McDonald’s has managed the difficult task of "mixing friend groups together" to release a series of Happy Meal toys that are Sanrio mascot characters dressed up as Yu-Gi-Oh monsters. You’ll be able to get them for a limited time, but stores in the USA are missing a particular doll.
Here is a commercial for the McDonald’s Yu-Gi-Oh and Sanrio Happy Meal toys:
It shows the Sanrio mascots and the Yu-Gi-Oh monsters hanging out on separate sides of the park. But when a kid grabs a Happy Meal box and starts skipping down the road with it, we see how she inadvertently shakes up their world and cause them to combine. The official Yu-Gi-Oh X (Twitter) account credits Guillaume Huin, a senior marketing director at McDonald’s, for the commercial.
The combination for Sanrio and Yu-Gi-Oh monsters are:
The Yu-Gi-Oh monsters that are part of this crossover all played important roles in the original Duel Monsters cartoons. Over the years, they've been featured in different kinds of goods, such as model kits or figures. As a note, other countries like Japan and Taiwan were able to get these toys earlier this year. Their selection featured the Badtz-Maru wearing the Red-Eyes Black Dragon doll though. So it's unclear why the McDonald's in the United States won't offer that one.
You can get Happy Meal toys of Sanrio mascots wearing Yu-Gi-Oh monster outfits for a limited time from McDonald’s.
2K and Firaxis have revealed more information about Sid Meier's Civilization VII at gamescom 2024. After first publishing a teaser trailer at Summer Game Fest 2024, the companies revealed the release date and gameplay details for the new game at the European gaming event.
A new trailer for Civilization VII appeared first during the gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live stream. It showed a quick montage of in-engine footage, including buildings from various civilizations and units from different ages. The main highlight of this trailer was the release date announcement.
The new game will be available on February 11, 2025. While prior entries used to appear first on PCs with consoles like Nintendo Switch getting them later on, this trailer's ending segment hints that Civilization VII will be available simultaneously on not only PCs but also the PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox platforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK_JrrP9m2U
Soon after that, Firaxis held an official gameplay showcase stream dedicated to the game on the series' official YouTube channel. The new game will have civilizations tied to each of the three different eras, and the leader character the player chooses is no longer tied to their original civilization.
For example, while Hatshepsut is originally related to Egypt, the player can choose to have her lead the Aksum civilization instead in the Antiquity Age. As the game progresses in age, the player will have to choose a different civilization for Hatshepsut to lead, such as Songhai or Mongolia in the Exploration Age, and Buganda in the Modern Age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc3_EO6Bj2M
2K has also updated the game's Steam page with additional bonus editions that provide both in-game content at launch and post-launch DLC that 2K will release in the future. People who have pre-purchased any edition of the game—including the standard version before release—can get the native American civilization Shawnee and Tecumseh as a playable leader.
Sid Meier's Civilization VII will be available for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One on February 11, 2025.
Anycolor announced that the Nijisanji Japan Vtuber Naruse Naru will graduate on August 31, 2024. He debuted in VOIZ back in June 2018, meaning he was with the company for over six years.
Here is the official Anycolor notice about Naruse Naru deciding to graduate. While he will depart from the company on August 31, 2024, fan letters will be accepted until September 30, 2024. Also, as is customary for a Nijisanji Vtuber graduation, we will see the social media account close once he does graduate and videos could be archived.
Naruse Naru also took to social media to talk about his decision to graduate from Nijisanji. In his statement, he noted that he will still be a part of Vsaikyo 2024. That is the yearly Vtuber Apex Legends tournament. Naru is part of the D.D. Dogs alongside Nijisanji’s Harusaki Air, Cover Holostars Vtuber Rikka, and FENNEL’s Miki "Pinotr" Tsurumaki. That is being held August 24, 2024.
Most recently, Naru has been playing Apex Legends during streams. He was known for playing games primarily. However, he would also occasionally perform covers of songs as well.
Naruse Naru will graduate from Nijisanji on on August 31, 2024, and he will still be in Vsaikyo 2024.
A re-release version of Sanctuary, an artbook to celebrate 40 years’ worth of artwork from Inomata Mutsumi, will come out on August 21, 2024. The book will be available via Amazon and will cost 4070 JPY ($27.80). [Thanks, Famitsu!]
The book contains 256 pages and over 2000 pieces of work from various genres that Inomata worked on in her lifetime. This includes anime, games, novels, and magazines. It serves as a chronicle that looks back on her career, which heavily focuses on designs for sci-fi and fantasy characters.
Inomata Mutsumi died on March 10, 2024, though the news broke on March 18, 2024. Her career started in 1979 and lasted until she died. She was known for her work on the Tales series, including Destiny, Graces, Hearts, Innocence, Xillia, Berseria, and Zestiria. She also worked on the animation for Urusei Yatsura and City Hunter, as well as designed for the My-HiME and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED franchise. Her art style included the usage of watercolors, and her characters tended to have large eyes and slender figures, making them look like they came from a shojo manga.
Sanctuary, which collects artwork from Inomata Mutsumi over the past 40 years in a single artbook, will come out on August 21, 2024.
Ever since The Sims 4 came out in 2014 (oh my goodness...), I’ve been adamant that The Sims 2 and 3 remain the superior titles in the series, especially once you start using core mods to improve performance or quality of life. For those who want to get their life simulation fix but The Sims 4 is broken or too boring, I highly suggest playing The Sims 3 instead!
Those who know anything about The Sims 3 may know that Electronic Arts and Maxis did not optimize this game very well. There are a lot of reasons for this. One reason is that it’s an open-world 32-bit game. This can lead to your files bloating up and causing the game to crash to desktop. The Sims 3 is also notorious in that the game does not naturally cap your FPS, which can overheat your graphics card if you’re not careful. Some of these mods are not mere recommendations. They’re straight up essential for the overall health of your computer.
Though not a mod, I recommend using MATY’s FPS Limiter and 3Booter. This will help to keep your frame rate at the game’s default 30. If you’re like me and you’re using a NVIDIA graphics card, you can also go into your control panel and cap The Sims 3’s frame rate at 30 through there.
Here are some of the best mods for The Sims 3 in 2024
Screenshot by Siliconera
NRaas Master Controller NRaas’s entire library of mods is fantastic, but I have a few that I recommend for even people who aren’t too keen on installing mods. Master Controller is exactly as it says on the tin. With this mod, you can control virtually everything in your town, from relationships to careers to ages. It’s a handy tool for little accidents (oops, my Sim is wearing a raincoat at her garden wedding) to more heavy-duty tasks (I need to reset every single object and sim in my neighborhood).
NRaas Story Progression As mentioned earlier, The Sims 3 has an open world for its neighborhood, which means that things can happen in inactive households completely out of your control. You can turn this off if you want, but for those who don’t mind letting Sims live out their own little virtual lives, I recommend Story Progression from NRaas. This replaces EA’s slow and stagnant Story Progression, preventing your neighborhood from devolving into a ghost town over time.
NRaas Overwatch ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Overwatch goes through your neighborhood at an interval you set to clean up things like deserted cars. In general, you can think of Overwatch as a garbage truck that throws away junk files which can cause bloating down the line.
NRaas Error Trap ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Error Trap is, like Overwatch, a mod that’s for keeping your save file as clean as possible. It catches and corrects data corruption errors that can prevent you from loading up a save. Think of it as insurance. Under ideal circumstances, you won’t need it. But when you need it, man, you’ll be glad to have this thing in your folders.
Screenshot by Siliconera
Simpishly's More Traits for All Ages If you raise a Sim in-game, you’re forced to only pick from limited pools of traits in the earlier life stages, which can get boring after a while. Enabling traits for all ages can lead to some wacky Sims like a toddler who’s Flirty and has Commitment Issues. But if you don’t mind that, this is a great mod for more varied Sims.
LazyDuchess Smooth Patch As a note, the LazyDuchess Smooth Patch does not work with some NRaas mods if you’re using 2.x versions. I recommend using a 1.x build if you want to use it with, say, Master Controller. Smooth Patch alters some of the script in the game to make the game run faster. For example, it’ll load hairs and outfits in CAS as you scroll through rather than making you wait for the game to pull everything out.
LazyDuchess Lot population This is a personal pet peeve, but I don’t like going to a community lot to scope out a joint, only for everyone to be elsewhere in town. In The Sims 2, the game will populate lots after you arrive. However, the open world concept works against that since, again, Sims have their own lives. The Lot Population mod pushes Sims to lots your active Sim is at so you won’t be partying alone. It can also add walkbys like in The Sims 2, making your neighborhood feel more alive.
Retuned Attraction The attraction system in The Sims 3 is ridiculous and can cause more trouble than it’s worth. With this mod, the attraction system is more sane and logical, as well as less indiscriminate. It will also prevent Sims from continuously harassing you for dates or sending you random stuff in the mail.
Screenshot by Siliconera
OMSP, S3DT For people who like to build and decorate fancy houses, OMSP and S3DT are both absolutely essential. OMSP allows you to create more space on surfaces for clutter. This can include beds and sofas (so you can put blankets and cushions), or mini-fridges (if you want to put a radio or something on top). S3DT gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to moving things around a lot, as well as lets you change the height and angle of objects. If you only care about gameplay, these aren't necessary.
Ghost Reaction Remover This is fantastic for people who play legacy style like I do, as you’ll naturally end up with a lot of ghosts in your house. If you’re annoyed by Sims constantly stopping what they’re doing to go “Ew, you’re getting ectoplasm all over the floor, Great-Great-Grandpa,” then this mod can curb that behavior. Other reaction removers from this maker include mods to curb relation loss from the Emperor of Evil and stop sims from freaking out over Bonehilda.
Children Can mods The Children Can series of mods is fantastic for people who want to give their Sim kids more freedom and independence, as well as get them started in life. With this mod, Sim kids will be able to do laundry, make sculptures, call services, and more. It’s really handy for people who are doing challenges like, again, the legacy challenge or the 100 Baby Challenge, since it’ll make playing with kids more fun.
NeuroBlazer Random Genetics I highly recommend the Random Genetics mod for people who want more varied faces around town or in your Sims. However, NeuroBlazer seems to have removed this mod and they’re not hosting it anymore. Fortunately, there is a backup (this link will directly download the file to your computer).
Screenshot by Siliconera
Brntwaffles environment mods Pretty much all of Tumblr user brntwaffles’s default replacement mods (whether environment or genetics) are really good! They make the game really pretty and it looks even better if you install Reshade. My personal recommendations from brntwaffles for eyes are the MS93 and Sarhra default replacements. I also really like their Perfect Day and Dream Dimension lighting mods.
Twinsimming mods Twinswimming’s mods are great for adding flavor to your game. I recommend basically all of them. Some of them can make your game more difficult, such as Pest Control and Utilities adding new things you have to watch out for. Their best mods are Growing Pains and the Level Up! mods, in my opinion.
Velocitygrass No Automatic Memories ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. As mentioned in the beginning, memories can really bloat your save file, causing the eventual corruption of your neighborhood and mess with your computer. Even if you turn off notifications, the game still accumulates memories, including from inactive families. This mod completely removes the feature.
Icarusallsorts's User-Directed Scolding If you don’t have kids in your game, this might be a non-issue. But Generations added a mechanic that lets parents scold and ground their kids when they do something bad. On paper, that sounds really neat. In practice, it’s freakishly annoying. This mod gives you more control over how your sim punishes their kid without turning it into unnecessary drama.
Screenshot by Siliconera
Ultimate Careers The Ultimate Careers mod is a very intensive mod that overhauls how careers work in this game. This makes them a lot more similar to how professions work rather than just pushing your Sims to go to a rabbit hole where you can’t peek in on them. Fortunately, you don’t have to micromanage as much as you do with a profession, so it’s friendly for players with large families too.
TheSweetSimmer mods TheSweetSimmer makes a lot of mods that focus on pregnancy interactions and toddlers, making them more fun to play with. It also frees up your teen or adult Sims, since children and toddlers will be able to perform acts that would usually require an older Sim's help. This is mostly useful for people who play families, but it might incentivize YA and Adult sim players to have a kid or two.
Moar Interactions This is one of those mods that add things you’d figure would have been in the base game. It’s great for group meetings and parties, as you can do so much more with other sims around town.
PhoebeJaySims Social Clubs Mod PhoebeJaySims, like TheSweetSimmer and Twinsimming, has a lot of really cool mods. My favorite of them is the Social Clubs mod. This lets you create a club, but without the objectives that are in The Sims 4 clubs. Clubs with this mod are more chill and are a great way for you to set up regular meetings and playdates, or add a layer of storytelling to your neighborhood.
The Sims 3 is readily available on the Windows PC.
The official Kingdom Hearts soundtracks for HD 2.5 ReMIX, Birth by Sleep, 358/2 Days, Dream Drop Distance, and HD 1.5 ReMIX are now available via the Square Enix Store. Each comes as a three CD set except for HD 2.5 ReMIX, which contains four CD's.
There are four soundtracks in total, including music from across seven games in the franchise. The music is created by composers such as Tsuyoshi Sekito, Yoko Shimomura, and Takeharu Ishimoto. Each is a re-release of products that originally debuted between 2011 and 2014, while the Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days CD set also includes some extra music from the Japanese exclusive Birth by Sleep FINAL MIX release. The soundtracks for Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days, Dream Drop Distance, and HD 1.5 ReMIX are available for $30.99 each, while the one for HD 2.5 ReMIX costs $42.99. Each is expected to ship sometime in September 2024.
The original soundtracks for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX, Birth by Sleep, 358/2 Days, Dream Drop Distance, and HD 1.5 ReMIX are now available via the Square Enix online store. Each product is expected to release sometime in September, 2024.
Good Smile Company announced seven Rebuild of Evangelion Huggy Good Smile figures of Asuka, Kaworu, Mari, Rei, and Shinji. These will cost ￥1,800/$10.99 each, and will debut in February 2025 in Japan and Q3 2025 worldwide.
While there are seven figures in this collection, two of them are alternate versions. All of them feature Asuka, Kaworu, Mari, Rei, and Shinji in their plugsuits. The bonus Asuka one is her Eye Patch Version one, while the extra Rei is a Long Hair Version. Each one is about two and a half inches tall, which is 65mm. You can adjust the position of the arms. However, the other parts can’t be moved. The extra magnet is in the back of the head, should someone want to display it on a magnetic surface.
Here’s the Japanese announcement, which also shows how the Huggy Good Smile Evangelion figures of Asuka, Kaworu, Mari, Rei, and Shinji can be posed on shelves or displayed on magnetic surfaces like fridges.
We also have a better idea of each one looks, as Good Smile Company shared individual photos of each character.
The Huggy Good Smile Rebuild of Evangelion figures of Asuka, Kaworu, Mari, Rei, and Shinji will come to Japan in February 2025, followed by a global release in Q3 2025. Pre-orders close on September 18, 2024. People can catch the Evangelion anime on Netflix, and the Rebuild of Evangelion films are on Amazon.
On August 20, 2024, FromSoftware announced that the Prime Video anthology show Secret Level will feature an all new story set in one of the universes of Armored Core. The series, being developed by the same creative team as Love, Death & Robots, will feature 15 shorts from various video games.
Armored Core joins a list of many other famous games to appear in installments in Secret Level, including Mega Man, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer 40,000 and Pac-Man. The tweet announcing this FromSoftware game's involvement also showed off a mech racing across an icy wasteland and a picture of a human character who resembles actor Keanu Reeves.
This isn't the first time the Armored Core property has gone beyond the video games. Numerous model kits have been made of famous Cores from the series. A novel called Armored Core: Brave New World appeared in Japan.
Blur Studio, the production company behind Love, Death & Robots and Secret Level previously did work on films like James Cameron's Avatar, created trailers for Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight, and redid the cutscenes for the Master Chief Collection version of Halo 2.
Secret Level will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video on December 10, 2024, and the Armored Core episode will be a part of the show.
Square Enix released a Chrissy Costanza music video for the FFXIV “Give It All” Arcadion Raid song, as well as shared the official English lyrics for the track. The song debuted alongside the 7.01 Dawntrail Raid AAC Light-heavyweight Tier.
In FFXIV, you hear the song “Give It All” during AAC Light-heavyweight M4. The Orchestrion Roll for the track is also a basic rarity reward from a Treasure Coffer from the fight. The idea is that Wicked Thunder is “performing” the track. In reality, it is a The Primals song with Costanza providing the vocals. Previously, the company shared the track following its release. However, now the additional video and lyrics are also available.
Here are the full, official “Give It All” FFXIV Arcadion Raid song lyrics:
Tonight our city bleeds red, blue, and green As I walk in the dark unseen
Yet like the grey the sky is draped in The colors in my heart have faded
Gone They're gone They're gone All gone
A girl looks to the stars and dares to dream On the world she'd make her mark, it seemed
This phantom in my mirror starin' back I realize that girl is
Gone She's gone She's gone I'm gone
Climbed every mountain, made it to the top I had it all, or so I thought Traded tomorrow for a lie And found the price too high
The clock is ticking counting down to naught I'm outta time but it won't stop I'll bet my life before it's lost That final line I'll cross
There ain't no going back No going back No going back No
What light's left here inside I'll suffocate If that's what it takes, oh
And those who look to cast me aside or turn their backs and leave me to die
You can try, can try, come try, But I will survive
No going back No going back Won't ever (no) Never again, no
Ain't no going back No going back No coming back from the edge
Look in my eyes, yeah I know you understand (somebody help, my misery's taking me) I've made up my mind, now there ain't no going back (somebody help, I'm losing what's left of me) I've made up my mind, now my heart's demanding I'm ready to fight til there's one left standing Tonight, lightning'll strike, thunder will fall (and) You're gonna give it all
To me To me To me To me, I gotta believe You'll set Me free
Tonight my circle finally comes complete One last step from the dark, I breathe
The music's swellin', crowd is chantin' And for this moment fear's an after-thought It's gone It's gone All gone
I look out to the crowd and there I see A thousand little girls--all me
I've turned the tables, yeah I'm fightin' back I'll bring the lightnin', now it's
On It's on It's on You're gone
Climbed every mountain, made it to the top I had it all, or so I thought Traded tomorrow for a lie And found the price too high
The clock is ticking counting down to naught I'm outta time but it won't stop I'll bet my life before it's lost That final line I'll cross
There ain't no going back No going back No going back No
What light's left here inside I'll suffocate If that's what it takes, oh
And those who look to cast me aside or turn their backs and leave me to die
You can try, can try, come try, But I will survive
No going back No going back Won't ever (no) Never again, no
Ain't no going back No going back No coming back from the edge, no more
Next, here’s the “Give It All” music video from YouTube, which features gameplay footage from FFXIV, Solution Nine, and the Arcadion Raid. Note there are spoilers for all the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier fights in the video below, and not just the Wicked Thunder one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSU-swmCxVM
Both standard and Savage versions of the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier Arcadion fight are available in the game. The more difficult version of the Raid debuted at the end of July 2024 in patch 7.05.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Arcadian Raid series are part of the Dawntrail patches.
A release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has been announced. The game will be released for PC and Xbox Series X/S on December 9, 2024, plus a PS5 release in 2025.
The release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was announced alongside a new trailer led by Troy Baker. The ubiquitous voice actor will be portraying the famous archaeologist in the game. In the trailer, we got to see snippets of gameplay, including the combat making use of brawling, shooting and Indy's iconic whip. Some puzzle gameplay was also shown off, including the use of photgraphy to help solve these challenges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STrKl828Aeg
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was first announced in a teaser by developer MachineGames in 2021. The game initally appeared to be an Xbox exclusive following Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, and since been shown off in Xbox presentations such as the January 2024 Developer Direct and Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024. It is the latest of a long line of Indiana Jones games, from LucasArts point-and-click adventures in the 1980s to the Lego Indiana Jones games of more recent years.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will release on Xbox Series X/S and PC on December 9, 2024. It will also release on PS5 in Spring 2025.
During GamesCom 2024, HoYoVerse released a new trailer for Honkai: Star Rail, teasing new character Feixiao and the upcoming Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration. More details on both will appear closer to the release date.
You can watch the Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom trailer here:
The trailer starts with Guinaifen describing Feixiao’s exploits on the battlefield, though she can’t really remember everything. Feixiao actually appears to defeat a borisin about to attack, but she’s just asking for directions. Then, the trailer temporarily shifts to an anime style to show Pom-Pom, Caelus, March, and Dan Heng on the Astral Express. They hear a kind of explosion noise and though you can’t see who appeared on the train, it’s most likely to be EMIYA between his voice and the line he says.
The Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Workscollaboration event will come out some time in Summer 2025. At this point in time, we don’t know if the crossover will only be skins, or if we will actually get a playable character like how Aloy appeared in Genshin Impact. As for Feixiao, she will be a 5-star Wind Hunt character. Before her debut though, we have her subordinate Jiaoqiu coming out in the second phase of Version 2.4. He’ll be a 5-star Fire Nihility who specializes in a unique DoT.
Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Feixiao will appear as a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail Versioin 2.5.
2K and Firaxis have revealed more information about Sid Meier's Civilization VII at gamescom 2024. After first publishing a teaser trailer at Summer Game Fest 2024, the companies revealed the release date and gameplay details for the new game at the European gaming event.
A new trailer for Civilization VII appeared first during the gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live stream. It showed a quick montage of in-engine footage, including buildings from various civilizations and units from different ages. The main highlight of this trailer was the release date announcement.
The new game will be available on February 11, 2025. While prior entries used to appear first on PCs with consoles like Nintendo Switch getting them later on, this trailer's ending segment hints that Civilization VII will be available simultaneously on not only PCs but also the PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox platforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK_JrrP9m2U
Soon after that, Firaxis held an official gameplay showcase stream dedicated to the game on the series' official YouTube channel. The new game will have civilizations tied to each of the three different eras, and the leader character the player chooses is no longer tied to their original civilization.
For example, while Hatshepsut is originally related to Egypt, the player can choose to have her lead the Aksum civilization instead in the Antiquity Age. As the game progresses in age, the player will have to choose a different civilization for Hatshepsut to lead, such as Songhai or Mongolia in the Exploration Age, and Buganda in the Modern Age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc3_EO6Bj2M
2K has also updated the game's Steam page with additional bonus editions that provide both in-game content at launch and post-launch DLC that 2K will release in the future. People who have pre-purchased any edition of the game—including the standard version before release—can get the native American civilization Shawnee and Tecumseh as a playable leader.
Sid Meier's Civilization VII will be available for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One on February 11, 2025.
Ever since The Sims 4 came out in 2014 (oh my goodness...), I’ve been adamant that The Sims 2 and 3 remain the superior titles in the series, especially once you start using core mods to improve performance or quality of life. For those who want to get their life simulation fix but The Sims 4 is broken or too boring, I highly suggest playing The Sims 3 instead!
Those who know anything about The Sims 3 may know that Electronic Arts and Maxis did not optimize this game very well. There are a lot of reasons for this. One reason is that it’s an open-world 32-bit game. This can lead to your files bloating up and causing the game to crash to desktop. The Sims 3 is also notorious in that the game does not naturally cap your FPS, which can overheat your graphics card if you’re not careful. Some of these mods are not mere recommendations. They’re straight up essential for the overall health of your computer.
Though not a mod, I recommend using MATY’s FPS Limiter and 3Booter. This will help to keep your frame rate at the game’s default 30. If you’re like me and you’re using a NVIDIA graphics card, you can also go into your control panel and cap The Sims 3’s frame rate at 30 through there.
Here are some of the best mods for The Sims 3 in 2024
Screenshot by Siliconera
NRaas Master Controller NRaas’s entire library of mods is fantastic, but I have a few that I recommend for even people who aren’t too keen on installing mods. Master Controller is exactly as it says on the tin. With this mod, you can control virtually everything in your town, from relationships to careers to ages. It’s a handy tool for little accidents (oops, my Sim is wearing a raincoat at her garden wedding) to more heavy-duty tasks (I need to reset every single object and sim in my neighborhood).
NRaas Story Progression As mentioned earlier, The Sims 3 has an open world for its neighborhood, which means that things can happen in inactive households completely out of your control. You can turn this off if you want, but for those who don’t mind letting Sims live out their own little virtual lives, I recommend Story Progression from NRaas. This replaces EA’s slow and stagnant Story Progression, preventing your neighborhood from devolving into a ghost town over time.
NRaas Overwatch ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Overwatch goes through your neighborhood at an interval you set to clean up things like deserted cars. In general, you can think of Overwatch as a garbage truck that throws away junk files which can cause bloating down the line.
NRaas Error Trap ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Error Trap is, like Overwatch, a mod that’s for keeping your save file as clean as possible. It catches and corrects data corruption errors that can prevent you from loading up a save. Think of it as insurance. Under ideal circumstances, you won’t need it. But when you need it, man, you’ll be glad to have this thing in your folders.
Screenshot by Siliconera
Simpishly's More Traits for All Ages If you raise a Sim in-game, you’re forced to only pick from limited pools of traits in the earlier life stages, which can get boring after a while. Enabling traits for all ages can lead to some wacky Sims like a toddler who’s Flirty and has Commitment Issues. But if you don’t mind that, this is a great mod for more varied Sims.
LazyDuchess Smooth Patch As a note, the LazyDuchess Smooth Patch does not work with some NRaas mods if you’re using 2.x versions. I recommend using a 1.x build if you want to use it with, say, Master Controller. Smooth Patch alters some of the script in the game to make the game run faster. For example, it’ll load hairs and outfits in CAS as you scroll through rather than making you wait for the game to pull everything out.
LazyDuchess Lot population This is a personal pet peeve, but I don’t like going to a community lot to scope out a joint, only for everyone to be elsewhere in town. In The Sims 2, the game will populate lots after you arrive. However, the open world concept works against that since, again, Sims have their own lives. The Lot Population mod pushes Sims to lots your active Sim is at so you won’t be partying alone. It can also add walkbys like in The Sims 2, making your neighborhood feel more alive.
Retuned Attraction The attraction system in The Sims 3 is ridiculous and can cause more trouble than it’s worth. With this mod, the attraction system is more sane and logical, as well as less indiscriminate. It will also prevent Sims from continuously harassing you for dates or sending you random stuff in the mail.
Screenshot by Siliconera
OMSP, S3DT For people who like to build and decorate fancy houses, OMSP and S3DT are both absolutely essential. OMSP allows you to create more space on surfaces for clutter. This can include beds and sofas (so you can put blankets and cushions), or mini-fridges (if you want to put a radio or something on top). S3DT gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to moving things around a lot, as well as lets you change the height and angle of objects. If you only care about gameplay, these aren't necessary.
Ghost Reaction Remover This is fantastic for people who play legacy style like I do, as you’ll naturally end up with a lot of ghosts in your house. If you’re annoyed by Sims constantly stopping what they’re doing to go “Ew, you’re getting ectoplasm all over the floor, Great-Great-Grandpa,” then this mod can curb that behavior. Other reaction removers from this maker include mods to curb relation loss from the Emperor of Evil and stop sims from freaking out over Bonehilda.
Children Can mods The Children Can series of mods is fantastic for people who want to give their Sim kids more freedom and independence, as well as get them started in life. With this mod, Sim kids will be able to do laundry, make sculptures, call services, and more. It’s really handy for people who are doing challenges like, again, the legacy challenge or the 100 Baby Challenge, since it’ll make playing with kids more fun.
NeuroBlazer Random Genetics I highly recommend the Random Genetics mod for people who want more varied faces around town or in your Sims. However, NeuroBlazer seems to have removed this mod and they’re not hosting it anymore. Fortunately, there is a backup (this link will directly download the file to your computer).
Screenshot by Siliconera
Brntwaffles environment mods Pretty much all of Tumblr user brntwaffles’s default replacement mods (whether environment or genetics) are really good! They make the game really pretty and it looks even better if you install Reshade. My personal recommendations from brntwaffles for eyes are the MS93 and Sarhra default replacements. I also really like their Perfect Day and Dream Dimension lighting mods.
Twinsimming mods Twinswimming’s mods are great for adding flavor to your game. I recommend basically all of them. Some of them can make your game more difficult, such as Pest Control and Utilities adding new things you have to watch out for. Their best mods are Growing Pains and the Level Up! mods, in my opinion.
Velocitygrass No Automatic Memories ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. As mentioned in the beginning, memories can really bloat your save file, causing the eventual corruption of your neighborhood and mess with your computer. Even if you turn off notifications, the game still accumulates memories, including from inactive families. This mod completely removes the feature.
Icarusallsorts's User-Directed Scolding If you don’t have kids in your game, this might be a non-issue. But Generations added a mechanic that lets parents scold and ground their kids when they do something bad. On paper, that sounds really neat. In practice, it’s freakishly annoying. This mod gives you more control over how your sim punishes their kid without turning it into unnecessary drama.
Screenshot by Siliconera
Ultimate Careers The Ultimate Careers mod is a very intensive mod that overhauls how careers work in this game. This makes them a lot more similar to how professions work rather than just pushing your Sims to go to a rabbit hole where you can’t peek in on them. Fortunately, you don’t have to micromanage as much as you do with a profession, so it’s friendly for players with large families too.
TheSweetSimmer mods TheSweetSimmer makes a lot of mods that focus on pregnancy interactions and toddlers, making them more fun to play with. It also frees up your teen or adult Sims, since children and toddlers will be able to perform acts that would usually require an older Sim's help. This is mostly useful for people who play families, but it might incentivize YA and Adult sim players to have a kid or two.
Moar Interactions This is one of those mods that add things you’d figure would have been in the base game. It’s great for group meetings and parties, as you can do so much more with other sims around town.
PhoebeJaySims Social Clubs Mod PhoebeJaySims, like TheSweetSimmer and Twinsimming, has a lot of really cool mods. My favorite of them is the Social Clubs mod. This lets you create a club, but without the objectives that are in The Sims 4 clubs. Clubs with this mod are more chill and are a great way for you to set up regular meetings and playdates, or add a layer of storytelling to your neighborhood.
The Sims 3 is readily available on the Windows PC.
Square Enix released a Chrissy Costanza music video for the FFXIV “Give It All” Arcadion Raid song, as well as shared the official English lyrics for the track. The song debuted alongside the 7.01 Dawntrail Raid AAC Light-heavyweight Tier.
In FFXIV, you hear the song “Give It All” during AAC Light-heavyweight M4. The Orchestrion Roll for the track is also a basic rarity reward from a Treasure Coffer from the fight. The idea is that Wicked Thunder is “performing” the track. In reality, it is a The Primals song with Costanza providing the vocals. Previously, the company shared the track following its release. However, now the additional video and lyrics are also available.
Here are the full, official “Give It All” FFXIV Arcadion Raid song lyrics:
Tonight our city bleeds red, blue, and green As I walk in the dark unseen
Yet like the grey the sky is draped in The colors in my heart have faded
Gone They're gone They're gone All gone
A girl looks to the stars and dares to dream On the world she'd make her mark, it seemed
This phantom in my mirror starin' back I realize that girl is
Gone She's gone She's gone I'm gone
Climbed every mountain, made it to the top I had it all, or so I thought Traded tomorrow for a lie And found the price too high
The clock is ticking counting down to naught I'm outta time but it won't stop I'll bet my life before it's lost That final line I'll cross
There ain't no going back No going back No going back No
What light's left here inside I'll suffocate If that's what it takes, oh
And those who look to cast me aside or turn their backs and leave me to die
You can try, can try, come try, But I will survive
No going back No going back Won't ever (no) Never again, no
Ain't no going back No going back No coming back from the edge
Look in my eyes, yeah I know you understand (somebody help, my misery's taking me) I've made up my mind, now there ain't no going back (somebody help, I'm losing what's left of me) I've made up my mind, now my heart's demanding I'm ready to fight til there's one left standing Tonight, lightning'll strike, thunder will fall (and) You're gonna give it all
To me To me To me To me, I gotta believe You'll set Me free
Tonight my circle finally comes complete One last step from the dark, I breathe
The music's swellin', crowd is chantin' And for this moment fear's an after-thought It's gone It's gone All gone
I look out to the crowd and there I see A thousand little girls--all me
I've turned the tables, yeah I'm fightin' back I'll bring the lightnin', now it's
On It's on It's on You're gone
Climbed every mountain, made it to the top I had it all, or so I thought Traded tomorrow for a lie And found the price too high
The clock is ticking counting down to naught I'm outta time but it won't stop I'll bet my life before it's lost That final line I'll cross
There ain't no going back No going back No going back No
What light's left here inside I'll suffocate If that's what it takes, oh
And those who look to cast me aside or turn their backs and leave me to die
You can try, can try, come try, But I will survive
No going back No going back Won't ever (no) Never again, no
Ain't no going back No going back No coming back from the edge, no more
Next, here’s the “Give It All” music video from YouTube, which features gameplay footage from FFXIV, Solution Nine, and the Arcadion Raid. Note there are spoilers for all the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier fights in the video below, and not just the Wicked Thunder one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSU-swmCxVM
Both standard and Savage versions of the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier Arcadion fight are available in the game. The more difficult version of the Raid debuted at the end of July 2024 in patch 7.05.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Arcadian Raid series are part of the Dawntrail patches.
A release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has been announced. The game will be released for PC and Xbox Series X/S on December 9, 2024, plus a PS5 release in 2025.
The release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was announced alongside a new trailer led by Troy Baker. The ubiquitous voice actor will be portraying the famous archaeologist in the game. In the trailer, we got to see snippets of gameplay, including the combat making use of brawling, shooting and Indy's iconic whip. Some puzzle gameplay was also shown off, including the use of photgraphy to help solve these challenges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STrKl828Aeg
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was first announced in a teaser by developer MachineGames in 2021. The game initally appeared to be an Xbox exclusive following Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, and since been shown off in Xbox presentations such as the January 2024 Developer Direct and Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024. It is the latest of a long line of Indiana Jones games, from LucasArts point-and-click adventures in the 1980s to the Lego Indiana Jones games of more recent years.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will release on Xbox Series X/S and PC on December 9, 2024. It will also release on PS5 in Spring 2025.
During GamesCom 2024, HoYoVerse released a new trailer for Honkai: Star Rail, teasing new character Feixiao and the upcoming Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration. More details on both will appear closer to the release date.
You can watch the Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom trailer here:
The trailer starts with Guinaifen describing Feixiao’s exploits on the battlefield, though she can’t really remember everything. Feixiao actually appears to defeat a borisin about to attack, but she’s just asking for directions. Then, the trailer temporarily shifts to an anime style to show Pom-Pom, Caelus, March, and Dan Heng on the Astral Express. They hear a kind of explosion noise and though you can’t see who appeared on the train, it’s most likely to be EMIYA between his voice and the line he says.
The Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Workscollaboration event will come out some time in Summer 2025. At this point in time, we don’t know if the crossover will only be skins, or if we will actually get a playable character like how Aloy appeared in Genshin Impact. As for Feixiao, she will be a 5-star Wind Hunt character. Before her debut though, we have her subordinate Jiaoqiu coming out in the second phase of Version 2.4. He’ll be a 5-star Fire Nihility who specializes in a unique DoT.
Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Feixiao will appear as a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail Versioin 2.5.
There is always an intriguing risk when it comes to adapting an existing movie or TV show into video game. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle takes an even greater risk with developer MachineGames introducing its own standalone story in the Lucasfilm saga. It certainly captures the cinematic feel of the movies, but it still has question marks regarding gameplay.
My recent Indiana Jones and the Great Circle preview for Gamescom 2024 was notably strictly hands-off. I had the chance to check out 30 minutes of particularly edited gameplay footage across different areas with narration. Since this was totally hands-off, it is hard to say exactly how this first-person action adventure game will play.
Image via Bethesda
That said, I walked away from the hands-off preview impressed by the visuals and spectacular presentation of the Great Circle, but uncertain about its gameplay. If there is one element I am certain about this game, it is the sheer scale and diversity of the various missions players will experience. In the short time, I saw clips of adventures in Vatican City, the Himalayan’s, and Egypt. Every location looks stunning in-engine and grandiose.
If these sections are anything to go by, these iconic and beautiful locales will also have the adventurous nature of the movies as well. Indiana Jones, played by Troy Baker, encountered plenty of traps and thrilling scripted sequences. These were extremely fun to watch, especially from the fascinating first-person perspective.
However, when it comes to the actual gameplay, especially in movement and combat, I am less thrilled. The movement, at times, seemed clunky and a bit too slow. This could be due to the slower nature of the edited footage, emphasizing the detail of the environments. However, I’m not confident in this, mainly because of the combat.
Fights seem to generally happen in a one-on-one nature, at least from what I saw. There are ranged weaponry and fighting, but I mostly saw up close and personal gameplay. Jones would swap blows with enemies but the animations seemed a bit too slow. I wasn’t particularly excited by the slow pace of the fights. There is a chance the actual end result will be smoother or be faster, but I’m not impressed with that part yet.
Image via Bethesda
Even still, I admire the exploration aspect of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. This is where the first-person perspective really shines from my short hands-off demo. MachineGames put a lot of thought into recreating these 1930s settings and, fortunately, it shows. Missions often have large open areas to explore, with merchants and even optional side missions to complete. Seeing the hustle, bustle, and many NPCs roaming around a market had me interested in spending time there. In some ways, these locations remind me of the historical adherence and detail of an Assassin’s Creed title.
This extends the player’s time with the gameplay beyond the typical scripted dungeon delving and crypt exploring main missions. Everything about these massive scripted sequences evoke feelings of watching the movies. I especially enjoyed the pit Jones fell into towards the end of the demo. This led to a creepier moment with scorpions and other creatures in the dark, which teased some thrilling sequences in the title. While I do have some concerns about linearity and lack of player input in these moments, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle feels incredibly cinematic.
Image via Bethesda
This movie-like quality and feel comes down to the story and characters. I only have bits and pieces of the story so far, but Troy Baker nails the voice of Indiana Jones as best as one can without getting Harrison Ford himself. In the end, this makes Indiana Jones and the Great Circle seem like a faithful cinematic game adaptation of the beloved movies. While it remains to be seen if it plays as well as it looks, there is some hope for Indiana Jones fans.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will release for Xbox Series X/S and PC on December 9, 2024 and in Spring 2025 for PS5.
At gamescom 2024, Bandai Namco shared a new Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero trailer that featured both Super Buu and Ultimate Gohan. Both will be among the Buu Saga representatives joining as playable fighters in the game.
The focus of the trailer is more about us being 50 days out from the launch of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero in October 2024, rather than one focused on just revealing new members of the roster, though Ultimate Gohan and Super Buu are featured in it. Both quickly appear during brief gameplay segments. This is in stark contrast to the typical trailers for the title. Those tend to give people a better chance to see fighters in matches against new or previously announced fighters.
Here’s the full “50 Days from Now” trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROcsMP0yHJ4
Recent trailers tended to focus on certain arcs for character reveals. For example, the Android Saga one showed four versions of Cell, Android 16, Android 17, Android 18, and Android 19. The Saiyan and Namek Sagas trailer involved five versions of Frieza and two versions of Zarbon.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero will appear on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC on October 11, 2024.
During the GamesCom opening night livestream on August 20, 2024, a trailer for Masters of Albion appeared to show what the gameplay is like. You’ll have complete control over a civilization in an open world setting.
Here is the trailer for Masters of Albion, which includes a short interview with Peter Molyneux afterwards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9ij15VNKMQ
In it, you can see how you can micromanage the town of Oakridge. Everything from the food people eat, to their economic bracket, to their weapon of choice is something you can choose. At night, the horrors of Albion will attack, meaning that you have to fight them off. You’re able to take direct control of villagers as well. When the going gets tough, you can always possess a stronger creature.
Though this is not a new Black & White, it has some similarities with that game. Peter Molyneux, who worked on Masters of Albion, also designed that game during his time at Lionhead Studios. As for the Albion setting for the game, it’s the same world that Fable took place in. Fable was also a game that Peter Molyneux worked on, though that was an action RPG rather than a sandbox.
Masters of Albion will come out on the Windows PC and you can now wishlist it on Steam.
Mai Shiranui will be making her return to the Fatal Fury series in SNK's newest fighting game Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. A trailer for her came up as the latest announcement for the game at gamescom 2024. The game appeared with a new trailer featuring Mai in both a brand new design for the new entry and her classic look.
You can take a look at the gamescom 2024 Mai Shiranui Fatal Fury trailer here:
The trailer showcased Mai Shiranui's combos and highlighted her design through the ages before revealing her new black jacket and pants ensemble. It showed off some of her specials and supers as well. After that, SNK revealed the classic look, which involves the red and white kunoichi dress from her previous appearances.
Mai Shiranui is one of many stars making their way to Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Characters like B. Jenet, Terry Bogard and Rock Howard will also be taking the stage alongside new fighters.
The trailer also featured a release date for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves: April 24, 2024. That was followed by the contents of the special edition. The special edition will feature the base game and the first season pass, featuring five new characters to play as, for $59.99. In addition, pre-orders of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will give players the Fatal Fury 2 look for Terry Bogard and along with three-day early access. So people who pre-order can play starting on April 21, 2025.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be available on the Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox Series S/X and PC on April 24, 2024.
Grinding Gear Games has announced that early access for the upcoming Path of Exile 2 will begin on November 15, 2024. The announcement came during the opening ceremony for Gamescom 2024, alongside a new trailer.
Other than the early access date itself, the other main features of the trailer are the new gameplay footage and boss designs. We see a floating lich, a bloated creature with a mask and four arms, a plant monster, a figure covered in hands, and a Egyptian or Mesoamerican-looking golem creature channeling lightning. After these enemies are introduced, we get to see some gameplay. This segment showed off the mobility of not just the player characters, but the bosses too. One opponent called Ignaduk the Bog Witch performed what looks like a power-slide on a broom, and others seem to be able to target vast swathes of the arena. Then comes the early access date announcement. While there is currently no direction on how to sign up, there will likely be more information added to the official website nearer to the launch.
You can watch the trailer via YouTube below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYaSU9UCe0w
Path of Exile is a Diablo-style action RPG that first released back in 2013, setting itself apart from 2012's Diablo 3 with a a graphical style more remeniscent of the older games in the series and a incredibly complex and flexible skill tree.
The Early Access period for Path of Exile 2 begins on November 15, 2024, for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. There is currently no release date for the full game.
A new land vehicle, the REV-8, is coming to Starfield in a free update. This was revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024 in a teaser trailer.
The REV-8 is a land vehicle that will allow players to drive around on planets at high speed. While the vehicle looks a lot like a moon buggy, it appears to handle like a sports car. The trailer shows the REV-8 drifting around moons and alien planets. It also has jet boosters underneath that allow it to jump and the ability to shoot while driving. The new vehicle will be coming to Starfield in a free update later today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA1z1DbA_Io
While the Gamescom announcement focused on the new vehicle, there was also a teaser for the Shattered Space DLC expansion at the end. While little was shown in this latest look, a release date of September 30, 2024 was confirmed. More news is likely to arrive during Xbox's own streams, where Starfield is confirmed to appear on August 21, 2024.
Starfield is out now for PC and Xbox Series X/S. The REV-8 vehicle update arrives today.
At Opening Night Live at gamescom 2024, the Marvel Rivals release date and Captain America and Winter Soldier gameplay appeared. The game will launch on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on December 6, 2024.
Here is the new Marvel Rivals release date, Captain America, and Winter Soldier gamescom 2024 trailer. It begins with Wakanda being mentioned and Black Panther shown. From there, we get to see more of Captain America and Winter Soldier. First, Bucky gameplay comes up. After that, Steve takes the stage. The video closes with the confirmed release date for the title.
The trailer also included a number of promises and commitments at the end of it. Netease noted that the game will launch with every playable character unlocked. People won’t need to pay to unlock them or earn them via playing. It will also be free-to-play. The publisher noted this will apply past launch as well.
Seeing Captain America and Winter Soldier in Marvel Rivals marks two additional series staples. Others showed up as of late in the past few weeks and months. For example, a more obscure character named Jeff the Land Shark will be a part of it.
Marvel Rivals release date falls on December 6, 2024, and people will find it on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Epic Games Store and Steam.
The previously announced new trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds appeared during gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live. The trailer gave us a look at two new monsters, a new zone, and NPC Hunters.
The trailer begins with a gang of hunters investigating a new locale called the Scarlet Forest. Inhabiting this forest is the spider-like Lala Barina that appears to have a paralysis-like ability and a red flower-theme. Also shown is an NPC hunter joining an expedition, though how they will work is not yet apparent. Then we see some more of a village in the Windward Plains area before another monster called the Rey Dau appears, which is described as the region's Apex Predator. Finally and most importantly, the trailer ends with a new cooking animation and the traditional cry of "So Tasty!".
You can get a look at the Monster Hunter Wilds gamescom 2024 trailer via Youtube below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp4gR1QEvVA
Earlier this month, Capcom released a slew of Youtube videos showcasing how the various weapon types will play in Monster Hunter Wilds, including the Gunlance and Insect Glaive. The company also confirmed that a playable demo would be available at both PAX West and Gamescom.
Monster Hunter Wilds will launch in 2025 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
During gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live, HoYoVerse announced a Genshin Impact Xbox Series X release date. The game will come to the console on November 10, 2024, following the 5.0 launch on August 28, 2024.
The Xbox Series X version of Genshin Impact came up in the gamescom 2024 trailer for the title. For the most part, the video focused on the 5.0 update. We got to see the three new characters joining in August 2024 in action. These are the five-stars Mualani and Kinich and four-star Kachina.
This is the second Genshin Impact trailer to appear recently. On August 19, 2024, there was a Natlan-focused one. It highlighted certain areas we’ll visit and creatures we’ll encounter in the new region.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-IgLbEmtDM
This announcement means Genshin Impact is only missing on one major console. The Switch version of the title was announced not long after launch. However, it’s since been absent over the years with no updates. It is unknown if this means it might not appear on a Nintendo platform until a Switch successor appears.
Genshin Impact is available on the PS4, PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and the Xbox Series X release date is November 10, 2024.
I’m going to honestly admit that whenever I would see Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, I’d think of it as the Kiki’s Delivery Service game. I mean, it’s a young girl who is an apprentice witch riding around on her broom to help her community by delivery packages. Chibig and Nukefist even included an anime-style opening. The good news is that it is exactly what it appears to be, though some broom-riding mechanics and deliveries can be a little frustrating.
Mika is heading to the Stellar Lighthouse to train under Miss Olagari, just as her mother did. However, upon getting there, her new teacher boots her off the side of the highest peak on the island’s mountain. She tells her she can’t really begin until she gets back up to the Stellar Lighthouse. Upon landing, Mika breaks her broom. She starts working for Greff, who runs the local delivery business, as a courier to pay for repairs, connecting to the island and its mysteries in the process.
Screenshot by Siliconera
While Mika is a witch, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is pretty much entirely a flying sim about making deliveries, recreating the whole Kiki’s Delivery Service experience. You’ll be tasked with completing the deliveries on your Delivery Card, some of which won’t come up until you kick off a chain of events by taking or making the first drop-off in the line. Most delivery items have a certain number of hearts representing their health and restrictions like you can’t get them wet or damage them. (If you mess up, you can hold X to reset the package and retry.) Occasionally, there may be a timer asking you to complete a delivery in a certain amount of time.
Since your early brooms aren’t great, you’ll often need to rely on certain outside elements to aid in your deliveries. These can involve wind currents, which lift you up or provide a burst of speed to get along a straight pass. Former ruin parts can also help you trigger additional wind-generating portals or elements to reach even greater heights. However, depending on how fragile your package may be, these could also work against you and send you careening into obstacles, ruining the item.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND8J9PCStMY
Not to mention there are also optional deliveries. For example, you may find an item like a kite or ocarina lying around, indicated by sparkles in a section. Picking these up only gives you a hint as to who the owner is. Meaning you need to have an idea of who the residents are to ensure those things get back to the rightful owners.
In general, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain works much better than I expected. Flying simulators are a bit finicky sometimes, especially when they don’t involve planes. Mika definitely feels like a witch just finding her footing. This means that the brooms themselves don’t always feel very precise! There was one early Greff delivery that involved taking an already damaged item to a certain place I’d only visited once before on the opposite side of the island, and it took me about seven tries to actually get it there safely. The further you get in the game, the more fiddly it can feel like some items are, so there are definitely a few times when I wished the brooms and controls were a bit more exact.
But really, aside from that, only one thing kept me from feeling like Chibig and Nukefist nailed what they were trying to accomplish with Mika and the Witch’s Mountain. I really wish there was a way to “pin” objectives on the map. Sometimes, characters move around! They’ll be in different spots than they were before. When you check the delivery card, you’ll also only get a general area of where things are. I get what the developers were trying to accomplish. It really does feel like I’m an apprentice witch checking a map, often repeatedly, to make sure I’m headed to the right spot. But when I started really relying on different airstreams or relics to get places or trying to use those elements to proceed, I started to wish I could see a little on-screen indicator to at least remind me I was headed in the correct direction.
Screenshot by Siliconera
That said, everything else about Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is handled quite well. The script is charming. Even characters you don’t spend a lot of time getting to know initially leave a big impression. The developers did a great job of getting us to root for Mika! The layout of the island is conducive to exploring, especially when you start to memorize which wind currents will be most helpful. The designs for everything are also very vibrant and engaging. Also, the few stressful and timed deliveries aside, it can be shockingly low-key! I also like that while this is definitely designed to feel like Kiki's Delivery Service, Mika is a very different sort of witch and protagonist and the game involves other types of themes.
Mika and the Witch’s Mountain really does do a good job of giving us a Kiki’s Delivery Service sort of game, and it’s often quite relaxing too! Mika’s a fun protagonist, and the island is this vibrant setting filled with big personalities and life. Sometimes the broomstick-riding can feel a bit fiddly, but it’s genuinely a delightful simulation about being a courier witch.
Mika and the Witch’s Mountain will come to the Nintendo Switch and PC on August 21, 2024.
About three weeks ago, a small team from the Raspberry Pi Foundation braved high temperatures and expensive coffees (and a scarcity of tea) to spend time with educators at the CSTA Annual Conference in Las Vegas.
With thousands of attendees from across the US and beyond participating in engaging workshops, thought-provoking talks, and visiting the fantastic expo hall, the CSTA conference was an excellent opportunity for us to connect with and learn from educators.
Meeting educators & sharing resources
Our hope for the conference week was to meet and learn from as many different educators as possible, and we weren’t disappointed. We spoke with a wide variety of teachers, school administrators, and thought leaders about the progress, successes, and challenges of delivering successful computer science (CS) programs in the US (more on this soon). We connected and reconnected with so many educators at our stand, gave away loads of stickers… and we even gave away a Raspberry Pi Pico to one lucky winner each day.
The team with one of the winners of a Raspberry Pi Pico
As well as learning from hundreds of educators throughout the week, we shared some of the ways in which the Foundation supports teachers to deliver effective CS education. Our team was on hand to answer questions about our wide range of free learning materials and programs to support educators and young people alike. We focused on sharing our projects site and all of the ways educators can use the site’s unique projects pathways in their classrooms. And of course we talked to educators about Code Club. It was awesome to hear from club leaders about the work their students accomplished, and many educators were eager to start a new club at their schools!
We gave a copy of the second Big Book to all conference attendees.
Back in 2022 at the last in-person CSTA conference, we had donated a copy of our first special edition of Hello World magazine, The Big Book of Computing Pedagogy, for every attendee. This time around, we donated copies of our follow-up special edition, The Big Book of Computing Content. Where the first Big Book focuses on how to teach computing, the second Big Book delves deep into what we teach as the subject of computing, laying it out in 11 content strands.
If you weren’t able to get your hands on a copy of The Big Book of Computing Content, you can download yours for free.
One of the things that makes CSTA conferences so special is the fantastic range of talks, workshops, and other sessions running at and around the conference. We took the opportunity to share some of our work in flash talks and two full-length sessions.
One of the sessions was led by one of our Senior Learning Managers, Ben Garside, who gave a talk to a packed room on what we’ve learned from developing AI education resources for Experience AI. Ben shared insights we’ve gathered over the last two years and talked about the design principles behind the Experience AI resources.
Ben discussed AI education with attendees.
Being in the room for Ben’s talk, I was struck by two key takeaways:
The issue of anthropomorphism, that is, projecting human-like characteristics onto artificial intelligence systems and other machines. This presents several risks and obstacles for young people trying to understand AI technology. In our teaching, we need to take care to avoid anthropomorphizing AI systems, and to help young people shift false conceptions they might bring into the classroom.
Teaching about AI requires fostering a shift in thinking. When we teach traditional programming, we show learners that this is a rules-based, deterministic approach; meanwhile, AI systems based on machine learning are driven by data and statistical patterns. These two approaches and their outcomes are distinct (but often combined), and we need to help learners develop their understanding of the significant differences.
Our second session was led by Diane Dowling, another Senior Learning Manager at the Foundation. She shared some of the development work behind Ada Computer Science, our free platform providing educators and learners with a vast set of questions and content to help understand CS.
Diane presented our trial with using LLM-based automated feedback.
Recently, we’ve been experimenting with the use of a large language model (LLM) on Ada to provide assessment feedback on long-form questions. This led to a great conversation between Diane and the audience about the practicalities, risks, and implications of such feature.
More on what we learned from CSTA coming soon
We had a fantastic time with the educators in Vegas and are grateful to CSTA and their sponsors for the opportunity to meet and learn from so many different people. We’ll be sharing some of what we learned from the educators we spoke to in a future blog post, so watch this space.
Toei Animation has announced on Twitter that the 3DCG anime Girls Band Cry will be getting an official release in English. North America will be the first region to receive the show. The tweet also featured a new trailer, complete with official English subtitles and showing off the main players.
The North American release will be available on digital storefronts on August 13, 2024. All 13 episodes will be available to purchase in digital form from storefronts like Fandango at Home and Prime Video. However, there are no announcements to whether or not Girls Band Cry will be available on streaming services or if it will be made available in any physical disc editions.
Girls Band Cry was originally aired in Japan in April, 2024. Until now, there had been no signs of official translations being sent to other regions. You can watch the official trailer for the North American release here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn9yHqIa8UA
In addition to the Girls Band Cry announcement, Toei Animation has also confirmed the release of the newest Dragon Ball show: Dragon Ball Daima for the 40th anniversary of the series. Toei Animation also celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Digimon Adventure on August 1, 2024 with a special music video for "Butter-Fly," the main opening theme of the show.
Girls Band Cry will be available for purchase on Prime Video, Fandango, Microsoft Store, and Hoopla on August 13, 2024.
Another Puella Magi Madoka Magica staple is confirmed as a playable Magia Exedra character, as we’ll be able to be Homura Akemi in the game as well. A first trailer appeared for her. Keep in mind though, it does involve some Madoka Magica Homura spoilers if you aren’t familiar with the anime and past games.
Editor’s Note: There are some Homura Akemi Puella Magi Madoka Magica spoilers in the MagiaExedra trailer below.
The latest Madoka Magica: Magia Exedra trailer is more about establishing the character and showing one major attack than showing off a lot of her gameplay. It begins with Homura inside of a Witch’s Labyrinth. She asserts, “I can do it on my own, and I’ll do it over and over.” From there, we get to see an animation that looks like her summoning an attack in the series. She brings out a major rocket launcher, which she crouches on, that shoots an unseen opponent. All of the text references her actions in the original anime for the sake of Madoka.
The video then shows Homura’s official art and voice actress for the game. Chiwa Saito will play her in Madoka Magica: Magia Exedra. She also played her in the anime, games like Madoka Magica: Magia Record, and in other game crossovers involving the series. People may also recognize her as the voice of Jean in Genshin Impact, Changli in Wuthering Waves, Elaine in Trails Through Daybreak, Tamamo no Mae in the Fate/ series, and Aoi in Danganronpa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5foPPMU_RV8
While we’ve seen screenshots of Madoka Magica characters like Homura Akemi, Sayaka Miki, Kyoko Sakura, and Mami Tomoe in parties before, Aniplex only confirmed Madoka Kaname and Iroha Tamaki in official trailers so far.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Magia Exedra will be available on the PC via Steam and mobile devices.
The Zenless Zone Zero Anby Demarra figure is from Apex, which had worked on multiple figures for HoYoVerse games in the past. It costs 22,400 JPY, which is approximately $153.90. AmiAmi has warned that the shipping costs may be on the pricier side for this figure, as it’s quite big and heavy.
Anby is looking like she’s ready for battle in this figure. She’s got a hand on her sword and her other one outstretched. Her expression is her usual neutral one. Apex seems to have put a lot of care into the sculpting, between all the details of her outfit and the way her skirt billows around her thighs. The stand for the figure looks like a film reel, with the welcome slogan for New Eridu on it.
Image via Apx
Anby is the poster girl for Zenless Zone Zero (in that her face is on the icon like Paimon in Genshin Impact and March 7th for Honkai: Star Rail). When you start the game, you can get a copy of her for free. She’s a member of the Cunning Hares along with Billy Kid and Nicole. Though she’s usually very stoic and quiet, she has a bit of a silly side. For example, she sometimes conflates movies with reality.
Zenless Zone Zero is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. The Zenless Zone Zero Anby figure will come out in July 2025.
Massive Monster and Devolver Digital announced The Pilgrim Pack, which is a new piece of DLC for Cult of the Lamb with additional Follower forms and unique quests. It’ll come out on August 12, 2024 alongside the new update.
The Pilgrim Pack will be a bit different from what people expect from Cult of the Lamb. It’ll be an interactive digital comic, through which you can access new secret quests, Follower forms, outfits, and accessories.
You can check out the Cult of the Lamb new DLC trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY1EYzn_5qY
Instead of playing as a cult leader like you do in the main game, it seems like the Pilgrim story will focus on Followers instead. You’ll be helping Jalala and Rinor journeying in search of a new home, only for dangerous cultists to stalk them in hopes of sacrificing them to their gods. As The Pilgrim Pack will include two unique Follower quests, it’s likely that you’ll be able to further explore Jalala and Rinor’s stories outside of the comic as well.
As a reminder, The Pilgrim Pack will be paid DLC. It will come out on the same date as the Unholy Alliance free update, but if you want to experience it, you’ll need to pay some money. The Pilgrim Pack will cost $6.99 on PC and $8.99 on consoles.
Cult of the Lamb is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. The Pilgrim Pack will appear in Cult of the Lamb on August 12, 2024, and it will not be part of the free Unholy Alliance update.
Kadokawa announced that the official NieR Reincarnation art book will come out on November 28, 2024, instead of its expected launch date. The Ebten DX pack, as well as the bonus version of the art book exclusive to Ebten, will also be delayed until November 28, 2024.
When the book comes out later this year, there will be over sixty more pages than the original estimate. In total, the NieR Reincarnation art book will contain 528 pages, as opposed to 464. The price will remain the same at 4,950 JPY ($34.35). Kadokawa apologized for the delay, but promised to aim for more satisfying content in the final product.
The Ebten DX pack will cost 9,350 JPY ($64.90) and contains multiple pieces of merchandise along with the art boo. You’ll be able to get an F3 canvas board, a set of calendar postcards, an acrylic keyholder, and an A6 illustration card. This illustration card is also the exclusive bonus that comes with the art book if you purchase it from Ebten.
The NieR Reincarnation art book was supposed to come out on August 28, 2024 to commemorate the end of the game’s service. Inside of the book, there will be stills and images from the game, as well as behind-the-scenes notes on the design process. NieR Re[in]carnation ended service on April 29, 2024 after around three years.
NieR Reincarnation was available on mobile devices, but you can no longer download it. The art book for NieR Reincarnation will come out in Japan on November 28, 2024.
The latest PC farming and life sim is now available to play, as Fields of Mistria launched on early access. To go along with that, there’s a launch trailer highlighting what people can expect from the title. In addition, many of the available songs from the Fields of Mistria soundtrack ended up shared online.
Here’s the Fields of Mistria early access launch trailer. It begins with general farming footage. People can watch as someone tends crops. From there, we get to meet some of the people living in the nearby village. Hayden shows up first, alongside some of the animals you can buy from them. From there, portraits of 10 of the 12 marriage candidates show up. Two remain as secret silhouettes in the video. After that, we see what it’s like to explore the mines and the enemies inside one. Collecting elements for the town museum come up as well. Early access will last for a year, new content will be added as time goes on, and the team says it currently doesn’t expect the price to change from $13.99.
Here’s the full Fields of Mistria gameplay footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maEjeW8uL2Y
In addition to the launch trailer, 52 songs off of the Fields of Mistria soundtrack are now available on the official YouTube channel for the game. They’re composed by Hidehito Ikumo. Here’s the full list of the tracks released so far:
A new timed event for Zenless Zone Zero focused on unique coffee bonuses called Coffee Sorcery: Tuning is about to begin. HoYoVerse noted it will involve bonuses for drinking special event coffee in-game between August 7-12, 2024.
Two new coffee varieties will be available from Coff Cafe during the Zenless Zone Zero event, each of which will offer special bonuses. Ginseng Americano will allow players to obtain double Drive Disc rewards during Routine Cleanup missions. Meanwhile, Mint Espresso will award double Plating Agent drops in Combat Simulation missions. Due to the rewards on offer, the event will only be open for players who have unlocked the Routine Cleanup missions. As with all coffees in the game, only one coffee can be purchased a day, and its effects will last the whole day.
The "Coffee Sorcery: Tuning" event will run almost up until the release of the first major update for Zenless Zone Zero. The 1.1 Update will release on August 14, 2024 and feature new Agents Jane Doe, Qingyi and Seth Lowell. These Agents will feature heavily in a new storyline featuring the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team.
Zenless Zone Zero is out now for PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The "Coffee Sorcery: Tuning" event will run from August 7-12, 2024.
Bandai Namco is releasing Bleach Rebirth of Souls character trailers to highlight different fighters’ gameplay styles, and Byakuya Kuchiki is the latest one to appear. This marks the second time a video focused on him, as he starred alongside Ichigo Kurosaki in a general gameplay video at the end of July 2024.
The video begins with an introduction to who Byakuya Kuchiki is. In addition to being Rukia’s brother and Renji Aburai’s superior, he’s head of the Kuchiki family and Sixth Division. His Zanpakuto is Senbonzakura. After showing him off, more specific attacks are highlighted. He uses Senbonzakura Seal & Release as his Signature Move, and it has two forms to it that swap when used. His Spiritual Pressure moves are Release: Senbonzakura/Seal: Senbonzakura and a That Won’t Touch Me counterattack. His Awakening involves Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi being unleashed.
Here's the full Bleach Rebirth of Souls Byakuya trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzBelDvJt4c
We’re now at four Bleach Rebirth of Souls character trailers total. The first three provided us an opportunity to see Ichigo, Rukia, and Uryu Ishida fight. Other characters confirmed so far who haven’t shown up in videos are Renji and Yasutora “Chad” Sado.
Bleach Rebirth of Souls is in development for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. The Bleach anime, including Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Viz Media handles the manga.
A new event focused on trashcan photography will appear in Honkai: Star Rail, and it is called The Self-Accomplishment of a Trashcan Photographer. It will run August 7-19, 2024, and HoYoVerse revealed the unlock requirements.
The event will take place across multiple stages in Honkai: Star Rail, and players must use their photography skills to capture trashcan pictures. The trashcans are special ones added for the event, with three varieties making appearances within the crowds. Bronze trashcans will award someone 100 Capture Points, silver 150, and gold 200, with the gold offering a bonus for capturing its special poses. These Capture Points can then be used to obtain rewards, including up to 500 Stellar Jades and leveling items.
To take part in the trashcan photography event, Honkai: Star Rail players need to be at least Trailblaze Level 21 and are recommended to have completed the mission "Penacony – Tales from the Golden Age”. The mission will be offered by a trainee doctor from Penacony hanging out in Starskiff Haven on the Xianzhou Luofu.
This is the latest timed event added as part of the Honkai: Star Rail 2.4 update. It will run alongside another timed event, Saga of Primaveral Blade: Swordsage Saga, which stars March 7th. This event is currently ongoing until August 9, 2024.
Honkai: Star Rail is out now for PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The "Self-Accomplishment of a Trashcan Photographer" event will run from August 7-19, 2024.
Back on July 10, 2024, Pocketpair announced on social media that Palworld Discord Shop animated avatar icon and profile cosmetic effects would be sold until July 24, 2024. On August 5, 2024, the company again took to social media to extend the run of the items in the official storefront until December 31, 2024.
Here’s the announcement, which confirmed that the items will remain in the Discord Shop. It included official art of the Discord Wumpus mascot with the Pals Chillet, Cattiva, and Lamball. The reasoning for the extension is that fan demand showed a desire for the items to remain available for an extended period.
We ended up seeing nine Palworld avatar and profile items appear in the Discord Shop as part of the promotion. There’s also a Best Pals Forever Bundle that pairs the Wake Up profile design with Cattiva, Chikipi, and Lamball with the Chillet avatar cosmetic for $17.99.
Here’s the list of all of the items in the storefront until the end of 2025. Some of them are inspired by the Sakurajima update that launched in June 2024, such as the cosmetic with Saya on it.
Cattiva Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Chillet Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Depresso Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Lamball Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Pal Sphere Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Saya Profile Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Selyne Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Tocotoco Profile Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Wake Up Profile Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Once you hit a certain age, life gets so busy. You tend to see it all. Work takes up more of your life than you’d expect. Arranging time to hang out with friends can get tougher. It’s part of why some probably seek out a cozy life sim or two, so they can at least virtually enjoy some downtime. With Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid, Millennium Kitchen and Toybox present an experience that perfectly recreates that summer vacation experience. It really is like you’re 10 again, life is new and fresh, you have total freedom, and only new, pleasant, positive experiences await you.
Satoru is a circus kid. I mean, not literally. His parents are letting him decide his own path. But the two of them are a part of a circus, and the three of them set up shop with coworkers at Yomogi Town for a show. While Satoru’s parents and crew work out some details related to the show and debt, he — and by extension the player — have the whole summer ahead of them to explore the town, meet the locals, engage in peaceful activities, take on challenges like bug catching, fishing, fundraising, solving mysteries, and summer homework. While there are recommended quests and you’ll eventually take on tasks that increase your stamina for climbing power, it’s up to you to do what makes you happy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnPRIEbXqWE
Almost immediately after getting into Natsu-Mon, a player is given the freedom to do whatever they’d like. After initially talking with your family, the owner of the Guesthouse Ashitaba where you’re staying, and fellow circus troupe members… you’re free. I ended up catching 10 bugs to boost my stamina by one, met the local kids and agreed to help them with their first mystery, then got home in time for dinner. After that, I met more of the people staying at Ashitaba, talked to the Shrine Dude, relit lanterns, then fell asleep. The next day, I took a look at my map to see who I hadn’t met yet, talked to more locals, and looked into doing some fishing to help the circus with some debt.
You’re never gated off while playing Natsu-Mon, and it’s refreshing. I felt like as long as I kept being curious and exploring, I’d get to see new things, meet new people, and savor these delightful moments. Especially since it’s so easy to earn Stickers to increase the Stamina gauge for climbing and dashing via things like Big Adventures quests or Flatfoot Files with the Yomogi Town kids. And recounting said activities in the diary for summer school homework is a great way to keep track of everything you’ve done.
Image via Spike Chunsoft
Which also ties in to another amazing thing about Natsu-Mon: the localization. I think it’s one of the most charming, cozy, funny, creative, and curious scripts in a Switch life sim. The lines Satoru has, including the choices you can make for his responses, are fantastic. The reactions of other characters are so personable and feel real. This is one of those games where you want to talk to every NPC, as well as do so as often as possible, so you can see what they’ll say next. I will definitely eventually replay it again, so I can relive certain moments, like the summer festival and see experience certain interactions again.
The only time Natsu-Mon doesn’t delight is that sometimes this life sim can feel more awkward than cozy. For example, you might occasionally happen upon a challenge or task that involves Satoru engaging in some light parkouring or platforming. Lighting the shrine lanterns is a perfect example. As good as the game is, it doesn’t lend itself well to precise jumping. It also can be so freeform that, before you find your bearings, you might not immediately know where to go and what to do. On the very first day, I found myself flummoxed when it came to figuring out how to actually go to bed. Especially since the game just warned that if I stayed up late, I would miss morning exercises! I also found myself wasting time the first day trying to find a way to fish, with it not happening for me until my second day began. Also, while bug catching does involve a helpful circle around potential catches within range, I sometimes didn’t feel like I was catching the critter I intended to if multiple ones were around.
Image via Spike Chunsoft
Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid launched at a time when I really needed it, and that made me appreciate this cozy life sim even more. The older we get, the rarer it is to enjoy weeks of freedom, discovery, and joy. I get so caught up in work, especially around summer events when there are events back-to-back. Millennium Kitchen and Toybox really captured the magic of a peaceful summer where you can live at your own pace. Everything is new and an adventure. It’s refreshing and rejuvenating.
Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid will be available for the Nintendo Switch and PC on August 6, 2024. A demo is available on the Switch.
Another Puella Magi Madoka Magica staple is confirmed as a playable Magia Exedra character, as we’ll be able to be Homura Akemi in the game as well. A first trailer appeared for her. Keep in mind though, it does involve some Madoka Magica Homura spoilers if you aren’t familiar with the anime and past games.
Editor’s Note: There are some Homura Akemi Puella Magi Madoka Magica spoilers in the MagiaExedra trailer below.
The latest Madoka Magica: Magia Exedra trailer is more about establishing the character and showing one major attack than showing off a lot of her gameplay. It begins with Homura inside of a Witch’s Labyrinth. She asserts, “I can do it on my own, and I’ll do it over and over.” From there, we get to see an animation that looks like her summoning an attack in the series. She brings out a major rocket launcher, which she crouches on, that shoots an unseen opponent. All of the text references her actions in the original anime for the sake of Madoka.
The video then shows Homura’s official art and voice actress for the game. Chiwa Saito will play her in Madoka Magica: Magia Exedra. She also played her in the anime, games like Madoka Magica: Magia Record, and in other game crossovers involving the series. People may also recognize her as the voice of Jean in Genshin Impact, Changli in Wuthering Waves, Elaine in Trails Through Daybreak, Tamamo no Mae in the Fate/ series, and Aoi in Danganronpa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5foPPMU_RV8
While we’ve seen screenshots of Madoka Magica characters like Homura Akemi, Sayaka Miki, Kyoko Sakura, and Mami Tomoe in parties before, Aniplex only confirmed Madoka Kaname and Iroha Tamaki in official trailers so far.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Magia Exedra will be available on the PC via Steam and mobile devices.
The Zenless Zone Zero Anby Demarra figure is from Apex, which had worked on multiple figures for HoYoVerse games in the past. It costs 22,400 JPY, which is approximately $153.90. AmiAmi has warned that the shipping costs may be on the pricier side for this figure, as it’s quite big and heavy.
Anby is looking like she’s ready for battle in this figure. She’s got a hand on her sword and her other one outstretched. Her expression is her usual neutral one. Apex seems to have put a lot of care into the sculpting, between all the details of her outfit and the way her skirt billows around her thighs. The stand for the figure looks like a film reel, with the welcome slogan for New Eridu on it.
Image via Apx
Anby is the poster girl for Zenless Zone Zero (in that her face is on the icon like Paimon in Genshin Impact and March 7th for Honkai: Star Rail). When you start the game, you can get a copy of her for free. She’s a member of the Cunning Hares along with Billy Kid and Nicole. Though she’s usually very stoic and quiet, she has a bit of a silly side. For example, she sometimes conflates movies with reality.
Zenless Zone Zero is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. The Zenless Zone Zero Anby figure will come out in July 2025.
Massive Monster and Devolver Digital announced The Pilgrim Pack, which is a new piece of DLC for Cult of the Lamb with additional Follower forms and unique quests. It’ll come out on August 12, 2024 alongside the new update.
The Pilgrim Pack will be a bit different from what people expect from Cult of the Lamb. It’ll be an interactive digital comic, through which you can access new secret quests, Follower forms, outfits, and accessories.
You can check out the Cult of the Lamb new DLC trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY1EYzn_5qY
Instead of playing as a cult leader like you do in the main game, it seems like the Pilgrim story will focus on Followers instead. You’ll be helping Jalala and Rinor journeying in search of a new home, only for dangerous cultists to stalk them in hopes of sacrificing them to their gods. As The Pilgrim Pack will include two unique Follower quests, it’s likely that you’ll be able to further explore Jalala and Rinor’s stories outside of the comic as well.
As a reminder, The Pilgrim Pack will be paid DLC. It will come out on the same date as the Unholy Alliance free update, but if you want to experience it, you’ll need to pay some money. The Pilgrim Pack will cost $6.99 on PC and $8.99 on consoles.
Cult of the Lamb is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. The Pilgrim Pack will appear in Cult of the Lamb on August 12, 2024, and it will not be part of the free Unholy Alliance update.
The latest PC farming and life sim is now available to play, as Fields of Mistria launched on early access. To go along with that, there’s a launch trailer highlighting what people can expect from the title. In addition, many of the available songs from the Fields of Mistria soundtrack ended up shared online.
Here’s the Fields of Mistria early access launch trailer. It begins with general farming footage. People can watch as someone tends crops. From there, we get to meet some of the people living in the nearby village. Hayden shows up first, alongside some of the animals you can buy from them. From there, portraits of 10 of the 12 marriage candidates show up. Two remain as secret silhouettes in the video. After that, we see what it’s like to explore the mines and the enemies inside one. Collecting elements for the town museum come up as well. Early access will last for a year, new content will be added as time goes on, and the team says it currently doesn’t expect the price to change from $13.99.
Here’s the full Fields of Mistria gameplay footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maEjeW8uL2Y
In addition to the launch trailer, 52 songs off of the Fields of Mistria soundtrack are now available on the official YouTube channel for the game. They’re composed by Hidehito Ikumo. Here’s the full list of the tracks released so far:
A new timed event for Zenless Zone Zero focused on unique coffee bonuses called Coffee Sorcery: Tuning is about to begin. HoYoVerse noted it will involve bonuses for drinking special event coffee in-game between August 7-12, 2024.
Two new coffee varieties will be available from Coff Cafe during the Zenless Zone Zero event, each of which will offer special bonuses. Ginseng Americano will allow players to obtain double Drive Disc rewards during Routine Cleanup missions. Meanwhile, Mint Espresso will award double Plating Agent drops in Combat Simulation missions. Due to the rewards on offer, the event will only be open for players who have unlocked the Routine Cleanup missions. As with all coffees in the game, only one coffee can be purchased a day, and its effects will last the whole day.
The "Coffee Sorcery: Tuning" event will run almost up until the release of the first major update for Zenless Zone Zero. The 1.1 Update will release on August 14, 2024 and feature new Agents Jane Doe, Qingyi and Seth Lowell. These Agents will feature heavily in a new storyline featuring the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team.
Zenless Zone Zero is out now for PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The "Coffee Sorcery: Tuning" event will run from August 7-12, 2024.
Bandai Namco is releasing Bleach Rebirth of Souls character trailers to highlight different fighters’ gameplay styles, and Byakuya Kuchiki is the latest one to appear. This marks the second time a video focused on him, as he starred alongside Ichigo Kurosaki in a general gameplay video at the end of July 2024.
The video begins with an introduction to who Byakuya Kuchiki is. In addition to being Rukia’s brother and Renji Aburai’s superior, he’s head of the Kuchiki family and Sixth Division. His Zanpakuto is Senbonzakura. After showing him off, more specific attacks are highlighted. He uses Senbonzakura Seal & Release as his Signature Move, and it has two forms to it that swap when used. His Spiritual Pressure moves are Release: Senbonzakura/Seal: Senbonzakura and a That Won’t Touch Me counterattack. His Awakening involves Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi being unleashed.
Here's the full Bleach Rebirth of Souls Byakuya trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzBelDvJt4c
We’re now at four Bleach Rebirth of Souls character trailers total. The first three provided us an opportunity to see Ichigo, Rukia, and Uryu Ishida fight. Other characters confirmed so far who haven’t shown up in videos are Renji and Yasutora “Chad” Sado.
Bleach Rebirth of Souls is in development for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. The Bleach anime, including Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Viz Media handles the manga.
A new event focused on trashcan photography will appear in Honkai: Star Rail, and it is called The Self-Accomplishment of a Trashcan Photographer. It will run August 7-19, 2024, and HoYoVerse revealed the unlock requirements.
The event will take place across multiple stages in Honkai: Star Rail, and players must use their photography skills to capture trashcan pictures. The trashcans are special ones added for the event, with three varieties making appearances within the crowds. Bronze trashcans will award someone 100 Capture Points, silver 150, and gold 200, with the gold offering a bonus for capturing its special poses. These Capture Points can then be used to obtain rewards, including up to 500 Stellar Jades and leveling items.
To take part in the trashcan photography event, Honkai: Star Rail players need to be at least Trailblaze Level 21 and are recommended to have completed the mission "Penacony – Tales from the Golden Age”. The mission will be offered by a trainee doctor from Penacony hanging out in Starskiff Haven on the Xianzhou Luofu.
This is the latest timed event added as part of the Honkai: Star Rail 2.4 update. It will run alongside another timed event, Saga of Primaveral Blade: Swordsage Saga, which stars March 7th. This event is currently ongoing until August 9, 2024.
Honkai: Star Rail is out now for PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The "Self-Accomplishment of a Trashcan Photographer" event will run from August 7-19, 2024.
Back on July 10, 2024, Pocketpair announced on social media that Palworld Discord Shop animated avatar icon and profile cosmetic effects would be sold until July 24, 2024. On August 5, 2024, the company again took to social media to extend the run of the items in the official storefront until December 31, 2024.
Here’s the announcement, which confirmed that the items will remain in the Discord Shop. It included official art of the Discord Wumpus mascot with the Pals Chillet, Cattiva, and Lamball. The reasoning for the extension is that fan demand showed a desire for the items to remain available for an extended period.
We ended up seeing nine Palworld avatar and profile items appear in the Discord Shop as part of the promotion. There’s also a Best Pals Forever Bundle that pairs the Wake Up profile design with Cattiva, Chikipi, and Lamball with the Chillet avatar cosmetic for $17.99.
Here’s the list of all of the items in the storefront until the end of 2025. Some of them are inspired by the Sakurajima update that launched in June 2024, such as the cosmetic with Saya on it.
Cattiva Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Chillet Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Depresso Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
Lamball Avatar Icon Cosmetic: $9.99 ($7.99 with Nitro)
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Once you hit a certain age, life gets so busy. You tend to see it all. Work takes up more of your life than you’d expect. Arranging time to hang out with friends can get tougher. It’s part of why some probably seek out a cozy life sim or two, so they can at least virtually enjoy some downtime. With Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid, Millennium Kitchen and Toybox present an experience that perfectly recreates that summer vacation experience. It really is like you’re 10 again, life is new and fresh, you have total freedom, and only new, pleasant, positive experiences await you.
Satoru is a circus kid. I mean, not literally. His parents are letting him decide his own path. But the two of them are a part of a circus, and the three of them set up shop with coworkers at Yomogi Town for a show. While Satoru’s parents and crew work out some details related to the show and debt, he — and by extension the player — have the whole summer ahead of them to explore the town, meet the locals, engage in peaceful activities, take on challenges like bug catching, fishing, fundraising, solving mysteries, and summer homework. While there are recommended quests and you’ll eventually take on tasks that increase your stamina for climbing power, it’s up to you to do what makes you happy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnPRIEbXqWE
Almost immediately after getting into Natsu-Mon, a player is given the freedom to do whatever they’d like. After initially talking with your family, the owner of the Guesthouse Ashitaba where you’re staying, and fellow circus troupe members… you’re free. I ended up catching 10 bugs to boost my stamina by one, met the local kids and agreed to help them with their first mystery, then got home in time for dinner. After that, I met more of the people staying at Ashitaba, talked to the Shrine Dude, relit lanterns, then fell asleep. The next day, I took a look at my map to see who I hadn’t met yet, talked to more locals, and looked into doing some fishing to help the circus with some debt.
You’re never gated off while playing Natsu-Mon, and it’s refreshing. I felt like as long as I kept being curious and exploring, I’d get to see new things, meet new people, and savor these delightful moments. Especially since it’s so easy to earn Stickers to increase the Stamina gauge for climbing and dashing via things like Big Adventures quests or Flatfoot Files with the Yomogi Town kids. And recounting said activities in the diary for summer school homework is a great way to keep track of everything you’ve done.
Image via Spike Chunsoft
Which also ties in to another amazing thing about Natsu-Mon: the localization. I think it’s one of the most charming, cozy, funny, creative, and curious scripts in a Switch life sim. The lines Satoru has, including the choices you can make for his responses, are fantastic. The reactions of other characters are so personable and feel real. This is one of those games where you want to talk to every NPC, as well as do so as often as possible, so you can see what they’ll say next. I will definitely eventually replay it again, so I can relive certain moments, like the summer festival and see experience certain interactions again.
The only time Natsu-Mon doesn’t delight is that sometimes this life sim can feel more awkward than cozy. For example, you might occasionally happen upon a challenge or task that involves Satoru engaging in some light parkouring or platforming. Lighting the shrine lanterns is a perfect example. As good as the game is, it doesn’t lend itself well to precise jumping. It also can be so freeform that, before you find your bearings, you might not immediately know where to go and what to do. On the very first day, I found myself flummoxed when it came to figuring out how to actually go to bed. Especially since the game just warned that if I stayed up late, I would miss morning exercises! I also found myself wasting time the first day trying to find a way to fish, with it not happening for me until my second day began. Also, while bug catching does involve a helpful circle around potential catches within range, I sometimes didn’t feel like I was catching the critter I intended to if multiple ones were around.
Image via Spike Chunsoft
Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid launched at a time when I really needed it, and that made me appreciate this cozy life sim even more. The older we get, the rarer it is to enjoy weeks of freedom, discovery, and joy. I get so caught up in work, especially around summer events when there are events back-to-back. Millennium Kitchen and Toybox really captured the magic of a peaceful summer where you can live at your own pace. Everything is new and an adventure. It’s refreshing and rejuvenating.
Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid will be available for the Nintendo Switch and PC on August 6, 2024. A demo is available on the Switch.
Kodansha announced that it has established the Fairy Tail Indie Game Guild project. It will use this guild to help independent game creators release games themed after Hiro Mashima's manga series of the same title.
The company also revealed the first two games that will be part of the project. It will release both titles on PC via Steam worldwide in seven languages: Japanese, English, French, Korean, Thai, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.
Fairy Tail: Dungeons will be the first game in this project. It will feature a rogue-lite gameplay system where the player will collect magic cards based on attacks from the series' characters and construct a deck with them for the chosen character to fight monsters inside the dungeon. This game will be available on August 27, 2024 in Japan, South Korea, Eastern Australia, and New Zealand, or August 26, 2024 for the rest of the world.
Image courtesy of Kodansha
The second game in the project will be Fairy Tail: Beach Volleyball Havoc. As the title suggests, this game will feature casual beach volleyball matches between Fairy Tail characters with additional special magic effects. Kodansha will release this game simultaneously worldwide on September 16 or 17, 2024, depending on the time zone.
The Fairy Tail series already has an official RPG for PC and consoles developed by Koei Tecmo's Gust, and the same studio is working on its sequel that will appear in Winter 2024. The new indie titles will further complement the lineup of games based on the franchise. In the Japanese press release, Kadokawa added that it will release Fairy Tail: Birth of Magic, a versus game with original magic creation system, as the third indie title.
Fairy Tail: Dungeons will appear first on August 26 or 27, 2024, and Fairy Tail: Beach Volleyball Havoc will follow on September 16 or 17, 2024. Both Fairy Tail indie games will be available worldwide digitally on PC via Steam.
Capcom started releasing overview videos showing off the new features and returning weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds. The first two to drop include a look at how the Greatsword will play in this entry alongside a video on the new Focus Mode mechanic.
The Monster Hunter Wilds trailer about Focus Mode outlines its use as a precision tool for hunters looking to target the weak spots that emerge as you strike the same monster part repeatedly. It locks the player character onto the monster to make aiming and guarding easier. It also highlights weak spots and enables special Focus Strikes, which appear unique to different weapons.
You can see the video on Focus Mode here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v3lnXyNFhI
While Focus Mode is an entirely new addition, the Greatsword is a returning weapon in Monster Hunter Wilds. The trailer goes over the traditional big, but slow, style of the sword that is able to knock monsters out of their attack animations if timed right. However, the video also shows an increased focus on guarding and a possible new counter attack, as well as how the special Focus Strike can target multiple weak spots with a lengthy slash.
You can watch the Monster Hunter Wilds Greatsword Overview video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2h3Uxj7nNg
In July 2024, Capcom and Urakita celebrated Monster Hunter's 20th anniversary by unveiling wooden tankards based on those seen in the game. In June 2024, Capcom released a new trailer for Wilds that featured a winding, snake-like monster called the Balahara.
Monster Hunter Wilds is expected to launch for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S sometime in 2025.
Zenless Zone Zero is one of the most impressive free-to-play gacha games to release this year so far in 2024. HoYoVerse is back at it again with yet another blockbuster third-person gacha adventure. The action is fantastic and the visual aesthetic is so appealing. This applies to the characters as well. Given how excellent HoYoVerse is at crafting brilliant characters, here are our picks for the best Zenless Zone Zero character based on their gameplay and just general design.
Image via HoYoVerse
Siliconera Speaks Up: Our Picks for the Best Zenless Zone Zero Characters
I'm a huge fan of Rina in Zenless Zone Zero, and she's probably my best character so far due to her versatility. Yes, she's best with fellow electric and Victoria Housekeeping characters. However, per PEN buff really helps with taking down enemies early on, regardless of her party, and I love how ranged characters work in this game. -- Jenni
Are we talking best in terms of gameplay or looks? Because I usually pick my team based on how they look. Like Jenni, I like Rina a lot. But if I had to pick my favorite, I think Soldier 11 has an excellent design and solid utility as well. Fire is an element I often like in games and I appreciate Soldier 11’s somewhat unique fire-themed attack combo. She is pretty fun to play once you get into the swing of activating her Fire Suppression Core passive. -- Cody
Zenless Zone Zero is available right now for free for Android, iOS, PS5, and PC.
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