ConcernedApe has taken to Twitter to discuss the status of Stardew Valley console and mobile ports, as well as the development of Haunted Chocolatier. While there aren’t any details in the Tweet, he assures fans that they’ve been working on them and they’re the primary focus since Stardew Valley Version 1.6 appeared on PC.

To summarize it, he acknowledges that the console and mobile ports for Stardew Valley are taking a long time for various reasons he didn't get into. He accepts full responsibility for the delay. ConcernedApe also expresses gratitude to those who have been patiently waiting, as they reduce the amount of stress he has to deal with. As for Haunted Chocolatier, he has not worked on it in a while due to wanting to perfect and finalize Stardew Valley Version 1.6 first. Indeed, the last progress update ConcernedApe shared for Haunted Chocolatier was in 2021. The full statement is available via ConcernedApe’s Twitter account. Fans in the replies have been more than understanding for the delay. A lot of them thank ConcernedApe for all the work that he’s done in general. 

Stardew Valley Version 1.6 came out earlier this year on March 19, 2024. It features new festivals and events, a new farm type, a new mastery system, new NPC dialogue, updates to the world map, new outfits, new glamor items, balance changes, QoL improvements, and more. It was, all in all, a massive update to the game.

Stardew Valley is readily available on the Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. More information on when Version 1.6 for consoles and mobile, as well as Haunted Chocolatier, will come out will appear in the future.

The post ConcernedApe Gives Progress Update on Stardew Valley 1.6 And Haunted Chocolatier appeared first on Siliconera.

The Fuji-Q Highland amusement park in Yamanashi, Japan will feature a new Attack on Titan ride from September 17, 2024. The ride will focus on the final battle in Libero, which was in The Final Season.

Last year, Fuji-Q Highland had an Attack on Titan ride that let you experience the operation to retake Wall Maria. Both that one and the upcoming Libero ride seem to be flight simulation rides. As a new recruit of the Survey Corps, you’ll help out Levi, Jean, and Mikasa as you face off against five Titans to support Eren. You’ll “fly” around while fighting against titans, which will be in full realistic CG projected on giant screens around you. This’ll be the first time in Japan that a ride uses this technology.

The ride itself will last about 8 minutes and anyone over the age of 4 years old can ride on it. For safety reasons, you’ll need to be over 110 cm as well. It’ll cost 2000 JPY (around $13.85) to ride on it. If you bought the 1-day pass, then this ride will be part of that cost. Fuji-Q Highland will also sell merchandise based on this ride, with more information on that appearing later on in the future.

Attack on Titan is readily available on streaming services like Crunchyroll and Netflix. The Attack on Titan ride will appear in Fuji-Q Highland from September 17, 2024. Attack on Titan: The Last Attack, which will be a compilation film of parts 3 and 4 of The Final Season, will air in Japanese theaters from November 8, 2024.

The post Attack on Titan Ride Will Let You Experience Liberio appeared first on Siliconera.

A teaser trailer for Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is now on the Aniplex YouTube channel. It’s quite short at about half a minute.

You can watch the teaser trailer for Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- here:

The title for the trailer is “Limit” x “Despair” and both concepts are obvious in the footage. It shows the deaths of several characters (unknown if they’re actually important to the overall plot or characters who’ll die at the very beginning). The audio of characters screaming either as they’re killed or as they watch their friends being killed is layered on top of Sincere's "Sedam," which will also appear in the game.

While we don't know the voice actors for them, Too Kyo Games has shared the designs for SIREI and NIGOU. SIREI is the commander for Last Defense Academy while NIGOU helps them out. Taihi Kimura voices main character Takumi Sumino. Sumino is a normal high schooler who grew up in an average family. Though he can be pessimistic and have trouble making decisions, he's determined to stand up and protect the people important to him.

This is the latest upcoming game from Too Kyo Games, which previously released Master Detective Archives: Rain Code. Kazutaka Kodaka (Danganronpa) and Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape) are both working on this, and they’ve teased the project several times over times in the past. The plot of the game centers on an apocalyptic event striking Japan and killing a bunch of people. A mascot creature then transports students from around the world to the Last Defense Academy, where they must defend the school for 100 days against enemy invaders. It will be a TRPG similar to Fire Emblem but with visual novel elements.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- will come out on April 24, 2025 for the Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. The English version will come out on that date as well.

The post Hundred Line Trailer is Bloody And Dramatic appeared first on Siliconera.

Falcom has updated its website to include the The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st remake, including information on the new sprites and such. So far, there’s nothing new that the trailer, which was in the Japanese Nintendo Direct, didn’t already cover.

As of the time of writing, you can check out the trailer, a brief summary of the story, screenshots from the remake, and a description of the battle system. Battle will commence after attacking an enemy symbol on the map and it’ll still use a turn-based system. The description states that the battle system is easy to grasp and even if you’re completely new to the RPG genre as a whole, you’ll be able to master it in almost no time. We saw a little bit of it during the trailer as well, which you can watch here:

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky originally came out in 2004 for the Windows PC, though there was later a port onto the PSP. It’s the first game in the Trails series, which encompasses other titles such as Trails from Zero and Trails of Cold Steel. The story follows Estelle Bright and her adopted brother Joshua Bright as they journey through Liberl in hopes of becoming Bracers. As a JRPG, the story becomes a lot grander in scale and the stakes become much higher as the story goes on.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st remake will come out on the Nintendo Switch in 2025.

The post Trails in the Sky Website Updates For the Remake appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Hobby will open up pre-orders for a plastic model of Meowscarada from the Pokemon series. This will come out in February 2025 and will cost 1760 JPY ($12.20).

As of the time of writing, the Bandai Hobby site does not have a link to where you can pre-order it. The Japanese version of AmiAmi has it available for pre-order, but the English version does not. It may stock it a little later on. The Meowscarada plastic model is part of the Pokemon Plamo Collection and is the 56th species in the series. Like other plastic models, it has plenty of joints for a variety of poses. You can also change its mouth and the direction it’s eyes are pointing at. Finally, the details of the leaves underneath Meowscarada’s “cape” are visible in this model.

Meowscarada is the final evolution of Sprigatito, the Grass starter in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. It is a combination Grass/Dark Type and it looks to be a feline phantom thief in terms of its inspiration. Some of the replies and QRTs joke that Bandai Spirits released a bishoujo figure, referencing Meowscarada’s popularity among certain crowds on the Internet. In terms of ball joints, there are some in the neck, shoulders, elbows, thighs, knees, and ankles. This means there’s a fairly limited range of motion, though the number of ball joints is perfect for striking some of its poses from the game.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are readily available on the Nintendo Switch.

The post Next Pokemon Plastic Model Features Meowscarada appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco has updated the official Tales of Graces f website to include details on the remastered version of the game, including changes to QOL and visuals. As a side note, the Nintendo Switch version will be the only one in which you can only play in 30 FPS, while the other consoles will be in 60 FPS at the minimum.

The whole list of changes is available via the official website. But the vast majority of them have to do with making the game easier to play. Here is a list of them all, as well as a short descriptor of each improvement or change:

• Auto-save
• Dash
  This is faster than the usual running and you’re able to toggle it on or off with the touch of a button.
• Removing enemy encounters
  If you turn off enemy encounters, you will not engage in battle even after you touch an enemy symbol on the overworld. This likely eliminates the need for Holy Bottles.
• Skipping events or Groovy Chats
  By holding down a button, you’ll be able to skip through events or Skits.
• Clicking through voice lines in Groovy Chats
  By pressing a button, you’ll be able to skip to the next line in Groovy Chats as if they were normal dialogue in the story.
• Accessing the Grade Shop from the very beginning
  Instead of needing to first beat the game to access the Grade Shop, you’ll be able to purchase bonuses from the start.
• Destination icon on the map
  An exclamation mark will denote where you need to go to advance the main story. As well, the remaining distance between you and that destination will appear on the screen.
• Cursor speed on the world map
  By pressing down a button, you’ll be able to speed up the cursor while you’re on the world map.
• Retry function in normal battles
  Even if you end up losing in a normal battle and get a game over, you’ll be able to retry from that battle instead of needing to load up a save file.
• Subtitles for dialogue in battle
  When characters talk to each other in battle or use their Mystic Artes, subtitles will appear at the bottom of the screen so you can better understand what they’re saying. You can toggle this on and off from the options.
• Making new Artes or Skills more obvious
  Newly acquired Artes, Skills, and such will be green.
• Color vision support
  Any dungeon gimmicks that required the usage of colors to solve will now be solvable using other clues. In other words, even if you can’t see certain colors, you’ll be able to clear dungeon puzzles on your own.
• The inclusion of certain DLC content
  While not every piece of DLC from the original version of f will be in the remastered version of the game, we’ll still get over 80 items. DLC includes unique Groovy Chats, Magic Karta cards, items, bonuses, and costumes (past Tales games, school uniforms, formal outfits, attachments).
• Dubbed versions of DLC Groovy Chats
  Since the DLC Groovy Chats were only in the original Japanese, the remastered edition will have dubbed versions of them in English
• Master volume adjustment
  You’ll be able to adjust the master volume of the entire game from the options, rather than having to individually lower the BGM, sound effects, voice lines, and cutscenes.
• Adjustment to certain sound effects
• Dual audio (Japanese and English)
• Button configuration for exploring and combat
• Addition of an hourglass icon for time-limited events
  Certain events in Tales of Graces are only available for a short period of time within the story, and they were hidden as well. The remastered version will add an hourglass icon to make it easier for people to find them.
• No online ranking in Challenge Battles

Tales of Graces f will come out on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC on January 17, 2025.

The post Full List of Tales of Graces f Remastered Changes Detailed appeared first on Siliconera.

Yusuke Tomizawa, the producer for the Tales series, has released a video message on YouTube in regards to the Tales Remastered Project, as well as the 30th anniversary of the series. Bandai Namco plans to continue remastering past titles.

Here is the producer message from Tomizawa-P for the 30th anniversary of the Tales series:

The video is a little under four minutes and a half long. According to Tomizawa, the Remastered Project is part of the 30th anniversary commemorations. This means there may be more to come from the studio. The Remastered Project will focus on making past games accessible and easy to play on new consoles in an enjoyable way for both newcomers and veterans. We can see this in QoL improvements for Graces f. For example, the Grade Shop's accessibility from the start will make the game much easier. It's unclear if the Remastered Project will bring Japanese-exclusive titles to the west as well.

The rest of the video focuses on describing the general plot and worldview of Tales of Graces. It takes place in Ephinea, which has three major countries in it. Asbel Lhant, the future lord of Lhant, meets a mysterious amnesiac girl named Sophie, and befriends her and Prince Richard. Tragedy strikes and the children go their separate ways. When they reunite down the line, they're different people in a different political clilmate. The video mentions that reception to the game’s story and characters have been positive, and the combat system in particular received acclaim. These reasons, as well as constant requests, are why Graces f is the first game to receive a remaster as part of the Remastered Project.

Tales of Graces f Remastered will come out on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC on January 17, 2025.

The post Bandai Namco Teases More Remastered Tales Games appeared first on Siliconera.

HoYoVerse released the drip marketing for Rappa, who’ll be a new 5-star Imaginary Erudition character in Honkai: Star Rail. She will likely make her playable in Version 2.6 of the game.

Rappa is a rapping and graffiti-spraying, comic-loving ninja who is also a member of the Galaxy Rangers. She’s in pursuit of the Evil Ninja Osaru, and is willing to chase them through the cosmos. Considering her character description, Rappa was likely one of the Galaxy Rangers who arrived to Penacony near the end of that world’s main story. In terms of her character aesthetic, Rappa in Honkai: Star Rail has a very urban sense of fashion and looks like a more “modern” take on the ninja character trope.

Her English voice actress will be Kendell Byrd, her Japanese voice actress will be Megumi Han, and her Chinese voice actress will be Jin Na. Byrd’s previously appeared as Prscilla in Memento Mori, Splinter in Atlas Fallen, and Faranak in Genshin Impact. As for Han, her most prominent roles include Gon from Hunter x Hunter 2011, Nokotan in My Deer Friend Nokotan, and Jill in Final Fantasy XVI. Finally, Jin Na’s past roles include Pardofelis in Honkai Impact 3rd, Yoimiya in Genshin Impact, and Tracy/Mechanic in Identity V.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. More information on Rappa, such as her kit when she debuts in Honkai: Star Rail, will appear in the future.

The post Rappa Is an Imaginary Erudition Character in Honkai: Star Rail appeared first on Siliconera.

Every time a new Pokemon game comes out, the fandom seems to split into two: those who enjoy it and those who claim that GameFreak has reached another layer of rock bottom. When Pokemon Scarlet first came out, my opinion was close to the second camp due to the numerous bugs and the lack of interesting new Pokemon in the early game. But then, I finally decided to get the DLCs and actually clear Scarlet, and you know what I realized? I was wrong. Pokemon didn’t get bad or go downhill or anything like that at all. It still gives the exact same feeling as it did when I first booted up the game as a kid.

Pokemon is one of those franchises that suffers from having a huge fanbase. With most popular series, people know what they want and what they’re getting into. It’s not like Person A can play, say, Final Fantasy XVI in a way so different from the way Person B does that they come out of it with an entirely separate experience. But Pokemon is like The Sims. There are so many people with so many different expectations or wants that it’s virtually impossible for GameFreak to please everyone. Players who only care about the story, characters, or Mon collection aspects probably don’t care as much about the meta or the difficulty. Hence, their opinions on various aspects of the game will greatly differ from those who play Pokemon mostly for the PvP elements. It’s a precarious balancing act with no right answer outside of simply making separate games for separate demographics.

I’m a player who cares about clearing the story, taking pictures with my favorite NPCs, putting together cute outfits, and completing the PokeDex. My friends are the kinds who make OCs. It’s pretty similar to how I play, except there’s an additional layer of imagination involved. Our conversations are different than the ones I have with my friend who plays more competitively. Reading and listening to people compare the stats or movesets of Pokemon A and B in order to decide who they want on their team is like watching my favorite show in an unfamiliar language. And I doubt they can relate to my having Froslass on a team for no reason other than “It’s Ice/Ghost and pretty.”

Everyone’s way of playing Pokemon is valid. It’s not like we live in the Pokemon world where Paul’s method of picking and choosing Pokemon based on their stats is regarded as villain behavior. Since I’m not a competitive player, I don’t quite understand the beef that people had with mechanics like Dynamaxing or Terastalizing. I don't engage with them beyond story battles, so they’re about the same as Mega Evolution, which the PvP people apparently loved. Not to sound like the most stereotypical female gamer ever, but the only things that can truly bother me about Pokemon now are a lack of interesting characters and avatar customization. Surprise! I care more about hanging out and looking cute than I do about battle mechanics. For those thinking, “God, I bet her favorite Eevee evolution is Sylveon (derogatory),” yeah, you’re right...it is...

But does that make me less valid a player? It really shouldn’t. That would be like saying kids who only care about collecting a team of legendaries are playing the game wrong. Heck, you can argue that they’re the actual target audience for GameFreak. That’s something we should all keep in mind. These games are E for Everyone and yes, that includes the little kid who doesn’t bother looking at whether a move is a Physical or Special one when letting their Pokemon learn it.

A common complaint people have about Pokemon these days is that they’re too easy. Mechanics like camping and Amie make raising Friendship a breeze. Even if it’s up to chance, Friendship in NPC battles can feel overpowered. NPC trainers challenge you with only one or two weaklings in their team. The universal Experience Share severely reduces the time and effort it takes to level up a weaker Pokemon. Honestly, I feel like the old method of starting with a weak Pokemon you want to train and then swapping them out with something stronger was annoying as heck. It wasn’t fun and it didn’t make the game harder. Tedium doesn't equate difficulty, and difficulty doesn't equate fun. I’m on Team Universal Experience Share. But yes, it sucks we can't turn it off.

What got me thinking about how Pokemon’s quality is just as good, if not better, than the previous games is the feeling of excitement. Isn't that what the games are all about? Exploring Paldea reminded me of when I first set off from Twinleaf Town, and the newer Pokemon games giving gym leaders and rivals more depth beyond one or two traits makes the game actually feel like an RPG.

I know people hated Sword and Shield, but I personally really enjoyed it for the character writing and camping. Bede, Marnie, and Hop all had such satisfying character arcs throughout the story, and the gym leaders felt more fleshed out than ones in the past games. I’m glad that GameFreak continued this with the rivals in Scarlet/Violet, as they were really the best parts of the game. Yes, I’m aware that characters like Lillie and N existed, but I felt like their games only had one or two really interesting characters compared to the Switch generations.

Okay, Scarlet has a lot of issues. There’s a reason I dropped the game for as long as I did. The open world is really buggy. There are also way too many old Pokemon. This is its own problem with very little resolution outside of something similar to Black/White where older Pokemon are only available after the story. Some people really like using or catching Pokemon that debuted in past entries. Others prefer new ones. The camping mechanic was terrible compared to Sword/Shield’s. My biggest beef is with the marketing. While it’s not impossible to complete any plotline or challenge any gym leader/Team Star boss/Titan in the order you want, the lack of level scaling can make it either much too hard or much too easy for your team.

I appreciate GameFreak’s half-successful attempt at doing something new and ambitious. It didn’t always work and games are too expensive now for the “Well, you tried!” participation trophy. But if a major complaint from fans is that the games are stagnant and never change up the formula, then being mad that GameFreak did change up the formula feels silly. Also, this is yet another problem with the huge fanbase. Not everyone dislikes the fact they follow a formula! I didn't care, but I still liked the way Scarlet went about fusing multiple storylines together. If the new direction of Pokemon was to focus on the story and characters at the expense of PvP, I’m perfectly fine with that. Granted, from what I hear, the current meta is genuinely enjoyable so now I’m not quite sure why people talked about Scarlet and Violet like it’s irredeemable trash.

Honestly, every time “New Pokemon games SUCK!” discourse comes across on my timeline and I read through it, I never see an actual concrete complaint. It kind of feels like people like Pokemon the franchise, but they haven’t quite accepted that the Pokemon games were never so difficult that they’d present a challenge to someone with a general understanding of game mechanics. GameFreak always designed them with children in mind. With GameFreak remaining mum on what’s in store in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, as well as the future of the mainline games, it’s hard to tell what we’ll see next year. Here’s hoping the fan reception will be better than past games.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are readily available on the Nintenedo Switch.

The post Pokemon Is Honestly Still a Good Series; People Are Just Old appeared first on Siliconera.

Reality TV is a guilty pleasure of mine, with it and sitcoms being the two genres I watched as a kid to pick up English soon after I immigrated to Canada. While The Crush House does not exactly satisfy the reality TV itch, it provides a pretty interesting commentary on the nature of these shows. The gameplay loop becomes more fun the more used to it you get, but as a game, it never quite became strong on its own, thus relying heavily on its subversion of the genre it's parodying.

The Crush House seems like a messier version of Terrace House when it comes to the in-game reality TV show. You are the producer of the show, and you start the season by choosing four cast members to live together under the same roof for a week. There's an element of strategy here after you become accustomed to the game. Certain cast members make it easier to make audiences happy. For example, activists love seeing Priscilla, who's prone to bursting into tears. Meanwhile, people with foot fetishes love Charlie, who walks around in sandals all the time.

You then broadcast the lives and dramas of these four people to an audience that’s thirsting for a variety of content. Sometimes, they’ll want you to film fights and arguments. Other times, all they care about is the landscaping of the Barbie-esque Malibu mansion. That's not even getting into the simps, the suburban moms, the plumbers, the conspiracy theorists, and so on and so forth. Your goal is to make sure the show stays on air for an entire season (a week) by meeting your audience’s expectations.

In the beginning, it was a little tough to stop thinking of the game as an actual TV show. I focused a lot on conversations, kisses, and fights. This is the stuff you'd want to see, right? But, of course, real people don’t make up the in-game audience. Half the time I wasn't even capturing the drama between the cast members. I was recording things like the pool, the art, the fish, the fire, and butts. The audience I had to worry about didn't seem to care at all about the actual substance of the show, which was a bizarre mechanic. But once I knew what the game wanted from me, it was a lot easier. Lining up shots to make sure I could get as much as I needed was really fun, but I became so focused on pleasing the audience that the actual show itself became a non-priority.

A lot of my initial complaints faded once I realized what the game was trying to do. One of my main criticisms was that I don’t really care about anyone. No one was really unique and they all felt interchangeable. It says a lot that I can't remember their names half the time considering how quickly I become attached to characters. While they do have unique backstories and personalities on paper, in practice, they're virtually the same outside of some special interactions. Emile the suave Frenchman does the same ridiculous "Hearken!" speech that Alex the himbo does. Veer the band geek strips to his swimsuit before going down the Success Slide, which is something Ayo the drama queen did. Charlie the sweet girl goes nuts over "margarita time" just like the self-assured mean girl Joyumi. No one felt interesting in their own way.

Another complaint I had was that the audience’s needs were illogical. This isn’t to do with them wanting to see certain things, but more that I had some difficulty at first figuring out what demographics meant by their requests. While you can look up your audience to see the types of requests they’ll leave in the comments, I wish the game would provide a small descriptor as to what each group is like. I never really figured out how to deal with cynics or people with shoddy Internet, for example. Cynics seemed to satisfy themselves. Meanwhile, no matter what I did, the people with bad Internet still complained so I just used other audience groups’ hype levels to satisfy them.

As I continued to stream episode after episode to an audience that can’t get enough of the ridiculous antics of The Crush House, I found myself becoming more and more apathetic towards it all. I didn’t care anymore that I’ve seen the same argument about filler words, like, five times, nor did I care about the affairs I stumbled across while trying to record some perky bottoms for the butt-lovers in the audience. Outside of their requests, I stopped caring about the contestants beyond what they could do for me when it comes to raking in audience approval. It made the game’s reveal of the dark secret laying underneath the vaporware veneer of the show’s set so much more intriguing, because I had fallen into the way of thinking that some corrupt TV executive probably has too.

Most of the game’s fun comes from the learning curve. It felt great to master new ways of meeting audience goals or filming the cast, as well as rushing from room to room while letting advertisements rake in cash so that I could get the perfect shot of something. If I wasn’t meeting my quota literally at the last second though, I was hitting it halfway through the day. This wasn't great, since there's no benefit in continuing to film them and as mentioned earlier, they're not exactly interesting to spy on. That meant that I usually messed around on my phone while letting advertisements play in-game for a while every game day. The difficulty balance felt off. However, it could have been my luck when it comes to the combination of audience types.

Because the odd difficulty balance gives a surprising amount of downtime in a game that’s supposed to catch the rush of the cutthroat reality TV business, the game can feel slower than it should. The story seems interesting, as are the little tidbits about who they are as people rather than props. But I personally could not bring myself to care about the characters’ well-being outside of morbid curiosity. This was, again, due to their lack of any individuality and chemistry with each other. Was the apathy towards the cast members something the developers intended? Or was I just a bad person while playing it? I honestly have no clue. I think if I’d watched someone’s video essay on the topic, though, the distance (and not having to read their inane conversations over and over) might have helped me to care a bit more about the cast.

The Crush House is an interesting game that combines FPS elements with exploration, time management, and strategy, all with a narrative that makes you want to marathon the game all the way to the season finale. It’s a game that can only ever be a game, as the impact of the story wouldn’t be the same in another format. While enjoyable, I do suggest having something else to do on hand. Once the audience gets what they want, the drama of reality TV loses its luster, leaving nothing but vapid and repetitive content behind.

The Crush House is readily available on Windows PCs.

The post Review: The Crush House Is the Perfect Microcosm for Reality TV appeared first on Siliconera.

As a Fire Nihility character, the best way to build Jiaoqiu in Honkai: Star Rail is to focus his Light Cones and Relics on Effect Hit Rate, ATK, and DoT. There are some minor differences in what you should prioritize depending on if you want him as a mere support or an actual sub-attacker. But all in all, this guide provides a comprehensive look at what Light Cones and Relics make for the best Jiaoqiu build in Honkai: Star Rail.

There are two main ways to build Jiaoqiu. The first is to focus on him as a support who debuffs enemies with his Ashen Roast and his Zone. The second is to consider him as a legitimate DoT attacker with, again, his Ashen Roast and his Zone. Obviously, he can fulfill both roles at once, but which niche you prioritize may affect which Relics and Light Cones you put on him.

Here are the best Light Cones for your Jiaoqiu build in Honkai: Star Rail

• Those Many Springs
  As the signature Light Cone for Jiaoqiu, Those Many Springs is fantastic for his kit and the 60% (S1) increase to his Effect Hit Rate is super helpful in reaching his ideal 180%. It also increases the amount of DMG enemies receive after he hits them, which is useful in general for his role as a support.
• Solitary Healing
  Solitary Healing is a pretty good F2P 5-star Light Cone for Jiaoqiu because of its ability to increase his DoT after he uses his Ultimate. When he defeats an enemy that he inflicted with his DoT, it regenerates Energy for him. This makes it very good in modes like Pure Fiction. Since this is a Light Cone you can get for free, it’s pretty easy to Superimpose.
• Eyes of the Prey
  Eyes of the Prey is a great Light Cone for Jiaoqiu and since it’s a 4-star, most people should be able to get it from the banners. Eyes of the Prey increases his Effect Hit Rate, as well as his DoT damage. If you don’t have Those Many Springs and don’t care about the 5-star stats that Solitary Healing can provide (or don’t plan on using him in Pure Fiction), Eyes of the Prey is the next best thing.
• Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat
  Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat is capable of Ensnaring enemies, which decreases their DEF. There is a 60% base chance at S1, but as a 4-star Light Cone, most people should be able to get it to S5 without too much issue. The debuff only lasts a turn, but when combined with Jiaoqiu’s ability to increase the DMG he and allies deal, this synergizes well with his kit.
• Before the Tutorial Mission Starts
  If you run Jiaoqiu with characters like Silver Wolf and Pela, you can consider giving him Before the Tutorial Mission Starts. This increases his Effect Hit Rate, as well as regenerates Energy for him if he simply attacks an enemy with reduced DEF. Because a good chunk of Jiaoqiu’s utility lies in the Zone he creates with his Ultimate, the more Energy you can give him, the better.

Here are the best Relics and Planar Ornaments for Jiaoqiu

• 2-pc Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters, 2-pc Messenger Traversing Hackerspace
  This is the best Relic combination for Jiaoqiiu, as it increases his SPD and the damage he can deal against debuffed enemies. You’ll likely run him with other characters who an apply debuffs, and as a Nihility character, his Ashen Roast DoT counts as one as well. This works for both a DoT-focused or a support-focused build.
• 4-pc Prisoner in Deep Confinement
  This is a great Relic set for Jiaoqiu if you want to use him specifically for his Ashen Roast DoT. Not only does the Prisoner set increase his ATK, but it also ignores the enemy DEF for every DoT they have on them (capping at 3 DoTs). You might want to run him with other DoT characters like Serval or Black Swan to make the most of it though.
• Pan-Cosmic Commercial Enterprise
  This is the best Planar Ornament Set for a DoT-focused Jiaoqiu. It increases his Effect Hit Rate, as well as increases his ATK depending on how much Effect Hit Rate he has. 
• Sprightly Vonwacq
  Sprightly Vonwacq is a good Planar Ornament Set for people who value his Ashen Roast and Zone as support for other characters. It increases his Energy Regeneration Rate (very helpful), as well as Advances Forward his action if he has a minimum of 120 SPD. Since you’ll want to build his SPD anyway, you should be able to reach that number. Letting him act immediately is helpful since he can apply Ashen Roast to enemies before the battle really starts.
• Firmament Frontline: Glamoth
  This is an okay set for Jiaoqiu if you focus on him as a DoT sub attacker. It increases his ATK and depending on his SPD, it deals some bonus DMG.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. You can only pull for Jiaoqiu in Honkai: Star Rail when the “Cauldron Contrivance” banner is active.

The post Honkai: Star Rail Jiaoqiu Build Relies on Effect Hit Rate appeared first on Siliconera.

The fanmade game Holo no Suika is running a last-minute Minato Aqua event due to Minato Aqua’s upcoming graduation. During the event, your focus is on creating the biggest Aqua with the falling hololive member parts. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

You can choose the Minato Aqua event mode from the main menu Holo no Suika. When you start, there is an Aqua with a rainbow outline around her. Anything that touches this Aqua will turn into an Aqua. At the top, there is a display that tells you what size the rainbow Aqua currently is. You’ll need to “feed” Aqua the hololive member in question to increase her size. This means you have to make sure that you can access this Aqua as you play the game or else you can’t complete this goal.

Minato Aqua is part of the second generation of hololive, and she debuted in 2018. Other VTubers who debuted alongside her include Murasaki Shion and Oozora Subaru. She announced in early August 2024 that she would graduate on August 28, 2024. Though she didn’t go into detail, one of the reasons she cited for her impending graduation is that she disagrees with the company’s direction.

Holo no Suika is available via its website and you can play it in web browsers.

The post Minato Aqua Event is Live in Holo no Suika appeared first on Siliconera.

One Punch Man has returned from hiatus with Chapter 247. You can read it via Tonari no Young Jump’s website.

The chapter is quite short and focuses on Suiryu. After an encounter with Webigaza, Suiryu decides to apply for the Neo Heroes organization instead. However, he obliterates a very expensive suit that the Neo Heroes give him. Thus, Suiryu has to work for the Neo Heroes until he can pay off this debt. Once the chapter ends, we can see an ad for the third season of the anime.

While some replies are very positive about Murata’s Webigaza and getting to see Suiryu, a lot of the direct replies to Murata are extremely negative. Some people thought the One Punch Man Chapter 247 was an unnecessary filler, and that it wasn’t worth waiting two months for something so short. As a reminder though, Murata was taking a break. It's highly unlikely he was working during the two-month hiatus, so he might have drawn a shorter chapter than usual in order to get back into the flow of things.

One Punch Man follows the story of Saitama, who is probably the most powerful man on Earth and is capable of defeating everything with a single punch. Because of this, he’s very bored with life. He and his apprentice, Genos the cyborg, decide to join the Hero Association in pursuit of notability and something new.

The One Punch Man anime is available via Crunchyroll, and Viz Media has licensed the English version of the manga.

The post One Punch Man Returns From Hiatus With Chapter 247 appeared first on Siliconera.

Sparkle is a five-star Quantum Harmony character in Honkai: Star Rail who has a re-run every once in a while, and she’s a pretty worthy unit to invest in depending on your favored teams. As a classic support who boosts DMG and Crit DMG, as well as offer more SP, Sparkle is fantastic for certain characters, but not as much for others.

To start with, let’s run down Sparkle’s kit. Her Skill can increase a target ally’s Crit DMG by a percentage of hers, as well as Advances Forward the ally’s action. Meanwhile, her passive Talent gives a total of 7 SP to use. Every time a character uses up a Skill Point, everyone’s DMG increases by a percentage that increases based on her Trace level. Finally, her Ultimate recovers 4 Skill Points and temporarily boosts the DMG boost from her Talent. If you read all that and thought, “Wow, she sounds like she’s good for characters like Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae,” you’re absolutely correct! While you don’t need Sparkle in order to use him, she certainly helps with his horrible metabolism when it comes to his SP-hungry Enhanced Basic.

Something else astute players may notice is that Sparkle’s kit is a little similar to Bronya’s. Like Bronya, Sparkle can Advance Forward ally actions and increase their Crit DMG. Sparkle has the advantage of being able to increase the maximum number of SP, as well as restoring it with her Ultimate. That gives her the upper hand over Bronya’s ability to Advance Forward an action by 100%, which almost always means the character she uses her Skill on gets a turn right after her. There are some differences between their scaling depending on things like Trace level and Crit DMG. But I’m willing to bet most players don’t care about the various mathematical differences.

Because Sparkle’s kit is so SP-oriented, she is a lot more SP friendly than Bronya is. Technically speaking, under the most ideal circumstances, Bronya wants to use her Skill every time she gets a turn. That’s just not ideal though, depending on who you run with her. Sparkle can’t exactly use her Skill every turn either, but her passive Talent to increase DMG when someone else uses a Skill can help to boost the party in other ways. In other words, if you want to use someone like Bronya but don’t want to worry about SP as much, Sparkle is a fantastic character to pull for.

On the flipside, because Sparkle is so similar to Bronya, players who are F2P or want to save for another character might want to consider skipping. Sparkle is a must-pull if you’re using characters like Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae or Qingque. As I mentioned in the past, Crit DMG is no longer the end all and be all. Superbreak is a very easy mechanic that can rack up a lot of damage in a short period of time. DoT is also one where Crit stats don’t matter. This means an entire half of Sparkle's kit has lost its universality. The remaining half, which focuses on SP, is undeniably good. But some teams (such as a classic Firefly Superbreak team) don't even require that much SP.

In my opinion, as someone who constantly uses Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae, Sparkle is very useful. She’s an excellent support for my personal needs. However, when it comes to other attackers, she might be passed over in favor of characters like Ruan Mei. It’s not to say that she’s bad, of course. She has a lot of things going on for her that make her a better support than Bronya. Like Huohuo's auto-cleanse and Energy Regeneration, Sparkle’s ability to instantly generate 4 SP can be super useful in time-limited modes. But outside of this unique niche, Sparkle feels like a slightly more premium version of Bronya. Consider how high SP is in your list of priorities when you decide on whether to pull for Sparkle or not in Honkai: Star Rail.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. You can pull for Sparkle in Honkai: Star Rail only when the Sparkling Splendor banner is active.

The post Sparkle in Honkai: Star Rail Is Great, But Not for Everyone appeared first on Siliconera.

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:

• Badtz-Maru x Red-Eyes Black Dragon
• Chococat x The Winged Dragon of Ra
• Cinnamoroll x Blue-Eyes White Dragon
• Hello Kitty x Dark Magician
• Keroppi x Kuriboh
• Kuromi x Slifer the Sky Dragon
• My Melody x Dark Magician Girl
• Pochacco x Time Wizard
• Pompompurin x Exodia the Forbidden One
• Tuxedosam: Obelisk the Tormentor

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.

The post Sanrio and Yu-Gi-Oh Happy Meal Toys Appear in American McDonald’s appeared first on Siliconera.