Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Hopes for the Recent Pokémon Announcements

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Mar 122021
 

While we were still discussing romance games near the end of February, there was a Pokémon Presents live stream celebrating the 25th anniversary of the series.

In addition to an overview of the series and a new trailer for New Pokémon Snap (which looks absolutely beautiful), they also made two new game announcements.

The first was for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl, remakes of the fourth generation games. These had been widely rumored for a while.

But then they followed that with the announcement of an all-new game called Pokémon Legends: Arceus, set in ancient Sinnoh as you work to create the first Pokédex.

Let’s talk about these games. First, while the chibi graphics of the Diamond/Pearl remakes has proven to be controversial, I don’t mind it. Yes, I was hoping to see them remade in the graphic style of the newer games, but Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl look pretty good.

There’s only one thing that has me uncertain about Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, and that’s the potential lack of Pokémon Platinum content.

See, Pokémon Platinum introduced new aspects to the plot that weren’t in the original Diamond and Pearl, and I really liked that part of the story. But since these are remakes of Diamond and Pearl, there’s a chance they’ll stick to their original storylines, like how Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire followed the stories of Ruby and Sapphire respectively.

If Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl include the Platinum story content, I’ll probably get one of them. If they don’t… well, then I’ll wait to see what else they have to offer.

(On the other hand, I admit I didn’t actually play Diamond/Pearl, only Platinum, so maybe I ought to get them even if they lack the Platinum story content, since they’d be newer experiences for me.)

Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are also being developed by a company called ILCA instead of Game Freak, which is an interesting decision. ILCA has worked in a support role on several big-name game, but it appears as though this is the first time they’re the lead developer.

Moving on, Pokémon Legends: Arceus has caused quite a stir since it looks fairly different from any past Pokémon game.

Much of the hype comes from fans who see it as an open world game along the lines of Breath of the Wild, and as someone who isn’t a big fan of open worlds and couldn’t stick with Breath of the Wild, that has me less enthusiastic.

On the other hand, they haven’t clearly said that it will be open world. The closest we get to anything official being said is the trailer calling it a “vast wilderness.” That might just mean the areas are big, without being fully open world. If it’s some sort of Xenoblade-like structure with large areas to explore and a world that opens up more as you progress through the game, I’d be pretty excited for that.

(It’s being widely reported as an open world game, but Wikipedia also thinks it’s an action RPG despite us clearly seeing turn-based or ATB combat in the trailer just because it has some action elements, so don’t take anything as fact if it doesn’t come from an official source.)

Meanwhile, there are some really interesting story theories out there due to a potential connection to Team Galactic. I’d love it if there really is a direct connection between Legends and the main Sinnoh games (or maybe even, you know, Pokémon Platinum’s story).

I was a little disappointed that they still haven’t said anything about the new Detective Pikachu game announced for the Switch, but I’m cautiously optimistic for both Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. What are your thoughts on these upcoming Pokémon games, and what do you think they’ll be like?

Kuro no Kiseki Lets You Switch Between Action and Turn-Based Combat

 Video games  1 Response »  Tagged with: ,
Mar 102021
 

Ever since Falcom said the next Trails game would feature a new combat system that includes action and real-time elements, fans had been arguing over what this meant for the series.

The few details revealed after that only increased the confusion about whether or not the next game, Kuro no Kiseki, would feature an action combat system or not.

Now at last, we have our answer! During Falcom’s 40th Anniversary live stream, they shared new details about Kuro no Kiseki’s characters and battles, including footage of the new combat system.

(I’ve avoided reading about the characters and setting since I’m so far behind in the overall series, but you can get the full details from Gematsu.)

Yes, Kuro no Kiseki features an action-based combat system… but once you start a battle, you can seamlessly switch to command-based combat to choose attacks, Crafts, Arts, etc.

It really does feature both, and it hasn’t abandoned turn-based combat.

I had concerns when they first announced the real-time elements, but this actually looks pretty great!

The action combat seems basic right now, but I like the way you can switch straight into the command-based mode (with what appears to be free positioning ahead of your action) and how that appears to be a significant portion of the combat, not an afterthought or compromise.

Meanwhile, they also announced a Trails of Cold Steel anime that will tell an original story (and apparently is getting its own tie-in game, although fans expect that to be a mobile gacha game).

I’m way far behind in my Trails playthroughs and still hoping to hear news of official Crossbell localizations when I get that far, but maybe by the time Kuro no Kiseki is coming out in English, I’ll be all caught up and ready to go!

What do you think of the Kuro no Kiseki combat system? Do you think this method of blending action and turn-based combat is a good idea?

Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past Has Some Fun Cases

 Reviews, Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Mar 082021
 

When I started thinking of playing another 3DS game, I decided to check my 3DS to see what game I’d left in the system.

To my surprise, I found Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past, which I hadn’t played and didn’t remember prioritizing, but apparently at some point it was the next game I intended to play.

So why not? I decided to play it.

Memories of the Past is a visual novel adventure game in which you play a detective investigating various cases. It contains six cases, but the Jake Hunter release history gets a little complicated, so let’s talk about that first.

The series began all the way back in 1987 on the Famicom and saw consistent titles across a variety of platforms from then on, including a line of mobile games.

The first five cases in Memories of the Past are actually the first five mobile games, the first four of which are remakes of the original four Famicom games.

Finally, the sixth case is titled Memories of the Past and was created for this DS game. In fact, while all six cases are unlocked from the start and I played them in order, the game clearly intends for you to start with Memories of the Past, because it prompts you within that case to play through the others, creating a single continuous experience instead of treating each as a separate game.

(If you play them separately, like I did, you can skip the previous cases in Memories of the Past, but it still quizzes you on the major points.)

Gameplay-wise, everything is handled through menus. You won’t be tapping around the environment to search for clues, but rather choosing “Inspect” and then picking an area/object to inspect from the list that comes up. It can be a little tedious, since occasionally it needs you to inspect things multiple times or in the right order, but it’s fine.

It also frequently quizzes you on the current case’s events to make sure you remember the important details.

I found the first three cases to be pretty straightforward, entertaining enough to see how the mystery plays out, but not too compelling. The fourth was probably my favorite, with two alternating points of view and a story that had some fairly emotional moments.

The fifth case was fine, and the sixth was interesting in how it tried to bring things together, but not particularly noteworthy on its own in my opinion.

In addition to the main six cases, there are also a number of “Jake Hunter Unleashed” cases, shorter mysteries with chibi art and an emphasis on humor. They essentially feel more like puzzles, since they give you all the evidence and witness testimonies right away and you need to figure out the truth.

One more thing I want to mention is that this is another series that decided to change its setting to America for the localizations. Unlike Ace Attorney, where changing the names makes sense for the pun-based humor, there’s no reason for that to have been done in Jake Hunter. I assume they thought western audiences would be less inclined to buy “Detective Saburo Jinguji,” but honestly I find “Jake Hunter Detective Story” to be such a bland title I’m not sure it paid off.

Anyway, Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past was enjoyable enough. I wouldn’t say it’s a new favorite, but I’m intrigued enough to check out the next game that was released in English…

…which is not any of the five Jake Hunter games that came out after Memories of the Past, but rather the next one after that, Ghost of the Dusk. (And so far they’ve skipped over the next game, Prism of Eyes, despite it getting an English rating, so staying up to date with the Jake Hunter series doesn’t seem like it’ll get any easier anytime soon…)

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