Palia "Temple of the Roots" update now available
It grows on you
Palia’s developers have announced that a new, free update is now available. Fans of the title can now enjoy the Temple of the Roots update, and you can see a quick glimpse of what it has to offer above. As for the finer points of this update, here’s what it packs in:
- 🌱 Temple of the Roots
- 🌷 New Flowers and Trees Gardening System
- 🎮 Controller Rebinding
- 🌭 Premium Outfits
- 🐸 FROGBERT!!!
If you’d rather read through the full patch notes, you can find an extensive breakdown here.
Shimamura offering new line of Mario apparel in Japan
Please come stateside...
Japanese clothing retailer Shimamura has revealed a new line of Super Mario Bros.-themed apparel and housewear for both men and kids, and it’s available at their retail stores and online right now.
The full lineup of apparel is as follows:
- Mario Kids Hoodie (2 colors) – 1,209 yen (~$8)
- Luigi Kids Hoodie (2 colors) – 1,209 yen (~$8)
- Yoshi Kids Hoodie (2 colors) – 1,209 yen (~$8)
- Mario & Yoshi Men T-shirt (2 colors) – 1,209 yen (~$8)
- Mario Characters Men T-shirt (2 colors) – 1,209 yen (~$8)
- Super Mario Stage Men T-shirt (2 colors) – 1,209 yen (~$8)
- Mario Characters Long Sleeve Kids Pajama Set – 2,200 yen (~$14.50)
- Mario Characters Short Sleeve Kids Pajama Set – 2,200 yen (~$14.50)
There’s no word on any of this apparel making its way outside of Japan, but hopefully that changes. If you’d like to take a closer look at the lineup, you can find a full gallery in the tweet below.
Dragon Quest Slime Gummi now available in Japan
Goes down smooth
Dragon Quest is one of the most popular franchises in Japan, which means the marketing opportunities are near limitless. There have been plenty of collabs over the years, and that includes tasty treats, and one such snack is now available on store shelves in Japan.
Dragon Quest Slime Gummi candies can now be found in select convenience stores in Kanto, and you can pick up a pack for roughly $1.60. Each pack will include 10 Slime-shaped candies, and if you happen to be a very lucky customer, you might find a Metal Slime with a harder texture inside.
For Dragon Quest collectors out there, Square Enix is offering a ten-pack box on its Japanese e-Store for roughly $16. This ten-pack will ship out March 30th, 2024. For those who’d rather try their luck than spend some cash, Square Enix is also hosting a sweepstakes where 5 people will win a pair of regular and metal Slime plushies.
Kirby Café to offer special cake for Kirby's 32nd birthday
I could inhale that
Do you have a birthday coming up between April and July? Do you happen to be a big Kirby fan? If so and you live in Japan, you’ll soon have an opportunity to get one heck of a birthday treat.
Benelic has revealed that a new cake celebrating Kirby’s 32nd birthday will be available at Kirby Café Tokyo and Hakata starting April 2024, and it’ll be sticking around until July 2024. You can get a look at the limited-time cake collab above.
Kirby Cafe locations are no strangers to limited-time menu offerings, as there are usually a variety of treats and snacks offered for just a few months at a time. While some items have been on the menu since day ones, others get blink-and-you’ll-miss-it windows of existence. This fancy Kirby cake is one, so don’t wait too long to snag yours!
IHOP soon offering a Sonic the Hedgehog collab
Get a load of THIS, Sonic!
SEGA has scored all sorts of unique and interesting Sonic-related collabs over the years, resulting in merch, guest appearances, and more. Some of those have seen Sonic invade various restaurant chains, and another example of that will soon be in your neighborhood soon.
While we don’t have the exact date yet, some early marketing material for a collaboration between SEGA and IHOP has popped. As you can see in the image above, this collaboration will see an IHOP menu makeover that takes inspiration from numerous Sonic characters. From Sonic to Knuckles, Eggman to Tails, Sonic fans will be able to head to IHOP in the near future and try out a tasty collaborative treat.
Once we find out the full details on this tie-up, including timing and more, we’ll make sure to bring you the complete breakdown. Until then, you’ll just have to do make due with the above material whetting your appetite!
Unicorn Overlord "Accolades" Trailer
Vanillaware does it again
From the masterminds that brought 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Odin Sphere, ATLUS x Vanillaware presents Unicorn Overlord, the rebirth of tactical fantasy RPG. You’ve likely already heard how great this title is, but now there’s a new trailer to show you some choice comments from press around the world. Give it a watch and see what you’ve been missing out on!
Fight against fate and embark on a royal adventure to regain your reign alongside trustworthy allies. Unicorn Overlord is available on Switch now, and there’s a demo for those who want to test the waters before fully committing.
Unicorn Overlord combines the timeless tactical RPG genre with overworld exploration and innovative battle system for a unique epic fantasy experience in the iconic Vanillaware style.
Traverse a vibrant world, assemble units and direct them into exquisitely animated battles · Perform heroic deeds and grow renown throughout the five nations · Cultivate a grand army with over 60 unique characters, from humans and elves to massive beasts and heavenly angels
Potion Permit update available, adds new intro and more
Permission to update granted
Potion Permit has just received a new update and it adds in a slew of new features, tweaks and more. It even includes a fresh intro animation that you can see above. If you want to see the patch notes, you can read them in full below.
Experience a captivating new intro animation and the ability to now romance characters Lucke and Runeheart! We’re also super excited to say that Indonesian and Traditional Chinese language support is now fully implemented in game!
New Content
- Cinematic opening animation
- New romanceable characters (Lucke and Runeheart)
- Indonesian language
- Traditional Chinese language
Bug Fixing:
- UI Font size adjustment to the previous chemists’ notes key items
- Fixed Dating Intro event activation time
- Fixed Olive FP2 event activation time
- Fixed Xiao FP3 event activation time
- Fixed Tourist side event activation time
- Fixed sequence error in Mosquitoes side event
- Fixed Matheo’s disappearance at the end of his Confession event
- Fixed sequence error in Garret FP2 event
- Adjustments to Opalheart FP2 event
- Adjustments to 2nd Blacksmith Upgrade event
- Adjustments to Mariele’s position in Rue FP3 event
- Fixed sequence error in Ottmar FP2 event
- Fixed sequence error in Cliff side event
- Fixed missing dialogue in Cold Residue event
- Fixed Hannah FP2’s quest details
- Fixed missing bulletin for Kipps FP2 event
- Fixed missing bulletin for Fountain Restoration Milestone event
- Fixed missing bulletin for Black Lotus event
- Fixed missing bulletin for Leano Confession event
- Fixed locked tutorial contents being revealed when changing language in Settings
- Fixed some crops missing from Bubble’s grow box
- Fixed Passed Out event trigger
- Fixed Quality Nut material’s region detail
- Fixed wide screen size of the Main Menu’s background
- Fixed black screen size during patients’ diagnosis phase
- Fixed asset layering order of the farm animals
- Fixed Quest & Bulletin titles for the 1st & 2nd Fishing Rod quests to align with the key item names
- Fixed Quest Board <!> hint icon that won’t disappear
- Fixed NPCs being under the bed when interacted with on waking up
- Fixed different recipe order between PC and consoles
- Fixed reeling SFX that keeps on playing after cancelling fishing
- Tweaked mash button system in grape grinding mini game
- Fixed potion quantity detection when it’s not available during diagnosis
- Fixed count down SFX delay during part-time tutorial
- Fixed Osman & Mariele’s Positions at the Farmhouse on Friday
- Fixed Quest Board Intro event played during Packing Goods part-time at Town Hall
- Added 1440 x 900 screen resolution in Settings
- Fixed delete save file button not functioning properly using mouse on 2nd deletion attempt
- Fixed ringing alarm but there’s no patient in the Clinic
- Fixed previous chemist notes can’t be picked up again after reloading
- Fixed cropped NPC dialog textbox
- Fixed notification above Cauldron after exiting to Main Menu & reloading save
- Fixed red circle not in place in diagnosis mini game
- Added skip function for the Main Menu animation
- Fixed overlapping NPCs in Runeheart FP2 event
- Fixed some UI issues on a particular screen resolution
- Fixed color of scarf & clothes got switched on the save file selection screen
- Fixed “report’ words terminology in French
- Fixed wrong icon display on the Grow Box UI
- Fixed missing letter within Korean language
- Fixed Nova’s walking path in the Town Hall
- Balancing EXP acquired from fishing
- Adjusted furniture cost at Bulk and Build
- Adjusted upgrade cost at Bulk and Build
- Adjusted upgrade cost at Hearts and Sparks Shop
- Adjusted field obstacles unlock cost
- Fixed text alignment within quest tracker
- Fixed enemies’ health bar glitch
- Applied changes to the skip trailer button for a better UX
- Fixed missing Dating Intro event activation on Lucke and Runeheart FP3
- Fixed bubble text overlapping with NPC interaction UI when NPC is behind a shop counter
- Fixed mouse control stuck on Main Menu when players go to Settings
- Fixed display bug on the Quest Board’s UI
- Fixed missing characters within Simplified and Traditional Chinese languages
- Fixed missing line in Opalheart’s introduction dialogue
- Fixed furniture’s name glitch in & after exiting Room Editor
- Fixed Quest text margin on several languages
- Implemented prevention for Steam achievements resetting
- Fixed cannot get the “Moonbury Navigator” achievement
Nintendo Switch Specific:
- Fixed game failed to boot in all the supported languages (system language) on a fresh boot
- Fixed plus and minus buttons mapping error
- Fixed MC’s changing hair color glitch
PowerA reveals Fortnite "Peely" Switch case
How appealing!
PowerA has been supplying Switch owners with controllers, accessories and more since day one with the Switch, and they’re keeping things going strong 7 years later with a new collaboration that offers Fortnite players some on-the-go Switch protection.
PowerA and Epic have teamed up for a Fortnite-themed Switch Protection Case that is priced at $23. This case is up for purchase right now and offers the following features:
- Sturdy outer shell with rubberized handle and durable dual zipper pulls
- Built-in play stand for Tabletop Mode
- Molded interior with felt lining plus zippered mesh storage fits either system
- Built-in padded screen-protector flap includes game storage for nine game cards
- Officially licensed by Nintendo with two-year limited warranty
As an extra bonus, this Protection Case also comes with a code for a bonus Rocket Rodeo item in Fortnite. If you’d like to take a closer look at the case or lock in a purchase, you can do so through the PowerA shop.
The Pokémon Local Acts initiative to install 5 more "Poké Lid" manhole covers
We couldn't keep a lid on things any longer
2023 was a great year for the Pokémon Local Acts initiative, and clearly the organization has a lot more to share in 2024. As of today, we’ve learned that 5 more Pokémon-themed manhole covers will be making their way to Japan’s Wakayama area very soon!
This organization’s goal is to beautify certain areas of Japan, while also attracting tourists to areas. One of the big efforts of the PLA has been replacing manhole covers with covers that spotlight Pokémon, and it’s been a great success so far.
This time around, five more covers are on the way to Wakayama Prefecture, and you can see their designs in the image at the top of this post. These designs feature Pokémon such as Celebi, Urshifu and Elgyem.
Jump into the new season with the Pikmin Bloom Spring Festival Event
April showers bring May Pikmin flowers
Whether you’re in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, the weather may have been getting a bit milder, making it easier to go outside and enjoy walking with your Pikmin squad! At Pikmin Bloom, Niantic is just about to kick off our Spring Festival Event, which will see the return of Easter Decor Pikmin from last year, and welcome all-new Bunny Egg Decor Pikmin! Don’t miss out on the event-limited fluffy Mii costumes to add some new colors to your look!
The Pikmin Bloom Spring Festival 2024 Event runs from April 1, 2024, 0:00 local time to April 29, 2024, 23:59 local time.
Clear Event Challenge missions to obtain seedlings for Bunny Egg Decor Pikmin
For every Event Challenge mission that you clear, you’ll be able to obtain rewards at random. These can be Chocolate Bunnies, seedlings that grow into Bunny Egg Decor Pikmin, flower petals, or other items. Additionally, when the Big Flower at the center of the stage blooms, you’re guaranteed to receive a Gold Seedling on top of the random rewards.
Missions for the event will be published here on the day the event starts – stay tuned!
Seedlings obtained by clearing Event Challenge missions will grow into any of the 7 available types for Bunny Egg Decor Pikmin. Please note that you’ll meet them at random and are not guaranteed to complete the whole set.
Check out the Premium Event Pass in the shop!
When you purchase a Premium Event Pass, you’ll be able to enjoy the following perks for the duration of the event (April 1st through 29th):
For every stage cleared, you’ll receive extra seasonal nectar that you can put to good use in order to clear event-related tasks!
When you clear the 4th stage, you will receive an additional Gold Seedling for your desired color (red, yellow, blue, purple, white, pink, or gray) of either Easter Egg or Bunny Egg Decor Pikmin. This applies to the 4th stage and any subsequent stages that are a multiple of 4 (8th, 12th, 16th, etc).
- The Event Premium Pass is available to users from Lv20 onwards.
- The Event Premium Pass won’t be displayed to users at or below Lv19.
- Event Premium Pass rewards apply retroactively for cleared Event Challenge missions, regardless of when you obtain it at the shop.
Do not miss out on early bird bonuses!
Event Premium Pass purchases within the first week of the event (until April 7th 23:59 local time) will include Chocolate Bunnies as a bonus. Please note the early bird bonus will no longer be available after the first week of the event.
Clear Spring Festival Event missions to obtain exclusive Bunny Mii costumes and seedlings for last year’s Easter Egg Decor Pikmin!
The season calls for a new look and, this time, missions may include prompts to switch up your Mii’s outfit! To change your Mii’s costume, you’ll need to head over the home screen and tap the button displaying your user name. You will find the “Mii Editor” button at the bottom right corner on the next screen.
- You’ll receive the Spring Festival Event Missions at the beginning of the event.
- Chocolate Bunnies can be obtained as Event Challenge rewards, from flower planting, from Spring Festival Eggs received by destroying Spring Festival Mushrooms, as a bonus with the purchase of an Event Premium Pass, from the Event Challenge Special Pack, and as a bonus for the purchase of an event-limited Mii costume.
- The seedlings obtained from clearing these missions grow into either Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, White, Winged and Rock Easter Egg Decor Pikmin from last year. Please note that there’s no guarantee that you’ll complete the whole set.
- Once the Spring Festival Event ends, the Chocolate Bunny missions will disappear. Please note that the Chocolate Bunnies have no purpose outside of this event.
Destroy Spring Festival Mushrooms to get Spring Festival Eggs!
During the event, you may encounter Spring Festival Mushrooms. When you destroy them, you’ll receive Spring Festival Eggs that contain items such as Chocolate Bunnies and flower petals, among others. Both Bunny Egg and Easter Egg Decor Pikmin are the strongest against these mushrooms, so be sure to send them out to destroy them!
Additionally, on weekends after April 13th, you may encounter Giant Spring Festival Mushrooms that contain a rare type of Spring Festival Egg. On these weekends, the Mushroom Battle Bullhorn will be available for use up to 3 times a day, too! Team up with your friends to destroy some mighty mushrooms together!
⚫️Giant Spring Festival Mushrooms will appear on the following weekends:
- April 13th & 14th
- April 20th & 21st
- April 27th & 29th (Monday included!)
And that’s not all!
Starting on April 13th, Spring Sticker Decor Pikmin will be making a limited-time appearance! You’ll be able to meet these Decor Pikmin by destroying Spring Festival Mushrooms and by joining Weekly Challenges. Stay tuned – more coming soon!
During the event, Bunny Egg and Easter Egg Decor Pikmin will be stronger than usual against all Mushrooms
All postcards your Pikmin bring will feature a special design! Send them to your friends to share the seasonal vibes!
The shop will be offering an array of items to enhance the fun of the event – don’t forget to check them out!
- Available between April 1, 0:00 and April 29, 23:59:
Event Challenge Special Pack
Contains Chocolate Bunnies and other items to help you efficiently tackle missions. Use it to get ahead in the challenge as quickly as possible!
Spring Festival limited Mii costumes
Inspired by bunnies’ fluff, these Mii costumes pair greatly with Bunny Egg Decor Pikmin. They all come with Chocolate Bunnies as a bonus, so be sure to check them out! The shop will also be offering Mii outfits from last year too. This is a great time to shop for your next signature outfit!
- Available between April 17, 0:00 and May 1, 23:59:
Special Mission Ticket: Spring Festival
When you purchase this ticket and clear the dedicated mission, you’ll obtain a gold seedling in your desired color (red, yellow, blue, purple, white, pink, or gray) for your selection of either Easter Egg or Bunny Egg Decor Pikmin (from the 14 available types). The mission must be completed by June 30, 2024 at 23:59.
Gold Seedlings obtained from inviting friends and family to play Pikmin Bloom between April 1st and April 30th will grow into Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, White, Winged or Rock Bunny Egg Decor Pikmin.
Do you consider yourself a Pokémon expert? With more than 1,000 Pokémon, there’s always more to learn, and Beyond the Pokédex is a video series committed to making learning about Pokémon fun.
In this new episode, Pokémon enthusiasts Spruce and Maple strive to protect their fellow Trainers by providing them with all sorts of information about the Embrace Pokémon Gardevoir, Pokémon #0282.
If you missed any other episodes, you can catch up by checking out the entire playlist now.
Square Enix kicks off a "Video Soundtrack" series for Final Fantasy VIII
So many classic tunes
Multiple installments in the Final Fantasy series have stood the test of time due to their amazing gameplay, characters, and more. Truth be told, sometimes it’s the game’s soundtrack that helps elevate it to an amazing degree, and that is without a doubt true of Final Fantasy VIII.
In honor of the amazing tunes of Nobuo Uematsu, Square Enix has started a Final Fantasy VIII video soundtrack series on YouTube. The series pulls unforgettable tunes from Final Fantasy VIII and mixes them with gameplay straight from the original version of the game. We’re not sure how many of these video soundtrack releases there will be, but the first batch is available to stream right now, and you can enjoy them below.
Dark fantasy game "S.O.L Search of Light " comes to Switch late Spring 2024
Can someone turn on a light, please?
Firenut Games is thrilled to announce a new agreement with developer Trigger the Monster to publish the dark fantasy, adventure management title S.O.L Search of Light in late spring 2024 for Nintendo Switch.
S.O.L Search of Light is a steampunk / dark fantasy adventure game that also introduces resource management, narrative mechanics, and tower defense into the gameplay. Play as The Foreigner, the enigmatic main character who must ascend through levels of the Underground to reveal the mysteries hidden on the surface. To achieve his goals, The Foreigner must rely solely on his ingenuity and the help of the domestic robots that work as assistants to the remaining inhabitants of the Underground.
By exploring the dark environment of the Underground, The Foreigner will discover new resources to fortify his village against the hordes of enemies that attack your base every ‘night’. Defend, improve, explore and discover the truth behind the mysteries of this dark narrative.
Tower-Defense - Hordes of enemies will attack your base, so you must use your domestic robots to help you gather resources to fortify and improve your base little by little.
Customization - Improve and customize your character by using different resources and random objects that will discover by exploring the Underground. Each time you play will be a fresh gameplay experience.
Exploration - The Underground allows you to choose your own way as you hunt for resources to improve your base and your character. But be careful, as you will face different randomly generated puzzles, traps and enemies that stand between you and the valuable resources you need.
UK software sales for the week ending March 23rd, 2024
Peach debuts in third
The weekly UK software sales are in! Let’s take a look at the top 40 best-selling games in the United Kingdom for the week ending March 23rd, 2024.
We also have a few notes on various game placements on the charts this week:
- Princess Peach: Showtime! debuted in 3rd, with the chart only accounting for physical sales
- Princess Peach: Showtime! came in lower than Mario Vs. Donkey Kong’s launch
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown saw sales rise 693% week-on-week due to the Amazon Spring Sale
Cassette Beasts Announces Multiplayer Update Coming on May 20, Collaboration Event Updates, New Merch
Pushing play on a host of new content
Today during the 2024 Cassette Beasts Showcase, publisher Raw Fury and developer Bytten Studio revealed many exciting announcements for the creature collector turn-based RPG, Cassette Beasts, including details on the new multiplayer update, a Moonstone Island in-game collaboration event and its release on mobile devices, coming soon.
Multiplayer Update
Players can look forward to the Multiplayer update coming on May 20. Through the update, players will be able to:
Party and explore the world of Cassette Beasts with up to 8 friends, all visible in their world.
Join a “Play With Friends” mode where players can match with anyone on their friends list via an invite code
Challenge their friends in PvP battles and assign custom rules to their battle such as enabling/disabling sticker attributes.
Team up for 2-player co-op raids against Rogue Fusions, and trade tapes with each other.
Additionally, any existing game owners interested in checking out the Multiplayer update early can access the Beta via the beta branch on Steam now until May 20. To see more about the exciting update, check out the official reveal trailer here.
Moonstone Island Collaboration Event
Beginning on May 20, fans can jump into an in-game collaboration event with Moonstone Island, which includes Moonstone-Island themed costumes, as well as a Cassette Beasts’ Pombomb added to Moonstone Island’s Spirit roster.
Along with these fun announcements, fans can rep their love for Cassette Beasts with new merchandise including a vinyl record reprint, t-shirts, a tote bag and plushies! You can view and purchase the merchandise here.
