Nine Sols is a newly released 2D action game with some strong Sekiro inspirations. Of course, with this inspiration comes a reliance on perfect parries, blocking enemy attacks at the right time, only to punish them with a counterattack. But not everyone finds this mechanic as intuitive as the game would hope. If that’s you, here’s how to parry successfully in Nine Sols.

Learning to Parry in Nine Sols

On the surface, parrying in Nine Sols seems quite straightforward. When your enemy’s attack is about to collide with you, press the Parry button. Press it late, and you lose some internal health. Press it perfectly, and you don’t lose anything. You can even parry ranged damage and charging enemies, just make sure you’re facing towards them.

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Arleon is most likely to be the first of the four factions you’ll try your hand at in Songs of Conquest. They’re the more familiar faction, made of knights, archers, and fantasy creatures called Feys. That said, their simple exterior hides a surprising amount of complexity and varied strategies. Let’s take a closer look at it with this Arleon Faction Guide for Songs of Conquest.

Arleon Faction Guide: the Units

Let’s talk about troops. If I were you, I would avoid the Militia like the plague. Sure, they’re cheap and can stack high, but every other stat is sub-par. They need to recharge between shots, but unlike Barya’s Musketeers, they don’t do much damage at all. That said, there’s no shame in using Militias to reinforce an early-game army. Just don’t expect to build your army on their back.

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Animal Well is a recent Metroidvania, a genre built on exploration and backtracking that features little to no combat and plenty of puzzles. But what players seem to have liked the most is the post-game, which challenges the players’ every assumption about the game world, their abilities, and the protagonist. Finding games like this is rare, so here are the 10 best games like Animal Well.

The Best Games Similar to Animal Well

Tunic

Tunic is a wonderful game, simple on the surface but full of inscrutable deeper layers. The joy of discovering Tunic’s secrets is unlike anything else. And unlike Animal Well, with its intricate post-game puzzles, Tunic is like this from the very beginning. Learning to use the map effectively means stumbling over secrets that are only resolved hours later. Finding a new item is only the first step to uncovering its secret, but much more important, ability.

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The Ranas are one of the most unique factions in Songs of Conquest. They have almost no ranged options, but their spell casters are quite strong. They have plenty of cheap units, but their most expensive ones, the dragons, are the best in the game. It’s easy to get lost playing those guys. Hopefully, our Rana faction guide for Songs of Conquest will help you get started.

Rana Faction Guide: The Units

The Ranas have one major disadvantage when compared to every other faction: they aren’t great at ranged combat. As such, they are forced into melee at the start of every combat scenario. While this doesn’t make defensive strategies any worse, as you’ll see in a moment, it does mean that Ranas tend to lose a lot of units. This is especially true at the start of the game when their Hunters and Ravagers haven’t yet been upgraded into the more advanced units.

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For whatever reason, so many strategy games come with excellent mods, and Songs of Conquest is no exception. This tactics game with grand strategy elements just left Early Access and, as such, has a healthy multiplayer community. But even if player vs player is what most custom maps are about, there are plenty of single-player mods for Songs of Conquest.

You can find those mods and many more on Songs of Conquest‘s Mod.io page.

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Songs of Conquest fills a niche that has remained untouched for years. Being a mix of turn-based strategy and tactics games, Songs of Conquest is reminiscent of the Might and Magic series. And just like in that iconic series, what gives the game layers are all the different factions, heroes, and units. Here are all the factions in Songs of Conquest explained.

Every Faction in Songs of Conquest, Explained

Arleon

Arleon used to be a powerful empire that has since been divided into baronies. As if that wasn’t enough, the Faey began resurfacing from their homes deep in the wilds. Grotesque faeries and forest creatures often fight next to humans, driven by commanders of either group.

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Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is a simple investigation game set around the theft of some salami from a bus company’s employee lunch box. While that describes most of the game, that’s not all that Duck Detective is about. In one instance, players are tasked with hacking into the computer of another one of the company’s employees. Here’s how to figure out Margaret’s computer password in Duck Detective.

How to Guess Margaret’s Computer Password in Duck Detective

Before we get to the solution to this puzzle, let’s look at what we know about Margaret’s computer passwords. One clue to answer this riddle is really hard to miss, as it’s prominently displayed on Margaret’s monitor. It reads: “me in sexy aliens.” If you’ve been snooping around like the noisy duck you’re supposed to be, you’ll know that Sexy Aliens is the book that someone gifted to Sophie during her surprise party. If you still haven’t seen a sign of a party, you’ll have to return to this puzzle later.

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Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is an investigation game about a down-on-his-luck duck and the low-stake crime he’s forced to investigate. It’s also an example of what happens when a mystery game fails to build tension, suspense, or even a vague sense of curiosity but pretty much nails everything else.

Good Game, Bad Mystery

What makes a bad mystery? In the case of Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, it’s a mix of underwhelming resolution and a plot that never thickens enough. Its short playtime doesn’t help either, wrapping up at just over two hours. Even the final revelation carries a weight that would only be appropriate for a mid-game twist. That’s not great for any game, but it’s utterly devastating for a mystery.

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Figuring out the safe’s combination is one of the longest, hardest puzzles in Duck Detective. That’s not saying much, considering that this is only one of two puzzles in the game. Either way, it’s easy to see how someone could get stuck on this section. Here’s how to open the safe in Duck Detective: The Secret Salami.

How to Crack the Safe in Duck Detective The Secret Salami

The safe in Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is hidden behind a painting in Manfred the branch manager’s office. You only get one hint for this puzzle: CS-OO-BD. Since that’s not much to go on with, here are a couple more hints to help you.

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Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is one of at least two duck-focused games of 2024. This mystery adventure game is set around the disappearance of a lunch box full of salami. But this mystery goes much deeper than it seems (although it still revolves around ducks and salami). The only way to unravel this mess of misdeeds and interpersonal relationships is to correctly answer all the Deducktion. Lucky for you, we’re here to help.

All Deducktion Mysteries in Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, Solved

Here, you will find the solution to all 13 Deducktion in Duck Detective. To solve a Deducktion, simply fill in the blanks on each sentence with the right words. I’ve highlighted in bold the words needed to complete each sentence.

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