Operation Backlog Completion 2025
Jun 232025
 

About a year ago, I backed a Kickstarter campaign for a dark fantasy otome game called Volontés.

I don’t back crowd-funding campaigns quite as often as I did for a while there, but every now and then there’s still one that catches my eye enough for me to back it. This was one of those games.

Unfortunately, the campaign failed, so although the developers were still able to refocus their efforts and release the game in Japan, English localization wasn’t possible.

Now it’s out in Japan, and there’s a new Kickstarter campaign for its localization. It’s a Switch game, although there is a potential Steam port if the campaign makes its stretch goal.

Volontés is about a young woman whose village is attacked and destroyed, but she’s rescued by a mysterious figure who proclaims her to be the Moon Witch. It sounds like an intriguing story, and the art is also beautiful.

I haven’t seen too many reviews of it since it’s only out in Japan, but what I have seen is positive. I really like the looks of it, and I hope it can get localized. At the time that I’m writing this post, the campaign is almost at 80% of its funding goal, with 6 days left to go. I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Update: It looks like they got an extension, so there’s now an additional week to reach the goal!

So if a dark fantasy otome game sounds interesting to you, head over to the Volontés Kickstarter page and take a look!

Apr 282025
 

You might remember us briefly discussing 428: Shibuya Scramble back when it was first translated, and ever since then, I’ve had it on my list of games to play.

428: Shibuya Scramble is an adventure game that uses live action footage and follows multiple characters with intersecting stories.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, but I just haven’t gotten around to playing it yet.

Well, the game’s executive producer, Jiro Ishii, has announced a crowdfunding campaign for a new live action adventure game. According to the translation from Gematsu, 428: Shibuya Scramble was developed with the goal of surpassing the older live action adventure game Machi, but live action game has surpassed 428: Shibuya Scramble in turn yet.

It sounds like that will be the goal with this new project, which will also be set in Shibuya and feature multiple protagonists.

The crowdfunding campaign will be through Ubgoe, a Japanese crowdfunding site. Here’s hoping it sees a lot of success and eventually gets a translation!

In the meantime, I should finally play 428: Shibuya Scramble…

Apr 102024
 

The other day, I was browsing Twitter when I saw a tweet about an upcoming 3D indie RPG called Runa.

I see games being advertised all the time, but this one struck me because of how beautiful it was, so I decided to take a closer look.

Runa is a turn-based RPG inspired by JRPGs. According to its Steam page, it will feature social links with over 15 romance options, elemental puzzles, base building, and mini-games (of which they specifically mention farming, fishing, and cooking).

The page also lists a weather system, a day/night cycle, a calendar system, and dialogue choices, although despite the dialogue choices, the main character is a full character in his own right rather than a silent protagonist.

I don’t back as many video game Kickstarters as I used to (mainly due to the oppressive shadow of my backlog), but this is one I don’t want to miss. The Kickstarter campaign will launch on April 16, and I’ll definitely be checking it out. It looks pretty ambitious, so I hope the team can back that up.

What do you think of Runa?