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Former Bethesda developer Bruce Nesmith has recently revealed that the design of Radiant NPCs inThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimcame from a napkin drawing made by Todd Howard. “Napkin stories” are common in fiction, but not as much in real life, so it’s interesting to see this unique insight about how the AI system ofSkyrim’s NPCs was devised. Skyrimwas released in 2011, five years afterOblivion.Bethesda’s Radiant AI systemwas first used inOblivion, dealing with interactions with NPCs that can happen dynamically while gamers play....

Summary Teen girls are the unsung heroes of horror cinema. Long castas slasher baitand revenge-seeking victims, their bodies are all too often reduced to bloody spectacles, with little attention paid to their inner lives, making it easier to dismiss their roles as purely exploitative and one-dimensional. Films likeGinger SnapsandRawbreak this tradition, reframingthe horror around distinctly feminine fears and experiences in a world where patriarchy is the true villain. These movies provide a refreshing take on the genre and an insight into the terrors of coming-of-age through the lens of femininity....

Summary Open-world gamescan be some of the most demanding experiences in gaming. For those unaccustomed to the idea, being given the keys to a giant world can be daunting. What’s more, if players don’t keep up with playing them, they may forget what they were doing. While these examples also have that same problem in places, they are easier to get into because of their more relaxed narratives, or because they are a live-service game with constant updates that also support multiplayer....

Summary Despite the variety of anime choices when it comes to historical, drama, and fantasy categories,Science Fictionstill dominates the medium. With so muchscience fiction animeout there, it’s not surprising that there are plenty of great shows that get lost in the pile and fade into obscurity. These lost anime titles aren’t just science fiction, but that does form the setting and backstory for each of them. They often overlap with other popular genres,with romance and dramabeing two of the most popular, but there are also titles that incorporate comedy, action, and even literary adaptations, into their stories....

Quick Links The Valley Pirates is an exciting friendship quest inDisney Dreamlight Valley. That’s because players will get togo on an adventure with Peter Pan, meet a couple of ‘evil’ pirates, and navigate traps to claim a treasure chest. The Valley Pirates Quest In DDV - Disney Dreamlight Valley To start The Valley of Pirates quest inDDV, Peter Pan must be friendship level 10 and players need to have Prince Eric, Olaf, Vanellope, WALL-E, and The Forgotten available as villagers....

Steel City Interactive has released another new patch update forUndisputed, bringing the controversial boxing title to version 1.4.4 with another round of gameplay improvements, bug fixes, and fighter changes. The latestUndisputedupdate is available to download and install now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam. With some major gameplay changes included in patch 1.4.4, fans are hopeful that the update will bring the game to a significantly higher standard....

Summary Video game sequels can beboth a blessing and a cursefor their respective franchises. If done correctly, these follow-ups can elevate an IP and cement it as a mainstay of the industry, but if something goes wrong, they risk staining their legacy forever, and maybe even killing their franchise’s current momentum. This is a strange but oddly recurring phenomenon that can happen not only due to the actual quality of a sequel, but also because sometimes they are released way too soon, thus putting a sudden brake on their momentum earlier than expected and killing all the excitement for the fans in the process....

Quick Links The Blue Tears Season (1.7) inInfinity Nikkiis one of the game’s most emotional seasons to date. Its many quests take you to the deepest reaches of Breezy Meadow and dive into a riveting backstory with the Fanatic Wishers at its core. Of course, there’s dramatic new fashion to match as well. Speaking of fashion, one of the quests you can embark on inInfinity Nikki’s Blue Tears Season is Kindled Inspiration: Meaning of Blue Tears....

Despite its historically difficult launch,Cyberpunk 2077has become something of a rallying flag in the sci-fi RPG space, a standard against which many other techno-inclined games are measured. WhetherCD Projekt Red’s controversial, costly game is worthy of such prestige is a matter of opinion, of course, but the fact remains that it has come to define the cyberpunk sub-genre in the gaming medium, opening the floodgates for all manner of unique and engaging science-fiction titles....

Thefirst round of titles leaving Xbox Game Pass in July 2025included six games:Flock,Mafia: Definitive Edition,Magical Delicacy,Tchia,The Callisto Protocol, andThe Case of the Golden Idol.Mafiais undoubtedly the biggest game on the list, and it makes for the perfect option to play before the release of the eagerly awaitedMafia: The Old Country, which will be out on August 8. Titles Leaving Xbox Game Pass on May 27, 2025 While titles constantly leave Game Pass, the service has seen some popular additions recently....

The core loop of many zombie games boils down to players hacking and slashing at countless waves of undead on their way to an objective. This isn’t an inherently bad gameplay loop; if themelee mechanicsfeel responsive and satisfying, and the presentation looks and feels engaging, then players can have hours of gruesome fun just chopping away. ButDying Light: The Beastis aiming to add a little more to that zombie-slaying experience....

The Blood of Dawnwalkeris an upcoming dark fantasy vampire action RPG from Rebel Wolves, composed of formerCDPR developers who worked onThe Witcher 3andCyberpunk 2077. The core pitch has always been strong, but the recent gameplay reveal ofThe Blood of Dawnwalkeronly reinforced that.Witcher 3fans should be able to intuit how it plays based on that video alone, but all of it also reinforces a genuine open-world game. However, that gameplay reveal teased something that is equally exciting: Brencis’s Court....

Summary Netflix’sSquid Gamehas ended, but that doesn’t mean saying goodbye to the concept or characters entirely. In a recent interview, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk shared what the future of the show could be, and whether he would be part of the U.S. spinoff. He also discussed whether he would be part of a fourth season if it came to fruition. Squid Gameseason 1 premiered in September 2021and introduced viewers to the dark premise: hundreds of people enter a brutal competition that could kill them or, if they survive, change their lives forever....