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Digital Trends
8 hours ago
- Business
- Digital Trends
Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach Wet and Dry Vacuum review: a quicker way to clean your floors
Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach Wet and Dry Vacuum review: a quicker way to clean your floors MSRP $550.00 Score Details 'The Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach handles all kinds of messes with ease, though it doesn't feel quite as premium as some competitors.' Pros Lie-flat design Fantastic cleaning skills No-tangle technology Self-cleaning dock Cons Missing a few premium features Self-propulsion is a bit too aggressive 'Why you can trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out more about how we test and score products.' The Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach Wet and Dry Vacuum is a do-it-all sort of product. Packing in 18,000 Pa of suction, it's an excellent vacuum. A self-cleaning roller is constantly rinsed during operation, resulting in excellent mopping chops. A lie-flat design lets you slip under most furniture. And when you're done cleaning, the dock will handle just about all your maintenance chores — keeping your hands clean and eliminating the need to muck around with dirty water. Recommended Videos But as great as the Dreame H12 Pro is, there are a few issues preventing it from being an easy recommendation. For one, its price of $550 is quite hefty, and the competition is quite robust. I also noticed a few tiny annoyances during testing that gave me pause, especially given its lofty price tag. The Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach is a solid choice for cleaning your hard floors, but you'll have to live with a few quirks if you decide to add it to your home. A versatile wet and dry vacuum Before I get nit-picky, it's worth noting that the Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach is fantastic at cleaning hard floors. Like all wet and dry vacuums, this is designed specifically for use on hard floors such as tile, wood, and laminate. It churns out up to 18,000 Pa of suction, which I've found to be more than enough for daily cleaning needs. Whether you're tackling a dried stain of unknown origins or a million grains of rice that spilled out of a torn bag, it'll handle whatever you throw its way. It also comes bundled with detergent, though you'll need to manually mix this in with your clean water reservoir, as the H12 doesn't offer an auto-dispensing feature. One of my favorite features of the Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach is Smart Mode. Four different modes of operation are available (Turbo, Suction, Quiet, Smart), though I often just left the gadget in Smart Mode. This allows the vacuum to automatically adjust its suction and water output based on its sensors, eliminating the guesswork from your chores. If that doesn't work, Turbo Mode usually gets the job done. Most shoppers will also appreciate its 180-degree lie-flat design. You can essentially rest the vacuum completely flat on the ground, giving it a total height of just 14 cm — which is short enough to reach under all sorts of furniture. It's also equipped with a rollerball halfway up the vacuum, providing you with impressive maneuverability while flat on the ground. Regardless of what you're cleaning, a large LED display lets you see the remaining battery life and the current operating mode. It gives the H12 a premium look, and it's certainly useful to help time your cleanings. Once you're done, the included docking station will handle most of your maintenance tasks. This includes washing and drying the roller mop, and doing the same for the piping within the vacuum. All you have to do is empty the dirty water tank and refill the clean water tank. The dirty water tank is easy to empty, and it does an excellent job of separating solids and liquids — preventing any clogs and dirty hands. Two drying modes are offered — Quiet Mode and Super-Speed Mode. The former runs a four-minute heated wash followed by a 30-minute drying cycle. The latter runs a longer seven-minute heated wash followed by a blistering five-minute flash drying cycle. The dock also charges your vacuum, and you can expect to get around 50 minutes of cleaning on a single charge. Minor quirks keep it from greatness While there's much to love about the Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach, I noticed a few pinch points during my testing. For one, the self-propulsion system on the vacuum is a bit aggressive. The device will automatically push itself forward, negating the need for you to manually push it along your floors. However, it moves a bit too fast, and I often found myself fighting against it to stay put on difficult stains. It also only propels itself forward. So if you decide you want to move the mop forward and backward like many people do with a traditional vacuum, you'll be battling against the H12 Pro. This is especially noticeable, having just tested the Roborock F25 ACE, which provided a smooth movement system whether you're pushing or pulling. Something I didn't expect to have an issue with was the water reservoir. Detaching the reservoir requires quite a bit of force — and because there's no latch or lock to manually depress, I thought I broke the vacuum the first time I pulled the tank off. Some competitors use a simple lock mechanism, where you slide a latch up and pull out the tank. That's not the case here, and I found it to be quite clunky for a $550 product. Instead of a single smooth movement, it's more of an awkward pulling that takes a few different motions. It loosened up a bit as time went by, but it's certainly not something I expected to worry about in this price bracket. You also won't find an auto-dispensing detergent system. These types of systems will automatically mix water and detergent, as they're contained in two separate reservoirs. With the H12 Pro FlexReach, you'll need to manually combine water and detergent when filling up its only clean water reservoir. It's not a big deal — but when you're spending $550, these little luxuries should be considered. Verdict On its own, the Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach Wet and Dry Vacuum is a solid product. It cleans remarkably well, it looks quite nice, and its ability to lie flat to reach under furniture gives it excellent versatility. Its self-cleaning docking station is wonderful, too, allowing you to skip the worst parts of mopping. However, competition is fierce in this segment, and the H12 Pro FlexReach is lacking too many niceties to rise above the pack. If you can find it on sale, then it's no doubt worth consideration. But when listed at its regular price of $550, you'll find other wet and dry vacuums to be more enticing. You might also consider shopping for the best robot vacuum and mop combos, as these are even more automated — and some are just a bit more expensive than the Dreame H12 Pro FlexReach.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
With iOS 19 on the way, Apple looks toward mobile gaming
With Apple's flagship Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event a few weeks away, the company is signaling that it's paying attention to the opportunity of mobile gaming. Apple already has a subscription-based Arcade product for iOS, which gives users access to various mobile games, including cult-classic indie games like Stardew Valley. But per a Digital Trends report, the company is taking things a step further by acquiring its first game studio, RAC7, which makes the hit Apple Arcade game Sneaky Sasquatch. Apple joins some other seemingly unlikely suspects in their investment in mobile gaming -- Netflix, for example, acquired several gaming studios after launching Netflix Games in 2021, which makes cloud mobile gaming available to Netflix subscribers. Meanwhile, Bloomberg confirmed a 9to5Mac report that Apple is developing a dedicated gaming app for iOS 19. The app will reportedly replace the Game Center app and integrate with Apple Arcade to host features like gaming leaderboards, recommendations, challenges, and social features. The new app could also integrate into iMessage or FaceTime to facilitate remote multiplayer gaming. Apple's additional investment in mobile gaming comes at a time when cloud gaming -- which allows users to stream games to their devices without downloading massive files -- is on the rise. Microsoft has been a leader in this shift with its Xbox Cloud Gaming offerings. Sign in to access your portfolio
Digital Trends
3 days ago
- Business
- Digital Trends
Whoop 5.0 Review: Distraction-free health tracking
Whoop 5.0 MSRP $199.00 Score Details 'The Whoop 5.0 is a lightweight fitness tracker with long battery life and a comprehensive, data packed app. However, the subscription-based purchase may make it an expensive option.' Pros Light and durable Data-packed app Long battery life Huge array of activities to track No distractions Cons Paywalled features Ongoing subscription to access data 'Why you can trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out more about how we test and score products.' A dedicated, screen-less fitness band seems like a hard sell in the times of flashy smart rings and feature-packed smartwatches, but Whoop is back with the Whoop 5.0 anyway. Aimed at more performance orientated individuals, it minimizes distractions and concentrates on assisting you in improving your health through coaching, data, and helping to build strong habits. I've worn it for 21 days to find out if a fitness band is worth wearing in 2025. Recommended Videos Whoop 5.0: design The Whoop 5.0 is designed similarly to the Whoop 4.0, but this time there are two versions, the Whoop 5.0 and the Whoop MG. The central module contains all the technology and sensors, and it's attached to a fabric band which is available in different colors and materials. If you choose the Whoop MG, it unlocks the electrocardiogram, irregular heart rate alert, and blood pressure readings. Health monitoring is the Whoop's focus. There's no screen, it doesn't tell the time, and it doesn't alert you about notifications from your phone. You wear it only to track health stats, sleep, and activity. I've been wearing the Whoop MG and it's just 28 grams, which allows me to comfortably wear it 24 hours a day without a problem. It's never sweaty, feels durable, and has an IP68 dust and water resistance rating. If you're looking for tracker you don't have to worry, or even think about at all, the Whoop 5.0 is a great choice. However, it's not very subtle or pretty. The module is quite thick and attached to a wide band, and the Whoop MG has a polished clip holding it all together, so it's quite noticeable. It's not particularly stylish wrist band, so if you're looking to track health and activity using something which also looks great, the Whoop probably won't be at the top of your list. It's where I'm conflicted about the Whoop. It's comfortable because it's light and it doesn't interrupt my day at all, but I don't feel anything for it. I've worn it on my right wrist opposite a normal watch, which is a welcome benefit, but I look at it and wish it was slimmer, smaller, and far more incognito. There's a reason smart rings and smartwatches have taken over from traditional fitness bands, as they can make some kind of lifestyle or fashion statement, and wearing the Whoop MG reminded me why I generally prefer them. Whoop 5.0: app No-one will buy the Whoop for the hardware. It's the means to an end, with the end being all the data it collects shown in the Whoop app. It's quite different to Apple Health or Samsung Health, and at least for the beginning until you're used to it, it's less user friendly than both. The top of the main page shows the expected sleep metric as a percentage, and it's joined by Recovery and Strain, and understanding these is key to getting something from the Whoop band. Recovery is a bit like a daily Readiness score, while the Strain metric is more like a daily activity score. Tap each one to see deeper insights and more expected data points like heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, and steps. Each section has a host of graphs showing how your current scores relate to the last week. It's by using the Recovery and Strain data points you'll understand how you're set for the day. Go beyond these stats and the Whoop app will overwhelm you with information, much of it repeated in different places throughout the app. The Health Monitor tool also shows HRV, resting heart rate, and other key stats. Scroll down the main screen and My Dashboard shows many of the same data points too. Keep navigating through the screens and there are a lot more graphs related to strain, stress, sleep, and activity. Whoop 5.0: advice and training What can you do with all this data? Check the Daily Outlook page and you get an AI-style summary from an assistant, with some basic recommendations on how to reach your Strain target. You can ask the assistant questions. For example, ask it how to lower stress and it recommends breath work, mindfulness, outdoor activities, and hydration. It's all very general, as you'd expect from a non-medical device. The app encourages you to fill in a daily journal, but I've yet to really see how it impacts the advice or app, plus you can set up individual plans to help boost fitness, feel better, or sleep better. There's little direct motivation to push though, something not helped by the lack of a screen. Elsewhere there's a Strength Trainer mode which unlocks a range of workouts. These are guided through the app, but it's not very well automated so you spend a lot of time tapping the screen to go through the plan, which is distracting. It's far from the excellent workouts in Apple Fitness Plus. You can also track a huge array of live activities, and I really like how they can be filtered by what you hope to achieve, whether that's boosting Strain or promoting recovery and sleep. Tracking happens instantly, the workout screen and map looks great and holds lots of information, and while it's a bit awkward to end a workout (the button is needlessly hidden), the Whoop does that fitness band basic — tracking activity — really well. Get more deeply into the activities and there's helpful additional information such as V02 Max and strength related metrics. The Whoop app doesn't hold back on data, but it doesn't present it in a particularly friendly way, which is where it loses points compared to the Oura Ring 4, the Apple Watch Series 10, and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7. It's also less highly motivated in its efforts to get you moving than I remember the Whoop 4.0 being, and the emphasis on high performance activity tracking appears to have been minimized. It indicates Whoop has shifted away slightly from its hardcore user base, yet hasn't fully adapted its app or data presentation to cater directly to casual users. Whoop 5.0: extra features and subscription plans The Whoop MG has more functionality than the Whoop 5.0, but to unlock the extras you have to pay a higher subscription. You don't technically buy the Whoop hardware, you pay an annual subscription, and your choice of plan dictates which features you get. The cheapest plan doesn't include the Stress Monitor, Health Monitor, Healthspan readout, ECG, irregular heart rate, or blood pressure reading. To get all these features you need the Whoop MG and the top annual plan, and there's an in-between option without the ECG, irregular heart rate, or blood pressure reading. What you really need to understand is to use the Whoop you'll have to pay for it every year. This isn't a one-and-done fitness tracker, it's an ongoing commitment. If you stop, there's no free option to get the very basics. Even the Oura Ring offers that. If you want all the features and data it's an expensive piece of equipment, which isn't bad provided it justifies the cost when you use it. See the table below for long-term costs, and note you can make a saving by signing up for 24 months when you buy the Whoop. Device One year cost of ownership Two years cost of ownership Three years cost of ownership Whoop 5.0 One $199 $398 (24 months $299) $597 Whoop 5.0 Peak $239 $478 (24 months $399) $717 Whoop MG Life $359 $718 (24 months $599) $1077 Oura Ring 4 From $349, plus $66 subscription $138 ($487 total after 2 years) $210 ($559 total after 3 years) RingConn Gen 2 Air $240 N/A N/A Apple Watch Series 10 From $399 N/A N/A Although it presents its data using different words to other activity trackers, the data when you drill down is basically the same as any other. I haven't found the Whoop actively pushes me forward, or provides a different level of insight into my health and wellbeing compared to other health wearables I use. I can also get the extra features, such as an ECG and blood pressure readings, from other non-subscription wearables. Even if you don't personally need this data now, it's nice to have it there, for free, should you eventually do so. There's a lot to think about with the Whoop, far more so than any buying decision required for a wearable which doesn't have an annual subscription attached. Because the device's focus has seemingly shifted away from athletes and fitness fanatics, it's less clear who should have it on their buying list in the first place. It certainly doesn't do anything badly, but it doesn't do anything dramatically better than other wearables. Whoop 5.0: battery and charging The upside to not having a screen and plenty of room in the module for a sensibly sized battery is long battery life. Whoop estimates about 14 days from a single charge, and this fits in with my use. I'm on day 21 and there's 40% battery remain from when I charged it after 15 days. It's impressive, especially as many wearables work harder during the getting to know you period. Charging takes at least 90 minutes, but the way you charge it also depends on which subscription plan you choose. The basic plan has a wired charger, but the other more expensive plans provide a wireless power pack, which can be used to charge the band without taking it off your wrist. It's a good idea, especially if you're absolutely obsessed with 24-hour a day tracking with no breaks, but if you're fine with missing out on a few hours worth of data, the regular charger will work just as well. Long battery life is one of the Whoop 5.0's biggest advantages, and being able to put it on your wrist and forget about it for two weeks sets it apart from most smartwatches. It's also at least twice the length of time you get from the Oura Ring 4, and about five days more than the RingConn Gen 2 Air. If regularly charging any wearable is something that puts you off, the Whoop should suit you. Whoop 5.0: price and availability Whoop has simplified its subscription model compared to the Whoop 4.0. There are three tiers starting out with the One plan for $199 per year, the Peak plan for $239 per year, and the Life plan for $359 per year. To see what each one provides, take a look at the table below. A O represents an included feature, while an X represents a feature missing from that plan. Feature Whoop One Whoop Peak Whoop Life Sleep, Strain, Recovery O O O Personalized Coaching O O O Vo2 Max/Heart Rate Zones O O O Cycle Tracking O O O Healthspan and Pace of Aging X O O Health Monitor/Health Alerts X O O Real-time Stress Monitor X O O Blood Pressure X X O ECG and Heart Scanner X X O Advanced Health Sensing X X O Strap CoreKnit SuperKnit SuperKnit Luxe Charger Wired charger Wireless Charger Pack Wireless Charger Pack While Whoop tells you clearly what it will cost you each year, it's better to think about how much it will cost you to own for a couple of years, as realistically most will keep a wearable they buy for longer than 12 months. This is where the Whoop gets expensive compared to the competition. An Apple Watch Series 10 costs $400 with no ongoing subscription, and the RingConn Gen 2 Air costs $240 without any subscription. The Apple Watch's feature set compares with the Whoop Life plan, while the RingConn Gen 2 Air easily takes on the basic Whoop One plan. The Oura Ring 4 is somewhere in-between the two. During my use the Whoop MG has not done anything over and above what I get from those devices. The blood pressure monitoring and ECG are not included in my test account, but the blood pressure feature is similar to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, in that it's essential to have a standard blood pressure monitoring cuff to get started. I've used the Withings BPM Connect for a while, and it costs $130 without any subscription. Should you buy the Whoop 5.0? The Whoop 5.0 is a lightweight activity tracker with long battery life and an app packed with data. Dig deep and its hardcore fitness tracking roots are still there, but they're not as heavily emphasized. While this may make the Whoop appeal to casual fitness fans, it doesn't offer anything substantial above and beyond what the casual user would get from any other wearable. Those seriously into fitness will appreciate the wide variety of activities available to track, and the sheer wealth of data. After my time with the Whoop 5.0, it has left me a bit confused. There's nothing wrong with it or its app, and if it cost around $240 all-in it would be a solid recommendation if you're really into fitness. The subscription model makes it less appealing, especially to someone only a bit interested in monitoring their health, as far better options exist. Why you'd wear a large, rather obvious fitness band like the Whoop over a smart ring, I'm also not sure. There's definitely still space in the crowded world of wearables for a screen-less, or minimal fitness band like the Whoop, but less so when it has an expensive, ongoing subscription plan tied to it, especially when it doesn't provide all that much reason for you to pay for it compared to the many other options available. The Whoop 5.0 is a decent health and activity tracker, but think very carefully about how much it's going to cost you to own long-term before signing up.
Digital Trends
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Elden Ring: Nightreign review: it's worth fighting through matchmaking hell
Elden Ring: Nightreign MSRP $40.00 Score Details 'Elden Ring: Nightreign is a thrilling co-op game kneecapped by archaic online integration.' Pros Smart roguelike loop Strategic teamwork Memorable weapons Exciting new bosses Cons Poor onboarding Inconsistent performance Archaic matchmaking 'Why you can trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out more about how we test and score products.' Recommended Videos Ever since 2009's Demon's Souls kicked off a new subgenre of action game, FromSoftware has repeatedly put players in the fights of their lives against hard-hitting bosses. With Elden Ring: Nightreign, it's now giving fans their fiercest opponent yet: online matchmaking. Ah, what a fearsome devil it is! How many wars have been lost over the years due to long queues that stall the flow of reinforcements? How many demons have been allowed to run roughshod over an unprotected world as brave heroes struggle to figure out whether or not they can pair up together on different consoles? It is a silent killer that now looms large over The Lands Between, threatening to keep its potential heroes locked in a crypt, far away from the thrills and splendor of the world above. If you can climb out of that darkness, overcoming convoluted matchmaking and inconsistent performance, there's an exciting multiplayer game waiting at the surface. Elden Ring: Nightreign's highs make it worth fighting through the lows, but I couldn't blame any warrior who would rather just sit the battle out until it gets some much needed improvements. Putting a run together Built as a way to capitalize on the success of 2022's Elden Ring without committing to a full sequel, Nightreign puts a clever co-op spin on the open-world game by turning it into a roguelike. It's a smart remix that gets more use out of existing assets while inventing a replayable multiplayer game with unexpected strategic depth despite its RPG hooks being much more streamlined than a standard Soulslike. Fully finding that hook takes a lot of effort, but it pays off for those patient enough to push through its most obvious flaws. Don't ask me what the story here is about. I know that it's my job to tell you that, but I just don't have the answer for you. FromSoftware's games are infamous for their cryptic stories that dole out layers of lore, but Nightreign is especially obtuse with its sea of proper nouns that do little to actually deepen the world of Elden Ring. Oh, you want to know all the juicy details about the Nightfarers and their quest to defeat the Nightlords while avoiding the Night's Tide? That's all spooky set dressing to explain why players need to vanquish eight bosses quickly as a shrinking circle of flames closes in on them, Fortnite-style. I'll leave it to the lore videos to try and decode every stray NPC conversation in the Roundtable Hold, but this is largely a story built to justify a gameplay scenario. It's FromSoftware letting its hair down after a decade and a half of tireless worldbuilding packed into every weapon description. What's more worth dissecting is how an actual roguelike run works. Players begin by selecting which Nightlord they're pursuing. They are then dropped into Limveld, an alternate reality take on Elden Ring's world that remixes its sights into a compact island that's dense with points of interest, loot, and bosses. A run takes place over three days. On the first and second, players explore as much of the map as possible as the circle gradually pushes them towards a final arena. Before that happens, squads have to use their time wisely to take out enemies, gain experience points, find powerful weapons, and craft a viable build before taking on a boss. If they survive the first two days, they're then teleported to a cosmic arena where they'll try to take down the boss. Though it sure looks like your average Soulslike, it's playing by a very different set of rules that might throw veterans off more than newcomers. This is a roguelike first and foremost with an emphasis on power management over RPG min-maxing and reactive skill. Leveling up, for instance, is a static process. Once I have enough runes, I simply have to run to a site of grace and spend them to have my stats automatically boosted based on the stat layout of the character I've selected. A successful run hinges on a party's ability to amass runes and upgrades by cutting through as many minibosses as possible in a day, all while stopping to grab additional flask charges from churches and uncovering other stray secrets along the way. Doing so will help them level up and stack passive upgrades that will put them in the best position possible to take down the big bads. If you can make it to the third day with your party around level 13, there's a good chance you'll win. The engaging challenge is learning how to consistently pull that off. It took me a long time to crack the code, which made for some frustrating early runs that had me swearing the entire project off. That's the way in which it's most similar to a traditional Soulslike. A total lack of coherent onboarding means that it's up to players to figure out how it all works, something that I fear may turn the all-important casual multiplayer crowd away early. But once it all clicks, Nightreign turns into an enthralling action gauntlet that rewards players who can react to the world quickly. My first success came after a three hour session with a set squad over voice chat. I had started to understand bits and pieces at that point, but this was the first time where I could craft a long-term plan with two other players who were on the same page as me. With each loss, we loaded back in and put any knowledge we'd earned to good use. We soon began starting each run by chasing down bosses and churches around the edge of the world, as those would be closed off to us first once the ring started moving. From there, our team leader would quickly pop into the map and call out a path we could follow towards the center that would let us cross through as many points of interest as possible. 'If we go this way, we can hit this boss, stop at this church, and open that evergoal in rapid succession.' An action-focused gauntlet turned into a connect-the-dots routing puzzle that tested our ability to navigate a world quickly. The excitement of a success comes from learning how to execute a reactive game plan. That format still leaves room for strong risk-reward dynamics. At one point, we came face to face with a giant centipede that we were barely denting with our attacks. We kept trying anyway, reviving one another when it would take us out in two hard hits and expending precious items like Warming Stones to keep the party's health topped off. By the time we got it's health down to half way, we noticed that the circle was coming. We were left with a choice: Do we stay and finish it off or cut our losses and spend our time getting easy wins elsewhere? In this case, we stood our ground and unleashed all of our special skills. It went down just as the fire came in and we reaped our rewards behind the damaging wall before dashing out and continuing on. It was a pure thrill built solely around time management rather than pinpoint parrying. That's bound to trip up the 'get good' crowd who enjoy Souls games for the skill; slowly grinding down every hard boss with careful evasion is a death sentence. Nightreign flexes entirely different muscles, testing how well players can build and push their momentum. That means that some runs can be overly fragile, as a party that can't amass some level ups early will be stuck in a power deficit that's hard to climb out of. But the excitement of a success comes from learning how to execute a reactive game plan that ends with a Nightlord corpse rotting in the sand. Elden remix To pull this all off only three years after Elden Ring's release, FromSoftware carefully threads new ideas into existing assets and systems from the base game. Limveld is an amalgamation of different points of interest from The Lands Between, dotted with familiar churches, mines, and castles. I fight a rogue's gallery of Elden Ring enemies from the Bell Bearing Hunter to Margit, and even some stray Dark Souls bosses. Sites of grace, wandering vendors, armament upgrading, and more are accounted for in more compact forms. It feels like a well-designed fan mod built from a creative suite, one that turns the movement speed up and turns off fall damage. All of the sticky enjoyment of putting together a build in Dead Cells carries over to the Elden Ring formula quite well. It's the way that those familiar elements are remixed with new ones that makes the approach work. Take its character progression, for instance. Rather than selecting a class that I'll build on with tiny changes, I pick a specific hero at the start of every run that has two special abilities and a passive perk. The Guardian is a giant bird who starts with a halberd, has access to a powerful slam attack, and has a stat distribution built around HP and stamina. The Ironeye, on the other hand, is a weak archer who can pick enemies off from afar with unlimited shots. Each can still be built up through a run, equipping any weapon and perk, but it makes Elden Ring feel more like a hero shooter. Team composition becomes paramount when trying to figure out the best way to approach a boss. Combat remains mostly unchanged from Elden Ring, though boss fights tend to go by much quicker with three people. I still need to dodge roll or parry to avoid familiar attack patterns. What's different is that weapon perks play a much bigger role in battle now. Rare and legendary gear can turn regular old swords from the base game into electrified blades that call forth lightning bolts. My best run had me wielding a flaming whip that could summon a pool of lava around enemies when I had enough FP. I tried to shape any passive perks I grabbed around that, nabbing a relic that would let me recover magic on successive attacks. All of the sticky enjoyment of putting together a build in Dead Cells carries over to the Elden Ring formula quite well. The roguelike format isn't always a clean fit for FromSoftware's usual design philosophy, though. There's a small bit of permanent progression in the form of relics, which add passive perks onto character classes. These are earned after runs and give players perks like 'Attack +1' that are often imperceptible in practice. Elden Ring's 'die and try again' loop can be tricky too, as falling to a boss means restarting a run that can take a good 30 minutes just to see more of its attack patterns. That's par for the course for any roguelike, but it can feel especially punishing when coming up against FromSoftware's brand of tricky attacks that are meant to be studied over multiple attempts. At least the Nightlords aren't your typical, predictable bosses. FromSoftware takes the unique three-player setup as a chance to imagine what new tricks it can pull off. Gradius, for instance, is a three-headed dog that occasionally splits into three individual beasts. That gives the fight a unique pace, as teams need to know when to divide and conquer. It's a very different fight from Adel, an enormous hippo-dragon that tries to gobble players up with its massive jaws. That fight is more about using one player as a distraction, letting the other two stab it from behind while its mouth is hyper fixated on one meal. Dynamics like that show that there's still much more FromSoftware can do with its Souls formula, just as Elden Ring showed how a true open-world game can change how a battle plays out. Matchmaking hell There are little quirks here and there that put a dent in a fairly good idea. Trying to revive enemies by whacking them with a weapon is incredibly clumsy, for instance. Runs can be a little repetitive too, even as new bosses rear their heads and the map shifts through world events. It's also disappointing to see Elden Ring's performance issues return here. I was getting occasional frame rate choppiness even on PS5 Pro's Performance Mode, as well as texture pop-in. Even that list issue is a small problem compared to Nightreign's true weak point: its archaic online integration that makes getting into a game far more challenging than it should be. Nightreign is ideally played with a squad of three people. It can be played solo, but that experience is incredibly unpleasant. While there's some scaling meant to help solo players get by, it's not nearly helpful enough as players will be taking down multiple enemies at once, something built around the assumption that there will be three people to control a crowd. I've only toyed around with solo play a bit, but I never have even had a hope of getting through night one by myself. There's no duo option at present either, so three players is the only viable way to play right now. There are several hurdles to getting a full team together. The biggest issue is that Nightreign does not feature cross-play. Your friends will all need to get it on one platform to party up, which is absurd for a demanding multiplayer game in 2025. They'll also all need to have cleared the first boss in order to play any other expedition together. If you don't have enough friends on one platform, you can matchmake with strangers, but I'd highly advise against that option. Communication is crucial to success, as players splintering off in random directions can kill a run before it even starts. There's no way to chat with players in game; the only communication system is an insufficient ping system. Even if you want to try your luck with random players, there are still obstacles that will stretch your odds of matching up thin. You'll have to queue up for a specific expedition, meaning that there are eight separate playlists that will split the already split community at launch (you can queue up for multiple at a time, but that won't help if you're looking to do a specific boss). Even more complicated is how it all buts up against Nightreigtn's most unique feature: the Shifting Earth. After clearing the first boss, the world map will inherit one of a handful of mutations. A giant crater may open up in the middle of it, creating a vertical space that occasionally erupts like a volcano. It's a smart way to change the otherwise static map, but there's a catch as far as I understand: players with different world states can't always match together. As far as I understand, you can not match with players who have a world event active if you've yet to see that event in your own world. So if you've only had a crater in your game, you won't be able to matchmake with someone who currently has a mountain active. I think. I still don't fully get how the restriction works and it is not explained in-game as far as I can tell. Maybe none of this will be a problem once the game goes live and millions of players hop in across each platform, but it is unfathomable to me that a multiplayer game is launching with so many hoops. Even something as simple as setting a room password so friends can join is cumbersome, as I often found I'd have to cancel my matchmaking once or twice and try again to connect with friends who had the same code set. Nightreign is built to be played with a consistent group of friends who intend to tackle every mission together over voice chat. Good luck to anyone who dares to try anything else. Issues like this remind me why it took me so long to truly appreciate FromSoftware's games. Every time I review one, I feel like so much of my time gets spent breaking down unforced errors like this that carry over from game to game. Maybe they're harder to change than I think. Maybe FromSoftware feels that it doesn't need to change anything because it'll eat up awards and critical praise no matter how glaring the barriers to entry are. All I know is that a bulk of the conversations I've had with other members of the press during this review cycle has been about how bizarre the matchmaking is and how much that will hurt its chances of success. It's a boring conversation! I'd much rather be discussing the artistry on display, but Nightreign too often invites us to focus on it as a product. At least that product is engrossing when all the stars align. The constant euphoria Nightreign provides once I'm in a coordinated party is remarkable. I get the same thrill that I get when beating a hard boss in Elden Ring but magnified thanks to dozens of little decisions my team made along the way. I'm not just celebrating because I parried enough attacks, but because I had the sense to stop and kill that one stray boss even as the flames threatened to engulf me. One mistake can spoil a good run, but you can't let it stop you from pushing ahead to victory. Maybe FromSoftware understands that better than everyone, earning every pass it has received over the years. All that matters is the killing blow, and Nightreign lands that strike when it counts. Elden Ring: Nightreign was tested on PS5 Pro.
Engadget
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Apple buys the maker of Sneaky Sasquatch
Apple has bought a game studio for the first time. Digital Trends reported on Tuesday that the company has scooped up RAC7. The two-person team is behind the Apple Arcade hit Sneaky Sasquatch . For years, some investors have hoped Apple would apply its full clout to the gaming industry. Although recent years have seen the launches of Apple Arcade and Game Mode for Macs, there's still untapped potential. Another piece of news on Tuesday makes it easier to speculate that something is brewing. Bloomberg reported that the company will launch a revamped gaming app at WWDC. The new app is said to replace the oft-forgotten Game Center. However, Giovanni Colantonio of Digital Trends suggests the acquisition isn't necessarily a sign of what's to come. He notes that Apple described the RAC7 purchase as a unique situation to help the small studio grow. "We will continue to deliver a great experience for Apple Arcade players with hundreds of games from many of the best game developers in the world," Apple told the publication. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Sneaky Sasquatch was a launch title for Apple Arcade in 2019. Engadget's Devindra Hardawar described it as an example of how the service can let developers "cut loose and get weird." And weird, it is. (Delightfully so!) You play as the mythic Bigfoot, tiptoeing around a forest. What starts as a quirky stealth game takes even stranger turns. As you progress, you'll learn to drive cars, disguise yourself as a human and hit the slopes. Over five years later, the quirky title is still one of Apple Arcade's tentpole games. It sits alongside favorites like Katamari Damacy Rolling Live , Skate City: New York and Threes! And we can't forget one of Engadget's all-time favorite games, Balatro . The "almost perfect" port of the deck-building game hit the service last year.
