<br>Pokémon has always been a series near and dear to my heart, and while I was always keen on the mainline titles, the first spin-off I was ever introduced to was Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. I fell utterly in love and this year got the surprise announcement that the first title was receiving a remake. It ended up being everything I wanted and more. A return to one of my absolute favorite games in a new style and yet felt like revisiting old friends I hadn't spoken to in a long time. The story is entirely about friendship, a bond between Pokémon as they struggle to save the world together and solve the problems as they're shunned away from their home after being accused of crimes they didn't commit. It added great new things like shiny Pokémon, mega evolutions and a ton of visual upgrades for items that helped build on the world. It even fixed one of my biggest disappointments that was after the game your partner no longer said good morning to you, but now they will every day even after they've evolved. Heck, they even finally added bandanas on the main Pokémon duo while they're still in their basic forms. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is a comfort in every way. It's familiar, yet changed, just as you would expect from an old friend and I'm thankful I had the chance to dive back into the wonderful experience once more.<br><br> <br>Dragonspine Unlocking Dragonspine And Surviving Sheer Cold How to Get All The Secret Crimson Agates All The Frostbearing Tree Rewards Dragonspine Treasure Box Locations Dragonspine Stone Carving Locations Dragonspine Strange Tooth Locat<br><br> <br>Diona’s shield may not be the most formidable in Genshin Impact, but it can still ward off a few rogue hits from enemies before falling. The Cat’s Tail tavern’s resident mixologist also has a signature drink in her Elemental Burst, which deals periodic Cryo DMG to foes and slowly heals your active character inside the zone. The consistent Cryo application makes sure that Frozen enemies don’t thaw out , so you can maintain the Crit Rate bonus from Cryo Resonance and the Blizzard Strayer Artifact Set that your DPS is probably runn<br><br> <br>The Dendro Traveler’s scaling is decent enough for them to operate as a Sub-DPS in Genshin Impact . For that, giving them Elemental Mastery, Dendro DMG, and Crit items is viable for their build. However, they still lean more into the supportive role, so giving them weapons like Freedom-Sworn and Xiphos' Moonlight is more helpful to the t<br><br>Any game that's branded as a "free-to-play" title is almost immediately going to get inundated with any number of negative connotations and accusations alike. Long-winded, grind-inducing, predatory, a matter of luck over skill on the kind of content you’re granted outside of some voluntary, monetary investment. It may sound dismissive and pessimistic, but the number of such games whose priorities with maintaining a steady revenue stream doesn’t get in the way of the base SLG game Heroes offered are few and far between. Enter Genshin Impact, developer miHoYo’s far from first rodeo on the F2P frontier -- itself thrown many a condescending remark on being a clone of this or imitation of that. The similarities are there to see of course and while admittedly a touch obvious in parts, what I’m most thankful for with Genshin Impact is the genuine effort and design miHoYo have placed in crafting an enjoyable action RPG to start. A live service, continually-expanding release this may be, Genshin Impact’s starting world, its gameplay, its sheer breadth of exploration put many similar open-world efforts, let alone F2P attempts, to shame. To state with hand on heart I’ve now clocked near to 40 hours and still not spent a single penny -- occasionally tempting it may be -- I’m grateful that Genshin Impact has taken a more sensible approach to F2P games: satisfying base game first, additional monetization second as an option.<br><br> <br>For example, if a player is sitting at 89 Wishes without a 5-star on the Venti banner when it ends, their first wish on the subsequent character promo banner will guarantee a 5-star. Additionally, both limited Character Banners share a pity pool. A player can put wishes on each one back and forth and it will all contribute to their pity for b<br><br>My normal taste in games leans towards arcade and action, but this year has been one where the extra focus to hone in on pinpoint-perfect reflexes just hasn't been as available as I'd like. Instead I've been taking it easy, using gaming as a way to relax and escape into a more manageable world. The game that I'm thankful for this year is SnowRunner?, which doesn't have an enemy anywhere in the whole world but instead requires the player to use its tools to complete a huge series of jobs across hostile terrain. While sorting out the controls takes some effort, once learned there are a huge amount of tools available to tackle even the roughest wilderness. Mountain tracks carved by streams, muddy bogs, rivers frozen solid and snowdrifts that even the highest-traction tires can't get a grip on all stand in the way of delivering Cargo to Place. You can tackle the challenges with brute force, careful plotting of the optimal route or relying on the winch to basically drag the truck to the goal, but there's always a way if you're patient enough. Few events are timed and just about everything is optional if you decide that a particular job feels like a bit much. There's pressure in navigating the tougher areas, of course, but otherwise SnowRunner? is a game of choosing a task and tackling it however you like, driving across the beauty of a wilderness that's just barely been touched by humans. It's challenging, sure, but also relaxing and satisfying, and I'm thankful there are games that let me unwind into a simpler, more-focused world.<br>
