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Every once in a while, an intriguing looking Kickstarter crosses my feed. Bel’s Fanfare just launched and it's already making waves. Straight from indie developer Chibig(Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, Deiland, and more) comes another Kickstarter for a beautiful looking game. And this one is worth the excitement.

Bel’s Fanfare follows Bel, a demon whose family has spent many years trapped in the depths of The Witch of the Sea, as she becomes the new Aura Cleaner of the ship at the behest of Captain Popplar. Bel also receives a family heirloom from her dad Belceboo before reporting in: the ukobach shield. Armed with her family shield, Bel must venture into the many mysterious areas of the once prestigious The Witch of the Sea and cleanse them of Aura(which is created from impurities of the soul). While doing so, Bel is also working to finally free her family from the ship. Along the way, she meets a number of interesting patrons, including the reptile controlled chef Eden, the lion like theater director Sr. Fos and the Queen of the Sea, Rovella. And that’s just the start.

The Kickstarter launched only a few days ago and it’s already made over $250k and still climbing. I can see why too. Inspired by Zelda and Spirited Away, this game looks stunning from the visuals on offer and seems to include some pretty neat puzzles and boss battles. Just from the Kickstarter alone, I’m very intrigued by the premise and the mysteries lurking within The Witch of the Sea. The Kickstarter ends on March 7 so there’s plenty of time left to back it and get exclusive rewards like a special shield skin, physical copies and even a statue of Bel! Bel's Fanfare is well on track to release on all major platforms, with an early release possible in 2027.

Be sure to follow Chibig on Twitter and Instagram and other socials for updates!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in an actual fairytale? To approach the castle of your archnemesis, knock down the door and…find it converted into an office space? That’s the premise behind Escape From Ever After, a delightful rpg inspired by the classic Paper Mario games. If you needed a fun game to take you back to those days and scratch an itch you didn’t know you had, Escape From Ever After is for you. This was one charming story that had me smiling the whole time despite a few minor kinks.

January has been a big month for Magic the Gathering as its latest in-universe set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, released on the 23rd with its pre-release the week before. What’s Lorwyn you ask? Lorwyn-Shadowmoor is a plane with a duel nature that’s often at odds with itself, as plants, animals and even the inhabitants themselves change drastically between the daytime of Lorwyn and the nighttime of Shadowmoor. Originally visited in the original Lorwyn-Shadowmoor block almost 20 years ago, the time has come to return to the iconic setting in this highly anticipated expansion.

If you’re like me, you probably grew up with a Game Boy Color back in the day and poured hours into 8-bit adventures. I fondly remember my time with games like Dragon Quest IV, Oracle of Ages and a few others. Back in those days, the technology wasn’t very sophisticated, so game design was much simpler and exploration wasn’t guided by nav points. It’s that kind of nostalgia that Doki Monsters Quest chooses to invoke. Memories of bygone days where game mechanics were explained in booklets rather than in the game itself. This philosophy of old meets new works to both Doki Monsters benefit and its deficit.

Welcome to something a bit different. Rather than a traditional Game of the Year style list where I choose my favorites, I’ve instead decided to just take a look back at the various games I played and reviewed on this site alongside a few highlights. My work for GF this year has mostly been these reviews with the occasional preview and news article. Speaking of news, one of the biggest things to happen was the Nintendo Switch 2 and while I probably won’t be getting one for a while, it’s already seen a ton of coverage and support. I’ve covered the news surrounding it a few times and what I’ve seen of it has looked pretty good. It does mean however, that support for Switch 1(at least from first-party developers) is nearing its end. But it's been great to do reviews on my Switch for as long as I have. Cheers Nintendo. I got a few more memories with you this year at least.

As the narrator of the Pokémon anime famously says: “The adventure continues!”

Right off the heels of our recently published Legends Z-A review, Nintendo and Pokémon Company released new information to the anticipated(and divisive) upcoming Mega Dimension DLC along with a confirmed release date. And this DLC certainly promises to take things to a whole new dimension. Storywise, this DLC is intended to begin after the events of the Legends Z-A’s main story. The premise is that distortions have begun appearing around the city that lead to a strange place known as Hyperspace Luminose. Team MZ will have to team up with new allies including mysterious donut chef Ansha and her partner Hoopa as well as a returning character in the form of Korrina, Mega Evolution Successor and Gym Leader of Shalour City(also in Kalos).

Hyperspace is no joke. Not only does it look trippy, but there are also Pokémon there that can’t be found in normal Lumiose, such as Galarian Mr Mime, Corviknight, Alolan Marowak and more! Even stranger, these Pokémon have been hyper powered up to become over the normal cap of level 100 for the first time ever! It wouldn’t be a Mega Dimension without new Mega Evolutions, and those are a major point of Z-A. In addition to the versions of Mega Raichu that were recently announced, two new Megas have been revealed: Mega Chimecho and Mega Baxcalibur. Chimecho was the last Pokémon I ever thought to see get a Mega but I kinda like it. And I’m excited for Baxcalibur since I used one in my Scarlet playthrough a long time ago.

What secrets await in Hyperspace? We’ll have to find out when the DLC story drops on Dec 10, a month away. In the meantime, the DLC is available for purchase now if you so desire. You’ll get the new Holo-X and Holo-Y outfits as soon as you do and a gift of special Pokeballs(3 Level Balls, 3 Lure Balls, 3 Heavy Balls and 3 Fast Balls) is currently available as an early purchase bonus. 

Outside of the DLC, trainers can also get Diancite from Mystery Gift. Doing so unlocks a special side mission which can let players catch the mythical Diancie in-game. Additionally, as of November 6th, a new season of Ranked Battles is available in which trainers can obtain a Delphoxite as well as another opportunity to get the Greninjite for Mega Delphox and Mega Greninja respectively. Later seasons will add the mega stones for Chesnaught and the previously mentioned Baxcalibur. There’s still plenty to see and do in Lumiose city, DLC or no. Happy catching trainers! Don’t forget to check out the Mega Dimension trailer as well as our review of Legends Z-A!

The year is 2013. Pokémon X and Y released on Nintendo’s highly successful 3DS console and marks the first time a main series Pokémon game has been fully rendered in 3D. This is the best Pokémon has looked up to this point and it’s the start of an exciting new era. Beyond the pretty visuals however, X and Y also left a legacy of unfulfilled ideas and wasted potential. The rumored Pokémon Z never materialized and we inevitably left Kalos and Mega Evolution behind…that is, until recently. 

The time has finally come to talk about Pokémon Legends Z-A, the second entry under the Legends moniker following the success of Arceus back in 2022.  Unlike Arceus, which took place in the distant past, Z-A takes place in the future, at least as far as X and Y are concerned. This time the setting is the massive Lumiose City, crown jewel of the Kalos region.

A couple of months ago, Elestrals Clash entered Early Acess on Steam. In the time since, it’s received a few updates and a public statement. New cards have been added, and the team behind it have already started on adding a revamped tutorial, new features and more. The Elestrals train keeps chugging and isn’t stopping anytime soon either. While Clash gets much needed improvements, creator aDrive has been sharing bits of footage of his latest project over on his socials.

Elestrals Awakened is the next frontier for Elestrals. A monster taming rpg inspired by classic games and brimming with Ancient Greek flavor. And aDrive isn’t the only one working on it, he’s also teamed up with fellow content creator and poketuber, ShadyPenguinn to bring it to life. This 2.5D pixel art adventure is one you don’t want to miss and promises to be a great time. All they need is you! If this is a project you think you'd be interested in supporting, Elestrals Awakened has arrived on Kickstarter as of October 14th. This is a wonderful opportunity to back a passion project, especially if you're a fan of the card game or if you just like monster tamers in general. Be sure to follow for updates and who knows? We may even discover new Elestrals along the way!

I know I’ll be keeping an eye on it and following along. The various screenshots and video clips look incredible and I’m super stoked to see where it all goes. Be sure to follow aDrive and Elestrals on social media for more updates regarding the TCG, Clash, Awakened and more!

I’ve been a fan of the Fire Emblem franchise for quite a while now. I got into the series thanks to Sacred Stones and like many, fell back in love with it thanks to Awakening. I’ve been following it ever since so imagine my surprise when I check social media and find out that a new mobile game just released with little to no warning.

Ah Digimon. If you grew up in the 90’s, the word likely brings to mind a group of kids getting lost in a strange world and meeting up with an assortment of monsters including an adorable dinosaur. Digimon hasn’t had the same impact as other similar franchises, but it remains impressive how it stood the test of time and managed to maintain a healthy fanbase across the globe. Nowhere is this more evident, then with Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth.