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Nihon Falcom has announced a release date for the PS4 and PS5 versions of Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana. The much anticipated JRPG will come out on May 23, 2024.

The game's first release will include a bonus item, which is the soundtrack of Ys III. However, those who get the digital version of Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana will get the digital version of the soundtrack. Meanwhile, those who purchase the game's physical version will get an actual CD. The CD will be the repackaged version of “Music From Ys III.”

Ys: The Oath in Felghana originally came out in 2005 and is a remake of Ys III. It first came out on the PC and later appeared on the PSP and the Nintendo Switch. The Switch version had a 2023 release and featured voiceovers, including casting Yuki Kaji (Eren in Attack on Titan, Todoroki in My Hero Academia) for protagonist Adol.

There are some differences in the plot compared to the original Ys III and additional scenes. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is an HD remastered version of the Switch version, though you will be able to switch back to the classic PSP and PC versions of the character sprites. 

Square Enix has posted some information on Sephiroth and Cloud’s Synergy Ability in FFVII Rebirth. There is also a short clip of it on its Twitter (X) account.

In Sephiroth and Coud’s Synergy Ability, the two of them attack an enemy simultaneously. It ends with Sephiroth and Cloud looking at each other, though with very different emotions on their faces. As for Square Enix’s description of the Synergy Ability, it describes Sephiroth’s attacks as an elegant dance. Meanwhile, Cloud is doing his best to slice at the enemy with his sword. The name of their Synergy Ability is Cross Spiral.

Kotobukiya announced two new NieR Automata scale figures of protagonists 2B and 9S. So far, Kotobukiya has only shown images of gray unpainted prototypes, and there is no release date or window announced yet.

Once the PVC figures are complete, they will be pre-painted. The figures will be at a 1/8 scale. There are no details currently on its dimensions yet. More news will appear in the future. The figures are based on the NieR Automata Ver1.1a anime adaptation of the game. The prototypes are now on display at Akihabara Radio Kaikan as part of the Kotobukiya Collection event.

You can check out the new prototypes of the NieR Automata Kotobukiya figures of 2B and 9S here:

A new line of official Persona 3 Reload merchandise includes a replica of the protagonist’s MP3 player, various acrylic stands, keychains, pin badges, a tarot card set, and a replica of the Velvet Room key, among others. [Thanks, Dengeki Online!]

The items are available for pre-order from the Atlus section of the Ebten online store and are expected to be released sometime in mid-April 2024. In addition, the Persona 3 Reload Soundtrack is also included in the new batch of merchandise.

Here is the full list of Persona 3 Reload merchandise items alongside the prices:

• New Combat Uniform Acrylic Stand (10 characters available) – 1,980 yen (~$13)
• Character Acrylic Stand (Ryoji, Elizabeth, Pharos available) – 1,980 yen (~$13)

Square Enix shared an official interview with Britt Baron, the voice actress behind Tifa Lockhart in FFVII Remake and Rebirth. As part of that, she shared her favorite moments playing the character in both games, though her thoughts on the one from Remakeis less vague than the Rebirth moment to avoid spoilers. 

Editor’s Note: There will be no FFVII Remake or Rebirth spoilers below.

When it came to her favorite FFVII Remake memory of Tifa, Baron brought up a point involving Tifa’s kindness. She explained how at one point, even though they are enemies, the character goes out of her way to help someone from Shinra.

My favorite scene to play in Remake, might have been on the train when Tifa saves one of the Shinra employees.

Pocketpair CEO and Palworld creator Takuro Mizobe shared on social media that the server costs for the game have drastically increased. The current server upkeep costs stand at 70.53 million yen (or approximately $475,500,) which is 359% more than the server fees cost in January 2024.

Mizobe made the original post on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account, where he shared a screenshot of the cost increases and its price. The post was accompanied by a Japanese caption that translates to the following:

Huh, am I going to go bankrupt due to server costs?

You can also check out the original post here:

As technology advances and we keep asking relatively less from computers for most tasks, the mini PC in general becomes a more and more viable option. AYANEO, a company that’s established itself with its handhelds, is expanding into the market with its Retro Mini PC AM01. Is it right for you? We’ll try to help you answer that.

Aesthetics

The packaging of the AYANEO AM01 makes tons of nods to Apple’s choices over the years, setting the stage for the product itself. It makes tons of nods to Apple’s choices, both in its early era and its modern-style box packing. Do these match with the era of the Macintosh Classic, the computer upon which the AM01’s design is based? Uh, not really, no. It’s a pastiche, much like other products in the Remake line. And maybe that makes sense for a product that looks like a Mac but runs Windows.

The materials and wallpaper use a pixelated version of the old Apple serif, which… is weird! It was used on print materials or large enough on the screen to not look like that. The interchangeable icon on the case where the Apple logo would be is a nice touch, if sort of unnecessary. It’s not like the AM02 model with its built-in screen, so we’re not sure how often you’ll be looking at the hardware itself.

Jim Carrey will be returning as Dr Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. He will be reprising the role when the movie releases in theaters on December 20, 2024. [Thanks, Variety!]

The return of Jim Carrey for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was first teased on the official Sonic movie X/Twitter account. A short video featuring the movie’s logo was shown featuring Robotnik’s distinctive laugh. The return of Robotnik was then confirmed by Variety. A teaser for Robotnik’s return also featured during a post-credits scene in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be the third in the hugely successful movie series from Paramount. The first two movies have made a combined $870 million at the global box office. It’s one of the highest-grossing movies based on a video game ever released, alongside The Super Mario Bros Movie and Detective Pikachu. A TV series based on Knuckles is also in development.

HoYoVerse revealed the full details of what to expect from Black Swan in Honkai: Star Rail. This five-star wind-type Nihility character will be making her debut in version 2.0 on February 6, 2024.

Black Swan can inflict a new DoT effect for Honkai: Star Rail. It’s called Arcana, and many of her abilities are focused on building this up. Arcana can be stacked any time a DoT effect is applied to an enemy, and will cause wind damage on an affected enemy’s turn.

Black Swan can use her basic attack, Percipience, Silent Dawn, to deals wind damage to a single target. This has a chance of inflicting Arcana, and if the enemy has Wind Shear, Bleed, Burn or Shock applied, there’s a chance for additional Arcana stacks to be added. Her Skill, Decadence, False Twilight, will do the same but for multiple targets. It also has a chance to reduce enemy DEF. Her Technique, From Facade to Verite, will apply a stack of Arcana at the start of battle too.

Black Swan can also use her Talent, Loom of Fate’s Caprice, to enhance the effects of Arcana. Depending on how many stacks are on an enemy, she can increase damage and even apply stacks of Arcana to adjacent enemies. If the player can apply more than seven stacks of Arcana, the damage will also ignore a percentage of the enemy’s DEF.

Kotobukiya announced a new Star Trek Bishoujo figure, and this time the hint suggests it is inspired by Captain Kirk. However, only a silhouette of the upcoming character appeared.

In this line of Kotobukiya figures, as is common with the Bishoujo collection, it focuses on depictions of female characters. This is the case even if they aren’t originally that gender in the source material. 

For this figure, the Star Trek Bishoujo heroine’s figure has a dynamic pose. She is holding a phaser in her right hand and is speaking into a communicator in her left. She also appears to be perched on a rock of some sort. The art makes it look as though she is being beamed up. 

As for the hints about it being a figure of a captain, two seem to suggest that. The first is that the silhouette is yellow, which is the color of Command uniforms in the original Star Trek. The second is that the English announcement on social media begins with “Space: the final frontier,” which is how Kirk would begin the show.

A new scale figure of the protagonist of Persona 3 Reload is available to pre-order, this time courtesy of Kotobukiya and Sideshow. The figure will cost $160 or ¥24,212, with shipping expected sometime between August and October, 2024.

Standing at around 23 cm (8.86" tall), the figure is made in 1/8 scale out of PVC and ABS. The protagonist's S.E.E.S. patch and Evoker are prominent, but the figure also includes smaller details like his headphones, belt holster and music player. Additionally, the base of the figure features a bullet hole in the center and translucent parts to emulate the shattered glass aesthetic used throughout the game.

You can get a look at the figure in the gallery below:

Kotobukiya will produce and release even more plastic model kits modeled after Capcom's Mega Man metaseries. The company newly revealed at Kotobukiya Collection 2024 that it will produce new model kits of Sigma from the Mega Man X series and Bass.EXE from the Battle Network series. It also unveiled new prototypes of upcoming kits based on special weapon variants from Mega Man 11 and Mega Man X3. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]

The Mega Man franchise kits of Sigma and Bass.EXE are still in a very early development phase, so Kotobukiya has yet to share any prototype samples for either character. It instead published unpainted prototypes of the weapon variant Mega Men.

Given that Persona 3 Reload is taking you through almost a year in your character’s life, a lot of important dates come up! You might miss certain experiences if you don’t pay attention. Also, it helps you plan and prepare for tests in school or certain boss fights. Here’s what you need to know was you play.

Spoiler-free list of all the Persona 3 Reload Important Dates:

Okay, so, here are all the dates you absolutely need to keep in mind as you go through the game. This collection consists of days you need to remember for exams, boss fight days, and certain social situations you don’t want to miss out on. Note that I also didn't mention dates for side stories for party members who don't have social links, like Akihiko.

• April 20th: You can now enter Tartarus.
• May 3rd: You can now watch Tanaka's Amazing Commodities every Sunday during the "day" portion before taking part in any activities to buy one of his "deals."
• May 9th: First Full Moon boss fight.
• May 10th: You can head deeper into Tartarus.

Imagine there's a restaurant known for its wonderful burgers. They're loved and respected in the industry. These Burgers changed the way all future burgers by other restaurants are sold. Now, imagine the place made a new dish. You're first in line. You have to have it. When the waiter comes, he serves you a nice, beautiful plate of saltine crackers and some cheese. This is how it feels to play Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League after playing Batman: Arkham Asylum.

One is a genre-defining game with innovative combat, a compelling and gripping story, and an overall unique presentation and approach. The other is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. It's hard to fully grasp that Rocksteady Games made both titles.

The title of this game tells you the main objective and, admittedly, on paper it's a good one. You play as Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang as they set out to, well, kill the Justice League. You see, the team has been brainwashed by Brainiac, who is now hours away from a total invasion of Earth.

The Tekken 8 Director and Producer Kohei Ikeda revealed spectator mode issues have been fixed following a tweak to servers. This means that players shouldn’t experience issues when spectating matches.

Here’s Ikeda’s announcement on social media. The developer noted that the problem arose when someone was trying to watch multiple matches, rather than just a single one. 

There’s one other Tekken 8 issue to be aware of. Creator Katsuhiro Harada noted that there is a “specific area matching issue” for people in Indonesia and Oceania. He asked for people to share feedback on social media so the team could better investigate and address the issue. He also referred to this issue as a “rare case” in a follow-up tweet.

As part of the series of Kotobukiya Collection announcements on February 2, 2024, the company showed King of Fighters Bishoujo figures of Angel and Leona. Angel is the further of the two along, while Leona was only teased.

We first learned about the Angel King of Fighters 2001 figure back in August 2023. At the time, Kotobukiya only shared a silhouette of the character. For this latest reveal, a painted prototype showed up. There’s no set release date for this 1/7 scale figure yet.

Here are two of the photos Kotobukiya shared.

A new series of ads in Japan will translate the Monster Hunter monsters' habitats into ideal house-hunting criteria. Capcom is working with Recruit Co., Ltd. to produce special collaboration ads that pair the Monster Hunter franchise with the latter's real estate searching website Suumo. These ads will appear at several train stations in Japan for a limited time in February 2024.

These are the monsters who will be featured in the ads, along with their ideal home criteria:

• Felyne: A house facing south to maximize natural lighting with underfloor storage and a reheatable bathtub, managed by an administrator who also allows pets.
• Khezu: A barrier-free designer-style corner apartment with a soundproof room.
• Rajang: The penthouse of a high-rise condominium with a soundproof room and an allowance to place musical instruments.
• Rathalos: A move-in ready house with a balcony, underfloor heating, and CCTV cameras installed, with DIY projects also allowed.

On the Apple Vision Pro launch day, HoYoVerse confirmed Honkai: Star Rail will be compatible with it. The update that makes it so will arrive on February 6, 2024 alongside the 2.0 release.

HoYoVerse didn’t get into what this will mean for the game. It could just be that when someone is using the headset, they will also be able to open up the app and play it in a window using the spatial computing offering. It did note it will explain more closer to launch. There is a chance we could learn more on February 5, 2024. That’s when the company will hold an “It’s Always Night in Penacony” presentation. 

As a reminder, the Apple Vision Pro will be the company’s new spatial computing headset. Its 256GB base model will be $3,499, while the 1TB variant starts at $3,899. That launched on February 2, 2024. 

Not all games that will appear on the headset will be in VR. Since it is a spatial computing device, it means that some will just use the technology to be playable in a passthrough mode where you can see your environment around you. For example, What the Golf and Synth Riders are both confirmed to be compatible with the device.

FuRyu revealed a life-size bust figure of Persona 3's Aigis. The company has also started accepting pre-orders for the item, which will cost 660,000 yen or around $4,505. People residing outside Japan can also place orders and have the figure shipped internationally via the Buyee widget.

This life-size bust figure will have an overall height of around 90 cm (~35.43 in), which also includes the stand. The item will also have a width of around 73 cm (~28.74 in) and a depth of approximately 83 cm (~32.67 in).

The static figure will be completely made-to-order by using polyresin and PVC as materials. There will also be specific attention to detail on Aigis' facial features and mechanical joints.

Some of the sample images for the Aigis bust figure are available right below:

Square Enix announced that the company has brought back the Free Login Campaign for Final Fantasy XIV. Starting from today until February 21, 2024 at 6:59am PT, eligible players will be able to log into the critically acclaimed MMORPG for free up to four days.

Players will have needed to purchase and registered Final Fantasy XIV previously, have service accounts that are currently inactive during the campaign period, and have been inactive for at least 30 days. One those three criteria are met, players will be able to start the launcher to begin their free login period. The free login period begins after logging in, and will end once the four days end regardless if the game has actually been played.

In the event there are there are multiple accounts tied to a single Square Enix account, only the inactive players are able to utilize the free login days. If there are multiple accounts tied to a single Square Enix account, only one account can redeem the free login days at a time. Players will have to wait until the first account's free days expire before redeeming the free login days for the next service account. Also, players whose accounts were cancelled or suspended due to violating the service agreement cannot redeem the free days.

There are a number of Persona 3 Reload social links, and some of them can be missed due to various circumstances. Well, really only one could be totally passed by, but there are two others where you could end up missing out on a chance to finish them.

Which Persona 3 Reload social links can be missed in the game?

The big one to remember is Andre Laurent Jean Geraux, aka Bebe, who is the Temperance social link. There are three blockades to becoming friends with him as soon as possible. The first is you need to unlock the Bunkichi and Mitsuko social link, which is the Hierophant one at the Iwatodai Mall Bookworms book store, and get it to the third rank. During that event, Bebe will come up, find Bunkichi’s missing wallet, and introduce himself. 

Next is that your need your Academics level to be at rank 2, which is Average. This is because you need to check the Home Economics Room on the first floor of the school and be able to read the note. If you have that level unlocked, it will note you can stop by on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during the After School period to participate in the Fashion Club and socialize with Bebe.

In a short Tweet on Twitter (X), Masahiro Ito announced that he was a monster designer for Silent Hill: The Short Message. The game is free-to-play on the PS5.

Ito is a video game artist who has worked on the Silent Hill games since 1999. He usually works on designs for monsters or the background, but he was also an art director for Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. Aside from his work on Silent Hill: The Short Message, Masahiro Ito is also working on the Silent Hill 2 remake. Konami showed a trailer for that game as well.

Those who played the game have praised Ito for his design, with some even saying that they let the creature grab them a few times just to see more details of it. He also notes that he was only in charge of the design. Other members of the team worked on aspects such as the 3D model, textures, and animations.

Key Visual Arts posted a statement on its website, stating that it will donate 10 million JPY to help victims and restoration efforts after the Noto Peninsula earthquake on January 1, 2024. That would equate to around $68,265.

The statement starts with Key expressing its sympathies for those affected by the earthquake. It then states that it will donate 10 million JPY but is also holding a sale on specific games. It will add all of the proceeds from the sale games to its donation.

The sale will run from February 1 to 29, 2024. Summer Pocket Reflection Blue, Loopers, Lunaria, and Stella of the End will be the games that are part of this sale. Key will make an announcement when it donates the money. This will likely take place at the end of February 2024 or the beginning of March since that is when the sale will end.

Scrap announced that a Chainsaw Man escape room game will appear at various locations throughout Japan starting on April 4, 2024. The title of the escape game is Escape from the Labyrinth Devil (Meikyuu no Akuma kara no Dasshutsu.)

The escape room story will feature Denji, Makima, Aki, and Power, and original devils created especially for the story will appear. The first location for the event is the Tokyo Mystery Circus located in Kabuchi-cho, Shinjuku, and it will be available until June 30, 2024. It was also revealed that the event will appear in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Sendai, and Okayama. Release dates will be announced in the future.

Priority advance tickets for the Chainsaw Man escape room will go on sale on February 3, 2024, with general tickets available from February 10. General entrance tickets cost 3,600 yen (or about $24) during weekdays and 3,900 yen (~$26) on weekends. Meanwhile, groups of up to 6 people can buy group tickets at a reduced price of 3,300 yen (~$22) during weekdays and 3,600 yen (~$24 for weekends.

People can pay an extra 2,800 yen (~$19) to receive a limited-edition bonus notebook in Tokyo Special Division 4 style. All tickets can be converted to bonus tickets. You can take a better look at the notebook here:

Spike Chunsoft has released all existing mainline Memories Off visual novels on the PC platform Steam. The titles range from the series' inaugural entry originally released in 1999 to the seventh entry—Yubikiri no Kioku—that came out in 2010.

The new releases have their illustrations enhanced to Full HD resolution. The interface for each entry is also based on the series' latest entry -Innocent Fille- for Dearest which appeared in 2020. However, even though the titles are available for purchase worldwide, they only support subtitles in Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.

Cospa announced the release of new One Piece t-shirts and tote bags featuring the Gear 5 Luffy transformation. The items are now available for pre-order from the Cospa online store, and will release in Japan on April 2024. [Thanks, PR Times!]

In addition, the items will be available for sale early at the AnimeJapan 2024 event, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight between March 23-24, 2024. The Gear 5 Luffy t-shirt is available only in black and sizes S, M, L, and XL.

 Here is the full list of One Piece Gear 5 Luffy merchandise and its prices:

• Gear 5 t-shirt – 3,300 yen (~$22)
• Gear 5 Large Tote Bag – 1,980 yen (~$13)
• Gear 5 Shoulder Tote Bag – 2,200 yen (~$15)

And you can also take a better look at the items here:

Good Smile Company revealed that it will release a new Pop Up Parade figure based on Kirby worldwide in 2024. It has also opened pre-orders for the static figure. People living in the U.S. and Canada can head to Good Smile Online Shop U.S. and place an order at $31.99. Those residing elsewhere worldwide can instead order the figure on the international web store at ¥4,800 / €33.90.

While most of the non-scaled Pop Up Parade figures stand at around 17-18 cm, this Kirby figure will only have an overall height of around 14 cm (5.51 inches). The measurement includes the star Kirby is riding on, the sky trail effect, and the cloud that serves as the figure base.

Here are some of the sample images for the figure:

New Otani Hotel in Hakata will, for the first time in western Japan’s history, offer two Sanrio collaboration rooms featuring Pompompurin. The rooms will open up for people to stay from March 1, 2024.

Sanrio posted a few pictures of the rooms on its website. There will be Pompompurin and his friends on all of the walls, on the sheets, and on the windows. Those who stay in the Pompompurin hotel rooms will also be able to take home exclusive merchandise. The names of the rooms are “Lots of Pompompurin Room” and “Inventing Cute in this Lab Room!”

Bushiroad Games and Lancarse have set up a Twitter (X) account for Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Quest of Memories. This account will share new information on the game leading up to the official release.

As of the time of writing, the account still only has less than 100 followers and has made four posts. The first two posts are to advertise the Twitter (X) account and the official site. However, the third and fourth Tweet are promotional material. It posted the second key visual, which shows Rudeus and Roxy chatting while they’re around a campfire. Studio Bind, which worked on the anime, drew this. It also posted about the January 2024 trailer for the game, which you can watch here:

HoYoVerse announced that Honkai: Star Rail is going to appear on the Las Vegas Sphere on February 4, 2024. There will also be a contest associated with it for people both in the city at the time and on social media to commemorate the occasion.

The company didn’t go into what it will exactly project on the Sphere during the segment. However, this is happening in honor of the 2.0 update that arrives on February 6, 2024. As such, it did note that Honkai: Star Rail characters and Penacony will be the focus of the presentation. That will show up between 6pm-10pm PT on February 4, 2024.

As for the contest, there will be two was to enter. People in Las Vegas when Honkai: Star Rail appears on the Las Vegas Sphere can share photos of it on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (x) with the hashtags #DiveIntoDreams, #HonkaiStarRail, and #VegasHSR. Doing so is an automatic entry into a contest to be one of 10 people to get a $100 gift card. HoYoVerse didn’t note what kind of gift card it will be. For those who aren’t in Nevada, that part of the contest already kicked off. 20 people who share the official tweet with the name or identity of a character from the game will also be entered to win one of 20 $100 gift cards.

Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters is out on the Switch now, and in some ways that’s a good thing. Getting more characters is great, and it’s always nice to be able to play a title on a new platform. However, it doesn’t feel like the best fit in some ways, even with the cast being interesting and a solid story for the series.

The thing about the Switch port of Neptunia: Sister vs Sisters is it still has the same problems as it did when it debuted on the PS4, PS5, and PC in 2023. There are a lot of empty and unused spaces, which can make locations feel less interesting or wasted even though there are more places to go. It’s like there’s too much padding for the excuse of saying, “look how big this area is.” You’re going through the same or similar spaces that might only look slightly different, and it’s frustrating.

Atlus announced a collaboration with Japanese snack brand Koikeya that will result in limited edition potato chips and charms based on Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal. The potato chips and charms are currently available to pre-order online until they sell out and will ship out on March 5, 2024.

The Persona 3 Reload Island of Memories Sea Salt Flavor chips are based on the main setting of the game. The Persona 5 Pure Cafe Leblanc chips come in the flavor of curry, calling back to Cafe Leblanc's classic menu item from the series. Each set comes with three different designs for the ship bags and replica potato chip bag charms.

Fans who purchase the Persona 3 Reload set will receive six potato chip bags and one random potato chip bag charm inside of a box with S.E.E.S. branding and the Gekkoukan High School emblem on it. For those who purchase the Persona 5 set, they will receive six potato chip bags and one random potato chip bag charm inside of a box modeled after Morgana's bus form. Each set costs ¥2,580 (~$18 USD) and fans can order up to four of each set.

Good Smile Company is re-releasing the 2.0 Touhou Project Reimu Hakurei Nendoroid. She’ll come out in July 2024 for Japan and Q4 2024 for North America.

For those in Japan, she’ll cost 6800 JPY, which is approximately $46.30. If you purchase her from the North America shop, it will cost you $33.99. The updated Reimu Hakurei Nendoroid originally came out in June 2020, and it was an upgrade of the original 2011 Nendoroid. Both versions of the little figure have very similar face plates and optional parts. However, the 2.0 Nendoroid has a more modern aesthetic.

Here's a closer look at this Touhou Project Reimu Nendoroid:

During the February 2024 All Aksys event, the company revealed details about the Tokyo Xanadu eX+ Switch versions and four otome games. Despera Drops and Tengoku Struggle: Strayside are new original titles, while Radiant Tale: Fanfare and Virche Evermore Epic: Lycoris are fan discs. There’s a Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II Switch, PS5, and PC February 15, 2024 release date confirmed as well.

As a reminder, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is a Persona-like RPG from Nihon Falcom. Like the other title, people follow high schoolers with special Soul Devise abilities that allow them to protect the real world by heading into the Other World. The eX+ version adds additional content like insight into the character White Shroud. Tokyo Xanadu eX+ showed up on the Switch in Japan in June 2023, and is heading westward in June 2024. Aksys will also sell its four-CD soundtrack.

At the January 2024 State of Play, a Death Stranding 2 trailer appeared and featured tons of crazy stuff! Higgs is back with an electric guitar that he also uses to attack with electricity and slashes! There’s a metal ninja that makes BB sounds! Fragile’s got a second pair of hands around her neck! But there are other possibly neat or maybe important things you might have missed too. 

Fragile smokes cigarettes that give off BTs (Beached Things)

Kotobukiya is restocking its Metal Gear REX plastic model kit, and it has also opened a new pre-order batch. The kit originally appeared as early as 2019, and it has also received multiple restock batches since then. The next batch of the kit's stocks will appear in April 2024.

The package will come with around 401-600 parts. When completed, the 1/100 scale unit will stand at approximately 220mm (~8.66 inches) tall. The owner will also be able to open and close the cockpit and missile hatches.

The set will also include 1/100 scale figures of Liquid Snake, Solid Snake, and Gray Fox the Cyborg Ninja. The owner can place Liquid Snake's sitting figure inside Metal Gear REX's cockpit. Meanwhile, the Cyborg Ninja figure will have a lying-down variation to help recreate the event cutscene at Shadow Moses in Metal Gear Solid.

HoYoVerse has released a Myriad Celestia trailer for Black Swan, who will make her debut in Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.0. The trailer also features Robin, whom we saw in trailer for 2.0.

You can watch the trailer here:

The trailer shows how Black Swan uses her powers as a fortune teller, as well as how she can use dreams, or memories, as a medium for activating them. It also shows a lot of scenes in Penacony, which has a bright “never-sleeping” city vibe. Because it takes place in a dream, there are a lot of bizarre phenomena in this trailer, such as Black Swan emerging from a sign to pick up a drink. Other characters that make a cameo in this trailer include Acheron, Sunday, Robin, and Duke Inferno.

Cerevo, along with Atlus, is developing a 1/1 replica of the Evoker from Persona 3 Reload. You’ll be able to check out a prototype of it at Wonder Festival 2024 Winter.

This news came out during the Persona 3 Reload livestream that Atlus held on January 31, 2024. It was a special miniature event to commemorate the upcoming release of the game. According to the stream, the Evoker will be to scale and Cerevo developed it under the supervision of the Persona 3 Reload team from Atlus.

The Evoker model has several gimmicks. For one, it can transform into Theurgy Mode, and you can also make it give off light. It can also play the Persona summoning voice lines from all the SEES members, as well as play battle music. Cerevo is currently developing more functions, so the final product will likely have even more gimmicks. It will also come with a case, which will look like an attache case.

Capcom announced the exact release date for Ed in Street Fighter 6. When it released a teaser trailer in January 2024, it noted that the Street Fighter V debutant would appear in February 2024. The company has since confirmed that Ed will be available on February 27, 2024.

To help players hype up Ed's release, Capcom has also released a new Fighting Pass titled "Ed Arrives!" This pass adds a photo frame featuring Ed and a Neo Shadaloo device wallpaper. It also comes with an avatar gear set, a new emote, three title bars, and five stickers that include a chibi artwork of Falke.

In addition, the pass features the 1991 beat 'em up arcade title Captain Commando as a playable classic game. It also brings in three BGMs from Street Fighter V: Ed's Theme, Falke's Theme, and Balrog's Theme. As a side note, the latter is alternatively titled M. Bison's Theme in the Japanese version, as that is what the boxer is known as in the country, owing to the name swaps made in the series' localization.

Maaya Sakamoto, the voice actress for Aigis, shared some of her thoughts about Persona ahead of the release of Persona 3 Reload. She talked about how she recorded her lines for the remake, as well as what she thinks about her character.

In the interview, she stated that she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to accurately portray Aigis again, since it’d been so many years since she originally voiced her. However, she was able to easily recapture the essence once recording actually started. She was also impressed anew at the story, and thinks that the reason it doesn’t feel outdated even after so many years is because the themes of Persona 3 Reload are so universal. She also states that she’s excited to meet everyone—both new and returning players—as Aigis once more.

At the beginning of the interview, Sakamoto also talked about how recording for the original Persona 3 went. She reminisces that back then, voice actors recorded their lines separately so she had to imagine everyone else’s performances as she gave hers. However, they all recorded together for the drama CD, which came out later, and remembers that they had a really fun time together.