Operation Backlog Completion 2026
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?

Mar 202023
 

One of our romance games we discussed in February was the otome game Amnesia Later, the first Amnesia: Memories fandisc included in Amnesia Later x Crowd.

After finishing that, I took a short break and then moved on to the second game in the collection, Amnesia Crowd.

The content here is a bit more varied than in Later. First, each character has a new “suspense” story, set during the events of the original game. While this means a return to a silent protagonist with Orion providing commentary, the stories more than make up for it. As a fan of mystery and suspense games, these were an absolute delight. They even have some light point & click elements.

Then there is the “work” segment of the game. This is a new world (with a new Waka, and I still want a Waka fandisc where we date every Waka) mostly told with chibi character sprites.

It features mini-games as you work various jobs at the cafe. Playing these mini-games and interacting with the LIs in between lets you unlock a variety of different scenarios. The mini-games are simple, so it can get tedious to try to play these routes all in a row, but it made for a nice change of pace interspersed between regular routes.

Each love interest has a romantic after story, which is the main feature. These are set after the stories in Later (so the main character gets dialogue and thoughts in these) and show the further development of their relationship. I think I’d give the edge to the Later after stories, but Crowd’s were still enjoyable.

Click for Amnesia Crowd spoilers
While I’m not the biggest Toma fan, the part of his route where Kent and Ikki saw the cage and drew their own conclusions was so funny, and then the later scene with Shin made it even funnier.

There’s also a “communication” after story for each love interest, where you pick dialogue choices to fill up an affection meter and then get a new scene. I would have liked if the conversation flow felt a bit more natural, but it’s a neat idea.

While those are Crowd’s main features, there’s one last section where you can interact with Orion, take a quiz about Amnesia, and unlock new scenarios. You also can play poker and blackjack against the love interests, although there isn’t much to that mode.

Overall, Amnesia Crowd has a good variety of content, with the after stories being a great way to conclude the romances and the other stories providing additional fun. I’d say I enjoyed it more than Later, despite Later having the advantage in some areas. With both fandiscs being enjoyable, I’d say Amnesia Later x Crowd is well worth it for any Amnesia fan, even if you only like a handful of the love interests like I do.

(There is one more fandisc, Amnesia World, which is still exclusive to Japan. From what I’ve read, it has a bigger focus on mini-games. We’ll see if we ever get Amnesia World localization – maybe if IFI decides to announce more otome games beyond Charade Maniacs.)

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?