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Mortal Kombat 1: Here’s What Comes in Each Edition

The next installment in the delightfully ultra-violent fighting game series is called Mortal Kombat 1. It’s slated for release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 19, 2023. It features “reimagined versions” of the characters from previous installments, a new fighting system, new game modes, and more. It’s available to preorder now in three different versions, including a Kollector’s Edition, which is Kombat-speak for collector’s edition. Read on for the details about what comes in each edition, along with pricing, preorder bonus info, and more.

Mortal Kombat 1 Kollector’s Edition

PS5

Xbox

The Kollector’s Edition costs $249.99 and comes with the game, as well as the following extras:

  • Early access starting Sept. 14
  • Early access to DLC characters
  • Kombat Pack (6 new playable Characters, 5 new Kameo characters, and Jean-Claude Van Damme skin for Johnny Cage)
  • Liu Kang sculpture
  • Exclusive steel case
  • Limited edition COARSE art prints
  • Exclusive limited-edition Liu Kang in-game color variant
  • 2700 Dragon Krystals (in-game currency)

Mortal Kombat 1 (Standard Edition)

  • Not yet available

The standard edition of the game retails for $69.99 and comes with the game itself, as well as the preorder bonus (see below for details). It is somewhat notable that the PC and Switch versions also cost $69.99, as other big game releases on those platforms have often kept the $59.99 price point.

Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition

  • Not yet available

The premium edition costs $109.99 and includes the game itself, the preorder bonus (see below), plus the following items:

  • Early access starting Sept. 14
  • Early access to DLC characters
  • Kombat Pack (6 new playable Characters, 5 new Kameo characters, and Jean-Claude Van Damme skin for Johnny Cage)
  • 1250 Dragon Krystals (in-game currency)

Mortal Kombat 1 Preorder Bonuses

Preorder any version of the game, and you’ll get access to the playable character Shang Tsung.

Preorder the game on PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, and you’ll get access to the beta, which will happen sometime in August 2023.

What Is Mortal Kombat 1?

Mortal Kombat 1 will feature “reimagined” versions of many fighters from previous entries in the series, including Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage, and many others.

The game will also feature Kameo Fighters, which are partner characters to assist you during matches. They’re chosen separately from the main roster of fighters.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game are being developed by NetherRealm Studios. QLOC is handling the Steam and Epic Games Store versions, and Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive are responsible for the Nintendo Switch version.

Other Preorder Guides

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed or on Mastodon @chrislreed.

Best Tears of the Kingdom Amiibo Unlocks

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom lets you scan your entire collection of Amiibo once per day for a selection of rewards. Ranging from food and raw materials to weapons, paraglider fabrics, and even armor sets, there are lots of handy items up for grabs. However, there’s a pool of valuable drops specifically available from Zelda-themed Amiibo.

As it stands, there are currently 26 Zelda Amiibo. These include recent Zelda releases like Breath of the Wild and the Skyward Sword remaster as well as the Zelda 30th Anniversary, and Super Smash Bros. series. Unlike Amiibo from other collections (which only drop a handful of loose supplies) Zelda Amiibo dish out their daily dose of goodies alongside a chest containing a rarer item. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee you’ll pull the best prize immediately, but if you keep scanning each day, you’ll eventually collect everything on offer.

We’ve got a full breakdown of every possible Amiibo unlockable, but if you’re curious what the best Zelda Amiibo drops are, we’ve scanned all of them:

Tears of the Kingdom Link Amiibo

The latest figurine to join Nintendo’s roster of Zelda Amiibo rewards players with the Champion’s Leathers Paraglider Skin. This blue fabric pairs perfectly with the Champion’s Leathers armor found in the game.

Skyward Sword Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo

If you have the Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo handy, you can scan it to retrieve the Goddess Paraglider Fabric, which adds a touch of pink and blue to your sky-bound adventures.

Breath of the Wild Amiibo

Breath of the Wild Champions Amiibo

Each of Breath of the Wild’s four champions offer a paraglider fabric as well as a Divine Helm that references the Divine Beasts from the game;

  • Mipha drops the Zora Champion Paraglider Fabric and Vah Ruta Divine Helm.
  • Daruk rewards the Goron Champion Paraglider Fabric and Vah Rudania Divine Helm.
  • Revali provides the Rito Champion Paraglider Fabric and Vah Medoh Divine Helm.
  • Urbosa gives you the Gerudo Champion Paraglider Fabric and Vah Naboris Divine Helm.

Breath of the Wild Link Rider Amiibo

Scanning Breath of the Wild’s Link Rider Amiibo can score you the Hylian-Hood Fabric. You can use this scrap of cloth to customize your paraglider.

Breath of the Wild Link Archer Amiibo

Breath of the Wild’s Archer Link Amiibo has a couple of standout drops, including the Tunic of Memories Paraglider Fabric and the Ancient Blade weapon.

Breath of the Wild Zelda Amiibo

Breath of the Wild’s Zelda brings a touch of class with the Hyrule Princess Paraglider Fabric, which is the best unlockable we’ve discovered in her Amiibo chests.

Breath of the Wild Guardian Amiibo

Breath of the Wild’s Guardian has one of the coolest enemy designs and if you’re a fan of this long-legged monstrosity’s overall look, you’ll be pleased to know that you can equip the Ancient Sheikah Paraglider Fabric that it drops. You can also pull an Ancient Blade from its chests.

Breath of the Wild Bokoblin Amiibo

Bokoblins can be found lurking all over Hyrule. So what better way to land on one of their camps than with a paraglider fabric that looks just like them? Scan this little brute if you’d like the Bokoblin Paraglider Fabric.

The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Amiibo

Twilight Princess Link / Super Smash Bros. Link Amiibo/ Twilight Princess Wolf Link

The Twilight Princess Link and Super Smash Bros. Link Amiibo each drop a similar pool of items, so if you only have one of the two, don’t sweat it. Diligent scanning will eventually see you add the entire Twilight Armor set to your inventory, including the cap, tunic, and trousers. You can also land yourself Link’s trusty steed, Epona, who has some of the best stats for a horse in the game. Both figurines, alongside the Twilight Princess Wolf Link Amiibo, also drop the Mirror of Twilight Paraglider Fabric.

Ocarina of Time Link / Super Smash Bros. Young Link Amiibo

Both the Ocarina of Time Link and Young Link Amiibo pack the three parts that complete the Time Armor set, but each item does drops separately. Their chests may also contain the adorable Lon Lon Ranch Paraglider Fabric or the Biggoron Sword.

Majora’s Mask Link Amiibo

If you’re on the hunt for the Majora’s Mask Paraglider Fabric or the Fierce Deity Armor, continue scanning your Majora’s Mask Link Amiibo to collect the full set. It’s also possible to get this armor by trekking around Hyrule and finding them organically.

Skyward Sword Link Amiibo

Skyward Sword’s Link Amiibo unlockables include the aptly named Sky Armor set, which also includes the White Sword of the Sky. Its Sword-Spirit Paraglider Fabric is also yet another stylish cloth that can be fittingly equipped for long descents from the Sky Islands.

Link’s Awakening Link Amiibo

It’s possible to poach the Egg Paraglider Fabric from the Link’s Awakening Amiibo, which features an egg-cellent design, fit for soaring the skies. These chests also hold the Awakening Armor, which contains what may be the cutest mask in the game.

The Legend of Zelda 8-Bit Link Amiibo

This Amiibo drops the Pixel Paraglider Fabric to match its NES-era aesthetic. Multiple scans will also let you claim the Tears of the Kingdom Hero Armor.

Wind Waker Link / Super Smash Bros. Toon Link Amiibo

Wind Waker Link and Smash Bros.’ Toon Link both eventually reward the King of Red Lions Paraglider Fabric as well as each part of the Wind Armor set. In keeping with the game’s nautical theme, their chests may also feature the Sea Breeze Boomerang and Shield.

Wind Waker Zelda Amiibo

If you’re looking for every paraglider fabric, the Wind Waker Zelda Amiibo is an easy way to add the Bygone Royal Paraglider Fabric to your collection. Similar to Wind Waker Link, scanning Zelda also increases your chances of bagging yourself a Sea Breeze Shield.

Super Smash Bros. Amiibo

Super Smash Bros. Zelda Amiibo

While many of the Zelda Amiibo drop weapons, some offer more powerful treasures and in this case, that’s the Dusk Bow. It has a base attack power of 30, turning any sharp-shooting player into a deadly archer. Zelda’s chests also conceal the Princess of Twilight Paraglider Fabric.

Super Smash Bros. Sheik Amiibo

The Sheik Amiibo rewards both the Sheik Paraglider Fabric and Sheik’s Mask. As with the other Amiibo, it will take multiple scans to score both.

Smash Brothers Ganondorf Amiibo

The Legend of Zelda’s big bad, Ganondorf, drops the Demon King Paraglider Fabric and sometimes rewards players with the Dusk Claymore.

After scanning your Amiibo each day there’s lots more to do, and we have it all catalogued in our Tears of the Kingdom guides:

Super Mario Game Boy Advance Games Are Coming to Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo has announced that the first three Super Mario Advance games will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack catalogue later this month.

Super Mario Advance, Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, and Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3 will all be available to download from May 26 at no extra cost for players subscribed to the $49.99/year Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, which provides access to games from Nintendo’s retro eras.

Super Mario Advance is an upgraded version of the 1988 NES platformer Super Mario Bros. 2, in which you control of Mario, Luigi Peach and Toad and master their disticnt abilities. The game is bundled with an enhanced version of the classic Mario Bros. game, which saw the iconic plumber’s first arcade appearance with Luigi.

Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 meanwhile is a Game Boy Advance revamp of a SNES classic, Super Mario World, and sees Mario fight against Bowser to free dinosaur island with the aid of Yoshi. Players also have the option of playing the entire adventure as Luigi, who weilds abilities taken from the first Super Mario Advance title.

Finally Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3 asks players to take control of Yoshi as he journeys through colorful worlds in an attempt to save Baby Mario from the clutches of the evil Magikoopa Kamek.

The trio will join the growing collection of plumber-centric platformers and adventure games such as Super Mario 64, Paper Mario, and Dr. Mario that are already part of Nintendo’s deluxe catalogue subscription offering.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

UK Daily Deal: Here’s How to Get Tears of the Kingdom for Just £45

We’re back with another amazing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom deal for Nintendo Switch. This time the deal comes at Currys, where you can get the game for £44.99 when using code SAVE5 at checkout. This is a great deal, and overall saving you £15 compared to the original list price on the game. If you’re not interested in Currys, you can also pick up the game for £44.99 when buying from Argos and using this £5 off promo for signing up for their marketing emails. If you’re looking to get the game a little faster, we’ve also left links below to buy the game from Amazon for £49.99.

TL;DR – Best UK Deals Right Now

Click here to skip past all Tears of the Kingdom deals and preorders.

Other deals today include a huge discount on PlayStation Top-Card cards, £30 off Apple AirPods Pro, the best Ninja Air Fryer with a £50 discount, alongside the new Tears of the Kingdom Collector’s Edition guide, with preorders now available for £29.99 as well (or there’s the paperback edition for £19.99), the release date is June 16. Otherwise, check out all the discounts below with our handy links, and follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter for more updates.

UK Deals – The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Best Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Deals in the UK

If you didn’t secure a preorder and were waiting for reviews (we gave it a 10/10 Masterpiece in our review), then look no further as we’ve already found you an awesome deal to check out (with a fast delivery or pickup time as well). It’s just £44.99 at Currys with code SAVE5, and you also get up to 3 months of Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+ and Apple Fitness+ for free!

Preorder Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Guide Collector’s Edition

While I’m here, quick shout out to IGN’s Tears of the Kingdom Wiki guide, it is legit incredible and the team has knocked it out of the park with this one. If you’re looking for a physical guide, which will likely end up being more of a collectable by the time it releases on June 16, you’ve got a couple of options right now. The Collector’s Edition is beautiful and can be preordered at £29.99 from Amazon, while the standard paperback edition is £19.99. Both are out on June 16, and can be preordered using the links just below.

Rare Zelda Amiibo Back in Stock at My Nintendo Store

Not only are there a bunch of Zelda amiibo back available in the UK and Ireland, but there are a ton of incredibly rare figures now back down to just £12.99. This includes some fan favourites from Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Majora’s Mask and more. As some of these have been out of print for years, they were typically going for £20-£50 or more on re-sell sites like eBay.

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IGN’s Top Rated PS5 SSD Is Now Just £75

When new games like Star Wars Jedi Survivor are starting to take up around 150GB of your SSD, it might be wise to consider an expansion. If you haven’t gotten around to expanding your PS5 storage just yet, then you’re in luck, as this is an excellent price on the highly recommended Corsair MP600 PRO LPX. Down to just £74.99, this is IGN’s top rated PS5 SSD, and you’re getting it at an absolutely exceptional price!

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Latest UK Random Deals: My Top Picks Right Now

It’s a roll of the dice. These are my absolute favourite deals that are available right now, but don’t necessarily fit anywhere else, making them a little bit more random compared to everything else in Daily Deals.

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Save Big on PS5 Digital Purchases with These Discounted Gift Cards

UK online retailer ShopTo has currently got a brilliant selection of PlayStation Gift Cards at discounted prices; for example a £45 for £36.85, or the £84 card for £69.85. In fact, both of these cards have some of the highest saving percentages vs their list price. You’re getting an 18.11% saving on the £45 card, and a 16.85% saving on the £84 card.

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Preorder Mortal Kombat 1 for £49.85 at Hit

Mortal Kombat 1 is the new MK game, and is set to release on September 19, 2023. Hit has its preorders live already, and you can preorder the new game for just £49.85, £10 off the RRP list price. Hit also doesn’t charge until release, so you can preorder now and pay nothing until September.

Free Stuff This Week in the UK: Metro Last Light and Death Stranding

The latest freebie we’re looking to highlight is Metro Last Light – Complete Edition on PC. You’ll be able to claim a free copy of the game from May 18-25 on Steam. This is a fantastic offer (on a fantastic game), and well worth picking up, especially as it won’t cost you a penny. Death Stranding is also free on Epic at the moment, and you’ve got until May 25 as well to claim it.

More Free Stuff

This Keeper Password Manager Deal is Essential in 2023 (AD)

With Keeper, you can store all of your passwords, credit card info, and other sensitive data in one secure, encrypted digital vault. Plus, they use top-notch encryption technology to keep your stuff safe and have added bonus features like password generation, password sharing, and two-factor authentication.

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Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

LEGO 2K Drive Review

LEGO 2K Drive may sound like it was named at 5:40 on a Friday afternoon – seriously, if blending the publisher’s name and a five-letter verb describing what you’ll be doing most is all it takes these days, I look forward to the next Call of Duty being christened Activision Shoot – but hey, don’t hold that against it. Highly charming and imaginative, 2K Drive fuses confident kart racing with a virtually unlimited custom garage, making it a place where you can spend just as much time fastidiously building vehicles as you do frantically racing them.

LEGO 2K Drive cribs from a lot of existing racers, which makes it fairly easy to explain. Forza Horizon 4’s dearly-loved LEGO expansion rates as an automatic mention as a fellow open-world, LEGO-themed racer (and they certainly both share the idea of having races and challenges spread out across the map to organically discover as we explore). However, despite that obvious LEGO link, 2K Drive is arguably more in-line with Ubisoft’s The Crew 2 and its hot-swapping system. Vehicles in 2K Drive transform between street rides, offroad racers, and boats as the terrain changes, complete with a satisfying brick-clicking sound effect.

The ability to have multiple different trios of vehicles saved in your loadouts is very handy, though I would say the system is a little overzealous when set to shift automatically. The effect of your ride rapidly blinking from street to offroad and back again, after spending just a split-second on the shoulder, is a bit manic – but you can turn automatic switching off if you’d rather swap manually. If you’re unfamiliar with The Crew 2, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed’s similarly mighty take on morphing motors may give you some idea of what to expect – their brands of multi-terrain, vehicle-swapping racing around regularly crazy courses while blasting opponents with weapons are very alike.

There’s an effective feeling that bucketfuls of LEGO have been assembled within life-sized environments, with huge, non-LEGO items like tools, tyres, and tree roots scattered amongst colourful plastic dioramas.

2K Drive definitely deviates from the Horizon brand of LEGO racing in terms of scale, too; it’s far more akin to Hot Wheels Unleashed in this regard. That is, there’s an effective feeling that bucketfuls of LEGO have been assembled within life-sized environments, with huge, non-LEGO items like tools, tyres, and tree roots scattered amongst colourful plastic dioramas in each of its four separate open worlds. Unfortunately, 2K Drive doesn’t nail this toy-sized idea quite as consistently as Hot Wheels Unleashed does. The lighting isn’t as convincing, and the illusion is occasionally disrupted by items that feel out-of-place at the scale it’s trying to suggest – like, say, miniature real leaf litter that should’ve been life-sized. Also, unlike Hot Wheels Unleashed, 2K Drive doesn’t measure distances in centimetres or inches, which is a slight shame because it’s those last pieces of attention to detail that would make a pint-sized toy racer like this really sing, if you catch my drift.

Toy Wonder

On that note, drifting is executed in a slightly peculiar way in 2K Drive, and by default it requires us to hold both the brake and throttle at the same time throughout an entire drift. It’s actually very easy to grasp, but it does feel a little odd to have the brake squeezed fully down for considerable parts of a race. It’s possible to switch to a more typical tap-to-drift mechanic but that’s a little less predictable and I have found my drifts ending prematurely, leaving me to battle understeer or jam down the brake mid-corner to get another drift going.

That said, the sensation of long, high-speed powerslides is well translated by 2K Drive’s handling model. It’s simple to pick up and play but arguably more complex than it first seems – especially once you start to exploit the mild air controls possible via the rocket jump and nitro boost, or feel the subtle effects of weight as your vehicles lose bricks from collisions and combat (in a clever touch, crashing through trackside objects will replenish the LEGO in your own damaged ride). Also, the dedicated handbrake button – or quick turn, as 2K Drive dubs it – is a crucial and welcome addition. It’s very useful for tight switchbacks and an absolute necessity to effectively complete some of the missions – particularly the destruction-based ones that require swift changes of direction.

The rubber-banding might be a fraction too flagrant at times, but it does at least keep the racing chaotic and close, and it rarely feels unfair. The track design is also generally strong, with plenty of technical segments, environmental hazards, and rewarding shortcuts. 2K Drive performs smoothly on Xbox Series X, but I have had a friend lose hours of save game progress on PS5 without warning, which appears to be a known issue.

2K Drive is probably guilty of leaning a little too heavily on some of its non-racing mission types, some of which are riffed upon several times throughout the career mode. The collection missions are the most egregious and they’re essentially just padding to stretch out proceedings. The story itself lasted me around 10 hours sticking at it, but I have been left with a lot of uncompleted side objectives. It does a slightly poor job of spelling out why certain later missions are unavailable until you unlock the next batch of races, especially since younger players may just stumble across them and think they’re broken, but the story is very cute. I absolutely found myself smiling along with the cutscenes, which emulate the same photoreal stop-motion style nailed by The LEGO Movie. My kids loved the villain, who is frankly far funnier than the token bad guy in a licensed racing game probably had any right to be.

Under Construction

Now, the last LEGO racing game I played – beyond Forza Horizon’s take on it – was LEGO Racers back in 1999, which is fondly remembered by gamers of a particular vintage for its rudimentary custom car building. 2K Drive pays homage to that game with a customisation tool of its own that would’ve seemed like witchcraft in the late ’90s. Seriously, if you can dream it – and it fits in the allocated space – you can build it. It’s honestly quite remarkable. In fact, my stats tell me I’ve spent more time building than I have driving. The amount of options and controls was a little intimidating at first but after a few hours I felt quite comfortable relaxing and piecing together my first project – which became a chunky caricature of Mad Max’s iconic Interceptor.

Snapping pieces together is occasionally finicky, but generally it’s very cooperative. Pieces can be painted any colour you want, whether they’re officially available in the real world that way or not. You can group pieces, duplicate them, mirror them, and make fine angle adjustments. You can even delete and add pieces without pulling entire segments apart, like you’d have to do in real life. A range of pieces are held in reserve as rewards or available to purchase for credits from the in-game store – meaning you may not be able to perfect your build immediately upon booting up – but the customisation system in 2K Drive is nothing short of excellent.

It’s not mandatory to spend a bunch of time here, though – if you don’t want to start from scratch, you can edit the existing models for a head start on builds. Don’t feel you have to put together large projects like mine, either. If you want to keep it simple, you can grab a palm-sized chassis and simply whack together a quick little kart with a handful of bricks. You’ll be back in 1999 in no time.

If you want to keep it simple, you can grab a palm-sized chassis and simply whack together a quick little kart with a handful of bricks.

Moreover, if a meathead like me is able to put something like this together after just several years of riding shotgun on my kids’ LEGO building, imagine what true LEGO experts are going to be able to assemble. Finding that out is where 2K Drive stumbles, though, as the ability to share creations is not available presently. It’s been clarified that custom vehicle sharing is a feature that will be included in a post-launch update, but what form that takes is a mystery. Will it be limited to friends? Or will there be an in-game browser to see the best models from anybody? I hope it’s the latter.

The Wonderful 101: Remastered Gets Free DLC Shadow Drop Today

The Wonderful 101: Remastered has received a free DLC update, shadow-dropped by PlatinumGames today. Available now, The Wonderful One: After School Hero Part 1 is an additional game mode that was promised as a stretch goal for the game’s 2020 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, originally announced under the working title ‘Luka’s First Mission’. You can see some gameplay in the trailer below.

Part 1 will be followed by The Wonderful One: After School Hero Part 2 next week, on May 26. Part 2 was originally promised as the Kickstarter stretch goal ‘Luka’s Second Mission’. A trailer for Part 2 will be released the same day.

The DLC focuses on protagonist Luka Alan Smithee from the original game. As he sets his sights on becoming a member of The Wonderful 100, first-grader Luka appends his elementary school education with after-school training missions, showing a side of the character players haven’t seen before.

Unlike the 3D action of the main game, the new DLC mode is a side-scrolling action game with stick-shooter elements. Players proceed through screens filled with enemies and collectibles, making use of Luka’s weapon the Stingy Eye, which are goggles on his forehead that shoot lasers. Players can fire in 360 degrees, controlled with the right stick, and a set of three of different lasers with distinct abilities give players the freedom to conquer each screen in their own way.

While the base difficulty level in Arcade Mode will pose a moderate challenge, the DLC comes with a Challenge Mode to make progress considerably more difficult, plus a five-minute survival attack mode called Caravan Mode where players aim for the highest possible score before time runs out. Access to Caravan Mode requires first beating all of the Arcade Mode stages in Part 1 and Part 2 of the DLC.

The Wonderful 101: Remastered was released back in mid-2020, and IGN’s review called it every bit as good as the 2013 Wii U original. It is available on Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Ryuichi Kataoka is a freelance writer for IGN Japan.

5 Tips for Surviving in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Hyrule is a beautiful landscape full of unique puzzles and characters. However, it’s also filled to the brim with danger. If you’re not careful you can easily stumble into an enemy encampment you are absolutely not prepared for and get wrecked. Sometimes it’s hard just to stay alive in Tears of the Kingdom.

Fortunately, there are quite a few things in the game to help Link survive. If you’re hoping to increase your combat prowess and survivability in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, read on for 5 helpful tips. You can also check out our full guide of tips and tricks for more assistance.

Prioritize Finding Shrines and Increasing Hearts

One of the most obvious ways to decrease your chances to die is to acquire more heart containers. You can accomplish this by focusing on finding as many Shrine locations as possible and completing the puzzles within. Once you have enough Light of Blessing to adequately increase your health to a more reasonable level, Link should be able to take a few more hits without immediately crumbling.

Although you can also choose to increase your stamina capacity, it’s probably best to focus on expanding your hearts first. You can always supplement your stamina with meals and elixirs if needed.

Get Some Decent Armor Early On

Another great way to increase your chances of survival is to find armor in Tears of the Kingdom that offers better protection than the Archaic set. Although there is a lot of different types of armor you’ll discover as you make your way through the main story quests, you should be able to find The Royal Guard uniform pretty early on in Hyrule Castle.

There’s an early quest called Crisis at Hyrule Castle that will lead you near this armor, and it offers an additional 4 defense that can help increase your survival rate immensely.

Utilize Shield and Arrow Fusions

One of Link’s new abilities is great for increasing your combat prowess directly. Fuse allows you to turn even a simple stick into a decent weapon you can actually fight with. However, it can be easy to forget that you can do more than just Fuse melee weapons. Adding additional capabilities to your shield and arrows can greatly increase your combat prowess without having to get up close and personal.

Arrows for example can be fused with Keese Eyes to create homing arrows that can better hit distant targets. You can also fuse your shield with a Flame Emitter to create a flamethrower that also blocks attacks. You could also go as far as fusing a rocket to your shield to activate as a quick escape.

Cook Up the Best Recipes and Elixirs

One of Link’s greatest advantages is that he can cook up a storm. With the best recipes and elixirs, you can increase your attack power, defense rating, and even temporarily increase your heart capacity. You’ll need to locate the correct ingredients and find the right combinations, but once you do, these meals and elixirs can greatly increase your chance to survive tough encounters.

For some guidance on what to make, you can check out our guide to recipes in Tears of the Kingdom as well as this list of helpful elixirs.

Utilize Ultrahand for Combat

Ultrahand is the first ability you get in Tears of the Kingdom, and it is arguably the most versatile. Although it is mostly used for solving puzzles and building machines, you can also utilize it in combat pretty effectively. Similar to the Magnesis ability in Breath of the Wild, you can use Ultrahand to pick up heavy things and drop them on enemies. You can also build some pretty devastating combat machines using Zonai devices.

Utilizing the Ultrahand ability in combat does take some forethought and strategy, but if you start effectively incorporating it, you should be able to take on tougher opponents without having to fight them directly.

Looking for more tips? Check out our full Tears of the Kingdom Wiki Guide or dive into our suggestions for what to do first in the game.

The Best Nintendo Switch Micro SDXC Memory Card Deals: Get 1TB for $89.99

If you’ve started compiling a collection of digital games, you probably already know just how limited the Switch’s base storage capacity. The Switch and Switch OLED have 32GB and 64GB of internal storage respectively. Some of that is reserved for the OS. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes up over 18GB of storage all by itself. Other must-have titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Sword or Shield tap out at 13.5GB each. There’s only one expansion slot in the Switch console so you want to make sure you get the biggest card you can afford.

The Lowest Prices on MicroSDXC Cards (Updated)

These Micro SDXC cards are 100% compatible with any Nintendo Switch, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite console. Some of them may be rated for higher speeds than the official Nintendo Switch branded memory cards. That doesn’t really matter though; the Nintendo Switch can only support U1 speeds, so a U3 speed will just be throttled back down to U1 speeds.

Steam Deck Owners Can Use These Cards Too!

The Switch isn’t the only gaming system that accepts these cards. If you’re a Steam Deck owner, you can also use this card, especially if you picked up the 64GB storage option.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

Everything Announced at the Humble Games Showcase

The latest Humble Games Showcase aired today, where its publishing arm decided to spotlight some games on the way this year and beyond. If you missed it, no worries; here’s a recap of all the games Humble showed today, including Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical

Today’s showcase gave us more insight into Stray Gods: the Roleplaying Musical ahead of its August 3 release date. Originally named Chorus: An Adventure Musical before being renamed, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is an RPG musical where players control a young woman who inherits the powers of the Last Muse in Greek Mythology named Grace.

#BLUD

As part of a new partnership with animation studio and developer Exit 73, #BLUD is a new dungeon crawler launching sometime next year on PC. Players assume the role of Becky Brewsyer as she balances school friends, and slaying monsters.

Wizard of Legend 2

A sequel to 2018’s Wizard of Legend, Wizard of Legend 2 is an indie roguelike that will support four-player online co-op. Dead Mage is developing Wizard of Legend 2. While not the original game’s developers, Contingent 99 is offering guidance to the studio.

Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus

Developed by Squid Shock Studios, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a 2D Metroidvania platformer where players control Bō, a Celestial Blossom that can shapeshift. Similiar to Clover Studio’s Okami, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus’ world and sotry is based on Japanese folklore and is slated to launch on PC in 2024.

Breeze in the Clouds

If you ever wanted to play as a Corgi with weather power, Breeze in the Clouds is right up your alley. Players control Breeze, a corgi that is using his newfound power to fight pollution. There is no release date yet, but today’s showcase gave us an interview with the game’s developer, SrBilyon, along with a colorful new trailer.

Cataclismo

Cataclismo is a fortress-building RTS game developed by Digital Sun, the same developer that created Moonlighter and The Mageseeker. Cataclismo will have you building fortresses as you fend off waves of enemies and lead an expedition as you try to rebuild humanity one stone at a time. Digital Sun has yet to announce a release date for Cataclismo.

Lost Skies

A co-op survival adventure game by Bossa Games, Lost Skies is set in a vast sky filled with floating islands. With support for up to six players, Lost Skies tasks players with finding and crafting their own skyship by using ancient technology and fending off enemies they may encounter.

Supraland: Six Inches Under

A metroidvania set in the first-person perspective. Supraland: Six Inches Under initially launched last year on PC. But today’s showcase confirmed a shadow release for PlayStation and Xbox consoles, with the game also available in the Xbox Game Pass library.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Surgeon Simulator, I Am Bread Developer Announces Next Game: Lost Skies

Bossa Games, developer of I Am Bread, I Am Fish, and Surgeon Simulator, has announced its next game. It’s called Lost Skies, and in many ways, it’s a significant departure from Bossa’s previous humorous sandbox efforts.

Lost Skies is an upcoming open-world, co-op adventure where up to six players work together to explore a world composed of floating islands, build flying ships, and take on gigantic monsters. It’s planned for a PC launch in 2024, but will enter what Bossa calls “open development” later this year, allowing the community to access and test vertical slices and offer feedback to shape Lost Skies’ development.

Expecting the Unexpected

According to Bossa Games CEO Henrique Olifiers, Lost Skies is able to be played single player as well as co-op, and single player play is in fact incentivized at times to assist the overall cooperative efforts of a group. He tells us that combat includes two components. One is “ground” combat, where “ground” is used a bit loosely because, per Olifiers, everyone will be hook-shotting around “Spider-Man-style” in very vertical spaces. The other is ship combat, with customizable flying ships built to tackle much larger creatures that serve as both enemies and puzzles.

While he’s not willing to share too many deep details about gameplay just yet, Olifiers described the two “drivers” of gameplay as surviving the world, and fighting these massive “guardian” creatures with friends, one in each of Lost Skies’ regions. With those two drivers, Olifiers adds that he wants players to feel a sense of freedom – similar to the freedom of Bossa’s previous smaller sandboxes – that they are “always looking at something on the horizon” that sparks curiosity and strategy. He wants players to feel they can do anything they can imagine.

“I have this saying that ‘A good game is when something that you didn’t expect took place,’ ” he says. “The fondest memories I have of multiplayer games was when in Ultima I was standing there when someone exploited the [fire field] bug to kill Lord British in the game, or when I go into raids in World of Warcraft, and my friends ask, ‘Who’s got the potions?’ and we look at each other: ‘What potions?’ That’s what we go to the pub later to talk about. So we want to create those in Lost Skies. Every hour one of those [experiences] happens, and the only way for us to craft that is to give players the means to play in the way they want.”

When we spoke with Olifiers ahead of Lost Skies’ announcement, we asked why the studio was going in such a grander, more adventurous direction after years of games where you play as a slice of bread trying to make its way to a toaster through a room full of hazards. Olifiers acknowledged that Lost Skies was a shift in “form and theme” from previous Bossa games, and said the studio’s reasoning came out of its long-standing development process of constantly doing internal game jams.

According to Olifiers, every Bossa game is made out of a game jam, and the studio has dozens of internal prototypes that never see the light of day. But, he continues, this means that all of Bossa’s games historically have been started from scratch: because they’re not building on the foundation of something else, development takes a lot of time.

So Bossa Games wants to focus, and through discussion the team found that many of its members were excited by co-op survival games and building such as Valheim, Project Zomboid, and 7 Days to Die. In focusing on that space and game jamming in it very specifically for a time, Bossa came up with Lost Skies.

Returning to Worlds Adrift

Notably, Lost Skies is meant to take place in the same universe as its previously shuttered MMO, Worlds Adrift. Worlds Adrift entered early access in 2017, but was discontinued two years later due to the game no longer being commercially viable. We asked Olifiers why Bossa was revisiting that universe despite the struggles its first endeavor had.

“We tried well to put to good use all the hindsight that we had with Worlds Adrift,” he says. “What worked, and what didn’t work, and to create a brand new game in that universe that so many people fell in love with and we never could fully realize…Hindsight is super useful. You have the advantage of going back and doing something again, but, with that experience, it’s like riding a bicycle. You never ride a bicycle well the first time you do it.”

You never ride a bicycle well the first time you do it.

One way Bossa is working to ensure the success of Lost Skies is by releasing it early in “open development.” Olifiers says that currently Bossa has a group of a few hundred community members with full access to game builds who are giving feedback and actively discussing with Bossa devs what they want to see from Lost Skies. The plan is to slowly grow this community over time.

While this might seem like a risky strategy, Olifiers says it’s one Bossa has a lot of experience with in its past games. It has a website, Bossa Presents, where it shows off “weird and wonderful prototypes” for community feedback, and Olifiers says I Am Fish specifically was the result of a game jam prototype that community members fell in love with.

“I remember we were watching videos of people doing things in Surgeon Simulator that we never thought possible, and then going back to the game, updating it, and putting achievements if someone else did that,” he says. “So, this kind of positive feedback loop is what we are trying to do on Lost Skies from day one.”

Lost Skies is currently in development for a full PC release sometime in 2024, and Olifiers says Bossa is still considering a potential console release. And there are big plans long-term, too. Bossa has a “huge post-launch roadmap” in mind for long-term Lost Skies support, in hopes the game will sustain them for years to come.

“It’s meant to be our bread and butter, going forward, right?” Olifiers says. “Our life.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.