Technologies

Bloodborne Is My Favorite FromSoft Game. I’m Dreading Switch 2’s The Duskbloods

Though the new Switch 2 exclusive game has real Yharnam vibes, the main multiplayer gameplay loop has me raising an eyebrow.

I’m not the biggest player of FromSoftware’s notoriously tough Souls games out there, not by a long shot. I’ve dabbled in the original Dark Souls and the Demon’s Souls remake and I’ve conquered the Lands Between in Elden Ring. Let me tell you something though: There’s not a single PlayStation game that means more to me than the PS4-only title Bloodborne.

From the grisly streets of Yharnam to the tenebrous floating islands that make up much of the Nightmare Frontier, few games capture the futility of cosmic horror quite as well as FromSoft’s gothic action RPG. The interconnected layers of the world boggle my mind, and the rich lore that connects old gods, ancient humans and the modern Healing Church feels like it could’ve been ripped straight out of an H.P. Lovecraft story.

When The Duskbloods appeared in the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, my heart caught in my throat.

There was an establishing shot of a clocktower and a character yapping about the moonlight and the introduction of player characters who are a group of monster hunters that «transcended human strength thanks to their special bloods» — I wasn’t the only one baited into believing this was the Bloodborne sequel we’ve all been waiting a decade for.

When the more steampunk-y elements started appearing (a jetpack and automatic firearms weren’t on my bingo card), I was a tad deflated to see that this project didn’t have any direct connections to my favorite FromSoftware game. The aesthetic of The Duskbloods is still appealing to me, however, so I was still excited to see how the game would turn out.

Now that more details about FromSoft’s latest game are trickling out, I’m starting to suspect that this isn’t a game for me.

A player-vs.-player FromSoft game doesn’t inspire confidence in me

Your average Soulsbourne game is an epic singleplayer experience that encourages players to take advantage of their character’s strengths to overcome unforgiving challenges. They’re long, grueling campaigns that are, most importantly, solo quests into the dark unknown.

If you’re able to commit yourself to learning enemy attack patterns, figuring out how to attribute your stat points properly and master the game’s combat, you can conquer any legendary knight or towering monster the game throws at you.

Occasionally, players will invade your world, and for five minutes the gameplay loop degenerates into a chicken fight hack-and-slash or spell-dodging simulator until you win or you die. In my eyes, these are some of the low points in a FromSoft game.

Compare that to The Duskbloods, which is an eight player «PvPvE» experience that pits players against each other as well as the monsters throughout the map.

No single player mode has been confirmed for the game and this isn’t a cooperative experience with a more threatening Souls challenge like Elden Ring: Nightreign, at least as far as we can tell. There’s always the chance that FromSoftware sneakily puts some PvP element into its Elden Ring spinoff to make these games more alike than we suspect.

The Duskbloods will force players into PvP combat, and I have never enjoyed FromSoft’s brand of PvP. No matter how many cool things I spot in the trailer, I can’t get excited about what is essentially a FromSoft battle royale. It’s not the style of game that many Souls fans are used to, and I find the sudden shift in gameplay to be extremely alienating.

Don’t get me wrong, there are parts of this game that sound absolutely thrilling. FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki revealed that not every match will be a knockdown drag-out free-for-all, and between Nightreign and The Duskbloods, it will certainly be fun to see how the developer builds cooperative play between multiple players.

«Players may be tasked with teaming up to take down a powerful boss enemy, or find themselves in other special circumstances,» said Miyazaki in an interview on Nintendo’s website. In fact, part of the game’s character customization will see players choosing the type of goal they want to commit to during a match.

«In online play, roles give players special responsibilities and objectives that often lead to unique interactions and relationships between players based on their corresponding roles,» Miyazaki said. «[One] example is «Destined Companion,» where one player is required to seek out another designated as their companion, which results in a special reward if they form a bond with one another.»

I’m happy that there will still be an outsized focus on delivering some kind of co-op experience in The Duskbloods, but the forced PvP action still threatens to drive me away from the game. Like most of FromSoftware’s older Souls games, Bloodborne let you tag in friends for boss fights, but the main quest was — importantly — a solo journey.

Of all the games for FromSoft and Nintendo to partner on, why The Duskbloods?

Some FromSoftware fans have voiced their anger online that Duskblood will only come out on the Switch 2. Frankly, I don’t mind FromSoft partnering with Nintendo to create an exclusive game for the latter’s new console.

By early accounts, this is a far more powerful piece of hardware than the original iteration of the console. If the Switch 2 can run Elden Ring or Cyberpunk 2077 (albeit at 40 frames per second, even while docked) then it can likely run The Duskbloods perfectly fine. I fell in love with Bloodborne while playing it at 30 frames per second, so this isn’t exactly a problem for me.

What I can’t abide by is the fact that the one game FromSoft chose to partner with Nintendo on is its multiplayer-only project. Look, Switch Online is better than any of Nintendo’s other stabs at facilitating an online multiplayer experience, but it’s still one of my biggest pain points on the console.

Frustratingly, many Switch games still use peer-to-peer connections instead of dedicated servers — and FromSoft has historically done the exact same thing, so although we don’t yet have all the details on The Duskbloods, I don’t expect a break from tradition with this game.

I see the potential peer-to-peer networking, buggy netcode and exclusivity on the Switch 2’s hardware and it’s throwing up multiple red flags for me.

Will this game really be able to consistently handle putting eight people in one lobby and ensuring all of them are able to play at the same level of fluidity? I don’t know if I buy that.

Getting ganked by someone you effectively can’t hit never feels good: The main conceit of The Duskbloods is that you’re constantly at risk of getting jumped by another player. That’s just not my idea of a fun time.

Perhaps Nintendo and FromSoft will be able to pull this off and The Duskbloods will become one of their most lauded games yet. But I think I’ll stick to my co-op adventures in Yharnam and the Lands Between.

Technologies

Need Gift Ideas? Google’s Holiday 100 Shopping List Includes Switch 2, Home Movie Projectors

You can shell out hundreds for a new gaming console or spend less on classic games and backpack charms.

The spooky season has just ended, and Google is already turning its attention to holiday shopping. The search giant just released its annual list of 100 top holiday gift ideas based on the hottest trends of 2025.

The Google Holiday 100 list is an annual shopping guide compiled from searches for various products conducted between May and September. Using that data, Google creates a catalog of the year’s top trending gift ideas across various industries, including tech, toys, fashion and wellness. You can view the entire Google Holiday 100 list here.

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Nintendo Switch 2

This year’s breakaway technology hit was the Switch 2, Nintendo’s latest family-friendly video games console. Unsurprisingly, it appears on 2025’s Holiday 100 list. The console was released in June and has sold more than 10 million units thus far, with Nintendo hiking up sales expectations even among uncertain economic conditions and tariff pricing.

Google Pixel Watch 4

The Google Pixel Watch 4 is a standout wearable that made the Holiday 100 list. Its inclusion isn’t just Google stuffing its own product into a list. If you’re buying a gift for fitness-focused folks, CNET’s Vanessa Hand Orellana wrote that the latest iteration of Google’s smartwatch «hits a sweet spot between universally appealing design, seamless compatibility with the Android ecosystem, potentially life-saving safety features and robust health and fitness tracking.»

Red-light face masks

Your algorithm may have served you up a boatload of red light therapy content from health and beauty influencers this year. Search volume for red light masks has spiked in the past few months, so the LED masks have been included in the Holiday 100 buying guide this year. Just make sure to purchase one of the best FDA-approved masks.

Movie projectors to backpack charms

If you’re looking for gifts across other categories, Google has some top 2025 searches for big and small. Home theaters are apparently in this year, as searches for movie projectors spiked by a whopping 945%. Searches for backpack charms also hit an all-time high this year, so those are a safe bet for stocking stuffing for any young kids.

Checkers (the actual board game)

Even though many gifts given out at Christmas this year will surely be high-tech gadgets and accessories, the board game of checkers is also on the list. There’s always room for the classics.

As you prepare for the Herculean task of yearly holiday shopping, Google’s Holiday 100 is a good place to start. But if you’re looking to beat the crowd on the best tech deals around, CNET is already collecting pre-Black Friday deals.

Technologies

Look Up Tonight to Spot November’s Supermoon, the Brightest Moon of 2025

Has the moon been looking brighter and bigger to you for the past few days? Here’s why this month’s supermoon is even more super.

It’s already a great month for skygazers, with a trio of meteor showers and the return of the northern hemisphere winter constellations. On Tuesday night, it also features the second of four supermoons in a row. This month’s supermoon will happen on Nov. 4-5, and November’s beaver moon is special because it’ll be the brightest full moon of 2025.

In addition to being a supermoon, November’s full moon is known as the beaver moon. There is some debate as to why it was named this way. Some believe that this was the best time of year in the old days to set beaver traps to get pelts for winter clothing. Others believe that it coincides with the busiest part of the year for beavers, who are now stocking their lodges with supplies for the upcoming winter.

Here’s what time it’ll look its biggest and brightest, and what else you need to know about the November supermoon.

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The brightest supermoon: When’s the best time to see it?

The moon will reach peak illumination at 8:19 a.m. ET on Nov. 5, making the evening of Nov. 4 and the morning of Nov. 5 the best times to view the moon.

Since moon phases shift slowly, the moon will appear almost full for nearly a week. If you are unable to view the full moon on its best night due to weather or other reasons, you can still see a mostly full moon at any point from Nov. 3 to Nov. 8.

For all of those days, the moon will be measurably brighter in the night sky compared to any other full moon in 2025. The reason for this is because of the moon’s elliptical orbit. Since it’s not a perfect circle, the moon’s 27.3-day journey around the Earth brings it closer to us on some days, a phenomenon known as perigee. If there is a full moon during this time, it’s branded as a «perigean full moon,» which you may know better as a supermoon.

Not all supermoons are equal, and November’s will be a little more special than others. According to The Farmer’s Almanac, the beaver moon will be a scant 221,817 miles away from Earth, making it the closest full moon of the year. That means it’ll be the biggest and brightest of the year.

In practice, the differences are fairly minor and likely won’t be visible to the naked eye when compared side by side to other supermoons. A supermoon is only about 7% larger than a regular full moon. According to NASA, the biggest difference is when comparing a supermoon to a micromoon, where a supermoon will be about 14% larger and 30% brighter. So, if you notice that your backyard patio is lit up more than usual, it’s because of the supermoon.

Also due to the moon’s orbit, November will also bring a micro new moon, which means the moon will be as far away from the Earth as it can get — a phenomenon known as apogee. November’s new moon occurs on Nov. 20, but you won’t be able to see it.

Technologies

Stay Informed About Your Flights This Holiday Season With Your iPhone’s Tracker

Your iPhone is hiding a flight tracker. Here’s how it works.

Thanksgiving is only a few short weeks away and if you plan on flying during the holiday season, keeping up-to-date on changes to your flights is crucial. Airports can be hectic during any holiday, but with the government shutdown continuing, flights are liable to change or be cancelled more often.

Luckily, it’s never been easier to get up-to-date information about your flight. For starters, your airline probably has an app, and if not, you can check its website. If you’re in a hurry, you can Google the flight number. Or you can just use your iPhone’s built-in flight tracker that’s sneakily tucked away.

That’s right: Your iPhone has a flight tracker that you may have never known about. It’s there for when it’s needed. Below, we’ll show you have to access it in not one, but two places, so you never have to go hunting for your flight info elsewhere again.

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For more on the iPhone, check out everything Apple announced at WWDC 2025.

How to track your flight via iMessage

Before we start, there are a few prerequisites you must meet:

Make sure iMessage is enabled (it doesn’t work with SMS/MMS).
You’ll need your flight number somewhere in your text messages, whether you’ve sent that information to someone (even yourself) or it’s been sent to you.
The flight number must be sent in this format: [Airline] [Flight number], for example, American Airlines 9707.

Launch the native Messages app on your iPhone and open the text message thread that contains your flight information. You’ll know the flight tracker feature works when the text with the flight information appears underlined, which means it’s actionable and you can tap on it.

If your flight is still several months away or it’s already passed, you might see a message that says, «Flight information unavailable.» You might also see another flight that’s not yours because airlines recycle flight numbers.

You can check your flight status from Spotlight Search, too

If getting your flight information from Messages wasn’t easy enough, you can also grab the details right from your iPhone’s home screen by swiping down and adding your flight number into Spotlight Search. Even better, this works with Spotlight Search on your Mac computer, too.

How to access the hidden flight tracker

Although the airline name/flight number format highlighted above is the best way to go, there are other texting options that will lead you to the same result. So let’s say we stick with American Airlines 9707, other options that may bring up the flight tracker include:

AmericanAirlines9707 (no spaces)
AmericanAirlines 9707 (only one space)
AA9707 (airline name is abbreviated and no space)
AA 9707 (abbreviated and space)

I would suggest you keep the airline name spelled out completely and add a space between the two pieces of information — like in the previous section — because for some airlines, these alternative options may not work.

Real-time flight tracking

Once everything is set, tap on the flight information in your text messages. If the feature works correctly, you should see the following two options appear in a quick-action menu:

Preview Flight: View the flight’s details. Tap this to view more information about the flight.
Copy Flight Code: Copy the flight code to your clipboard (in case you want to send your flight details to someone else via text or email).

If you select Preview Flight, at the top of the window, you’ll see the best part of this feature: a real-time flight tracker map. A line will connect the two destinations, and a tiny airplane will move between them, indicating where the flight is at that exact moment.

Underneath the map, you’ll see important flight information: