As the thirteenth game in a series with 40 years of history, there can be some high expectations for Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening. It definitely delivers on a lot of fronts, providing an enjoyable yet challenging strategy game experience. There are tons of options for how to start a playthrough, and even more options for how you go about unifying Japan. It’s a great way to put your strategizing skills to the test, and there’s a lot of fun to be had. Even the overarching story elements are interesting and change depending on which clan you're playing as. But it comes with a handful of not-so-great elements.

To start off with, you’re put through a rather information-heavy tutorial. But for as much as you’re taught in such a short time, much of it is straightforward enough to feel easy to get the hang of. It’s mostly the political stuff, such as retainers’ traits and alliances, that gets confusing, especially if you’re new to strategy games. Much of that is stuff you only really start to figure out by playing, though, and it does start to make more sense over time.

[caption id="attachment_978054" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

Where the Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening tutorial really feels odd is that there’s a fair few things that feel glossed over or not touched on at all. Sadly, most of these are the political aspects—which is part of why they take a bit to learn. Things like the intricacies of alliances and how political marriages work are left for you to figure out all on your own, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing given the nature of the game, but getting some sort of explanation of how these things work would have been very helpful. Excluding simple things like the shop from the tutorial is fine, they don’t need explainers, but leaving out some of the elements that make the game so complex strikes me as odd.

Once you’re let loose, Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is a very fun game. Its three major systems all work in conjunction while also requiring their own style of management. First, there’s maintaining your territory, which includes things like supplementing your monthly income and bolstering your defenses. Then, there’s politicking through things like alliances, everything involving your retainers such as promoting them and bestowing land, and establishing policies for how your territory is governed. Lastly, there’s battle, where you take over other daimyo’s counties and storm their castles. All of it is very well connected, with each element affecting the other two in ways that make sense and don’t feel forced. The need to stay on top of everything instead of just being able to focus on one or two aspects is perfect for a strategy game like this.

[caption id="attachment_978057" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

In the early game especially, you really need to flex your strategy chops. This is when your territory is at its smallest, so you have to take extra care in how you build things up and who you make friends with—and enemies of. In order to expand, you need to amass your army and attack other castles, but one wrong move and you could find yourself on the bad side of a daimyo with an army ten times the size of yours. Your resources are also at their most limited and your options at their most extensive, so taking the time to ensure you’re making the best moves is paramount.

As a result, however, Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening can feel like you’re doing a lot of waiting. At the start, it’s difficult to do much beyond building up your territory, and nothing you do is done instantly. Every time you build something or covertly sabotage an enemy or even start to form an alliance, it all takes time to complete. Which makes sense! But when all you can feasibly do is develop your (small) territory, there’s a lot of thumb twiddling to be done before you’re ready to do any expansion.

The other major issue I ran into was that it sometimes felt like there was too much going on all at once. Trying to keep up with all the territory improvements and political goings-on while also preparing (and attempting) to take over new territories is no simple task. It all more than fits the context of the game so it’s not bad that there’s so much, but it can very quickly become disorienting. That goes double for when you’re playing on a controller. There are so many menus to move between and options to pick from that it’s all but impossible to map the buttons in a way that doesn’t pose a challenge all its own. It feels like the game was designed for use with a keyboard and mouse, which I’m certain would have vastly improved playability.

[caption id="attachment_978052" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

There’s a lot to like about Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening. It’s an overall solid strategy game where all your tactical decisions really feel like they have an impact, good or bad. The systems feel smooth and the connections between them feel natural. It really makes you feel like you have to stretch your brain, especially in the early stages. But there’s almost too much going on, which can get very confusing, especially when more urgent matters come up. And with so much to do, a controller is a suboptimal input device. Fortunately, there’s no real punishment for taking some time to get to the menu you want to be in, but figuring out how to get there can be frustrating.

Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam.

The post Review: Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Gets Slightly Too Ambitious appeared first on Siliconera.

For anyone looking to relive the Nintendogs fad of the mid-2000s, Little Friends: Puppy Island is your game. It’s a relaxing pet simulator game with a simple main gameplay loop and a handful of minigames sprinkled in. There’s not a lot of meat to the game, but you’re here to play with cute puppies first and not really anything second, which is exactly what you get. You get to have fun with puppies of all different breeds, and that’s all you need.

The premise of Little Friends: Puppy Island is exactly what it sounds like: you’re on an island full of friendly, wild puppies. You and your puppy are there to house-sit for a friend, and you get to explore the island and befriend as many puppies as you can find while you're there. With the puppies’ help, you can find new areas and develop the island. It's all for the pups’ benefit, of course. It’s super barebones and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but that’s not actually important. The game has a story of some kind and it’s cohesive enough, which is more than most anyone has ever wanted in a pet sim.

What makes up the bulk of the game is you picking one of your puppy friends and walking them around the island trail. When you’re on the trail, you can find new puppies and make friends with them, build things like a shop and a dog park, and over time, find new parts of the island to explore. After a while, your pup will get dirty or hungry or just need some love and you’ll have to go back to your friend’s house to care for them. That’s rather short-lived, though, as cleaning and feeding and everything you need to stay on the trail takes a very short time. It got fairly repetitive fairly quickly, which wasn’t great considering how it’s the vast majority of the game, but there were a few things to help break up the monotony.

One of the best parts of Little Friends: Puppy Island is the obstacles on the trail that you cross by completing little minigames. They pose little challenge and take all of about ten seconds to complete, but they keep you engaged and are plenty cute since they’re dog-themed. The type of minigame even changes depending on the type of obstacle, which is a nice way to keep things fresh.

[caption id="attachment_976828" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

There are a few other minigame-type things to do on the trail. Befriending puppies involves finding them and then approaching them slowly, being careful not to spook them by moving too quickly. Every so often, there are wild animals like squirrels that you stop your pup from barking at by pressing the right button at the right time. Even development projects are fetch quests (heh), with you finding materials and bringing them to the build site. None of it is difficult by any means, but it gives you something to do.

When you do end up having to go back to your friend’s house, you get to another one of the most enjoyable parts of Little Friends: Puppy Island: getting to dress up your puppies. Dressing them up is some of the most fun to be had with the game since there are countless different pieces of clothing to choose from. It’s very easy to spend a lot of time going through all your options and giving each of your dogs the perfect outfit. Personally, putting shutter shades on one of my little buddies was one of the best decisions I’ve made ever. And since there are also plenty of dog breeds on the island, there are more options for which dog to dress up and how than you can shake a stick at.

[caption id="attachment_976829" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

You can also bathe, feed, and play with your pups, which is fairly neat because doing so actually affects the game. As your pups walk the trail, they’ll get dirty and hungry, as shown by their gauges. Bathing and feeding them solve those problems and let you get right back onto the trail. They’re not amazing activities that you want to have to do constantly, and I found that bathing requiring you to actually scrub the dogs was a little unnecessary when petting them is done the exact same way, but them being integrated into the overall system is nice.

[caption id="attachment_976830" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

Meanwhile, playing helps build some of your puppies’ stats. You’ll need higher stats to take on more trail obstacles, giving the game a feeling of progression. Most stats go up passively as you walk too, so there’s no grinding to be done, and the ones that don’t can be leveled up by playing some of the minigames like stopping your puppy from barking. Heck, even petting them builds stats, because what is a pet sim if you can’t pet your little buddies?

As a whole, Little Friends: Puppy Island is cozy and enjoyable, but it’s not really a game that felt like it could be played for an extended period of time. It is very much a cozy, relax-and-unwind kind of game, or a game meant for younger kids who want to do all the things with all the puppies. I didn’t particularly dislike any part of it, but it didn’t take long to feel like it was getting repetitive. Playing for anything more than about 45 minutes to an hour almost made me think I was getting déjà vu. But, well, it’s definitely a comfy game that anyone looking for some downtime can enjoy in short spurts.

Little Friends: Puppy Island is available now on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

The post Review: Little Friends: Puppy Island Is Cozy, but Repetitive appeared first on Siliconera.

Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is the 16th game in the series, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. A lot of care was put into making it feel fresh and innovative while also keeping the core elements that have given the series such longevity. To get some insight into what sorts of changes were made and the work behind making them, Siliconera spoke to Michi Ryu, the game’s producer.

Adam Haffen: How long after the 2017 release of Nobunaga's Ambition: Taishi did development on Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening begin?

Michi Ryu: Soon after the release of Nobunaga's Ambition: Taishi, we had started working on it behind the scenes. This project officially began in 2020.

What is the most impactful change made to Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening and how does it set the game apart from previous entries in the series?

Ryu: The concept of this title, "living officers who think and act on their own", is the most impactful change. In the previous entries in the Nobunaga's Ambition series, officers acted only when the player gave them orders. In this title, officers are able to think and act on their own in various situations without orders.

In fact, we humans think and act on our own, don't we? The people in Japan's Warring States period would have acted without orders from daimyos as well, and we have tried to show that in the game.

As a result, the game has become a very lively creation, with various officers saying various things, and I think it has become a new Nobunaga's Ambition in which players work together with their officers rather than alone, to unify the country.

[caption id="attachment_974217" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Koei Tecmo[/caption]

How much research was done about Japan’s Warring States period in preparation for Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening? Was anything learned about the period that affected initial plans for the game?

Ryu: There was nothing new about the production process. However, as historical studies are made and new discoveries come out, we constantly check documents and books. and improved the expressions in the game based on the latest theories.

In addition, we planned the game based on not only new historical theories, but also around the evolution of game consoles. Thanks to the evolved hardware, we can have more approaches to create an original and realistic Warring States Japan in which each retainer thinks and acts on their own.

Which of the game’s three major systems (Dominion, War Tactics, and Battle) was most difficult to get working just right and why?

Michi Ryu: We had a lot of struggles with the "unification of daimyo and retainers". In Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening, we aim to show the theme of "living officers who think and act on their own", but it was difficult to decide to what extent retainers should act on their own. In fact, up until the middle of the development process, the retainers were too smart and they would expand their territory even if the player left them alone. That would be boring because there would be nothing for the players to do, right? It's not good to have officers who are too smart, but on the other hand, the player will be very stressed if we make officers stupid as well. It was very hard to balance (laughs). In the end, we thought out a solution, which is not to indicate what is right to do but to let the players decide.

[caption id="attachment_974215" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Koei Tecmo[/caption]

Did any major hurdles arise during the development of Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening? If so, how were they dealt with?

Ryu: One thing was that since the COVID pandemic happened right after the project launched, it was very hard for us to develop the game with an unfamiliar work style and structure. Not being able to casually exchange information with the team members brought much more difficulty than I had imagined, and I was reminded of the importance of communication (laughs). Chat tools became important in a flash, and we were able to move forward with more communication via video calls, which we didn't normally use before. Now I'm used to it and I think we've also returned to [our] way of working before the pandemic.

And the other thing is the realization of the unification of daimyo and retainers, which I answered in the previous question. Please read that one for more details (laughs).

Conversely, did anything come together easier than initially expected? In what way did it differ from how it was planned to go?

Ryu: Hmmm ... I'm not sure. I don't think anything came together easily (laugh). With all the parts, we made a prototype, reviewed it with the team, and made adjustments several times.

Are there any plans for the future of Awakening or the Nobunaga's Ambition series that you can talk about?

Michi Ryu: Unfortunately, there is nothing I can say at this moment. The Nobunaga's Ambition series celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and I believe it will continue to grow. On the other hand, to be honest, this title is still not well-known outside of Japan. I would like to develop it into a title that can be enjoyed globally, so I really hope that everyone would help to boost this title through the power of the media (laughs).

NOBUNAGA’S AMBITION: Awakening is available now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam.

The post Interview: How Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Builds on the Past Entries appeared first on Siliconera.

If you’re looking to play Blue Protocol, Bandai Namco offered some suggestions as for what devices and PCs to use. The company released a web page featuring recommended PC options and peripherals that will allow you to comfortably play the game. Currently, there are only four PCs and nine peripherals on the page, but that list is intended to grow.

In terms of Blue Protocol-capable PCs, Bandai Namco recommends the following:

• G-GEAR GA7A-A231B/BP
• GALLERIA ZA9R-79XT
• GALLERIA XA7R-R47
• ZEFT R56D

And the company’s suggested peripherals are:

• Logicool G502X PLUS mouse
• Logicool G502X Lightspeed mouse
• Logicool G502X mouse
• Logicool G304 mouse
• Logicool G913 keyboard
• Logicool G512 keyboard
• Logicool G733 headset
• Logicool G535 headset
• Logicool F310 controller

Blue Protocol is a free-to-play MMORPG from Bandai Namco. The game was released on June 14, 2023, in Japan, albeit with some server issues. The game will also receive a worldwide release, but before that, a closed beta test is going to be held. It will take place later this year and signups are currently open. However, signing up for the closed beta does not guarantee that you will be able to participate.

Blue Protocol is available now on Windows PCs in Japan and will release later on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The game’s worldwide release is slated for 2024.

The post Blue Protocol Gets List of Devices Recommended to Play On appeared first on Siliconera.

From tip to tail, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening requires strategy. Every aspect of the game was mine to control however I wished in an early preview build, including the time period I started in and the clan I played as. And every aspect requires you to think ahead and plan for all sorts of possibilities. It’s a game that really makes you flex your brainpower, which is fantastic for a strategy game, but it can also be a bit tough to get the hang of and follow.

To start off with, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening gives you a very information-heavy tutorial. You’re run through everything and shown text explaining how each new element works, so you’re definitely given plenty to help you out, but there is a lot to learn. There is a lot of info to absorb in a short period of time, and it almost felt overwhelming to keep track of it all. That said, it was nice to get everything I needed right up front, especially since much of the game feels like something you really need to play and figure out for yourself. The explainers help, but learning by doing is by far the best way to pick things up.

[caption id="attachment_969160" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

The reason for this is that Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening has three major gameplay systems: Dominion, War Tactics, and Battle. Each one has a lot of depth, and they require you to be tactical because they’re all interconnected. A great job was done with these systems both on an individual level and as a whole, but it does make for a lot to learn. The more I played, though in this early build, the easier it got. It took a while, but I eventually got things mostly figured out, and by then I found myself getting very engrossed in the game.

For example, the Dominion system has you managing all the territories under your control. By taking over a castle, which is done through the Battle system, you gain command over each of the several counties under that castle. Counties each have farms and fairs to take over, which increase your monthly crop and gold yields. Crops are your soldiers’ provisions and are necessary for when you march to battle against other daimyo, and gold helps with everything from taking over these farms and fairs to instituting Policies as part of the War Tactics system. Each county also needs to be assigned a land holder, and each of the many options will provide different benefits to their county as well as the castle it serves under.

[caption id="attachment_969161" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

What I found to be the most enjoyable part of my initial Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening experience was the Battle system. You control your army as you attempt to siege castles and fight against enemy regiments, and you really feel like you’re in the driver’s seat. Each of your battalions moves independently and at your discretion, with skirmishes taking place in real time. This gives you plenty of ways to approach a siege, with options like executing pincer attacks to give your side the upper hand and taking out important equipment and units to keep your company’s morale high. There are lots of ways to go about each battle, and everything happening in real time makes it feel like one of the most strategy-necessary parts of the game. You even get to take part in historical battles that actually took place during Japan’s Sengoku period, also known as the Warring States period, which is just plain neat.

One of my favorite little features in Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is the Proposal button. Trying to get the hang of things can be confusing, and since all you really get to work with is that your end goal is to take over all of Japan, you’re mostly left to your own devices. If that becomes a little too much, clicking the Proposal button will have one of your officers tell you what they believe to be the best course of action. The lack of direction otherwise provided is great for a strategy game like this, but having a completely optional way to get an idea of how best to move toward victory can be a massive help.

[caption id="attachment_969163" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot via Siliconera[/caption]

There’s a ton to like about Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening in its early hours. I felt like it started to offer me the freedom to play however you want, the multiple deep game elements that all tie together very well, and everything happening in real time make this game a fun and challenging experience. Learning the ropes is a bit difficult in the first few hours and takes some time to get a firm grasp of, but the more I played, the easier it got. You might even learn a little something about Japan’s history along the way.

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening releases for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam on July 20, 2023. Pre-orders are open.

The post Preview: Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Puts Your Skills to the Test appeared first on Siliconera.

Fractional Games’ Amnesia: The Bunker is terrifying. There's no two ways about it--it’s downright frightening. That’s just the way it should be. This is a game designed to scare you, and it does a great job of that. It wastes very little time getting you there too. You’re taught everything you need to know right out of the gate, then thrown directly into the thick of things.

Following a short tutorial-slash-story-lead-in area, you wake up in the titular bunker. It’s dark, it’s quiet, and you just know that something’s not right. A little looking around will net you a flashlight to help you see, a revolver with not a whole lot of bullets, and the knowledge of just what you need to do to get out. But you also encounter a man-killing beast that seems to have made its home in the bunker. It takes your friend, and chances are you’re next. The setup for just what brand of horror this game is going to bring is very quick and plenty creepy.

What really gives Amnesia: The Bunker its sense of creepiness, however, is the ambience. The game is in first-person perspective, so you can only see what’s directly in front of you. It’s also very dark outside of the little bit of light provided by your dynamo flashlight—the noise from which attracts the beast—and the difficult-to-keep-active generator, further limiting your vision. Even the setting itself, a World War I bunker, helps to create a sense of claustrophobia.

[caption id="attachment_966600" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

Then there’s the audio, which is by and large where the game excels. There’s little in the way of a soundtrack, which allows you to really focus on the noises both around you and coming from you. You’ll hear machinery running, the beast moving and even breathing in the walls, and hungry rats feeding on bodies. Your footsteps echo down the hallways, charging the dynamo flashlight risks calling the beast to you, and even just moving objects around creates noise. Sometimes you’ll accidentally step on a piece of wood or bump into a chair, and the sound of it will send your heart rate skyrocketing. At one point shortly after being left to my own devices, I remember hearing the beast snarl from very nearby. The sound of it, mixed with everything else going on around me, spooked me so bad that I immediately closed the game to catch my breath. It's just that well done. Sure, it’s more or less the type of sound design you’d expect from a horror game, but there’s definitely something to be said about really nailing down the basics and getting them really, really right. They’re the basics for a reason, after all.

The gameplay is another element that doesn’t try to do more than it has to. There are no fancy, over-the-top special mechanics, but there’s no need for them because that’s not the focus. You have controls for all your necessary functions, including a button dedicated to handling your flashlight and ways to peek around corners, and that’s about it. You’re given what you need and nothing more. Admittedly, though, I did find the controls to be a bit clunky and unwieldy. I get that they’re supposed to make you feel immersed, and to an extent they do, but I don’t know that I was ever able to open a door without a bit of a struggle. At times, they felt more frustrating than immersive.

[caption id="attachment_966602" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

The story in Amnesia: The Bunker also leaves something to be desired. It’s not particularly bad or anything, it just feels lacking. It’s told almost entirely through things like notes and photos scattered around the bunker, and through them, you piece together how it got into its current state. Yes, it’s a good and fitting way to tell the story here, but it could stand to be fleshed out a little more. It’s not strictly necessary since the story is very much not a focal point, but given how much this game values immersion, having that extra depth would really help on that front.

[caption id="attachment_966604" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

At its core, Amnesia: The Bunker is a game of trial and error. You will make mistakes, and you will be punished for doing so. But that’s exactly the point, and it’s part of what makes the game as good as it is. Rather than death itself, it’s the anticipation of it that makes you scared. You know the beast is near, and you know it’s coming, but you don’t know exactly when. Inevitably, you'll make a mistake, which is when the fear really kicks in. You’ll hear it. You’ll feel it in your gut. But you use it as a learning experience. You change up your tactics, explore a little more, and use hope you do better on your next attempt. And all the while, you know that you are very much in danger.

Amnesia: The Bunker exists for one purpose and one purpose only: to terrify you. It isn’t here to be groundbreaking, it isn’t here to flip any scripts, it’s just here to instill fear. And it does an incredible job of that. The stage is set from the second you’re left to your own devices, and it only gets worse as you progress. It’s the kind of game that makes you want to put on a pair of nice headphones and turn off the lights to immerse yourself, then make you regret that decision for all the right reasons. There’s definitely room to improve on certain things, particularly when it comes to the story and controls, but it’s a very solid game that any horror fan should play. If you’re looking for something that’ll scare you, you will absolutely find it here.

Amnesia: The Bunker is available for the PC.

The post Review: Amnesia: The Bunker Will Give You Nightmares appeared first on Siliconera.

Japanese gaming peripheral company Answer is set to release a Neon Genesis Evangelion fight stick soon. The company has partnered with esports brand EVANGELION e:PROJECT for the fight stick, which is styled after Evangelion Unit-01. It will be available to purchase at stores throughout Japan on June 1, 2023, for 32,780 yen (about $236). Pre-orders are available now on Answer’s website.

The fight stick, which is compatible with Windows 10/11 PCs as well as the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Switch, is colored black and purple. Its buttons and joystick are green, and the buttons have LEDs in them that can be turned on and off. Evangelion Unit-01 and the EVANGELION e:PROJECT logo are featured on the face plate, and it has a non-slip rubber mat on the bottom. It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Check out some images of the fight stick below:

[gallery columns="4" ids="964045,964046,964047,964048" link="file"]

A button on the front of the Evangelion fight stick allows for easy access to the internals, where there are color-coded wires for easy button replacement. Replacement buttons, a button replacement guide, a wire for connecting the fight stick to PCs and consoles, and a Phillips-head screwdriver can also be found inside.

Answer and EVANGELION e:PROJECT’s Evangelion-themed fight stick releases on June 1, 2023. The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime is streaming now on Netflix. Evangelion: Death(true)²—a summary of the TV anime—and The End of Evangelion are also available on Netflix. The series’ soundtrack can be listened to on Spotify.

The post An Evangelion Fight Stick Is Coming in June appeared first on Siliconera.

With The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom here, there’s no better time to talk about what is surely one of the most polarizing aspects of both it and Breath of the Wild: weapon durability. Some love it, others hate it, and maybe like three people are indifferent about it. Everyone’s got an opinion on the feature one way or another, and I will proudly say that I am firmly in the “love it” camp. In fact, I’m even looking forward to its inclusion in Tears of the Kingdom, especially with some of the changes shown off.

To be clear, I absolutely do not believe the durability system is perfect. I find that most, if not all, weapons break far too quickly and would love the damage warning to be given with more time before the actual breakage. There have been many times I’ve destroyed two, three, or even over four weapons in the process of beating a single enemy, who then only drops one new one. Of course, that’s to be expected when fighting certain foes, but against enemies like Bokoblins, it’s nothing if not irksome. So why do I think so highly of a system that I have several problems with, including some at the fundamental level? Because I wholeheartedly believe that the game and its themes benefit greatly from the inclusion of the durability system.

Exploration is incentivized

As The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is such a huge open-world game, exploring is a major aspect. Players are actively encouraged to do whatever they want whenever and however they want to do it. Naturally, this means that you can and should traverse the map. By making weapons breakable, they become yet another item that needs to be collected, which further encourages that exploration. You need weapons to get by in the game, and you need to explore to get weapons. Thus you are encouraged to travel the world to aid in your progression. A big part of all open-world games is going around discovering new things, and that is especially true for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, so giving players even more reason to do so by making weapons breakable adds to the enjoyment.

[caption id="attachment_962647" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

Concepts are built on

The entire premise of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is that Hyrule is destroyed. Ganon has all but won and the once-mighty kingdom is in ruins. Even the Guardians and Divine Beasts became tools for evil. The concepts of impermanence and destruction are prominent in the game, and weapons also following the trend of not lasting forever is just another (admittedly small) reminder of those concepts.

There's no shortage of weapons

A major criticism of weapon durability in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the constant need to find new weapons since they break so easily. It’s very fair since weapons certainly don’t take long to be destroyed, but it’s not like getting new ones is all that tough. Sure, maybe you won’t get another two-handed sword with 55 power anytime soon, but things like tree branches, soup ladles, and pot lids can fill the gap until you find a proper replacement. Breath of the Wild thrives on improvisation, and using whatever you can get your hands on is just another part of that.

[caption id="attachment_962648" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

In short, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s weapon durability system builds on many of the things the game sets out to accomplish. It gives players more reason to explore the massive open world, serves as a constant reminder of some of the game’s themes, and isn’t overly difficult to work with thanks to the abundance and variance of weapons. There’s room for improvement, but I think the game is far better off with it than it would be without it. I’m very excited for it to return in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and can’t wait to really feel the modifications made to it.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available on the Switch and Wii U, and Tears of the Kingdom is available on the Switch.

The post Breath of the Wild’s Durability System Is a Benefit, Not a Drawback appeared first on Siliconera.

After just three days, The Super Mario Bros. Movie pulled in more than 1.9 billion yen at the Japanese box office. This equates to $14.3 million USD. The movie, which topped the charts in the US for four weeks straight, earned over $1 billion worldwide. [Thanks, Oricon!]

Coinciding with the Japanese release, which happened on April 28, 2023, several North American theaters began holding special screenings of the movie's Japanese dub. A total of 10 theaters in the US and Canada offered showings, with initial times requiring knowledge of the language, as they did not have subtitles. That has since changed, however, as some theaters are still offering the Japanese dub but now with English subtitles.

Since its opening in over 60 markets on April 5, 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has been breaking box office records. It earned over $377 million worldwide in its first five days, giving it the most successful global opening for an animated movie ever. Additionally, it had the biggest Wednesday-Sunday opening in US/Canada history, earning more than $204 million domestically in that time. As far as international releases go, it had the best opening day for a Universal movie in Mexico, and for animated movies as a whole in Spain.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is available to watch now in theaters worldwide. Pre-orders for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copies are open at select retailers, though there is no release date for any of these yet.

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Hololive Alternative manga Holoearth Chronicles Side:E Yamato Phantasia's first volume will release soon in Japan. Specifically, it will come out on June 23, 2023, at a cost of 730 yen (about $5). Pre-orders are currently available on Toranoana and Melonbooks, and will open through other storefronts later. We don't know when it could appear worldwide, however English and Indonesian chapters are available online.

The volume’s cover illustration was released alongside the announcement, which you can check out in the tweet below:

https://twitter.com/hololiveALT/status/1651841226247933953

The Holoearth Chronicles Side:E Yamato Phantasia manga stars Hololive VTubers Shirakami Fubuki and Ookami Mio, and also features Nakiri Ayame. It is drawn by Kosuke Kurose, who also provides the art for the Goblin Slayer manga adaptation. The first chapter, Chapter 0, was released back in June 2021, and Chapter 1 was released in May 2022. The manga can be read in Japanese on Manga-Up and Holonometria, with the latter also offering English and Indonesian translations.

Fubuki, Mio, and Ayame will also take part in the upcoming Hololive Kanda Festival 2023. To celebrate the festival, special merchandise featuring the three VTubers, as well as nine others, wearing shrine maiden outfits will be available for purchase. The merchandise will be available from May 1 to May 21, 2023, or while supplies last.

Volume 1 of Holoearth Chronicles Side:E Yamato Phantasia, the Hololive Alternative manga, releases on June 23, 2023. Individual chapters can be read in Japanese, English, and Indonesian on Holonometria. It can also be read in Japanese on Manga-Up.

The post Hololive Alternative Yamato Phantasia Manga Volume 1 Releases in June appeared first on Siliconera.

Good Smile Company opened pre-orders for a figure of Vash from Trigun Stampede. Pre-orders are priced at 4,800 yen/$34.99 and are open until May 25, 2023. The figure is expected to release sometime in August 2023 in Japan and Q4 2023 in North America.

Images of the upcoming figure can be seen in the Good Smile Company Twitter account’s tweet below:

https://twitter.com/GoodSmile_US/status/1651787859139985410

The Vash figure is part of the Pop Up Parade series, which includes figures that are “easy to collect with affordable prices and speedy releases.” It stands approximately 125mm (about 5 inches) tall and features Vash in an action pose. He has one knee on the ground and is looking behind him, his gun at the ready. All the while, his coat is fluttering behind him.

Trigun Stampede is a reboot of the 1990s Trigun anime. It features many of the original series’ characters, with some having been given new designs. The “Final Phase” of Trigun Stampede has been announced, though no release date has been given. Crunchyroll has both series available to stream in full and has confirmed that it will also stream the reboot’s Final Phase when it releases.

The Pop Up Parade figure of Trigun Stampede’s Vash is available for pre-order on Good Smile Company’s website. Pre-orders will close on May 25, 2023, and the figure will release in August 2023 in Japan and Q4 2023 in North America.

The post Pre-Orders Open for Trigun Stampede Vash Pop Up Parade Figure appeared first on Siliconera.

The latest game in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, is getting a Switch release. Compile Heart announced that the spin-off will come to the Nintendo Switch on August 10, 2023. The game will have both a physical and digital release, and the standard edition will cost 8,580 yen, or about $64.

A trailer for the Switch version of the game was also released, which you can check out below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wCFtElhMgE

Outside of the standard version of Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, there will also be a special edition and a double pack. The special edition will come in a collector’s box and include a message from Nepgear, a visual book, and a soundtrack CD. This version will cost 12,100 yen, or about $90. Meanwhile, the double pack will include physical copies of both Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters and the upcoming Neptunia GameMaker R:Evolution, which also releases on August 10, 2023. The double pack will cost 12,870 yen, or about $96.

The Switch release of Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters will add some new elements to the game. The first of these new elements is that Maho and Anri will be playable, and can be added as party members from the very start of the game. The other addition to this version of the game is that Photo Mode is being expanded. This updated version lets players add cute frames to pictures of their characters. A manga-style filter, speech balloons, and dialogue stamps will also be available to add a unique flair to your photos.

In Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, Nepgear has just woken up from a two-year-long sleep to find that her home nation of Planeptune has fallen to a phenomenon called the Trendi Outbreaks. Using her powers, she must find her family and save the world before it’s too late.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters was first released in Japan in April 2022 for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam. An English version of the game was released on January 24, 2023, for the same platforms. The Nintendo Switch version releases in Japan on August 10, 2023. You can read Siliconera’s review of the game here.

The post Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters Comes to Switch This August appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix announced that the Dragon Quest X Offline expansion, The Sleeping Hero and the Guiding Ally, will release on May 26, 2023. The “extra-large expansion” will send players to the land of Rendashia and add Anlucia as a party member. It will be available at a cost of 4,400 yen (about $33). [Thanks, Famitsu!]

A new trailer was released alongside the announcement, which you can check out below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cPPO0VRA5w

According to Square Enix, The Sleeping Hero and the Guiding Ally expansion will be similar in size to the main game. It will also feature an original episode not found in Dragon Quest X Online, as well as introduce exclusive battle content. Players must complete the main story of Dragon Quest X Offline in order to access the contents of the expansion.

The original Dragon Quest X, an MMORPG, was released in early August 2012. Its offline counterpart, which lets those who would prefer not to play an MMO a chance to experience the story of Dragon Quest X, launched on September 15, 2022. It was initially planned for a February 2022 release but was hit with multiple delays.

Dragon Quest X Offline is available now in Japan for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam. The Sleeping Hero and the Guiding Ally expansion launches for all four platforms on May 26, 2023.

The post Dragon Quest X Offline Expansion Gets May Release Date appeared first on Siliconera.

New Hololive goods are coming, this time in celebration of Japan’s Kanda Festival. Beginning May 1, 2023, special merchandise featuring 12 of Hololive’s VTubers will be on sale at atré Akihabara. atré Akihabara will also be decorated for the event, and original music will be broadcast throughout the store. The merchandise will be available to purchase until May 21, 2023.

https://twitter.com/hololivetv/status/1647797356233121792

The VTubers involved in the Kanda Festival 2023 event and appearing on merchandise will be:

• Gawr Gura
• Himemori Luna
• Houshou Marine
• Kobo Kanaeru
• Kureiji Ollie
• Minato Aqua
• Nakiri Ayame
• Ninomae Ina’nis
• Ookami Mio
• Sakamata Chloe
• Sakura Miko
• Shirakami Fubuki

Each of the 12 VTubers received a new illustration of them wearing a shrine maiden outfit. T-shirts, acrylic figures, teacups, hand towels, tapestries, and more featuring these illustrations will be on sale at the Hololive Kanda Festival 2023 event. The T-shirts and tapestries will also have versions with the VTubers in their regular outfits.

The Kanda Festival is one of Tokyo’s three major Shinto festivals, taking place at Kanda Shrine. It celebrates Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory at the battle of Sekigahara in the year 1600. The festival takes place on the Saturday and Sunday closest to May 15 in every odd-numbered year.

Hololive's parent company, Cover, recently announced HololiveCity at Hololive Super Expo 2023. Not much info was given about the project, though a live performance from Hololive's 5th gen of VTubers will take place there.

The Hololive Kanda Festival 2023 event will take place from May 1 to May 21, 2023. Merchandise for the event will be available to purchase at atré Akihabara. Select merchandise will also go on sale at the Kanda Shrine beginning on May 11.

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More popular animal characters are coming to Sega Corporation’s lineup, as the company announced in a press release that it will acquire Rovio Entertainment Oyj. Sega offered to purchase all of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options, and Rovio’s board of directors accepted. The friendly takeover will cost Sega a total of EUR 706 million, or about $770 million. Things will begin on or around May 8, 2023.

Rovio is a game development company that primarily creates and publishes mobile games. Its largest and most well-known series is Angry Birds, which had its first game released in 2009. Collectively, Rovio games have been downloaded over 5 billion times.

This acquisition comes as part of Sega’s goal to “further strengthen its position in this fast-growing mobile and global gaming market.” Per an October 2022 IDG Report, the mobile gaming market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5% from 2022 to 2026, with mobile gaming expected to represent 56% of the overall global gaming market. Sega believes that Rovio will be helpful in developing mobile and multi-platform versions of its existing IPs.

Currently, Sega is working with NieR creator Yoko Taro on a mobile game called 404 Game RE:SET. It will feature human versions of classic Sega games that cause trouble for the world around them after being turned evil. Players are tasked with purifying these characters in order to save the world.

Sega’s acquisition of Rovio will officially begin when its offer commences on or around May 8, 2023. The three-quarter-billion-dollar deal will give Sega at least 90% of all shares in Rovio.

The post Sega to Acquire Angry Birds Creator Rovio Later This Year appeared first on Siliconera.