Operation Backlog Completion 2026

It’s the 13th Anniversary of Rhythm Thief (Still Waiting for a Sequel… or Remaster)

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jan 202025
 

Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of Rhythm Thief, which first came out in Japan on January 19, 2012.

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure is an excellent rhythm game about a thief trying to learn the truth behind his father’s disappearance.

My best comparison for how it plays is that it’s like a Professor Layton game with rhythm games instead of puzzles, and it’s really a lot of fun. The story is also insane in all the best ways.

Back when I played it and wrote my review, my one criticism was that it ends on a big sequel hook but never got a sequel. Three years ago, I returned to the topic of Rhythm Thief to once again lament the lack of a sequel.

Now here we are in 2025, still with no Rhythm Thief sequel in sight.

With the 3DS eShop having been shut down, it is now pretty much impossible to get a copy of Rhythm Thief. Physical 3DS copies are rare and expensive, and the only port it ever got was an abridged iOS version that was shut down years ago. As much as I want a sequel, I can’t help but think a port or remaster of the original is an important step toward making that possible.

From Ghost Trick to Trace Memory to Xenoblade Chronicles X, we’ve had plenty of nearly-forgotten games be revived lately. In this era of unexpected remasters and revivals of old series, I really hope Rhythm Thief is the next to make a return.

And don’t worry, the daily blog dedicated to counting the days until we get a sequel is still active.

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure is one of my favorite underrated games, and I’d love to see it get a sequel someday. For now, I hope for a remaster so that more people get to play it. Do you think we’ll see a Rhythm Thief remaster anytime soon?

Let’s Talk About the Nintendo Switch 2

 Video games  3 Responses »
Jan 172025
 

Well, it finally happened. Nintendo officially announced the Switch 2.

And yes, it’s actually called the Nintendo Switch 2.

While the announcement trailer doesn’t show much besides the console itself and a brief glimpse of a new Mario Kart, it promises more information coming in a special Nintendo Direct on April 2.

As for the console, it pretty much just looks like a new Switch, which is what people have been expecting for a while now. (Ironically, after years of only seeing people say Nintendo would be foolish not to just make their next console a more powerful Switch, I now see people complaining that their new console is just a more powerful Switch.)

One notable part is that part of the trailer shows the Joy-Cons gliding along a surface, which combined with rumors, suggests they might be able to function as a mouse. That makes me wonder if it could be useful for something improved by having more precise control – Professor Layton puzzles, for example, in the absence of a stylus.

It also reiterates their previous statement that the Switch 2 will be backward compatible, this time clearly stating that it will play both physical and digital Switch games.

Although it says certain games may not be compatible, that probably only includes a handful of games that use Switch-specific functions (ex. anything that relied on Joy-Con functions that might be changed in the Switch 2).

I’m looking forward to learning about the Switch 2 in April, although as usual, the exclusives announced for it will likely determine when I get one. In the meantime, I’ve got plenty of games in my backlog to keep me busy until then.

What do you think of the Switch 2?

Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode is an Emotional Experience

 Reviews, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jan 152025
 

In all the excitement of starting a new year, I almost forgot to cover the last game I played in 2024, Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode.

This is the latest entry in the To the Moon series, following the strange and emotional Impostor Factory from 2021.

Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode came out in September, but I put off playing it for a while because I did not believe for a minute it was just a happy beach episode. At the end of the year, I decided to finally dive in.

It’s shorter than the others, taking me around two and a half hours instead of the roughly four hours main entries in the series have taken. It also notably doesn’t follow a new story with original characters like the main entries have. Instead, you play as Eva, going on a trip to the beach with her co-workers. It should be fun and lighthearted… and it is, except for the sense that something just isn’t quite right.

There’s humor and lighthearted antics and even a couple of mini-games, and of course it all culminated in an emotional scene that left me feeling sad even though I’d already had a good idea of what it was leading up to.

Now, I can’t really talk about too much without spoilers, so I’ll just finish by saying that if you’ve stuck with the To the Moon series all this time, it’s worth playing Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode to see this next piece in the overarching story.

It’s been implied that this is the ending of the series, but we also have The Last Hour of an Epic To the Moon RPG to look forward to. The director once said that the two games are both endings to the series, with one being the good ending and one being the bad ending. Which one was this? Well, I’m sure we’ll have a clearer view of that once the second game is out to compare it to.

 Older Entries  Newer Entries