Asur and his family are getting by, farming in Crown Nation. Life isn’t easy. In addition to the monsters roaming around, they need to deal with the mercurial Lord Taishakuten who rules over everything from Meru Sprite, with his Four Heavenly King and their Inquisitors demanding taxation and fealty under the threat of death. His elder brother left in the hopes of becoming a monster tamer and finding something better. He Dyeus returns one evening to talk with his brother about the state of the world and warn him an even greater danger lurks. After putting him through some tamer training, Inquisitor Nefer captures him for sedition and treason. Not willing to stand by, Asur takes his savings and heads out to become the kind of tamer who can rescue his brother and fight back against Inquisitors, Heavenly Kings, and Taishakuten himself. 

Honestly, I’d say the narrative in Monster Crown: Sin Eater is stronger in this sequel to a point, at which point the fact that it does open up means things get a little more loose in the game. In addition to flat out explaining things, Studio Aurum also uses environmental storytelling like destroyed regions and towns to paint a picture of what cyclical violence and oppressive rule has done to Crown Nation. It’s a dark game! While there is hope in the idea that Asur might be able to make life better with his choices, there may be times when you won’t know if it’s even possible to break the cycle. However, it is interesting getting through things along the way, and the fact we can make decisions about factions we do or don’t associate with as we help Asur pursue his goals. It feels very open-ended. However, keep in mind that this isn’t a happy world, so even the “right” answer will probably be morally ambiguous at best and bad in another way at worst.

Which is a bit of a double-edged sword. When you start in Windy Province, things in Monster Crown: Sin Eater feel rather structured. But once you are done there and able to start heading to Desperado Province, Frost Province, and Scarred Province, the lack of structure can hurt things on many levels. From the very start, this is a pretty hands-off game. I felt a bit like it assumed I was familiar with the original or the genre in general. 

While the game balance in the original Monster Crown could skew toward things being a little unreasonable sometimes, Monster Crown: Sin Eater sort of goes in the opposite direction. Yes, you can choose from three difficulties at the start, with one being a “story” option that’s more forgiving. In the first area, getting past the first boss and opening up the world further can feel a little tough. However, the fact that this is a more freeform experience with an open world type of approach, works against it regardless of the difficulty you chose after Windy Province. If you grind too much, it immediately becomes too easy after surpassing that first challenge. Combine that with the breeding mechanic allowing you to create super-powered monsters out of any character, and you’ll definitely hit a point at which little poses a challenge anymore. 

Speaking of the monsters, Studio Aurum does its best to make them interesting and building them up appealing in Monster Crown: Sin Eater. There are fewer typings than Pokemon, since you only need to worry about Will, Brute, Malicious, Unstable, and Relentless type creatures and attacks. Will bests Brute, Brute is strong against Malicious, Malicious will be more harmful to Unstable, Unstable is best against Relentless, and Relentless can top Will. All of them have an innate positive and negative trait, which affect the combat. There is a transformation element, which changes their stats, appearance, and capabilities. You can breed two together, affecting the move list and appearance of the resulting creature. You can fuse two, but I honestly didn’t appreciate that as much due to the costs involved (both losing the original two monsters and monetary), even though it did give me a battle-ready character with genomes I could influence. 

This system has positives and negatives. The good is that any monster can be viable either via training or the breeding and fusion systems. You just aim for the typing, moves, and stats you want and keep grinding. The downside is, I didn’t feel the same connections to characters on my team as I did in games like Pokemon, Digimon, and Dragon Quest Monsters. When anyone can basically become all powerful or anything, everything can bleed together a bit. The variety with sprites is interesting and there’s a lot of creativity, but it can all come down to what’s most effective and powering through with it. 

The fact that it can become so easy to grind your way to success and great movesets also can result in combat becoming bland after going through about two regions. The turn-based system is fine. So is the handling of typing. But you pretty much know what moves to pick to win every battle once you get characters to a point. 

You can immediately see where Studio Aurum learned from past mistakes in Monster Crown: Sin Eater. This isn’t to say the experience is perfect now. But it is far stronger than the previous game in many ways. With the feedback the team will likely get from this entry and a little fine-tuning, I could see a third entry turning into something special. 

Monster Crown: Sin Eater is available on the Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. 

The post Review: Monster Crown: Sin Eater Improves on the Original appeared first on Siliconera.

Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for the third volume of the Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian manga below.

Basically, we’re presented with three people who are all envious and jealous for different reasons in the third volume of the Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian manga. The obvious one is Alya herself. She’s jealous of the closeness between Yuki and Masachika. As far as she knows, that’s his childhood friend. Yuki, however, is actually Masachika’s little sister, and we see shades of jealousy from her due to his interest in Alya. Finally, there’s Masachika himself, who shockingly seems envious of Alya. 

Now, in two of these situations the cause for jealousy is fairly obvious. As early volumes of the Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian manga establish, she has a crush on Masachika. We see her and him both sort of cherish the moments they do get to experience together. By the third volume, she’s starting to feel like perhaps those mean something and as though they are letting each other in. When Yuki comes up and Alya sees Masachika listening to her requests, engaging in positive reactions with her, and sharing memories, it’s a trigger! She’s envious! She thought she knew him best! We see these funny reactions when this new girl starts goading her. So much so that she does things like eat ramen that’s far too spicy for her in order to prove herself and keep up.

In the case of Yuki, it’s a little more subtle. But basically, she’s envious too due to the loss of the relationship she once had with Masachika. Due to their family situation, he’s not acknowledged or even recognized as her brother anymore. On the record, there are no ties. It’s clear she misses that, given how she brings up memories, finds ways to still sneak by and visit her brother, and wedges her way in between him and Alya. While in the manga it’s depicted more as teasing, there’s that undercurrent of her being jealous of the situation.

But the really interesting part comes from Masachika’s side of things. He not only has romantic feelings for Alya. He’s also incredibly impressed by her and her passion for things. He’s envious of how “dazzling” and “passionate” she is. Especially given his past with his family and sister. When talking to her about why she wants to be student council president and she says it is because that is what she wants, he watches. And he goes over in his head what he thinks of her and how he admires her, and that closes out with him thinking, “She’s incredible… I really envy her…”

Envy and jealously aren’t necessary bad things, as they’re natural emotions, and we see how they come up for many characters in the Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian manga. Sometimes, the feeling can be tied to wishing to be the one closest to someone else. Or it could be about wanting to prove yourself. But in other cases, it can be about admiring certain traits or elements of a person and wishing you had that same drive. 

Volumes 1-3 of the Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian manga are available now via Yen Press, and there’s no release window for the fourth one yet. Yen Press also handles the light novel and audio book adaptations. The anime is streaming on Crunchyroll. 

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The post Volume 3 of the Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian Manga Deals With Envy appeared first on Siliconera.

Makoto is in town for a week before classes start, but she’s not relaxing. Instead, she’s doing her Aunt Hina a favor. She’s temporarily filling in at the Honki Ponki convenience store. It’s a small town and it’s not very busy, meaning she can spend her nights taking her time and getting to know the people who come in the late evening and early morning. By getting to know them, she’ll come to understand why this place and position is so special to Hina. At the same time, it shows how important the services it and its employees provide can be. 

Since this is more of a temporarily life sim and experience with visual novel elements, InKonbini: One Store Many Stories is a game that feels like it’s about the vibes and existing in the moments. Every shift begins with Makoto thinking a bit about the current situation and evening. Perhaps she’ll get nostalgic about things. Maybe she’ll contemplate the weather. In some cases, you’ll have time to set up and check out the store before it opens. This allows you to see notes and instructions left by folks on the day shift, restock shelves, add to existing delivery orders, and rearrange things that got misplaced during the day. You can also check out little elements in the store and staff room, which might lead to finding little insights and secrets.

Once a shift begins, it isn’t as though folks will constantly be coming in to buy things. That’s when InKonbini: One Store Many Stories feels most like a visual novel. Someone comes in, and walking up to them triggers a greeting. Maybe a callback to a past conversation. They’ll then amble around the store, occasionally asking you to find a product or make a recommendation. This means checking items in sections or storage and reading decisions to make an informed choice. They might also bring up something about themselves, leading you to offer some insight or an opinion that might determine what they do next. You then ring them up when they’re done, scanning each item and handing out proper change. (Don’t forget Satoshi wants his in 25 yen coins for the capsule machine!) Once that’s done, you wait until the next visitor or two stops by and your shift ends. 

I mentioned earlier that InKonbini: One Store Many Stories is a game in which it feels like consequences don’t apply to you, and I think that’s one of its weakest elements. Especially considering it is more about the vibes and experience than actively managing a shop. When you start the game, the first evening involves an explanation about an employee handbook, paying attention to post-it notes from other staff members, and restocking. The thing is that in practice, none of that matters. Did you not grab the exact item somebody wanted? They’ll be fine, take what they’re given, and their story advances anyway. I didn’t move the ice cream that was incorrectly placed because I wasn’t aware that, oh right, I could put it in the storage freezer? It wasn’t wasted. There’s a warning about a specific customer giving a cat milk? I can’t tell the person who is going to buy it, “DON’T GIVE YOUR CAT MILK.” At one point I forgot to move products on sale to the sale shelf, but I still got a message the next morning saying I did a good job of doing that and they sold out.

Touching on that point, the nature of InKonbini: One Store Many Stories also made it feel like sometimes there would be elements that would be used more often, but weren’t. They’d come up once or twice, then fade away. If this was a game with an endless mode to it after the original story mode, I could understand that choice. But why even call attention to a concept or element if it won’t matter? Or bring up the idea of doing something like, say, placing an order over the phone when I’d get the extra milk needed whether or not I did it? Was it a bug or genuine example of things not really mattering in the grand scheme of things?

Speaking of bugs, another odd issue would come up in the Switch version of InKonbini: One Store Many Stories. Sometimes, text responses in conversations would all appear black. Which you’d take to mean you hadn’t said any of them yet. But sometimes, these were in a darker orange as though they’d already been selected even though I’d never chosen any of those responses before.

The thing is that if you don’t let the fact that your actions seem to carry no weight sometimes, InKonbini: One Store Many Stories is a lovely and relaxing little game. The products all look good on the shelves, and there’s a lot of detail put into packaging to make them look like what they are or reference. Organizing shelves is soothing. Especially since we can take as much time as we want ensuring they look how we want since the story won’t advance until we interact with customers. (And they will patiently wait for us.) I really enjoyed the product recommendation element and seeing people’s responses. (Especially since they won’t get mad.) It’s almost a meditative experience. 

That said, it’s so enjoyable that I wished InKonbini: One Store Many Stories ended up being a longer game. It’s pretty short, and I’m pretty sure I was done between six and seven hours. (You know how it can be difficult to tell exact timing on the Switch sometimes.) What’s here feels solid and tells a distinct story. However, I can’t help feeling like there’s still room for more of Makoto’s story. Especially as we see her thoughts and feelings about working at the store evolve. Not to mention the gameplay loop is enjoyable and frankly, I sort of felt like I didn’t get enough time to mess around more with it. Once I was done, I found myself feeling like the campaign felt like an introduction to a more open-ended experience where we could endlessly clock in, organize the store, and perhaps help nameless individuals or ones with the existing character models with no story attached to them every evening.

While InKonbini: One Store Many Stories is pleasant, I wish there was more impact associated with some of my actions. It is very much about the vibes of working at a desolate convenience store in a small town filled with warm people. However, I’m not sure if it was tied to bugs or the idea of ensuring every shift is comfortable, but it seemed actions made during my shift often didn’t matter or like knowledge I had and certain situations never took effect in certain situations. I suppose I would have liked a little more agency, not to mention more time engaging in certain sorts of assignments in that role. 

InKonbini: One Store Many Stories is available on the Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. 

The post Review: InKonbini Is More of an Experience Than a Simulation appeared first on Siliconera.

Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for the first few episodes of the Witch Hat Atelier anime adaptation below.

A perfect example is the impetus for everything. Qifrey happens to pass by and visit Coco and her mom, and she sees him performing magic after promising she’d keep anyone from watching. This leads her to realize that spells are accomplished with art, and she realizes she could perform the magic in a book she got from an unknown witch. It’s incredibly promising, heartening, and hopeful! Good for Coco! She might get to achieve her dream of being a witch!

Except it doesn’t go that way. The spell leaves her mother and the shop they live in encased in crystals. We see everything happen. The only reason Coco survives is Qifrey was around when she was tracing the spell from the book, and he immediately grabbed her and flew the both of them out of the house and out of range. It’s then that he reveals special ink and drawing casting seals are the only things needed to perform magic, which is why people in possession of those spells keep it so secret, and states he’ll need to erase her memories.

It’s such a complex moment. We’ve seen Qifrey be kind before and helpful. But in this moment, he’s strict and commanding. He seems adamant about following protocol and erasing her memories, but when he realizes keeping them intact and her close could help with his pursuit of the Brimmed Cap and goals, he doesn’t. Meanwhile, there’s this desperation and despair on Coco’s part. She’s responsible for what happened to her mother and home. She’s faced with forgetting everything. But instead, her punishment for her knowledge and actions is getting what she once wanted most. She’s becoming a witch.

In the Witch Hat Atelier manga, Kamome Shirahama never shies away from the upsides and downsides of it. We’re always presented with how positive the experience could be for Coco and the things magic can accomplish, but also see how things like abuse and bullying can remain present. When Qifrey brings her to the atelier, gives her a brief history of things, and helps her settle in, it seems very calming. Except Agott does not take to her well and bullies her with a “test.” 

It almost feels like there’s this purposeful balance of emotions in these early episodes of Witch Hat Atelier. There’s an introduction of some magical element. Perhaps a challenge. We see Coco find support, either through her Qifrey and fellow students, or draw upon her own memories and insights to power through. We get more glimpses into the magical community, seeing reassuring and supportive folks like Qifrey and Olruggio, while also conflicts that can come from threats of memory erasure, the Knights Moralis, and Brimmed Caps. Life isn’t all good. It isn’t all easy. But it also isn’t all bad, and sometimes amazingly wonderful things can happen. 

It’s that careful balance that makes the Witch Hat Atelier anime feel like it’s perfectly matching the beats, tone, and critical elements of the manga. This series really feels like it’s capturing the life of a young witch as she’s stepping into the world of magic, both for better and for worse. When creating the series, Kamome Shirahama understood how to maintain tension and show how critical things are while still including enough happy and relaxed moments to keep things, in a way, true to life. I can only hope the rest of the season maintains this sort of pacing and execution. 

Kodansha handles the Witch Hat Atelier manga outside Japan, and season one of the anime adaptation is streaming on Crunchyroll. 

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The post The Witch Hat Atelier Anime Adaptation Matches the Manga’s Highs and Lows    appeared first on Siliconera.

Mercari put out a statement on May 7, 2026 that it will not allow listings of the Chiikawa McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. This is to ensure that the trading environment on the site is safe and secure. Accounts that continuously put up such illegal listings will be punished. The ban on the Chiikawa toys will last until June 14, 2026, though it can last longer at Mercari’s discretion.

Yahoo Auctions will also not allow listings of the McDonald’s Chiikawa toys. Like Mercari, it will punish anyone who breaks this rule. Yahoo explains that the toys, like the similarly restricted Nintendo Switch 2 console, are items with a lot of attention on them, so there’s a lot of risk of rocketing prices or hoarding. Unlike Mercari, Yahoo Auctions did not state when it will lift the restrictions on listings of the toys.

Scalpers of limited collectible items or merchandise have been a headache for corporations and collectors alike. In 2023, The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam had to cancel a limited-edition card of Pikachu in the style of Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat. Scalpers had bought large quantities of the cards and resold them, upselling them for as much as $100 per card.

The McDonald’s Chiikawa collaboration will start in Japan on May 15, 2026, and it’ll end on June 11, 2026.

The post McDonald’s Japan Chiikawa Happy Meal Toys Can’t Be Resold on Some Sites appeared first on Siliconera.

Our favorite of the bunch might be Plyuk. It’s a traversal puzzle game in the vein of BoxBoy!, built around the idea of spawning clones. You can’t jump, and you can’t take actions. All you can do is spawn a clone below you. Sound simple? It is, in its way. But you also have to figure out the order of things, properly manage your limit of clones in a level and avoid blocking your way with your own clones. (I do wish restarting the level was mapped to Select instead of Start, though. I know there’s no reason to pause this game, but it’s still muscle memory and I accidentally restarted a few times.)

Rocket Panda definitely draws the eye in the collection, a colorful mascot game that even has its own theme song with lyrics. So how does it play? It’s a refreshingly accessible game that uses one button and the D-pad, as you rocket around the level, rescue caged badgers and avoid enemies and obstacles. The music is… shall we say, unapologetically Genesis? Otherwise, there’s not a lot to dislike! Heck, there’s even a version of Asteroids added as a mini-game for whatever reason.

Flap Happy is a “black box”-style NES arcade platformer, using Joust-esque flapping controls to land on a two-square platform. Once you do, a new platform appears, and when you’ve completed a set, you then have to navigate to the exit. The walls and moving hazards make this genuinely difficult, and even on Easy, you’ll have to land somewhere with literally no headroom from time to time. (It goes all the way up to Hardest, which is truly no joke.)

Similar in appeal but different in execution is fellow Mega Cat Studios release Machine Cave. It uses flight physics rather than flapping, and an interconnected world rather than single-screen challenges. Still, it’s an NES game for fans of weird and temperamental movement. Its small scale gives you lots of vision of your surroundings, making it actually somewhat forgiving in its way.

Genesis platform puzzler Gravibots uses gravity swaps and collectible tools to guide enemies into their deaths. It’s a bit Lemmings, a bit ChuChu Rocket! and a lot Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and the mix works well. The aesthetic matches cleanly, and the pace to get back into the action after a failure makes it much easier to keep playing. GunTneR is an 8-bit scrolling shooter from the days before there were so many enemies on the screen that I couldn’t keep up. It brings in some more modern influences, but also mixes in flourishes that are decidedly of the early and mid-’80s.

Also included in Mega Cat Studios Collection 3 are Link’s Awakening-inspired Game Boy title Kudzu, ghost minotaur NES platformer The Meating, Game Boy Color RPG Gumball in Trick-or-Treat Land and SNES tag game Super Fanger.

The Evercade library also expanded with these three recent releases:

Taito Arcade 3

We love Taito’s robust presence on the Evercade. This new cart includes Cameltry, a fun ball-and-maze game that hasn’t been fully replicated elsewhere, and the excellent Puzzle Bobble that we’re always happy to carry around with us. This batch is all over the place in Taito’s arcade history, so there’s early stuff like Qix and Lunar Rescue alongside ‘90s releases. We know they do this to get everybody buying every cartridge (and maybe spread out licensing costs), but it’d still be nice for each batch to have its own era and vibe.

The Turrican Collection

The Turrican games are known for white-knuckle action and pushing technical limits, building a reputation among enthusiasts for both that has to some degree failed to spread more widely. It’s a good fit for the Evercade platform, though you do bypass a bit of the impressive hardware optimization aspect. This collection augments the original releases with “Director’s Cut” and score attack builds, leaning further into its existing fans with more ways to keep pushing and playing. It’s delightfully thorough!

Activision Collection 2

It’s hard to generate too much excitement for yet another re-release of Activision’s Atari 2600 games, but there are some nice inclusions here for fans of the era. Like Pitfall II: Lost Caverns? Or the bizarre Plaque Attack? And there are also some titles from the console’s later era that people may have missed when they released. Still, some of these 15 games are perplexing inclusions. Like why would anyone boot up Checkers at this point?

The latest Evercade cartridges are available now. For more on the platform and its releases, check out our Evercade archive.

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Here’s the full Genshin Impact teaser art the KFC Japan account shared, with the silhouette for Alhaitham on the left and the Kaveh one on the right. Their identities are most obvious by their hairstyles. Alhaithham’s two strands of hair at the top of his head are very identifiable, as is the feather on the left side of Kaveh’s head. To help compare, I included the official character art HoYoVerse shared for each of them on either side of the teaser. I also included the 2025 Chinese event art that HoYoVerse and KFC shared on BiliBili. 

Prior to this event, we’ve seen the Genshin Impact KFC event appear in other places in Asia like China. The first one featured Diluc and Noel. In-game, we ended up seeing the Wings of Feasting glider skin and recipes for KFC-inspired foods like Golden Chicken Burger, Golden Fried Chicken, and Fragrant Mashed Potatoes. Another run had Lyney and Lynette as featured characters. Not to mention the Chinese event with Alhaitham and Kaveh. 

So far, we’ve yet to see KFC in North America hold an event tied to the game. However, HoYoVerse has made the limited in-game items from these crossovers appear via things like Twitch and Razer Gold events. 

Genshin Impact is available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices, and the KFC event with Alhaitham and Kaveh is heading to Japan.

The post Genshin Impact KFC Japan Event Will Star Alhaitham and Kaveh appeared first on Siliconera.

Editor’s Note: There will be no story spoilers for Granblue Fantasy Relink or the updated Endless Ragnarok release below.

We encounter Gallanza as a boss before Maglielle in the original Granblue Fantasy Relink game, as he shows up in the fourth chapter. His trailer here shows him swinging his polearm to attack. While he usually uses it for slices in the examples here, we also see him use it to stab as he charges forward or leaps from above to attack enemies below. 

Here’s his first trailer:

In the original game, Maglielle comes up a bit after him, as she isn’t encountered until the sixth chapter. While Gallanza gets up close and personal with attacks, she attacks from a distance. She sends out blades to attack. However, for her Symphony Superior move, she brings in other sorts of weapons like a hammer and gun too. 

You can see what she can do below.

Granblue Fantasy Relink: Endless Ragnarok will come to the Switch 2, PS4, PS5, and PC on July 9, 2026.

The post Gallanza and Maglielle Will Be Playable in Granblue Fantasy Relink: Endless Ragnarok appeared first on Siliconera.

Here’s the full track listing for all the Star Fox Switch 2 soundtrack songs on Nintendo Music. There are no spoilers in the track names. Also, in app, there are images assigned to each song that offer an idea of when we’ll hear them in the game.

1. “Title Theme”
2. “Opening Theme”
3. “Corneria”
4. “Star Map”
5. “Meteo”
6. “Area 6”
7. “Star Wolf’s Theme”
8. “Main Menu”
9. “Venom Incident”
10. “Mission Accomplished”

This also means we get to see the album cover for the soundtrack for the Switch 2 Star Fox game, which includes better look at the updated art for the four main characters. From left to right, we can see how Star Fox Team members Falco Lombardi, Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad will look.

Star Fox is heading to the Switch 2 and will release on June 25, 2026, and 10 songs from the soundtrack are now on Nintendo Music for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers with the Android and iOS app.

The post Star Fox Switch 2 Soundtrack Songs Already on Nintendo Music appeared first on Siliconera.

Here’s the full “Frozen Tundra Shrouded in Wind and Snow” Snezhnaya Genshin Impact trailer. It begins by showing one of the trains we’ll be traveling on through the region, before showing the Traveler going through other areas and utilizing other traversal methods to get around. We also get a look at a possible new costume for them at the end. 

As for what’s going on in Luna VII, we know more about what to expect. The story will bring us back to Sumeru, with Collei being one of the featured characters. The first banners available at launch will be the new five-star Nicole one and a Durin rerun, and Prune will join the general pool as a four-star during those banners and be a focus unit there. The second part of the update will add the five-star Lohen on one banner and bring back Mavuika for the other. The five-star Angelos’ Heptades is Nicole’s unique weapon, which will appear on a banner in the first part, while the five-star Disaster and Remorse polearm is Lohen’s featured weapon in the second half. The two new Artifact sets we’ll be able to earn will be Celestial Gift and Disenchantment in Deep Shadow. While Nicole won’t get her own unique Story Quest yet, Lohen’s Lepus Miles Chapter: Act 1 will appear. Meanwhile, Prune will be tied to a Phantasmal Pals event that will take part during this version. Trials of the Brave Warrior and Kaleidoscopic Color Chase will show up during this version too.

You can see the trailer for Truth Amongst the Pages of Purana below.

There’s an event preview video too.

Here’s the full Genshin Impact Luna VII Special Program video.

Genshin Impact is available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices, Luna VII will arrive on May 20, 2026, and the Snezhnaya region will arrive later in 2026. 

The post Genshin Impact Luna VII Special Program Included Snezhnaya Preview appeared first on Siliconera.

The first trailer shows exactly what to expect. This is a more active experience. Leon can pick Enhancer Abilities to affect his attacks during each run. What you do is go through areas we visit during the actual game’s campaign, and there will be tons of enemies going toward you. It’s up to the players’ skill and Enhancer choices to get Leon through it and to each boss. Five different difficulty options are available to choose from when you start a run.

As for the Leon Must Die Forever mode shirts on Amazon Merch on Demand, the new Resident Evil Requiem items are available in t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, and pullover hoodies. Different color options are available to choose from, and there are unisex sizes. Here’s how those look:

Like the Monster Hunter Stories 3 Amazon Merch on Demand shirts, we’ll see these Capcom items everywhere.

Resident Evil Requiem is available on the Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Leon Must Die Forever mode patch is live now. 

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Depending on the regions, the price increases on the Switch and Switch 2 seem rather universal. In the US and Canada, the price goes up by about $50 for each system. In Europe, it’s a €30 increase. Like I mentioned earlier, all those changes happen on September 1, 2026. In Japan, the cost of each system seems to be going up around ¥10,000. That’s happening sooner on May 25, 2026.

Here’s the full list of all the price changes:

• Canada:
  • Nintendo Switch 2 goes from CAD$629.99 to CAD$679.99.
• Europe:
  • Nintendo Switch 2 goes from €469.99 to €499.99.
• Japan:
  • Nintendo Switch goes from ¥32,978 to ¥43,980.
  • Nintendo Switch Lite goes from ¥21,978 to ¥29,980.
  • Nintendo Switch OLED goes from ¥37,980 to ¥47,980.
  • Nintendo Switch 2 Japanese-Language System goes from ¥49,980 to ¥59,980.
• US:
  • Nintendo Switch 2 gos from $449.99 to $499.99.

With Nintendo Switch Online, only the Japanese price changes. In each case, it will cost a few hundred yen more. For example, a 12-month individual standard membership will be ¥3,000 after the change and a family one will be ¥5,800, whereas previously they were ¥2,400/¥4,500. NSO with Expansion Pack will be ¥5,900 for 12 months for one person and ¥9,900 for 12 months for a family. That price goes up July 1, 2026.

As for the playing cards, Hanafuda cards, and Kabufuda cards, Nintendo blamed “increased material prices.” There are no revised prices for them yet. In Japan, the Nintendo Standard Playing Cards and Character Playing Cards based on Kirby, The Legend of Zelda, Splatoon, and Super Mario will be affected. So will the Daitoryo Hanafuda and Kabufuda, Mario Hanafuda, Marufuku Tengu, and Miyako no Hana ones. That starts on May 25, 2026.

The Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 prices will go up in the US and Canada on September 1, 2026. 

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Not much detail has been available as of the initial reveal. The committee has so far revealed that it will hold the exhibit featuring art by the late creator, who died in July 2022, in Winter 2026. However, it added that it has no plans to hold a tour, so this exhibit will just be a one-time event in Tokyo.

The committee is working with the editor team of V Jump, the manga magazine that has also been hosting the Yu-Gi-Oh manga series, to run this exhibit. It will also sell exclusive merchandise with support from e-plus, Toppan, and Kaiba Corporation Store.

Shunsuke Kazama and Kenjiro Tsuda, the respective Japanese voice actors behind Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba in the Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Monsters anime, have also sent messages expressing their anticipation for the upcoming exhibit.

The Yu-Gi-Oh Art Works exhibit featuring Kazuki Takahashi’s art will appear in Winter 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. The production committee will publish more details about this exhibit in late August 2026.

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Best Console for Mother’s Day

I’m going to call it and say the Nintendo Switch 2 is the way to go. There are enough firmware patches to ensure the battery life is a bit better. It’s the most affordable current generation system at the moment, which is critical considering the cost of living increases. It’s also the sort of system that you can play alone or other others (like family members) or at home or on the go (like if you’re traveling this summer or kiddos are using the TV). There’s also still the Switch 2 bundle available that gives you it and a copy of Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 for $499.99 on Amazon.

Best Single-Player Games for Mom

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC) – Given FFVII Rebirth is headed to the Switch 2 and Xbox Series X this summer, giving your mother figure the gift of getting caught up with Cloud and his crew’s start in Midgar in this action-RPG could be a good idea. Especially since the Switch 2 and Xbox Series X versions of this game only just debuted in January 2026 too, there’s even a chance she doesn’t own it yet. You can usually find a copy for between $29.99 and $39.99.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Switch, Switch 2, PS5, PC) – For someone who’s a more casual player, the Hello Kitty take on the Animal Crossing formula could be a good idea. She’d be able to make a custom avatar, set up visitor cabins, and befriend Sanrio mascots. There’s even some multiplayer options. That’s $39.99. And if the mother figure in your life does already own the game, there are also the new, paid $14.99 Wheatflour Wonderland and $24.99 City Town expansions to pick up for her. 

InKonbini: One Store Many Stories (Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC) – This is a short, relaxing game about running the night shift in a small Japanese convenience store. The management element isn’t stressful. You don’t need to worry too much about restocking. It’s more about getting to know customers and savoring quiet moments. You can get it via digital storefronts for $24.99. 

Mewgenics (PC) – This is one of the best games of 2026 so far! It’s a hefty roguelike strategy game about breeding up cats to send off on dungeon runs for glory. And hopefully also great traits you can pass down to new cats so you can do it again. There are hundreds of hours of gameplay to this, so it’s well worth the $29.99.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection (Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC) – While there isn’t a new Pokemon-styletraditional JRPG out yet in 2026, Monster Hunter Stories 3 sort of fills that niche with its collecting of classic characters from the mainline series. It’s also going to be getting paid and free updates, to add to its longevity. That’ll be $69.99.

Pokemon Pokopia (Switch 2) – While there is a multiplayer element to Pokemon Pokopia, in that you can maintain Cloud Islands with other people or invite people over, the main campaign is a solo experience. You help a Ditto restore areas after all the humans disappeared, bringing different Pokemon back via building up the habitats where they’d want to live. You can play at your own pace, but it’s also huge and easy to get invested in it. That costs $69.99.

Resident Evil Requiem (Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC) – Don’t think mother figures just want light, breezy games or something casual. They can be real badasses! Resident Evil Requiem is the latest entry in the long running horror and action series, with the Leon S Kennedy parts featuring more active gunplay and Grace Ashcroft segments calling back to classic environmental and thoughtful thriller segments. That’s out for $69.99.

Best Games for Playing with Others

Bluey the Videogame (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC) – If a mother figure has some young kids around and wants a game that could be a gift for them too, going with one of the already available Bluey games could be a good idea. The one includes local multiplayer, quests, minigames, and ways to play together as different characters. You can usually find it for around $19.99.

FFXIV (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC) – There’s so much game to this Final Fantasy MMORPG, and Square Enix is constantly updating and adding to it. There are loads of changes planned for 6.0 and the upcoming Evercold expansion, so getting your mother figure the base game and some of the more recent add-ons like Dawntrail could be great. If she’s already a subscriber, you could get her one of the time cards for $29.99. You could also get her an IOU for a copy of the Switch 2 version coming in August 2026. The Complete Edition with Dawntrail would be $59.99. 

Super Mario Bros Wonder Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabell Park (Switch 2) – This is a solid pick since it gives a mom, grandma, aunt, or guardian a solid platformer they can play on their own. But if someone else stops by, you can have them join in for local cooperative multiplayer to get through stages or to play in the new Meetup in Bellabell Park minigames added for this release. It costs $79.99.

Mother’s Day is May 10, 2026.

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The short statement made it clear that Atari only owns the intellectual property rights to the first five Wizardry games. These are: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1981), Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds (1982), Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn (1983), Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna (1987), and Wizardry V: Heart of the Malestrom (1988). Atari acquired these, as well as other related intellectual property and rights, from the original rights holder. However, Drecom still owns and manages the Wizardry trademark worldwide.

The Wizardry series comprises eight mainline titles, as well as multiple spin-offs. The most recent titles are from Japanese producers. Wizardry Variants Daphne came out in 2024 for mobile devices, and Wizlite: Everybody loved RPGs came out later the same year on the PC.

While Atari now owns the rights to the first five Wizardry games, Drecom still owns the rights to the IP as a whole, as well as to other titles in the franchise.

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