Nexon has announced that they are releasing the Blue Archive Anniversary OSTs (1-Year Anniversary OST, 2-Year Anniversary OST, 2.5-Year Anniversary OST) on digital streaming platforms. They will be available for YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Music, JOOX, and kkbox on November 18 at 3:00 AM (UTC).

The track list for each OST is as follows (the format is Song Name – Artist):

1-Year Anniversary OST

1. Constant Moderato – Mitsukiyo
2. Midsummer cat – Mitsukiyo
3. Connected Sky – KARUT
4. Shooting Stars – KARUT
5. Step by Step – KARUT/TSK
6. MX Adventure – Mitsukiyo
7. Irasshaimase – Mitsukiyo
8. Daily Routine 247 – Nor
9. Future Bossa – Mitsukiyo
10. Lemonade Diary – Mitsukiyo
11. Plug and Play – KARUT
12. Water Drop – KARUT
13. Signal of Abydos – Nor
14. Sugar story – Nor
15. ARES – Nor
16. Vibes – Nor
17. Future Lab – Nor
18. After the Beep – Nor
19. Rolling beat – Mitsukiyo
20. Accelerator – KARUT
21. Mischievous Step – Mitsukiyo
22. Mechanical JUNGLE – KARUT
23. Virtual Storm – KARUT
24. Tech N Tech – KARUT
25. Party time – Mitsukiyo
26. Endless Carnival – Mitsukiyo
27. Fade Out – KARUT
28. Alert – KARUT
29. CrossFire – KARUT
30. Interface – KARUT
31. Out of Control – KARUT
32. Mechanical JUNGLE Hard Arrange – KARUT
33. Fearful Utopia – Nor
34. SAKURA PUNCH – Nor
35. Denshi Toujou! – KARUT
36. Kaiten Screw!!!! – KARUT
37. CrossFire Hard Arrange – KARUT
38. Fevertime – KARUT
39. Library of Omen – KARUT

2-Year Anniversary OST

1. Neo City Dive – KARUT
2. Pixel time – Mitsukiyo
3. Hue – KARUT
4. Koi is love – Mitsukiyo
5. Luminous memory – Mitsukiyo
6. Water Drop – KARUT
7. JACKPOT 777 – KARUT
8. Bunny Bunny Carrot Carrot – Mitsukiyo
9. OperationD – Nor
10. someday, sometime – KARUT
11. Colorful Mess – KARUT
12. Vivid Night – Nor
13. Snow Pantomime – Mitsukiyo
14. Barrier – KARUT
15. Black Suit – KARUT
16. Crucial Issue – Nor
17. Formless Dream – Mitsukiyo
18. Oxygen Destroyer – KARUT
19. Undefined Behavior – KARUT
20. GGF – Nor
21. Hello to Halo – Nor

2.5-Year Anniversary OST

1. Midnight Trip – Nor
2. Romantic Smile – Mitsukiyo
3. Guruguru Usagi – Mitsukiyo
4. Hifumi Daisuki – Mitsukiyo
5. Coffee Cats – Mitsukiyo
6. Lovely Picnic – Mitsukiyo
7. Honey Jam – Mitsukiyo
8. Dolce Biblioteca – Mitsukiyo
9. Colorful Beach – Mitsukiyo
10. After School Dessert – KARUT
11. FEEEEVER TIME – Nor
12. Walkthrough – Nor
13. Aira – Mitsukiyo
14. Aoharu – Nor
15. Glitch Street – KARUT
16. NRG FielD – KARUT
17. Alkaline Tears – Mitsukiyo
18. Kyrie Eleison – Mitsukiyo
19. Kaphar – Mitsukiyo
20. Morose Dreamer – Mitsukiyo
21. Agnus Dei – KARUT
22. Blood Stained Faith – KARUT
23. Codex of Omen – KARUT
24. RE Aoharu – Nor
25. Moment – Nor
26. Constant Moderato Piano Arrange – Mitsukiyo

Blue Archive is available now for Android and iOS mobile devices. The global version recently celebrated its 3rd anniversary on November 8. An anime adaptation of the game, Blue Archive The Animation, is available to watch with English subs on the global YouTube channel.

The post Blue Archive Anniversary OSTs Heading to Digital Streaming Platforms appeared first on oprainfall.

USERJOY has announced that The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War, a mobile game based on the anime of the same name, is now available worldwide. It is available for Android and iOS mobile devices and for PC. The PC version was announced and implemented for the game’s global launch. Trails of Cold Steel – NW originally released in December 2023 for mobile devices in Japan.

You can check out a promotional video (PV) for the game below.

USERJOY describes the game as follows:

■ The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War – Game Introduction
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War is a cross-platform game that USERJOY developed based on Falcom’s classic Trails series. Set between Trails of Cold Steel II and Trails of Cold Steel III, it focuses on the dramatic events of the Northern War. Players will uncover the unexpected truths of the Northern War through the perspective of the protagonist, Lavian Winslet. Experience the full narrative of the anime and join beloved heroes from the Trails series, such as Rean Schwarzer (voiced by Koki Uchiyama) and Alisa Reinford (voiced by Yui Horie), along with new companions in an exhilarating new story and adventure.

■ Classic Strategy for Exciting Tactical Combat!
This game features the classic strategic elements of the Trails series, including the well-known Orbment system. Players can enjoy the familiar Quartz and employ formation strategies to enrich battles with endless strategic challenges. The characters’ S-Craft abilities are also faithfully recreated with unique 3D animations, providing a cinematic visual experience that makes players feel like they’re on the intense battlefield of North Ambria with their favorite Trails characters.

To celebrate the launch, new players will have the chance receive up to 100 free draws, an SSR selector, and even a free SSR Tio Plato. You can check out more details on the launch celebrations below.

■ Launch Celebration! Generous Newcomer Rewards – up to 100 Draws and 16 SSR!
To celebrate the launch of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War, the team has prepared abundant newcomer rewards. Just complete specific tasks to receive 100 free draws and an SSR selector box. Additionally, clearing the main chapters will also earn players up to 13 more SSR characters, making a total of 16 free SSRs and over 120 draws!

• Launch Celebration Rewards:
  Day 2: Receive SSR Tio Plato
  Day 7: Receive SSR Selector Box
  Special Tasks: Complete the Newcomer Contract for 100 free draws!
  Special Tasks: Complete the Elite Gathering for 20 special draws and an SSR Selector Box!
  Complete Main Chapters: Earn up to 13 SSR characters!

■ Take advantage of the 7-Day Login Rewards! Get the Popular SSR Character Tio Plato and another SSR Selector Box!

The team has also prepared generous 7-day login rewards. Log in for seven consecutive days to receive the highly popular SSR character Tio Plato from the Trails series, an SSR Selector Box, 10 gacha tickets, and 10 attribute gacha tickets! These special rewards are exclusively for new players! Download the game now and start your adventure in Zemuria!

 

• 7-Day Login Rewards:
  Day 1: 500 JC
  Day 2: SSR Tio Plato
  Day 3: 10 Gacha Tickets
  Day 4: Special Quartz Selector Box III
  Day 5: Purple Equip Set Selector Box
  Day 6: 10 Attribute Gacha Tickets
  Day 7: Special SSR Selector Box

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War is available now for Android and iOS devices and PC. You can download the game from the Google Play Store, App Store, and from the official website. For more information, you can follow the game’s official X account.

SOURCE: Press Release

The post Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War Now Available Globally for Mobile and PC appeared first on oprainfall.

SaGa Emerald Beyond brings together the core combat and free-form scenario elements of the RPG franchise to deliver the ultimate SaGa experience to fans and newcomers alike. Players can look forward to deeply strategic combat, diverse characters with thrilling backstories, an evolving choice-driven narrative and much more. The latest title in the SaGa franchise sees the return of legendary series icons including SaGa creator Akitoshi Kawazu, composer Kenji Ito and illustrator Satoshi Kuramochi, who have taken what fans of the series love and built it into a game that returning and new fans alike can enjoy.

“2024 marks the 35^th anniversary of the SaGa series. It also marks the first time we’ve been able to release a new SaGa title simultaneously worldwide. Without our fans, this would not have been possible. SaGa Emerald Beyond is the product of 35 years’ worth of innovation, experimentation, and a personal desire to examine what makes an RPG an RPG.  For our longtime fans, I hope you enjoy the ongoing innovations and callbacks to previous SaGa titles. I also invite newcomers to accept the offer of the emerald vision and embark on a new adventure. I hope everyone who picks up this title has an unforgettable experience with it.” – Akitoshi Kawazu, SaGa Series General Director

“As a longtime SaGa fan who now has the honor of working on this franchise, I couldn’t be prouder to present SaGa Emerald Beyond to the players. The things that made me fall for the SaGa franchise are all present in this title, from the free-form scenario system to the challenging strategic combat to the diverse and intriguing characters. Of course, one can’t forget about composer Kenji Ito’s incredible contributions as well. I’m also proud to say that we’ve taken steps to welcome in newcomers with the game’s emerald waves, which are key to the overall story and will guide players on their journey. I hope that through SaGa Emerald Beyond, players will be able to feel the team’s passion and love for the franchise that has kept the series going strong for 35 years.” – Masanori Ichikawa, SaGa Series Producer

Those interested in SaGa Emerald Beyond can still download the three platform-exclusive demos on Nintendo Switch, PS5/PS4 and PC. The demos offer several hours of content from each of the three demo characters’ storylines, giving players a taste of what they can expect in the full game with the full cast. Demo save data is transferrable to the full game on that respective platform.

If you’d like to know more about SaGa Emerald Beyond, visit the game’s official website.

The post SaGa Emerald Beyond is Now Available appeared first on oprainfall.

About Ex Astris

An Interstellar Adventure: Embark on an enthralling adventure and discover a mysterious land of eternal day and everlasting darkness in Ex Astris. Explore Allindo, a life-bearing planet in a tidally locked orbit where the sun never sets. Split into two distinct hemispheres by massive ring-shaped storms, this planet is home to bizarre creatures and intelligent beings remarkably similar to humans. Players will take on the role of Yan and join Vi³, investigators tasked with unravelling the secrets of the long lost Allindish civilization and to reveal the truth behind the Astramorphs that inhabit this alien planet.

Combat Combinations: Players can create teams of up to 3 characters for different character and skill combinations. In addition to selecting the best character to deal with the combat situation at every turn, players can also tap a special button on the right side of the screen to switch between the character’s Wave or Particle states. Each of these states come with special combinations of attack skills that allows the character to lift or shatter enemies. Players can also use Obscuran Maneuvers to parry or dodge enemy attacks. The right skill combinations also grant the characters extra action points to execute longer combos. If an enemy is knocked down by character skills, the player can perform skills with downed strike effects to extend the knocked down status of that enemy and recover more action points for the team. Performing 3 consecutive downed strikes or aerial strikes on the same enemy target will maximize the damage dealt to that enemy within a short period of time, allowing players to defeat enemies quickly. Battles become enjoyable challenges as players are free to experiment with different skill combinations and tactical options.

Obscuran Maneuvers: Obscuran Maneuvers are another great feature for combat in Ex Astris. When defending against enemy attacks, the player should react to the enemy’s attack type and either switch to Warding Light or Shadow Shift to parry or dodge the enemy attack. Tapping Warding Light or Shadow Shift at the right timing also generates special Obscuran Maneuver effects. Players can also gather Astrite from battles or exploration. Astrite is the resource consumed for enhancing characters or learning new skills. Both will help the player’s team better handle different enemies. In addition to intense battles and exploration, Ex Astris also features cooking, puzzles, and other mini-games. Players who take the time to find new recipes, solve puzzles, and complete the mini-games will earn various rewards and surprises.

The post Ex Astris is Now Available on Mobile Devices appeared first on oprainfall.

You can read about my thoughts on Pokemon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles here.

You can also find out the latest happenings in Pokémon GO at the official website, on X, on Instagram and Facebook, and on YouTube. 

Finally, you can follow Niantic Inc. on their official website, on YouTube, on Facebook and Instagram, on X, and on TikTok.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Operation Rainfall: My name is Quentin H. with oprainfall, and could you introduce yourself please?

Tiane Bella: My name is Tiane Bella, I am the Senior Marketing Manager for live events here at Niantic.

OR: We are here at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. What about this location made it perfect for Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles?

TB: We were so excited to be able to host an event in California for the first time. Pasadena is such a gorgeous city- it has been really great working with the Rose Bowl and the city of Pasadena, to build up this beautiful space with a bunch of exciting gameplay and photo ops. It’s just been wonderful.

OR: It’s a little surprising! After all, Niantic is based in San Francisco, I think.

TB: Yes, yes.

OR: It must be nice being in your own backyard, so to speak.

TB: It is so nice. I’ve loved not having jetlag for an event. *laughs*

OR: When did you start planning for this event, and what was the process like?

TB: As many people who have planned events or weddings or things in the past- it is a pretty long lead time. It takes over 12 months to plan our events. Honestly, 12 months is a little on the short side. So there’s a lot of teams at Niantic that are working very, very hard on this for over a year.

OR: There are two more tour events after this one- do you manage those as well? Or do you just focus primarily on this one in Los Angeles?

TB: My team is primarily focused on executing the wonderful physical event here at LA. And then, a related team is helming the Global event next week.

OR: We’ll talk about the Global Event in just a moment. The biggest surprise for me about Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles is that it didn’t focus on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and the Treasures of Area Zero DLC that just wrapped up. We’re looking at the Sinnoh region from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus in the Hitsui region. Why Sinnoh?

TB: Our GO Tour events, since launch, have been focused on picking a generation of the Pokémon games and finding a really fun way to bring it to life in the real world. I think throughout the years, the team has made some really, really cool visions to bring that gameplay to life for that specific generation. This year, we’re celebrating Sinnoh and it’s just been delightful to see all that come together.

OR: Let’s talk fish! Specifically: the White-Striped Basculin that first debuted in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Why did you feel like Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles was the perfect spot to make this Pokémon’s debut?

TB: Live events are where the excitement of Pokémon GO comes to a peak. We always want to make those very, very special for those trainers who travel and come in to celebrate together. Exploring Los Angeles is a great piece of the event this year. And adding in some really exciting content for trainers who are taking Routes and discovering new areas throughout Los Angeles county- it felt like a really great way to make sure that trainers have a great time.

OR: Speaking about the Los Angeles section- Spiritomb makes a return from Special Research Events from 2018 and 2019 where you [obtain] it from PokéStops. What made you essentially spin 10 PokéStops to encounter him. What was that creation process like?

TB: Our teams want to make sure each Pokémon is special and cool, and we wanted to make sure that they are highlighted in interesting ways. The team leaned into the exploration-aspect. Trainers are able to encounter Spiritomb at PokéStops in this space, but there are also options throughout the city to continue their journey out there.

OR: There are two Legendary Pokémon whose Origin Forme forms -taken from Pokemon Legends: Arceus- that make their debut also at Pokémon Go Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles: Origin Forme Dialgia and Origin Forme Palkia. The reason I am bringing them up is to talk about Special Rend and Roar of Time, because those Charged Attacks affect the outside gameplay.

Can you talk a little about those, and how it was developing something that actually affects not just PVP or PVE, but other aspects of Pokémon GO itself?

TB: I think the product team would be better able to give you an in depth

“The key thing that delights me about this event is that trainers travel in from everywhere, and you just see so many communities connecting and so many families out playing together.”

OR: There are [several] different areas out there [at Pokémon Go Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles]. I pushed my way through all of them before this interview to ask about them. How did you choose what Pokémon to set and name them?

TB: Our game design team are all absolutely brilliant and wonderful people. They looked across the generation, across the Pokémon that we’re going to be bringing to life in the real world here and made decisions to sort them and figure out what habitat they would appear in if they were to appear in the real world.

OR: I’ve previously attended Pokémon GO Fest in Seattle and in New York City. Something that is fairly unique to Pokémon Go Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles is that at the half-hour mark, the Pokémon seem to ‘flip’ and change due to the [Space-Time Anomaly]. Can you talk a bit about that?

TB: As I mentioned a little bit before, this event focuses on Sinnoh. But we have that little bit of Hitsui flair as well. I’m very excited about how this team put together the gameplay to lean into that- Time/Space Distortion that manifests in the gameplay itself.

While trainers are adventuring around the park, time is distorting around them and they are going to Hitsui and back to Sinnoh, and they are encountering the Pokémon [from] both areas.

OR: This is a long event. I don’t mean timewise, I mean length-wise. It’s a very lengthy event. With that comes crowds, how did you lay out Routes for the event?

TB: We are actually not featuring Routes in the park area itself. Instead, we focused on building Routes throughout the city to help guide trainers are they spend the rest of their time in the Los Angeles area.

OR: There are different structures throughout the [event]- let me show you a picture of one.

TB: Oooh yes, Entangled Ruins!

OR: Can you talk a bit about that?

TB: For our habitat areas, we built photo ops for trainers to enjoy as they are catching Pokémon, to bring those habitats to life. For Entangled Ruins, we had this wonderful archway. It is split in half by this Space-Time Anomaly. So half of this archway is just normal, normal architecture- but half of it is ruins [from] back in time. So that build is meant to bring that habitat to life.

OR: Do you have a favorite Pokémon?

TB: I do! It is a very, very close tie. But Ditto is my number one. Snorlax is number two. Ditto is the best!

OR: I love Ditto too! I loved the miniature Special Research [April Fools’ 2-Oh?-22] from awhile ago.

TB: Yes! Any time Ditto can be involved, I am very excited.

OR: So what’s next Pokémon GO?

TB: Up next, we’re really excited to bring a full week of excitement together for trainers. Starting after this real world event in Los Angeles ends, the Road to Sinnoh begins. Trainers will start getting ready. Next weekend, Global Go Tour will be starting for trainers worldwide! The global event is for two days- Saturday and Sunday- and trainers, no matter where they are, can participate for free.

OR: Will they be able to get their own White-Striped Basculin?

TB: Yes!

OR: Is there anything else you can tell us about the event as we wrap up?

TB: The key thing that delights me about this event is that trainers travel in from everywhere, and you just see so many communities connecting and so many families out playing together. This is my favorite part of Pokémon GO, and it is just really great to see.

OR: Thank you!

I want to thank Niantic, Inc., for helping set up this interview!

Did you have fun at Pokemon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles? Did you catch a White-Finned Basculin this past weekend?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post INTERVIEW: Tiane Bella (Sr. Marketing Manager) Talks About Pokemon GO Tour Sinnoh- Los Angeles appeared first on oprainfall.

You can find out more about the upcoming Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Global Event, taking place February 24-25, 2024, here.

“I’m so happy here. I love this so much.”

I heard those words midway through Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles from a teenager to her mother on Saturday, and that really sums up my thoughts about this event. Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles was the smoothest, most fun, Pokémon GO event that I have been to yet, and I found myself with so much to do that I nearly could not finish it all during the event. If you do not read anything beyond this paragraph, then just know that I am extremely excited to see what Niantic, Inc., pulls out of their trainer caps for the yet unannounced- but absolutely inevitable- Pokémon GO Fest later this year.

Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The play area stretched from inside the Rose Bowl itself, around the stadium, across a bridge, and all the way down the connecting golf course. It was a very long, but narrow, play area, and I definitely got my steps in for the day just running all over to do everything in each of the areas. The ground was fairly level, and I didn’t find any real chokepoints to getting across the area other than potentially the large bridge that connected the golf course to the stadium area.

Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles was the debut of both Origin Forme Dialga and Origin Forme Palkia. The appearance criteria for these two Pokémon were quite interesting: for the first half hour of each hour, the normal versions of Dialga and Palkia would appear. For the last 30 minutes of each hour, the raids would switch out for the new Origin Forme versions. This ensured that everyone could get both forms of the Pokémon. I also really, really liked this half-hour switch off. This ‘break’ from Origin Forme made me not feel guilty for not raiding nonstop, as I could go do other things every other half-hour until the Origin Forme popped up again.

The new Adventure Effects from the two Origin Formes- Spacial Rend (allowing a large encounter area for wild Pokemon) and Roar of Time (pauses most item timers for six minutes to extend their duration)- turned out to be nearly game breaking in the best possible way. I found myself frequently using Spacial Rend in order to see what additional Pokemon were around me, and I stacked multiple Roar of Time uses when I was doing multiple raids back-to-back with a Lucky Egg. When I first heard about these skills, I honestly didn’t think that I would use them all that much. Yet, they both turned out to be incredibly situationally helpful at Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles and I figure they will help out occasionally during raid hour or during future Community Days.

Of course, another draw of Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles are the rare Pokémon available to catch! The region-locked Pokémon (Pachirisu, Mime Jr., Chatot, Carnivine) were hidden inside eggs, and I found myself frequently getting them whenever I cracked eggs. I did pay for the Egg-thusiast ticket add-on to hatch eggs in one-fourth the distance, and I know that made a real difference for me. While none of them turned out to be shiny, I was still happy that I got enough of them to trade with friends in real life.

There was an exclusive research and a lot of rare Pokémon to catch at the event! (Photos by author.)

The three Lake Pokémon (Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf) were also available to catch at Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles. Interestingly, they all appear as random spawns on the overworld map. When I encountered them, I found that I only had time to use one item and Pokéball combo before they ran. I didn’t overly focus on trying to catch them during this event, as I had previously gotten them all in shiny form during a prior worldwide event thanks to me organizing a few international raid groups. That said, they were absolutely a welcome addition to the event.

Finally, there is the Unown spawns. At both Pokémon GO Fest events in Seattle and New York City that I had attended, all the Pokémon would turn into Unown for the last two minutes of every hour. At Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles, Niantic, Inc., dropped that mechanic and instead made Unown appear as incense spawns. This was admittedly nice, as I could focus on getting Unown if I wanted to instead of being forced to just catch them (and ultimately only shiny check) at the end of every hour.

The exclusive event special research was not that difficult to complete, other than having to fight Team Rocket GO during the final step. I liked that it made me visit all the different themed areas, and so I had to cross the entire area in order to finish it. That said, the Rotom research did not go quite as planned. I tried to AR scan a physical TV set that was placed in the play area, but nothing happened. I instead was told what to do by an event support staff employee next to it and that the AR scanning would not work. This was somewhat disappointing, but I ended up getting the Rotom research done regardless.

There were two meet and greets at Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles: meet the Pokémon GO artists and meet Notable Trainers (think internet-famous Pokémon GO players!). While I skipped out on meeting the Notable Trainers, I absolutely took my time meeting the Niantic, Inc., artists. When their lines were short, the artists absolutely took their time to talk about the game, their art, and what it was like creating different art pieces for Pokémon GO. The artists made me feel like they were genuinely grateful that I played Pokémon GO, and they even autographed a Pokémon GO card for me! There were multiple time slots for both meet and greets, and I did not feel like it was a blink-and-you-will-miss it feature of the event, but one that Niantic, Inc., took pains to make sure was available to anyone who wanted to do either meet and greet.

Inside the Rose Bowl itself, there were two photo opportunities: at one end, you could take photos with giant inflated Palkia and Dialga Pokémon, and at the other side, you could get a photograph with Eevee! I was happy with both of these photo opportunities, but I was shocked that Pokémon GO Battle League didn’t have a battle arena set-up between the two photo opportunities in the middle of the Rose Bowl itself. I was really hoping that I could take on other Trainers inside of the gridiron, and it was something of a disappointment that I couldn’t.

There were photo opportunities inside of the Rose Bowl itself. (Photos by author).

The biggest new activity to do was the party challenges. It is no secret that Niantic, Inc., wants trainers to interact and work together to achieve things. I ended up approaching multiple people to join up in parties at the event to complete different party challenges ranging from catching six steel Pokémon to using 25 berries while catching Pokémon. These challenges were simple, but onerous enough that we all ended up actually participating in completing all of them. The rewards- being able to guarantee catch Regice, Registeel, Regirock, and Regigigas- were well worth the incentive of talking to strangers to get the party challenges done.

There were also activity tents scattered throughout the area. At these tents, there was a lot of Pokémon trinket giveaways, trivia contests, and opportunities to create signs for what Pokémon you needed or had available to trade. This was also where a lot of people congregated for trading and socializing purposes. These areas were fun, but I didn’t spend too much time in them because I had a lot to try to complete during my playtime. There were also small other things to do like fight Team Rocket GO members, spin Pokéstops, try to find Spiritomb Pokéstops, and post on Campfire, at the event. All of those were fun, but fairly standard fare.

The highlight for me, though? I finally found someone willing to trade me a ‘?’ Unown. I had been hunting for a reasonable trade for that Pokemon since my first in-person Pokémon GO Fest, and I was able to finally make it happen. That particular Unown was only available for Pokémon GO Fest 2018: Chicago for two days, and it has not appeared since. Niantic, Inc.: Please bring back the ‘?’ Unown for people to get in the future!

Not everything was perfect, though. Despite the debut of White-Striped Basculin in Routes during Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles, there were surprisingly no Routes available inside the Rose Bowl event itself. I actually ended up not getting one at all during this event because of it. There was (as I mentioned earlier) no Pokémon GO PVP events at Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles. This was very surprising, as we are in the middle of Pokémon GO: Timeless Travels Battle League as we head towards Pokémon World Championships 2024 in Hawai’i later this year. These PVP events are a major part of Pokémon GO, and so it was more than a little surprising that it had zero representation at Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles.

More photos from the event! There was so much to do and see. (Photos by author).

Another thing I noticed was that the various ‘areas’ of the event all blended together at the golf course part of the event, and I only knew that I had changed areas when there were different Pokémon spawning. While this was surprising, I am not surprised because golf courses are often quite persnickety with how you utilize the course for events, and they may not have been allowed to fully dress up the areas like they did previously at Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle.

Finally, there was no merchandise tent at Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles. In fact, the only merchandise sold at the event was the event t-shirt that you could pre-order when you bought your ticket. The event t-shirts that they had for sale on-site almost immediately ran out of everything but small and medium t-shirts within the first half-hour. Every time I’ve attended a Pokémon GO Fest, the merchandise line has always been wrapped around the building and down the block. People love their Pokémon plush, and it was surprising that they weren’t available for the sale.

Despite all of that, Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles was absolutely an amazing event to attend. My issues, other than the inexplicable lack of Routes at the event itself, were fairly minor and did not truly take away from my overall enjoyment of the Tour event from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday. If anything, it makes me wonder how Niantic, Inc., will be able to fit everything into the shorter time blocks that Pokémon GO Fest normally run in, as they usually run two Park sessions a day during that event. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: If you play Pokémon GO and you’re at all obsessed with it, you need to attend the in-person events. The teenager that I quoted at the top of my article was right about how happy playing Pokémon GO at an in-person event was, and I left with a giant smile on my face.

If you can come to Pokémon GO in-person, then you won’t regret it. You will absolutely catch some new Pokémon that you would never be able to get otherwise, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you also make some new friends too.

Have you attended an in-person Pokémon GO event before?

What is your favorite Pokémon? Are you planning on participating in the upcoming Global event?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post Pokémon GO Tour: Sinnoh – Los Angeles Was a Fantastic, Fan-Oriented, Event appeared first on oprainfall.

During a special livestream, a collaboration between the Japanese version of Blue Archive and A Certain Scientific Railgun T was announced. The collaboration will introduce new furniture and limited characters for players to obtain.  There will be three characters available for players to obtain: Misaka Mikoto, Shokuhou Misaki, and Saten Ruiko.

Misaka Mikoto

Misaka is a three star striker unit that fights from the middle line. She’s an attacker that deals piercing damage. You can obtain her from a limited collaboration gacha banner.

Shokuhou Misaki

Misaki is a three star striker unit and also fights from the middle line. She’s a supporter that deals explosive damage. She will also be obtainable from a limited gacha banner.

Saten Ruiko

Saten is a one star special unit, so while she does not show up on screen most of the time like a striker, she can support the team in other ways. She’s an attacker that deals piercing damage like Misaka. Unlike Misaka and Misaki, Saten can be obtainable just by playing the event.

You can check out an archive of the stream below. The portion with collaboration information starts around 55:00.

Blue Archive is a mobile game developed by Nexon and published in Japan by Yostar. It released in 2021 for Android and iOS devices. A Certain Scientific Railgun T is a 2020 anime adaptation of the A Certain Scientific Railgun manga written by Kazuma Kamachi. The series is a spin-off of Kazuma Kamachi’s A Certain Magical Index.

The A Certain Scientific Railgun T x Blue Archive event starts on October 24th, 2023 and runs until November 8th, 2023. For more information you can follow the Blue Archive JP Twitter (X) page and its official website.

SOURCE: Blue Archive JP Twitter (X) Post

The post Blue Archive JP Announces Collab with A Certain Scientific Railgun appeared first on oprainfall.

This week I decided to finally continue my playthrough of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. One of the things I like about the Ys series is that I can take a good amount of time off from playing and then start it up again and not be lost. Started off by finishing up the Baja Tower boss and then took on a ghost ship. The combat is still a ton of fun and I didn’t lose my edge as many of the fights were done pretty easily. Oh, and also helped deliver a baby. Just another day in the life of Adol Christin. Honestly, the most difficult thing I did in my recent playthrough is catch a giant fish with Dana. That button mashing was actually really tiring. I’m currently playing through another flashback portion as Dana, so I’m looking forward to seeing what revelations come about this time.

Next, I played through the Final Chapter of Blue Archive. The overall main story was actually pretty good, especially Volume 3 and the Final Chapter. A lot of crazy events occurred in the Final Chapter and it was accompanied by great CGs and music. Sensei really does everything they can to help the students, and it definitely showed in part 4. We got a tease of the story continuing at the end, so I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here. – Patrick

Having completed the boys’ campaigns in Resident Evil 6, it was finally Ada’s turn at the wheel and boy oh boy do I have massively mixed feelings about her section! First off, the positive: It’s Ada. She’s witty and clever and has an exquisitely sculpted ass, no problems there. Along with Leon, she’s probably one of my most favorite long-running characters in this franchise, and her route made up a lot for the lack of zingers in Leon’s. I liked how her story tied up loose ends and brought everything together in a nice neat package across the three other campaigns. The little environmental details were nice, like crawling through air ducts while Chris and Piers fought underneath us; or sniping infected from a distance to protect Sherry and Jake. RE6 is many (good and bad) things, but one can never say its campaign design wasn’t ambitious. I mean, the story itself is schlocky and full of holes and perfect B movie fodder, but it was ambitious!

I hated everything else about Ada’s campaign.

Being the nice sister that I am, I opted to play as Agent so my sister could play Ada. This was a mistake — for me, not her. I have never, in all my years of gaming, played a “co-op” game this poorly implemented. Agent cannot do anything except shoot zombies in the face (which is, to be fair, highly satisfying). Open doors? No. Solve puzzles? No. Traverse the stage? No. Appear in cutscenes? Hahahaha. Playing Agent in Ada’s route is what masochists do in their spare time. It was awful. I know the production history of this campaign. I know it was only ever meant to be single player. It doesn’t make in-universe sense for Ada to even have a partner, let alone a faceless grunt who doesn’t even have a nice ass (the true horror). But if Capcom was going to implement a partner, the very least they could have done was let me open a goddamn door. Ironically, Agent has probably the best feeling shotgun and melee finisher in the entire game. Everything else about him sucks and I hate him. It was dizzying being flung across the stage whenever Ada used her hookshot, and having Agent literally disappear for cutscenes was jarring and stupid. Ada’s storyline also had the weakest ending, since we only get half the fight with Simmons and then it’s just a flaccid cutscene where she slow-mo shoots some stuff and sets a room on fire. I liked her “boss” fight well enough, but it was hampered by originally being designed around single player so there weren’t any fun co-op mechanics to it.

There’s a lot I liked about Resident Evil 6. The cutscenes are genuinely well-crafted, with some gorgeous shot composition and lighting. I found some of the setpiece fights really enjoyable. Piers Nivans is a character who exists because of this game and I am forever grateful (give him back to me). The co-op is genuinely fun. But the weapons almost all felt anemic; combat itself was really repetitive and mediocre since there wasn’t a lot of variety in enemy design (I genuinely liked the Strelac and Napad, though). A few of the bosses were neat. Most areas were dull and drab looking. The best things in RE6 felt like watered down versions of things from other games, and the best moments were when the game called back to its better roots. Agent made an otherwise self-indulgent victory lap a painful slog. I had fun going through this with my sister in co-op mode and being big damn heroes, but it ended with a frustrating whimper in Ada’s campaign and couldn’t even reach the bombastic highs of Resident Evil 5‘s campiest moments. I’m glad I played it, but I’m also glad to be moving on.

Anyway, we started up Resident Evil 7 immediately after and the both of us screamed when Mr Baker broke through a wall and chased me around with a shovel, so look forward to those adventures next week! – Leah

It’s that time again, it’s been a while since my last regularly scheduled gaming slump and I’ve yet again found myself back in one to a certain degree. I put down Harvestella after reaching Chapter 6 and tried to get back into Chained Echoes to make some progress there. Basically, I got my hands on a Switch copy of Sea of Stars but I figured, first I should make progress in my tons of other unfinished games from the last few years. Specifically, I thought it was a good idea to actually get somewhere in the previous indie RPG I picked up, Chained Echoes, before I start yet another one. I made a good bit of progress in Chained Echoes. However, after only a few days of it, I simply couldn’t be bothered to do all the more tedious tasks, such as hunting down additional class emblems. I got to a point where the game had warned me that I’d be stuck in some story stuff for a while and I should make sure I’m prepared. So of course I knew I should go do important stuff like collecting class emblems. Unfortunately, I simply didn’t feel like it.

After some contemplation of what I would get into next or if I should go watch some shows and not game for a bit, I ultimately decided to try to get back into Atelier. Some of that unfinished games backlog I mentioned, includes three different Atelier games. I’m in the middle of Atelier Ryza 2 still, Atelier Sophie 2 and Atelier Lydie and Suelle. I ended up choosing to get back into Lydie and Suelle first and I’ve actually been quite enjoying myself. It has only been a few days though, I could still end up back in my slump and not feeling like it. But for right now, I’m having a good time. I left off I believe in Chapter 8 and since I’ve gone back, I’ve been working on completing the various requirements to unlock the next alchemy exam, which will raise Lydie and Suelle’s atelier rank. In addition to playing Lydie and Suelle, I’ve also been redesigning a few different rooms in my house in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I had a few things left to collect and put together in my new main room. Then after that, I figured why not redesign my bathroom. It turns out I should’ve left it alone, it actually lowered my house’s ranking and I’m still nowhere near 150,000 points. Because of that, I’ve now decided to redesign my music room next, which is my last really random room from the beginning of the game. It was somewhat of a music/playroom with stuff like my stereo, records on the wall, a toy box, a vanity, etc. It’s just a really random room I did whatever with.

I don’t know yet whether or not I’ll stay committed to making progress in my unfinished Atelier titles. I would like to though, I especially need to finally get through Atelier Ryza 2 since I also finally got my hands on a copy of Atelier Ryza 3. I’ve simply been in this seemingly forever off and on slump for the last few years and I’m now back in this phase of wanting to try new games I got my hands on, but knowing I need to get further in all my old unfinished games. It’s pretty much put me in this choice paralysis mode and thrown me back into my latest gaming slump. – Jenae

What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!

You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!

The post oprainfall Week in Gaming: Sept 3 – 9 appeared first on oprainfall.

In a lot of ways, the PokéDollar in Pokémon GO stops with Michael Steranka. He is the Live Game Director for Pokémon GO over at Niantic, Inc., and he is one of the people in charge of pulling off Pokémon GO Fest each year in multiple cities across the world.

I was able to sit down with him during Pokémon GO Fest 2023 in New York City to talk about everything from the current meta in Pokémon GO‘s PVP, how Pokémon GO Fest locations are selected, the introduction of Vivillon and Meltan into Pokémon GO, the limitations placed on remote raid passes, routes, and more.

You can see my thoughts on this year’s Pokemon GO Fest: New York City here.

You can follow Michael Steranka at his official X account.

You can also find out the latest happenings in Pokémon GO at the official website, on X, on Instagram and Facebook, and on YouTube. 

Finally, you can follow Niantic Inc. on their official website, on YouTube, on Facebook and Instagram, on X, and on TikTok.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Operation Rainfall: My name is Quentin H. with Operation Rainfall, and you are?

Michael Steranka: I am Michael Steranka, live game director for Pokémon GO.

OR: We are here in Randall’s Island Park in New York City for Pokémon GO Fest 2023. There are a lot of people who are ticketed for this event and there are debuts of new shiny Pokémon. Are the shiny rates boosted for this [in-person] event? Or not?

MS: They definitely are. Players who are here in New York City, both on Randall’s Island and the rest of the city – as long as you have a ticket, you’re definitely going to enjoy some nice shiny Pokémon coming out of this event.

OR: You recently released a new feature called “Ready to Raid.” What have the testing results been like for it? Will it be expanded to one-and-three star raids, so solo players don’t have to wait the full time to run the easily-soloably one-star raid by themselves?

MS: The results have been really positive so far. Obviously, with a feature like this, we really want to monitor the impact that it has on our servers, but we also want to make sure that qualitatively, players really enjoy the feature and it’s not causing some unintended UX challenges for folx. That’s why we soft-launched it in a couple of markets earlier this year.

We also made it available for all of our in-person GO Fests – Osaka, London, and now New York [City] – and we’re happy to say that things have been really, really positively received on this front. So no news to explicitly announce on the global rollout of this, but things are looking good – let’s just put it that way.

“I don’t have anything to share on the Paldean Pokémon specifically, but just know that with a new generation comes new Pokémon, and with new Pokémon comes new shakeups.”

OR: Let’s talk about Pokémon Worlds last weekend. It wrapped up in Yokohama this last weekend, and I’m going to give you some statistics from it. Out of the top 32 competitors: 28 ran Medicham, 21 Lanturn, and 20 Altaria. Each of those top 32 players ran at least one of the three, and 12 players ran all three.

You’re a Legendary [ranked] player yourself in every season, which you [again achieved and] announced on X fairly recently. The meta is pretty well defined right now, and you just saw that at Yokohama. How does Niantic view this type of meta? Is there a desire to shift this meta at all? Should I bother competing in League if I don’t run Medicham with maxed out XL candy?

MS: Yeah, great question.

We take a look at the metagame in PVP as something that is always fluid. We never want it to get stale, we never want it to always boil down to the exact same Pokémon for everybody. So, every season in Pokémon GO, we try to release major move changes – whether that’s adjusting the parameters of existing moves, giving new moves to new Pokémon, or even launching new Pokémon that can shake things up quite considerably. When we look at the breakdown of teams at the World Championships, there definitely was a high concentration of certain Pokémon in a lot of teams – particularly Medicham, which was prevalently used.

I personally don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. When you look at other Pokémon competitive games, like the VGC and whatnot – in years past, you’ve seen things like Landorus being pretty much on every single player’s team. There’s ways that Pokémon can help centralize and solidify metagames, and that often times is what you kind of want when you’re designing these things ‘cause it gives you something to counter, right? The metagame that you can counter.

If a game is waaaaaaay too distributed, that can actually lead to a little more unhealthy team building dynamic, where you have no idea what you’re trying to build against and what you’re trying to build for, versus having a little bit of coalescence around some key strong Pokémon.

That being said, if you look at the top two teams – that placed first and second – there’s actually 12 unique Pokémon that were brought across those two. So, it does allow for quite a bit of diversity and play, even in the current meta. That being said, we are definitely going to have a pretty big shakeup next season, as I alluded to on steam at the World Championships.

Pokémon GO Grand Finals at Pokémon Worlds 2023 in Yokohama, Japan. 

OR: With [Pokémon:] The Trading Card Game, they rotate out expansions, so you’re literally dropping new set of cards [in]. With the video game, The Pokémon Company has been on a yearly release schedule for quite awhile now, and they rotate out the entire game. You really can’t just drop all the Pokémon in Pokémon GO though.

MS: Yeah, you can’t drop all the Pokémon, and we also never wanted [you] to feel like you invested so much of your time and resources into a Pokémon and then it gets completely nerfed out of the metagame. When we make big shifts, we typically are trying to make other Pokémon more relevant, and we never want something to fall from the top three usage to the bottom 100 in the game. But GBL is very different from something like the World Championships.

The World Championships series – you are allowed to bring almost every Pokémon that has been released in the game, but in GBL, we give players a lot more opportunities for creative teambuilding by having condensed metagames. Things like Evolution Cup or Catch Cup – the different Leagues you can participate in as well. So hopefully, across all of those different things, players find that they’re able to come up with really fun, unique teams and still find success in the GO Battle League.

OR: Follow-up: When you’re introducing a new Pokémon, such as Paldeas Pokémon in September, how important is PVP when designing the move and TM pools, spawn rarity and all that? Everything else that goes into releasing a new Pokémon – where is PVP[‘s importance]?

MS: We don’t think that every single Pokémon released needs to be a top performer in PVP, but every time we release a new batch of Pokémon, it is an opportunity for us to take a look at that and determine ‘[d]o we need some sort of shakeup right now?’ I don’t have anything to share on the Paldean Pokémon specifically, but just know that with a new generation comes new Pokémon, and with new Pokémon comes new shakeups. It’s not just going to be the move changes that we make at the start of the next season. You’ll see Pokémon get introduced throughout the season, new moves being introduced through Community Days that will also keep things fresh through the course of the three months.

Paldeas Region Pokémon will be coming to Pokémon GO in September 2023.

OR: When you’re introducing a new generation of Pokémon, what type of access does The Pokémon Company give you? For example, with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, did you have access to that slate of Pokémon to get a jumpstart on them before those games came out? Or are y’all playing catchup?

MS: We have a really tight collaboration with The Pokémon Company out in Tokyo. I can’t really speak to the nitty-gritty about how early or late we get access to upcoming Pokémon, but I am happy to share that nothing is an afterthought, right? We work very, very closely. There’s nothing that goes out in Pokémon GO that The Pokémon Company isn’t aware of. We work very closely with them on all facets of the game. Whether that’s the release cadence of new Pokémon, or how we’re spec’ing out new features in the game, to what kinds of live Ops we’re building on an on-going basis. So it’s much more of a tight-knit collaboration than you might expect.

OR: Meltan, and its evolution [Melmetal], was a Pokémon GO initial release. What was that experience like working with The Pokémon Company for that?

MS: That was, honestly, one of my favorite things I’ve had the pleasure of working on in my entire time with Pokémon GO. It was the special tease that we were able to do during the Chikorita Community Day. At that point, we had never introduced a new Pokémon in Pokémon GO before, and so it was a huge opportunity to surprise players. Many players thought it was actually a glitch at the time – ‘[w]hat the heck is this thing we’ve never seen before, it doesn’t have a name?’

After the Chikorita Community Day wrapped up, Meltan started to appear everywhere before anyone had ever seen it. If you tried to catch it, it would turn into Ditto unfortunately. *laughs* But it was such a fun tease that it was a really delightful moment for players. You know, I hope we can do more [of it] in the future.

OR: Was introducing a brand-new Pokémon the Pokémon Company’s idea to bring to the game, or was it y’all approaching them to bring it in?

MS: As I mentioned, we have such a tight collaboration that we’ll do brainstorms that it’s not necessarily one company to the other, but something that we jointly bring to life.

“I hope that even you can agree that when you’re able to meet the community, to come out to a GO Fest like this, these are experiences that no other game can provide.”

OR: Let’s talk routes: How’s that going for you?

MS: Routes has been such a truly Niantic mission-centric feature. It’s one of the hardest features we’ve ever built, because – as you can imagine – there are so many considerations that go into what types of routes get approved to be put into the game. We want to make sure that they’re interesting, that they’re safe, that there’s no abuse going on from player-to-player anytime there’s a UGC component added to things.

So, the rollout has definitely been one that we wanted to not take lightly, and we wanted to make sure that the initial set of routes out in the game are quality ones that we can stand by. And now we’re really starting to ramp up and make sure that there’s a broader set of routes out in the world that anybody can participate in.

OR: What criteria does [Niantic] look at when they reject a route or when they approve a route or later revoke it? What kind of things trigger that?

MS: To be honest with you, that’s probably not one that I can answer with authority. I haven’t been as heavily involved in the production of that feature and the moderation set there. That might be something I have to pass on, I’m sorry.

OR: For those of us who cannot make routes yet, like yours truly, and don’t live in an area where there are routes, have you explored ways for us to get cells?

MS: Zygarde cells?

OR: Yes, Zygarde cells.

MS: As of right now, Zygarde cells will be exclusive to routes. Definitely hear the challenges that players might face if you don’t have access to routes where you currently live. We’re trying to expand the access to be able to create routes. That’s something that’s only going to spread further and further. So [we] definitely ask for some patience as we get the system solidly in place. The rollout is not something we want to take lightly, right? We definitely don’t want there to be bad routes or unsafe routes or routes with descriptions or points that could harass other players or things like that.

I know that it maybe has been rolling out a little more slowly than some players might be hoping for, but just know that’s because we’re taking it very, very slowly and we want it to be a good experience once you do have access to it.

OR: You did an interview back in May 2023 with ZoëTwoDots, and you said: “We believe that by having these experiences that you have to go out to fully enjoy, you’re able to enjoy the game and the world around you so much more than any other video games can provide.”

You addressed the issue that I’m about to bring up on The Battle Catz Podcast last month with remote passes and XL candy, but I want to expand beyond that with the Pokédex and raids: I live in an area where there is not a Pokémon GO community, and I have to travel 40 minutes to raid. This [Pokémon GO Fest] is the first time that I’ve raided in several months. I otherwise have to depend upon Remote passes to participate in raid hour. I’m fairly limited in what I can do when it comes to catching new Legendary Pokémon – and even the Niantic Campfire app is incredibly limited within my area.

Looking at that quote that you gave in that May 2023 interview, how should I be able to fully enjoy the raid aspect of the game and hope that I can get a second shiny Uxie? Because I organized my own raid in September when the [Lake] shinies came out in New Zealand and England – and I cannot do that now. How do you balance your aspirational beliefs against my practical gaming experiences?

MS: That’s what it is, right? It’s a balance at the end of the day. I guess what I would say to that is that we made an explicit decision to not remove remote raid passes from the game, right? You are limited in how many you can do per day, but based upon the raid rotations that we have and how long they are available for, my hope is that players are still able to engage with that aspect of the game.

But yeah, we did make the call to put limitations in place, because what we saw was that ended up being the primary way a lot of players were playing Pokémon GO, and it was just antithetical to what we believe this game is intended to do. We really stand by that. I hope that even you can agree that when you’re able to meet the community, to come out to a GO Fest like this, these are experiences that no other game can provide. And that’s where we really see the strength of Pokémon GO and that’s what we want to continue to lean into as we develop the game further.

OR: A feature that is incredibly useful is that you can ‘lock’ a Pokémon from being traded by pressing the Star icon on the top right. Have you considered a feature to custom lock a Pokémon from being purified, leveled up, traded, etc – so, say, a certain journalist cannot accidentally purify a second shadow Pokémon while playing half-asleep one evening?

MS: *laughs* That’s actually really funny. I did another interview yesterday where the exact same feature was suggested. This is definitely one that I’ll bring back to the team. Everything, unfortunately, is subject to prioritization and what we do in terms of a quality-of-life feature like that takes away from resources that can be used to build a brand-new system in the game, as an example.

So, no promises that that will be specifically addressed, but hearing it twice in two days is something that I want to make sure that I take back to the team.

Continue Onto Page Two To Find Out About Implementing Vivillon, Michael’s PVP Teams, and how Niantic Selects Sites for Pokemon GO Fests! ->

The post Pokémon GO Fest 2023 INTERVIEW: Michael Steranka (Niantic) appeared first on oprainfall.

Following up on a recent announcement that service for Mega Man X DiVE will end in September (the Global version will remain online for now), they have announced during the Capcom Showcase that a new offline version of the game titled, Mega Man X DiVE Offline, will be available later this year. This version will have most of the stages, story and characters. However, user data from the mobile versions can not be transferred. The offline version will not include collab characters or multiplayer modes such as Battle Mode, Co-Op, Guilds along with the rankings/leaderboards. More updates for this version of the game will be available soon, but for now, you can watch the official trailer below:

Mega Man X DiVE Offline will be available on Mobile (iOS, Android) and Steam in 2023.

The post Mega Man X DiVE Offline Announced appeared first on oprainfall.

Crunchyroll Games has abruptly announced the termination of service for the global version of Princess Connect! Re:Dive. The game released globally on January 19, 2021 for Android and iOS devices. The global version will continue running until April 30, 2023, after which players will no longer be able to log into the game.

You can read the full announcement below:

This update bulletin is a bit different from the others that we usually get to deliver, as we’re sharing some wistful news regarding the future of the global version of Princess Connect! Re: Dive.

We’ll cut straight to the chase: our shared time in Astraea is coming to an end. On April 30, 2023 UTC, Princess Connect! Re: Dive will reach its end of service, and players will be unable to log into their accounts after that date. In preparation for this end of service, as of today, the in-game Shop has been closed, and all in-app purchases are no longer available for purchase. Players will still be able to use any accrued Jewels or similar resources until the closure of the game at the end of April, including the two new characters releasing between now and then, Rin (Ranger) and Mahiru (Ranger), the latter of which will be available on April 17 UTC.

We know this is unfortunate news to hear, and relaying a decision like this to everyone does not come easy. However, one thing is absolutely clear: we are immensely grateful and thankful to all of the loyal fans and players that have enjoyed Princess Connect! Re: Dive. We only hope that everyone has enjoyed the past two-plus years together as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

From each “Heyas, Knights!” opener to each bullet point summary at the end of each article that some of y’all probably skipped to, from every joke about “Grot-two” double drops to us heralding the continuous return of the 3★ Guaranteed Premium Gacha, and all the bad puns and extra jokes in between… It’s been a pleasure getting to bring you these update articles and explore this wild world with everyone, and with a bit of luck, hopefully, some of them put a smile on your face.

There are countless stories from the continent of Astraea that will be left untold and characters we’ll have yet to meet, but Princess Connect! Re: Dive will live on in our hearts. And who knows – maybe you’ve made a couple of friends throughout your time playing the game, from the clans you’ve joined or the communities you’ve participated in. Don’t let this announcement stop you from continuing those relationships! After all, Princess Connect! Re: Dive has always been a story about friendships, bonds, and connections that can overcome any challenges, strife, and realities.

All right – one last time, for the metaphorical road. From all of us at Crunchyroll Games:

Thank you for playing Princess Connect! Re: Dive, Knights!

Crunchyroll Games –

Crunchyroll Games did not give any specific reason for why the Global version is closing its doors. It should be noted that the Japanese version of Priconne is unaffected by this news, so those that want to still play the game have that option. However, there is no English text option and you would have to start the game from scratch.

The post Princess Connect! Re:Dive Global Version to End Service in April appeared first on oprainfall.

KONAMI has announced that Yu-Gi-Oh DUEL LINKS now has a 25th anniversary campaign going, in celebration of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game’s upcoming 25th anniversary. The press release states that you’ll receive various birthday items for logging into the game during this anniversary campaign. You can read more down below from the latest press release about the various rewards. Yu-Gi-Oh! DUEL LINKS is currently available on iOS, Android and PC. If you’d like to know more about the overall game, feel free to visit the official website.

Duelists can log in to the hit mobile and PC game during the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game’s 25^th Anniversary Campaign to acquire a bevy of birthday items. That includes stunning Prismatic Foil Rarity editions of fan-favorite cards Dark Magician Girl and Magic Cylinder.

Starting today, all Duelists who log in during the campaign will receive these beloved cards featuring the famous magical apprentice and her trusty attack-negating Trap Card. Dark Magician Girl and Magic Cylinder star in the enchanting new Game Mat and Card Sleeves, also available to anyone who logs in during the celebrations.

Here are all the log-in gifts Duelists can receive during the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game 25^th Anniversary Campaign:

• 1 Dark Magician Girl card (Prismatic)

• 1 Magic Cylinder card (Prismatic)

• 1 Character Unlock Ticket

• A total of 1000 Gems

• 1 UR Dream Ticket (Normal Foil)

• 1 UR Ticket (Prismatic)

• 1 SR Ticket (Prismatic)

• Game Mat and Card Sleeves with the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game 25^th Anniversary Campaign design

The post Yu-Gi-Oh! DUEL LINKS – 25th Anniversary Campaign appeared first on oprainfall.

During this year’s Pokémon GO Fest celebration in Seattle, I met up with Humberto Kam, Niantic, Inc.’s director for Global Live Events. During our interview, we talked about everything from how a venue is selected for a Pokémon GO Fest, what we can expect for the Finale event taking place in August 2022, to his favorite Pokémon and more.

You can find out more about Pokemon GO Fest 2022 on the official event website, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Facebook, and on YouTube.

You can also find out more about Niantic, Inc. on their official website, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Facebook, on YouTube, and on TikTok.

Tickets are on sale NOW for Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Sapporo, and you can check out my review for Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle here.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Operation Rainfall: My name is Quentin H., with Operation Rainfall, and you are?

Humberto Kam: I am Humberto Kam, the director of live events for Pokémon GO.

OR: We are in Seattle today on Day 2 of the Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle. This is the first in-person event that y’all have had since the pandemic started.

HK: We’ve had a couple of events – a Pokémon GO Safari Zone: Seville earlier in the year, and we had an event in England last year as well. But this is our first [Pokémon] GO Fest since the pandemic. 2019 was the last time we had an in-person Pokémon GO Fest. So, this year, we’re packed with a global event, including Berlin, Seattle, and Sapporo – we had Berlin a couple of weeks back.

OR: What has it been like to put together this event since the pandemic started?

HK: Honestly, it has been a lot of fun. Just getting out, flexing those muscles again, figuring out ‘[h]ow do we create a physical experience for people, [how] do we enhance the game experience?’, which is obviously at the center of things. My background is in inspirational design, so it was really great to marry those two again. When we pivoted to virtual events in the past two years, we had a lot of great learnings, and we found that we were able to reach so many more players than those that are able to come to the physical locations.

For this year, we decided ‘You know what? Let’s take the best of the pandemic, which was the global event, and bring back the live events.’ So, we have a five-part series, starting off with the global event in June, then Berlin and now Seattle, then we’re going to have Sapporo in a couple of weeks and then a finale event that is brand new this year to cap things off on August 27.

“[We’re] trying to give the trainers who are so into the game a reason to come celebrate with us.”

OR: How do you go about designing one of these events for in-person gameplay?

HK: We have a game design team, and they really look at what Pokémon are desirable for our audience, what they are looking for that they might not be able to have available because they are regional Pokémon. We also love to see what big Pokémon – whether it is a mythical or a legendary – that they can bring around. And this year, we introduced the Ultra Beasts into the game. So, at that point, we started to build the event around that.

We created an experience, and then married it with a physical place. We figured out what kind of habitats we can create, and then started to work with artists to create these amazing physical environments for people to explore and have fun and take photos with Pokémon in – these whimsical environments that can only happen at a GO Fest event.

OR: Now this Pokémon GO Fest is split into two sections – the morning session right now is the Park experience, and this afternoon is the City experience. Can you talk a little about that?

HK: Honestly, one of our goals as a company is to get people to explore. We’re looking at the Seattle Center – we want to make sure that the number of people here have a great experience. And so maybe we can take a little bit of time to break up the group into two, or break the experience up into two, and have people go out and explore. There are so many players who aren’t from Seattle, so let’s expand it and bring the game out into the city.

OR: If you go out, you will see that there are different biomes in the area. How did you go about designing and building each individual biome?

HK: So, we started off with a theme, for example – the Electric Garden. We wanted to know which Pokémon would be a good fit for that. Then we worked with our agency to actually create pieces that compliment what is already there. When you look at the Seattle Center, at the Electric Garden installation, it’s already there and it is so fantastic and spectacular that it became a natural centerpiece for us to enhance and build around.

For example, the fountain here is such an iconic part of the experience for visitors in the Seattle Center, and we thought “how can we make it a little different, a little special for visitors who come here for the first time or for visitors who come here weekly to play?’ And that’s where the idea came to turn it into an oasis- we have a home for Pokémon like Lapras to live in.

OR: There is a Pokémon here that has been catching a little bit of buzz online – the Snorlax with a cowboy hat. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

HK: We always try to find something a little special that is unique to the events. And when it came to this assignment, it was funny – we had a hundo Snorlax, perfect stats, spawn in Berlin. And literally, we saw people running out and [we] were like ‘What is going on?’ And someone just yelled ‘HUNDO SNORLAX WITH A COWBOY HAT!’ We were done here; we did our job. *laughs* But there were ways to take something really loved, like a Snorlax, and find ways to get people excited about it. He is loved as he is – but [we love] any way we can find a new way to present him to our trainers.

OR: Panpour, Pansage, and Pansear – those are regional Pokémon that are appearing at this Pokémon GO Fest. I know, because I just caught them. Were you involved in helping to choose those regionals to appear?

HK: I personally wasn’t, but the game designers look to see what we can bring to the event. They also look at which shinies might make a good debut at an event. That’s when we said “okay, let’s bring all of them here and let’s introduce, specifically here, the Panpour shiny.” So, we had a Panpour shiny debut.

[We’re] trying to give the trainers who are so into the game a reason to come celebrate with us. But yeah, the game designers are always so passionate and dig into the data and look into the different chunks of what is popular or what hasn’t made an appearance in a certain region for a long time – just to make sure that the experience is fresh and exciting for everybody.

OR: As a practical matter, how far back did you have to start planning this event?

HK: Well, after this, we are going to take a big, long nap and then plunge into 2023, if that gives you an idea. Honestly, it is a rather large effort – everything from game designers to our ops team to if we have to design a new feature, working with the different vendors. Things take a little bit of time [and] they ramp up significantly over the last six months. We are taking copious notes about what is working, and what people like or don’t like, so that we can use that right away at next year’s event.

OR: Something that came out recently with Pokémon Trading Card Game is that it is now linked to Pokémon GO the mobile game, and you can in fact learn to play the card game here today. Could you tell us a little bit about the connection between Pokémon GO and the card game at this event?

HK: To be honest, it is something that my predecessor, Michael Steranka, started. He started working with the Pokémon Company and their trading card group a long time before this event. They are great partners, and when we decided ‘[y]ou know what? The cards are going to be coming out at this time and the Pokémon Company is international but is based out of Seattle,’ so we reached out and said, ‘[w]e’ve got GO Fest coming up, so let’s find a way to collaborate and introduce our players to the larger Pokémon universe and so fans of the card game could learn more about the Pokémon GO too.’

It’s a great partnership, and we are excited to have them here, as you can see. So, we have the cards for sale, and people can learn how to play the game. So, it is a great fit.

“We want to make sure that all of the players can play well.
…
We want to make sure that people [at Pokémon GO Fest] can get the best possible experience.”

OR: What is something unexpected that, as you’re planning one of these events or running these events, that has happened to you?

HK: One thing that was very [much] a happy surprise when we were thinking about this stuff was when I got a call from one of our colleagues, and he said ‘you know what? We might be able to bring the Team GO Rocket hot air balloon to the event.’ *laughs* So it was like ‘[o]kay?!’ And then next thing you know, we’re trying to find a place for Team GO Rocket to touch down, and hopefully this afternoon the balloon will be making an appearance in the Mercer Garage just across from the Dream landscape.

So that’s one of those – we didn’t have it planned, it wasn’t something, but we had the opportunity to bring Team GO Rocket and we were like ‘[l]et’s go for it!’ So, there was a little bit of scrambling there, but it was absolutely worth it. The balloon went up yesterday, and I was grinning from ear to ear. Those unexpected things, honestly, just delight people and you have to be open to that kind of stuff [and] maybe not be as strict to the plan as you were a year ago.

OR: Do you play [Pokémon GO] yourself?

HK: Yes.

OR: What team are you?

HK: I am Team Instinct. So, I just reached level 39, and so I now am trying to get to level 40. I have gotten my fair share – I understand that Team Instinct gets a little bit less love than some of the other ones, but it’s great. Part of my interview process – every time I was asked ‘[d]o you play the game, what level are you? Do you play PVP, what kind of team are you running?’

Honestly, it just speaks to the culture that we just want to make sure that people are passionate about the game, and we actually bring that trainer perspective to the meetings so it isn’t just about ‘how can we make this work?’, but it’s about ‘[W]hat is good for the trainers, what will get them excited?’ My predecessor is level 50, and he is just excited about the game now as when he started with the company five years ago. That dedication to the game translates to, hopefully, a much better experience for our trainers. We’re fans too.

OR: Do you have a favorite Pokémon, and if so, who?

HK: Garchomp, he is my boy. He was a Community Day, and I wasn’t too familiar with him. I caught him, and he was actually the first one to let me do well in PvP and he just became my boy. I love it when I have the buddy feature on, and he brings a gift. It’s a tough-looking Garchomp who goes ‘[H]ey! I found a pinecone for you!’ It just makes me laugh. How about you?

OR: Mawhile is my favorite Pokémon and has been for quite a while. The dark/fairy [type].

HK: What gen?

OR: Ruby/Sapphire gen. He has an amazing Mega Evolution. 

HK: That was introduced in Pokémon GO in the last six months.

OR: Did you ever think about bringing Mega Evolutions in for [Pokémon GO Fest]?

HK: To be honest, that wasn’t something we really considered for this event. We always look at all of the things we have. We kind of kept it, honestly – we just wanted to flex our muscles back for our first year back and not bite off too much. But the Mega Evolutions – they have been wildly successful from what we can tell, and the players really, really enjoy it. Part of it was, to be honest, to make sure that the experience was as good as possible for our guests and when it comes to connectivity and stuff like that, that the raids are a little challenging. They are absolutely part of the game, and we want to make sure that they are – but we tread lightly just because of the productivity around that.

We want to make sure that all of the players can play well. For example, in this particular one, we are not allowing people to invite people to the raid here just because it really becomes a performance issue. We want to make sure that people here can get the best possible experience.

OR: Speaking of performance issues – it is little bit amazing how you have this many people in one place [who can play Pokémon GO]. And with one exception, yesterday, you managed to not have any connection issues so far. How do you make that happen?

HK: We actually have people on staff whose entire job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. That people don’t have issues- obviously, we can’t prevent everything. But we have staff that work very closely with carriers, including Verizon who is a partner here. We deploy extra bandwidth, so it’s part of our plan and it’s part of the very first day – part of the criteria for choosing a venue is looking at connectivity and how great it is.

OR: What other criteria do you look at for a venue?

HK: In the past, it has been about creating – for example, Berlin. The site was fantastic and beautiful, it was a large park, very green. It just invited exploration. So those places that can one, accommodate the number of players we have, and also have a way that feels inviting and conducive for exploring. The other thing is that we want to make sure that it is successful. We have a player base from all over the world, so we want to make sure that trainers can get to the destination and that it is not hard to get to. We’re doing Seattle, and in the past, we’ve done Chicago. Those are big cities with easy access to them, so that’s another consideration.

OR: Is there anything you’re excited about coming to Pokémon GO that you can tell us about?

HK: There is so much that I am excited about.

The Finale is going to be fantastic. We are doing it for the first time. The Ultra Beasts have been making appearances here and there in each of the events, and it is all coming to a head in the finale. We have a great list of Pokémon that will be making an appearance, so it will be quite an exciting time.

OR: A lot of the content this past year has been tied to Pokémon Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon and the Alola Region. We’ve done missions for all four of the island guardian deities, and it seems like this story theme has been shifting to the Ultra Wormholes. Will all of that be concluded with the Finale?

HK: We are missing Professor Willow, so we hope so! *laughs* He has quite the fan base, and they are quite upset that he is missing. So yes, we hope to have this story come to a happy end.

OR: How can players participate in the Finale?

HK: Tickets will be available soon, so people who will get the details on that. But if you’ve already bought a ticket for the Global Event, you’re not going to have an issue and you won’t have any additional purchases for that. But if you happen to have missed that, it will be for sale for $10.99 in the App Store, and that’s all you have to do. And you’ll be able to hopefully play with your friends and family as you join in for the Finale.

OR: What dates are the Finale happening on?

HK: The Finale is happening on August 27.

OR: Thank you!

Did you attend Pokémon GO Fest in Berlin or Seattle? Are you planning on attending this weekend in Sapporo? 

Tickets are on sale NOW for Pokemon GO Fest 2022: Sapporo.

Let us know in the comments below!

The post INTERVIEW: Niantic, Inc. Talks Pokémon GO Fest 2022 appeared first on oprainfall.

The trickiest part of putting together a real-life Pokémon GO Fest is being able to make sure that players of all skill and player levels have something that they will enjoy while they are there. If you gear the event up towards the top-tier, player level 40-plus players only, then people who only play casually or who are newer to the game will have little to do. Conversely, if you don’t provide content that is even moderately challenging, then the event can fizzle out for those who participate in organized weekly Discord raid groups and regularly battle in the Master League where there are no CP limits.

Instead of focusing on trying to appeal to one these disparate groups or the other, Niantic, Inc. smartly focused on what is the quarter-century-old mantra of the Pokémon franchise: “Gotta catch ’em all!”, and split up ticketholders into two different parts of Seattle that they would rotate between during the day: the park event experience inside of Seattle Center and the city event experience that ranged from downtown Seattle to almost the city limits. Players would spend 4.5 hours in one experience before rotating around to the other experience for another 4.5 hours. After one experience’s time window was up, all of those Pokémon would disappear out of the area, and players would have to go to the next experience to keep playing in the event.

The real star of the show was the park event experience that took place in the Seattle Center, as the parent company of Pokémon GO set up four different zones (Electric Garden, Cloud Sanctuary, The Oasis, and Dreamy Mindscape) that each had a different variety of Pokémon. If that wasn’t enough, every Pokemon within the park turned into one of several Unown letters for two minutes at the top of the hour.

Most intriguingly, Niantic, Inc. made it so that you can catch all three of the elemental monkeys (Panpour, Pansear, and Pansage) during the event despite them being ordinarily region locked to various parts of the world. They also released the shiny version of Panpour to the world during Pokemon GO Fest 2022: Seattle and brought back the Cowboy Hat Snorlax that first appeared in Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Berlin. These new and normally region-locked Pokémon ensured there was definitely something to catch for everyone if that trainer doesn’t already have a well-stamped passport. On top of that, there were a lot of raid battles in the area, and each of those gyms were constantly capped out at 18-20 people to battle in against Pokémon such as Darkrai.

Photos by author.

Niantic, Inc. took the real life-theming of the park experience seriously by creating four different zones set up throughout the park that houses the Space Needle. These four themed zones ranged from amazingly themed to well…mediocre. None of them was terrible, to be honest, but I didn’t love them all. The best one of them all was The Oasis. Ordinarily, the International Fountain is just a metal half-dome that shoots water out and rests at the bottom of a bowled depression. There are tropical plants that have Pinap Berries growing from them, a blue cobble-stone-sided stream going to the fountain, and a real crossable bridge that goes over said stream. If you look at the pictures below, you can see that Niantic really built it out into an oasis that would have fit right in with the Orange Islands (if you’re a fan of the Pokémon TV show) or the Alola region that has been the focus of this year’s Pokémon GO storyline and gameplay content. It was absolutely my favorite part of the entire event, and one that I kept visiting over and over again just to look at.

With Cloud Sanctuary. Niantic, Inc., made the baffling decision to turn an empty plaza area into a plot of land with…structures covered in cotton and streamer poles that all seemed to blend together into an unremarkable, same-color mass with bubbles being blown. Most disappointingly, as the day went on, some of the cotton strands actually started to come off the structures they were attached to and were floating around the area before being randomly stepped and dirtied up by people. The only real highlight of the area (besides the catchable Pokémon of course) was the giant inflatable Jigglypuff that you could take photos with. It wasn’t terrible, per se, but it definitely paled in comparison to The Oasis and was something of a miss by Niantic, Inc.

The other two areas were delightful as well, and they definitely managed to meld the surrounding original environment into the Pokémon world. When I stepped into the Electric Garden and the Dreamy Mindscape areas, I felt like either of these areas would fit perfectly into the larger-than-life designs and excesses of the cities that make up the different regions of the Pokémon world.

The most unexpected, and by far the coolest part of the entire themed experience was the battle and trade arena that took place in the soccer stadium. In an extremely clever nod to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield‘s gym battles, Niantic, Inc. had the Pokémon stadium music blaring from the moment you stepped into the halls of the real-life stadium and until you exited towards the pitch. The moment I realized what was happening, I stopped and drank it all in as I felt like a real Pokémon Trainer who was heading into a real Pokémon Stadium to do real Pokémon battles, and I will never forget how that moment felt.

On the pitch, Niantic, Inc. set up a Trading Post (with hay bales everywhere for people to sit on), and a Battle Ground that had people battling in the Great League (1500 CP or lower) against each other atop miniature battle plots of artificial turf. The battling was a single elimination format – if you won, you stayed, and if you lost, you left. Helpfully, there was a mentoring station next to the battle area where mentors would take a look at your caught Pokémon and movesets, and then work with you to build a strong team to go back into battle with. I actually battled, quickly lost, and took advantage of the mentor’s advice services. While I did not have the opportunity to battle a second time, I found the mentor’s advice to be extremely helpful to help me in the future as he recommended that I build a team around Empoleon. I was also quite impressed with the focus on the Great League for the event – using the midtier league ensured that players who didn’t focus on min-maxing Pokémon for the Master League could have a legitimate shot at doing well during the battles – especially after taking advantage of the mentoring services.

There were also other things people could do at Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle. There were photo ops with AR cameras, gym leaders, giant Pikachu and Eevee characters, and a giant blow-up Snorlax. There was also trivia and prizes being handed out at the Team Lounges, which were scattered throughout the Seattle Center for people to enjoy. Surprisingly, the Valor Team Lounge was distanced from the rest of the event, and I found myself only wandering over there towards the very end of the park experience due to how far out of the way it was. There were also Notable Trainers from social media to meet that included players like ZoëTwoDots and Newtiteuf, and you could go learn how to play Pokémon Trading Card Game inside of the Seattle Center Armory. All of these little side activities really helped to flesh out the event beyond the mobile game itself and added a surprising amount of value to the park experience.

Photos by author.

All that said, there were some things that I did not like about the park experience. First and foremost, there was the absolutely abysmal shiny Pokémon rate that was clearly far below the rate of a monthly Community Day. I picked up two to three shiny Pokemon during the entire park experience, and I found it baffling that Niantic, Inc. would debut a new shiny Pokémon, Panpour, at Pokemon GO Fest 2022: Seattle while simultaneously making it almost impossible to find. I can understand not raising the shiny rate for ALL of the available Pokémon, but I would have liked to have walked away with at least the newest shiny Pokémon that was released for this event.

Other than that, I was disappointed with the merchandise available for purchase. With the exception of the exclusive, gray-colored Pokémon GO Fest t-shirt that was a mere reskinned version of the black shirt already available for purchase online, there was no merch unique to this event to buy as the rest was already available on the Pokémon Center online store. I honestly expected an exclusive event plush (Cowboy Hat Snorlax, anyone?) or a brand-new design event-exclusive t-shirt to buy and I was let down. While I did walk away with a gray event t-shirt and a couple Pokémon plushes, it didn’t prevent me from feeling unsatisfied with the offerings and I know that I wasn’t the only one to feel that way.

Photos by author.

Finally, the end raid for the park experience event was also a letdown. Instead of it being a brand-new Ultra Beast Pokémon that ties into the Ultra Wormholes that have featured prominently in this year’s story…it was Darkrai, which players had been already battling all throughout the park experience.

If you’ve read this far, you will notice that I’ve only talked about one of the two experiences so far at Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle, and that is for good reason. Whereas the park experience had lots of things to do and see, the city experience was almost the complete opposite. Other than the new story quest to complete, the city experience had all of the Pokémon available in the park experience to find and capture and had gym battles to complete, and that was seriously it. I was hoping that it would drive players to congregate at various digital-only zones in downtown Seattle to do unique raids together or to capture unique Pokémon. Instead, players were scattered everywhere in the area, and I sometimes felt like I would go quite a while without seeing anyone else playing. The city experience really came off as just a way to help make sure that everyone wasn’t crowded together at the park experience for the whole event and to give some ‘added value’ to the paid ticket. I thought it really fell flat and just was more of the same day-to-day Pokémon GO experience other than the variety of Pokémon that were available to catch.

Overall, I loved Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle. I felt like this event really brought players together to catch, battle, and trade Pokémon, and that Niantic, Inc. is to be commended for pulling off the first series of Pokémon GO Fest events since 2019. I was pleased to see how many strangers were talking and playing with each other, and how everyone seemed to want the France-exclusive Pokémon, Klefki. The park experience was absolutely worth the ticket price, and I really felt like that Niantic, Inc. wanted to celebrate their player base. The park experience was really the star of the event, and it was so much fun that it absolutely outweighed and pulled up the overall review score in lieu of how absolutely forgettable the city experience was.

I definitely want to attend another Pokémon GO Fest in the future, and I honestly think that if you play the mobile game, you should consider attending too. I cannot help but wonder how Niantic, Inc., will improve upon the event for 2023!

Review Score
Overall

Did you attend Pokemon GO Fest 2022: Seattle? If so, what were your thoughts on it?

Tickets are on sale now for Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Berlin.

Let us know in the comments below!

The post Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle- Gotta Catch ‘Em All! appeared first on oprainfall.

Graffiti Games and PID Games have announced that Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is now available on mobile. The game is available for both Android and iOS devices. Feel free to check out the brand new launch trailer down below and read a little bit about the game.

Embark on a humorous adventure filled with action, puzzles and tax evasion. Meet cute talking vegetables and fruits, while also fighting massive animal bosses and dozens of different enemies in EPIC dungeons!

Take control of an adorable turnip who happens to be an absolute menace to society. After failing to pay taxes and getting evicted from your home, you must go on an epic quest to pay back your massive debt to an onion mayor.

During your journey, uncover what’s spoiling this garden community and rise to tear down the corrupt vegetable government!

Key features:

• A thrilling, single-player adventure full of tax evasion, petty crimes and more.

• Dungeons full of puzzles, enemies and rare treasures to pay back your debt.

• Battle massive beasts that terrorize the garden community.

• Grow and harvest plants to aid in your journey.

• A large cast of quirky food-based characters, all with their own stories and problems.

• Tons of tax documents to rip up, allowing you to erase your paper trail and potentially destroy the government.

• Earn collectible hats and alternate between which one to wear.

• Multiple endings based on how effectively you commit tax evasion.

The post Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion Out Now for Mobile Devices appeared first on oprainfall.

The first Sword Art Online Variant Showdown gameplay trailer is now available to watch. The video showcases some of the game’s action mechanics as Kirito, Asuna, and Silica take on The Gleam Eyes.

You can check out the trailer below.

In addition to the trailer, some more information about the game was revealed by the game’s official English Facebook page.

The details are as follows:

• Players battle with a party of three characters.
• There are three types of skills: Attack, Recovery, and Support.
• There are three character types: Attackers, Defenders, and Supporters.
  • Attackers specialize in close-range physical attacks.
  • Defenders can absorb damage while continuing to attack.
  • Supporters can buff allies and debuff enemies.
• Players can utilize the Switch function to string together more attacks and rack up more damage.
• Awakening characters gives them no cooldown and the ability to utilize Finishing Skills.
• A Battle Royale multiplayer mode is in development.

The game’s story is as follows:

“Have you heard of Cross Edge?”

It’s a title Kirito has heard before.
A game which has attracted a lot of attention from players,
not least because it was supposedly designed by a middle school genius.

One day at the Dicey Café, Kirito hears two rumors about Cross Edge.
The first: There’s a mysterious player who attacks out of nowhere.
Losing to them means losing a portion of your own memories.
The second: This player goes around wearing a hood pulled low to hide their eyes…

Kirito can’t help but recall Laughing Coffin, the player-killer guild he faced in SAO.
In part to investigate these rumors, Kirito and his friends begin playing Cross Edge…and are soon targeted in a surprise attack.

Sword Art Online Variant Showdown is a mobile game currently in development to celebrate the anime’s 10th anniversary. It will release in 2022 for Android and iOS devices. For more information you can check out its official website HERE.

The post Sword Art Online Variant Showdown 1st Gameplay Trailer appeared first on oprainfall.

After having reviewed several of KEMCO’s JRPGs, I’ve noticed consistencies regarding most of the releases I’ve played. Strong visuals, from its art to its sprite work, and solid, if at times unduly, familiar combat mechanics. Then there’s a story or set of characters that show great potential, yet through lack of depth or narrative shortcomings, never quite reach their full potential. And repeated missteps, including overused or downright vexing gameplay practices. The outcomes typically result in a satisfactory, yet unextraordinary, overall experience. The pieces are consistently there for something brilliant, and so there’s always hope for a title which can right the wrongs and put all those pieces together. Justice Chronicles is my most recent foray into KEMCO’s continued releases, and I’m once again hoping for a title that leaves a genuine lasting impression, and which can stand out within the JRPG genre.

Justice Chronicles tells the story of an impending all-out war between two societies, the Earth-Surface kingdom of Illumica, and Laft, the Earth-Depths. Illumica concludes that Laft is to blame for a sharp rise in monster activity and the resultant upset of peace in their kingdom, and so plans for war are underway. A scouting party of High-Beast Knights, individuals capable of partnering with and fighting alongside a High-Beast companion, are preliminarily sent to Laft, including our hero, Kline. Kline is kindhearted, if simpleminded, and when he sees a group of Laft citizens, including the young Battle Maiden, Alia, being attacked by a rival clan and a supernatural force, he does not hesitate to intervene. Though he manages to separate himself and Alia from the attacking dark entity, Alia is gravely wounded. He then meets Rooselevy, a Guardian and a similar entity to a High Beast, who offers to save Alia in exchange for a partnership of sorts with Kline. Kline accepts, and soon he and a recovered Alia take their first steps in revealing a dark plot, not by Laft, but by a far more sinister antagonist whose influences reach far wider and deeper than any could imagine.

Justice Chronicles features an overall amusing story, as it possesses enough hints of conflict and mystery to carry the game, with a few twists along the way. And, similar to other KEMCO titles, the story has the makings of something more. However, the potential for anything memorable is either squandered just as soon as it’s presented or never given any proper depth and detail. This, I feel, is due in part to how the story unveils itself. It struggles to establish a coherent flow, for it’s presented more like a collection of subsequent events loosely tied together by sudden, and many times overly convenient, occurrences. For example, Kline finds himself on death’s doorstep, then a pink-haired witch, whom we only see once previously, shows up, half heals him, and also provides the next task for the plot to move forward. There is no build-up, detail, or depth in between. We, the players, are just moved along from one event or request to the next.

Another issue with the story is its pacing, in regards to how conflict, twists, and plot details are presented or resolved. Referring to the above example, once the fetch quest for Kline is finished, and after an explanation, everyone just moves on from it to the next event. The main character was near death, due to his contract with his Guardian Beast, but it’s flatly explained away and resolved, just like that. It’s blunt, curt, and lacks any kind of depth or development, nor any hints at lingering fear, conflict, or buildup for something greater later on. Another example are the revelations around mid-game regarding the Beast Knights and the Sect, their priest counterparts. This revelation should have been built up to make for a major impact, as it pertains to the main antagonist. What should have been a hard-hitting reveal is instead a batch of details and emotionless exposition that’s unloaded before moving on. And this, unfortunately, is the norm. What should be big, poignant moments of conflict, plot twist, betrayal, and grand revelation, are all just as soon resolved, reducing them to brief, passive moments in the plot. Those moments are all there; they’re curious, enticing, and very nearly immersive. Yet, it all amounts to a story effort that only manages to take us on an interest-piquing journey, one full of unrealized potential.

As for its cast, each character has a distinct personality that manages to stand out and individualize them, and for this, I’m impressed. Although their personalities may fall into familiar types, there’s enough within their thoughts, banter, and actions that their individuality is made clear, making for a more memorable cast. Regarding these familiar character types, Kline is very much like Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise, given his simple-mindedness, his over-willingness to always step in and help, and his tendency to ignore risks. Alia is resolute, yet still a teenage girl who can be rough around the edges and a bit innocent with her growing affections. Familiar, yes, yet their personalities do shine through, as there is plenty in the way of interaction. Interactions like the others teasing Alia for her attention towards Kline, or Alia and the others calling out Kline for his lack of caution, as well as his obsession with meal time. Lastly, I am particularly impressed with Fred’s character, who must speak his mind through his High Beast. Fred speaking through an interpreter is a clever idea, as I tended to focus even more on his dialogue and his portrait art to grasp his emotions. Overall, each character is distinct and are given those opportunities for their individual personalities to shine.

Having said all of that, the narrative takes away from these character developing efforts, among other things. Dialogues can be explanatory at times, especially when covering major plot points, and so some of that personality is lost. Had they been presented more as a discussion; shorter lines, questions, interruptions; it would have provided even more opportunity for the characters’ uniqueness to show. Also, regarding narrative, everyone is written in the same exact style, using identical slang like “wanna,” “gonna,” and “yeah.” It makes older characters, as well as the more regal authoritative characters, sound completely off and it breaks immersion. Concerning the main cast, the portrait art definitely helps distinguish exactly who is speaking during the less personal conversations, but this single style of speaking is ultimately unavoidable as you read. It takes minimal effort to alter a character’s diction and sentence structure, and goes a long way to further individualize them. Here, they all speak with the same voice; zero differentiation. Pair this with my previous complaint of how major story points are dumped on you in exposition, and you have a narrative effort that leaves me frustrated.

Leaving its writing behind, Justice Chronicles possesses an adequate gameplay effort, utilizing many commonplace JRPG mechanics. Starting with its strengths, gameplay sports a combat mechanic that is solid and easy to navigate. Combat is your traditional random encounter turn-based affair, in which attacks, magic spells, skills, and items are all selected through menu choices. There are several characters to choose for your three-person team, and each character has their particular strengths and unique skills, so trying different combinations may yield surprising results. Each character can also partner with a Guardian or High Beast, who can grant stat boosts, heal, or attack, and can easily turn the tide of any battle. Regarding magic, any character can equip Meteorites, items that allow the use of particular magic spells; elemental, healing, or stat based; and skill proficiency can be increased through repeated use. With the number of team, Beast, and magic combinations, gameplay gains quite a bit of variety.

Outside of combat, there’s a crafting system which allows for the upgrade of weapons and armor with materials found throughout the adventure. Nothing revolutionary, yet easy to master, crafting becomes a necessity, especially for mid-boss and boss encounters. Also, the game features Help menus which explain nearly every aspect of play, as well as story recaps to keep players informed. Lastly, navigating through every aspect of gameplay is easy, as the designs are clean, clear, and simple to understand.

Unfortunately, there are several flaws in gameplay, which will disrupt both play flow and overall immersion, and I found that many of these shortcomings are quality of life related. Firstly, gameplay possesses an aggravatingly high encounter rate. You cannot go more than ten steps before having an encounter. It completely discourages exploration and slows play. Also, it causes combat to lose its appeal outside of those more intense mid-boss and boss battles. The fast-battle option helps, but is not a fix, nor is the item that temporarily stops all encounters. Retreating is an unreliable option, especially with its chance of failing which occurred too often for me, and even against far weaker foes. Another experience issue is not having any kind of progress indication for spell and skill proficiency, which is unfortunate. As I mentioned, using skills and spells improve proficiency, in turn increasing their power. A visual or numerical indication would have helped, and its absence feels like a lack of developer foresight.

More Justice on page 2 ->

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It has been announced that Octopath Traveler: Champion of the Continent will be releasing onto mobile devices. No exact date has been given for its launch just yet, but a closed beta of the game will be coming. The beta which is currently available to be registered for, will go up on March 22 until April 4 on Android devices. The mobile game will be set a couple years before the main game. There will be over 64 different characters when the game launches to build your parties from. Additionally, Yasunori Nishiki who composed the soundtrack of Octopath Traveler will also be back for this game’s soundtrack.

Octopath Traveler: Champion of the Continent will be releasing on Android & iOS mobile devices sometime this year.

SOURCE: Press Release

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BEST MOBILE

Editor’s Note: There are no previous winners listed since this was not a category we voted on in previous years.

This year we at oprainfall are introducing a new category for our awards, one that highlights the best games released specifically for mobile devices. Mobile games are great to play on the go when you don’t have access to your usual consoles, or when you only have time to play for a couple minutes. This category was not only contested by games released in 2021, but also by titles released in the past that continued to impress us with their continued updates and support. Lately, mobile games have impressed with their great characters and designs, music, stories, and sometimes, their addicting gameplay. Without further ado, these are our nominees for Best Mobile Game of 2021.

Princess Connect! Re:Dive

NA Release Date: January 19, 2021
Platform(s): Android, iOS
Publisher: Crunchyroll Games

Ever since its anime adaptation aired in 2020, I was really hoping Princess Connect! Re:Dive would release in English in the future. Well that wish came true, and I was not disappointed after playing it. While the gameplay is simple, the characters, music, and story are anything but. This colorful cast of characters are bolstered by beautiful designs and adorable chibi character sprites. All of the main and event stories so far are fully voiced, which is amazing, and not something many mobile games do. Another lovely aspect is that each event story is accompanied by an original ending song, sung by some of the game’s voice actresses. Priconne is an absolute treat, and clearly it impressed our staff enough for it to make the short list of nominees. Were these lovely girls able to bring home the crown of Best Mobile Game?

NieR Re[in]carnation

NA Release Date: July 28, 2021
Platform(s): Android, iOS
Publisher: Square Enix

This game will probably be the one most recognizable to our readers, specifically because it carries the title of a beloved series, NieR. Out of our three nominees, NieR Re[in]carnation probably has the best graphics with nice 3D models. In addition, the main story scenes are told with a unique, storybook aesthetic. You’d have to play it to really understand what I’m talking about, but trust me, it looks pretty cool. NieR games don’t normally have the happiest story, and Re[in]carnation is no exception. There is enough tragedy here for fans to get their fix. Of course, what’s a NieR game without incredible music. Like its predecessors, Re[in]carnation music is outstanding. I personally love the song that plays during the opening credits. Did Yoko Taro and crew do enough to bring home the title of Best Mobile Game?

Fate/Grand Order

NA Release Date: June 25, 2017
Platform(s): Android, iOS
Publisher: Aniplex USA

Fate/Grand Order is the oldest of the three nominees, originally releasing in Japan in 2015. As the years have progressed, FGO has gotten many QOL updates as well as a multitude of new characters. The stellar main story isn’t completed yet, and part 2 is still being updated with new chapters, so fans still have that to look forward to. The character designs are, of course, fantastic, and the sprites of newer characters and their NP animations are great to look at. Older characters aren’t left out either, as even their sprites and animations are getting much needed facelifts. The music is still great and has held up over the years. With a consistent release of new and rerun events, and updates to the main story, FGO was able to impress our staff enough to make the top 3 nominees. Was this veteran title able to overcome the young guns to take home the Best Mobile Game award?

And our first ever Best Mobile award goes to…

Princess Connect! Re:Dive!

Princess Connect! Re:Dive was able to edge out the other heavyweight hitters on this list. We fell in love with the colorful cast of characters, lovely stories, and the adorable chibi graphics. This is a well-deserved win for such a great series. Congrats to the Gourmet Guild and the rest of the Priconne girls for becoming our first Best Mobile Game winner!

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KOEI TECMO America has announced that Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX is now digitally available for Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam and iOS. This collection contains modern ports of the first two Monster Rancher games which originally released in the late ’90s, in addition to some content never before seen in the West and various brand new content. Feel free to check out the new launch trailer down below and read more about these two games and their brand new release.

In celebration of the series’ 25th anniversary, Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX bundles together the fan-favorite Monster Rancher 1 (1997) and Monster Rancher 2 (1999) and brings them to modern hardware for the first time. The beloved titles allow players to birth monsters from their favorite music, using an online database to choose the album they desire, with each album birthing its own monster. Players will then raise their monsters and train them to compete against other eccentric creatures in combat and tournaments – each with their own attributes and abilities – allowing players to find the perfect companion to secure their victory!

Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX features the complete versions of both games, including content that didn’t appear in the original Western launch, such as additional save slots, Freeze slots, Monster Hall of Fame slots, and 27 additional monsters. The new release adds further new content to make the titles even more enjoyable, including Training Records to help with raising monsters, rankings for random battles, and a Fast Forward mode to speed up the gameplay.

In addition, players will be able to show off their monster raising abilities post-launch in the Monster Koushien World Battle, a special tournament that will allow fans of the series to discover who is the number one player in the world. Originally a Japanese only tournament, this tournament will mark the first world tournament for the series with players able to upload their save data to the game servers from anywhere in the world to see whose monster reigns supreme.

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