2XKO 2026 Characters Theory (UPDATE 4)

The final two remaining characters of 2026 have been unveiled at Evo and both of them are the characters I wanted, but not the ones I theorized in the initial post. Let's jump right in!

Boy howdy, the announcement at Evo became a quite a bombshell. I originally thought that we won't be able to get something special after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Vegas, but we actually got something special. Anyway, let's get to the main meat and the knitty gritty of the final update regarding my theory of who will be the 2026 characters coming to 2XKO.

Now, on the previous post, I originally said Lucian is gonna be the fifth and penultimate character of 2026 and Katarina would be the final character of the year to make it synonymous to Spyro: A Realm Beyond. Well, guess what? It is officially none of them. Riot has posted a trailer revealing the remaining two characters of 2026. We're gonna watch the trailer and I'm gonna do a breakdown. Here's the trailer.

She looks peak and broken. Lux, the Lady of Luminosity, and Samira, the Desert Rose, are officially revealed as the final two 2XKO characters of 2026. Before I go over what things among these characters I'm excited for, let's talk about their lore and do a breakdown. We'll start with Lux.

Luxanna Crownguard, the member of the noble family, is able to bend the light with her will. She grew up dreading discovery and exile and was forced to keep her power a secret to impress her parents of the medieval Crownguard family.

As you watched the trailer, Lux swings her two-sided baton, comes with a Demacia-themed stage and has an intro dialogue with Senna. For any eagle-eyed fans who are watching the trailer, the stage has statues of Galio and Kayle in the background. Looking at her short gameplay, Lux could be the Ingrid of 2XKO and this gets me very excited. Lux's full trailer is coming out in Fall 2026, meaning that her launch is a week after her full trailer drops, just in time for Evo France.

Samira was once a Shuriman during her childhood until her home was destroyed, prompting her to get her true calling in Noxus where she becomes a stylish daredevil with her black powder pistols and a custom-engineered blade. We didn't get to see much of Samira's gameplay since she is coming later this year, but we can assume that she is launching before Battle Coliseum.

Now let's go over the things on why am I excited for both characters. I have several reasons specifically for Lux and Samira and one concern.

Very First Demacia Character:

2XKO never had a Demacian character yet. League of Legends' commemoration of Demacia is going strong so far and the story is developing. I wanted a Demacian to be in the roster and it's working. Lux is the first Demacian to ever come to 2XKO, and it's a developing story to fit with League of Legends' Demacia season.

Setting the Stage for More Demacia Champions:

Since Lux will be the very first Demacia Champion to ever come to 2XKO with a Demacia-themed stage as League of Legends' celebration of Demacia is going strong, a precedent has spoken. More Demacia characters will always have a chance to make their way to the roster, so this means Garen, Sona, Vayne, Jarvan IV, Kayle, Morgana, Galio, Quinn, Poppy, Fiora and even Locke now have more of a chance to potentially make their debut to 2XKO.

Filling in the Lines:

If you don't know what do I mean by this, if you scroll down on the League of Legends homepage, you'll see the Classes section of the homepage that says Choose Your Champion. As you click on a class symbol, it shows the character as an example of a certain class. Akali is an example of an Assassin character, Yasuo is an example of a Fighter character, Jinx is an example of a Marksman character, Thresh is an example of a Support character and Lux is an example of a Mage character. And when you click on a Tank symbol, it displays Leona as an example of a Tank character.

I do not think that this is a simple coincidence. Leona displaying on the site when clicking on the Tank symbol suggests that the Radiant Dawn could potentially come to 2XKO as the very first Targonian character, which would be nice because I love to see Leona in 2XKO, but as a full-fledged playable character since she is in the background of Kiramman Yacht with other characters in their Pool Party skins. This suggests that the characters in the background other than Ahri and Caitlyn could mean that they could potentially become playable characters.

Design Update:

As the trailer unfolds, someone pops up and I was like, "Who is that teaming up with Senna?" It is clearly Lux, but in her 2XKO design. Notice that she is wearing her boots and her royal dress of the Crownguard family? This shows that Lux's design in 2XKO is completely different than her League of Legends design, and that's the point of this. Champions feature visual adjustments to better fit the fighting game environment.

Second Noxus Character:

As I have said, during her childhood, Samira was once a Shurima character until she hails to earn her true calling in Noxus to become a stylish daredevil with her stylish moves accompanied by her twin pistols and a blade, deeming her a Noxian. Darius won't be the only Noxian in the roster because we're getting the second Noxian being Samira. You know, I woudn't be shocked if we are eventually gettng a Shuriman turned Noxian daredevil. I mean, Samira was a Shuriman in her childhood.

A Dante-Like in 2XKO?:

When I was watching 2XKO Pools at Evo 2026, the commentators had a conversation about a female character in League of Legends that could be a Dante-like in 2XKO, and it's working. We are officially getting a Dante-like in 2XKO, so who is gonna have Dante's playbook in 2XKO? Samira. She is a stylish daredevil in Noxus with her twin pistols and a blade to indicating her a Dante-like, hence "stylish". This is the buzz that I have been hearing on social media and from the commentators.

"Samira could also be a Noel Vermillon-like." Not necessarily. See, Samira may be wielding dual machine guns, but she has a blade in her arsenal also, classifying her a Dante-like. A Noel Vermillion-like is a character that wields twin pistols in a 2D fighting game. Examples would be Eltnum and even Miss Fortune. A Dante-like is a character that wields a blade and twin machine guns in a 2D fighting game. The perfect examples would be Samira and Blade, who is reportedly not just a Dante-like, but also a Vergil-like in Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls.

Double-Header Release:

This has to be my concern because if the remaining two characters were released simultaneously, the 16-character roster wouldn't be given a chance. We were supposed to have a 14-character roster, but Thresh's release had to coincide with Senna's release to give the 15-character roster a chance due to the lore that surrounds the part where Senna broke out of Thresh's lantern to wield the power of the Black Mist without retaliation.

This question comes to mind. If Lux and Samira are coming to 2XKO, are they releasing simultaneously? No, I don't think they are. Riot wants to release a character and make them legal before each Major event in the Competitive Series. Caitlyn came out before Frosty Faustings, Akali came out before Evo Japan, Senna and Thresh came out before Evo Vegas, Lux will come out before Evo France, and Samira will come out before Battle Coliseum, indicating that the 16-character roster could be given a chance since Lux is launching in fall, but probably won't launch at the start of Season 3 since new season releases are mostly separate from new character releases.

"The current character release cadence is five new characters per year." Well, yes, but 2026 is giving us six new characters due to coinciding Thresh's release with Senna's release to release them simultaneously with the first double-header Recruitment Event to earn enough EXP to unlock them simultaneously, honoring the piece of lore in League of Legends. There are a lot of things they need to focus on bringing in since the team is now smaller to have the tendency to make improvements we've been asking for. 2026 is set to be an ambitious year for 2XKO. Once 2027 and ownards come, they may have fewer things than they have in 2026 and can have five new characters.

Interestingly, Lux and Samira coming to 2XKO isn't the only thing I'm very excited for because there's another thing that I am also quite excited for. A new character beyond the first ten has been revealed at end of the Sakura Shinguji trailer for SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. That is Beat from Jet Set Radio.

Beat is officially coming to SEGA vs. Capcom as the 11th character to commemorate Jet Set Radio's 26th Anniversary. He is in fact shown on the art to indicate that he has been confirmed and in development for quite some time now. Our rollerblading lad is gonna step into the roster at launch while Akira Yuki from Virtua Fighter is being reworked and will be returning in a post-launch update with the release of the confirmed 12th character that is likely a Capcom character. 4Cyde Studios is having their first ever gameplay livestream for SEGA vs. Capcom on July 9th. Be sure to catch the livestream if you're interested.

If you're eager to try out Demacia's luminous angel, well, I have good news for you. SEGA vs. Capcom is nearing its full-fledged release in July when Season 1 will launch. It is the perfect time and opportunity to play SEGA vs. Capcom in its full glory. It will hold us off until Lux comes out. Instead of ending this post empty-handed, to make us hyped about both SEGA vs. Capcom's Season 1 launch in July and Lux's launch in 2XKO in fall, let's take a look at where the placements of the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points will stand now that Lux and Samira are revealed at Evo after Top 8. Again, this is just for creativity and imagination purposes, so please don't lawsuit me for defamation.

Characters so far:

Ahri
Akali
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Lux
Samira
Senna
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

I'm gonna take the 17-character roster and divide it into the SEGA and Capcom sides across the board and state the key points this roster will come with. Since this year is seeing 17 characters, the Capcom side will be short by one character on the SEGA side until we get an 18th character. Let's divide the roster. As usual, we'll start with the SEGA side.

Samira is initially introduced, Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo remain. The SEGA side puts Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Samira, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo.

Lux is initially introduced, Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Senna, Thresh and Warwick remain. That puts Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Lux, Senna, Thresh and Warwick on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Ekko on the SEGA side = Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Vi on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round
Lux on the Capcom side = Street Fighter Alpha 3
Senna on the Capcom side = Devil May Cry
Thresh on the Capcom side = Ghosts n' Goblins
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers

Now, with no fighting game goggles on, no bias. Looking at the info, it is really developing, all because all six new characters have been revealed.

And man, a Dante-like and an Ingrid-like coming to 2XKO. This is the best day for us in the FGC. That's how I feel when I was playing Escape from Ever After, especially on that part where the pigs simply called Tinder a lizard to anger her, when she is clearly a dragon. It is similar to Fang getting angered when they called her a monkey. This tells you that this trope never gets old.

It sucks that we will not get to see Katarina make it to the light of day this year, but thankfully, Samira is coming to 2XKO as the second Noxian though. Arucelli stated that she will be in a future roster while she submitted her concept art to the designers and it's exactly like that. Does this mean that our red-haired assassin will never make it to the light of day? Absolutely not. See, Katarina is still planned, so just have faith in Riot and keep believing in our red-haired assassin.

It takes four updates, but we have reached the ends of my predictions on who will be the 2026 characters. I am planning to make educated guesses on who will be next year's upcoming characters, but I can't make any guarantees.

Joe's Monologues - 6/19/2026

Hello, everyone. I'm back from my old stomping grounds with a new entry of Joe's Monologues. I said that the series would return, so here it is. Let's take a dive into the series.

Comfort Stream Test Complete:

Right off the bat, I'm gonna talk about the update regarding my comfortability. I did a short stream that serves as a test run on how long I can sit down on my gaming chair while streaming. The test is complete, thanks to my U-shaped cushion. It provides extreme comfortability that the cut out part offers little to no coccyx pain pressure. That was after using it on the airplane, which also turned out well, especially since the seats in it lack cushion. Thanks to my U-shaped cushion, it's gonna help my coccyx pain, especially on longer sessions.

Escape from Ever After:

I did a little bit of Escape from Ever After on stream while doing a comfort test. I went ahead and partaken on the 100-floor challenge. I stopped at level 30 as part of the test. I didn't bother doing an episode because it was just a test. There is an optional Little Red Riding Hood storybook that I plan to record, but it won't be until I beat the main story. It's my duty to find out if the CEO of Ever After Inc. is the mastermind of allowing the company to take over storybooks.

Evo 2026:

The biggest fighting game event of the summer is fast approaching as it's one week left before Evo opens its doors in Las Vegas. I am very excited to experience the action and find out what do they have in store for fighting games. As Evo is approaching, the crew is setting up booths and streaming equipment at the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Everything is coming together really nicely. The commentator lineup is up, but the streaming schedule and the Friday Showcase schedule are not yet up and they are the two things we can look out for.

See, Evo has always been the biggest fighting game tournament of the summer, known for tournaments, cosplays, booths, demos and reveals. I don't watch Evo just for the tournament action, but for reveals because I am anxious to see what do companies have in store for us in the FGC. I have a post that goes into detail about what was the staple for Evo for years in the works. It'll be posted seeon

What Happened During My Stay:

It feels good to be back home after my one week stay at my old stomping grounds. But it came with a cost. Recently, my cousin threw a tantrum for some reason. My aunt was celebrating her 90th birthday. It left her no longer fit to serve. I honor my aunt's time. I can't believe that I witnessed firsthand of a grown adult acting childish and throwing a tantrum. It's the first time I have ever experienced an adult acting childish. But not to my mother.

I mean, seriously! What on Earth is a pathetic excuse of a 67-year-old woman acting childish for some reason? It's like an adult throwing a tantrum over McDonald's and some crap! I mean, come on! If you're an adult and if you threw a childish tantrum, guess what you're doing nearly every day!

What Am I Doing Next:

Now that I'm back home, if you're wondering what's the next thing I am doing, I am going to do an episode of my Escape from Ever After Let's Play series now that I have the cushion I need to relieve my tailbone pain. It's gonna be before I livestream both Sonic Racing Crossworlds and 2XKO in hopes of growing my channel.

Conclusion:

It has been a lot I had to go though in ths entry. The series is back now that I got home. Here's to the next entry.

2XKO 2026 Characters Theory (UPDATE 3)

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

I'm back with an 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 the background of an eerie stage that the next character will come with, but it's themed around Shadow Isles, indicating that we're getting the first Shadow Isles character. 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 hear an eerie laughter. But who does the eerie laugher belong to? Well, after hearing the eerie laughter at the end of the Senna trailer and playing the laughter on each Shadow Isles character at the League of Legends Wiki, one of them matches the tone of the laughter at the end of the trailer.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's official. We might be looking at a potential hint to who could be the next 2XKO character after Senna that is releasing alongside her on the same day being June 9. 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 high likelihood of debuting in 2XKO, especially since in terms of lore, Thresh imprisoned Senna's soul in a lantern until she eventually broke out of it to learn to use the Black Mist's dark juju herself, but without a trace of retaliation. Senna's lore in League of Legends seals the deal that Thresh is likely to come to 2XKO along with Senna.

Senna's lore in League of Legends and Senna coming to 2XKO confirmed and sealed the deal that Thresh is definetely coming to 2XKO. That's two pieces of information. But there is one more piece of puzzle to draw us closer to seeing who is the next 2XKO character. Where do we find the piece of info? Well, folks, I have decided to dig deeper into this hole and found something that is a knockout punch to draw us closer to who could be Character 5 of 2026.

The final piece of information as to who is the fifth character of 2026 lies within Lucian's lore in League of Legends. Let's take a read and stress out the things.

"Lucian, a Sentinel of Light, is a grim hunter of wraiths and specters, pursuing them relentlessly and annihilating them with his twin relic pistols. After the specter Thresh slew his wife, Lucian embarked on the path of vengeance--but even with her return to life, his rage is undiminished. Merciless and single-minded, Lucian will stop at nothing to protect the living from the long-dead horrors of the Black Mist."

This is important to remember that there are nuggets of information you must hone in on. I originally said that the fifth character of 2026 would be Ashe, but apparently, that's gonna be changing, because if we put Senna and Thresh's debut to 2XKO, Senna's lore, and Lucian's lore mentioning things written in boldface together, there is enough evidence to confirm that Lucian is likely, not certainly, but likely, to be next 2XKO character as the fifth character of 2026, which means, yes, Senna is Lucian's wife, strongly suggesting that Lucian is likely be the fifth 2XKO character of the 2026.

I know what you're trying to say that you're looking forward to have a duo of Lucian and Senna in a husband and wife duo with the Teamfight Fuse equipped and use it against Thresh being a point character with the Juggernaut Fuse equipped. Well, I have good news for you. If you hone in on the evidence I put together, Lucian is likely to be the fifth character of the year, period.

But there is something that left me quite shocked. I looked through the list of characters Lucian is related to and guess who is on the list? Miss Fortune. Then I looked through the list of characters Miss Fortune is related to and who is on the list? Lucian. Interesting. Who would've thought that Lucian and Sarah are related to each other?

Not to throw shade at this, but if Miss Fortune is officially the final character of 2026, then Gangplank might be the first character of 2027 in terms of lore because you know, Thresh coming to 2XKO because of Senna, resulting in a simultaneous double header release and the piece of lore mentioning the part where Miss Fortune kills Gangplank. That explains why Lucian is on the list of characters Miss Fortune is related to and vice versa. This really takes the cake.

But this is not the first time we're experiencing a double roster drop. In case if you're unaware, Vi and Blitzcrank launched simultaneously in Closed Beta, Teemo and Warwick launched simultaneously in Early Access, and Senna and Thresh will launch simultaneously in June 9 after Season 2's launch, which is actually a good thing because we're getting closer to the point where they manipulate the selection of characters to pave the way for the 17th character and beyond. I'll tell you why later in the future of this post.

I screencaped the character roster in the 2XKO Wiki. The roster is developing. A third row has been added as Thresh is added to the list. And boy howdy, they better fix the positioning of Ahri and Akali's portraits lickety-split because they are a bit out of position.

And here's something really interesting. Senna and Thresh's simultaneous launch on June 9 comes with changing my predictions as to when the last two characters are launching and how will they reveal them. This comes in four predictions and I'm gonna sort them by likelihood. Since the pieces of information I put together provide enough evidence to confirm that Lucian is likely to be the next 2XKO character after Thresh, I'll put his name in them.

Prediction 1:

Lucian announced at Evo (if confirmed).
The sixth character of the year teased at the end of the Lucian trailer.
Lucian launches in October 6.
The sixth character of the year launches in November.

Prediction 2:

Lucian and the sixth character of the year announced either at Evo (if confirmed) or on a future Weekly Warmup post.

Lucian launches in September 8.
The sixth character of the year launches in November.

Prediction 3:

Lucian announced either at Evo (if confirmed) or on a future Weekly Warmup post.
The sixth character of the year teased at the end of the Lucian trailer.
Lucian and the sixth character of the year launch in October 6.

Prediction 4:

Lucian and the sixth character of the year announced either at Evo or on a future Weekly Warmup post.
Lucian launches in August.
The sixth character of the year launches in October 6.

These are the four predictions regarding Lucian and the sixth character of 2026. Let's sort them by likelihood.

---Most Likely---

Prediction 2:

Lucian and the sixth character of the year announced either at Evo or on a future Weekly Warmup post.
Lucian launches in September 8.
The sixth character of the year launches in November.

Prediction 4:

Lucian and the sixth character of the year announced either at Evo or on a future Weekly Warmup post.
Lucian launches in August.
The sixth character of the year launches in October 6.

Prediction 1:

Lucian announced at Evo.
The sixth character of the year teased at the end of the Lucian trailer.
Lucian launches in October 6.
The sixth character of the year launches in November.

Prediction 3:

Lucian announced either at Evo or on a future Weekly Warmup post.
The sixth character of the year teased at the end of Lucian's trailer.
Lucian and the sixth character of the year launch in October 6.

---Least Likely---

Sorted the predictions by likelihood. You might be wondering why Prediction 2 is most likely. Well, there is one obvious reason to get out of the way first.

Riot is learning based on how we play in Early Access by shifting it from having five seasons to having three seasons and separating the new season releases from new character releases mostly, not entirely, meaning that the fifth character of the year is likely to launch at the start of Season 3.

Now we can answer this question. Why are Senna and Thresh launching simultaneously on June 9? The best reason is obvious.

Riot likes to release a new character before each Major event in the Competitive Series. Caitlyn came out before Frosty Faustings, Akali came out before Evo Japan, and Senna will come out before Evo. Since there are five Major events and six planned characters, Riot is coinciding Thresh's launch with Senna's launch to release them simultaneously for their legal debut at Evo to make things up. It serves as a buffer between Caitlyn and Akali's launch within Season 1 and Characters 5 and 6's launch within Season 3 to give them ample time to develop Characters 5 and 6 and get them ready for release for their legal debut Evo France and Battle Coliseum. Now, please be aware that these are educated guesses. They don't confirm anything.

As I have said, Lucian is likely to be Character 5 of 2026 because of the pieces of information and the fact that he is Senna's husband you must hone in on. But the final character of the year remains a mystery. Even if we don't see them announced at Evo after 2XKO Top 8, a future Weekly Warmup post is the way.

"The final character of the year could be an Arcane character." I don't think the final character of 2026 is an Arcane character because Riot has made it clear that they are done with Arcane characters for now. But that doesn't mean we won't get to see any more Arcane characters.

"What if Character 6 is revealed to be Katarina?" Ah ha, now that is actually an interesting question. Fortunately, I got good news for you. If you don't remember, Katarina was Thanos-snapped from the earlier stages of the game's development. If our red-haired Noxian assassin is revealed to be Character 6, likely launching before Battle Coliseum, it's gonna be the best day for us League of Legends and 2XKO fans, being synonymous to waiting for the announcement of Spyro 4.

We must keep believing in Katarina because back in October, Arucelli made her a concept art and submitted it to the designers for her redesign stage. This leaves me to lock in my prediction of Katarina being the final character of the year and it's gonna be the best day for us League of Legends fans if she is revealed as the final character of 2026. In fact, the final character of the year doesn't have to be Katarina--it can be a different Noxian character because I want another Noxian Champion at least.

The next update regarding my theory will have the coverage in regards to the fifth and sixth characters of the year. Stay tuned for that.

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.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling:

Right off the bat, I'm gonna talk about this game here. Recently, I have been playing Bug Fables and it's really developing and fantastic. The final boss given me a headache, but I finally beaten it. I even befriended Chompy and got the Tardigrade Shield, which is something I should've had done in the first place. That can make battles easier. I have uploaded six videos up to Bugsquerade Festival. I have a couple more videos to upload before I leave.

What is a Bugsquerade, you ask? Have you heard of a masquerade festival? Well, Bug Fables has a masquerade festival, but it's called a bugsequerade festival where anthropomorphic insects have fun and partake in the ceremony. It is basically a play on words pointing out to the festval. Again, I have couple more videos to upload before I leave.

Escape from Ever After:

Next, 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 on them. But the one I came across on Amazon is gonna do it because the one I'm getting is a U-shaped cushion that provides little to no coccyx pressure. It benefits longer gaming sessions. That said, I'm ordering it soon and doing a test run while doing a short stream. I have two videos upoaded so far and I'll continue to upload them when I finish this game.

There's Little Red Riding Hood storybook that I am planning to record, but it's gonna be uploaded once I finish the story.

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 area where the Friday Showcase takes place at.

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 State of Play, to Summer Game Fest, Xbox Games Showcase and 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 (particularly Ahri having yellow skin like the Simpsons) 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.