Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Aksys and Spike Chunsoft’s Showcases Recaps

 Video Games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Jul 042022
 

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.

They mainly highlighted already-announced games, but they did confirm that Chaos;Head Noah will be coming to PC on October 7 alongside the Switch launch of the Chaos;Head Noah / Chaos;Child dual pack.

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?

May Mystery Game Madness: Who Killed My Father Academy! Review

 Celebrating All Things Mysterious, Reviews, Video Games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
May 202022
 

We’re entering the final stretch now, with less than two weeks to go in our mystery game celebration! Don’t forget to participate for a chance to win prizes at the end.

Today’s topic of discussion is a short otome visual novel called Who Killed My Father Academy!

(The exclamation point is part of the title.)

As you might guess from the title, it is about infiltrating an academy in order to learn who killed your father.

One thing that took me by surprise the moment I started is that this visual novel breaks the fourth wall and uses that as part of its story. The protagonist is aware of your presence and counting on your ability to try different choices to get all of the answers by the end.

From the premise, I expected it to be a story filled with intrigue, where you spend time getting to know each character while looking for clues that might implicate them as the murderer.

Well, it’s not quite like that. In fact, the actual dating part is short and gets to the point very quickly. In that way, I’d say there isn’t nearly as much “mystery” here as I’d hoped, let alone investigation, so it might be closer to a thriller.

I’m not crazy about the art style, but that’s just a personal preference. The characters are likeable enough, with four male love interests and one female love interest (although the romance feels secondary to the plot).

The story has some interesting twists, but some parts feel a bit rushed or handwaved with humor, which is another thing I think could have benefited from a longer, slower story that lets you get to know each character better. You had better pay attention to the story while you play, though, because eventually you’ll need to answer questions – by actually typing the answers in.

That was a cool way of handling it, and probably my favorite part of the story.

Who Killed My Father Academy! is light on mystery and even lighter on romance, but it uses some interesting ideas. I believe it’s also free, so it’s worth checking out if the premise sounds interesting.

Amnesia: Later x Crowd and Other NGPX Highlights

 Video Games  1 Response »  Tagged with: , ,
Apr 012022
 

Yesterday was the New Game Plus Expo, which you can watch here if you want to catch all the announcements.

The biggest news was probably that we’re getting the Switch port of Amnesia: Memories, along with Amnesia: Later x Crowd.

Amnesia is an otome visual novel we discussed last year, but Later x Crowd is a bundle of the two fandisks (Amnesia: Later and Amnesia: Crowd) that were never released outside of Japan.

So while seeing an Amnesia port wasn’t too exciting, seeing it followed by Later x Crowd was big news.

Now, I had mixed feelings when I finished Amnesia, but I’ll pick up Later x Crowd for the sake of the two love interests I really liked, and because apparently Later has part that focuses on Waka, the unromanceable side character I preferred to half the actual love interests.

It also looks like the limited edition will allow you to choose whether you want Amnesia: Memories, Later x Crowd, or both, so that’s cool.

Aside from the Amnesia news, Idea Factory also showed off the trailer and June 28 release date for Birushana, which would have been much more exciting if the trailer hadn’t accidentally gone live last week. It also turns out that Aksys is handling the Jack Jeanne localization, not IFI or PQube, and that was officially shown as well.

So does this mean Amnesia was the mysterious third otome title teased by Idea Factory last year? That’s unclear. It seems probable, but they haven’t actually said so yet.

(They also teased an unannounced game, with their hints being a black cat and a cauldron, which has added to the confusion since they didn’t specify if that’s otome or something else.)

Anyway, outside of the otome news, there wasn’t a lot at NGPX that caught my eye. Dusk Diver 2 localization had already been announced, but was featured prominently at the event, and that looks like it could be cool. The PS2 stealth game Kamizawa: Way of the Thief is also being remastered, so I’m curious about that. And even though NIS Classics Vol. 2 isn’t out yet, a third collection has now been announced, containing La Pucelle: Ragnarok (the La Pucelle remake that was never translated before) and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (based on the PlayStation version).

None of the other games stood out to me as much, but let me know if I overlooked one that was a favorite for you!

Oh, and I’d just like to point out that Amnesia: Later originally came out in 2012. Amnesia: Crowd originally came out in 2013. After all this time, they definitely fit into the “that’s never getting localized!” category, so I’m adding it to the list of unexpected localizations. The Yakuza spin-offs are surely next (please).

Are you excited for any of the games announced or showcased at the New Game Plus Expo?

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