On paper, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth has everything I could possibly ask for in a game from RGG Studio: Kasuga Ichiban from the 2020 RPG Yakuza: Like A Dragon co-leading with series legend Kazuma Kiryu--two characters I love dearly fighting alongside one of the most memorable supporting casts in recent years. It's the best of both Yakuza worlds coming together for a story about life, legacy, and the daunting realities of the world we live in--but, more than anything, atonement and the various forms it can take. It also comes with greatly improved RPG systems that nail the tactical joy of turn-based combat while upholding Yakuza's identity in remarkable ways. And in splitting its time in Hawaii with Yokohama, you get two robust and detailed locations to explore new and old ideas through the biggest suite of side activities the series has had thus far.

For all its comedic absurdity and optional diversions, Infinite Wealth brings its heavier themes into focus--at times--with the kind of dramatic storytelling the franchise has mastered over the years. It's unfortunate to say, however, that the main story loses the thread along the way. By putting unearned emphasis on its least interesting aspects and meandering for much of its runtime, the compelling narrative ambitions it sets up are largely left unfulfilled. That's tough to grapple with for what's supposed to be a monumental passing of the torch between the two beloved leads and one last hurrah for one whose life we've seen unfold across nearly two decades' worth of games. And so, instead, Infinite Wealth becomes a game about individual moments--moments of bittersweet reflection, moments of heartfelt camaraderie, and moments of hype that uplift legendary characters even higher. These are moments that remind you the Yakuza franchise is much bigger than any one game. Even when Infinite Wealth's overarching plotline comes up short in crucial ways, those moments still make it worth playing.

Things kick off with a strong opening that puts the realities of normal adult life front and center, almost as if RGG held a mirror up to my face and made a prologue chapter based on some of the things I've been through. More than just being real and relevant to the average person, this also tees up a powerful theme about the struggles of reintegrating with society after a life of crime, which has frequently been explored in the series from different perspectives. In Infinite Wealth, the theme is used to show Ichiban's struggles, as someone who embodies everything good about being the naive goofball with fists of iron and a heart of gold, and as a person driven by the ideals established in his previous game. Furthermore, the recurring theme of public opinion and internet virality dictating reality sharply foreshadows how Infinite Wealth steeps itself in modern social commentary.

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A voice actor who claims to have worked on a canceled Batman game has said Warner Bros. scuttled the project due to leaks. Josh Keaton said on a recent Twitch livestream that he was going to play Damian Wayne in an upcoming game from WB Games Montreal that we first learned about in 2016. Keaton said he did a few voice sessions for this game, but after the leaks, the higher-ups reportedly pulled the plug.

"They leaked everything, the whole plotline, not only the enemies and villains and the rogues gallery, but also the concept art for them. They were doing such a different take on so many of the rogues gallery it gave away everything that was different about the game. So, it kinda sucked," he said (via IGN). "The leaks killed the project. The leaks totally killed the project."

Also during the livestream, Keaton said the Damian Wayne game was going to be a "totally different thing" and would not exist in the Arkhamverse.

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Square Enix has announced that Nier Reincarnation's final chapter will be released on March 28 and the game will shut down on April 29.

"We regret to inform you that NieR Re[in]carnation will be ending service with the conclusion of The People and the World," Square Enix said in a statement. However, more content, characters, events, and campaigns will be released until the game fully comes to an end.

Final roadmap for Nier Reincarnation

The Premium Shop has been discontinued, along the ability to purchase items with real-world currency. As such, Square Enix will adjust reward and drop parameters. If players clear five quests, they will earn 100 skip tickets rather than 50. Story and dungeon quests will also cut the stamina requirement by half and increase the drop rate tenfold.

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Barbenheimer might have started as a joke, but now it's an Oscar force to be reckoned with. That's because Barbie and Oppenheimer have received 21 Academy Award nominations combined, with the former pulling 8 and the latter leading the way overall with 13.

Oppenheimer has a chance to clean up most of the major categories at the Oscars. For instance, the biopic was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), and Best Director (Christopher Nolan).

Barbie also got a Best Picture nod, though Greta Gerwig wasn't nominated for Best Director. Margot Robbie also isn't up for Best Actress. That said, Ryan Gosling will compete for a Best Supporting Actor award, and America Ferrera will do the same for Best Supporting Actress.

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If you've been looking at getting a new PC but you don't want it to claim too much of your desktop real estate, the new AyaNeo Retro Mini PC AM02 might catch your eye. The company has lifted the lid on its new project, a mini PC that blends an old-school NES-inspired design with powerful hardware within its compact frame. There's an eye-catching multi-function touchscreen built into it, and internally, it's designed to appeal to retro gaming enthusiasts and hobbyist developers.

While the standard model will be priced at $500 when it releases, anyone looking for an early-bird special can get the AMO2 PC for $440 through AyeNeo's Indiegogo campaign. This bare-bones Windows 11 model comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS APU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Other models with beefed-up memory and internal storage will also be available, for an additional price, and users can also upgrade the device on their own as it has enough capacity for 64GB of RAM and up to 8GB storage capacity. These mini PCs are expected to start shipping out at the end of February.

As for the touchscreen, AyaNeo hasn't delved into the specifics of it but it has demonstrated it being used as an alarm clock. The company says that it'll be capable of providing "unique gameplay experiences" and this feature will likely be explored by the modding scene. To round out the design, it comes with ports for USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, ethernet, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Overall, this should be a solid PC for running most modern games on medium settings, or using it for other homebrew efforts.

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This week, Pokemon Sleep will get its largest update since launch with a new sleeping area, recipes to cook with a brand new ingredient, more Pokemon species to discover snoozing, and energy replenishing features. This new update also attempts to fix many of the game's bugs such as Pokemon not using energy, while players sleep, and Pokemon having less energy in the morning than the night before.

Lapis Lakeside is Pokemon Sleep's newest research area and brings the total research area number to five, joining Greengrass Isle, Cyan Beach, Taupe Hollow, and Snowdrop Tundra. To unlock Lapis Lakeside, players will need to have registered 240 Sleep Styles. This new area brings nine new Pokemon species to discover in Lapis Lakeside such as Dratini, Stufful, and Ralts.

The update also adds seven more recipes alongside a new ingredient, Greengrass Corn. It can be assumed that the nine new Pokemon will have Greengrass Corn as an ingredient they can gather and all of the new recipes involve using Greengrass Corn. Now, your Pokemon will eat cooked dishes with you and it will restore a tiny amount of energy. The lower the amount of energy your Pokemon have, the higher the amount of energy they will receive.

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Palworld continues to break records. The "Pokemon with guns" game that has courted intrigue and drama since it was released on January 19 has now surpassed CS: GO's all-time peak concurrent record of 1.81 million. Palworld reached 1.83 million peak concurrent players.

Palworld is now No. 2 on the all-time list for peak concurrent players, but it trails the No. 1 game--PUBG--by a wide margin. That game reached an astonishing 3.2 million peak concurrent players on Steam in January 2018. PUBG achieved that milestone when it was a paid game, too, so Palworld remains No. 2 all time for peak concurrent players for both free and paid games on Steam.

Palworld has now sold more than 6 million copies across PC and Xbox. The game has surely reached a much bigger audience than that, though, as it's also available on Xbox Game Pass. The player population could be even larger if Palworld comes to PlayStation 5, but it's unclear if that will ever happen.

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Tekken 8's greatest challenge is building on a fighting game experience that has been refined to close to perfection over the course of eight-plus years, without feeling like it retreading old ground or needlessly upending the foundation laid by its predecessor. Thankfully, it's a challenge that developer Bandai Namco meets by introducing an improved fighting system focused on aggression, an impressive roster of 32 fighters, and one of the most rock-solid online experiences I've ever seen in a fighting game.

The main draw of Tekken 8 is the Heat system, which represents a new wrinkle to an already-satisfying set of brawling mechanics. Certain moves in each fighter's repertoire emit a burst of white energy on contact which, in turn, activates an aura of that same energy around the character's limbs. While in this state, characters can inflict more damage when blocked, gain access to a quick Heat Dash or powerful Heat Smash, and receive a few unique perks depending on the character. Claudio, for example, gets access to enhanced and powerful Starburst attacks while Heat is active, while Leroy can add time to his Heat meter whenever he uses one of his unique parry or reversal attacks, which keeps him powered up for longer. Heat can only be activated once per match, and it's only active for a short period of time, which promotes more aggressive tactics. Although it can be easy to think of this as a comeback mechanic, it has much more strategic utility and versatility which can mean it's used for an aggressive offense or a Hail Mary.

This makes every battle feel like a slugfest, which I find to be a refreshing change of pace for the franchise. Tekken has always been good at getting the adrenaline pumping during a match through the basics of trading fists, but the swings in momentum that a perfectly timed Heat activation can cause significantly amp up the excitement for both players and spectators. Importantly, the new Heat system doesn't pave the way to mindless mashing of buttons to brute force the aggression. While it's certainly possible to win a bout or two by smashing buttons, players who prefer to wait for the opportune moment to strike will often come out on top, and in brutal and cinematic style, they may just need to make some adjustments to account for the unpredictability of mashers. The new Heat System offers a lot to new and returning Tekken players, and the threat of a drastic turn in the tide of a battle at the touch of a single button press makes for tense moments and satisfying flourishes when successful.

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Monday Night Raw has found a new home, as the long-running WWE flagship show is moving to Netflix from January 2025. From next year, WWE fans in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, and Latin America will be able to watch Raw exclusively on Netflix.

The deal will also see all of WWE's premium live events--including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble--included, while other WWE shows such as Smackdown and NXT will also be available internationally from 2025.

"We are excited to have WWE Raw, with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix," said Netflix Chief Content Officer, Bela Bajaria. "By combining our reach, recommendations, and fandom with WWE, we'll be able to deliver more joy and value for their audiences and our members. Raw is the best of sports entertainment, blending great characters and storytelling with live action 52 weeks a year and we’re thrilled to be in this long-term partnership with WWE."

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Director Oliver Stone has issued an apology after saying Ryan Gosling was "wasting his time" starring in the Barbie movie and should instead focus on "more serious films."

Posting on social media, Stone said he "had little to no knowledge" of what the Barbie movie was beyond its title when he made his comments in June 2023. When he saw the movie, he said he "appreciated the film for its originality and its themes."

"I found the filmmakers' approach certainly different than what I expected. I apologize for speaking ignorantly."

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Stargate: Timekeepers is a tactical game in which you lead a team of specialists through a story-driven campaign featuring an original narrative set in the Stargate SG-1 universe. Sneak a newly formed team behind enemy lines, use your characters' unique skills, craft the perfect plan to unravel a timeloop mystery, and defeat the Goa'uld threat.