Capcom seems to agree, Monster Hunter Wilds does have an endgame problem, so the developer is trying to smooth things over in future updates.

Capcom recently detailed what's coming in Monster Hunter Wilds' second free title update set for June 30, including almost entirely good weapon balance changes, new monsters, and PC performance buffs that maybe don't go quite far enough. But the publisher is also looking into the even further future.

In a recent social media post, the company laid out some of what's coming in the next few updates and assured folks that it's addressing "many points of feedback and requests," starting with "expanding endgame content."

In September's third title update, the game's getting "a new level of quest difficulty... which will feature their own unique rewards." You can then use those unique rewards in "a new Talisman crafting system, which can be assigned various skills at random...The new Talismans can be assigned a wide variety of skills, including those exclusive to Weapons and Armor, and will also be randomly assigned slots for decorations as well. We believe this system will broaden the range of builds, and create a gameplay loop that encourages players to equip themselves to take on the game's toughest challenges."

The fourth update will then add even more new monsters and unnamed "challenging elements" that should make use of all your endgame grinding, alongside "ways to ensure that the Artian weapons you have already forged will remain valuable" and more stability improvements. (Fingers crossed.)

"We will continue to work on through these updates. Title Updates, excluding bug fixes and other updates, will be implemented every few months, as with the first and second updates."

Get prepared with our tier list of the best Monster Hunter Wilds weapons.

When I spoke to Obsidian studio design director Josh Sawyer earlier this year, I got his take on the apparent ultimate victory of turn-based combat over real time with pause (RTWP), as well as why he thinks turn-based fell off in the first place.

This begged the question: With both Baldur's Gate 3 and Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity games serving as successors to the original, RTWP Baldur's Gates, how was Larian able to so successfully sell a turn-based pivot for the series, while Obsidian decided it had to stick to the original style?

"It seemed like more fans would have been upset by its exclusion if we had not had real time with pause [in Pillars of Eternity]," Sawyer said⁠. This tension in Pillars' development between Kickstarter backer nostalgia and the team's own desire to push things forward was a big focus in a GDC talk Sawyer gave in 2016.

The Pillars team eventually did get a crack at turn-based design in a major post-launch update to the sequel, Deadfire, which added a turn-based mode to the game.

"I always have preferred turn-based to real time with pause," said Sawyer. "Especially with Deadfire⁠, I think we did a really good job making [RTWP] more accessible, but I am glad that turn-based seems to be winning out. I would like to hopefully one day work on a turn-based game."

As for BG3, it's easy to forget now, but as a numbered successor to the RTWP Baldur's Gates, it did catch some flack from fans at its initial reveal and early access launch for going turn-based.

"I think they⁠—I don't want to say 'got away with it'—but they eventually pushed through because Larian had done turn-based before, whereas Obsidian had not," Sawyer said. "I guess we did South Park [The Stick of Truth], but other than that, we hadn't done turn-based ever, really.

"It wasn't like we could say, 'Well, this is our tech, and our tech is built around turn-based.' Whereas Larian did have tech built around turn-based, and I think people maybe have more confidence, because they liked Divinity⁠—Divinity: Original Sin 2 sold very well. So if you liked that, then, okay, you're probably going to get something similar."

Here's hoping that the Obsidian crew gets the chance to make the fully turn-based RPG Sawyer clearly wants to. In the recent past and near future, though, it's been all action RPGs like Avowed and The Outer Worlds, or bold experiments like Pentiment and Grounded. I'm not complaining either way.

For more from my interview with Josh Sawyer, you can read about why he thinks turn-based combat was eclipsed by real time with pause in the first place, as well as the one recent RPG he thinks nailed romance subplots⁠—something he's usually not a fan of.

When I first heard Dave the Diver is celebrating its second birthday, I had a hard time believing it's now been two years since I wrote up my impressions for an indie spotlight, but it's true. The utterly enchanting deep sea exploration sushi restaurant management sim is two years old, and to celebrate, developer Mint Rocket released a video with messages from various industry figureheads as well as some (mostly) good news about its DLC.

The folks at Dredge developer Black Salt Games, Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon, Like a Dragon studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama, Shift Up director Hyung-Tae Kim, Subnautica studio CEO Ted Gill, and others wished Mint Rocket well for Dave the Diver's second anniversary. It's very sweet, much like Dave the Diver, and you should watch it because it's Friday and you deserve a little sweetness.

Now, onto that mostly good DLC news I was talking about: The Godzilla DLC is coming back! After being billed as a limited-time event ending November 2024, Dave the Diver's excellent Godzilla crossover is back on Steam for free, and it'll be available until at least December 2026.

More good news! The also brilliant Dave the Diver Like a Dragon DLC, Ichiban's Holiday, is sticking around a little longer than expected. That was supposed to go away in October, but it'll now be available on Steam also until the end of next year. The Dave the Diver crossovers took a lot of heat for being limited-time deals, and although it still seems they're technically on a timer, it's a much longer one than initially stated.

Better yet, Mint Rocket said it aims to be more thoughtful about DLC pricing and "will be providing regular discounts." In that spirit, you can grab Ichiban's Holiday for just $3.49 as part of the Steam Summer Sale.

OK, now some bad news: Dave the Diver's In the Jungle DLC, which was supposed to come out in 2025, has been delayed to early 2026. In keeping with the good vibes of the anniversary festivities, I'll just end this by saying, at least the Godzilla DLC is back to keep us busy until then.

Or, pick something from our list of the best sim games out there and just mellow out, man.