February 2026 - Page 3 of 4 - Samantha Lienhard

Highlights from the (Surprisingly Good) State of Play

Feb 132026

Yesterday was the State of Play, and it was one of the better ones!

(In fact, since the recent Partner Showcase only had a couple of standout announcements, I’d say this is a rare instance where I preferred the State of Play.)

I’ll be covering the games that were highlights for me, so be sure to check out the full video if you want to see the rest.

Anyway, they kicked off the showcase with Kena: Scars of Kosmora, the sequel to 2021’s action-adventure game Kena: Bridge of Spirits. I haven’t played it, but it’s one of those games I’ve had a passing interest in, and the new game looks pretty cool. Maybe I should check the first one out.

Capcom showed up with new trailers for Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem, and even though I’m interested in those games, I’m a little tired of them showing up in every showcase.

The Legacy of Kain: Defiance remaster was shown, with the announcement that the deluxe edition includes a demo of the cancelled game Dark Prophecy. Also, they apparently announced a 2D action game called Legacy of Kain: Ascendance at the same time, even though it wasn’t shown or even mentioned at the State of Play itself.

A new Brigandine game was also announced, which could be interesting.

Control Resonant appeared with a new look at the gameplay, and it looks like a lot of fun. I’m really excited for that one. I’m also excited for Beast of Reincarnation, which will be out on August 4.

There was a new trailer for 007 First Light, but then after that, it was Konami’s time to shine.

Konami is making a comeback, and they carried this State of Play for me. They started out with the announcement of the second Metal Gear Solid collection (a series I do intend to try someday) and the funny-looking octopus game Darwin’s Paradox, and then they surprised everyone with the reveal of a new Castlevania game, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse!

It looks good! Castlevania is one of those series I haven’t really gotten into despite being interested, and the excitement of a new game coming out after all this time makes me tempted to finally get into it.

Then it was time for Silent Hill: Townfall, our first true look at it since it was announced.

I’m cautiously optimistic. I enjoyed the developer’s previous games (especially Stories Untold), so I’ve been curious to see what they’d do with a Silent Hill spin-off. It does have me a little worried that they might do another “past guilt” storyline, which I’d rather not see again. Still, I have hopes that they’ll subvert expectations with that, especially after the Silent Hill Transmission.

But even after Townfall, Konami still wasn’t done, because they followed up with Rev. Noir, a brand-new JRPG.

It’s giving me some Tales/Xenoblade vibes, so I’m definitely interested even though they’ve revealed very little about it so far.

I didn’t care about too much of the showcase after that, since most of the remaining games didn’t appeal to me, but they closed with the announcement that the original God of War Trilogy is getting a full remake. It seems to be in very early development, so they didn’t show anything from it… but in the meantime, they shadow-dropped the rumored spin-off!

God of War: Sons of Sparta is a metroidvania prequel set when Kratos was a Spartan, so I’m pretty interested!

These were the major highlights of the State of Play for me, and I’m especially interested in how things go with the new Castlevania and the mysterious Rev. Noir. It might not have had any huge announcements for me, but enough caught my attention for me to call this one of the best States of Play yet.

What games did you enjoy seeing the most?

Yakuza Kiwami 3 Marks the Start of a New Game Line? What?

Feb 112026

I was tempted to ignore this entirely and just blog about Danganronpa 2×2 today instead, but we’ve talked about Yakuza Kiwami 3 enough that I suppose we should discuss the latest developments.

Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties is now out, and the reception has been… interesting.

It got mostly decent reviews despite a few questioning whether the series needs to slow down or decrying it for cut content, but a lot of fans are upset with the new information.

We’ve briefly discussed the shadows hanging over this remake, but it got worse after the revelation that Yakuza 3’s 119 substories are reduced to 31 in the remake. Yes, a lot of the original substories didn’t have much substance, but apparently some of the more involved ones like Murder at Café Alps were also cut.

On top of the ill feelings toward the Kagawa situation, the recasts in general, and technical difficulties with the demo, it seems like this was the last straw for a lot of fans.

Personally, I never thought Yakuza 3 needed a remake, and I was mainly excited because of Dark Ties… which turned out to be significantly shorter than the Gaiden games after all, despite what we thought. Maybe they shouldn’t have marketed Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties as “two games in one” and a “double feature,” with Dark Ties being “an included separate game,” because that’s led to people feeling they were lied to.

But leaving aside all of that, now we have to contend with the puzzling statements from director Masayoshi Yokoyama about where the series is going from here.

In a recent broadcast, he made some statements that were translated on Reddit to the bewilderment of everyone, as he said the Kiwami line of games will come to an end and “a different series will begin.” He described it as not being Like a Dragon 9 but rather “a new series on a different line, with a different meaning” and added that we’ll understand if we’ve played Kiwami 3.

Okay. What?

Now, this isn’t actually the first time he’s said something similar. In a PlayStation Blog interview last year, he said Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties would “point toward the series’ future direction,” an odd statement that at the time made us wonder if it would retcon something.

Earlier this year, the script leaked and revealed changes that divided the fanbase. Without spoilers, one change made it feel like Kiwami 4 was a shoo-in, made mandatory since it requires certain scenes in Yakuza 4 to at least be given different context.

So if there’s not going to be a Kiwami 4 but rather a new line of games… what does that mean?

The biggest fan assumption right now is that they’re actually starting a different continuity, that Kiwami 3 will be followed not by Yakuza 4 but by a whole new sequel, creating a separate series following this new timeline. It’s also possible that they just intend to make a spin-off series related to the new plot elements and aren’t altering canon at all (in which case fans who have only played Kiwami 3 rather than 3 will just have to shrug in confusion when those Yakuza 4 moments come up). Or maybe there’s some third meaning that no one has figured out yet, because both options feel baffling.

I don’t know what to think about this. Just last year, Yakuza was a series I could always count on to be fantastic. Even if Infinite Wealth’s story didn’t always land for me, even if I had misgivings about the direction of the pirate game, I knew the games would always be great. And… maybe Kiwami 3 will still be fun, despite sounding like it’s lost a lot of the original’s soul.

But right now I don’t have that unshakeable confidence I had before.

How are you feeling about the current state of the Yakuza series and Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties? What do you think Yokoyama meant when he said this will lead to a new series of games?

State of Play Announced for February 12

Video games 2 Responses »

Feb 092026

Hot on the heels of the Nintendo Direct last week, we now have a State of Play announced for next week.

It will be on February 12 at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET and last for an hour.

States of Play have been disappointing for me more often than not, so I’m not holding my breath. On the other hand, there was that one that included Like a Dragon Ishin, so I always tune in anyway.

Who knows, maybe we’ll get an Ace Attorney announcement here!

While that’s my dream announcement as always, I know it’s not very likely. In more plausible predictions, there have been rumors for a while now of a God of War spin-off, so that would be neat to see. Maybe we’ll get our first look at the Silent Hill remake, too. Is the third Final Fantasy VII remake game an unreasonable prediction?

Also, how about Kingdom Hearts IV? It’s been so long since we had any news!

There will probably be a lot of games I’m not interested in, but with an hour-long runtime, there’s got to be a few in there that I like… right?

What are you hoping to see from the State of Play?

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