Of Ash and Steel, a new open world RPG developed by Fire & Frost and published by tinyBuild, is one of those games that could very well become the "next big thing". I've played through a test build of the early hours of the game, and the vibes I get from it remind me of early builds of games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The feeling I come away from my time with the demo is one of boundless potential, like an entire world is spread before me just waiting for me to come explore it.

The build I played included a brief tutorial area and several hours of early quests in the main world. The player character is a cartographer who has tagged along with a group of knights on a mission to deliver an important communique. The cartographer's job was to guide the knights' ship through the rocks to their island destination. As the game begins, it's clear that he has failed miserably, as the knights are wet and angry on the shore, looking out at their smashed-up ship.

The tutorial gives the player a bit of starting gear and teaches the basics of combat. But what it really imparts is the idea that the player is not a superhero. He's not even a knight. He's a helpless map maker, and any survival skills he needs are going to have to be learned along the way. 

You will be on your own figuring out these skills, as Of Ash and Steel does not hold the player's hand. This is a game that does not offer waypoints, a compass, or a map. Players must pay attention when it comes to navigation and taking directions. However, unlike games like Outward, which left me feeling bewildered and immediately overwhelmed, Of Ash and Steel is a bit more manageable. The game does a great job of guiding the player where they need to go, while still leaving the feeling that you found things all by yourself. It's quite a good trick.

I only began to explore combat in my time with the game; while it is a major gameplay component, it is not the central point of the experience. I found the combat to be challenging, but reasonable. This is not a Soulslike game, but players would still do well to retreat when they are outnumbered, particularly when they are just starting out. 

There is a charm to Of Ash and Steel that is difficult to describe. The character work is outstanding, giving even minor characters flashes of personality that do a lot to sell the experience. The exploration feels rewarding rather than frustrating, with the player discovering goodies tucked around every corner. Rather than feeling restrictive due to it's lack of UI elements, Of Ash and Steel gives the player a feeling of freedom. I'm very excited to get my hands on the full game.

Players interested in Of Ash and Steel can learn more and wishlist the game on Steam here. 

In a developer commentary video, The Game Kitchen has released fourteen minutes of gameplay for the upcoming action platformer Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. While the most recent entries into the Ninja Gaiden series have applied the third dimension to the action, Ragebound is headed back to the series roots as a 2Dside scrolling game.

The video, embedded below, showcases both of the playable main characters, Kenji and Kumori, as they scale buildings and slash demons, all as the level’s boss character hounds their progress before culminating in a showdown. The footage also shows the level up and shop systems.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound releases at the end of the month, July 31st, for PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 & 5, and Xbox Series X|S. You can also read about Joseph’s experience with the Ragebound demo from last month. 

It’s become a July tradition for 2K to reveal its annual NBA game, and today is the tipoff for NBA 2K26, which launches September 5^th for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. So, for everything, essentially. Several editions of the game are available to pre-order starting today, with various cover athletes, which 2K also revealed today.

Gracing the Standard Edition of the game is former University of Kentucky standout, reigning NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, and NBA Champion, and current Oklahoma City Thunder point guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Chicago Sky forward and WNBA All-Star, Angel Reese, headlines the GameStop-exclusive WNBA Edition of the game. Basketball Hall of Famer, 10-time NBA All-Star, and three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Carmelo Anthony, is on the cover of the Superstar Edition. And finally, a limited time Leave No Doubt Edition features all three athletes on its cover.

Each edition of the game comes with a variety of in-game extras, as well as price points. The Standard Edition will cost $69.99 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch2, but only $59.99 on the original Nintendo Switch. The WNBA Edition will be $69.99 and only be available for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, in addition to its GameStop exclusivity.

The more premium versions of NBA 2K26 are the Superstar Edition, which is $99.99, and is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC only. As in years past, this version includes a bunch of bonuses, such as 100,000 in premium currency, a bunch of boosts for the MyCAREER mode, and extra card packs for my favorite mode in the game – MyTEAM. Additionally, the Superstar Edition also comes with one week of early access beginning on August 29^th, which is perhaps the earliest I can ever remember the game being playable.

Last, but not least is the Leave No Doubt Edition, a limited time version that will only be available to purchase through September 7^th for a whopping $149.99 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. This edition includes everything from the Superstar Edition but beefs it up with an additional 35,000 premium currency, a Season One Pro Pass, and a Summer Pass which gets you a pass to use sometime next year, which is an interesting tactic to keep players coming back for more. Along those lines, the Leave No Doubt Edition will also grant you a highly coveted Galaxy Opal MyTEAM card this December, as well as an Invincible card that is scheduled to release in May of 2026. And finally, if you pre-order this edition on the same platform that you own NBA 2K25 on, you’ll get a 10% discount, in addition to the one week of early access to the game.

Shew, okay, that was a lot, but that’s everything we know about NBA 2K26 right now. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as 2K undoubtedly begins to peel back the curtains on the game’s various systems and modes.

VITURE today took the wraps off of a new line of XR glasses and they look like they have a pretty solid lineup. I've reviewed two of their glasses and they are still some of my favorites to use on the go. 

The Luma series comes in three variants. There's the Luma itself coming in September for $399 sporting 50degrees field of view and a virtual 146" 1200P screen. It can support 3DoF allowing you to things like pin a display in the air and you can watch 3D movies on them as well. Something new is that you can now adjust the angle of the temples and the ends are flexible. This is the more budget version in the lineup and if it's like their past glasses, they will still offer up a top notch experience.

Going up a step and available for order today is the Luma Pro at $499. This one has a virtual 152" 1200P screen with a larger 52degrees field of view and an onboard camera.  As with the previous models, the Luma Pro will have electrochomic film dimming so you can block out the light coming in without the use of any add on shades. I use this feature a lot on the VITURE Pros. The nose pads are now magnetic so you can switch them easier and it still features the myopia adjustment for those who are near sighted. They've partnered with Harman for great audio as well. 

Finally, there's the Luma Ultra which has has what the Pro does but will also have dual grayscale depth cameras as well. This is so you can do things like hand tracking and easier 6DoF operation. This will come out in July and sell for $599.

But that's not all. One of the things I really wish XR glasses would have is wider field of view and while the three Luma glasses above have that, more is always better. And that's where the Luma Beast comes in. Slated for September, the Luma Beast will sport a whopping 58degrees field of vision with a virtual 173" screen at 1250 nits brightness. The other three will have 1000 nits brightness. The trade off though is this will not have any myopia adjustments so those who were glasses will need to buy the prescription lenses for this one. This will be available for $549.

So there you go, a wide range of XR glasses will be coming from VITURE here shortly and we'll look to get reviews on them as soon as we are able to secure a pair.

It's been a very busy month of June for the people at Gaming Nexus. To keep ourselves together, we've been having a little fun on the side. We get together and take part of the multiplayer boon, playing games like Peak, Headliners, and even Uno. We've also challenged each other's scores while playing Pinball FX VR. Some would call this bonding. I call it a warning to my colleagues. 

You see, Gaming Nexus members Eric, John, Duff, and have all been taking part in our own Pinball tournament, and if I'm going to resurrect a podcast, I'm definitely going to put a pinball challenge on life support. How do I do that, you ask? By beating them soundly. 

Therefore, I declare myself as this table's champion. As we took on one of the new Tomb Raider tables, Duff put up a paltry 2 million, I swooped in like a boss, and smacked around a whopping 23 million. Eric and John were so afraid of my prowess, that they didn't even show up. I don't want to say I'm the best in the world, but as far as Gaming Nexus is concerned, there is no one better.

As I wait to officially be crowned, granting me the right to pick the next table (Battlestar Galactica), I just want to offer a little advice to my friends, and esteemed co-workers, especially the highly respected tribal editor in chief. Get Good.

-The Moorer You Know. 

Fans of The Last of Us Part II will know that its narrative plays out non-linearly, as players zig-zag across Ellie and Abby’s journeys, in terms of both space and time. Today, developer Naughty Dog has released a new update for The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PlayStation 5 that let’s us experience the game as it unfolds chronologically.

The “Chronological Mode”, as it is being called, should allow us to gain new insights into Ellie and Abby’s stories, as well as how their actions affected the other in real time. The new update also brings new unlockable Trophies on PS5, in addition to a couple of Uncharted character outfits for completing the new mode.

The Chronological update goes live today, and you can read more about it over on the PlayStation Blog. This will be a cool way to experience one of my favorite games of all time yet again.

Originally looking for just $23k, Deep Rock Galactic: The Board Game now has over a cool million dollars in funding on Kickstarter. Initially hitting the original goal in just 5 minutes from launch, this particular fund raising endeavor is centered around bringing three expansions to the base game. Along with Kelly’s Binging of Isaac review and Randy’s consistent reviews of D&D handbooks and guides we may have to soon spin off into tabletopgamingnexus.com or something, but until that day comes we’ll keep smashing it all together right here. 

As for the three Deep Rock Galactic expansions:

• The new Rival Incursion gameplay expansion brings Deep Rock Galactic: Season 01 to tabletop. This gameplay expansion introduces twelve Industrial Sabotage mission cards to take down opponents as well as new enemies like Patrol Bots and their plasma beams, Burst Turrets burning lasers into anything in their line of sight, and the lure of the Nemesis machine.

• The Horrors of Hoxxes biome expansionary four new biomes to explore and ransack: the vine-infested Hollow Bough, beautiful Crystalline Caverns, dry Sandblasted Corridors, and the Dense Biozone. New biomes add new environmental dangers and eight new enemies with their own action cards.

• The Shockwyrm creature expansion is a mini expansion adding the new creature. It lurks beneath the surface popping up to take pot shots at range or get up close with shock attacks and includes its own set of custom action event cards.

There still about a month to go in funding the project - it runs until August 1st. So if you’re interested head over to the Kickstarter page, to find a funding tier right for you. Pledges start at 75 Euros and have a number of combinations of expansions with or without the base game. 

Each adventure in the new D&D Dragon Delves anthology brings at least one new lesson to the table for Dungeon Masters. Without spoilers, here's what each quest can teach (or re-teach) a DM.

• Chapter 1: "Death at Sunset." An adventure for level 1 characters. Features a Green Dragon Wyrmling.
  • Learn how to use random tables
    • In this adventure, you're to familiarize yourself with a rumors table. The characters should learn a new rumor with every new villager they interact with.
    • When players meet a new villager, roll one six-sided die (1d6). Look up the result on the table. Then work the rumor into a conversation. If you've already rolled the same result, roll again. After half a dozen conversations, the players should have learned all the rumors on the table. (Some of which are false, some are true, and some are only half-true.)

And here are the others, in less detail:

• Chapter 2: "Baker's Doesn't." An adventure for level 3 characters. Features a Gold Dragon Wyrmling.
  • Learn how to run a game for one character, if necessary.

• Chapter 3: "The Will of Orcus." An adventure for level 4 characters. Features a Silver Dragon Wyrmling.
  • Learn how to distribute map handouts for the players.

• Chapter 4: "For Whom the Void Calls." An adventure for level 5 characters. Features a Young Brass Dragon.
  • Learn how to cut content that's potentially too complicated for your needs as a Dungeon Master.

• Chapter 5: "The Dragon of Najkir." An adventure for level 7 characters. Features a Young Bronze Dragon
  • Learn surface-to-air combat onboard a sailing vessel.

• *Chapter 6: "The Forbidden Vale." An adventure for level 9 characters. Features a Young Red Dragon.
  • Learn to present binary choices in a conclusion with real consequences for your players either way.

• Chapter 7: "Before the Storm." An adventure for level 10 characters. Features an Adult Black Dragon.
  • Learn how to incorporate extraplanar elements (e.g. the Elemental Plane of Air) into the normal D&D world (e.g. the Prime Material Plane).

• Chapter 8: "Shivering Death." An adventure for level 11 characters. Features an Adult White Dragon.
  • Learn about extreme environmental effects (e.g. extreme cold) and how they alter gameplay.

• Chapter 9: "A Copper for a Song." An adventure for level 12 characters. Features an Adult Copper Dragon.
  • Learn how to solve a puzzle. Even if that puzzle involves speaking with people in order to gather clues about the quest's final destination.

• Chapter 10: "Dragons of the Sandstone City." An adventure for level 12 characters. Features an Ancient Blue Dragon. 
  • Learn, I guess, how to cope with your players' reactions to a laughably low payout. Either that, or to deal with massive, world-changing consequences that you, the DM, are only given a few sentences' worth of information about.

So, not every possible lesson to be found in D&D is being thrown at players and Dungeon Masters in this book. But it's a reasonable start. Especially when considering that almost all of these adventures estimate it'll only take "one or two sessions" to complete.

*The one exception is "The Forbidden Vale," for level 9 characters, which publisher Wizards of the Coast doubles its estimate to three or four sessions.

I did a spit-take when I'd read that at the beginning of each adventure. "This adventure is designed to fill one or two sessions of play." Hahaha, that's cute. Wizards of the Coast thinks you can take players from level 1 to level 12 in about 10 to 20 sessions. 

What's a session? Three to five hours? Every week, barring interruptions and scheduling conflicts? Wizards of the Coast means to tell me that this book can take players up to level 12 in five months? Maybe in as few as two-and-a-half months? That pace is a death march. 

Again, that gross underestimation made me spit-take. So, don't sweat that suggestion. Take as much time as you need. I'm planning on inserting "The Dragon of Najkir" into my current Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign. And trust me: It'll take more than one or two sessions to plow through even one of these adventures.

As we've mentioned before, we have a VR pinball contest going on between various members of the Gaming Nexus staff. It's been a ton of fun and Pinball FX VR has really been an immersive pinball experience for us all.

X-Arcade, which we've looked at in the past, came out with the Arcade2TV-XR not too long ago that looks to bring physical controls to the VR setup to make the experience even more immersive for playing retro games and pinball. But they are taking another step into bringing VR pinball to another level.

They announced the X-Force Haptics Kit that will add solenoids, a plunger, speakers, and much more to add that physical sensation of playing pinball to go along with the already impressive visuals of Pinball FX VR. 

The haptics will be driven by the game's audio allowing for shakes, rattles, and bumps you'd feel in a real pinball game. X-Arcade splits the audio into two separate channels so it won't interfere with the game's sounds. 

To control the audio, the kit includes some volume knobs that sit above the speakers so you can adjust it to your liking. Next to it is a vibration knob that allows you to adjust the strength as well.

A hall effect sensor plunger lets you pull back and launch a ball just like in real life. No more pushing a button on a controller and it might help with your skill shots as well.

And for those who like to nudge the tables and found using a joystick to be a little inconvenient, the kit will add an accelerometer so you can physically move t he Arcade2TV-XR in order to nudge the table. That's a lot better than trying to use a joystick and adds the immersion.

Pre-orders are opening soon and no pricing has been made available yet, but hopefully it'll be available soon. We're going to keep a close eye on this one that's for sure.

Another unique aspect of the new Dragon Delves adventure anthology from Dungeons & Dragons is its inclusion of dragons depicted throughout D&D's 50-year history. Ahead of each one-shot adventure are a few pages dedicated to previous artists' renditions of the core dragon types: Black, Blue, Green, Red, and White Dragons, along with Brass, Bronze, Copper, Gold, and Silver Dragons.

For consistency's sake, three works kick off each section: there's a black-and-white illustration from the 1977 Monster Manual, a pen-and-ink dragon from the 1993 Monstrous Manual, and a golden era painting from the '80s or early '90s.

The next page then shows a shrunken-down full-page depiction from the 2003 Draconomicon, a from-below sketch of a dragon's full body length and wingspan, and a cross-promotional piece of dragon art depicted on a Magic: The Gathering card.

I have nothing against the card game Magic. But the inclusion of these cards and their stats—rather than just showing the raw artwork itself—overemphasizes each historical section's cut-and-paste nature. Plus, to non-Magic players, the text on these Magic cards is nearly indecipherable.

Whenever Ancient Brass Dragon deals combat damage to a player, roll a d20. When you do, put any number of target creature cards with total mana value X or less from graveyards onto the battlefield under your control, where X is the result.

Like, what? I know there are a lot of rules to D&D. We just reviewed a combined 1,152 pages' worth of the new Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. But again: What?

And besides the text on the Magic cards, there's a conspicuous lack of words accompanying each of these historical sections. There are pictures of dragons simply cut-and-paste from their original pages onto these new pages. There's no visual cohesion that embeds their (non-chronological) placement, or rather scattering, across each page. For a caption, you get an artist and a year. That's about it, aside from a couple sentences insisting, Yep, the distinguishing features of this particular dragon were apparent from the get-go.

I will concede, however, that this lack of context renders these dragons usable in any context and role that I want. For instance, I love Clyde Caldwell's "Dragon of Dreams" (1985). Despite my personal knowledge that it's specifically from a Dragonlance module, the lack of that information here in Dragon Delves frees me to reuse "Dragon of Dreams" in any other adventure of my choosing.

Don't get me wrong. Publisher Wizards of the Coast is masterful at page layout and design. This was a task that outdid them, however. It's the first time I've seen D&D Beyond (that's D&D's online component) completely outclass any of D&D's hardcover books. D&D Beyond's depiction of these "History of..." sections is rather chock-a-block, with one image stacked hard atop another. But it uses your browser's full width to great effect.

Each visual history section ends with the dragon's latest redesign in the D&D 2024 Monster Manual. And I've got to tell you: Every single one of the redesigns is incredible, further extruding the unique features and physiology that make D&D dragons distinguishable from any other dragon you might see. The rhino horn on a Blue Dragon, or the eel-like length of the Gold Dragon. Look at these particular dragons long enough and you'll become an expert at picking a D&D dragon out of any crowd.

Ultimately, there are two more things these History of Dragons sections declare. One, that there wouldn't be any old school renaissance if D&D hadn't been there in the first place. And two, amidst a global-wide backlash, there wouldn't be AI art if, again, D&D (and other brilliant artists over the last five decades) hadn't been there in the first place.