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Don’t feel guilty for staying inside on a beautiful day — give yourself a break and soak up some television. Just remember to take your Vitamin D part-way through whatever you decide to binge-watch.

As the streaming business continues to collapse, evolve, and transform (did you see Max became HBO Max again?), Netflix has proven itself yet again to be a growing home for more and more licensed and original shows. Beyond the gluttony of reality TV and documentaries dedicated to [checks notes] poop cruises… there’s also a smorgasbord of genre fare that Polygon readers would delight in. Here’s three to get you started this weekend.

Twilight of the Gods season 1

With a brand new Superman reboot flying into theaters this weekend, let’s pour one out for Zack Snyder and celebrate his most successful project since Man of Steel: the animated series Twilight of the Gods.

Steeped in Norse mythology — and soaked in blood — Twilight of the Gods tells the story of Sigrid, a half-giant who watches Thor murder her future husband’s entire Viking clan as a goof. Where most people would mourn and accept that the gods will always have their way, Sigrid instead mounts revenge by banding together Earth warriors and marching toward Valhalla. Snyder’s visual instincts are on full display in the series, which he co-created with Eric Carrasco and Jay Oliva, from fetishistic action to tasteful 2D nudity (the guy loves Heavy Metal, and who can blame him?). The freedom of animation combined with the superpowered saga of deities becomes a sandbox for the director, and one in which he can screw with the traditions. People, thankfully, have much fewer beliefs about how the Norse deities should behave than the DC heroes. Snyder goes for broke in depicting the violent standoff, with godly antics that should play well for Hades fans. —Matt Patches

The Terror season 1

Temperatures in New York City have been hovering around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and muggy for two weeks now. When I step outside, I am immediately drenched in sweat. But 179 years ago, the crew of the Franklin expedition was trapped in the Arctic ice, suffering temperatures as low as -50 degrees! This is one reason that you should consider binge-watching season 1 of AMC’s anthology series The Terrorin the sweltering month of July.

The show’s first season follows the doomed crew of the expedition, who disappeared on an attempt to find the Northwest Passage. It’s a beautifully written exploration of what happens when Victorian society is pushed to its breaking point. The performances are sensitive and compelling, and above all, it’ll make you grateful that it’s not cold out. (Sorry to all my southern hemisphere readers, I see you — feel free to watch The Terror over Christmas, I’m sure it’ll hit all the same.) —Simone de Rochefort

Dan Da Dan season 2

The first season of Dan Da Dan, much like the manga, was raunchy, wacky, and unhinged. After learning about the existence of aliens and spirits, Okarun and Momo’s lives change when the boy gains powers from Turbo Granny (a yokai who takes his sexual organs) and the girl unlocks her psychic abilities. The pair face great danger during the journey to recover Okarun’s “golden balls”, but the greater challenge is to understand the romantic feelings they have for each other. I’m sure you can relate to all this.

Season 2 just kicked off — catch up! — and starts exactly where we left Momo, Okarun, and Jin in the previous season’s finale. Momo and Okarun are investigating what happened in Jin’s house and will soon learn about a long tradition of human sacrifices and hungry gods under a mountain. With the same production value and highly energetic scenes, Dan Da Dan season 2 starts strong, showing more of what we love: Momo Ayase’s punching creepy old dudes with her psychic powers; absurd situations that are laugh-out-loud funny; and loads of paranormal mysteries. Expect to see more of the (super)natural charm of Dan Da Dan as Momo’s and Okarun’s feelings develop this season. —Paulo Kawanishi

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Long series are not common in the gaming landscape, thanks to a wide range of factors. Franchises that stand the test of time face the challenge of keeping new iterations relevant to modern audiences while staying true to what the games mean. The Final Fantasy series, which began 43 years ago and is still running, is moved by the force of the classic titles that originated the series, but also due to never settling down to the obvious. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Final Fantasy 9 crystallized the series’identity by making a point that a Final Fantasy game is made out of the desire to tell a good story and the courage to tell an authentic and fresh one.

Final Fantasy 9 starts with a familiar feeling, a kind of fantasy tale you might have heard once or twice. The kingdom of Alexandria is in celebration. On this auspicious day, fate puts a princess, Garnet, who’s trying to escape from her castle, on the path of thief Zidane, who was sent to the castle to kidnap her disguised as a member of the Tantalus Theatre Troupe. Steiner, an uptight knight, wants to desperately save the princess from being taken away from the safety of her home — which is exactly what she wants. Ignorant of these events, another character, a little boy wearing a pointy hat, Vivi, runs from guards who found him watching the shows in the castle without a ticket. The paths of all these characters converge on the main stage where Queen Brahne and the guests are waiting to watch a play. The commotion blends with the festival, making it all look like part of the show.

The goofiness of the starting segment of Final Fantasy 9 establishes the light tone the whole game will have, to some extent. However, the adventure of this group of iconic figures slowly unfolds into an intricate plot involving political conspiracies, militarization of nations, aeon-old civilizations hidden in plain sight, and a face-off with the materialization of “the darkness of eternity”. As I progressed through the four CDs of Final Fantasy 9, it was impossible not to feel awe at how the story grew more grandiose with each act.

Facing the imminent end of the world after experiencing a great journey with charismatic characters (maybe not all of them, right, Squall?) was something Final Fantasy games were already doing. Nevertheless, because the two previous games, Final Fantasy 7 and 8, strongly shifted away from the traditional narrative of medieval-esque fantasy that originally defined the series in favor of a sci-fi inspired setting, it felt like such distancing meant progression — as if sci-fi settings or realistic models were the natural step forward that afforded more serious and dramatic storytelling. Leaning toward cute character models and a simple fantasy setting gave many players the impression that Final Fantasy 9 was a childish game.

The success of Final Fantasy 7 could have justified making the next games in the series around the same concept, themes, or aesthetic. In Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 2, there’s a short passage where Toshiyuki Itahana, who worked on character design, background production, and minigame design in Final Fantasy 9, tells that event designer Kazuhiko Aoki — known for being the producer who put together the stellar team behind Chrono Trigger — said to his team that “there is a magic in Final Fantasy that stays with you to the very end.”

Would Square be able to capture this magic if it kept following the same recipe of Final Fantasy 7? Actually, doing so would go against the ideals behind these games. Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy games, said in an interview with Eurogamer that, in his opinion, making a game for the series involves using “cutting-edge technology” and “having a very strong story as a backbone,” but also the “desire to challenge the status quo.”

Final Fantasy 9, by being responsible for returning to the series’ roots, made its mission to show the soul of the series. It did so not only by using crystals and castles to tell a story, though. Final Fantasy 9 looked for technological improvement, presenting a step up to visuals compared to previous games with beautiful cutscenes. Square used the PlayStation hardware potential and came up with the Active Time Event (ATE) system, a new tool to enrich the narrative, which gave us a peek at what other characters are doing while the main events are taking place. But on top of all of that, Final Fantasy 9 gathered the courage to go against expectations.

Final Fantasy 9 marks the series’ history by cementing that what makes a Final Fantasy game is a great story, and that the developers behind them are capable of creating such memorable experiences regardless of how they choose to do it. Like artists who mastered their craft after having pushed their limits by moving out of their comfort zone, Square returned the series to its origins in Final Fantasy 9 with the confidence of knowing what it is, a clear vision that opened the path to all the new ideas and worlds we came to know in the following games.

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Unlike the speed of light in a vacuum or the infinite journey into Pi, measures to enforce copyright are subject to constant change and perpetual expansion.

As the site-blocking debate revs up in anticipation of a green light in the United States, fifteen years of global site blocking experience is poised to hit the ground running. After that, calls for further improvement and expansion are only a question of time.

Australia: A Decade of Site Blocking

Last month marked the ten-year anniversary of amendments to Australia’s Copyright Act. The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2015 enabled rightsholders to obtain injunctions against ISPs to compel blocking of overseas pirate sites, the same entities now targeted in the FADPA and ACPA bills.

Unfortunately, the 2015 amendments weren’t quite good enough. In 2018, further amendments expanded the threshold test for site blocking orders and extended the provision to search engines; Google began deindexing pirate sites shortly after that, marking a likely world first for Australia and a signal for other countries to follow suit.

Local movie company Village Roadshow in partnership with the usual Hollywood studios, plus Netflix, Amazon, and Apple, are responsible for the majority of blocking applications filed at Australia’s Federal Court. Targeting up to 100 or more pirate sites each, the injunctions usually name in excess of 50 local ISPs as respondents. Not only are the ISPs required to prevent subscribers from accessing the domains on the initial list, but also those subsequently identified by rightsholders as proxies or mirrors.

New Order Handed Down This Week

This week the Federal Court handed down a new blocking order in favor of Village Roadshow, Disney, Paramount, Columbia, Universal, Warner Bros., Netflix, Apple, and Viacom.

The injunction targets 35 pirate streaming sites, many operating from multiple domains, often with significant levels of traffic. The application was filed early April, so turnaround time was roughly three months.

The order is dynamic, meaning it allows additional domains to be added later when reported by rightsholders. In addition to the usual parameters, dynamic blocking in this case encompasses sites using similar domain names, similar branding, or those linked by common ownership. Used regularly in the UK, this aspect of blocking was first deployed in Australia.

Given the nature of the first few sites in the latest injunction, ‘brand blocking’ will see extensive use once again. Several of the largest switch their domain names regularly, but the one constant across all sites is their use of Cloudflare.

If any unrelated sites decide to impersonate a blocked site to get traffic, ‘brand blocking’ won’t discriminate in any way; it can and probably will block everything within its scope.

An Example for the United States?

There are many blocking mechanisms around the world, mostly encouraged, assisted or influenced by major U.S. rightsholders, European sports leagues, and/or their broadcasting partners. Different approaches, strengths, weaknesses, and various quirks are to be expected, especially when countries don’t even share a common language.

Since Australia and the United States are rumored to understand each other perfectly, would the Aussie approach (which in no small part was driven by the demands of the U.S.) be of interest if site blocking gets underway in the United States?

In many ways Australia’s approach should receive more credit than it does. Attention to detail is evident everywhere, and the Court ensures that everyone’s rights are respected, regardless of which side of the piracy battle they’re on, including those not involved at all. While nothing can prevent every blunder, a system like this can only reduce the number. If there have been any blunders in the last decade, we’re aware of exactly none.

Less Haste, More Speed?

How Australia managed to build such a robust and relatively transparent system is the product of many moving parts, but there’s no doubt that paying attention to the rights of all internet users was of critical importance. These things naturally take time and as a result, Australia’s methodical system may absorb a little too much time for those determined to rush.

It takes around 90 days to obtain a blocking order and in the interim, a lot can happen. The “online location” HydraHD listed in the new court order had roughly 4.5 million visitors in April, but just 1.3 million at the beginning of June.

Depending on visitor location, Cloudflare currently prevents access to that domain following legal action by S.R.L. The 12th Player and DAZN in Belgium (pdf). Meanwhile, the site’s alternative .cc domain is currently blocked by various vendors for allegedly spreading malware.

Moving Targets

Other things can happen too. The Australian injunction lists andyday.tv as a blocking target, which makes sense given the 12.7 million visitors the site received in April when the application was filed. Yet a month later, monthly traffic had fallen to just 1.87 million, followed by a further collapse to 653K in June.

Right now the domain doesn’t work at all, while potential replacement andyday.cc is likely to disappoint pirates. It was recently transferred to the Motion Picture Association, most likely following some type of action by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.

New domains may improve a pirate site’s visibility for a while, but new domains can also be added to Australian blocking orders. Comments by the Court indicate that the process of adding new domains may take a week or two. On one hand that ensures fewer mistakes but on the other, rightsholders seem to have something quicker in mind for their automated, state-of-the-art blocking program in the U.S.

Or at least, that’s as far as we know. Those who actually know aren’t sharing the details right now.

The Federal Court order in Roadshow Films v Telstra [NSD190_2025] is available here (pdf)

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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We may never get a sequel or remaster to FromSoftware’s 2015 gothic action game Bloodborne but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the tap has to run dry. Every couple of years over the past decade sees a new tidbit arise about Bloodborne, usually in the realm of cut content or ongoing secrets discovered by the community. This time, we’re treated to a hefty inside look at the alpha design maps for Bloodborne, before the game was polished with fancy textures or enemies. And apparently, Bloodborne began a little differently when FromSoftware initially put things together.

As known FromSoft sicko Lance McDonald details over the course of 27 minutes in a YouTube video, there are portions of the map that are inaccessible when the player begins a new adventure from Iosefka’s Clinic. Much later, the player can find a shortcut that will take an enormous loop back to the start of the game, where they can then open a locked door and explore more floors and rooftop areas. The shortcut is probably one of the most iconic moments in the entire game.

Originally, though, Bloodborne’s intro unfolded a little differently. The player could immediately walk out onto the rooftops, which at the time led to a building that didn’t make it into the final game. The way the game connected parts of the level also differed, as evidenced by the never-before-seen footage in the video that apparently took McDonald 18 months to assemble.

There are no bombshells here in terms of content that didn’t make it into the final game, but it’s worth a watch if you like Bloodborne. The video is a rare glimpse at what a game looks like during its earliest stages, when developers are still blocking out the experience in a big-picture way. It’s also a fascinating look at FromSoftware’s approach to level design. The Japanese studio is known for crafting dense worlds with winding routes and secret passages, but achieving that level of complexity is an ongoing process that requires revision.

Many of the elements visible at the earliest stages made it to the final game in some form, but the way these different pieces connect varies. FromSoftware evidently makes a level and then goes back and makes certain portions inaccessible as a way of building anticipation and wonder. It’s a trademark trick that’s evident across FromSoftware’s entire ouvre, and this video gives the viewer a sense of how the studio achieves that effect.

If you’d like to support McDonald’s work — he is often the source of many discoveries revolving FromSoftware cut content — you can check out his Patreon here.

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Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

The National Geographic documentary Jaws @ 50, which shows how the first summer blockbuster was made and explores its legacy, swims onto Disney Plus this weekend. You can also just embrace the silliness of the genre Jaws established with Hot Spring Shark Attack, where an ancient shark attacks a new tourist attraction. Cobra Kaimay have wrapped, but you can still see Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso alongside Jackie Chan in Karate Kid: Legends. David Cronenberg fans can find the horror legend’s latest film, The Shrouds, on The Criterion Channel, while Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme is available to rent.

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch on streaming this weekend!

New on Netflix

Brick

Genre: ThrillerRun time: 1h 40mDirector: Philip KochCast: Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. Fee, Frederick Lau

A couple is about to call it quits when they discover that their apartment building has been surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable brick wall. Working with the building’s other residents, they try to figure out why their lives have turned into a twisted escape room and how they can get out alive.

Ziam

Genre: HorrorRun time: 1h 36mDirector: Kulp KaljareukCast: Mark Prin, Nychaa Nuttanicha, Vayla Wanvayla

A criminal enforcer and Muay Thai fighter plans to quit his job to pursue a safer line of work. But when the hospital where his girlfriend works as a doctor becomes the center of a zombie outbreak, he’ll have to kick his way through police and the walking dead to save her.

New on The Criterion Channel

The Shrouds

Genre: HorrorRun time: 2hDirector: David CronenbergCast: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce

The latest conspiracy film from body-horror master David Cronenberg follows an entrepreneur and widower (Vincent Cassel) who has invented a device called a shroud, which allows mourners to watch their loved ones decay in their graves. Vandalism and strange growths on his wife’s corpse lead him to investigate who might be trying to get their hands on his technology.

New on Disney Plus

Jaws @ 50

Genre: DocumentaryRun time: 1h 28mDirector: Laurent Bouzereau

The release of Jaws in 1975 transformed the movie industry and perceptions of sharks. This documentary combines archival footage and interviews with Steven Spielberg and other top filmmakers, including James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, and George Lucas to reveal the story of how the first summer blockbuster was made, and explore its lasting impact.

Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires

Genre: MusicalRun time: 1h 29mDirector: Paul HoenCast: Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Kylee Russell

Humans and all sorts of monsters live in peace in the town of Seabrook. But when car trouble strands alien Addison (Meg Donnelly) and zombie Zed (Milo Manheim) during their summer road trip, they wind up in the middle of a war between Daywalkers and vampires. They’ll have to try to bring the two groups together before the dance-offs get out of hand.

New on HBO Max

Opus

Genre: ThrillerRun time: 1h 44Director: Mark Anthony GreenCast: Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis

Former GQ editor Mark Anthony Green explores the cult of celebrity in this A24 film, where an enigmatic pop star (John Malkovich) invites a small group of journalists and influencers to hear his new album at his Utah compound. A young writer (Ayo Edebiri of Big Mouthand Inside Out 2) tries to figure out what’s going on with the musician’s strange followers even as everyone else falls under his sway.

From our review:

Opus, though it has some gory images and sudden reversals, is not a surprising film in the least; it’s deeply, but also satisfyingly, predictable. Its similarities to Midsommar, Blink Twice, and The Menu are not necessarily a sign of debut writer-director Mark Anthony Green borrowing too heavily from specific peers. To me, they’re a sign of this social-satire subgenre of horror — the one sometimes referred to, with either inverted snobbery or just plain snobbery, as “elevated horror” — settling into its own formulaic groove.

New on Hulu

Riff Raff

Genre: Dark comedyRun time: 1h 43mDirector: Dito MontielCast: Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, Gabrielle Union

Vincent (Ed Harris), a former criminal, is spending the holidays with his wife and family in a remote cabin, when more family than he was planning for shows up. His estranged son is on the run from gangsters (Bill Murray and Pete Davidson) and have come seeking safety, along with Vincent’s ex-wife (Jennifer Coolidge).

New on Peacock

Drop

Genre: ThrillerRun time: 1h 35Director: Christopher LandonCast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane

First dates are always stressful, but things get terrifying for Violet (Meghann Fahy of The White Lotus) when hers is interrupted by a series of increasingly threatening phone messages. Someone is watching her every move, and is willing to break into her home and kill her son to get Violet to murder her date.

New on Shudder

Push

Genre: Horror thrillerRun time: 1h 29mDirector: David Charbonier and Justin Douglas PowellCast: Alicia Sanz, Raúl Castillo

The directors of The Boy Behind the Door combine the horrors of a home invasion and childbirth in Push, where a pregnant realtor is attacked at a showing for a possibly cursed house she’s trying to sell. When the assault sends her into labor, she’ll need to figure out how to escape a twisted killer before giving birth.

New to rent

Bang

Genre: Action thrillerRun time: 1h 28mDirector: Wych KaosayanandaCast: Jack Kesy, Tristin Mays, Marie Broenner

A notorious hitman has a literal change of heart after his life is saved by a transplant. He wants to make the most of his second chance, but will have to use all his skills and plenty of heavy weaponry to fight for redemption by killing his former gang, who probably should have just let him quietly retire.

Everything’s Going to Be Great

Genre: DramaRun time: 1h 35mDirector: Jon S. BairdCast: Allison Janney, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Bryan Cranston

Buddy Smart (Bryan Cranston) is a dreamer who risks everything to move his family across the country to take over a regional theater. Tensions mount between him and his more pragmatic wife (Allison Janney) when the audiences they need fail to manifest, forcing them to move in with her family.

Hot Spring Shark Attack

Genre: Horror comedyRun time: 1h 10mDirector: Morihito InoueCast: Takuya Fujimura, Daniel Aguilar, Shôichirô Akaboshi

In a particularly absurd spin on Jaws, the residents of a small town in Japan have to band together to fight an ancient shark that’s preying on visitors to the local hot spring ahead of the opening of a new spa meant to bring in tourists. The shark’s ability to fit into tight spaces means no one is safe.

Karate Kid: Legends

Genre: Family dramaRun time: 1h 34Director: Jonathan EntwistleCast: Jackie Chan, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson

A continuation of the Karate Kid franchise and Cobra Kai, this movie features Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) teaming up to train a new martial arts prodigy to become a karate champion. Han’s niece (Ming-Na Wen) moves her family to New York and makes her son (Ben Wang) give up kung fu after his brother is killed, but he can’t resist fighting bullies.

The Phoenician Scheme

Genre: Black comedyRun time: 1h 45mDirector: Wes AndersonCast: Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera

Set in the 1950s, Wes Anderson’s latest star-studded quirky comedy stars Benicio del Toro as an arms dealer whose latest brush with death leads him to try to reconnect with his nun daughter (Mia Threapleton). He teams up with her and an entomologist tutor (Michael Cera) to try to swindle his own investors (including Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeffrey Wright) in the hopes that God (Bill Murray) will judge him kindly.

Sovereign

Genre: Crime thrillerRun time: 1h 40Director: Christian SwegalCast: Nick Offerman, Jacob Tremblay, Dennis Quaid

Inspired by real events, Sovereign follows Jerry Kane (Nick Offerman), who travels around the country with his son (Joe Kane) teaching people who feel they’ve been left behind by institutions about the Sovereign Citizen movement. As his anti-government rhetoric gets increasingly violent, Jerry ends up in a standoff with police and a manhunt led by Dennis Quaid.

The Unholy Trinity

Genre: WesternRun time: 1h 33Director: Richard GrayCast: Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Daly

Henry Broadway (Brandon Lessard) travels to Trinity, Montana after his father is executed and winds up caught between the town’s sheriff (Pierce Brosnan) and a charismatic outlaw (Samuel L. Jackson) looking for the gold he helped Henry’s dad steal. Henry will have to decide which side he’s on through a series of shootouts that threaten to tear the Trinity apart.

Watch the Skies

Genre: Science fictionRun time: 1h 55mDirector: Victor DanellCast: Inez Dahl Torhaug, Jesper Barkselius, Sara ShirpeyAfter her UFO-obsessed father disappears, a teenager goes on a quest for answers with the help of her father’s friends, trying to figure out if he was abducted by aliens or disappeared by a government conspiracy. Shot in Swedish, Watch the Skies is the first feature film to use AI to match the actors’ lip moments to the English dialogue.

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Shadow Miyazawa is the final boss of Miyazawa’s Palace in Persona 5: The Phantom X.

The fight against the dishonest food critic is full of tricks and gimmicks, so you’ll need to pay close attention to defeat him. Pick up on the little details to call out Miyazawa’s bluffs because if you attack the wrong person or object, the battle will become a lot more difficult.

Here’s how to beat the Shadow Miyazawa boss in Persona 5: The Phantom X.

How to beat the Shadow Miyazawa boss in Persona 5: The Phantom X

Before starting the Shadow Miyazawa boss fight, there are a few things you should know about the boss and the fight in general. We strongly recommend bringing an Ice and Physical damage dealer, either as Wonder’s Personas or as another party member, and a Medic as Miyazawa can deal a lot of damage in one turn if you make a mistake. For your last slot, feel free to bring your strongest damage dealer. However, make sure to avoid Psychic damage dealers as their damage is nullified.

Additionally, you’ll need a way to remove debuffs from your characters. Bring along a Medic that can remove debuffs like Minami Miyashita or Morgana or grab a Persona with the Patra ability such as Silky. You can also use items like Relax Gels and Alert Capsules if you don’t have any of the other methods.

Phase 1

During the first phase, you’ll face off against Miyazawa himself. There are no gimmicks or tricks here, so feel free to damage him as you please. Once Miyazawa drops to 50% HP or below, the fight will move on to phase two.

Phase 2 — Clones

In phase two, Miyazawa will summon two clones of himself, and if you hit a fake Miyazawa, he’ll immediately deal damage to the whichever character hit him. From here on out, don’t use AOE attacks because the clones will immediately counter.

To find the real Miyazawa, watch each Miyazawa’s idle animation very closely. One of the Miyazawas starts to doze off and you can see his head nod up and down. He’ll then try to wake himself up by shaking his head.

Alternatively, you can either hit each one or wait until the real Miyazawa goes in for an attack. Just after the real Miyzawa attacks, he’ll drop his sword onto the ground and retreat to his position. Now you’re free to attack the real Miyazawa for a turn before the three swap places. However, if you successfully damaged the real Miyazawa, you can look for whichever one has a lower health pool and focus on that one.

Phase 3

After the lengthy cut scene, you’ll end up in phase three, which doesn’t have any tricks that you need to look out for. However, Miyazawa will be a lot stronger than the previous phases. He’ll attack a single target and then deal AOE damage to everyone else in the party, so make sure to heal before he gets a turn.

Phase 4 — Nuisance

In phase four, Miyazawa will apply the Nuisance debuff to one of your characters and retreat into the wall behind him. With your healthiest or curse-resistant character, remove the Nuisance debuff through a Persona skill or either the Relax Gel or Alert Capsule items, or else the character afflicted with Nuisance will start to attack the other party members. With your other party members, use guard to lower the damage of the upcoming attack.

After he shows himself, deal as much damage to him as you can and repeat the process until you move onto phase five.

Phase 5 — Cameras

For the fifth phase, Miyazawa will spawn two cameras that are weak to Physical damage. The cameras themselves don’t really do anything, but, if you destroy the two cameras, Miyazawa will stop what he’s doing and enter a vulnerable state where he’s free to attack. Make sure to destroy the cameras as fast as possible because Miyazawa will target one of your party members and deal a lot of damage.

After the cameras have been destroyed, the fight will return to normal with no gimmicks or tricks. Deplete Miyazawa’s health pool to move onto phase six.

Phase 6 — Swords

The sixth phase is the final phase and one of the most dangerous if you don’t know what to look out for. Miyazawa will summon four swords that are weak to Ice and only one of the swords is real, like the clones in phase two.

The real sword has a magenta colored tassel attached to the hilt, so make sure to look for the tassel before attacking any of the swords. If you attack a fake sword, Miyazawa will receive an attack buff, and, if you happen to destroy a fake sword, he’ll unleash a powerful AOE attack. Avoid using any AOE attacks when the swords come out or else Miyazawa will become a very difficult fight.

Additionally, when performing a “One More” attack, avoid using an Ice attack because the attack will go to one of the fake swords — giving Miyazawa a buff. Instead, use one of your other party members because they’ll attack the sword with the lowest HP.

After you destroy the real sword, Miyazawa will attack your whole party and you’re free to attack him until he repeats the whole sword process again. Continue through the fight by destroying the sword with the tassel until you successfully defeat Shadow Miyazawa.

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James Gunn’s Superman avoids rehashing the Man of Steel’s origin story, instead opening with a simple round of on-screen exposition explaining that Kal-El arrived on Earth 30 years ago, and has been known as the most powerful superhero on the planet for the past three years. But the film’s intro also contains another detail that will shape the rebooted DC Universe in film and on TV: People in this setting have been aware of metahumans for 300 years.

Metahumans in DC Comics are normal humans with a special gene that can give them superpowers. Unlike Marvel’s mutants, who typically manifest their abilities during puberty, DC metahumans typically have to be exposed to some sort of extreme circumstance, like intense stress or dark matter. Gunn is using a broader definition of the term by making it apply to Superman, whose powers come from being a Kryptonian, and to pretty much anyone else with superpowers.

In Gunn’s DCU, metahumans are no longer a terrifying new phenomenon, and have become more like celebrities. But why set their debut 300 years ago? The most likely reason is he just liked the parallelism of everything in his pocket history of the world coming in threes, since the crawl also has Superman intervening in a war in Boravia three weeks ago, starting a relationship with Lois Lane three months ago, and losing his first fight three minutes ago. Still, the “300 years” framing has implications for which familiar DC metahumans are known to be active in this new setting.

How long have metahumans been around in DC Comics?

Metahumans go way back in DC Comics. The first one is the supervillain Vandal Savage, a prehistoric man who was exposed to a meteorite that made him immortal 50,000 years ago. He’s often been at odds with Hawkman and Hawkgirl, who in some versions of their story have been reincarnating since ancient Egypt. Superman’s Hawkgirl doesn’t get any backstory, so it’s unclear whether this version is reincarnated, an alien from the planet Thanagar, or something else entirely.

There are lots of other very old characters with superpowers in DC Comics. Black Adam also hails from ancient Egypt. Wonder Woman’s age isn’t especially clear, but her mom Hippolyta goes back to ancient Greece. Jason Blood has been around since the 6th century, when Merlin bound him to the demon Etrigan. Ra’s al Ghul dates back to the 13th century, staying young with the power of the Lazarus Pit.

The fact that metahumans have been common knowledge for 300 years in Gunn’s DCU doesn’t necessarily mean that none of these characters exist in this setting. Black Adam was imprisoned for 5,000 years before the beginning of Jaume Collet-Serra’s 2022 film, and Vandal Savage, Ra’s al Ghul, and Jason Blood all prefer to operate in the shadows. The Amazonian island Themyscira could remain hiding until the Wonder Woman movie Gunn says is in development.

Who were the first metahumans to appear in Gunn’s DCU?

It remains to be seen how metahumans revealed themselves to the world 300 years ago. The oldest ones Gunn has introduced to the DCU are Creature Commandos’ Eric Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein, who are about 200 years old. There aren’t any DC Comics stories set in the 18th century, unless you count the parts of The Sandman featuring Johanna Constantine. The 19th century introduces the Civil War veteran Jonah Hex and is the setting from the Elseworlds Gotham by Gaslight stories. DC Comics history really gets going in the 20th century. It seems like the 300-year mark gives Gunn the freedom to tell whatever story he wants, free from canon constraints. But as the DCU continues to unfold, we’ll see whether he has a specific hero or villain in mind to define that 300-year timeline.

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Donkey Kong Bananza will add even more chaos to the confounding timeline of the Donkey Kong games, which over the past 40-plus years, has been a tangled mess of contradictions and confusion.

But Nintendo’s revelations about Pauline and its coyness about her age — she’s just 13 years old in this game — plays into the story of Donkey Kong Bananza offer a glimmer of hope that the Switch 2 exclusive might help clear some things up. And this is big news for weirdos who think about the Donkey Kong timeline.

Of course, this is Nintendo after all, a company that has both contorted itself to try to explain away the diverging timelines of The Legend of Zelda franchise but also loves a paradox in which Baby Mario and adult Mario exist in the same time period and race karts against each other. The company is here to make fun games and put smiles on faces, even if it means frowns for the people who try to dissect whether Cranky Kong is Donkey Kong’s father, grandfather, or an older version of Donkey Kong himself.

In order to understand (or try to understand) the Donkey Kong timeline, we need to start at the beginning: 1981’s Donkey Kong.

Who even is Donkey Kong anyway?

Nintendo’s original arcade platformer game establishes that Mario (aka Jumpman) must rescue damsel-in-distress Pauline (aka Lady), who has been kidnapped by Donkey Kong. It wasn’t established at the time why DK wants to secure Pauline — Love? Hatred of Mario? — because arcade games of the ’80s didn’t have ROM space to waste on things like “narrative.”

Later games would establish events in the Donkey Kong timeline that occur prior to the events of Donkey Kong. 2006’s Yoshi’s Island DS confirmed the existence of Baby DK, an infant version of Donkey Kong roughly the same age as Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Baby Peach, which would assuredly put that game in the distant past. Remember: Mario is canonically (permanently?) about 25 years old, which means the Yoshi’s Island game occurs decades before Donkey Kong. Anyway, Baby DK wears a red bib with the initials “DK” in yellow, similar to how adult Donkey Kong wears a monogrammed red tie. (I’ll also note here that Baby DK and adult Donkey Kong exist in the same time-space, as established by 2005 baseball game Mario Super Sluggers.)

Baby DK’s connection to the baby Mario Bros. and other Mushroom Kingdom infants is fleeting, and he is presumably returned to his ape troop after the events of Yoshi’s Island DS.

Sometime between the events of Yoshi’s Island DS and Donkey Kong, Mario and Donkey Kong cross paths again in Donkey Kong Circus, a 1984 Game & Watch game in which Donkey Kong is forced to perform while in captivity, juggling pineapples (and avoiding fireballs) while birling on a barrel. Should DK fail in his task, Mario proceeds to laugh his ass off at the ape’s misfortune.

Donkey Kong Circus appears to provide proper justification for Donkey Kong to seek revenge on Mario, namely by kidnapping Pauline and throwing barrels and sentient fireballs at her would-be rescuer.

Donkey Kong Jr., which introduces the concept of Donkey Kong as a father and presents Mario as a huge dick, follows Donkey Kong. Junior must reclaim his father, who has been abducted by a whip-wielding Mario after the violence of its predecessor. In games set after the events of Donkey Kong Jr., the senior Donkey Kong breaks into Stanley the Bugman’s greenhouse — from Game & Watch game Greenhouse — and having escaped Mario and Stanley’s constant harrying, pauses to teach Junior basic arithmetic (see Donkey Kong Jr. Math).

At this point, the Donkey Kong timeline shatters.

Donkey Kong Country for Old Men

After more than a decade out of the spotlight, 1994’s Donkey Kong Country establishes that the Donkey Kong seen in Donkey Kong and subsequent arcade and NES games has aged considerably, and is now known as Cranky Kong. The Donkey Kong that stars in and is playable in Donkey Kong Country is the grandson of Cranky Kong (the original Donkey Kong) and the son of Donkey Kong Jr.

Adding to the confusion is that, just a few months prior to Donkey Kong Country’s debut on Super NES, Nintendo released Donkey Kong, a Game Boy reimagining of the original Donkey Kong that expands Mario’s quest to rescue Pauline into a globetrotting puzzle adventure. So, two entirely separate apes known as Donkey Kong get games that year.

Donkey Kong Country builds the foundation for a long list of Kongs, including the “new” Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Wrinkly Kong — Cranky Kong’s late wife and therefore Donkey Kong’s grandmother, who is also a ghost. Later games in the Donkey Kong franchise, building on the new canon established by developer Rare, add even more Kongs, but keep much of the action centered on Kong Island and surrounding lands and the new Donkey Kong.

Despite Rare’s intention to turn the original Donkey Kong into Cranky Kong and establish a new identity for Donkey Kong, it seems that Nintendo, Rare, and other developers behind games like Super Smash Bros. and Mario vs. Donkey Kong can’t agree on the whole Crank-Junior-Donkey Kong lineage. Older games claim that the Donkey Kong that appeared in the arcade original is the Donkey Kong we know and play as today. Some recent games, like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, however, affirm the idea that Cranky Kong is grandfather to the character Donkey Kong, but the recent Super Mario Bros. Movie makes it pretty clear that Cranky is DK’s father, not grandfather. In some Rare-developed games, Cranky confusingly refers to Donkey as “son.”

Suffice it to say, the Donkey Kong family tree and timeline is confusing, and one should probably resign oneself to the canon established by the Rare games, in which the original Donkey Kong seen in 1981’s Donkey Kong is now Cranky Kong.

However! Donkey Kong Bananza appears to take place between the events of Yoshi’s Island DS and the original Donkey Kong, based on the age of Pauline. She’s just 13 years old in the Switch 2 game, much younger than her appearance in Donkey Kong and subsequent games, like Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Super Mario Odyssey. Exactly how Nintendo plans to explain this is unclear, especially since Cranky Kong, Diddy Kong, and Dixie Kong from Donkey Kong Country games set generations after the original Donkey Kong are also in Bananza!

Given Nintendo’s liberal use of time travel shenanigans in the Super Mario universe and a general “You guys really care about this shit?” attitude when it comes to gelling decades of canon, don’t expect a satisfying answer to how Teen Pauline fits into the larger Donkey Kong timeline. Or why Donkey Kong in Bananza has been slightly redesigned to match his classic look. Whatever the explanation, it’s enticing enough to care about seeing through Donkey Kong Bananza’s story, and uncovering what lies beneath the game’s deep layers.

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It’s not every day you hear of cryptocurrency executives falling for crypto scams, but here we are. A complaint filed by the Department of Justice appears to reveal that a pair of MoonPay executives lost $250,000 worth of Ethereum when donating to what they thought was President Donald Trump’s inauguration, as first reported by NOTUS.

Though the DOJ doesn’t explicitly identify the victims, the filing contains screenshots of emails that include their first names, Ivan and Mouna. These names line up with MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright and the company’s chief financial officer, Mouna Ammari Siala, NOTUS found. The complaint also includes an Etherscan link to the transaction between the victims and the alleged scammer, which shows a wallet address that has been identified as belonging to Soto-Wright in the past, NOTUS reports.

MoonPay has been heavily touted by celebrities and was even named in a class action complaint about how it was used to compensate the stars who promoted Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs (which have tanked in value). The company also played a role in helping people buy Trump’s memecoin, with the company saying it gained more than 750,000 new users after it was introduced.

In the complaint, the DOJ claims the victims received an email from someone pretending to be Steve Witkoff, the co-chair of Trump’s Inaugural Committee. Their email was listed as “steve_witkoff@t47lnagural,” with an “L” instead of an “i” in “inaugural.”

The alleged scammer asked the victims to deposit their donation of $250,000 in Ethereum to a crypto wallet, which they did. “Hi Steve- our contribution of $250k was just processed. Here is the confirmation,” a December 26th, 2024 email from Mouna stated, alongside a link to the transaction. The DOJ claims the scammer, who was later linked to someone in Nigeria, attempted to launder the funds by sending them to “numerous” other crypto addresses.

The Verge reached out to MoonPay with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

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The peaceful Suburbia map in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 hides many secrets and you need to uncover themto get the Suburbia secret tape.

Old and new fans can skate around in classic maps like Suburbia in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4. The two titles are receiving the modernizing treatment that the first two games got five years ago, but keeping the series DNA by challenging players to complete a number of goals to progress in the campaign. Among these, finding the secret tape has always been one of the most difficult missions in the games.

In this Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 guide, we show you how to get the secret tape in the Suburbia map, covering all the steps you need to go through to reach the tape.

How to get the secret tape in the Suburbia level in THPS 3

Suburbia’s secret tape is floating on a flag pole above the big tree in front of the ramp from where we begin the level. The big question is how to reach it.

First, you need to complete the “Help the Thin Man” goal. You don’t need to complete the Thin Man’s mission and collect the tape in the same run. Focus on first completing the “Help the Thin Man,” then in the next run you can try getting the secret tape.

The Thin Man is a quite suspicious figure who is standing next to the haunted house beside where the secret tape is. To help him, you need to collect an axe that is stuck in a piece of wood in the construction site area. Slide on the wood or just pass close to the axe to grab it. The axe won’t stay in your inventory if you don’t manage to get it to the Thin Man before the level ends. So if you run out of time, you’ll need to start a new run and grab the axe again.

Delivering the axe prompts a short cutscene and opens a passage to a secret area behind the house. This passage will always be open after you have completed this goal. It will take you through a corridor that ends in a a vertical ramp. Use it to propel you to the hidden area on the other side of the wall.

In the new area, there is a bow that you need to gain velocity and reach a window at the backside of the house that you can break to enter a new corridor. Once you get there, you can jump from the other end to reach where the secret tape is.

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