Siliconera

Key staff members from Koei Tecmo's Omega Force, Gust, and Ruby Party will have new reveals in 2024. The teasers came from the year-end messages they sent annually to Japanese media outlets. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

Tomohiko Sho, the head of Omega Force, is preparing to release new DLC packs for Fate/Samurai Remnant in 2024. However, he also teased an important game announcement in the same year:

"I perceive 2024 as a year as an important year for us to deliver the best games to everyone in the next few years. And I want to make it a year where we get to announce such a game, so I hope you will anticipate it . . ."

Tomohiko Sho

The Xbox Series X and S has increasingly been less of a platform for buying games and more of one for Game Pass subscriptions. It’s no surprise, then, that all three of our Xbox Game of the Year 2023 selections appear on the service. Check out our picks below, and keep checking back this week for more awards!

These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. For more of the year’s award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2023 archive.

Hi-Fi Rush

We say games “came out of nowhere” a lot, but rarely do games go from unannounced to out in one fell swoop, and even more rarely are they this polished and stylish. Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush brings rhythm into its action, with frantic musical gameplay and bright environments that echo a bit of that old Jet Set Radio feel. But it’s very much its own thing! And we didn’t forget about it, even after many packed months. If you missed it, maybe give it a look.

Starfield

Yostar has started delivering its promise to cut off account linkages with X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for its mobile games. Blue Archive was the first game to see the feature completely removed when it received an update on December 27, 2023. The company had also set up similar plans for Azur Lane, Arknights, and Mahjong Soul in the coming days, as 2023 draws to a close.

After the update, Blue Archive player accounts that were only connected to X/Twitter turned into guest accounts. That will render them unable to sync their accounts on re-installs and transfers to other devices. To help address the issue, Yostar has set up a special webpage that lets such users transfer login data from their existing X account to a new Yostar Account.

Ahead of Penny Blood’s anticipated Spring 2025 launch, we have Penny Blood: Hellbound, which is a roguelike side story focusing on the enemy Hellhounders faction. Though something of a grind, it serves as a fairly fun way to get to know the world and characters of Penny Blood before the main game comes out.

The plot of Penny Blood: Hellbound focuses on Clara, an amnesiac girl with a natural affinity for Malice. After she encounters the Hellhounders, some mysterious mages appear and toss them into the inter-dimensional prison, Mictlan. They can't die in Mictlan, nor can they escape. Nonetheless, they decide to try and break out of it together, which requires defeating the magi who trapped them in it in the first place. On the way, they meet other villains who invite themselves to the Hellhounders’ ranks. These villains can help you out in various ways in the Hellhounders’ hide-out.

Square Enix announced that it will end service for Fullmetal Alchemist Mobile on Friday, March 29, 2024. The company has also immediately ceased all in-app purchases that require real money, such as Diamonds and Premium Battle Passes.

The game's producer Takanori Shiina also published a letter on behalf of his team. He noted that the team had worked hard to improve the game's system and balance following the first anniversary in August 2023. It also held meetings to set up projects leading up to the game's second anniversary.

However, Shiina mentioned the difficulty in maintaining the team structure to provide even more services to the game as the primary reason for its closure. He also apologized on behalf of the team for failing to publish a new original story inside Fullmetal Alchemist Mobile. The team will instead convert the story to a voice drama series. It will start publishing drama episodes on Square Enix's YouTube channel on Friday, January 5, 2024. The drama will run for a total of 12 episodes on a weekly basis.

Danganronpa tea sets based on Byakuya Togami and Celestia Ludenberg are readily available to pre-order via Amnibus. Amnibus does offer international shipping with Buyee, so overseas customers will be able to purchase these items.

The items that are available for the tea set are:

• Acrylic coaster: 980 JPY
• Dessert plate: 2480 JPY
• Leather tray: 1980 JPY
• Spray bottle: 980 JPY
• Teacup and saucer: 4500 JPY
• Teapot: 4200 JPY

Here's a gallery showing the full collection of items.

A new trailer for the Witch on the Holy Night movie will appear on December 31, 2023. It’ll air after the Fate Project New Year’s TV Special 2023. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

This will be the second piece of new information since ufotable and Aniplex first teased the movie back in December 2021. At the time, we only saw a little bit of main characters Alice and Aoko. This year, we might get more scenes, as well as a release window. 

Since Aniplex and ufotable announced the movie in 2021, an enhanced version of the visual novel came out for the Nintendo Switch and PS4. A Windows PC version recently came out in December 2023. The story of Witch on the Holy Night follows Aoko Aozaki, a mage living in the town of Misaki with Alice Kuonji. Their life together changes when transfer student Sojuro Shizuki walks in on Aoko’s conflict with a mysterious mage, forcing him to live with the two mages in order to protect the secrecy of magic.

Bandai Namco has opened a Digimon Games Questionnaire that primarily asks people about the recent past and future of video games based on the franchise. It also includes optional inputs that will be used to fill up segments at the upcoming Digimon Con 2024 event.

The required personal details in this survey are nickname, region, gender, age, and occupation. The survey also mandates people to mention the recent Digimon games they have played (or lack thereof). The last required-entry appears near the end of the survey, and it will gauge people's interest in purchasing Digimon games in specific genres.

The survey also specifically focuses on the three most recent console games: Digimon Survive, Digimon World: Next Order, and Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth with Hacker's Memory. It includes optional inputs where players can mention their favorite Digimon and scenes from the aforementioned games. Bandai Namco may pick some of these entries and feature them in Digimon Con 2024. The final optional entry lets people write specific requests to Bandai Namco.

Anycolor has taken down Selen Tatsuki’s cover of the song “Last Cup of Coffee,” citing that it had not passed the internal verification process. While the video is not on Selen’s channel as of the time of writing, though some of her fans have uploaded it onto other accounts.

Selen apologized to her fans via social media, saying that management privated the video. However, since her fans put so much work and money into the video, she welcomed reuploads. Several fans replying to her post expressing sympathy and outrage, as well as links to people who have reuploaded the song in question.

We can watch one of said reuploads of the Selen cover song below:

Atlus uploaded a new Persona 3 Reload trailer focusing on school life at Gekkoukan High School. There are quite a few differences between the remake version and the original game, which are highlighted in the video.

You can watch the school trailer for Persona 3 Reload here:

For starters, one of the new features in Persona 3 Reload is that you can check out what other people answered for questions in class. This is something that was possible in previous remasters and remakes, such as Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 so long as you played while connected to the Internet.

HoYoVerse revealed details about the Critter Pick event in Honkai: Star Rail. This time-limited event was initially revealed during the December 2023 Version Special Program that discussed content in the Version 1.6 Update and is live now in-game.

The Critter Pick quest will add a creature collecting game to Honkai: Star Rail. The Herta Space Station has suddenly gained an abundance of little creatures and it’s up to you to look after them.  During the event, players will be able to cultivate their own critter creations and customize them as they wish. Rare critters may also appear during the creation process.

In addition, the preview of the Critter Pick event shown during the Special Program hinted at another aspect of the quest. It seems that players may be able to play as Asta’s dog Peppy, presumably as part of the quest’s main storyline.

HoYoVerse has released a teaser trailer for the Honkai: Star Rail Fan Art Program, taking place during the 2024 New Year HoYoFair. The theme will be “Galactic Grand Prix,” with the trailer featuring characters taking part in an intergalactic space racing contest.

The Honkai: Star Rail Galactic Grand Prix Fan Art Program will be part of the 2024 New Year HoYoFair event, which consists of a special livestream featuring works created by fans of the game. In the teaser trailer, we see several characters gearing up to take part in a futuristic motorsport. Competitors shown in the trailer include Asta and Argenti, while Lynx watches as a spectator. The event will be live-streamed on December 30, 2023, at 8 pm UTC+8 / 12 pm GMT / 7 am ET / 4 am PT.

The teaser trailer also features a snippet of an original song created for the event. “In a Flash” is a jazzy piece composed by inosoo and features the vocals of Lyn Inaizumi, best known for her work in Persona 5 and its spin-offs. The full song will feature during the broadcast. The event’s Program also lists some short films set to premiere during the live stream. These include “Pink Ambience,” “The Kuma Returns,” and “Sparks Yet to Fly.”

This year’s Siliconera Switch Game of the Year contest may have been the toughest competition since the console’s 2017 debut, with a lineup of stellar first-party releases accompanied by some surprise third-party entrants. What’s the winner? You can probably guess! But all of our Switch Game of the Year 2023 selections got here by beating out some truly impressive titles.

These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. For more of the year’s award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2023 archive.

Fire Emblem Engage

Strategy players love to min-max, and it seems developers like that as well sometimes! Following the watered-down gameplay and excellent characters of Three Houses, Engage pushes the slider all the way to “mechanics” and delivers some of the best maps and combat systems in the franchise’s history. Story? Characters? Toothpaste hair? Uh, we don’t need to talk about those. Engage instead offers something more like Fates’ customization-focused tactical playground, and there’s a lot of fun in that approach.

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code

Square Enix has announced that the global version of Dragon Quest Tact will be shutting down. The spin-off mobile game will see the end of active service on February 29, 2024.

Dragon Quest Tact is set to shut down due to a shift in consumer trends that the team claims will create difficulties maintaining the game. This closure only affects the global version of the game, as the Japanese version will continue to be supported. The closure comes almost exactly three years after the game’s global release on January 27, 2021.

While Dragon Quest Tact isn’t shutting down until February, Square Enix has already ended some services within the game. Players can no longer purchase Gems and Metal Cards. They also cannot buy the monthly Passport, and all automatic renewals of the Passport have been canceled. In-game events will continue to be updated until the game’s closure.

Aviot has revealed new earbuds that feature Sword Art Online designs and character voices. The company has also opened pre-orders for the items on its own web store.

People residing outside Japan can also place orders, as the WorldShopping widget supports international deliveries for the branded earbuds. The collectibles will be based on Aviot's existing TE-D01v model, which normally costs ¥11,990 (~$84). The Sword Art Online-branded models have a higher price tag of ¥22,880 (~$160) but will also come with more functions.

Aviot will provide a mobile app where owners can change the system's voice character. The earbuds will also have a button that will play a random quote by the character when pressed for a long time. The Sword Art Online earbuds will be available in two models. The black Hero model will let owners choose between Kirito, Eugeo, or a combination of both. Meanwhile, the white Heroine model will feature voices from Asuna, Leafa, Sinon, Yuuki, and Alice.

You can get a closer look at the SAO earbuds below:

Four more Nijisanji VTubers will make their appearance in Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis in February 2024. Sega revealed the new collaboration at the December 2023 NGS Headline program. Amamiya Kokoro, Nagao Kei, Matsukai Mao, and Yorumi Rena will be the four Japanese Nijisanji VTubers who will feature in the second collab batch in PSO2: New Genesis.

The first Nijisanji crossover appeared in PSO2: New Genesis in February 2023. It featured Kaida Haru, Hakase Fuyuki, Hoshikawa Sara, and the English VTuber Shu Yamino. A limited-time scratch ticket lineup would appear during the collaboration period, where players can gather avatar parts and voice sets based on each VTuber.

The second collab period will have even more interactions from the VTubers. In mid-February 2024, Kokoro, Kei, Mao, and Rena will visit Creative Spaces made by users who won a contest that Sega had previously held.

Over a year ago, I bought the Founders Pass for Disney Dreamlight Valley and immersed myself in what I hoped would be a fun, enjoyable life simulator-type game. What greeted me was a game filled with Disney magic, reigniting my passion for exploration and discovery and quickly became one of my favorite games of 2022 and 2023.

Disney Dreamlight Valley exited its beta and entered its full release on December 5, 2023, alongside its first paid expansion, A Rift in Time. The game opens with the player falling asleep and waking up in a strange world covered in darkness and strange purple thorns called Night Thorns. In this world called Dreamlight Valley, the player meets Merlin, a wizard who has forgotten many things due to something called "The Forgetting" and asks for help in remembering what was forgotten.

The player has the mysterious power to draw Dreamlight from the Night Thorns and use that power to restore Dreamlight Valley to what it once was and reawaken the lost memories of each Disney character who lives in the Valley. As the player explores the game's world, new yet familiar Disney characters are introduced, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Ariel, Moana, Mother Gothel, and more.

Square Enix shared a recipe for the Final Fantasy VII inspired Mako's Eye drink. The company had previously featured this drink at a temporary-themed cafe in 2022. But with this recipe, people residing anywhere worldwide will be able to replicate the drink if they have the specified ingredients.

The base drink consists of the following ingredients:

1. Blue Hawaii Syrup - 20cc
2. Ice - adequate amount
3. Carbonated Water - 140cc

The recipe also includes a separate syrup made by mixing 10cc of Pineapple Syrup with 0.1g of Yellow Food Coloring. When people pour this syrup into the drink, it will glow similarly to the Mako reflected on characters' pupils in Final Fantasy VII entries. An optional pineapple cut on the glass can complete the drink's presentation.

The drink recipe video is also available to watch on the Japanese official X account for the Final Fantasy VII Remake series:

2B from Square Enix's NieR Automata will appear as a DLC playable character in Cygames and Arc System Works' Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising. Cygames made the reveal at Granblue Fes 2023, and it also announced that the character will be available for purchase in late February 2024.

A new trailer showcasing 2B in Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising has also appeared on the game's YouTube channel. It reveals that Yui Ishikawa and Hideki Yasumoto will reprise their respective Japanese voice roles as 2B and Pod 042. Cygames also announced that Kira Buckland will provide 2B's English voiceover.

Players who purchase the 2B DLC will also get special access to NieR Automata-themed outfits for Djeeta and Gran. There is a major sidenote that these outfits will appear in the original Granblue Fantasy mobile game instead of the Versus fighting game.

We begin a week of Siliconera’s Game of the Year selections with the PlayStation 5! The system hit a level of maturity in 2023, with fewer cross-generation launches and more titles using the hardware’s full capabilities. It even got a VR headset this year! (Though without any software support worthy of contending in this particular category.) Read on for our PlayStation Game of the Year 2023 honorees!

These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. For more of the year’s award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2023 archive.

Resident Evil 4 Remake

While it stays closer to the action-focused approach of other Resident Evil remakes than the more suspenseful one of the original release, Resident Evil 4 Remake does a solid job of recreating the characters and world of the beloved series entry. There are lots of ways to play RE4 these days, and many of them are still worth playing! So in offering a fundamentally different take, Remake justifies its existence without stepping on any toes.

Like a Dragon: Ishin!

The entire Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side series will be available on the Nintendo Switch. Konami revealed that it will release the Switch versions of 1st Love, 2nd Season, and 3rd Story in Japan on February 14, 2024.

The new Switch releases will be mostly based on the latest versions for each title. The inaugural Girl's Side game, originally released on the PS2 in 2002, received Nintendo DS ports with the 1st Love subtitle in 2007 and the Plus edition with full voiceovers in 2009. Konami also released 2nd Kiss first for PS2 in 2006 but later ported it to the DS with a different subtitle—2nd Season—in 2008.

The third game will be implemented in a different way. Konami launched 3rd Story first for Nintendo DS in 2010, and it then released the enhanced Premium 3rd Story in 2012. The company will mostly base the Switch version on the DS release, as it will lack features from the PSP version like Live2D and Approach Mode. However, it will still include Tatsuya Hasumi, the character who made his debut in the PSP game.

Bandai Namco revealed new crossover content from Xenosaga for the Japanese mobile game Tales of the Rays. The event's main highlight will be the in-person appearance of KOS-MOS, the combat android who is also the series' main star. Mariko Suzuki, the original Japanese voice actress for KOS-MOS, will also return to reprise her role in Tales of the Rays.

The crossover will also provide new Xenosaga-themed costumes for several existing Tales Of series characters. Tales of Berseria's protagonist Velvet will get a T-elos costume, while the deuteragonist Laphicet will receive a chaos outfit. Kanonno Earhart, who originally appeared in the 2009 PSP entry Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2, will also have a costume modeled after MOMO Mizrahi.

Bandai Namco has also uploaded a trailer showcasing the Xenosaga crossover content on the Tales Of YouTube channel:

A My Hero Academia crossover event in Granblue Fantasy will appear in January 2024. Cygames announced the new collaboration on the second day of Granblue Fes 2023.

Cygames also revealed the key highlights of the upcoming crossover event. Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo will come as new playable characters, while All Might will also appear as a summon. The company also teased that there will be more characters appearing from My Hero Academia, and it will reveal them in due time.

Usada Pekora has made a big win after her bet in a horse race succeeded. The Japanese Hololive VTuber placed a ¥500,000 (~$3,500) bet on the racing horse Titleholder at the Arima Kinen race on December 24, 2023. The bet succeeded, and she received a payout of ¥1,650,000 (~$11,600). The success came with even more sentimental value, as it was also the final race the horse took part in.

Usada Pekora has been known as a fan of Titleholder. Oricon noted that the person behind the VTuber had placed the same bets for the horse at the previous Arima Kinen race on December 25, 2022, and the Spring Tenno Sho race on April 30, 2023. However, she lost both bets as Titleholder did not finish in the top three in either race.

There have been many winter-themed events in games over the years that are perfect for getting players into the holiday spirit. To celebrate Holiday 2023, we discuss our favorite Holiday Events in a game.

Final Fantasy XIV has excellent holiday events almost every year, but there was one particular event (I believe somewhere around Stormblood) that stands out as my favorite. This particular Starlight Celebration had players go to the local orphanage in Ul’dah and help them set up for the holiday festivities. It was heartwarming, surprising, and had some tear-jerker moments, and it was only a random holiday event for two weeks. -- Cody

Honestly, I know this is about holiday events in ongoing games, but all that comes to mind when I see that question is Yakuza 5, the definitive Christmas game. Getting to wander a snowy city in mid-December, hearing "Jingle Bells" playing out of store windows, rolling random thugs up into snowmen...you know, all the holiday traditions. That said, I am looking forward to the masquerade vibe of Splatoon 3's upcoming Frosty Fest, so I will also say that for an actual event. -- Leigh

Due to the popularity of Hololive and Holostars Vtubers, there are quite a few official and fan games to play! To help sort through the growing catalog, here are some that people should really pay attention to.

Best Hololive game that isn’t an indie: AQUARIUM

So, Entergram worked with Minato Aqua to create the visual novel Aquarium. It’s basically an alternate reality dating sim in which she’s a maid you fall in love with. Other Hololive Vtubers like Houshou Marine appear too! It’s available on Steam for $20.46.

I still remember how it felt in 2013 playing the Final Fantasy XIV beta and, eventually, the game's full release on my PlayStation 3 using my neighbor’s Wi-Fi (sorry, neighbor!). The phenomenal MMORPG came at just the right time in the darkest point of my life, and it’s been with me throughout so many changes over the past decade as we head into the FFXIV Dawntrail expansion in 2024.

However, as we approach the release of the fifth expansion in Dawntrail, I feel conflicted about Final Fantasy XIV in a way I never have before. I sincerely think Yoshi-P and the team should’ve stuck with the original plan I spoke to him about at the time of both Stormblood and Shadowbringer’s launches, where Endwalker would be two expansions and conclude the story.

Given the things the Demon Slayer characters go through, sometimes we forget these are teenagers or even kids. (Nezuko was probably about 12 when the series began!) I feel like this makes the newly localized Demon Slayer: Kimetsu Academy manga even more of a pleasant read, as we finally get a chance to see these silly interactions between characters and chances for them to be more like kids.

First, a bit of background. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu Academy has nothing to do with the original series, beyond featuring all of its characters in an alternate universe. It’s a work by Natsuki Hokami based on the original  Koyoharu Gotouge creation. So everything here is isolated, contained, and playful take on things we know and recognize. Parts of people’s personalities and traits will be emphasized or taken to extremes. (For example, Nezuko is always munching on bread in the mornings, instead of wearing a muzzle.) It builds on concepts and ideas, so it is recognizable, but also lively and new.

It isn’t uncommon to see a manga or manhwa where the villainess is the lead, but Yen Press’ The Villainess Turns the Hourglass involves a rather methodical tale where the heroine Aria is working to become an even stronger villainess and get revenge. However, since it’s starting in her youth after a rewind that gives her a second chance, it means the story takes its time.

Things begin in the “present.” Aria is about to be sentenced to death by her “brother” Cain for attempting to poison her “sister” Mielle. Mielle seems to be this benevolent innocent who wants to forgive her sibling. However, when she comes up and it’s just the two of them, she reveals she orchestrated and framed everything and killed Aria’s mother, all because of Aria and her mother being usurpers unfit to hold the Roscent name. When Aria dies, though, she’s instead taken back to her youth and finds a shattered hourglass in her bed. With her second chance, she vows revenge on Mielle and everyone who betrayed her, and lives her life differently to destroy them.

In 2022, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet debuted on the Nintendo Switch and added over 114 new Pokemon to the long-running franchise. With the ninth generation finally coming to an end with the recent release of The Indigo Disk DLC, we wanted to discuss which Paldea Pokemon we like the best.

Paldean Wooper was already a cute variation, but Clodsire? Clodsire was inspired. Absolutely friend-shaped, a perfect little unit. 10 out of 10, no notes. -- Elliot

I wanted to say Clodsire, too, because my ideal life in the Pokemon world would be just sitting in a room full of Clodsires. Honestly, this generation's new Pokemon aren't exactly my favorite. But if I had to choose one (that isn't Clodsire), I'd pick Quaquaval. As a disclaimer, my starter was Sprigatito. To put it mildly, Quaquaval has a very strong presence, and it always makes me laugh when I see it running around the field after me. It puts a smile on my face in a way that Meowscarada could never. -- Stephanie

Stories take time to breathe, especially when you have a manga series that will span multiple volumes. This means in the case of the second volume of the the The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor manga, it really gets into developing characters like Jill and Hadis further.

We had a general sense of who both of these characters are in the first volume of The Do-Over Damsel. At least, we did for their older selves. Much of the first volume is a frenzy of activity. We learn about Jill’s fate at the hands of her villainous prince fiance. We discover she’s been sent back in time to the night she would have gotten engaged to him, at which point she proposes to the first man she meets: the Dragon Emperor Hadis that is cursed. He was a terrifying, deadly individual in her original life, but seems to be a genuinely good, mysterious figure who cares about her here.

Bandai Namco has many figure lines, with some being more affordable than others. The Tekken Game Dimension Kazuya and Heihachi figures are two of them, both coming in at under $30 and, while they aren’t as involved as an SH Figuarts, they’re a fun decoration to put on a shelf.

A key visual for Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Part 2 has come out, showing the main cast of characters. It’ll start from January 5, 2024. [Thanks, AnimeTV!]

The second cour of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End will cover the First Class Mage Exam Arc. Episodes will air on Friday nights, and the cour will run until March 2024. There is also a new trailer for the arc, which you can watch on TOHO Animation’s YouTube channel.

Frieren and her entourage will meet several new faces in Auberst, which is where they must take the First Class Mage Exam. The full list of new characters, as well as the cast, are:

• Denken: Jiro Saito (Zash in Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry)

In an investor presentation on December 22, 2023, Falcom revealed a line-up of games that are currently in development. It also stated that it will focus on releasing games for the PS4, PS5, and Windows PC. [Thanks, Nikkei!]

Aside from developing games for the above three consoles, Falcom also plans to focus on music, releasing CDs and albums within Japan. It will also grow its existing IPs through merchandise, novels, international releases, digital versions, and mobile apps. At present, Falcom releases about two to three new titles per year. However, it wants to increase its output. Within three years, it hopes to start releasing four to five titles per year.

Upcoming games from Falcom include:

• The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki - Farewell, O Zemuria (TBD) - 2024
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak (Switch) - February 15, 2024
• Unannounced action RPG (TBD) - In Development
• Unannounced game (TBD) - In Development

I delved a bit into the original Granblue Fantasy mobile game and even its later anime adaptation, but neither of them ever truly stuck with me despite the intriguing characters and premise. I honestly feel the same after playing Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising, but it at least offers some gorgeous 2D fighting worth checking out for certain players.

Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising bills itself as a sequel to the 2020 hit fighting game, and some of the data from that game carries over for existing fans. It also contains almost all of the content from the original, plus some new characters and modes on top of that. Suffice to say, there is quite a lot to unpack in this game from the lengthy singleplayer campaign to the breadth of online multiplayer and training options.

A new lineup of Evangelion merchandise will appear in Avail stores across Japan on December 29, 2023. The items will range from stickers and badges to pouches and shoulder bags.

The items will be available in most of Avail's physical stores except the Furuichi branch in Nara and Kamisato branch in Iida, Nagano. People can also place orders on Avail's web store on the same date. International shipping may be available as the site supports the Buyee widget.

Here is the full list of merchandise in the lineup, along with their prices in Japanese yen. Note that the prices listed here are still subject to 10% tax:

• Men's cap: ¥1,800
• Mini shoulder bag: ¥2,300
• Pouch: ¥1,200
• Coin case: ¥1,200
• Mini towel: ¥490
• Sticker: ¥390

Publisher 91Act has announced that BlazBlue Entropy Effect will be released on PCs on January 31, 2024. The Chinese studio has also published a Japanese press release detailing content that will appear in the full release, such as the addition of Taokaka as the tenth playable character. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

The BlazBlue spin-off game has been available on Steam via Early Access since mid-August 2023. While English and Japanese interfaces are available, the Early Access build only features Chinese voiceovers. The upcoming full release in late January 2024 will add English and Japanese voice options.

The latest Early Access version features nine playable characters so far. They are Ragna the Bloodedge, Jin Kisaragi, Noel Vermillion, Mai Natsume, Hibiki Kohaku, Kokonoe, Es, Hakumen, and Lambda-11. With the newly confirmed addition of Taokaka, the game will have a total of ten playable characters at launch.

Victor Entertainment has opened pre-registrations for the mobile and PC versions of Tokyo Revengers: Last Mission. The game will appear first on mobile devices in February 2024, with the PC version set to follow later in the same year.

Last Mission will be a 3D action RPG with a gacha system where players can gather characters from the Tokyo Revengers franchise. It will retell the story from the manga and anime with the existing Japanese voice actors reprising their character roles. The developers will reproduce the real-life Shibuya townscape as the map where fights will take place in the game.

Victor Entertainment recommends iOS 15 as the minimum spec for Apple's iPhone and iPad devices. The Android version recommends a minimum of 4GB memory, Android OS 9.0, and a Snapdragon 845 or Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 as CPU. The PC version has a recommended spec of 8GB memory, Intel Core i3-4150 as CPU, and GeForce GTX 1050 as GPU, with Windows 10 64-bit or Windows 11 as the operating system.

People who still play Dark Souls II on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will no longer be able to access its online features after March 2024. FromSoftware has announced that it will terminate online services for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions on Sunday, March 31, 2024.

After this date, players on the legacy consoles will have to play the game entirely offline without any multiplayer features and asynchronous bloodstains, shades, and messages. The studio stated the aging and deterioration of game servers as the primary reason for the online shutdown.

As a reminder, FromSoftware and Bandai Namco released the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Dark Souls II worldwide in March 2014. Therefore, exactly ten years will have just passed by the time it shuts down servers for the consoles.

FromSoftware reiterates that the Dark Souls II online shutdown will only happen to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. It reassures players that they can still access the game's online features on the PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC—both DirectX 9 and 11—versions for the foreseeable future.

Tencent and NetEase’s stocks are dropping at a massive rate due to China introducing new gaming regulations. Tencent’s stocks dropped around 16%, while NetEase’s fell 25%. [Thanks, Josh Ye!]

The new policies in question focus on online game management. These regulations mainly center on curbing spending in video games, specifically ones with a gacha element or a daily login. Here are some of the new policies that China is setting for its video game companies:

• Online games will no longer be able to offer rewards for daily logins. They can no longer give rewards for when players first spend money or when they spend money several times in a row.
• Games need to have a limit on how much players can spend to top up their digital wallets.
• Developers cannot offer “probability-based lucky draw features” to minors.