Operation Backlog Completion 2025

Pocket Card Jockey is Back, Elden Ring DLC is Out June 21, and More!

 Video games  5 Responses »
Feb 212024
 

A Nintendo Direct followed by the first full trailer for the Elden Ring DLC? This promised to be an exciting morning of game announcements!

Today’s Nintendo Direct was a Partner Showcase which some people were disappointed about, but Partner Showcases have had some great announcements in the past, so I was excited.

Nintendo Direct Highlights

I’ll only be covering the highlights that stood out to me, so be sure to check out the full Nintendo Direct to see everything that was announced.

The first game to catch my eye was the second shown, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist. This is a sequel to Ender Lilies, which I haven’t played yet but intend to. The sequel looks pretty cool, so maybe I’ll have played the first game by the time it comes out.

A new trailer was also shown for the upcoming Unicorn Overlord, along with the announcement of a demo. I’ve been torn about that one, so I’ll probably check out the demo (especially since progress transfers to the full game).

Moving on, Monster Hunter Stories is coming to the Switch (as well as PC and PS4)! You’d think they’d have ported it before releasing Monster Hunter Stories 2, but maybe the eShop’s closure is what prompted this decision. I enjoyed Monster Hunter Stories a lot, so while I probably won’t replay it, I’m glad it’s getting some love. This remaster also includes update content that was previously exclusive to Japan, so that makes it more tempting.

What’s that? I need to play the second game if I’m going to hype it up? Shh, I know…

The next big announcement for me was Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. This is a multiplatform, enhanced version of Shin Megami Tensei V, which I was always intrigued by but never enough to buy it. If this version is as big an upgrade as it sounds, maybe I’ll finally go for it.

In addition to gameplay improvements, it also includes a new story route, which the developers say will add an additional 80 hours to the game for a total of 160 hours to play both routes. From the way it’s worded, it sounds like some of that time might overlap between the two routes, but it still sounds massive. It will be out on June 21.

The next few announcements didn’t interest me too much, but then we got to a new trailer for Fantasy Life i! And its release date… of October 10.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still really excited for Fantasy Life i, and I’m glad it’s not launching right on top of everything else! But it was announced for 2023, delayed to summer 2024, and now given an October release date… which makes me nervous about the rest of Level-5’s release schedule. I don’t want Professor Layton pushed off any further!

Another Crab’s Treasure and Penny’s Big Breakaway both look interesting enough that I’ll keep them in mind, but the major announcement of the Direct for me was the long-awaited return of Pocket Card Jockey!

I’m not joking, a solitaire horse-racing game might sound silly, but I absolutely loved Pocket Card Jockey on the 3DS. I poured almost 60 hours into it, and when I heard it was getting a remake exclusive to Apple Arcade, I was disappointed there would be no other way to play it. But here it is, Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! is available now for the Nintendo Switch, and at $15 it’s an easy purchase.

I bought it already. I finished the Direct, went to the eShop, and bought it. You should too. It’s that good.

Anyway, there was a string of smaller announcements, and then the direct closed with the reveal of Endless Ocean Luminous, a new entry in the Endless Ocean series. This was leaked earlier in the week, except everyone thought it would be a remaster of one or both of the original Wii games. Being a new game was quite a surprise. I’m not familiar with the series, but I’m happy to see Nintendo reviving more of these lesser-known series.

Meanwhile, in things we can’t have, the Japanese Nintendo Direct included some other games. Everyone is talking about Mother 3 coming to Nintendo Switch Online only in Japan, but I’m more intrigued by the new action RPG Reynatis, which features a scenario written by Kazushige Nojima and a soundtrack composed by Yoko Shimomura. It looks like something I’d enjoy.

Fingers crossed for localization!

Shadow of the Erdtree

Later in the morning, it was time for FromSoftware to take the stage with the official gameplay reveal and full trailer of the upcoming Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, and it looks great!

It will be out on June 21 (the same day as Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, which is unfortunate).

Shadow of the Erdtree can be preordered now and costs $39.99, which suggests this will be a huge DLC. Its also getting its own $250 Collector’s Edition despite the DLC itself being a download code, which is insane. While there’s no standalone edition of the DLC, an $80 edition of Elden Ring that bundles in a code for the DLC has also appeared at retailers.

I never finished Elden Ring. Despite playing for over 70 hours, I doubt I even saw half of its content. Getting back to it before June 21 sounds like a good plan!

So, those were the highlights of the morning for me. Which of today’s announcements are you most interested in?

Looking Back at the February 1 All Aksys Showcase

 Video games  3 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Feb 192024
 

With our romance celebration underway, we never had a chance to discuss the All Aksys showcase held on February 1.

I was disappointed in the immediate aftermath… I’d gotten my hopes up for a show that would rival their 2022 Anime Expo showcase due to how long its been since the last one, but it was more in line with their regular showcases instead.

Once I had some time to think about it, however, I realized that it actually was quite a decent showcase.

So instead of lamenting what they didn’t announce, let’s take a look at what they did.

The showcase began with trailers for Death Mark II, Tengoku Struggle, and Blazing Strike, their previously-announced titles. Then it was onto new announcements, with quite a big surprise up first – the Switch port of Tokyo Xanadu eX+.

I’ve had Tokyo Xanadu on my list to play for a few years now (it even joined my specific completion goals this year and last year), but I couldn’t help but feel I’d be more likely to play if it I had it on the Switch instead of PC. Well, I’ll get my chance this year, because Aksys is bringing the Switch version west this summer with an improved translation.

Their next announcement was Despera Drops, an otome about a young woman who becomes a murder suspect and ends up on the run with six other fugitives. This one was a surprise, since it’s not by Otomate (the usual otome developer Aksys localizes for), but I remember seeing it when it was announced for Japan and hoping for a localization!

Unfortunately, Despera Drops won’t be out until 2025, so we’ve got a long wait.

They had another surprise in store with the (non-otome) visual novel Tales from Toyotoki: Arrival of the Witch, about a boy who goes to a remote island to live with his grandfather and encounters a young witch. I’d never heard of it before, but it sounds interesting. It will be out this summer.

The final two announcements were the Radiant Tale fandisc, Radiant Tale -Fanfare-, also due out this summer, and the Virche Evermore fandisc, Virche Evermore -EpiC: Lycoris-, for this fall. I loved Radiant Tale, so I’ll be getting that one for sure, although due to my mixed feelings on Virche Evermore, I may skip that one.

So in the end, I really can’t complain. They announced 5 new games, 4 of which I’m interested in. I would have liked to see another non-fandisc otome localization, but we have so many otome games slated for this year already that I probably won’t even catch up on my backlog while waiting.

Anyway, this long after the fact you’ve probably long since watched or read about the Aksys showcase… but how do you feel about these upcoming games?

Ys X Coming West This Fall

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Feb 162024
 

This year’s shorter Celebrating All Things Romantic event is at an end, the contest winners have been contacted, and now we have some news to catch up on.

Earlier this week, NIS America announced that Ys X: Nordics will be coming west this fall for Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC, with both English and French translations.

A Limited Edition will also be available, although preorders aren’t up yet.

We talked about Ys X when it was first announced over a year ago, and I’m even more excited for it now than I was then. It looks great!

I’m a little surprised NISA announced this on a random day instead of saving it for a showcase, but maybe they have other things in store.

My history with the Ys series has been odd. I started with Ys I, came back six years later to restart it and finally finish, and then played Ys IX. I keep intending to play Ys II, but who knows if I’ll have gotten there by the time Ys X comes out. Either way, I’m looking forward to it!

Are you interested in Ys X?

Also, how did you feel about Celebrating All Things Romantic 2024 only running until the 14th? I thought it worked out well, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

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