2XKO 2026 Characters Theory (UPDATE 2.5)

I have some breaking news that left me quite shocked. The Senna trailer just dropped and there may be something huge at the end of the trailer. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a minor update that serves as a breaking news regarding my theory on who are 2XKO's 2026 characters. We have the potential hint towards who could be the next 2XKO character after Senna.

The end of the Senna trailer shows a new stage that the next character will come with. The stage is some sort of broken palace engulfed in creepy teal mist and has a statue. And as you watch the teaser at the end, you'll hear a masculine eerie laughter. But who does the eerie laugher belong to? We know it's a male, but that's not nearly enough to decipher the laughter.

If we go the League of Legends Wiki, we can be able to decipher the eerie laughter further to find out who does it belong to. Looking at the stage, it's themed around Shadow Isles and the first Shadow Isles character is coming, so we look at the Shadow Isles characters and play the male characters' laughter to match the eerie laughter at the end of the trailer. If we hear the eerie laughter at the end of the Senna trailer and play the laughter on each Shadow Isles character at the wiki, one of them matches the tone of the laughter at the end of the trailer.

Ladies and gentlemen, we might be looking at a tease of who could be the next 2XKO character after Senna. The eerie laughter belongs to none other than the first Shadow Isles character, Thresh, the Chain Warden, which has me very excited and hyped that he's the character I wanted, but not the character I theorized in the initial post. Senna coming to 2XKO comes with Thresh's likelhood of debuting in 2XKO, especially since in terms of lore, Thresh imprisoned Senna's soul in a lantern and Thresh's likelihood of debuting in 2XKO came close to the piece of lore regarding Senna's soul being imprisoned by his lantern.

Since Thresh is teased and we got Senna coming, it's possible that Lucian could potentially be up next to be the fifth character of the year because when Thresh slain Senna, Lucian embarks on a journey of vengeance to find Thresh and take him down to avenge his wife. Because of this, I am changing my prediction and predict that Lucian could potentially be the fifth character of the year because of Senna and Thresh and the lore cinematic that covers the situation surrounding Senna.

Remember what I said that the Senna trailer won't drop at Summer Game Fest? Since the Thresh teaser has dropped at the end of the Senna trailer, we might see our specter of Shadow Isles in full form either at Summer Game Fest or during the Friday Showcase at Evo Vegas. But no gameplay trailer until August since new character releases are mostly separate from season releases.

Now, this story is developing and it can be a smack dab in the middle. Stay tuned for the next big update in regards to Thresh and the fifth character of the year.

Summer Game Showcase Wish List

We're approaching the period of summer game showcases where they reveal new games and provide an update regarding games that came out, and that can definetely fill out the gap left by E3's death. Today, I want to make a wish list of reveals I want to see in the period of game showcases in the summer.

Injustice 3:

One man has confirmed that Injustice 3 is in the works. That is nice, but which of the routes Injustice 2 left off that the third game will pick up? Well, either way, I would love to see Injustice 3 get announced, knowing that NetherRealm has confirmed the next Mortal Kombat, the second one that takes place in the new era.

2XKO Senna Trailer:

We are approaching the time when Senna launches in 2XKO since new season releases are mostly separate from new character releases. I want to see the Senna trailer drop at Summer Game Fest, but her trailer is coming out on June 2 according to the post. Even so, it is considered a part of the summer game showcases, whereas they showcase her trailer, palettes and moves.

Street Fighter 6 Year 4 Pass Trailer:

Ingrid rounds out the Year 3 Pass as the cherry on top and we're getting closer to the point where Street Fighter 6's Year 4 Pass is gonna be. If the leaks regarding the Year 4 Pass is true, then I see a chance that the Year 4 Pass Trailer could drop at Summer Game Fest. Evo is approaching and the first Year 4 character's trailer could drop before Top 8.

New Mana Title:

1991 is when the Mana franchise was established with the entry of Final Fantasy Adventure. It is 2026 and this is the year when the franchise reaches its 35th Anniversary. I think this calls for a new mainline Mana title to be announced because this is the year when the series is 35 years old.

Third Paper Mario-Style Game:

Indie devs started making games that are inspired by Paper Mario. They are Bug Fables and Escape from Ever After. These two games drew inspiration from the first two games of the franchise that are critically acclaimed. You know what I like to see? A third Paper Mario-inspired game. If it comes into fruition, I like it to have the Blue Dragon-style party of five Escape from Ever After used.

New Paper Mario Title:

Speaking of Paper Mario, this brings me to my next thing. Paper Mario has quite a dedicated fanbase, especially to the turn-based RPG genre. When we get to Sticker Star, it was disdained by fans of the first two games of the franchise, along with Color Splash and the Origami King. If Nintendo confirms a new Paper Mario title, they need to polish and multiply what made the first two games so perfect in the first place instead of fragmenting and borderline changing the genre like they did with the trio of games since Sticker Star. It's the only way to make a modern Paper Mario title that is on par with the first two games.

And in case if you're unaware, when Paper Mario: Color Splash was announced, a lot of people signed a petition to cancel the game because it continued the action adventure genre to further fragment the original foundation. That's why a modern Paper Mario game needs to be based off the first two games. That is how Bug Fables and Escape from Ever After were met with positive reception from the fans of Paper Mario. They can literally copy and paste the coding and physics of the remastered Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and start from there. They don't have to retool the game up from the ground up like they did with Sticker Star. The core of the game is already done.

Spyro 4:

The project went in development late 2023. The director at Toys for Bob believed that the next Spyro is gonna be big and ambitious. What this means that it'll never have the same treatment as Crash Bandicoot 4 to have the standards of the original trilogy. We can expect an open world element, deeper combat and RPG elements. It has been a long wait, but we're finally getting closer to the announcement of Spyro 4, hopefully at Summer Game Fest.

Because the next Spyro is gonna be big and ambitious, this isn't likely gonna be a by the numbers Spyro game. The 4 might be dropped from the official name. Don't forget; this is Toys for Bob's first title as an indie studio. That's why we have to wait three years before it is announced. There's one thing I do want from Spyro 4 the most.

Have you heard of the term, Sonally? The term represents the friendship between Sonic the Hedgehog and Sally Acorn in Sonic SatAM. Well, the one thing I like to see the most in Spyro 4 is Spylora. What is Spylora, you ask? It's a term that represents the friendship between Spyro the Dragon and Elora the Faun. We experienced it first in Spyro 2, so we want the friendship to continue in the new Spyro.

These are all of the announcements I want to see in this year's period of summer game reveals. If there is something I missed, I'll update the wish list before the reveals start.

Joe's Monologues - 5/29/2026

Hello, everyone. Welcome to yet another Joe's Monologues. This will be the final Joe's Monologues before I leave. But the series will continue once I get back home, so without further ado, let's take a dive.

Escape from Ever After:

Right off the bat, I'm gonna talk about one of the games I am finally going through now that I have beaten Bug Fables. Escape from Ever After is just dang near perfect. The combat is fluid, similar as that of the first two Paper Mario games. The party of five in the game is absolutely gorgeous, but it's kind of feels more like Blue Dragon than Lost Odyssey, especially since Eva and Patches are surely the Kluke and Marumaro of Escape from Ever After, right? The thing is, both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are turn-based JRPGs that have the party of five. It's something that future turn-based RPGs can have.

See, the part where pigs angered Tinder by calling her a lizard is already my most favorite part. Good thing I recorded that part when I'm doing a Let's Play video. Why can't the pigs just know the difference between a lizard and a dragon? You might be wondering why am I suspending playing this game. Well, I'm going to get some appropriate cushion for my gaming chair. The ones that I have; they are not comfortable enough and still feel my coccyx pain. But the one I came across on Amazon is gonna do it. I'm going to order it when I get back home.

Evo 2026:

The biggest thrill ride of the summer is almost here as the registration numbers and the leaderboard have been finalized as signups have been closed.

Evo has posted a leaderboard of games. Here are the twelve games Evo Vegas will have this year like Evo Japan did. With twelve games, there are twelve champions to crown. You might be wondering why the top six games have to be light while the bottom six have to be dark. Well, here's one obvious thing. Since we have twelve games up there, the top six games will have their Top 8 in the Arena while the bottom six games will have their Top 8 at the main streaming area outside of the Arena.

Now, since Evo Vegas is taking place at the West Wing of the Las Vegas Convention Center to allow the Arena finals to go live on Saturday and Sunday, the pendulum swings in both days. Let's start with Saturday's Top 8 finals.

Saturday will see Top 8s for Virtua Fighter 5: R.E.V.O. World Stage, Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Guilty Gear Strive and Rivals of Aether II. But Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Guilty Gear Strive and Rivals of Aether II will be played in the Arena while Virtua Fighter 5, Under Night In-Birth II and BlazBlue: Central Fiction will be played outside of the Arena.

Sunday will see Top 8s for Vampire Savior, Invincible VS, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, 2XKO, Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6. But 2XKO, Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 will be played in the Arena while Vampire Savior, Invincible VS and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be played outside of the Arena.

Saturday's Top 8s:

Games outside the Arena:

• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage
• Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes
• BlazBlue: Central Fiction

Games inside the Arena:

• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Guilty Gear Strive
• Rivals of Aether II

Sunday's Top 8s:

Games outside the Arena:

• Vampire Savior
• Invincible VS
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

Games inside the Arena:

• 2XKO
• Tekken 8
• Street Fighter 6

Here is the placement and order of how the games' Top 8 is gonna be played. This is the info I can have when it comes to time limitations.

We're gonna cross out BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Vampire Savior and 2XKO because I don't think that we're gonna see announcements regarding these games after or before Top 8 and we won't see a BBTAG 2 announced there. 2XKO in particular is being played in the Arena, but I don't think that we're gonna get some sort of reveal before or after 2XKO Top 8 since Senna is guaranteed to come out before Evo opens its doors.

While it sucks that they won't announce something for 2XKO before or after Top 8, my prediction of revealing the rest of the Year 1 characters and updating the roadmap to reveal the rest at the Friday Showcase is still in play. However, we can expect something for Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Fatal Fury, Under Night In-Birth II, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Invincible VS and Marvel Tokon since they have announcements among these games up on their sleeve.

Invincible VS in particular would take Mortal Kombat 1's spot at Evo since they knew that they needed one M-rated fighting game up there, and Invincible VS is considered an M-rated Marvel vs. Capcom clone because of brutal 3v3 tag combat and supers that dismember opponents when their HP is at 0. After all, Marvel vs. Capcom has been a main debut at Evo in the earlier years and Invincible VS can answer that with a bloody Marvel vs. Capcom-style combat.

With twelve games in one lineup to have twelve champions to crown, Evo 2026 is gonna be a blockbuster.

Summer Game Reveals:

The time when they reveal games in the summer is almost upon us. Publishers and developers have a lot of games in the works, ranging from AAA blockbusters to indies, starting with the State of Play, to Summer Game Fest, Xbox Games Showcase and the Nintendo Direct. A number of publishers and developers are getting themselves ready for the biggest showcase of the summer. With a showcase that hype, I do not doubt that it's gonna be enough to fill in the gap E3's death has made.

Indie devs are also gonna be a part of it. Maybe we can see a third Paper Mario-esque game. That would be fire. I love Paper Mario and has been a huge fan of the first two games of the franchise that are the most popular. My next post will have the things I want to see in the season of game reveals.

Future Plans:

And finally, I'm going to talk about my future plans, First off, as I have said before, I'm gonna be leaving on June 10th to go to my old stomping grounds because I got to attend at my aunt's birthday on June 13th at the place located at the street that is the very heart. This means I will not be doing any content until I get back home on the 17th of June. I am excited for this is not just because I'm celebrating my aunt's birthday. But better yet, it's doing nostalgic things, having a forest show and being on the lookout for people that resemble the quality of my old friends and that's something I want to do.

And to cap things off, I am planning to livestream both Sonic Racing Crossworlds and 2XKO together. However, I'm gonna have to wait until the wonky VS screen issue is fixed. The thing is, when the wonky VS screen happens, in game, the background from the VS screen remains to block the health bars and timer, there are shades of yellow on the assist character in the character select screen and you see the VS label at the main menu. Alternatively, if that happens, I can use the workaround; restarting the game.

I reported the issue on X constructively enough. I went on to say, "The VS screen background remains in game when the wonky VS screen happens to block the health bars and timer," instead of, "The background of the VS screen being in game is driving me nuts. Fix this glitch now." This is courtesy of the Skullheart Forums' constructive vs. opinionated threads. That's why we need to make constructive bug reports, not opinionated bug reports.

Conclusion:

Again, this will be my final post of the series before I leave. But rest assured. The series will return as soon as I get home to do more content.

Let's Play - An Ongoing Trend on YouTube

With a lot of gamers across the world, Let's Play has been the best thing to for gamers to bank on. For years, we have been experiencing the long line of Let's Players around the world. The subject in Wikipedia states that Let's Plays specialize in subjective commentary with humorous moments and a focus on going through the story. I know that there are Let's Players that play Pokemon and it's the hardest thing to do a Let's Play on since the mainline games are divided into two versions. Today, Let's Play is something gamers have been cherishing on. Like, of course, PewDiePie, Chuggaconroy and Markiplier. Gamers in general would never stop being a gamer until they grow old because of long live gaming. That's how the documentary became an ongoing trend for decades.

I have been a gamer for years since I was 9 years old. Being a gamer means doing something productive for a change. If I said that I'm planning to become a Let's Player like others before me and recording gameplay videos, well, if I can't beat them, join them. So I did and that is since I have created my separate gaming channel on YouTube where I can post my Let's Play videos, gameplay videos and clips. I'll give you a link to my gaming channel at the end of this post.

I want to talk about one of the Let's Players that I have came across when there is something worthwhile. Enter 1smash18, gamer extraordinaire and Let's Player. He is one of the YouTubers who is known for his Let's Play series. His gameplay videos have commentary and involve Cartoon Network web games from the 2000s, which I know you guys loved those as kids. He now has a gaming computer. That unlocked playing more games other than SSF2 during Let's Play. Currently, he's doing his Hollow Knight Let's Play as he just uploaded the second episode of his Hollow Knight Let's Play series.

This is something that I want to do and with a gaming computer with bigger memory, a GPU and a CPU powerful enough. I am becoming a Let's Player like other gamers before me. I have finished the recording and the uploading process of my Let's Play series for Bug Fables. Now it's off to the publishing process. One of the videos is something interesting that you'll find out soon. My next series will be for Escape from Ever After as I have mentioned before. Beyond Escape from Ever After, there are more games to do my Let's Play series on, including LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, but the Steam version due to it having 50 GB of storage and not playing PS5 games stored on the hard drive.

But that's not all. Not only I am becoming a Let's Player like other gamers before me. I have talked about this in private, so it's time that to announce two things here. 

First off, I'll be streaming Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and 2XKO on the same livestream in the near future, hoping if I can grow my channel anytime soon. But I need to think of a title for streaming these two games. I'm also recording my Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and 2XKO commentary matches and putting them on my gaming channel. And with the Duo Finder and a duo voice chat, I'm gonna be streaming and recording duos in 2XKO because it is best played as a duo. They are more fun than solos and provide little to no selfishness. Not by a little bit, but by a landslide.

However, I will have to wait until one thing comes out. I'm not talking about nerfs to Teamfight or Senna's launch before Evo Las Vegas opens its doors since those who participated will earn a Pool Party Senna skin. But better yet, it's to fix the wonky VS screen glitch that occurs when the VS screen pops up twice and is accompanied by the background of the VS screen blocking health bars. I reported the glitch the moment I first experienced it via X and I hope we get a hotfix to remedy that.

And finally, I'm going to leave in June 10th to go to my old stomping grounds to attend to my aunt's 90th birthday on June 13th. I have finished packing my stuff. Do you know what is the funny thing about this? My mother wanted to go to see her grandchildren; my nephews and nieces. Well, simply put, it is a good thing, per se, but I don't want to go there just for that. I also want to go there to experience the charm in it like the cemetery, the woods and the street that is the very heart of a small town despite the fact that a charming Chinese restaurant like Fortune House is no longer there. Talking about it kind of makes me think of the red haired pirate of Bilgewater named Miss Fortune. Interesting.

The only thing about this is that the next 2XKO patch comes out June 9, which gives me one day to try Senna out before I leave. Fortunately, I got my PlayStation Portal Remote Player. With it, I can play any game I want on the go, so I'll be packing it and my computer. But there are two catches. The first is that I have to leave the PS5 on while I'm away since it doesn't play games independently. The second is that I will not be recording gameplay videos or livestreaming until June 17th when I go back home. But publishing Let's Play Bug Fables videos remains.

Now, if you're willing to become a Let's Player like others, you are more than welcome to do so because being a Let's Player is a productive thing to do. But you need a mic for commentary because without commentary, you can't make Let's Play videos. If you're interested in checking out and subscribing to my separate gaming channel, you can click the link below. The more subscribers, the better.

https://youtube.com/@knockdownjoegaming?si=pQq8aQ3Xnw8Mt-y0

What Could Bug Fables 2 Look Like?

What could Bug Fables 2 look like, and what new features that could be added? Let's jump right in.

It has been quite some time since I have talked about Bug Fables and I want to revisit it. But more of a hypothetical sequel, so today, I'm going to monologue what could Bug Fables 2 look like and what new features can be added to the sequel and things that need improvement. There's a lot to breakdown here. Now, before I begin, yes, I know, we already have a second game of the franchise being the Aphid Festival. But I'm talking about a full-fledged mainline sequel to the Everlasting Sapling.

First things first, from a technical aspect, I think it would be a natural and ideal form of progression to make the next Bug Fables in the same engine that Escape from Ever After. With the power of the same engine used in Escape from Ever After and because of the modern consoles that provide better technology, I think it can make the game overall look amazing.

And I like to make myself clear that Bug Fables 2 and its assets should be developed naturally and by hand, not through generative AI. The reason why I don't want any pig slop AI-generated content on my games is because they are the source of backlash and alienating fans. I kept track of the history of AI backlashes so far and I hadn't forgot about them. Do you remember what happened in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7? Nobody likes this game because of its AI-generated content. NTE faced backlash from Ironmouse due to having AI-generated assets. That caused them to distance themself from it until the AI-generated assets are removed. Expedition 33 was stripped from the Game of the Year award at the Indie Awards due to having AI-generated content to show that using generative AI is not an exclusive offense to AAA devs as indie devs do this as well.

Anyway, this is where we hit a bit of a roadblock, so here's the thing. Bug Fables was just darn near perfect. The battles are amazing. You learn new skills when progressing through the story and reaching certain levels. It has the whole Team Snakemouth trio in battle rather than having two characters in battle. It has NPCs that join the battle, like Maki. Everything is on point and we can see everything for the sequel. But there are some areas that need improvement and couple of new things to be added for a hypothetical Bug Fables 2 that I'll talk about now.

First off, the expanded party system. In Bug Fables 1, you only have the members of Team Snakemouth as the playable characters while NPCs like Maki can join you in some parts of the main story and can have Chompy as an optional companion and it can be accompanied by defeating the Mother Chomper to get the seed, get the Tardigrade Shield badge at the desert and delivering the seed to the elder bee at the Bee Kingdom.

But we can beef up the party system in Bug Fables 2. So, a fleshed out party system in Bug Fables 2 could work so that you can play as not only the members of Team Snakemouth consisting of Vi, Kabbu and Leif, but also others like Zasp, Mothiva, Maki, Kina, Acolyte Aria and even Yin, who is actually experienced after defeating the Wasp King, as well as a few others. They each have their own arsenal of abilities to use against enemies, the ones you see when fighting against them and they gain new abilities when reaching certain levels. This provides players the flexibility to choose the three characters to put in battle.

Here's the next thing for Bug Fables 2; Triple Strikes. The Super Mario RPG remake introduced powerful Triple Strikes and they very depending on the party. They come with a gauge that fills up when nailing the timing. I think Triple Strikes can work in Bug Fables 2 that it can come with a gauge and depend on the characters in battle. It fills up when nailing the timing. Nailing consecutive timings can increase the gauge faster. But blew the timing and the combo breaks and you would have to start all over again. The chain carries over between battles as long as you time your button presses correctly. For example, if you have Team Snakemouth in battle, they can execute a giant iceball move that is acquired from completing Leif's Request.

This brought me to my next point here. You would know that Bug Fables is inspired by the first two Paper Mario games that became the most popular and launched to critical acclaim. Guess what? We can leave the gameplay from the original game as is, but with new and innovative ideas that would polish and multiply what made Bug Fables so great in the first place.

Turn-based JRPGs became a blast to play. Some offer the order of when each character have a turn. We know that Bug Fables is a turn-based JRPG and we can keep the JRPG mechanics in Bug Fables 2 and add a turn window to display the turn order of characters and enemies and whose turn is it, like other turn-based JRPGs that have the turn order window. The turn order window in Bug Fables 2 would be beneficial enough to give battles some kick instead of having the party attack first before the enemies do.

Now, if you have been expecting the one issue in Bug Fables, which is incorrect button glyphs, that can obviously be fixed. The game not showing buttons of the Dualsense controller in game is due to the fact that Bug Fables actually came out before the PS5 does. Thankfully, Bug Fables 2 can fix the problem, by supporting Dualsense button glyphs.

Before I end this post, I want to say that Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling became near perfect. I was able to finally beat the game. The final boss given me a headache that the Everlasting King heals himself up two times. After three rounds, I have finally did it. And almost every aspect became suitable to my tastes. I recorded my gameplay videos and put them in my Bug Fables Let's Play series playlist. As a reward, I directly submitted my logo request to Broken Saw for the one that is capped from Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling. I deserve it for finally beating it.

Let me tell you this. There was a point in time when I was playing Earthlock, right? When I was playing Earthlock, I was struggling a bit on the final battle against Ichabo Locke. It became a connection to struggling a bit on the final battle against the Everlasting King. It's no coincidence to playing on the easiest difficulty in 007: Tomorrow Never Dies and Kingdom Hearts so that I wouldn't get a game over when I was a kid. Nevertheless, there is a silver-lining to all of this. 

If I had befriended Chompy and acquired the Tardigrade Shield medal in the first place, then maybe I wouldn't have no problem of defeating the Everlasting King at all because the Tardigrade Shield medal offers the Sturdy skill to an ally that equips it to raise an ally's defense by 3 and offer immunity to ailments for one turn and Chompy is proven quite useful. But now that I have beaten it, it's off to playing Escape from Ever After with the intention of starting my Escape from Ever After Let's Play series.

The thing is, if we want the sequel for the Bug Fables franchise to be meaningful, we need it to expand and polish what made Bug Fables 1 so amazing and perfect in the first place. But I think these unique and innovative ideas I have stated can overall greatly improve the Bug Fables experience in Bug Fables 2. If the sequel comes to fruition, I can make a Let's Play series for it.