. However, while the feeling of genre fatigue may either be setting in or has set in entirely, developer Treehouse Games is looking to melt away that lethargy with its debut title, Voyagers of Nera. Armed with an eye-popping visual veneer, a road-trip-like approach to player cooperation and a fresh take on building mechanics, here’s why Voyagers of Nera is shaping up to be the most enchanting survival adventure to come along in a good while.

An Oceanbound Survival Adventure Like No Other

Voyagers of Nera envisions a mystical world where vast oceans cover almost all of the surface and where all manner of secrets lurk both above the waves, on the few landmasses that remain, and also in the murky depths where only the truly brave dare swim. Against this evocative backdrop, Voyagers of Nera invites players to uncover these secrets and brave a magical nautical world, as well as to also become part of that world, to live and breathe within its boundaries and to travel its glistening blue expanses and golden sunsets.

Essentially, then, Voyagers of Nera is made up of two halves that aren’t necessarily split from one another, but instead complement each other perfectly. As a survival adventure first and foremost, Voyagers of Nera tasks the player with securing themselves amidst their environment and surroundings. This means not only collecting and refining the materials needed to create something resembling a home base, which can act as a sanctuary, but also the crafting of weapons and means of traversal, too.

You see, the world that Voyagers of Nera takes place in is one that is painted in hues of tropical sun and clear blue ocean waters. So, in taking advantage of this sumptuous setting, Voyagers of Nera allows players to not only craft hardy wooden boats to carve a path through the oceanic contours of Nera, but also a natty surfboard, too, to ride the waves and tides of this resplendent blue world.

Certainly, if you were to compare Voyagers of Nera to something like Disney’s Moana, you wouldn’t be far off – such is the vibrant depth of its charming visual design and the lively colours of its tropical palette. As such, rather than just chucking the player into some non-descript wilderness, identikit urban environment, or otherwise droll looking expanse, developer Treehouse Games instead wants to trigger the senses of the player and encourage a sense of exploration that other survival adventures simply fail to do, as you build, fight, ride and surf your way through a world filled with emergent possibilities.

This is an experience that is very much geared for co-operative play, too. Supporting up to ten players in a single instance, Voyagers of Nera isn’t just about fighting one another or squabbling over trite resources; it’s about travelling and discovering the world together, uncovering its secrets with friends and facing off against the darkness as a single united community.

Building, But Not As You Know It

For the longest time, the manner of building structures in other survival fare felt depressingly uniform and banal, but Voyagers of Nera has a different idea about how this key mechanic should be employed. Rejecting the usual tile-by-tile construction system that so many other titles have embraced, Voyagers of Nera instead employs a bespoke ‘frame and socket’ system, which has two chief benefits.

The first is that this sort of building method allows players to construct startlingly complex and intricate interlocking structures that would not be achievable using the old tile-by-tile method. The second benefit is that, despite the seemingly grand, sophisticated outputs that this new building method enables, its implementation is straightforward enough that players of all levels can build these structures in an intuitive and swift fashion. Ever wanted to get creative with building structures in games like this, but found it too time-consuming or complicated to learn? Voyagers of Nera has you covered – and then some.

Voyagers Of Nera Is All About Working Together And Paying It Forward

Rather than just being some relatively aimless survival adventure romp, Voyagers of Nera is very much anchored to a central, almost narrative objective. Though its world is an almost unrelentingly beautiful one, there is a darkness at the core which players must confront. Chiefly, this darkness has manifested itself as an obscure dark force that is scattering lost spirits across the world and shattering the harmony of the biomes which those spirits used to protect.

Rather than just being a static element of Voyagers of Nera’s lore, this spiritual theme actually dovetails directly into the gameplay. As you work with other players to discover the myriad secrets, buried treasure and ancient ruins which litter the world, you’ll come across a host of exiled powerful spirits that are hiding from the dark creatures which threaten them. Once rescued, each of these spirits offers a boon to the player, which comes in the form of new magical skills and crafting blueprints, offering ample encouragement for players to keep on rescuing these poor lost souls.

Beyond the relief of these lesser spirits, there are also elder spirits which once held sway over entire biomes when they were alive. In death, players must reassemble their spirit fragments in order to reawaken them and not only inherit their incredible elemental powers, but restore equilibrium and harmony to the part of the world those spirits once called their own. The upshot of this, then, is that progress in Voyagers of Nera isn’t just tied to the progression of your crafting prowess or the size of your base, it’s also tied to the literal fate of the world itself – and that’s a hugely refreshing, yet compelling prospect.

Early Access Is Just The Beginning

Set to sail into Steam Early Access on September 16th, 2025, Voyagers of Nera will already boast a sizable amount of content and day one functionality for players to get stuck into. Early Access, however, is just the beginning. Over the coming months and well into next year, developer Treehouse Games won’t just be optimising the game and providing numerous quality-of-life fixes; the studio shall also be introducing new biomes for players to explore, new enemy factions, new elder spirits to discover, new spirit abilities, and so much besides. Easily one of the most promising survival adventures in a while, Voyagers of Nera is absolutely here for the long haul, and that’s a good thing, not least because its tantalising world, which is so steeped in style and beauty, is one that we can’t wait to be part of for years to come.

Super Mario Bros. 40th Anniversary: How Nintendo’s Icon Changed Gaming Forever

From the spark lit by 1985’s Super Mario Bros., which redefined an entire genre, to the groundbreaking 3D leap of Super Mario 64, Nintendo’s flagship series has long held a level of quality and cultural affection other franchises could only envy. Now, with the 40th anniversary of gaming’s most beloved moustachioed plumber upon us, there’s no better time to revisit three defining milestones of this butt-bopping, mushroom-munching (not that kind), high-pitched handyman whose adventures shaped not just a brand but an entire medium.

Super Mario Bros (NES) – 1985

This is where it all began. Arguably representing the first truly successful console-selling game, Super Mario Bros. simultaneously granted Nintendo a mascot that would endure for generations, while also redefining what gamers expected from the platforming genre.

Largely responsible for reviving the sales of home consoles in the United States and other western territories after the industry tumult of Atari’s downfall, Super Mario Bros introduced several then-groundbreaking features that would become essential virtues of design for the many other platforming efforts that would adhere to in the months, years and decades which would follow.

For a start, unlike other platformers that had preceded it, Super Mario Bros did away with the static single-screen levels where players would proceed from left to right before moving into the next frame and restarting at the left side of the screen again. Instead, Super Mario Bros embraced the notion of a consistently smooth, side-scrolling mechanic where players could traverse at speed across a seemingly expansive and interconnected game world.

A significant reason why the traversal in Super Mario Bros worked as well as it did was that the game designers at Nintendo had paid acute attention to the minutiae of Mario’s movement. Our brave plumber wasn’t just responsive to control; there were also some precisely engineered momentum physics at play here that were largely unheard of for the time. These permitted players to run, slide, jump, stop and turn all in line with the variable speeds at which they traversed the game world.

With a range of hugely compelling power-ups that were masterful exercises in UI design (nothing quite piques the curiosity like a great big golden block with a flashing white question mark on it), Super Mario Bros felt inviting in ways that were utterly unexpected at the time. Whether it was collecting a mushroom to double his size and provide an additional health buffer for incoming damage, or scooping up a fire flower to blast unfortunate foes with bouncing fireballs, Mario felt omni-powerful in ways that other platforming heroes simply didn’t.

And then there were a whole heap of other, more nuanced game design elements that Nintendo brought to the table with Super Mario Bros, which also helped further the platforming genre at large. For instance, levels were clearly indicated with an incremented, hyphenated numbering scheme, which not only provided a useful indicator for how far you were through the game, but also gave players an impression of how difficult the forthcoming levels would prove to be. All in all, then, Super Mario Bros absolutely confirmed that not only would Nintendo become a dominant force in the console gaming space for years to come, but also that the platforming genre writ large would now be redefined in its image as well.

Super Mario World (SNES) – 1990

It would be five whole years before Nintendo would give the world a glimpse at the evolution of its hottest series, and much like Super Mario Bros before it, Super Mario World would prove to be every bit the system seller. Empowered by Nintendo’s next-generation 16-bit console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and enriched by the 256 on-screen colour palette that system provided, Super Mario World not only looked the part with vibrantly detailed sprites and backgrounds, but it also evolved the series in several key ways as well.

Super Mario World introduced players to Yoshi – an adorable, egg-spitting dinosaur that would join Mario and company in their struggle against the villainous Bowser. Much more than just a charmingly scaly face, Yoshi introduced a whole new set of mechanics to the proceedings, not only allowing players to ride him, but also being capable of eating objects and enemies, with the latter granting him special powers depending on the Koopa shell colour he ingested. It should perhaps come as little surprise, then, to discover that the sequel to Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, solely focused on Nintendo’s newest and now globally beloved addition to the cast.

Another significant change that Super Mario World brought to the genre was its introduction of an overworld map system, unlike anything seen before. Much more than just a fancy way to frame the journey from one level to the next, Super Mario World’s overworld map allowed players a fresh top-down view of an interconnected and non-linear world where new secret paths could be discovered and completely secret levels, such as the fiendishly challenging Star World, could also be tackled. For the first time, it felt like there was more going on than just what each level provided, and with this notion, Super Mario World felt layered and sophisticated in a fashion that felt utterly alien at the time of its release.

With an all-new spin-jump move in Mario’s arsenal, together with a new inventory system (that allowed players to hold onto a collectable item for use at some later juncture) and Koji Kondo’s relentlessly catchy soundtrack tickling your eardrums, Super Mario World effectively perfected the two-dimensional side-scrolling platformer and set a dizzying standard for platformers to reach.

Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) – 1996

Given the sheer excellence of Super Mario World and how it sat at the apex of two dimensional platform games for so long, it makes a sort of sense that the only way the ‘House That Mario Built’ could surpass it would be to leap into the third dimension and with it, herald in yet another generation defining outing for one of the world’s most beloved gaming franchises. And that’s exactly what happened.

Put simply, the ascendancy of everyone’s favourite Italian plumber into three-dimensional platforming felt as groundbreaking as Super Mario Bros had done eleven years earlier. Much like both Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros before it, Super Mario 64 felt uniquely calibrated to the strengths of the gaming hardware that had hosted it. This was immediately obvious from the visual splendour that Super Mario 64 lavished across our screens. Gone were the beloved, though ultimately flat two-dimensional sprites and in their place were fully realised three-dimensional polygonal models that for the first time felt tangible and oddly, real – as if your television set had become a container for some other world rather than just a flat canvas for the facsimile of one.

The various themed worlds that Mario would romp around in also felt similarly transformative. With what felt like, at the time, a wholly revolutionary three-dimensional camera hovering behind Mario’s acrobatic form, exploring every nook and cranny of these worlds and the hub world which housed them felt euphoric in a way that I’m not sure any other platformer has been able to reliably replicate since.

Every world that you entered in Super Mario 64 felt less like a ‘level’ in a traditional sense and more like its own self-contained world where anything could happen and secrets could be discovered by those eager enough to find them. Whether you were throwing King Bob-omb around like a pro-wrestler, being shot out of a cannon towards the stars, covering yourself in liquid metal, or sliding down an ice slide race course with a bunch of excitable penguins, each world in Super Mario 64 felt like it was packed with unforgettable moments that elevated them far above being just the next in a string of challenges to be overcome.

Of course, the centrepiece of Mario’s shift into a fully three-dimensional world was the elevated level of control and agency that was granted to the player. Just a light tilt forward on the N64’s analogue stick made Mario walk slowly, his feet carefully plunging into the ground one after another with focused consideration. Put a little more pressure on the analogue stick and our hero begins to jog, building up speed as his shoulders and arms begin to swing with almost child-like glee and vigour. Push the analogue stick as far forward as it’ll go, and Mario would break out into a full-bodied, crazed sprint, limbs shaking back and forth like some sort of agitated madman on a mission.

Then there were the newfound acrobatic talents that Mario brought to his inaugural three-dimensional adventure. A quick triple tap had our moustached protagonist hop, jump and then perform a stunning front forward flip (complete with cheerful shouts courtesy of long-time Mario VA Charles Martinet), while new abilities such as being able to flip off walls, slide down hills and more all came together to create the feeling that this new Mario was more than equipped to confront the dangers that this new third axis would bring.

Super Mario 64 didn’t just feel like a perfect translation of the Italian plumber’s flat adventures into a three-dimensional world; it felt like the formulation of a design bedrock from which a whole host of three-dimensional Super Mario titles would spring anew. While it’s true that Mario’s adventures in the third-dimension have been expansive over the years, ranging from the wacky, water spraying mechanics of Super Mario Sunshine, through to the supremely assured level designs of Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, that original breathtaking yet playful sense of discovery which felt so tied to Super Mario 64, still to this day feels unmatched.

Super Mario 64 didn’t just influence future platformers – it became the blueprint for modern 3D game design. Its seamless integration of exploration, movement, and freedom set standards that developers are still refining today. Taken together with Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World, it’s clear that Nintendo has never been content to merely participate in the industry; it has consistently reshaped it. Each of these milestones marked a seismic shift in how games were played, perceived, and loved, proving that Mario isn’t just a mascot but a cultural icon whose adventures define entire generations of gaming.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Mini-Review – A Darker, Faster, and Fiercely Beautiful Sequel

Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally here—and it’s cheaper than anyone expected. The surprise drop sent digital storefronts spiralling into chaos, with players staring at Steam’s (admittedly adorable) error monsters as servers crumbled. The first game was popular, sure, but nobody saw this level of hype coming.

This time, you play as Hornet, a swift and agile warrior who fights with a needle and stitches herself together to heal. The tone is familiar: dark and oppressive, yet offset by irresistibly charming characters and creatures. That clash of cute and grim creates the same strange magic that defined Hollow Knight’s world. Silksong, though, is faster and sharper. Hornet’s diagonal downward strike demands more precision, ledge-grabbing makes platforming more forgiving, and her built-in dash speeds everything up. Fans who found the original a little slow will love the pacing; those worried about difficulty should brace themselves, because that speed comes at a cost—this sequel is harder.

Progression feels satisfying, with new traversal abilities and crests that overhaul combat. Crests in particular allow for deep customisation, letting you alter attack patterns or tweak healing, though most are tucked behind early-game hurdles. It’s a system that rewards experimentation and makes each playstyle feel personal. And as for difficulty: this game is brutal. Even veteran players are hitting walls early, and the Dark Souls-inspired death system is as punishing as ever. A few missteps can cost dearly, and bosses can feel insurmountable until you find the right crest combination. For many, that’s the appeal; for others, it’ll be a deal-breaker.

The world itself feels richer and more alive. More towns, a broader range of enemies, and brighter colour palettes make each area pop. NPCs are everywhere, conversations flow naturally, and quest boards add layers of side content that tie neatly back into the main journey. Visually, Silksong is breathtaking. Muted tones set the mood while splashes of colour give each region its own identity. The soundtrack is equally masterful—haunting, dynamic, and absolutely worth revisiting long after the credits roll.

In short, Hollow Knight: Silksong builds on everything the original did right. It’s beautiful, challenging, and endlessly rewarding, but it won’t convert those who didn’t enjoy the first game. For everyone else, it’s a clear step forward, a sequel that feels like a celebration of everything Team Cherry has built.

Slime Heroes Nintendo Switch Mini-Review: A Great Family Action Game

Slime Heroes originally launched earlier this year, but it only arrived on Nintendo Switch at the end of July, making it feel like a brand-new game for many players. It’s a Soulslike at heart, but one with a much cuter aesthetic and a range of difficulty options to play with. That means the game can be forgiving if you want it to be, or still deliver a fair challenge if you prefer – striking a nice balance between accessibility and tension.

The game really shines in co-op, especially with a younger player. You can design your own slime, giving it goofy facial features and mixing colours to create something truly silly. On top of that, you can tweak health, enemy damage, and other parameters to make the experience just right for the player you’re teaming up with. It’s a thoughtful system that makes the game flexible enough for different skill levels without losing its charm.

Once your slime is ready, you can dive into a charming adventure together, guiding each other through puzzles and battles. The ability system is particularly delightful; you collect a variety of skills as you progress, and you can even combine two into one hybrid ability. This opens up all sorts of creative ways to approach combat and experiment with different strategies, keeping the gameplay fresh and fun.

While Slime Heroes isn’t the most punishing or revolutionary Soulslike out there, it succeeds perfectly as a solid, approachable experience for younger gamers. It’s especially joyful when shared with kids, creating moments where you’re both engaged and entertained. On the Nintendo Switch, it fits beautifully, is easy to pick up, fun to explore, and rewarding to experiment with. Sometimes it’s nice to play a game with your kids that’s genuinely enjoyable for everyone, and Slime Heroes does exactly that.

How Borderlands 4 Levels Up The Looter Shooter Like Never Before

Long before Bungie’s Destiny suited up and took players on a looter shooter odyssey across the universe, there was Borderlands from Gearbox Software. A delirious exercise in abundance with more quips, comical eye-winks, enemies, missions and weapons than you could shake a hairy stick at, Gearbox Software’s raucous looter shooter set a new standard for the genre when it debuted all the way back in 2009, and it’s one that the series has been iterating on ever since. Now in the year of our lord 2025, Gearbox Software is back at it again with Borderlands 4, the latest entry in its looter shooter series that aims to level up the genre like never before. Here’s how Borderlands 4 does just that.

Gun And Loot Customisation, Which Reaches New Heights

A point of pride for the Borderlands franchise has arguably been the sheer amount of loot, weapons and other gear it encourages players to scoop up. With more than a billion (that’s not a typo) weapons in Borderlands 4, it’s clear that developer Gearbox Software wanted to make its fourquel stand out even further in this regard. Longtime fans will no doubt be cheered to discover that many of the series’ usual weapons manufacturers make a return here. This means eager run-and-gunners will encounter gear from the familiar likes of Jakobs, Maliwan, Tediore and more as they blast and tear their way across Borderlands 4’s new planetary setting of Kairos. In addition to a trio of new weapons manufacturers (Daedalus, Ripper and Order) that have made their way onto the scene, Borderlands 4 also makes legendary guns feel more, well, legendary, by making them much more powerful but also far less common to find. Y’know, as it should be.

By far, though, the biggest departure that Borderlands 4 makes from previous entries in the series is the new ‘Licensed Parts’ system. Essentially enabling a modular level of customisation, the Licensed Parts system provides players with the ability to incorporate gun parts from different manufacturers to create all-new firearms in the process, which in turn carry a hybrid of the weapon traits unique to each of those manufacturers into the bargain. Put simply, you aren’t going to run out of guns in Borderlands 4, or indeed the parts to make them.

The Largest And Most Seamless Game World To Date

One of the unsung heroes of the Borderlands series has undoubtedly been the sprawling worlds of every stripe and hue that players were encouraged to blast their way across. In Borderlands 4, it’s certainly fair to say that the game world itself has seen quite the upgrade, because now not only have loading times been almost completely removed as you travel from one zone to another, but so too has the introduction of a new vehicle known as a ‘Digirunner’ made traversal that much more effortless.

A quick word about Kairos, which serves as the game world for Borderlands 4. A mysterious planet that has been hidden in secret for millennia by the Timekeeper, the big bad of Borderlands 4, Kairos is a vast interconnected hub of massively varied areas that dwarfs the maps seen in previous games. From snow-capped mountains to lava-scorched ruins, verdant forests, and all the usual frontier-style towns, shacks, labs, and buildings you’d expect from Borderlands, Kairos is packed with variety. The game encourages players to explore every nook and cranny just as much as it pushes them to mow down throngs of bad guys across its surface.

Of course, there isn’t much point in having such a tantalising expanse as Kairos if you aren’t also going to sufficiently empower the player to fully explore it, and wouldn’t you know that Borderlands 4 has ticked all the bingo boxes on the traversal front too. Not content to allow Borderlands 4 to just be another run and jump looter shooter, Gearbox Software’s latest offering allows players to double-jump, glide, dash, swim and use a grappling hook to reach places and various crevices which would normally be completely inaccessible. To say that Borderlands 4 leaves the series’ previous entries in the dust when it comes to traversal would be putting it mildly.

The Greatest Character Build Diversity Seen In The Series So Far

When it comes to build diversity improvements in Borderlands 4, let’s just acknowledge the excessively large elephant in the room first – Borderlands 4 has more skills for each of its Vault Hunters than those available in Borderlands 2 and Borderlands 3 combined. Woof. Beyond a veritable avalanche of new skills, which in turn greatly expands the possibilities for build customisation in the first instance, one of the key changes that Borderlands 4 brings to progression (and gunplay more broadly) is the implementation of the new Ordnance system.

You see, the new Ordnance system accommodates both grenades and weapons on a shared cooldown. This means that rather than having a finite supply of either grenades or heavy weapon ammo, you just wait for the cooldown to end before unleashing heck with either of the two – allowing you to stay in the fight for longer without having to sweep around the place looking for ammo for each. As you might well expect, some stackable bonuses and buffs can improve the use of Ordnance too, adding yet another layer of depth to Borderlands 4’s progression system in the process.

Finally, supplementing the Ordnance system is the new Enhancements mechanic, which replaces the Artifacts system seen in previous games. In the series’ latest entry, these Enhancements are realised as specific bonuses unique to each weapons manufacturer. This means that in addition to a deep tailoring of your skills and abilities, carefully mixing and matching the right weapons manufacturer is also now a key part of fashioning build synergies as well.

Reinvigorated And Refined Cooperative Play

Ask anybody who has ever played a Borderlands game, and they will quite rightly tell you that the whole experience, from top to toe, is best enjoyed with mates. With Borderlands 4, of course, cooperative play in both local and online modes features prominently, but it’s the changes that have been under the hood that Gearbox Software have made here that really raise eyebrows.

The first and arguably biggest change that has been made to cooperative play is the way that loot works. Now entirely instanced, this now means that each player in a coop scenario essentially gets their own loot, rather than having to share it with other players. Elsewhere, Borderlands 4 also introduces the idea of dynamic level scaling, which means that players of vastly different levels can still band together to take on missions and enemies appropriate to their average level, rather than being excluded from cooperative play because one or more players involved do not meet the level requirements to take part. More of this, please, looter shooter developers.

Borderlands 4 isn’t just another sequel; it’s a game that levels up the looter shooter like never before. With an unprecedented variety of weapons and modular gun customisation, the sprawling, fully traversable world of Kairos, and an avalanche of character builds and abilities, Gearbox has taken everything fans love about the series and pushed it to new heights. Cooperative play is smarter and more rewarding than ever, making it perfect for teaming up with friends of any skill level. Whether you’re exploring every nook of the planet, experimenting with over-the-top weapon combos, or tearing through hordes of enemies, Borderlands 4 delivers a chaotic, endlessly fun experience that proves the looter shooter genre still has room to grow – and Gearbox is leading the charge.

Tower Dominion Mini-Review: A Path-Building Twist on Tower Defence

Tower defence games are a wonderful genre, offering that quick-hit rush of upgrades, strategy, and success. There’s something endlessly satisfying about figuring out the right route to block and the perfect spot for each tower. It’s a genre built on steady escalation, watching your little defences grow into unstoppable machines. The problem, though, is that the genre doesn’t always leave much room to innovate. The formula is pretty rigid, which means a lot of games end up feeling very similar. Tower Dominion, though, does something different, and it’s all the better for it.

The big twist here is that you’re not just defending against incoming enemies, you’re also the one building the very paths they’ll take. Each round deals you cards that you can place to shape the battlefield – whether that’s one long, winding path, several looping snake-like routes, or a series of branching choices. You get to design the gauntlet yourself, and that one change transforms how the whole game feels.

As waves keep rolling in, you keep adding to the path, adapting your strategy on the fly. It means your playstyle can evolve mid-run, allowing you to support whatever outrageous weapons or defences you’ve managed to unlock. On top of that, your faction and chosen heroes each bring unique bonuses, adding even more variety to the mix.

The result is a tower defence game that thrives on replayability. No two runs feel the same – you can experiment with path design, try different factions, or lean into specific heroes to change things up.

If variety is the spice of life, Tower Dominion might just be the spiciest tower defence around. It’s easy to learn, but with a surprisingly high skill ceiling, perfect for anyone willing to experiment, invest the time, and endure plenty of defeats along the way.

Indie Video Games Round-Up – September 2025

Summer is officially behind us, and for many of us, that’s a relief – no more baking under the unrelenting sun or pretending a fan counts as air conditioning. Instead, we’re welcoming the crisp, slightly unpredictable days of September… which, conveniently, pairs perfectly with a cosy corner and a stack of indie games.

This month’s indie line-up is packed with variety. There are gorgeous puzzle adventures, high-speed parkour challenges, unhinged story-driven mysteries and more. Whatever your taste, September 2025’s indie releases have something to pull you in. So let’s dive into some.

Hirogami – 3rd September

In Hirogami, you play as Hiro, a master of the art of Origami, who has to try and save his home from powerful digital invaders. You’ll have to learn how to fold yourself, solve a huge number of puzzles, and fight off some nasty enemies to succeed. The draw here is partly the cool concept, but also partly the gorgeous paper art-style, which makes the whole game look like it’s been built by hand.

JETRUNNER – 4th September

Jetrunner is an FPS parkour game, which instantly brings to mind games like Neon White. It’s got a lovely cel-shaded look and describes itself as being “Trackmania meets Titanfall.” That’s going to have a few people salivating, and it could well be for good reason. Expect plenty of high-score chasing alongside the campaign itself, and a challenge mode which we’re sure will be easy…

SHUTEN ORDER – 5th September

Shuten Order is about the murder of a religious leader preaching about bringing about the apocalypse, and apparently squishes five adventure games into one story. Frankly, it looks unhinged, but in a really good way. Expect lots of puzzles, plenty of dramatic conversations, and some seriously big personalities as well. All you have to do to save the world is deal with God’s Trial, which should be easy enough.

Eat the Rich: Greed Games – 10th September

It feels like it’s been a little wild since we had our last party game, so let’s bring on Eat the Rich. Your aim in this game is to become a billionaire and try to betray all of your friends in the process. There are mini-games to compete in, votes to help you get rid of your competition, and plenty of silly things to witness. It’s good for between six and ten players, so get some mates involved and you’ll be laughing.

Voyagers of Nera – 16th September

Voyagers of Nera has you and some friends trying to survive a magical sea filled with lost spirits, magic, and deadly monsters. It looks absolutely stunning, as in the water looks like you should hop on in, and alongside all of the swimming you’d expect given the setting, you can also glide, surf, and more.

Endless Legend 2 – 22nd September

Endless Legend 2 is a fantasy strategy game where you get to pick your faction and then try and lead them to victory. The factions are wildly different from one another in not just things like what units they have, but also their stories, philosophies, and more. Your faction will dictate how you’ll want to play and eventually win, and you can even take control of specific units during fights to try and turn the tide. It looks phenomenal.

Out of Time – 25th September

Out of Time is a very hard game to search up because there are films, other games, and all sorts of things with the same name. This one, however, is a co-op roguelike coming to the Epic Games Store that rewards you all for staying near each other (thanks to buffs), has a huge number of different builds to muck around with, and of course, has some time-based stuff to muck around with. Expect a lot of chaotic action and shouting at your friends.

Everything You Need to Know About Hell Is Us

Hell is Us is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing action-adventure titles in recent memory. With its striking visuals, tense atmosphere, and a focus on raw exploration, it looks set to carve out a space as one of 2025’s most unique games. If you’re curious about what to expect, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about Hell Is Us – including its release date, gameplay, story, editions, pre-order bonuses, and the latest trailer.

Hell is Us Release Date

Hell is Us will launch worldwide on September 4, 2025. The game will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. At this stage, no Nintendo Switch 2 version has been announced, and given the technical scope of the game, it seems unlikely that a port will be confirmed anytime soon.

Hell is Us Pre-Order Bonuses

Players who pre-order Hell is Us will gain access to a handful of exclusive in-game rewards to enhance their first playthrough. Regardless of which edition you choose, placing a pre-order nets you the following:

Exclusive Weapon Skin – a cosmetic upgrade for one of the protagonist’s ancient weapons
Drone Customisation Pack – minor visual variations for your drone companion
Unique Emblem – a cosmetic insignia to mark your gear

Additionally, pre-ordering the Digital Deluxe Edition grants up to 48 hours of early access to the game before its official release date.

Hell is Us Special Editions

In addition to the Standard Edition, Hell is Us will also launch with a Digital Deluxe Edition, which includes a range of extras for dedicated fans:

Hell is Us Digital Deluxe Edition

Base game of Hell Is Us
48-Hour Early Access
Exclusive weapon skin pack
Drone customisation pack
Digital artbook and soundtrack

Hell is Us Gameplay

Hell is Us is described as a semi-open world action-adventure game with an emphasis on melee combat and organic exploration. Players can wield a variety of weapons to take on monstrous foes, while mastering a combat system that rewards precision and strategy.

Exploration takes a different approach compared to most modern titles: there are no objective markers or glowing waypoints. Instead, players are encouraged to immerse themselves in the world, make their own notes, and discover secrets naturally. This system brings back the thrill of getting lost and finding your way through intuition rather than following a map, providing a much more grounded experience.

Hell is Us Story

Set against the backdrop of a civil war compounded by a mysterious calamity, Hell is Us throws players into a world already destabilised by human conflict, only to be further plagued by supernatural horrors. These creatures cannot be harmed with conventional weapons, forcing the protagonist to rely on ancient technology and a drone companion to survive and uncover the truth. The central theme, according to creative director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, is that:

“The central theme of Hell is Us is that human violence is a perpetual cycle fueled by human emotions and passions.”

Expect a narrative that blends political turmoil with psychological and supernatural undertones against a backdrop of self-discovery.

PC Specifications

A visually striking game in its own right, Hell is Us brings its haunting world to life with stunning detail and atmospheric design. From richly textured environments to dynamic lighting that amplifies its eerie tone, the game delivers an immersive experience tailored for PC players. Built to scale across a wide range of hardware configurations, Hell is Us ensures smooth performance whether you’re running a moderate setup or a high-end rig – check out the full specifications below to see how your system measures up.

MINIMUM:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows® 10 (64-bit OS required)
Processor: Intel i7-7700K or AMD Ryzen 3 3300X
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, 8GB or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, 6GB
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 30 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Recommended

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows® 10, Windows® 11 (64-bit OS required)
Processor: Intel Core i7-11700K or AMD Ryzen 5 7600
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, 11GB or AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, 12GB
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 100 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Recommended.

Where Can I Watch the Latest Trailer?

The official story trailer for Hell Is Us is available to watch above.

The trailer does a great job showcasing the atmospheric, exploration-driven gameplay players can expect, whilst simultaneously providing some much-needed story context. Players will be stepping into the shoes of a man returning to his homeland, tormented by memory loss and desperately seeking the truth about his past—specifically, what happened to his family and why they were separated.

Panta Rhei Mini-Review: Control Time To Save Time

A good roguelike has to do something unique to stand out these days, and thankfully, Panta Rhei delivers by letting you control time. At first, it plays like a familiar action roguelike, with upgrades to core abilities and modifiers that add buffs or debuffs. Well – technically – it begins with a gorgeous cutscene that sets the stage for why you’re alone in the world.

In Panta Rhei, you play as Phi, a young guardian of time who’s found themself stranded in the Garden of Past after what’s essentially the end of the world. Though content to spend their days gardening, neglecting their true duty has thrown time into chaos, forcing Phi to venture out and try to save it.

That means taking on enemies and solving puzzles. While things begin familiarly, you soon unlock the power to manipulate time, and that changes everything. Some foes, for instance, can only be hurt while time is moving in reverse, pushing you to set up combos that land just as you start rewinding. It adds a clever twist to combat, forcing you to think both ahead and backwards if you want to come out on top.

The world shifts constantly as you explore, and every battle is life or death – Phi isn’t built to withstand much damage, and dragging out a fight too long will see your timeline drained away. It’s a harsh lesson at first, but once it clicks, Panta Rhei becomes a blast to play, with enough depth to keep you coming back for more, even if you keep dying.

Battlefield 6: Reclaiming the Crown of Realistic Online Military Shooters

It seems to me that when folks shot, stabbed and exploded their way through the 1940s Western Front in Call of Duty’s 2003 debut, the very notion of charging about an online multiplayer map as Nicki Minaj with pink grenades in tow against the likes of Beavis and Butthead would be an entirely alien one, such is the uncoupling of Activision’s franchise from its authentic roots. With a void very much now existing for an ultra-popular and serious online shooter, Battlefield Studios is poised to step into that space with Battlefield 6, a thoroughly straight-laced, utterly serious and equally spectacular affair that looks set to reclaim the mantle of the serious online military shooter with aplomb.

Grounded Is The Word Of The Day

Marking a noted departure from the near-future warfare scenario depicted in Battlefield 2042, Battlefield 6 roots itself in the present day. Everything from the setting to the weapons, to the locations, all of it looks contemporary and grittily authentic in ways that the likes of Call of Duty have not been for a good long while. Let’s take the setting first of all. Battlefield 6 envisions a version of our present day where NATO is deeply fractured and a new private military alliance known as Pax Armata has risen to stake its claim on the world stage, triggering a swathe of proxy wars and battles all across the world.

Then there’s the tone of Battlefield 6. Very much eschewing the sparse and oftentimes pristine futurism of the series’ previous entry, Battlefield 2042, Battlefield 6 instead brings back the grit, mud and close-knit urban destruction of lived-in spaces that earlier entries in the series thrived in. Battlefield 6’s world-spanning conflict isn’t happening in some abstract vision of the near future; it’s happening in Gibraltar, Brooklyn, Cairo and on your doorstep in a world that mirrors our own, albeit with a slight twist toward the darkness, as one might expect given its bleak scenario.

Finally, when we look at the arsenal available to players in Battlefield 6, we are once again presented with something which echoes the present day and what you would reasonably expect to hear and see on the news. This not only means access to the usual array of assault rifles, handguns, shotguns, rocket launchers, sniper rifles, grenades, mines and more, but it also means players will be able to get their warmongering mitts on all manner of drones, tanks, jeeps, mobile missile launchers, helicopters and jet fighters as well. Put simply, if you were to switch on the TV and take a peek at some recent conflicts, you’ll likely recognise much, if not all, of the armaments that Battlefield 6 presents to the player.

Welcome Back, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, We’ve Missed You

A big part of Battlefield 6 reclaiming the mantle of the de facto serious online military shooter is, of course, Battlefield 6 also reclaiming much of its own past calibre. It does this by taking more than one leaf from the book of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, easily one of the most popular entries in the whole franchise – and for good reason. When Battlefield: Bad Company 2 released all the way back in 2010, series fans and genre aficionados alike were bowled over by its freewheeling destruction, rewarding class-based structure and thoroughly compelling objective-based modes. Despite the fifteen-year gap, EA hasn’t forgotten what made Battlefield: Bad Company 2 so beloved in the first place, either.

Indeed, from a design perspective, Battlefield 6 in so many ways feels more like a spiritual sequel to the gameplay mechanics glimpsed in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 than any other series entry. Destruction makes an emphatic return in Battlefield 6, and by ‘destruction’, I mean the sort of player-driven, micro-environment destruction we all saw in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and not the ‘Levelution’ scripted destruction events which would occur the same way every time in Battlefield 4. This means that if a group of hostile folks are holed up within a building, you can bring the whole thing down around their ears. Likewise, you can quite literally smash through walls and floors to boot as well, lending Battlefield 6 the sort of destructive verticality that fans of The Finals will surely appreciate.

Elsewhere, classes are back! Though Battlefield 2042 realised the baffling error of its ways by including classes towards the end of its lifetime, Battlefield 6 isn’t making that mistake and will allow players to pick from the classic Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon classes on day one. For the uninitiated, Battlefield 6 very much leans into a role system where each of those four classes has a valuable function to perform on the battlefield and where, somewhat predictably, there is a great deal of synergy to be had with these classes.

Whether you’re a Support class that’s refilling the ammo of your best buds to keep the fight going, a Recon soldier picking off enemies at a distance with a sniper rifle, an Engineer capable of repairing vehicles or a trusty Assault grunt punching through the enemy lines with powerful weaponry, Battlefield 6 makes everybody’s preferred playstyle feel both valued and crucially important to winning every match.

New Gameplay Mechanics That Make Sense

Though a large part of Battlefield 6’s appeal lies in how well it brings forward great mechanics from acclaimed previous series entries into the present day, it should also be noted that EA’s latest also has more than its own fair share of tricks up its digital sleeve. Starting with the new drag system, when attempting to revive fallen mates, you can now drag their prone form some distance, hopefully taking them behind some cover where you can do the whole healing thing away from prying bullets.

Another new feature is the ability to hitch a ride. That’s right, in Battlefield 6, you and a buddy can hang onto the back of jeeps, tanks and other such weighty land vehicles, not only allowing for more rapid and spontaneous mobility around the game world overall, but it’s also a mechanic which serves to get you into the heat of battle much faster as well.

Finally, there’s also been some love given to the on-foot traversal system, too. Rather than taking on an approximation of the absurd, Temu Matrix-like omni-movement seen in the most recent Call of Duty games, Battlefield 6 instead makes some smaller, more considered changes to player movement. Powered by a new “Kinesthetic Combat System”, players can not only perform combat rolls after falling from a height to get them into fighting form quickly, but can also now sprint while crouched and use special deployable assault ladders to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.

All told, Battlefield 6 represents a return to form for a franchise that once defined the serious online military shooter. By grounding its conflicts in the present day, embracing gritty realism, restoring fan-favourite gameplay mechanics, and introducing thoughtful new systems, it feels like a title designed for both veterans and newcomers who crave a satisfying, strategic, and immersive experience. Battlefield 6 isn’t just another shooter – it’s a statement that Battlefield still knows how to deliver large-scale, intelligent, and thrilling warfare, proving that when it comes to serious online combat, this franchise still has the firepower to lead the charge.

Best Games Like Lost Soul Aside

Lost Soul Aside looks absolutely stunning, and it’s one of those character action games worth keeping an eye on. Both us and 36 Crazyfists are excited for it—that’s a very niche post-hardcore joke, but here we are. But while big releases are always on the horizon, sometimes you just want to jump into the action right now. So, as we so often do, we’ve pulled together a list of the best character action games you can play any time you’re in the mood for stylish combat.

Character action games might not dominate the spotlight the way they once did, but the genre still has plenty of gems to offer—including a few that push well beyond traditional expectations. The result is a diverse mix of experiences in this list, with even a wild card or two thrown in for good measure.

Devil May Cry 5

Devil May Cry 5 is an absolute beast of a game. It brings together Dante, Nero, V, and even Vergil if you pick up the DLC – each with their own stylish way of looking effortlessly cool while tearing through hordes of demons. The story holds up surprisingly well, the difficulty settings cater to just about everyone, and the game is packed with slick, unforgettable moments from start to finish. Simply put, it’s a blast to play and a must for anyone who loves the genre.

Bayonetta 3

Bayonetta 3 takes the already over-the-top formula of the hair-witch action series and dials it up even further. Known for its risqué style and cheeky innuendo, the game stays true to the franchise’s roots while pushing the spectacle to new heights. This time around, Bayonetta faces off against massive man-made weapons in a bid to save the world, and, of course, she looks effortlessly incredible while doing it.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance lets you control every slash with precision, cutting enemies apart in ways that would impress even the most discerning chefs. The game follows Raiden, a man more machine than human, as he faces a parade of increasingly outrageous foes. With over-the-top boss battles, an excellent soundtrack, and nonstop action, it’s pure joy from start to finish. Oh, and you also get a robot dog companion – because why not?

NieR: Automata

NieR: Automata is a breathtaking experience that combines fluid, exciting action with deep questions about humanity. You step into the shoes of 2B as she navigates a world devastated by machines, discovering what it truly means to live along the way. With its emotionally resonant story and clever meta-narrative, it stands out as one of the most meaningful games in the character action genre.

SCARLET NEXUS

Among Bandai Namco’s recent midrange releases, Scarlet Nexus stands out as a top pick. You control one of two characters, each wielding incredible psionic powers to battle grotesque monsters while uncovering a gripping conspiracy. The combat is fun and satisfying, the story keeps you engaged, and the game’s striking aesthetic makes it a visual treat from start to finish.

Spirit X Strike

Spirit X Strike is a martial arts-focused action game where you can craft your own combos and bring them into every fight. Creating stylish chains of attacks is deeply satisfying, and the freedom to approach battles your own way makes each encounter fun and dynamic. While the game is still in Early Access, with some balance quirks and bugs, it shows a lot of promise for fans of inventive, combo-driven action.

He Is Coming Mini-Review: The Pringles Of Roguelikes

Sometimes a game just lingers in your head, practically trying to pilot you like a mech suit while you’re busy working, taking care of your kids, or trying to sleep. He is Coming could be that game for you. It’s a roguelike auto-battler where your main goal is to optimise your inventory. You can grab all sorts of items, combine two of the same to create something better, randomly transform gear, and even cook food.

A lot of these actions are semi-randomised, since you need to locate the spots where you can actually perform them. The main goal, though, is to defeat three bosses in an area. It sounds simple – and in theory, it is – but in practice, it’s anything but. The objective is straightforward, but accomplishing it is tough-as-nails. You have a limited number of moves before each boss, and you need to use them efficiently: explore the area, gather items, plan your build, and then commit to it.

Some bosses are weak against certain builds and absurdly strong against others. The first two bosses are chosen from a small pool, but the final boss in each area is fixed. You need to find a build that can handle all three – but you also have to be ready to abandon your favourite build and move on if it’s not working.

It features a beautiful, old-school art style and soundtrack, plenty of unlockables, and multiple modes to play. He is Coming is a truly magnificent game – and it’s only going to get better as it progresses through Early Access.

Borderlands Series Timeline: Every Game & Story in Order

The Borderlands series has evolved dramatically since its debut, transforming from a gritty looter-shooter defined by its endless arsenal of weapons into a full-blown, TTRPG-inspired, tongue-in-cheek adventure. Through it all, the franchise has never lost its trademark sense of humour. While some entries have proven more divisive than others, fans continue to return for the blend of chaotic gunplay, quirky storytelling, and larger-than-life characters that define the series.

Whether you’re a long-time Vault Hunter looking for a refresher or a newcomer eager to dive into the mayhem for the first time, it’s always useful to revisit how the Borderlands timeline fits together. You can certainly play the games in release order and have a blast – but if you’re curious about the story as it unfolds chronologically, here’s a breakdown of the series from start to finish.

Be aware, this guide contains spoilers for the full Borderlands timeline.

Borderlands

The very first Borderlands entry not only launched the franchise but also marked the starting point of the story in chronological order. This game introduces players to the original team of Vault Hunters (Brick, Lilith, Mordecai, and Roland) as they scour the lawless planet of Pandora in search of the fabled Vault. At the outset, the Vault is portrayed as a one-of-a-kind treasure trove, rumoured to hold unimaginable riches and advanced alien technology.

However, when the team finally succeeds in opening it, the reality is far more unsettling. Instead of endless loot, the Vault contains a monstrous, tentacled creature known as the Destroyer. This twist not only upends the characters’ expectations but also shatters the idea that there’s only a single Vault in existence. In fact, it sets the stage for one of the series’ most important revelations: Pandora – and the wider galaxy – is littered with hidden Vaults, each holding its dangers and secrets.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel may have released after Borderlands 2, but its story takes place between the events of the first two games – hence its tongue-in-cheek title. This instalment shifts the focus to a brand-new lineup of Vault Hunters: Athena the Gladiator, Claptrap the Fragtrap, Nisha the Lawbringer, and Wilhelm the Enforcer. Unlike the original crew, this group finds themselves working under the command of a then-unknown Hyperion programmer named Jack, who, over the course of the game, slowly transforms into the infamous Handsome Jack.

Set primarily on Pandora’s moon, Elpis, the game explores new environments with lower gravity, oxygen mechanics, and laser-based weaponry, distinguishing it from the previous entries. The Vault Hunters’ mission is to secure the Helios space station for Jack, gradually cementing Hyperion’s dominance. By the end of the story, their success directly paves the way for Jack’s rise to power, bridging the narrative between the original Borderlands and the fan-favourite Borderlands 2.

Borderlands 2

By the time Borderlands 2 begins, Handsome Jack has fully cemented his role as the ruthless head of Hyperion. With his newfound power, he wastes no time declaring himself the self-appointed ruler of Pandora. Jack claims credit for discovering the Vault, painting himself as a heroic saviour, while simultaneously outlawing Vault Hunters altogether. This puts him in direct conflict with the game’s new roster of playable characters – Axton the Commando, Maya the Siren, Salvador the Gunzerker, and Zer0 the Assassin – who find themselves ambushed aboard a train in one of the series’ most iconic openings.

From there, the Vault Hunters fight to survive Jack’s tyranny while uncovering the truth behind his lies and manipulation. The campaign takes players across Pandora in a battle to dismantle Hyperion’s grip on the planet, while also peeling back Jack’s descent into villainy. By the game’s conclusion, the Vault Hunters succeed in defeating Handsome Jack, toppling his empire, and restoring a fragile sense of balance to Pandora, though, as always in the Borderlands universe, the story is far from over.

Tales from the Borderlands

Tales from the Borderlands stands out in the series as a more narrative-driven and emotionally resonant experience, focusing on characters rather than pure combat. The story centres on Rhys, a Hyperion employee with big ambitions, Fiona, a cunning con artist, and Sasha, Fiona’s unpredictable partner in crime. The three unlikely allies are initially drawn together when Rhys attempts to purchase a fake Vault Key, but circumstances quickly force them to cooperate in pursuit of an entirely new Vault filled with secrets and untold wealth.

Throughout the episodic adventure, players are faced with critical choices that shape the outcome of the story. One of the most pivotal moments comes when Handsome Jack returns in a digital form, attempting to seize control of Rhys. Players must then decide whether to trap Jack within a cybernetic eye or destroy him entirely – choices that carry lasting consequences for both Rhys and the other characters. By the game’s conclusion, Rhys and Fiona find themselves inside a Vault, setting the stage for future adventures and leaving fans with one of the most memorable narrative experiences in the Borderlands timeline.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands takes place chronologically between Borderlands 2 and Borderlands 3, serving as a whimsical side adventure within the larger timeline. While the events of this game don’t have a major impact on the overarching Borderlands canon, it offers fans plenty of memorable moments – particularly those featuring the unpredictable and hilarious Tiny Tina.

Borderlands 3

Borderlands 3 introduces yet another fresh roster of Vault Hunters – Amara the Siren, FL4K the Beastmaster, Moze the Gunner, and Zane the Operative – who join forces with returning fan-favourite Lilith to confront a dangerous new threat. This time, the antagonists are the Children of the Vault, a fanatical cult led by the charismatic and manipulative twins Tyreen and Troy Calypso. Their ultimate goal is to locate the fabled Great Vault, said to be larger and more powerful than any Vault discovered before.

As the story unfolds, players learn that the twins are the children of Typhon DeLeon, the original Vault Hunter. The siblings’ obsession with power culminates in the opening of the Great Vault at the very heart of Pandora, where Tyreen fuses with the monstrous entity known as the Destroyer. In an epic climax, the new Vault Hunters work together to defeat Tyreen and stop her from unleashing catastrophic destruction, cementing their place in the ongoing saga of Pandora.

New Tales from the Borderlands

New Tales from the Borderlands is set after Borderlands 3 and introduces a fresh cast of playable characters: Any, Octavio, and Fran. The trio is drawn together as they navigate the chaotic world of Promethea, facing off against dangerous Vault guardians and uncovering a plot by Tediore’s CEO, Susan Coldwell, who seeks to destroy the planet.

Like its predecessor, this episodic story is shaped by player choices, offering multiple endings, but the main narrative sees the Vault Hunters successfully defeating Coldwell and saving Promethea from her destructive ambitions. Along the way, they discover the Anahatium Shard, a mysterious and powerful artefact now scattered across the universe, leaving the door open for future adventures.

Borderlands 4

As Borderlands 4 has yet to release, the full story remains under wraps, but early details hint at an exciting new chapter in the franchise. Set immediately following the events of Borderlands 3, players are expected to travel to the planet Kairos to confront the enigmatic Timekeeper, who currently rules the planet while contending with a mysterious calamity slowly consuming it.

The game introduces a brand-new roster of Vault Hunters, each with unique abilities and playstyles. Vex joins as a powerful Siren, Rafa takes on the role of an Exo-Soldier, Harlowe is a Gravitar and scientist with specialised skills, and Amon steps in as a formidable Forgeknight. While the full narrative and gameplay mechanics are yet to be revealed, fans can look forward to exploring new worlds, uncovering hidden Vaults, and experiencing the signature humour and chaos that define the Borderlands series.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Aims to Revitalize Sega’s Forgotten Ninja Legend

When a seven-year-old me spent what seemed like countless hours sitting cross-legged in front of his trusty Sega Master System, the one title which reliably ensnared my attention was Sega’s Shinobi. A pitch-perfect blend of Japanese folklore sensibilities, compelling platforming and oddly cool side-scrolling shooting on account of the infinite shuriken projectiles it granted players, Shinobi just didn’t look or play like anything else, and was a key milestone in Sega’s storied history. In 2025, Sega brought back its infamous acrobatic assassin for another shot at glory with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, and wouldn’t you know that not only does this latest instalment do justice to this often forgotten Sega franchise, but it also looks set to stand shoulder to shoulder with the industry’s best. Here’s how Sega and developer Lizardcube have pulled off a franchise revival for the ages.

Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance Is In Good Hands

Put simply, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is in great hands, not least because developer Lizardcube has a long, varied and storied history with revitalising what were once thought to be dormant Sega franchises. From their underrated work on the excellent Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, through to the studio’s much more recent and seminal Streets of Rage 4 – which not only gave fans a proper full-blooded sequel to a beloved series, but improved upon it in many ways – it’s clear that Lizardcube is perfectly up to the task of bringing Sega’s Shinobi back from the dead with ample verve.

It Nails The Series Essence And So Much More

If you were to boil Shinobi down to its essence, you would have an offering that marries up side-scrolling platforming, run ‘n’ gun (well, shuriken) sensibilities and tight controls in a wholly compelling union. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance very much embraces those fundamentals first and foremost, offering players a genre effort that at once controls with a buttery smooth responsiveness and yet has an almost muscle-twitch style snappiness to the array of attacks it provides the player with. This is just the beginning of the magic that Parisian developer Lizardcube has woven here.

In the original and beloved classic, the main protagonist Joe Musashi was a shuriken dispensing machine first and a close-quarter martial artist second. In Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, though, the concept is essentially flipped with shiruken being in finite supply and the emphasis very much on dishing out devastating melee strikes, juggle combinations, timely evasions and even attack cancels. Beyond this, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance also empowers its primary protagonist to make the most of a broader set of Ninjitsu skills, including all manner of magical fire attacks, deadly chain assassinations, and so much more besides.

The platforming and traversal side of things has also seen a similar level of love lavished upon it, with our endlessly nimble hero able to leap, double jump, air-dash, roll, and wall jump his way through the various levels that feel absolutely on par with some of the best two-dimensional platformers around. With the newly refreshed combat and platforming mechanics taken in tandem, then, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance represents nothing less than a thorough evolution of everything that made the original Shinobi so essential all those years ago.

Progression Systems Which Make Sense And Encourage Replay

Another crucial element in how Shinobi: Art of Vengeance looks to drag Sega’s legendary series kicking and screaming into the present day is in its deft implementation of progression systems which complement its resoundingly solid gameplay fundamentals, rather than overshadowing them with banal busywork. As you carve a path through each of Art of Vengeance’s levels, Joe will accrue precious gold that can be used to purchase additional traversal abilities, new combat techniques, increased kunai storage and a range of other skills and buffs to boot. It’s also worth noting that some especially devastating Ninjitsu arts can only be unlocked by progressing further in the story.

Beyond this, players can also leverage special amulets that provide a veritable swathe of passive bonuses that can activate under specific circumstances, such as reaching a particular hit milestone in a combo, for example. This ties in with perhaps the most overlooked aspect of progression in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance – its clear nod to Metroidvania design. In practice, this design manifests itself during exploration, with levels having various areas, nooks and crannies that are inaccessible until you revisit them later on with the means to do so, discovering all manner of new secrets and loot as a reward for wandering off the beaten path, so to speak.

Further afield, special elite challenges which task players with taking down a range of extra-powerful enemies within a constrained environment also provide skilled players with yet another reason to replay and explore every area that Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has to offer. Make no mistake, this is no one-and-done sort of affair; Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has legs.

A Painterly Japanese Aesthetic to Die For

Easily one of the most striking things about Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is its visual aesthetic. The game draws heavily on the considerable talents of Lizardcube’s art team, who have once again crafted retina-stroking, hand-drawn visuals – something we last saw in Streets of Rage 4. At the same time, the style leans deeply into the expressive and vibrant traditions of classic Japanese manga. Taken together, it’s clear that Shinobi: Art of Vengeance stands as the studio’s most artistically ambitious title to date. Whether you’re gawking at the gorgeously realised comic book style characters that move with effortless grace, the painterly backgrounds, or staring wide-eyed at the deliciously over-the-top Ninjitsu attacks that look like they’ve leapt off the page of a Japanese comic, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is easily one of the most visually arresting games of the year.

Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance Has A Proper Story

Though the story of previous Shinobi games has hardly been a point of emphasis, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance looks to change that particularly depressing state of affairs. Indeed, the 2025 entry in the Shinobi franchise unfurls a whole plot around Joe Musashi’s village and clan coming under attack by a nefarious paramilitary group called ENE Corp, which in turn is seemingly led by a mysterious individual known only as Lord Ruse. Though the setup might seem familiar to folks who have played earlier entries in the series, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance expands on the plot by not only stringing together a raft of in-game cutscenes and dialogue, but also by introducing players to a cast of both new and returning characters, too.

In the end, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance isn’t just another revival of a classic Sega property – it’s a statement. By blending razor-sharp combat, layered progression, fluid platforming, and a painterly aesthetic that feels as bold as it is reverent, Lizardcube has crafted something that both honours Shinobi’s legacy and propels it into a new era. For longtime fans, it’s the triumphant return of a childhood icon. For newcomers, it’s an introduction to one of Sega’s most enduring legends at its absolute best. Either way, it’s clear that Joe Musashi has never looked sharper, deadlier, or more essential than he does here.

Heroes Of Mount Dragon Mini-Review: A Classic Beat ‘Em Up With Transformations

The classic beat ‘em up has enjoyed a resurgence lately, thanks in large part to the magnificent Streets of Rage 4. That means gathering a few friends and spending hours punching the crap out of enemies is back on the menu, and honestly, it’s a joyous experience, especially for anyone over the age of 30.

Heroes of Mount Dragon is the newest beat ‘em up on the scene, featuring all the classic class archetypes but with more complex move sets. Each character has two basic attacks, which can even be different weapons, so the archer can kick just as well as shoot arrows. You can mix and match these attacks however you want, and there are special moves too, like launching enemies into the air for juggling combos, either by you or a teammate.

As you level up, you unlock new abilities, with each one adding fresh layers to your character’s combat style. This gradual evolution keeps the gameplay feeling dynamic and helps fend off the boredom that can sometimes sneak into this genre. Plus, when you fill a special bar, you can transform into a dragon and unleash a fiery breath attack – an incredibly fun and over-the-top way to execute your special moves.

All of this comes together in four-player online or offline co-op, letting you and your friends run around and beat things up together. It’s not revolutionary by any stretch, but it’s a whole lot of fun and a great way to hang out with mates. And, of course, you still get to turn into a dragon and rain down cleansing fire on all the goblins and other foes you face. In the end, it’s a solid, enjoyable beat ‘em up that knows exactly what it is – and does it well.

Battle Train Mini-Review: Like A Board Game In The Best Possible Ways

The world of roguelikes is a broad one. It’s less a strict genre and more of a flexible framework – one that many games use to deliver quick, rewarding gameplay, even in short bursts of 20 minutes or so. Battle Train takes that familiar structure, fuses it with railway-building mechanics, and turns it into something deeply satisfying on just about every level.

Each match places you on one side of the battlefield and your opponent on the other, with cards drawn to lay down tracks toward key resources, falling special items, and enemy depots. The goal is to guide your train through these targets, because while Battle Train does feature life totals, it doesn’t rely on traditional attacks. Instead, your offence is all about driving your train straight into enemy depots to take them out.

The twist is that both you and your opponent can use each other’s tracks. Leave a gap, and if your enemy connects to it, they’ll gain access to the same resources you were aiming for. They can even use bombs to reshape the track, opening up new routes to block you or reach your depots faster. Of course, you can do the same to them. Each turn becomes a strategic balance between expanding your own path, cutting off theirs, and tactically destroying track sections to slow them down.

You also earn passive buffs for your train along the way, gently nudging you toward specific builds and strategies, all while being treated to a parade of over-the-top cutscenes and colourful characters. It’s an absolute delight of a game – and if you’re after something that blends thoughtful strategy with chaotic energy, Battle Train is one of the best examples of that fusion in quite some time. Plus, let’s be honest: it’s just plain great if you love trains, as so many of us do.

Every Metal Gear Solid Game In Chronological Order

Look, I don’t blame you – navigating your way around the slightly loopy and labyrinthine narrative chronology of the Metal Gear games is quite the task. Luckily for your sanity, we’ve put together this handy and streamlined guide, which lists and details all of the Metal Gear games in chronological order by the year they took place. Oh, and beware all ye who live in fear of spoilers, because they are very much in abundance from this point forward.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (1964)

Unfolding during the tumult of the Cold War, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater centres on main protagonist Naked Snake. A skilled operative belonging to the clandestine FOX organisation, Naked Snake finds himself tasked with entering the fictional tropical jungle region of Tselinoyarsk in the Soviet Union to rescue a double agent nuclear scientist and lay waste to a prototype nuclear tank before it becomes operational. It isn’t long before the mission goes entirely south when The Boss, Naked Snake’s former mentor, defects to the Soviet Union and leaves him for dead. Ultimately acting as the origin story for Big Boss and defining the villain that we would later come to know, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater deftly set the stage for the epic, decades-spanning saga which would follow, while also introducing players to long-term antagonist Revolver Ocelot who would feature much more prominently in the series decades later.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (1970)

Taking place some six years after the events chronicled in Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops shows us a Naked Snake very much in transition. Disaffected by his previous life as a straight-laced soldier which led to tragedy and betrayal, Portable Ops sees Naked Snake shift into a commander role as he escapes capture by his old unit, FOX, which has gone rogue and is seeking to obtain a nuclear-equipped Metal Gear of its own. In response, Naked Snake assembles a private army of his own and lays waste to his old unit once and for all.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (1974)

After the dismantling of his old FOX unit four years prior, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker shows us a much more seasoned Naked Snake that is the head of Militaires Sans Frontières (MSF), a private military outfit with global outreach. Of course, it isn’t long before trouble stirs, and Naked Snake (who now adopts the moniker of Big Boss), along with MSF, is hired to investigate the appearance of an enigmatic armed group that has taken over Costa Rica. Before long, MSF and Big Boss discover that the takeover was a CIA-approved coup, and the American agency is creating its own nuclear-equipped stomping machine under the codename ‘Peace Walker’. After confronting Peace Walker, Big Boss tragically comes to realise that the AI driving the machine is based on none other than The Boss, his old mentor, forcing him to essentially kill his mentor once again.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (1975)

Acting as a prequel which sets the stage for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes takes place nine years before that title and shows Big Boss and MSF at the height of their powers. After Big Boss finds himself in Cuba to rescue Paz, a loyal South American allied agent, from a U.S.-run black site, he quickly learns of a mysterious organisation known as Cipher. Before Big Boss can react, however, MSF comes under attack from a new private army which goes by the name XOF and is headed up by an enigmatic mercenary known only as Skull Face. With MSF destroyed, Big Boss is also severely injured during the attack and falls into a long-term coma, leading directly into the events chronicled in The Phantom Pain.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (1984)

After spending nine years in a coma, Big Boss finally wakes up from his comatose state. Conscious of his prior infamy and keen to use his death as a means to operate undetected, Big Boss changes himself into ‘Venom Snake’ and takes up the leadership of the Diamond Dogs, an all-new mercenary group. Hellbent on taking a violent revenge on Skull Face, Venom Snake takes his Diamond Dogs into the depths of Cold War Afghanistan and beyond, as he wages war on a mysterious enemy that may not be all he seems to be.

Metal Gear (1995)

Casting players as Solid Snake, a rookie infiltration specialist belonging to the FOXHOUND agency, Metal Gear tasked wannabe stealth lovers with sneaking into the fortified state of Outer Haven to rescue a missing colleague while also gathering intelligence on a secret weapon currently in development. As you might have guessed, said secret weapon is in fact a Metal Gear unit, and if things weren’t bad enough, it transpires that Solid Snake’s commanding officer, Big Boss, is none other than the leader of Outer Heaven, because, of course, he was. Naturally, this all builds to a final scrap, which not only results in the destruction of Metal Gear but also of Outer Heaven more broadly, in which Big Boss is seen to perish under the rubble. When it rains, it pours, eh?

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1999)

With the events of Metal Gear now four years in the past, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake has our titular sneaky lad summoned out of retirement to make his way into the militaristic country of Zanizbar Land in order to rescue a kidnapped genius scientist. Wouldn’t you know that Big Boss was pretending to be dead and, well, comes after Solid Snake like he stole his lunch money with a new Metal Gear unit, Metal Gear D, in tow. Making sure Big Boss is properly dead this time and utterly wrecking Metal Gear D into the bargain, Solid Snake finally ends the thirty-five-year reign of Big Boss to the clapping and cheers of everybody who didn’t fancy getting nuked. Top stuff.

Metal Gear Solid (2005)

Retired after the events of Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land, Solid Snake was probably chilling himself out quite nicely with a whiskey on the rocks and his favourite book when his commanding officer, Colonel Roy Campbell, called him back into action to sneak into a nuclear weapons disposal facility in Alaska. After doing his stealth thing and making his way into the Alaskan base on Shadow Moses Island, Solid Snake soon discovers that the whole facility has been taken over by FOXHOUND, a rogue special forces unit headed up by Liquid Snake, the genetic twin of our grizzled protagonist who it is also revealed, has also been created through genetic engineering. After thwarting a nuclear missile launch and engaging in a climactic final battle with Liquid Snake, Solid Snake learns that Liquid Snake is infected by a deadly virus known as ‘FOXDIE’, and it is this virus which finally ends the life of his genetic twin, yet Solid Snake, who also seemingly has the virus, continues to live.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (2007-2009)

Unfurling its story in two distinct parts across a two-year timespan, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty begins with Solid Snake infiltrating a tanker to get the skinny on an all-new Metal Gear unit, only for said Metal Gear unit to be half-inched by longtime villain Revolver Ocelot. Two years after these events, players take control of Raiden, an elite special forces warrior who has been dispatched to the ‘Big Shell’ offshore facility to rescue the President of the United States. With the Big Shell taken over by a new terrorist group who not only call themselves the ‘Sons of Liberty’, but are seemingly led by Solid Snake no less, Raiden stumbles into a global conspiracy headed by a shadowy group called ‘The Patriots’ who are led by the President of the United States, operating under the guise of ‘Solidus Snake’.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots (2014)

Essentially an OAP at this point, thanks to the accelerated ageing as a result of the genetic engineering process which created him, Solid Snake has just one thing left to do on his bucket list – put his old arch-enemy, Liquid Ocelot (formerly known as Revolver Ocelot), firmly six feet under the ground for good. In a hostile world filled with militant AIs, Solid Snake fights his way from one war zone to the next in a bid to stop Liquid Ocelot from taking control of these deadly AIs and basically ‘doing a Skynet’.

After a final scrap that finally ends the life of Liquid Ocelot, Solid Snake retreats from public view as the full breadth and width of the Patriot’s conspiracy is revealed. Realising that Big Boss was kept in a coma after the events of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake by the Patriots, Solid Snake tracks his old commanding officer, only to be told that the FOXDIE biological agent, which runs through his veins, won’t have time to mutate and turn Solid Snake into a walking biological weapon. With those words, Big Boss dies (for real, this time), and Solid Snake decides to spend whatever time he has left living in peace.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2018)

With the Snake dynasty and everything tied with FOXDIE, Revolver Ocelot and the Patriots now a thing of the past, Raiden finds himself confronting a very different world just four years later. Now, a fully kitted-out, katana-wielding cyborg ninja under contract with a private military company, Raiden is pitted against the nefarious Senator Armstrong, a nano-machined powered soldier who, in turn, has thrown his lot in with a dangerous rival military outfit called ‘Desperado’ in a bid to upend the global order.

From Cold War betrayals to futuristic AI warfare, the Metal Gear series has delivered one of gaming’s most ambitious and emotionally complex timelines. Whether you’re tracing Big Boss’s descent into villainy or Solid Snake’s fight against fate, each chapter adds another layer to this sprawling, operatic saga. And if diving into the story has you nostalgic for the series’ most unforgettable moments, be sure to check out our look at the best Metal Gear Solid 3 boss fights, which showcase the series at its most creative and intense. For those drawn to the franchise’s legendary rogues’ gallery, our roundup of the best Metal Gear Solid villains explores the complex, charismatic antagonists who helped make Metal Gear a stealth-action epic unlike any other.

Best Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Boss Fights Ranked

The best Metal Gear Solid bosses are the ones that leave a lasting impression with fights that are both thematically rich and mechanically engaging. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater truly stands out in the series for its boss encounters, not just because of the scale of the personalities you’re up against (and yes, we mean that quite literally), but also because of the unique mechanics each battle brings to the table.

With the arrival of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, bringing renewed attention to the classic, it’s the perfect time to revisit what makes each of the original game’s bosses so memorable. We’ll be breaking down what sets them apart and sharing a few thoughts on each one along the way. Expect some spoilers—we’ll keep them as light as possible, but consider this your warning.

9. Volgin

Volgin does a pretty solid Pikachu impression during his boss fight, and while that might sound entertaining in theory, the reality can be a bit frustrating. His ability to electrocute you while dual-wielding guns and taunt you into a fistfight starts off as a fun twist, but it often devolves into running in circles and waiting for brief windows to strike. It’s a cool idea that ends up feeling more like a bit of a slog.

8. Shagohod

While still a cool fight, the Shagohod battle doesn’t quite hit the same high notes as many of the others in the game. The added mechanics from the vehicle you’re in do help keep it feeling fresh, but it lacks the distinct personality that defines most of Snake Eater’s boss encounters. That said, it’s still a lot of fun—especially when the second phase kicks in, with Snake on foot and having to figure out the best way to take down Volgin. It’s a solid fight, just not the most memorable one.

7. The Pain

As the first of the game’s themed supervillain-style bosses, The Pain definitely makes a strong impression. The guy literally coats himself in a swarm of bees and sends them flying after you. While you can dodge a lot of his attacks just by diving into the water – making the fight feel a bit like a reverse game of whack-a-mole – the overall atmosphere is spot on. The whole encounter is weird, intense, and totally on-brand for Snake Eater.

6. Ocelot

Ocelot gets a classic cutscene introduction, twirling his revolvers with the kind of flair that practically begs for an interrupting headshot. Sadly, you can’t cut him off early, but the fight still gives you plenty of chances to exploit his bravado and habit of standing out in the open for too long. It’s got strong Wild West shootout energy, and given how central Ocelot is to the rest of the story, it’s hard not to have a good time with it.

5. The Sorrow

The Sorrow is a strikingly cool concept that’s executed quite well, even if it’s not a particularly challenging fight. You slowly make your way through a waist-high river, haunted by the ghosts of everyone you’ve killed along the way. More of a haunting set piece than a traditional battle, this fight lingers in your memory and delivers a deeply poignant moment in the game.

4. The Fear

This guy’s got a huge tongue and a seriously weird vibe. He’s like the kid in school who wrote poetry about creeping darkness and hissed whenever the lights came on. The fight captures that edgy oddness perfectly, with him leaping into trees and trying to ambush you at every turn. It creates a constant tension that suits his name well, but once you figure out how powerful thermal goggles are, the battle mostly becomes a rinse-and-repeat affair.

3. The Fury

The Fury is the game’s resident fire enthusiast, as tradition demands, and the fight takes place amid a chaotic maze of pillars and long sightlines. Much of the battle revolves around timing your shots from a distance, which works most of the time, until he fully embraces his fury. At that point, he starts flipping around wildly, leaving fiery trails in his wake, and the fight shifts into a much more intense gear. This adds a kind of timer to the battle, cranking up the tension and stress in all the right ways.

2. The End

The End is a magnificent battle that blends survival elements with a tense shootout. Once you take a shot at him, he moves surprisingly fast, and his goal is to drain your stamina with his tranquillizer shots. This forces you to hunt animals during the fight to keep your stamina up. Of course, there’s always the cheeky option of just waiting a week in real time – he’ll eventually die of old age if you’re patient enough.

1. The Boss

The ultimate showdown can only be The Boss. Every moment in the game leads up to this fight, and you have to put everything you’ve learned to use just to survive – because she’s undeniably more skilled than you. Unlike many other battles in the game, here you’re not the hunter; you’re the hunted. It’s incredibly challenging, making it the perfect climax both for the game and for our list.