Author: Álvaro Arbonés

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners II, the sequel to the official Cyberpunk 2077 anime, already has a release date. It will arrive on October 20 and premiere exclusively on Netflix, just like its first season, which is already available on the platform. This second season will be completely independent from the first and from the video game, and can be enjoyed without any prior knowledge.

A series set to be a hit

The series will have ten episodes and its opening theme will be 10:15 Saturday Night, by The Cure, and its ending theme will be Watson, by Petite Meller. Its director will be Kai Ikarashi, who directed the sixth episode of the first season, Girl on Fire. Bartosz Sztybor, Ichigo Kkano and Masahiko Otsuka will serve as producer, character designer and screenwriter respectively.

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While the first season sought to capture the tone of the video game and the role-playing game, this second season seeks to capture more of the tone of 90s films like Pulp Fiction or Léon: The Professional. Something that already comes through in the trailer. Which is why we can expect an absolutely demented ride awaits us, and we’ll only have to wait a couple of months to see how far it takes us.

A recent rumor on the Reset Era forum set off alarm bells by raising the possibility that a new game in the Ori franchise could be announced imminently. Developed by a Saber Interactive studio and supposedly to be announced during this fall’s Xbox Developer Interactive, if not during GamesCom, which starts tomorrow, the rumor has piqued fans’ interest. And the game’s original director’s.

A complex situation

Thomas Mahler, director of Ori and CEO of Moon Studios, the game’s original developer, has come forward to say that there is no new game in the franchise in development. Or at least none that he’s been told about. In the same breath, he took the opportunity to say that he wants the Ori rights back and that he doubts any other studio has the ability to make a game in the series.

Of course, it’s possible they’ve been making the game without consulting him. Microsoft owns the rights to Ori and, by extension, they don’t have to involve Mahler or Moon Studios to make a new entry in the franchise. And consulting him would only be out of interest or as a courtesy. So Mahler’s denial isn’t necessarily confirmation that the game isn’t in development.

To be sure, we’ll have to wait for GamesCom, which begins tomorrow, the 25th, at 6:30 p.m. Spain time. And if not, until this fall’s Xbox Developer Interactive. If by then we still haven’t heard anything, then we’ll know Mahler is right. But until then, we can’t know anything for sure.

Soulslikes have a huge problem: they haven’t understood Souls. The charm of From Software’s games is how they combine an RPG layer with what are essentially dungeon crawlers. A dungeon-exploration game, with a real-time action component, where paying attention to your surroundings and how and where you move matters as much as simply being good at fighting. All the tools they give you are there for a reason, and using them isn’t breaking the game: it’s what the game is about.

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That’s why almost all soulslikes feel worse. Unbalanced and poorly made. They don’t have the grace and charm of From Software’s games because they don’t understand that they aren’t action games: they’re dungeon crawlers. But there’s one game that, while leaning fully into being an action game, manages to work because it does its own thing. And it manages to work in the process. That game is Mortal Shell, and in a few days it will have its own sequel.

Atmosphere is sometimes everything

Mortal Shell, to start with, emphasizes one specific aspect: atmosphere. It’s gloomy, it’s dark, it’s abject. Dying again and again makes sense because the atmosphere invites it. The music, composed by musician Simon Heath, underscores this with its sickly, oppressive tone. Everything in the game invites you to soak up a world where everything seems made to make you feel like you can’t win. And you can’t. That’s why it feels appropriate to die, to lose, to have to try again: this world is made for that.

The shell system helps too. We’re a soul that has to inhabit different bodies, or shells, which completely changes our playstyle each time. Instead of building it around equipment, we keep changing playstyle and shell, possessing the reanimated bodies of those we’ve defeated or have been able to recover along the way. This reinforces the game’s sense of desperation.

Otherwise the game is exactly as simple as you’d expect. The lack of budget shows in the lack of variety and content, but it works on a basic level. It gets the basics right, offers a worthy challenge, and reduces the game to what’s essential: its atmosphere, its tone, and its combat

Building on what’s there

Mortal Shell isn’t a masterpiece. It’s a small, interesting game that does what it can with what it has. It doesn’t reach the heights of genius of the Souls games, but it knows how to take what interests it and give up what doesn’t. That’s why it works. And that’s exactly why everything we’ve seen and tried from Mortal Shell 2 so far works. Because it doesn’t try to outdo FromSoftware at its own game. It tries to be its own thing.

Mortal Shell 2 is even darker, more depressing, and more brutal. The variety of enemies is greater, the environments are more oppressive, and the setting is even wilder. But most surprising of all is something else: they’ve removed the stamina bar. They’ve given up something that’s essential in Souls, and not only does it work, it works beautifully. It feels more agile, faster, better. Which doesn’t mean From Software’s Souls games shouldn’t have stamina, but that Mortal Shell shouldn’t have stamina because, by focusing on combat and its consequences, not on exploration and RPG elements, it feels stronger by not having to manage unnecessary resources.

Set for release on August 20, Mortal Shell 2 could very well be one of the year’s dark horses. One of those action games that fly under the radar for a lot of people and end up being an absolute marvel. The first one already is, and we strongly recommend it. That’s why, if you get the chance, play it, because you might be surprised by what a small studio can do with very clear ideas.

DC has many mythical superheroes. None more mythical than Superman, although it’s undeniable that Wonder Woman, Batman, and Flash aren’t very far behind when it comes to popularity. Then, a little further back, there’s another group of superheroes who are also well known, but they’re better known among people who actively read comics. Swamp Thing, Aquaman, Zatana, or John Constantine would be among them. Well-known, but perhaps a step below. But among them there’s one who stands out in particular. That one is Green Lantern.

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Green Lantern occupies a very particular position among DC superheroes because, although he’s one of the well-known superheroes, he’s never broken through in popularity like the best-known ones. And although his fans are deeply devoted, he’s never had a mainstream impact like the other heroes. Something they want to change with the new series he’s going to star in, called Lanterns.

A series with pedigree

Perhaps the main reason to watch Lanterns is the people involved. Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, with the first of them serving as showrunner, the three of them together have major credits in the worlds of comics and television. Mundy was a writer on Criminal Minds, Ozark, and True Detective, as well as the creator of the low-key Low Winter Sun. But the other two names are genuine heavyweights.

Damon Lindelof has an incredible track record. Co-creator of Lost alongside J.J. Abrms and Jeffrey Lieber, showrunner of The Leftovers and the Watchmen adaptation, writer of Prometheus and The Hunt, his career is full of major hits. Making him one of the brightest minds in television today.

On the other hand, Tom King’s story is, to say the least, unusual. After joining the CIA inspired by 9/11 and being part of the group that planned the 2003 Iraq war, he left the agency to write his first novel, A Once Crowded Sky. But before that, he had worked as an intern at both Marvel and DC. And after leaving the CIA he returned to DC Comics, while also writing comics on his own, and has become one of the most sought-after writers of the last decade, with comics as popular as Mister Miracle, Omega Men, or Sheriff of Babylon.

A different kind of superhero series

The series, which is going to be part of the DCU and will fall within its first phase, Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, will follow two Green Lanterns, essentially, two space police officers with the power to materialize any object with the power of their magic rings: Hal Jordan, a veteran Lantern, and John Stewart, a new recruit. Both will have to investigate a murder in Rushville, Nebraska, which Jordan believes is connected to aliens, which will lead them to deeper conspiracies than they would expect at first.

Wanting to combine elements of a crime drama and a spy thriller, the series promises to offer a different superhero experience. Something that can be seen in the three main people involved and a first episode with a slower and darker tone. Three writers known for pushing against genre conventions, looking to offer more complex, thoughtful takes. So don’t expect your classic superhero story here.

With the first episode having premiered this past August 16 and with eight episodes scheduled to finish on October 4, that means we’ll be getting one episode a week. And it should be a fun ride.

There is no video game that’s going to cause more of a stir than GTA6. None is going to generate more headlines. None is going to get more publicity. And the reason isn’t that it’s going to be the best video game of the year, but that it’s going to be the most spectacular and most expensive video game in the history of the medium so far. Will it be of all time? No: it will be until the next one surpasses it. But it will be until that happens and that’s something that always makes headlines.

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That means that before GTA6 there were others. And one of the first to be marketed this way was a title that, forty years ago, claimed it would revolutionize what was possible on home computers in a way no one could have imagined. Its name was Defenders of the Crown and it was a game as spectacular as it was unmemorable to play.

An absolutely astonishing game

Defenders of the Crown is a game developed by Cinemaware and by Kellyn Beeck. Originally published on Commodore Amiga in 1986, its main selling point is that it defined a new standard for the quality of computer graphics at the time. And it was true. In its colors, design, and presentation it’s what we’d now call a cinematic game. Because even if it was a strategy game, its presentation seemed straight out of a movie.

Its colors were impressive. Its animations were spectacular. And all of this showed in its sales. By 1989 it had sold 750,000 copies, an impressive figure at the time, and it was considered a great success. Quite a success for the time. But it had one great weakness: as a game it was rather poor.

While it’s true that it included elements of strategy, action and romance, none of them was especially remarkable. Graphically it was spectacular and that drew attention, but playing it wasn’t especially interesting or rewarding. This caused the game to lose some of its appeal over time until it became, as it is today, a historical piece that doesn’t have cult status. It’s simply considered an important technological artifact of its era, but not a great game.

What’s the point of a remake?

Now the developers Black Tower Basement are making a remake of the game called Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns. While it’s graphically very pretty and based on the original game, naturally it isn’t the same cutting-edge piece of technology the original game was. So then, what is its appeal based on? For two main reasons: nostalgia and polishing the aspects where the game can have more depth.

This remake has three modes. Retro mode is the Amiga classic, but with some tweaks so it’s easier to play and feel that everything works as it should. Classic mode is a more refined version, with modern standards and updated systems and mechanics to make the game much more polished. Kingdom mode is a completely new game that, starting from the original, adds what you could call a whole roguelike layer to create a completely new take on the original game.

This is where the game shines. No longer just in being digital candy, a graphical delight, but in being a video game in its own right. By refining those aspects and taking the game beyond technical merit, it becomes genuinely interesting.

And besides, you won’t have to wait to see it. Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns has been available since August 13 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.

Marvel is synonymous with American comics. It couldn’t be any other way after decades of comics and with some of the best-known characters in the history of fiction. That doesn’t mean that, on quite a few occasions, they haven’t tried to tackle other fields. Specifically, manga. Their results have rarely been more than questionable, being at best decent for their time.

Generally, it’s when they’ve tried to go for a Japanese aesthetic that isn’t specifically manga, as the excellent collaborations with Peach Momoko show. But it seems that curse is over. Because one thing Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has achieved, and that no one is talking about, is capturing the essence of manga and anime in a way that is remarkable. All of it while still feeling like pure Marvel in the process.

Like a shonen anime

What stands out most about Marvel Tokon is the character design. While they’re all recognizable and they all have recognizable designs from some point in the comics, they always have small twists that give them a style closer to manga. With thick, loose lines, brighter colors, and generally less cluttered designs, all the characters seem taken from a manga version of their own universe.

Its story mode helps with that. Divided into five different chapters for each of the groups of four, besides teaching us how to play each character in the game, each one of these chapters has an opening and an ending as well as anime scenes created specifically for the game. All this gives the impression that we’re actually watching an anime from the Marvel universe, which adds that very particular touch to the whole.

Especially because the writer, Kieron Guillen, has managed to find that sweet spot between American comics and shonen manga. While the stories wouldn’t feel out of place in any Marvel comic, the celebration of friendship, gaining allies only after fighting them, and the heightened sense of justice feels as Japanese as it does American in the game, making it a perfect blend of comics and manga.

A genre built for spectacle

It also helps that, in itself, the fighting genre seems made to bring out the similarities with shonen manga. Wall breaks, assists, air combos, and strings that stretch beyond seven or eight hits seem right out of a fighting anime. Something that already happens in any Arc System Works fighting game and is no different in this Marvel Tokon.

Add to that the fact that the powers of the chosen characters are particularly flashy, with a very carefully made selection, it’s logical that it feels so good and so Japanese despite being an American property. If we didn’t know any of these characters at all, it’d be easy to think they’re a purely Japanese creation. But they’re Marvel superheroes, some famous beyond belief, others more obscure, but it’s impossible not to know what they are, at least.

Which makes it even more surprising how well they fit together. They already did in X-Men vs. Capcom and Marvel vs. Capcom, perhaps the only case where we can really say they truly managed to do it, but here with Marvel directly involved in the process. Something that makes us think about how fascinating a Marvel manga or anime with this style would be. If we’re even allowed to dream that big.

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have revealed Pokémon Pokopia’s sales figures. And they’re absolutely spectacular. With 5 million copies sold across physical and digital, it’s one of the best-selling Nintendo Switch 2 games to date, making it Nintendo’s biggest success to date. Showing that they’ve found a new franchise they can build on in the future.

A game that keeps expanding

For now, it’s growing with an Expansion Pass with three paid DLCs, the first of which has already been released: Coral Basin. This greatly expands the game, letting you dive through all the game’s underwater areas, and offering a massive new area,it’s everything the game’s fans have fallen in love with. making it a perfect addition for those who want more Pokémon Pokopia.

With part 2 of the DLC announced for late 2026 and part 3 for 2027, Pokémon Pokopia’s release cycle is far from over. So we’ll still have plenty more news on what many see as Nintendo’s surprise hit. Meanwhile, you can enjoy the game exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.

Disney has announced that, at present, its push into video games is bearing fruit. In a statement published this past August 13, it reported that its video games division generated more than $4 billion over the last year, thus becoming one of the company’s biggest revenue drivers. Its strategy of focusing on the video game industry already producing results.

A seamless business

On that note, Sean Shoptaw, Executive Vice President of Digital Entertainment and Global Games, said that “we’ve built a really solid foundation in video games”. He added that its portfolio includes “nine games that have generated more than $1 billion in retail sales. Therefore, it’s about telling truly original stories that are really unique to this medium, specifically”.

Among those franchises, the one that stands out the most, for being entirely original, is Kingdom Hearts. Having made more than $1 billion, more than half of that has come during the last 12 years. They hope to build on that when they release Kingdom Hearts Collection [I ~ III] next October 8, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2 and Kingdom Hearts IV on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2 at a later date.

They also stressed the importance of their collaboration with Epic Games. “What Epic has achieved with Fortnite has really helped create one of the most important social entertainment platforms in the world and, clearly, for us it represents an incredible opportunity to integrate our iconic characters, stories and worlds into that universe to build something truly unique for Disney”, so it’s likely that we’ll also have more news on that front in the near future.

Heated Rivalry was one of the most acclaimed series of 2025. For good reason. Its perfect mix of romance, narrative tension, and impeccable cinematic aesthetics has won over both those looking for a good gay romance and those looking for a well-told and even better-produced series. That’s why it’s hardly surprising that it has been renewed for a second season and that, what’s more, we already know who’s in it.

An excellent cast

According to Variety, there will be five new cast members. Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and Priyanka will join the cast. Hampshire is known for her role in Vision Quest, we’ve recently seen Rying in The Young Rovals and in 28 Years Later, Naylor in Cardinal, Jalees has appeared in Black Mirror and Priyanka in Meet Me Next Christmas.

Based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers book series, Heated Rivalry is one of the most acclaimed and celebrated series of last year. And along with these new cast members, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams will return to play their main characters: Ilya and Shane. So the show’s fans have nothing to worry about when it comes to their favorite show.

Makoto Shinkai, director of films like Your Name and Suzume, has been working on his new film for years. After confirming at the end of 2024 that he was already working on his new project and that we’d hear more about it soon, it’s been quite a while without any news. Until now. Though they weren’t the ones we were expecting.

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Not a particularly revealing update

Crunchyroll has secured the rights to Makoto Shinkai’s new film. This means it will be available on its streaming service, but it also ensures it will have an international theatrical release, at least a limited one. Since Crunchyroll distributed his previous films and that led to them being released in theaters with great success, including getting a dub for his latest film, Suzume, this should confirm both its theatrical release and a dub.

Unfortunately, we don’t know any more details about it. Not the title, not the synopsis, not the runtime. Only that Crunchyroll is distributing it and that Shinkai himself said on Twitter, this past May, that it will be incredible. Something we believe, because it’s Shinkai, but maybe it’s already time for him to share a bit more.