Released in 2023, Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo was lauded for its compelling mystery and story surrounding Japanese folklore in Sumida City. It also sported a very distinct, old-school anime kind of look that helped it stand out.

More importantly, though, Paranormasight boasted striking character designs with subtle animations to help clue you into what the characters were thinking. It certainly helped that we were treated to such a wide range of character types, including the tortured father who chose police work over his family, the weird yet charming private investigator who wears a fedora, and the stoic businessman with well-kempt hair who wouldn’t hesitate stabbing you in the back if it came down to it.

What I’m trying to say is, Paranormasight is a real good-looking game with plenty of eligible bachelors. Don’t get me wrong, though; they all come with baggage, and some might be harder to deal with than others. So if you enjoyed the game and have been fantasizing about entering a relationship with one of these virtual men, let’s go over each of their pros and cons.

Makoto Ashimiya/Fumichika Nejima

Starting off with the very bottom of the barrel, we have Fumichika Nejima, who later changed his name to Makoto Ashimiya.

If we’re just talking about looks, Nejima got a major glow-up. I mean, we’re talking extreme weight loss, whole new haircut, and –not gonna lie– what possibly looks like a minor facelift. This guy looks way more confident now, and confidence is attractive.

There are, of course, downsides. Let’s not forget that Nejima was a serial killer who murdered school girls, went to jail, got released on parole, then continued killing innocent people. The silver lining? He did all this to try to complete a ritual to bring his dead lover back to life. Kinda romantic.

Green Flags:

• Super committed guy, will never cheat on you.

Red Flags:

• Serial killer, obsessive, is a psychopath.

Jun Erio

Jun Erio is exactly the type of guy I’d swipe right on if I saw him on a dating app. On paper, this guy is pretty much perfect. Young guy just getting started with his career in the police, has a strong sense of right and wrong, and he even comes with a decent sense of humor. He’s also a conventionally attractive man who looks good in suspenders. What’s not to love?

Green Flags:

• Cool job.
• Can protect you from the bad guys.
• Always willing to do menial tasks.
• Funny guy.

Red Flags:

• Kinda rude towards older people.

Richter Kai

Richter Kai is a bit of an acquired taste, but once you get to know him, he really starts to stand out as one of the most dateable guys in Paranormasight. Trust me, just look past the fedora and the smarmy charm. Underneath all of that is a kind, sensitive soul who just wants to help people and do right by them.

Working as a private investigator, he’s committed to helping his clients find what they want, but never at the cost of his own principles. If a client asks him to do something that he deems to be crossing the line, he’s out. And that’s respectable.

Green Flags:

• All-around nice guy who likes helping people.
• You just know he’ll be able to protect you in a physical altercation.

Red Flags:

• Weird fashion sense and choice of hairstyle.

Shogo Okiie

We might’ve lost Shogo Okiie pretty early on in Paranormasight, but that doesn’t mean his death hurt any less. In fact, considering that Shogo came into the game with huge Main Character Syndrome, coupled with the fact that he’s easily the best-looking boy in the game, his death might’ve been the biggest tragedy of them all.

Sure, he’s a bit of a slacker and has kind of a lackadaisical attitude towards his work and life. But look, Shogo is one seriously handsome guy. Look at that messy “I woke up like this” hair, that casual roll-up of the sleeves on his denim jacket, and his hands perpetually glued to the inside of his pockets. He has the whole cool guy look going on, though he does seem to have the tendency to immediately hit on any girl he sees, and is always thinking about whether any of them will give him the time of day. But hey, if you’re good-looking, that doesn’t matter at all.

Green Flags:

• He’s hot. That’s it.

Red Flags:

• Unmotivated, no drive.
• Talks to girls with the intention of hitting on them.

Takumi Yumioka

Takumi Yumioka, on the other hand, is on the other extreme end of the spectrum from Shogo. This man lives for his job, so much so that he’s even willing to straight up kill people for his boss. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what it is. I mean, really, when it comes down to it, who wouldn’t want to date a man as single-minded and dedicated as Takumi?

Honestly, the only thing giving me pause (aside from the fact that he killed my boy Shogo) is that Takumi’s just so boring. He’s straight up just a work robot who thinks of nothing else. He probably even works on the weekends. And enjoys it. Weird.

Green Flags:

• Will do anything you ask.
• Extremely dedicated and committed.

Red Flags:

• Also a murderer.
• Probably has no mind of his own.

Tetsuo Tsutsumi

Tetsuo Tsutsumi is also very much an acquired taste. At first glance, he seems completely dedicated to his job with no space for anything else. And you know, that’s kinda true. He’s extremely focused on work, which can make his partner feel neglected.

But when it comes down to it, he’ll do literally anything for his family. He also has a bit of a sweet tooth and a soft side to him. He’s basically just a giant teddy bear. Give Tetsuo some therapy, teach him how to strike a balance between work and family, and he’ll be the best man you can date or marry.

Green Flags:

• Will literally die for his family.
• Highly motivated and good at his job.

Red Flags:

• Doesn’t have a work-life balance.

Yuutarou Namigaki

You just know Yuutarou was the popular sensitive boy at school that all the girls wanted to be close to. He’s the emotionally intelligent boy who knows how to talk to you, listen to you, and make you feel special. The cute sweater and glasses look definitely adds to his charm, making him one of the most attractive male characters you’ll find in Paranormasight.

The problem? He’s also a little bit of a spineless wimp. Once he finds a girl he wants to impress, he’ll bend over backwards for her, and let’s be real, that’s kinda unattractive.

Green Flags:

• Super handsome.
• Emotionally intelligent, sensitive.

Red Flags:

• Spineless. Ew.

Pixel Hearts is a column that explores love and dating in video games.

Members of this site (and dark fantasy enjoyers in general) have been keeping tabs on this project for quite a while, so I ventured into the Entropy-ridden land of Faelduum thanks to Mandragora’s last preview build ahead of its April 17 launch. This wasn’t my first rodeo, however. I’d already played the demo released late last year, so I was eager to find out how the good stuff could feel even better and whether its rougher edges had been smoothed out ahead of the long-anticipated full release.

Publisher Knights Peak and developer Primal Game Studio don’t try to evade the easy comparisons in the official Steam description of the game: “Slash, burn, and rage your way through Mandragora, a 2.5D side-scroller action-RPG with deep Metroidvania and Soulslike elements.” Move to the next sentence and there’s even talk of a special lantern capable of transporting the player to a different realm. Lords of the Fallen, anyone?

As the gaming industry as a whole (aside from some gigantic “whales”) struggles to stay afloat, too many studios are convinced they need to reinvent the wheel to succeed. Look back at surprising hits in recent years outside the AAA realm (such as Balatro, Vampire Survivors, or Helldivers 2), and you’ll notice they simply were clever riffs on formulas that had evolved (and continue to do so) for years if not decades. Sure, uncompromised visions and bold design swings gave them their sauce and made them stand out, but they partially were the result of iterating on already-established subgenres.

The truth is innovation in gaming (and art as a whole if we look at the bigger picture) never happens in total isolation from what other artists and developers are doing. Even the strangest, most off-beat video game has been influenced by many others in both its own and entirely different genres. The faster an aspiring creative accepts this, the better. In the case of Mandragora, I think it’s fair to say everyone involved had extremely clear references. More importantly, they had a vision that could make it stand out despite how derivative it might sound on paper… plus the required level of craft to land their swings.

First of all, I must underline Mandragora feels great to play. A disappointing amount of takes on the Soulslike and/or Metroidvania formulas look the part, but completely fail to “feel good” in the moment-to-moment experience. It’s hard to convey with just words, but the amalgamation of the right mechanics, systems, controls, and feedback is even more important when dealing with this type of video game. It doesn’t matter that a big dark fantasy (or sci-fi) adventure is crushingly hard as long as there’s a solid loop and most actions are satisfying to perform. As far as I can tell, Primal Game Studio nailed this. Every trailer of Mandragora I watched looked weighty and crunchy, and my two hands-on experiences with it didn’t disappoint on that front.

There’s also a distinct (if a bit familiar) look to the Faelduum-set action-RPG; the various locales I’ve been able to visit are gloomy and menacing, but the artists never sacrificed the vibrancy of its colors nor the depth of the backgrounds to create the dark atmospheres. It’s also the right amount of hazy; there’s a softness to the overall visual presentation that almost gives it a nightmare-like touch which is sort of perfect given the matters at hand. The traditional Unreal Engine “shader stutters” are as terrifying as the many monsters lurking around, though.

Related: Wanderstop Is Already One of the Cozy Gaming Greats [Review]

Faced with the choices of re-rolling a knight-like class in this preview or checking out the mage and rogue-like options, I opted to grab some magic with one hand and hold a blade with the other. To the shock of almost no one, sorcery seems to be very OP in this game, too. The “Spellbinder” skill/perk tree isn’t too restrictive either; certain nodes allowed me to build a tankier spellcaster instead of a glass cannon. Mandragora’s progression is quite straightforward and works exactly like you’d expect from a game sticking close to FromSoftware’s teachings. That said, the equipment and skill layers are closer to the Diablo breed of ARPGs. An enticing mix indeed.

There’s a specific rhythm to the combat too even if you think you know how it’s gonna behave. It’s not a relentless, fast-paced Metroidvania because of its perspective, but it’s not as tactical and flexible as your average Soulslike title, either. It’s important to read and act smartly on the enemies’ moves (and their numbers), but you won’t be seeing them wait for an opening for too long. Making the most of the space you’re given is quite important, it seems. That’s why I was more than happy to blast away smaller evildoers and cursed creatures with a magic beam while drinking mana potions that weren’t super expensive.

Perhaps my biggest gameplay-related question before the full game launches is whether resource management and having the right consumables on you (beyond HP/MP drinks) will be essential to beating the game. Some investments paid off big time when facing a few annoying mini-bosses, but I also could get past a good number of roadblocks with just my raw ability to pull back and evade at the right moment. Maybe I’m overthinking the loop and possible tactics here. In any case, Mandragora has enough going on (and the lively world factors into it) to accommodate a large number of playstyles, and that makes me hopeful for what’s to come beyond its starting areas.

I’ll also have to wait until the full release to figure out if I care about this “chosen one” narrative, which may or may not have darker undercurrents than what we can see at a quick glance. I doubt its quality will “make or break” the game, but here’s hoping for something serviceable at least. We’ll know soon enough.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is launching on April 17 on PC (Steam & Epic Games Store), PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

What Do the Snakes Mean in The White Lotus Season 3?

Rick put it best in the third episode of The White Lotus Season 3, The Meaning of Dreams. Snakes are seen as evil, or at the very least beings that do bad things. The entire snake show sequence in that episode also makes it abundantly clear: snakes need to be locked up, or you could risk getting poisoned by them.

Simply put, they’re bad news, and you should stay away from them. So in the context of the show, if we see someone associated with that snake imagery, we can probably safely assume that they’re an antagonist of some sort, or that they’re up to no good.

Chelsea and the Snake Choker

In the second episode, titled Special Treatments, we see that the hotel lobby store gets robbed. Chelsea pays special attention to a beautiful, gold snake choker, and that eventually gets taken by the robbers.

Why was Chelsea drawn to the snake choker, though? It’s pretty, yes, but I think a more likely connection that the show wants you to make is that she’s here with Rick, who’s seen as a snake himself. She’s fascinated by the imagery of the snake choker, and it’s meant to represent her relationship with Rick.

Rick and the Snake Show

Most prominently, however, is the fact that Rick releases all of the snakes in the shop when he’s high on weed. He sees himself as a snake, as someone who does bad things. However, he also believes that even evil people deserve a chance. Maybe getting locked up is what’s making these people be evil. In a desperate move, he frees the snakes. Rick sees himself as a bad person, but he also longs for acceptance.

That comes with consequences, though, as Chelsea gets bitten by a snake in that same scene. It suggests that if Chelsea hangs around Rick for too long, she could end up getting herself hurt. In trying to reconcile the sides of him that are evil and want longing, Rick ends up hurting the people closest to him.

Valentin’s Friends

Now I’m sure this will get confirmed in the next couple episodes, but Valentin’s friends are so damn sus and they’re probably the ones who robbed the store in the first place and stole that snake choker. Think about it. Valentin was talking to Gaitok when the robbers drove through. Could he have been in on the scheme?

Not only do these friends look shady as hell, but guess what? One of them even has a freaking snake tattoo. The show is just beating us over the head with the whole “snakes are bad” message at this point.

Also consider the fact that Valentin has been putting Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie in these silly situations to make fun of them, and you kinda get the sense that Valentin isn’t a fan of these women either. Who would be? They’re obnoxious foreigners who literally just called Valentin their butler and dragged him out of his workplace while he was working. So what’s the next step? Maybe Valentin wants his snake friends to charm them, and then pull some sort of scam on them. That’s certainly in the realm of possibility.

So there you have it. With the exception of Rick, who still very much has a good shot at redemption, snakes are bad news in The White Lotus Season 3. Keep an eye out for them going forward. I’m sure there’s still plenty of foreboding snake imagery to come.

As the trailer shows off the various NPCs you’ll interact with in Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s more modernized Lumiose City, one of the characters that was given a segment was AZ, an old man with a Floette. For anyone who’s played Pokemon X or Y, it should be immediately evident who this is. AZ was arguably one of the most important characters in that game, and it was frustrating how little Gen VI utilized him. Seeing him pop up in Z-A not only makes a whole lot of sense, but it gives the series a chance to finally fill some of the glaring holes in Gen VI’s story.

If you have never played X or Y, AZ was a towering and enigmatic man who only appeared in a handful of moments. We knew very little about him, as most of the history surrounding him was kept in supplemental texts that only tangentially referenced him. For most Pokemon characters, that’s nothing too special. A lot of characters within the world of Pokemon don’t get a lot of development, and even then, most of it isn’t essential. Yet for some reason, Game Freak decided to make AZ one of the most important characters not just in the game, but in all of Pokemon.

In the lore of the Kalos region, 3,000 years ago — well before Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Pokemon X & Y — a war raged between two neighboring kingdoms. AZ was the king of one of them and he and his soldiers rounded up Pokemon to be used as tools to aid humans in the war. When his beloved Floette died in the conflict, in despair, he built a weapon powered by Pokemon lifeforce to attempt to revive his companion, only to instead use the weapon to end the war. This action resulted in the loss of countless lives, both human and Pokemon. In grief, AZ wandered the lands trying to atone for his actions, which leads to the events of X & Y. After a final fight against your protagonist, his Floette, who gained eternal life due to the activation of the ultimate weapon, returns to him and forgives him of his sins. 

There’s a lot to unpack with that story, but that’s kind of the point. For such a deep and world-shaking series of events, none of the Gen VI games, including the Gen III remakes Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire did anything with this. So many unanswered questions lingered, like the events of the war, the cause and nature of AZ’s immortality, and just what exactly he’d been up to for 3,000 years. For a generation that featured some of the weakest narrative elements, like the embarrassing motivation of Team Flare and the absolute nothingburgers that were your rivals, having such a richly detailed and complex character just shoved into the background was unbelievably aggravating. Plus, for all of the importance AZ had in the events of the region, you only meet him a total of three times — once on Route 13, another in Team Flare’s hideout, and then at the finale where he just… appears.

I know that Pokemon isn’t exactly a series known for its complex plot, but when it wants to have a story, it can pull out a decent one. The example that immediately comes to mind is N’s arc from Gen V, which spends the entire game fleshing out the character’s philosophy and how the members of Team Plasma have intentionally elevated him into a messianic figure. Then there’s the Aether Foundation in Pokemon Sun & Moon, which was fascinating because of the way it explores the family dynamics between Lusamine and her children. Honestly, the story is usually the last thing I care about in a Pokemon game, but when a story is good, it helps to elevate the rest of the adventure — and Pokemon Legends: Z-A can and should have a good story. 

So with AZ’s return, I’m excited to see what Pokemon Legends: Z-A can do with him. He’s operating a hotel that will serve as a main base of sorts, so will he serve as a mentor to the player? Will he be drawn more into the events of the plot? Will we get to see more of this ancient war that broke out thousands of years ago? What about his Floette? It was such an important Pokemon in the lore of Kalos, it’d be cool to see how a Pokemon that’s literally immortal interacts with modern-day society.

Is it likely that any of that will happen? Probably not. Game Freak, now more than ever, seems very averse to rocking the boat. They would rather keep the status quo and only make incremental changes to the franchise, and having a plot that could radically alter the lore of Pokemon may be a bit too extreme for them. It’s very probable that Z-A will just be more of the same milquetoast Pokemon fluff. Still, it’s nice to think that Pokemon Legends: Z-A can finally give Gen VI the proper justice its most fascinating character deserves.

In Episode 3, aptly titled “The Meaning of Dreams,” we got a lot of tsunami talk. It might just seem like flavor, an attempt to add color and context to the show’s Thailand setting, but after Episode 3, I’m pretty sure they’re meant to be taken as warning signs that something big’s about to happen.

The Tsunami as a Warning

At the end of Episode 2, Tim watches his family walk into their suite while Lochy tells them about the story of a girl who ran around warning everyone about a tsunami that was about to hit Thailand. This anecdote is actually a real life story about Tilly Smith, who ran around Mai Khao beach to warn everyone about a tsunami just minutes before it hit. She ended up saving about a hundred lives that day.

So it seems only appropriate that Episode 3 should open with an eerie dream that Victoria has of an incoming tsunami that’s about to destroy the Ratliff house. The dream opens with Victoria standing on the beach. She looks across from her to see Lochy sitting next to the two ladyboys that we saw serving the family in Episode 2. Lochy tells her that this is what the ocean looks like just before a tsunami.

The ladyboys then drape Victoria in a towel, and she walks into the ocean as a tsunami comes crashing towards her.

What Does the Tsunami Mean in The White Lotus?

This is going to sound painfully obvious, but the tsunami is clearly an omen, a premonition of something bad to come. But what exactly is it warning us about?

The tsunami rushing towards Victoria and the Ratliff house means that something is about to destroy this family. The first obvious interpretation is that Tim’s involvement with bribery and money laundering is going to ruin his family. Their company will be taken away, they’ll probably lose all their money, and with that, everything that’s holding this family together.

Why did Lochy show up in the dream, and not the other kids, though? What was the significance of the ladyboys? From the very first episode, I guessed that Lochy might be closeted and part of his arc probably involves him coming out as gay to his family. His fascination with the ladyboys and not-so-subtle signs of checking out his own brother and other male tourists around the resort feed into this theory.

But maybe it goes deeper than that? This entire time, Lochy’s been telling us he has a choice to make. What if Lochy isn’t actually gay, but is questioning his gender identity instead? That would also explain his “female side” coming through during his posture correction session. It would also explain the ladyboys being present with him during the dream.

Maybe the thing that “destroys” the family isn’t so straightforward as Tim’s crimes. Maybe the revelation that Lochy doesn’t identify as male is what completely changes the Ratliff family dynamic and affects how the family sees him. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Lochy’s the one who’s been obsessing over tsunami videos and showing them to his parents.

The tsunami could very well be pointing towards a bigger disaster heading towards the entire resort too, of course. After all, the opening credits themselves depict a large ocean wave crashing down on a ship, with people scrambling to safety, getting eaten by animals, or just trying to pretend the tsunami isn’t happening at all.

The Ratliffs may be a microcosm of everything that’s going on in the bigger picture of the resort, but we can’t forget about the threat of that looming disaster that got teased in the very first episode either.

The White Lotus is now available for streaming on HBO Max.

Spanish studio Alkimia Interactive has been developing the remake for roughly four years. THQ Nordic acquired the now-deceased original Gothic studio Piranha Bytes back in 2019, and soon, a “playable teaser” was assembled to gauge interest in a full remake of the original game in the series. The response was largely positive, yet one request from longtime fans popped up time and again: Making it more faithful to the original and less modernized. This didn’t shock anyone.

Much has been written about the key differences between remasters and remakes, and if the line that separates both approaches to refreshing old games is sometimes too blurred to really matter. For example, look momentarily at the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy or the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Under the hood, structurally, mechanically… they were the same games. But they also were fully rebuilt and weren’t just the result of adding extra graphical shine on top of what was already there. However, they also were quite different from even bigger efforts such as Resident Evil 2 (2019), which completely reworks the original games into something more modern and approachable.

Around one hour with Gothic 1 Remake’s Next Fest demo and my vague memories of the original were enough to know I was playing a very very traditional take on Piranha Bytes’ iconic action-RPG. This is great news for the diehard fans that were asking for a “return to basics” following Gothic 3 and Arcania’s being less-than-ideal continuations of the first two games, but it also makes me wonder if there’s an audience for it beyond the sort of player that has a very low opinion of modern AA/AAA releases only because they’re newer and not as unwelcoming. After all, the still-infant Soulslike subgenre is thriving due to its hostile demeanor, so maybe Gothic 1 Remake has a fighting chance.

Well, you see, the main thing with Soulslikes is that they generally have solid, addicting combat loops. And that’s the one thing Gothic always struggled with and something that hasn’t changed (as far as I can tell after playing the demo) in Gothic 1 Remake. Battling even the simplest creatures in the Valley of the Mines just feels clunky and outdated in a way that isn’t even charming. I appreciate the commitment to the actual difficulty of the game and the lack of hand-holding, but there are ways to execute that while making the overall experience not as miserable in the moment-to-moment gameplay.

Related: Promise Mascot Agency Is Super Weird But Surprisingly Easy to Digest [Preview]

There’s also the weird decision of making this demo “a standalone experience” with no proper narrative hook that sells the casual crowd on the actual game that’s supposed to be launching later this year. Yes, I’ve been able to visit a few areas that are key to the full Gothic journey, but the demo ultimately feels like a tech showcase rather than an actual chunk of the game. Of course, no tech demo actually runs for more than a few minutes and even lets you take on several quests and tinker a fair bit with the systems, but the very nature of this preview makes me wonder what the real state of the game is this late into development.

“It is important to note that this experience does not feature the intended progression, freedom, simulation, and immersion that the full game will provide,” the press release states. If so much of it doesn’t resemble the actual game, developmental phase aside, maybe it will do more bad than good?

Personally, I didn’t have a great time with the demo. Some extra UE5-powered sheen aside, the most modern game it resembles is The Witcher 2… which isn’t exactly what you want from an expensive remake set to come out in 2025. Movement is sluggish; combat feels a tad too slow even by Gothic standards; and all the graphical glow-up can’t hide the fact that it’s all restricted by the early 2000s level design that has been painstakingly recreated.

Regardless, some of Gothic’s unique, slightly off-beat soul shines through the rust: For the most part, the setting still feels refreshingly oppressive, and there’s a commitment to letting players figure things out for themselves and not filling the screen with markers. I don’t think, at this stage, that it’s enough to make up for how bland everything else can be, but perhaps the aforementioned “hardcore old-school RPGs” crowd will appreciate the return to this style of game design.

There’s also the slight possibility of the full game landing a critical hit with its retelling of the original story, which directly dealt with the themes of penal labor and rebellion against a decaying monarchy. But that’s just speculation and wishful thinking, as this demo offers none of that beyond some expository dialogues from prisoners who have seen better days.

God knows I can put up with “janky” combat systems and unforgiving worlds which tell players to adapt or perish, but there has to be more juice to Gothic 1 Remake (plus some proper responses to feedback) by the time it releases to convince me and RPG enjoyers without nostalgia for the veteran series to return to the Khorinis mines.

Gothic 1 Remake will release at some point in 2025 on PC (Steam & GOG), PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

To fully understand what’s going on here, we have to return to 2020, a year that, in spite of the pandemic, delivered a handful of bangers, both big and small. Kaizen released the open-world murder mystery adventure game Paradise Killer in September and quickly gained a cult following. I’ll admit I’ve yet to play through its entirety (something I plan to fix before Promise Mascot Agency launches), but a quick glance will tell you it looks and feels unlike anything else in the crowded modern indie market. The same applies to Promise Mascot Agency.

Whereas the pitch behind Paradise Killer was solving a huge murder case on an island governed by immortal beings who worship dead alien gods (won’t spoil the rest of the setup here), Promise Mascot Agency presents itself as a narrative adventure with heavy management elements, sort of. Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: It’s quite hard to classify Kaizen’s latest, and that’s good.

As many voices in the gaming space (rightly) argue a full pivot to indie development won’t save a crumbling industry, it’s becoming increasingly easy to notice that many independent video games just look too similar nowadays. Whether they’re good or bad, it’s hard to catch players’ attention nowadays when those of us who are interested are already spread too thin. You might get lucky with a pixel-art roguelite or yet another cozy farm sim starring a witch, but the indie space is even more saturated than the bloated AAA portion of the market at this point.

Honestly, this is the main reason why something as odd as Promise Mascot Agency is instantly eye-catching. You just haven’t seen it before. You’re eager to find out more about it and see whether it’s your jam or not. That alone is a huge victory for any indie developer. “We like big, bold character games,” said Kaizen co-founder Phil Crabtree back in 2020 while discussing Paradise Killer. More than four years later, that’s an apt way to describe Promise Mascot Agency as well. But, you know, the production values aren’t AAA-level and make sense for the type of game the team is going for here. Too often, even indie developers forget a “big, bold” game needn’t be cutting-edge or huge.

This doesn’t mean Promise Mascot Agency has dropped the open-world angle. It very much feels like a forgotten PS2-era genre-bending sandbox title from Japan that caused a studio to close almost immediately after its launch. Luckily for Kaizen Game Works, one of the positives of the gaming era we find ourselves in is that people are much more into extremely weird stuff.

Related: Two Point Museum Upholds the Franchise’s High Standards [Review]

The generous Next Fest demo jumps straight into the bulk of the game, saving the intro for the full release, which is set for April 10. A quick explainer of who Michi, the grave retired yakuza who’s exiled to the cursed town of Kaso-Machi, and Pinky, an energetic human-sized living finger, are is provided before the demo starts so the player can hit the ground running and get a solid idea of what the gameplay loop is and how the plot could potentially unfold.

Let’s talk about the latter first: I have no freakin’ clue, and I mean this as a compliment. Promise Mascot Agency will seemingly keep us on our toes and always guessing what comes next, and that’s a good feeling to have while exploring a new indie game. During the time I spent playing through the demo, the most normal character I met was an old corrupt mayor who kind of hates mascots but was willing to give the main characters a chance to rebuild the agency and make Kaso-Machi a bit less depressing (the promise of money under the table certainly helped their case).

This leads to Michi and Pinky meeting mascots like To-Fu (a tofu cube who won’t stop crying) and heroes like Captain Sign, “Japan’s only road-sign superhero.” It’s not only about the mascots; the run-down town is home to all sorts of colorful citizens and other helpful individuals. The end goal seems to be restoring both the place and the Promise Mascot Agency to their former glory, helping as many people as possible in the process and allowing mascots to take on different kinds of jobs. But I feel like anything could happen before the end credits roll.

With the narrative and management angles put front and center in the trailers and other marketing materials, you’d expect Promise Mascot Agency to be on the simpler side of things, but I was actually surprised by the amount of “video game-y” elements it has. It might have strong “collectathon” vibes, as none of its systems appear to be cutting deep, but its open world has refreshing PS2/Xbox-era DNA in both the way it looks and how the traversal and exploration loop feels. The strong Showa-era art and general aesthetics that drench the entire thing are just the cherry on top.

You can clean shrines, pick up lost purses to earn extra money, run into folks that need some help, and find more hero cards, among other things (and that’s just within the area the demo was limited to). As for the “meat and potatoes” of the game, you’re meant to hire mascots, negotiate their working conditions, and send them on “missions” that may or may not go well. If the latter happens, it’s time to go hands-on and send heroes (such as the aforementioned Captain Sign) to help; the card-based mini-game built around the RPG-y mechanics doesn’t seem too complicated, but it’ll be interesting to see how it all comes together in the full release and as the overall progression advances.

Regardless, the quality of the comedic chats between all sorts of eccentric characters and the management (and customization) possibilities of the agency feel like the “core” of a game, which ultimately is approachable and breezy, no matter how weird it looks at first. Michi and Pinky driving (and jumping) around with an old rusty truck is just what happens in between those bits.

Promise Mascot Agency launches on April 10 on PC (Steam & Epic Games Store), PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

A lot has been made of Avowed‘s “missing” features since the Obsidian Entertainment action-RPG dropped in mid-February. And it’s true that Avowed lacks content and systems players have come to expect – including romance options for the game’s companion characters.

But what’s also true is that Obsidian was always upfront about Avowed‘s near total lack of amorous activity. Director Carrie Patel confirmed that love most certainly was not in the air in Living Lands in a January 2025 IGN interview. Patel even laid out the reason why she and her team didn’t squeeze any mushy stuff into Avowed, arguing that “if you’re going to do [romanceable companions], you really, really have to commit and make sure that you’re giving all to fulfilling that in a way that feels both true to the character, but also creates an engaging player experience.”

As justifications go, that’s pretty solid; no romance is indeed better than a half-baked alternative. But more importantly, it highlights one of the most underrated aspects of Avowed (and the Pillars of Eternity franchise more broadly). This isn’t a story about falling head over heels after saving the day – it’s a story about the friends you make along the way.

There IS One Romance Option in Avowed

If you’ve already blitzed through Avowed‘s main quest, at this point you may (depending on your in-game choices) take issue with me characterizing Avowed as romance-free. And you’d have a point: Obsidian did sneak in a decidedly non-platonic path for the player and their fish-person pal, Kai. Provided you choose the right dialogue options, complete the right side quest, and make a handful of the right choices at the end, Avowed‘s epilogue confirms that you and Kai become an item.

Related: Best Early Builds in Avowed

But that’s the thing: you and Kai get together after the game is over. The first overt hint that shacking up is even on the cards doesn’t come until relatively late in Avowed‘s core narrative, either. The rest of the time? You’re just a couple of buddies, going on adventures. There’s no real relationship initiation, much less upkeep, to speak of. Indeed, until Kai confesses his true feelings, your interactions with him aren’t really any different from those with your other companions Marius, Yatzli, and Giatta.

Why should they be? Avowed isn’t that fussed about friskiness – none of the franchise’s entries are.

Romance Isn’t a Big Deal in the Pillars of Eternity Universe

The original Pillars of Eternity doesn’t feature any romance options. Its direct sequel, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, does. However, anyone going into Deadfire expecting to pitch woo (or knock boots) in a similar fashion to other RPG series like Mass Effect or The Witcher will undoubtedly exit disappointed. Like its predecessor, Deadfire encourages players to invest time getting to know their companions on a deeply personal level. But getting any closer than friends? Not so much.

Related: What Other RPGs Were Built With Avowed’s Game Engine, Unreal Engine 5?

You can try your charms on five characters in Deadfire – Aloth, Maia, Tekēhu, Xoti, and (briefly) Serafen – and the romances that follow are barely worthy of that characterization. None of these unions is particularly meaningful. There’s a bit of flirty banter, some additional side quest content, and not much else. Certainly, you don’t learn that much more about any of your paramours from courting them than you do if you knock back their advances.

That would be a problem – if romance was a fundamental component of the Pillars of Eternity games. But it’s not, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Avowed’s Focus on Friendship Is a Feature, Not a Bug

While recent RPGs have made romance options effectively a default feature of the genre, plenty of modern classics get by just fine without them. Fallout: New Vegas, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and more besides were well received without cribbing from the dating sim playbook. Arguably, part of what makes these games work so well is that they don’t have any romance (although admittedly, New Vegas lets players have sex).

Related: All 12 Treasure Map Locations in Avowed

Let’s be honest: with rare exception, most RPG love stories are awkward at best, because emulating believable romance is really hard – especially when you’re trying to fit it within the cracks surrounding action-based gameplay. Better to leave it out entirely, than do it badly. But friendship? That’s easier to convincingly recreate, with the constant combat reinforcing player-companion bonds, not distracting from them.

It’s what compels us to forge meaningful connections with our pixel-powered partners in Avowed; the sense that they’re fighting alongside us, in service of a common goal. And it’s why our post-battle debriefs matter: because, unlike a shorthand romance, we’ve actually experienced it all together in real-time. Is that enough for anyone looking for more than friendship from Avowed‘s character roster? Nope. But personally, I love it.

Avowed is available now on Xbox Series X/S and Windows.

This season, it’s Saxon Ratliff making all sorts of inappropriate comments about his sister to his brother, and just being a general douche. When you look past all of Saxon’s ick, however, it becomes clear that he has an enabler: his own mother. And that’s what episode 2 of The White Lotus Season 3 shows us.

Last week, I went over the very strange dynamics of the Ratliff kids. Victoria Ratliff was really just a footnote — the kooky mom who’s, for some reason, always drugged up and may very well be on opiates. Episode 2, titled “Special Treatments,” gives Victoria a bit more screen time, and the picture it’s painting of her seems to be a much more sinister one.

A Bad Role Model for Her Kids

Early on in Episode 2, we get to see the Ratliffs having breakfast at the resort. When Kate comes up to their table to tell Victoria she recognizes her from a baby shower they both attended 10 years ago, the latter just treats her with painful disinterest that’s thinly veiled by the most basic of courteous responses.

And when I say basic, I mean really basic. This scene is so painful to watch because it’s clear that Victoria has no interest in making small talk, while Kate just doesn’t seem to know when to quit. Victoria’s one-word responses and lightly raised eyebrows at Kate’s words are cold, making this an incredibly awkward exchange. She could have, at the very least, exchanged a few more pleasantries.

“It’s so nice to see you here!” “What a small world!” “Give Claire my best when you see her!” But nope. Nothing. Victoria chooses to just let Kate stand there in painful awkwardness.

Her rudeness is so blatant that even Lochy calls her out on it, and she counters by saying that the exchange didn’t matter. To make things even worse, when Saxon tells her Kate’s friend is an actress, Victoria immediately shoots down that sentiment by saying that all actresses are basically prostitutes.

Piper’s the only one who’s disgusted by her mom’s remarks, but Lochy and Saxon find them amusing.

Victoria Enables Saxon

Being rude is one thing, but enabling your son’s incredibly inappropriate sexual comments and laughing at them? Now that’s a huge red flag.

This happens multiple times throughout Episode 2. She laughs when Saxon complains about his massage not having a happy ending. She laughs again when Saxon makes fun of Thai accents. And she laughs yet again when Saxon jokes about the transgender community in Thailand and makes that comment about not knowing whether “you’ll get nuts” when you have sex in the country.

Let’s unpack that for a second. The fact that Saxon feels comfortable saying these things in front of his mother is weird. Like, really weird. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t go sharing my opinions about sex and my own intimate life with my parents. In fact, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that’s just not a thing that very many people do. So why does Saxon feel so at ease doing exactly that in front of his mother, and with his mother? It’s certainly not just because he’s a gross person (he is); Victoria also creates a space that makes him feel safe to say these things.

This becomes obvious during the dinner scene, when Victoria shares a strange anecdote about her own brother. When they were kids, her brother would pin her down and dangle spit right in front of her face. And today, they’re closer than they’ve ever been. Taken in isolation, you could just dismiss it as a silly thing that they used to do as mischievous kids. But in the context of everything we’ve seen of the Ratliff family so far in The White Lotus Season 3, I can’t help but draw the conclusion that maybe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

So What’s Victoria’s Deal?

I don’t know if any of this is necessarily going anywhere in Season 3, but at the very least, the show is giving us some context for why Saxon is the way he is. It also reinforces the idea that the entire Ratliff family is pretty screwed up, and it starts with the parents. Victoria is the drugged-up mom who clearly doesn’t care about setting a good example for her kids. In comparison, Timothy almost looks like a saint when it comes to parenting, but let’s not forget he is now also a criminal involved in money laundering and bribery.

That entire family is a mess, and Piper seems to be the only normal, rational one of the bunch. Even Lochy lost points in this episode by asking Piper if she’s still a virgin. Come on Lochy, read the room. If the next episode reveals that Piper has some sort of weird dysfunction, that might actually make me lose all hope in humanity.

The White Lotus is now available for streaming on HBO Max.

Elden Ring Nightreign is exactly that, but after more than a decade of releasing massive bangers for the most part, some players just don’t vibe with the idea of a new FromSoftware release that doesn’t cater to them.

Similar conversations happened around Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon back in the late summer of 2023. Far too many gamers (and even some critics) tried to analyze the sixth mainline entry in the long-running mech action series in relation to Dark Souls as well as Elden Ring. While, yes, some small elements of its dark fantasy titles had bled into the design of certain gameplay elements, the idea that FromSoftware was no longer capable of building video games outside that subgenre and style was silly. It was a game that stood on its own, and it was good for FromSoftware to tackle something distinct on such a scale again.

Fast-forward to early 2025, right after the first network tests of Nightreign, and we’re dealing with similar comments online. “This feels cheaper and unlike Elden Ring, the devs sold out,” and so on. You get the idea. Too many people have gotten used to the company being a one-trick pony, and any attempt to escape the confines of mainstream expectations is met with doubt or straight-up disdain. Mates, it’s okay if you don’t like every single thing one of the hottest developers in town puts out. You can simply ignore the things that don’t resonate with you.

As someone who greatly enjoys multiplayer games in general and had wished for the longest time FromSoftware gave traditional co-op a go for its Soulslikes, I was very much interested in the central pitch as soon as Nightreign was surprise-announced in December. As delightfully absorbing and vast as Elden Ring and its expansion were, certain areas and dungeons were designed in a way that suggested maybe a bite-sized take on the formula could be attractive. After all, Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons had already tried to inject roguelite DNA into the tried-and-tested formula. Combined with the right trends, a multiplayer spinoff to one of From’s biggest IPs wasn’t a crazy idea.

No one managed to predict Elden Ring would receive such a treatment this soon though. My mind was already circling the question of where Bandai Namco and From would go next with their biggest IP success ever late last year, but I sure as hell wasn’t expecting a mid-size multiplayer game set for a 2025 release. Also, Nightreign seemed to fully embrace battle royale elements. I was flabbergasted in a good way.

Related: All Elden Ring: Nightreign Pre-Order Bonuses & Editions

I didn’t care about asset flips either. Yakuza and many other Japanese properties have thrived and done perfectly fine embracing a more sustainable development model, and “little” weird experiments become essential to maintaining a more traditional release schedule. Western devs except maybe Ubisoft have almost completely forgotten what used to be a sustainable model to collect cash while working on AAA heavyweights.

We’d been told many times before the network test that Elden Ring Nightreign is meant to be a much breezier experience than its single-player big brother even when it comes to the moment-to-moment gameplay. After giving it a fair shake, I can say they weren’t lying. 30-minute-ish sessions aside, Nightreign simplifies the process of messing with loot and stats so much that it’s sort of a perfect “podcast game” despite how brutal the combat remains.

This isn’t a negative. In fact, it highlights that Nightreign isn’t just an official co-op mod. On a surface level, this is the Elden Ring that you know and love. However, it’s built so you spend 99% of your time running around and fighting instead of managing your inventory or getting a build just right. In fact, there are no “builds” per se. You pick up a premade hero with a defined playstyle and (surprisingly fun) skills and jump into a map that’s filled with enemies, mini-bosses, and Fortnite-ish loot. Decision-making still plays a big role alongside strategic thinking, but you’re meant to be moving fast, and the UI and gameplay design supports that. Careful thinking has gone into making all these adjustments, and writing Nightreign off as a low-effort riff on the part of Elden Ring reads myopic at best.

Many of Elden Ring and Dark Souls’ best, most memorable moments have always come from defeating towering foes after many struggles with the help of online randos. In this game, that’s the core loop, and it just feels right. After a blind first run, Nightreign comes together beautifully even if your co-op partners aren’t the greatest. It’s never dull or too frustrating. Each run yields solid rewards to push forward a simple progression track. You aren’t asked to figure out complicated stats nor the “perfect” build to tackle increasingly difficult bosses. Failure is part of the central loop, but there’s little to no downtime. If you loved helping out others because it was fun in past Soulslike titles, Nightreign just clicks almost instantly.

Of course, a huge number of Elden Ring and Souls players prefer to experience those games and overcome their obstacles alone (which, in all honesty, adds quite a lot to the atmosphere and melancholic storytelling). That’s alright. They just need to accept this weird, funky new release isn’t for them. They’re not missing out on anything. It’s just good fun while we wait for the next big thing from the studio.

As much as I loved my time with the network rest, I also have to wonder how much of a lasting appeal Nightreign will have. Its lower price tag and “no live service” philosophy will surely help, but that also means its post-launch support could be quite limited even if sales numbers are huge. It’s giving ‘old-school, traditional multiplayer game’ vibes, and as fun and different as Star Wars: Squadrons was, that was a mid-sized game that struggled to attract and maintain many players’ attention because it fully rejected the modern bloat found in most online titles and squarely focused on its niche audience. Maybe that’s just part of the deal and Nightreign is fated to become the sort of game you excitedly bring up in a conversation years later and almost no one remembers.

The Elden Ring Nightreign Network Test is available now, and the full game will launch on March 30 on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

But for those that miss the more comedic roots of Akira Toriyama’s franchise, you’ll find this – and much more – in spades in its forebear, Kinnikuman.

You may be more familiar with Kinnikuman by its English title, Ultimate Muscle. While the manga began serialization in 1979 (five years before Dragon Ball) and received its first anime adaptation just four years later, it didn’t officially reach the West until the early 2000s. Despite needing significant (necessary) cuts, Ultimate Muscle gained a cult following, only to disappear after 2006. Meanwhile, the Kinnikuman manga and its various spinoffs in Japan petered out by 2013. Cut to the summer of 2024, and Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc began dropping weekly episodes on Netflix. Created to celebrate the franchise’s 40th anniversary, the new show is adapted from the revival arc of the manga and returns for the latter half of the Winter 2024-25 anime season.

Creator duo Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada (aka ‘Yudetamago’) initially began their manga, in which superheroes compete in interplanetary wrestling matches, as a parody of Ultraman. You don’t need to know anything about Ultraman, superheroes, or wrestling to enjoy Kinnikuman. And speaking from personal experience, you don’t need to know anything about Kinnikuman to enjoy Perfect Origin Arc. An exposition-heavy “Episode 0” does most of the work filling you in where you might have been Googling to get up to speed. However, you could skip even this and dive right in: the story, in essence, comprises legacy chojin (superheroes) having to team up with legacy akuma chojin (villains) to fight a bunch of bigger bad guys from another world who are called the Perfect Large Numbers. Safe to say those who live for tournament arcs will be well-fed.

Every episode revolves almost entirely around wrestling matches, which is perfect if you’re after low-commitment easy-viewing on par with your favorite Saturday morning cartoon you may have dipped in and out of as a kid. But to say that Perfect Origin Arc is “leave your brain at the door” entertainment isn’t to downplay its creativity or quality. Strangely, the titular alien prince who looks like he’s wearing a mask of his own skin is one of the more normal-looking characters in a cast that includes chojin based on ramen noodles, babies, toilets, springs, cassette players, and more. Your mind might wander as you try to imagine what the quality of life is for a guy whose entire body is a metal coil… only to refocus when said guy delivers Hellraiser-levels of violence on his opponent in a ring situated on an Egyptian pyramid (yes, with an audience – wrestling fans are nothing but committed in the world of Kinnikuman).

Related: 10 Great Action Anime To Watch Today

The hardcore nature of the fighting catches the uninitiated off-guard, starkly contrasting the silliness of the character designs, and, indeed, the “fake” nature of wrestling. However, the handsomely crafted animation style by Production I.G keeps things firmly in the realm of Looney Tunes. The ludicrous cartoonishness of torrents of blood and inhuman bodily contortions will make you laugh more than they will churn your stomach. It also prevents the nuts-and-bolts formula of match after match from becoming dull: the escalation in absurd action combined with unique and peculiar powersets make every Perfect Origin Arc battle wildly unpredictable. This is complemented by some brilliant voice work from actors who are clearly enjoying letting loose to embody this weird and wacky cast.

It’s not just a visual and audio treat, though; the Kinnikuman revival is surprisingly emotionally engaging, too. The anime deftly laces its fights with enough flashbacks, sparring dialogue, and wrestling-style melodrama for the personal stakes to be as clear as the overarching, world-saving ones. Granted, you won’t be bawling your eyes out when your favorite chojin suffers defeat, but for such a large ensemble of characters with a wealth of history between them, you might be surprised how affected you feel when an anthropomorphized toy you met a handful of episodes back crumbles to dust in the arms of his best friend.

Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc probably won’t top any Best Of lists, but as a revival of a dormant shonen classic, it should at least go down as a nostalgic delight for existing fans, and an accessible piece of pure entertainment for new ones.

Earlier this month, I visited London and Oxford for the first time. It wasn’t my first time in the UK though. Anyway, things were off to a terrible start when a nightmare scenario played out in front of my eyes: My mobile phone died (as in fully dead) after the regular reboot to make the roaming services properly start. It’s not a great feeling. I’ll spare you the details, but I made it to the hotel I’d set up as a rendezvous point and waited for my partner (who was already in the UK) to show up. At this point, Civilization 7 had made the whole experience a bit more bearable already.

The single greatest decision I made before heading to the airport was throwing my Steam Deck into a bag. I wasn’t sure I’d have enough ‘free’ time outside of doing touristy things, but I decided it’d make the flights better at the very least. When the worst happened, it also replaced my doomscrolling time and, more importantly, it allowed me to ‘disconnect’ from being worried sick about something I couldn’t fix (one of my toxic traits, ha) whenever I wasn’t walking around London/Oxford or talking to my girlfriend.

Experts say we shouldn’t do it, but most of us do it. I’m talking about extra ‘portable screen’ time before going to sleep. Lying on the hotel bed and too tired to do anything else, hour-long sessions of Civilization 7 became my sleeping pills. It was fun enough to keep me awake until I felt too tired, but also kind of chill, which was just what I needed. There were plenty of other games loaded up on my Deck that I could’ve chosen, but the latest Civilization simply felt perfect. (Also: I needed to put in the time for a review.)

Whereas Civilization 6 often felt a bit too much for portable hardware when it came to controls – I thought the Switch port was pretty neat otherwise – Civilization 7 simply works remarkably well out of the box with gamepad controls. I’m guessing that’s the main reason behind much of the systems streamlining (it’s a first launch-day multiplat. release for the series). We can discuss all day long about whether basing so much of the overall game design on the needs of consoles versus the more loyal PC platform was a good call, but at the end of the day, I had a great uncomplicated time playing the game on the Deck.

I’d be lying if I said the beginning of my experience with the game was a smooth one though. You see, the pre-release build wasn’t perfect when it came to the Steam Deck controls despite the game sporting the ‘verified’ mark from the get-go. It was often a bit unresponsive, and some submenus I just couldn’t figure out with a gamepad for the life of me. A few minutes later, I was using touchscreen quite often. It wasn’t ideal, but hey, Civilization 7 was working well enough on Valve’s little brave machine with minimal tinkering. Neat!

Eventually, you get the hang of things. It’s hard to adjust to both an all-new Civilization experience (7 really shakes things up) and playing a 4X game with gamepad controls, a perverse act which my brain tries to forget every single time as fast as possible. I played a bunch of Civilization 6 on Switch, and I found it to be largely fine, but it’s the kind of activity that also feels just wrong. Give me a keyboard and the snappiness and freedom of a mouse for that, please.

Civilization 7 was built with that in mind. Firaxis knew that simply adapting a ‘PC first’ experience to consoles was never going to feel 100% fine. This new installment doesn’t either, but it lands close enough to make me go “ah, I could get used to playing this all the time on my Deck.” There’s less micromanaging. There are fewer layers of decision-making that require extra clicks. You don’t have to move builders around every turn. Every creative decision of that sort helps the gamepad (and portable) experience feel less miserable and closer to genuinely fun. This was key to making me stick with the game throughout my trip and not gradually go back to Vampire Survivors and Hades.

By sheer luck, I fixed my phone during the last night of my UK stay after getting it to properly reboot and formatting the system (thank God for cloud backups). I celebrated my victory over technology (actually, I’d been defeated) for a few minutes before just booting Civilization 7 back up. “Return to tradition,” I muttered to myself. The absence of social media cringe and low-quality memes was affecting my brain. Maximizing my Science yield could fix me.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably guessing I like Civilization 7 quite a bit. You aren’t wrong. Overall, this installment doesn’t feel like a downgrade. It’s more of a new, more ‘lightweight’ way to experience Civilization. I genuinely believe it wasn’t meant to replace 5 and 6. Firaxis likely thought that was a stupid battle to fight given how the community has embraced them over the years as the crown jewels of the 4X genre, so they instead went in a completely different direction. If Ara: History Untold chose to double down on the overlap with grand strategy titles, then Civilization 7 represents a calmer move in the opposite direction.

A long-running, highly profitable series choosing to heavily rework a tried-and-tested formula is always worth celebrating even if many of the swings don’t connect. It’s very likely that we won’t be seeing some key features from Civilization 7 return in the future, but at the same time, this series traditionally wins skeptics over with major updates and expansion packs, so don’t jump ship just yet. For all we know, it could be the beginning of a new age for a genre that was feeling a bit stagnant as of late.