Not Your Mama’s Pikachu

If all we do is look at January, you’ve got Palworld, which was quite possibly the most popular launch of all time, with over two million players playing at the same time at one point. The only game to beat this ever is PUBG: Battlegrounds back in January 2018, and even intensely popular games like Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3 never broke the one million mark.

Also in January, we got Enshrouded, which is an excellent ARPG survival game where you can play around with classic fantasy classes in between building your ideal holiday home and trying to save the world. This would have been substantially more popular were it not for Palworld deciding to launch just a few days before it.

February brought Nightingale with its Fae Realms and rocky start, but that’s been doing a lot better since the offline mode launched, and then April gave us Bellwright, which is a whole other style of survival game. That’s an absurdly strong first four titles, and we’re fully aware there are probably a lot of good ones we’ve missed, too.

It’s Gonna Be May

Let’s talk May quickly – well, quickly-ish. Abiotic Factor, V Rising, and Soulmask all launched in the fifth month of the year. All three of these are good takes on the survival genre, and while V Rising had been out in Early Access for a while, the full release was simply a game changer. Abiotic Factor wins extra points for being very funny to play with friends, and Soulmask has a really cool core concept, too.

Related: How Earth Defense Force Developed a Massive Cult Following

Then, looking forward from that banger of a month, we’ve got the full release of Core Keeper, which is an exceptionally good Terraria-like that we implore you to play, and even Streets of Rogue 2 is getting in on the action with new building mechanics as well. Is the latter a true survival game? Probably not, but you can build in it, and we’re excited about it, so here we are.

I Will Survive

So, uh, what gives? It’s almost impossible to say what it is that’s made all of these games hit so close together. The initial wave of survival games, those powered by Minecraft being released, has been over for roughly a decade at this point, but the genre’s never really weakened. The most obvious choice for the inspiration here could well be Valheim, a survival game that puts a bit more focus on the fights than just the farming.

It could also just be that we, as players, just really want to become self-sufficient as the world around us crumbles and our ability to control our fates diminishes. But hey, maybe they’re just fun, and chopping wood is good for the soul, even if it’s digital wood.

Once Upon A Time In Anime

Megaton Musashi W: Wired has a slow start, with a heavy focus on story beats, character interactions, and exploring the world around you. It feels a lot like a visual novel in between battles, and while I don’t mean that as a derogatory thing, I do know that won’t be for everyone. The good news is that, while the characters and story beats can feel a bit tropey for anyone who’s watched an anime before, which we’re assuming is everyone who’s reading this, it’s still very enjoyable.

Plus, when you do get to the action, it feels amazing. Your mech can float around with ease, and use a mix of melee and ranged weapons that you can switch between on the fly during battles. Along with that, you’ve got awesome special moves that make you feel like an anime protagonist, which you are; don’t let anyone tell you any different.

A Sturdy Base

Battles become substantially more varied as you get further into the game, but the gameplay itself isn’t the deepest thing going. Actually, nothing here is exactly revolutionary, but it is all incredibly good fun. Whether you’re racing around town trying to chat with your friends, finding out what strange part of the story is coming next, or you’re just repeating some of the big combat missions, you’ll have a good time.

There’s a lot of stuff to unlock as well, and while it can feel a bit overwhelming when you’re customising your mecha and looking at stats that easily hit near the 100,000 mark, you’ll be smitten with it all. Plus, if you really enjoy it, there are even some online bits to engage in if you fancy trying to prove yourself as the best mech pilot out there, and plenty of genuinely tough end-game battles to trudge through as well.

All-in-all, Megaton Musashi W: Wired is just a lot of fun, and while it’s not going to change the world, it will help you forget about it all while you’re playing it, and that’s got to be worth something.

Megaton Musashi W: Wired is available now.

When Did Earth Force Defense Force Following Begin?

Technically, the first EDF game was actually called Monster Attack, released in 2003, but we’re going to skip ahead to the third game, Earth Defense Force 2017, released in 2006. Earth Defense 2017 was the first of the series to be released in North America, and it was with this installment that the series started to find fans.

However, for a lot of fans, it’s not until Earth Defense Force 2025/Earth Defense Force 4.1, released in 2015, that the series genuinely became good. While the gameplay loop hadn’t changed much, outside of more absurd weapons and different classes, 4.1 was the first game in the series that could nearly handle the number of monsters the game puts on screen.

Fast-forward to 2017’s Earth Defense Force 5 (because who needs naming conventions anyway?) EDF finally transforms into a game that actually works on both a gameplay level and a technical level. Not only that, but the online servers are still active to this day, though they’re mostly filled with the hardest of core players you could ever meet with thousands of hours in the game.

Why Are the Games Good?

The initial appeal of EDF is the pure absurdity of it all. You play as an international task force that uses machine guns, missile launchers, skyscraper-sized mech suits, and satellite lasers to destroy oversized ants, pill bugs, and spiders. As each game progresses, you usually end up fighting against huge kaiju as well, and at the end of EDF 5, it’s heavily implied that you fight God.

Not just a god from another planet, but the version of God that gave life to everything in the EDF universe.

Alongside that, the weapons are sublime. You collect an ever-increasing armory as you fight through enemies, with weapons changing and becoming more obscene as you go. Throw in the fact that each class feels completely different to play, and you have something akin to a Monster Hunter game but with a focus on a horde instead of big fights.

There’s also the dialogue. I’ve already mentioned that EDF 5 has you fighting God, but it also tells the tale of a society that’s collapsing in on itself. Alongside the ridiculous comments about how frog people look just like humans, there are also comments about how conscription is happening, and how the Earth’s population is being destroyed at an astounding rate. It’s horrifying in its absurdity, and the hammy voice acting only adds to the overall appeal. Also, the new ones all have online co-op, and there are few games that offer this specific brand of pew-pew gameplay in such a satisfying and long-lived way.

Should You Play the Other Games Before EDF 6?

Finally, we get to the big question: do you need to play any of the other games before playing Earth Defense Force 6? Absolutely not. Look, they’re all great games, and if you want a feel for the gameplay now, then you can try and grab EDF 5 while it’s on sale. But it’s not necessary if you want to enjoy the series.

That being said, 6 is a genuine sequel to 5, so if you really want to, you can blitz through the game’s 100+ levels and get the full picture ahead of time. You don’t have to, though, so don’t worry if that’s a little too much fun.

Earth Defense Force 5 and 6 are available now.

What Are Wuthering Waves’ Echoes?

To kick things off, what even are Wuthering Waves’ Echoes? Echoes are, in essence, the equipment system in Wuthering Waves. They’re the souls of monsters you defeat, which you can then equip to not only allow you to use some aspect of them in combat but also grant stat bonuses and passive set bonuses as well. You can farm these not only from bosses but also from standard enemies as well.

It can be a little tedious to do so, because there’s a little bit of RNG involved in the process in terms of both the Echo dropping, and then also the stats it ends up with, but it’s an incredibly good reason to keep going out into the world and hunting down enemies, or farming bosses for something beyond just the materials you have to spend Waveplates on, which is WuWa’s stamina system.

That’s to say nothing of the effect they have on combat. Some Echoes can single-handedly take out a group of enemies with their skill, while others can provide sizeable buffs. Taking the souls of enemies is something we see in a few games, mostly the old Castlevania titles, and it’s always fun to do. The actual equipment side of this is the same in a lot of gacha games though, so how can Genshin Impact learn from this?

How Could Genshin Impact Learn from Wuthering Waves?

Genshin Impact’s version of this system is the Artifact system. Artifacts come in sets, give passive buffs, and have random stats too. While you can find some lower-level Artifacts in the open world and even some higher rarity options randomly from fights, you can’t obtain the highest tier of Artifact without spending your Resin, which is Genshin’s stamina system. You can only do this in domains, and because Resin is limited, only so many times per day.

That’s not really the thing that Genshin could learn from, though. It’s more about the motivation. When all’s said and done with the quests in Genshin Impact, there’s very little reason to go out and explore the world unless you’re a hardcore completionist. Even then, there’s a limit to what you can find. Wuthering Waves has no such limit, because it’s always worth going out to kill some monsters and grab some new Echoes. The fighting has meaning beyond just materials and the tiny amount of experience that killing monsters in gacha games gets you.

It’s not a perfect system, but it’s also worth noting that we’re less than a month into the life cycle of Wuthering Waves, while we’re several years into Genshin Impact. There’s plenty of time for WuWa to balance and adjust things as they go. Having both of these games out should mean they both keep rising to meet each other, and that’s just plain old exciting for anyone who’s playing both.

We just have to wait and see what Genshin Impact could implement to give fighting in the overworld more meaning.

Wuthering Waves is available now.

Never Stop Blowing Up looks to be a mix of classic ’80s action films and, quite possibly, Jumanji, and it has a truly mighty cast. Isabella Roland, Jacob Wysocki, Ify Nwadiwe, Ally Beardsley, Rekha Shankar, and Alex Song-Xia all join Brennan as they take what looks like an action-packed 10-episode adventure. Each of them will be playing two characters, one in the real world, and one in the world they’ve been sucked into.

We’re always excited to see Izzy and Brennan doing cool things on screen, but it’s also going to be great to see Jacob Wysocki getting his D20 feet wet as well. Wysocki has been getting more involved in recent Dropout episodes, and his brand of humor is incredibly funny, and should add a lot more chaos into the already chaotic mix. We’re also happy to see Alex Song-Xia return for the first time since their debut in Mentopolis.

That’s no shade to the other cast members at all, we’re just very excited in general. The best thing is that the trailer doesn’t just come with details on the cast and the themes, but also a release date. That’s right, the new series will be debuting on June 26, 2024. For the eagle-eyed and calendar-minded among you, you’ll realise that that’s a mere three weeks from the announcement of the new season. You’ll be able to watch the series on Dropout, and we’ll be right there with you.

Dimension 20 is available to watch on Dropout.

Seven Excellent May Indie Games You Might Have Missed

It’s worth noting that there were a quite frankly staggering number of games launched this month, which always makes it tough to pick just a few. It’s also worth noting that Hades 2 hit Early Access, but to have somehow avoided that information you’d have to be locked in Tartarus without internet access, so we’ve not included it on our list. With that out of the way, let’s get to it.

Abiotic Factor

We’re kicking things off with a new take on the survival genre that’s somehow both very funny and also deeply unnerving. Abiotic Factor is a survival crafting game that you can play with up to six people. You spend the game basically just trying to survive in multiple different realms, all while trying to fight back the military and some paranormal activity. It’s a blast to play, and if you like games like Lethal Company, then you’ll love this.

1000xRESIST

1000xRESIST is the kind of game that only comes along every few years. It’s a truly astounding adventure game with a story that’ll stay with you for years to come. It’s hard to talk about it much without spoiling things, but it’s a very special sci-fi story that you should 100% play, even if you ignore everything else on this list. Don’t ignore everything else on this list, though.

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper is an isometric roguelike where you blitz through levels gaining more and more power to try and find the stolen Heart of the Universe. It’s got a serious Risk of Rain 2 vibe to it in terms of gameplay, progression, visual style, and music, and it’s a blast to play. It’s only just entered into Early Access, but it’s already filled with clever ideas and tweaks that make it worth your time and effort.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Puzzle games come in a lot of different flavors, but few match the depth of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. This game tells the story of a strange building somewhere in central Europe where a woman has been summoned. An eccentric had invited her there, and the world starts to warp and change to make things stranger by the second. It’s clever beyond words, and it also has a visual flair that’s hard to beat.

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami

The temptation to just write “quack” here multiple times is hard to resist, but we’ll do our best. Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is a deeply charming detective game in which you play as a duck. It’s cute, fairly laid-back, and makes for a good game for younger players and those who don’t play much. There’s also a button that makes you quack, so really, that’s there’s no reason not to buy it.

Rack and Slay

There are people out there who’ve been waiting their whole lives for a roguelike dungeon-crawler where you play as a billiard ball, but finally, that wait is over. Alright, the concept is a little out there, but that doesn’t stop the fact that Rack and Slay is an absolutely stellar roguelike with plenty of replayability, a great sense of humour, and a truly unique concept. Definitely give this one a go if you’re looking for a new twist on the roguelike genre.

Nine Sols

Nine Sols is an intensely cool Metroidvania game with a combat system that has been heavily inspired by Sekiro. That means you’re in for some seriously hard fights with a big focus on parrying and timing. It’s tough, sure, but it’s also absolutely stunning to look at, and it feels like water to play. It follows a hero on a quest for revenge, as they curse the world itself for the way things are. So, expect a big story and plenty of drama in-between tough-as-nails fights.

It’s a little reductive to describe it as being a weird Elder Scrolls game, but it’s hard to compare it to anything else to help you, our dear readers, anchor it your imagination. That’s important too, because Dread Delusion is a game that feels so immensely imaginative.

Come with me, and you’ll be…

Dread Delusion kicks off by telling you a little about the completely unhinged and hauntingly beautiful world you find yourself in. The short version is that the world has been torn apart by a curse, which means that humanity has just about survived by living on flying continents in the sky. These aren’t what you’d expect on a normal plane though, and include things like enormous mushroom forests and immense monsters.

You take control of a prisoner who gets sent off on a quest to try and hunt down a baddie, according to a weird fanatic in an iron maiden with little mechanical arms and legs. This is how things start, this is as normal as the game will be, so buckle up. We’re not going to go into the specifics of any story beats because that’s simply not our vibe, but the main thing is that everything is strange in this world, so you’d better get used to it.

On a quest

You’re going to have a lot of quests to complete across your Dread Delusion playthrough, and for the most part, you’ll be able to approach them in different ways. Sure, a big monster might need to be killed, but maybe you can find someone in charge of it and talk them down, or maybe you can sneak in and release it without anyone realising it.

You get to dictate some of how you’ll be playing when you create your character. You get to make a few choices as you’re doing so that’ll help shape your stats, but you can change those as you go through the game too. It’s fairly standard in that one sense, but the way you can change up even just the first mission based on what you chose is astounding.

When you add all of that freedom into this world that looks like a Studio Ghibli low-resolution nightmare, you’ve got an RPG that’s just plain different. Dread Delusion is a delight, and one that’ll haunt you for some time to come. It’s a meandering wonder through an alien landscape that’ll constantly surprise you, and it couldn’t be more refreshing if it tried.

What Happens in Kaiju No. 8 Episode 5?

This episode kicks off with Kafka and Ichikawa panicking about their potential results from the first test. We then cut to see those who passed together, and with no real surprises there. Ichikawa is there surrounded by all of these elites, when Furuhashi bumps into him. Captain Ashiro then walks into the room, and Shinomiya is brought up to talk on behalf of the 27 new members. Just as Shinomiya is thinking about how annoying Kafka was, he runs into the room late. We find out that despite his low scores, Vice-Captain Hoshina said he’d take him on because of his knowledge and teamwork… but also because he was funny. Kafka is coming in as a cadet, not as an officer, but he’s still happy to be there.

Captain Ashiro then gives a speech about how bad times have gotten, and asks the new members to serve as best they can. Then Kafka fully embarrasses everyone by stating he’ll stand by Mina soon, and gets punished with 100 push-ups. Hoshina feels better about his decision to bring on the comedy man Kafka, and then also states that he thinks there’s something odd about Kafka. He manages to finish his push-ups, and then gets called away by Shinomiya to explain his situation. This is where Kafka finds out just how quiet he needs to be about his transformation because otherwise, he could get dissected to be turned into a weapon.

Next up is some training exercises, and we see that Ichikawa has gotten a fair bit better already. He’s not the only one though, as everyone seems to have upped their game. Heck, even Kafka has finally gotten up to a whole 1% now. We then cut to a bath scene where Kafka explains how things go downhill after 28. We feel you Kafka, we feel you.

Shinomiya then runs into Ashiro and asks about her training, and we go back to the bath to see the male recruits talking about how cool Captain Ashiro is, and why they decided to join the Defense Force. The others get fairly jealous about Kafka’s origin story alongside Ashiro, and then we cut to see that the boys passed out in the baths.

There’s a big old training montage next, which is followed by Kafka awake late at night studying when Vice-Captain Hoshina comes in. and says that it almost seems like Kafka wants to take his job. Kafka says that’s true actually, and then Hoshina says not to get too close to the other officers, because something could happen to them at any time. Kaiju No. 8 episode 5 then ends with an alarm, and it seems the new recruits are about to go on their first mission.

Kaiju No. 8 is streaming on Crunchyroll.

What Happens in That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime Episode 54?

We kick off in Tempest with a shocking report stating that Hinata and four others are heading to Tempest, and have avoided Soka’s tracking, which is no small feat. Temple Knights also seem to be moving towards Falmuth with the aim of killing whoever killed the Archbishop, and the person who’s backing Sir Youm. Diablo has to apologise for his error in judgement here, but he’s sure to make it up to everyone, and Rimuru is a forgiving sort. We’d work under Rimuru, the dude’s great.

The decision is made to summon Adalmann, the lich who used to protect Clayman’s party to the meeting. He’s a little long in the tooth, but explains that he used to be a cardinal in the Western Holy Church, and that things seem to have changed substantially since he was there. Adalmann explains that the church became corrupt, and that he fell to one of their traps. He then states that they have to be careful of Lubelius.

Rimuru labels Veldora as the last line of defense while thinking about a counterplan. This section is just filled to the brim with proper nouns, so expect a bit of pausing if you’re building out a board with red string on. After a bit more talk, Rimuru suggests they could just give up, but Diablo balks at the idea, and states he’ll find out who’s causing them all trouble. Rimuru then realises that his people may have become too reliable, and sort of tick along making good decisions without him.

While more troops are then revealed to be on the move, Rimuru is only worried about Hinata. He’s hoping to talk with her, but it’s hard to say if that’s going to happen. So, Rimuru states that everyone should avoid killing any Holy Knights to help keep things as civil as they’re likely to be. Shion states that she could go out to meet the Holy Knights with her special forces, and Benimaru states that they’re actually a good choice for the job as they’re incredibly tough to kill.

That just leaves the other Enlightened with Hinata, and Rimuru goes through his list of who he can rely on to take them on if needed. He settles on Benimaru, Shion, and Soei as the best choices, and of course they’re happy to take the job on. Rimuru then asks that Shion keep an eye on the detached force, just in case someone is especially strong there. It’s just then that Albis and Suphia from the Beastketeers turn up, which is good timing.

Rimuru seems surprised that they want to help, even though he basically saved their entire country, but hey ho. Rimuru then states to everyone that if they can’t simply subdue the foes opposing them that they’re to switch to all-out violence, and prioritise their friends’ lives over that of the enemy. That’s no doubt due to the fact that some of his friends died last time he dealt with Hinata because he was a little too naive and hopeful about everyone just getting along and not doing a big old heap of murder.

The scene then cuts to a mysterious mansion in a blizzard, where a creepy old dude is sat with a bunch of creepy friends. It seems this group is likely the ones who tampered with the Archbishop and the message he was supposed to send, and will undoubtedly get their comeuppance at some point, but we’d be surprised if it was in the next couple of episodes. Happily surprised, but surprised nonetheless.

The group seems to include some of the Eastern Merchants, with Damrada seemingly being a bigwig there. The creepy old dude, who is called Granville, then states that he knows it’s the goal of the East to sow chaos in the West to sell weapons. Very kind of him to give away some exposition. Granville is the head of the Rozzo family, and states that both the Eastern Merchants and his family want Hinata gone. They seem to think that they’ll be able to have a friendly chat with Veldora and then move on to how they’ll deal with the Western Holy Church. We get a little more exposition about why these two groups are working together, see a gun, and then Glenville states that Rimuru will have to be dealt with if Hinata fails, but he’s clearly not expecting her to come out on top.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens next week in That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime episode 55. We might even see a fight after so much chatting this season, but we’ll have to wait a week to see for sure.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is available to stream now on Crunchyroll.

What Happens in Wind Breaker Episode 6?

We kick off with Bofuring hyped for another victory, and lovingly fighting among themselves as a show of solidarity. Once again, we see the Shishitoren losers being not only shamed by their defeat, but also fearful for their place in the group. With that done, we’re onto the ext fight, which isn’t Sakura, despite what he wants, but Hiragi gets called up to the stage by Sako instead.

It seems as those these two know each other, but Hiragi isn’t much for talking, so the group’s not sure. After some words between the teams, the two fighters finally take the stage, and the two fighters acknowledge one another, showing that they did indeed know each other beforehand. Sako rushes in with an intense flurry, and then comments about Hiragi looking down on him.

A little writer’s note here, this fight is sick. The animation is excellent, and as someone who’s been doing martial arts for a couple of decades, it’s got plenty of incredibly cool strikes in it. Sako proceeds to smack talk while dodging some heavy blows and then lands an immense spinning jump kick. With that, it seems as though the fight is over. However, it’s revealed that Hiragi is one of the Four Kings of Bofurin, and heads up the team known as Tamonten. Tamonten is also known as Bishamonten, the god of war who controls the battlefield, apparently. Hiragi gets back up, and tries to settle his stomach with some medicine, and then gets back into the fight.

The next bit mixes in flashbacks with the fight, and shows that Sako used to be bullied in earlier school years, but that Hiragi not only tried to look after him, but also taught him how to fight. Sako had heaps of admiration for Hiragi, but Hiragi tells him not to follow in his path. He’s clearly doing it to try and not disappoint Sako and to spur him onto greater things, but Sako was cut deep by the whole thing. That’s how the Shishitoren got him, because Sako just wanted to fight the strong and get strong enough to beat up Hiragi.

The fight goes on, and Hiragi apologises to Sako for letting him down, and then gut punches him to end the fight. The two should probably just talk to each other and make up, but we’ll see how it goes. Sako collapses and thinks about how he just wanted to follow Hiragi, and we get another flashback before going back to the present and see Tomiyama wanting to fight still. Togame then demands that someone get Sako off the stage, and Hiragi picks him up himself. It’s a nice show of reconciliation of sorts, until Togame tries to take the jacket off of him and Hiragi intervenes.

Wind Breaker episode 6 ends with Umemiya telling Hiragi that when he wants to talk he’ll listen, and it looks like next week we’ll get to see Sakura or Umemiya fight. Maybe even both?

Wind Breaker is available to stream now on Crunchyroll.

What Happens in KonoSuba Season 3, Episode 5?

We kick things off with a shot of the huge number of monsters outside the capital, and it certainly doesn’t look good for the gang. Despite the huge threat against the capital, Kazuma isn’t technically strong enough to participate in this event. Thankfully, plenty of people know of his exploits, and he’s allowed to enter the fray anyway. Is that wise? Probably not.

in fact, it’s so unwise that the next scene has Kazuma once again in the afterlife in front of Eris. After a full 20 seconds of sitting in silence, Kazuma tries to plead his case to the goddess, and we cut back to the battle. We then find out that Kazuma died chasing a kobold, only to foolishly jump into a full horde of them. Worse still, Kazuma has to explain why he was groping Chris in the last episode. After a little teasing, Eris asks a favor of Kazuma, which is to collect the Divine Treasures.

You’ll remember that those are the things those who reincarnated spawn with, and the same items that Chris has been stealing. Kazumma finds himself alive once more on the battlefield, and we find out which Divine Treasures Kazuma needs to find – a summoning one and a body-switching one – and why. We then see Megumin and Darkness being celebrated for their heroics, which is nice.

Next is Kazuma carrying Megumin around once more, and deciding they should return to Axel. Princess Iris appears and sends them to Kazuma’s room, where Megumin and Kazuma share another sweet moment. Iris then reappears and Megumin notices her magical necklace. It turns out that the necklace is the body-switching Divine Treasure that Kazuma needed to find, so that’s nice. It also turns out that Kazuma and Iris have no swapped bodies, which is less nice.

Kazuma eventually clocks on to what’s going on, but then Iris says she’d like to go outside of the castle for once, and Megumin decides to escort her. We then see Kazuma chatting with Claire, and then with Mitsurugi, and being a general pain in the butt, but in the body of Princess Iris. Upon learning that Darkness is bathing, Kazuma states he’d like to wash her back, and then offers to wash Claire’s back too.

Things get a little pervy for a while, and then we cut to Megumin teaching Iris how to insult some punks, before getting punched all the way in the face. The end?! We’ll see you next week for some more KonoSuba.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 53 is out and about, scheming and dreaming, just as Rimuru himself always is. The season’s yet to hit any major action yet, but we’ve a feeling this episode could be the beginning of the end of that peace.

What Happens in That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime Episode 53?

The episode kicks off with Hinata hosting a meeting of the Paladins of the church headed up by Luminous. There are a lot of new names thrown at viewers straight away, but the basic gist is that there are lots of paladins, who are collectively named the Ten Great Saints, who all seem to have an elemental alignment. Think Pokemon, but with more religious fervor, and likely slightly less animal fighting.

The various paladins all give reports on the goings-on of the various kingdoms of the world, including not only Rimuru’s own Tempest but also the Kingdom of Falmuth, which he and Diablo are working to take over. It comes to light that the new King Edward is trying to build up his military might, and Hinata is certain that Rimuru is going to punish Falmuth for its transgressions.

Interestingly, we see a little doubt from Hinata regarding her previous actions here, but things continue on, and we get yet more exposition. That’s not a complaint; it’s all handled at a good pace, and the level of politicking now going on in each episode would make even a Civilisation VI fan happy. As the meeting goes on, it’s revealed that nobody is 100% sure about Veldora being back or not and that the room is split about how safe Tempest is. Hinata then reveals that they plan not to interfere with Rimuru again, even though they believe he’ll make a move on the Kingdom of Falmuth. They do reveal themselves as people who do actually have good motivations in general, like protecting the people of Falmuth, even though it’s likely we’ll see different approaches to this after this episode.

Hinata then reveals that she knows he’s an Otherworlder like her, and that she was being used. It turns out that there are some merchants at the heart of a lot of this mess, and we know that one of them is the boss of Clayman and co. While Hinata is talking about her plans to go and meet with Rimuru, they’re interrupted by Reyhiem, the Archbishop of Falmuth. This is the Slime Isekai though, so they’re interrupted even more by some floating people. Look, anime?

The floating people are members of the Seven Luminaries, who apparently used to train heroes. Hinata lets us viewers know that they’re actually largely powerless now due to her unique skill Usurprer, but hey, they’re still magical floating people. Reyhiem then recounts what happened to them all, and Hinata surmises that he must have used his knowledge of science to refract the sun into a weapon. Reyhiem then explains that Rimuru managed to kill 20,000 people in an instant, and we cut to a flashback about Veldora for a touch.

The room then argues once more, and then Reyhiem reveals the message that Rimuru sent along with him in a crystal ball. The message is a duel invitation to Hinata, and then everyone argues again for a bit. That’s the theme of this episode. Hinata steadies her resolve, and then the floating old dudes tell her that Veldora is really strong (we all know this) and then give her a new sword called the Dragon Buster.

We then leave the church as Hinata does, as she states that she needs to take responsibility. She’s not convinced they’ll actually be fighting, and tells her friends that she’ll be safe. We then go to Tempest as Rimuru is talking about everything that’s going on, and then he gets told that Hinata is on her way, and that four holy knights are following her.

We envision a miscommunication somewhere down the line here, and it seems as though Rimuru’s message may have been corrupted. Then Diablo appears to tell us all that Reyhiem is dead, which suggests that the one we saw talking, and the message he delivered, may well be plants to try and stir up more trouble. Stranger still, Diablo can’t tell how they killed him, which is a first. Diablo reveals that everyone around Falmuth is saying it’s due to a demon’s influence, and he believes they’re trying to cause another war against Tempest. That’s it for this time, a lot happened, but still no fights. Maybe next week?

If you’re looking for more, check out our recap of last week’s episode of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime!