It’s no exaggeration to say Final Fantasy 14 is a beast. How Long to Beat pegs Final Fantasy 14’s co-op content at over 1,484 hours long, while the "single-player" story content is anywhere from 106 hours to 1,565 hours long.

While Final Fantasy 14 is and remains a rewarding and worthwhile MMORPG experience, there's hope now for RPG fans looking to experience the game as a story-driven, single-player game.

Beginning Final Fantasy 14 is daunting, let alone as a solo player. Even before stepping into multiplayer content like Raids and Dungeons, there’s a vast slate of game mechanics and classes to learn, which can be incredibly daunting when put to the test in a live environment surrounded by other players.

That’s all on top of queue times for PvE content, which can eat up well over half an hour depending on the time of day and your job role.

One of the biggest hurdles for Final Fantasy fans jumping into Final Fantasy 14 is the multiplayer aspect, which prevents fans of Square Enix’s single-player odysseys from immediately jumping into arguably one of the company’s best Final Fantasy games.

Thanks to patch 6.1 last month, those going it alone can now take in an entire retinue of NPC characters to a Dungeon, soloing content that previously would’ve required three other players to complete. The system currently lets players complete dungeons in the Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansions, and now A Realm Reborn after Patch 6.1.

Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida has spoken at length about how important the ability to solo Final Fantasy 14 is, and now the support system is finally in place to allow that.

The Duty Support system — now renamed the Trust system — is how solo Final Fantasy 14 players select which NPCs will accompany them into a Dungeon. But how effective has Square Enix’s support for solo players in Final Fantasy 14 actually been?

YouTuber Jessica St. John better-known as Zepla, one of the most popular Final Fantasy 14 content creators with over 300,000 subscribers, reckons its effectiveness depends on your goal as a player. If it's to experience the full story of Final Fantasy 14, that will eventually be possible even if it isn't right now. Plans are currently in place to expand the system to include the rest of A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood.

“Trust works extremely well for what it’s supposed to do: give a solo alternative to group content,” says Zepla. If there’s one area Square Enix could improve upon, Zepla says it’s the damage dealt by AI party members. NPCs do far less damage than the average player in a dungeon, and so activities that could normally take 30 minutes with a team of real players can stretch on far longer with a retinue of NPCs.

However, the trade-off to a longer dungeon is not needing to wait in a queue.

Although every main story activity through patch 2.0 of A Realm Reborn can be completed solo now, Zepla points out that many other activities like Raids, still require a team of players. Content like Trials is one such activity, partnering eight players together to decipher the deadly mechanics of one brutal boss fight for greater rewards.

But Final Fantasy content creator and general MMORPG expert Quazii believes Final Fantasy 14 is “a single-player RPG first, MMORPG second.” Quazii thinks the strongest draw of Final Fantasy 14 lies in its storytelling, and it’s extremely feasible to eventually complete A Realm Reborn’s story entirely solo.

“If you ask FF14 players what is their most enjoyable experience in the game, [the] vast majority would say it’s the single-player questing experience, specifically when working through the main story quest,” Quazii says. “Yoshi-p and team [weave] amazing voice activity, riveting storylines, and just really captivating choreography of cutscenes that will move any human being to tears. I’m not one to cry for video games, but this game got me good."

Similarly, Final Fantasy 14 community commentator and streamer Michael “MrHappy” Poveromo points to the revamped Duty Support system as a gateway for solo players to experience the story of Final Fantasy 14, but like Zepla, says multiplayer story content like Trials might take far longer for the development team to make available for solo players. “So it will be quite some time before you can outright experience the entire game's main scenario solo,” Poveromo adds.

Both think this is unlikely to change, however. For one, Poveromo thinks keeping certain content multiplayer-only is “deliberate to encourage players to still do Dungeons and other content with actual people.” As such, the streamers don't see this changing. They say that while it’s great solo alternatives exist in an MMORPG like Final Fantasy 14, group play should be incentivized. "That Duty Finder matchmaker still needs to be populated after all," adds Zepla.

It’s clear Yoshida’s comments have struck a chord with the Final Fantasy 14 community at large, as both Zepla and Poveromo recall the director’s past commitments to improving the Trust system and retroactively adding it to past expansions.

“Through the usage of the Trust system, I’d like to eventually convey to these types of players how much fun it is to play with others. That’s why we want to remove as many barriers as possible before that point,” Yoshida said in an Endwalker media tour last year.

Nowhere is there disagreement between the three content creators in recommending Final Fantasy 14 to solo RPG players. Quazii struggles to “find another game title that rivals FF14 when it comes to single-player storytelling,” while Zepla thinks everyone should experience the MMORPG’s story. Poveromo reckons Final Fantasy 14’s expansive story has always been geared towards the solo experience, and all three believe Square Enix’s game is worth the journey for solo players.

In fact, Poveromoand Zepla urges traditionally solo players to step out of their comfort zone for Final Fantasy 14. Poveromo says the majority of players are helpful to newcomers, while the Zepla adds that the “community has a reputation for being welcoming to new players.”

All you need do is mention that you’re a newcomer, Zepla says, and most players would be happy to help you out and explain things you don’t understand. “It is absolutely worth stepping out of your comfort zone to do the occasional group content,” Zepla adds, all for the sake of experiencing Final Fantasy 14’s storyline.

But is Final Fantasy 14’s approach to solo players enough to make other MMORPGs take notice and learn from it? The gaming landscape has a slew of heavy hitters like World of Warcraft, and newcomers like New World and Lost Ark have muscled into the MMO space over the last year.

Poveromo believes there are a “lot of lessons” MMOs could take from Final Fantasy 14, but in particular the streamer feels like more MMOs are catering to solo players earlier on, via scaling Dungeons, solo activities, and even just basic quest design.

Zepla points to Lost Ark as a prime example of this shifting attitude as an MMO that launched with tons of support for solo players on day one. “I think providing pathways of solo accessibility is critical to the growth of the MMO genre,” Zepla says, adding that people have associated the genre with “obligation and social pressure” for far too long. It’s time for people to realize MMOs have far more to offer than just that, Zepla says, and so it’s perfectly logical for MMOs to add solo assistance for their content.

Final Fantasy 14’s commitment to solo players has hit a milestone with patch 6.1. In a space typically dominated by group play, frequently demanding hundreds of hours to master from players, Final Fantasy 14 is proving it doesn’t have to be this way. Solo players are finally able to complete Final Fantasy 14’s base storyline for the first time, and it’s clear that Yoshida and Square Enix have no intention of stopping here.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance writer for IGN.

As part of its Computex 2022 keynote, AMD announced new details about its upcoming Ryzen 7000 series of desktop CPUs – including that using one will require a brand new motherboard.

After teasing the CPUs at CES earlier this year, during the Computex presentation, we learned more about the 5nm PC processor cores on the Ryzen 7000. The presentation presented an image showcasing three chipsets, the most notable one being a new 6nm I/O die that has integrated RDNA 2 graphics. RDNA 2 is a graphical architecture also featured in AMD's Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs, the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Valve's Steam Deck.

However, the most interesting confirmation from the presentation is that AMD's forthcoming Ryzen 7000 processors will use a new AM5 socket, meaning a new motherboard is required if you are planning to purchase a Ryzen 7000 chip. AMD also confirmed that AM5 socket motherboards will support PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 RAM.

Important to note that, unlike Intel's Alder Lake series, the Ryzen 7000 series will not support DDR4 RAM sticks, meaning you can only use newer DDR5 RAM on motherboards that support the new chips. We still have no clue how much the Ryzen 7000 series will cost or the compatible motherboards, but the cost of DDR5 compared to DDR4 RAM may be something to consider before upgrading those parts in your rig.

AMD's Ryzen 7000 series is expected to release sometime this fall.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Netflix has released the first official trailer for upcoming spy thriller The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.

Shared in a tweet (below), the two-minute trailer shows an all-out war between their characters: two of the world's greatest assassins tasked with hunting one another down.

The Gray Man, which is due to be released on July 22, is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who directed Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame plus two Captain America films.

it's Ryan Gosling vs. Chris Evans in the global action spy thriller, THE GRAY MAN - directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

July 22 on Netflix pic.twitter.com/H8lJEv0s01

— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) May 24, 2022

The trailer is our first real look at the film after Gosling and Evans were confirmed as its stars back in July 2020, with Joe Russo hinting at the time that COVID-19 was affecting its production.

Based on the book series by Mark Greaney, The Gray Man also stars Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out), Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton), and Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade, Bad Santa).

Jessica Henwick (Love and Monsters, The Matrix Resurrections) is also cast in the film, alongside Dhanush (The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir), Wagner Moura (Narcos), and Alfre Woodard (Star Trek: First Contact).

The Russo brothers are also producing The Gray Man with Joe Roth, Jeffery Kirschenbaum, Mike Larocca, and Chris Castaldi. Executive producing are Patrick Newall, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Jake Aust, Angela Russo-Otstot, Geoff Haley, Zack Roth, and Palak Patel.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Daedalic Entertainment has announced that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will release this September.

The upcoming story-focused stealth game will be available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on September 1. A Nintendo Switch version is also planned, and should release later in 2022.

Playing as Gollum, you'll explore Middle-earth in a time just before The Fellowship of the Ring, hunting for the one ring that you lost to Bilbo Baggins while attempting to stay out of the clutches of the dark lord, Sauron. Familiar faces are promised, as well as a system in which you must decide which of the character's dual personalities gets the upper hand in important decisions; either Gollum or Smeagol.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was first announced in 2019 and was set for a 2021 release, but was later delayed to 2022. Based on the Tolkien books rather than the Peter Jackson movies, developer Daedalic promises a "Prince of Persia-like" stealth game with a branching narrative. We recently saw 20 minutes of gameplay footage, and you can find out what we thought in our Gollum hands-off preview.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Only some PS1 and PSP games available through the new PlayStation Plus tiers will feature trophies, as developers can choose whether or not to add them.

Sony revealed in a PlayStation Blog post that while some games - including Ape Escape, Hot Shots Golf, IQ Intelligent Qube, and Syphon Filter - will have trophies, their inclusion will be on a game-by-game basis as "this feature is optional for developers".

Trophies were only added as a feature to PlayStation games during the PS3 era, meaning everything from the PS1, PS2, and PSP lacked an external achievement system (unless, like Final Fantasy 7, a game was ported to a more modern console).

Players will therefore be able to play games like Syphon Filter with a new set of objectives for the first time in more than twenty years.

While Sony has only revealed four games with trophies so far, the full list shouldn't be too far away as the new PlayStation Plus tiers launch in North and South America on June 13, followed by Europe, Australia, and New Zealand on June 23.

Trophies aren't the only new feature coming the Classic Games Catalogue though as PS1 games will seemingly have a CRT filter, gameplay rewind button, and more.

Sony is yet to confirm the full list of retro games arriving alongside the new PlayStation Plus tiers but did reveal 29 of them earlier in May. More than 700 games will be available through the service in total, with around 100 confirmed so far.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Which MCU gods will appear in Thor: Love and Thunder? Perhaps more than we realized, as a handful of classic Marvel characters appear immortalized in the most recent trailer – you might just not have seen them on a first watch.

Appearing during a scene that depicts Jane Foster harnessing the power of lightning, several major Marvel entities – most of which have yet to make their MCU debut – were spotted by users over on Reddit.

A quick pause of the trailer near the end seems to show Lady Death, Uatu The Watcher, The Living Tribunal, Eon, and Eternity cast as statues surrounding Jane Foster. Whether these are little nods to comic book fans or a hint to the god-killing antics of the upcoming fourth Thor film is currently unknown.

If you're interested in who all these important-looking figures might be, we have a quick rundown below:

Lady Death

Based on the personification of death, Lady Death was born along with the universe itself.

As a non-corporeal being, she has no true physical form but has appeared throughout the comic books – most notably to Thanos, who became obsessed with appeasing her. First appearing to him as a child, Lady Death became his confidant… though some have speculated that the mad titan may have been seeing things. Nevertheless, his insatiable blood lust comes from the desire to appease his mistress – proving his love and devotion by slaughtering his way across the universe.

That makes Lady Death a force to be reckoned with, although she'd seemingly have to work without the help of Thanos now that he's been killed more than once in the MCU.

Eon

Eon is a quasi-physical entity believed to be responsible for numerous phenomena on Earth. He monitors all life across the universe, paying special attention to those with immense power. He considers humans to have immense importance to the cosmic balance of the universe and believes that humans are destined to evolve into super beings in a “golden age” of humanity.

Appointing a Protector of the Universe, he chose the original Captain Marvel to combat the increasing menace of Thanos. Quite how he could fit into the MCU remains to be seen… but with a statue in his honor, it’s looking good for Captain Marvel, at least.

Eternity

Another being created alongside the universe, Eternity is pretty impressive as far as gods go.

He’s essentially the collective consciousness of every living being in the entire universe. He is everything, and everything is him. As such, he has control over every living being in the entire universe with the exception of The Living Tribunal (more on that below).

Unlike Death, Eternity tends not to take an active interest in the dealings of the universe, but instead is often the target of attacks from those who wish to wield his power. This usually doesn’t come to much – Eternity is a being of great power and is able to deflect attacks without regard. But there are occasions when he needs a bit of help… I can’t help thinking that a fight with Gorr the God Butcher could be one of those times.

The Watcher

Uatu the Watcher recently made his debut in Marvel’s What if…? where he helped Earth’s Mightiest Heroes overcome the multiversal threat of Ultron.

However, he’s usually depicted as a universal constant – unphased by the trials and tribulations of the universe. Billions of years ago, the extraterrestrial race known as The Watchers decided it was their duty to help lesser races… but when it all went wrong they adopted a new code that prohibit Watchers from interfering.

Their task, instead, is to merely observe and record the lives of other races – but as you’ve seen in his recent TV appearance, Uatu is sometimes tempted to give humanity a helping hand.

The Living Tribunal

An all-powerful being, the Living Tribunal has existed alongside the multiverse for eternity. Even beings such as Death, Eternity, and Eon are subject to the Living Tribunal’s authority – as such, he’s one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, serving only the One-Above-All.

The Living Tribunal is often depicted as a three-headed humanoid who judges the unworthy – an impartial being who acts only in the interest of the universe. At one point, the Living Tribunal was set to appear in Avengers: Infinity War but was cut, but seemingly made a tiny appearance in the background of Doctor Strange 2.

How do these god-like beings fit into Thor: Love and Thunder? At the moment, that’s anyone’s guess. But based on the film’s official synopsis, it looks as though they could be in trouble.

“The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods.”

“To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.”

Whether or not the old gods will take on Gorr the God Butcher remains to be seen. But it looks as though Thor and Jane are going to have their hands full.

Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, and Russel Crowe. Taika Waititi directed the film based on a script he co-wrote with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Dark Horse Direct only recently unveiled its new line of Avatar: The Last Airbender statues, and already the company is expanding with a new iconic character from the franchise. Next up is Korra herself, in a piece that easily ranks among the coolest Avatar collectibles we've seen to date.

IGN can exclusively reveal this new Legend of Korra statue. Check it out below:

This particular Korra statue is inspired by the character's appearance in Book 4 of the animated series, as she sports her Southern Water Tribe costume and is seen wielding all four elements in tandem.

This statue was sculpted by Bigshot Toyworks, with prototyping and paint design handled by J.W. Productions. It measures roughly 10 inches tall and sits atop a 4-inch diameter base.

This statue is priced at $199.99, which is certainly pricier than the previous Zuko and Katara statues. However, unlike those more budget-oriented PVC pieces, Korra is cast in polystone. The statue is limited to 1000 units worldwide and is available to preorder now through Dark Horse Direct. Preorders should ship between November 2022 and January 2023.

In other Avatar news, Netflix announced the live-action adaptation in 2018, when Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino were on board to helm the series. However, the original creators departed the project due to creative differences. Now, Albert Kim is serving as showrunner alongside Dan Lin, Lindsey Liberatore, and Michael Goi. You can check out IGN's full breakdown of the live-action Avatar cast.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

George R.R. Martin hopes to see The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power succeed – but he very much wants the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, to do better.

Speaking to The Independent Martin said he doesn't like how people are pitting the shows against each other - with House of the Dragon being released on August 21 and Rings of Power on September 2 - but he's competitive enough to want his show to outdo the other.

"The minute the dates were announced, it’s 'oh, the battle for fantasy supremacy. It’s Rings of Power versus House of [the] Dragon, who will win?,'" Martin said. "I don’t know why they always have to do that."

"I hope both shows succeed. I'm competitive enough; I hope we succeed more," he added. "If they win six Emmys, and I hope they do, I hope we win seven. But nonetheless, it's good for fantasy. I love fantasy. I love science fiction. I want more shows on television."

Competition or not, the shows releasing close together certainly mark an exciting time for fantasy fans, with Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones arguably being the two biggest fantasy stories of the modern age.

House of the Dragon takes place roughly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and follows Daenerys Targaryen's ancestor Aegon (later dubbed the Conqueror) as he wages war against the Seven Kingdoms.

The Rings of Power takes place during The Second Age of Middle Earth's history, a time only briefly touched on in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Amongst its many characters is Isildur, the ancestor of Aragorn and the king who cut Sauron's finger off and claimed the One Ring.

While some members of the Fellowship are excited about it, with Sean Astin - Samwise Gamgee himself - saying he got chills when watching a preview, Aragorn actor Viggo Mortensen forgot about the show entirely.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

A PC mod that brings seamless, four-player co-op with shared game progression to Elden Ring is entering beta this week.

While the game does support three-player co-op organically, its designed to be more of a fleeting experience generally intended for one-off boss fights. A mod from YouTube user LukeYui shows players being summoned from the first main Site of Grace, and who can seemingly stay as long as they like.

Summoned players will even stick around after the host dies, putting the defeated player into spectator mode, unlike Elden Ring's normal system that returns them home. If the beta is a success, this essentially means that PC players can start and play through the entirety of Elden Ring with up to three friends in a shared game world.

The mod also takes into account other limitations of normal Elden Ring multiplayer by allowing mounts to be summoned by all players, and "friendly fire" can even be activated by turning on a PvP mode. Item drops from bosses will be applied to all players, progress is shared, and more.

The beta begins on May 27 but LukeYui didn't give any indication as to how long it will last or when the official release date for the mod will be.

The Elden Ring modding scene has brought some pretty wild and wacky creations to the game including characters from Star Wars, One Piece, and more, plus a Battle Royale that pits every demigod boss against each other.

Elden Ring has proved somewhat of a cultural phenomenon since it was release in February, with players finding a ton of different ways to interact with the game. People have played it using a Fisher Price toy, the Nintendo Switch Ring Fit controller, and someone has even made a working VR version of the game.

Elden Ring has also been beaten in under seven minutes by a speedrunner, completed without taking or dealing damage, and fans are also modding every other entertainment franchise imaginable into the game.

In our 10/10 review, IGN said: "Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path."

To make those choices with the best available information, check out our guide that features everything you could ever hope to know about Elden Ring, including collectible locations, boss strategies, and more.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Rainbow Six Siege's next update will increase punishments for players who purposely kill teammates – making it harder for them to hurt anyone on their teams but themselves for multiple games.

Siege already has a system whereby players who do enough damage to teammates (and are reported for griefing) are given a "reverse friendly fire" status, seeing damage dealt to friendlies reflected back at them. This effect will soon apply to several of the griefer's games going forward.

As reported by PC Gamer, the Operation Vector Glare June 7 update will include the first phase of developer Ubisoft Montréal's reputation system, which targets players who repeatedly damage teammates. Branded as "pre-emptive reverse friendly fire" by director Alex Karpazis, griefers will have reverse friendly fire applied for up to 20 games, or until they play several matches without injuring teammates.

The effect essentially means these players can no longer ruin another player's game without impacting several of their own, and anyone who kills their teammates before rage quitting in any one match will face repercussions when they log back on.

As one of the few high-profile multiplayer shooters to include friendly fire, it's a confident step from Ubisoft in tackling griefing problems in the community.

Rainbow Six Siege is still going strong more than seven years after it was launched, regularly receiving updates, new maps, and even wacky crossovers including Yakuza DLC.

In our 8/10 updated review in 2018, IGN said: "Rainbow Six Siege has grown into a much deeper competitive FPS that still rewards smart play as much as good aim."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.