December 2021

Today Azur Lane publisher Yostar released the next major event focused on the Iron Blood, and is celebrating with a trailer.

The trailer introduces the new Iron Blood shipgirls that came with the event, which is 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

On top of them, the event brings a metric ton of new skins with a maid theme.

The event started today and will end on Jan. 13. You can check out the contents in the trailer below.

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.

The most shocking moment in Halo Infinite isn’t about exploding a derelict ancient space station or accidentally awakening a once-slumbering threat. It’s a brief exchange between two main characters, one that reveals the extent to which Halo protagonist Master Chief would go to fulfill what he sees as his immovable…

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December still has a few days left, which means we still have a little bit more time to reminisce back on the year that was. In this case, Japanese publisher Nintendo released a punchy supercut of what are, apparently, the most popular smaller budget games on its portable platform.

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It will be a while before the ninth PSO2 New Genesis class appears, as Sega confirmed the Summoner will be delayed.

The post PSO2 New Genesis Summoner Class Delayed appeared first on Siliconera.

Every year a glut of video game releases hit the market, making it hard to keep track of everything. RPG fans had a pretty good 2021, from fantastic indies to new games in popular franchises. Bandai Namco gave us two stellar RPGs in Tales of Arise and Scarlet Nexus. Remakes and remasters, like Nier: Replicant, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, provided plenty of nostalgia, while also bringing new fans into the fold. Longawaited entries finally debuted with Shin Megami Tensei V and Neo: The World Ends With You. And that’s only scratching the surface. Here are five RPGs worth your time that may have slipped past your radar.

If you’re a long-time Switch owner, you’ve probably figured out that the console is an indie powerhouse. Sure, the Marios and the Zeldas are great too, but there’s something special about loading up on some great indie games to play in bed or on the go. 2021 was a strong year for indies across the board, but if you’re curious which games attracted the most eyeballs on Switch, Nintendo’s got you covered.

The company released a brief video showing off the best-selling indie games on Switch. Sadly, the montage doesn’t reveal actual sales numbers nor does it rank these titles in any kind of order based on performance. Apparently, all we need to know is that they outsold the gazillion other indie games to hit the eShop in 2021, which is still an impressive feat.

If you don’t feel like watching the video, the best-selling indie games on Switch in 2021 are (in alphabetical order):

Square Enix released a new gallery of screenshots and details of the upcoming JRPG Dragon Quest X Offline.

The screenshots showcase the fact that several guest characters can accompany you in your adventure for a while as temporary members of your party.

There are over 10 of these characters available in the game.

Perhaps the more interesting element we see is the fact that Square Enix has found a rather clever way of keeping players involved even after they finish the game, while sticking close to the traditions of the Dragon Quest series.

Once you clear Drago Quest X Offline, you’ll receive a special Spell of Restoration (Fukkatsu no Jumon, the password that was used in the oldest Dragon Quest games to save and load at certain points of the story) code.

When entered in the MMORPG Dragon Quest X Online, this code will boost all of the jobs included in the offline JRPG version to level 70, so you can pretty much pick up where you left off.

You can enjoy the screenshots below.

Today Koei Tecmo released a new trailer of Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation to celebrate the launch of the New Year event.

The event comes in two parts. The first started today and ends on January 6. The second starts on January 6 and ends on January 13.

Each part has a separate gacha with a brand new costume (very) vaguely inspired by a Miko outfit. The first part includes outfits for Momiji, Ayane, Tamaki, Nyotengu, and Helena.

The second part will include outfits for Misaki, Kasumi, Nanami, Momiji, and Hitomi.

The first part also includes the usual pool roulette, while rock climbing will return during the second.

A daily login bonus will grant seven silver omikuji sticks, and two golden ones at the end. By gifting them to one of the girls you can receive a random number of VStones with the silver ones (up to 1,000) and 1,000 with the golden ones.

As usual, you should keep in mind that this is not available for the English versions of the game, which are behind in content by over a year and have last year’s event instead.

Speaking of past years, New Year costumes from past events will be provided over multiple gachas, because you can’t ever have enough gachas to milk your players, can you?

You can check out the trailer below.

Today Nippon Ichi Software released a new trailer of its upcoming horror game Yomawari 3.

The trailer is labeled as an extended version of the one showcased a while ago when the game was announced, and it adds quite a bunch of gameplay scenes.

You can watch it below.

Yomawari 3 continues the Yomawari series and will be released in Japan for PS4 and Nintendo Switch on April 21, 2022.

The Yomawari series started in 2015 with Yomawari: Night Alone, and then continued in 2017 with Yomawari: Midnight Shadows.

At the moment, NIS America has not yet announced a localization for the west, but that’s normal considering that it has just been announced for Japan a couple of weeks ago.

Today, during an event from Comiket 99 in Odaiba, Tokyo, Muv-Luv publisher aNCHOR showcased two trailers for its next games.

The first trailer is for the Muv-Luv Alternative sequel Muv-Luv Integrate, which interestingly reveals the subtitle “A New Beginning.” More information about it will be shared at a later time.

The second showcased the Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After sequel Muv-Luv Resonative. The trailer included the subtitled “Still, I Live in This World.”

According to the developers, significant progress has been made on the games behind the scenes.

During the panel, brand producer Kazutoshi “Tororo” Matsumura also mentioned that recently Muv-Luv Alternative achieved the best sales on Steam it ever had since its release on the platform. About 30% of these are from Japan, while the rest come from the rest of the world. He also added that the developers hear the fans’ requests like the potential localization of Schwarzesmarken.

He confirmed that the mobile game of the original Muv-Luv for iOS and Android is almost ready for release. On top of that, we then heard that an objective for the future is to make the franchise something the fans can easily get involved with, with their own creations and creativity.

 aNCHOR released the latest Producer Letter video about the action game Project Mikhail: A Muv-Luv War Story.

The video, presented as usual by producer Sho Hamanaga, focuses on explaining and showcasing the changes that will come starting with the major update in February.

The movement and targeting mechanics will be radically changed, while the developers are aiming to make dismantling parts easier. The option to switch between Japanese and English languages will also be added.

Hamanaga-san also explained the role of Project Mikhail within the larger Muv-Luv franchise.

We then hear possible routes for the expansion of the game’s multiplayer in the farther future, including the ability to work with allies to fight enemy TSFs. Voice chat is also planned.

Frontier Mode is also going to be changed to make the players’ impact on the outcome more evident. This should come three months after the improvement of the controls, and there is a possibility that it’ll require a shutdown of the current Frontier Mode.

You can watch it below.

It has been 12 months, or as some might say a year, and there have been video games. In fact, looking at Eurogamer's top 10 of the year as well as your own top 50, it's clear there have been some mighty fine video games too, undermining the impression that 2021's been something of a lull for the industry.

Yes, there might not have been so many big ticket titles, and yes we're having to wait until next year for the likes of Breath of the Wild's sequel, Starfield, Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West, but we've not been short of crowd pleasing headliners.

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With Christmas all wrapped up for this year, we now look to the beginning of a new year. 2022 is right around the corner, and so is another year of keyboard clicks and gaming. To ring in the next 365 days and all the gaming goodness they're likely to bring, if you're a PC gamer, you may be looking for new ways to upgrade and enhance your powerhouse setup.

If it happens to be a new keyboard that's in your sights, look no further than this deal available on the Logitech G915 Lightspeed TKL wireless gaming keyboard available for £166 at Amazon, a £33 saving on its usual price.

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But might not appeal to anyone else I have so many vivid memories of Monster Rancher growing up. For those unaware, this was...

The post Monster Rancher 1 and 2 DX is the perfect cozy game for millennials on winter break appeared first on Destructoid.

The Winter Fortnite frivolities are underway once again [Update: Epic has confirmed that servers are back online. “We appreciate everyone’s understanding as...

The post Fortnite was down, but the servers are back now (Update) appeared first on Destructoid.

If you want cheese, prepare for war Oddbug Studios’ medieval RPG Tails of Iron has had no trouble whatsoever winning...

The post Check out this brilliant (and super-cute) Tails of Iron fan model appeared first on Destructoid.

No one knows when Fortnite servers will be back up

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Jujutsu Kaisen 0 packs on the gore and the philosophy in equal measure, and it’s the perfect setup for the series

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Gems like Eastward, Unpacking, and more made the cut

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Following the reveal of Version 2.4 of Genshin Impact, developer MiHoYo released a new trailer featuring one of the new characters that will come with the update.

Specifically, we take a look at Shenhe, with the video providing a glimpse into her backstory.

We know that she will become available when the update launches on January 5.

You can watch the trailer below. We also included the Japanese version, so you can pick your favorite voice-over language.

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: What horrible smell travels around corners really fast?

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Bauhutte, the folks behind the gaming bed and the gaming mattress, are back with another interesting product: A hand massager for gamers.

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The episodes will be uploaded on a weekly basis.

The post Tales of the Abyss Anime Episodes to Appear on YouTube appeared first on Siliconera.

The latest Genshin Impact trailer focuses on Shenhe, showing her at home with her mentor Cloud Retainer and hinting at her troubled past.

The post Genshin Impact Shenhe Trailer Shows Her With Cloud Retainer appeared first on Siliconera.

While 2021 certainly had its ups and downs, one game that came out of nowhere and resonated well with audiences around the globe was 1047 Games’ free-to-play sci-fi shooter, Splitgate.

Blending Portal-like traversal mechanics with the snappy first-person shooting of the Halo series, the Nevada-based studio’s debut title is a rivetingly fun good time. Don’t just take our word for it, though.

Yes, from super busy servers getting overwhelmed by high levels of demand to a $1.5 billion valuation following 13 million downloads, the start-up company’s FPS sure has gone from strength to strength, eh?

To help showcase what a great year Splitgate has had, the developer has released a really interesting infographic highlighting a handful of key facts. Feel free to check out said end-of-year image down below:

Our Most Disappointing Game of the Year 2021 selections represent the real bummers of the year.

The post Siliconera’s Most Disappointing Game of the Year 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

Fancy playing something different on your Nintendo Switch? The collector's edition of Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun on the Nintendo Switch is now £80 from Argos.

The collector's edition of the game includes the trademark taiko drum along with two beaters. This isn't a bad price for the game considering most retailers, including Amazon, are selling it for over £100. And if you hold onto this, it should only go up in price as the drums become harder to find.

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A freezy demon warms your feet.

The post SMT V Jack Frost Slippers Open for Pre-Order at Animo appeared first on Siliconera.

Today, developer Ghost Ship Games released a new PlayStation launch trailer for its sci-fi mine-’em-up, Deep Rock Galactic, which launches on Jan. 4 for PS4 and PS5. For those on PC and Xbox One, worry not, as the game is already available there as well.

For those unaware, what makes Deep Rock Galactic’s launch on PlayStation systems particularly special is that it’s one of January’s PS Plus games, so if you subscribe to the service, you’ll be able to nab the co-op survival shooter at no extra cost. Pretty sweet, right?

Feel free to check out the new launch vid down below:

Complementing the first-person looter-shooter action gameplay is a ‘Heigh Ho’-style dwarven mining song, plus a bunch of accolades from various outlets weighing in on what they thought about the title.

In short, there’s definitely a positive buzz for Deep Rock Galactic, which should bode well for those who were on the fence about the game – or like me, hadn’t really heard much about it yet.

Christmas may be over, but the Epic Games Store isn’t done handing out free gifts just yet. Its latest free game is actually three free games in one. Until January 6, you can head over there and grab the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, its 2016 sequel Rise of The Tomb Raider, and its 2019 follow-up, Shadow of The Tomb Raider…

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Talk about redefining “unfriggenbelievable.” A Halo Infinite player recently went 100-and-0 during an impressive spree of free-for-all matches in 343 Industries’ popular multiplayer shooter.

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the greatest game ever made, according to more than 50,000 people who voted in TV Asahi's recent poll to find out the 100 best games of all time. Thanks to Kotaku for the story. 

On December 27, the Japanese TV channel ran a three-hour special revealing the ranking. The list was also posted on Twitter by user @MLZ0902.

Of the 100 games on the list, there are a few surprising stand-outs. Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima snagged a spot, coming in at number 66, as did Minecraft, ranked number 20. Both versions of Persona 5 – the original base game and the expanded edition, Persona 5 Royal – were on the list in spots 42 and 93, respectively. What made Persona 5 better than Royal in the minds of those voting, it's unclear. Lastly, despite only being released last year in 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was voted the fourth-best game of all time by TV Asahi's viewers. 

Here's TV Asahi's full list (via Kotaku): 

There’s always a city. There’s always a lighthouse. There’s always a man. There’s also always an opportunity for a company to create a new game in a franchise to make some money, and while I recognize that’s exactly why a fourth BioShock game is in development, it’s hard to stop myself from growing more and more excited about what it might be. 

BioShock Infinite, the last in the series, was released in 2013, and at the earliest, the next one, now in development at 2K’s new Cloud Chamber studio, hits next year. That’s a massive nine-year gap, which has hopefully given those at Cloud Chamber enough time to stir on what a new BioShock game needs and doesn’t need – it has for me, at least. 

Ignoring rumors of above-ground and underground cities and Antarctic metropolises – because after all, those are just rumors until Cloud Chamber reveals what it’s cooking up – here are five things the next BioShock needs to do and three things it does not.

It’s pretty difficult to quantify which games actually whip ass, mostly because it’s a little subjective. That being said, if barrelling through the streets of a futuristic, neon-glazed Detroit, hopping over pursuing cop cars and racing through business offices and factories to the tune of an engrossing soundtrack doesn’t whip ass, I don’t know what does.

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The latest brief prequel story going over KOF XV team roots looks at how Antonov, King of Dinosaurs, and Ramon got together for Team GAW.

The post New KOF XV Story Features King of Dinosaurs, Ramon, and Antonov appeared first on Siliconera.

The PC is full of early access, expansions, and older titles holding on well beyond their release. But special new games still break through!

The post Siliconera’s PC Game of the Year 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

Last Friday, Amy Schneider became the highest-earning woman in the history of the quiz show Jeopardy! That makes her the fourth-highest-earning contestant overall for regular season games, and fifth for overall winnings. After her latest game yesterday, she’s tied with Julia Collins, who had a 20-day win streak in…

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