Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is starting off the New Year with a big update, bringing with it some free gifts, a new event with awesome rewards, and the arrival of a new Familiar. Be warned, however, as a powerful old enemy is back with some new tricks.

To celebrate the start of 2023, the New Year Dice Event gives all players the chance to pick up some pretty nice rewards. By completing some fairly simple missions, one is just to log in so you won’t need to be too far into the game, you can have a chance to grab prizes such as the 6 Star Tetro Puzzle Selection Pack and a Miraculous Warding Doll Selection Chest.

Flash Party has officially fully launched alongside its massive Stardust Warriors update, bringing significantly improved core gameplay, a new hero, a chaotic new mode and more.

The 21st hero has landed, the adorably named duo Cookie and Can. Their quick charge attack offers some ranged coverage that can deliver a powerful KO, whilst being highly manoeuvrable so they never get caught out. Every hero in the game can now reach level ten, and has been assigned one of four roles; All-rounder, Power House, Assaulter and Impeder, each with their own unique mechanics to master.

Marvel Contest of Champions is celebrating 8 years of uptime this year and has unveiled its narrative roadmap to celebrate. The new content kicks off immediately, with a mysterious break-in heralding the arrival of two notorious evildoers.

The Collector has caught wind of a break-in with sinister implications. They call upon the stalwart help of Aegon and Hyperion to investigate this happening, bringing along Howard the Duck presumably as cannon fodder. Alongside the Summoner, they will come toe to toe with the arrival of the Masters of Evil; Baron Zemo and Absorbing Man.

Coming January 12th, Honkai Impact 3rd will release version 6.3, dubbed Symphony of Truth. This update will continue the game's main story as Bronya morphs into the Herrscher of Truth, whilst bringing a new event and a new challenge mode.

In the latest story chapter, XXXIV, the Valkyries will return to earth following Bronya's learning of the Gerrscher of Reason’s legacy and becoming the Herrscher of Truth themselves. Captains will be able to obtain this new S-rank battlesuit to fight with, switching between its two special forms at will.

Tears of Themis is preparing for the launch of its latest limited-time events, coming January 12th. Named Blizzardous Threads of Red, the story will see the NXX team visit an idyllic snowy landscape, where mystery has struck.

Despite what it sounds like, Blizzardous is not the name of a new Square Enix spell, instead, it refers to the setting of the story, Blizzard Villa. What could have been the scene for a charming getaway turns sour, as misfortune before Mevis Zeng's auction. A host of guests have swarmed to get their hands on ancient, precious treasures, but instead are greeted by a grave disaster.

TEPPENs latest trilogy is coming to a close, with an enemy the likes no one could have fathomed. Instead of demons or Reploids, the heroes will be going toe to toe with themselves, as the mastermind of the invasion enacts their final plan.

It was a hard-fought battle, but the last Teppen outing saw players finally beat back the Reploid Army, so it is time to relax, or so it should be. Sigma from Mega Man X has started their true invasion, moving his plan to the final stage. Using Akatsuki from crossbeats' REV. SUNRISE, Sigma has created replicants based on the heroes' battle data. These fakers have started to attack innocent civilians, prompting the ASMF to infiltrate Sigma’s Mirage Colosseum Fortress so one final last stand.

Netmarble is seeing in the New Year in style with The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross. The New Year Festival 2023 comes stuffed with a plethora of prizes to earn, a chance to get a stake of 7 million diamonds, and a fantastic strong new character.

The newest character is truly one of the most powerful Dark characters added to the game. Cursed Shackles Purgatory Meliodas has two skills to deal immense damage to all enemies, as well as one dedicated to almighty single-target damage. Combined with the Darkness Attribute effect that increases the ally's damage dealt by 10% and Meliodas will be clearing the battlefield with ease.

If you have been looking at the general state of the world and been thinking I could do better than that, and let's face it who hasn't lately, then Error 300 has you covered with their latest game Propaganda Inc. Launching some point today on mobile devices you will be able to steadily build up your empire from nothing to eventually rule the whole galaxy.

To fulfil your Pinky and the Brain dream, you will be tasked with intelligently growing your wealth and your power through the use of influence and money, whilst making sure not to run out of resources. As you grow more powerful you will start to gain even more influence for you to pump back into your growing propaganda machine.

If you have ever watched Planet of the Apes and thought “I wonder what would happen if the humans never showed up”, then Brickwork Games has the answer with their new game Epic Ape Madness. Set in a world where humans never existed, this MMO has everyone step into the shoes of a monkey to fight it out and become the city's toughest chimp.

Taking place in the city of Apepire, you will find yourself in a very dangerous place which is ruled by the monkey mafia, and where gangs roam the streets. You will be placed in the shoes of a civilized monkey and will be able to give yourself a unique look to help your stand out from your simian brethren as you aim to make a name for yourself on the street. However, the more you grow, the more the mafia will notice you.

2022 is almost over, and so now in the same fashion as last year, I wanted to model some Game of the Year awards through categories in addition to simply ranking my personal favorites. Between now and the dawn of 2023, I'll be updating this page regularly with new entries for each category, so make sure to check in and see what titles win which awards.

The Categories

• Best Old Game
• Best Portrait Mode Game
• Best Music
• Best Style
• Best Multiplayer
• Best Story
• Best Game

For each of these categories, I'll choose a winner and mention some notable runner-ups. Any game nominated or chosen for any of these cateories is then eligible for the final category, Best Game, which is the culminating category where I will construct a ranked list of my favorite games from this year.

With the holiday season all but over and New Year's barreling towards us, Level Infinite is ending the year with a bang as the Winter Festival comes to Alchemy Stars. The New Year Celebration event brings with it the return of very powerful characters, some free goodies and a devilishly difficult new challenge.

In good news for everyone who missed her first time, the 6-star Queen of the North, Bethlehem, is back with their own recruitment banner until January 19th. A boon for any water team, Bethlehem can increase the attack of all water teammates by one-fifth of her basic attack, as well as being able to unleash a devastating long-ranged radial attack. To help in your quest for her, by logging in each day during the event you can acquire up to 7 Bethlehem Special Star Flares

In what is starting to become something of a trend, Square Enix has announced the impending closure of its mobile RPG Bravely Default Brilliant Lights. The news has come fairly suddenly, and the timeframe for the closure doesn’t leave much time for players to say their final farewells.

Having launched less than one year ago in Japan, specifically on January 27th, Bravely Default Brilliant Lights was a mobile reflection of the main series, retaining its turn-based Brave and Default battle system. There were in-app purchases, of course. However, surprisingly you could collect many characters from the series by simply talking to them, which gave the game more of a free-to-play feel than other gacha games, possibly explaining why it is being shut down.

In the announcement, Square released what feels like more of a party-line explanation for the closure. The message states the reason is that “we have come to the conclusion that it will be difficult to provide services that satisfy our customers in the future”, which is incredibly familiar to the one put out when Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier was announced to be shutting down.

Square has said they will be launching what they dubbed an offline version, where players will be able to look back on various characters and stories after the game closes, however that sounds like it will just be an archive of information, much like that did when they closed Kingdom Hearts Unchained.

Whilst it will no doubt be a sad day for fans when service ends on February 28th, it’s also a shame for those outside Japan who never had, and now never will, the chance to experience the game. It is also a sad time in general for mobile gaming fans as this is the latest domino to fall to Square's rampage through their mobile catalogue, closing some very enjoyable games in the process.

Garena International II has opened the latest round in its open beta for shooter Alpha Ace. With the latest test in March proceeding to some pretty positive feedback, Garena is looking for some more tips and tricks from anyone who wants to get involved.

Before everyone gets too excited, the bad news first. The beta is only available for Google Play at the moment, so Apple players should go sit in a corner now. Alpha Ace is a 5v5 shooter that tries to push tactical team combat to outwit and overwhelm the opposing team. With a wide variety of guns and close to 10 unique maps, there is a lot to learn and experience.

Just before Christmas, Odyssey Interactive brough their fast and fun 3v3 knockout striker title, Omega Strikers, to mobile in the form of an open beta. The game had previously been available to play in beta on Steam since September, but when the game was announced the developers were very clear about their intent to bring the game to smaller screens.

I had been previously dabbling with Omega Strikers on PC, but only truly dove in head-first once I could get my hands on it in mobile form. Since release, I've poured a ton of time into it and can shed some insight on future plans for the game in addition to some tips to help you get started if you want to pick it up yourself and try it out.

Arkknights launches its latest side story and sees one character preparing for their tearful farewell. The update also brings three new powerful operators and a plethora of new furniture, rewards and more.

Lingering Echoes takes place at Leithanien, a magical place where the infected have journeyed too in order to heal themselves, a trait that has drawn the attention of Rhodes Island. As intriguing as that is, however, mysterious healing happenings will have to wait because Czerny, the infected composer, is holding a farewell concert, in which Ebenholz and Kredie will experience a story of intrigue and resistance. Lingering Echoes will last until January 10th, with the second phase, Back Alleys, starting up on January 3rd.