Operation Backlog Completion 2025
Jan 132025
 

Back in July, Idea Factory announced two new otome localizations for 2025 – Battlefield Waltz and Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights.

Neither had a release window beyond the year, but now Temirana has been delayed to 2026.

That’s a surprisingly long delay, with no reason given.

Now, this has led to several people questioning if it could be a censorship issue. If that feels like an odd conclusion to jump to for an otome game like this, it’s because Idea Factory’s other games have had some trouble with Nintendo’s guidelines lately. The Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth trilogy for the Switch and Death end re;Quest: Code Z both had their western Switch versions cancelled due to seemingly changed content guidelines from Nintendo, and a few other companies have also reported this shift in Nintendo’s policies. So I can understand the concern when Idea Factory delays another Switch game.

Still, it seems highly doubtful that this is the reason behind Temirana’s delay, since it doesn’t look like it would have any content that could cause trouble.

My personal hope is that this delay is because they’ve decided to release another otome game this year first, so they just rearranged the schedule. I hope it’s not that they’ve decided to publish them less frequently. It seems it’s also a fairly long one, so it could just mean they need to take more time for its translation. We shall see.

In the meantime, we’ve still got plenty of otome games to look forward to this year. Even if IFI only releases Battlefield Waltz this year, we’ve also got Genso Manège, Bustafellows 2, DesperaDrops, Mistonia, Uchronia, and several others.

Between that and my backlog, I can’t be too upset over this delay itself. I just hope such a long delay isn’t a negative sign.

Jan 102025
 

Yesterday, Nintendo shared a new trailer for the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition.

I’m still in shock that we’re finally getting a Xenoblade Chronicles X remaster, and the new trailer made me even more excited.

It shows some UI improvements (including the text being bigger now), an on-screen Overdrive guide, and similar adjustments, but the best part for me is the greater look at the new content.

We knew from the announcement trailer that the Definitive Edition would expand on the original game’s final scene, which showed a mysterious figure known as the “Black Knight” in the art book. The new trailer expands on that… and more.

The final part of the trailer shows a new area, with floating islands that the player is exploring. This will most likely be the area we explore in the new story content. It looks beautiful, and I can’t wait to see what secrets it holds.

But that’s not all.

Besides the Black Knight (now with a few hints as to his identity), we also see a new character in strange armor who appears to be an ally, as well as a new Qlurian character.

The especially interesting thing about the Qlurian is that she was also in the art book.

Named Neilnail, she never appears in the original game, but now it seems she’ll have a role to play in the remaster.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a game I wanted for a long time just because a port or remaster would increase our chances of getting a sequel. Now, it looks like it will not only expand the epilogue with new story content, but also include content that was originally planned but didn’t make it into the final game. The only disappointing thing for me is that they still haven’t revealed any sort of special edition.

Are you planning to get Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition when it launches on March 20?

Jan 082025
 

Last year, I went with a different format for 2024’s writing goals. Instead of very specific goals related to specific stories, I simply said I would resume querying, revise a novel, and write more short stories.

I also mentioned that if short story writing continued to work better for my motivation than novel writing, I would stick with it.

Well, that part came true. I sent out two query letters early in the year, but that’s it, and I didn’t even start revising a novel.

On the other hand, I wrote more short stories than ever before! I’m drowning short story drafts! With that in mind, I’m once again taking a different approach to this year’s goals.

By 2026, I will:

  • Finish my in-progress short story project.
  • Write and submit at least two more pulp fiction stories.
  • Continue writing short stories in general.

That feels simple enough and in line with my current writing motivations. It does feel like I’ve pivoted slightly in my approach to writing, but that’s fine. I love writing, and I’m glad that I’m finding new motivation to write even more.

If you’re a writer, do you have any goals in mind for 2025?