Most open world games these days are based on a tried and tested formula, and if you’ve played one or two, you’ll know what you’re getting into when you pick up the next one in the genre.

There’s usually a huge map to traverse, littered with quest markers and fast travel points that unlock more quest markers.

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You get a relatively linear main story and side missions to level up your character between major story pieces.

Typically, open world games hold your hand and make sure you know where to go so you don’t miss any content.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 takes most of these genre pillars and throws them away, proving that not sticking to what everyone else is doing is the way to go.

The game forces you to think about your every move, rather than mindlessly following a quest marker on your screen.

It rewards you for preparing well for your next adventure, and ensures you are well-rested and well-equipped for the task ahead.

You are encouraged to change your character’s calling and hire the right pawns into your party.

Still, the game will always punish you whenever you do something downright stupid.

This gives it an almost Monster Hunter-like feel, as Capcom’s other celebrated series are also more about preparation than the actual combat.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 makes no distinction between main and side missions, as even the most mundane task can often quickly turn into an adventure with major consequences.

The game wants you to be in charge of your decisions, good or bad, so there’s only one save file per playthrough, and it autosaves after important bits.

Fast travel is mostly limited to bullock carts between selected major locations, and even that system isn’t as simple as long-pressing a button, as things can happen along the way.

You can also travel between Portcrystals you find or place in the world, but this option is limited by the number of Ferrystones you have in your possession.

Everything in the game requires you to prepare and think, if you want to avoid or successfully deal with unpleasant surprises.

Even safe areas, such as camps and cities, are not completely safe, as random events can occur, which I won’t reveal.

Your own careless actions can turn a city against you, while aimless button pressing during combat will get you nowhere.

Unlike many other games in the genre, the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is designed for exploration rather than fast travel.

The game doesn’t reveal its secrets, but challenges you to find them for yourself, and trying to get the most out of them is infinitely more rewarding than following a question mark on your compass.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is no picnic and may seem quite challenging at first, but once you figure out what it wants from you, all the systems and quirky design choices fall into place.

Once that happens, it’s a true sandbox game that invites you to experiment with its mechanics and see how the complex world responds as you explore every corner.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be released on March 22, 2024 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Rating: 5/5

If you want to know more about other recent and upcoming games, check out our Alone in the Dark review.

PRINCESS Peach: Showtime marks the first time the iconic princess has had a solo outing on a home console.

Thematically, it plays to Peach’s strengths extremely well, adding a new dimension to a typical one-note Mario character.

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Each level is designed like a stage performance, with cardboard cutouts for backgrounds and glamorous costume changes in each level.

These costumes serve to give Peach unique abilities, such as becoming a master swordsman, ninja or detective.

It gives each level a special atmosphere, both in terms of atmosphere and gameplay.

One moment you’re heroically charging through a city and knocking UFOs out of the sky, the next you’re investigating a stolen artifact from a museum.

It provides a fast-paced experience, allowing you to switch between fast-paced platforming, stealthy stealth or relaxing baking.

Most levels are short – no longer than 10-15 minutes – but allow each level to be an contained experience, telling a quick but fun story before dragging you into the next stage.

The downside of this loop is that it makes the game exceptionally easy.

This game feels more kid-oriented than most of Nintendo’s other first-party titles, as it isn’t suitable for gamers looking for more of a challenge.

Where games like Super Mario Wonder balance simple stages with hidden challenges and collectibles, Showtime doesn’t fully commit to including these elements.

Each level has a range of unique collectibles, but they’re not at all difficult to find, and anyone with even a little video game experience will be able to spot the obvious hiding places.

Challenge levels make up for this a bit, but they suffer from being far too short and offering no meaningful rewards, so I often didn’t feel like doing them.

That said, the basic concept is enough to keep me coming back for more.

Each level has something new to offer that just makes me smile as I discover all the cute little details in every corner.

It’s so good that I’d say it’s worth playing just to see how much fun the team had creating a game specifically for Princess Peach. It finally sanctifies a lot of the personality that fans have injected into the character over the years.

Still, a full £50 is a lot to ask for a game this short and simple.

With main levels, a handful of boss battles and side challenges – most of which you’ll get through quickly – it can’t hold a candle to Mario’s recent adventures, or even other spin-offs like the Luigi’s Mansion games.

However, it does have something meaningful to offer, and while I don’t think the overall package fits together perfectly, I still had fun playing each level because of its charming design.

It won’t appeal to every gamer, but if you like Peach as a character, this game will do it justice.

Rating: 3/5

A WRITTEN woman found herself in an awkward situation when her bra got stuck to the ceiling.

She had to apologize to her mother when the bra came loose more than she expected.

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Tiara (@tiarajanex) shared the fashion faux pas in a TikTok video.

She was shocked to see her sticky bra stuck to the ceiling and jumped up to retrieve it.

Although she didn’t pull hard, white paint came off along with the bra.

Tiara brought the stick-on bra to the camera to show the layers of paint that are now on the adhesive.

“Mom, if you see this, I am so sorry and I still don’t know why the paint was peeling off the ceiling,” she said.

Viewers were confused as to how her sticky bra ended up on the bra.

“Girl, why were they on the ceiling in the first place?” one asked.

Tiara revealed the culprit responsible for destroying her ceiling.

“Friend threw them there,” she said.

Some revealed that they too were caught up in a letting go problem.

“Why don’t I have an original experience?” one commenter asked.

“Apparently this isn’t an original experience, so I’m in, girl,” Tiana replied.

Many were impressed with the bra’s adhesiveness and thought it was at least a testament to its quality.

“This should be an ad,” one viewer joked.

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When Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, it seemed no aspect of the fairytale wedding went unnoticed – from the bride’s extraordinary 23-foot train to the role her father, Earl Spencer, played as he walked unsteadily through the aisle walked.

But there was another figure who, although she preferred to stay behind the scenes, had played a central role that day.

Not only was Lady Sarah McCorquodale Diana’s eldest sister, she was also a friend and confidante of the groom – a former friend, in fact – and the woman who, as she later admitted, had played cupid in bringing Charles and Diana together.

She would later become a trusted ally to her sister when the marriage ended, as well as a support to Princes William and Harry when their mother died under such terrible circumstances.

“I introduced them,” Lady Sarah said of Charles and Diana ahead of their wedding. “I’m Cupid.”

Just three years earlier, it was speculated that Lady Sarah would be the one to marry Charles.

She had met the Prince of Wales at a polo match in 1977, at a time of increasing public interest in who the heir to the throne would choose as his bride.

Charles was then approaching thirty.

Lady Sarah abruptly put an end to the rumors in 1978 after a ski trip with the Prince in the Swiss resort of Klosters.

It was a “great vacation, but there is no question of an engagement,” she told reporters.

Sarah, then 22, said: ‘There’s no way I’m marrying him. I’m not in love with him. And I wouldn’t marry anyone I didn’t love, whether he was the garbage man or the King of England.

‘If he asked me, I would turn him down. I would only marry for love.’

But as she poured cold water on her own royal match, she fanned the flames of a possible marriage between him and her sister.

It was Sarah who had first introduced Charles to Diana at the Spencer family manor of Althorp in Northamptonshire.

Educated at the famous West Heath boarding school, near Sevenoaks, in Kent, Lady Sarah later worked in London.

When younger sister Diana moved to London in the late 1970s, she shared Sarah’s flat.

Andrew Morton’s biography of Diana suggested that Sarah assigned her sister much of the cleaning work, although Diana did not mind the work.

It was during Diana’s stay in London that her relationship with Charles blossomed. There was intense media attention on the young woman who could become the Princess of Wales.

In the meantime, Lady Sarah had met Neil McCorquodale, a farmer and former officer in the Coldstream Guards.

They married in a modest ceremony on 17 May 1980 at St Mary’s Church in the village of Great Brington near Althorp with a reception at the family home.

Her sister’s engagement was another matter and was international news when it was announced on February 24, 1981.

The wedding at St Pauls on June 29 that year was televised worldwide to 750 million people.

St Paul’s was chosen partly because it could seat more people than Westminster Abbey, the traditional venue for royal weddings. An estimated 600,000 people lined the route.

The sisters followed very different paths – one was a princess, the other a farmer – but they remained close.

Lady Sarah – or Lady Sarah McCorquodale, as she had become – often accompanied Diana on official visits as one of her ladies-in-waiting. And Sarah was one of the few people Diana trusted during her final years.

Sarah, who has three children of her own, often helped the princess care for William and Harry.

The sisters regularly went on holiday with their children.

After Diana’s death on August 31, 1997, her sisters and Charles were responsible for collecting her body.

Lady Sarah read a heartfelt poem at Diana’s funeral.

Lady Sarah was co-executor of Diana’s will and also became chair of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund before it closed in 2012.

Sarah, 69, and sister Jane, 67 – now Lady Jane Fellowes – have remained close to their cousins ​​Prince William and Prince Harry.

When Prince William said an emotional farewell in October 2012 to his childhood nanny, Olga Powell, who cared for him both in his youth and in the most important days of his adult life, his aunt was by his side.

She also attended William’s 2011 wedding to Kate Middleton, as well as Harry’s 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018, and their son Archie’s christening the following year.

The close bond between the sisters is reflected in a Spencer family tradition that all three – Sarah, Jane and Diana – have embraced in their lives.

At Lady Sarah’s wedding, the bride wore a classic bouquet of white flowers and a high-neck lace dress, along with the Spencer family tiara.

The tiara, made by Garrard’s, features an elaborate design of stylized flowers decorated with diamonds in silver settings.

Believed to date from the 18th century, it was given as a wedding gift to Diana’s grandmother, Cynthia, Viscountess Althorp, by distant relative Lady Sarah Spencer in 1919.

While all three Spencer sisters wore the headpiece on their wedding days, their mother, Frances Shand Kydd, did not wear it when she married Earl Spencer in 1954.

The Spencer family has long been part of the British aristocracy, and two of Sarah’s grandmothers – Cynthia Spencer and Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy – served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

The family had such a close relationship with the royal family that the Queen Mother was godmother to Sarah, who herself shares the Queen Mother’s first name and was born Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia.

Although Princess Diana was not a bridesmaid at her eldest sister’s wedding, Princess Margaret’s daughter, Lady Sarah Chatto, was.

Lady Sarah and Neil McCorquodale remain together and have three adult children, Emily Jane, Celie Rose and George Edmund.

The couple enjoy a peaceful life near Grantham, Lincolnshire, where she served a one-year term as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 2009. In 2010 she became a master of the Belvoir Hunt.

Dame Laura Kelly has hinted that a miscarriage and desire for a second child could be the reason behind her shock retirement.

Britain’s five-time Olympic gold medalist today announced that she has retired from cycling after ending her dream of qualifying for this summer’s Olympic Games.

The mother-of-two, 31, from Harlow, appeared on BBC’s Woman’s Hour, where she discussed how motherhood had affected her distinguished career and how juggling both had meant constant ‘sacrifice’.

During the candid interview, she also revealed that a miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy she suffered in 2021 played more of a role in the decision than I ever realized.

Speaking to hosts, Laura opened up about raising her two children Albie, six, and Monty, eight months, with husband and seven-time champion Jason Kenny, 35.

She said: ‘I was very open about having a miscarriage and the ectopic condition [pregnancy].

“I think that might have meant more than I ever realized or expected.

“All I ever wanted for Albie was a brother or sister. I always thought of Albie as a big brother – and that might not happen and I might not have another baby…

“Once it was here and I had another one, I just didn’t want to waste that time.”

Before Monty turns eight months old tomorrow, Laura said she feels a growing need to spend more time with her children.

She also shared that parenthood wasn’t as “easy” this time around compared to when she had her first son Albie, admitting that she may have “taken that time in her life for granted.”

She explained, “He is [Monty] is eight months tomorrow. I mean, I don’t know where that went, and I’ve been with him every step of the way, you know.

“Maybe I can sit here now and say that I took Albie for granted a little bit – how easy it was to have Albie. How easy everything seemed at the time. I would just ask my parents to come and take care of him.

‘While this time I just didn’t want to. I wish I was. I didn’t want to miss anything.”

Last year the Harlow-born athlete revealed the heartbreaking news that she had suffered a miscarriage, leaving her ‘so lost’ and ‘sad’.

Britain’s most successful female Olympian revealed in an Instagram post that the miscarriage occurred in November 2021 and that one of her fallopian tubes was removed in January 2022 due to an ectopic pregnancy.

She has since spoken openly about the personal difficulties she faced in competing, namely pursuing a fourth Games in Paris, despite only giving birth to her second son, Monty, last July.

With her chances of selection judged to be ‘slim’ by British Cycling bosses earlier this month, Laura decided to end her illustrious career altogether at the age of 31.

Speaking on Woman’s Hour, she spoke in detail about the physical challenges of mothering two children.

She said: “It just seemed right at the time [after birthing Albie] I was really into it, I went for it completely. While the recovery took longer this time, it took 12 weeks before I could cycle again.

‘And it’s just a lot. It’s just a lot to leave someone so young who was still eating. I mean, I’m still breastfeeding. It’s a lot to sacrifice’.

In response to a question about the pressure of having to qualify for the Olympics ‘so quickly’ and before next month, Laura noted that the ‘pressure’ was ‘really daunting’.

“It meant leaving them quick and sharp,” she added.

‘I just couldn’t do it. I just didn’t want to do it.”

She added that comments from her eldest child about being “sad” that she would be leaving for the Olympics were not something she could “live with”, and also revealed that she struggled being separated from Albie at the time athletes had to lock up two weeks before the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Olympics.

Last week, pop star Lily Allen sent shockwaves across the country over comments that having her two daughters “completely ruined” her career.

In response, Laura disagreed and instead said that women “can have it all,” but questioned whether it was “worth it” in the long run.

She said, “I mean, I think you have to be prepared. I was recently asked this; someone said to me: was it worth it? Can you do both? Can you have it all?

“And I would say, yes, and I could have gotten back on the bike and I could have possibly qualified for the next Olympics, but you have to think about whether it’s worth it.

“Because in the long run it’s your luck that you’re playing with, you know – and it was chaos.

“Albie traveling the world and traveling the world with him and qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics was an absolute bloodbath.”

She admitted that she and her husband Jason made it look “easy,” “but it was far from it” and “there were some seriously heartbreaking sacrifices along the way.”

Laura won gold in the omnium and team pursuit at both London 2012 and Rio 2016. After giving birth to her first son Albie in 2017, she won the team race at Tokyo 2020 alongside Katie Archibald, as well as silver in the team. pursue. She also claimed seven world titles.

Kenny wrote on social media: ‘Thank you cycling for everything you’ve given me – including a husband and our growing family!

‘For people to say that I have inspired women and girls to get active and get on their bikes means a lot to me.

‘Thank you to Team GB, British Cycling and all the partners who supported my journey. A special thank you to every teammate I have had over the years and of course to my family for being the best support unit I could ever ask for.

“Now it’s time to move on, but stay tuned for the next chapter.”

Kenny says she hopes to be in Paris in ‘some capacity’ but has ruled out becoming a coach like her husband Jason, who will work with the British men’s sprint team after his retirement in 2022.

“Nothing is set in stone, but there are things I’m so interested in,” she told the BBC. ‘Something to help the younger generation, whether that could be some kind of academy.

‘I could never become a coach because that’s just too much pressure for me, but maybe something in the background that gives the young people the opportunities that I had.’

Paying tribute to Kenny, British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said: ‘Laura hangs up her wheels not only as one of the sport’s greatest riders, but as one of the greatest sporting talents our country has ever produced.

‘Anyone who has had the pleasure of watching Laura compete will testify to her peerless combination of craft and determination, which led her to become Britain’s most successful female Olympian and the first British woman to win gold medals in three consecutive Olympic Games.

‘Equally impressive, however, is the impact Laura has had on her fellow Great Britain Cycling Team riders and the next generation of Olympic hopefuls.

‘She has been a beacon of inspiration to so many, young and old, and I am sure the entire British cycling community will wish her all the best in the next chapter of her life.

“From Welwyn Wheelers and our talent pathway to the very top of the sport, we are so proud of everything she has achieved, and I am sure she will remain one of our team’s biggest supporters for many years to come. ‘

• Revelers can enjoy a sweeter tasting pint while listening to Enya or The Corrs
• Anyone who likes bitter beer should listen to The Irish Rovers and Van Morrison

By Chris Pollard for the Daily Mail

Published: 8:25 AM EDT, March 15, 2024 | Updated: 1:09 PM EDT, March 15, 2024

THE Champions League song gives most players chills.

But Arsenal legend Martin Keown found it more of an inconvenience as he stood out in the cold.

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However, he believes it will inspire the current generation of the Gunners to rewrite history.

The former no-nonsense England defender was proud to represent the club in the Champions League for six of his 13 seasons in North London.

Keown, 57, said: “The Champions League has come a long way. I remember listening to the music and thinking, ‘What is this all about?’.

“I was used to being at Wembley before the anthem matches with England.

“But I stood there and thought, ‘It’s freezing, what are we doing here?’ Do we have to experience this every week?’.

“We are in Kiev for an away match and it is -13 and we are grown men standing in shorts.

“Now it’s an anthem in itself, it means something to this generation and they stand there as proud men listening to it.”

Before Arsenal’s group stage opener in September – their first Champions League match in six years – striker Gabriel Jesus admitted the side played the anthem in the gym as a motivational tool.

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They will hope to be inspired by it again tonight as they look to overturn their 1-0 deficit in the last 16 first leg against visitors Porto.

Keown added: “When we first played in what is now the Champions League [in 1998] it was quite a shock for us, but this Arsenal team already has some experience in Europe.

“It helped this generation and the anthem. They’ve been listening to it since they were kids and seizing the moment.”

Arsenal go into the match in good form after eight Prem wins on the spin.

Three-time Prem winner Keown said: “It’s utopia: enjoying the games, enjoying time with your family, enjoying the honors thrown at you – and still knowing what awaits you.

“You haven’t won anything yet, but it’s a nice moment. Whatever you do in the next eight weeks will shape you forever.”

ARSENAL NEWS LIVE: Stay up to date with the latest transfer news from the Emirates

RISE of the Ronin is the upcoming PlayStation exclusive soul game that puts you in the heart of feudal Japan.

Set in the Bakumatsu era, it has an East-meets-West vibe, mixing firearms with katana, as often happened in the Boshin War.

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It has tried to achieve a certain level of realism when it comes to the setting and weapons blending into the open world.

Like most soulslikes, the main feature is the combat, but this is a departure from your typical soulslike formula.

You can pause at any time and save anywhere as you explore the world.

It still has the challenges you expect from the genre, and is full of combat systems to learn and eventually master.

The more you use a weapon type, the higher it ranks, unlocking moves across the skill trees.

These RPG elements add something different to your typical game in the genre and move it more towards action-adventure.

The combat is still incredibly exciting, based on the risky Deflect mechanic – similar to a parry – that reminded us of Sekiro’s gameplay.

However, the rewards are high and if you complete it successfully you can defeat enemies much easier.

This is necessary because without Deflect it can feel like it takes a long time for enemies’ health bars to decrease.

Enemies can also parry you, which makes fighting them without Deflect all the more difficult.

The high level of challenge in battle in some ways reflects reality, as samurai had to be well trained if they wanted to stay alive in battle.

Sticking to realism, deaths can be quite gory, with beheadings, loss of limbs and lots of blood.

You even get a horse to ride around on, which makes traveling through the open world a little easier.

Our biggest complaint was with performance, and no matter which mode you choose, there are noticeable issues.

Of course, there’s still a lot of time left before launch, and we hope it gets the shine it needs closer to its release date March 21, 2024.

If you want to read more game reviews and previews, check out our WWE 2K24 review.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.

THIS is the crazy moment an ambulance crashes into a football pitch despite the match still being played.

And it sparked a series of incredible reactions from stunned supporters.

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The completely ridiculous scenes happened on Saturday evening during a Campeonato Baiano match in Brazil.

David Duarte had just scored an 88th minute winner in the first leg of the semi-final at Jequie.

But with the match well into stoppage time and only a few seconds left, an ambulance suddenly drove onto the pitch.

The ball was in midfield as the hosts looked for a dramatic equalizer when the white van drove through.

The driver then clearly realized their mistake as they suddenly made a quick U-turn and returned to the sideline.

However, the players and officials apparently turned a blind eye as there was literally a moving vehicle on the field and continued.

Video footage was then cut to a wider angle from the 4,000-capacity Waldomiro Borges Stadium.

It turned out that a player was apparently injured and was being treated just outside the field in front of the dugouts.

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The ambulance drove back to the commotion outside the field before being led further along the touchline by a man.

And fans on Reddit were completely bewildered by the farcical events.

One said: “I can’t make stuff like this up.”

Another wrote: “Wait, so they decided to just do this for fun, there was no real emergency?”

A third added: “How are the players doing? There’s an ambulance driving around a pitch and the players in the background are still playing.”

A fourth user quipped back: “Play until the whistle. The referee’s fault.”

A fifth joked: “The Streakers are out of control now.”

A sixth asked: “Who will be the first player to nutmeg an ambulance?”

And one last person cleverly quipped, “Hospital pass.”

The Brazilian blunder comes just months after the pantomime in Paraguay.

Paramedics drove the ambulance onto the field to treat an injured player.

But the driver managed to accidentally lock the keys in the vehicle, meaning the parked motorcycle was stuck.

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