Gaming News

LEGO SEGA Genesis Controller Is Now Available – But Only as a Gift With Purchase

I have some good news and some bad news for retro gamers. The good news is that LEGO has released an awesome set that re-creates the classic SEGA Genesis controller (see it at LEGO Store). It even houses an incredibly cool Sonic the Hedgehog easter egg. That’s the good news. The bad news is, it’s only available between now and September 17, and to get this set, you have to spend $130+ at the LEGO Store. Set Number: 40769 Price: N/A (only available as Gift with Purchase) Ages: 18+ Pieces: 260 Dimensions: over 3.5 in. (10 cm) high, 5.5 in. (15 cm) wide and 1 in. (3 cm) deep That’s because the LEGO SEGA Genesis Controller set is a Gift With Purchase. GWP sets are generally smaller sets that are not available to purchase separately...

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The Acer Nitro 60 Gaming PC with GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU Drops to Just $1,799.99 at Walmart

Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards are dropping back down in price, and fortunately that means prebuilt gaming PCs are becoming more affordable as well. Currently, Walmart is offering the Acer Nitro 60 gaming PC, featuring an Intel Core i7 CPU and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, for just $1,799.99 with free delivery. This is one of the lowest prices I've seen for a well-equipped 5070 Ti prebuilt with a generous amount of RAM and SSD storage out of the box. Acer Nitro 60 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC for $1,800 The Acer Nitro 60 gaming PC is equipped with an Intel Core i7-14700 processor, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 2TB PCIe Gen 4 M.2 SSD. The Intel Core i7-14700 CPU has a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with 20...

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War Mechanic Re-revealed; Doubling Down on Single-Player Gameplay

Get your first look at developer Chronospace's revamped War Mechanic, a single-player alternate-history "what if the Manhattan Project had been sabotaged?" action-adventure game where you must survive, pilot your combat car, deal with NPCs that have their own agendas, and build up your base. The reworked War Mechanic brings in Narrative Designers Jacek Komuda and Maciej Jurewicz (The Witcher 1 and 2) as players take on the role of Jack Wallace, a mechanic stranded on the war-torn Nordook Island. “Bringing in veteran storytellers let a young team grow up fast," said Co-Producer Rafał Lewkowicz. "The vision is the same—now it’s precise, readable, and worth fighting for.” On the island, you'll rebuild your base, modify your guns and...

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Digimon Story: Time Stranger – Our Thoughts After Playing 4 Hours

Sometimes you sit down at a game with no idea what to expect. That was how I felt when I got my first hands-on time with Digimon Story: Time Stranger at Summer Game Fest. I’m a lapsed Digimon fan, someone who liked the franchise a lot as a kid and then just fell off as I got older. But when I played Time Stranger, I quickly realized I had to pay attention. This was a JRPG with some good ideas. So when I got the shot at an even longer preview (about four hours) at PAX West, I took it, because I wanted to see if that initial impression held water. And I’m happy to say that I think it does. Digimon Story: Time Stranger seems to get the Digimon series, but there’s also the foundation of a really good JRPG here, too. I mean the kind that you...

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Hollow Knight: Silksong Mini-Review – A Darker, Faster, and Fiercely Beautiful Sequel

Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally here—and it’s cheaper than anyone expected. The surprise drop sent digital storefronts spiralling into chaos, with players staring at Steam’s (admittedly adorable) error monsters as servers crumbled. The first game was popular, sure, but nobody saw this level of hype coming. This time, you play as Hornet, a swift and agile warrior who fights with a needle and stitches herself together to heal. The tone is familiar: dark and oppressive, yet offset by irresistibly charming characters and creatures. That clash of cute and grim creates the same strange magic that defined Hollow Knight’s world. Silksong, though, is faster and sharper. Hornet’s diagonal downward strike demands more precision, ledge-grabbing...

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Johnny Silverhand Actor Keanu Reeves Says He 'Absolutely' Wants to Be in Cyberpunk 2

Details surrounding Cyberpunk 2 are scarce, but fans of Cyberpunk 2077 can rest assured that the game's biggest star is down to return if given the opportunity. Speaking with IGN while promoting his upcoming movie Good Fortune, Keanu Reeves said that he wants to be part of the sequel to CD Projekt's 2020 game. “Absolutely. I’d love to play Johnny Silverhand again," Reeves said when asked if he’d be interested in revisiting his legendary rockstar terrorist character in Cyberpunk 2. Reeves's love-affair with the Cyberpunk community began with his viral "you're breathtaking" moment at E3 2019. Reeves, on-stage to announce the release date of Cyberpunk 2077, was interrupted by a fan who shouted out "you're breathtaking!" Reeves' response...

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'The Only People Not Involved Are the Creators,' Life Is Strange Writer Says of Amazon TV Adaptation

Amazon's announcement of a Life is Strange TV adaptation has prompted the video game's original writer Christian Divine to comment that "the only people not involved are the creators." Divine served as lead writer on Life is Strange, which was created by French studio Don't Nod back in 2015. The narrative adventure launched to a warm response and earned itself a loyal fan audience, prompting Divine to return for the game's 2019 sequel. But no mention was made of Divine or anyone else who worked on the original game in Amazon's announcement last week, which instead noted that the adaptation would be produced by Square Enix, the publisher and rights owner of the Life is Strange franchise, as well as LuckyChap, a film and TV production...

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Borderlands 4 Day 1 Patch 'Does a Lot,' Randy Pitchford Says, but Don't Expect Miracles From Older PC Hardware

Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford has said the inbound Borderlands 4 Day 1 patch “does a lot,” amid concern about the performance of the looter shooter. Pitchford responded to concern about Borderlands 4’s pre-release performance on PC from some users on X / Twitter, confirming not only that there’s a Day 1 patch on the way, but that it sounds pretty much essential to play the game. Borderlands 4 has an official release date of September 12 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, with the Nintendo Switch 2 launch following shortly after. Fans will be keen to jump in as soon as possible, making the Day 1 patch an early hoop to jump through. Despite the Day 1 patch, playing...

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MachineGames Teases 'We're Not Done With Wolfenstein Yet'

MachineGames seemingly hasn't finished with its Wolfenstein series just yet. While it's been over half a decade since we last punched a Nazi in Wolfenstein: Youngblood, studio head Jerk Gustafsson has hinted the team would very much like to go back to the Wolfenstein universe to tie up BJ Blazkowicz's story. While both Youngblood and the 2019 VR title Cyberpilot touched on the wider Blazkowicz family's fortunes, we haven't actually played as series stalwart Blazkowicz since 2017's The New Colossus. And it's BJ's story that seems to intrigue Gustafsson most — in fact, it seems Blazkowicz's story was always meant to be told in three parts. In a new interview with Noclip, Gustafsson said the team had "always seen [BJ's story] as a...

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Chinese Players Use Steam Reviews to Complaint About Hollow Knight: Silksong Translation, Team Cherry Promises Improvements

Despite a healthy 'Mostly Positive' review score on Steam and a concurrent user count high enough to make a AAA game blush with envy, Hollow Knight: Silksong's Chinese players are seemingly less impressed by the highly-anticipated sequel. While the Steam user review rating from players experiencing the game in English, French, German, and Polish are 'Very Positive,' and Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian reviews are 'Overwhelmingly Positive,' players using simplified Chinese have brought the score down to 'Mostly Negative' for that language, chiefly because of issues with the translation. After tens of thousands of Chinese players left negative reviews, dragging Silksong's overall Steam user review rating down to 76% positive, Team...

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Hollow Knight: Silksong Players Are Trying to Help Out Those Who Have Quit the Game Outright Because They’re Finding It Too Hard by Pointing to Mods T

Hollow Knight: Silksong is one of the biggest launches of the year, hitting huge player concurrent numbers on Steam alongside a positive reception from critics. But amid the excitement over Team Cherry’s long awaited sequel is a debate within the community about whether the game is too hard — perhaps even unfairly so. So it comes as no surprise to see Silksong’s early days mods dominated by those which make the game easier. Over the weekend, we reported on how some Silksong players were expressing criticism across social media, subreddits, Discords, and Steam reviews about the game’s difficulty scaling and brutal runbacks. There’s even one very early miniboss causing a lot of players a whole heap of trouble, too. “Is it just me, or...

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'I Saw That and I Was Like, 'That's Gotta Be Us' — if World War Z 2 Happens, It's Because 30 Million People Played the World War Z Video Game, Develop

While Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has helped push developer Saber Interactive to another level, it already had a monster hit under its belt: World War Z. World War Z is a co-op third-person shooter developed and published by Saber in 2019 as a loosely based adaptation of the 2006 novel World War Z, and set in the same universe as the 2013 Brad Pitt blockbuster. Saber used its Swarm Engine to render large hordes of zombies in World War Z, and again but with Tyranids in last year’s Space Marine 2. The technology is being used once again for Saber’s 2026 release, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando. In an interview with IGN at gamescom 2025, Saber development chief Tim Willits said 30 million people had played World War Z since launch...

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AU Deals: Game Prices Sliced, Stocks Dropping – Grab ‘Em Now or Cry Tomorrow

Welcome back to yet another week of being unable to resist clicking Add To Cart. Discounts this steep are basically permission slips from the gaming gods, and I’ve spotted some gems worth locking in. It's time to reshuffle the backlog once again and make space for a few favourites that deserve the spotlight. So let's get to it! Contents Retro Nintendo Xbox PlayStation PC LEGO This Day in Gaming 🎂 In retro news, I'm using this lascannon to light a 13-candle cake for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, Relic's third-person orc slashin' shooter. At the time, it felt like a bold attempt to bridge the tabletop universe of Warhammer into a visceral action experience, and I reckon it largely succeeded. Playing as Captain Titus of the...

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'Criticism Isn't Hate' — Hollow Knight: Silksong Sparks Debate About Difficulty, Runbacks, and the Dreaded 'Git Gud' Comments

With Hollow Knight: Silksong’s huge launch in full swing, community debate about its qualities and flaws has gone back and forth, with some players insisting their criticisms about things like the game's difficulty are valid and shouldn’t be instantly dismissed as "hate." Silksong launched over six years after it was announced amid huge excitement, and early indications are that it’s a critical and commercial success. At the time of this article’s publication, the Steam concurrent player count was over half a million, with English language user reviews sat on a ‘Very Positive’ rating. However, as more players work their way through the game, some are expressing criticism across social media, subreddits, Discords, and Steam reviews...

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Bethesda Teases 'Terran Armada' on Starfield 2-Year Anniversary, Sending Fans Down a Speculation Rabbit Hole

It looks like Bethesda has begun teasing new content for Starfield, after fans spotted a hidden message in a social media video released to celebrate the game’s two-year anniversary. The video, below, starts off innocently enough, but soon the tone of the music shifts and the image becomes garbled. Clearly, there’s a tease in there somewhere! And indeed there is. It didn’t take long for Starfield fans to arrange the frames in such a way to form the words ‘Terran Armada,’ which has sent the game’s community down a rabbit hole of speculation. Warning! Spoilers for Starfield follow: The most obvious suggestion is Terran Armada is the name of Starfield’s long-awaited second expansion. If so, it suggests a DLC that revolves around...

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'There's Just No Question That the Company Is Not the Same' – Former Bethesda Exec on How the Studio Behind Fallout has Changed

Fallout studio Bethesda Softworks has been through a lot in the last few decades, and former marketing boss Pete Hines was there to see it through almost all of its changes. Hines touched on how Bethesda became a gaming giant during a recent interview with DBLTAP. In addition to providing his perspective on the company’s early days, he took the time to recount how some of its biggest victories and hardest falls helped shape it into what it is today. When it was working, it was magical. Hines started with Bethesda in October 1999, seeing it through everything from the launch of The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind in 2002, to Skyrim in 2011, to Fallout 76 in 2018. He also remained as a key figure at the gaming publisher throughout...

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'We Want to Do This Right' — Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Issues PlayStation Store Pre-Order Refunds as Publisher Works to Make 'Big Changes

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 publisher Paradox is now offering PlayStation Store pre-order refunds as it makes “big changes” after a backlash to its decision to lock clans behind DLC. The furore began with the confirmation that Bloodlines 2 would feature four clans: Brujah; Tremere; Banu Haqim; and Ventrue. While this selection provides four different starting options for how you build your protagonist, it’s a more limited offering compared to the cult classic original Bloodlines, which featured seven clans. Developer The Chinese Room added a further two clans to Bloodlines 2 (Lasombra and Toreador), but these were only available as part of the Shadows and Silk add-on pack, which costs $21.99 as DLC, or included as part of...

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Why Exit 8, the Live-Action Horror Movie Adaptation of the Hit Indie Game, Has Sparked a Backlash in Japan Over Its Tsunami Scene

Exit 8, a live-action horror movie adaptation of the anomaly-spotting indie game of the same name, opened at movie theaters in Japan on August 29. Despite enjoying a profitable opening weekend, the Japanese film has attracted some controversy in its home country over a scene that depicts a tsunami, as well as the production company’s delay in issuing an official warning about this potentially upsetting content. Originally released on Steam in November 2023, The Exit 8 is a first-person puzzle game set in looping passageways of a Japanese subway station. Starting by the sign for Exit 0, players must reach the titular Exit 8 by looking out for anomalies - if they see something strange they must turn back. If everything seems normal, they...

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League of Legends Strategy Game Teamfight Tactics Is Getting a Temporary Single-Player PvE Mode Called Ao Shin’s Ascent Shortly After the Release of P

League of Legends strategy game Teamfight Tactics is getting a temporary single-player PvE mode called Ao Shin’s Ascent later in September, Riot Games has announced. Teamfight Tactics is the 2019 spinoff of Riot’s enormously popular MOBA League of Legends based on Dota Auto Chess. Eight players build teams and fight to be the last person standing, with their units automatically battling after being placed strategically on the game board between rounds. Riot describes TFT as “the world’s largest PC strategy game.” TFT is traditionally a PvP game, but Ao Shin’s Ascent, due out September 24, is its first-ever progression-focused PvE mode. Players take on escalating PvE battles and bosses, with roguelite progression that grants permanent...

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Slime Heroes Nintendo Switch Mini-Review: A Great Family Action Game

Slime Heroes originally launched earlier this year, but it only arrived on Nintendo Switch at the end of July, making it feel like a brand-new game for many players. It’s a Soulslike at heart, but one with a much cuter aesthetic and a range of difficulty options to play with. That means the game can be forgiving if you want it to be, or still deliver a fair challenge if you prefer – striking a nice balance between accessibility and tension. The game really shines in co-op, especially with a younger player. You can design your own slime, giving it goofy facial features and mixing colours to create something truly silly. On top of that, you can tweak health, enemy damage, and other parameters to make the experience just right for the...

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Fallout 76: Pete Hines Remembers ‘Probably the Dumbest Thing’ He Did at Bethesda

Former Bethesda Softworks marketing boss Pete Hines has opened up about the Fallout 76 bag controversy of 2018, saying it led to "probably the dumbest thing" he ever did at the company. Hines, who served as senior vice president of global marketing and communications at Bethesda before announcing plans to retire in 2023, touched on the infamous Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition during an interview with DBLTAP. The first true multiplayer Fallout experience came with too many issues to count at launch, but it’s the goodies promised with its collector’s edition that live with the former Bethesda executive to this day. The company unveiled the pricey Power Armor Edition with the promise it would include a T-51B Power Armor Helmet, an...

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Pete Hines Comments on the Confusion Surrounding How Bethesda Named Prey 2017: 'Don't Even Get Me Started'

When Arkane Austin delivered its cult-classic immersive sim, Prey, for PC and consoles in 2017, not everyone at Bethesda Softworks was happy shipping the sci-fi immersive sim with that name. After Prey 2 met an untimely demise in 2014, fans were elated to see the series return with a completely new look and feel with what was believed to be a reboot in 2016. The problem was Arkane’s Prey doesn’t actually have much to do with the series it pulled its name from. Instead, what fans received when Prey launched in 2017 was something that was more of a System Shock spiritual successor, leading many to question why it was ever named Prey in the first place. Even director Raphael Colantonio has commented on its title in the past, saying that...

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An Early, Unassuming Miniboss Is Wrecking Hollow Knight: Silksong Players

If you're merrily strolling your way through Hollow Knight: Silksong right now, not a care in the world, you may want to brace yourself. Because aside from Silksong's usual slate of super-tough bosses that'll have you corpse running over and over again, there's one very early miniboss enemy that's causing a lot of players a whole heap of trouble. Warning: Very minor spoilers for an early-game miniboss in The Marrow appear below. Don't read on if you don't want to know anything about any of the game's enemies. The miniboss in question is considered so minor by the game that it doesn't appear with a name on-screen, making it tough to Google a guide when you get stuck on him. But his name is Skarrgard, and he's a bulky red bug enemy...

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Former Bethesda Exec Says Gaming Subscription Services 'Worth Jack S***' Without Proper Support for Game Developers

Bethesda Softworks’ former senior vice president of global marketing and communications, Pete Hines, says gaming subscription services like Xbox Game Pass are “worth jack s***” if the game developers who create content for them are not properly supported. The ex-Bethesda figurehead, who announced his retirement in 2023 after 24 years with the company, opened up about the state of the gaming industry during a new interview with DBLTAP. In addition to touching on the early days of the company behind Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, Hines spoke about what he feels the future of services like Game Pass looks like. He admits his retirement from the Microsoft-owned Bethesda means his view on the matter may not be up to date. However, Hines...

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Indie Developers Are Worried Silksong's $20 Price Tag Will Make It Harder to Price Their Games

With Hollow Knight: Silksong out now, many players are celebrating its unexpectedly low $20 price tag. But some independent developers are pointing out that great as this may be, it could lead to unreasonable expectations for other indie games that can't afford to sell for that low. This comes from a number of threads on social media from developers of games such as Unbeatable, Dorfromantik, and others. In one Bluesky thread, Unbeatable director RJ Lake says that Silksong should cost $40, "and I'm not even joking." But Lake isn't upset at Team Cherry for charging $20 - that's their perogative. But it will have an impact on gaming audiences. As Lake explains: "millions of people will probably buy silksong on day one, and it was a game...

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Star Wars Outlaws Developer Defends Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards, Says Cartridges That Force You to Download the Game Are Better For Loading

The use of Switch 2's widely-disliked Game-Key Cards was defended by a Ubisoft developer who worked on the Nintendo port of Star Wars Outlaws. Writing on social media, Ubisoft audio architect Rob Bantin shared the real reason why the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Star Wars Outlaws uses a Game-Key Card — a physical cartridge that requires owners still download the game, rather than including the full thing on the cart. The answer? It's all due to the Switch 2's data speeds, and how quickly the hardware can read information from its bespoke cartridges, versus games downloaded to the console's internal memory. "[Star Wars Outlaws game engine] Snowdrop relies heavily on disk streaming for its open world environments, and we found the...

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Life is Strange TV Series Announced by Amazon, With End of the F***ing World Writer as Showrunner

Amazon has greenlit the long-awaited Life is Strange TV adaptation, almost a decade after plans to adapt the game were first announced. Charlie Covell, writer of Channel 4's The of the F***king World and Netflix's Kaos, will head the series as executive producer and showrunner, Variety reported, with video game publisher Square Enix and Amazon MGM Studios both on board. When a Life is Strange TV adapatation was first announced back in 2016, only the series' first game had been released — with the expectation being that it would adapt said game. And now, years later, this remains the case, with an official blurb for the show mentioning the franchise's most popular characters, Max and Chloe. Covell's adaptation will follow Max, "a...

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Silksong Has an Item That Will Make the Game Control More Like Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight: Silksong may be the sequel to Hollow Knight, but players are quickly finding out that it doesn't exactly play the same way Hollow Knight did. With a new protagonist and new moves, the controls and abilities available might have some players fumbling or struggling, especially when it comes to Silksong's trickier platforming sections. Fortunately, there's a way to switch back to the Hollow Knight moveset available pretty early on, if you really must. Warning: This article will contain spoilers for Silksong's early game, including the first two major unlockable abilities and one of the earliest bosses. If you haven't thoroughly explored the Deep Docks area just yet, you may want to wait and come back to this later...

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Score Resident Evil 4 (PS5) for $15 at Amazon Right Now To Play Before Resident Evil: Requiem

While we eagerly await Resident Evil: Requiem to give us a good scare next year, Amazon's dropped an excellent deal on a slightly older Resi title that's worth picking up to keep you on your toes in the meantime. The excellent Resident Evil 4 remake for PS5 has dropped to just $15 at the retailer. Yes, you read that correctly! This marks its lowest price yet, according to price tracker camelcamelcamel, making now an excellent time to scoop it up for your library if you haven't had the chance to yet. Resident Evil 4 for PS5 Down to $15 at Amazon Considering when it first came out it was listed for $59.99, this makes for a 75% discount from that original price, which is an incredible amount of savings for a game we absolutely adored...

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Silksong Players Really Want to Pet the Dog-I Mean, the Bell Beast

Hollow Knight: Silksong is out now, and seems like it's pretty good so far if our review-in-progress is any indication. But it commits one terrible, unforgiveable sin: Silksong won't let players pet the dang dog-er, well, the bug that's like a dog. Warning: Spoilers for the first few hours of Hollow Knight: Silksong follow. Everything we discuss below can be found very early in the game, in the first two areas you visit. If you're still wondering who or what the "dog" is, I'm referring to the Bell Beast, one of Silksong's earliest bosses and, once defeated, your permanent fast travel buddy. The Bell Beast is encountered early in the game in The Marrow, trapped within enormous silk webs. You need to unlock the Silk Spear to free it...

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