Got Games in Your Newsletter?

Welcome to “Siliconera Speaks Up,” our newsletter for the site! This’ll be a summary of the past week’s anime or gaming news, a little reminder of things to come, and our insight on what games you should pick up next. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Speak Up Sesh

As a reminder, we have a giveaway for a Nintendo Switch OLED! Signing up for the newsletter automatically places your name into the giveaway and if you’re receiving this, then, congratulations! This giveaway is open to all subscribers in all regions. However, something you might not have known is that you can also receive three extra entries if you refer your friends to this newsletter. Here’s how to participate:

1. Head to the giveaway page.

2. Finish your registration if you haven’t already. You might need to pop in your e-mail again.

3. Click on “Refer Friends For Extra Entries.” There’s a little heart icon next to it if you’re having trouble finding the box.

4. A drop-down will appear with a link unique to you.

5. Copy it and share with friends or other social media communities.

For every person who clicks your link and enters the giveaway, you’ll receive three extra entries. So if you refer it to, say, 5 people, that’s 15 extra entries. 100 people is 300 entries. This giveaway will end on January 31, 2025. Today’s the final week and newsletter you’ll see this, so get those entries and referrals in if you want a higher chance of winning a Nintendo Switch OLED!

For this week, we’re introducing a new venture: a weekly newsletter game. This is still experimental, so the “weekly” thing might be jumping the gun here. Here is the puzzle, which is a Custom Connections one, in which you need to create four groups of four characters. I’ve attempted it myself and couldn’t beat it, so hopefully you’ll have more luck than me. This puzzle is just for fun and a way to pass your sleepy Friday, so kick back and relax as you try to figure it out.

Dynasty Warriors has been a huge success with Origins, which is fantastic news for Koei Tecmo! I have to admit that I was more into Sengoku Basara for the longest time, as I wasn’t the biggest fan of the sound design or physics in Koei Tecmo games, but Origins hit it out of the park. It feels great to play, sounds satisfying when you hit others, and looks cool to boot. For better or for worse, it’s a pretty classic musou, so those who don’t like the genre definitely won’t like this one, either. But if you have the means to purchase and play it, and you’re a fan of hack ‘n’ slash, then this one will promise hours of fun.

The story is something that a lot of fans have been making fun of, though, and I have to admit that I also made fun of it. Dynasty Warriors was kind of the last franchise I expected to pull the “main character is an OC and everyone who meets him praises how cool and handsome he is, and how much they would love to fight him or gaze into his eyes.” It’s funny in a rather endearing way.

Honestly, for some of them like Lu Bu and Guan Yu, I get it. Those guys were so cool. Guan Yu was the goat back then. His contemporaries respected him for a reason, and he’s probably the only non-problematic hero from the Three Kingdoms era you can have as a statue in a restaurant or something without anyone thinking it strange.

Other interesting pieces of news from this week include a new anime adaptation of Guilty Gear (man, I could’ve sworn there was an OVA back in the day), a delay for Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme, and a new mode in Marvel Rivals. Unfortunately, nothing as major as a Switch 2 reveal happened. But sometimes a quiet week is just what you need, especially considering some of the other events that happened over the past few days.

Top 10 Stories From Last Week

• Square Enix Will Give Away FFVII Rebirth Chocobo Steam Decks - After seeing the picture for myself, I don’t know… Maybe I’m too used to the idea of “sweaty gamer hands” to like any gaming accessory covered in fur.

• Kingdom Hearts Stained Glass Pins on the Way - The idea of the stained glass designs featuring characters and events from previous games was such a good one, because they always made starting a new Kingdom Hearts game so exciting. The Disney ones are generic enough to give to a normal Disney fan, too.

• What Is the Most Anticipated Anime of 2025? - It says a lot about how much I like Gnosia that I talked about it in previous newsletters, talked about it in this entry, and still want to talk about it here.

• New Metaphor: ReFantazio Patch Adds Party Change Options - Funnily enough, I never noticed how inconvenient it was to shift to the Party option every time I wanted to swap around characters. Just too used to it now from games that don’t let you do this.

• Best Continuing Anime Series in the Winter 2025 Season - Blue Miburo is really cool, focusing on the Mibu Roshigumi prior to it becoming the Shinsengumi. I don’t think you need to be a huge history buff to enjoy a simple chanbara or two.

• Koei Tecmo Canceled a New Dynasty Warriors Game Before Origins - I thought for sure it would’ve been some romance sim considering how yumedanshi otome Origins feels.

• Anyway, I’m Falling in Love With You Anime Is a Pandemic Love Story - Media depicting the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine was something that appeared even during lockdown, but it still feels strange to watch a show or read a book so obviously based on a historical event you personally lived through.

• All New Netflix Winter 2025 Anime Series - We recommend Sakamoto Days and My Happy Marriage for this season!

• Square Enix Game Cafe in Tokyo Will Close - The last day of the iconic cafe will be March 31, 2025.

• New Build-a-Bear Pokemon Plush is Yamper - This is a relatively newer one from this week, but have you seen the plush? He looks like a little lord or lady and I’m all here for that.

Upcoming Releases

• Mark of the Deep - January 24 (PC)

• Cuisineer - January 28 (Switch)

• Neptunia Riders vs Dogoos - January 28 (PS4, PS5, Switch)

• Spider-Man 2 - January 30 (PC)

• Genso Manege - January 31 (Switch, PC)