Minecraft Dungeons’ first DLC pack, Jungle Awakens, is now available

By Jon Silman July 1, 2020

The first DLC pack from Minecraft Dungeons is now available, and it features a plethora of new items, armor, and enemies.

Minecraft Dungeons, released in May, is an action-adventure spinoff of the popular sandbox building and crafting game Minecraft, with an emphasis on action and fighting. Up to four players can battle it out against enemies and explore levels packed with treasures to help level up characters.

Jungle Awakens takes place in — you guessed it — a jungle. It has three new missions and some new game mechanics, as well as never-before-seen items and challenges. There are things meant to be intentionally cute, like pandas, and new evil creatures meant to provide a challenge like the Jungle Abomination.

The trailer shows lush blocky jungle areas with plant-like enemies spewing dangerous purple spells, and dungeon paths built over lava featuring fast-moving action from the game’s heroes.

The story involves an item called The Orb of Dominance, which is “one of the most powerful and wicked artifacts the Overworld has ever seen,” according to the game’s DLC announcement. The artifact has been destroyed, but shards of it have made their way into the jungle and corrupted both the area and its inhabitants.

Developer Mojang raised the soft power cap in the game from 108 to 112, which will make it a little more difficult, and the new levels are sprawling in their size.

The new DLC is the first of two planned, but Mojang also made some updates to the base game as well. There’s a new map called the Lower Temple, new gear, balance changes to some items, and a new threat per level difficulty. Two unique versions of new gear, called the Battlestaff and Dual Crossbows, have also been added.

Jungle Awakens is available as a standalone purchase or by getting a Hero Pass, which will pre-purchase the second DLC pack. The new DLC illustrates Mojang’s commitment to the new franchise, and it recently released a soundtrack for the game, which is available on Apple Music and Spotify.

The game is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The base game is $20, and the Hero Edition costs $30. The DLC by itself costs $6.

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Gaming

Elden Ring’s first DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is in development

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's key art.

Yes, Elden Ring is finally getting DLC. After over a year of speculation since the critically acclaimed game's launch, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is confirmed to be in development.
FromSoftware broke the news via its social media accounts for the game, simply affirming that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree "is currently in development." No additional release window or story details were shared, but its Japanese website confirms the expansion will come to all of the same platforms as the base game, and the tweet does include one piece of concept art. In it, we see a darkened Erdtree in the distance as a mysterious girl on a horse rides toward it and some ruins. We don't know what any of this means just yet, but the key art appears to tease a darker tone and new character and reaffirm that Shadow of the Erdtree will take place in a massive open world.
https://twitter.com/ELDENRING/status/1630478058103734274
Elden Ring was released on February 25, 2022, and it was met with critical acclaim and lots of Game of the Year awards (including Digital Trends' own) because of how FromSoftware adapted its classics Souls series formula into a game with a massive open world that rivaled The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As many previous FromSoftware games got DLC, fans were hoping that Elden Ring would get the same treatment.
Before now, we've mostly gotten small patches, with a Colosseum-adding update in December being the most notable. Although Shadow of the Erdtree doesn't have a release date, it's a relief for Elden Ring fans to now have some brand-new content to look forward to.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Shadow of the Erdtree does not have a release window yet.

Gaming

Nexon’s Project Magnum now known as The First Descendant

A character aims and shoots a gun in The First Descendant.

Nexon's bombastic Unreal Engine 5 RPG looter shooter just got its official title ahead of an appearance at Gamescom: The First Descendant.
Nexon -- a South Korean video game developer and publisher known for games like MapleStory, KartRider, DNF Duel, and LawBreakers - first revealed this game under the title Project Magnum in September 2021. It looks like a mixture of every major AAA gaming trend. The First Descendant will be a free-to-play, sci-fi, cooperative shooter. Hot off the heels of games like Outriders, The First Descendant is all about mowing down hordes of enemies and giant bosses with friends to unlock new loot to upgrade your character with.
The First Descendant│Official Trailer Teaser Reveal (4K)
Taking notes from hero shooters, players will choose from at least 12 characters, all of whom have unique abilities; meanwhile, each character's grappling hook and the game's fast-paced gunplay also look like they'll keep the action moving. While it isn't the most unique-looking game out there, The First Descendant looks pretty in Unreal Engine 5 and could strike a chord with players if its gameplay is enjoyable and the microtransactions aren't overbearing.
While we got a brief new teaser with this title change confirmation, Nexon also confirmed that it would show a lengthier trailer and reveal even more about The First Descendant at Gamescom 2022. After that, interested players will have a chance to go hands-on with the game before the end of the year. A Steam beta will occur between October 20 and October 26 this year. There's no word on when a console beta will happen, but people can sign-up for the PC beta on the game's Steam page.
Although The First Descendant's beta in October is limited to Steam, the final version of the game will be available across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X at an unspecified later date.

Gaming

Minecraft becomes Bikini Bottom today with SpongeBob SquarePants DLC

Minecraft versions of the Spongebob cast.

Who lives in a pixelated pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants! The nautical star of Nickelodeon's longest-running animated series and his friends have come to Minecraft in a new DLC pack.

Mojang released the SpongeBob SquarePants DLC on Tuesday, made possible by a collaboration with Nickelodeon and Spark Universe. The new DLC gives fans of both Minecraft and SpongeBob access to various Bikini Bottom locales for them to explore and the skins of over 40 SpongeBob characters created by Spark Universe.