METAL GEAR – METAL GEAR SURVIVE

You’d think that Konami couldn’t have given the Metal Gear franchise a worse sendoff than it did with the troubled launch of MGS5 and the acrimonious departure of series mastermind Hideo Kojima, but the company decided to follow up on those disasters with another major screwup. That came in the form of Metal Gear Survive, an abomination of a survival game with mindless, repetitive mechanics, uninspired design, and an unimaginable misuse of a beloved IP. Metal Gear Survive isn’t mainline, of course, and as such easily ignorable- which is good, because that’s exactly what you should do with it.

Void Fragments

Wandering through the different Battlefields, you may have noticed structures that can’t be damaged through weapon use. These are called Void Fragments, essential for unlocking the Void Fusion Reactors dotting the landscape. The key to activating these is to have a Descendant of the corresponding element. If you find a Fragment is vulnerable to electricity, then you need to use Bunny, while pillars weak to ice necessitate Viessa.

Use an ability to deal damage, and you’ll initiate a series of enemy waves. Upon defeating a wave, continue to attack the Fragment with your ability and fight through the subsequent waves. Once this is complete, you’ll receive Void Shards. One thing to note is that you can continuously farm the same Void Fragment for Shards, which confers XP and Gold alongside a chance to drop Modules.

Void Fusion Reactors

However, you can’t just gather Shards from any Void Fragment. Depending on the Fusion Reactor, you’ll need specific types of Shards. Check the map for the requirements of the Reactor and then look for corresponding Fragments to get the Shards. It helps to have Descendants of varying elements on standby to farm the different elemental Fragments.

Upon activating a Void Fusion Reactor, you must defeat some bosses, which should be easy enough to handle if you meet the level requirement. Doing so will confer rewards like Reactors, weapons and Modules, with the most powerful – Transcendent Modules – having a one percent drop chance. It’s thus worth farming Void Fusion Reactors for the same, and they also provide Gold, XP and Mastery Level XP. Since Mastery Levels will increase inventory slots and mod capacity, the higher levels are worth grinding out.

However, that’s not all. A Reconstructed Device will also become available after clearing the Void Fusion Reactor. It allows for opening Amorphous Materials – similar to Void Relics from Warframe, they have a chance of providing specific rewards (including materials to research new Descendants). If you’re not a fan of the Void Intercept Missions or want a break from them, then Void Fusion Reactors are an alternative. Just make sure you’re at a point in the game where Amorphous Materials are dropping on the regular to take full advantage of this.

Encrypted Vaults

Something else to watch out for on the Battlefield is an Encrypted Vault. Opening them is essential since they’re required for completing missions and obtaining Negative Ion Particles for crafting. First, ensure you have a Code Analyzer – the Regular version is used to open them in Normal difficulty fields. The Precision version is necessary for Vaults on Hard difficulty fields.

Next, watch out for the little holographic bits on the ground. Initiate a scan, and a sound will play. Follow it and keep scanning until it gets louder and leads you to the Vault. Upon consuming a Code Analyzer, you must complete a timed-button press mini-game. If you fail, the Code Analyzer is consumed, and you’ll need another. The Regular versions are easy enough to procure, dropping from just about any Normal mission, but be careful when using higher rarity Analyzers.

Leveling Resistances

If Path of Exile and many other action RPGs have taught anything, it’s that the resistance stats aren’t to be underestimated. The same goes for The First Descendant, especially if you play a less tanky character like Bunny or Viessa. Equip Modules like Heat Release, Perfect Antivenom, Antifreeze Solution and Insulate Conductor to become immune to their corresponding status effects. Polygenic Antibody will also raise all attribute resistances by +60, so it’s worth equipping. Level them as you progress the story, lest you’re at the mercy of bosses chunking your shields and HP with elemental attacks.

Avoid “Recommended Modules”

This is more of something that you can and should ignore. On the surface, it sounds like a nice quality-of-life feature – why bother modding each weapon, when you can click the Recommended Modules button? As anyone who’s played Warframe will tell you, the game isn’t great at equipping the desired Modules on a weapon or Descendant. Furthermore, as you progress and receive better Modules, there may be specific elemental damage types or builds you want to lean into. Manually equipping and optimizing these will always be preferable in the long run.

Filter as Junk

If there’s one thing The First Descendant gives you a lot of, it’s loot, but there’s a finite amount of inventory space. Since you’ll pick up everything, it’s easy to run out. Fortunately, the Filter as Junk function comes out. Available in your equipment screen for Reactors, weapons and External Components, it allows for segregating loot based on rarity, weapon level and Unique Abilities. You’ll still pick up items meeting the criteria, but the filter will mark them as junk. You can thus open your equipment screen and hold down the button to Dismantle Junk, which clears them out quickly. While there’s still some inventory management required, it cuts down on the busywork significantly.

When to Dismantle (and Not Dismantle) Weapons

Aside from items denoted in the junk filter, you may be tempted to dismantle a weapon simply because you don’t like it. Maybe your build doesn’t benefit from it, or it’s just a weapon type that you never use. Perhaps a better option is available. Either way, try hanging on to and consuming it to level up other weapons instead at the Workbench. You’ll need a Phase Exchanger, crafted from materials obtained by dismantling weapons, with Ultimate Weapons requiring the higher-level Precision Phase Exchanger. The best method is to hang on to the higher-level and rarity loot while marking the less desirable items as junk to dismantle for materials. If you’re unsure whether to dismantle or keep a weapon, especially if it has a good roll, store it – you can adjust it later with an Adjustment Control Axis.

The Access Menu

It’s been said before, but the Access menu is probably the most valuable tool in The First Descendant. From here, you can discover where every item, crafting material, weapon, Amorphous Material, etc. drops from. Even better, selecting Acquisition Info will bring up a list of missions where you can farm said items (if they’re unlocked, of course). It’s incredible, especially since you can track bigger projects like Descendants and their requirements.

Crafting Thunder Cage

Another thing that bears repeating is to craft Thunder Cage. You’ll obtain the materials for researching it while playing through the story, but must go to the Research lab to begin the process. As tempting as it can be to ignore, it’s a worthwhile detour since this can become your first Ultimate Weapon (and it takes four hours of real-time to research, so it’s best to get it out of the way before continuing to play). Its Unique Ability is also ideal for clearing out multiple enemies with electric damage, which is great in horde-like activities.

Level Up Sub Modules

Sub Modules alter your Descendant’s charged melee attack, turning it into something like Shock Punch or Tonfas. As rudimentary as the melee combat can feel, it’s worth leveling up those Sub Modules. They’ll increase your overall mod capacity, which means more space to equip other essential Modules.

REMAKE OR REMASTER?

Even at first glance, it’s clear that Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster isn’t going to be a simple upres, or the sort of remaster you would regularly see. It is, in fact, much closer to a full-blown remake, something that its development team is acknowledging as well, with improvements ranging from visual overhauls to redone controls, among several other things. “Well, actually, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this game a remake considering the work we put into it,” said director Ryosuke Murai during Capcom’s recent presentation on the game.

RE ENGINE

The original Dead Rising was, of course, built on Capcom’s MT Framework engine, but the upcoming Deluxe Remaster won’t stick to the same toolkit. Instead, Capcom is taking this remaster as an opportunity to port the entire game over to the RE Engine. With the remaster, all of Dead Rising’s visuals are being completely overhauled in the new engine, entailing characters, environments, and much more. The gameplay that Capcom has showcased for the remaster has already showed the surprisingly significant visual upgrades that it is making over the original Dead Rising, while the company has offered tidbits on additional enhancements on top of that as well. Speaking of which…

OTHER VISUAL ENHANCEMENTS

Capcom has confirmed that when Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster launches this September, it is going to run at 4K and 60 FPS, while during the game’s recent presentation, art director Satoshi Takamatsu also revealed that the game will also feature real time lighting and shadows, which will allow each area in the game’s setting to take on unique looks and feels based on the time of day. On top of that, players can also expect the remaster’s completely redone graphics to entail improvements to material textures, blood spatter, facial animations, and much more.

UNCHANGED GAMEPLAY CORE

While Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is making more than a few changes to the original experience (more than you would expect from a simple remaster, at the very least), Capcom has also stressed that keeping the original experience intact has been a key goal for the development team. Regardless of all of the technical and visual improvements, gameplay tweaks, quality of life additions, and what have you, the core of the game will remain unchanged. Director Ryosuke Murai said, “If you’ve played the original, rest assured that its core remains unchanged in this Deluxe Remaster. We did our best to respect the direction of the original game. We kept the fundamental gameplay the same, while improving upon the user experience. With this, we believe that both veterans and newcomers alike will be able to enjoy a fresh experience.”

UNCHANGED ANIMATIONS

In addition to the gameplay core being kept intact in the upcoming remaster, Capcom has also ensured to not make too many changes to combat and gameplay animations, hoping to retain the original game’s personality. After all, the hilariously over-the-top and cartoonish gameplay animations of Dead Rising became a big part of its identity, and Capcom is looking to preserve it as best it can. “For character animations, we tried to limit unnecessary changes and use the original data as much as possible, especially during action scenes,” said art director Satoshi Takamatsu. “We could’ve made them more realistic with today’s tools, but we wanted to preserve the unique and comical movements that made the original Dead Rising so special.”

QOL IMPROVEMENTS

In terms of design and content, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is going to be a largely unchanged experience, but it will still make some polishing changes and tweaks to bring the experience up to modern standards and sand out some of its rough edges. Capcom is promising a number of quality of life improvements to that end, including the addition of auto saves, finetuned and improved menus and UI, and more. Another big change will be the ability to move around while you’re aiming a weapon, something that couldn’t be done in the original and should change up the moment-to-moment gameplay in interesting ways. Finally, Capcom says it is also improving NPC behaviour in various ways, though specific details on that front are currently scarce.

FULL VOICE OVERS

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is being touted as the definitive way to play Capcom’s zombie slaying classic for more than a few reasons, whether that’s its enhanced visuals, gameplay tweaks, or what have you. On top of that, in fact, the remaster is also set to feature full voice acting for every single character, something else that the original didn’t boast. Voiceovers will be available in nine different languages, while subtitles will be available in 14. Interestingly enough, it’s also been officially confirmed that Terence J. Rotolo – the voice of Frank West – isn’t coming back to reprise his role in the remaster, though Capcom has yet to reveal who will be replacing him.

PC REQUIREMENTS

If you’re looking to play Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster on PC, you’ll want to make sure that you have more than a halfway decent rig. On minimum settings, requirements aren’t too demanding, with either a GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 580 needed along with either an  i7-6700 or a Ryzen 5 3400G, while on recommended settings, you’ll need either a GeForce GTX 1070Ti or a Radeon RX 5700, along with either an i7-8700 or a Ryzen 5 3600. To play the game at 4K and 60 FPS, however, you’ll need either a GeForce RTX 3080 or a Radeon RX 6900 XT. Meanwhile, regardless of which preset you’re looking at, you’ll also need 16 GB of RAM.

PRICE AND LAUNCH DETAILS

Capcom joined the list of publishers who’ve taken to selling their flagship AAA releases at $70 this console generation with the launch of Dragon’s Dogma 2 earlier this year, but not all releases coming from the company will come with that price tag. Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, being a remaster (even if it’s a surprisingly comprehensive one) isn’t going to be a full priced release. When it launches on September 19, it will be available at a price of $49.99, while a $59.99 deluxe edition will also be offered.

PHYSICAL LAUNCH

When it launches this September, Dead Rising Deluxe Edition is only going to be available digitally on all platforms, but that doesn’t mean Capcom has no plans for a physical version whatsoever. The company has said that the game will get an official physical release in November, with further details set to arrive in the coming months.

15. Alan Wake 2: Night Springs

The surreal creepiness and noir horror of Alan Wake 2 left a lasting impression on us when it launched last year. Night Springs doesn’t look to top it so much as offer a Twilight Zone-esque structure with three standalone episodes. Cut through mobsters as Alan Wake’s number one fan, Rose Marigold; venture through Coffee World as Control’s Jesse Fade; or engage in a meta-breaking narrative with Sheriff Breaker, played by Shawn Ashmore of Quantum Break fame. It’s off the cuff, bizarre and Night Springs at its best.

14. F1 24

Codemasters’ latest iteration of the Formula One racing series raised some alarm bells with its handling and physics changes. If you can stomach or tweak them enough to your liking, there’s a lot to like, from the new Driver Career and its secret negotiations and engineer events to the new Challenge Career. F1 World is also weirdly compelling with its loot-focused gameplay, even if it needs some changes, and there’s no denying the presentation. It’s not the best title in the series but it remains enjoyable.

13. WWE 2K24

While WWE 2K23 coasted on featuring WarGames for the first time, WWE 2K24 offers significantly more. There are Ambulance, Casket, Gauntlet, and Special Guest Referee matches, while Backstage Brawl is enhanced with more weapons and interactions. The new Showcase mode, covering 40 years of Wrestlemania, is competent overall, and others like MyGM and MyUniverse have more significant additions. It also doesn’t hurt that the wrestling feels like the best in years, even with its trademark jankiness.

12. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

Flying under the radar this year is DON’T NOD’s Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, a tale of Red and Antea. After the latter unexpectedly dies, the former must decide whether to resurrect or allow her to ascend. Of course, as a Banisher, there’s also the task of helping settlers in the late 17th century against evil spirits, seamlessly shifting between both characters to unleash firearms, swords and magic. While several aspects could use improvements, Banishers is still an involving tale of love and loss.

11. Stellar Blade

Three years ago, Shift-Up’s Project Eve attracted its fair share of attention with its sleek visuals, combat and sci-fi aesthetic. It didn’t seem possible it could deliver, but in 2024, Stellar Blade stands out for its fast-paced action, gorgeous presentation and surprisingly extensive scale. The narrative of humanity’s near-extinction is rife with twists and turns, but even if you’re a combat aficionado, Stellar Blade will cater to your tastes and then some.

10. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

Even after the acclaim of its predecessor, we honestly didn’t know what to expect with Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. It’s a first-party console exclusive, yet $49.99, digital-only and takes roughly six hours to complete. While there’s plenty to ponder, one can’t deny that Senua’s latest journey into the darkness, combining mythology with psychosis, is just a spectacle. Very few titles can match its visual fidelity, and even if there are areas it could improve on, Hellblade 2 is an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish.

9. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

While The Rogue still needs time to cook, Sargon and his quest in The Lost Crown is piping hot with its sleek combat and abundant secrets. Some traversal aspects could be fine-tuned, but the sense of exploration and uncovering a whole new section of the map is great.

8. Tekken 8

It’s almost incredible that six years passed between new Tekken titles. Given the various ways Tekken 7 fumbled, Tekken 8 had its task cut out and delivered on nearly every front. The latest story mode is as baffling and bizarre as epic and involving. The Heat system lends to some great new strategies and tense moments, while the new characters – Reina, Azucena and Victor – fit in naturally with the classic cast. You could argue that Arcade Quest is disposable, but in terms of the complete package, Tekken 8 stakes its claim as one of the best fighting games in years.

7. Hades 2

It says something when Hades 2 is already one of the best games of this year despite still being in early access. The sheer scale of the current product, the art style and incredible soundtrack, and the story-telling and characterization, combined with the fluid combat and range of builds courtesy of the Boons, make for a rogue-lite experience that leaves the original behind. We’re keen to see how it evolves further over the coming months, but Hades 2 is still one of this year’s must-play titles.

6. Helldivers 2

Few games with online issues that persist for weeks after launch could inspire such frenzy as Helldivers 2. Very few have bucked the ever-prevalent notion of “live service bad” like Helldivers 2. Almost none inspired as extensive a wave of backlash as the mandatory PSN-linking like Helldivers 2. It’s because, at its core, Helldivers 2 is a great game – an engaging co-op experience, an incredible work of satire. It’s also one of the few live service titles where it feels like the story is evolving, motivated by player efforts, however small.

5. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

When RGG Studio tells you that a new entry in the Like a Dragon series is the longest, you know it’s an experience unlike any other. Whether it’s the ever-enjoyable side stories, the many improvements to combat, the sheer size of Hawaii City, the randomized dungeons or the sheer depth of activities like Dondoko Island and Sujimon, Infinite Wealth has a dizzying amount of content. Of course, it’s backed by a great narrative carried by its incredible cast while serving as an emotional journey for beloved protagonist Kazuma Kiryu.

4. Destiny 2: The Final Shape

The narrative of The Final Shape, the conclusion to the Light and Darkness saga in Destiny, mirroring Bungie’s struggle to deliver on expectations, isn’t lost on fans. Nevertheless, the expansion pulled out all the stops for some of the best story-telling in the series. The gunplay remained as excellent as always, with excellent new weapons, and Prismatic busting the door open on the Guardian power fantasy. Top-to-bottom, from the patrol space and activities to the raid, The Final Shape represents the very best of Destiny 2 while offering some hope for the future.

3. Dragon’s Dogma 2

The emergent gameplay of Dragon’s Dogma 2 isn’t for everyone, but the world design and its emphasis on going out and experiencing it first-hand can get addictive. You never know what lies around each corner, and all those moments – from your Pawn saving you from a fatal fall or the Sphinx’s riddles – make the experience all the more memorable. Combat also leverages those emergent systems while still feeling tight and providing an extensive range of choices. For all its quirks, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a truly unique action RPG experience.

2. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

What can be said about Elden Ring’s first (and only) expansion that hasn’t been said already? The overwhelming challenge of the Realm of Shadow and its awe-inspiring bosses? The new weapons and their crazy movesets, or the extensive verticality of the world design and exploration? All the secrets dotting the landscape, from an innocuous manor of madness to a world-ending threat on the peak? Shadow of the Erdtree builds on everything that makes the base game great while upping the intensity and build-crafting variety in what may as well be an entirely new game. It’s mind-boggling, frustrating, strangely beautiful, and we can’t get enough.

1. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

There is no shortage of massive role-playing games this year and while Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth matches up well, it offers something more. The nostalgia, the feeling of experiencing these previously 32-bit locations and events in gorgeous cutting-edge visuals – it didn’t seem like the developer could once again mimic those feelings that Final Fantasy 7 Remake gave us. Yet, here we are. It’s far superior in terms of side quests and combat, while the sheer scale of the world is breathtaking to behold. The year isn’t over, but as of now, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is as good as it gets.

The Cosmic Horror Element Presents a Unique Twist on the Post-Apocalyptic Survival Genre

Post-apocalyptic games have seen a storm of popularity over the decades, but I don’t remember seeing one with full-on cosmic horror like Once Human exhibits. The world of Once Human is tainted with an alien plague called Stardust. This extra-dimensional Stardust puts a twist on all the familiar survival post-apocalyptic survival beats. Harvesting materials requires more caution since Stardust-affected materials drain your Sanity level. Instead of traditional zombies, the basic enemies are thralls infected by Stardust, not to mention the cultists who worship the outer gods. It’s refreshing to see a new take on the tried and true post-apocalyptic survival genre.

Crazy Unique ‘Deviant’ Bosses and Deviation Companions

Every single boss design they’ve shown so far has looked striking and unique in some way. The horrific Arachsiam Deviant is pure nightmare fuel; a giant black widow with an open ribcage lined with black spikes and one scary-looking skull. Some Deviants aren’t so menacing. The Wanderer is a giant bus that takes players across vast swaths of land, with a catch. And then there’s the 40 or so Deviations, which are companion monsters you capture after defeating their bigger Deviant siblings. Think of Deviations as mounts and animal companions, though some can aid you in battle and farm resources for you as well. Not all the monstrosities are hostile in Once Human, but they all exhibit unique design.

The Most Unique Bus Mechanic Seen in a Survival Game Yet

We’ve all heard of the cat bus in fiction, but a bus of extra-dimensional origin is something I never could have seen coming. The Wanderer is a Deviant who merged with a bus, serving as a mode of transit for players across the Nalcott continent. The fun part is that this Deviant bus is often occupied by fellow players looking for a ride and infected monsters alike, making it a hot locale for mingling, foraging, and fighting. It’s rather nice that not every Deviant is hostile as it makes for surprising encounters and varied up gameplay, and this Deviant bus is a great example of just that.

Every Gameplay Element Is Tied to the ‘Stardust’ Plot Thread

Stardust affects what you drink, the various forms of infected wildlife, and even your own powers as a Meta-Human. Drinking infected water and food depletes your sanity meter, which in turn marginally cuts your max HP. And of course, a majority of foes you’ll fight against are manifestations of Stardust, or outer gods themselves in the case of several Deviants. It seems like every single aspect of Once Human’s story and gameplay is directly influenced by Stardust, making for a holistic integration of systems and setting.

Has a Main Story Campaign That You Can Tackle at Your Own Pace

Once Human isn’t just a multiplayer experience; there’s a fleshed-out single-player story campaign and side missions on top of that. The core of the campaign revolves around helping the Mayfly faction mitigate the harm that the evil tech giant, Rosetta, has been spreading with its experimentation on Stardust. We don’t know how long or involved the campaign is at the moment, but with lots of side missions and lore details nestled everywhere in the game, it’s clear that the campaign story has a lot of thought put behind it, plus it’s entirely optional.

Gun-Based Gameplay Featuring Seven Categories of Guns and Over 100 Blueprints

Guns are your main form of combat in Once Human. The seven weapon types each serve particular roles in battle. From the long-range support of the sniper to the area of effect spread of an SMG, guns are basically classes in Once Human. You find gun blueprints through exploration, vendors, and combat rewards and upgrade them through five tier levels using materials. The upgrades seem to be your usual rate of fire, critical rate, and accuracy parameters. The seven weapon types are: Assault Rifle, Light Machine Gun, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Submachine Gun, Crossbow, Heavy Weapon, and Melee Weapons. It’s intriguing that a melee weapon is listed here, since they rarely mention its existence in previews. We could be getting some expanded melee options in future updates, so we’ll have to wait and see how the melee in Once Human evolves.

Robust Base Building

One of the core tenets of any survival game is crafting structures, something Once Human is no slouch in. There’s very little restriction on how large you want to go when building a house. For example, you can build a common home base for other players to lounge and call home. These bases can be many stories tall and include things like basements and gardens. Best of all, you can relocate your buildings to different locations using the blueprint relocation feature. Of course, building stuff requires lots of resources, so you need to save up plenty of materials like wood and metal. On the plus side, the game respects your time and gives upwards of 200 wood logs per tree.

Factions With Different Motives

There are six factions that we currently know about so far, and each has their own individual allegiances and goals. According to the Once Human wiki, which is written by the devs, each faction calls a different region of the map home. So, if you never go to the snowy Arkam region in the north, you may never encounter The Column. The Steam page description has me especially intrigued when it states: “Explore human settlements to learn their stories or exterminate bosses without leaving a name for survivors to praise, the choices are yours.” Time will tell if killing certain bosses releases a group of crazy cultists after you, or this is just PR hype, but the dynamic choices sound promising nonetheless.

Intriguing 50-Player PvP Mode Called ‘Stronghold Contest’

Stronghold Contest is clearly poised to be Once Human’s long-term PvP mode. Players compete for resources by claiming territories and then expanding them together with up to 50 other players. You can then attack other territories and defend your own, eventually enacting territory wars. All these activities are done in large groups called Hives, which have their own rank and seasonal progression. It’s worth pointing out that you can opt to quietly build on territories without being raided by others, since territory wars are exclusive to the Stronghold Contest PvP mode.

Has Co-Op Raid Dungeons and Zone Bosses

Once Human has a typical PvE raid structure. You team up with other players (no specified amount at the moment) to traverse the dungeon and then fight the large boss at the end. The dev team has stated that dungeons have puzzle elements and provide story details that further flesh out the world. Bosses are called ‘Big Ones’ here, so expect plenty of abominations similar to the Deviants.

Very Heavy on Status Micromanagement

For those who get stressed at the sight of status meters, this game might not be for you. Once Human features five persistent status meters that you must track at all times in order to survive. For instance, water infected by Stardust will deplete your sanity and cap your overall health, though you may opt to drink it due to your high hunger and thirst. We’ll have to wait and see how balanced the management of these meters are on release. It would be ideal if all five statuses could be individually adjusted based on frequency and intensity, but maybe they have a difficulty setting that does that stuff automatically.

Large World Map With a Size of 16 by 16 Kilometers

10 real-life miles is no joke. This large size is needed to fit all the housing creations that players will inevitably make. The map is divided across four districts, each with distinct biomes. What’s even crazier is the devs stating that each server can house up to 5,000 players, divided between six different instances of the map.

Each District on the Island Features a Unique Environmental Biome

Once Human takes place on the island of Nalcott. Nalcott is divided between the Blackfell desert in the east, the snowy Arkam mountain range to the north, the Great Plains in the west, and the Stardust epicenter at the island’s center, City Center. The heavily invected City Center can only be accessed after completing certain preliminary tasks, making it suitable for endgame content.

Can Modify and Craft Vehicles to Traverse the Large Map Alone or With Friends

The variety of terrain spread across the map of Once Human allows the use of various vehicle types. Motorbikes are ideal for the challenging vertical terrain of mountain passes, and the western plains are no match for your camper RV. Yep, that’s right, instead of a stationary house, you can opt to build an RV for your mobile home unit. I’m excited to learn what other interesting vehicles exist in the game, and if future updates allow you to craft your own wild creations from sports car replicas to airships.

Closed Beta Tests Have Had Positive Responses

Finally, Once Human has received positive impressions from players who took part in their closed beta tests. Just look up any preview or thread about Once Human and you’ll see that 90% of the discourse is very optimistic. I was surprised when I researched this game and found little to no threads complaining about game-breaking bugs or horrible issues plaguing the beta versions of the game.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

EUPORIA TWINBLADE

One of several new hidden Legendary weapons scattered throughout the DLC, the Euporia twinblade can be found in Belurat Tower Settlement, and though getting to it takes some work, it’s worth seeking out. Particularly of note is its weapon skill, Euporia Vortex, which allows you to violently twirl the blade in a circle in front of you to deal heavy damage to foes. A charging mechanic also lets you shoot out bolts with the weapon skill.

SMITHSCRIPT GREATHAMMER

Found in Taylew’s Ruined Forge in the Scadu Altus region, the Smithscript Greathammer is a salivating prospect for anyone who prefers melee builds. Unlike most other melee weapons in the game, this greathammer can be thrown at enemies as a heavy attack, which gives it some decent ranged capabilities. Beyond that, it also has an incredibly useful weapon skill in Endure, which significantly boosts your poise when assuming a stance, making it particularly useful for withstanding heavyhitting attacks from larger foes.

BLACK STEEL TWINBLADE

The Black Steel Twinblade may not boast the sort of high-flying weapon skills that some other weapons in this feature do, but it’s still an incredibly useful weapon to have, thanks to a solid set of stats and plenty of upgrade potential with smithing stones. Its weapon skill, Spinning Slash, is an effective move that can deal damage to multiple foes, while a potential follow-up attack can make the skill that much more effective. You can find it on the Black Knight in the camp in front of Shadow Keep.

DRAGON-HUNTER’S GREAT KATANA

Shadow of the Erdtree has plenty of new dragon foes and bosses to take on, and if those are fights that you have in your crosshairs, this is a weapon you’ll want. The Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana, which can be nabbed off the Ancient Dragon-Man in the Dragon’s Pit, is extra effective against dragons, thanks not only to the weapon skill Dragonwound Slash, but also the fact that even the base damage it doles out against dragons is notably higher than most other weapons.

RELLANA’S TWINBLADE

Obtained in exchange of the Remembrance of the Twin Moon Knight, Rellana’s Twinblade is one of the best weapons you will find in the game. That, of course, means defeating one of the expansion’s hardest bosses in Rellana, but the reward is well worth it, because of the devastating stats that her weapon possesses. The weapon can also be dual-wielded, while its weapon skill, Moon-and-Fire Stance, imbues it with elemental magic.

SWORD OF NIGHT

Not to be confused with the base game’s Sword of Night and Flame, the Sword of Night is a new katana that can be obtained from Jolan after completing the Count Ymir questline. Again, that means taking on one of the game’s most grueling bosses in Metyr, Mother of Fingers, but the Sword of Night is a deadly weapon to have. Most notable of its attributes is the Witching Hour Slash weapon skill, which imbues the blade with the dark of night before you unleash a vicious slash that cannot be blocked.

SPIRIT SWORD

Found in the Cerulean Coast area on the remains of a demi-human corpse is a solid weapon to have in your arsenal for a number of reasons, but as you would expect, it’s its weapon skill that makes it stand out. True to the weapon’s name, its skill, Rancor, summons vengeful spirits that then chase your foes around the battle while dealing constant damage. Rancor also allows for a follow-up attack, which makes it yet more useful.

SMITHSCRIPT CIRQUE

Found in the Ruined Forge of Starfall Past in the Scadu Altus region, this new Blackhand Blade is your go-to weapon if you want to be a classic rogue. It allows dual wielding and lets you move about the battlefield with relative dexterity in order to deal faster attacks. It can also be thrown with a heavy attack, while the Blind Spot skill lets you quickly swipe to an enemy’s side and attack them in their flank before they can catch on.

SWIFT SPEAR

Swift Spear If you’re melee-focused, the Swift Spear is one of the best, easy-to-obtain early weapons. Located southeast of the Castle Front Site of Grace, it scales off Dexterity and provides some decent range. Its weapon skill is Impaling Thrust, perhaps one of the most underrated weapon skills in the game. It deals good damage, excellent poise damage (which is especially useful against many of the DLC’s bosses) and costs very little FP.

DEATHKNIGHT’S LONGHAFT AXE

Acquired by defeating the Death Knight in the Scorpion River Catacombs, this new greataxe weapon is every bit as formidable as its form suggests. On top of even regular attacks being capable of dealing heavy damage in the hands of the right melee build, it boasts an excellent weapon skill in the form of Blinkbolt: Long-hafted Axe, which quite literally transforms you into a bolt of lightning that charges at foes.

ANCIENT METEORIC ORE GREATSWORD

The Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword is one of the toughest weapons to find in the entirety of Shadow of the Erdtree, but it’s also worth the effort. Found at the Ruined Forge of Starfall Past in Scadu Altus (though it’s way easier said than done), it’s a Colossal Sword that lives up to that description. It also boasts a weapon skill that is excellent for quickly closing on distant enemies while also dealing some damage.

CLAWS OF NIGHT

Obtained by defeating the invading Swordhand of Night Anna in the Finger Ruins during Ymir’s questline, the Claws of Night are Dexterity-scaling and can deal Bleed damage. While fairly potent, the weapon skill, Scattershot Throw, is exceptional. It throws out a spread of knives, which can hit multiple enemies and also shotgun damage on certain bosses if you’re close enough.

STAR-LINED KATANA

If you are going through Shadow of the Erdtree with a Dexterity focused build, the Star-Lined Katana is a weapon that you’re almost definitely going to want to spec your character around sooner rather than later. Dropped by Demi-Human Queen Marigga in Charo’s Hidden Grave, this weapon is great for unleashing deadly strings of combos (assuming you have the stamina to do that, of course). Its weapon skill, Onze’s Line of Stars, sees you dealing a string of heavy slashes enhanced with sorcerous energy.

REPEATING CROSSBOW

For ranged builds, the Repeating Crossbow is a great weapon to have in your arsenal. You can find it on a corpse in a camp close to the Moorth Highway, and we recommend seeking it out, because of how useful it is for picking out enemies from a distance. Its skill also lets you shoot out a flurry of quick ranged shots, which can be particularly effective against larger, more aggressive foes that you want to keep some distance from.

RAKSHASA’S GREAT KATANA

You’ll have to defeat Rakshasa in Eastern Nameless Mausoleum to get your hands on this weapon, and that’s not necessarily an easy fight, but if you’re the kind of player that can deal well with risk/reward mechanics, this is quite a useful weapon. With Rakshasa’s Great Katana equipped, you’ll become significantly less prone to being staggered by counterattacks, but at the same time, you will also start taking more damage. As long as you can avoid getting hit, however, this is quite a useful weapon.

Create A Team Mode Makes Its Debut

By far the most requested feature in the F1 Manager series has been the ability to create your own team from the ground up. F1 Manager 2024 finally brings the Create A Team mode, complete with suit customization, custom origin story, and full-range team recruitment from F2 and F3. The livery editor is a much-anticipated feature the series has lacked, so its introduction in the create-a-team mode is a double win for fans.

New Mentality System Adds More Depth to Management

One of the big criticisms thrown at F1 Manager is its shallow management features compared to similar games like the Football Manager series. Well, F1 Manager 2024 aims to remedy that a bit with the new Mentality system. Mentality tracks the motivational status of individual drivers and staff, giving you control over how to increase team morale. For example, favoring certain racers at the expense of others will result in disillusionment, but may result in a win if the star racer you focused so much on wins it all on the weekend. Micromanaging the morale of the team seems like a cool way to add more agency to your managerial duties.

Mechanical Failure System Introduced for the First Time

It’s hard to believe that a Formula 1 sim such as F1 Manager never had vehicle breakdowns before, but it’s true. The 2024 iteration of F1 Manager introduces mechanical failures for the very first time. Races previously tended to get predictable in past games, so mechanical failures will throw a nice wrench in the flow. We’ll see how fun this new sim element is in practice and whether or not the AI will be frustrating with the frequency of mechanical breakdowns; it’d be really nice if there is a way to tune breakdown frequency yourself, but maybe it’ll be decided via difficulty options.

New Dynamic Overhead Helicam

Didn’t like the restricted cameras from past F1 Manager games? Well, F1 Manager 2024 finally offers another viewing option. A new birdseye overhead Helicam allows wide panning angles that follow large swaths of the race track to better see the playing field. While the far zoomed-out map with little dots representing race cars was nice for strategic planning in past games, having a dedicated helicam actually showing the car detail with a beautiful overhead view is very needed. Many players didn’t like how the default race cam shifted between cockpit and overhead sporadically in previous games, so this new camera is a welcome addition.

Base Game Price Is Half That of New Triple-A Games

F1 Manager 2024 releases at a modest price point of £29.99 / $34.99 / €34.99. Frontier Developments publishes and develops these games at a much lower operating cost than triple-A companies like EA. One of the reasons F1 Manager isn’t as feature-rich and graphically intensive as Football Manager is because it’s made by a smaller team and because they crank these games out yearly. Still, with all the new features added onto this year’s edition of F1 Manager, the price being half as much as a majority of new game releases is a win-win.

Uses The Official Drivers and Circuits From the Real Life 2024 Season

Despite its smaller studio size, Frontier Developments has the license to the official F1 FIA Formula One World Championship, the FIA Formula 2 Championship, and the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Like other licensed sports games, F1 Manager includes a complete real-life roster of competitors that you’ll get to race with and compete against. In addition to the drivers, every race track from the official 2024 F1 season is included here, built with track marbling and real-world scans.

F1 Games Are Yearly Releases, so Don’t Expect A Complete Overhaul

As previously mentioned, the F1 Manager series gets a new entry every year. Past F1 Manager games received a small scattering of new updates and even fewer modes, but this year’s iteration looks to be the most jam-packed entry so far. Still, even with the anticipated create-a-team this time around, don’t expect a completely new game from last year; F1 Manager 2024 uses the same engine and provides a very similar experience to F1 Manager 2023, albeit with roster updates and more new stuff than previous years.

Still No Media Management Like Interviews and Press Conferences

One of the missing features that I’d like to see implemented next year is managing the media side of the sport. The game would feel so much more feature-rich if it had press conferences before race day where your answers affected public opinion, further influencing team motivation and morale. My favorite aspect of a lot of sport games’ career modes has typically been managing public relations and finding ways to hype up the fans of the team, but this media/PR element is still missing in this year’s iteration of F1 Manager.

Can Add F2 and F3 Drivers to Your Created Team To Form a True Underdog

What’s really cool about creating your own team in F1 Manager 2024 is the ability to build a true underdog team using F2 and F3 drivers. Past games had F2 and F3 talent for recruiting, sure, but you still had to use the pre-established F1 team drivers as the baseline. Similar to using an old beater car and upgrading it to win against more powerful cars in car-PGs of old like Need for Speed Underground, you can now create a team using F2/F3 underdog talent and build them up over time to beat the Verstappens of the world.

Research and Design Should Appeal to Fans of the Broader Sim Management Genre

One of the engaging aspects of F1 Manager is deciding if you want to research next-gen car parts for next season, or implement small stat upgrades for the current season with design. You only have a set amount of budget and time to allocate to these, so it provides a fun strategic layer. Civilization players will find themselves right at home with this strategic allocation of research and design. If you like management sims in general, F1 Manager might scratch that itch.

Cannot Control Races Themselves

This one comes as no surprise to most gamers familiar with management sims, but for newcomers to the genre, no you can’t actually control the cars during races. Your occupation will instead be dictating how aggressive or conservative your team’s driving style is as they race. The new helicam and mechanical failure system will help races feel more active as you micromanage your team to victory from the director’s chair.

Can Finally Simulate Races To See Results Quickly

Want to focus on pre and post-race management exclusively? Well, skipping multiple races in a batch still isn’t an option, but you can now simulate a race weekend for the first time in F1 Manager 2024. Previous years of the series could only simulate practice and qualifying races, so this is yet another new addition to this year’s game that fans are happy to see. We have yet to see just how balanced the computer is when a player isn’t directing things during a race, but with the new layers of management added this year, you may want to oversee the races yourself anyway.

Finally Have Livery Customization for Cars and Suits

Create A Team mode brings the much-requested livery editor for the first time in the series. For those not aware, liveries are basically the arrangement of car decals and logos on the car. The range of user-generated liveries they’ve shown so far looks really nice, and I like how vibrant the color combinations look here. In addition to custom designs for your car and suit, there are over 50 fictional sponsor logos to decorate with. These fictional sponsors aren’t just for show though, since they tie into a brand new sponsorship feature that has objectives and rewards for each sponsor you take.

Improved AI Drivers

Previous F1 Manager games were occasionally plagued by AI drivers blocking the line and behaving sporadically during races. The AI was hit or miss with previous entries, which is not something you want in a race you cannot control yourself. Thankfully, F1 Manager 2024 boasts improved driver AI resulting in more balanced and realistic behavior. We have yet to really see just how good the AI has gotten, but it’s obvious based on player feedback that they fixed some of the more obvious issues with previous entries.

Over 30,000 New Radio Comms Providing Lots of Team Banter and Unique Dialogue

Radio comm banter has always been one of the most beloved aspects of F1 Manager, with a reported 40,000 lines of banter being featured in last year’s title. In total, it’s looking like F1 Manager 2024 will have a whopping 70,000 broadcast radio comms to look forward to. If you only play with a single team and use the same drivers and engineers, it’s likely you’ll just hear a fraction of that, but it’s still quite impressive. And yes, we’re sure some of these will just be variations of Lewis Hamilton complaining about the car being slow.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Before we get started, do keep in mind that for the purposes of this list, we’re only considering games that are natively available on PS5, so past PlayStation games that are only playable on PS5 via backward compatibility won’t be included here. With that out of the way, let’s dive right in.

#15. DEMON’S SOULS

Let’s start off with something that’s fairly difficult in its own right, but isn’t what you would call a nightmare by any stretch of the imagination. Bluepoint Games’ Demon’s Souls remake is a challenging game by virtue of being a faithful recreation of what was a pretty difficult game back when it first launched in 2009, but if you’re coming into the remake with prior experience of Soulslikes, it’s unlikely to pose too much of a challenge. Still, there’s some tricky Trophies in this list that might cause some issues.

#14. RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE

Resident Evil games generally tend to be pretty tricky Platinums, given just how much you need to do to unlock every single Trophy they have, but Village is particularly difficult. You need at least three playthroughs, you need to beat the game on the notoriously difficult Village of Shadows difficulty, you need to nab a number of skill-dependent Mercenaries Trophies, all of which is no cakewalk. Thankfully, activating cheats doesn’t disable Trophies, so there’s that.

#13. SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a surprisingly difficult Platinum. This 3D platformer’s cutesy aesthetic and buckets of whimsical charm may make you think that it’s an entirely breezy and easygoing experience, and while that’s surely an accurate description for the overwhelming majority of the critical path content, a fair bit of the side content in this game does ratchet up the difficulty quite a bit, and you need to engage with plenty of it to get the Platinum. One Trophy in particular, String it Together, requires you to complete every time trial without dying, which is the sort of thing that can make you want to pull your hair out.

#12. THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT

Unlike the majority of the other games mentioned here, The Witcher 3 earns its place not on the back of any significant challenge that it poses, but purely because of just how much of a time investment it demands. Sure, admittedly, having to finish the game on Death March difficulty is by no means an easy task, but what’s even more intimidating is having to pour in the 150 hours it’s very likely going to take if you do decide to go for the Platinum.

#11. LIKE A DRAGON: ISHIN!

Like a Dragon: Ishin! unfortunately falls in the category of Platinums that are notorious for how grindy they are- because boy oh boy are you going to have to do a lot of grinding for this Platinum. Earning ridiculous amounts of money, engaging with a startling variety of side quests and minigames, having to craft literally every single item in the game, hunting down difficulty-related Trophies, hitting level cap- the list of things that you need to do to get the Platinum in Ishin is frankly absurd.

#10. HI-FI RUSH

Given Hi-Fi Rush’s peppy, zesty, colourful attitude, you wouldn’t think that it would have an especially difficult Trophy list, but make no mistake- this is a character action game, and it has the Trophy list to prove it. Hi-Fi Rush gets pretty demanding with its Platinum Trophy, and among the many things it requires you to do, trickiest among them is having to get S rank in every single stage on every single difficulty. And yes, it’s as difficult as it sounds.

#9. BACK 4 BLOOD

Back 4 Blood was one of the most surprisingly difficult games of its year when it launched in 2021, so it’s only appropriate that it also had a particularly grueling Platinum- so difficult, in fact, that it needs upwards of a hundred hours at least. You need to finish the game on Nightmare difficulty, which is no easy task (especially if you’re playing solo), while there are also some pretty grindy Trophies to hunt down, chief among them being one that needs you to get your total zombie kill count to over 53,000, which can take hours and hours and hours.

#8. RETURNAL

Returnal is definitely not a complicated Trophy list, in that, on paper, all of its Trophies have fairly straightforward requirements. What makes it such a difficult Platinum is, of course, the fact that it’s just a straight-up nightmarishly difficult game (in the best possible way). Returnal is no cakewalk even if you’re just trying to get through the story, but if you’re hunting down the Platinum, it becomes that much more of a daunting prospect.

#7. BALDUR’S GATE 3

If you’re looking for a timesink, look no further than the Baldur’s Gate 3 Platinum. Larian Studios’ modern RPG masterpiece is an absolute behemoth in and of itself, but when you add in needing to hunt down every Trophy, you make it that much more of a time investment. There’s dozens of missable Trophies, there are multiple playthroughs required, and you even need to finish the game on the hardest difficulty, all of which adds up to make for a pretty darn difficult Platinum to attain.

#6. WANTED: DEAD

Wanted: Dead was criticized for being more than a little rough around the edges (among other things), and its Trophy list frankly resembles that, with a handful of Trophies that are downright unreasonable in their demands. In addition to nabbing all the difficulty related Trophies (which is no walk in the park in and of itself), Wanted: Dead’s Platinum also demands mastery in a number of its optional minigames, several of which are frustrating to play, and even more frustrating to try and get good at.

#5. TETRIS EFFECT CONNECTED

This is one of the best puzzle games you’ll ever play, so playing it for an unreasonable amount of hours isn’t a total lost cause- which is a good thing, because the Tetris Effect Connected Platinum will need you to clock in well over 100 hours. From getting SS rank in ach Journey Mode level to having to hit level 100 to having to rotate a total of a million Tetriminos, Tetris Effect Connected’s Trophy list really puts you through the wringer.

#4. ALIENS FIRETEAM ELITE

Aliens Fireteam Elite earns a place on this list based purely on how unfair it is. Its Trophy list features Trophies for finishing the game on each of its four difficulty levels, but where any regular game would let you stack Trophies, Aliens Fireteam Elite doesn’t let you do that. Instead of finishing the game on the hardest difficulty and getting Trophies for all modes, you need to finish the game separately on each difficulty. Its higher difficulties are also no cakewalk, especially if you’re playing solo, which makes it that much more of a headache.

#3. ELDEN RING

You knew this one was going to be here. FromSoftware prides itself on challenging players with some of the most difficult content they will find in any game, and it did so in spades with Elden Ring. The 2022 open world action RPG has a predictably meaty and demanding Trophy list, and from several Trophies being missable to needing to get all endings to, of course, having to defeat a number of grueling bosses, Elden Ring’s Platinum Trophy requires quite a bit of time and patience.

#2. THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE

Do you have literally multiple hundreds of hours to spare? Because that’s exactly what it takes to get the Platinum in The Elder Scrolls Online. This is, of course, an MMORPG, so that kind of time investment sort of comes with the territory, but even so, this is a notoriously grindy Trophy list. Though none of the content on offer here is notably challenging, there’s just a ridiculous amount to do, and you have to do all of it (at least to some degree) to get the Platinum. It’s hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours, an there’s just no getting around it.

#1. CRASH BANDICOOT 4: IT’S ABOUT TIME

Without a shadow of doubt, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is the most difficult Platinum Trophy on PS5, even though the fact that so much of it is entirely skill-dependent makes its difficulty a bit subjective. The platformer is infamous for its many nightmarish gauntlets and challenges, especially with some of is late-game optional challenges, from getting all N.Sanely Perfect Relics to nabbing all Flashback Tapes. You’ll need both endless patience and skill if you want to get your hands on the Crash 4 Platinum.

Setting

Zenless Zone Zero takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where strange beings known as Ethereals have wiped out most of humanity. The survivors have holed up in New Eridu, utilizing the Ethereals’ technology while also harnessing the mysterious Hollows to fight back. As Belle or Wise, players take on the role of Proxy and seek to guide Agents through the Hollows to complete missions.

Agents

The Agents in question hail from different factions, each with different goals and backstories. Victoria Housekeeping takes on various requests and is skilled at retrieving items, “cleaning” up bad guys and getting the job done under any circumstance. Belobog Heavy Industries is a construction company working in areas affected by Hollows, with Koleda Belobog as the president (after her father went missing). Section 6 is a division of H.A.N.D. and is led by Hoshimi Miyabi, which is all about tackling Hollow-related missions.

The Criminal Investigation Special Response Team is part of New Eridu’s Public Security and maintains order in the city. Finally, there’s Gentle House, aka the Cunning Hares, founded by Nicole Demara, who are smaller in scale but also take on Hollow-related jobs. Not much is known about the OBOLS Squad or the emotionless Soldier 11, but it’s one more mystery to unravel.

Gameplay Loop

The general gameplay loop will be familiar to those who played Honkai Impact 3rd. At its core, Zenless Zone Zero is a hack-and-slash action title where you select a team of three characters. Though only one is playable at any given time, you can freely swap to the others. There’s a story mode, with the chapter offering different maps and commissions to complete and additional activities to level up and improve your characters.

Bangboo

A new part of the formula is the Bangboo. Assigned as helpers in New Eridu, they complete and specialize in various tasks. In combat, they serve as the fourth member of your party – they can unleash skills automatically, activate a passive effect under certain conditions and even provide another chain attack periodically. Bangboos are also notable because you can pull them with Coup-Ens earned only from in-game activities and not real money.

Fighting Styles

However, your core team composition will ultimately carry you through the story and other content. Each Agent has a unique Fighting Style, similar to the Paths from Honkai: Star Rail. Some are attackers who are all about piling on damage, while defenders can counterattack and soak up damage. Supports will buff party members; Stuns can crowd-control foes; and Anomaly Agents are all about building up Anomalies – more on that later.

Elements

Of course, it wouldn’t be a HoYoverse game without elements and enemy types that are vulnerable to the same. Zenless has five elements – Fire, Ether, Physical, Electric and Ice. Thus far, it’s known that Mutant enemies are weak to Ice, while Electric attacks are effective against Machine enemies. Meanwhile, Fire is good against Organic and Corrupted foes.

Anomalies

Depending on the element and whether the Agent specializes in Anomaly Mastery, you can build up certain Anomalies on enemies. Think of them as status effects – dish out enough Physical damage, and you can afflict either Assault – which interrupts an enemy – or Armor Break – which reduces Physical damage resistance for a period. Fire damage will trigger Burn, dealing continuous damage over time. If you exploit an enemy’s weakness to a specific element, they’ll be unable to move while debuffed by an Anomaly.

Combat Basics

Each character has a Basic Attack and Special Attack, though you can hold down the former to execute an alternate charged attack, which varies between Agents. Attacking enemies will build up Energy, and you can also dodge attacks. Dodge perfectly, and you can attack afterwards with a Dodge Counter. As noted earlier, you can switch between characters at any point. It’s deceptively easy to get into, but there’s plenty of nuance.

Chain Attacks, Ultimates, Assist Attacks and Perfect Assists

Each character has an Ultimate ability built up with Dodge Counters, Chain Attacks and more. The resource is shared between the whole party, so you can’t trigger an Ultimate with one character, and then switch to the next for another. Chain Attacks trigger after hitting a Stunned enemy with a Special Attack – you’ll see an indicator to switch to another party member, who will jump in and perform a powerful attack. They can then hit the Stunned enemy and trigger another Chain Attack. You also have Assist Attacks, available if you’re hit and capable of dishing out some damage to provide a breather.

Then there’s the Perfect Assist, where switching to another party member before an attack connects will activate a unique Assist (depending on the Agent). For example, Nicole can perform a Defensive Assist to parry an attack and build up Daze on an enemy. Perfect Assists depend on the number of Assist Points available, which are recovered by performing Chain Attacks.

Daze, Energy and EX Skill Variants

Enemies accumulate Daze as they take damage. Once it hits 100 percent, they’ll be Stunned and vulnerable to Chain Attacks. As you build up Energy from attacks, you can use it for EX Skill Variants – stronger versions of Special Attacks which deal exceptional damage. It’s thus important to know when to unleash them and against which enemies.

Disk Drives

Disk Drives are your de facto gear, which affects an Agent’s stats. You can equip up to six at a time on an Agent, and if they’re part of a set, then equipping a certain number from the same will provide set bonuses. These range from increased attack and energy regen to increasing critical hit chance against a Burning enemy by 28 percent or dealing 30 percent more damage to enemies when their HP is 50 percent or higher.

W-Engines

Similarly, you have W-Engines, your weapons and the Light Cones of the game providing unique, potentially game-changing passives. Each is coded to a specific Fighting Style, and only one can be equipped by an Agent. Also, like Disk Drives, they add stats to your character and can be refined further to increase the potency of their effects.

Additional Activities

Outside of the story, a large portion of the end-game in Zenless Zone Zero will go towards farming stages for XP, currency and materials to upgrade skills. There are some twists on the formula – the Combat Simulation lets you farm separate stages for specific materials, or a Custom Stage, where you can specify different materials and earn them all at once. Of course, you also have the gear farming stages, bosses that grant character ascension materials, and the weekly boss challenges for currency to purchase W-Engines, among other rewards.

Shiyu Defense

If you enjoyed Honkai: Star Rail’s Memory of Chaos, say hello to Shiyu Defense. Ten stages, each that must be cleared within a set time and that award 300 Polychromes each (if you get three stars, that is). Each stage has an attribute that provides an edge, like increasing Stun damage multipliers or Agent Anomaly Buildup rate, and a Boosted Element, with the corresponding element dealing more damage (thus encouraging the use of certain Agents). The higher you go, the more challenging stages become, and you’ll need two separate teams to clear the very last levels.

Hollow Zero

Then there’s Hollow Zero, Zenless Zone Zero’s take on the Simulated Universe. Pick your team and venture through different encounters, picking up buffs en route to the final boss. It’s rogue-like in structure, so death results in the end of a run. One intriguing change of pace is that you start with only one character. The others are added to your party after clearing later encounters. You can also suffer Corruption upon progressing, not unlike the Swarm Disaster’s Countdown Timer, though its debuff can be removed.

Descendant Abilities and Unlocking Others

From the outset, you can pick one of three Descendants – Lepic, Viessa and Ajax. Lepic is an all-rounder, capable of surviving fatal damage once every 10 minutes, while Viessa uses ice to crowd-control enemies. Ajax is your defensive powerhouse, creating walls and barriers to tank damage from enemies. Besides weapons and abilities, you also have melee attacks and a grappling hook for getting around. The latter also allows for closing the distance on enemies for melee strikes.

You can unlock other Descendants by completing tasks and gathering the blueprint and materials to craft each part. Once all the parts are gathered, there’s a Research Time and cost, and the Ascendant is yours.

Main Quests

Following the initial story mission, players gain access to different Battlefields. These are like Patrol spaces, with various tasks to complete in that area (denoted by pink waypoints). Complete them all to open up the next area, and eventually, the Battlefield is cleared enough to progress the story. It’s also possible to perform other activities in between, including…

Sub Quests

As the name indicates, Sub Quests are separate from the objectives necessary to complete a Main Quest. They award Credits and XP, with a chance to drop Modules to customize your Descendants and weapons. Think of them as the Patrol missions from Destiny and a way to garner XP between Main Mission objectives.

Objective Types

Whether you complete the steps required for a Main Quest or mess about in the fields with different Sub Quests, there are multiple objectives. These involve defending a reactor from waves of enemies, while others require slaying foes and depositing the resources they drop. There’s also the usual “Slay X amount of enemies”, followed by an Elite to dispose of. Nothing too complicated, though you also encounter special missions like Zone Reconnaissance, Void Missions, Void Fusion Fusion Reactors and Encrypted Vaults to further spice up the gameplay.

World Difficulty

While playing through, the World Difficulty is on Normal, but as you progress, Hard mode becomes available, upping the challenge alongside the rewards received. It also unlocks new content, like Infiltration Operations on Hard mode. Cruising through the story on Normal to get your bearings is the way to go initially.

Weapon Types

The First Descendant has multiple weapon types, including the usual Assault Rifles, Submachine Guns, Pistols, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, Machine Guns, Scout Rifles, etc. They have different stats and rarities, with the end-game Ultimate weapons having signature perks. Each also has unique ammo types, but unlike the usual regular, Special and Ultimate ammo (which is called Ultimate ammo), you also have Impact Rounds. Balancing your loadout to ensure you’re not running out of ammo in the middle of combat is thus key.

Ascendant and Weapon Modules

These are mods you can slot into your weapon and Ascendant to improve them in different ways. These range from increased firearm attack and critical hit damage to more rounds per magazine and increased damage depending on the status ailment afflicted on an enemy. The number of Modules you can equip depends on your Master Rank, which affects the capacity.

As you obtain higher rarity weapons, Module slots can have different Polarities – slot the matching Module into it, and the cost is halved, allowing for even more. Descendants also have Transcendent Modules which can alter their abilities. For instance, Lepic can change his Overclock to inflict Weaken Regeneration instead of Burn or modify his Grenade Throw to charge it up to three times. Only one Skill Module can be equipped at a time, though you can also have Sub Modules, which modify melee attacks.

Reactors and Components

You also have Reactors and External Components, the former increasing Skill Power and Sub Attack Power while boosting the damage of certain Skill Types. They have certain optimization conditions, like equipping a certain weapon type and reaching a specific Skill Power, but can provide massive bonuses to your abilities if matched correctly. Components offer flat increases to stats like max HP, Defense, Resistance, and Shields.

Workbench

Along with enhancing Modules to improve their effectiveness, players can use the Workbench to adjust their weapons while strengthening Reactors and Ultimate Weapons. What if you found a gun with great stats but its level isn’t high enough? Weapon Level Transmission allows for consuming a different weapon and transferring its level, thus raising the new weapon’s effectiveness.

Cosmetic Customization

There’s a fair bit of cosmetic customization available, from changing hairstyles and makeup to selecting different Descendant skins – from the sleek to the ridiculous, like panda suits. Within those options is the ability to recolor specific parts separately for the helmet, adjusting the arms, legs, highlights and more for a unique look. There’s a strange lack of patterns, but perhaps we’ll see more of those in the future. Other cosmetics include different weapon skins, emotes, name cards, spawn animations, UI themes and even the appearance of the grappling hook.

Infiltration Operations

With all this talk about the base game and options for customizing Descendants, what can looter shooter fans look forward to in the end game? First, there are Infiltration Operations – instanced dungeons with modifiers like increased Elite monster HP and movement speed. That’s on Normal difficulty – choose Hard mode, and the number of modifiers increases. You can also add more modifiers like reduced Descendant defense and health, increased enemy HP and whatnot to increase the Kill Score. The higher the Kill Score, the more likely you can earn the selected rewards. There’s no matchmaking on Hard, so be warned (or make your own team, whichever works).

Special Operations

Special Operations also have unique modifiers but function differently in terms of rewards. Upon reaching a set number of waves, you receive one of four drops. The chance of a reward dropping increases on further waves, though you can choose to leave the mission after receiving rewards.

Void Intercept Battle

The Colossus are towering bosses throughout the campaign, and Void Intercept is your means of farming them. Each has different elemental attack attributes and resistances, though you can also destroy certain parts of their bodies to expose weak points. Alongside the loot drops, you can also use the Reconstructing Device at the end to open Amorphous Material Patterns. Where do you get those Patterns? Why, from Infiltration Operations and Special Operations, of course, creating a continuous end-game loop. Some Colossus must be tackled with other players, but matchmaking is available, thankfully.

Post-Launch Plans

No matter how much content a looter shooter has on release, the question is always: What’s next? Though Nexon didn’t explicitly outline its plans for post-launch or provide a roadmap, it confirmed new Descendants and weapons in the future. Perhaps, these new Descendants could have quests associated with them. As always, time will tell.

Battle Pass and Seasons

However, two things are apparent from the preview – Battle Passes and seasons. You receive various rewards depending on the tier, from new emotes and badges to increased gold gain, weapon skins and even Ultimate weapons. Free and Premium tracks are available, but there’s also the Supply Shop. Upon completing Seasonal Weekly Challenges, you’ll net Supply Coins, used to purchase cosmetics from a separate shop like weapon skins, head skins (including hairstyles and masks), spawn animations, etc.