Minority Mindset

Being a streamer often seems like a perfect job – playing games, connecting with fans, and earning money doing what you enjoy. However, the truth is usually much harder. Streamers often face financial difficulties, a lot of pressure, and have to make significant sacrifices. When a streamer unexpectedly stops, it might seem sudden, but it’s usually the result of long-term challenges. Streamers are people too, and they often have to choose between pursuing their passion and taking care of their own health and happiness.

Originally, the Duffer brothers and Netflix planned to release the final episode of Stranger Things – Season 5 – only on their streaming service. But in October, they surprised fans by announcing it would also be shown in some movie theaters.

Quentin Tarantino is making headlines this week with the release of the complete “Kill Bill” film in theaters and a new animated short from the movie appearing in the popular video game, Fortnite.

Octopath Traveler 0 breaks from the series’ tradition by starting with character creation. Previous Octopath Traveler games told eight separate stories, each following a pre-defined character. This new game lets you design your own main character, who will be with you throughout the entire adventure, joined by companions you meet along the way. While the character creation options aren’t overly complex – you can customize things like hair and eyes – they’re presented in a charming retro pixel style, offering a surprising amount of personalization.

Microsoft revealed 13 games coming to its services, but 4 were already playable through Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Among these is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which will be included with the Premium plan soon. Plus, 3 games previously exclusive to higher-priced tiers are now being added to the Essential plan.

The studio’s CEO, Hakan Abrak, addressed this issue in an interview with Variety. He said:

Winning feels great – that’s why we keep playing, working to improve, and practicing. But focusing only on winning might actually hold you back from becoming as good as you could be. It’s a common problem for skilled players, and it’s hard to recognize because wanting to win seems like the natural goal.

Square Enix had previously shared the expected resolution and frame rates for Octopath Traveler 0 on various consoles and PC. At the time, it wasn’t clear if those targets applied to both docked and handheld modes on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. Now, after playing the complete game on most platforms, I’ve been pleased with some versions and underwhelmed by others.

Octopath Traveler 0 breaks from the original’s format. Instead of playing through eight individual character stories, you create your own character who assists the main heroes as they experience the events unfolding in Orsterra. The game’s structure is vastly different: while you can choose which storylines to follow and in what order at first, the main story quickly becomes linear. Branching paths act as extended introductions to larger, self-contained arcs that feel like separate games, each with its own ending credits.