Sharpen your fangs, fortify your castle, and ready your spellbook: V Rising Update 1.1: Invaders of Oakveil launches April 28, and it looks mighty sinister!

A blood-soaked gift to PC players, this free update serves up a deadly new biome, venomous new boss, revamped combat systems, and fresh vampiric powers. If you’re already living your best un-life in Vardoran, this is the chaos boost you’ve been waiting for. And for those new to the hunt, there’s never been a better time to awaken!

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A New Frontier: Oakveil Woodlands

Set in Oakveil Woodlands, a gloomy, gorgeous new biome overrun with cursed flora, fungal monstrosities, and secrets whispered from tree-to-tree, Invaders of Oakveil is a land where corrupted nature fights back. And the only law is tooth and claw.

Perfect for vampires seeking new territory to conquer (or redecorate), just be sure to stay on your toes. The land is alive with hostility, and your presence won’t go unnoticed.

New Boss - The Serpent Queen Has Arrived

Think you’ve mastered V Rising’s bosses? Think again. Invaders of Oakveil introduces the wicked Serpent Queen, Megara, and she's ready to test every drop of corrupted blood that runs through your veins.

Backed by her fanatical Venom Blades, Megara slithers through the shadows of Oakveil, poisoning the land whilst twisting the surrounding nature to her will. More than just a boss fight, Megara warps the environment around her. Track her down, and prepare for a toxic showdown.

New Gear, Powers, and Combat Systems

Beyond Oakveil’s whispering trees and challenging bosses, Update 1.1 is stacked with gameplay upgrades to keep your dark powers evolving.

Along with three new weapons—Claws, Twinblade, and Throwing Daggers— Invaders of Oakveil introduces seven new spells, each crafted to torment and annihilate your enemies in their own unique way.

And that's not all. The update completely reworks the Blood Type system, introducing Corrupted Blood, to allow for even more personalized and powerful builds.

Plus, with the Fusion Forge and Ascended Alchemy, you can refine and tweak your gear and elixirs, boosting your combat prowess in new and innovative ways.

Ascended Alchemy and Gear Fusion

Whether you're chasing the perfect build or just in the mood to experiment, the Fusion Forge lets you mix and match weapons or jewels so you can craft your unique loadout.

Meanwhile, Ascended Alchemy takes potion-making beyond healing to create powerful, body-boosting elixirs that open up fresh, strategic angles for spell-slinging or close-quarters combat.

Seriously, this isn’t just an upgrade, it’s a whole new way to play!

Castle Arena and Duels

Also, if you want to test your strength without risking hard-earned gear, Castle Arena and Duels are where it's at.

Design your arena, set your rules, and challenge fellow vampires to PvP duels without losing precious equipment. Whether you're looking for casual duels or intense team combat, this is the perfect way to sharpen your skills and engage in risk-free battles.

New Castle Cosmetics and System Changes

But vampire life’s not all about duels. Sometimes you just want to pimp up your pad. And that’s where the new cosmetics and systems come in.

From stylish new décor to upgraded production systems like Treasury Rooms and Gloomrot-inspired electrical routing, you’ll have more ways than ever to design the ultimate lair.

And don’t forget the updated castle limits. New rules for official PvP and PvE servers aim to keep territory control balanced, ensuring that castle grabs stay strategic, not chaotic.

New Save Required, Dual Version Support

Heads up, accessing all the new content in Update 1.1 means starting a fresh save file. But don’t panic: thanks to the new dual-version system, you’ll be able to swap between your original world and the updated one with ease, so no need to give up your old progress.

Updated Server Rules and Event Frequency

Servers are also getting a serious tune-up with new rulesets designed to keep the action balanced and intense.

Expect more frequent Mortium Rift events, beefed-up Golems in PvP, and stricter castle limits per clan to keep territory control competitive and fair.

In short? Your world’s about to get more active, and a lot more dangerous!

Ready to Raise Hell in Oakveil?

More than just a content drop, V Rising: Invaders of Oakveil is a power move. From venom-drenched biomes to high-stakes PvP duels, castle overhauls to corrupted blood experiments, Update 1.1 is a full-on evolution of what it means to be a vampire lord.

And let's be real, the PC is where this update hits hardest. With the precision of mouse-and-keyboard combat, total freedom through custom servers and settings, superior visuals, and early access to every bleeding-edge feature, PC gamers are getting the best version of Oakveil.

Castle building feels smoother, combat is sharper, and mod support means your vampiric reign can be as unique, and deadly, as you want it to be.

So, mark your calendars for April 28, update your loadout, and plan your next castle. After all, Megara’s waiting, and Oakveil won’t conquer itself!

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Free PC update coming your way!

It's sadly not often that we get a genuinely compelling new racing game nowadays. Whereas the genre was at its absolute heyday some two decades ago, with Gran Turismo, Burnout, Need for Speed, and a variety of other similar titles romping about, the market is much more punishing nowadays. Arcade racing titles have been all but pushed out of the niche, but simulators and simcades persevere still.

With that in mind, it was a huge loss when one of the community's favorite (relatively) new racing franchises, Project Cars, fell flat on its face with its third entry. Now, to be fair, yours truly does enjoy PCars 3 for what it is, but there's no denying the fact that it lost some crucial sense of self compared to its immediate predecessor.

What if we told you a new game styling itself after Project Cars and Project Cars 2, specifically, was on the horizon? Enter Project Motor Racing, formerly known as GTRevival! Wonky titles aside, PMR is penned by Straight4 studio under the publisher Giants Software, and Ian Bell is on the project as well.

Pre-Order Project Motor Racing at 2Game to score 15% off!

Why Should You Care About Project Motor Racing?

Project Motor Racing is an extremely promising new franchise entering the sim racing arena. Or Grand Prix, if you will. Two reasons for that, specifically:

Yep, you read that right: the revered, exceedingly moddable Farming Sim engine is apparently capable of running racing sims, and presumably without having your fancy Mosler turn into a John-Deere mid-race. At least, that's what we're hoping for.

This already sets Project Motor Racing apart from its contemporaries; specifically Gran Turismo 7 on PlayStation 5 and Forza Motorsport on Xbox/PC, as well as the more widely beloved Assetto Corsa titles. The competition is tough, but the team behind the classic Project Cars games is bound to have the chutzpah necessary to see it through. So, what else do we know about the game?

Project Motor Racing Fact Sheet: All We Know So Far

Here's the truly important tidbit about PMR: it's not going to focus all that much (if at all) on the modern cutting-edge of racing categories. Hypercars? Formula-1? GT-3? Don't count on those being present, except for an occasional outlier here and there, perhaps. The focus instead falls squarely on the kind of cars you'd expect to see in Gran Turismo 2 and Gran Turismo 3, for example: the arguable golden age of GT racing, the 1990s and the 2000s.

For the nostalgic racing game fans among us, this is a huge deal, because motorsport has kind of fallen by the wayside over the past decade-and-a-half. Or, rather, not motorsport specifically but the culture surrounding it, which has changed and mutated into something different than it once was.

Of the confirmed vehicles, we know for a fact that 2004-2005's GT-Racing class of vehicles will be present and accounted for. Similarly, Straight4 has chosen to focus most of their track development bandwidth on niche offerings that don't often appear in, say, a Forza title.

Confirmed Car List

Confirmed Track List

It's slim pickings as far as actual hard confirmations go, for sure, but the vibe of the game is absolutely set. Could this truly be the dream retro simcade so many of us have been waiting for? Yep, it could. Fingers crossed that it does!

One particularly notable boon comes from the fact that Straight4 is using Giants' own in-house Farming Sim engine for PMR. True enough, we do have to wait to see how the software suite handles actual high-speed racing, but the really big deal here is that it's extremely moddable and flexible, which means community content creators are going to have a field day with this game.

Project Motor Racing is Due to Launch in 2025: Stay Tuned

We don't yet have a firm release window for Project Motor Racing. The game is due to release at some point in 2025, though, and it's coming out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles on day one. We're hoping to see a demo of some sort ahead of the game's release, and a concrete post-launch plan for what's to come down the line would be neat as well.

Do keep in mind that Straight4 isn't a massive team, and so it's a given that PMR won't have the kind of vehicle roster one might expect out of, say, Forza Motorsport. We expect to see a few dozen cars on day one at most, but with modding support in tow, and hopefully a comprehensive plan for post-launch support, that number's bound to massively grow as we go.

Stay tuned for more Giants and Straight4 content - right here at 2Game!

Pre-Order Project Motor Racing at 2Game to score 15% off!

From the folks behind Project Cars 1 and 2!

Though it's obviously a niche gameplay concept, we're huge fans of the SnowRunner gameplay formula here at 2Game. Having originally been conceptualized by the revered MudRunner title, the IP has since been adapted to accommodate a growing number of more specialized titles. Now, with RoadCraft, we're in for our very first disaster recovery title, which may be the most exciting approach to the classic old formula yet.

So, for those who aren't familiar with the franchise yet, SnowRunner, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, and the upcoming title RoadCraft are all connected to one another. Developed by Saber Interactive of World War Z and - yes - Space Marine 2 fame, these titles are highly specialized offroad driving simcades. Players take control over a wildly eclectic fleet of vehicles to complete a wide variety of tasks both simple and complex.

In MudRunner and SnowRunner, players were mainly tasked with industrial jobs of all sorts. Logging, construction resource, delivers, and so on, for the most part. Expeditions, on the other hand, was about exploration and navigation through genuine overlanding terrain. Finally, with RoadCraft due to hit the stores on May 20, we'll get to roam through regions affected by massive natural disasters and mount recovery and repair efforts.

Pre-order RoadCraft right here at 2Game to score early bird goodies!

What's new in RoadCraft?

Having tackled this topic before, we did expect that the Runner IP would evolve into something different as time went on. After all, there's only so much you can do with the tired old logging/resource extraction trope, and SnowRunner's basically done it all by now. The obvious next step was to amp up exploration to eleven, and that's precisely where Expeditions came into picture. To-day, Expeditions is one of the best titles in the franchise, and with ongoing post-launch support plans, there's much to look forward to yet. To say nothing of community-made mods and whatnot!

RoadCraft, on the other hand, comes in as a kind of an opposite to Expeditions. Whereas the latter is all about free-form discovery and sandbox gameplay, RoadCraft gives you a very specific, very important job right off the bat: jump headfirst into disaster-stricken areas of the world and help people. Whether through asset recovery, infrastructure rebuilds, or straightforward cleanup jobs, RoadCraft is all about those gigs.

With that in mind, it's clear by now that RoadCraft is still precisely the same kind of physics-driven sim/puzzle title the franchise has always been. With new trucks, gadgets, and features in tow, though, we're in for a wildly different experience for sure.

Can disaster recovery add more variety to the SnowRunner gameplay loop?

Just from seeing what trucks, vehicles, and tools will be at our disposal in RoadCraft, we think this is going to be the single most wildly different title in the franchise yet. What we mean by that is that even though Expeditions was far, far less industrial in its concept than SnowRunner, the two games' respective vehicle fleets were actually rather similar.

RoadCraft, on the other hand, is basically going all-in on disaster relief and recovery craft. This means truly heavy-duty vehicles with important lifting, transport, and - yes - destruction capabilities. Some of the vehicles are making the transition from the previous Runner titles, for sure, but the introduction of massive haulers such as Aramasu Bowhead 30T and heavy scout trucks like the Invictus Type-A show a heavier focus on the specific nitty-gritty of RoadCraft, rather than a more generalized approach like we've gotten used to.

This is great news for those who want something genuinely novel out of RoadCraft. Activities such as bulldozing, material recycling, and realistic material deformation across various unique terrains (e.g. sand, fresh cement, etc.). We know for a fact that the base game will have eight unique maps from across the world, each at least four square kilometers in size. Old solar farms, abandoned factories, and submerged dams are just some of the locations we'll be crafting our roads on, and it's an extremely exciting predicament if you're into these games.

Stay tuned for RoadCraft on May 20!

RoadCraft is coming out on Steam on May 20, but you can already place a pre-order on both the base and the upgraded editions of the game right here at 2Game. Note that it's not a full-priced AAA title, and is thus much cheaper than what you might be expecting out of it:

Pre-orders nab you the aforementioned ultra-hauler Aramatsu Bowhead truck, while the Rebuild edition of the game comes with the titular Rebuild DLC featuring two new maps, new contracts, new activities, new vehicles, and the fancy Hummer Expy Invictus truck. It's a good deal, especially if you're familiar with how Saber supports its Runner titles, so consider upgrading while you still can! Expect loads of RoadCraft coverage via guides and beyond as we near mid-May right here at 2Game. So, stay tuned!

Pre-order RoadCraft right here at 2Game to score early bird goodies!

Craft them roads!

Season 2 of Tekken 8 marks the explosive return of Anna Williams — the high-risk queen of mix-ups and chaos. A fan favorite since the original Tekken, the Scarlet Lightning storms back into the spotlight as the season’s first DLC fighter, armed with fresh tech, new tricks, and a vengeance-fueled edge.

But this time, she’s not alone. Enter “Lovely Tom” — a transformable, compact weapon engineered by Dr. Nakamura. Designed specifically to help Anna storm G Corp and finally take down her sister, Nina, with this stylish sidearm at her disposal, Anna is more dangerous than ever. And she’s out for blood!

Get your copy of Tekken 8 at 2Game today!

READ MORE: Tekken 8 Season 2 Tier List: Best Characters Right Now!

Classic Chaos, Reforged

You know the drill with Anna’s playstyle: bait, punish, destroy. And cause chaos. The Scarlet Lightning still thrives on unpredictability, leveraging high-risk mix-ups and unblockables to keep opponents on edge. But in Tekken 8, that chaos has been sharpened.

Anna now boasts refined combo routes, improved wall carry, and key buffs to her Chaos Judgment stance — giving her even more ways to punish mistakes and close out rounds with explosive flair. Her gameplan is faster, smoother, and even more punishing. The constant? Guess wrong against Anna, and it might just cost you the round. Some things never change!

Heat, Pressure, and Lovely Tom

The new Heat System fits Anna’s offensive style perfectly. Heat gives her slick combo extensions and terrifying pressure strings, making her mix-ups even more brutal. More than just flashy — she’s now a momentum machine, overwhelming opponents with relentless offense and constant threat.

Incorporating "Lovely Tom" into her arsenal not only enhances her combat capabilities but also deepens her narrative drive for vengeance. Its lore hints at exciting future possibilities, including stylish animations, cinematic enders, and potentially unique mechanics.

With versatile combat options — machine gun fire, rockets, lasers, poison rounds, and melee attacks — this compact rocket launcher is the perfect complement to Anna’s deadly persona!

Old Rivalries, New Threat

Anna’s back, and revenge is still the name of her game. Her feud with Nina is as toxic as ever, and her partnership with Dr. Nakamura shows just how far she’s willing to go. That burning drive doesn’t just shape her story — it’s in every sidestep, strike, and setup she lands.

Now part of a 37-character roster, Anna returns to become one of the game’s most dangerous picks. She can flip momentum in a heartbeat, punishing hesitation and rewarding players who thrive on reads and aggression.

The Verdict: Anna’s Back, and She’s Not Messing Around

Whether you're a returning Anna main or a newcomer just discovering her chaotic style, there's no denying the impact of her return. With tighter execution, new tricks, and the addition of Lovely Tom, Anna is more than just a nostalgic callback; she’s a force to be reckoned with in the current meta.

Brace yourself for the shock of The Scarlet Lightning. One wrong move, and you'll be sure to regret it!

Get your copy of Tekken 8 at 2Game today!

CHECK OUT: Tekken 8 Season 2 Gameplay Changes - What's New in the Arena?

She’s Back!

Tekken 8 Season 2 isn’t just another patch—it’s a full-blown recalibration. Sure, character buffs and nerfs grab headlines (check out Tekken 8 Season 2 Tier List: Best Characters Right Now!), but beneath the surface, Bandai Namco has retooled the game’s core systems in ways that impact every matchup, every fighter, and every second of play.

Whether you're a seasoned competitor or a casual player coming back to see what’s new, here’s everything you need to know about the system-wide changes shaking up Tekken 8 in Season 2.

Get your copy of Tekken 8 at 2Game today!

Combo Scaling Adjustments – Flashier, Longer, But Fairer

One of the most immediate gameplay shifts comes from the new combo damage scaling. Season 2 slightly reduces the damage on extended routes, discouraging brainless overkill while rewarding players who explore flashier, more technical strings.

The goal is clear: creativity over simplicity. That is - you’ll still be able to capitalize on punishes and openers, but now there’s more incentive to learn extended routes, and finesse the timing for optimal payoff. The ceiling is still high, but the floor also feels less punishing.

Wall Mechanics – Cleaner Interactions, Fewer Drops

Wall combos are a big deal in Tekken, and in Season 2, wall stun behavior has been improved for consistency. Previously, some characters would get awkward bounces or inconsistent resets. Now, wall stun timing is more uniform, giving every fighter a more reliable ender setup. This is particularly good for fighters with strong wall carry like Lars, Dragunov, or Hwoarang, who can now plan their combos around the wall with greater confidence and less RNG.

New Combo Routes & Transitions – More Tools, More Expression

One of the most impactful tweaks this season is the expansion of combo routes and stance transitions, with many characters receiving fresh strings, updated Heat Engagers, and entirely new follow-ups. This has opened the door to more expressive, character-specific gameplay, giving players more ways to show off their style mid-match.

Want to optimize your damage? You can. Prefer slick sidesteps and tricksy resets? That’s on the table too. Season 2 is clearly built to reward creativity and combo freedom.

Training Mode Upgrades – Lab Monsters Rejoice

Season 2 also brings some much-needed love to Practice Mode, with players now getting up to 10 recording slots, improved reversal behavior, and better control over frame-by-frame playback.

Whether you're testing meaty timing, perfecting Heat transitions, or prepping for specific matchups, it's now faster and more precise to drill the tech you need. In a game where timing is everything, these upgrades signify a big quality-of-life boost.

A Shift in Balance Philosophy – Offense Reigns Supreme

The main takeaway from Season 2 isn’t upgrades to any specific character, it’s the overall game-wide shift toward aggression. With the changes to combo potential, wall pressure, and added tools across the board, as with other modern fighters, Tekken 8’s meta now favors aggression, momentum, and high-stakes exchanges over slow-and-steady zoning.

In your face characters, like Jin, Azucena, or Dragunov, shine under this new meta. Meanwhile, pure turtlers and low-risk zoning strategies take more of a backseat. Don't get us wrong, defence still matters. But with the meta rewarding boldness, creativity, and momentum more than ever, if you're not applying pressure, you're playing catch-up.

Special Style & Accessibility – Smoother for Newcomers, Clean for Spectators

Special Style has also seen subtle tweaks - now offering a more intuitive flow for newcomers that introduces them to each character’s basic game plan without overwhelming complexity. It’s still not competitive-level tech, but it’s a smarter, more intuitive onboarding tool for newcomers.

Additionally, hit effects and visual clarity have been improved in some cases, making big moments easier to follow for both players and spectators. This change shows Bandai Namco’s ongoing commitment to making Tekken both competitive and fun to watch.

A New Chapter for Every Fighter

Season 2 of Tekken 8 doesn’t just tweak numbers, it changes how the game feels. From longer juggles to cleaner wall play and a bold new rhythm of offense, this patch reshapes the pace and personality of every fight. Some may miss the old defense-heavy style—but there’s no denying the thrill. Combos hit harder, matches move faster, and Tekken 8 feels more alive than ever.

Whether you’re grinding Heat setups or just here to flex those new juggles on your crew—Season 2 is your cue. Tekken 8 isn’t just updated, it’s reborn!

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Aggression, Heat, and Combo Creativity

Tekken 8 exploded onto the scene in January 2024, and with Season 2 now live, the action has only intensified. With new buffs, fresh combos, and an overall shift toward more aggressive gameplay, this is one of the most talked-about (and debated!) updates in years.

While some veteran players have expressed concern about Season 2's increasingly aggressive pacing, there's no denying the hype that's been stirred. Big-name characters are playing with brand new toolkits, and the results are explosive.

Whether you're a day-one diehard or just returning to see what the new season brings, one thing’s clear: this season hits hard, and you need to feel it for yourself! Here are the best Tekken 8 characters to play this season.

Get your copy of Tekken 8 at 2Game today!

Tekken 8 Season 2 Tier List - Who’s Looking Scary Right Now?

With new moves, insane combos, and reworked mechanics, Season 2 certainly cranks up the heat. But which fighters are making the biggest impact? Here's what's new with the hotshots reshaping the battlefield.

Jin Kazama

Jin Kazama is the undisputed king of the ring right now. And it’s not even close. Already a powerhouse, he's been supercharged with new lows, smoother stance transitions, and even some borrowed Devil Jin tricks. Truly, this guy is a highlight-reel machine. Facing him? Brutal. But playing him? A pure rush!

Alisa Bosconovitch

Not far behind is Alisa Bosconovitch, who’s become an unstoppable force in Season 2. Her chainsaws are nastier than ever. And with buffs to Dual Boot and Destructive Form, improved neutral game, and safer pressure strings, she now surgically dismantles opponents. Alisa’s built for mind games, and she wins them!

Bryan Fury

A fan favorite with fists of fury, Bryan’s Snake Eyes stance has been expanded with nasty new mix-ups. His B1+2 opens up scary wall combo routes, and with his brutal pressure game, he’s more terrifying than ever.

Claudio Serafino

Claudio's enhanced Starburst tech and better whiff punishes have significantly upped his game, giving him a deadly mid-range presence. Opponents watch out - even the slightest slip-up will now be punished.

King

King has always been a beast up close, but his reworked Jaguar Sprint now gives him stronger follow-ups after blocked moves. For fans of grabs and ground-and-pound, he’s your Season 2 MVP.

Kuma

The bear is back. No longer a meme pick, Kuma’s new Mishima-style movement and brutal mix-ups make him a legit tournament threat. Don’t laugh — he’ll maul you!

Honorable Mentions – More Fighters Who've Stepped It Up

They’re not quite top-tier yet, but these fighters received meaningful buffs that make them scarier than ever:

Zafina

Zafina is slipperier than ever — literally with her improved counter-hit tools and tighter frame traps making her harder to pin down. With safer pressure and better reward on evasive movement, she’s become a walking trap for players who overcommit. If you’re not surgical with your reads, she’ll pick you apart.

Dragunov

The Russian machine is back in full force, with increased mobility and faster recovery on key strings making his rushdown relentless again. Dragunov can now stay in your face longer and mix you up with new transitions and pressure strings. Basically, Season 2 rewards aggression, and Dragunov’s built for it.

Azucena

Azucena flows better than ever this season. Her stance transitions are now smoother and more flexible, letting her dance between baiting and punishing like a pro. Defensive players used to wall her out, but not anymore. She’ll feint, dodge, and punish your hesitation in style.

Victor

Gone are the gimmicks - Victor’s now about smart pressure, smooth cancels, and clean neutral tools. In the right hands, he’s a freestyle monster with serious potential.

Lee Chaolan

Lee’s a lab monster’s dream right now. His new Heat Smashes and buffed Mist Step transitions open up crisp juggle routes and insane combo variety. He’s still execution-heavy, but the payoff is flashier and more damaging than ever, a perfect fit for players who like to stunt.

Shaheen

Shaheen’s no longer just "solid." His Slide mix-ups are deadlier, his stance pressure forces faster reactions, and he’s got more reliable punish.

Get Ready to Brawl!

Even with all the debate around balance and aggression, Tekken 8 is booming—and there's never been a better time to join the fight. Season 2 brings a fresh layer of depth, style, and explosiveness to every match. Whether you're grinding ranked, labbing heat-engaged combos, or just clowning friends in casuals, this update rewards bold plays and character mastery.

So, lock in your main, sharpen your reads, and study the new tech. Because in Tekken 8 Season 2, hesitation gets punished, and the strong get highlight reels!

Get your copy of Tekken 8 at 2Game today!

The best fighters right now.

We have ostensibly entered the era of mainstream AAA releases being "too big" for the Steam Deck in 2025. Between Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Rise of the Ronin, it's easy to see why you might stop trying to run cutting-edge titles on it. Yet, it's not all quite so black and white, at the same time, as games such as Assassin's Creed Shadows do still run on the Deck surprisingly well. And now, we can add South of Midnight to that same list, to boot.

That's right, folks: South of Midnight works very, very well on the Deck as it turns out. To kick things off, the game is officially Verified by Valve for Steam Deck playing, with a full set of features and proper support for all of the device's hardware capabilities. On that note, the developer recommends enforcing a 30 FPS cap to get a truly consistent gameplay experience. Can we crank that up to 40 for the most part, though?

Get your copy of South of Midnight right here at 2Game!

Optimal South of Midnight settings for the Steam Deck

The baseline default recommended by the developer for South of Midnight on the Steam Deck is the 'Medium' graphics settings preset at 1200x800 and a 30 FPS cap. As the game runs above 30 FPS at any given time at these settings, this ensures that the hardware isn't overly stressed, and you get to enjoy stable and reasonably smooth gameplay virtually across the board.

As-is, South of Midnight also looks rather excellent, and the OLED model will be able to get you over three hours' worth of game time without any additional fussing. So, if you don't want to muck about with game settings and tweaking, you can expect a rather excellent experience playing South of Midnight on the Deck out-of-the-box. Neat!

In our testing, we've found that maintaining a rock-solid 40 FPS on the Deck isn't yet feasible while playing South of Midnight. That's the bad news: some scenes will tumble your frame-rate down to low 30s no matter what you do, and the cutscenes themselves are capped at 30 FPS, to boot. This means that those who appreciate consistency over everything else may find 40 FPS untenable.

However, if you're not that hung up on consistency, you'll discover that it's fairly easy to get 40 FPS about 80% of the time in South of Midnight. You will want to keep all settings at Medium or below for this to work, and set Upscaling to 'TAAU'. Doing so softens the image up a tad, but it's not too noticable while increasing the performance ceiling of the game to make 40 FPS that much more achievable.

Dropping View Distance, Anti-Aliasing Quality, and Foliage Quality down to Low will give you even more performance overhead to maintain that 40 FPS cap, and make South of Midnight a smoother experience on the Deck. It's not a perfect 40 FPS cap by any means, but it's not an annoying, stuttery mess either, so pick your poison.

South of Midnight can reach all the way up to 90 FPS in select scenes on the Deck, but this is neither reliable nor common enough to target this performance envelope. Even 60 FPS is untenable the vast majority of the time on the Deck, so we recommend either locking stuff up at 30 FPS or going for a tentative 40 FPS cap, instead. Either way, South of Midnight comes highly recommended on the Deck from 2Game's editorial team.

Get your copy of South of Midnight right here at 2Game!

A slam dunk with a Southern slant.

Tekken 8 exploded onto the scene in January 2024, and with Season 2 now in play, the action has only intensified. With a return of fan-favourite Anna Williams, along with new buffs, fresh combos, and an overall shift toward more aggressive gameplay, this is one of the most talked-about (and debated!) updates in years.

While some veteran players have expressed concern about Season 2's increasingly aggressive pacing, there's no denying the hype that's been stirred. From massive buffs to entirely new combo routes, big-name characters are playing with brand new toolkits, and the results are explosive.

Whether you're a day-one diehard or just returning to see what the new season brings, one thing’s clear: this season hits hard, and you need to feel it for yourself!

Get your copy of Tekken 8 at 2Game today!

Season 2’s Powerhouses – Who’s Looking Scary Right Now?

With new moves, insane combos, and reworked mechanics, Season 2 certainly cranks up the heat. But which fighters are making the biggest impact? Here's what's new with the hotshots reshaping the battlefield.

Jin Kazama

Jin Kazama is the undisputed king of the ring right now. And it’s not even close. Already a powerhouse, he's been supercharged with new lows, smoother stance transitions, and even some borrowed Devil Jin tricks. Truly, this guy is a highlight-reel machine. Facing him? Brutal. But playing him? A pure rush!

Alisa Bosconovitch

Not far behind is Alisa Bosconovitch, who’s become an unstoppable force in Season 2. Her chainsaws are nastier than ever. And with buffs to Dual Boot and Destructive Form, improved neutral game, and safer pressure strings, she now surgically dismantles opponents. Alisa’s built for mind games, and she wins them!

Bryan Fury

A fan favorite with fists of fury, Bryan’s Snake Eyes stance has been expanded with nasty new mix-ups. His B1+2 opens up scary wall combo routes, and with his brutal pressure game, he’s more terrifying than ever.

Claudio Serafino

Claudio's enhanced Starburst tech and better whiff punishes have significantly upped his game, giving him a deadly mid-range presence. Opponents watch out - even the slightest slip-up will now be punished.

King

King has always been a beast up close, but his reworked Jaguar Sprint now gives him stronger follow-ups after blocked moves. For fans of grabs and ground-and-pound, he’s your Season 2 MVP.

Kuma

The bear is back. No longer a meme pick, Kuma’s new Mishima-style movement and brutal mix-ups make him a legit tournament threat. Don’t laugh — he’ll maul you!

Honorable Mentions – More Fighters Who've Stepped It Up

They’re not quite top-tier yet, but these fighters received meaningful buffs that make them scarier than ever.

Zafina

Zafina is slipperier than ever — literally with her improved counter-hit tools and tighter frame traps making her harder to pin down. With safer pressure and better reward on evasive movement, she’s become a walking trap for players who overcommit. If you’re not surgical with your reads, she’ll pick you apart.

Dragunov

The Russian machine is back in full force, with increased mobility and faster recovery on key strings making his rushdown relentless again. Dragunov can now stay in your face longer and mix you up with new transitions and pressure strings. Basically, Season 2 rewards aggression, and Dragunov’s built for it.

Azucena

Azucena flows better than ever this season. Her stance transitions are now smoother and more flexible, letting her dance between baiting and punishing like a pro. Defensive players used to wall her out, but not anymore. She’ll feint, dodge, and punish your hesitation in style.

Victor

Gone are the gimmicks - Victor’s now about smart pressure, smooth cancels, and clean neutral tools. In the right hands, he’s a freestyle monster with serious potential.

Lee Chaolan

Lee’s a lab monster’s dream right now. His new Heat Smashes and buffed Mist Step transitions open up crisp juggle routes and insane combo variety. He’s still execution-heavy, but the payoff is flashier and more damaging than ever, a perfect fit for players who like to stunt.

Shaheen

Shaheen’s no longer just "solid." His Slide mix-ups are deadlier, his stance pressure forces faster reactions, and he’s got more reliable punishes, making him a real mid-tier threat and a potential sleeper pick for tournaments.

What’s New in Season 2 — Beyond Buffs

Season 2 is more than just character updates. It’s a full-on gameplay recalibration, with system-wide tweaks that affect everyone on the roster.

Combo Scaling Adjustments:

Damage scaling has been tweaked across the board to encourage longer combos while slightly reducing overkill potential. The result? Expect some routes to deal less, but allow for flashier extensions.

Improved Wall Mechanics:

Wall stun interactions have been reworked for consistency, helping reduce awkward drops and unintentional resets. Characters with strong wall carry like Lars and Dragunov will especially benefit here.

New Combo Routes & Transitions:

Many characters have received new strings, juggle extensions, or stance transitions that allow for fresh, creative combo paths. This opens the door for more personal expression, and some unexpected comeback potential.

Training Mode Upgrades:

A small but meaningful change, the practice mode now includes new recording slots and playback options letting players test very specific setups, meaties, and defensive responses with better precision. This is a great quality-of-life boost for lab monsters.

Balancing Philosophy Shift:

Season 2 clearly emphasizes offensive freedom and creativity. While this means more tools for everyone, it also tilts the game toward characters who thrive on momentum. Defense isn’t gone, but it’s not the priority, and that shift is intentional.

Refined Special Style and Accessibility Tweaks:

Special Style has been slightly reworked to give newer players a more intuitive feel of each character's basic gameplan, while preserving competitive depth. Hit effects and visuals have also been made more readable in some cases, aiding clarity for both players and spectators.

Anna Williams Returns: A Classic Assassin with a New Edge

One of the most talked about updates - the queen of chaos is back! Anna Williams returns as the first DLC fighter of Season 2, and she’s sharper, faster, and deadlier than ever. Longtime fans will feel right at home with her high-risk mix-ups and unblockable setups, but now she’s armed with new combo routes, better wall carry, and Chaos Judgment stance buffs that make her even more explosive.

Anna’s signature playstyle — bait, punish, destroy — has only been amplified. With slick Heat integrations and unpredictable offense, one wrong guess against her can still cost you the entire round. Some things never change!

A Meta Built for Mayhem — and the Mixed Reactions That Follow

The direction of Tekken 8 is clear: the devs want high-energy, fast-paced matches that look good on streams and stages. And in that regard? Mission has been accomplished. The action is more intense than ever, and each round feels like a highlight reel in the making.

But that design choice comes with a tradeoff. Some players are finding it overwhelming to keep up with the flood of new offensive options, while others miss the more methodical pace and defensive strategy of previous Tekken entries.

It’s also worth noting that the sweeping Season 2 buffs have left some characters feeling almost too strong, prompting debates about balance across ranked play. The developers have acknowledged these concerns, with promises to continue monitoring character performance and make adjustments in future updates, ensuring that no fighter feels overwhelmingly dominant or underpowered in the long run.

Still, if you’re someone who thrives on pressure, loves experimenting with fresh tech, or just wants to see what your main can do now, Season 2 is a welcome to the wild!

A Final Note on Accessibility

While hardcore players are diving deep into new frame traps and pressure resets, Season 2 also makes Tekken 8 more accessible to newcomers.

The Special Style system has been refined to give newer players a better grasp of core tools without dumbing down advanced options. In other words, the skill ceiling stays high, but the floor just got a little friendlier.

Should You Jump In Now? Absolutely!

Even with the debate, Tekken 8 is booming - and there's never been a better time to join the fight. Packed with personality, power, and high-octane action, Season 2, is the perfect playground to explore your character’s potential. Whether you're chasing ranked glory, practicing for tournaments, or just want to throw hands with friends, this is one of the most exciting points in the game’s life cycle.

Fighting games are evolving, and Tekken 8 is at the heart of that momentum. Like it or not, the game's offensive identity is here to stay — and for players who embrace the chaos, it's never felt better to press forward.

Get your copy of Tekken 8 at 2Game today!

Tekken 8 exploded onto the scene in January 2024, and with Season 2 now in play, the action has only intensified. With a return of fan-favourite Anna Williams, along with new buffs, fresh combos, and an overall shift toward more aggressive gameplay, this is one of the most talked-about (and debated!) updates in years. While […]

We've fallen in love with South of Midnight here at 2Game. A (relatively) small, highly focused adventure through the Deep South with a stop-motion aesthetic? Yep, sounds about perfect to us! On top of all of that, we've long been proponents of steering the industry away from massive open-world RPGs. Seriously, how many of those can you play in a year, anyway?

Microsoft Studios' more recent focus on delivering an extremely wide variety of unique, bespoke experiences that exist alongside large, sprawling open-worlds is a better approach in our book. Without it, a game such as South of Midnight would never get made, and that'd be a darn shame.

With the advanced access currently ongoing and the full game due to release tomorrow, on April 8, we already have a bunch of reviews to parse through and see if South of Midnight is a good fit for us. Down below, we've gone over five of South of Midnight's strongest features. If you're on the fence, this is the place to be!

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It's plain old fun

As we implied above, South of Midnight isn't a huge open-world ARPG for us to play for dozens of hours on end. Instead, it's more closely aligned with games such as Psychonauts and, heck, even the modern 3D Super Mario or Donkey Kong titles. If you recall playing things such as Ratchet & Clank or Jak & Daxter on the old PlayStation consoles, for example, you'll feel right at home in South of Midnight.

In fact, South of Midnight may well be the gamiest game we've played in 2025 yet. Sure, there's a heavy focus on narrative development and characterization, but this is the most straightforward a 3D platformer has been in quite a long while now. If that's precisely that sort of thing you yearn for (because we don't get very many of these games at all), then you're going to want to play South of Midnight.

It doesn't overstay its welcome

Long games are neat, but keeping up with them gets cumbersome really, really quickly. We're thrilled to report that South of Midnight will take 12-16 hours for you to complete on your first playthrough, which is precisely the right amount of unique gameplay for a title such as this.

South of Midnight ramps up quickly and doesn't let up until the credits roll. The core gameplay loop is plenty strong enough to keep things interesting for the vast majority of the experience, and when the going gets tough, the story itself will keep you intrigued until you manage to push through. When all is said and done, you'll have been left with a one-of-a-kind adventure experience that you'll want to come back to down the line, sooner or later.

An excellent, entertaining story with interesting characters

The fact of the matter is that South of Midnight's gameplay is good, but hardly innovative in any meaningful respect. It's a game's game, with all the pros and cons that this entails. In other words, it's fun to play, but the odds are good you have played something similar at some point in time, and this is unlikely to truly wow you.

Instead, one of South of Midnight's strongest pulls is its phenomenal cast of characters. From the protagonist herself, Hazel, to any of the game's myriad of Southern Deities and folklore-inspired entities, there's a richness of lore and its presentation in South of Midnight that we frankly don't see all that often. To that end, even if the gameplay loop itself doesn't immediately pull you in, Hazel's plight absolutely will.

The unique artistic direction makes every frame memorable

Another huge boon for South of Midnight is that it looks downright astonishing. The entire thing is absolutely stunning from the moment the game starts until its very end. Whether you're looking (and listening to!) a cutscene or just chewing scenery and pummeling a group of foes into nothingness, South of Midnight looks and behaves incredibly well.

Really though, South of Midnight is a deeply immersive experience thanks to its impeccable presentation, and that's despite the fact that the stop-motion animations won't be to everyone's tastes. This aspect of the game can, thankfully, be toggled on or off during gameplay sequences, which should help smooth things over. As far as we're concerned, though, we would've been happier had the stop-motion gimmick simply been applied across the board rather than selectively. Still, it doesn't detract from the audiovisual tour de force that South of Midnight very well is.

It's a culturally rich love letter to the American South

Finally, we could think of no better South of Midnight feature to put on the pedestal than its insistence on true American Deep Sought. The mythology you get to explore as part of the package only rarely gets highlighted in modern Americana, and so we were thrilled to get a chance to go through it to such an extent.

While the entire experience is very compelling when all is said and done, it's specifically the Southern Gothic vibes of South of Midnight that kept us coming back to the game over and over again. Virtually every single aspect of the game is very strong, and the fact that the core gameplay loop is somewhat uninspired is more than compensated for by the atmosphere of the experience.

Play South of Midnight on day one with 2Game!

The bayou awaits.

There's no denying the fact that Capcom released an absolute slam dunk with Monster Hunter Wilds. Arguably the best-ever Monster Hunter game yet, the thing about it is that it's a technically subpar product, to boot. What I mean by this is that it runs way, way worse than it should, based on how it looks.

Nobody expected Monster Hunter Wilds to run all that well, keep in mind. Those of us who were there at day one for World will recall that it, too, ran extremely poorly on the mainstream PC of the day. On top of being thoroughly broken in certain respects. The key expectation, instead, was that the game's graphics would warrant such a massive performance malus. As they did with Dragon's Dogma 2, for example, which looks astonishingly good in comparison.

Instead, what we got in Monster Hunter Wilds 1.0 was a game that looks decidedly last-gen on top of running poorly. Thankfully, the tides are now turning, and Capcom is seemingly hard at work on fixing these problems. Enter Update 1.010 - the very first major patch for the game on PC!

Monster Hunter Wilds, available right here at 2Game!

Update 1.010.00.00 Steam Release Date: April 4

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of what Update 1.010 is all about, jot down its exact release window: it's April 4, 2025 at 3:00 AM UTC. That's April 3, 2025, 8:00 PM PT for those on the other end of the planet.

The download, crucially, is going to be 6 GB on Steam for those with regular textures installed. Those of us running the High Resolution Texture Pack DLC will have a 16 GB download in tow, instead.

Patch Notes & Highlights

Update 1.010's got two big draws to it, in practice. The first is a substantial list of content additions (i.e. new monsters, etc.), and other is a suite of technical improvements to the game's performance. Well, we say "suite," but this really is just Capcom's first proper step towards making Wilds enjoyable to play on sub-par machines.

"Improvements were made to VRAM usage," says the official patch notes log, "and the DirectStorage version has been upgraded."

We're going to thoroughly test these claims over the weekend, but we do think it's important to set the right expectations here: this will not improve your average frame-rate in a meaningful way unless Capcom's changing other things under the hood as well. VRAM usage is for one a very binary thing: either you have enough and it makes no difference to performance, or you don't have enough and you get an extremely problematic 10 FPS bottleneck to how the game runs. DirectStorage, on the other hand, will mainly affect loading and zone passage stutters.

So, improvements for sure, but Capcom is going to need to continue iterating on Monster Hunter Wilds' technical suite for a good long while still. With that out of the way, here are some other notable boons included in Update 1.010:

You can read the full patch notes, which are admittedly rather chunky, using the link to the official blog above. It's a solid showing but, once again, Capcom is going to need to keep this up to get Wilds to a state that the game so obviously deserves.

An Early Standout Patch, or a Sign of Things to Come?

And that's really the big question, isn't it? Is Capcom going to continue working on Monster Hunter Wilds' technical backend, or are we in for a repeat of what went down with Monster Hunter World? Now, we can obviously run World very, very well on modern machines, but do keep in mind that the game itself is still rather outdated in some key areas. The most egregious example of this being the case is, for example, World's extremely old DLSS 1.0 upscaler, which makes it impossible for players themselves to update or improve upon the upscaler in any meaningful way.

So, fingers crossed that Capcom keeps up what it's been doing so far. Monster Hunter Wilds is a serious contender for 2025's GOTY, provided that we continue seeing further improvements in all pertinent areas, and Capcom has a chance to really make this franchise a must-play on all modern platforms if that happens. Let's hope for the best, and stay tuned for further testing on our end!

Monster Hunter Wilds, available right here at 2Game!

Wilder and wilder.