Siliconera

Honkai: Star Rail features a player character that you will control throughout your time in the game, with a selectable avatar being made available at the tail end of the prologue mission. Players will have the option to pick one of two player avatars as their Trailblazer in Honkai: Star Rail, but you won't be able to change it once you've made your decision. Both options are purely cosmetic and have no impact on the gameplay.

There are male and female player character avatars in Honkai: Star Rail, and before finalizing your selection the game will warn you that you can not change to the other Trailblazer option once you've made your decision. Again, this has little bearing on the gameplay, and will just impact the avatar of the player character. That said, if you're not at all interested in running around as the player character, you can swap between any character in your party and wander around as them instead.

Honkai: Star Rail will come to the PC and mobile devices on April 26, 2023. It will also eventually appear on the PS4 and PS5. A special Twitch drop campaign for the game will run from April 26, 2023 to March 24, 2023. Players can obtain in-game currency and level-up materials by watching participating streams on Twitch.

The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed expansion is here, and someone might wonder if they should or need to beat the main campaign before playing the DLC. It's a good question! Especially since characters from past Xenoblade Chronicles games, like Shulk and Rex, both appear. Not to mention it references a lot of things people don't see in the third entry until they're well into its story or perhaps even beat it. Nintendo doesn't bar you from starting it if you haven't completed the main Xenoblade Chronicles 3 campaign, so you can select that story right away.

Honkai: Star Rail, while visually similar to Genshin Impact, is a game of it's very own. Focusing on turn-based, strategic battles, players will have their skills tested against a wide array of foes. But much like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail boasts an array of different voice audio options which includes Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Players can seamlessly make the switch between all voice packs at any given time, as soon as they're able to open up their menu.

After completing the first mandatory battle and cutscene, which isn't skippable, you can immediately open up your options menu. From there, click the little gear to bring up the the game settings. The third icon from the left, which you can see in our example below, is where you can change the voice audio in Honkai: Star Rail to Korean, Chinese, or Japanese. Players will need to download the required voice packs to use them, however.

[caption id="attachment_960770" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

You can also choose to delete any voice packs you're not using to save space by selecting the "Voice Pack Resource Management" option when selecting your audio language of choice. Additionally, you can download it again at a later date if you want to swap back. You also don't need to quit the game for the audio swap to take place.

Now that the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed expansion DLC is available, people may wonder how to start the new adventure. Fortunately, it falls in line with past additional stories like Xenoblade Chronicles' Future Connected and Xenoblade Chronicles 2's Torna ~ The Golden Country. You just buy the Expansion Pass, then select it from the main menu.

[caption id="attachment_960764" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

How to start and play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed DLC

First, buy the Expansion Pass for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. It's $29.99 on the eShop. Unlike Torna - The Golden Country, it isn't sold in any standalone form. When you do make this purchase, you'll also get the previous three waves of content that add new heroes, costumes, and challenges to the main game.

Nintendo updated Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and shared the patch notes for the 2.0.0 update. As expected, it adds support for the new Future Redeemed expansion. However, it also fixes a big issue with the swimwear. Prior to this, it was possible to get an error that would make it say a player had completed the challenges to get the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 swimsuits from a past add-on, but not actually have the swimwear.

The swimsuits were a part of the Expansion Pass' second wave of content. People could complete challenges to earn swimwear for all of the main Xenoblade Chronicles 3 characters, and now everyone who experienced the issue will immediately get the swimsuits. Nintendo noted that anyone who had this happen after starting a new game will find the outfits in their inventory after applying the patch.

Here are the full patch notes for the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 2.0.0 update.

Additions to Spec

• Added functionality to receive Expansion Pass Wave 4.

Bug Fixes

Smilegate and Amazon Games announced that a new class will appear in Lost Ark in May 2023: the Slayer. As part of the MMORPG's content roadmap, players will have the opportunity to create a Slayer sometime next month. A more concrete date as to when the Slayer will appear will arrive in the future.

Like the Destroyer and Berserker, the Slayer is a two-handed DPS class in Lost Ark. This is more or less Smilegate's answer to gender-locking both the Destroyer and Berserker, which means the Slayer will be a female-exclusive class. Players will also need to create an entirely new character to create their very own Slayer once it arrives. The Slayer is already available in the Korean version of the game.

You can see more of the second part of the Lost Ark content roadmap below.

[embed]https://twitter.com/playlostark/status/1650896316657176576[/embed]

Lost Ark has seen several major content updates appear since it's Western release in February 2023. This has included the addition of several high tier raids, and the inclusion of the Artist and Reaper as new classes. The game has also received some overhauls concerning its gold system. This was done in an attempt to help solidify the in-game economy in both the North American and European servers, due to the high amount of gold sellers in the game itself.

Lost Ark is available on PC through the Steam storefront.

HoYoVerse announced there will be a Honkai: Star Trail Twitch drops event. It will begin once the game launches on April 26, 2023. It also went over the steps to start earning items, noted which streams will reward items, and offered a hint as to what people can collect for watching other people play. This promotion will last about a month until May 24, 2023,

First, people need to wait until Honkai: Star Trail launches to connect their account and start getting Twitch drops. HoYoVerse noted it will offer an account linking page to perform that process, which will involve tying a HoYoVerse account to Twitch. Once you do that, all you need to do is watch streams of the game. The company didn’t specify any specific streamers or streams.

Here are some of items that will be sent to your in-game inbox after watching and claiming items at your Twitch Drops rewards inventory page, as well as what they do.

• Condensed Aether: Light Core EXP material
• Credits: In-game currency
• Lost Gold Fragment: Relic EXP material
• Stellar Jades: Premium currency
• Traveler's Guides: Character EXP material

Honkai: Star Trail will come to the PC and mobile devices on April 26, 2023, and its Twitch drops event runs until May 24, 2023. It will eventually come to the PS4 and PS5.

Sales for Wild Hearts and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty are strong according to Koei Tecmo in an April 2023 financial report. While exact numbers were not disclosed, the developer revealed that due to the success of both titles, it achieved record high sales. Koei Tecmo may potentially reveal more concrete information concerning the sales of both Wild Hearts and Wo Long at a later date. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Wild Hearts, made in collaboration with EA, was off to a somewhat rocky start in PC, with multiple performance issues reported after its release. However, Koei Tecmo has continued to support the game with post-launch content. This includes new Kemono, massive fearsome beasts players are tasked with slaying, rolling out through scheduled updates.

Similar to Wild Hearts, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is another new Koei Tecmo action title. While it draws some comparison to Nioh in terms of visuals, it boasts it's own unique spin on the already established Koei Tecmo IP.

As you play Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp, you’ll eventually unlock COs and the ability to use these characters in different maps. Especially if you head into versus. However, due to the way the game is executed, it isn’t like there’s one overall “best” person. Depending on the situation, some may be better for that particular fight. So here are some you may want to prioritize for certain situations.

Best Advance Wars CO for capturing headquarters: Sami

When you’re first starting out and don’t have many COs available, Sami is one of the most solid Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2 characters. You can’t underestimate her infantry. She’ll capture faster, and they’ll be stronger. If you have, say, an APC, it’ll be able to carry an Infantry or Mech unit further too. Her Double Time CO Power increases infantry units’ range, attack, and defense. Victory March, her Super CO Power, offers even greater boosts to all three areas. It means you can get in there and take things over quicker.

The latest game in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, is getting a Switch release. Compile Heart announced that the spin-off will come to the Nintendo Switch on August 10, 2023. The game will have both a physical and digital release, and the standard edition will cost 8,580 yen, or about $64.

A trailer for the Switch version of the game was also released, which you can check out below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wCFtElhMgE

Outside of the standard version of Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, there will also be a special edition and a double pack. The special edition will come in a collector’s box and include a message from Nepgear, a visual book, and a soundtrack CD. This version will cost 12,100 yen, or about $90. Meanwhile, the double pack will include physical copies of both Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters and the upcoming Neptunia GameMaker R:Evolution, which also releases on August 10, 2023. The double pack will cost 12,870 yen, or about $96.

Nintendo revealed more information about Rinka, Rex’s apprentice and a new character that will appear in the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed DLC expansion. Rinka is a cautious and sensitive individual, as well as being an intelligent soldier and important member of the Liberators.

Rinka respects Rex a lot, and in a video shared by Nintendo she calls him her teacher. However, this doesn’t stop Rinka from scolding Rex for acting too rashly or impetuously. She bears a Core Crystal in her chest, indicating that she might be a Blade. She resembles Pandoria, Zeke’s Blade that appeared in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. In addition, Rinka shares her Japanese voice actor with Pandoria.

https://twitter.com/XenobladeJP/status/1650743208748683265

In the original Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Rex’s pupil was the founder of House Cassini. This means that Rinka might go on to have a larger role in the foundation of the new City during the events of Future Redeemed.

https://twitter.com/XenobladeJP/status/1650742534090657793

Ryo Hirohashi lends her voice to Rinka in the Japanese dub of the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed DLC. She is well known for her roles in voicing Miles "Tails" Prower, Cheese, and Chocola in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, alongside voicing Pandoria in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

The Sonic Frontiers Update 3 DLC story should feel consistent with the main game, as Writer Ian Flynn confirmed he returned for it. He took to Twitter to confirm his involvement. He also noted Director Morio Kishimoto provided “events and key details.”

Here’s Flynn’s official announcement. In a follow-up to it, he noted he also worked on the promotional materials for the Sonic Frontiers DLC story.

Since it's been making the rounds: I'm back for the #SonicFrontiers DLC story.

As before, the events & key details were supplied by Kishimoto-san & my job was to flesh it out. The team is extremely hard-working and ambitious. The DLC will be truly important. #KnowingSmile

— Ian Flynn (@IanFlynnBKC) April 25, 2023

As a reminder, Flynn’s been quite involved in the Sonic the Hedgehog series in the past. In addition to working on the Sonic Frontiers story, he worked on Sonic Origins, the Sonic Forces comic, and the regular Sonic the Hedgehog comics.

Sega announced a new major update for Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis (also known as PSO2 NGS) that will bring a lot of changes to the game. New tools and options will arrive for the Creative Space, as well as portable holograms and Cel Shading visual settings. The name of this new update is “Ultra-evolution update: PSO2 NGS ver 2,” and it will release on June 7, 2023.

Take a look at the Ultra-evolution update for PSO2 New Genesis below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itpxzecSSXI&ab_channel=PhantasyStarOnline2NewGenesis-Global

In the teaser, you can see the new Connect System for the Creative Space. It will work as a sort of customizable programming interface. This tool will let players create their own interactive spaces from obstacle courses to detailed buildings. The trailer also showcases a new graffiti-like item called portable hologram. Players can use it anywhere. The new Cel Shading function can change the character’s visual style. Finally, a new enemy type was also announced.

The game’s development team shared this teaser during the latest PSO2 NGS headline stream. In addition, Series Producer Yuya Kimura explained that the team planned this new major update since the release of New Genesis and it will greatly overhaul the players' experience.

Nintendo revealed more gameplay information about Rex, one of the two leaders of the Liberators in the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed DLC, and a powerful Driver that wields two massive greatswords. Rex is the protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and alongside Shulk he formed the Liberators to fight back against Moebius. Rex lost his left eye during a battle a long time ago.

Rex’s class is Master Driver, and Attacker type class that focuses on dealing a lot of damage quickly and build up critical hits. He wields two Flaming Twinswords in battle. Nintendo shared a video showcasing Rex in battle, and you can watch it below.

https://twitter.com/XenobladeJP/status/1650744042739892224

Rex’s Talent Art in the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC is Infinity Blade. It nullifies enemy guard and deals damage that ignores enemy defenses. During the animation for Infinity Blade, Rex combines his two greatswords into a massive and powerful sword. All three swords are reminiscent of the Aegis swords in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

In addition to quickly dealing a lot of damage, Rex’s move set seems to benefit from critical hits by recharging Arts cooldown, and also by toppling and launching enemies for powerful combo finishers.

The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed DLC will release on April 25, 2023. Nintendo also revealed a relationship chart for some of the main characters that will appear in Future Redeemed.

Susannah Fielding, the voice actress for Jill Warrick in Final Fantasy XVI, shared a photo along with a little insight into recording for the game. She and Ben Starr, who plays Clive Rosfield, both took a photo together when the process began. In the shot, she noted that things go started “over four years ago.” That means for the two actors, the process likely began around 2019.

Here’s Fielding’s photo of her with Final Fantasy XVI Clive actor Starr. She noted that both of them were wearing headcams during the process. A headcam is a sort of system that is used for motion capture, as it tracks the performer’s face and expressions while they record.

Back where it all began @The_Ben_Starr and me in our first recording session for @finalfantasyxvi getting used to our headcams.
Over 4 years ago! Little did we know what was to come…. pic.twitter.com/52F0czYkh6

— Susannah Fielding (@Misssusannahf) April 25, 2023

While watching Oshi no Ko, you might notice a lot of characters’ voice actors sound familiar! The cast is made up of a number of veterans who’ve appeared in various roles over the year. So, to help you put a “face” to the name, we figured it’d be wise to go over who plays different characters, then what other notable roles they played.

First, here are all of the major Oshi no Ko voice actors playing characters in the anime adaptation.

• Ai Hoshino: Rie Takahashi
• Akane Kurokawa: Manaka Iwami
• Aquamarine Hoshino: Takeo Otsuka and Yumi Uchiyama
• Gorou Amemiya: Kent Ito
• Kana Arima: Megumi Han
• MEM-cho: Rumi Okubo
• Ruby Hoshino: Yurie Igoma and Tomoyo Takayanagi

As for why they may sound familiar, here’s who those actors played in other shows and games.

When it comes to a Metroidvania game, featuring satisfying elements and doling out upgrades at a steady pace can make a title like Afterimage a success. It’s ideal to offer ample opportunities to grow, chances to reach new areas, and rewards and reasons to backtrack. Aurogon Shanghai’s game is rather good about that, especially as you’ll gain afterimage abilities, new equipment, and beneficial talents as you play. However, what really can help it also feel enjoyable to experience is how pretty it is.

Afterimage is, regrettably, a very vague game when it comes to the motivations and storytelling. A young, amnesiac woman named Renee with the “Gift of the Gods” and her floating companion Ifree who, truthfully doesn’t seem to offer much actual assistance, are on a journey after everyone in their home was killed and the town destroyed. Even though she might “die,” she’ll revive at Confluence of Streams rather than return to the Sea of Souls. After seeing a mysterious, cloaked girl with her mentor Aros’ soul, she follows and faces many enemies and occasional other travelers along the way.

[caption id="attachment_960626" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

People will be able to learn more about the Oshi no Ko anime outside Japan, as the official Twitter account announced an English website is open. It's a bit sparse at the moment. It mainly lists where to watch the anime in countries where it is being aired or simulcast. However, there are two brief statements from two of the show’s voice actors.

With the Rie Takahashi statement, she noted that she’s been inspired and “strengthened” by the series. She plays Ai Hoshino in it. Kent Ito, who plays Gorou Amemiya, noted he got the role “about a year ago” and noted how people outside Japan will see how different the entertainment industry is compared to what they know.

Oshi no Ko’s enjoyed quite a bit of success since its debut. For example, the opening theme song “Idol,” by Yoasobi, passed 23 million views on YouTubeat the beginning of April 2023. It’s since passed 41 million views since it was released about two weeks ago.

Oshi no Ko is streaming on HIDIVE. Yen Press handles the English localization of the manga. The show will appear on both Blu-ray and DVD in Japan. The anime’s first volume will release there on June 28, 2023.

Honkai: Star Rail's official launch is getting ever closer, and a sign of this is the release of its official launch trailer. It shows a preview of the characters and scenarios that people will encounter in-game while an original song plays. It appears designed to resemble a traditional anime opening.

Here’s the official launch trailer announcement for Honkai: Star Rail. Going by the name “Interstellar Journey,” it begins with a glimpse of Kafka. Then, the male and female versions of the player character The Trailblazer appears. Himeko and Dan Heng show up after that. A brief moment with March 7th with both of them and Welt follows. A number of other playable characters players can recruit, like Yanqing and Tingyun, show up after that. The video also showcases many of their attacks as they fight giant robotic enemies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8vPZrMFiZ4&ab_channel=Honkai%3AStarRail

Honkai: Star Rail is releasing on April 26, 2023, and people can download and preinstall it ahead of launch. A pre-registration campaign is on the official website resulted in five main in-game rewards: 50,000 credits, 20 Star Rail passes, a “Trailblazer – Welcome” avatar, and the 4-Star character Serval. Hoyoverse promoted the game’s launch with many different methods, such as a pre-installation contest and a TikTok “Star Rail” challenge.

People won't have to go through the Diablo IV campaign more than once unless they want to, as a "Skip Campaign" feature appeared in the latest announcement. Activision Blizzard's "Inside the Game: Your Class Your Way" video for the game offered a quick glimpse at it. Global Community Development Director Adam Fletcher followed up with an explanation as to how to unlock it. [Thanks, DatModz on Twitter!]

Here’s how it works. At just about the 2:50 mark in the Diablo IV “Inside the Game: Your Class Your Way” video, it shows how a created character named Nerea has the “Skip Campaign” option alongside the “Change World Tier” and “Delete Character” ones. Fletcher followed up that this is unlocked after a player beats the game. After finishing the campaign with a character, that option appears for someone to pick.

Here’s the full video. It focuses on customizing characters’ appearances, skills, and equipment. It starts by going over character creation and describing the Barbarian, Sorcerer, Rogue, Druid, and Necromancer. From there, it looks at the character creator’s face & body, hair, and accessories sections. After that, it goes over the wardrobe and transmog options. Toward the end, it looks at playstyles and talks about the skill tree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQtOIeKRXaY&ab_channel=Diablo

Back at Smile Fest 2022, Good Smile Company announced that Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Nendoroids of Sakura and Syaoran would appear. Now, pre-orders opened worldwide. Both figures will appear in Japan in November 2023 for ¥6,800 each. They have a Q1 2024 North American release window and cost $49.99 from that storefront.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle is a unique series that essentially involves variations of CLAMP characters from multiple series, with Sakura and Syaoran being alternate versions of the characters people may recognize from Cardcaptor Sakura. (The series is also tied very closely to XXXHolic.)

The Syaoran figure comes with his smiling, shouting, and spoiler face plates. He can also carry Mokona or one of two different swords. Additional leg parts make it look as though he is sitting. His cape is also removable.
[gallery columns="5" size="full" ids="960670,960671,960672,960673,960674" link="file"]

Square Enix is preparing for the launch of patch 6.4: The Dark Throne for Final Fantasy XIV with a special site. It builds on the one already established for the other 6.0 through 6.3 updates. At the moment, there isn’t too much there yet. However, there is a list of things people can expect when the update arrives at the end of May 2023.

Here’s the full list of things that will be in the 6.4 Final Fantasy XIV patch, as listed on Square Enix’s site.

• Main Scenario Quests - The Dark Throne

• New Raid Dungeon - Pandæmonium: Anabaseios

• New Instanced Dungeon - The Aetherfont

• New Trial - The Voidcast Dais

• New Variant Dungeon - Mount Rokkon (Patch 6.45)

• New Criterion Dungeon - Another Mount Rokkon (Patch 6.45)

• Blue Mage Update (Patch 6.45)

• New Unreal Trial - Containment Bay Z1T9 (Unreal)

• Additional Duty Support

• Tataru's Grand Endeavor

• Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures (Patch 6.45)

• Weapon Enhancement Quests - Manderville Weapons (Patch 6.45)

• Tool Enhancement Quests - Splendorous Tools (Patch 6.45)

Sega announced the first round Samba de Amigo: Party Central songs in the game. It announced 20 of the 40 total ones appearing. Many of them are older tracks, like covers of "La Bamba" and "Macarena." Some older pop and dance songs, like "Bang Bang," "Break Free," and "I Love It" also appear. Some of the tracks are a bit newer though, such as "Sucker." These join two other tracks from Sonic the Hedgehog games.

Here are the first 20 Samba de Amigo: Party Central songs.

• “Azukita“ by Steve Aoki, Daddy Yankee, Play-N-Skillz & Elvis Crespo
• “Bang Bang“ by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj
• "Bom Bom" by Sam and the Womp
• "Break Free" by Ariana Grande ft. Zedd
• “Centerfold’ by J Geils Band
• "Fugue (classic)"
• "I Love It" by Icona Pop
• "I Really Like You" by Carly Rae Jepsen
• “I Will Survive (Eric Kupper Mix Extended)“ by Gloria Gaynor
• "La Bamba (Cover)"
• "Let You Go" by Diplo & TSHA ft. Kareen Lomax
• “Macarena (Cover)”
• "Panama" by Matteo
• "Payback" by Cheat Codes ft. Icona Pop
• "Plastic Hearts” by Miley Cyrus
• "Sucker" by Jonas Brothers
• ”TiK ToK“ by Kesha
• "Celebrate" by Pitbull
• “The Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida)“ by Ricky Martin
• "XS" by Rina Sawayama

Samba de Amigo: Party Central will come to the Nintendo Switch in Summer 2023.

Amakuni and Hobby Japan’s Persona 5 Tae Takemi figure will once again appear. The companies noted she will return in either June or July 2024. Hobby Japan pre-orders will be open for her in Japan until June 13, 2023.

Tae Takemi is a 1/7th scale figure, just as she was the first time around. She's just over 6 inches tall, at 160mm tall. She'll cost someone ¥22,800 (~$170). There are no international pre-orders open for her as of 11am ET on April 25, 2023.

While the Persona 5 Tae Takemi figure is a static one, there are some additional display options. People can display her with or without her lab coat. Her alternate pose also doesn't feature her holding her clipboard. She'll also be sitting in the chair you see her in at the Takemi Medical Clinic.

Here's a closer look at some preliminary pictures.
[gallery columns="2" size="full" ids="960654,960655,960653,960656" link="file"]

This means there's a four year gap since her first appearance. Amakuni and Hobby Japan first released this Tae Takemi figure back in 2020.

The Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp credits make it a bit difficult to figure out the English voice actors for characters. The credits don’t explicitly say, “Veronica Taylor is Andy.” Rather, the credits offer a list of everyone involved without noting their role. However, a number of Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp voice actors took to Twitter to confirm their parts (or are very obviously certain characters), and many of them also play characters in Fire Emblem games.

First, here are the confirmed Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp voice actors for various characters.

When Honkai: Star Rail launches, players will be able to take part in A World Beyond login event to earn pulls on the limited-time Warp gacha banners. HoYoVerse said starting on April 26, 2023, people who stop by for a full week get Star Rail Special Passes. However, this event is open to people who don’t start immediately upon its debut and doesn’t involve showing up every day for a week straight.

Honkai: Star Rail players only need to show up for seven days between launch and June 6, 2023 to get the A World Beyond login event special passes. HoYoVerse didn’t explain what the breakdown would be to go over how many Star Rail Special Passes people would get on each of the seven days. (We could be looking at a situation where there is one pass on the first and second days, two passes given on the third day, one pass on the fourth, fifth, and sixth days, and then three passes on day seven.)

These passes are in addition to ones earned as a pre-registration reward. Ahead of launch, a promotion promised 20 standard Star Rail Passes for the Departure Warp banner if five million pre-registrations were hit. People also get the four-star character Serval and 100,000 Credits for free as a result.

It isn't uncommon for there to be Final Fantasy XIV Allagan tomestones changes when major patches drop. Patch 6.4 is no exception. When the update arrives in May 2023, Square Enix said Allagan tomestones of comedy will debut. However, Allagan tomestones of aphorism are about to be eliminated completely. In addition, a number of other ones will feature changes regarding how many you can gather and such.

The two types of Allagan tomestones starting to be phased out are aphorism and astronomy. However, one situation is more “dire” than the other. Aphorism ones will be completely gone after 6.4. Square Enix noted people should go to Auriana in Revenant's Toll (X: 22.7 Y: 6.7) to swap them for astronomy ones. As for the Allagan tomestones of astronomy, you won’t be able to get them or exchange them for items anymore after 6.4, but you can swap them for ones of causality.

The Final Fantasy XIV Allagan tomestones of causality will only experience a slight change with the 6.4 update. Once the patch is live, you’ll be able to earn more than 450 each week. You will still only be able to have 2,000 with you at once, so you’ll need to visit Cihanti or Khaldeen at Radz-at-Han (X:10.8 Y:10.4) to exchange them when you hit that limit.

Ahead of the Honkai: Star Rail launch, HoYoVerse went over its equivalent to Genshin Impact's Battle Pass: Nameless Honor. This is essentially a battle pass with free and paid tiers. The one everyone has access to is Nameless Gift, while the one you need to pay to unlock is Nameless Glory. As you engage in regular activities in-game, you’ll earn experience to hit levels, which will add rewards. (You can also choose to “purchase level” to immediately reach a new tier.) Each Nameless Honor pass lasts until the next patch, and the first one is set to end on June 5, 2023.

People won’t immediately be able to start earning Nameless Honor levels in Honkai: Star Rail. Like Genshin Impact, you need to play for a bit and raise what is essentially your player level first to gain access. In the case of this game, you need to be at about Trailblaze Level 13 or higher and finished the quest “Jarilo-VI" - Long Wait for the Blade's Edge.” If you have, then you’ll immediately be able to access Nameless Honor and start earning rewards from the Nameless Gift tier.

Depending on the tier, certain rewards will be available. For example, you might get passes to pull on the various Warp banners in the game. The Nameless Glory paid tier is the only one with Star Rail Special Passes, Stellar Jades, and Light Cones as rewards, however. Daily, weekly, and current patch missions all increase its level.

There’s a lot to be celebrate about a humble comfort RPG. It's the kind of RPG that doesn’t make a big fanfare about itself. It doesn’t revolutionize the genre, but builds on what works. The kind of RPG that adopts all the tropes of the genre and wears them proudly on its sleeve. Trinity Trigger is the embodiment of such a game.

It’s something Three Rings, the developers of Trinity Trigger, openly admit. It’s right there on all the store pages that it’s a throwback to old-school RPGs. The team succeeded on that front too. I could easily believe this was a forgotten gem from the PS1 era, if it wasn’t for the voice acting not being terrible.

Trinity Trigger takes place in a world held in the thrall of a battle between the gods of Chaos and Order. Every so often, chosen warriors bearing the emblems of the gods are born. Their destiny is to fight to the death, with the winner ushering in a new age dominated by their respective god. Cyan, our protagonist, discovers he is one of these warriors when an oracle named Elise shows up. She tells him that his Chaos Warrior status has him marked for death, so they head out into the world for his protection and for him to learn more. Eventually they are joined by a third warrior, Zantis, who has been mysteriously sent to help.

During the Spy x Family exhibition that’ll take place from July 20, 2023, guests who do a good job on the keyword missions will receive a Stella Star. The keyword mission will be kind of like a scavenger hunt, during in which you gather keywords hidden around the exhibition site. The Stella Star you receive will be a pin that looks like the one on the show. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

Stella Stars in Spy x Family are little merits that Eden Academy hands to students that get good grades or accomplish something in society. Gathering eight Stella Stars is the requirement to become an Imperial Scholar, who are the most elite students at the school. You can also get Tonitrus Bolts, which are demerits. The exhibition site will not hand out Tonitrus Bolts, even if you do a bad job on the scavenger hunt.

In order to participate in the keyword mission, you must show the ticket you bought to enter the exhibition. A normal ticket costs 1600 JPY ($11.90), and it’s cheaper if you’re a student. There is also a ticket  that will come with exclusive goods, and that ticket will cost 3900 JP ($29). The goods will be an acrylic photo frame and two bromide postcards that you can display in the frame.

As in Genshin Impact, which involves an energy called Resin to get rewards from certain activities, Honkai: Star Rail involves using Trailblaze Power for certain actions. While you don’t need stamina to go through the story and take on missions, it’s essentially a sort of stamina system for, say, fighting through a Golden Calyx to get Credits and things to increase your characters and Light Cones’ levels.

How Do You Get Trailblaze Power in Honkai: Star Rail?

So, you can have up to 180 Trailblaze Power at once. Different activities can require between 10-60 Trailblaze Power to obtain rewards. If you run out of it, you can’t claim items from activities like the Calyx, Cavern of Corrosion, Simulated Universe, or Weekly Bosses.

There are basically two ways to refill it. One option is to wait. Like Genshin Impact’s Resin or stamina systems in other games, it will gradually be restored over time.

You can also use items or currency to restore it. The paid Stellar Jades can be used to top it off again. During the beta phases, it would be 50 Stellar Jade to get 60 Trailblaze Power. You can also get an item called Fuel as you play. This is an in-game reward for certain actions, and using one gives you 60 Trailblaze Power.

NieR Automata sales exceeded 7.5 million, the game's official Japanese and English Twitter accounts announced. This figure includes both physical and digital copies of the game. That's nearly one million copies sold in the last year, taking into account 2022 figures.

Here's the announcement from the official Twitter account about the current NieR Automata sales thanking the players for their support.
https://twitter.com/NieR_JPN/status/1650084439412867073?s=20

Since its release in 2017, NieR Automata's sales and fame have continued to grow steadily. This surprised its own Creative Director Yoko Taro, who previously in an interview stated that while it is a pleasant surprise it is difficult for other games like NieR Replicant itself to reach similar numbers.

Some recent signs of the constant support the game has received are the latest release of NieR Automata: The End of YoRHa Edition for Nintendo Switch in October 2022. There is also the anime adaptation airing under the name Nier Automata Ver1.1a, in which the game's story is revisited with some extra details.

Primaniacs, who sells perfumes based on characters from anime and video games, will release fragrances inspired by Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. They’ll be available from July 6, 2023. Primaniacs has opened up pre-orders. However, it does not ship internationally so overseas customers will need to use a proxy service. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Each Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury perfume will cost 6600 JPY, which is around $49.10. Primaniacs will sell fragrances inspired by Suletta, Miorine, Shaddiq, Guel, and Elan. There is a short blurb for each one describing the scents, what imagery each scent has, and the ingredients in the various notes.

For example, Suletta’s fragrance uses pear, apple, and vanilla. All together, it has a very light but bright smell that feels very positive. Miorine’s uses lotus, peach, and white musk. Her perfume is more elegant and sophisticated. But the middle notes (gardenia, peach, blue rose) smooths it out and gives it a softer sweetness. Based on the fragrance notes, all five of the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury are marketed towards women.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is streaming on Crunchyroll. You can pre-order the Primaniacs perfumes for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury on their website, and they’ll come out on July 6, 2023.

MegaHouse announced it is about to open One Piece Portrait of Pirate figure pre-orders for Nico “Miss All Sunday” Robin and Bon Clay (Bentham of the Wild). On April 28, 2023, people in Japan can reserve each one. Both are in their Baroque Works attire. Miss All Sunday is a rerun of a 2020 figure. However, Bon Clay is entirely new.

The Portrait of Pirates Bon Clay figure appeared quite a few times ahead of his pre-order period. For example, in December 2022 an unpainted prototype appeared. The figure will cost 24,420円 (~$182) and release in November 2023 in Japan.

フィギュアでも 咲かせてみせよう オカマ道！
P.O.Pワンピース “Playback Memories”
Mr.2 ボン・クレー
商品ページ公開です！
ご予約受付は4月28日(金)13時開始となります！
お忘れなく！(番組担当)https://t.co/CvFHrbZFdY#POP_MH #onepiece pic.twitter.com/uHv2Di3QRC

— P.O.Pワンピース_メガハウス公式 (@POP15thMemorial) April 23, 2023

Masahiro Sakurai shared detailed footage of many stages from Super Smash Bros Ultimate. The latest video on his YouTube channel Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games celebrates the work of the Super Smash Bros Ultimate stage team.

In a fifteen-minute video, Sakurai gave a quick introduction before jumping into the stage presentation. Each stage appeared via a flyover, zooming in on specific details. Sakurai provided no commentary during any of this, preferring to let the work of the stage team speak for itself.

The video doesn’t show every stage from Super Smash Bros Ultimate, instead focusing on a representative sample. We get to see close-ups of background characters on stages such as Great Bay, New Donk City Hall, Dracula’s Castle, and Moray Towers. We see the full structure of detailed stages such as Delfino Plaza, Skyloft and Yggdrasil’s Altar. We get to follow the plane from the Pilotwings stage. We can see how far back the King of Fighters stage stretches. Plus a lot more in the full video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvYN7JciOdk

It’s not the first time that Sakurai talked about Super Smash Bros Ultimate on his channel. He previously discussed subjects such as Kazuya’s unusual Roundhouse to Triple Spin Kicks animation and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on development.

Vtuber agency Phase Connect announced VTuber Fuura Yuri will no longer be active starting April 30, 2023. The company released an official statement noting the termination of the contract is due to "multiple, repeated breaches." A refund campaign until May 1, 2023, is in place for all the people who participated in her latest donation goal.

You can check out the announcement of the termination of the contract with Fuura Yuri on Phase Connect's official Twitter account here below.

https://twitter.com/PhaseConnect/status/1650367925495427073?s=20

Although Phase Connect did not disclose specific information about the breaches, the company stated that there were discussions without mutual agreement by both parties that led to the decision. As of April 24, 2023, Fuura Yuri will end her activities, except for a final farewell video prepared for April 30, 2023.

Phase Connect also promised a full refund for individuals who contributed to her latest PC donation goal. To claim it, you have to fill out an official request form. That will be available until May 1, 2023.

Fuura Yuri first debuted as Amaris Yuri back in July 2021 as part of the now disbanded VTuber agency CyberLive. However in March 2022, she and her colleague Kaneko Lumi graduated and became independent VTubers. Both of them joined Phase Connect in April 2022 as an inter-generation called Phase Invaders.

Nintendo shared new gameplay details about Shulk, the protagonist of the original Xenoblade Chronicles, who is set to return in the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed DLC. Shulk wields his Monado Replica to shield his allies from damage. After losing his arm in a battle, he incorporated some one-handed sword moves to his repertoire that some fans might recognize.

Shulk’s class is called Grand Soldier, and he wields the Monado Replica EX+, the same weapon he used on the Future Connected epilogue added in Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition.

https://twitter.com/XenobladeJP/status/1650401967964065792

As a Defender-type character, Shulk gains enemy aggro while anticipating and avoiding enemy attacks. He also excels as a damage dealer. His Talent Art is called Monado Buster, and it deals piercing damage, which ignores enemy defenses. Damage is increased when Shulk is under the Awakened status effect.

Additionally, the animation for Monado Buster is very similar to Dunban’s Blossom Dance Talent Art in the first Xenoblade Chronicles. Like Shulk in the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC, Dunban lost use of his right arm and had to learn to fight only using his left arm.

The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed DLC comes out on April 25, 2023. The base game is readily available for the Nintendo Switch, and it will be needed to play the expansion. Nintendo also shared a character relationship chart for Future Redeemed.

As you might expect from a HoYoVerse free-to-play game with a gacha, there are a lot of items you’ll collect! Plenty of Honkai: Star Rail currencies are present, from straightforward ones like Credits and Stellar Jade, to ones like Undying Embers and Undying Starlight. You could even say the various Warp Passes for the gacha fall into this category. Here’s what you need to know.

First, here are the two of the different currencies you can use to acquire items in Honkai: Star Rail and how they work.

• Credits: This is essentially the in-game money. For example, you use credits at NPCs to buy things or when improving characters and equipment.
• Stellar Jade: Think of these as the Honkai: Star Rail equivalent of Genshin Impact’s Primogems. You can earn them in-game, but they’re a real-cash currency that can be used for things like pulling on the character gacha banners.

There are some area-specific currencies as well used for certain stores. When you do things like take on missions at places like Herta Space Station, Jarilo-IV, or Xianzhou Lofou, you can get kinds of money that can be used at Special Stores there. So at Herta Space Station, you can can earn or find Hertaerums. Jarilo-IV has Shields as a currency too. Xianzhou Lofou’s other kind of money is called Strale.

You can also get two kinds of passes to pull on the Honkai: Star Rail gacha. Both appeared in the beta and will show up in the game at launch. They’re not exactly currency, but they’re close.

The Street Fighter 6 demo offers a glimpse into the World Tour and Fighting Ground modes of the game, letting players see some of the content that’s in store for them when the full game releases. This brief look is a pretty solid indicator that this game will have a lot of stuff for players who are more interested in a single player experience, but it also gives a taste of the various tools available for players who want to dip their toes into online as well as veterans who want to throw some wild challenges into their matchups.

The demo version of World Tour gives players a good idea of what will be in store as far as single player content is concerned. In this mode, you can design your own fighter using a fairly robust character creation system. You’re free to tweak a ton of facial features and body shapes to create the slick fighter (or utter monstrosity) that you want, then let them loose on the streets of Metro City. Well, after a bit of training, of course.

In Genius Invokation, which is the Genshin Impact in-game TCG, you can get more character cards to increase the variety of your decks. Getting new character cards is a fairly simple process. All you need to have on hand is a Match Invitation Letter and then it’s time to duel.

You can get Match Invitation Letters by talking to Prince, and it is also an item you can get when you level up. In order to invite a new character to the Cat’s Tail, you need to use up a Match Invitation Letter. Since you have a limited supply of them, you should think about what deck you want to build and then choose from there. Of course, you can also just prioritize your favorite characters as well.

Once you invite the character you want to the tavern, you duel them. There are objectives such as finishing the match with at least two character cards still alive, but you really just need to beat them once to get the character card. After you win, you will get the card, and you will also be able to invite that character to Cat’s Tail whenever you like. HoYoVerse will continue to add more characters and Match Invitation Letters into the game. So if no one catches our eye right now, you can wait for a future update that’ll add your ideal character card.

Genshin Impact is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. More Genius Invokation character TCG cards will appear in Genshin Impact with each major update.