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FANZA has banned doujinshi creation for Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. This is due to a complaint from the copyright holders. [Thanks, Tachiyomi (Unofficial)!]

This news appears to come from a user who attempted to register their Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End doujinshi with FANZA. The whole reply from FANZA to them states that it apologizes to the circle, but the copyright holders of Frieren have requested that FANZA not host any content from that series. It has since made the work private and removed it from the site.

So, technically speaking, it’s not that people aren’t allowed to create doujinshi for Frieren. It’s more that sites like FANZA will not officially host it because of the request. It’s unclear if this request came from the author and illustrator themselves or from Shogakukan, the original manga's publisher. Reactions online have been mixed because English and Japanese users have different responses to the news.

Japanese bookstore Village Vanguard announced the opening of a new collaboration pop-up shop pairing Oshi no Ko and Sanrio characters together. The new pop-up shop will open between February 9 and 25, 2024, at the Grand Tree Musashikosugi store in Kanagawa Prefecture. [Thanks, PR Times!]

New plushies, keychains, and other goods featuring character pairings from both franchises will be available for sale for a limited time. Other non-collaboration Oshi no Ko items will be available as well. You can check out the specific character pairings here:

• Ai x Little Twin Star
• Aqua x Cinnamoroll
• Ruby x Hello Kitty
• Kana Arima x My Melody
• Mem-Cho x Pompompurin
• Akane Kurokawa x Kuromi

And here is the full list of Oshi no Ko x Sanrio merchandise items available alongside their prices:

People looking for a challenge in Palworld can now add a Pokemon like Nuzlocke run mode into the game with the Nuzlocke Death mod by DekitaRPG. It is available to download and implement via Nexus Mods. 

For those unfamiliar with the term, a Nuzlocke run in a Pokemon like game like Palworld means that if your monster or creature dies, they are gone forever. While this means releasing them in a game like Pokemon, other monster-catching titles like Coromon already include it as a gameplay mode option. In the case of the DekitaRPG mod, it will automatically remove and eliminate a Pal if it dies while in your party. 

DekitaRPG shared a video of the mod in-game to show how it will work. It involves a Foxparks and a Chikipi, with the Foxparks eventually being totally eliminated and permanently removed as a result of the Nuzlocke mod.

Square Enix just announced when the FFVII Rebirth demo will update to add the Junon area and additional content. Director Naoki Hamaguchi said it will be available on February 21, 2024. 

As a reminder, the demo for the latest entry in the remake trilogy appeared on February 6, 2024. Square Enix dropped it on the PlayStation Store following the State of Play focused on the RPG. That currently covers part of the first chapter of the game. It involves a flashback portion with Cloud and Sephiroth. 

Hamaguchi noted that to play through the Junon segment of the FFVII Rebirth demo, someone first needs to beat the Nibelheim portion with Cloud and Sephiroth. He also clarified this is not an exact slice of gameplay from the full title. Square Enix “altered [it] to make the content more compact.” He also noted the demo will need to be updated and played to unlock bonuses like being able to skip the Nibelheim section and get the Kupo Charm and Survival Set.

Here’s the full statement from Director Naoki Hamaguchi:

Gecco revealed a new statue featuring the Missionary from Silent Hill 3. The 1/6 scale statue will stand at around 24 cm (~9.45in) tall. It will have a price tag of 42,000 yen (~$281).

Gecco has also opened pre-orders for the statue on the Sweet Factory Souvenir Shop. People residing in North America will also have more outlets to place orders, as Sideshow, Ultra Tokyo Connection, and Diamond Comics have also been confirmed as distributors for the region. D4TOYS will handle the statue's distribution in other countries worldwide.

Here are some of the sample images for the upcoming Missionary statue:

In honor of the Lunar New Year, which is coming up on February 10, 2024, HoYoVerse shared a Honkai: Star Rail anime trailer starring Xianzhou Luofu characters like Guinaifen and Sushang. It focuses on a New Year’s performance put on the two of them.

The video begins with Guinaifen and Sushang being told they’ll play the lion and dragon during the Xianzhou New Year’s performance. As the two prepare, we see other characters from the region like Jing Yuan, Fu Xuan, and Dan Heng. From there, we see an ink-based “battle” narrated by Master Gongshu.

However, it’s soon revealed part of the performance went awry. Just past the halfway point of this Honkai: Star Rail anime video, we see what looks like a slip by Guinaifen. The presentation then halts to show she did fall, and Sushang is left holding her up. Jing Yuan and Dan Heng then need to combine their abilities to help save her, so she can return to the platform and the performance can continue.

Here’s the full “Harmony Greets the New Year” animated short:

Under Night in Birth II SYS: Celes looked eerily similar to the previous game, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] when I first sat down with it. The characters all looked and, at a glance, seemed to play the same. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as Tekken 8 recently showed the fantastic positives that come with being able to carry your skills from the previous games into the new entries. As I dug deeper into this game, I started to see the small tweaks, move changes, and visual details that made this fighter stand out and shine. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s a ton of fun thanks to some interconnected systems that add so much depth to which strike you use next.

Yes, it all looks deceptively similar to the previous title. That said, it feels like all of the visuals in the game have been sharpened and improved. All of the characters have some visual improvements to the already-impressive attack animations. Attacks seem just a little bit snappier or flashier. It’s the sort of thing that felt like a minor difference, but I felt my enjoyment of the game was a little bit higher. This was also aided by the clean user interface. Something about the fonts, win screens, character portrait appearances, and other fine details of the game’s framework looked really nice. It’s not usually something that jumps right out at me, but it was so good that it really improved the game’s presentation.

Mayla is releasing a new line of Evangelion Heel Sneakers, which is also a brand new product for the company. Pre-orders in Japan open on February 16, 2024 on Mayla's website.

By combining heel and sneaker elements, Mayla stated it created a shoe that is both stylish and comfortable. The Evangelion Heel Sneakers feature the same thickness and softness found in sneakers, and a thick sole and heel that stabilizes the shoe. The shoes will feature ribbon shoe strings, gold metal accents on the shoe tongue, sides, and underside of the shoe, and different colors based on Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and Kaworu. No price has been revealed for the shoes as of yet.

The currently revealed designs for the heel sneakers based on Evangelion can be viewed below:

Square Enix will hold an exhibition event in Nagoya that combines the city's traditional crafts with the former's game franchises. The SQEX Creators Exhibition will feature items modeled with illustrations from the following Square Enix titles: Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy XII, Star Ocean The Second Story R, Paranormasight, and the SaGa series. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

Square Enix has also provided a map of the event area. Visitors will enter the venue from the southwestern gate. In a counter-clockwise direction, they will see the following booths in order before exiting the venue via the Theater Area:

1. Star Ocean The Second Story R - Sensu folding fan with illustration by Yukihiro Kajimoto
2. Paranormasight - Arimatsu-Narumi tie-dyed yukata with illustration by Gen Kobayashi
3. SaGa - Black-crested clothes with illustration by Satoshi Kuramochi

Game Beauty is selling Attack on Titan makeup based on characters and elements from the series on its official site. It focuses on characters like Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Levi, as well as the Maria, Rose, and Sina walls, and pre-orders are open through March 7, 2024.

There are multiple options for purchasing items from the collection. People can buy items piecemeal. For example, the Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Levi lip glosses are $15 each or $55 in a bundle all together. The Maria, Rose, and Sina eye shadow palettes are $18 each, and you can get a bundle of the three for $49. There is also a full collection option, which is $96 without a commemorative gift box and $106 with one.

Here’s a closer look at the full collection, which also shows how eyeshadow looks when used on a person and the colors for each lip glosses.

Atlus revealed that it is working with the Japanese cosmetic brand Aqua Savon to produce a perfume branded with the lead character from Persona 3 Reload. With the full title "Aqua Savon Eau de Toilette Watery Shampoo X Persona 3 Reload," the perfume will be available in stores across Japan in late February 2024.

Aqua Savon noted that it will use its existing Watery Shampoo aroma—which is also the brand's most popular entry—for this perfume. The aroma features the following composition:

• Top Note: Juicy Citrus, Sparkling Water
• Middle Note: Ozone, Floral, White Beach
• Last Note: Musk

This branded perfume will also come with an exclusive sticker featuring a silhouette of the Persona 3 Reload character. The owner will be able to place the sticker of the avatar anywhere on the perfume bottle as they like.

One of the surprises in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth State of Play trailer is that Cissnei, a Crisis Core FFVII character, will return. While we already saw screenshots and renders for her, there’s now also an official profile that explains what she’s been up to since the last game.

As a reminder, Cissnei first debuted in Before Crisis: FFVII. That was a Japan-exclusive mobile game, the story of which might eventually also end up implemented into FFVII Ever Crisis. There, she was one of the nameless playable characters who served as a member of the Turks. She then later appeared as a named character in Crisis Core FFVII, the prequel focusing on Zack Fair. Once again, she appeared as a Turk. However, during the later events of Before Crisis, which took place after Crisis Core, she ended up going off on her own.

Square Enix is planning to release Kingdom Hearts fluffy room wear outfits and shoes based on Sora, Riku, Kairi, and King Mickey's outfits from Kingdom Hearts 3. Pre-orders are currently open on the Square Enix e-Store and will release on February 29, 2024.

There are four different kinds of fluffy room wear outfits and shoes based on the main characters of the Kingdom Hearts series. Sora, Riku, and Kairi's fluffy room wear will cost ¥13,200 (~$89 USD) and King Mickey's fluffy room wear will cost ¥11,000 (~$74 USD). All of the fluffy room shoes will cost ¥3,850 (~$26 USD).

At the start of the Dokibird return stream on February 8, 2024, the Vtuber noted that she made zero profits in 2023 as Selen Tatsuki with Nijisanji. She also noted that she spent $200,000 Canadian during the course of her role as a performer with the company, and she also asked at the end of her stream that none of her followers “harass or bully anybody.”

The insight into her financials came up during a portion of the stream during which Dokibird was talking about the experiences she’s already had with her new manager and the assistance she can get for her streams and work. At the 21 minute mark, she noted that the manager told her, “We can get sponsors for that. And I was like, ‘Huh?’ And he was like ‘Yeah, you don’t have to pay out of your own pocket anymore.’” She noted “That blew my mind.”  

Here’s the full statement regarding how much Dokibird spent as Selen Tatsuki when with Nijisanji, which came up at about the 21:50 mark of her return stream.

By the way, my mom scolded me about this because, you know, during all this she looked at my financials. And I made zero profit last year. She was like, Doki, you have to spend less, because you spent $200,000 last year. And I was like, “That hurt.”

As is common for the Animal Crossing like Hello Kitty Island Adventure, there’s a Hugs & Hearts event in place for Valentine’s Day 2024. It involves lovebugs players can catch and care for, as well as new cosmetic items. 

Here’s how the event works. In addition to a login event that gives you free items each day, you can now catch lovebugs for Chococat. When you do, you can place them in a habitat on the Resort Plaza beach. As you do, you can eventually claim nine different kinds of furniture. Eventually, after entering their cocoons, the lovebugs will hatch into what could be beautiful butterflies.

Here’s the trailer for the new Valentine’s Day event in Hello Kitty Island Adventure:

Paramount revealed a new trailer for the upcoming live-action Knuckles Sonic the Hedgehog series, which will feature Idris Elba as the the titular echidna. The series will consist of six episodes and is set to debut on Paramount Plus on April 26, 2024 for the U.S. and Canada, and a day later for other territories including Japan..

The trailer features Knuckles (Elba) and Wade (Adam Pally), a human who he has decided to train as a warrior. The live-action story will take place chronologically after the second film, but before the events of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. It will feature an ex-employee of Robotnik sending goons after Knuckles, aided by advanced gadgets. There are, of course, multiple references in the trailer. Some of them include the hat worn by knuckles in the 1996 Sonic the Hedgehog OVA series and a callback to the first movie trailer Knuckles appeared in.

You can watch the full trailer via YouTube below:

A manga version of Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent has opened for pre-orders. Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent - The Bargello Family will come out on April 6, 2024 and will cost 730 JPY ($4.90).

This is a prequel to the events of the game, which is itself a prequel to the original Octopath Traveler. There is no summary on the store page for the book. However, Square Enix Tweeted that this is the story of a young man who has not made a name for himself yet, and it will depict his meetings and farewells.

It will likely focus on Bargello, who is the main character of the Master of Wealth path. He also plays a major role in the Bestower of Wealth and the Bestower of All storylines. Bargello is the leader of the New Mafia, or the Bargello Family. The story will likely depict how he came to hold this position.

Persona 3 Reload is the fastest selling game in Atlus history, with over 1 million sales in its first week. Atlus has posted a thank you Tweet for its fans on both its English and Japanese accounts.

The Tweet shows a picture of the Protagonist, along with “Fastest Atlus Game To Top 1,000,000 Copies Worldwide” at the side of it. This sales number likely takes account of all platforms, including both digital and physical copies. Replies to the English Tweet congratulate Atlus on this milestone, as well as say that the game deserved to sell this many copies in such a short amount of time. The Japanese Tweet has very similar response, as well as someone saying that it’s amazing it accomplished a million sales even though the game isn’t even on the Switch.

Funimation has announced that it will sunset its app and website on April 2, 2024. This is in compliance to Crunchyroll’s unification that occurred in March 2022.

According to the Funimation statement, this will not have any impact on fans’ access to the anime on Crunchyroll. It then goes into benefits on why you should have a Crunchyroll account and subscription, including simulcast episodes, offline viewing, and exclusive content. Those who have a Funimation subscription will automatically get a Crunchyroll+ account. You will then have the option to combine your Funimation account’s information with your Crunchyroll’s. This includes data such as watch history and queue.

However, the most important thing to note is that if you had digital copies of a DVD or Blu-Ray, you will no longer be able to access it. Crunchyroll does not support Funimation digital copies, and the statement does not seem to imply that it is working on supporting it down the line. It merely explains that it is “continuously working to enhance our content offerings and provide you with an exceptional anime streaming experience.”

Hyte has announced that it will terminate its current projects with Anycolor and Nijisanji. This is in response to the recent controversies involving the company’s firing of Selen Tatsuki.

The full statement is available to read on Hyte’s Twitter (X) account. It starts by thanking the fan community for its support. However, because it is terminating its collaboration with Anycolor, it will cancel and refund all orders of the Nijisanji EN Y60 + Keycap Bundles. Hyte apologizes to fans—specifically FamElira, Rosebuds, and Aloupeeps—and acknowledges that they were excited to receive their products. However, Hyte explains that it wants to stand with other VTuber fans who ceased their support of Nijisanji and Anycolor.

The Y60 + Keycap bundles are still available on Hyte’s website. However, if you try to click in to one of the Nijisanji bundles, it will redirect you back to the main store page. You can still order a plain PC case, or one of Hololive VTubers such as Watson Amelia or Mori Calliope.

In a recent interview with Famitsu, Stellar Blade Director Kim Hyung-tae confirmed that NieR: Automata served as a big source of inspiration for the upcoming action title. The director also talked about other games that have influenced him and the game's creation. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

When asked about the comparisons between Square Enix and PlatinumGames’s titles, director Kim Hyung-tae said that NieR: Automata was the game that made him realize that he wanted to make a game like Stellar Blade.

The developer also mentioned God of War as a game that he loves as a fan and the game that taught him open worlds are not necessary to express the vastness of a world. Some other game series that influenced Kim Hyung-tae in the creation of Stellar Blade include Bayonetta, Sekiro, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

One of the many recent Final Fantasy VII Rebirth announcements from Square Enix is that there will be a FFVII Ever Crisis crossover involving the game. That will kick off on February 15, 2024.

Here’s the trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth crossover heading to the game. It focuses on the flashback to the early days of Cloud’s encounter with Sephiroth, showing the two of them when they went on a mission to Nibelheim. There are no details about what the event will entail and if it could involve another playable version of Sephiroth.

When the 2.0 update arrived for Honkai: Star Rail, it also added the four-star Destruction character Misha to the pool of available characters. To help people understand how the new ice-type ally works, there’s a new “Keeping Up with Star Rail” episode discussing him. 

As usual, the video started by showing him a bit in Penacony, before going into combat. His basic attack deals ice damage to a single target. His R-Room Service Skill deals primary ice damage to one enemy and splash damage to the ones next to it. At the same time, it increases the number of hits for his Ultimate by one for each use. His Ultimate G-Gonna Be Late normally hits three times, with the first hitting a designated foe and the other hits hitting random ones. If the Skill was used before it, more random hits are landed. Also, his Ultimate has a chance of applying the Frozen status effect to any enemy it hits. Depending on how many times you use his Skill before his Ultimate, it can hit up to 10 times. 

Here’s the full Misha “Keeping Up with Star Rail” installment that explained the new Honkai: Star Rail character’s moveset.

Foamstars has a vibrant cast of characters, each of whom is best suited to a different playstyle. While the differences aren’t immediately obvious, here is where each of the characters excels and how you can best use them for your style of play.

Soa is the Best Character for Evasive Play

This K-pop star’s love of dance makes her one of the best characters in Foamstars for movement. Her run speed is quick and her weapon fires has a quick fire rate. However the key thing that makes her so evasive is her L1 Skill, Bubble Step. This is a convenient get-out move that allows her to jump in whatever direction suits, leaving a barrage of shots in her wake. This move can even be used mid-jump, effectively giving her a double jump other characters lack.

In a recent interview with Famitsu, FFVII Rebirth co-directors Tetsuya Nomura and Naoki Hamaguchi talked about the addition of Gilgamesh to the world of Final Fantasy VII. Gilgamesh will appear as part of a side quest chain spanning throughout the entire map of the game. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The directors said that the side quest chain is titled Ancient Matters, and Gilgamesh seems to first appear on the fourth mission. When asked about the inclusion of the character in the world of FFVII, Hamaguchi revealed that Gilgamesh was one of the many characters proposed by the co-director to be included in a questline spanning through various regions in the game.

Nomura initially thought that the inclusion of Gilgamesh in FFVII Rebirth would clash with the setting of the game, but the developer ended up making adjustments to the character and questline that would make his appearance adjust better to the tone and setting of FFVII Rebirth.

Gilgamesh made his first appearance ever in Final Fantasy V. Nomura said that he designed him as a pixel art character first, and artist Yoshitaka Amano created the illustrations of the character per Nomura’s request.

Studio Supersoft announced that a marriage feature will be coming to Moonstone Island as part of a free Valentine's Day update on February 13, 2024. The update will coincide with the release of a small, paid Valentine's themed DLC pack.

The star feature of the update is, of course, the ability to marry characters in the game and have them move into your house after a ceremony. However, also arriving are several new items, a new taming system, a stat reset potion, and five new spirits. The new characters you can capture are Breadmaus, Kiwiwatt, Toxitoe, Snohm, and Barkbyte. The Steam page detailing the update also teases a new collaboration in the works, though no details were shared.

As well as the free update, a new DLC packed titled Designed for Lovers will also arrive at the same time, including new furniture and housing decorations like a heart-shaped archway, a box of chocolates, and a loveseat. The DLC will cost will cost $3.99, with a 20% discount active until February 22, 2024.

We can view the trailer in the tweet below.

Square Enix Producer Yoji Fujito announced the Final Fantasy XI February 2024 version update release date and details. It will launch on February 13, 2024 and, while small, offers Master Trials and Ambuscade updates and a new login campaign.

Both the new Ambuscade and Master Trials updates in Final Fantasy XI give us more to fight. With the Master Trials, Founder King August Adoulin will be there to challenge people. If you beat that fight that includes him, you get a new title and reward. With the Ambuscade for February 2024, Ahrimans and Taurus will appear as the Notorious Monsters.

As for the February 2024 Final Fantasy XI login campaign, a number of items will be available to obtain with points. The key item this month is the 500 point Sheet of Near Eastern tunes. People can also spend 1,500 points on things like Red Pondweed, Savory Shank, and Sweet Tea. The full list of rewards is available at the official site. People can stop by each day to obtain points until March 5, 2024. 

This smaller update falls in line with what Fujito previously discussed. He noted there won’t be as many updates in 2024. 

Three new characters will debut in Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2, and HoYoVerse shared new insight into the Senadina Deepspace Anchor: First Light battlesuit making its debut. It goes over what people can expect from the Sea of Data heroine.

The new trailer begins with Senadina at home, waiting for the Dreamseeker. When she appears, the two dash out to see the outside world. It’s then that she’s introduced as a “trendy” character who is “enigmatic” and has “Martian aesthetics.” She’s also described as being someone really lively who can help pull the new characters together. The team also mentioned she’s designed to look futuristic, to tie into the sci-fi elements and as though she came from Mars.

As for gameplay, the team noted that due to the secrecy surrounding her that they didn’t have much of her background when designing her. From what they did know, they decided to make her yoyo her signature weapon. The team also mentioned it took over half a year to put together the Honkai Impact 3rd Senadina Deepspace Anchor: First Light battlesuit and included a yoyo expert to consult and put on a performance to be used in the game.

Square Enix released four new pieces of FFVII Rebirth key art showcasing the characters Red XIII, Vincent, Aerith, and Cid in various locations such as Nibelheim and Cosmo Canyon. The images follow the FFVII-focused State of Play broadcast.

Each of the images feature the characters in a location relevant to their story, with Cid sitting atop the landed plane Tiny Bronco, and Vincent brooding over a stormy Nibelheim. Red XIII stands next to the petrified body of his father, and Aerith is pictured kneeling and praying to the lifestream. Each one of these images is based on an original piece of key art from the PlayStation release.

The tweet featuring Aerith's art also contains the message "The world will be saved, but will you," further teasing theories about what her fate in the remake will be.

You can get a look at the new FFVII Rebirth key art of Red XIII, Vincent, Aerith, and Cid in the gallery below:

Crunchyroll announced the Spy x Family Code: White movie English dub release date. The film will debut in Canada and the US with both an English dub and Japanese with English subs option on April 19, 2024. 

First, here’s the trailer for the English dub of the Spy x Family film. It sets the stage by showing that this is both a family vacation and the setting for a new mission for members of the Forger family. We also get to hear the English voices for Anya, Loid, and Yor.

Kujibikido announced a new Gintama kuji lottery with merchandise goods featuring characters from the series participating in strawberry picking. The kuji lottery will be available between February 13 and March 4, 2024.

The new Gintama strawberry picking kuji lottery items feature newly drawn illustrations of Gintoki, Shinpachi, Kagura, Hijikata, Okita, and Kondo. Each lottery entry costs 770 yen (or about $5) each, and the items are expected to release in Japan around mid to late June 2024. There are four prize categories, ranging between S, A, B, and C.

The S prize is a cushion featuring a strawberry milk carton on the front and an illustration of Gintoki drinking milk on the back. There’s a 1% chance of the S prize being picked. The A prizes are character acrylic stands of the new character illustrations, and they have a 12% chance. The B prizes are acrylic keychains and have a 29% chance.

Finally, the C prizes are pin badges and have a 58% chance. Additionally, People that purchase a set of 5 kuji tickets will receive an illustration card set as a free gift, and people that purchase a set of 10 tickets will get a bag of Gintoki strawberry milk candy.

You can take a look at the Gintama strawberry picking kuji lottery here:

In a statement from Anycolor to its investors, the company announced that “the impact of this decision [to terminate Selen Tatsuki] on our financial results will be negligible.” The whole statement is available via the Nijisanji owner's website.

Aside from assuring investors that Selen’s termination will not negatively impact the company’s bottom line, the statement does not go into any further details. On February 5, 2024, Anycolor terminated its contract with EN VTuber Selen Tatsuki, citing misconduct and violations. It specifically noted that she breached a clause in her contract when she requested fans to upload her cover of “Last Cup of Coffee” after Anycolor made the video private. It also noted that Selen posted “misleading statements” on social platforms in regards to this incident.

Pocketpair released a new Palworld patch, and this times it eliminates a certain situation in which Pal may sleep forever if put at a breeding farm. The full patch notes also detailed that save data with over 7,000 captured pals will work again.

With the sleeping beauty Pals, this fixes an issue that only applied to manual breeding farm placement. Apparently once the patch is applied, people will be able to wake them up again.

As for the save file issue, this is the second part of a fix. Pocketpair first started working on the issue at the beginning of February 2024. That first patch essentially prevented the crashes tied to catching over 7,000 Pals from happening. This one finishes the job by fixing save files that were still crashing because of the problem.

Here are the full patch notes for Palworld v0.1.4.1 for PCs via Steam and v0.1.1.4 for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X.

▼Major Fixes

Alongside the release of a new trailer and demo, Square Enix also shared an array of FFVII Rebirth screenshots and character renders. These include people allied with Shinra like Rufus and the Turks, former Shinra folks like Cissnei, and allies like Bugenhagen and Zangan.

First, here are all the new FFVII Rebirth character renders. In the case of Rufus and Turks like Tseng, Reno, Rude, and Cissnei, they appear as both full body art and portraits.

The Evo 2024 games lineup was revealed on February 6, 2024, and both Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 will be a part of it. They will be two of eight games appearing July 19-21, 2024, and tickets are now open.

Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 are two of multiple games where new entries will be a part of the Evo lineup. The only “classic” fighter showing up in the eight featured titles is Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Returning games from Evo 2023 include Guilty Gear Strive, KOF XV, and Street Fighter 6.

Here is the full list of games appearing at Evo 2024. Of the eight, both Tekken 8 and Under Night In-Birth Sys: Celes both made their debut in 2024. 

• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Guilty Gear Strive
• The King of Fighters XV
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
• Street Fighter 6

The Capcom Super Elections survey is now available from the Capcom Town website. The survey includes 10 questions about a variety of popular Capcom game series.

The most notable questions in the survey are the fifth and sixth questions. The fifth question asks players to choose up to three game series from Capcom’s catalogue that players would like to see get a sequel or a new game. In addition to currently successful series, this question includes some highly requested dormant franchises like Darkstalkers, Okami, Sengoku Basara, Dino Crisis, and Capcom's versus fighting series.

Meanwhile, the sixth question asks people to select one game that players would like to see completely remade with the latest technology available. The question also notes that this full remake would include both character designs and storylines. Some of the game series featured in this question includes Onimusha, Breath of Fire, Rival Schools, and Mega Man.

Square Enix and Sony revealed new information about the upcoming FFVII Rebirth in the latest State of Play broadcast, with gameplay showing familiar faces like Cissnei and Gilgamesh. The new video offers an in-depth look at some of the mechanics, as well as showcase some new story elements.

The new story trailer confirmed the appearance of new characters to the story of FFVII Rebirth. A short scene showed Cissnei in the Gongaga Region where Zack used to live. Cissnei is a former member of the Turks that made her debut in Crisis Core FFVII, and was not present in the original Final Fantasy VII. She is seen wearing combat attire and fending off from intruders alongside other locals. Furthermore, a silhouette reminiscent of Gilgamesh appeared at the top of a pagoda.

You can check out Cissnei and Gilgamesh in FFVII Rebirth here:

When I first sat down to play the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth TGS demo in September 2023, the first thing that stood out to me was how much work Square Enix put into fleshing out the game's characters. The Synergy ability, in particular, was a highlight, as it really added a lot of depth to the character's personalities. Cloud using Aerith's magic to create a spectacular fireworks display of damage was both an epic cinematic attack in combat and a neat narrative device that says much about their bond.

At the February 2024 State of Play, Sony and Square Enix revealed the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo. People will be able to download and play through a brief section of the game ahead of launch starting today.

There is an added incentive to playing the demo. In addition to getting to see the start of the game, it will eventually be updated. When it does, a portion of the Junon area will appear for people to explore. There’s no set date for that update, however.

As a reminder, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth takes place after Cloud and his allies leave Midgar after seeing Sephiroth returned and the events at Shinra’s headquarters. As such, this means there will be multiple characters available. When the story left off, Cloud, Aerith, Barret, Red XIII, and Tifa were all leaving the city together. Yuffie, who appeared in the Intermission DLC for the game, will join the party after they take their first steps into the larger world.

Coucougemu has opened pre-registrations for Hoshi Hikaru Sanran: Secret Love. The romance simulation game will star the character formerly known as the mascot character of Microsoft Silverlight. The title will be available on mobile devices in Japanese and Chinese languages. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

When the game launches, it will feature three scenarios where Hikaru gets different roles and personalities. The player can then unlock five more scenarios as they progress through the game. They can also chat with Hikaru with different situations based on the time of day.