Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Not-E3 2025 Schedule, Hopes, and Dreams

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jun 022025
 

May is over, the winners of this year’s contest have been contacted, and suddenly we’re right on the doorstep of Not-E3 2025.

I was actually surprised to realize just how close it is. It starts at the end of this week!

So let’s take a look at the upcoming showcases.

June 4
State of Play – 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET

June 6

Summer Game Fest 2025 – 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET
Ball x Pit: The Kenny Sun Story (Devolver) – 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET
IO Interactive Showcase – 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET

June 7

Wholesome Direct 2025 – 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET
Future Games Show: Summer Showcase 2025 – 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET

June 8

Xbox Games Showcase & The Outer Worlds 2 Direct – 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET
PC Gaming Show – 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET

In addition to these, there are also a bunch of smaller and indie showcases throughout as well, which I’ll probably cover highlights from if anything especially stands out to me. There are also rumors of a Nintendo Direct soon, so I’ll consider that part of “Not-E3” if it occurs in the same time frame.

Not-E3 2025 Hopes and Dreams

It’s actually incredible how many of my one-time “pipe dreams” have been removed from the list due to actually coming true. Last year I added a Xenoblade Chronicles X remaster to the list, and that’s already happened! And the wish that once seemed to be one of the least likely to come true, an Ace Attorney Investigations 2 localization, finally can leave the list as well.

What does that leave me with for pipe dreams?

  • Tales of Symphonia prequel
  • Xenosaga HD
  • A classic-style Paper Mario
  • World of Final Fantasy 2
  • Mother 3 localization
  • Untranslated Tales games
  • Like a Dragon Kenzan and Kurohyo

I’ll also add one more: a remaster of Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure. What I really want is a sequel, but a remaster would be a great first step in that direction.

As for a hope I consider realistic enough not to put it on the list of pipe dreams… yes, I think this is finally the year. I’m hoping for a brand-new Ace Attorney announcement. Capcom doesn’t appear to have its own showcase, but they’re listed as a partner for Summer Game Fest, and Ace Attorney could believably show up in a Nintendo Direct, too. With all the games except for the crossover now available on modern platforms, I really think our chances are good of seeing a new Ace Attorney game announced.

My other realistic hope is for a new Tales game. It’s been four years since Arise, and while that wasn’t exactly one of my favorites, I have my fingers crossed for a new one.

And, while I already have RGG Studio on my list with a couple pipe dreams, I’d not only love to see a new Project Century trailer, but I also have my fingers crossed for a third Judgment game.

What games are you hoping will be announced during this year’s string of game showcases?

Celebrating All Things Mysterious: Little Locked Rooms

 Celebrating All Things Mysterious, Reviews, Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with:
May 302025
 

I first heard about Little Locked Rooms when I saw the developer mention it as a game inspired by Ace Attorney and similar mystery games.

It came out last year, so I decided to check it out as part of this year’s mystery celebration.

Unlike the other games we’ve discussed this month, Little Locked Rooms is almost wholly focused on mystery-solving, with very little story content.

The premise is that a father builds little dioramas based on crime scenes and challenges his two children to solve the mystery. There’s a little bit of family drama as the characters interact, especially before and after each case, but that’s about it.

For each case, you’re given the basic facts and then get to inspect the dioramas. I was a little disappointed at first that clicking things in the diorama doesn’t lead to dialogue or new clues being added, but that really sets up the type of mystery game Little Locked Rooms is – it’s entirely on you to observe the necessary details and draw conclusions. Whenever you’re ready, you can give your answer.

Of course, you could just make guesses, but you lose points for incorrect answers. At the end of each case, you’re graded based on how many points you got. One nice feature is that if you give an answer that is correct but doesn’t solve anything, it’s considered a partial answer that doesn’t affect your point total.

The cases in Little Locked Rooms are fairly small in scale since they need to be conveyed through a few diorama scenes and a list of clues, but some of them are actually pretty tricky. There were several parts that had me puzzling over just how it could be done.

Two of the cases also have harder variations, where you’re given the same setup as in the original case but with some key details changed.

Little Locked Rooms is a pretty short game, and I wish it had more story beyond occasional sibling arguments. Nevertheless it’s a cute game with some neat mysteries that really make you observe everything carefully if you want to figure out the answers. If the developer makes more mystery games after this, I’ll be interested to see where they go with them.

Celebrating All Things Mysterious – Nina Aquila: Legal Eagle, Chapter IV

 Celebrating All Things Mysterious, Reviews, Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
May 282025
 

Three years ago, we talked about Nina Aquila: Legal Eagle, an Ace Attorney inspired indie game.

Season One included three cases, with the promise of more to come, and now Nina Aquila: Legal Eagle, Chapter IV: “Sacred Feathers” is available as its own separate release.

I was a little uncertain at first about buying a single case on its own, but Chapter IV took me a full 6 hours to complete, compared to the 8 hours I spent on all of Season One, so I’d say it’s well worth it.

Like Season One, investigation segments have you investigate environments and gather information from a top-down perspective, and trial segments play nearly identically to Ace Attorney, with witness statements to press for more information and then present evidence against when you find contradictions.

The trials in Chapter IV are fine, with some tricky contradictions to spot, although I couldn’t help but notice that almost all (if not all) testimonies have their contradiction in the final statement.

Now, when I reviewed Season One, I mentioned that I wasn’t too crazy about the investigation gameplay being broken up by mini-games. That happens here again, this time in the form of side-scrolling brawler battles. I didn’t mind it as much, however, because its inclusion into the narrative felt pretty smooth and the battles weren’t frequent enough to get annoying.

As for why there are brawler battles…

Do you remember how the first Nina Aquila game included actual supernatural elements? Well, this case involves investigating a murder during the rehearsal of a magical girl show, but it turns out magic is real and the city is under attack by monsters. Nina gains magical girl powers, complete with a transformation, to help defend the city. Although I did feel a slight pang of disappointment that the case wasn’t entirely mundane in nature, the magical girl aspect of the story is important enough that I warmed up to it.

Nina and Dylan both saw some good development in this chapter, and the case had a good cast of characters as well. I also really enjoyed the mystery itself and how all the pieces came together for the final revelations. Meanwhile, the new elements of the overarching story have me looking forward to the fifth case!

Nina Aquila: Legal Eagle, Chapter IV: “Sacred Feathers” might only be one case, but it’s a lengthy addition to the Nina Aquila storyline that anyone who enjoyed the first season should play.

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