Julius

Yeah, that sounds like it would definitely help. I'm seriously tired of hearing managers complain about having to put their players through hell with the fixture list each year, so anything to help sort it is great (it's absolutely a worthy complaint, especially in the context of fatigue, it's just been one I've heard for as long as I can remember). Totally unrelated to this, but the other thing I've always thought in terms of considering player fatigue was that teams in Europe don't need to be in the League Cup (especially this coming season, seeing as it only secures you a spot in the Europa Conference League). While I understand that silverware is silverware, that prize money is so infinitesimally small to big teams in the Prem that I think it's genuinely embarrassing that they take part, and it's not even considered a major trophy. I know in France the Coupe de la Ligue was placed on hold indefinitely due to fixture congestion, and so maybe we should consider something similar, but the teams that we have in Europe in particular I just don't understand why they need the extra games and reputation, they really have so little to gain from that cup.

It's about time! One of the silliest off-pitch rules in club competitions in my opinion, it almost completely negates the home advantage you would have a second leg once you reach the second half and everyone is sitting deep and countering. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with counterattacking football, but this rule went exactly against the lifeblood of what drives success in the sport (scoring goals and winning games), and it's why you see some managers be so conservative and pessimistic in how they set their teams up to play a match of football, in European competitions in particular (I love you Mourinho, but I'm absolutely talking about you). Sincerely hope it has the desired impact and we see more teams just going for it. Obviously you still need to defend and try to keep a clean sheet, but having an out and out winner is much more preferable in my eyes than teams playing conservatively as the clock starts ticking down because they're comfortable with an away goals win. It always felt like a hollow victory to me. Only real concern I have with this off the top of my head is that the fixtures list is already stacked once European competitions return in February for the knockout rounds, so the increased likelihood of facing another 30 minutes and penalties for all draws (rather than just identical reversed results) could definitely feed into seeing more fatigue and consequent complaints by managers.

Glad to see you seem to be enjoying it! Haha yeah, how annoying knives are is something that doesn't really go away in full force until 5. If I'm remembering right, once you've got it equipped in your inventory, I think it's down on the D-Pad? Maybe one of the most consistent things about the series is just how strong the substories are, you'll be busting your sides for most of the game and some of the Mose memorable moments are undoubtedly found away from the beaten path. That being said, 0 does have a really strong main story compared to other games in the series in my opinion, but it does take a little while to warm up and set everything in place. The cutscenes are long (though I don't remember 0 having particularly long ones compared to the other games?) because they like to throw a lot of exposition at you right out of the gates, but as the game goes on, they'll balance gameplay sections and cutscenes better.

Insane couple of matches, though definitely some weird calls in that Portugal v France match (for and against both sides). Feel really bad for Hungary, to think of how close they were to weening a point out against Portugal too, they've done their country proud in this group. Marco Rossi has done a phenomenal job with those lads, really hope they qualify for the World Cup so that we see them again soon!

30th Anniversary livestream coming for the Mana series at 10:00 BST on Sunday 27th June. Courtesy of Siliconera:

Couldn't be more obviously offside from Henderson. Weird that took a moment.

Him and bangers at Euro's. Still remember his 2016 volley vs Turkey fondly:

Oh hey, we carried the ball forwards and passed it around their 18 yard box. Who knew that would increase your chances of getting a goal?

Shaw has been wide open for two or three long passes already on this left hand side, and he's been ignored every time. Already passing it backwards, sideways, and slowing down the play. We're less than 10 minutes in.

We'll be able to tell if the lads are up to keeping it interesting tonight in about 10 minutes

Dodging the runner-up of Group F, probably. Totally agree though, I want to see Sancho play. He's the kind of player who could do plenty to supply Kane, much more than most other names on the pitch tonight.

Everyone's so focused on England that I don't think the pundits have mentioned who our opposition tonight actually is in a surprisingly long time. Why am I not surprised? Good that Grealish is getting his start, but it blows my mind that Sancho hasn't had a look in yet. Hope he comes on tonight.

Squeezed in another really short session today (well, yesterday now) after the football. Quite a bit of football on tomorrow (today) and Wednesday (tomorrow), and got a busy weekend coming up, so expecting progress to slow down quite a bit over the next week, but will continue to chip away at the game where I can. Today's session started with a quick trip back to the dark tunnel I mentioned yesterday on the upper floor of that tower, and this time I was able to interact with the skeleton behind the bars (guess I couldn't before due to having my shield up?). Bought some items from them, and actually found that because of how many times I had to take on the Moonlight Butterfly I had quite a few of these items already stored away that could remove poison/toxic, so hopefully that'll come in handy at some point. After talking to the skeleton gal some more, turned around and then made my way down the rest of the tunnel (or aqueduct? I hear water sloshing, and if there's one thing I've learned I'm not a fan of at all in games after The Last of Us, it's ankle- to waist-deep water in dark spaces). About halfway down I stepped out and unlocked a gate which went out into Undead Burg, but further down I came across another gate, which I unlocked, and came out to find that I was just past Firelink Shrine! Headed on down there, quickly rested up, but man, how many ways does Firelink even link to the other locations? It's insane! Made my way back over to the door I unlocked yesterday to go down to The Depths, a few guys with torches and swords, but nothing too bad. There was a big boy butcher and his two dogs as well, but after taking the dogs out, I just needed to tightly strafe the butcher for a few backstabs to get him down. After beating the butcher, even though there were ledges around be I could drop down to, I noticed a small hole hidden away behind some boxes, so rolled through and landed above this giant rat. Walked around the upper level I was on, grabbed a Spider Shield that was up there with me, then tried a plunging attack on the massive rat, which did a bit of damage, but I knew I needed to do more. Will, unfortunately for me I got stuck on something as I was strafing it, and it knocked me down and then beat me to a pulp. I died. No big deal, I thought, I was interested in what was in the rooms around it anyways, so made my way back over, dropped down, and this time it chased me down a ledge which led to a waterslide. No idea where I was at this point, then these giant frog/lizard looking things with these big round eyes popped up and started spraying what I imagined was toxic gas into the air, so I kept my distance and then killed them one at a time. Looked around the area a bit, killed some rats, then came across some more of these frog/lizard guys. I was taking two on, and they pushed me back a bit, then a third jumped in from behind, and all of a sudden I was surrounded in this gas. The meter filled up immediately, it flashed on screen that I was cursed, and I died immediately. No big deal, right? Well... So, a curse kills you instantly, halves your health, and it sounds like a pain to get rid of. Fantastic. Of all of the things I've come across so far in the game, whereas other hurdles (like bosses) you can overcome with skill and determination, this is by far and away the most infuriating, and yeah, I'd say that in particular was unfair (which is weird considering just how long I spent with three quarters of my health in Demon's Souls, but then even though there were areas to explore, it wasn't anywhere near as open as Dark Souls has been so far). I'm not going to whine about it, as I'm sure I'll bounce back, but I did nearly set the controller down for the night then and there. However, now that I was back at Firelink, I spotted something I somehow didn't before (was it here before?): a massive crow. Not sure if it's the one from the start of the game, but I was surprised it was here. I wasn't really in the mood to revisit The Depths, so had a bit more of a nose around Firelink instead, coming across the Way of White guy from the start whose friends have now arrived, and they say they're setting off somewhere soon. The NPC who at the start of the game said there was one been above ground and one below also gave me the tip that I could reach New Londo by heading down, and so I came across a graveyard I hadn't before around back, with some skeleton guys popping up as I went to grab the items. Gave me a bit of a harder time than I was expecting (just took a few more heavy attacks was all), and with my new limitations on health, didn't think heading that way would be particularly productive. Instead, I wanted to see if I could reach that crow, as when I walked into the room below it, it started mumbling. Made my way up to the second floor, but there was no way to interact with it, and so I spent a good 10 or 15 minutes looking around Firelink for a way to reach it. Eventually I decided to see if I could see anything from the shortcut to the Undead Parish that I unlocked before - the lift - and so made my way over, and headed up. Immediately, I noticed something I didn't before: I could see outside of the lift chamber for longer than I could remember. On the way down, I noticed a ledge right next to the lift, so hopped back on the lift while walking forwards into the wall, and I came out onto a ledge with a small grass outcropping nearby, and some crumbled pillars below. Followed the path around to the grass and noticed a small gap on the other side of the pillars that would take me to another part of the first floor of the shrine, however there was a bit of a gap, so I tried leaping, and I missed. Then I made my way back and rolled, and missed again. Tried a few more times, and eventually I landed on the pillar, and slowly made my way up to the gap I saw before. Went left, hugging the wall tightly as there wasn't much space, but noticed an item on the nearby roof, so rolled onto that. Picked up the item and found that it was a key, but also that I was now stuck on this roof, so careful I jumped down onto another nearby crumbled pillar before leaping down to the floor. Made my way back up to the broken pillar and hidden side of the first floor, and went right this time, following the path around to a nest, which offered me the prompt to roll into a ball. Naturally, I did, and well... ...the crow scooped me up and carried me off, just like at the start of the game. Great, I guess? Eventually landed, and turns out it had brought me back to the Undead Asylum, which is...weird. Checked my items and that key from before again, and as it turns out, I have two keys for the Undead Asylum (2F East and 2F West), so even at reduced health, figured I might as well look around. I'm kind of curious if there are any other interactions I could have with that crow or its nest, as I remember something similar in Demon's Souls where you could trade, but I remember it being a bit obtuse and but very clear what you would trade for at times, so if it's the same here (if there even is that option? How would I even know?), I don't think I'd have much luck without looking up a guide. Anyways, got to the bonfire, rested up, and think I'll have a look around the Undead Asylum again tomorrow. If I'm lucky hopefully I'll find one of those damn Purging Stones, but for some reason I doubt it. Lesson learned for when I do go back to The Depths, either way: I'm not interested in that small hole at all, and will just see if there's a different path from the room where the butcher was. I really hope there is, but before I can even think about that, need to find a way to lift this silly curse!

What, you mean the timed relay race between third placed teams needing to descend through the nine circles of Hell in order to track down Dumbledore and retrieve the Elden Ring to return it to Luke Skywalker doesn't make sense?

Denmark are out for blood. Confirming the kill.

It could be something, but seems to be aimed at 8 - 13 year olds and wants to "expand" (never a good sign). And looking at Cyber Group's other offerings... ...this could be rough. But fingers crossed it's not!

What an absolute banger from Christensen. Love to see it!

Another twist, had a feeling that corner for Belgium might lead to something. Unlucky for the Finland goalkeeper, but come on Denmark, you or Belgium need another to make it safe!

I seriously hate VAR, but especially when it comes to offside. That's ridiculous. Can we call this foot size discrimination? Because if Lukaku's feet were a bit smaller then he wouldn't have been offside. It was a lovely pass and finish too. Everything going against Denmark right now after that and the Russia penalty. Going to be an interesting 20 minutes (I hope).

They're definitely ramping up the pressure, I'd be surprised if Belgium didn't nick one, but Finland seen to have coped well so far. Yeah, great goal! Damsgaard has had a really good tournament, his embarrassing dive aside. They've just got another goal too, fingers crossed for them, they need to bump their goal difference to a bit I think to be in with any chance if they do end up being in third place. I'm sure they'll be hoping Belgium can put one away too.

Frustrating first half for Belgium, a few chances but nothing really clearcut, but excellent team effort to defend by Finland. Would love to see them go through and frustrate some of the other teams.

Kim Swift of Valve fame (Portal, Left 4 Dead) has made the move to become senior director of the Xbox Cloud Gaming team. VentureBeat and Jeff Grubb are saying that Kim Swift is coming in specifically to aid Hideo Kojima make his previously rumoured game for Xbox. Big move which could be part of an even bigger game, excited to see how this pans out. Kojima making a game for Xbox due to Game Pass would make sense (I mean, imagine everyone on Game Pass having access to a game like Death Stranding from the off), but him making something for the cloud specifically sounds even more intriguing a proposition.

Special Edition is up on Amazon UK for those still looking (Zelda) Still nothing yet on the Nintendo UK Store for the amiibo

Back up on the PlayStation Store: