Canyons is an upcoming looter-shooter coming out from HypeTrain Digital. About a year ago, gaming news outlet IGN got the exclusive "official trailer" for what now seems like a very different game. You can check out the old trailer here, but what basically started out as more of a gritty zombie survival type game has transformed into a post-apocalyptic crusade against shapeshifting aliens - the Awakened. Many elements do persist such as the location in the canyons or the giant Crawlers to ride around in; but other elements appear to have been added as well - such as settlement building. There are definitely still zombie horror elements to the gameplay trailer below, but the tone and especially the big bad bosses in the game appear well off the beaten path of the initial idea. According to the press release, Canyons now features:

• Unpredictable enemies: The Awakened can disguise themselves as almost any object—no two encounters are the same.

• Blood Pacts: Harness unholy powers by striking deals with stronger Awakened.

• Epic scale: Command gigantic Crawlers to transport your crew and supplies across hostile canyons.

• Settlement building: Expand your Covenant Haven, attract new settlers, and defend it from raiders and monsters.

• Moral choices with real consequences: In the canyons, survival isn’t just about firepower. Will you share your last water with a dying stranger, bring them home, rob them, abandon them to the Awakened—or even consume them yourself? Every decision shapes your path.

• True co-op survival: Play solo or join forces with up to 4 players in a harsh, procedurally generated world filled with danger and dilemmas.

The other bit of noteworthy news is that Canyons will also be releasing for more than just PC, adding PlayStation development to its launch lineup as well. Still no release date announced for either platform, though, but one to watch how it continues to evolve and eventually shape up. 

As announced back in October, Amazon has done a bit of restorative work to it's Luna streaming platform in an attempt to breathe some new life into it. Its interesting that Luna hasn't hit critical mass yet; after the demise of Stadia, gamers seem to have evolved somewhat in their opinions of streaming video games.

Both Sony and Microsoft offer various streaming solutions, and I've not heard any negative buzz about streaming in quite some time. Yet, Luna just keeps hanging out there in the background, never seeming to gather up any critical mass. I think that most people, like me, sometimes forget that it even exists. I went hard on it for a while - I even have a Luna controller around here somewhere - but I eventually fell off.

Which is a bit bonkers, because if you have Amazon Prime, you have Luna. Which also means that you have instant access to some huge, banger-ass games from the last year or so. Hogwarts Legacy, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and TopSpin 2K25 are all available right now for you to hop on and play - literally all you have to do is sign into your Prime account to get access.

But in addition to the more traditional games, Amazon Luna has added a bunch of free "Game Night" games. I have Firesticks on every TV in the house, so last night my family decided to log in and try to play Clue using Luna's interface. And it worked like gangbusters. 

Essentially, we selected and started the game with the Firestick remote. Then everyone used their phones to scan an on-screen QR code to get access to the game - very much in keeping with the way you sign in to play a Jackbox game (some of which are also available for free on Luna). Then, using our phones as controllers, we were able to play Clue without a hitch. It was quick, easy, and a huge hit with my kids (though we all agreed that we need to refresh ourselves on the rules of Clue; it took a few minutes to catch on). 

The list of games available is kind of ridiculous. The following are just the Game Night games, not including the more traditional video games you get access to. My family is definitely going to be digging into this more deeply - it's too easy and fun to not take full advantage of. 

• Angry Birds Flock Party
• Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?
• Big Helmet Heroes
• Bonkies
• Bullship
• Clue/Cluedo
• Courtroom Chaos: Starring Snoop Dogg
• Draw & Guess
• Dunk Dunk
• Exploding Kittens 2
• Fakin’ It All Night Long
• Fibbage XL
• Flappy Golf Party
• Garfield Kart 2 – All You Can Drift
• Inversus Deluxe
• Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
• One Hand Clapping
• Quiplash 2: InterLASHional
• Scattergories
• Snow Bros. Wonderland
• Spacelines from the Far Out
• Stunt Kite Party
• Taboo
• Tetris Effect: Connected
• The Jackbox Party Pack 9
• Ticket to Ride
• Tumblestone
• Ultimate Chicken Horse
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

In Dungeons & Dragons, it's safe to assume the gods do whatever they want. Which is a perfectly reasonable assumption, but not entirely true. More accurately, the gods do whatever developer Wizards of the Coast tells them to.

And in 5th Edition (5e) D&D, there's been some movement in the Forgotten Realms pantheon. From the D&D 2014 Player's Handbook to 2015's Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide to the Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun (now arriving some 11 years into 5e), some gods made a comeback and some went on sabbatical. Very little is explained as to why. The new Heroes of Faerun says this much:

The makeup of the pantheon has shifted over the ages, as a result of changes in the Realms and its people (or vice versa, depending on which scholars you believe).

I'm not quizzing you at the end, but these were the Forgotten Realm's major gods at the start of 5e in the Player's Handbook, back in 2014. And by "major" gods I mean that some of these could be minor deities as well—but they were at least important enough for them to be mentioned. Also, take a deep breath: there are a lot of them.

• Auril, goddess of air
• Azuth, god of wizardry
• Bane, god of tyranny
• Beshaba, goddess of misfortune
• Bhaal, god of murder
• Chauntea, goddess of agriculture
• Cyric, god of lies
• Deneir, god of writing
• Eldath, goddess of peace
• Gond, god of craft
• Helm, god of watchfulness
• Ilmater, god of endurance
• Kelemvor, god of the dead
• Lathander, god of dawn and renewal
• Leira, goddess of illusion
• Lliira, goddess of joy
• Loviatar, god of pain
• Malar, god of the hunt
• Mask, god of thieves
• Mielikki, goddess of forests
• Milil, god of poetry and song
• Myrkul, god of death
• Mystra, goddess of magic
• Oghma, god of knowledge
• Selune, goddess of the moon
• Shar, goddess of darkness and loss
• Silvanus, god of wild nature
• Sune, goddess of love and beauty
• Talona, goddess of poison and disease
• Talos, god of storms
• Tempus, god of war
• Torm, god of courage and self-sacrifiece
• Tyr, god of justice
• Umberlee, goddess of the sea
• Waukeen, goddess of trade

That's 36 gods. Seems plenty to me! But then, only one year later, came the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. That relatively thin book expanded Faerun's pantheon with 11 more deities.

• Akadi, goddess of air
• Aumanator, god of the sun
• Asmodeus, god of indulgence
• Grumbar, god of earth
• Gwaeron Windstrom, god of tracking
• Hoar, god of revenge and retribution
• Istishia, god of water
• Jergal, scribe of the dead
• Kossurth, god of fire
• Red Knight, goddess of the moon
• Valkur, Northlander god of sailors

While the new Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun brings back Eilistraee, god of song and moonlight; Lolth, god of spiders; and Shaundakul, god of travel; it wipes out nine others—almost all of them from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Now gone are:

• Akadi, goddess of air
• Grumbar, god of earth
• Gwaeron Windstrom, good of tracking
• Hoar, god of revenge and retribution
• Istishia, god of water
• Jergal, scribe of the dead
• Kossurth, god of fire
• Savras, god of divination and fate
• Valkur, Northlander god of sailors

In other words, of the gods that showed up in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, only Aumanator, Asmodeus, and Red Knight have made it to the final bracket. Who can keep up? Suffice it to say, as of November 2025, the Forgotten Realms is sitting on a nice, neat pantheon of 40 gods.

Worth noting is that the gods are no longer gender specific: Lolth, god of spiders, is no more female than Asmodeus, god of indulgence, is male. Get used to the gods transcending gender. If they need to take physical form in your D&D campaign, make them whatever they need to be in the moment, and don't limit yourself to binary options. 

Also worth noting is that each god's alignment is gone. They are now associated with their home plane and typical worshippers. Lolth, god of spiders, for instance, is no longer bound to being chaotic evil. Her home plane is the The Abyss and The Abyss is the embodiment of chaotic evil—not Lolth themself. This continues Wizards of the Coast's push away from using alignment as a straitjacket. 

As a Dungeon Master, I've always thought alignment was an extremely efficient indicator of how I could mold a god's behavior. Lolth's followers are "evil drow" and "folk who travel the Underdark." I mean, that's a clue, but it doesn't necessarily clue me into Lolth being chaotic evil.

Oh well. It's hard enough for me to keep track of the behaviors and tendencies of the four players sitting at my table, let alone 40 deities acting as free-roaming vapors across the heaven and earth. But, as Heroes of Faerun makes clear: Some gods die, some never die, some leave, and some come back. These 40 are by no means the entirety of the pantheon. They're just the major ones for now. And all of that can change.

Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun is part of a duology of books due on store shelves on November 11, 2025. (The other book is Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerun.)

I was someone who owned a PSP, and with that PSP came a physical copy of Lumines. Pronouncing the name of it wrong my entire lifetime, I was completely addicte4d to it. The musical puzzle game had me wrapped around it's little treble clef for hours on end. And if you put headphones on, that increased the trouble ten fold. There have been other games since the release of the first Lumines in 2004, but I promised I wouldn't go back. 

Enter Gaming Nexus, and the release looming of a brand new entry, Lumines Arise. I don't know how to explain how Lumines works, but I'll try. Blocks of two colors will fall from the top of the playing field. You can rotate these blocks, and your goal is to put the colors together, before a sweeping line locks them into place. If the colors match, they are eliminated, and you keep moving. All this is to the rhythm of a bass booming track, sort of like Tetris Effect: Connected. I played this forever. I might go play it now. 

The new hotness will be releasing on Steam and PS5, and with those, comes the option of upgrading to the digital deluxe version. The digital deluxe version gets you 4 exclusive avatars and nameplates. The PS5 version will get you a character from Humanity, a Tetrimino from Tetris Effect Connected, a character from Rez Infinito, and Astro Bot from...Astro Bot. The PC version replaces Astro Bot with Dave the Diver from...Dave the Diver. If you get the standard version, you can get these items for the $5. 

Picture this: You're a medieval rat, working in tavern to cook and serve food - with up to 3 of your rat friends. Sound like a dream? Well dream no longer, ya little scroungy rodent, because Restaurats was released yesterday on Steam.

Now typically, you don't want to see rats in a kitchen, I totally understand, but in Restaurats, you're no longer a rodent pest, you're an employee! 

This is a co-op simulation game for up to 4 players, or you can go at it alone. As a rat employee, you'll start at the bottom and work to improve your tavern so it becomes the most legendary in the realm. Learn the recipes to wow your fantastical guests, serve them, bus their tables, and earn bonuses when you complete the job for the most world-renowned guests.

KEY FEATURES

• CULINARY CONNOISSEUR - Learn recipes to cook for the tavern’s fantastical patrons. The more complex the dish, the better the reward.
• CUSTOMER SERVICE - Be attentive to the tavern’s guests, like skeletons, vampires, orcs and more. Each has unique preferences and requirements, so be sure to look after their needs.
• RAT UPGRADES - Level up your character, improve your skills, and customize your rat to be the most stylish of your friends.
• ROGUELIKE PROGRESSION - At the end of each run, you’ll unlock new recipe cards, upgrades and more to improve your tavern.
• ULTIMATE RESTAURAT - Build up the tavern with new blueprints to improve its capacity, functionality and attractiveness.
• HAVE FUN TOGETHER IN CO-OP - Not only can you cook, you can also gamble, play mini-games, and simply have a blast with friends together. This is not just a cooking game, it's a lively sandbox experience with tons of humor!

It's important to note that there's also a post-launch content roadmap that showcases the upcoming features to the game, including futher customization, events, locations, and more.

So if this sounds up your alley, gather up 3 of your closest rat pals and scurry on over to steam, or check out the launch trailer here:

I guess if it ain't broke, send it into space. Angry Birds 2 is back, as you may know. Now that any phone can run practically any game, it's only fair that we get to play Angry Birds 2, the way it was intended. I'm currently installing it on Windows via the Google Play Store, which is also, for some reason, installing on Windows. I'm late to the party. 

So late, in fact, that Rovio and Angry Birds 2 started an in game campaign for Angry Birds 2 Space back in late October, and will be available to play until November 21st. This campaign was paired with a milestone, and that milestone was that if they got enough players to play, and unlock their own milestones, and meet certain thresholds, they would launch an Angry Bird from space in real life. 

I'll spoil this for you. People are playing Angry Birds 2, and they met the criteria. Here it is, an Angry Bird being launched, toward the Earth, from Space. Don't say I've never done anything for you. 

Every time I try to get ahead, the busy work outside of the gaming world comes for me. All that to say, I haven't had the chance to get my hands on C. Viper yet. I haven't even seen Mecha Zangief in person, but that's another story. 

C. Viper is already making waves. Much like the response to Sagat, it seems that Street Fighter 6 is doing everything right. With it's record breaking numbers, new moments being made, and even pros complaining that the younger generation is good at Street Fighter 6, because it's "too easy", I think Street Fighter 6 will go down as one of the greatest fighting game of all time. We still have Alex, and Ingrid coming, plus I'm sure a season 4 and 5 character. 

Combine all that with monthly themes, and unlockables that can pay for themselves after you buy them once, and you have the same 10/10 I gave it almost three years ago. I'm sure I'll go through a couple of matches with her. Maybe one day. Maybe. Capcom, I think you have a hit. 

Marvel Cosmic Invasion will boast 15 characters. Storm, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Venom, Captain America, Iron Man, Phoenix, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Nova, Beta Ray Bill (with Stormbreaker), Black Panther, She Hulk, Rocket Raccoon, Phyla-Vell, and Silver Surfer. Tribute Games wants to tell you all the things, and if I know anything about Dotemu and Tribute Games, is that there will probably be more to come. 

It's really insane to me that these characters are all in a beat em up, and you can choose 2 at a time. More so, it's a 4 player beat em up, which means at some point, the game will allow 8 playable characters on the screen at the same time doing all the super hero things. The behind the scenes look, also told me things I didn't know, like Cosmic Ghost Rider is a fusion of Ghost Rider, and The Punisher. The stages will take you from New York, to Wakanda. From The Savage Lang to Asgard, and so much more. The stages will affect the gameplay in some form. Stay tuned for that. 

In the demo, the heroes take on Cosmic Beetle, and if they've gone that deep, I can only imagine the boss fights for the rest of the stages. This looks like it's going to hold up for us. The game releases for practically everything on December 1st. I personally can't wait. What a year for gaming. 

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration will be expanding even further as a new DLC pack is coming to the game next week.

This DLC pack will focus on Namco's contributions to Atari's consoles throughout the 80's including the infamous version of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600. The great part of course is that we will get a brand new timeline added to the interactive documentary which will include new interviews, archival footage, pictures, documents and more. 

The DLC pack is called the Namco Legendary Pack and will include 14 game including the following...

• Pac-Man (Atari 2600)
• Pac-Man (Atari 5200)
• Pac-Man (Atari 8bit)
• Dig Dug (Atari 2600)
• Dig Dug (Atari 5200)
• Dig Dug (Atari 7800)
• Dig Dug (Atari 8bit)
• Dig Dug (Arcade)
• Galaga (7800)
• Galaxian (2600)
• Galaxian (5200)
• Galaxian (Atari 8bit)
• Xevious (2600)
• Xevious (7800)

The Namco Legendary Pack for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration will launch on November 13th for $7.99. 

Dispatch has been a hot topic in the GN Slack. While the review is still incoming, the staff who have dipped their toes in are loving the game and storytelling. Well there is more story to tell with episodes 5 & 6 having just released and the season finale incoming next week, November 12th. 

Dispatch is an episodic office adventure. You play the part of an out of commission super hero tasked with working the phone dispatch for the rest of the team. With your super suit of mech armor destroyed, your new team is actually a crew of former villains in a rehab program. The game is made by AdHoc Studio, which itself was a spin off from talent that left Telltale Games. So you know the team has a lot of talent to make great episodic content as Telltale was infamous for. Well, they are delivering on that promise as early signs are overwhelmingly positive, with a 9.3 User Score on Metacritic, 93% positive reviews on Steam, and 4.95 out of 5 stars on the PlayStation Store. 

Dispatch is available on PC via Steam or PS5 via the PS Store, links above.