If you're seeking chart-topping gaming performance, then Alienware's biggest and most powerful prebuilt desktop computer should be high on your list. For just a few more days the Alienware Area-51 AMD Ryzen 9800X3D Edition RTX 5090 gaming PC has dropped in price from $5,650 all the way down to $4,699.99, a savings of $950. Alternatively you can upgrade to the 9950X3D CPU for an additional $250, which comes out to $4,949.99. These are both competitive prices considering the fact that most RTX 5090 prebuilts are currently selling for $5,000 or more.
Alienware Area-51 Ryzen Edition RTX 5090 Gaming PC
The Alienware Area-51 is Dell's flagship gaming PC. The product photos don't give it due justice; this is a big chassis that towers over the Aurora R16 model with superior build quality and a redesigned cooling system with even greater airflow. This is the only model that can be configured with the hot and power hungry GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. The first wave of Area-51 systems featured Intel CPUs exclusively, with AMD X3D options only available since late November.
This $4,450 config is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, 32GB of DDR5-6400MHz RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Additional system details include a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooling system for the CPU and a massive 1,500W 80Plus Platinum power supply that allows plenty of headroom for future upgrades.
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the best gaming CPU for most people
...but you can also upgrade to the 9950X3D for a reasonable price
The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is considered to be one of the best gaming processors on the market and outperforms any Intel or AMD non-X3D chip in games thanks to AMD's 3D-V-Cache technology. It only has eight cores, but that makes no difference in gaming since most games can't utilize more than eight cores (if that) anyways. That's why its gaming performance is nearly identical to the pricier 9900X3d and 9950X3D.
Now if you regularly use your PC for non-gaming applications that actually do benefit from as many cores as possible, then you can upgrade to an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 16-core processor, which doubles the core count while offering similar gaming performance, for an additional $250. That's actually very reasonable as far as CPU upgrades go; the difference in MSRP between a 9950X3D and 9980X3D is $220, and you're not paying much more than that.
The RTX 5090 is the most powerful graphics card ever
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has emerged as the most powerful consumer GPU on the market. Although with this generation Nvidia has prioritized software updates, AI features, and DLSS 4 technology to improve gameplay performance, the 5090 still boasts an impressive 25%-30% uplift over the RTX 4090 in hardware-based raster performance. If you want the absolute best performance for your gaming PC, there is literally no other option from any other brand.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
The Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood has said he doesn’t want anyone else playing Frodo “as long as I’m alive and able,” with his involvement with 2027 movie The Hunt for Gollum all but confirmed.
“So there is a good chance. I’m not able to officially say anything until it’s announced, but I will say I’m thrilled with the prospect of another film. It’s always a little nerve-racking when people talk about new movies for a world like Middle-earth. Everyone gets a little protective and hopes it retains its level of integrity, but this story is fun, thrilling. There is a genuine feeling of getting the band back together. “I’m just excited.”
Then, referencing McKellen’s feelings on playing Gandalf again, Wood said: “I certainly wouldn’t want anybody else to play Frodo either as long as I’m alive and able. And I can also recognise what fun that is going to be — when you are in the cinema and you see the hat turn around and it’s Gandalf. Because I’m also a fan, and excited to see how it all comes together.”
This isn’t the first time Wood has spoken about The Hunt for Gollum. In October last year, he said the film, set between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, had a great script and production team behind it.
While some have debated the need for a Smeagol spinoff, especially after mixed reactions to The Hobbit movie trilogy, Wood piled praise on plans for The Hunt for Gollum, which will reunite The Lord of the Rings director and scriptwriters Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens with Gollum actor Andy Serkis, who is set to both star in and direct the film.
"I know a great deal about it," Wood said at the time. "I've read it [the script]. It's really good. There are some wonderful people involved. The thing that is so exciting is that it is really getting the creative band back together.
"The brain trust behind Lord of the Rings, Fran, Peter, Philippa, they are heavily involved," he continued. "And then, the same production designers. It is going to be shot in New Zealand. So, it is going to carry with it such continuity with so many people who are a part of Lord of the Rings, and I am really excited about that. It feels like getting that old machine up and running again with all of the right people."
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi has warned fans over screenshots that supposedly show him confirming (or at least, strongly hinting) who Leon S. Kennedy has picked as his long-term partner.
It's a detail that has drawn huge interest from fans, and particularly those who believe Leon has wed one of two potential love interests from earlier games: either Ada Wong, or Claire Redfield. Exactly who he has married, however, Requiem leaves frustratingly unclear.
In the hunt for clues, fans have been contacting Requiem director Nakanishi via his social media accounts, requesting more information. Last week, a collection of screenshots purportedly showing Nakanishi responding to these queries was then posted online - with victory claimed by Team Ada.
"Requiem doesn't make it clear, but if you've played the previous games, you should get an idea!" reads one response supposedly by Nakanishi. "You already know the answer, don't you?" he also allegedly replied, to a fan who asked if Leon and Ada had tied the knot.
I saw so many people messaging Nakanishi about Leon’s marriage. I know it might not be the right thing to do,but I can’t hide how happy this makes me.After all these years,all the waiting, all the debates we can finally say it. Congratulations,Mrs Ada Wong Kennedy pic.twitter.com/FYpGvh20Bj
Now, however, the matter has been muddied once again - this time by Nakanishi himself, who in an Instagram story (spotted by Kotaku) said he had been "called out for screenshots of edited messages." Seemingly, it was now Team Claire's turn to cheer.
But what's unclear here is if Nakanishi is referring to "edited messages" to mean that the messages supposedly written by him were deliberately faked, or whether he's simply referring to the collage of messages now being passed around social media as being edited together.
The only person who can clarify the matter further is Nakanishi himself, but alas the director has apparently declared he is going into "hermit mode" - presumably to avoid the topic altogether. He's not the only one, either. Speaking last week, Leon's English-language voice actor Nick Apostolides held back from answering his thoughts on who Leon had married, as "half the fans would want to hang me" if he did.
If you're still negotating Requiem's monsters as well as Leon's love life, IGN's Resident Evil: Requiem guide will help you every step of the way through RE9. Take note of these key tips and tricks before you get started, and focus on finding these important items early. Plus, our comprehensive walkthrough will make sure you don't miss a single Bobblehead or file as you try to survive from the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center all the way to Raccoon City.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Smallville's Kristin Kreuk is not only the star of one of the most successful comic book TV shows of all time, but she's now making the jump to writing comics with a new gothic horror series called Black Star.
IGN can exclusively debut the first preview of Titan Comics' Black Star. Get a closer look in the slideshow gallery below:
Black Star is a five-issue series co-written by Kreuk, Peter Mooney (Rookie Blue), and screenwriter Eric Putzer, and illustrated by Joe Bocardo (Nightwalkers). Here's the official logline for the series:
Amidst skirmishes between two warring factions in the early nineteenth-century fur trade, Dashiell Carlyle discovers he has magical abilities… and that he's not alone. Thrust into a secret order with designs to use their magic to build a new and better world, Dashiell discovers that their utopia may come at a horrific cost.
It's a violent world: gritty, bloody, and dark. But that's balanced with a sense of discovery and awe. The storytelling’s propulsive, and the morality grey. It's The Revenant meets Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. It's a love letter to a frozen corner of the world that few know. It's weird. And wonderful. And something wholly its own.
“Black Star was born while Peter, Eric, and I were filming 'Burden of Truth' in Winnipeg,” said Kreuk in press release. “We were inspired by the city’s lore and, because we worked so well together, began spending our spare time on set (and then, for years afterwards) developing our own take on the history and magic we imagined pulsing beneath its surface, shaping the rhythms of the city and the battles raging just beyond our view.”
“Sometimes people come to my hometown and they can’t see past its rough edges or inhospitable weather. But it was clear Kristin and Eric could see right into the strangeness that makes Winnipeg so unique,” said Mooney. “This isn’t so much an alternative history, but an omitted chapter that’s been lost to time. It’s bizarre and fantastical and entirely imagined — but it goes a long way towards explaining why the city is how it is today.”
“There’s an intimacy to comics that no other form quite achieves; the reader controls the rhythm, the breath, the revelation,” added Eric Putzer. “In a story about power and human nature, we felt that intimacy necessary to make the reader an active part of the exchange.”
EA has laid off an unknown number of individuals from across its Battlefield teams, including workers at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive Studios, IGN understands.
Individuals are being informed that the layoffs are taking place as part of a "realignment" across the Battlefield studios, as the team continues its ongoing, live service support for Battlefield 6 following launch. All four studios will remain operational, though the layoffs seem to be impacting a variety of teams across multiple studios and offices.
IGN asked EA for comment on total number and types of roles impacted, as well as for the specific reasons for the layoffs. An EA spokesperson told IGN: "We’ve made select changes within our Battlefield organization to better align our teams around what matters most to our community. Battlefield remains one of our biggest priorities, and we’re continuing to invest in the franchise, guided by player feedback and insights from Battlefield Labs."
However, the months since Battlefield 6's launch have seen the game begin to struggle from patch to patch. Fans have criticized a number of updates due to reasons ranging from cosmetics to movement, and three months in, Steam reviews have fallen to "Mixed" from a "Mostly Positive" start. Major issues reported include criticism of heavy monetization, use of generative AI for in-game cosmetics, and fewer content updates than expected. The criticism was heavy enough that the teams delayed the start of Season 2 to allow more time to implement community feedback. EA recently published a three-month roadmap for its expected updates.
Steam concurrents have also dropped significantly following Battlefield 6's big launch, when it hit a huge 747,440 peak. Steam concurrents are now, typically, in the tens of thousands. For example, Battlefield 6 hit 67,000 peak concurrent players on Valve's platform yesterday. Of course, Steam numbers do not paint the whole picture of a game's popularity or success, given Battlefield 6 is also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. But they do give us a sense of where a game is at, and in Battlefield 6's case the drop-off may have been more dramatic than EA had expected. Meanwhile, the free-to-play Battlefield battle royale, Redsec, has had problems of its own, with a 'Mostly Negative' Steam user review rating for recent posts.
These layoffs come just months after the unexpected death of Battlefield franchise head Vince Zampella in a car accident. They also come as EA is preparing to be acquired by an investor group composed of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for approximately $55 billion. However, the acquisition has not yet closed (it's expected to close in the first quarter of the 2027 financial year, or April, May, and June of this year). IGN understands internally, EA is stating that the layoffs are unrelated to the acquisition.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
MAR10 Day is coming up tomorrow, March 10 (get it?), and already we're seeing some very fun deals and preorders pop up. If you're a big fan of Mario Kart World and looking to up your racing game, HORI is releasing a new Mario Kart Racing Wheel Pro Mini for Nintendo Switch 2 that's now available to preorder for $79.99.
Unfortunately, it won't be released in time for MAR10 Day tomorrow, but it's set to come out not long after on March 23. Head to the link below to preorder this racing set for your next Mario Kart match.
Preorder HORI Mario Kart Racing Wheel Pro Mini for Nintendo Switch 2
In terms of design, this racing wheel features a textured grip around the edges and programmable buttons for customizing your race, including a programmable item button. Of course, it also comes with pedals. And while it's a perfect pairing for Mario Kart World, the store page also notes that it's compatible with Mario Kart 8 and other racing games.
The store page also says that it's compatible with Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch OLED alongside Nintendo Switch 2. So, no matter which model of Switch you have, this racing wheel set can still join you at the starting line.
It certainly seems like a fun addition to a Switch 2 setup, especially if Mario Kart is your go-to game. If it's caught your eye, now is the time to preorder it, just in case it sells out. And while there's still a little ways to go until it's officially released, there's already plenty more to check out before MAR10 Day officially kicks off. In particular, there's quite a few game deals that are already live. Have a look at our breakdown of MAR10 Day 2026 for more details about what's available at the moment.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
It’s hard to even know where to start with an RPG as deep as Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. I reviewed both Monster Hunter Stories in 2017 and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin in 2021 and, maybe unsurprisingly, so much of what I said about the first two carry over into my thoughts on the third. Monster Hunter Stories 3 has so much to do, all of it is rewarding, and I adored the every one of the 75 hours I happily sunk into it. Smart changes have also made it easier than ever to dig into all its different systems without watering them down in the process, making for a beautiful package that feels like a logical evolution of an already great series.
Twisted Reflection is another turn-based monster collecting RPG spin off of the long-standing, beloved (to me, for the last 22 years and counting) Monster Hunter series. Rather than only hunting monsters to turn their parts into cool outfits and weapons, here you’ll hunt them with other monsters by your side called Monsties (monsters who are your besties, of course). Like Pokemon, you can have up to six Monsties in your party and switch between them in battle, but unlike Pokemon, you fight alongside them using the weapons and armor that are iconic to the Monster Hunter series. Twisted Reflection hasn’t innovated on this particular formula much, but it’s a fun enough one that it really didn’t need to.
The most immediate changes are to your main character. First, you play as an adult rather than a child this time, which shifts the overall tone towards being somewhat more mature. Second, the protagonist has their own personality and dialogue – that’s right, for the first time in the series, your Felyne side-kick isn’t doing the talking for you. I know the Stories series is generally geared towards a younger audience, but Navirou’s over-the-top comedic puns and one-liners fit for a children’s show were always just a little too much in the first two games. Your new Palico, Rudy, is much more sensible and helpful, and he’s still humorous without acting like an over-the-top cartoon mascot. (Sorry Navirou.)
Your hero isn’t just some nobody, either. They’re a full-fledged ace Rider and captain of the Rangers – basically an environmentalist group that focuses on research and protecting the ecosystems in the kingdom of Azuria. This premise works so well with the actual gameplay mechanics, which have you taking out Invasive Species and reintroducing Endangered Species to the ecosystem. Oh, and you are also the princess/prince of your kingdom.
This story premise works so well with the actual gameplay mechanics.
As someone who is already expert in their field, your character wouldn’t need someone to show them the ropes. But what about you as a new player? To get around this dilemma, Twisted Reflection handles its tutorial cleverly by making you the one who is teaching a newbie to the rangers, Thea, which is done seamlessly, painlessly, and quickly - though I do question if it’s enough for completely new players. It doesn’t waste much time before getting you to the real action, too – if you don’t get too distracted when the first map opens up for you to explore, of course, which happens very quickly. (At least unlock the Rite of Channeling before going off script, that’s my advice.)
All of these differences were so welcome and refreshing. Though the previous Stories games absolutely touched on emotional topics, the tone feels like it has shifted from a goofy Saturday morning cartoon to one more like Avatar: The Last Airbender. That said, the story itself isn’t as profound as that comparison. It tells another slight twist on what I’ve come to expect from Monster Hunter: Something bad (this time, the Crystal Encroachment) is causing monsters to run amok, you must face the affected monsters (this time, Feral Monsters) and save the region from whatever is causing it. There’s at least a more apparent impact on regular people and some bigger-picture political turmoil that’s interesting, but I wish Twisted Reflection had spent a bit more time fleshing that part out.
And while it’s not groundbreaking, I still enjoyed the story. There are moments here and there that caught me by surprise, made me tear up, and even rewarded me for being a long-time fan with references and cameos from the predecessors without shoving them in my face. I won’t spoil anything, but some of those even had me shouting enthusiastically as I played.
Exploring the Vast World
Another benefit of being an ace Rider from the very beginning is that you start with a fully-grown Rathalos as your partner, which means you immediately have the ability to fly around Twisted Reflection’s semi-open world. “Flying” is more like “gliding,” but it works well thanks to a generous number of updrafts around the map and certain high places you can fast travel to whenever you want.
Riding your Monsties around is just plain fun in general, and switching between them while riding is completely seamless. Each monster can have multiple Riding Actions, too, including the aforementioned Flying and things like Swimming or Climbing. There are also less movement-oriented options like Roaring, which stuns monsters in the overworld so you can ride right by them, and Breath Attacks, which can knock monsters over or out of the air! Having multiple Riding Actions per monster made it much easier to put together a team so I could explore fully, even early on. It’s a big improvement over Stories 2, where I felt pigeonholed into picking monsters based primarily on Riding Actions.
Variable Battles, Fluid Tactics
The battle system in Twisted Reflection is much more intricate than a lot of other turn-based RPGs I’ve played. Monsters have three attack types – Power, Speed, and Technical – that work like rock-paper-scissors, plus elemental weaknesses and resistances on top of that. Your Rider then also has three weapon damage types across six weapons to choose from, all of which have different mechanics. Monster parts can be targeted individually and are weak to specific weapon damage types, and you can switch freely between three weapons in battle in order to best exploit those weaknesses. It sounds like a lot, but the variety I knew I’d encounter encouraged me to always have a spread of upgraded weapons on hand, which kept battles fresh throughout.
This is all very similar to Stories 2’s battle system, but it’s been expanded upon. For example, you just about always have a whole crew of allies and their Monsties to choose from when deciding who will accompany you, each of whom has different strategies and items at their disposal. Your Kinship Gauge is now separate from your Stamina, so you can use skills without taking away from your “ultimate attack”– an amazing change, especially as someone who likes to rock the stamina-eating Hunting Horn. Enemy monsters now also have a Wyvernsoul Gauge – weapons and attacks have different damage values for Wyvernsoul, and depleting it will stun and then stagger the opponent, essentially skipping their turn. That smartly adds another layer of strategy beyond just choosing the best part to attack with the best weapon for the job, as sometimes targeting Wyvernsoul instead is the strategy that ensures your party will survive.
It’s a lot to think about, but it means the battles don’t ever become a simple race to spam your basic attacks. Though they take a while to get through, fights rarely felt too long for me, especially since you can double the battle animation speed. And just when battles began to feel like a little bit of a chore, I was able to start one-shotting weaker monsters in the overworld, which still granted materials and experience points without having to play through an overly easy fight. The fact that I never felt like I needed to grind for the sake of grinding helped a lot in keeping me from getting tired of combat. Instead, doing missions, tackling some optional tasks, and following my natural curiosity to fight every new monster at least once kept me leveled appropriately.
The Perfect Ouroboros
Twisted Reflection’s story and exploration are the driving forces that introduce mechanics and locations to you, but the loop of den diving, hunting, and upgrading is where it really shines. The various systems are all interconnected perfectly to create an ouroboros of a gameplay loop that feeds into itself, with micro-dopamine hits every single step of the way. I spent nearly 20 hours in the first area alone because I wanted to do everything I could before moving on, and just about everything I was really into was technically optional. But maybe that’s why it was so easy to get engrossed – nothing was spoon-fed to me or forced down my throat. Instead it simply introduced me to how things worked and then said, “Go forth.” And go forth I did.
If you don’t know Monster Hunter Stories, it works a bit differently than most traditional creature collectors. Instead of finding a monster in the overworld or in a random encounter, and then having to catch it or make it drop something, you instead search inside dens for eggs. There are multiple layers of “gacha” in this Stories system, with den spawns, eggs inside those dens, and the skills Monsties hatch all being somewhat randomized, but it all works incredibly well rather than feeling obnoxious.
Each microclimate across the large, open maps is inhabited by specific monsters, which are the species you can then find inside the eggs there. There are three rarity levels of dens to find in the overworld, which lead to three rarity levels of eggs. The eggs you “pull” from the nests inside the dens have patterns to identify the species, but hatching them into Monsties is the only way to learn what genes they have, which determine their active and passive skills. The rarer the egg, the better the three-by-three gene board that Monstie will be born with is.
Tally that all up and you have four different moments of randomized excitement. It’s an incredibly well-implemented variable reward system, which is a concept fittingly used in actual animal training as well (and to keep people doomscrolling on certain social media apps. Oops.) It might sound like that much randomization would be annoying – what if you only want one specific Monstie? But in my experience, I never had to spend very long to find what I was looking for, and the other things I picked up along the way made it feel like I never wasted my time.
The various systems are all interconnected perfectly.
Importantly, you’re getting much more than just those hits of excitement out of this cycle, too, even if some are only tangentially related. For example, it’s satisfying to pick up materials while exploring on the way to a den, which both grant my party experience points and can be used for crafting. I’m also likely casually hunting some monsters as I go, which will drop materials for weapons and armor. And if I defeat a new monster, that’s new equipment to look forward to!
Once you hatch an egg, you’re not only getting a Monstie for your collection or party, you’re also unlocking its gene skills for every Monstie you have. Genes can be freely moved between Monsties and rearranged as many times as you like using the Rite of Channeling at any camp. The ability to rearrange is important because if you match three of the same color or type of genes on the board, you’ll trigger a “bingo” bonus that buffs your Monstie in different ways. This process is a big change from Stories 2, which would consume your host monster upon transferring a single gene. You also couldn’t rearrange genes – with so many layers of commitment, and as someone who’s chronically indecisive, that system was practically torture. Twisted Reflection instead welcomes you to experiment as much as you want.
Those old gene restrictions would have also been at odds with the new system of Habitat Restoration, which has you reintroducing extra Monsties to the wild. First you must dispose of a Feral Monster in the area so you can set up a camp there, which are both relatively challenging and quite rewarding to beat. Each camp you unlock also increases the stat bonus a Monstie gets when it’s hatched from an egg from that map. And once camp is set up, you can release monsters back into that specific area – the more of a species you release there, the higher their ecosystem rank will rise, up to S-Rank.
To add even more complexity to your team building, S-Rank Monsties hatch with all three of a given map’s Environment Skills, which are especially advantageous as they don’t take up space on the gene board. Alternatively, you can send existing Monsties on an “Excursion” to different locations and they’ll come back with that region’s Environment Skills if its species is S-rank there, not to mention it will swap to that region’s stat increases regardless of its rank. That even applies to Ratha, the Rathalos permanently stuck in your party, who can gain the S-Rank environment boons even if there are no Rathalos to be found in a certain location. Hatching high rank monsties is also the only way to gain access to some powerful genes, noted as Egg Skills – yet another welcome carrot that encouraged me to engage with the Habitat Restoration system.
I became pretty obsessed with getting Monsties up to S-Rank both for the above mentioned boons, and also because a Monstie at at least A-Rank gets an additional element dictated by the area--changing its color. This system was scrapped in Stories 2, and I’m so happy it’s made its way back to the series. It’s like being able to create your own personal shiny Pokemon. This method to change a Monstie’s color is also much less convoluted than it was in the original Monster Hunter Stories, and is seemingly more advantageous as it keeps both the original and new element. I love this idea even more when I think about just how different everyone’s teams will be. I find it so common for people to end up with such similar parties in RPGs based on strength alone, but this system encourages more experimentation.
But wait, there’s more! A handful of Invasive Species have posted up in what were once Endangered Species nests tucked away in semi-hidden locations. If you repel them, you can get your hands on an Endangered Species Egg, reintroduce it to a habitat of your choice, and then meet certain requirements to get one or two more mutated species out of it.
Repelling an Invasive Species is easier said than done, though. The setup requires you to sneak around its territory to collect clues that might help you figure out how to make it run. The tutorial Invasive Yian Garuga needed me to topple it by breaking its legs, for example, to make it retreat. That’s probably the simplest of the Invasive Species mechanics. They’re all a different puzzle to solve, requiring you to figure out and execute a solution before the Invasive Species can one-shot your whole crew enough times to wipe you out.
I loved both searching for these hard-to-find monsters and challenging them, but I must admit I had to resort to taking screenshots of the tips as I found them. To my knowledge, there’s nowhere to check these clues after you pick them up for the first time. I also made the mistake of fighting these battles at 2x speed at times, causing me to miss important cues, like how the color around an Invasive Seregios temporarily changes when its roaring. Luckily, failing gifts you with a hint, but these weren’t nearly as detailed as the clues found in the den or your companions’ commentary.
The “Endgame”
After repelling an Invasive Species, you can try to actually slay it inside the Endangered Species den, but that’s very clearly meant to be an endgame activity – that’s made apparent by the fact that they’re level 50 when repelling them and level 75 when trying to slay them. The Calamitous Elder Dragons – at least the Namielle in Azuria – are also level 75. I was only level 65 when I completed the story, so that should give you a sense of how challenging these are meant to be. It’s also neat that they show up so early on. The Invasive Species arrive whenever you happen to find them, which can be as soon as you enter a new map, and the Elder Dragons have a random chance to spawn after battling at night.
Like during the rest of Twisted Reflection, none of my time felt wasted
Like during the rest of Twisted Reflection, none of my time felt wasted even if I spent 15 minutes getting absolutely bodied by an Elder Dragon. If I did well enough, I could repel it, meaning the next time it’ll come around pre-weakened. And even if I didn’t leave a scratch on it, those fights still rewarded me with a single Elder Dragon material. You only need three of these to make the first level of an Elder Dragon’s armor or weapon! That’s a very nice boon to rock in the early and mid game, and it’s cool to have these challenges motivating you to get stronger. And when I finally did slay an Elder Dragon, I felt truly accomplished – just like in regular Monster Hunter. It even makes it so Monsties hatched in the slayed Elder Dragon’s region get a stat increase!
However, these late-game monsters – and, of course, completing the Monsterpedia by hatching and mutating all of those endangered species – are the only endgame to speak of. I was a bit disappointed that nothing changes at all after the credits roll. While the previous Monster Hunter Stories had PvP, and even multiplayer dungeons in Stories 2, there’s nothing like that in Twisted Reflection. At least, not yet – I’m assuming (hoping) we’ll get a free title update at some point. But even if there isn’t, it still took me a good 65 hours to finish Twisted Reflection’s story, and I’ve spent 10 more hours so far happily finishing up side content after that – and I’ve enjoyed it that entire time, though I have one final Elder Dragon still waiting to be slain, a handful of Invasive Species to put to rest, and more than half the side quests left.
Maybe you won your office pool. Maybe a bank erred in your favor. Maybe you got a refund on your tax return. What are you going to do with that money?
You could put it all in your savings account. Or, you could purchase a next-level, multi-thousand piece LEGO set, build it, and display it in your home. It's important to have priorities. And all kidding aside, it's also important to have fun, even as an adult.
LEGO was never cheap, per se. But particularly on the high end, it's never been more expensive. The company explains this by way of its quality pledge: that its bricks are tested rigorously against gravity, pressure, and anything else an adult or small child might subject them to – even human saliva. Combine this quality control with the 3rd party licensing agreements for LEGO's collaborative partnerships, and the costs quickly add up.
The cheapest LEGO set available is about $10. The most expensive LEGO set available is 100 times that amount. Here, for your morbid fascination and possible purchase, are the 10 most expensive LEGO sets currently for sale, as of March 2026. Hopefully, we won't have to establish an even higher ceiling in the months and years ahead. But we probably will.
TL;DR: The 10 Most Expensive LEGO Sets
10. Tropical Aquarium
We built this set for its launch. It's bright and beautiful to look at, and it creates a wonderful illusion of glass with its black borders. The set features several cranks and levers on its sides, allowing the sea life to move and sway. And best of all, you don't have to clean it.
9. Jabba's Sail Barge
The slimiest, most decadent gangster in the Outer Rim has a ride to match his excess. You'll recognize Jabba's Sail Barge from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, where Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, Lando, and R2-D2 engineer a daring rescue of Han Solo, moments before they're to be fed to the Sarlacc Pit Monster. This set contains fully decorated interiors and 11 Star Wars characters, including Salacious Crumb, Max Rebo, Princess Leia in her slave costume, and of course, Jabba the Hutt himself.
We built this set at the time of its launch, and we were impressed by its magnitude: six floors (not including the roof), of beautiful scenery and movie Easter Eggs, and 271 blue-tinted windows which form the building's signature facade. The LEGO Avengers Tower also comes with 31 Minifigures encompassing everyone that ought to be in a set of this scope in size – everyone from Iron Man to Hulk to Pepper Potts to Erik Selvig.
This is one of LEGO's most impressive and visually stunning – an example of what the company's designers are capable of when they abandon all pretense of a "playable" experience and focus almost exclusively on aesthetics and visual presentation. Rivendell comes with a complete Fellowship of the Ring, with Minifigures of every member from Merry to Gandalf to Legolas. Check out our feature in which we build LEGO Rivendell, as well as our interview with the LEGO Rivendell lead designer.
At 10,001 pieces, the Eiffel Tower is the biggest set that LEGO has ever released, with the Colosseum now coming in second with 9036 pieces. It is a repetitive build, of course – its use of arches, support beams, and cross-beams mirrors that of the actual building. But like The Colosseum, you're buying and building this for the end result – a beautiful model of a real-life attraction that's nearly five feet tall.
LEGO typically has one massive Star Wars vessel available for purchase; the company retires the old one around the time it debuts the new one. This year, it's a model of the Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser. Built by the Galactic Republic in the late stages of the Clone Wars, the Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser was designed for intense combat scenarios. This model is over three-and-a-half feet long, and it's more than a cool exterior; it also has a hangar that stores a Republic Gunship.
4. Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise
This display of Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise is one of the most fun-to-build sets in recent memory. It's three biomes with three respective Pokémon, and each creature is a full,. comprehensive build in its own right. You can display them seperately or as a single model by merging them together at the base. We built this set for its launch and highly recommend it.
3. Titanic
We built the LEGO Titanic when it came out, and the designers treated it with the seriousness and reverence it deserved. The model has no minifigures – just the Titanic itself, with all its riggings, on a stand that's designed to look like classical wood. Separating the "unsinkable" ship into three segments gives you a good look at its cross-section; you can see the dining room, the crew quarters, and the boiler room. And you can also see the piston engines, which pump up and down when you turn the boat's propellers.
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2. Millennium Falcon
It's difficult to imagine that a LEGO set would ever cost more than this Ultimate Collector Series edition of the Millennium Falcon. But then again, this set is something special, and its longevity speaks for itself. This particular model launched in 2017 – nearly six years ago, which makes it way past the age when LEGO retires its old sets to make space on the shelves for new ones.
It shows how far ahead of its time this set was at the time of its release. It shows how popular it continues to be; this is the definitive Star Wars ship. And it carries an impressive implication: that no LEGO designer has bothered to design a new one, on this scale, because the current model is so good. If you can only buy one massive set this year, this legendary "hunk of junk" is an excellent choice.
1. Death Star
The most expensive set in LEGO history is this recreation of the Death Star, available exclusively at the LEGO Store. It is not a sphere. Rather, it is a massive crosssection composed of numerous dioramas, which depict the original trilogy's classic moments. It includes everything from the destruction of Alderaan, to the escape from the trash compactor, to the final throne room duel between Luke, Vader, and Palpatine.
The set comes with a massive superlaser on its side, and it stands nearly three feet tall. It also comes with 38 LEGO minifigures so you can act out any scenario. Make sure you have somewhere to display this behemoth before you purchase it. And if you're still hesistant, check out our full review of the build to learn more.
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LEGO FAQs
Are LEGO Sets More for Adults or Kids?
Although many modern LEGO sets are still targeted toward kids, the adult market has exploded in the past five years. Many of the more expensive sets are marked as 18+ due to their difficulty and overall number of pieces.
When Is the Best Time to Buy LEGO Sets at a discount?
LEGO sets can be really expensive, but sales can make the prices a lot more reasonable. The overall best time to buy LEGO sets is during event sale days like Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. You can also usually find some great discounts on Star Wars day for Star Wars sets specifically.
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
Three years ago, LEGO released Lord of the Rings Rivendell – a 6,000-piece tribute to Peter Jackson's vision of Middle-Earth and the J.R.R. Tolkien-written books that inspired it. You can check it out on Amazon. I reviewed the set for IGN and interviewed the designer in a follow-up feature. It is one of the best, most detail-oriented builds of the past five years.
In 2024, LEGO released another massive Lord of the Rings set, this time of Barad-dûr, the massive tower in Mordor that's topped with the Eye of Sauron. Similar to Rivendell, it is laden with numerous, movie-accurate details. Then 2025 brought us The Shire, another rich, albeit smaller build.
Currently, there are very few Lord of the Rings sets on sale, but this wasn't always the case. LEGO and Lord of the Rings first partnered in June 2012, and between June 2012 and October 2014, LEGO released numerous sets that celebrated both the original Lord of the Rings film trilogy and the subsequent Hobbit trilogy. The last of these went out of print in July 2015; the only way to obtain them now would be to go on the expensive secondary market.
Here is a showcase of the major LEGO Lord of the Rings sets over the past decade plus: what was released and subsequently retired; what is currently on sale; and what we might expect to see in the future.
Attack on Weathertop (Retired)
This set captured the moment when Aragorn defended Frodo and the Hobbits from the Ringwraiths. It included the key details, such as the spiral stone staircase that led to the top of the watchpoint, as well as the black horses that the Ringwraiths rode as they searched the realm for the One True Ring. This was part of the first wave of LEGO Lord of the Rings sets in June 2012, along with the second entry on this list.
The Mines of Moria (Retired)
This Mines of Moria sequence is one of the coolest parts of the Lord of the Ring movies. The set based on it included a massive cave troll and several freestanding elements to represent Balin's Tomb. The LEGO designers rigged the tomb to fall apart at the press of a lever, and you could also recreate the scene where Pippin knocked the skeleton into the well (via a trap door), thereby alerting everyone to the Fellowship's presence.
The Orc Forge (Retired)
A small but richly detailed build, the Orc Forge was a blacksmith forge with fanciful elements, with a chain lift and bucket to transport ore, and a chute that fed into a cauldron to melt the ore down. It also included an anvil and a light brick to make the fire glow.
The Battle of Helm’s Deep (Retired)
Based on the climactic siege that concluded The Two Towers, this was a massive castle set. It had the Horn of Helm Hammerhand at the top of its tallest tower, and its signature, curved outer wall, including a breakaway portion so you could recreate the moment when the orcs breached the defenses.
An Unexpected Gathering (Retired)
A charming build of Bilbo's home, An Unexpected Gathering included Gandalf, Bilbo, and 4 of the 12 dwarves who imposed themselves on his hospitality. Green was the predominant color of the set's exterior, which gave it the fertile, bountiful atmosphere that we associate with the Shire.
Battle at the Black Gate (Retired)
Obviously, the Battle of Black Gate, which was the climax to the entire LOTR trilogy, was much grander than what could be accomplished with 656 LEGO pieces. This is the exact sort of build that would most benefit from a modern reimagining. Can you picture what the LEGO designers could do with 3000 or even 4000 pieces? Still, there was lots to appreciate about this set, especially the Mouth of Sauron Minifigure, the Great Eagle, and the angular severity of the Gate itself.
Tower of Orthanc (Retired)
This model of Saruman's massive tower was two-and-a-half feet tall, and it was as imposing as the LEGO designers had hoped. But as intimidating as the exterior was, the interior was equally impressive and included a throne room (where Gandalf and Saruman had their wizard duel), a dungeon, a library, and an alchemy room. It also comes with a massive Ent and a Great Eagle, so that Gandalf can hitch a ride off the roof.
The Lonely Mountain (Retired)
This was Bilbo's big moment, when he discovered the entrance to the Lonely Mountain on Durin's Day. And this set includes the secret door, Smaug's lair, the mountain of gold, and a number of play mechanisms the dwarves' battle with Smaug, when they try to submerge him in liquid gold. This set was part of the last wave of Lord of the Rings sets from 2012-2014. We wouldn't get another set in the series until January 2023.
Gandalf the Grey & Balrog (Retired)
In January 2023, LEGO released several LOTR-themed pairings as part of their collectible Blockheadz line. There were four different sets available for purchase, each for $20: Gandalf the Grey & Balrog, Aragorn & Arwen, and Frodo & Gollum. LEGO retired them at the end of 2024.
Lord of the Rings: Rivendell (Currently on sale)
And that brings us to the present day. On sale now exclusively at the LEGO Store, Rivendell sets a bar for the level of delicate detail that can exist in a single set. It is beautiful, but it is fragile, with some elements hanging on by single connections. Other details, like the leaves on the trees and the patterning of the roofs, create a cumulative intricacy. And many more details are enclosed, meant to be cast in shadow by the exterior elements. This is a set that you admire with your eyes and not with your hands, and is one of our picks for the best LEGO sets for adults.
Lord of the Rings: Barad-dûr (Currently on sale)
We built this at launch. The most recently released set on this list, the LEGO rendition of Barad-dûr is nearly three feet tall and covered with menacing, black spikes. The interior includes a dungeon, Saruman's throne room, and a armory for the orcs and goblins to gird themselves for battle. On top is the glowing Eye of Sauron, which is backlit with a red light brick.
Lord of the Rings: The Shire (Currently on sale)
The latest Lord of the Rings set depicts The Shire on the evening of Bilbo's 111th Birthday. Go through the circular door into Bilbo's hobbit hole, and you'll see all sorts of cool details – food on every available surface, a study with an inkpot and quill, and an open foyer that is instantly recognizable from the first film. The coolest bit is the fireplace; turn a crank, and the wax-sealed envelope 'burns away' to reveal the One True Ring.
Lord of the Rings: Balrog Book Nook (Currently on sale)
LEGO's line of book nooks is designed to fit on your bookshelf, thereby breaking up the monotony of the actual books with scenery from classic literature. This set captures the climactic battle between Gandalf and the Balrog, deep in the Mines of Moria. It even comes with a small "You Shall Not Pass!" plaque on its front.
Lord of The Rings: Sauron's Helmet
Only seen during the flashback scenes in the films, Sauron's Helmet is a terrifying embodiment of evil in Middle-Earth. It's best remembered for its slow-motion fall after Isildur, son the of the King, sliced off Sauron's fingers during the War of the Last Alliance. This model is mounted on a stand alongside a minifigure of Sauron himself.
How Many LEGO Lord of the Rings Sets are There?
According to the official LEGO Store, there are five Lord of the Rings sets available for purchase as of March 2026. Based on the past three years, one can assume that more sets, on the scale of Rivenedell and Barad-dûr, will be on their own way. But perhaps, the comparatively smaller Shire set, not to mention the Balrog Book Nook, means that we'll get some variety in piece count.
What's Next?
The speculation is that the next, massive LEGO Lord of the Rings set will be Minas Tirith. There's a map sticker in the LEGO Rivendell set that shows Barad-dûr and Minas Tirith. Then, when LEGO Barad-dûr came out, it had a map sticker with Minas Tirith and Helm's Deep. There's a lot of LEGO fans who think these stickers foreshadow what's coming next. So we might get Minas Tirith this year, and then maybe we'll get Helm's Deep in 2027? We'll have to wait and see.
Intel has just released the SDK for Intel XeSS 3.0.0. This will allow developers to implement Intel XeSS 3.0 in their games. And, as the title implies, with this release, Intel officially joins the Multi-Frame Gen race. Going into more details, Intel XeSS 3.0 adds 3x and 4x Multi-Frame Generation for Intel Arc GPUs. It … Continue reading Intel joins the Multi-Frame Gen race, XeSS SDK 3.0.0 Released→
In February 2025, we shared a video for an RTX Remix Mod for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Created by wiltOS Technologies, this mod aims to add full ray tracing, update textures, assets, lighting, and more. And today, we are happy to report that the first alpha version of it has been released to … Continue reading First Version of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic RTX Remix Mod Released→
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