ELDEN RING

The FFXIV Healer’s Kiss of Death, and Other Creative Player-Made Twists

In many modern games, achievements are like veins. They’re vital for circulation of blood, ideas, and life in a game’s body. Official achievements can range from finishing main storyline quests, earning impressive combat stats, or even “making mistakes,” so to speak. When I forgot to equip my characters with cards…

READ MORE >
FFXIV WHM BiS doesn't mean you have to clear Savage raids.

FEATURES

Is Touhou Project Just Japanese Homestuck?

In this week’s podcast transcript for Channel F (a Video Game Podcast About Video Games™), the looming threat of 2022’s inevitable Game of the Year discussions finally rears its ugly, perpetual head. We all knew this day would come, but does that lessen its venomous sting? (You can also listen…

READ MORE >
channel F 175 podcast transcript

PODCASTS

Elden Ring 1.06 Patch Nerfs Bloodhound Step, Removes PVP Requirement For White Mask Varre Quest

Elden Ring’s latest 1.06 patch is bringing several changes, but some of the most notable are in its nerfing of some of the game’s most effective (or broken, as some might argue) abilities. like Bloodhound Step. We’re just about six months removed from launch, but From Software is making some notable…

READ MORE >
Elden Ring 1.06 Patch Nerfs Bloodhound Step, Removes PVP Requirement For White Mask Varre Quest

NEWS

FOLLOW US

From Software Might Be Teasing Elden Ring DLC with a Crucible Knight Post

This week, the official From Software Steam page dropped an Elden Ring nugget on Steam, in a mysterious news post asking “Who Did the Crucible Knights Serve?” It’s a short post with an enticing header image, with upwards of 800 comments (as of this writing) of speculation, asking the developer…

READ MORE >
elden ring crucible knight

NEWS

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is Going to Find Massive Success in a Post Elden Ring World

This week’s episode of Thanks for the Knowledge features an amazing roundtable discussion about Overwatch 2 with resident expert Kenneth Shepard and lapsed player Mike Williams. I thought the discussion did a great job of explaining exactly why you might be excited about the new information Blizzard just dropped and…

READ MORE >
dragon's dogma

NEWS

How, Exactly, Does One Beat Elden Ring in Under 23 Minutes?

There will be a few spoilers for Elden Ring in the following piece. I have something like 200 hours in Elden Ring (and I’ve still not completed the game.) Many of my colleagues have similar playtimes, as it is an impressively huge and multifaceted world. Its wide-open design means I…

READ MORE >
Elden Ring Spirit Ashes Tier List

FEATURES

An Elden Ring Cutscene Change is Sparking a Morgott Lore Debate

The most recent Elden Ring patch may or may not have made an intentional change to the Demi-God boss, Morgott. While FromSoftware didn’t include a mention of changing the Omen King’s cutscene in patch notes for Elden Ring version 1.04, a new comparison video shows a darker, flameless introduction and…

READ MORE >

NEWS

Co-op and Random Enemy Mods Turn Elden Ring into Delightfully Chaotic Battle Royale

Elden Ring doesn’t support seamless four-player co-op in its vanilla state, but there’s finally a mod doing what FromSoftware won’t. Souls series modder LukeYui, known for his work on security add-ons like Blue Sentinel, just launched the beta version of an Elden Ring overhaul implementing seamless co-op with no restrictions.…

READ MORE >

NEWS

Elon Musk’s Elden Ring Build is Unsurprisingly Half-Baked as Hell

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, prospective owner of Twitter, and social media man-child has been in the news a lot lately. One of those reasons is a report that he allegedly paid an employee $250,000 in hush money to not mention that he reportedly sexually assaulted her. Another reason is…

READ MORE >

NEWS

3 Video Games Like Our Flag Means Death

If you happen to like period romantic comedies about pirates, you’ve probably already heard of HBO’s Our Flag Means Death. The show stars Flight of Conchords‘ Rhys Darby and ubiquitous director and actor Taika Waititi as the real-life pirates Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard. Bonnet, both in the history books and in…

READ MORE >
Our Flag Means Death on HBO

FEATURES

This New Mod for Elden Ring Promises a True Co-op Experience

An upcoming mod for Elden Ring allows up to four players to play in the same world — and its beta launches this Friday. Its creator, modder LukeYui, announced the release date with a video posted to their YouTube channel. The video in question also details the mod’s features, including…

READ MORE >
Elden Ring Multiplayer Mod

NEWS

Pride Is the Ultimate Downfall in Elden Ring

“My name is Malenia, Blade of Miquella, and I have never known defeat.” In all of Elden Ring, this may be the voice line I heard the most. Spoken by one of the most difficult bosses in FromSoftware’s latest, it’s an arrogant boast by a prideful warrior. Malenia, however, is…

READ MORE >

FEATURES

Elden Ring Has Shipped More Than 13.4 Million Units

It probably wasn’t excessively hard to predict that Elden Ring would be a rather big sales success. Sure, there’s historical data to go off of showing that previous titles like Dark Souls and Bloodborne were modest successes that were likely well-scoped with their eventual sales numbers in mind. From the jump, however, Elden Ring…

READ MORE >
Elden Ring

NEWS

Elden Ring Talismans Tier List – Updated June 2022

The best Elden Ring talismans are incredibly hard to pin down. Out of all the gear in the game, they’re arguably the most build-dependent — the most reliant on what you want to specifically accomplish. This means that picking a single “best” talisman in Elden Ring is pretty much impossible. Something…

READ MORE >
elden ring talismans tier list

GUIDES

FromSoftware’s Latest Soundtrack Needs an Elden “Ring” To It

In 2013, Dr. T. J. Harper directed the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Central District Festival Chorus  —  a chorus I was fortunate to be part of in my senior year of high school. Our finale was a piece of traditional Visayan folk music arranged by George Hernandez, called “Rosas…

READ MORE >
Elden Ring

FEATURES

The Best Ways to Cheese Your Way Through Elden Ring

Cheese in Elden Ring is a delicacy. You don’t have to be experienced or knowledgeable with FromSoftware’s catalogue to have it. Cheesy tactics are something every maidenless, Torrent-loving Tarnished can enjoy. The only challenge? Picking where to start! Okay, so we’re not talking about actual cheese, but rather the strategies…

READ MORE >

FEATURES

Elden Ring Update 1.04 Patches Patches, Makes Everything Else Better

Months after launch From Software is treating Elden Ring like it just came out with another enormous balance update: Patch 1.04. Elden Ring already saw one huge overhaul back in March. The update weakened some controversial items and skills (e.g. Mimic Tear and Hoarfrost Stomp). Though it also buffed numerous…

READ MORE >

NEWS

The Hardest Thing About Elden Ring is Ending It

[The following piece has spoilers for Elden Ring. Tread lightly.] I had nearly done it. I was finally about to become the Elden Lord. The Erdtree was on fire, I bested the penultimate boss a mere stone’s throw from the final boss’ entrance, and had turned the capital city of Leyndell…

READ MORE >
Elden Ring Cheese Draconic Tree Sentinel

FEATURES

My Journey to Seek the Best Rune Farming Spot in Elden Ring

So, I’m finally getting to the later (later-ish?) portions of Elden Ring, after almost 88 hours of the game. My old rune-farming location in Caelid (which I’ll talk about later) just isn’t cutting it anymore, even with the impressive boosts I get from the Golden Scarab Talisman (which gives about…

READ MORE >
elden ring header fingers

GUIDES

I Love the Poison Mist Incantation in Elden Ring

Ever since my esteemed colleague Collin MacGregor turned me onto the fact that poison mist could be used to cheese certain strong foes in Elden Ring, I’ve been positively hooked on the incantation. It’s a beautiful, all-purpose, non-aggro spell that suits my cowardly (you might say, “cheese-friendly”) playstyle so perfectly,…

READ MORE >
elden ring poison mist lake of rot

GUIDES