Battlefield 6 players aren't happy after EA and Battlefield Studios' changes to two of its most controversial cosmetics failed to live up to expectations.

Following promises to address fan feedback last week, the Battlefield community was quick to see how update 1.1.3.6 adjusted the Objective Ace skin and Winter Warning sticker when the patch went live this morning. The problem is the changes are almost too small to notice.

The ‘Objective Ace’ Battlefield 6 Skin with the similar #CallofDuty Ghosts Logo has been UPDATED 👀

Before and After: pic.twitter.com/sFwugNbNoL

— DETONATED (@DETONATEDcom) February 3, 2026

Let’s first take a look at Objective Ace. The skin drew criticism through Season 1 when players noticed it bore a striking resemblance to the Call of Duty: Ghosts logo, with both sharing even a few finer details, such as cracks and paint streaks. The Assault skin also caught flak related to the large white armor piece located on its chest.

The updated version of the cosmetic received the more noticeable facelift of the two impacted, with its updated look now featuring new details and a slimmer design overall. Still, it’s not enough for the players who were expecting more significant changes.

“[I] think the damage has already been done,” one player commented.

“Why did they copy COD in the first place?” another added.

AI Sticker Before VS After Patch #Battlefield6 pic.twitter.com/Srfjhp7ZHj

— Battlefield Intel (@BattlefieldInte) February 3, 2026

The Winter Warning sticker, on the other hand, was the center of controversy when players noticed details that suggested it may have been created using generative AI. Battlefield 6 update 1.1.3.6 seems to have brought no change to its design, with its soldier finger placement and double-barreled M4A1 still plainly in view despite being two of the bigger talking points amongst fans.

It’s been cause for concern for those who feel EA and BF Studios may have misled fans. However, the developers have since stepped in to say the timing relayed in last week’s patch notes, which promised to adjust Winter Warning with the February 3 update, was “incorrect.”

“The latest update notes communicated that a change would be made for the Winter Warning Player Card Sticker to bring it more in line with Battlefield’s visual identity,” a message shared today says. “This timing was incorrect. Winter Warning will be updated when Season 2 launches on February 17th.”

It’s unclear what the new version of the sticker will look like when it launches with Season 2 in about two weeks. For now, players have taken to social media to call attention to both the delay and the relatively small changes to the cosmetics.

"Show what ur doing with it," one fan suggested.

"Stop using AI generated Art and cosmetics and we will trust this statement and future ones," another added.

Battlefield 6 saw a strong start when it released October 10, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S but has faced backlash in recent weeks as players hope for fundamental changes to how BF Studios is handling post-launch content. The fallout from a disappointing end to Season 1 reached a boiling point in early January, with the team eventually announcing that Season 2 had been delayed.

Following an extended Season 1, Season 2 will launch February 17. Players got a first look at its new map, Contaminated, a few weeks ago, and more content (including the return of a Battlefield 4 map) is in the works for the future.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

There's no need to pay $500 for the Bowflex SelectTech adjustable dumbbells when there are equally well-built options at a much lower price point. For a limited time, FED Fitness is offering its own DB1 Adjustable Dumbbells (52.5 pounds each or 105 pounds total) for just $296.40 with free delivery after you stack 20% off coupon code "NEWYEARSSP20" and 5% coupon code "IGN". This is a great price for a complete dumbbell package with a solid 3 year warranty.

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Not everyone is the DIY type. If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of the best brands we'd recommend. Alienware desktops and laptops feature solid build quality, top-of-the-line gaming performance, excellent cooling (further improved on the newer models), aggressive styling, and pricing that is very competitive with other pre-built options. Best of all, there are plenty of sales that happen throughout the year, so it's not difficult to grab one of these computers at considerably less than their retail price.

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Alienware Aurora Gaming Laptop Deals

Alienware's newest mainstream gaming laptop is dubbed the "Alienware Aurora" and it replaces the previous generation's x16 and m16 series of laptops. It comes in two models: the 16 and 16X. The 16 is the more economical model, but gamers should definitely opt for the higher-end 16X model. If you're looking for build quality and performance on par with the previous generation m16, then the 16X is its spiritual successor. It features an anodized aluminum lid and base, a higher quality display, a more powerful CPU, and a GPU that isn't throttled for maximum gaming performance.

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The Aurora R16 is Alienware's bread and butter gaming PC. It can be equipped with an Nvidia RTX 5060 graphics card all the way up to an RTX 5080 and the prices for Cyber Monday are extremely competitive with other brands. For example, currently Alienware has the least expensive prebuilt RTX 5080 gaming PC that I've found anywhere. Most of these systems are customizable, however it's not difficult to upgrade your own RAM and storage yourself.

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If you're seeking the absolute best of the best in PC gaming performance, look no further. Dell unveiled the new Alienware Area-51 gaming PC at CES 2025. The chassis is a super-sized upgrade to the Aurora R16 system with aesthetic and cooling redesigns. The internal components have been refreshed with a new motherboard, faster RAM, and bigger power supply to accommodate the new generation of CPUs and GPUs. With a high-end system like this, it's only fitting that it be equipped with an RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 graphics card, so these are the configurations I've listed here. Note that Dell Outlet refurbished PCs come with the same warranty as buying new.

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The Area-51 is Alienware's new flagship gaming laptop for 2025. It features an anodized aluminum shell for both the lid and bottom chassis with a gorgeous iridescent finish. The frame is made of a durable and lightweight magnesium alloy. Cooling has been upgraded with generous amounts of copper and a new thermal interface material to better transfer heat away from your hottest components as well as more fans and bigger cutouts for greater airflow. Dell claims that the laptop can handle a higher power ceiling of up to 240W TDP without raising acoustics.

Design-wise, the Area 51 has a sleeker, more contoured shape compared to previous models, with rounded edges and soft corners replacing the traditional squared off design. The hinges are internally positioned so that they're near invisible. There's a transparent window on the undercarriage to show off the internal components. As befits an Alienware laptop, there's plenty of RGB illunimation, although most of it can be turned off if you want your laptop to be a bit more subtle.

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 CEO of Take-Two Interactive has denied ongoing rumors that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be a digital-only release upon its initial launch.

This comes from Variety, which spoke to CEO Strauss Zelnick today ahead of the company's Q3 2026 earnings release. When asked if subsidiary Rockstar would delay the release of physical copies of GTA 6 until 2027 to avoid leaks, he replied, "That's not the plan."

Rumors of such a physical delay emerged late last month, when an alleged insider industry source shared that Take-Two had no plans for a physical edition of the game at release due to concerns about physical copies falling into hands early and leaking online.

Notably, the report suggests that physical copies could be delayed into 2027, or delayed just a few weeks, which would make Zelnick's answer somewhat unclear. IGN reached out to Take-Two to get more clarity on what his statement meant, and was informed that Zelnick's statement was denying any delay plan at all, not just a move to 2027 specifically.

GTA 6 is still set for release on November 18, 2026, a date that Zelnick reaffirmed confidently to us today, alongside plans for Rockstar to spin up its marketing machine this summer. The game has already suffered from multiple leaks, both of development footage and of its first trailer, alongside a number of AI-generated fake leaks. We also spoke to Zelnick today about Google Genie ahead of the company's Q3 earnings report, in which Take-Two announced it had brought in net bookings of $1.76 billion for the quarter, and that it's raising its expectations for the year to have net bookings between $6.65 billion to $6.7 billion.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Bumblebee) and Clea DuVall (Poker Face) have joined The Last of Us Season 3 as HBO successfully recasts one of its supporting characters and fleshes out the seraphites.

News on the changes comes from Deadline, which reports Lendeborg Jr. will be the new face playing the part of the Washington Liberation Front’s (WLF) Manny. The part was previously filled by Danny Ramirez for select scenes in Season 2, with the actor said to be stepping away from the PlayStation video game adaptation due to “scheduling reasons.”

Last week, Google announced Project Genie, an AI-powered virtual world creator still in its infancy that seemed to spook a number of video game investors. Following the announcement, stock prices of companies such as Take-Two, Roblox, and Unity took a noticeable dip, seemingly due to a belief that Genie was going to mostly or fully replace user-generated content down the line. But at least one of those companies' CEOs isn't ruffled by the price drop: Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick.

Speaking to IGN today ahead of the company's Q3 earnings call, Zelnick responded to my question about whether or not he saw Genie as a threat to Take-Two's business. He doesn't. Quite the contrary, he sound pretty positive. Here's his response in full:

"This company and its products were built upon machine learning and artificial intelligence more than 25 years ago. That's the story of this business; we use computers to create what we do. So we're energized and excited by these new tools and the prospects that they bring. We have actively embraced new AI, I said so when we spoke about it in the last couple calls. [Author's note: I ask Zelnick something about AI most quarters as news-relevant, here's a summary from 2023 of what has been his consistent stance.] In fact, we have hundreds of pilots and implementations [of AI] across our company including with our studios. I think tools are what drive additional innovation in what we do, drive efficiency, and drive creativity, and that's our three-part strategy.

"I think the confusion in the marketplace is somehow that tools equals properties...and tools and properties are very different things. Creators use tools to make amazing entertainment, and of course that will never change, and once you make amazing entertainment you have to market it worldwide, and the people who are best at marketing entertainment worldwide are big, significant entertainment enterprises with the balance sheet to actually support those launches, companies like us. So I feel more optimistic than ever that new technology is going to allow us to supercharge our business."

In the past, including in the aforementioned 2023 conversation with Zelnick, I've asked him if he thinks generative AI will ever be able to create a GTA-like game wholesale, and his response has always been that it won't. But I asked him today if the appearance of Genie had changed anything for him; it hasn't.

"I don't think theres any tool by itself that you can press a button and make a competitive property," Zelnick said. "Some romance novelists for example are using AI tools to write certain parts of their book, but they still have to come up with the concept, the characters, and the structure. I don't think you're going to find hit movies, hit novels, hit songs, being entirely created with technology with no creator interaction, it's just not the history of creativity. So I think perhaps people are confusing tools and technology with hits, and they're really different things, and I would never want to underestimate the importance of human genius, even with fantastic tools. I think fantastic tools unlock human genius to do great things."

Okay, but what if those fantastic tools, available now to anyone, are used to make a clone of a GTA game? Does Zelnick have any intellectual property concerns? Sort of, sure, but he's seemingly of the mind that it's better to work with the community than against them.

"We protect our intellectual property and we are respectful of toher people's intellectual property," he said. "At the same time we've allowed a lot of users to engage with a lot of our games and of course the FiveM business is an example of that. User-generated content can be and already is a big part of what we do around here. I also feel that user-generated content sort of stands side-by-side with professionally-generated entertainment. For example, YouTube is a huge business, but it represents about 12.5% of overall linear entertainment consumption. 87.5% is still old-fashioned, professional content made by human beings." [Take-Two cited Activate Consulting as the source of this stat following the call.]

We also spoke to Zelnick about his confidence in GTA 6's release date, and Rockstar spinning up marketing for the game this summer. In today's earnings report, Take-Two announced it had brought in net bookings of $1.76 billion for the quarter, and that it's raising its expectations for the year to have net bookings between $6.65 billion to $6.7 billion.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

2026 has already seen surges in the cost of DDR5 RAM and higher end Nvidia GPUs. Unfortunately, this also affects the price of prebuilt gaming PCs. Obviously this isn't an ideal time to be buying new computer parts, but if that's not stopping you from upgrading, I would suggest jumping on a deal you find now rather than waiting a little longer. Fortunately, there are still good deals when you know where to look.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2250

Grand Theft Auto VI's November 19, 2026 release date is drawing nearer. And while the game has now suffered multiple delays, Take-Two Interactive is starting to sound more confident than we've ever heard them that this time, it's really happening. So confident, in fact, it's announced that Rockstar will be spinning up its marketing beats this summer.

This comes from Take-Two's Q3 2026 earnings results, which were just released. In those earnings, Take-Two reaffirms that GTA 6 is indeed still planned for November 19, 2026. That on its own would be exciting news after two separate delays, but even better is a sentence at the bottom of the release sent to IGN. "Our execution throughout Fiscal 2026 has been extraordinary and we are highly confident as we approach Fiscal 2027 – which promises to be groundbreaking for Take-Two and the entire entertainment industry – led by the November 19th release of Grand Theft Auto VI with Rockstar’s launch marketing set to begin this Summer. "

That's sounding pretty confident, to me! Speaking to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick earlier today, I asked him how he felt about the release date at this time, to which he replied, "I feel good about it. Very good about it."

Now, we've asked Zelnick this before, and he said he felt "really good" about the fall 2025 release date that was originally announced, ahead of two delays. So I asked him if this time was different in some way.

"Of course," he said. "Because any time you're getting closer to marketing beats, you're obviously in a place where your confidence level is as high as it can be."

GTA 6 is one of the most anticipated games of all time, with many already suggesting it as a potential Game of the Year contender despite us not having seen any gameplay footage of it yet, leaks and AI fakes going viral all over social media late last year, and its delays having potential industry-shaking impacts. So far, we've seen two cinematic trailers for the game, which have shown the dual protagonists Duval and Lucia Caminos, and the setting of Leonida, Florida, including the infamous Vice City.

Even without GTA 6, GTA as a franchise had a great quarter. It "vastly outpaced" Take-Two's forecasts, with GTA+ membership levels nearly doubling year-over-year. We asked Zelnick for insight as to the cause of GTA 5's excellent quarter, and he pointed to the Safehouse in the Hills update for GTA Online doing especially well. GTA 5 has now sold over 225 million units.

Overall, Take-Two brought in net bookings of $1.76 billion for the quarter. The company is raising its expectations in light of a better-than-expected quarter on multiple fronts, with total annual net bookings expected to range between $6.65 billion to $6.7 billion, representing around 18% growth year over year. Take-Two expects that nearly half of its full-year earnings, which it will report next quarter, will come from its mobile business, Zynga.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

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Dracula will be released in theaters on February 6.

At last, they’ve done it! They’ve made a movie based on Dracula! Oh, wait, what’s that? They are making Dracula movies all the time? Almost constantly one might argue?

Look, Dracula is an all-time great story anchored by an all-time great horror villain that has given us a ton of memorable films and TV shows since it debuted in 1897. But lately, it feels like there was some sort of bet between studios and producers to see how many different versions we could get close together.

Since 2023 alone, we’ve had Renfield, The Last Voyage of the Detmer, Abigail, Nosferatu, and Abraham's Boys - all of which were derived from the original Dracula story to some capacity, whether it be using specific story elements or characters or by creating their own sequel scenarios. And now we have yet another film, which is going simple on the title level and leaving it at Dracula.

And the movie is… fine. But it feels like if you’re going to do this story again, especially right now, fine isn’t quite enough.

Written and directed by Luc Besson, this version is a more direct adaptation of the novel than other recent takes on the story (Nosferatu’s name-changed version aside), with Caleb Landry Jones starring as our not-so-good count. But where the credits only say the film is based on Bram Stoker’s novel, it sure seems like they should have thanked screenwriter James V. Hart and director Francis Ford Coppola as well, because wow does this version owe a lot to their 1992 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

It was Coppola’s movie that directly introduced the idea that Mina, the girl Dracula is targeting in Stoker’s original story, is the reincarnation of his great love from when he was human. Besson’s film uses that concept as its central conceit, even echoing some of the structure changes that movie added to the story, with a similar opening where a pre-vampire Vlad returns from war, only to find he’s lost Elizabeth (played here by Zoë Bleu, who also plays Mina) – albeit with the specifics changed up of how and why this occurred.

Also riding the line between loving homage and blatant copying is the look of the decrepit Dracula when Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid) goes to his castle, which is very clearly modeled after Gary Oldman’s memorable makeup and white wig in the 1992 version, which at the time was a very new spin on Dracula. All of which makes this a Dracula movie with an uphill battle, because on the surface, rather than justifying its existence with an interesting new take on Dracula, it’s mimicking someone else’s interesting take on Dracula.

And yet there are points where the movie was winning me over. This is an aggressively weird film at times, which leans into comedy more than you might expect, and some of it is legitimately strangely funny. That includes the scenes between Jonathan and Dracula, in which the unaware lawyer is fumbling with his papers and keeps missing “You’re with a vampire!” red flags like the Count killing a mouse and draining its blood into a cup to drink or using the telekinesis powers he leans heavily on in this movie to rid himself of a potential weapon that could be used against him. There’s also a moment where a vampire is decapitated that includes a rather hysterical physical comedy beat that felt like it was out of a Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell Evil Dead movie in terms of bonkers, cartoon-style zaniness mixed with gore.

If the movie had just fully committed to this sort of tone, it probably would have been for the best, but it also seems like we’re meant to take its central love story – and how Dracula’s adoration for Elizabeth has kept him going for hundreds of years until he meets Mina – and be truly invested in it. But that never really clicks in, because it’s all too heightened and plays too silly from the start. This goes for an opening montage of Vlad and Elizabeth in their oh-so happy days before he’s sent to war that has so much grinning and frolicing – they’re gleefully jumping around! They’re having a playful food fight! – that it feels like it’s from The Naked Gun.

One of the most curious yet intriguing elements of the movie is its choice of lead actor. Caleb Landry Jones is extremely talented, as proven in projects like Get Out, Twin Peaks: The Return, and Nitram. But as much as it’s great to see actors stretch themselves in different types of roles, there’s a reason Landry’s been cast as so many quirky characters – whether they be troubled, outright villains, or goodhearted – and that’s because there’s a certain aura he projects and excels at.

Little about his presence or physicality is a great fit for the early scenes in Dracula where we’re meant to believe he’s the greatest, most skilled warrior on the battlefield in his prior human life. And despite being in his mid-30s, Jones also still looks quite boyish, which makes him an odd fit for the would-be debonair, sophisticated version of Dracula who seeks to woo Mina. Still, Jones is always compelling on screen, and he excels in offbeat scenes like the ones in which Dracula is toying with Jonathan – including when he lets out one hell of an amazing wild and wheezing extended laugh when the lawyer manages to amuse him.

What’s funny is that Besson has basically said this version of Dracula exists because, after working with him on 2023’s Dogman, he was so taken with Jones that he crafted his script with the actor in mind. Besson has had a lot of misfires and duds in recent years, and he’s never been able to consistently recapture the strength of his early output in the 1990s when he was delivering films like La Femme Nikita, The Professional and The Fifth Element. With Dracula, he shows he still has a good eye and, while the movie strains within what is clearly a restricted budget, often looking smaller than you feel it’s meant to, there are some clever visual flourishes, such as the image of an army standing across a burning horizon. But then there are the little CGI gargoyles who serve as Dracula’s minions, which are among a few baffling additions.

Perhaps the oddest addition to the Dracula lore here is that rather than simply giving him the power to enthrall, he uses a special perfume that magically puts women under his sway, which is represented by a full blown dance number montage of women adoring him. That sequence is sort of fun, but it’s also kind of dumb, and it feels rather random like much of the film. I suspect its randomness will work better for some than others, because there is something to be said for going this wacky at times. But it never feels all that cohesive and never truly takes off.

The supporting cast are all solid, led by the great Christoph Waltz as this film’s version of the vampire hunter Van Helsing – here reimagined as a never-named priest who’s seen it all. It’s not exactly a challenging role, as Waltz is given plenty of semi-snarky comedic throwaway lines, the likes of which he can deliver in his sleep at this point, although it is funny that the actor has now appeared in new versions of both Frankenstein and Dracula within just a few months of each other.

Star Wars Outlaws was one of the most anticipated games of 2024, but it didn't quite deliver the sales Ubisoft was expecting. In IGN's Star Wars Outlaws review, we called it "a fun intergalactic heist adventure with great exploration" despite overly simplified stealth and repetitive combat. As a game, it definitely wasn't one of the more successful ventures we've seen in the series.

Like any Star Wars creation, however, it's clearly backed by the sprawling universe that is Star Wars lore. It may not have sold well as a AAA game, but there were a lot of good pieces within that were still able to take fans off to that galaxy far, far away. And now that a couple years have passed, we're actually getting a Star Wars prequel in the form of a book that take the story even further.

Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon Is Now Available

From portable gaming handhelds to smartphones, our lives rely on portable, untethered electronics, and it can't hurt to always have a charger on hand. Amazon is currently offering a Baseus Picogo 100W USB Type-C wall charger for just $21.99 after you apply coupon code "F7BPDQ7D". You don't need to be an Amazon Prime member to get this deal. This diminutive adapter can fast charge even the most power hungry handheld gaming PCs like the ROG Xbox Ally X.

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It never ceases to amaze me all the different types of games that designers can create from the same source material. One property that exemplifies that in recent years is The Lord of the Rings. Last year, we took a look at The Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Game, and now the adventure continues with the next entry, The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game, designed by Bryan Bornmueller and published by Asmodee. Whether you played the previous game or not, it’s time to don your leather armor, because The Two Towers is well worth picking up.

As the name implies, The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game plays like your typical trick-taking game, with players competing to win hands of cards – referred to as tricks – by playing and following a special suit that is led at the start of each round. What makes The Two Towers (and its predecessor) unique is that it's a purely cooperative game.

While I knew this going in, having not played The Fellowship of the Ring, I wasn’t entirely sure how this was going to work – but in a few moments, it quickly became clear, and I found it rather clever. In order to progress, each character has to succeed in their respective goals, such as the Gimli player being required to win six mountain-suited cards or Boromir winning two tricks before the Black Tower card is played, and no more afterwards. What makes The Two Towers (and the previous game) a cooperative experience is that, while you are still competing against other players to take the tricks, the team is working to complete every one of the active characters’ goals.

Included in the small box are 19 chapters to play through, though “scenarios” would be a more apt term to describe them. Each of the chapters gives you a number of options. You have different playable characters to choose from. You can play either a short or long version of the chapter. You can even add in new characters or objectives. With short missions, you only need to complete a single game with all players successfully completing their goals. Long missions require you and your friends to play through multiple games back-to-back in order to complete all the possible characters' objectives, with losing scrapping any progress you'd made so far (though you can just opt to replay those characters too).

What makes The Two Towers (and its predecessor) unique is that it's a purely cooperative game.

The Two Towers is billed as a standalone expansion, but a standalone “continuation” may be more appropriate, which would make sense considering the source material. If you played The Fellowship, The Two Towers will feel incredibly similar. There are a couple of new types of cards, including the Orcs, which can only be played when you can’t follow, can never win a trick; worst of all, if you are forced to lead with an Orc, you all lose the chapter.

The White and Black Tower cards are also new, with each one always winning the trick they are played during but canceling each other out if played during the same one. The White Tower also fills in for the One Ring from the previous game, with whoever is dealt the card assuming the role of Aragorn and the first hand’s leader.

Individual games are pretty quick, with a typical short mission only taking up maybe 10–15 minutes. The length of longer missions, since they are composed of multiple full games to complete, fluctuate depending on how many games you end up needing to play. The short turnaround makes this a great option to bust out whether you only have time for a quick-playing game, or you want to do a marathon and get through a bunch of chapters in a single go over the course of an afternoon.

I appreciate when games offer that sort of flexibility. These short game times are helped along with the overall small footprint the game takes up, both in terms of its box and tablespace. As someone who loves to frequent my local tavern much like a hobbit, the fact that the box can easily fit into a backpack or purse is a nice touch.

My experience with the trick-taking genre has been mostly with straightforward, competitive games like Euchre, where I’ve only had to deal with navigating around a trump suit. I've found myself enamored with The Two Towers and its cooperative approach. Celebrating a shared victory with the entire table thanks to a clutch trump on the last hand to secure the win has a vastly different feeling than pulling a surprise trick in Euchre that wins a game for just your team. There is also no feeling quite like being forced to play an Orc card and losing it all in Euchre, either.

From a visual standpoint, I adore the stained glass aesthetic of all of the cards and artwork, and busting this game out at my local brewery, its visuals have caused more than a couple of fellow tavern visitors to stop and ask, “What’s that?!”. The cards themselves almost garnered more glances than our random outbursts cursing orcs (but only just).

There is a solo and a two-player mode, and while I only dabbled in the solo mode, my wife and I enjoyed the two-player variation. This variant features a third game-controlled player whose hand of cards is placed in a reveal pyramid, with only cards that aren’t covered up able to be played. It reminded me a lot of 7 Wonders Duel, but I enjoyed it more than managing multiple hands in solo mode. To be fair, though, I’m not much of a solo board game player in the first place.

As much as I have enjoyed actually playing The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game, my favorite part of the game has surprisingly been the moment each new chapter scenario is revealed. As someone who loves fantasy books, and especially The Lord of the Rings, I always get a kick out of seeing how the next moments of the book will be represented, what new character cards are pulled, and what we have to do next. Much like Fellowship, once all of the chapters are complete, a repeatable mode rule is there to let you and your group play afterwards, coming up with challenging character combinations and goals as you want. And for those who own Fellowship, there are rules to mix the two games’ characters together once the campaign is done, though both games’ cards have unique backs so you will always be able to separate them back out again.

For those who own Fellowship, there are rules to mix the two games’ characters together.

My main critique, and a minor one at that, is that I would have appreciated heavier strategic elements. Even with the various goals of the characters and twists of the chapters to keep things interesting, I would have loved some aspect that lends itself more to strategy than the more luck-based nature these sorts of games lean toward. But even this complaint is more a “wouldn’t it be neat if…” sort of wish.

After playing The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game, I was instantly searching online to get myself the Fellowship version, as I just wanted more. The cooperative take on the trick-taking genre, mixed with beloved characters and the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien, meshes wonderfully into a solid and replayable package. Seeing as it's a cooperative game makes this a solid choice to introduce the genre to new folks , but if you aren’t a fan of trick takers at a mechanical level, I’m not sure this will win you over. Still, thanks to its small footprint and easy setup, The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game is an easy recommendation, and a must-get if you loved the Fellowship version.

Where to Buy

The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game

Fresh from her appearance at the Grammys, Pink Pony Club singer Chappell Roan is hot to go in Fortnite this week.

Roan is the latest music icon set to headline the game's Fortnite Festival mode, which will feature a redesigned main stage decorated like a medieval castle — inspired by her recent tour.

Music Pass owners, including Fortnite Crew subscribers, will get the basic Chappell Roan outfit included, alongside themed instruments. But, as ever, there will be a snazzier, second skin available from the Fortnite Shop: the Roan of Arc outfit, inspired by her 2024 VMAs costume.

Based on the already-popular game series, the Pokémon anime became a cultural phenomenon almost immediately after it was first released in the '90s. A quarter-century later, the franchise is about as long as legendary anime like One Piece.

Unlike something like One Piece or Dragon Ball, which have a continuous, serialized story, Pokémon is more of an episodic narrative with mostly standalone episodes. Even though there is a progression from series to series, you could theoretically skip around and watch the ones that interest you the most without being completely lost.

Still, the era of streaming splitting everything up between multiple platforms makes finding (let alone watching) the entirety of Pokémon a mighty task. That's why we're here: to round up where you can watch every Pokémon season and movie online.

How Long Is the Pokémon Series?

The Pokémon series so far includes over 1300 episodes across 27 seasons. There are also 23 animated Pokémon movies and the live-action Detective Pikachu film. In addition to the streaming links listed below, most of the Pokémon series is available on DVD.

How to Watch Pokémon Online (in Order)

For American audiences, the Pokémon series is split across quite a few streaming services. The original series as well as the most recent seasons can be found on U.S. Netflix, while some seasons can be found on free streaming sites like Tubi. Hoopla, which requires a library card but is otherwise free, has a "Pokémon Bingepass" that includes Seasons 6-13 of the anime series and is the only way to stream seasons 6-10 online.

Otherwise, Prime Video has a Pokémon channel add-on for $2.99/month that lets you stream a decent chunk of the series that isn't available elsewhere. Prime Video subscriptions, including the Pokémon channel, offer a seven-day free trial for those trying to watch a specific movie or series for free. Just remember to cancel your subscription before it auto-renews.

1. Pokémon Indigo League (1997)

Pokémon the Series: Season 1

The season that started it all! This one is full of exciting moments, but also rather emotional ones — including a final heartbreak that sets the stage for Pokémon's approach to winning and losing.

Where to Stream: Netflix

2. Pokémon: The First Movie (1998)

One of the best Pokémon movies, this is as big a '90s time capsule as they come, with a bangin' soundtrack and some big tear-jerking sequences ("Brother My Brother" never fails to hit hard).

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

3. Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution (2019)

A CGI remake of the first movie, it notoriously removes what made the original so endearing, namely, the soundtrack. But it does have more Mewtwo than the U.S. version of the original.

Where to Stream: Netflix

4. Pokémon Adventures in Orange Islands (1999)

Pokémon the Series: Season 2

A downgrade from the first season, but nevertheless an exciting Pokémon adventure. Here we meet a new companion in Tracy, and the Orange League tournament is one of the show's best.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokémon add-on) or YouTube

5. Pokémon The Movie 2000 — The Power of One (1999)

A fascinating villain, world-ending stakes, and some cool visuals make this one of the best Pokémon movies. Plus, it gives Team Rocket arguably their best arc in the whole franchise.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

6. Pokémon The Johto Journeys (1999)

Pokémon the Series: Season 3

The start of the Gold and Silver series, this one has a very underrated opening song, and a whole new set of Pokémon! It can't be understated how cool it was to see this in 1999, before it became an obvious and expected tradition.

Where to Stream: Prime Video

7. Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown (2000)

Aside from some very dated CGI, this film has an interesting WandaVision-esque cosmic story that's more introspective than the previous two. The relationship between Entei and Molly makes the movie work.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokémon add-on)

8. Pokémon Johto League Champions (2000)

Pokémon the Series: Season 4

The finale of the Johto adventures, this season sees Ash reach the Johto League tournament aka the Silver Conference, with expected results.

Where to Stream: Prime Video

9. Pokémon 4Ever: Celebi- Voice of the Forest (2001)

Time-travel shenanigans in Pokémon! The movies were already weird before, but this one turns it up to 11 and paves the way for the extremely weird stories to come.

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

10. Pokémon Master Quest (2001)

Pokémon the Series: Season 5

The end of the original Pokémon franchise, and the first one to be animated digitally, the season features a thrilling fight with Gary.

Where to Stream: Prime Video

11. Pokémon Heroes: Latias and Latios (2002)

This movie has a gorgeous Venice-inspired location, an exciting Pokémon race, and a rather bizarre final twist involving shapeshifting.

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

12. Pokémon Advanced (2002)

Pokémon the Series: Season 6

Ash moves to a new region, meets new friends in May and Max, and meets even more new Pokémon after abandoning all his friends (except Pikachu).

Where to Stream: Hoopla

13. Pokémon: Jirachi, Wish Maker (2003)

This is where Pokémon start getting terrifying when you stop to think about them. An ancient Pokémon awakens and a kaiju Pokémon is resurrected to cause devastation.

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

14. Pokémon Advanced Challenge (2003)

Pokémon the Series: Season 7

May's quest to become a Pokémon Coordinator makes for an interesting parallel to Ash's story, putting 10-year-old Ash in a sort of mentor role. At the same time, the Team Magma and Team Aqua subplots are quite entertaining.

Where to Stream: Hoopla

15. Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys (2004)

The one where they go to a city based on Vancouver, this movie features an alien Pokémon coming from space to conquer the Earth. This is the kaiju era of the franchise, and it rules.

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

16. Pokémon Advanced Battle (2004)

Pokémon the Series: Season 8

The adventure continues with Ash trying to gather enough medals to enter the Battle Frontier tournament.

Where to Stream: Hoopla

17. Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2005)

Mew is back! And we get one of the best Pokémon of them all in Lucario (fight me). This movie has one of the most emotional climaxes in the franchise.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

18. Pokémon Battle Frontier (2005)

Pokémon the Series: Season 9

The final part of the Advanced seasons is all about the big tournament, with plenty of cool battles and the return of fan-favorite Pokémon.

Where to stream: Hoopla

19. Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (2006)

What if Pokémon did Atlantis: The Lost Empire? Or, more accurately, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water? The result is a movie full of pirates, environmental themes, and water-themed fun.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

20. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (2006)

Pokémon the Series: Season 10

A vast improvement over the previous season, this time Ash's new Pokémon Coordinator companion, Dawn, is much more developed than May, and we get a fascinating new rival trainer in Paul.

Where to Stream: The Roku Channel or Prime Video

21. Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (2007)

The first part of a fantastic trilogy, this movie is close to being a full-on cosmic horror film. The titular Darkrai is quite Lovecraftian in nature, making for a darker, more sinister movie.

Where to Stream: Hulu or Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

22. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension (2007)

Pokémon the Series: Season 11

This is where the dynamic between Ash and Dawn pays off as we see them being challenged in unique ways. Plus, the emergence of Team Galactic raises the stakes and stands apart from previous evil teams.

Where to Stream: The Roku Channel

23. Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior (2008)

The second chapter in the trilogy ups the trippy ante, trapping Ash and his friends in a bizarre mirror dimension. Giratina is a terrifying creature, a kaiju-like god of chaos whose ability to manipulate reality elevates it above other Pokémon villains.

Where to Stream: Hulu or Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

24. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles (2008)

Pokémon the Series: Season 12

Team Galactic is on the offensive and they threaten to wreak havoc on the Pokémon world. Meanwhile, Ash fights Paul in a thrilling duel that's not just about their skills, but their opposing philosophies about Pokémon.

Where to Stream: The Roku Channel

25. Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life (2009)

The end of the movie trilogy goes takes the franchise to a theological place, with Arceus presenting itself as an actual PokéGod. This is a very wild movie, essentially a biblical epic, but with Pokémon, plus there is a lot of time-travel.

Where to Stream: Hulu or Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

26. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors (2010)

Pokémon the Series: Season 13

Team Rocket is back! And they are up to no good. Meanwhile, Ash tries to qualify for the Sinnoh League while Dawn trains to compete in the Grand Festival.

Where to Stream: The Roku Channel

27. Pokémon Zoroark – Master of Illusions (2010)

Another movie about trying to control a powerful Pokémon and upsetting the balance of nature, leading to widespread destruction. It's not the most original of the movies.

Where to Stream: Hulu or Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

28. Pokémon Black and White (2010)

Pokémon the Series: Season 14

We have a new land, new Pokémon, and two new companions! Iris and Cilan join Ash on their new adventure as he also encounters Team Plasma — who actually oppose Team Rocket and want to free Pokémon!

Where to Stream: Tubi

29. Pokémon the Movie: Black – Victini and Reshiram (2011)

Now, this is an interesting experiment. Two parts of the same story, the "Reshiram/Zekrom" movies, much like the game, feature virtually the same story only swapping out the central Pokémon.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

30. Pokémon the Movie: White – Victini and Zekrom (2011)

Virtually the same movie, but rather than Ash encountering Reshiram, he sees the legendary Pokémon Zekrom. There's an island on the verge of destruction, an angry Pokémon, and a world to save.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

31. Pokémon Black and White: Rival Destinies (2011)

Pokémon the Series: Season 15

Much like the Black and White games served as a soft reboot of the game series, so is this season also a reboot of sorts. Sadly, this means Ash is no longer a veteran with a bad track record, but a rookie once again.

Where to Stream: Tubi

32. Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs the Sword of Justice (2012)

A rare Pokémon movie that focuses not on the humans, but a critter named Keldeo who wishes to join a Pokémon supersquad. It's a heartfelt story about Pokémon and their goals and dreams.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

33. Pokémon Black and White: Adventures in Unova and Beyond (2012)

Pokémon the Series: Season 16

Though they have foiled Team Rocket, there is new danger lurking in the shadows. Meanwhile, Ash is ready to face the Unova League while Iris heads to a Village of Dragons to help inspire her Dragonite.

Where to Stream: Tubi

34. Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened (2013)

The one where Pokémon becomes Jurassic Park. An ancient Pokémon species is resurrected and they immediately start wreaking havoc — until a familiar face arrives to save the day.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

35. Pokémon XY (2013)

Pokémon the Series: Season 17

Ash once again trades his companions, this time being joined by the inventor Clemond, his little sister Bonnie, and the Pokémon performer Serena. Together they venture through the Kalos region and encounter numerous new Pokémon.

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

36. Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014)

Greedy collectors try to capture a gem-based Pokémon princess, and only Ash can stop them. It's another movie with a rather basic plot that's been repeated better elsewhere on this list.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

37. Pokémon XY: Kalos Quest (2013)

Pokémon the Series: Season 18

There is a reason this series is considered peak Pokémon. It has a rather heroic portrayal of Ash, some of the best battles in the entire anime, and quite a lot of excitement when it comes to the new Mega Evolutions.

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

38. Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (2015)

An imp-like Pokémon imprisoned in a bottle is released and starts playing pranks, but his shadow starts growing into a giant evil version of itself. This is one of the most fun Pokémon deities, and reason enough to watch this movie.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

39. Pokémon XYZ (2013)

Pokémon the Series: Season 19

Team Flare makes its move against the legendary Zygarde which is prophesied to destroy all of Kalos. Meanwhile Ash finally competes in the Kalos League Conference.

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

40. Pokémon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (2016)

A steampunk location gives this movie a unique look that matches the more mechanical Pokémon that are the stars of the show. It also features a villain on a flying fortress war machine, making one cool fantasy movie.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

41. Pokémon Sun and Moon (2016)

Pokémon the Series: Season 20

A big departure from the seasons that preceded it, this season boasts a unique art style and a more emotional journey for Ash than we've seen before. This is considered either the pinnacle of the series or a huge letdown, depending on who you ask.

Where to Stream: Hulu or The Roku Channel

42. Pokémon Sun and Moon: Ultra Adventures (2017)

Pokémon the Series: Season 21

After 20 years, Pokémon remembers Ash is still a 10-year-old, so he finally goes to school rather than live in the wilderness. Meanwhile, an organization all about Pokémon conservation turns out to be quite shady, and Ash also has visions of legendary Pokémon.

Where to Stream: Hulu

43. Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (2017)

A loose reboot of the anime's pilot episode, this movie is good for those who want to relive the most iconic moments from the show's early days and those who want to enter the franchise. Also, this is the movie where Pikachu talks, and it is absolutely terrifying.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

44. Pokémon Sun and Moon: Ultra Legends (2018)

Pokémon the Series: Season 22

It's tournament time! But that's not Ash has on his mind, because the Alola region is in danger and it is up to Ash and his friends to save it from destruction.

Where to Stream: Hulu

45. Pokémon The Power of Us (2018)

A continuation of the reboot timeline of I Choose You, this movie is a loose remake of Pokémon: The Movie 2000, just never as good as the original.

Where to Stream: Prime Video (with Pokemon add-on)

46. Pokémon Journeys (2019)

Pokémon the Series: Season 23

The beginning of the end, with Ash becoming an official Pokémon researcher exploring the wide world of Pokémon.

Where to Stream: Netflix

47. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

Though not at all part of the official Pokémon order, this is the single best movie in the franchise. The first live-action/animation hybrid, the movie is a hugely entertaining adventure filled with Easter Eggs, and a clear love letter to the franchise.

Where to Stream: You have to rent or purchase this one digitally (see at Prime Video)

48. Pokémon Master Journeys (2020)

Pokémon the Series: Season 24

This is where things get very interesting. While Ash is climbing the rankings of the World Coronation Series, he and his friends discover strange occurrences happening in the Galar region, including clones and Pokémon devolving. Stakes don't get higher than literal gods intervening.

Where to Stream: Netflix or Prime Video

49. Pokémon Secrets of the Jungle (2020)

Small stakes, a more intimate movie, and a Tarzan-like story make this a standout Pokémon movie. In short, it rules.

Where to Stream: Netflix

50. Pokémon Ultimate Journeys (2021)

Pokémon the Series: Season 25

This is it. The moment of truth. At this point, there's no hiding it, if you aren't aware that Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town becomes the Pokémon World Champion, you've been living under a rock. This is the culmination of nearly a quarter-century's worth of Pokémon, a highly emotional season that reintroduces old friends like Misty and Brock, has some spectacular action animation, the return of a fan-favorite song, and a perfect end to the story of Ash and Pikachu.

Where to Stream: Netflix or Prime Video

51. Pokémon Horizons (2023)

Pokémon the Series: Season 26

After saying goodbye to Ash and Pikachu, we meet two new protagonists — Liko and Roy, who are joined by Frede and his companion Captain Pikachu. It's a brand new Pokémon adventure!

Where to Stream: Netflix

52. Pokémon Concierge (2023)

One of the best Pokémon series ever isn't even part of the main story, or even in traditional animation. Instead, this stop-motion show follows Haru as she arrives to work at a Pokémon resort and encounters all kinds of Pokéguests and Pokéemployees.

Where to Stream: Netflix

53. Pokémon Horizons – The Search for Laqua (2024)

Pokémon the Series: Season 27

Part of the appeal of Horizons is that it's a more traditional anime, with an arc-based structure and a bigger focus on adventure. There are mysteries to solve, new challenges, battles, and enemies.

Where to Stream: Netflix

54. Pokémon Concierge Season 2 (2024)

The stop-motion show returned for a second season that was extremely cuddly and heartwarming.

Where to Stream: Netflix

55. Pokémon Horizons – Rising Hope (2025)

Pokémon the Series: Season 28

The third season of Pokémon Horizons focuses on the aftermath of the collapse of Laqua, the attempts at reforming the Rising Volt Tacklers (who continue to be up to no good), and the backstories of Roy and Ult.

Where to Stream: Netflix

What’s Next for the Pokémon Series?

There is no stopping Pokémon. Pokémon Horizons continues to release new episodes, and it’s likely to keep going for at least a few more years. We also know there is going to be a brand new stop-motion Pokémon project titled Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures Of Sirfetch'd & Pichu for 2027 and animated by legendary British studio Aardman.

Rafael Motamayor is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything anime and animation.

Any game built around gacha mechanics needs to have a certain hook to keep things interesting in the long term, especially if there’s potential to invest your hard-earned dollars into it. For all their systemic sins, Game of Thrones: Kingsroad and Persona 5: The Phantom X at least piqued my interest by expanding on already-revered lore, allowing me to entwine myself in their beloved worlds. The much more enjoyable Zenless Zone Zero, on the other hand, pulled me in with a mix of high-octane combat, endearing character development, and Y2K flair. Arknights: Endfield is the latest competitor in this genre’s fierce attention economy, offering not only an engrossing sci-fi open world to explore, but another mechanically moreish addition: base building and automation. It’s a clever combination that keeps you pushing, but, after 38 hours of grinding, I’ve found that Arknights leans a little too heavily on the tropes of the genre, and stops it just short of feeling like anything more than another solid gacha option to consider for your rotation.

You play as the Endministrator (or Endmin for short) who, after a 10-year absence and an unfortunate case of amnesia, returns to the world of the living to rebuild society on the planet of Talos-II and usher in a new era of safety for its inhabitants. Taming the wilds is no small task, though, and on top of trying to remember who you were before your big sleep, you’ll also face off against a range of evil entities, including leather-clad maurauders, shifting zoomorphic creatures, and other mythic, well-dressed baddies. It’s an intriguing premise framed in a collapsing cyberpunk world, unfortunately dulled by an exposition-heavy opening with awkward stop-and-start pacing. Thankfully, this dialogue-dense beginning does eventually open up somewhat, giving you the freedom to seek out battles across the planet’s atmospheric landscape.

With a set of companions in tow, you’ll venture to the surface of Talos-II to hunt for resources, solve simple environmental platforming puzzles, and clear out zones that you can then access in a larger metagame to construct and automate machinery. To do this, you’ll build a team of up to four Operators who fight and collect items alongside you to push the lengthy story ever onwards. Early on, you’ll have a limited pool of story-specific characters to play as, like the masked Endmin, the empathetic and mission-oriented Perlica, and the spirited Chen Qianyu, though eventually you’ll be able to use a gacha currency to randomly pull new pals, too. Endfield doesn’t have the most imaginative gameplay in the genre – most puzzles involve finding and pressing a few buttons, and you’ll soon tire of trawling through the same few groups of bad guys to dominate an area. The striking cyberpunk setting does much of the heavy lifting here, especially as you transform the oppressive industrial areas into machinery-filled green spaces.

While I’d like to say the story-related issues dry up after the early game, pacing problems do come back to haunt this otherwise compelling experience, particularly as you start to wrestle with the mid-to-late game. The gap between thoughtfully designed missions and filler expeditions is far more obvious, and while some jaunts do well to provide snippets of lore, the lion’s share are monotonous fetch quests. This split is especially frustrating, as there are genuinely interesting story threads to pull at, not only about the Endmin themself but the precarious political situations surrounding their organisation.

Throughout my playthrough, I enjoyed meeting a growing cast of triumphant heroes and elegant villains, like the leather-clad matriarch Nefarith, whose malevolent tone is as enthralling as it is threatening. New locations, like the bamboo-filled Wuling, also appear just in time to liven things up as the angular design of the opening areas starts to wane. Spirited vocal performances and sporadic helpings of humorous writing certainly add personality to the otherwise jargon-heavy story, too, which helped alleviate fatigue as I bashed my head against the same few mission types.

It goes without saying that there is an eye-watering array of currencies to consider here – a painful staple of gacha games. On top of the usual lottery-style pulls, which allows you to randomly unlock unique characters and weapons, there’s also a paid Battle Pass that rewards you with resources that can be filtered into systems that help speed up progression. You can find items to upgrade your weapon skills, as well as bolster your combat stats, with variant currencies offering specific amounts of level-boosting potency – it’s a monetary mouthful to say the least. If you aren’t keen on buying them, you can still find most currencies on the map or by completing daily challenges, but this is, as you can imagine, like wading through treacle. As costs rise and resources become more scarce, there’s an obvious incentive to pay to skip the hassle of hunting for yourself. It’s not entirely egregious, and I found that I could resist the credit card's call in this case. But that speaks more to my own stubbornness than Arknights' balance, which is inconsistent at best.

It’s not all bad, though, and one area Arknights makes a mark is in its character designs. In the early hours, I was more than happy with my humble team of hardworking warriors, but my feelings began to shift once I’d earned the currency needed to try out the character lottery. Every character you meet throws out a handful of quippy one-liners and flashy moves that are effective enough to tug on the heartstrings. There’s the cute peak-shredding Snowshine, whose fuzzy bear shoes and jumbo buster sword are immediately endearing. Another favorite is Arclight, a cyberpunk rendition of the Energizer bunny who dazzles with sparks and sharp movements. There’s plenty of variety available in the roster, and it’s clear developer Hypergryph has taken care to make each character stand out – so it doesn’t feel too bad when you don’t pull your dream bias.

It’s also handy that if, or more likely when, you pull multiples of the same character, you’ll earn tokens that can be used to update their “Potential,” boosting their battle stats and earning some cute art cards to boot. No matter how lucky you think you are, you’ll always pull the less desirable characters more often, and this system does well to soften the pain of seeing the same face pop up time and time again. Think of it like psychological warfare, but adorable!

Beyond their appearance, I also enjoy how a character’s personality tends to shape how they move in battle, and the flashy, if simple, combat quickly became my favourite aspect of Arknights. Connecting hits are delivered with vibrant visual payoff, so much so that even my silly mistakes looked like intentional moves. As you explore, you’ll encounter groups of various enemies camped out, like sedimentary spiders or sword-wielding bandits, all of which feature level indicators hovering above their heads. Once ready to engage, you run directly at them, weapons brandished, and start violently mashing buttons to begin your assault.

Instead of controlling the Edmin alone, you can switch between all the members of your team in battle, applying flashy combos that feel engaging in motion and extremely easy to pull off. Each character has a dodge, a light attack, and a special attack that string together nicely, delivering well-choreographed synergies. Once you knock back an enemy and start to juggle them, you can also call in your compatriots to deliver electrifying blows that feel slick in motion – the Endmin flips around in style, while Perlica shoots volts through her opposition. As with the Arknights' story, this too can lose its lustre as you push deeper into it and realize there’s only so much to find. That said, there is some meditative comfort to be found in the repetition.

Outside of combat, the rest of your time is spent investing in the infrastructure of your base. Unlike the complex, automation-based gameplay of beloved factory management simulators Factorio and Satisfactory, Arknights’ base building is much more tame. And, thanks to lengthy explanations delivered by NPCs and the option to import handy prefabricated designs, it’s a process that ensures even the most build-averse players can create a functioning base of operations. Paying attention to this system may seem unimportant at first, but these buildings are key to delivering all-important resources. Investing in them early is important if you want to avoid the draw of the easily clickable shop.

First, you’ll plant electric pylons and connect them with relay towers to supply electricity to the area. Though soon enough, you’ll also be able to implement mining as well as machinery that can refine and process raw materials, grinding them and cooking them into new, more useful shapes. Where you choose to implement your power also filters into the platforming challenges in the open world, and you’ll need to find and power hungry machinery and unlock broken-down bases to solve puzzles and unlock more loot. As someone who hasn’t always enjoyed the intense, efficiency-focused approach of similar automation games, Arknights provides a friendly alternative that’s ripe for community collaboration and experimentation, and it does well to fuel exploration in the open-world setting.