December 19 is shaping up to be a great day for Avatar fans. In addition to being the theatrical premiere date of Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in the franchise, a new story expansion hits 2023’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora the same day.

The similarly named From the Ashes expansion – the game's third story DLC since launch – stars a Na’vi warrior named So’lek in a story set shortly after the conclusion of the main campaign. So’lek hails from the Trr’ong clan, and after being ambushed and left for dead by the RDA and its allies, the rival Ash clan, he awakens to find his world in ruin and his family scattered.

To seek revenge and find his family, So’lek journeys across Kinglor Forest (which has seen better days) and a brand-new area within the Western Frontier. From the Ashes can be purchased standalone for an unknown price for existing owners of the game, and it will be included as part of the new From the Ashes edition of the game that includes the base campaign and the Floating Mountains bonus content.

"With 'From the Ashes', we wanted to push the boundaries of what players can experience in Pandora," said Omar Bouali, creative director at Massive Entertainment. "This expansion delivers a darker, more personal story, enhanced immersion via third-person gameplay, and intense new combat mechanics that deepen the emotional and tactical stakes. We wanted to offer fans a thrilling new perspective on the Western Frontier, with deeper storytelling and more visceral gameplay."

From the Ashes will arrive shortly after a free December 5 update that will add a third-person mode and New Game Plus to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. In the meantime, you can read our review of the base experience here. 

Larian Studios has released Hoxfix 34 for Baldur's Gate 3, and it brings with it a native Steam Deck build of the game. The team says this build should feature better framerate, lower loading times, and smoother gameplay. 

Before today's hotfix, Baldur's Gate 3 ran decently on Steam Deck via a Proton build, but it came with some noticeable drawbacks, like a sometimes-unstable framerate and fuzzy resolution. Though we haven't tested it ourselves, it sounds like Larian's new native Steam Deck build will be the best way to play Baldur's Gate 3 on the go moving forward. 

"This is not just good news for Steam Deck users either," the hotfix notes read." The work the team has put into this build also means that everyone will get to enjoy overall improvements to the way game models are streamed on all platforms, which should reduce framerate spikes in busy areas, such as the Lower City in Act 3."

Elsewhere in the notes, Larian has addressed various questions players might have about their saves and other aspects of transitioning to this new native build. Head here for more on that. Hotfix 34 is now live.

While waiting for your game to update, check out Game Informer's Baldur's Gate 3 review. 

Are you going to play Baldur's Gate 3 on Steam Deck with this new build? Let us know in the comments below!

Koijima Productions' Beyond the Strand presentation revealed a few new details for Physint, the studio’s in-development action espionage title. Although studio head Hideo Kojima said earlier this year that the project was at least five years away from release, he unveiled a piece of key art along with some of its celebrity voice talents. 

Kojima reiterates that Physint, which was first revealed during a January 2024 State of Play, is in the conceptual stages. However, he says the game’s technology will be more advanced than Kojima Productions' upcoming horror game, OD. While we don’t see any in-game footage, Kojima revealed a Physint poster showing off the game’s protagonist.

While Kojima has not yet cast the main character, he does reveal three film actors playing unknown supporting roles: Charlee Fraser (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Anyone But You), Ma Dong-seok AKA Don Lee (Train to Busan, Eternals), and Minami Hamabe (Godzilla Minus One). Kojima then shared images of Hamabe rendered in-engine, showing off the technology's impressive realism. 

 

Physint has no release window, but it will be coming to PlayStation platforms (likely Sony's next-generation console). For more on Kojima Productions' Beyond the Strand, check out the new teaser trailer for OD and the reveal of a Death Stranding animated movie. 

Hades II may hit this week, but that isn't stopping developer Super Evil Megacorp from putting out new content inspired by Supergiant's hugely successful series. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, which finally made the leap from Apple Arcade to consoles last year, takes several cues from Hades, but wraps it in the shells of Eastman and Laird's iconic Turtles. Earlier this year, the mask-wearing Casey Jones joined the playable roster of characters in the isometric roguelike, and now, it's Metalhead's turn.

A robotic turtle built by Donatello, Metalhead is the sixth playable character and delivers an all-new playstyle to the game. He operates as the longest-range character on the roster to date, with a laser gun, explosive landmines, and tactical skills designed to keep enemies at a distance. The story introduces Metalhead by having him accidentally open a rift under a pizzeria, and it's up to the team to stop the chaos that spills out of the rift. Additionally, the paid DLC adds five new artifacts to let you further experiment with your builds.

In addition to the paid Metalhead DLC, all players will have access to a free title update that adds an Arcade mode, new levels, a new storyline, additional powers, enemies, visual upgrades, and tuning. Arcade mode offers a fast-paced way to experience the content alone or with friends, complete with a new Hex and Flex system, which adds new variables to account for during a run; some combos you unlock will weaken you (Hexes), while others will make you stronger (Flexes). The update also adds three new biomes – the Spectral Sewers, Astral Ship, and Manic Metropolis – a new Wraith enemy set, and Enemy Invasion mechanics that unlock new encounter combinations. These updates stack with more than 100 gameplay and quality-of-life improvements, including visual polish and balancing adjustments.

Both the Metalhead paid DLC and the free update hit all versions on September 30. For more on TMNT: Splintered Fate, check out our review.

Reviewed on: PC
Platform: PlayStation 5, PC
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: Gabe Cuzzillo, Bennett Foddy, Maxi Boch
Release: September 23, 2025

I spent the majority of my time reviewing Baby Steps in various states of anger, ranging from mild annoyance to controller-throwing rage, but when it intends to make me feel this way, it’s hard to deny that Baby Steps is effective. “Ragebait” games like this one are supposed to elicit that response. I appreciate how Baby Steps commits to the bit by making the player the brunt of the joke, along with its surreal story. Still, its frustrating difficulty, paired with occasionally poorly designed levels, kept me from laughing alongside it. 

In the opening cutscene, Nate, a pathetic man who lives in his parents’ basement, is transported to a mysterious mountain. Through a series of awkward conversations, he learns he’ll have to reach the summit to make a wish to go home. However, Nate is also so socially awkward that, hilariously, he refuses almost every offer of help so as not to bother his fellow climbers. He turns down shoes, climbing equipment, and a map (complete with a minimap and compass in the corner), none of which you ever get, making the game laughably more difficult.

The cherry on top, and the game’s premise, is that players control Nate one leg at a time, stumbling through the whole journey and often falling down. The controls are intentionally clumsy, with the left and right triggers lifting their respective legs. While it initially feels impossible, it’s oddly satisfying to walk once you get the rhythm down. Of course, challenges quickly escalate from slight, hilly inclines to intricate balancing acts, ratcheting up the difficulty. To make things worse, getting off balance, which happens constantly, immediately locks Nate into a ragdoll state, causing him to fall until he reaches a stable position. The hardest climbs of Baby Steps aren’t just frustrating because of their difficulty, but because you have to do them again and again until you prevail onto the next section.

Bennett Foddy’s past work (he's best known for Getting Over It and QWOP) is characterized by a steep difficulty curve, and Baby Steps is no exception, though it was more approachable than I expected. The key to this, especially in earlier areas, is how the semi-open world is peppered with optional challenges. If you want a tougher experience, simply turn at the next fork in the road, and you’ll find a difficult path or structure to explore, but if you stick to the main path, the walk will remain manageable. Optional challenges reward collectible hats and fruit that unlock new story content, granting devoted players an incentive to take on tougher challenges.

Where Baby Steps really stumbles is in its later levels, where the paths forward are poorly telegraphed. Moving Nate anywhere other than where he needs to go is a risk because at any given moment, you could (and probably will) make a wrong step and fall to an earlier area. It’s maddening, then, to be stuck in an area with no idea where to go, and no idea if the arduous climb you’re attempting is even required. On several occasions, I made my way into a later area by doing a climb I felt I wasn’t supposed to be doing. It wasn’t hard in a way that seemed intended, but rather like I was clinging to random bits of geometry and eventually prevailing. For every unclear path that did lead to a way forward, I tried and failed to progress through three more; the only indication I was in the right area was that I eventually moved forward. It’s hard to commit to tough challenges when it’s not clear whether it’s designed for me to attempt.

These failed attempts, however, are undeniably silly. Baby Steps is funny, but instead of inviting players in on the joke, the players become the joke. To play Baby Steps is to be pranked left and right, to be forced into unreasonably difficult situations armed only with your sweaty onesie and two bare feet. This is a game designed for streamers, which is to say that it’s more fun to watch than it is to experience yourself: When someone else is the subject of Baby Steps’ pranks, it’s far more tolerable. Hours into the game, I’d become desensitized to the absurdity of it all, but whenever my partner saw Nate flopping around on the screen, she laughed aloud. Failure, though it’s frustrating as a player, is funny, and Baby Steps capitalizes on that.

The other aesthetics, from visuals to music, are surreal and bizarre. Nate is constantly encountering anthropomorphic horse men who are nude from the waist down, a fact no one acknowledges. Bringing a hat back to camp triggers a Game Boy-style dream sequence about Nate’s past. At one point, I woke up to see a giant woman lift me off my feet, cradle me like a baby, set me down on a high ledge, and leave. The music, meanwhile, is an experimental rhythm of sound effects, playing various clicks, scrapes, splashes, and animal noises in repetitive sequence. It adds to the world’s odd vibe, but I mostly found these tracks annoying and grating, and would have preferred something just a touch more melodic or approachable.

My feelings about the music extend to the whole of Baby Steps, I suppose. I see what they are going for. I understand why and how it’s funny. And I appreciate how unique it is, but I would be lying if I said I enjoyed it. It’s a truly singular experience, something we will always need more of in games. Some will enjoy struggling to climb sandy dunes and laughing at their friends falling down the same cliffside for the hundredth time, but no amount of creative appreciation will change how I felt playing Baby Steps. Every time I put the controller down, I dreaded picking it back up.

Score: 6

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