Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Anonymous;Code Release Date is September 8

 Video Games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Mar 222023
 

Last July, one of the exciting announcements from Spike Chunsoft’s Anime Expo 2022 showcase was that Anonymous;Code would be released in the west in 2023.

Now the release date has been announced. Anonymous;Code will be out on September 8.

Not only that, but it’s actually getting an English dub. I was pretty surprised, since none of the others have gotten a dub (and it’s a rarity for visual novels in general), but it seems like they’re going all out for this release.

(If you prefer to pay with the Japanese voice acting, that will also be an option.)

Anonymous;Code is the most recent entry in the Science Adventure series, which also includes Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child, Steins;Gate and Steins;Gate 0, and Robotics;Notes and Robotics;Notes DaSH.

It seems like it’s generally recommended to have played all of them before Anonymous;Code (though maybe not DaSH, since I’ve seen it classified as a spin-off), so I have my work cut out for me.

Occultic;Nine also fits in there somewhere, but it’s an incomplete light novel series with an anime adaptation of debatable quality and an unlocalized visual novel adaptation that was supposed to get an expanded port with additional story content, but that was cancelled. If you specifically remember Occultic;Nine not being part of the Science Adventure series, it’s not a Mandela effect, but rather a retcon. It’s part of the series now, and apparently relevant to Anonymous;Code just like the others. Maybe I’ll give the anime another try.

Getting back to the matter at hand, you might be a bit wary of Anonymous;Code because of the poor state Chaos;Head Noah was in when it launched in English last year. However, the translator for this one seems to have a good track record, so we shouldn’t run into those same problems.

Are you looking forward to Anonymous;Code?

Persona Mobile Game Persona 5: The Phantom X Announced

 Video Games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Mar 172023
 

Do you remember a couple years ago when a mobile game called Code Name: X was revealed?

It appeared to be related to Persona, although some people weren’t even sure if it was an official collaboration at first.

Well, it is, and now it’s been officially announced as Persona 5: The Phantom X.

According to the details translated by Persona Central, Persona 5: The Phantom X will be a free-to-play mobile game with in-app purchases (probably gacha, although that hasn’t been confirmed).

The most interesting thing to me is that this game has its own cast. Despite being set specifically in the world of Persona 5, you play as a new protagonist, who gains a partner in the form of an animal (an owl, this time) and awakens to his Persona along with classmates of his. Igor has a new assistant in the Velvet Room as well, a woman named Merope.

It features the daily life and bonding mechanics, as well as exploring the Metaverse at night to fight enemies. In short, it looks and sounds exactly like a regular full-fledged Persona game.

If I saw those trailers without context, I wouldn’t guess it was a mobile spin-off.

I’m intrigued by Persona 5: The Phantom X, although wary since it’s most likely a gacha game. Since the gameplay looks like a regular Persona game, I’d imagine gacha elements would be introduced by having either Personas themselves be gacha, or party members added through gacha. There’s going to be a closed test on March 29, so hopefully we’ll learn more about it after that.

So far, Persona 5: The Phantom X has only been confirmed for a release in China. What do you think of what we’ve seen so far?

Thoughts on the Process of Elimination Demo

 Video Games  1 Response »  Tagged with: ,
Mar 152023
 

Last year, we discussed the announcement of a detective game called Process of Elimination.

It looked intriguing, and now a demo is out so you can play through the start of the game (and transfer your save data to the full game once it’s out later this year).

Process of Elimination is an unusual blend of genres. It’s a visual novel about a group of detectives trying to stop a brutal serial killer called the Quartering Duke, and like many detective visual novels, it has gameplay for the investigation sections.

Except here, that gameplay is almost like a strategy game.

When an investigation begins, you’re given an overhead look at the area and have a limited number of turns in which to investigate the scene. The detectives have stats, which you’ll match up against the “mystery points” needed to find pieces of evidence. There are other actions you can do as well, such as analyzing a piece of evidence to find new areas to investigate.

It’s… strange. Since some of the stats/actions use similar terms, I found myself struggling to remember the difference between inferring and inspecting, or assigning two detectives to inspect an area versus having one assist the other. I’m sure those aspects become easier to grasp once you’re more familiar with the game, but it’s still odd to check a detective’s stats to see if they can find evidence. If you don’t assign actions to the detectives, they’ll act on their own, too. Detectives simply can’t be trusted to work together efficiently without guidance.

After completing the investigation in the demo, the characters discussed the case. While they largely figured it out themselves, there were a handful of questions for the player to answer, so those probably will become more central to solving the case later on.

The demo left me interested in the story, but puzzled by the gameplay design. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to playing the full game. Process of Elimination will be out on April 11 (April 14 in Europe and Australia). Are you looking forward to it? Have you tried the demo? What do you think of its investigation style?

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