Are you wondering about how you could help the Jova Violinist in Hell Is Us? This particular NPC, dubbed the Fearful Fiddler, is at his wits end as he's being threatened by Captain Vaas. Naturally, you need to find music sheets to aid him in his performance.

How to help the Jova Violinist in Hell Is Us - Performance of a Lifetime guide

The Jova Violinist task is actually part of a Good Deed called Performance of a Lifetime. The NPC can be found just past the entrance to Jova Village. He's sitting on a truck and he tells you that Captain Vaas is really ticked off since he can't play the right melodies.

If you want to help the Jova Violinist in Hell Is Us, then you need to acquire two music sheets. One is actually in the village itself, and another is in a different zone. But, there's an important caveat: You must give both music sheets to the Violinist before concluding Act 1--i.e. when you obtain the Keystone of Grief in Lake Cynon. If you fail to do so, then Vaas will kill the Fearful Fiddler off-screen.

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Are you wondering about how long it takes to beat Hell Is Us? This action-adventure offering from Rogue Factor combines sci-fi elements and a bit of dark fantasy horror on the side. Apart from facing ferocious foes, you also have to contend with a bunch of brain-teasing puzzles.

How long to beat Hell Is Us - Campaign length and main missions

On average, it should take you around 12 to 20 hours to complete Hell Is Us' campaign. You might be curious as to why there's a huge gap in the estimates. Well, that's because you can tweak the game's difficulty while you're playing. These include lowering the health, base damage, and aggressiveness of enemies. So, if you feel like focusing more on exploration instead of combat, then encounters against hostile foes shouldn't present too much of a challenge.

That said, if you're more of a completionist, then trying to find every single item, upgrade, and secret in Hell Is Us could take you anywhere from 25 to 35 hours.

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The land of Hadea has been ravaged by civil war. Fractured groups vie for control, with riots, battles, and wanton killings breaking out periodically that survivors have nowhere else to go. Enter Remi, an ON Peacekeeper who seeks to learn about his past, all while an impending Calamity and the rise of deranged Hollow creatures sweep all asunder. Our Hell Is Us guides hub has everything you need to know to prepare you for the long road ahead.

Table of Contents [hide]

• Hell Is Us guides hub
  • General mechanics
  Hell Is Us guides hub

  We’ve organized our Hell Is Us guides hub into several sections. We discuss general mechanics that you’re bound to encounter within the first few hours of playing. From there, we take a look at puzzles and objectives for main quests and various side quests.

  General mechanics

  If you’re just starting your adventure, then we suggest reading these guides so you can learn about the systems and features that you can expect.

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Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, the first new entry in the classic Sega franchise in nearly 15 years, launched August 29 on PC and consoles. If you love 2D action games, Art of Vengeance shouldn't be missed. PC players can still take advantage of Fanatical's launch deal that drops the price to $26.39 (was $30). The Digital Deluxe Edition is also available for $35.19 (was $40). These are small discounts, but if you were planning on picking up Art of Vengeance after reading the rave reviews, you might as well save on your Steam key.

Art of Vengeance is officially verified for Steam Deck, and it runs and looks beautiful on Valve's handheld.

Get deal at Fanatical

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Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion Standard Edition

$70 | Releases September 5

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Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion Limited Edition

$100 | Releases September 5

Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Walmart Preorder at Target Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion's Limited Edition is back in stock at Amazon and Walmart ahead of the mecha-action game's September 5 launch on PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Titanic Scion's Limited Edition had been sold out for most of the summer at all major retailers. The $100 edition is available for all three console platforms and comes with numerous collectibles for only $30 more than the price of the standard edition.

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion Limited Edition

Developed and published by Marvelous, Titanic Scion's Switch 2 physical edition includes the full game on the card, just like the other Switch 2 games the studio has made for Nintendo's new console: Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, which was a Switch 2 launch game, and Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, which released last week. Titanic Scion's listed eShop file size is 22.9GB, so opting for the physical edition lets you avoid using 10% of the Switch 2's 256GB onboard storage on the new mecha-action title. Unlike Guardians of Azuma and Grand Bazaar, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion will not be available on original Switch hardware.

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Quentin Tarantino 4K Blu-ray Deals

Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, and more.

See at Amazon

Amazon has limited-time deals on the 4K Blu-ray editions of Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2. The acclaimed Quentin Tarantino saga starring Uma Thurman finally made its way to 4K Blu-ray earlier this year alongside Jackie Brown. All three movies come with 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and Digital editions as well as making-of documentaries and a bunch of other special features.

Amazon also has several other Tarantino movies on 4K Blu-ray for cheap, including Pulp Fiction, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Reservoir Dogs, and Inglourious Basterds. Arrow Video's recently released 4K edition of Inglourious Basterds is also available for a nice discount, and Amazon still has copies of its exclusive Pulp Fiction: 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition.

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The announcement that Hollow Knight: Silksong would release on September 4 was such a surprise that even the most tuned-in Hollow Knight fans were in shock at the news. And now, just days before Silksong releases, Hollow Knight is seeing a renaissance with gamers, passing its Steam concurrents records over and over again, hitting a new peak of 56,192 players on August 29, according to SteamDB.

For years, Hollow Knight's biggest day was in May of 2022 when the game had over 20,000 concurrent players. Since the announcement of Silksong's impending release date, though, each consecutive day has seen that concurrent peak rising, having hit 21,000 on August 22, just a day after the announcement, and hit 56,192 today. For a seven-year-old indie game, this is pretty big.

Of course, it's important to note that SteamDB is not the be-all-end-all of game stats. Steam is a dominant platform for sure, but Hollow Knight is available on all last and current-generation consoles, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox, with Switch being a particularly popular platform for the game. Even so, it's indicative that the legend of Hollow Knight continues to grow.

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According to EA, the Battlefield 6 play test is the biggest beta in Battlefield's history in terms of players. Research firm Oppenheimer estimated that the beta reached more than 20 million people. However, a "substantial number" of those fans may have been playing Battlefield 6 with the minimum recommended specs.

Battlefield 6 technical director Christian Buhl made that assertion during an interview with Eurogamer. Buhl also noted that EA and DICE planned from the beginning to ensure that players using lower-end hardware would still receive a comparable experience to those on high-end machines.

"Min spec is certainly one of our most important specs ... it's super important from both a commercial and business perspective," said Buhl. "We want as many people as possible playing the game ... We did a lot of analysis, we did tests on the game on a wide range of hardware above and below our minimum and recommended specs. We figured out what we can hit, what we need to hit from a business perspective, and that was to capture a wide audience on PC. It's been super critical."

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In celebrating the legacy of Battlefield, EA recently released a new battle pass for Battlefield 2042. Called “Road to Battlefield 6”, it features unlockable skins and cosmetic items that represent different games in the series. What’s most notable about the pass--beyond the fact that’s completely free--is that it also includes 20 item unlocks for the upcoming Battlefield 6.

Like most battle passes, the unlockable items are grouped into levels or tiers. In Tier 8, for instance, players will be able to unlock a Battlefield 1 era player card background, card icon, weapon package and more. There are even a few vehicle and soldier skins up for grabs at the later levels; fans looking to unlock the Aurora Vehicle Skin from Battlefield Bad Company 2, for instance, can do so after hitting Tier 30.

Below are all 20 cosmetic items for Battlefield 6:

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Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Controllers - Neon Purple/Orange

$39 (was $80) | MSRP is $90

See at Walmart

If you're lucky, you can snag a pair of Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Controllers for only $39 at Walmart. This absolutely wild deal isn't available in all regions across the US. If you're eligible for the deal, you can click that magical "Add to cart" button and complete your purchase like normal.

We would not be surprised if Walmart updates the price soon. Unless the retailer is trying to clear this particular Joy-Con model from its inventory, the massive price cut may have been a mistake.

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Valkyrie Profile is celebrating its 25-year anniversary today, August 29, 2025. Below, we look back at why the RPG went overlooked at the time, and what makes it still stand out as special today.

It's not hard to see why Valkyrie Profile wound up overlooked in its initial North American release. Japanese publisher Enix had only recently revived its US branch, likely due to both the surge of popularity of JRPGs in the post-Final Fantasy 7 era and the success Sony had licensing and releasing Star Ocean: The Second Story globally. But it was going to be an uphill struggle to get a new PS1 RPG any traction, even one made by Star Ocean 2 developer Tri-Ace. The Dreamcast was already out, the US launch of the PS2 was less than two months away, and Squaresoft had dropped Chrono Cross, a follow-up to the beloved Chrono Trigger, a couple of weeks earlier.

It was my freshman year of college, the weekend just before my birthday, and I wanted a new RPG to keep me occupied between classes. I had two choices: Valkyrie Profile or Chrono Cross. After having a delightful experience with Star Ocean 2 the summer before, my gut was telling me that Valkyrie Profile was the one I should pick.

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Borderlands 4 is just days away from launching, and to kick off the next era of the looter-shooter, developer Gearbox has released a new live-action trailer urging people to "quit" Earth and head to Kairos. Sure, Kairos is a planet ruled by an all-powerful dictator who enforces his whims on the population with invasive behavior-altering technology that has a high likelihood of killing you if it's removed, but compared to everything else happening right now--*frantically waves arms*--that's not a dealbreaker.

The gap between Borderlands 4 being officially announced and its arrival on PC and console has been relatively short. Gearbox first showed off the game--after hinting at it for months--during the 2024 edition of Gamescom Opening Night Live, teasing a new world for Vault Hunters to explore and even more loot to grab as they fight against the sinister forces in control of Kairos.

The last few months have seen Gearbox reveal a substantial number of details about the game, including detailed looks at the four Vault Hunters players will have the option of playing as. There's the science-powered Harlowe, walking Tediore weapons advert Rafa, not-so-gentle giant Amon, and the Siren Vex for this new adventure.

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HoYoverse will soon enough be adding yet another genre to its growing list of gacha games, this time in the form of a new game called Honkai: Nexus Anima. This one might interest Pokemon fans as it is a creator collector, though it looks like it'll differ from the Nintendo series in a few key ways. And, if it takes your fancy, you can even sign up to take part in its first Nexus Bond Test.

First up are some of the big differences. For starters, the combat system is completely different. Where Pokemon sees you pitting your pocket monsters generally 1v1, each of them with four moves to choose, Honkai: Nexus Anima's main combat system looks closer to an auto battler like Auto Chess or Teamfight Tactics.

You also seemingly get to play as Anima--this game's titular equivalent to Pokemon--in varying ways. That includes a racing minigame, a minigame where you shoot at beach balls, and another where you … destroy an office building! There appears to be a range of customization options for your player character, but you can also seemingly play as different characters too. And like in more recent Pokemon games, you can ride different Anima to get around the game's world.

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Konami has released the first update for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater on all platforms. The patch notes mainly detail fixes for crashing issues that occur in specific situations for the stealth game, though there is a silly bug addressed that sees Snake floating in midair.

Metal Gear Solid Delta players could previously see Snake hovering above the ground sometimes by "transitioning from a roll into a crawl." Overall, the update for the game brings it up to version 1.1.2. The patch actually rolled out yesterday, August 28, on Steam, while it's going live today on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Earlier this week, The Boss voice actress Lori Alan marked the launch of Metal Gear Solid Delta by dressing up as the character she first helped bring to life in 2004's PS2 classic. The new game utilizes the original's voice recordings (except in a few spots), something that Snake voice actor David Hayter wished he could have changed. Meanwhile, the developers behind Metal Gear Solid Delta hope series creator Hideo Kojima sees how "respectful" it is.

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Long-term binge gaming and internet gaming disorder are still relatively new phenomena that aren't fully understood yet. However, a recently released study examined the effects of binge gaming on both boys and girls, and the results demonstrated that males have a greater chance of developing the addiction-like symptoms of IGD if they play games for five hours or longer at a time.

PLOS recently shared a 2022 Hong Kong-based study that was compiled using male and female schoolchildren. For the purposes of this report, smartphone gaming and PC gaming were both counted towards the length of a binge session.

The study was comprised of 2,000 students from primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, with a median age of 12 years old. According to the findings, 38% of boys self-reported binge gaming, while only 24% of girls did the same. The results also suggested that male players who engaged in binge gaming were more likely than females to experience IGD, depression, stress, poor sleep quality and "lower educational self-efficacy."

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8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller - Wuchang Edition

$50 (was $65)

Get deal at Amazon See all Ultimate 2 models

8BitDo's officially licensed Wuchang: Fallen Feathers controller is on sale for a limited time at Amazon. Normally $65, the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller: Wuchang Edition is up for grabs for just $50. This is one of Amazon's deals with limited quantities; at the time of writing on August 29, over 10% of units had been claimed. This special-edition Ultimate 2 is typically more expensive than the standard color options, but this deal actually makes it the cheapest Ultimate 2 Controller you can buy right now.

8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller - Wuchang Edition $50 (was $65)

The Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Edition of 8BitDo's flagship Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller looks pretty awesome. It's important to note that this version of the Ultimate 2 is a 2.4GHz wireless controller for PC and Mac. It also has Android support via Bluetooth. PS5 and Xbox Series X users will not be able to use this controller to play the game--unless you play it via remote play on your PC or Android device.

The Ultimate 2 launched earlier this year with an MSRP of $60, so this special-edition model only costs five bucks more than one of the standard variants.

We've tested the Ultimate 2 and the Ultimate 2 Bluetooth--which has Switch 2 and Switch support--and it's better than many controllers that cost two or three times its price.

The Ultimate 2 has TMR electromagnetic analog sticks--smoother and more reliable than Hall Effect sensors--two remappable back buttons, two extra remappable bumpers, trigger locks, and RGB lighting rings.

It also has 6-axis motion controls, rumble, and a turbo button. With 8BitDo's Ultimate Software V2, you can create three custom profiles to cycle through on the fly, adjust stick and trigger sensitivity, create dead zones, and more.

The Ultimate 2 comes with a matching charging dock. In this case, the character art continues from the controller to the dock, making it a pretty cool display piece.

This isn't the first official collaboration with a big new release. Last year, 8BitDo collaborated with Game Science on a Black Myth: Wukong Ultimate 2C Controller. The 2C is 8BitDo's budget PC controller, so this new collaboration is more exciting. That said, 8BitDo's Wukong-themed controller is still worth checking out, especially since you get the wireless model for only $23.79 (was $35) and the wired edition for $12 right now.

Key Features

• PC and Mac: 2.4GHz Wireless (USB-C dongle)
• Android: Bluetooth
• TMR electromagnetic analog sticks
• Hall Effect triggers with adjustable stop point
• 2 remappable back triggers
• 2 extra remappable shoulder buttons
• Tactile bumpers
• RGB lighting rings
• 1,000Hz polling rate for 2.4GHz and wired
• 6-axis motion controls
• Rumble
• Turbo button
• 1,000mAh battery
• Includes matching USB-C charging dock

Customize with 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2

• Remap inputs
• Set up three custom profiles
• Set up dead zones
• Adjust motion control sensitivity
• Adjust stick sensitivity
• Adjust trigger sensitivity
• Adjust rumble intensity
• Adjust lighting effects

Get deal at Amazon See all Ultimate 2 models

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After an 11-year journey and a transition from solo development to an entire team, Lost Soul Aside is finally here and it's … not doing so hot. It only launched today and it's already sitting at a Mixed rating on Steam, with even positive reviews having their fair share of complaints. These include poor audio mixing and English dubbing, a bland story, and an odd checkpoint system, but also some annoying performance issues in certain places. While the official Lost Soul Aside X account hasn't addressed all of those complaints, it did share a statement on the matter.

As it stands, some cutscenes in the prologue are pre-rendered as 4K, 30-frames-per-second videos, which in some cases are causing stuttering during playback. The Lost Soul Team apologised for this, noting that it is "actively working on optimizations, and future updates will address this to deliver a smoother gameplay experience. Thank you for your continued support and patience!"

Lost Soul Aside initially started development as a project inspired by Final Fantasy--namely Final Fantasy 15--from solo developer Yang Bing, but in 2017 he formed Ultizero Games with support from Sony. The action game was delayed multiple times over the years, and was even supposed to launch in May of this year, before eventually arriving today.

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This week, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) announced that more than 450 developers of Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo team have voted to unionize under the CWA. The successful outcome of this effort means workers will now be represented by CWA Local 9510 in Irvine, California; Local 1118 in Albany, New York; and Local 6215 in Austin, Texas.

The newly formed union will represent a wide range of jobs across Blizzard, including designers, engineers, artists, and support staff. Microsoft, Blizzard's parent company, has officially recognized the union. This unionization campaign is not an isolated event at Blizzard, as earlier this month, the studio's Story and Franchise Development team also voted to unionize.

"With every subsequent round of mass layoffs, I've witnessed the dread in my coworkers grow stronger because it feels like no amount of hard work is enough to protect us," said Diablo producer and organizing committee member Kelly Yeo (via Game Developer). "This is just the first step for us joining a movement spreading across an industry that is tired of living in fear."

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Pokemon Legends: Z-A launches for Switch consoles soon, and to celebrate, the Pokemon Company has announced a special event for the game that will feature live lucha libre wrestling. Also known as the best form of wrestling by people of quality, the event will kick off on September 25 at Arena Mexico in Mexico City.

The Pokemon Company says the showcase will feature four exhibition matches, with one of the confirmed performers being Mistico--who performed in the WWE during the early 2010s under the ring name of Sin Cara. The Pokemon Company added that tickets for the event will go on sale soon, but if you can't make it, the matches will be streamed via the official Pokemon and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre YouTube channels.

The announcement was made shortly after the reveal of a brand-new Mega Evolution for Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Fittingly, the Pokemon getting the power-up in the game is Hawlucha, a Luchador-themed Pokemon with unique high-flying moves in its arsenal. Hawlucha's Mega Evolution doubles down on its wrestling inspiration, giving it ornate plumage and making it look ready for a main event match at the next Wrestlemania.

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Microsoft wants to ensure it's easier to return to recently played games no matter what device you pick up. Your Xbox play history should now start syncing across consoles, PC, and eventually the ROG Xbox Ally, thanks to an August update rolling out now.

In other words, if you start playing Gears of War: Reloaded on your Xbox Series X|S, but then decide to move to your PC another day, the cover-based shooter should be ready to roll from your play history. Cloud-enabled games should also start appearing in your recently played list, according to Microsoft. That includes if you checked out a Game Pass title via the cloud or actually own it, such as an original Xbox game like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

This cross-device play history will obviously be a boon for the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds when they launch this October. Picking up where you left off in a game on the portable device while on the go is one of the system's main selling points, though that title will have to be compatible with the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. While still in preview, Xbox is making it easier to track your owned games, too.

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