Supergiant's latest Hades II patch is likely its last before launch
The third major early access update arrived on June 17, and was focused primarily on combat tweaks, as well as adding a new Vow of Rivals that not only made Guardian encounters tougher, but forced players to switch up their strategies for each bout. The latest patch is mainly a host of minor adjustments to existing items and abilities, as well as some balancing on the aforementioned Vow of Rivals Encounters. No more new story content or areas are due to be added ahead of the v.10 launch, with Supergiant confirming back in June that the game's true ending is being held back for the full release. If you're a console player or just wanted to hold out until the game is finished, it's probably safe to start getting excited.
That said, PlayStation and Xbox owners are going to have to wait a little longer, because while we still don't know Hades II 's release date, we do know that the game is launching on PC and both the Switch and Switch 2 initially, mirroring the release roadmap of its predecessor. The developer has already assured fans that both Nintendo consoles can run the game at a smooth 60 fps, with the Switch 2 version benefiting from the console's larger 1080p display in handheld mode.
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Tom's Guide
3 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
Nintendo Switch 2 was top of my gadget wishlist — then I played the Asus Rog Ally X
Hi, I'm Jeff. I'm on the wrong side of thirty-five and probably best described as a 'lapsed gamer.' The most up-to-date system I own is the OG Nintendo Switch from all the way back in 2017 and, like a lot of us with jobs, kids and other commitments — I don't get a whole lot of time to use it. Even so, I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Nintendo Switch 2 for a few hours before its release a couple of months back. Now it's here, I figured I'd almost certainly hand over my hard-earned cash for the new system before long. Then I spent a week with the Asus ROG Ally X — and it changed everything. It's hard to ignore the pure power the Asus ROG Ally X boasts, making it a beast of a PC gaming handheld. You get a superb AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, a massive 24GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a 70Wh battery for extended gameplay sessions. With a $100 price cut, it's well worth it. To set the scene for just a second; I was facing a trip away with the family and idly wondered whether or not my Switch would make the cut for the carry-on. But the talk around Tom's Guide these days is all about handheld gaming over on the PC side of the aisle. Sensing an opportunity, I politely asked a colleague to fix me up with the Asus handheld. That way, I could strategically ignore family time with a bit of gaming under the pretext of doing it "for work." So, here we are — a week later and my first experience with a handheld PC has got me completely rethinking whether or not there's a Switch 2 in my future at all. Let me explain. For me, a handheld system offers the best gaming proposition. The TV in my house is frequently occupied by other members of the family and the portability of a handheld lets me throw it in a bag and take it on a trip, or to the office, and grab some gaming time as and when it presents itself. The Switch has always been good to me because it offered a nice blend of blockbuster and independent titles. I'm willing to look past technical shortcomings if the gameplay is good and experiences like Breath of the Wild and FIFA were enough for me. But then I fired up the Asus Rog Ally X and discovered I could pick up games not just from Steam, but also Xbox's excellent Game Pass (you get three months alongside the Ally X) as well as the Epic Game Store and GOG. A whole world of gaming — and the option to catch up on years of missed titles — suddenly opened up. Part of my problem with the Switch 2 is that I don't feel the need to replay yet another Mario Kart or Zelda game just yet. While it's great to see Nintendo's hardware improvements welcome more AAA third-party games to the system, the fact is many of these have been available on PC for a while. And thanks to frequent Steam sales, you can usually save some serious cash playing on PC, too. Windows 11 catches a lot of flak from gamers, it seems. SteamOS is where it's at and Microsoft's clunky OS just brings down the entire experience. This is undoubtedly true from a game-playing perspective. However, I think the only silver lining to having Windows on the ROG Ally X is that if you're traveling with it, you've got a fully functional PC in your bag. I don't make much of a habit of working on vacation, and I'm not going to try and defend Windows on a gaming handset. But I did get a bit of a thrill from having a gaming system and a productivity machine in one device. All I needed to do was bring along a slim keyboard like the Logitech Keys-to-Go 2 and a mouse and I could get work on documents or tend to emails. The one thing this does throw up for me is the lack of a kickstand on the ROG Ally X. In my opinion, any handheld should come with a built-in kickstand so you can use it with a controller or keyboard in a tabletop mode. But that goes double when you can use this as a laptop replacement. The Ally X also feels more like a high-powered product with those ergonomic grips and aggressive ROG styling. It's a little on the heavy side at 1.49lbs (which makes it all the more frustrating Asus didn't add a kickstand) but the thumbsticks especially feel premium with a great range of motion and just the right amount of tension built in. Nintendo has fixed itself firmly as 'the family console' and is going even further with GameChat on the Switch 2. Even if you're traveling with just the console, you can break off a Joy-Con and hand it to a friend or family member for some social Mario Kart racing. And that's wonderful, if it's what you're looking for. Me? I want to use gaming as a way to get away from other people. The same way I don't want to sit and read a novel with somebody else. I'll throw on a pair of the best noise cancelling headphones, kick back in a chair and go on my own personal adventure with Indiana Jones, thanks very much. Plus, since Asus added a second USB-C port, you can really go to town with a pair of Xreal or Viture AR glasses and shut out the outside world entirely. Now if only the amount of time I had equated to the battery life on the ROG Ally X. Asus doubled the capacity compared to the previous ROG Ally to an 80Wh cell. My colleagues got over three hours of juice while running the Gaming PCMark 10 benchmark test and the handheld can easily go for longer than a couple of hours playing some of the most demanding games. Device Battery life hh:mm (Gaming PCMark 10) Asus ROG Ally X 03:04 Lenovo Legion Go 01:59 Asus ROG Ally 01:43 I've not just been impressed with the Asus ROG Ally X, I've been blown away by how far handheld gaming has come since the Nintendo Switch in 2017. Now, I'm not immune to the issues of the ROG Ally X. That $899/£799 price point is a bitter pill to swallow and there is definitely a bit of a learning curve when it comes to tweaking and organizing performance compared to the boot-it-up-and-play nature of console gaming. The Switch 2 is a fantastic gaming system, no question. But the chances of me getting one just became a whole lot smaller now I've had my first taste of gaming on a PC handheld.
Tom's Guide
4 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
I played the Switch 2 with AR glasses — here's what it's like to race Mario Kart World on a 135-inch screen in front of your face
The Nintendo Switch 2 builds on the strong foundation established by its predecessor and if you've played the original Switch, you'll be immediately at home with the hardware and controls of Nintendo's upgraded hybrid console. From the Joy-Cons to the kickstand to the home screen, the Switch 2 feels more like a refined version of what worked the first time around without any new gimmicks to sidetrack things. Sure, the screen is now 7.9-inches instead of 6.2-inches and the console itself is larger too. However, besides the switch to faster microSD Express cards (no pun intended) and what many believe is a downgrade from OLED back to LCD, the biggest change Nintendo made to the Switch 2 was equipping it with not one but two USB-C ports. Back when I first went hands-on with the Switch 2, that extra USB-C port was the upgrade that excited me the most and for good reason. With a second USB-C port just like on the Asus ROG Ally X or the Lenovo Legion Go, I initially thought Nintendo's new console would pair perfectly with the best smart glasses. As it turns out, that wasn't the case at all, or at least I thought so at first. While you can't plug a pair of Xreal One or Viture Pro AR glasses directly into either of the Switch 2's USB-C ports, with a bit of trickery and a timely firmware upgrade, I managed to play Mario Kart World and my new favorite Mario game in AR. Although the experience wasn't as plug and play as I had hoped Nintendo would've made it, playing the Switch 2 on a 135-inch screen half an inch away from my face, without the official dock no less, was awesome to say the least. Here's how I did it, the devices I used and why the inevitable Switch 2 OLED or even the Switch 2 Pro better support AR glasses right out of the box. This bundle has everything you need to start playing your Switch 2 or other game consoles in AR. You get a pair of Viture Pro XR glasses, the Viture Pro Mobile Dock and Viture is even throwing in a limited-edition controller made in collaboration with 8BitDo as a free gift. After I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses, Viture reached out to me about testing its new mobile game controller made in collaboration with 8BitDo. This wasn't just any controller that attaches to one of the best phones though. Instead, it has an extra port equipped with DisplayPort Alt Mode over USB-C functionality on the bottom you can plug a pair of AR glasses into. That way, you can play games on a massive screen right from your phone. In the box with the controller and a pair of its AR glasses though, Viture also included a few extras including its Viture Pro Mobile Dock. If, like me, you think it bears a striking resemblance to one of the best power banks, you'd be right as it does have a built-in 13,000 mAh battery that can charge your devices. That's not its main purpose though. When you flip the Viture Pro Mobile Dock over, you're greeted with several ports including three USB-C ones and an HDMI port. While the two USB-C ports on the right allow you to plug in two pairs of Viture's AR glasses, the one in the middle plugs into your source device which can be a phone, a tablet, a laptop or in this case, a game console. Meanwhile, the HDMI port on the left is for connecting one of the best streaming devices such as a Roku or an Amazon Fire Stick or even a game console without a USB-C port, like the PS5 or the Xbox Series X. With support for two pairs of AR glasses simultaneously, you can do things like watch a movie with a friend from the same device. Likewise, you can also play local multiplayer games in the same way that you would in front of a TV in your living room, but both people have their own screen. I still need to try this out myself but I could really see it coming in handy on a long flight or even on the couch during those times when your TV is otherwise occupied. When the Switch 2 launched, the Viture Pro Mobile Dock wasn't compatible with the new console. You could connect the Switch 2 via HDMI using Nintendo's official dock but not directly over USB-C. Following a recent firmware update though, Viture's Pro Mobile Dock now works with the Switch 2 in the same way that it does with the original Switch. You just plug the console into the USB-C port with the blue and red ring around it and a pair of Viture's AR glasses into one of the other USB-C ports on the right side and you're good to go. I have to admit, I had my doubts at first too. Would I still need to connect my Switch 2 to an AC outlet? Would doing so damage my brand new handheld? Well, I'm happy to report that the answer is no on both fronts. Updating the Viture Pro Mobile Dock was easy enough via my browser and once the new firmware was installed, I now had a plug and play way to use the Switch 2 with AR glasses. Since Viture's Pro Mobile Dock is designed to work seamlessly with all of its AR glasses, I used the Viture Pro XR glasses with it to test out the dock's new Switch 2 compatibility. However, the dock also works with smart glasses from other manufacturers too, including ones from Xreal and RayNeo. My favorite thing about the Viture Pro XR glasses is that they use a magnetic connector instead of a standard USB-C port. Not only does this make taking them out and getting everything set up faster but it also prevents the glasses from being ripped off your face if their cord gets snagged. With the Viture Pro Mobile Dock updated to the latest firmware (version 1.03.0.02_20250613) and my Switch 2 in hand, it was time to try to play some Nintendo games in a brand new way. As I was heading out on a family trip to the beach, I decided to bring Viture's Pro Mobile Dock and its Pro XR glasses with me along with my Switch 2. Normally, I prefer playing on the big screen in docked mode when possible instead of in handheld mode. However, since there isn't a Switch 2 version of my favorite third-party dock—the Genki Covert Mini—yet, I figured this setup would let me play on the big screen without having to bring Nintendo's larger dock with me. At the same time, I wouldn't have to mess with the TV in the place we rented for the weekend. In AR, the whole experience of dealing with Fury Bowser felt even more intense, especially when I turned electrochromatic dimming on and couldn't see anything outside of what was on the screens of the Viture Pro XR glasses. After getting everything plugged in, much to my surprise, the Switch 2's home screen suddenly appeared on the Viture Pro XR glasses. Since the console's launch, AR enthusiasts like myself have been trying to get it to work with smart glasses to no avail. With its latest firmware update for the Pro Mobile Dock though, Viture managed to pull off what myself and my colleague Jason England thought was impossible only a few weeks ago. As I had Mario Kart World open as I'm trying to unlock all the characters and the game's Special Cup, I decided to try things out with a few races. Even though I was sitting on the back porch with a pair of AR glasses on my face, it really felt like I was back at home in front of my TV. For those unfamiliar with AR glasses, one of their coolest features is that you can have a black background thanks to their electrochromatic dimming or a clear one if you turn this off. I chose the latter and as I was racing through courses in Mario Kart World, I was still able to take in the scenery with the Viture Pro XR glasses on. This also comes in handy if you want to play games or work in a room with other people without being completely cut off from the world around you. Think passthrough mode on one of the best VR headsets but with it enabled while you're playing a game. Since the full-featured USB-C to USB-C cable Viture includes in the box with its Pro Mobile Dock is definitely on the short side, I put my Switch 2 down on the table next to me and played with its Joy-Cons in their controller grip. You can use any of the best Nintendo Switch controllers with this setup if you want but as I haven't had a chance to try out Nintendo's new Joy-Con 2 Grip as I've mainly been playing with the Switch 2 Pro Controller, I figured now was the perfect time to test it out. Although you do need to carry a bit more gear than you would if you were playing the Switch 2 in handheld mode, as you can see here, it doesn't take up that much space at all. The Viture Pro Mobile Dock is just over 6.5 inches long, about 3.5 wide and less than an inch thick, which makes it even easier to slip into a bag than the Switch 2. Honestly, the Joy-Con 2 Grip was more awkward to bring with me and for a more portable setup, I'd probably use a detached Joy-Con in each hand. After a few races in Mario Kart World, I decided to boot up an original Switch game that I still haven't finished on a whim. Although I beat Super Mario 3D World back on my Wii U, I had just scratched the surface on the standalone expansion Nintendo included with it when the company brought the game to the Switch. If you're a Mario fan that hasn't played Bowser's Fury yet, you owe it to yourself to give this cat-themed open world take on 3D Mario a try. I won't go into all the details but what I really enjoy about the expansion is that besides being the first truly open world Mario game, it has a unique mechanic that really shakes up the tried-and-true formula Nintendo's been using since Super Mario 64. Around every six minutes, the sky turns dark and Fury Bowser appears. Unlike in past games, Bowser is absolutely massive in this form and it really feels as if you're running away from a Kaiju like Godzilla instead of from a normal boss. In AR, the whole experience of dealing with Fury Bowser felt even more intense, especially when I turned electrochromatic dimming on and couldn't see anything outside of what was on the screens of the Viture Pro XR glasses. Playing this way instead of in handheld mode or in traditional docked mode was also more comfortable too as I didn't have to strain my neck while looking down or take up the entire TV. In fact, before I knew it, I had collected several Cat Shines, which serve as stand-ins for the stars Mario usually gets when completing levels or challenges, and I was even closer than I had been to stopping Fury Bowser for good. Once fully charged, the Viture Pro Mobile Dock is able to power the Switch 2 just like if you had placed it in Nintendo's official dock. With the original Switch, you can play for up to eight hours on a single charge. However, on Switch 2, which uses more power while docked, you'll likely get about half this time. On the top of the Pro Mobile Dock, there are four orange indicator lights, which let you know how much battery power you have left. They stay lit but become dimmed one by one once you start depleting the dock's internal battery. This is a nice visual touch that means you don't have to look at yet another battery percentage meter. Plus, the lights are easy to see with AR glasses on. So why would you want to play video games or watch movies in AR glasses to begin with? Well, doing so gives you much more screen space than you'd get with your average TV. The Viture Pro XR glasses I'm wearing here can project a 135-inch image right in front of your eyes. At the same time, they also have a refresh rate of 120Hz which the Switch 2 can take advantage of at the glasses' native 1080p resolution. The other big benefit to using AR glasses this way is that instead of craning your neck down to look at your Switch 2 in handheld mode, you can sit upright or lean back with good posture. You can also lie down and play this way without being worried that you might accidentally drop your Switch 2 on your face. The Viture Pro Mobile Dock works seamlessly with the company's AR glasses. However, as I also have a pair of Xreal One glasses on hand, I decided to try it with them when I got home. They worked and I could see the Switch 2's home screen as soon as I plugged them into the dock. There was just one problem though: everything was red. I could read text and see the games installed on my Switch 2 but instead of the black background you get with dark mode enabled, I saw a red one instead. Granted, I haven't updated my Xreal One glasses yet, so doing that could potentially fix this problem. After playing my Switch 2 in AR over the course of several days during my vacation, it was time to head home. While it was fantastic having a big screen experience with the Switch 2 using this setup when I was away from home, it's just as convenient when you're not traveling. Getting everything set up only takes a few minutes or so and then, you can play Mario Kart World and other Switch 2 games on a massive screen with the added benefit that what you're playing is completely private. Nobody can look over your shoulder or walk into the living room and see what game you're currently playing on your TV. I definitely need (and want) to play my Switch 2 in AR a bit more but for now, I really enjoyed the experience of using Viture's Pro Mobile Dock with its glasses. I would have been over the moon if Nintendo had included video out over USB-C without a dock on the Switch 2 but until the Switch 2 Pro or the Switch 3 comes along, this portable, battery-powered AR setup more than does the trick.
Engadget
13 hours ago
- Engadget
Supergiant's latest Hades II patch is likely its last before launch
Despite it having upward of 61,000 reviews on Steam, Hades II isn't actually out yet. The sequel to Supergiant Games' hugely successful roguelite dungeon crawler has been in early access on PC for over a year, and even the early builds were extremely polished and content-rich for what is still a work-in-progress game. But we (and Switch owners) have been waiting patiently for that 1.0 release date, and it looks like it might be just around the corner, with Supergiant confirming that the latest Unseen Update patch is likely to be the final one ahead of the full launch. The third major early access update arrived on June 17, and was focused primarily on combat tweaks, as well as adding a new Vow of Rivals that not only made Guardian encounters tougher, but forced players to switch up their strategies for each bout. The latest patch is mainly a host of minor adjustments to existing items and abilities, as well as some balancing on the aforementioned Vow of Rivals Encounters. No more new story content or areas are due to be added ahead of the v.10 launch, with Supergiant confirming back in June that the game's true ending is being held back for the full release. If you're a console player or just wanted to hold out until the game is finished, it's probably safe to start getting excited. That said, PlayStation and Xbox owners are going to have to wait a little longer, because while we still don't know Hades II 's release date, we do know that the game is launching on PC and both the Switch and Switch 2 initially, mirroring the release roadmap of its predecessor. The developer has already assured fans that both Nintendo consoles can run the game at a smooth 60 fps, with the Switch 2 version benefiting from the console's larger 1080p display in handheld mode.
