Operation Backlog Completion 2026

The Phoenix Wright Trilogy is Now Out on All Major Platforms

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Apr 102019
 

If you’ve been interested in the Ace Attorney series but didn’t have a platform to play it on, you’re in luck!

The Phoenix Wright Trilogy, which includes the first three games in the series, is now available on pretty much everything (except Vita).

That’s right, it was just released for the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, and Steam.

This means a new audience can now enjoy the Ace Attorney series for the first time!

Will it end with the first trilogy? Hopefully not. The old rumors about the Ace Attorney Switch games seem completely unreliable when you consider the time frame, but a second collection containing Apollo Justice, Dual Destinies, and Spirit of Justice would be a great way for all of these new fans to catch up on the series in time for the next game.

Speaking of which, where is the next game? We’ve been waiting for Ace Attorney 7 news for a while now. Soon we’ll be coming up on three years since the release of Spirit of Justice.

Meanwhile, I’m still hoping that the theoretical future compilations include an Investigations Duology that will finally give an official localization to Gyakuten Kenji 2, and I still hope we’ll see localization of the Dai Gyakuten Saiban games eventually… maybe in 2023 when the final Sherlock Holmes stories enter the public domain.

Are you planning to pick up the Phoenix Wright Trilogy on one of the new platforms? Do you think another Ace Attorney collection will follow? When will Ace Attorney 7 be announced? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Hideo Baba Left Square Enix; What Will Happen to Project Prelude Rune?

 Video games  1 Response »  Tagged with: ,
Apr 082019
 

A few times now, we’ve talked about Project Prelude Rune, an upcoming JRPG from Square Enix’s new Studio Istolia.

Studio Istolia was established when Hideo Baba, known for his work as a producer of the Tales series, left Bandai Namco and joined Square Enix.

Their first game was announced under the code name Project Prelude Rune and was eventually confirmed to be a PS4 title.

However, last week Hideo Baba announced that he had resigned as head of Studio Istolia in December and left Square Enix at the end of March. He left as part of “the change in Studio Istolia’s management policies.” What exactly that means is unclear.

What does this mean for Project Prelude Rune? Since it hasn’t been cancelled, it sounds as though work on it may continue without Baba.

I’m still looking forward to what Project Prelude Rune will become, but I was hoping for a chance to see Baba’s work outside of the Tales series for a better idea of whether or not he deserves the criticism he gets for recent Tales games (until Berseria, which he did not serve as producer for).

Aside from that, it also makes me wonder if something is happening at Square Enix. Tabata left alongside the cancellation of the remaining Final Fantasy XV DLC, now Baba left, and Hiroaki Iwano of the Million Arthur series (which I’m not too familiar with) announced his departure last week as well.

Square Enix has been restructuring its business divisions, so maybe that is related.

What do you think will happen to Project Prelude Rune? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Golf Story: Weird, Charming, and Funny

 Reviews, Video games  3 Responses »  Tagged with:
Apr 052019
 

I’ll admit, when Golf Story was first announced, I didn’t think too much of it since I don’t typically like sports games.

Then it came out, I saw positive reviews all around praising it as a unique and funny game, and so I decided to play it.

Golf Story follows a young man who hopes to finally fulfill his dream of becoming a pro golfer, so he heads to the nearby Wellworn Grove golfing course to see what he can do. What results is a game that is definitely charming, has a lot of funny moments, and can get pretty weird (in a good way).

It also has a great presentation that fits its quirky tone, with dialogue appearing at different speeds and sizes or even dialogue partially appearing and quickly disappearing as the character changes their mind about what to say.

Now, it’s a game about golf. If you really hate the golf gameplay, you probably won’t be able to get into it. But while it took me a little while to get used to how to play, I loved it once I did.

Golf Story is an RPG (it even has a world map), so in addition to following the main storyline, each area will also present you with numerous side quests. These are usually related to golf in some way, whether you’re proving you can handle a particular challenge or hitting stolen eggs back into their nests (which is far from the weirdest part). As you complete quests, you’ll level up and earn skill points to increase your stats, and each area has new equipment you can buy as well.

There are occasional gameplay sections that don’t involve golf, as well, such as when you encounter a group of characters who prefer to play “disc golf.”

The whole game has an offbeat tone that really makes it enjoyable. It reminds me a little of how Ace Attorney is technically set in the real world, yet you run into characters and situations that you can’t quite call realistic. Golf Story places the main character in situations that are completely absurd without (usually) being too weird, and pretty much everyone you encounter is odd in one way or another.

Even the reasons for visiting other golf courses were often more entertaining than I expected, such as the greenkeeper wanting to infiltrate a neighboring course to learn the secret of their grass.

Golf Story was a lot of fun, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a light RPG with funny characters and dialogue. And since Sidebar Games already confirmed they’re working on something new, I can’t wait to see what it is.

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