After months of speculation, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has finally been given a release date. Well, a release date on PC and Xbox Series X|S, at least.

PC and Xbox Release Date For Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

The release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was revealed at the Gamescom Opening Night Live event. As the game is being published by Bethesda, which is owned by Microsoft, it’s coming to PC and Xbox Series X|S ahead of PlayStation 5. All things considered, this is still decent news for Sony fans, as some recent Bethesda titles, namely Starfield, haven’t come to PlayStation consoles at all after release.

The current release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PC and Xbox Series X|S is Dec. 9, 2024. This was the expected release window for the upcoming action-adventure game, as it falls right between some major launches, giving it a solid chance to succeed in terms of sales. It’s likely going to be the biggest game release during the holiday season, as few other games are launching in December.

PS5 Release Window For Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Moving on to the PS5 release date, we only have a seasonal window right now. Bethesda has stated that “Spring 2025” is the current release window for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5. As there’s no concrete release date yet, this window could change depending on how the PC/Xbox launch goes. If there are major issues with the game in December, that might delay the launch on PS5 until summer 2025 or beyond.

Spring 2025 means we could see Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5 as early as March or as late as May. April or May would be the more likely release months, but that’s pure speculation.

I’ll continue to update this article with any further news on the release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.

Elden Ring might not be getting the TV spotlight that some fans have been hoping for, but FromSoftware’s other franchise Armored Core certainly is.

Amazon’s upcoming anthology series Secret Level will include an episode based on the mech battling series Armored Core. This animated series takes viewers on a journey inside the universe of a selection of games, that have never been shown before. Fans can get a glimpse at what’s to come thanks to a trailer revealed on day one of Gamescom.

The animated show is from the producers of Netflix’s Love + Death & Robots which was a breakout hit for the streaming platform showing breathtaking animation with unique stories. That means Secret Level is in great hands, and fans would want it to be given the popularity of these franchises.

Alongside Armored Core, Secret Level will include episodes that feature Dungeons & Dragons, Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Warhammer 40,000 among others. These are some of the most popular gaming franchises ever, and now they’re getting a fresh animated take for viewers to dive into.

Season one of Secret Level will include 15 episodes, however, the length of each episode is unknown. Just know that they will be shorts so don’t expect full-length episodes, or complete seasons for any of these franchises. 

Secret Level is set to premiere on Dec. 10, 2024, so fans don’t have too long before they get to see these loved franchises on screen. It isn’t clear whether all episodes of the show will be shared at once or if it will be weekly, but expect that information to surface closer to its release.

If you want to get your Armored Core fix in before the show gets here you can purchase and play Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC right now.

The Mafia series has been out of commission for quite a while now, with the lukewarm reception of Mafia 3 turning fans away. It looks like we’re going back to basics, however, with the surprise announcement of Mafia: The Old Country to close out the first night of Gamescom.

While details are still rather sparse about this apparent reimagining of the Mafia franchise, we’ll be playing at an undisclosed point in 1900s Sicily, bringing the Italian roots even closer to the core of the experience. Could we be partaking in the earliest forming of what would later be known as the Mafia, or has this family already been established? We’ll need to tune in sometime in December 2024 for more details about this new addition to the Mafia family.

While plenty of players didn’t exactly love the tonal shift of Mafia 3, I still thought it was a strong addition to the franchise, offering some of the best characters that the series had to that date. And the twist ending? Mama Mia, that was a spicy meatball. However, it still paled in comparison to the first two games, and I’m hoping that Mafia: The Old Country can rekindle the magic that Hangar 13 had the first time around. This seems like an offer we can’t refuse.

Featuring plenty of religious imagery in its first-look trailer, we can expect that faith and family will have plenty to do with the motivations behind the currently unknown family that we’ll be a part of. I’m already drooling thinking about the setting, especially since Hangar 13 has been known to create some of the most dense and detail-rich open worlds that we’ve seen on any generation of systems. Let’s just hope that they don’t massacre our boy this time around, shall we?

Mafia: The Old Country does not have a release window yet, but will be available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

In May 2024, Sony showed off an intriguing dress-up/exploration game called Infinity Nikki. Now, a new trailer has debuted during Gamescom, as well as news on the pre-registration for the Infinity Nikki Beta.

You can watch the new video for Infinity Nikki below:

That video was a fever dream mixed with a killer soundtrack. I am all for it.

It was also announced that signups are now open for the Closed Beta test, which is a very exciting development. Players can pre-register for the Beta on the Google Play and Apple App Store (sorry, console owners) and earn plenty of rewards, including an outfit and plenty of crystals. The full game will launch on PlayStation 5, PC, Android, and iOS, so even for those who don’t get into the Beta, there will be plenty of time to grind the title on any of the major platforms.

Related: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’s Release Date Has Been Delayed Again

If you are lucky enough to be attending Gamescom, you can play a demo for Infinity Nikki on the show floor. You will be able to explore the nations of Miraland as the stylist, Nikki, and her feline companion, Momo. Former The Legend of Zelda director Kentaro Tominaga is behind the title, so expect a fair bit of exploration, platforming, and puzzle-solving. There’s never too much of that in the gaming world.

As for what else to expect from Gamescom, there have been some major announcements, such as information about the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Op 6, Borderlands 4, Dune: Awakening, Persona 3 Reload, and much more. The event runs all week, though, so there are sure to be more reveals that will shake the gaming world. Unfortunately, not all of them will involve Nikki, which is a shame because she looks like a really cool person.

Infinity Nikki is set to release on PlayStation 5, PC, Android, and iOS.

During Gamescom Opening Night Live, it was revealed the Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass will include a DLC boss fight with Joker from Persona 5.

Take a look at a teaser for the battle below:

The pass will include the DLC Episode Aigis: The Answer, which was part of Persona 3 FES back in 2007. The Answer takes place after the best ending of Persona 3 Reload. The SEES team sees itself stuck at the dorm in a time loop. A new character Metis shows up to join forces, who is a robot like Aegis. It sounds just like the plot of Happy Death Day.

In addition, a Challenge Battle with Joker will be available. It looks like he wields Arsène and other Personas to make your fight against him a living nightmare. If you played Persona 5 Royal, you would know these Challenge Battles are nothing new. In that title, you could face off against the protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 4. Maybe we will see a scuffle between the future hero of Persona 6 against the cast of Persona 4 whenever that game gets remade.

The Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass will launch on September 10.

Dune: Awakening looks to be one of the most promising MMOs of all time, placing players directly on the sands of Arrakis while offering a plethora of… interesting ideas. Thanks to Gamescom, we’ve learned more information about this upcoming title in the Dune universe, and one feature caught my eye in particular.

One specific feature caught my ears at the right time, so I needed to swing around just to make sure that I heard that right, and I actually did. An item called the Blood Purifier can be used to turn the harvested blood of your enemies into drinkable water, and that’s not even the wildest thing that was shown today. Joinable factions, small scale wars, player intractability, classes and more were showcased, and Dune: Awakening continues to look more phenomenal than ever before.

Related: Dune: Awakening Will Try to Show Players Variety is the Spice of Life [Preview]

While there is likely still even more to be revealed before its release, Dune: Awakening is slowly becoming one of my most anticipated games. Every time it’s shown off, it looks more and more promising, and with the promise of being able to pledge your alliance to your favorite House while drinking the actual blood of your enemies, this one looks like it’s going to be a wild ride.

Beyond all of the new features shown off during Gamescom, we also finally got an idea of when we’ll be able to jump into the world of Dune: Awakening, with a PC release set to embark into the world unknown in Early 2025. While there is still a chance that this could be moved once again, I’m already eager to upgrade my PC a bit more to experience Arrakis in its full glory.

Dune: Awakening will be available on PC in Early 2025.

You encounter several bosses in the first hour or two of Black Myth: Wukong. While the game makes it seem like all these bosses are meant to be defeated as soon as you meet them, there’s one you should hold off on killing until you progress a little further.

Why You Shouldn’t Beat Wandering Wight Early in Black Myth: Wukong

As you traverse the Forest of Wolves, there’s a good chance you’ll stumble across the Wandering Wight. This boss is a large blue troll-like creature with a large head and a permanent, tranquil smile that belies just how hard he can hit. You likely encountered him after passing the second Keeper’s Shrine in Black Myth: Wukong.

While you actually need to get past Wandering Wight to find the next area of the game, you don’t need to beat him to get past him, though it’s completely possible to do so. The reason you should skip the fight with the Wandering Wight is because it drops a spirit after you beat it. This spirit can’t be absorbed until you unlock the Blessed Gourd, which doesn’t occur until after you beat a couple more bosses in Black Myth: Wukong. Talk about suffering from success.

What To Do After Meeting the Wandering Wight

If you find Wandering Wight, simply run past it and head down the narrow path on the other end of its clearing. This will lead you down some wooden scaffolding and into the next area, where you will battle a boss named Lingxuzi.

After defeating Lingxuzi, you can progress through a temple and enter the second area of Black Wind Mountain, which is the first major region of the game. The second area is called Bamboo Grove, and you need to reach a specific location in Bamboo Grove called the Snake Trail. At the Snake Trail, you need to ascend the stairs and reach a man who is standing on the side of a path.

The man is the Gourd Master, and they can give you the Blessed Gourd upgrade, which allows you to absorb spirits. With the Blessed Gourd, you can now head back the way you came and defeat Wandering Wight. Once Wandering Wight is defeated, it will drop a spirit that you can now absorb. Absorbing spirits offers a variety of bonuses, including passive boosts to your character.

If you’re someone who has already defeated Wandering Wight and couldn’t absorb its spirit, fear not. Once you acquire the Blessed Gourd, you can head to a Keeper’s Shrine and collect the spirit from there. Of course, it’s much easier if you wait to get the Blessed Gourd and then go back to to smack it down.

Black Myth: Wukong is available to play now.

A quick scan of social media confirms that Batman: Caped Crusader‘s female version of the Penguin is still a talking point, weeks after the show’s debut. Showrunner Bruce Timm’s comments probably haven’t helped either.

In an interview for the Emmys website, Timm chalked up Caped Crusader‘s gender-swapped Oswald Cobblepot to a shortage of viable alternatives. “[Executive producer] James [Tucker] and I were talking about the overview of [Caped Crusader],” Timm recalled. “And we said, ‘One of the problems with Batman, as he is, is there’s a lack of good [female] villains. You’ve got Catwoman, you’ve got Poison Ivy, you’ve got Harley Quinn. But it would be really good to have more female villains […] We never really could figure out exactly what to do with the Penguin, what the gimmick for The Penguin would be. What if we gender-flip the Penguin?'”

It’s a well-articulated argument; it also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Yet ultimately, the rationale behind Batman: Caped Crusader‘s female version of the Penguin doesn’t really matter; the execution does.

The Bat-Canon Has Plenty of Good Female Villains

Admittedly, Timm isn’t entirely wrong. The Dark Knight’s list of enemies definitely skews male-heavy. That said, there are still plenty of good female Bat-baddies. Aside from the three Timm mentions (two of whom, Catwoman and Harley Quinn, appear in Batman: Caped Crusader), there’s also Talia al Ghul, Lady Shiva, Jezebel Jet, and female incarnations of Clayface and Ventriloquist. Oh, and let’s not forget two of Timm’s own co-creations, Phantasm and Roxy Rocket. That’s just off the top of my head, too. There’s probably a few more viable candidates I’m missing, without even getting into less flamboyant characters like gangster Sofia Falcone.

Related: Batman: Caped Crusader: What’s Linton Midnite’s Deal in Season 1?

True, some of the above supervillains are overexposed (particularly Ivy), while the rest aren’t exactly A-listers. However, Timm’s approach to Caped Crusader is rooted in reinvention and revitalization. If the likes of Roxy Rocket and Lady Clayface don’t work as is, that’s the perfect invitation to revamp them. After all, Timm’s done it before with underappreciated male villains. Together with Paul Dini, he gave us the modern Mr. Freeze! So, while I don’t personally have an issue with Penguin being a woman, I find the notion that Timm was essentially forced down that road a tad disingenuous.

Batman: Caped Crusader’s Penguin Is About Reinvention

Yet, again, just because Timm’s “female Penguin” motivations don’t stack up doesn’t mean they’re without merit. As noted above, Timm’s goal with Batman: Caped Crusader was to put a fresh spin on the Bat-mythos, the way he did as a co-architect of Batman: The Animated Series (only different). James Tucker said as much in the joint Emmys interview. “That was the mission statement for [Caped Crusader] in general: to do something that harkened back to the original, but flip it.” Recasting Oswald Cobblepot as Oswalda certainly does that.

Related: Is Batman: Caped Crusader Getting a Season 2?

Of course, this approach is bound to rub some fans up the wrong way. Setting aside the gender politics of it all, some folks just don’t like drastic deviations from established comics canon, and that’s totally fine. We all have our own threshold for change. But for a Batman adaptation to stand out from its decades’ worth of predecessors—and, heck, to justify its very existence—it can’t be afraid to mix things up a bit. Otherwise, things get same-samey and stale. Trying to avoid this fate is how you end up with a slimy Harvey Dent, a Joker-free Harley Quinn, and yes, Timm’s female Penguin.

Bruce Timm Is Wrong About Batman’s Rogues (But Right About Caped Crusader’s Penguin)

And let’s be real: a cabaret-singing female Penguin is an objectively fun take on the character (even if the Oswalda name is a bit lame). It’s surprising, without actually straying all that far from the OG Penguin’s essence. A ruthless, avian-looking crime boss who feigns legitimacy? That certainly tracks with several depictions of Penguin (including in the comics). Voice actor Minnie Driver’s performance is terrific, too. Indeed, it’s not hard to see why Oswalda has her defenders as well as her detractors. So, no, it doesn’t matter that Bruce Timm is wrong about Batman’s lack of good female villains; he was still right about Caped Crusader‘s female Penguin.

Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 is currently streaming on Prime Video.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, already five years in development, has been delayed once again and won’t be arriving until the first half of 2025.

This bloodsucking action RPG sequel has had a troubled history, to say the least. Announced in 2019, it was scheduled for a 2020 release. Developed by Hardsuit Labs, Publisher Paradox Interactive later took it out of their hands and gave it to The Chinese Room, the team behind Still Wakes the Deep and more.

But now, Paradox and The Chinese Room have confirmed that they’re extending their development time. In a new developer update (which goes out of its way not to mention the word “delay”), the two explain the thinking behind pushing the game back.

The general explanation the update gives, along with Paradox’s website post, is that the game, currently in a “..late production phase,” needs more polish. That’s based partly on feedback from the game’s internal playtest, and comments from the gameplaying public.

Related: Black Myth: Wukong Asks Influencers Not to Talk About Politics or ‘Feminist Propaganda’

So, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been delayed from its most recent Fall 2024 release date (one of several times it’s been delayed) to the first half of 2025. That means we could be getting it as late as June, though Paradox Interactive will no doubt want to ship it while people still remember it exists. Sure, Dead Island 2 survived an eight-year delay and three different developers, but it doesn’t fill me with confidence.

The good news is that the game will be receiving extra endings, double the original amount planned. I’m hoping there’s at least one where, as in the original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, you give the whole Camarilla the finger and just walk off.

Could the game be delayed again? It’s possible, but Paradox Interactive has given itself a big release window to work with. Let’s hope that this time next year, we’re all sinking our teeth into mortal necks and playing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.

It’s safe to say that Disney+’s Star Wars series The Acolyte divided the fanbase. Many embraced it for taking the franchise in new directions, while others were never on board. Well, just like when it was airing, Star Wars fans can’t agree on a stance when discussing The Acolyte‘s cancellation.

Deadline dropped the news that The Acolyte would not be returning for a second season. However, reports claim the axing has nothing to do with fan backlash but with the series’ inability to maintain steady viewership. Some will point to fans’ frustration as the reason people weren’t tuning in, but it was a lot more complicated than that.

The Acoltye Never Stood a Chance

There were two major camps going at it while The Acolyte was airing: those turned off from the series from the jump and those willing to give it a chance. Unfortunately, between all of the debates about breaking canon and Sith abs, a third group was forgotten: the casual fans who don’t care about canon or really anything but having something to watch after work.

Seeing all of the discourse online about the show likely made a lot of people look elsewhere for entertainment. After all, who wants to be thrown into the middle of a fight about space wizards when there are far more important things to worry about?

“Star Wars fans, smh,” said X user Deshair. This series never stood a chance. And before anyone says, ‘Well what about Ahsoka?’ They only watched it for Anakin.”

“The Acolyte being cancelled is just another example of toxic internet hate,” added Alex on X. “The show never got a chance to breathe and half the people hating on it never even watched an episode.”

Related: The Acolyte Subverts Star Wars in a Big Way That Doesn’t Always Work

It’s a Bad Time To Be a TV Show

There are also more than a few discussions online about how shows aren’t able to find their audiences anymore. Countless shows struggle in their first season, only to come back stronger in later outings. It’s possible that could’ve happened with The Acolyte, but it never had time to grow.

“It’s a generally bleak time for television; not just because of The Acolyte,” said Riley on X. “Everything gets cancelled. Nothing gets a chance to find its footing like before. Companies wonder why no one’s watching and it’s because no one wants to get invested in an inevitable unfinished story.”

Unfortunately, unless Star Wars releases some sort of tie-in, like a novel or comic, The Acolyte will be an unfinished story. That’s not bad news for everyone, but those close to the industry will say it’s bad news for the entertainment landscape.

One of the fastest card games gets a super quick card this week with Speed, another addition to Marvel Snap’s Young Avengers season. Is the fastest boy in the MCU worth spending your resources on, you ask? Well, here are the best Speed decks in Marvel Snap.

How Speed Works in Marvel Snap

Speed is a 3 cost 3 power card with an ability that reads: Ongoing:

For every turn that you spend all the energy available (turn 1 is 1 energy, turn 2 is 2 energy, and so on), Speed will have a permanent +1 power. Given that a typical Marvel Snap game lasts 6 turns, Speed can reach 9 power if all your energy is used.

Unlike last week’s release of Wiccan, if you miss spending all your energy on a turn, you can still gain energy for the other turns you do. Do note that Speed will not work if Sunspot absorbs your unspent energy.

As you’d expect for an Ongoing card, Speed has synergy with the likes of Captain America and Onslaught. Otherwise, Speed isn’t a super exciting card that is hard to get a handle on.

Best Speed Decks in Marvel Snap

Speed is a generically good card that could fit into a lot of decks that use up all their energy. For my Collector’s Tokens, I’m betting on Speed taking off in one meta-relevant deck and an outlier that’s looking at a return: Angela Thena list and Spectrum Ongoing. Do note that neither of these have last week’s card, Wiccan, in them, as I believe his ability to grant extra mana will be detrimental to Speed.

• Kitty Pryde
• Thena
• Ravonna Renslayer
• Angela
• Mysterio
• Mystique
• Speed
• Hope Summers
• Gwenpool
• Iron Man
• Mockingbird
• Sasquatch

Click here to copy this list from Untapped.

Thena is an absolute must for this deck and so is Mockingbird, though you can swap Sasquatch out for a less effective Crossbones if you do not have the yeti lookalike.

The goal with this deck is rather straightforward: scale with Angela, Thena, or both before dropping high-powered cards like Mockingbird and Sasquatch. Ravonna Renslayer adds a layer of unpredictability to this list, as you can play Iron Man and Mystique on the final turn. As this deck naturally spends all its mana when it curves out properly, Speed is a much more consistent Cassandra Nova or Sage that loses the benefit of the -1 cost that those two cards receive with Ravonna Renslayer on the board.

This next Ongoing list has seen spikes in popularity over Marvel Snap’s lifespan and I believe it’s rather underplayed at the moment, despite being extremely cheap to build.

• Ant-Man
• Howard the Duck
• Ravonna Renslayer
• US. Agent
• Mystique
• Captain America
• Luke Cage
• Speed
• Ms. Marvel
• Man Thing
• Iron Man
• Spectrum

Click here to copy this list from Untapped.

This list leans into two cards a lot of people skipped: US. Agent and Man Thing. You can replace them with comparable Ongoing cards like Armor or Typhoid Mary. Also, you can swap out other Ongoing cards as you see fit. Goose makes a good replacement for Howard the Duck if you don’t have him, for instance. Cosmo isn’t a bad slot-in either.

The goal here is to use powerful Ongoing effects to interrupt your opponent while spiking power in the proper lanes with Speed, US. Agent, and Man Thing while covering your own negative effects with Luke Cage. Spectrum caps everything off by spreading power to all your cards, especially the likes of Iron Man. This list often runs Ajax but I found him to be counter intuitive with Luke Cage also in the deck.

Speed Counters in Marvel Snap

Speed is easily countered by the likes of Enchantress and Rogue; however, he’s still a 3 power body, so it’s not the end of the world if your opponent targets him rather than a more powerful Ongoing card like Iron Man. Otherwise, your opponent can copy your Ongoing effects with the likes of Super Skrull or limit the lanes you can play him in with Echo.

Who is Speed?

Speed is basically the Marvel version of the Flash if you ignore the fact that Quicksilver also exists. Also known as Thomas Shepard, Speed is one of two twins that were inadvertently created when Scarlet Witch was messing around trying to create two sons for herself, the other being last week’s card Wiccan. Thomas had a rough upbringing before joining the Young Avengers, where he makes use of his superhuman speed and ability to cause vibration-based explosions to save the day.

Is Speed Worth Your Collector’s Tokens or Spotlight Cache Keys?

If you have an abundance of resources, I do think Speed is a good card to pick up for your Marvel Snap Deck; that said, he’s also easily replaceable in most lists I think he will find himself in. Gladiator, for instance, does a similar thing as Speed. At the same time, he’s also replaceable with tech cards like Red Guardian. If you’re unsure, I would hold out for a few days to see if Speed really makes a deck click.

Marvel Snap is available to play here.

isney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte wrapped up its first season with a decidedly open-ended finale. So, does this mean the The Acolyte is getting a Season 2?

Related: The Acolyte: Is Darth Plagueis in Season 1?

Is The Acolyte Season 2 Happening?

No, The Acolyte Season 2 isn’t happening. Per Deadline, Lucasfilm cancelled the Star Wars series on Aug. 19, 2024. The outlet’s sources didn’t supply a reason for The Acolyte‘s cancellation, although its lacklustre viewership figures were likely a contributing factor. As noted by Deadline, The Acolyte lost its spot on Nielsen’s Top 10 originals chart from Episode 4 to 7. To its credit, The Acolyte eventually landed back on the chart with its eighth and final episode. But even then, its total number of minutes viewed was reportedly the lowest of any Star Wars series.

Related: Is Yoda in Star Wars: The Acolyte?

Lucasfilm axing The Acolyte will no doubt come as a blow to showrunner Leslye Headland, who was ready to hit the ground running on Season 2. In March 2024 Collider interview, Headland revealed that The Acolyte was always conceived as a story that spanned more than one season. “I would say that when I pitched it, I definitely pitched it as a multi-season show,” she said. “There are a lot of things at the end of this season that I think are narrative threads that are not tied up, for sure.”

What Was Planned for The Acolyte Season 2’s Story?

So, what did Leslye Headland have planned for The Acolyte Season 2, if it had happened? More Darth Plagueis, for one thing! Plagueis briefly cameos in Season 1’s finale, which Headland confirmed in an Inverse interview was set-up for Season 2. She also reiterated the importance of Osha and the Stranger’s newly-forged partnership to the second season’s unrealized narrative.

Related: Does The Acolyte Season 1 Have a Post-Credits Scene?

“[Darth Plagueis is] definitely a signifier of things to come if we end up moving forward,” Headland said. “Osha and the Stranger are aligned. Literally the last shot of the show is the two of them holding the same lightsaber. It’s the last shot of Fight Club – these are two people that are looking out under the horizon and believing that their power is intense, and strong, and shared, and passionate.”

All eight episodes of The Acolyte Season 1 are currently streaming on Disney+.

 The above article was updated on 8/20/2024 by the original author to include information about The Acolyte’s cancellation.

Season 2 of Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World has been airing weekly since early July, but the show’s broadcast has come to an abrupt pause as quality concerns arise.

Episode 5 of Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World Season 2 has been delayed indefinitely to maintain a high quality of production. In its place, episodes from the first season of the show will be broadcast to fill the show’s slot in the Summer 2024 anime season. This news was announced in a statement from the show’s production committee, along with more details regarding the decision.

“We have decided to postpone the broadcast and streaming of Episode 5 and onward in order to maintain the quality of the main story,” The statement reads. “The entire staff will make every effort to meet the expectations of those who have been looking forward to the work.”

Series creator Kei Sazane also chimed in on the decision to pause the broadcast schedule for Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World, noting that they’d heard feedback from fans that the animation quality hadn’t been up to par. 

“Some people voiced their concerns that the quality of the visuals in some parts of the animation was questionable. The production committee and the production studio took these concerns seriously, and that is how this decision came to be,” Sazane wrote.

While it might be disappointing to fans that they’ll have to wait for more of the anime, ultimately this is a good thing. It means that instead of getting an anime adaption that fans will despise for years, what we ultimately receive will be much closer to what fans initially expected.

If you’re looking to see and judge the animation yourself, you can still stream the first four episodes of Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World Season 2 on Crunchyroll now.

Dead by Daylight has already introduced many of the most iconic horror characters ever to its roster of playable characters, and soon it will be collaborating with one of gaming’s most notorious spooky franchises, Five Nights at Freddy’s.

On Aug. 5, Behaviour Interactive announced via the Dead by Daylight X account that there is a collaboration with Five Nights at Freddy’s on the way, set to arrive sometime in the Summer of 2025. Details of what will be included in this crossover haven’t yet been revealed, but as you’d expect, fans are hoping for Freddy Fazbear.

Five Nights at Freddy’s is more popular than ever before thanks to the release of the Blumhouse movie that outperformed expectations. This Dead by Daylight collaboration answers the question of what gaming collaboration Scott Games was previously teasing for the franchise — sorry Fortnite fans.

While we don’t know for sure what this collaboration will look like, we’d expect that it will include a new killer, and there’s plenty to choose from. Any member of the FNAF cast would more than suit the Dead by Daylight universe, but Freddy Fazbear would be the obvious choice. We’ll have to wait and see what is announced in the coming months, but it is exciting times ahead for fans of the game.

The next collaboration coming to Dead by Daylight is with Castlevania which will arrive on Aug. 6. Other recent additions to the game include the Survivor Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, The Lich from Dungeons and Dragon, and Alan Wake from his titular game series. Given the focus on gaming characters, Five Nights at Freddy’s seems like a logical choice.

Dead by Daylight is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Expect more information about the Five Nights at Freddy’s collaboration to arrive in the coming months and into the new year.

Since Mega Evolution came to Pokemon GO, fans have wondered when we’ll see other battle gimmicks make their way to the mobile app. Now, a recent update seems to confirm that Dynamax is coming to Pokemon GO sooner rather than later.

For some players, a Pokedex search in Pokemon GO reveals a new, mysterious category with a familiar-looking symbol.

While not all players are able to see it yet, some have located what appears to be the Dynamax symbol as a possible new Pokemon label. This leads fans to speculate that Dynamax mechanics are coming to Pokemon GO very soon – possibly within the next month.

It’s no secret that players have been wishing for something new to re-ignite the joy of playing Pokemon GO. And with the 8th-anniversary art featuring a giant Wartortle, many fans anticipated a Dynamax announcement would follow. However, opinions are mixed as to whether Dynamax will really breathe new life into the mobile game.

If you’re unfamiliar, Dynamax is a transformation mechanic from Pokemon Sword & Shield that makes Pokemon giant. These massive Pokemon are not just impressive looking – they’re also boosted in battle. In Sword & Shield, the transformation could take place only in special areas, which raises questions about how it would transfer to Pokemon GO.

Some players are excited to see massive versions of their favorites, with hopes for giant forms of critters such as Rookidee and Snom. And let’s not forget Gigantamax Meowth, who is very, very long. Others are just stoked to be able to drop superpowered Pokemon into gyms – if that’s how this will work.

However, many players aren’t so sure Dynamax will be a winner. As one Redditor puts it, “You think they’re gonna screw up the Dynamax gimmick at first like they did with Mega Evolutions?” With faith in Niantic feeling relatively low after features like Party Play and the continued Remote Raid debacle, skepticism seems to be a popular reaction.

Another common refrain is that fans want to see the Sword & Shield-era mechanic come alongside an infusion of the missing Galar-region Pokemon who’ve yet to appear in GO.

It’s also unclear how having Dynamax mechanics will work in a game that already has another gimmick in the form of Mega Evolution. As much as some players want to be excited for a new way to play, right now the questions and concerns seem to outweigh excitement.

In what may be one of the strangest promotions of all time, Roblox players can purchase a ticket for the upcoming Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice before it hits theaters on September 6, 2024. By loading into a Roblox experience called Beetlejuice: Escape The Afterlife, you can play some cheezy mini-games, earn points to put toward UGC, and give your location information to Warner Brothers to purchase a movie ticket via Fandango.

While Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice character may be about a million times more frightening in Robloxian form, players can explore a miniature version of the beloved film set by jumping into this experience, as well as secure a ticket for the upcoming film. There are a few questions, though; do people that play Roblox religiously even know who Beetlejuice is? Are there security risks when purchasing a movie ticket through a strange Roblox experience? Only time will tell, I guess.

Related: IKEA Is Hiring People to Work in Virtual Roblox Stores – But There’s A Catch

If you’re eager to give this a try, you’ll just need to enter the experience, and shrink down into the miniature version of Winter River — you can’t miss the massive Fandango theater in the middle of the town. There are even plenty of Robloxians already lining up to hand over their cash to see this movie while countless player characters completely ignore the elephant in the room. Seems that players are mainly just looking to score some free UGC instead of purchasing movie tickets.

As the release date nears closer, I might give this a try for the meme. It’s an interesting gimmick, especially since there is a full world built around it that doesn’t require you to pay a cent to get in. A digital amusement park dedicated to a cult-classic horror/comedy icon may sound like a dream come true, but this may be more of a nightmare when everything is said and done.

If it goes how I’m expecting, I’ll be in a dark room saying “Credit Karma” three times while I’m trying to get my identity back.

NPC Studio has revealed an Early Access roadmap for Fields of Mistria, a farming/life sim that released on Aug. 5.

Posted to Steam, the roadmap teases a major update at some point in Q4 2024, which means it’ll hit sometime between October and December, though the studio notes the timeline is subject to change. The additions at that time will increase the number of Heart events for romanceable NPCs, add more dialogue, and add new events, enemies, cosmetics, rewards, and even a festival. Here’s the full list:

“Villagers & Romance

• NPC heart progression cap raised from 4 to 6 hearts.
• 6 Heart events for dateable NPCs.
• Additional NPC dialogue.

​Mines & Dungeon

• New enemies added.
• New cosmetic drops from monsters.

Town & Renown

• Renown level cap raised by 20 levels.
• Additional renown rewards.
• Additional board requests.
• Additional museum content and rewards.
• A new festival.

Skills & Perks

• Skill caps raised from lvl 30 to lvl 45.
• Additional skill perks.

​Customization & Cosmetics

• Additional home upgrades.
• Additional player and animal cosmetics.
• Additional furniture and decor.

​Misc.

• … and more!”

After that, there will be future updates that increase the Heart cap to 8 and then 10 (with special events for those levels), add marriage and children and add more Saturday Market vendors.

The mines and dungeon areas will get more biomes, unlockable spells, and even events.

The town itself will get an increase to its level cap and more quests and requests. The skill cap will also raise, with more perks being available as well.

There will also be more home and farmland upgrades coming to the game, alongside player and animal cosmetics, furniture and decor, pets, and the ability to ride animals.

At the time of writing, the game doesn’t have Steam achievements, but those are coming as well, alongside some other unspecified additions. Additional fixes and patches will also be released for the game.

Fields of Mistria is available now. You can read our review here.

If you’re looking for a guide on how to unlock and upgrade all the tools in Fields of Mistria, you’ve come to the right place, because I’ve got the goods you need to keep on farming.

How to Unlock All Tools in Fields of Mistria

There are several tools that you’ll start with in Fields of Mistria, including the Sword, which substitutes in for the Scythe in other games and can be used to cut grass and weeds. It, of course, also allows players to defeat enemies. In the table below, you’ll find how to unlock all the tools in Fields of Mistria.

How to Upgrade Tools in Fields of Mistria

There are two major ways to get upgraded tools in Fields of Mistria. The easiest is to simply spend your hard earned money to by the upgrade, though not all upgrades are available to purchase from the beginning. Depending on season and progression in the mines, not everything is necessarily available to start with.

With that in mind, this table breaks down all of the upgraded tools in Fields of Mistria as I know how to get them right now and their abilities. Please note that, at the time of writing, I haven’t unlocked the Silver level in the store, so my information there is my best guess in terms of cost. I also presume that, in the future, higher level tools will be released, so keep that in mind.

NOTE: The above game is currently in Early Access. The above information is accurate as of version 0.11.3.

Fields of Mistria is available now. If you’re on the fence, you can read our review about how much we love the game here.

Everyone in my personal life better get ready for me not to shut up about Fields of Mistria, because I absolutely love it.

What Is Fields of Mistria

Developed by NPC Studio, Fields of Mistria is a farming/life sim in the vein of Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, and Stardew Valley. In the game, you take on the role of an adventurer lured to the small, rural town of Mistria to help them stockpile food in case of a disaster and with a revitalization project. Along the way, you unpack the history of Mistria and discover a mystery lurking in the old mines just outside of the town.

How Much of Fields of Mistria Did I Play

Although there’s more to the game during Early Access, I underestimated just how much there was to do in Fields of Mistria. I put in more than ten hours and only got through the first season. I absolutely loved my time with the game, though. When I wasn’t playing Fields of Mistria, I kept wanting to pick it back up. If I didn’t have to write this review and do my job, I would be playing Fields of Mistria right now. I didn’t stop because I wanted to. I stopped because time exists.

What’s the Gameplay Like?

Since Stardew Valley launched, a lot of games have tried to capture what made it successful by blending the farming/life sim with some other genre, or even just copying it relatively outright but with a different coat of paint. There have been some really good ones, but most have failed to capture what really made Stardew Valley work.

What Stardew Valley did that was so special was take Harvest Moon formula and add some spice to it in the form of deep lore, excellent characters, and some new gameplay elements like combat to break up the monotony. The game was such a tectonic change for the genre that it made the Harvest Moon, later Story of Seasons, franchise basically irrelevant. Stardew Valley had, after all, done everything they’d done but better.

Fields of Mistria plays really similarly to Stardew Valley, though with a beautiful ’90s-style pixel art aesthetic. The game sees you farming, fishing, mining, fighting, and befriending villagers in an attempt to help a struggling town rebuild.

I’m not sure if Fields of Mistria re-invents the genre quite as much as Stardew Valley did, or at least not yet, but it does feel like it’s refined that game in some key ways.

The fishing, farming, mining, and combat in Fields of Mistria all feel like a finely tuned version of those in Stardew Valley. They’re well-designed, and the game is a bit more explicit with how things work and what to do. Most of the time, I appreciate this extra guidance, since it cut through some of the confusion that makes starting Stardew Valley a bit hard, though at the same time, I can see why that might not appeal to some folks, especially since Fields of Mistria does, right now, feel a fair bit easier. Still, it’s enjoyable to play, and the gameplay loop is addictive and fun. I never found myself bored.

Crafting does definitely feel more important in Fields of Mistria than it does in other games. Although you can just buy upgraded tools, you can also forge them yourself by gathering the right ingredients, which is a great way to encourage people to actually use the crafting system. Crafting also takes time. You don’t just go into your inventory and instantaneously come out having made a hundred fence posts. It adds a nice dynamic to the time management aspect of the game.

Cooking feels more necessary in Fields of Mistria than a lot of games as well. Stamina is in relatively short supply, and the best way to regain it is to eat food that you’ve made. Going into the mines without a good supply of food is a massive mistake, and I really liked that the game made me actually prepare. A lot of the crafting that can feel extraneous in other games, or like flavor during the endgame. In Fields of Mistria, crafting and cooking feel immediately and obviously necessary.

It’s in the character interactions that Fields of Mistria really shines, though. I can’t get over how much dialogue there is in the game. Normally, the farming/life sim genre has a problem of character dialogue looping relatively quickly. Characters in Fields of Mistria seem to react relatively dynamically to what’s going on in the world around them. They comment on things that you’ve done, the nearness to a seasonal change, and other small details that makes the world feel alive.

There’s also a sense that characters in the game know each other in a deeper way. For example, every Friday night, all of the villagers gather at the local inn. One group samples fine wine, one group players cards, and another plays a version of Dungeons & Dragons. Each of the groups has their own little storyline running through the time. Everyone in Fields of Mistria feels not only absurdly well flushed out, but like a real member of a community. And when the game’s themes focus so much on the power of community, it’s an absolutely brilliant choice.

Even though Fields of Mistria does involve a lot of “the player character is responsible for doing everything and saving everyone,” the game does a wonderful job of making it feel like you’re playing a role in a larger community project by having other people actually do things in the revitalization cutscenes. It’s such a small detail, and where Fields of Mistria excels most is in that attention to detail. The game is clearly a well-crafted, well-thought out labor of love.

The incredible sense of community in the game makes the plot even more interesting. I want to keep improving the town and exploring the mines to make things better. At the heart of Fields of Mistria are the game’s characters, and the game’s characters are good and worth working hard for.

I don’t really have any major negatives for Fields of Mistria. The map feels a bit large at times. There’s virtually always something to do when you’re going from point a to point b, though, so it’s not that much of a problem. Considering the game is in Early Access, I expected something a fair bit rougher. I had two crashes that didn’t affect my progress in any significant way. That’s about it.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

I love Fields of Mistria. It’s the best new farming/life sim that I’ve played in years. It understood what worked about Stardew Valley and introduced a bunch of really nice quality-of-life improvements that help make the gameplay feel smooth. At the same time, the characters are genuinely some of the best to ever be in the genre. Since it’s an Early Access game, that means this is likely only the beginning for Fields of Mistria, and I genuinely cannot wait to see how the team behind it keeps improving on it.

Fields of Mistria is on sale now. A review code for the game was provided by the publisher.

The first look at The Last of Us Season 2 is here, which means iconic moments from the game are being brought to life. However, fans are figuring out that things can’t always be adapted perfectly. In fact, one moment has them worried that a crucial scene is being altered.

HBO’s footage features an older Ellie and Joel living in Jackson, Wyoming, alongside Tommy and his family. Despite the time jump, events from the first season are still relevant, as Joel is opening up about what he did to save Ellie from the Fireflies. However, while the dialogue is ripped straight out of the game, Joel doesn’t appear to have the same scene partner.

Joel’s Confession in The Last of Us Part II

The Last of Us Part II video game opens with Joel having a heart-to-heart conversation with his brother, Tommy, about killing the Fireflies. It sets the stage for the opening of the game, where Ellie and Joel are estranged. The spoilers can end there, but it’s a massive moment for Joel, who, of course, has trouble talking about his feelings.

The footage for The Last of Us Season 2 makes it seem like Joel is not revealing this information to Tommy but Catherine O’Hara’s character, who many are speculating is a therapist living in Jackson. Opening up to a professional shouldn’t be frowned upon, but that’s not stopping fans from thinking the show is making an unnecessary change.

Related: Does House of the Dragon Season 2’s Finale Confirm the Daemon/Night King Fan Theory?

Completely Out of Character

When the footage made its way on social media, fans were quick to notice the change. And while countless people in the replies pointed out that it could’ve just been clever editing on HBO’s part, that didn’t put out the fire.

“sorry i’m saying it anyway if this is their version of the opening of the game i already hate it i don’t think joel would tell anyone other than tommy about what happened,” lauren on X said to kick off the converstation.

“they way they’re presenting it is that he’s seeing perhaps a therapist and tells her instead of which is completely out of character for joel he would never tell anyone anything other than tommy,” replied mizu.

“I’m interested to see where they go with this & why they made the change, but that scene really was so important,” added X user abby.

This debate isn’t likely to go away anytime soon, as The Last of Us Season 2 isn’t set to arrive on HBO/Max until 2025.

The new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is here, and it confirms the return of Breath of the Wild’s best feature – horses.

While the game’s previous video focused on cloning furniture, its new “Traversing Hyrule” trailer pans out to give us a wider look at the world, from Hyrule Castle to Gerudo Desert and beyond. How do you get around the world of Echoes of Wisdom? By horse, of course!

True, there are travel points to make use of, and you can always walk. But if you’ve played Breath of the Wild, you’ll know that horse-riding is just the best. Shield surfing may be cool, but there’s nothing quite like grabbing your four-legged pal and storming across the land. And you don’t have to worry about Dobbin snapping in two after walking five metres.

Related: ‘This Series Was My Childhood:’ Mario & Sonic Have Been Disqualified From the Olympics

Mounts aside, the Echoes of Wisdom trailer also shows off the many side-quests you can explore, solving problems for Hyrule’s residents. It looks as if Zelda’s magic wand will figure into a few of these quests, with the trailer showing her cloning a monster for a resident to gawk at.

The trailer also reveals that outside of the Echo abilities, Zelda can also use “Bind” to move large objects, objects too big to clone using Echo. The trailer doesn’t explain who’s going around picking up all the beds and tables she wills into existence, but we’re assuming that’ll be explained in-game. Maybe it’s like Spider-Man’s webs, and they just dissolve.

You can check out the new trailer above and get your hands on The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom when it hits Nintendo Switch on September 26. And if you’re wondering how the other top-down Zelda games have fared, here’s how we rank them.

After ten years and lots of critical acclaim for both the manga and the anime, My Hero Academia has come to an end, and I can’t muster any feeling towards it one way or the other.

It’s a sentiment similar to the one I had when Attack on Titan ended last year. Yes, I can acknowledge the amount of love and attention that the series has garnered since it debuted in Shonen Jump and how its more measured anime adaptation prioritized quality over pumping out new episodes as quickly as possible. But much like Attack on Titan, I could never get into the series, no matter how hard I tried. Whether it was watching the anime or reading the manga, every attempt I had to engage with the series left me cold. And now it’s all over.

On August 5th, 2024, Kohei Hirokoshi’s superhero epic wrapped up. As I’m writing this, the final chapter has yet to be released, but even if it somehow offers a finale that lives up to everyone’s expectations, I don’t think it will incentivize me to start following the series now that it’s all said and done. So, much like last time, I wanted to offer up an explanation as to why I never got into one of the most popular Shonen properties of the last decade.

I admit, when I first heard of My Hero Academia in 2014, I didn’t care for it. I had already written it off before reading a single chapter. Why? Because of its inspiration. While Kohei Hirokoshi had said that he was inspired by manga like Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, most of the aesthetics and themes of the series took their cues from American comics. Hirokoshi has been a huge fan of American comics and read them even before they became popular in Japan thanks to the worldwide success of numerous Hollywood superhero franchises like the MCU, Spider-Man, and the X-Men series. Because of that, Hy Hero Academia was seen as a blending of the two cultures – making an American superhero epic from the perspective of a Japanese Shonen action series.

But it’s because of that blatant connection that I became disinterested in the series, whether it was fair or not. I’m someone who loves to read American superhero comics. I’ve been a DC fan for most of my life and at the time I was reading comics like Scott Snyder’s run on Batman, Brian Azzarello’s wonderful run on Wonder Woman, and various smaller series like Secret Six, Animal Man, and Batgirl. These titles gave me exactly what I wanted – stellar artwork, great action, and solid character drama. These series were also part of a large, interconnected world that would come together in grand events that would shake the fabric of the world. When I saw My Hero Academia, I had assumed that the series was a pale imitation of those tropes.

On that, I can safely say that I was wrong. My Hero Academia takes a lot of the iconography of superheroes and puts its own, worthy spin on it. In the world of My Hero Academia, anyone is capable of being a hero. Even if you’re like Deku, a person who was born without a Quirk and logically shouldn’t be able to become a superhero, still tries to. He pushes himself to be accepted into U.A. High School and slowly becomes the hero he always wanted to be. It’s a theme that’s universal in superhero comics. It doesn’t matter if you have powers or not. Anyone can be a hero with enough determination and perseverance.

But still, my bias against the series stood. Even as the series exploded in popularity with the anime’s release in 2015, I tried to engage with it but found one part that stopped me in my tracks – its supporting cast. In the first season of the show, the series introduced an absurd amount of supporting characters to populate Class 1-A. While some of them received worthwhile development as the series went on like Bakugo and Todoroki, there were just too many characters to keep track of. Some of them were insufferable, like Mineta (though I won’t hold that against the series), but most just kind of existed, not providing a lot to the ongoing narrative. But instead of fleshing out this core class that Deku and his friends spend most of their time with, the series keeps trying to add even more characters.

My Hero Academia takes the concept of a large and shared superhero universe goes overboard with it yet doesn’t know what to do with it. Not only is Class 1-A introduced, but Class 1-B is also shown off despite most of its students hardly doing anything. It’s been shown that there are superheroes outside of Japan, but we hardly see any of them since the series is solely focused on Deku and the people surrounding him. The manga did get a spin-off, Vigilantes, that attempted to flesh out the world somewhat, but had minimal impact and those characters, yet again, rarely, if ever, factor into the events of the main series. Why bother designing all of these characters if the series doesn’t do anything with them outside of sporting slick designs and using their power for fight scenes?

Developing and maintaining a large supporting cast is tricky, especially for a long-running series. At the risk of sounding like a One Piece apologist, one of the strengths of that series handles is its supporting cast. They’re established within the confines of an arc and then are left once their story is concluded. There are rare instances where some side characters will reappear in future arcs, but they’re exactly that – rarities. Plus the series has trained its audience to expect check-ins with its cast in between major arcs or during global events, to remind audiences about the scale of the world and the events happening. My Hero Academia seems its supporting cast as background fodder and every time I interact with the series it just continues to prove that point.

A few years after the anime debuted, I gave the series another chance by watching the original movie, World Heroes’ Mission. I was given a screener in the lead-up to New York Comic Con and watched it, hoping that this non-canon film would generate some interest in exploring the series in more detail. I’ve always believed that non-canon anime films, or at least the good ones, should be a distillation of the strengths of their source material and are easy jumping on points for newcomers. But as I watched the movie, I was just bombarded by tons and tons and tons of side characters that ultimately didn’t matter and served as glorified cameos. The film centered on Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki, with barely any thought being given to anyone else. Is this true of the rest of the series? Does the show center on these three and their struggles to be heroes? That’s the impression that I got from World Heroes’ Mission.

So I continued to ignore the series. As I did, I started to hear more and more criticisms about the series. Keep in mind, these criticisms weren’t the majority consensus, but much like how people began to become dissatisfied with Chainsaw Man’s erratic tone or Jujutsu Kaisen’s treatment of its characters, people became comfortable sharing their dissatisfaction with the series. One of the biggest criticisms I saw of the series was the general lack of consequences that certain actions had. It’s a criticism I’ve heard a lot these past few weeks as the series’ epilogue doesn’t address the impact the final arc had on the world. While I couldn’t confirm nor deny these criticisms, what I will say is that this isn’t a problem this is exclusive to My Hero Academia.

If we’re going to argue that My Hero Academia is somehow weaker because it doesn’t show lasting consequences for its actions, then I would say that’s just par for the course with superhero comics and their constant need to maintain a status quo. How many times has there been a critically acclaimed run of a comic book that was quickly a swiftly ignored the second a new writing team stepped on board? It’s unfortunate, but if My Hero Academia suffers from a lack of repercussions, then it’s not the only series to be guilty of it is all I’m saying.

I love reading manga and comic books, but for some reason, My Hero Academia never came across like peanut butter and chocolate to me. These two parts should compliment each other well, and they do for most people, but for me they never quite sat right with each other. My Hero Academia came across as a pale imitation of the genre that I loved and instead of mixing superheroes and manga seamlessly, it instead took a lot of the comic book industries worst tropes and just put a Shonen spin on them.

But let me make one thing perfectly clear – if you are someone who loves My Hero Academia and are saddened to see it go, then I feel for you. I wish I could have overcome my biases and enjoyed the series just as much as you did. I have friends who don’t watch anime or read manga, yet they kept up with My Hero Academia for the better part of a decade. It clearly hit a nerve that affected millions upon millions of people, so who am I to say that someone shouldn’t enjoy it? If you were emotionally impacted by Deku’s journey to be a hero, then I hope this finale serves as the coda that you were looking for. I just won’t be one of the people looking back with reverence for a series that I thought never lived up to its full potential.

After 10 years My Hero Academia’s manga has concluded its run, but fans have one more chance to get their voices heard, and for the first time that will include fans outside of Japan.

The My Hero Academia World Best Hero poll has now begun to determine who is the definitive favorite amongst the My Hero character cast. This comes as Chapter 430 concluded the series epic story earlier today. Fans can lodge their votes on the World Best Hero official website, and polling will remain open from now until Sept. 30, 2024, at 7:59 am PT.

If you’re truly set on getting your favorite character to the top you can lodge one vote each day. Stage one will narrow the options down to just three characters who will compete in the Plus Ultra Stage set for Dec. 2, 2024, at 4 am PT, where one will be crowned the winner. When this phase begins fans will have 24 hours to cast their final votes and determine the victor from these finalists. During the Plus Ultra Stage, you can vote up to once per hour, with a maximum of 12 votes for the day polling is open.

Results will be announced via the official Jump YouTube Channel. The character who emerges victorious in the World Best Hero poll will get a new illustration from the series creator Kohei Horikoshi which will then be used for the creation of a bronze statue, so the stakes have never been higher.

Popularity polls have been something that My Hero fans have loved throughout the serialization of the manga with results being revealed as volumes arrived in stores. Previously only Japanese fans could vote in these polls, but now is the time for everyone around the world to get involved.

If you haven’t yet read the finale, My Hero Academia Chapter 430 is available to enjoy via the Viz Media website and Manga Plus app, alongside every previous chapter. Now’s the best time there has ever been to binge through the series once again.

We’re still a ways away from the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation, but the teasers are already starting to roll out slowly. We’d previously seen some behind-the-scenes shots of Bella Ramsey on set, but this teaser really sets the tone for Season 2.

You can check out the video for yourself down below:

The video shows off Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey Wright as casting newcomers for the show, though it’s looking like O’Hara may not play an existing character from the games. In the clip, she’s shown asking Joel if he hurt Ellie, and what he did when he says no. Joel then responds by stating that he saved her, as a tear rolls down his cheek. I’ve no clue who O’Hara could possibly be playing just based on the clip, but it’s possible that she may take on a newly created role for the show.

On the other hand, we also got a glimpse of Jeffrey Wright, who’s likely reprising his role as Isaac Dixon — one of the main antagonists in The Last of Us Part II. He’d voiced Isaac in the game, so it’s fitting that he should play him in the adaptation as well.

All in all, it’s looking pretty good so far, and it should be interesting to see the fan reaction to the second season, particularly if they don’t know anything about the games.

HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2 is set to premiere sometime in 2025.