By “we,” I mean Assassin’s Creed fans, who’ve been pulled in all directions by a series that reinvents itself every few iterations. Based on a three-hour remote preview attended by Polygon last week, playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows feels like playing all of the best parts of the series at once. It has the richly detailed cities of Assassin’s Creed 2 plus the sprawling landmass of Valhalla. It has the pathos and intrigue of Origins plus the dual protagonists of Syndicate. It appears to continue the modern-day storyline, which was largely absent from Mirage, the most recent entry. It is both an RPG and a stealth sim, a slick action game and a stunning piece of historical tourism.
Also: You get a grappling hook.
The game is set in Japan near the end of the 16th century, and you play as two characters. Yasuke is based on the IRL historical figure from the Sengoku period, a Black man who served as a samurai to Oda Nobunaga. The game opens with Yasuke meeting Nobunaga for the first time. Naoe, a fictional character, is the other character you play. Her narrative hews to the Assassin’s Creed blueprint: She’s tasked with protecting an important object, loses said important object, a family member dies in the process, and now she’s off on a tale of vengeance and redemption. (The preview showed Yasuke and Naoe interacting in cinematics but did not reveal how their paths first cross.)
Yasuke is billed as the melee combat-focused character. Indeed, he’s an absolute unit. When you miss three parries in a row playing as Yasuke, you’re fine! Just land a few hits on your enemy and they’re done. And, yes, you can do the Spartan kick from Odyssey. Assassin’s Creed games aren’t exactly revered for their non-stealth combat, but Yasuke handled smoothly and precisely, with a weight to each hit (both those given and received). Still, while fighting as Yasuke, I found myself longing for the deft touch of the hidden blade.
The more typical “Assassin” (or “Hidden One,” if you prefer modern Assassin’s Creed parlance) role is filled by Naoe, who indeed wields that hidden blade. Her grappling hook allows you to swing across gaps or rapidly scale certain structures. You can sneak around ramparts and throw knives, picking off enemies from afar. But Naoe is fragile in combat — to the point where detection more often than not results in a “reload latest save” screen. Whenever I died in combat as Naoe, I yearned for Yasuke’s armor.
You can customize both Yasuke and Naoe by changing their equipment. Gear is categorized via the ubiquitous loot pool rainbow, and different pieces of gear bequeath marginal bonuses to various stats that I likely won’t fully grasp until Shadows comes out. There are additionally half a dozen skill trees for both characters. Throughout the preview, I admittedly didn’t spend much time parsing these various menus. That said, it all scanned to me as intriguingly deep and complex, the sort of number-crunching that could maybe, possibly, even sate a Diablo 4 player.
Instead, I spent more time scanning the map, which appeared massive. Shadows features nine provinces, with each province further broken into a series of small regions.. Much like in Valhalla, the map suggests the levels you should be at before exploring a province. Those shown in the preview spanned from levels 23 to 35, though a representative from Ubisoft said the levels for each province range from 3 to 35, suggesting that the recommended level for each province scales as you play. (Yasuke and Naoe were at level 25 in the preview.)
Zoom in, and you’ll see that the regions of each province are littered with question mark icons, all of which are waypoints for side quests, enemy bases, in-game vendors, and other various optional activities. And you can climb (or grapple up!) the tallest structures to scan your environment for any you may have missed on the map.
From the sliver of Shadows I played, none of these side quests featured the particularly memorable bit characters who were so present in Valhalla, like Axehead or Guy Who Is Definitely One-Punch Man. The variety, instead, came from approaching quests as each of the two different characters. In one mission, I played as Naoe, snuck into an enemy compound to retrieve three items, and parkoured my way out of there at lightspeed when I got discovered after grabbing the third. In another, I played as Yasuke, crashing through an enemy compound like a tank. While I didn’t feel very assassin-y, I’ll say that few things are more satisfying than kicking an enemy through a fence with such ferocity the bamboo snaps like twigs.
Switching between two characters, however, creates some friction. In Shadows, to switch between Yasuke and Naoe, you have to pause the game, open the menu, scroll over to your equipment tab, and hold down the X button for a few seconds. There are also nebulous rules about when you can and cannot do so. From what I could gather, you can switch while standing completely still on flat ground when not in the vicinity of enemies. You can’t, however, switch between characters during combat. (Fair.) You can’t switch while climbing or jumping. (Also fair.) And you can’t switch when you were in combat a few minutes ago but then ran really far away from where enemies last saw you and now you’ve been hiding behind a hay cart waiting for the game to stop registering you as “in combat.” (I’ll let you determine whether that feels fair.)
The lack of flexibility in when you can change characters reads as an intentional design choice, as if Shadows is denying you the chance to have as much fun in the sandbox as you’d like. The titular Assassin’s Creed creed stipulates in part that “everything is permitted.” Well, clearly not everything!
This is ultimately a minor gripe for a game that lets you play the hits and is exceedingly fun while doing so. A telling point: When the preview ended, I wanted to keep playing, to keep probing around its world and seeing what secrets I could discover. This appears to be the Assassin’s Creed game that Assassin’s Creed fans have been asking for since at least 2011.
But Assassin’s Creed Shadows undeniably comes at a critical moment for Ubisoft. Even beyond the unflattering headlines from the past few years — which include allegations of institutional misconduct, departures of high-level staff, and reports of a potential buyout — the publisher hasn’t exactly had a banner console generation. While Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was an obvious high-water mark, it’s been mostly downhill from there.
Far Cry 6 and Assassin’s Creed Mirage are the most recent entries in two of Ubisoft’s flagship series, and the company toutedboth as sales successes, yet both rank on Metacritic among the lowest-rated mainline games in their series (second-lowest and third-lowest, respectively), suggesting stagnation for two of the company’s tentpoles. Following years of delays, Skull and Bonesfailedto make a splash. The live-service shooter XDefiant was shut down before it had a chance to prove itself, following in the footsteps of Ubisoft’s similarly short-lived Hyper Scape. The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake was delayed multiple times before getting rebooted internally. The other Prince of Persia game, last year’s The Lost Crown, was genuinely transcendent but missed sales targets by such a margin that Ubisoft scattered its development team to the winds elsewhere inside the company. And most recently, Star Wars Outlaws launched to such tepid critical and commercial reception that Ubisoft itself cited the misfire as a reason for delaying Shadows.
Based on the few hours I’ve played, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a really, really solid game. That’s not the question. The question is if Shadows is solid enough to prop up Ubisoft when it needs it most. Based on the game I saw — a competent entry in a long-running series that nevertheless does little to reinvent the wheel or bring new players into the fold — I’m not entirely convinced it is. But at least Assassin’s Creed fans will get what they’ve been longing for.
⇄⧉description => UTF-8 string (352) "It took me all of five minutes with Assassin’s Creed Shadows to get it: We’r...
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It took me all of five minutes with Assassin’s Creed Shadows to get it: We’re so back, y’all. By “we,” I mean Assassin’s Creed fans, who’ve been pulled in all directions by a series that reinvents itself every few iterations. Based on a three-hour remote preview attended by Polygon last week, playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows […]
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<img alt="Two Assassin’s Creed Shadows characters stand on horseback at night in key art for AC Shadows" src="https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/ac-shadows-horses.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />
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<p class="has-text-align-none">It took me all of five minutes with <em><a href="https://www.polygon.com/game/assassins-creed-shadows/40930">Assassin’s Creed Shadows</a></em> to get it: We’re so back, y’all.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">By “we,” I mean Assassin’s Creed fans, who’ve been pulled in all directions by a series that reinvents itself every few iterations. Based on a three-hour remote preview attended by Polygon last week, playing <em>Assassin’s Creed Shadows</em> feels like playing all of the best parts of the series at once. It has the richly detailed cities of <a href="https://www.polygon.com/game/assassins-creed-2/1753"><em>Assassin’s Creed 2</em></a> plus the sprawling landmass of <a href="https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/11/9/21554755/assassins-creed-valhalla-review-xbox-one-ps4-ps5-xbox-series-x-pc"><em>Valhalla</em></a>. It has the pathos and intrigue of <a href="https://www.polygon.com/sub-gems/23357130/assassins-creed-origins-best-assassins-creed-games-xbox-game-pass"><em>Origins</em></a> plus the dual protagonists of <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2015/10/22/9553029/assassins-creed-syndicate-review-xbox-one-ps4-pc"><em>Syndicate</em></a>. It appears to continue the modern-day storyline, which was largely absent from <a href="https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23901831/assassins-creed-mirage-review-baghdad-steam-release"><em>Mirage</em></a>, the most recent entry. It is both an RPG and a stealth sim, a slick action game and a stunning piece of historical tourism.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Also: You get a grappling hook.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">The game is set in Japan near the end of the 16th century, and you play as two characters. Yasuke is <a href="https://www.polygon.com/24204308/assassins-creed-shadows-yasuke-samurai-ubisoft-controversy">based on the IRL historical figure</a> from the Sengoku period, a Black man who served as a samurai to Oda Nobunaga. The game opens with Yasuke meeting Nobunaga for the first time. Naoe, a fictional character, is the other character you play. Her narrative hews to the Assassin’s Creed blueprint: She’s tasked with protecting an important object, loses said important object, a family member dies in the process, and now she’s off on a tale of vengeance and redemption. (The preview showed Yasuke and Naoe interacting in cinematics but did not reveal how their paths first cross.)</p>
<img alt="" src="https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25449407/ACSH_Screenshot_2_Announce_15052024_6PM_CEST.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,3.4613147178592,100,93.077370564282" title="" />
<p class="has-text-align-none">Yasuke is billed as the melee combat-focused character. Indeed, he’s an absolute unit. When you miss three parries in a row playing as Yasuke, you’re fine! Just land a few hits on your enemy and they’re done. And, yes, you can do the Spartan kick from <a href="https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2018/10/1/17920288/assassins-creed-odyssey-review-ps4-xbox-one-windows-pc"><em>Odyssey</em></a>. Assassin’s Creed games aren’t exactly revered for their non-stealth combat, but Yasuke handled smoothly and precisely, with a weight to each hit (both those given and received). Still, while fighting as Yasuke, I found myself longing for the deft touch of the hidden blade.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">The more typical “Assassin” (or “Hidden One,” if you prefer modern Assassin’s Creed parlance) role is filled by Naoe, who indeed wields that hidden blade. Her grappling hook allows you to swing across gaps or rapidly scale certain structures. You can sneak around ramparts and throw knives, picking off enemies from afar. But Naoe is fragile in combat — to the point where detection more often than not results in a “reload latest save” screen. Whenever I died in combat as Naoe, I yearned for Yasuke’s armor.</p>
<img alt="Naoe stands near a gap in a wall preparing to stab enemies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows" src="https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/ac-shadows-stealth.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,3.4613147178592,100,93.077370564282" title="Naoe stands near a gap in a wall preparing to stab enemies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows" />
<p class="has-text-align-none">You can customize both Yasuke and Naoe by changing their equipment. Gear is categorized via the ubiquitous loot pool rainbow, and different pieces of gear bequeath marginal bonuses to various stats that I likely won’t fully grasp until <em>Shadows</em> comes out. There are additionally half a dozen skill trees for both characters. Throughout the preview, I admittedly didn’t spend much time parsing these various menus. That said, it all scanned to me as intriguingly deep and complex, the sort of number-crunching that could maybe, <em>possibly</em>, even sate a <em>Diablo 4</em> player.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Instead, I spent more time scanning the map, which appeared massive. <em>Shadows</em> features nine provinces, with each province further broken into a series of small regions.. Much like in <em>Valhalla</em>, the map suggests the levels you should be at before exploring a province. Those shown in the preview spanned from levels 23 to 35, though a representative from Ubisoft said the levels for each province range from 3 to 35, suggesting that the recommended level for each province scales as you play. (Yasuke and Naoe were at level 25 in the preview.)</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Zoom in, and you’ll see that the regions of each province are littered with question mark icons, all of which are waypoints for side quests, enemy bases, in-game vendors, and other various optional activities. And you can climb (or grapple up!) the tallest structures to scan your environment for any you may have missed on the map.</p>
<img alt="Two characters sit at a small table in a dimly lit room in Assassin’s Creed Shadows" src="https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/ac-shadows-table-setting.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,3.4613147178592,100,93.077370564282" title="Two characters sit at a small table in a dimly lit room in Assassin’s Creed Shadows" />
<p class="has-text-align-none">From the sliver of <em>Shadows</em> I played, none of these side quests featured the particularly memorable bit characters who were so present in <em>Valhalla</em>, like <a href="https://kotaku.com/rip-to-assassins-creeds-best-npc-a-real-one-1845740505">Axehead</a> or <a href="https://kotaku.com/i-love-assassins-creed-valhallas-excellent-anime-refere-1845666954">Guy Who Is Definitely One-Punch Man</a>. The variety, instead, came from approaching quests as each of the two different characters. In one mission, I played as Naoe, snuck into an enemy compound to retrieve three items, and parkoured my way out of there at lightspeed when I got discovered after grabbing the third. In another, I played as Yasuke, crashing through an enemy compound like a tank. While I didn’t feel very assassin-y, I’ll say that few things are more satisfying than kicking an enemy through a fence with such ferocity the bamboo snaps like twigs.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Switching between two characters, however, creates some friction. In <em>Shadows</em>, to switch between Yasuke and Naoe, you have to pause the game, open the menu, scroll over to your equipment tab, and hold down the X button for a few seconds. There are also nebulous rules about when you can and cannot do so. From what I could gather, you can switch while standing completely still on flat ground when not in the vicinity of enemies. You can’t, however, switch between characters during combat. (Fair.) You can’t switch while climbing or jumping. (Also fair.) And you can’t switch when you were in combat a few minutes ago but then ran really far away from where enemies last saw you and now you’ve been hiding behind a hay cart waiting for the game to stop registering you as “in combat.” (I’ll let you determine whether that feels fair.)</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">The lack of flexibility in when you can change characters reads as an intentional design choice, as if <em>Shadows</em> is denying you the chance to have as much fun in the sandbox as you’d like. The titular Assassin’s Creed creed stipulates in part that “everything is permitted.” Well, clearly not everything!</p>
<img alt="" src="https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25449411/ACSH_Screenshot_5_Announce_15052024_6PM_CEST.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,3.4613147178592,100,93.077370564282" title="" />
<p class="has-text-align-none">This is ultimately a minor gripe for a game that lets you play the hits and is exceedingly fun while doing so. A telling point: When the preview ended, I wanted to keep playing, to keep probing around its world and seeing what secrets I could discover. This appears to be the Assassin’s Creed game that Assassin’s Creed fans have been asking for <a href="https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/11/28/rumour-ubisoft-poll-public-for-future-assassins-creed-locations/">since at least 2011</a>.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">But <em>Assassin’s Creed Shadows</em> undeniably comes at a critical moment for Ubisoft. Even beyond the <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/10/21430881/assassins-creed-director-fired-ubisoft-tom-clancys-elite-squad-blm-logo-controversy-yves-guillemot">unflattering headlines</a> from the past few years — which include <a href="https://kotaku.com/ubisoft-employees-have-grave-concerns-over-toronto-stud-1844277486">allegations</a> of <a href="https://kotaku.com/the-messy-stalled-reckoning-at-an-assassins-creed-co-d-1847336158">institutional misconduct</a>, <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2020/7/6/21314762/ubisoft-vp-maxime-beland-resigns-assault-allegations">departures of high-level staff</a>, and reports of a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/ubisoft-shareholders-talks-over-possible-buyout-terms-sources-say-2024-12-06/">potential buyout</a> — the publisher hasn’t exactly had a banner console generation. While <em>Assassin’s Creed Valhalla</em> was an obvious high-water mark, it’s been mostly downhill from there.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none"><em>Far Cry 6</em> and <em>Assassin’s Creed Mirage</em> are the most recent entries in two of Ubisoft’s flagship series, and the company <a href="https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/three-ubisoft-franchises-individually-earned-300-million-in-net-bookings-in-2021">touted</a> <a href="https://gamerant.com/assassins-creed-mirage-success-ubisoft/">both</a> as sales successes, yet both rank on Metacritic among the lowest-rated mainline games in their series (<a href="https://www.metacritic.com/search/far%20cry/">second-lowest</a> and <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/search/assassins%20creed/?page=2&category=13">third-lowest</a>, respectively), suggesting stagnation for two of the company’s tentpoles. Following years of delays, <em>Skull and Bones</em> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/game/skull-and-bones/">failed</a> <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/03/09/skull-and-bones-looks-like-its-doing-worse-than-suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league/">to make a splash</a>. The live-service shooter <a href="https://www.polygon.com/gaming/490491/ubsioft-xdefiant-shutting-down"><em>XDefiant</em> was shut down</a> before it had a chance to prove itself, following in the footsteps of Ubisoft’s similarly <a href="https://www.polygon.com/22904991/ubisoft-hyper-scape-battle-royale-fps-shut-down">short-lived <em>Hyper Scape</em></a>. The <em>Prince of Persia: Sands of Time</em> remake was <a href="https://www.polygon.com/23736045/prince-of-persia-sands-of-time-remake-delay-reboot">delayed multiple times before getting rebooted</a> internally. The other Prince of Persia game, last year’s <a href="https://www.polygon.com/23998446/prince-of-persia-the-lost-crown-hands-on"><em>The Lost Crown</em></a>, was genuinely transcendent but missed sales targets by such a margin that Ubisoft <a href="https://www.polygon.com/opinion/470613/prince-of-persia-lost-crown-ubisoft-team-disbanded-no-sequel">scattered its development team to the winds</a> elsewhere inside the company. And most recently, <em>Star Wars Outlaws</em> launched to such tepid critical and commercial reception that <a href="https://www.polygon.com/gaming/456349/assassins-creed-shadows-delay-star-wars-outlaws-sales">Ubisoft itself cited the misfire</a> as a reason for delaying <em>Shadows</em>.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Based on the few hours I’ve played, <em>Assassin’s Creed Shadows</em> is a really, really solid game. That’s not the question. The question is if <em>Shadows</em> is solid enough to prop up Ubisoft when it needs it most. Based on the game I saw — a competent entry in a long-running series that nevertheless does little to reinvent the wheel or bring new players into the fold — I’m not entirely convinced it is. But at least Assassin’s Creed fans will get what they’ve been longing for. </p>
<section class="article-page"><p><a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/best-gaming-pc">The best high-end prebuilt PCs</a> command premium prices, but that doesn't mean you can't find great deals that will still save you a lot of money. In many cases, you can get a prebuilt for less than the cost of building a comparable DIY system. As part of its currently ongoing <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/dell-alienware-black-friday-sale-2024-best-deals-on-gaming-laptops-gaming-pcs">Alienware Black Friday Sale</a>, Dell is offering an <a href="https://zdcs.link/QGVWJW">Alienware Aurora R16</a> GeForce RTX 4090 gaming PC for $2,999.99 after a $1,000 off instant discount. A standalone RTX 4090 GPU will run you $1,800 by itself, which means building your own DIY PC could easily run you the same price or more. Although building your own PC certainly has its merits, a prebuilt gaming PC is ready to go out of the box with an all-inclusive warranty.</p><h2>Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4090 Gaming PC</h2><section></section><section><section></section><p>This Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC is equipped with an Intel Core i9-14900KF CPU, GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, 64GB of DDR5-5200MHz RAM, and a 2TB NVMe SSD. The 14th gen Intel Core i9-14900KF is the <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/intel-core-i9-14900k-core-i5-14600k-review">most powerful consumer Intel CPU</a> you can get right now. The chip is known to run pretty hot, but fortunately it's cooled by a robust 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler. The entire system is powered by an energy efficient 1000W 80PLUS Platinum power supply.</p><p>The RTX 4090 is likewise the <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/best-graphics-card">most powerful GPU</a> on the market. No other video card, either from NVIDIA or from AMD, comes close. In his <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-founders-edition-review">RTX 4090 review</a>, Chris Coke writes "The RTX 4090 may be huge and expensive, but holy smokes if it doesn’t blow the competition out of the water... Until the rest of the pack can catch up, between its impressive hardware specs and its DLSS 3 AI wizardry, even the $1,599 price doesn’t seem unreasonable for the unrivaled frame rates that this card can crank out." You'll be able to run any game in 4K with ultra settings and ray tracing enabled and still pump out high framerates, even the newest, most demanding titles like <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/black-myth-wukong-review-pc">Black Myth: Wukong</a> or <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/warhammer-40000-space-marine-2-review">Warhammer Space Marine 2.</a>The 4090 is also the consumer card of choice for AI thanks to its 24GB of GDDR6X VRAM. </p><h3>A note on Alienware's newest "R16" desktop chassis</h3><p>The R16 is Alienware's current 2024 desktop PC design. It's 40% smaller in volume compared to previous iterations. It features a simple yet proven airflow pattern; air is drawn in through the side intake vents over the GPU area and a 120mm fan at the front of the case, and exhausts by way of a 120mm rear fan and two 120mm top fans. A 240mm radiator for the all-in-one liquid cooling system is mounted to these top fans. Some configurations don't actually include the liquid cooling system, but we rarely include them in this roundup. That's because Alienware's liquid cooling solution is far superior to their stock air cooling and is easily worth the price premium.</p><h2>More Alienware Black Friday Gaming PC Deals</h2><section></section><p>Alienware isn't the only brand that's on sale for Black Friday. Check out all of the <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/best-black-friday-gaming-pc-deals-so-far-2024">best gaming PC deals</a> from vendors like Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart. I promise you, there are some spectacular deals in there. If you want to stick with an OEM manufacturer, <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/hp-early-black-friday-sale-2024-best-deals-on-omen-gaming-laptops-pcs">HP has a Black Friday Sale</a> going on right now as well.</p><h2>Should You Wait for Black Friday?</h2><p>In most cases, we would say that <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/black-friday-2024">Black Friday has the best deals of the year</a>. Dell, however, is quite the opposite. Dell likes to push its best Black Friday deals well in advance of Black Friday, sometimes even as early as October. There are very specific "doorbuster" deals that go live on Black Friday, but they aren't necessarily on gaming PCs. If you find a great deal on a configuration that's exactly what you're looking for at a price you're happy with, you should jump on it early.</p><section></section><section></section><p><em>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.</em></p></section></section>
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Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 doesn’t officially launch until Tuesday, but some strategy fans who purchased the more expensive deluxe edition of the game are already playing — and already giving developer Firaxis some tough-love feedback. On Steam, more than 6,000 players have already reviewed the game, giving Civilization 7 a “mixed” reception. Less than 50% of […]
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<p class="has-text-align-none"><em><a href="https://www.polygon.com/review/518135/civilization-7-review">Sid Meier’s Civilization 7</a></em> doesn’t officially launch until Tuesday, but some strategy fans who <a href="https://www.polygon.com/pre-order/516140/civilization-civ-7-sid-meier-sale-where-to-buy">purchased the more expensive deluxe edition of the game</a> are already playing — and already giving developer Firaxis some tough-love feedback. On <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1295660/Sid_Meiers_Civilization_VII">Steam</a>, more than 6,000 players have already reviewed the game, giving <em>Civilization 7</em> a “mixed” reception. Less than 50% of the game’s reviews are positive, as of Friday.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none"><a href="https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/news/message-from-firaxis-games/">Firaxis responded to early feedback on Thursday</a>, confirming that the team is well aware of players’ criticisms. Firaxis said it will focus on “three key areas” to improve the game, starting with <em>Civilization 7</em>’s heavily criticized user interface. </p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">“Our top priority is improving the UI,” the developer said in a statement. “We need some time to digest all of your feedback, but some areas that we’re already looking into include making UI interactions more intuitive, improving map readability, fixing areas of polish like formatting, and more. We’re committed to getting this right, and will share more details as soon as we can.”</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none"><em>Civ 7</em> players on Steam have blasted the game’s interface as “unrefined” at best and “total slop” at worst. <a href="https://steamcommunity.com/id/lathiumxa/recommended/1295660/">One popular user review on Steam</a> calls the UI “very poor here and feels ported over from console in the worst way possible. […] <em>Civ 6</em> had this aced? Firaxis, this is a huge step backwards here.” Given that updating the game’s UI is the No. 1 priority on Firaxis’ list, the developer would seem to agree.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Firaxis said it’s also listening to community suggestions to improve the game, and is working on <br />cooperative multiplayer teams, a wider variety of map types, and enabling custom city and religion names.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Some relief will come in March, when Firaxis plans to release patch 1.1.0, which will include “quality-of-life UI adjustments, ongoing AI balance and improvement, adjustments to diplomacy and crises, plus additional bug fixes.”</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">In <a href="https://www.polygon.com/review/518135/civilization-7-review">Polygon’s review of the game</a>, critic Cameron Kunzelman wrote that “<em>Civilization 7 </em>shines where it is already most comfortable,” but noted frustrations with the game, calling it “a little rough.” </p>
<p class="has-text-align-none"><em>Sid Meier’s Civilization 7</em> is coming to<em> </em>Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on Feb. 11. It sounds like the game’s official launch is just the beginning for Firaxis’ latest grand strategy game.</p>
<section class="article-page"><p><a href="https://www.ign.com/games/game-of-thrones-kingsroad">Game of Thrones: Kingsroad</a> has been announced as a story-driven action adventure role-playing game coming to mobile in 2025 from developer Netmarble.</p><section></section><p>A trailer for the game, <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/game-of-thrones-mmorpg-reportedly-in-development-at-the-finals-publisher-nexon">previously known only as Game of Thrones MMORPG</a>, was revealed during <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/the-game-awards-2024-everything-announced">The Game Awards 2024</a> showcase last night, and shows the player character meeting the likes of Jon Snow, Cersei Lannister, and other iconic characters from the HBO series.</p><p>"Faithfully crafted under official license from HBO and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is a blockbuster story-driven action-adventure RPG that invites players to step into the immersive world of Westeros," Netmarble said, dropping the previous MMO (massively multiplayer online) messaging.</p><section></section><p>"In Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, you will embark on a journey to restore your house's legacy, forging alliances through trials and betrayals while navigating a realm rife with intrigue, danger, and opportunity. The game’s original storyline expands on that of the legendary TV series, allowing you to forge your own path amidst the power struggles of noble houses and the looming threat of what lies beyond the Wall."</p><p>Players can choose from three classes: the knight, sellsword, or assassin. Each "offers a distinct playstyle inspired by the archetypes seen in Game of Thrones."</p><p>The knight class uses a longsword and has "a sophisticated fighting style," the sellsword uses a battle axe and has a "brutal fighting style," and the assassin "employs agile and precise attacks" while dual-wielding daggers.</p><p>Little else has been said about Game of Thrones: Kingsroad despite it being revealed in 2022, but Netmarble will likely begin sharing more and more as its 2025 release draws closer.</p><section></section><p><em>Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.</em></p></section>
⇄⧉description => UTF-8 string (2055) "<p>Few gaming publishers are more fiercely protective of their IP than Ninte...
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<p>Few gaming publishers are more fiercely protective of their IP than Nintendo. In the past year alone, Nintendo has reportedly <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-intensifies-crackdown-on-youtube-emulator-channels-report/1100-6526834/">cracked down on YouTube emulator channels </a>that featured the company's games and played detective <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-had-to-play-detective-to-find-an-alleged-switch-pirate/1100-6527794/">to locate and identify an alleged Switch pirate</a>. During a recent appearance at an event run by Japan’s Association of Copyright for Computer Software, Nintendo's patent attorney Koji Nishiura took the time to walk through the company's stance on emulation.</p><p>As reported by <a href="https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/kikakuthetower/250112a">Denfaminicogamer</a> and translated by <a href="https://automaton-media.com/en/news/nintendos-attorney-weighs-in-on-what-makes-emulators-illegal/">Automaton</a>, Nishiura suggested that the emulators by themselves may not be illegal, but the way they are used can determine if they are breaking the law. To illustrate his point, Nishiura noted that emulators may copy proprietary programs or disable security encryptions, both of which are activities that Nintendo frowns upon. He also said that emulators can be used to play pirated copies of Nintendo's games, which the company still considers to be illegal.</p><p>Nintendo has emulated several of its own games for its modern systems, which clearly falls within the company's rights. However, many classic games released on the oldest systems--including NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and GameCube--aren't readily available to legally play from Nintendo itself. Some emulator hosts have argued that by maintaining a library of these games, they are preserving a piece of video game history.</p><a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-lawyer-explains-why-the-company-believes-some-emulators-are-illegal/1100-6528831/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f/">Continue Reading at GameSpot</a>
⇄⧉description => string (166) "This is the last day to score Hulu's Cyber Monday subscription deals: Pick u...
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This is the last day to score Hulu's Cyber Monday subscription deals: Pick up an ad plan for just $0.99 per month, or the Disney+ bundle for just $2.99/month instead.
<section class="article-page"><p>Through <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/best-cyber-monday-deals-2024">Cyber Monday</a>, Hulu is available for just <a href="https://zdcs.link/5pWb5?object_uuid=4027fc0f-b4e7-42bf-8732-84dcd4a9bc97&t=article&_ga=1195960001.1647009307">$0.99/month for an entire year</a> – down from $9.99/month. That's 90% off, and easily the best deal you'll get on a streaming subscription right now. </p><section></section><p>Similarly, the <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/how-to-get-disney-hulu-max-bundle">Disney+ bundle</a> is offered at <a href="https://zdcs.link/5pWb5?object_uuid=4027fc0f-b4e7-42bf-8732-84dcd4a9bc97&t=article&_ga=1195960001.1647009307">$2.99/month for a year</a>, down from $10.99/month, making these arguably the <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/best-cyber-monday-streaming-deals-2024">best of the Cyber Monday streaming deals</a> available. Don't miss out – this deal expires after Cyber Monday.</p><section><section></section><p></p></section><section><section></section><h2>What Can You Watch on Hulu?</h2><p>Hulu stands out as one of the top streaming platforms today, yet it’s often underrated. With movies like the Oscar-winning <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/anatomy-of-a-fall-review">Anatomy of a Fall</a> and critically acclaimed <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/talk-to-me-review-a-24-horror">Talk to Me</a>, and standout <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/emmy-winners-2024-the-full-list">Emmy-winning TV series</a> such as <a href="https://www.ign.com/tv/shogun">Shogun</a>, <a href="https://www.ign.com/tv/abbott-elementary">Abbott Elementary</a>, <a href="https://www.ign.com/tv/the-bear">The Bear</a>, and <a href="https://www.ign.com/tv/only-murders-in-the-building">Only Murders in the Building</a>, its library simply has an endless amount of of shows and movies to watch.</p><p>Let's start at the top and mention the verticals on offer with the base subscription because if we also talk about what is available via Disney+, ESPN+, or live TV, we'll be here forever. (You can also sync up Hulu with HBO to gain access to things like <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/the-penguin-ending-explained-how-the-series-sets-up-the-batman-2">The Penguin</a> and the new season of <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-gets-official-trailer-from-hbo">House of the Dragon</a>.)</p><p>Here's what you get:</p><ul><li>Network and Hulu Original television shows (AMC, Adult Swim, ABC, A&E, FX, etc.)</li><li>Movies (HBO, Hulu Originals, anime films, etc.)</li><li>Sports (NHL, Soccer, MLB, Auto Racing, <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/how-to-watch-nfl-games-live-online-schedule">NFL</a>, College Football, PGA, Tennis, etc.)</li><li>News (ABC News Live, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, 20/20, The View, etc.)</li></ul><h3>Hulu TV</h3><p>Hulu has some amazing shows, both original and licensed, in its roster. For comedy, Community and New Girl are awesome for self-contained highjinks, and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia has a whopping 16 seasons available. On top of that, there's What We Do in the Shadows, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Broad City, Abbott Elementary, and Drunk History; plenty of great stuff to get into, regardless of your comedic sensibilities.</p><section></section><p>It's also home to some big originals, like The Bear, The Handmaid's Tale, and Only Murders in the Building.</p><p>As far as animated fare, there are modern adult classics like Rick and Morty and Bob's Burgers, as well as <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/futurama-season-12-review-hulu">Futurama (which Hulu rebooted)</a>, Family Guy, and <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/king-of-the-hill-revival-is-officially-heading-to-hulu">King of the Hill (which will also be rebooted on Hulu)</a>. </p><p>Anime staples like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun are available, and Hulu is one of the better simulcast hubs outside of Crunchyroll for many new anime series all year long. If you want more youth-friendly fun, Hulu also has Cartoon Network staples, like Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, and Adventure Time, and other revamped '90s classics, like Animaniacs and Curious George.</p><h3>The Future of Hulu</h3><p>Hulu is only going to get bigger. Beyond it being awarded the <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/streaming-services-ranked-netflix-disney-plus-hulu-amazon-prime-video-max">best streaming service of 2023</a> by us and receiving a <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/hulu-streaming-service-review">9/10 in our updated Hulu review</a>, it was <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/disney-is-buying-the-rest-of-hulu-from-comcast">fully brought into the Disney ecosystem last November</a> and the House of Mouse has created a <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/disney-bundles-hulu-into-disney-plus-but-only-in-the-us">one-app experience for those bundling Hulu and Disney+</a>. With an FX partnership, Hulu is also home to those shows, including the Emmy-sweeping <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/where-to-watch-shogun">Shogun</a>.</p><h2><strong>What Other Streaming Services Have Cyber Monday Deals? </strong></h2><section></section><p>Hulu was one of the first official <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/best-black-friday-streaming-deals-2024">streaming deals</a> announced for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, alongside <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/paramount-plus-black-friday-streaming-deal-2024">Paramount+</a>. More services have rolled out their best offers even before Black Friday started to lure in subscribers, but this is still the <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/best-hulu-deals">best deal you'll get for Hulu</a> and <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/the-best-disney-plus-deals">Disney+</a>, specifically. The discounted 12-month subscriptions are the ideal ways to try out a new streaming service and see if the library keeps you around.</p><section></section><p><em>Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him </em><a href="https://twitter.com/robertliam21"><em>@robertliam21</em></a><em> on Twitter.</em></p></section></section>
<section class="article-page"><p><strong>Warning: This piece contains spoilers for Nosferatu.</strong></p><section></section><section></section><p>Get your Gothic garb on and hold your crucifix close, because <a href="https://www.ign.com/movies/nosferatu"><u>Nosferatu</u></a> is now arriving in theaters. The Robert Eggers-directed remake of the classic 1922 film has been a long time coming, having first been announced <a href="https://deadline.com/2015/07/nosferatu-the-witch-robert-eggers-studio-8-1201486438/"><u>all the way back</u></a> in 2015. Clearly a passion project for the auteur filmmaker, it’s dropping into theaters nationwide on Christmas Day to largely <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nosferatu_2024"><u>stellar reviews</u></a>, including a <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/nosferatu-review"><u>9/10 rave</u></a> from IGN.</p><p>However, despite all the praise for the film’s performances, cinematography, and period set design, Nosferatu continues the tradition of adaptations and reworkings of the original Dracula novel messing up significant elements of the source material. This problem is so endemic that certain aspects of the book have been completely overwritten in the popular imagination by adaptational changes being echoed in version after version over the decades.</p><p>So today, let’s take a look at what those changes are, and why the original novel still doesn’t have a definitive film adaptation.</p><section></section><h2><strong>An Ancient Evil</strong></h2><p>To ensure everyone’s on the same page, let’s start with a brief refresher: Dracula, by Irish author Bram Stoker, is a Gothic horror novel published in 1897. The book is written in epistolary format, meaning that the text takes the form of notes, letters and documents written in-universe by characters in the story. There’s little argument among literary scholars that it’s not the most well-known and influential work of vampire fiction ever written, with Dracula himself becoming one of the most recognizable characters in popular culture. But despite that, much of the context around the novel’s actual plot and characters has been obscured in the popular consciousness because of how its adaptations have warped the common perceptions of them, and this began with the earliest film and stage productions.</p><section>Much of the context around the novel’s actual plot/characters has been obscured in the popular consciousness because of how its adaptations have warped perceptions of them.</section><p>The original Nosferatu, an unlicensed German film adaptation from director F. W. Murnau in 1922, condensed and reimagined much of the plot and characters. The film moved the action from England to Germany and renamed everyone in the cast, with the most famous example being turning Count Dracula into Count Orlok. This was mostly a failed attempt to avoid copyright infringement lawsuits. The 1924 Dracula play written by Hamilton Deane (and revised into its more well-known version in 1927 by John L. Balderston) likewise condensed the plot and cast, removing all the sections outside of England and merging Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra into one character named Lucy Seward in Balderston’s iteration. The play served as the basis for Universal’s 1931 film directed by Tod Browning, starring Bela Legosi as Dracula, a role he had previously played on stage.</p><p>Some of the most prominent deviations from the source material that became the default started in these early adaptations. Vampires dying in sunlight? Not in the book. Dracula is merely <em>weakened</em> by sunlight, but he can walk around in it just fine. The 1922 movie introduced the idea of vampires being killed by the sun. Dracula being a suave aristocrat who charms his victims? First introduced in the 1924 play. In the book he starts off decrepit and repulsive, and later morphs into a less monstrous form but still isn’t considered handsome or charismatic. Van Helsing being a vampire expert? Not until the 1931 film. In the novel, Van Helsing is merely an eccentric professor who’s studied the occult, and he’s never encountered vampires before. But most versions now depict Van Helsing as Dracula’s nemesis and a seasoned warrior against the supernatural, when he’s really just guessing his way through it in the book.</p><p>Hell, Dracula isn’t even <em>staked </em>in the book. He’s decapitated and stabbed in the heart with a knife. But those are details. If you want to see where Dracula adaptations have truly erred, it’s in the depiction of the book’s two primary female characters: Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra.</p><section></section><h2><strong>19th Century Women</strong></h2><p>As a story, Dracula has always been more of an ensemble piece, but if there’s one character who deserves to be called the protagonist of the book, it’s Mina Harker. She doesn’t appear for the first few chapters, but once she enters the narrative she becomes the most pivotal figure in the war against Dracula because of her intelligence, composure, and loyalty to her friends and loved ones. She doesn’t physically fight Dracula, but she’s instrumental to his defeat by assembling the letters and documents making up the text of the book, providing the research material the heroes need to figure out Dracula’s weaknesses. She helps everyone with their personal crises as they struggle to psychologically endure the situation. And although she is attacked and mind-controlled by the Count, she turns their psychic connection against him through force of will and reveals his location to her comrades, an act that directly leads to Dracula’s demise.</p><p>Sadly, this version of Mina simply does not exist in adaptations. She often either has her role reduced, is merged or swapped with her best friend Lucy, or is altered into a helpless (or worse, willing) victim. That last one is what happens in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film, where Winona Ryder plays Mina. This version is a complete betrayal of the original character because instead of being defined by her intellect and moral fortitude, she’s a brainless damsel who falls in love with the Count because she’s apparently the reincarnation of his long lost wife. What makes this especially egregious is that in the book, Dracula forces Mina to drink his blood against her will in an unmistakable metaphor for sexual assault. This means the movie takes a character who is for all intents and purposes raped by Dracula and has her lovingly fawn over him. It’s utterly reprehensible and totally misses the point of who Mina is.</p><section></section><p>Lucy Westenra receives similar treatment. In the book she’s defined by her innate goodness, a pure soul who is tragically destroyed by Dracula and turned into a vampire, forcing the three men who love her to help hunt her down and destroy her. In Coppola’s film, she’s reimagined as a shameless flirt who plays her suitors against each other and constantly talks in sexual innuendos. By portraying Lucy in this way, her sexuality becomes something she winds up being punished for, which she is by getting turned into a monster that must be put down. Like with Mina, it’s a complete misunderstanding of the character’s original context and what role they’re meant to play in the story’s thematic framework. It’s also just bizarre to see female characters from a book published in the 1890s be less regressive than their counterparts in film adaptations released a century later. Sadly, the new take on Nosferatu doesn’t do much to change this.</p><section></section><h2><strong>Symphony of the Light</strong></h2><p>The new Nosferatu begins with our Mina analogue Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) calling out into the night, only to be answered by Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). The thorny and unsettling connection between the two forms the backbone of the narrative, with the movie’s most interesting idea being that Ellen isn’t completely turned off by how monstrous and disgusting this version of the character can be. From there, the film follows much of the basic plot outline of the novel, albeit with the character names from the 1922 film used instead. However, like with Coppola’s film, Ellen/Mina’s character traits aren’t kept. She mostly screams and cries through the film rather than keeping her wits about her, and she clearly betrays her husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) through her desire for Orlok instead of being loyal like in the book.</p><section></section><p>The movie tries to get around this by having Ellen be the character who “defeats” Orlok, but the way it’s done saps the choice of its power. Ellen sacrifices herself by inviting Orlok into her room and allowing him to feed on her, keeping him in place long enough for the sun to rise and kill him. However, the movie never shows her (or anyone else, for that matter) learning that sunlight will kill Orlok; it’s something the movie assumes everyone knows because of how prominent that weakness is in popular culture. Nor does Ellen forcefully hold Orlok down when sunlight pours through the windows to ensure she finishes the job, she just gently caresses him. Orlok’s death happening this way also just makes him seem dumb. Did he not know the sun was rising? The questions about how this ending plays out prevent it from functioning as a meaningful subversion of previous Mina adaptations. It also results in Ellen’s death, meaning she, like Coppola’s Lucy before her, is being punished for her sexuality because she unwittingly unleashed Orlok on everyone by indulging her desires.</p><p>To be fair to Eggers, it’s clear his interest was more in remaking Murnau’s film than adapting Stoker’s book, but that no other filmmaker over the years has done the latter well feels like a missed opportunity. We haven’t even touched on how Terence Fisher’s 1958 film starring Christopher Lee screws over Jonathan Harker, how John Badham’s 1979 film starring Frank Langella once again cuts all the scenes outside of England, or how last year’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter from director André Øvredal takes a great idea in adapting the boat chapter as a full film and ruins it by portraying Dracula as a generic slasher monster with almost no dialogue. It’s beyond absurd how many times this story has been adapted to stage and screen without any of the major works really <em>getting </em>the source material. Perhaps someday we’ll see a great version of Stoker’s text, but for now, that dream is as illusory as the mist Dracula can transform into.</p><section></section><p><em>Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on </em><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/carlosalonzom.bsky.social"><u><em>Bluesky</em></u></a><em>.</em></p></section>
⇄⧉description => UTF-8 string (332) "The upside of YouTube’s “You watched this one video, so you must want to see...
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The upside of YouTube’s “You watched this one video, so you must want to see everything else we have in that vein” algorithm is that it helpfully surfaces things you didn’t even know to search for, based on interests you’ve already demonstrated. The downside is how fast that algo can get samey: Just because you […]
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<p class="has-text-align-none">The upside of YouTube’s “You watched this one video, so you must want to see everything else we have in that vein” algorithm is that it helpfully surfaces things you didn’t even know to search for, based on interests you’ve already demonstrated. The downside is how fast that algo can get samey: Just because you watch <em>one single episode</em> of “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5baIt_zlv3A">Google Translate Sings</a>” doesn’t necessarily mean you want your YouTube launch page to suddenly push a thousand more episodes at you from the same channel.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">But if you ever want the YouTube equivalent of a timeline cleanse and/or rabbit hole you could fall down pretty much forever, it’s easy to get there with one simple trick. Watch a few stand-alone animated shorts on the service, and YouTube will instantly start populating your page with an infinite variety of visually creative, experimental, and above all, ambitious short stories. </p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">There aren’t many outlets for short films these days, apart from sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and so forth: The days of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Tourn%C3%A9e_of_Animation">celebrated animated-shorts tournées</a> are over. (<a href="https://www.cartoonbrew.com/festivals/spike-mikes-festival-of-animation-will-return-in-2024-234497.html">Almost?</a>) Outside of film festival showcases or museum events, there aren’t really good places for animators to sell their shorts for profit. So a lot of them post their work on YouTube, where it can be seen and distributed, garner word-of-mouth recommendations, and serve as a calling card for young talent looking to step up to feature films. All of which means there’s a <em>lot</em> of short animation on the site — a nonstop self-curated shorts festival coming from people who not only want to tell visually oriented, bold stories, but sometimes want to change how those stories are told. </p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Some of this animation comes from students — France’s famed animation school Gobelins <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/gobelins">puts its students’ projects online</a>, and its library alone is a feast. (See also the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@CalArtsCharAnim">CalArts channel</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjYNTGTRVIadw5rTtvw20-w">Sheridan College channel</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDD1-_y9Cq_0bMSlaPdWdxh0SZyH_ULHa">Rubika channel</a>, and so forth.) Some of the videos are from small studios or independent creators around the world, looking for eyeballs and recognition. Many of these shorts have been in festival competitions. Some are slick, professional work that apes Pixar or DreamWorks styles of production and storytelling. Many, many more are experimental, playing with design, style, mood, and expression. You can often tell pretty quickly from a video’s thumbnail what kind of style the creators are going for.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">If you want to start someplace simple and satisfying, I’m a longtime fan of Jacob Frey’s 2014 mega-award-winner <em>The Present</em>, a simple, heartwarming story about a teenage gamer and the new puppy that disgusts him: </p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Want the exact opposite of that? Check out the stylized, liquidly beautiful action in this dark Indian fable about climate refugees in a flooded city facing down a killer tiger:</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">From there… Want something longer and more elaborate and ambitious?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Something experimental and goofy?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">A haunting, melancholy mood piece?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Weird, beautiful stop-motion?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Old-school paper cutouts?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Shiny high-tech sci-fi?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Fan films in familiar settings?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">A charming friendship story that feels like a classic children’s picture book?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Dinosaurs in suits?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Maybe just an adorable kitten from hell?</p>
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<p class="has-text-align-none">Regardless of what you’re in the mood for, it’s pretty easy to dive into YouTube’s massive collection of animated short stories and get lost there. Just remember to bookmark your favorites. I’m still trying to track down a neat one I saw years ago about the unfortunate courting habits of weird alien critters that looked sort of like electric lemurs, living in an elaborate, beautifully lit city. I’ve lost it amid all the other shorts in my timeline. If you run across it on your own rabbit-hole dive through YouTube’s endless supply of neat animated shorts, let me know, would you?</p>
⇄⧉description => UTF-8 string (311) "Delibird, the delivery Pokémon from Johto, can be found in the wild in Pokém...
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Delibird, the delivery Pokémon from Johto, can be found in the wild in Pokémon Go. Yes, Delibird with its holiday ribbon accessory can be shiny in Pokémon Go! Delibird doesn’t see any use in PvP or PvE content, but who can say no to a cute little delivery penguin, especially when it has a ribbon […]
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<img alt="" src="https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/12/jlee_241216_1001_pogo_shiny_holiday_ribbon.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />
<figcaption></figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Delibird, the delivery Pokémon from Johto, can be found in the wild in <a href="https://www.polygon.com/game/pokemon-go/38713"><em>Pokémon Go</em></a>. Yes, Delibird with its holiday ribbon accessory can be shiny in <em>Pokémon Go</em>!</p>
<img alt="" src="https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/12/jlee_241216_1001_pogo_shiny_delibird_ribbon.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=17.802857142857,0,64.394285714286,100" title="" />
<p class="has-text-align-none">Delibird doesn’t see any use in PvP or PvE content, but who can say no to a cute little delivery penguin, especially when it has a ribbon on its head?</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is the shiny rate for Delibird in Pokémon Go?</h2>
<p class="has-text-align-none">As per old research by the now-defunct website The Silph Road (via <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230423103325/https://thesilphroad.com/shiny-pokemon">Wayback Machine</a>), the shiny rate for Pokémon on a regular day is approximately one in 500. Delibird is not a confirmed Pokémon that gets a “permaboost” (meaning that it’s a rare spawn and thus gets a boosted shiny rate).</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">It <em>is</em> possible that with some events, the holiday ribbon Delibird may have a higher shiny rate depending on how you get it. However, we’re unable to confirm if its rates are higher for any specific event as of writing this.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What can I do to attract more shiny Pokémon?</h2>
<p class="has-text-align-none">Not much, unfortunately. It appears to be random chance. Shiny Pokémon catch rates are set by developer Niantic, and they are typically only boosted during special events like Community Days or Safari Zones, or in Legendary Raids. There are no consumable items that boost shiny Pokémon rates.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Where can I find a list of available shiny Pokémon?</h2>
<p class="has-text-align-none">LeekDuck keeps <a href="https://leekduck.com/shiny/">a list of currently available shiny Pokémon</a>. It’s a helpful visual guide that illustrates what all of the existing shiny Pokémon look like.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-none">For more tips, check out Polygon’s <a href="https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-go-guide"><em>Pokémon Go</em> guides</a>.</p>
<section class="article-page"><img src="https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2025/02/10/mhw-1739193298831.jpg" /><section></section><p>Capcom has extended the <a href="https://www.ign.com/wikis/monster-hunter-wilds/Monster_Hunter_Wilds_Beta_Details">Monster Hunter Wilds beta</a> after the PlayStation Network outage rendered the previous test unplayable for 24 hours.</p><p><a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/is-psn-down-february-2025">PSN went down</a> at around 3pm PT on Friday, February 7, and didn’t return until around 24 hours later. All Sony has said on the matter by way of explanation is that its network services suffered an “operational issue.” In response, Sony gave all PlayStation Plus members an additional five days of service.</p><p>Of course, during the downtime PlayStation gamers were unable to play their games online, and even single-player games that required authentication with a server or a constant internet connection ran into trouble.</p><p>Monster Hunter Wilds’ second, hugely popular beta, was one of the affected games, with its weekend session that was meant to run from Thursday, February 6 to Sunday, February 9 cut short. Now, developer Capcom has issued a response to confirm a 24-hour extension to the next session. This means it will start this Thursday, February 13, and end on Monday, February 17, rather than the previously planned Sunday, February 16.</p><p>The new period is as follows:</p><ul><li>Feb. 13, 7pm PT / Feb. 14, 3am GMT – Feb. 17, 6:59 pm PT / Feb. 18, 2:59 am GMT</li></ul><p>During the extended period, players will still be eligible to receive the participation bonuses available in the full version of the game, Capcom added.</p><p>Despite the downtime last week, beta players were able to get to grip with <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/monster-hunter-wilds-beta-players-share-love-and-fear-for-its-new-flagship-monster-arkveld">Monster Hunter Wilds' big challenge, a fearsome new foe called Arkveld</a>.</p><p>Monster Hunter Wilds launches proper on February 28, 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. You can read more about Capcom's latest hunting expedition in our IGN First coverage, including our <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/monster-hunter-wilds-the-final-preview-ign-first">Monster Hunter Wilds Final Preview</a> here.</p><p>Check out our guide to the <a href="https://www.ign.com/wikis/monster-hunter-wilds/Monster_Hunter_Wilds_Beta_Details">Monster Hunter Wilds Beta</a>, including info on <a href="https://www.ign.com/wikis/monster-hunter-wilds/Multiplayer_Guide_-_Crossplay,_Link_Parties_and_More">how to play multiplayer</a> with friends, all the <a href="https://www.ign.com/wikis/monster-hunter-wilds/Weapons">Monster Hunter Wilds weapon types</a>, and the <a href="https://www.ign.com/wikis/monster-hunter-wilds/Monster_Hunter_Wilds_Monsters">confirmed monsters</a> you could encounter.</p><section></section><p><em>Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.</em></p></section>