December 2021

And a legitimately suspenseful finale leaves plenty of new territory to explore

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Every year our clone forms degrade, and Katharine spends the winter break copying each consciousness into a new body. Don't worry: we can't feel a thing! Since our new forms are still coming online from their time spent in the primordial flesh soup vat of the RPS Treehouse, we can't post over Christmas, so we've prepared some Christmas Cracker jokes instead! You can help fund the research into longer-lasting clone bodies with the RPS supporter program.

Now, time to enjoy your nice joke!

Q: Which regimen was set up specifically to help vacuum cleaners overcome their worries and insecurities?

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The original plan was for Square Enix to make a big year-end announcement regarding Final Fantasy XVI. That’s not going to happen, and the game has been delayed by at least half a year.

“When we last spoke, I promised I would have more information on Final Fantasy XVI sometime later in 2021,” wrote producer Naoki…

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Hello! Over the next few days we're going to be going back over some of our favourite games and moments and themes and whatnot from this very strange year. We hope you enjoy looking back with us!

For most of 2020 I was obsessed with a book, The Bells of Old Tokyo, by Anna Sherman. It's a book about an awful lot of things, and I won't do it the violence of trying to untangle any of that here. But one of the things it's about is a coffee shop in Tokyo run by a man named Daibo.

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19 of the new illustrations appeared during the countdown to the Endwalker expansion.

The post Square Enix Adds New FFXIV Smartphone and Desktop Wallpapers appeared first on Siliconera.

This year didn’t only bless us with terrific anime, but also with wonderful manga. Thank goodness for that! Here is our list of the best manga of 2021.

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Until December 28, Akira is streaming on YouTube for free in Japan. With the country’s end of year holidays underway, people have more time to spend watching the movie, and perhaps, more time to notice all the little details.

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Episode six of The New Eurogamer Podcast is now available to all. Remember, supporters of the website get these episodes first.

Today's episode of The New Eurogamer Podcast is bitter-sweet. Sweet in the sense it's about someone at the very heart of Eurogamer - someone who has worked here for a colossal 14 years, shaping the website and leading it - but bitter because they are now leaving. Sniff. They are, of course, Oli Welsh.

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Developer Spooky Doorway and publisher Akupara Games have released a free batch of DLC for their spookily unsettling 2D pixellated adventure title, The Darkside Detective: A Fumble In The Dark.

Dubbed Ghosts of Christmas Passed, the new DLC is available to download now for PC, the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and Google Stadia.

Specifically, the fresh content adds a new festive case for Detective Francis McQueen and Officer Patrick Dooley to solve. Check out a recent reveal trailer for the newly-added case down below:

For those unaware, The Darkside Detective: A Fumble In The Dark is the follow-up to 2017’s simply titled The Darkside Detective. Essentially, it adds a bunch of new cases to the point-and-click adventure sleuth-’em-up.

For more information, here’s a brief overview of Ghosts of Christmas Passed courtesy of a press release we received:

Even though the first ELEX game didn’t set the world on fire, there’s a lot to appreciate in Piranha Bytes‘ open-world action-RPG. With unbridled freedom, a deep progression system, a gorgeous world, a winding choice and consequence branching narrative, and fun exploration, it’s clear that the veteran German studio poured a lot of love and care into its unique post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy universe.

Nevertheless, one sticking point many players experienced while embarking on the treacherous journey through Magalan’s 50-hour adventure was its underdeveloped real-time combat, which felt slightly unresponsive.

Thankfully, however, the developer has gone on record to placate fans who may be a little concerned that the same issues will carry over to their upcoming sequel, ELEX II.

In a recent interview with Twinfinite, Piranha Bytes helped put fans’ potential worries at ease, saying:

We wanted to improve, and we reacted to player feedback. Therefore, we have put a lot of effort into the new combat system, to make it feel more dynamic and react directly to the players’ input. It is much more responsive now than in ELEX. We have gone through several iterations, have made a lot of tests to bring it to the next level.

The offline mode has been delayed to improve the general quality of this version of the game.

The post Dragon Quest X Offline Delayed to Summer 2022 appeared first on Siliconera.

Development on the title has been delayed by roughly six months.

The post Final Fantasy XVI Development Delayed, New Details to Arrive in Spring 2022 appeared first on Siliconera.

As a child struggling to sleep at night I'd dream of three worlds. First and least of these was Desert World, a blithe eternity of golden sand always viewed from kilometres up, where fizzing white rings rose toward me like expanding surf. I'd try to find my way down to the surface, but always at the risk of glitching straight through and ending up in Snake World, where monstrous serpents emerged from darkened kitchens.

Somewhere between these two poles lay the realm of the Animals, not that they were really animals, but clouds of eyelash-thin mandible, grot and sparkle, like rotten food on the point of becoming a school of tropical fish. I loved Animal World. I used to spend hours trying to mind-hack my way into it. I was pretty shocked to find its likeness in Sluggish Morss: Pattern Circus - an irresistibly strange, gristly, sorrowful, comical and inventive album of creatures, songs, places and phrases from Jack King-Spooner and composer Helena Celle.

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Hello! We're still catching up with our memories and moments of 2021. Here's Lottie considering a long career in Runescape.

I like to joke about how, for me, RuneScape is less of a game and more of a lifestyle choice; though, after 15 years, I should probably admit to myself that this joke is bordering on the realm of fact.

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To better understand the SMT V localization process, Siliconera spoke with Lead Editor John Moralis about its characters and demons.

The post Interview: Looking at the SMT V Characters and Demons Localization Process appeared first on Siliconera.

The wheeled PC can actually move at a speed of 100 km/h (~62 mph).

The post Sega Will Give Away a PC That Is Built on Wheels appeared first on Siliconera.

Get a first look at these outfits in motion.

The post Genshin Impact Ninguang and Keqing Cosmetic Outfits Detailed appeared first on Siliconera.

International shipping on these items are available.

The post Atelier Ryza and Lila Life-Size Standees Now Available appeared first on Siliconera.

These got us through the year

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Square Enix plans to show more from FF16 in spring 2022

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Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida took to Twitter for an announcement regarding the game’s development. Citing COVID-19 issues, including how remote work has had impacts on critical aspects of the game development pipeline, Yoshida explained that news about the title has been delayed out of this year and should be expected in spring 2022.

Given that the year is almost over, the fact that this news drop fell out of 2021 shouldn’t be very surprising, and many, many games the world over have been delayed or impacted by COVID-19 in various capacities. You can check out the entirety of the messaging right here in the Tweet below!

A message from Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida. #FF16 #FFXVI pic.twitter.com/qtfJUUp6LA

The Genshin Impact Marvelous Merchandise event is back as 2021 ends, giving people a chance to get Primogems and other items.

The post Genshin Impact Marvelous Merchandise Begins Today appeared first on Siliconera.

Black Rock Shooter returns!

The post Black Rock Shooter Fragment Mobile Game Debuts Fall 2022 appeared first on Siliconera.

Two new characters, plus the submerged ruins of an ancient nation, await

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It has everything good Witcher — and fantasy — stories need

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Anyone who is passionate about overclocking knows that the competition for the world’s fastest gaming PC is very challenging, so Sega decided to shift the playing field.

In order to build the world’s “fastest” gaming PC, the house of Sonic collaborated with Intel, ASRock, G-Force, and Masami Hirosaka to build a PC that indeed goes really fast… on a track.

Apparently, the RC-controller PC, which was built to celebrate the ongoing Steam Winter Sale, can run at 100 Kmh. That’s fast all right for a box on wheels.

The PC /RC Car will actually be gifted to a user who follows Sega’s Japanese Twitter account and retweets this tweet but can only be delivered in Japan according to the rules.

The prize also includes 23 codes for Sega games on Steam.

Here are the specs:

•  Maximum speed: 100kmh
•  CPU: 12th Generation Intel Core i9-12900K Processor
•  Motherboard: ASRock Z690M-ITX / ax
•  Graphics: ASRock Radeon RX 6900 XT OC Formula 16GB
•  Memory: 32GB KIT (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200
•  SSD: 2000GB

Below you can see two videos showing it off.

Did you see the Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak trailer at The Game Awards 2021? Well, the large expansion that’s headed to the core game is scheduled to get more news in the spring of 2022. With all of the complicated moving parts that go into game development, 2022 is shaping up to be a year full of awesome, great games – but also plenty of shifting in terms of when things are announced, when things come out, and when we can expect to see significant information drops on big titles. This announcement follows the revelation that Final Fantasy XVI will also see news hitting in the same timeframe, spring 2022. Will spring be packed with a ton of new info for a bunch of different games? We’ll have to see, but it’s shaping up that way!

Hunters, we know you’re itching for more #Sunbreak news…

Stay tuned… Spring 2022! pic.twitter.com/01k8baeRpb

The Slitherfang stands among the most impressive new machines of Horizon Forbidden West. Fans got their first glimpse of this intimidating hybrid of a cobra and rattlesnake in a new trailer from The Game Awards. This towering serpent packs a wallop, and we got to watch Aloy go head-to-head with it.

A new hands-off look at a jaw-dropping boss fight against this mechanical serpent gave us a good idea of everything it can do. First and foremost, the Slitherfang can fire pressurized acid streams generated by a tank at the base of its throat. Given the extended range of this attack, firing arrows at the acid tank to disable this attack and other orange-colored components should be done as early as possible. 

Of course, acid isn’t the only weapon at the Slitherfang’s disposal. The rattle on its tail fires bolts of lightning that produce a wide-reaching wave of electricity. We noticed the Slitherfang shakes its rattle shortly before firing, much like the warning sign of a real rattlesnake, which is a nice touch. The rattle is fragile, though, and skilled archers can detach the tail with a few well-placed arrows. Best of all, you can pick up and use the rattle as a weapon against the Slitherfang (although the machine does sport a resistance to shock damage). 

Ahead of the New Year, a Honkai Impact 3rd Herrscher of Flamescion time-themed skin called Time Runner will appear.

The post Honkai Impact 3rd Herrscher of Flamescion Skin Arrives for the New Year appeared first on Siliconera.

Another Hololive Vtuber is heading to D4DJ Groovy Mix, as an IRyS song is joining the game alongside a login event and disc skin.

The post Hololive IRyS Song Added to D4DJ Groovy Mix appeared first on Siliconera.

Third-party developers have new screenshots of relevant airports coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator, while another has been released.

TechnoBrain released new screenshots of its upcoming Osaka Kansai International Airport (RJBB) in Japan. 

At the moment, the airport doesn’t have a release date, but it looks very promising.

Today Square Enix released a couple of trailers of War of The Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, one of which focuses on the Persona 5 Royal crossover which was announced a few days ago.

We get to see Kasumi Yoshizawa’s Phantom Thief form Violet in action showing off her moves in the game. It’s worth mentioning that the crossover is currently going on only in Japan, while western fans will likely have to wait a few months longer.

The second trailer focuses on a new character for the Warriors of the Crystals storyline, which in Japan is also far ahead. His name is Alstoria.

You can check out both videos below.

Today Azur Lane publisher Yostar released the anime trailer of the next major event focused on the Iron Blood Trailer with English subtitles.

The trailer introduces the new shipgirls that will come in the recently-revealed event, which will be titled “Tower of Transcendence” in the west (in Japan, it’s titled “Midgard Tower”).

We see the following:

• UR Battleship Ulrich von Hutten
• SSR Heavy Cruiser Prinz Adalbert
• SSR Light Cruiser Magdeburg
• Elite Light Carrier Elbe
• Elite Submarine U-1206

We already know that the event starts on Dec. 29 and ends on Jan. 13.

If you’re unfamiliar with Azur Lane, it’s is a free-to-play mobile horizontal scrolling shooter/RPG hybrid currently available for iOS and Android.

We also know that a new console game following Azur Lane Crosswave is in development at Compile Heart, even if no further information has been shared for the moment.

Electronic Arts nearly made a Harry Potter MMO but decided to cancel the project due to "changes" at the publisher and a lack of faith in the Harry Potter brand remaining popular, apparently.

This information comes from Kim Salzer, the former director of product marketing at EA (2000-2003). During a recent interview with The Real Brandolorian, Salzer was asked to comment on canceled projects, and she mentioned the Harry Potter game.

Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida says that the game's next big reveal will come in Spring 2022. Yoshida originally said that more information would come later this year, but due to complications around COVID-19, the game's development has been delayed by almost half a year.

The development team is comprised of employees across the world, and in order to offset the effects of COVID-19, the workforce had to decentralize and work from home. "This has unfortunately hampered communication from the Tokyo office, which, in turn, has led to delays in--or in extreme cases, cancellations of---asset deliveries from our outsource partners," Yoshida explained.

Despite these challenges, Yoshida hopes that they will have a minimal impact by the new year. The team is working on increasing graphic resource quality, refining combat mechanics, fleshing out individual battles, touching up cutscenes, and increasing overall graphical optimization.

The goal now is to have the team get as much hands-on time as possible with Final Fantasy XVI so it can be fully polished upon release. You can read Yoshida's full statement below.

Multiverse of Madness, meet Multiverse of DANCES

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Also check out the top new releases, most played games, and more

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Season 3 is only a few months away

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A new trailer unveiled today for The Batman, which is coming to theaters on March 4 of next year, showcases just a taste of the action. The DC comics IP has a long history of films, and this particular one features the classic Catwoman alongside our caped crusader. Watch the trailer right here!

A bit of a lesser-utilized villain in comparison to notable giants like The Joker, The Riddler could make for an interesting antagonist in this film. I do hope that it doesn’t turn into the Batman version of Saw given how the Riddler is more of a hands-off style foe, and now we have a big two-minute trailer to check out. In it, we see plenty of staples - the dark, gritty Gotham, the Batmobile, an ostensible journey into the Wayne family’s checkered past, and more. All-in-all, this looks like a suitably dark take on Batman.