Okay. So, a staple in shojo manga series is to eventually introduce some sort of love triangle conflict. The goal is to add a little drama to possibly add a “will they or won’t they” element to the story. Does it get annoying? Absolutely! Especially when it’s dragged out. Volume 4 of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince manga continues that type of plot line from the third one, but Hisui doesn’t drag the situation out and instead introduces the mature and realistic approach of Lily and Prince William actually talking to work it out.

Editor’s Note: There will be some spoilers for volume 4 of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince manga below.

 The conflict in the third volume of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince manga stemmed from a visit by the princess of the kingdom of Belluno, Marianne. She came to the kingdom of Zavanni for a visit and, throughout much of that installment monopolized Prince William’s time so his fiance Liliana was left to her own devices. When secretly exploring outside of the palace in disguise with guards, Lily ran into the two of them together, with Marianne hanging on Will’s arm. This led to mistaken impressions of the situation, which carried over to the initial issue in this volume. However, instead of dragging it out, things are handled in an actually mature manner.

While the outset of this volume offers are first view of the situation from Marianne’s perspective, confirming she did come to the country to drive a wedge and become Will’s new fiance as some suspected and Lily assumed after seeing them together, it quickly gets into practical advice and proper communication. When Will is lamenting Lily’s behavior and anger, his guard and even Princess Marianne both say he needs to talk to her. Though it is awkward between the engaged couple when they do come together in the next scene, both of them don’t drag out this mistaken situation. Will apologizes and explains, as does Lily. (Though she does freak out a bit momentarily thinking his apology is because he intends to break their own engagement.)

As a result, we get to see how productive conversations between a couple we know love each other works out. The two of them explain themselves. The set a time for another date, which shows their commitment to each other. Then when they go out, which also involves scouting a location for a school Lily wants to build for children in the city, they’re completely focused on the task and each other.

What’s interesting, however, is volume 4 of the The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince manga also shows how communication helps the situation between Lily and Princess Marianne too. After the “crisis” is over, it still seems the foreign royal isn’t entirely giving up on her plan, since she at the time sees it as the only recourse to aid her own country during a salinity crisis. When the two of them get a chance to properly talk upon the opening of the finished school and classroom, it leads to new revelations between them and a possible positive relationship.

Which is great, as it all comes back to The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince being a shojo manga that focuses on positivity. It’s sweet! It’s funny! The leads generally care for and respect each other! Now with this volume, we see they handle issues responsibly and with clear communication. It’s lovely to see.

Volumes 1-4 of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince are available now, and Yen Press will release volume 5 of the manga on July 28, 2026.

The post The Small-Animallike Lady Is Adored by the Ice Prince Shows Communication Matters appeared first on Siliconera.

Recent shadowdrop release Super Bomberman Collection brings back some classic Bomberman games, some for the first time outside Japan, and we’re happy to see it! But if we’ve learned anything from modern retro compilations, the quality is extremely dependent on execution. So how does this one do?

The package contains the five Super Bomberman games, all originally released on the Super NES and Super Famicom, as well as two bonus Famicom games. The later Super titles didn’t originally release outside Japan and have received localizations here, which is a nice touch! Frankly, though, these are fairly language-agnostic games and you probably would have been fine.

Putting these five games together in one collection might feel a bit redundant! And it is, to a degree. The advantage is in two ways. The first? Historical value. The game makes it easy to look at what power-ups are added in each one, and preserving all five is good regardless. The second is that you can choose your favorite variant. Each of these changes does color the experience, and through either taste or nostalgia, you’ll likely have a favorite.

If you’re having trouble deciding, though? We’d recommend going straight to 5. It has almost all the things from the other games, and there are options to configure it however! And as such a late Super Famicom game that other staff at Hudson were probably already working on Mario Party during development, it really takes advantage of the hardware. If it drops the ball on anything? Maybe it’s aesthetics. It’s trying really hard to do a robot/sentai thing in a way that a lot of the selectable characters feel same-y.

It’s also true that each of these games has a solo campaign. The franchise’s bread and butter is its competitive play, but there’s a dedicated group of people who really embrace the single-player arcade levels. And these are good ones! We’ve spent a while playing, and we are undeniably bad at them but there’s a puzzly element to taking on risky opponents in an optimal order.

When it comes to gallery modes in retro compilations, our usual stance is that it’s a great effort of preservation! But we don’t spend a lot of time with that stuff. Super Bomberman Collection’s “unbox” mode feels a lot more robust, though. With the detail and ability to virtually open the box and pull out the manual, it captures a bit more of the nostalgia of the originals.

While it doesn’t have built-in functionality for this sort of thing, Super Bomberman Collection takes advantage of system-level multiplayer features like Switch 2’s GameShare and Steam’s Remote Play Together. How well does it work? Better than you’d think! We spent our time testing it out on Switch 2, and didn’t experience any of the frequent connection issues we usually get. What’s more, it’s the sort of game that can weather some minor hiccups if you get them, and it also doesn’t look too bad in the windowed GameShare screen.

Super Bomberman Collection, developed by Red Art Games and published by Konami, is out now on Switch 2, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series and Steam. Physical editions of the game will launch on August 25, 2026.

The post Super Bomberman Collection Is a Multiplayer Blast appeared first on Siliconera.

Death Howl is one of those unique strategic roguelikes that someone could play for 15 minutes for five hours straight, and it means the Switch version couldn’t come soon enough. I thoroughly enjoyed this brutal game when I played it on the PC. But there’s something about the nature of it that makes the gameplay loop and narrative beats feel highlighted so well here.

As a quick refresher, Death Howl is a strategic roguelike with a nearly monochromatic kinds of color palettes and melancholy story. Based on Scandinavian folklore, we follow a grieving mother named Ro searching the other side for her dead son Olvi who was stolen away from her. This means traversing different areas, facing all sorts of entities and beasts with abilities she gathers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGF-v--wGhk

The narrative is fantastic. There are so many themes running through it. Revenge is a critical one, since there’s a central stag figure associated with her son’s death and apparent abduction. Not to mention she’s angry with Death itself over the loss. Coming to terms with the situation is another, since this is a journey about grief and clearly she’s going through the bargaining and depression stages while also being angry about everything and denying that this is a situation that can’t be undone. But there’s also this veil of uncertainty over everything. Due to the use of symbolism and design choices, Ro is an unreliable narrator and there are gaps in our knowledge as players. Which means part of the motivation that keeps us going is to finally know the truth of it all. Having the game on the Switch makes it easy to keep going so we can absorb the information and take in what possible truths could be hinted at as we play.

The Switch also makes for a good way to appreciate the art direction in Death Howl in the same way that the Steam Deck and other handheld gaming PCs do. This is a strategy game with sprite-based designs, an isometric perspective of the board, and limited color palettes for each region. Actual spirit designs play with shading and color options to depict details that wouldn’t otherwise be possible with the limitations. When there are effects from actions and spell usage, we see intricate animations. While it is possible to view these and take away the excellence, I feel like having it in handheld mode where you could really take a moment to look closer at details.

It also helps that the Switch port is a great version of Death Howl. Given how text-heavy it is for cards and combat, the color and font choices make it clear even when the lettering is little. It’s almost always clear and legible. Pair that with the great controller-based scheme carried over from the PC release, and it is quite comfortable to play.

Handhelds are a good fit for roguelike games, and the artistic direction, narrative, and gameplay of Death Howl make it feel especially strong on the Switch. It’s a great port that plays well on the system. The nature of the storyline makes it a perfect game to play in a darkened room. Since the gameplay encourages deck experimentation and strategic decisions, you can really get cozy and experience it. It feels exceptionally at home here.

Death Howl is available on the Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. 

The post Death Howl’s Gameplay and Narrative Help It Fit on Switch appeared first on Siliconera.

When I first played Starsand Island, it was early in development, not all the different types of professions were ready, and the build felt like a work in progress. Now that the game is properly in early access, it feels far more cohesive. Yes, not everything is there yet and I can’t live my virtual life to the fullest. Some balancing definitely needs to be done. But it does feel more pulled together and ready to go than it originally did. 

As a quick refresher, Starsand Island is about moving to a rural community your character is already loosely connected to in order to start a new life. Previously, they’d only visited due to their grandpa living there. Now they inherited the home and, after a friend named Solara helps them settle in, they work on becoming part of the community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5h-VhOriYs

The biggest change I noticed between my initial Starsand Island experience and this return to the early access build is that there’s substantially more here. The Crafting, Exploration, Farming, Fishing, and Ranching professions feel much more fleshed out than before, with especially farming and fishing offering more variety in terms of yields, ranching adding more animal husbandry options, and many more recipes available when it comes to making things. These feel pretty full right now, though admittedly I haven’t completed any of the professions at this point. All of these seem advanced enough that I suspect I wouldn’t miss too much in 1.0 if I try and go ahead and do as much as possible now.  

Some professions did really hook me in now in this build. Especially with the Farming and Ranching lines. It seems very easy to get settled, and the range of crops and animal is great right now. There are hybrids possible, if you spend enough time playing, and greenhouses are already present. Like getting to Expert Rancher and accessing the alpaca and ostrich are helpful for the extra eggs, feathers, and wool, not to mention riding them is quite cute. And the DNA element to it is helpful for breeding purposes, should someone focus on that lifestyle. However, I will note that exploration’s combat does seem to still need work. While bows are present as a weapon, adding a nice ranged option, there’s still not much there. We could use more enemies, as well as mechanics like dodging.

While the profession changes in Starsand Island probably the first and most obvious area to get a glow-up in early access, the relationship element feels pretty good right now too. This applies to both animals and people. The pet system reminds me a bit of Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, in that you aren’t just buying a new buddy. I mean, yes, Woof and Wow Pets does offer them. But we also adopt wild animals by befriending them and reaching basically three hearts. This means you’re going to need to work to get the fox or squirrel to be a friend. 

As for the human relationship element, it does feel pretty fleshed out even now in Starsand Island. There’s a decent number of love interests at 15 total (8 bachelorettes and 7 bachelors). These feature voice acting, though there’s not much yet, and there are more appearances in quests and interactions with folks that made me want to give gifts and check in daily. In some cases though, I felt like some of the folks were just pretty faces. There isn’t enough to them yet to make them lovable. However, it does seem like that could change. The team stated there will be more to the dating system come April 2026. I would like and hope to see marriage and kids in the endgame too. 

However, I will say some stuff doesn’t feel completely balanced or 100% set yet. This is an issue acknowledged on the Steam product page and in the roadmap. I would like a little better performance when really racing through on mounts or on an item like a skateboard. Some character models could be adjusted a little. Getting your house and land built up does take a lot of time, and it doesn’t feel like it’s quite designed for us to get to the point of a massive complex with a home we could have a romance option move into yet. I do wonder if we might see rebalancing progression and development updates, since the crafting part does feel stronger than the pre-launch build I played and the team did mention that’s in the roadmap.

Starsand Island is essentially coming along, with the early access version showing a lot of progress from the initial build I played. There’s a lot more to every profession in the game, though exploration could use a bit more additions and adjusting. Romance is starting to seem more viable, and pet adoption is enjoyable. Some rebalancing would be great, but the foundation for the 1.0 version later this year seems pretty stable.

Starsand Island is in early access on the PC and Xbox Series X on February 11, 2026, and a full launch that also includes Switch 2 and PS5 versions is set for Summer 2026.

The post Preview: Starsand Island Is Built on a Solid Foundation appeared first on Siliconera.

Back at the beginning of November 2025, we announced our ad-free Siliconera+ subscription would be back. Now that we’ve gotten things situated, we’d like to announce a free-trial. Starting immediately, anyone joining Siliconera+ will get a two month (60-day) free trial if recurrent payment is enabled. So if someone would join on November 17, 2026, then the $1.99 subscription fee would kick into effect on January 16, 2026. 

As a reminder, here is everything you get with a Siliconera+ subscription:

1. No ads appear on the site. 
2. Automatic monthly entries in our contests for a free game. Each month, we’ll give away one PC game to one random Siliconera+ subscriber. (The one for December 2025 will be the PC version of UNBEATABLE.) People who don’t subscribe are also able to enter via a form found in our free monthly newsletter, which you can sign up for at any time. The link to enter for free will appear in that email that shows up on the last Friday of every month.
3. Monthly survey access to help suggest future news and feature coverage. On the last day of each month, the members-only article that announces the free game contest for the next month and winner of the previous month's game will include a survey that allows you to help weigh in on what we could cover. This will also include an open-ended “any other feedback” short answer portion for additional outreach. While we will still prioritize some topics we know bring in traffic (like Hatsune Miku, Sanrio, and some figure and anime stories), this will allow you to offer additional insight into things we might have otherwise missed.

We’d really love to expand what we offer and keep serving the community as we did before, and we hope the support from Siliconera+ will allow us to run more news, reviews, previews, interviews, and playtests each month. If you have any further questions, comments, or concerns, please let us know in the comments below. 

Thank you for visiting and supporting us!

The post Siliconera+ 2 Month Free Trial Added appeared first on Siliconera.

Some Pokemon Day 2026 reveals appeared ahead of the actual event on February 27, 2026, and it involves Switch releases of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen and a Pokemon Presents showcase stream. The presentation will air first at 6am PT/9am ET/3pm CET, and the digital GBA games will show up on the eShop after.

In the case of the Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen Switch releases, there are a few details about these versions. They will be $19.99 each, and the eShop pages for both are live. These will be the exact JRPGs we remember. However, if you want different languages, like English, French, or Spanish, those will be separate purchases instead of an option you select from a menu in-game. (Italian and Japanese aren’t available in the North American eShop.) The Sevii Islands will be present in-game. If you want to battle or trade other people, it is only going to be possible via local multiplayer, and there is no Pokemon Home support at launch. They are both confirmed Switch 2 compatible.

Here’s the official trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8c_C4vfUMo

As for the Pokemon Presents 2026, there are fewer details about that. We know the time and date. We know it will be on Twitch and YouTube. Presumably, these two Switch versions of the GBA JRPGs will also appear in a spot during it as a reminder of their release after the stream as well.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen will come to the Switch and be playable on the Switch 2 on February 27, 2026, and they are also available on the GBA. 

The post Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen and Pokemon Presents Dated appeared first on Siliconera.

Whenever a major update arrives in Honkai: Star Rail, it always brings with it tons of new additions and gameplay features, and 4.0 is no exception. However, it seems like this version is building up with its first patch, and that we might see the real major benefits and changes once 4.1 and 4.2 arrive. Keep in mind, 4.0 is still a big deal! Especially when it comes to Sparxie and Cosmicon Collective. But I get the impression we’ll see the full weight of Planarcadia’s Trailblaze Missions and Elation’s power once we get more into it.

With the new Planarcadia Trailblaze Missions in Honkai: Star Rail 4.0, it reminds me more of the early Xianzhou Luofu and Penacony storylines than something like Jarilo-VI and Amphoreus. We’re welcome guests to the planet, with Sparkle acting as a host. It’s a very bright space that feels modern, with lots of games and activities. Now, there is the setting for something more and growing stakes, since there is the Phantasmoon Games competition. The winner gets to meet Aha and wield the power of an Aeon for a minute. Given Trailblazer, Sunday, Sparxie, and Silver Wolf are all competing, there’s a lot of potential for how this all could go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hH0hILcWPs&t=1s

However, I’m more excited about 4.0 for another reason. That’s because Himiko is tied to Planarcadia. We’ve seen recent versions with members of the Astral Express tied to areas including eventual revelations about the characters. Dan Heng came up during the 1.0 Xianzhou Luofu storyline. March 7th ended up featured in 3.0 at Amphoreus. This feels like Himiko’s turn, and I’m excited by the initial teasers and hints we get so far.

One of the best parts of Honkai: Star Rail 4.0 is the new Elation path, though I think most people won’t get to really appreciate it until Sparxie’s banner arrives on March 3, 2026. The new path might feel a bit like the DOTs in Nihility characters or Remembrance Memosprites since Aha could chime in for additional effects and you want to set things up for Punchlines and Elation DMG. It’s most evident with Sparxie, who I got to test out, since her Boom! Sparxicle's Poppin Skill enhances her Basic into Bloom! Winner Takes All for an attack with splash AOE damage and makes her Skill briefly Engagement Farming for a DMG multiplayer and more Punchline points. She can do big numbers even without Yao Guang, especially if Sparkle is on the same time, though she is best when paired with her fellow Elation character. 

The thing is, Yao Guang herself isn’t as exciting or useful without Sparxie. Her Decalight Unveils All Skill’s zone is best for Elation stat boosting, which only applies to Sparxie at the moment. While her Hexagram of Feathered Fortune is a more generic one that helps get Aha acting again and boosting Punchline, due to it helping all-type Res Pen for the party, she’s ideally a buffer for a type of team that probably won’t be possible until 4.2 or 4.3. I’m a bit surprised she’s the first banner for Honkai: Star Rail 4.0, in fact, given the focus Sparxie/Sparkle has in the story and the general usefulness of the other character.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JekiKSvtSCw

What I especially liked about the 4.0 update for Honkai: Star Rail is the Cosmicon Collective card game, which feels like the equivalent of Genius Invokation in Genshin Impact. It’s of course its own beast, with elements like weather influencing matches to offer boosts, and us using Prismatic Dice and collected character cards to fight matches. It’s standard TCG fare in many ways, with attack level determining dice selected and used, defense level determining your defense based on rolls, and us knowing how many D6s and D4s would be used and if a Prismatic Die could be used. We roll dice, select which ones to use to determine damage dealt and defenses set. It goes really quickly, and there being the “Cosmicon, Roll On” event around at launch helps make it more inviting.

The fact that Yao Guang won’t probably be all that exciting until her rerun aside, it feels like HoYoVerse is building something with Honkai: Star Rail 4.0. Planarcadia’s plot is leaving all sorts of threads to follow and hints of things to come, even though the initial quests are more about getting acquainted with the premise. Sparxie feels like a great example of what Elation could be capable of with the right supports. Cosmicon Collective is a lot of fun. It’s like we’re at the foundation now, and I’m excited for what’s next.

Honkai: Star Rail is available for the PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and the 4.0 update is live now.

The post Excitement Is Building in Honkai: Star Rail 4.0  appeared first on Siliconera.

While a lot of the Witchery chatter so far this year has been about an extra Witcher 3 DLC rumoured to be in the works, one of the projects we know for sure CD Projekt have on the go is a remake of the first Witcher game. Ahead of the remake's arrival, a key dev on the 2007 RPG has just finished a developer commentary run through it, which makes for a great way to pass some time between Witchery things.

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WARNING: Major story spoliers for Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, as well as the original Yakuza 3, lie ahead.

It’s natural to spend a lot of time thinking about what games could have been, had different decisions been made. Whether the change is preferable to the reality often doesn’t come into it, the fantasy of another possible world is the draw.

Despite that, few studios choose to make major shifts - at least as far as the main stories of those games go - when they remake their previous games. This won't necessarily be a philosophical decision: the remaster or remake has to sell. Games which get revisited are ones players deeply love, and the suits will inevitably see tweaks to their fundamentals as an unnecessary risk. Old Oblivion is loved, so Bethesda adopted a rubber glove approach to the Oblivion remaster. They limited changes to modernising visuals and snipping away some annoying features. It's akin to polishing up a holy relic, rather than replacing the gemstones or changing the engravings.

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Having suddenly appeared on the Nintendo eShop, Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green are coming to the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 next week on 27th February – that’s Pokémon Day, which will have a traditional stream with new announcements, for which this was no doubt meant to be a surprise.

The games are priced pretty highly, set at £16.99 / $19.99, but also have the quirk of having distinct versions released for every language that they were shipped in.

The reason for this, per the eShop store page, is that “Because this version replicates the way the game was originally released, each language version is separate and there are no in-game options to change the language.” That’s an unnecessary complication for modern gamers, and honestly doesn’t make too much sense, but it hopefully won’t catch too many people out.

These Game Boy Advance remakes of the original game are rare enough to be prized possessions amongst game collectors, if you can find an original cartridge – it will be a great way to mark the Pokémon franchise’s 30th anniversary, that’s for sure.

The remakes updated the originals with the graphics of the GBA era – also making it so that Green was the pairing to Red, instead of Blue as it had been for the original western release – and added the Sevii Islands to visit, while bringing some other improvements like a contextual tutorial, save game recaps, and ties to the other Game Boy Advance and GameCube Pokémon games. Fire Red and Leaf Green also came with a special wireless adapter for local link play, and since wireless is now built into everything you own, this will also be supported on Switch.

Most importantly for the here and now, these games will have support for Pokémon Home added to them, so Pokémon caught in this game can be brought through to the newer titles.

Maybe a poetry recitation is a pretty dull affair if you stumble into one at a coffeehouse in real life, but in Project Gorgon, it’s the social event of the week that draws all the partiers — and giant glowing green bears — to slam down some lyrics and boost some skills. There once was […]

In the Venn diagram comparing WoW Classic and Lord of the Rings Online, there’s a large overlapping section that simply says “chill gameplay.” And that’s probably why I appreciate both titles: because they feed that need I have to slow down, drink in the game world, and focus on a long leveling journey with no […]

Join us for our weekly open thread! We're discussing what MMOs we're playing this weekend and answering a bonus question about movies you've somehow never seen...

Time to kick up your feet and listen to a classic MMO tune! This week’s pick is We All Lift Together, a popular shanty from, oddly enough, Warframe and written by Keith Power. Give it a listen and see if you’re not whistling it for the rest of the day! And if you have any […]

I said it, and I’m actually going to deliver on it this time: I’m bringing you back to another round of Eldegarde. That’s Notorious Studios’ recent mini-MMO, which primarily plays as an extraction RPG. And yet it has so many features that MMO players love to see that it’s been self-dubbed a mini-MMO. The game […]

Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken was published in August of 1915, and it has endured an immense popularity since then. Many people can quote the last couplet of the poem (“I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference”), and for years the title alone conjures images of […]

This weekend will be Pokemon Go local Kalos Tour, and as we mentioned in our prep guide, it hasn’t been looking good. We’ve been expecting a big announcement to drop right before the event, and we were right, but it’s not a great one. The problematic-since-release feature, which has seen some improvement, is taking another […]

This week’s Massively Overthinking is inspired by a tweet I saw from SMITE, of all games, where the Hi-Rez devs asked players to propose one god to delete from the game. Obviously, this is not a serious proposition, but in the aggregate, the answers can kinda show a trend in what people are tired of, […]

The moment I first saw Witchspire was a thing, I knew the exact people in my life for whom the title alone was an alluring promise. I’m not exaggerating with that; there are people who mean the world to me who are here precisely for big witch hats, witch cottages, and everything that goes along with endless […]

We’ve all been there. You’re dragging yourself through another so-so gaming year, playing the same old titles, all while telling yourself that it’s about to get a lot more interesting, because a game you’ve been eyeing should come out before too long. And almost as if you jinxed a cosmic trickster, the next day you […]