One most-anticipated games of the year has a release date at last!
God of War Ragnarok will be out on November 9.
I’d started to worry it might be pushed to next year, but it’ll be out in 2022 after all, in what is becoming an increasingly packed second half of the year for me.
(This puts it right around Harvestella and Valkyrie Elysium.)
Now, since this is one of my most-anticipated games, I was interested in the contents of the Collector’s Edition. However, both the Collector’s Edition and the even bigger Jotnar Edition don’t contain physical copies of the game. They come with a steelbook case, but no disc, only a download code for the game.
The rest of the stuff in those editions is tempting, but I like having a physical disc. I’ll probably go with the standard edition after all.
Anyway, a trailer also accompanied the news, although it’s just a short cinematic trailer.
I’m excited for God of War Ragnarok, and I hope it’s as good as its predecessor!
Since we’re already halfway through the year, it’s safe to predict my vague thoughts of playing Ascension while waiting for Ragnarok will not come true. Maybe next year.
Are you excited for God of War Ragnarok? How do you feel about the collector’s editions not including a disc?
Over the weekend, our cluster of game showcases concluded with the panels at Anime Expo 2022.
Bandai Namco’s contained nothing new beyond the announcement that Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, which we discussed last week, will get an official release in the west.
That left Aksys and Spike Chunsoft, and both turned out to be well worth watching.
Aksys Games
Aksys Games did not stream their showcase, but a fan in attendance streamed it, so I was able to tune in and see the announcements live. I didn’t expect much to be announced, but I hoped we’d get either a new otome announcement or Shibito Magire localization news.
They began with an overview of their upcoming games (including the release date of Piofiore: Episodio 1926 being moved up from September 22 to September 8) and soundtrack CDs available with some of them.
Update: the September 8 release date was a mistake; it’s still set for September 22.
Then they got into the announcements. The first game shown was Pups & Purrs Pet Shop, which I thought had been already announced, but apparently this is a series and I was probably thinking of the previous Pups & Purrs game.
The second game announced was Inescapable, a “social thriller” coming to all major platforms next year. It seems to have a death game sort of premise, and I’ve seen it described as Danganronpa-inspired. So that’s definitely something I’m interested in.
Then it was otome time!
Norn9 is coming west for the Switch. I played Norn9 on the Vita and found it to be enjoyable, though I disliked the incomplete feel of the story and said I’d pick up its fandisc Last Era if it was ever released in English, since Last Era is supposed to fix a lot of those issues.
…and sure enough, yes, they followed the Norn9 trailer with a trailer for Norn9: Last Era, which is being translated at last.
Yes, they’re separate releases instead of a dual pack, but I’m just happy that we’re getting Last Era.
Then they showed another trailer, for another otome, Radiant Tale. This one is about a girl becoming the producer for a circus troupe in a fantasy world, and what stands out to me the most is how beautiful and colorful it looks.
The next game was also otome, one I’ve seen a lot of people hoping would be localized, Shuuen no Virche ~Error:Salvation, which is on the other end of the spectrum in that it appears to be about death and darkness and despair.
(I’m intrigued.)
Then the final trailer began, and when I saw “Shibito Magire” appear on the screen, I nearly screamed.
Yes, the third Spirit Hunter game is being localized under the title Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II. …Which I’m sure will cause no confusion whatsoever with the second game in the series, NG.
That was the last of the announcements, and they spent the rest of the showcase providing more details about the announced games. I went into it hoping for at least one otome or Shibito Magire, and I got four otome announcements AND Shibito Magire.
In short, 2023 is already packed for me with games to look forward to, and I’ll play NG soon.
Spike Chunsoft
Spike Chunsoft also didn’t stream their showcase, and again it was streamed by a fan who was there.
Their showcase also had one other announcement: Anonymous;Code localization. Yes, the newest entry in the Science Adventure series is coming west in 2023 for Switch, PS4, and PC.
I’m excited to play Chaos;Head Noah and Chaos; Child, and I’m looking forward to Anonymous;Code as well… although I still need to get Robotics;Notes in the meantime!
Miscellaneous
Apparently Sekai Project had a ton of visual novel announcements at Anime Expo, including Nekopara After and the Nekopara spin-off Inapura: Dog’s Paradise. Type-Moon was also there and confirmed that Witch on the Holy Night is not only getting an English translation (which we discussed) but also a western release on December 8.
And there were plenty of other announcements of visual novels I’m less familiar with. In short, as a visual novel fan, this was a crazy weekend for announcements. The upcoming lineup from Aksys alone already has my backlog crying out in pain.
What do you think of the games that were announced at Anime Expo 2022?
While the Partner Showcase was filled with exciting games, Japan’s Partner Showcase included another interesting announcement: Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher.
I’ve never played the Monster Rancher games, but it’s a series that’s interested me, especially since 1 & 2 were recently remastered.
Monster Rancher is a monster-raising game in which you get monsters by using CDs. Later games used different methods, and the remasters opted to use a music database to let you search for songs to generate monsters from.
This new entry is a crossover with the Ultraman franchise, so the monsters you’ll be raising are Ultra Kaiju.
That’s… such a strange combination, but the idea of raising kaiju is so bizarre I love it.
And while no global release has been announced, it turns out there will be an English version. The Southeast Asia version will be released with an English translation, and since the Switch is region-free, that means we’ll be able to play it even if it isn’t released here.
Play-Asia already has a page up for the English version, although preorders aren’t open yet.
Update: A digital western release was later confirmed.
Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is the sort of weird idea I can’t help but be interested in. I bet most people wouldn’t have guessed the first new Monster Rancher game in over a decade would be this. What do you think of this unexpected crossover?
One most-anticipated games of the year has a release date at last!
