Siliconera Sunday, January 1, 2023 1:30 PM 
For 2023, the New Year Servant in the Japanese server of Fate/Grand Order is Grigori Rasputin. Rasputin was a historical figure from 1910s Russia. However, in Fate/Grand Order, he takes on the form of legacy character Kirei Kotomine. He is an SSR Alter Ego, and is a limited-time Servant. This means that if you do not pull him while he is on the banner, you will lose your chance to do so until his re-run. Jouji Nakata (Guilty Gear, Persona 5) will reprise his role as Grigori Rasputin in Fate/Grand Order. His kit prioritizes supporting and buffing himself. He can also remove buffs and heal an ally with his first skill. His Noble Phantasm, Zazhiganiye Angra Mainyu: Overflowing Heart of Darkness, is an Arts attack that deals damage to all enemies. It will also inflict Burn and Curse upon them. Finally, it has a chance to Insta-Kill Good enemies. https://twitter.com/fgoproject/status/1609242717149888512 As well, the GSSR campaign is ongoing in Fate/Grand Order. You will have to use your paid Saint Quartz in order to pull from it. But you will definitely get an SSR. This year, you will also get a free Holy Grail if you pull from a GSSR. You can only choose one GSSR banner, no matter how many paid Saint Quartz you have. For 2023, the GSSR banners are split based on their class and what type of Noble Phantasm they have. For instance, Miyamoto Musashi is on the Saber (Single-Target NP) banner whereas Charlemagne is on the Saber (All Enemies NP) banner. Fate/Grand Order is readily available on mobile devices. The GSSR and Rasputin banners in Fate/Grand Order are on the Japanese server only, and will run until January 11, 2023. The post Fate/Grand Order New Year 2023 Servant is Rasputin appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Sunday, January 1, 2023 12:30 PM 
Square Enix Yosuke Matsuda released the annual A New Year's Letter from the President for 2023. These missives tend to give people an idea of what to expect from the company for the year ahead, as well as goals. In addition to mentioning the 20th anniversary of Square and Enix merging, the goal of making an end-to-end global publishing organization, and bringing up how it got rid of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal, it also noticed a continued commitment to an endeavor mentioned in 2022. That is, despite fluctuations and situations in the cryptocurrency sphere in 2022, Square Enix will continue to invest in and explore NFTs and blockchain games. As a reminder, Square Enix President Matsuda brought up NFTs and blockchain games in the 2022 New Year's Letter as well. At the time, he suggested there would be story-focused NFTs. Here's the portion of the Square Enix New Year's Letter in which Matsuda discussed the company's approach to NFTs and blockchain games going forward. In terms of new business domains, we named three focus investment fields under our medium-term business plan. Among those, we are most focused on blockchain entertainment, to which we have devoted aggressive investment and business development efforts. Looking externally, I think it is fair to say that blockchain gained significant recognition as a field in 2022, as evidenced by "Web 3.0" becoming a firmly established buzzword among businesspeople. However, the year also saw volatility in the cryptocurrency and NFT (non-fungible token) markets that tracked the dramatic shifts in the macroeconomy described above. The latter half of the year in particular produced a somber string of news stories with blockchain connections, including the scandalous bankruptcy filing of FTX in November. In the wake of these developments, we hear rumblings from some countries of early moves to regulate such businesses more strictly. In Japan, meanwhile, the drive to encourage such businesses has gained momentum, led by the government. In June 2022, the Japanese cabinet signed off on a plan called the "Priority Policy Program for Realizing a Digital Society," which includes wording regarding the creation of an environment for promoting the Web 3.0 concept, including the use of NFTs based on blockchain technology. Japan's Digital Agency also launched a Web 3.0 study group. New technologies and frameworks lead to innovation, but they also create considerable confusion. Having ridden out such societal tides, some such technologies and frameworks gradually become part of people's lives, eventually giving rise to new businesses and growth. Following the excitement and exhilaration that surrounded NFTs and the metaverse in 2021, 2022 was a year of great volatility in the blockchain-related space. However, if this proves to have been a step in a process that leads to the creation of rules and a more transparent business environment, it will definitely have been for the good of the growth of blockchain entertainment. Keeping a steady eye on these environmental changes while considering from a higher-level perspective what Web 3.0 and blockchain entertainment are actually all about presents a different vista than if we focus on them solely in technological or speculative investment terms. As I said in last year's New Year's letter, if we consider traditional gaming to have been centralized, then blockchain gaming must operate based on a self-sustaining decentralized model. It is that concept, that philosophy that I see to be key. That is to say that what sort of new experiences and new excitement our Digital Entertainment business can deliver to our customers through its game development efforts and other endeavors under the self-sustaining, decentralized concept is extremely important. Multiple blockchain gaming events held overseas recently produced more active discussion than ever before about what makes the games exciting and what their user community looks like. The market was driven more by speculative investors than by gamers though 2021. In other words, the content that was at the forefront was created based on the premise that blockchain and NFTs should result in monetization. However, in the wake of the aforementioned turbulence in the cryptocurrency industry, there is now a trend to view blockchain technology as a mere means to an end and to discuss what needs to happen to achieve the end of delivering new experiences and excitement to customers. I see this as a very beneficial development for the future growth of the industry. Our Group has multiple blockchain games based on original IPs under development, some of which we announced last year, and we are undertaking preparations that will enable us to unveil even more titles this year. We are also engaged in global sourcing from an investment perspective and will continue to take stakes in promising businesses whether we find them in Japan or abroad. Blockchain has been an object of exhilaration and a source of turmoil, but with that in the rearview mirror, we hope that blockchain games will transition to a new stage of growth in 2023. Square Enix already started dipping a toe into these sorts of endeavors. In November 2022, it announced Symbiogenesis. The announcement teasing the project noted it would be a "NFT collectible art project," throughout which participants would "untangle the story." That will launch in Spring 2023. The post Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda Asserts Commitment to NFTs, Blockchain Games appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Sunday, January 1, 2023 12:00 PM 
The number of Square Enix Switch games out there is pretty insane. There are tons of new and ported installments in established series appearing alongside entirely new titles. There are so many that someone could probably overlook a real gem. Especially if people only tend to think of Dragon Quest (like Dragon Quest Builders 2) and Final Fantasy when they think of the developer and publisher. So let's go over some of the other great games you might not know about, but really should play, from the company on the platform. (But seriously, also play Dragon Quest Builders 2.) 
Best Square Enix Switch Game with Multiple Protagonists:
Octopath Traveler Octopath Traveler is very effective at introducing a lot of characters, making them all appealing, and encouraging the player to build them all up with various classes. It's a title that makes you want to explore to see what people's unique actions can do. Also, while everyone is doing their own thing and you probably want to see where those threads go, it's also really fun when everyone finally comes together and you see other plot threads. 
Best Square Enix Game with Farming Elements:
Harvestella Harvestella isn't perfect, but it is still such a good time. There's a good balance between the farming and action-RPG elements. The characters are pretty good. You have a nice assortment of classes for your avatar, which let you go between melee fighters, ranged attackers, and mages. The art direction is fantastic too. But what really strikes me is how well it tells its story and the unexpected twists it takes. 
Most Challenging Square Enix Switch Game: Dungeon Encounters If you've been wanting to scratch that Etrian Odyssey itch and play a turn-based RPG that makes you map dungeons, make smart choices to survive, and really push yourself, Dungeon Encounters is it. It makes you work to uncover its story, build up its characters, and survive. Should you put that effort in, you'll find an absolutely engrossing game that forces you to make smart decisions. 
Best Square Enix Satellaview Port on the Switch:
Radical Dreamers: Le Tresor Interdit in Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition I am never going to stop talking about how in 2022, we ended up getting a localized Square Enix sound novel originally released on the Nintendo Super Famicom Satellaview on major platforms. But here it is! The Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger-adjacent additional story starring Kid, Serge, and Magil going to face Lynx! It's so cool! 
Best Square Enix Switch Game to Ignore: Various Daylife This should in no way have been a long and extensive game. It is supposed to take over 30 hours, but it's a tedious trek to explore a new place on an exploration team. Not to mention it clearly doesn't feel like it was made with the Switch in mind. Its Apple Arcade roots are showing. (Even then, it probably would have been more fun on the DS or 3DS.) 
Most Fashionable Square Enix Switch Game: NEO The World Ends with You Given NEO The World Ends with You released about 14 years after the original game, you'd have to wonder if it'd still nail the ambiance and aesthetic. It does! This game is amazing! It still brings Shibuya to life. It honors the fashion of the area with its equipment and pins. The character designs are still absolutely gorgeous and give us more style icons. It's a beautiful game and, even if we never see another entry in this series again, having it and the original TWEWY are enough. 
Best Square Enix Remaster or Remake on the Switch:
Live a Live I'll admit this one could have gone a lot of ways. Square Enix is very good at bringing its existing games to other systems. We know from titles like Tactics Ogre: Reborn and Trials of Mana that it is willing to go out of its way to make sure revivals work out well. But this is Live a Live! It's one of the lost Super Famicom treasures, and it is finally available everywhere. Not to mention it uses that new HD-2D style Square Enix dabbles with in a sublime way. We're playing a piece of history with some quality of life adjustments and a stunning new look, and it's great. The post Best Square Enix Switch Games (That Aren't Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy) appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Sunday, January 1, 2023 10:30 AM 
While Jazwares said the Pikachu and Gengar Pokemon Squishmallows wouldn't appear again until Spring 2023, people are reporting sightings at Walmart. On the Squishmallow subreddit, multiple users reported seeing the 10" plush toys at local Walmart stores. [Thanks, Playful_Razzmatazz_5, Sugoikay, and Mzumwalde23 on Reddit!] Two of the users reporting Walmart Pokemon Squishmallows noted seeing Pikachu and Gengar in Ohio. The third saw the plush toys in Washington. Here's the video from Mzumwalde23 on Reddit. It showed a $14.9 price for the toys. They were in a cardboard container with pictures of Pikachu and Gengar on it.
And this is Playful_Razzmatazz_5's photo of the selection seen in a Washington Walmart.
The Pokemon Squishmallows first appeared at the Pokemon Center online on November 22, 2022. Pikachu and Gengar each cost $29.99 at the time. That version of the plush was 12" tall, had a special embroidered marking on the back and a tag noting it came from the Pokemon Center. They sold out within hours of launching on the storefront. After that, Jazwares came out to confirm more of the stuffed animals would appear. It offered a tentative Spring 2023 release window for the restock. It also noted that this next run would appear in different sizes and local retailers. The post Pikachu and Gengar Pokemon Squishmallows Reportedly Sighted at Walmart appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Sunday, January 1, 2023 9:00 AM 
A lot of things happened in 2022! Major games like announced, like Fire Emblem Engage. Huge titles were released, such as Elden Ring and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Lots of important anime adaptations appeared or were revealed, with ones for series like Chainsaw Man and Trigun Stampede showing up. As a sort of year in review, here are the ten most read, and generally most popular, anime and video game news stories and features that ran on Siliconera, in terms of traffic. Our Biggest 2022 Anime and Video Game News and Stories: - "Hololive VTuber Gawr Gura Streaming Suspended While She Recovers" - The Hololive English Myth Vtuber is temporarily taking a break from streaming due to health-related issues.
- "How to Find Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's False Dragon Titan Location" - While most of the Titan Pokemon in the Path of Legends storyline are pretty obvious and easy to spot, the False Dragon Titan is a little more tricky! Here's how to spot the character.
- "Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis to Release in Late September" - Well, that didn't end up happening. However, in December 2022 Square Enix did confirm that a closed beta will be held in Summer 2023.
- "Hunter x Hunter Manga Creator is One Chapter Away From Latest Release" - The series' story remains ongoing, though at the moment it is on hiatus again while Yoshihiro Togashi takes time off for his health.
- "Here's How Much FFVII Remake Loveless Tickets Could Cost" - Square Enix often shares tidbits about Final Fantasy VII's world on its official Japanese Twitter account. Among the reveals is that a ticket to the show Loveless could cost up to 50,000 Gil.
- "Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Blu-ray and DVD Release Date Announced" - The prequel movie to Jujutsu Kaisen ended up being quite popular! Which meant when the physical copies were announced for Japan, it ended up being rather big news.
- "First PlayStation Plus Deluxe PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP Games Revealed" - Sony added new PlayStation Plus subscription tiers in 2022, which meant an opportunity to play older games on a newer platform. In May 2022, the initial lineup appeared.
- "Genshin Impact Funko Pop Figures Announced" - Not only are there Genshin Impact Nendoroids, figmas, and scale figures, but Funko announced it would add major characters to its Funko Pop line. In addition to the first three, which are Aether, Lumine, and Paimon, Diluc, Keqing, and Hilichurl ones were revealed in May 2022.
- "Genshin Impact Developer Announces HoYoVerse Brand" - Mihoyo changed its name to HoYoVerse in 2022, and in so doing also dropped the "tech otakus save the world" slogan in the process.
- "All the Straw Hat Pirates Will Appear in GBF One Piece Crossover" - Luffy and the crew went off on a whole new journey with Gran, Djeeta, Lyria, and Vyrn in 2022.
Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's! Thank you for all of your support, and let's hope 2023 is a good year for everyone! The post Siliconera's 10 Biggest Anime and Video Game News in 2022 appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Sunday, January 1, 2023 7:00 AM 
In a New Year's message, Producer Yoshinori Kitase of Square Enix teased some big announcements and news for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Kitase also mentioned this in a message he game to Famitsu. He did not give any concrete details at the time either, though. Here is a rough translation of the message Kitase wrote for the Final Fantasy website: Happy New Year. This year, our newest work Final Fantasy XVI will finally come out. Yoshida-P is also putting his all into the development so please give him lots of support! Also! Development on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which I'm producing, is speeding up as well. Please wait for more news as you wonder things like "How will you reproduce that memorable scene?" There is also some big announcements in the back that I cannot announce yet. I hope to make 2023 a good and exciting year for everyone through Final Fantasy. Kitase's comment was one of four others on the website. Though Kitase mentioned Yoshida-P, or Naoki Yoshida, in his comment, Yoshida did not bring up Rebirth. He only focused on talking about Final Fantasy XIV and XVI, which are the two games that he is working on. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will come out on the PS5 in Winter 2023. The post Kitases Teases Big Final Fantasy VII Rebirth News Again appeared first on Siliconera. |
