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Famitsu shared an interview excerpt with Metaphor: ReFantazio Director Katsura Hashino in which the developer talked about some of the themes present the upcoming fantasy RPG. The full interview will be available on the January 4, 2024 issue of the magazine, which will release on December 21, 2023 in Japan. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Hashino said that the core theme surrounding Metaphor: ReFantazio are “ideals vs reality.” However, since ideals are a very personal thing, Hashino said that the game does not have a simple answer to which values are right and wrong. The developers hope that players will not get stuck thinking about the current state of the game's world, nor will accept it without questioning. Instead, they want players to interact with the various tribes and characters during their journey, and bring back with them their own feelings and thoughts.

When asked if there will be elements in the game that try to paint one of these clashing ideals in a more sympathetic light, Hashino answered that the synopsis of the game makes the assassins of the king seem like the main antagonists, but at the same time these characters may have a point in their reasoning.

Limited edition VShojo merchandise based on the Vtuber Kson that was previously only available at her Japan Fan Meeting event is now available to purchase via the official online store. According to Kson’s announcement post, these six collector’s items will only be available online and internationally for a short time, but no dates were shared.

This lineup of limited Kson items include a few acrylic stands, keychains, and other collectables that feature two different art styles. One of them is a full-body illustration of the person behind the Vtuber, while the other is in a chibi style with thicker lines. The photorealistic acrylic stand of Kson has her wearing the same off-shoulder red dress she is pictured wearing in the 2D illustration version of the stand.

Below is a list of the new limited Japan Fan Meeting Kson merchandise along with their prices:

• Kson Handkerchief: $17
• Kson Japan Fan Meeting Keychain: $9
• Kson Japan Fan Meeting Rubber Band: $9
• Kumichou Photorealistic Acrylic Standee: $25
• Kumichou SD Acrylic Standee: $15

Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada recently revealed some details about the creation of Azucena, one of the new additions to the Tekken 8 roster. He answered fan questions about the character in a video on his YouTube channel, Harada’s Bar.

When asked about the creation of Azucena, Harada discussed the popularity of Tekken in South America. While he acknowledged a large Brazilian fanbase, he also noted that Peru has a lot of players who love Kazuya Mishima. He also picked a Peruvian character thanks to an interest in the Nazca Lines. He claims they left an impression on him when they appeared in the classic Namco arcade game Xevious.

Harada explained that Azucena was designed in reverse to how Tekken characters are usually created. While normally the team start with a fighting style and build a character around it, for Azucena they started with her personality. After reading anthropological studies about national character, he discovered that Peruvians are considered cheerful and optimistic. This led to the creation of a happy-go-lucky character who is always dancing, which led to her fighting style. Harada also mentioned that the team did consider a character using Incan boxing, a style of boxing unique to the country.

Square Enix announced the FFXIV Fan Festival 2024 Tokyo schedule for streams, and confirmed it includes events like a keynote and Mahjong tournaments. The streams, which will be on YouTube and Twitch, all begin on January 6, 2024.

First, here is the schedule for events that begin on January 6, 2024. Note that since the FFXIV Mahjong tournaments are on the secondary stage, it won't be streamed on the official YouTube and Twitch streams focused on the main stage.

• January 6, 2024 at 5pm PT/8pm ET: Keynote with Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida. (English interpretation will be available.)
• January 6, 2024 at 7pm PT/10pm ET: Opening Ceremony.
• January 6, 2024 at 7:30pm PT/10:30pm ET: FFXIV Doman Mahjong on the Secondary Stage. (It will feature Hiroshi Takai, Kazutoyo Maehiro, Hiroshi Minagawa, and Takeo Suzuki as presenters, Ryunosuke Tachibana, Yasumi Matsuno, and Yosuke Saito as guests, and Fumiyoshi Yamada and Tatsuya Hiyoshi as commentators.)

Square Enix’s latest Final Fantasy VII Rebirth screenshots shared allow people to compare Dyne to his original FFVII version. It also offers a look at his official character art and reminds people of his voice actors.

Like Barret, Dyne also has a gun arm from when the two worked in Corel. However, while Barret’s is on his right, Dyne’s is on his left. While one escaped the area, the other remains there and is happened upon once players get to the Gold Saucer and Corel Prison area.

Here are the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and original FFVII screenshots showing Barret and Dyne. In both case, we’re seeing the two reunite after an extended period of time and meet up once again. In the original PlayStation version, we’re seeing the scene from a distance. However, in the remake we’re getting a closer view of the two together.

A new, limited edition Hello Kitty necklace is available to commemorate the Sanrio mascot’s 50th anniversary. It will be available online from FanFun Market, with international shipping offered via WorldShopping proxy service, for the price of 16,500 yen ($114.55).

The design of this Sanrio necklace features a gold version of the character's face surrounded by hearts, ribbons, stars, and other jewel accents. The necklace will have a small gold chain. It is also made up of SV925 silver, pink gold coating, and cubic zirconia. The Hello Kitty charm attached to the chain will be approximately 14.8 millimeters long, 16.3 millimeters wide, and 3 millimeters thick.

This 50th anniversary necklace will come included with an original jewelry cloth and box featuring the newly illustrated design. The cloth and box both feature a close-up of Hello Kitty’s face, but the cloth uses the colorful original design while the box uses silver.

See the 50th Anniversary Hello Kitty necklace in the gallery below:

Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra announced a series of concerts featuring anime titles owned by the Bandai Namco group, including Code Geass and Gundam. The concerts will take place in Sendai City in 2024 and beyond.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion will be the highlight of the first orchestra concert scheduled to run on May 4, 2024. The second concert on August 10, 2024, will focus on two Gundam titles: The 1985 TV anime Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and the 1988 movie Char's Counterattack. Both concerts will take place at Sendai Bank Hall Izumity 21, which will have its major renovation completed at the end of March 2024.

Code Geass and Gundam will not be the only franchises to get orchestra concerts in Sendai. The philharmonic orchestra group will first perform tracks from Sunrise's 2016 musical comedy anime ClassicaLoid as the "zeroth" concert at Hitachi Systems Hall on March 20, 2024. It will also hold an Aikatsu Orchestra Katsudo concert at Izumity 21 one year later on March 20, 2025.

A product page for The Suika Game (Watermelon Game) appeared on the PlayStation Store, suggesting a PS4 or PS5 version of the game is on its way. The Aladdin X game has previously been a viral hit as an exclusive Nintendo Switch title.

This might also not be the official Suika Game. The name specifically is listed as The Suika Game. Also, GOGAME CONSOLE PUBLISHER is listed as the publisher, while the Switch version is an Aladdin X game. The official art on the page also looks different than the designs on the eShop or in browsers.

Here are the two images to compare.

The Monster Hunter Wilds PlayStation Store and Steam pages are live for the PC and PS5 versions of the game. Information on both is very limited, and the Microsoft Store page isn’t live for the Xbox Series X version yet.

Capcom revealed very little about the new installments in the Sony and Valve product listings. Both basically confirm the 2025 launch window and that it is the next entry in the series. The PC one only notes English is a language, with others to be revealed, and it doesn’t mention any system requirements. It does, at the moment, only list it as a single-player game. The Steam page and PlayStation Store listing for Monster Hunter Wilds basically serve as means to wishlist the title.

The Steam page did offer a number of screenshots. These feature the same scenes as the ones shown in The Game Awards 2023 announcement trailer for the Monster Hunter game. It showed monsters that appeared to be Arzuros and Rathalos. The hunter shown is also riding a new, bird-like mount capable of gliding, though we don't know exactly what this new Canyne-like ally's name is.

Kotobukiya has opened pre-orders for its upcoming plastic model kit of Mega Man X in his Falcon Armor. People can now place orders for the kit, which has a price tag of 8,360 yen (~$58). The 1/12 scale kit will have an overall height of around 140mm (~5.5 inches) when completed.

After previously revealing an unpainted prototype in May 2023, Kotobukiya has shared new sample images with the prototype now fully painted. The full package will come with pre-painted parts so that anyone can simply build the kit. The set will come with interchangeable hands, facial expression parts, and arm crystals. Some of the sample images show X wielding the Z-Saber, which is only available separately in Zero's model kits.

An Armored Core 6 behind-the-scenes seminar will be held online in Japan. .Too has opened registrations for prospective viewers to attend the webinar. It will start on Friday, January 19, 2024, at 4:30 PM JST (2:30 AM ET) and it will run for approximately 100 minutes.

Kozo Maeda, the sub-leader of FromSoftware's 3D graphics section, will be the main speaker at this Armored Core 6 seminar. He will explain how the game has undergone reforms and evolutions after ten years have passed since the release of Armored Core Verdict Day in 2013. Other than revealing behind-the-scenes talks about the game's production and development, Maeda will also show 3D artwork made with digital tools like Autodesk 3ds Max.

The webpage also includes an agenda list of topics that Kozo Maeda will cover at the seminar:

1. Title Introduction
2. Development Structure
3. Character Production
4. Background Production
5. Motion Production
6. Customization Feature Enhancements

A new collaboration between Disney's Wish and Spy x Family Code: White has appeared in Japan. Disney Japan initiated the unique crossover after noticing multiple similarities between Asha and Anya Forger, the key characters for each movie.

While Asha and Anya have two different letters in the alphabet, their names in Japanese katakana only have one different letter. Both characters also tag along with a companion pet that has a special ability. Asha has Valentino, the goat that can speak with the help of magic. Anya often walks together with Bond Forger, the large dog that can predict the future. Disney's Japanese blog further added that both Wish and Spy x Family have "star" as a key theme, and both Asha and Anya also get to know secrets that will shock their respective worlds.

The trailer is available to watch on the Japanese Disney Studios YouTube channel. It features narration by Erika Ikuta and Atsumi Tanezaki, the respective Japanese voice actress for Wish's Asha and Spy x Family's Anya.

Bandai Namco announced that Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Dragon Ball Card Warriors service has ended in the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch version of the game, which includes both the online service and data transfer function. The offline version of Dragon Ball Card Warriors can still be played and accessed.

The initial announcement of the end of online service for Dragon Ball Card Warriors was first made in 2022. Dragon Ball Card Warriors was added to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch back on October 28, 2020 as a free update to the game. It was previously an online collectible card that allowed players to collect cards featuring characters from the Dragon Ball franchise. These cards could be used to partake in online battles and tournaments, along with ranked matches for more serious players. 

Konami announced that news about the future of the otome game series Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side series will appear on Christmas Day. A Christmas 2023 Newsflash video broadcast will premiere on the Konami official YouTube channel on December 25 at 8pm JST.

Additionally, host of the newsflash broadcast Icchou Mori teased on social media that he “feels like Santa,” implying that there could be a new game announcement. The official Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side series social media account reposted Mori’s comment.

The announcement appeared on the X (previously Twitter) official account for the Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side series.  As a reminder, ahead of the celebration on May 27, 2024 of the 30th anniversary of the main Tokimeki Memorial dating sim series, Konami opened an official Twitter account for the main series back in May 2023.

The Fashion Dreamer Fantasy Fair event is finally going to arrive alongside update 1.2.1 on December 19, 2023. This comes after an in-game issue kept it from beginning on December 5, 2023 as originally planned.

The Fashion Dreamer Fantasy Fair is an event that is going to add fairy-themed clothing to the game. To acquire it, people will need to log in and play the game, completing certain challenges so you can unlock the new clothing and customization items. As a result, the dates for the event also changed. It will now run between December 19, 2023 and January 10, 2024, to give players enough time to collect the items.

In addition to the event finally running, Marvelous also announced an apology gift is going out to people with the game. Every player will get 200 Creative Keys. These are the items you can use to unlock designs in the Item Creator so you can customize new pieces of clothing for you to wear, use on Muses, or place in your showroom. 

The Zenless Zone Zero closed beta opened in late November 2023 and I got the chance to experience the world of New Eridu ahead of the game’s official launch. While there are still some rough patches, it is a promising game that steps away from the HoYoVerse gacha game formula that most players are probably familiar with.

In Zenless Zone Zero, you play as Phaeton, a famous Proxy whose job is to essentially act as mission control for people who travel inside Hollows. You can choose between a male or a female avatar for your Proxy, but the sibling you don’t choose still plays a major role in the story. I actually suggest choosing the one you’re not as interested in. Belle is my protagonist but Wise, as my mission control, actually feels way more prominent a character than Belle. I enjoyed how there are voice lines for Belle’s dialog options, which forces characters to respond in a more direct manner than in most gacha games. It gives the feeling that Belle is a legitimate character in this world rather than nothing more than an author avatar.

During Jump Festa 2024, Toho Animation shared the first trailer for Season 7 of the My Hero Academia anime and confirmed that its release date is set for May 4, 2024. [Thanks, Comic Natalie!]

Season 7 will continue the story with the Star and Stripe Arc, which starts on chapter 329 of the My Hero Academia manga. This chapter was compiled on volume 34 of the Japanese tankobon release.

You can check out the first trailer for Season 7 of My Hero Academia below. The new trailer is only available in Japanese and doesn’t include subtitles.

As part of the Jump Festa 2024 figure announcements, Good Smile Company offered a look at the Blue Exorcist Rin and Yukio Nendoroid prototypes. There’s no release window for either one yet.

Both Rin and Yukio were shown fully painted and with some accessories. Rin’s wearing a school uniform and is wielding Kurikara, his katana. Meanwhile, Yukio appears to be holding an Armumahel Pistol in the photograph. There's no indication about other face plates that could accompany the figures, as well as any other accessories they may come with for additional poses.

To compare, here are the concept art images for both from Anime Japan 2023. 

Bandai Namco updated details about the next One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Character Pass 2 additions, noting DLC 5 will be a Film: Red pack that includes Shanks and Koby. They will join alongside Uta on January 11, 2024. 

As the Film: Red name of the pack suggests, it will depict characters that appeared in the One Piece movie. We already knew Uta, one of the stars of that film, and a song pack with tracks from the film would appear for the Musou game.

Here’s a gallery showing Koby and Shanks in One Piece Pirate Warriors 4, with art and screenshots from the official social media account. 

Now that the Zack Holiday Suit and Twinkling Star sword are live, there are FFVII Ever Crisis trailers looking at them. One showcases the sword’s C. Ability, while the other looks at the live wallpaper people get.

First, here’s the gear video. In it, Zack is wearing the new outfit. He’s also wielding the Twinkling Star sword and uses it to perform a Dual Onslaught strike against the Gingerbread Cactuar opponent exclusive to the holiday event. After showing the attack, it reminds people that the outfit boosts his health and boosts physical damage when attack stance command gauge is maxed out.

Craft Egg, the studio that developed BanG Dream: Girls Band Party, will no longer be involved with the mobile game in 2024. Bushiroad announced that the studio will withdraw from the game's development and management effective from January 4, 2024. Bushiroad will become the sole maintainer of the game afterward.

Craft Egg is the original developer of the BanG Dream: Girls Band Party mobile game, which Bushiroad published first in Japan in March 2017. The studio was not involved in the Nintendo Switch version that came out exclusively in Japan in September 2021, as Rocket Studio was its developer instead.

While other companies published the game separately across East Asia, Bushiroad eventually launched a global English version that covers the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the rest of Asia in April 2018. Special collaborations with other franchises like Hololive Production and Atlus' Persona series have also appeared on the global server.

A new update is headed to Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, bringing with it new parts to customize your AC with, new PVP maps to do battle in, and ranked matchmaking,. The update is scheduled to release on December 19, 2023.

The focus of this update is the addition of PvP ranked matchmaking including leaderboards, which will be available in both the 1v1 and 3v3 modes of Armored Core 6. By competing in ranked matches, players will be able to earn cosmetic options to customize their nameplates. There will also be several new maps. The names of these were not listed but the trailer does show some shots of the Watchpoint where Balteus is fought and the Grid area where members of the Doser faction are encountered. New AC parts are also promised though what they will do and look like, as well as whether they will be earned through ranked gameplay, was not disclosed.

You can find a trailer for the update on Youtube below:

There are new Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and FFVII screenshots, this time focusing on the date between Cloud and Barret. As a reminder, Barret is one of the people whose relationship with Cloud can change leading up to that Gold Saucer moment, determining who Cloud dates while there.

First, one of the two screenshots involved the original FFVII date scene. In it, we see Cloud and Barret from the side as they’re on the ferris wheel. In the background, we can see some of the Gold Saucer attractions.

The official social media account for One Piece shared a message made by Eiichiro Oda at the 2024 Jump Festa. In the message, Oda hints at the Straw Hat Crew visiting "THAT island" in the One Piece manga, as well as his dream of an Emmy award win for the live-action adaptation.

Oda began by thanking fans for the success of One Piece Film: Red, which grossed over 20 billion Yen in Japan. He then mentioned that he spent about half of 2023 working with the One Piece live-action adaptation, which he considers a "massive success," and expressed his hope of a Japanese manga adaptation winning an Emmy or Academy award.

After remarking on the anime adaptation's upcoming 25th anniversary, Oda moved on to discussing the One Piece manga itself. He mentions the possibility of the characters visiting "THAT Island", fighting to obtain "THAT THING," and of an unexpected outcome of a fight between two unnamed characters. While Oda is playing coy to the point of being a joke, there's a possibility that he's referring to Raftel/Laugh Tale, an island that could contain the titular One Piece. As for who "THAT PERSON" and "THAT OTHER PERSON" are, those are nondescript enough to mean any two characters, but one could be Luffy.

You can read the full message from Eiichiro Oda, in Japanese or English, below:

Kodansha and Felix Film announced that season 2 of the MF Ghost anime will air in 2024. The official sequel to Initial D will deliver more overtaking moments with Eurobeat songs playing in the background.

The upcoming season will highlight the feature race in Ashinoko GT—the second out of five rounds in the MFG Great Championship. The series' author Shuichi Shigeno uses real roads around Japan's Lake Ashi as the basis for the course.

The teaser trailer for the anime's season 2 is available to watch on the official MF Ghost YouTube channel. It shows the red Toyota GT86—which the title's protagonist Kanata Katagiri uses—traversing through the track during rain.

Cloud Retainer, going by the name Xianyun, and Gaming will be the next new Genshin Impact characters in the 4.4 update. HoYoVerse shared official art and profiles for each of them on social media. 

Gaming is making his debut in Genshin Impact 4.4 and hasn’t appeared prior to that update. He’s noted to be a Sword and Strongbox Transport Agency guard with the Leonine Vanguard title. He has a Pyro vision, and his constellation is called Leo Expergiscens. But while he’s a guard, his profile noted that he’s the Mighty Mythical Beasts leader who is a master of the Wushou Dance.

Shueisha made a couple of announcements related to Bleach during Jump Festa 2024, and one of them is available immediately. The first announcement covered the launch of an audiobook based on a 2016 Bleach novel that covered the marriage of Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai. The second one revealed a new rock musical show that will appear again after an eight-year hiatus.

The novel audiobook brings voiceovers and sound effects to a part of Bleach: We Do Knot Always Love You. Shueisha originally published the novel in Japan physically in December 2016 and digitally in January 2017. It features new voices by Fumiko Orikasa, Kentaro Ito, and Ryotaro Okiayu, who reprised their respective roles as Rukia, Renji, and Byakuya. Ayako Kawasumi also provided narration for the audiobook.

The Bleach Rukia and Renji audiobook, which runs for almost sixteen minutes, is available to view on YouTube:

Shueisha made a couple of announcements related to Bleach during Jump Festa 2024, and one of them is available immediately. The first announcement covered the launch of an audiobook based on a 2016 Bleach novel that covered the marriage of Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai. The second one revealed a new rock musical show that will appear again after an eight-year hiatus.

The novel audiobook brings voiceovers and sound effects to a part of Bleach: We Do Knot Always Love You. Shueisha originally published the novel in Japan physically in December 2016 and digitally in January 2017. It features new voices by Fumiko Orikasa, Kentaro Ito, and Ryotaro Okiayu, who reprised their respective roles as Rukia, Renji, and Byakuya. Ayako Kawasumi also provided narration for the audiobook.

The Bleach Rukia and Renji audiobook, which runs for almost sixteen minutes, is available to view on YouTube:

Shueisha confirmed the production of Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc at Jump Festa 2024. The company also added a new webpage dedicated to the new movie on the franchise's anime website. MAPPA, the studio that also produced the 2022 TV anime adaptation of Chainsaw Man, is working on this movie.

The official teaser trailer for Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc is available to view on MAPPA's YouTube channel. It shows a sneak peek of interactions between Reze and the series protagonist Denji.

Shueisha confirmed the production of Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc at Jump Festa 2024. The company also added a new webpage dedicated to the new movie on the franchise's anime website. MAPPA, the studio that also produced the 2022 TV anime adaptation of Chainsaw Man, is working on this movie.

The official teaser trailer for Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc is available to view on MAPPA's YouTube channel. It shows a sneak peek of interactions between Reze and the series protagonist Denji.

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

Netflix announced that they will be producing an all-new anime remake of the One Piece manga series titled The One Piece. The new anime adaption will be animated by WIT Studio, best known for their work on Spy x Family, Attack on Titan, and The Ancient Magus' Bride.

The One Piece anime remake will start from the East Blue saga, retelling the start of Monkey D. Luffy's journey of becoming a pirate and gathering his crew. This new adaption is being made in collaboration with Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji Television, Netflix, and Wit Studio. The announcement of The One Piece also comes as a celebration of the One Piece series as it reaches its 25th anniversary in 2024.

There has been no announcement on how long the One Piece anime remake will run or what events it will cover after the East Blue saga. There was also no announcement of when The One Piece will release on Netflix.

The trailer announcing The One Piece, Netflix's anime remake of One Piece can be viewed below:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJKPk1MriFo[/embed]

The original anime adaption of the East Blue saga first aired from 1999 to 2001 and was produced by Toei Animation. The One Piece anime by Toei Animation is currently on Season 21 which covers the Egghead arc in the manga. It is currently airing in Japan on Fuji Television with an English simulcast by Crunchyroll.

Netflix announced that they will be producing an all-new anime remake of the One Piece manga series titled The One Piece. The new anime adaption will be animated by WIT Studio, best known for their work on Spy x Family, Attack on Titan, and The Ancient Magus' Bride.

The One Piece anime remake will start from the East Blue saga, retelling the start of Monkey D. Luffy's journey of becoming a pirate and gathering his crew. This new adaption is being made in collaboration with Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji Television, Netflix, and Wit Studio. The announcement of The One Piece also comes as a celebration of the One Piece series as it reaches its 25th anniversary in 2024.

There has been no announcement on how long the One Piece anime remake will run or what events it will cover after the East Blue saga. There was also no announcement of when The One Piece will release on Netflix.

The trailer announcing The One Piece, Netflix's anime remake of One Piece can be viewed below:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJKPk1MriFo[/embed]

The original anime adaption of the East Blue saga first aired from 1999 to 2001 and was produced by Toei Animation. The One Piece anime by Toei Animation is currently on Season 21 which covers the Egghead arc in the manga. It is currently airing in Japan on Fuji Television with an English simulcast by Crunchyroll.

If you told me in 2004 that World of Warcraft would have become my favorite MMORPG of 2023, I would have told you that you were lying. I've talked about my newfound love of the genre more than enough over the course of the past few months, but I still can't believe how enamored I am with a nearly 20 year old game. And when I say 20 year old game, I'm talking about World of Warcraft Classic.

For those unfamiliar with World of Warcraft Classic and what that entails, it means that Blizzard effectively made the "vanilla" version of the game with its very own set of servers. It isn't entirely 1:1 with the World of Warcraft 1.0 experience, as it does have some basic quality of life features that make jumping into it a bit easier. That said, I love playing old MMORPGs; Lineage II was my main haunt for eight years and AION followed shortly after that, and both of those games were extremely grindy. So of course I'd love World of Warcraft Classic, where the game is focused on the grind and the experience. I don't mean experience in the technical sense, but more or less just being in the game itself.

If you told me in 2004 that World of Warcraft would have become my favorite MMORPG of 2023, I would have told you that you were lying. I've talked about my newfound love of the genre more than enough over the course of the past few months, but I still can't believe how enamored I am with a nearly 20 year old game. And when I say 20 year old game, I'm talking about World of Warcraft Classic.

For those unfamiliar with World of Warcraft Classic and what that entails, it means that Blizzard effectively made the "vanilla" version of the game with its very own set of servers. It isn't entirely 1:1 with the World of Warcraft 1.0 experience, as it does have some basic quality of life features that make jumping into it a bit easier. That said, I love playing old MMORPGs; Lineage II was my main haunt for eight years and AION followed shortly after that, and both of those games were extremely grindy. So of course I'd love World of Warcraft Classic, where the game is focused on the grind and the experience. I don't mean experience in the technical sense, but more or less just being in the game itself.

I didn’t expect to close out 2023 by playing one of the best roguelikes I’d seen in a while, but here we are with Astral Ascent! It’s a lovely game with a striking amount of control over each run, allowing you to make significant progress and experiment with fun builds and spell movesets each time.

Astral Ascent is set in a world where a being called the Master captured various worlds. This being pulled them into astral prisons and tasked warriors known as Zodiacs to keep people in line. However, the people in the Garden are fighting back. Ayla, an assassin, and Kiran, a Silver Scout, start out as the first of the player’s forces to fight back so they can beat the Zodiacs, reach the Master, and break free.

During the Jump Festa 2024 event, Jujutsu Kaisen author Gege Akutami implied that the manga series will end in 2024. The author said on stage that this could be the last time the Jujutsu Kaisen manga appears at Jump Festa while it is still in serialization. [Thanks, Dengeki Online!]

This comment by Akutami about the Jujutsu Kaisen manga reaching its end seems plausible, as the plot of the manga quickly approached its climax after a series of surprising events and changes to the plot happened in recent chapters, starting with chapter 236.

In addition, it was revealed during the event that a new exhibition featuring original Jujutsu Kaisen creative material drawn by Akutami and their assistants will be held in summer 2024 at the Shibuya Hikarie building. The dates of the event and more details will appear in the future.

I’m in the midst of a love-hate relationship with the Calliope Mori Nendoroid, as I love how the Hololive Vtuber figure looks and the level of detail! However, posing her can be quite annoying due to the nature of the build and things like her long hair, cape, and limbs.

Let me tell you, this Nendoroid is a frustrating Vtuber figure to pose and arrange. The issues started for me once during the unpacking process. Plastic sheets are around the face and between various parts as a form of protection. Upon separating her torso from her lower body at the waist, the figure simply… refused to stick together. Getting the stand affixed in the back (also a challenging feet due to needing to remove her head because of the long hair and her cape) and keeping her constantly posed on her stand helps. But any time I’d take her off of the lower part of the stand to prepare another pose, sure enough the lower half of her body fell apart again.

Back when I played the Fae Farm base game, I was incredibly disappointed by the bland and broken experience, so I shouldn’t be shocked the Coasts of Croakia DLC is more of the same. It’s a soulless collect-a-thon with no personality or point.

After acquiring the DLC, which is $10 by the way if you don’t own the Switch version that gets it for free, the Archi-Pal-Igo Park opens up. It’s a rather small area accessed by going through Grenu the frog’s mouth in Stay-A-While Bay. You can go around to grab the new recipes for swamp, pond, and frog-themed furniture, wallpapers, and rugs, get the ability to turn critters into pets, can make Trinkets for them to equip for buffs, and will see an array of different critters, some rare.

And… that’s it.

As well as having reached a concurrent player count of over two million and being a major argument for Fortnite as a media platform, Lego Fortnite also returns to the game's roots as a building game with survival elements. But despite the game's explosive success and charming appearance, there are a few issues with that mar its accessibility focused appeal.

Like its peers Valheim, Ark, The Forest, etc., building is a major part of Lego Fortnite, and to be fair to the game its 'Builds' system serves as a pretty great tutorial. Simply gather your materials, place down a schematic for your building design of choice and snap the components into place. But as useful as it is, many players will want to move on from these ready-made blueprints to designing their own structures and towers, and unfortunately that's where Lego Fortnite falls into a bit of a snare.

See, in say Minecraft nearly everything fitting into that same size of block means most objects are functionally 1x1. You have doors and other things that might be 2x1 or even 3x1 but generally most things work on that framework and it's simple enough you barely have to think about it.