Operation Backlog Completion 2025

Capcom Will Revive Dormant IPs, Bandai Namco Plans “Consistent” Tales Remasters

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , ,
Dec 182024
 

The biggest surprise of the Game Awards for me was Capcom reviving both Onimusha and Okami, two series that looked like they’d never return.

Onimusha’s last full entry was in 2006, a whole 18 years ago. Only a browser game and a VR experience came out since then. The remaster of the first game was followed by rumors that subsequent remasters had been cancelled.

As for Okami, it also came out in 2006, with a spiritual successor called Okamiden coming out in 2010 and a remaster of the first game in 2012 (with ports in subsequent years).

So it’s been quite a while since Onimusha and Okami saw any love, much less a brand-new entry for each both being announced at the same even. We Ace Attorney fans think we’ve got it bad, but it’s only been 7 years since the last one – hardly any time at all in comparison.

But what makes this even more exciting is that an official press release from Capcom says they’re “focusing on re-activating dormant IPs that haven’t had a new title launch recently.” That opens up the doors for more than just Onimusha and Okami to return.

I’ve believed for a while now that a new Ace Attorney game is coming sooner rather than later, but what else could they revive? Dino Crisis has been dormant since 2003. Breath of Fire’s last entry was in 2002 (all right, technically Breath of Fire 6 came out in 2016, but let’s try not to think about that). Is it finally their time to shine again?

Moving aside from Capcom, this week also saw some interesting news from Bandai Namco. After Tales of Graces f Remastered was announced, we learned that they intended to remaster more Tales games as well. Now they’ve doubled down. In a new message translated here by Gematsu, producer Yusuke Tomizawa said there’s now a dedicated development line for Tales remasters and that they’re planned to be released “fairly consistently” and “as much as possible.”

This is exciting news, and it gives me hope that it will be more than just a handful of the newer games in the series. My hopes that we’ll get some of the untranslated games officially released are renewed!

In short, we could have a lot of good stuff coming. What dormant Capcom franchises do you hope to see revived, and what Tales remasters would you like to have follow Graces?

The Tales Developers Hope to Remaster “as Many Titles as Possible”

 Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Sep 182024
 

The recent Nintendo Partner Showcase took me by surprise with several announcements, one of which was Tales of Graces f Remastered.

A since-removed retail listing made it seem as though Tales of Xillia would be the next Tales remaster, so the Graces news was especially unexpected.

It was soon revealed that Tales of Graces f Remastered is only the first of a Tales remaster project, with more to come. Now we have a few more details thanks to a Famitsu interview with producer Yusuke Tomizawa, translated by Automaton.

It seems they originally intended to release remasters in chronological order, but “due to various circumstances, trying to stick to chronological order too much made us unable to release anything” and instead their new goal is “prioritizing titles that had the highest potential for release.”

No further context is given, which makes this a curious statement.

Quite a few Tales games released in between Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Graces, so if the remaster plan started with Tales of Symphonia Remastered last year, that would mean they’d originally intended to remaster Rebirth next, then Legendia, then Abyss, and so on and so forth, but ran into difficulty. Without clarification, though, it’s unclear if he meant that or if they’d intended to start from the very beginning with Phantasia.

Now their decisions of which games to remaster take fan feedback into account, which apparently led to them prioritizing Graces f. (I’m surprised, I would have thought Abyss had the most requests.) Their ultimate goal is to release “as many titles as possible.”

This feels like it could be interpreted in either a positive or negative way. On one hand, wanting to remaster as many Tales games as possible sounds great! It should mean we’ll get more than just a handful. On the other hand, saying they couldn’t go in chronological order raises concerns that they’re going to skip over the earlier games after all.

But here’s an interpretation that takes both statements into account – what if they realized those earlier titles would require a lot more work, so they jumped ahead to a highly-requested game that would be easier to remaster, to get it out in the meantime while they’re working on the longer project? A Tales of Rebirth remaster, for example, might not be shelved but simply moved ahead since it will take longer to have ready.

(Tales of Rebirth is one of the few games left on my original list of untranslated games I wanted to see translated. Come on, Bandai Namco. It’s your turn.)

Overall, I think this interview is a positive sign for the future of the series and the revival of Tales games that are no longer readily available. Which games do you think they’ll remaster after Graces?

Tales of Xillia Remaster Listed at Retailers

 Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Jul 222024
 

On Saturday night, I saw something that caught my attention right away: Tales of Xillia remaster rumors.

Two Czech retailers and one Slovak retailer had suddenly listed Tales of Xillia Remastered for various modern platforms. The listings have since been taken down.

The box art, pictured here, is pretty basic – the original Tales of Xillia cover art with the “Remastered” logo from the Symphonia remaster added beneath it. That makes it more questionable, but it does have a “not final art” warning on it, so it could be a legitimate listing using placeholder art.

According to the fans who found the listings, they use EANs (European Article Numbers) registered to Bandai Namco, which is a promising sign, although it could be faked.

Still, I hope it’s legitimate.

Tales of Xillia is the game that got me into the Tales series. I loved it, especially its sense of humor and King Gaius. (You can read my old Tales of Xillia review to see my detailed thoughts, along with many embarrassing things I had to say about Gaius.) I’d be delighted to see Xillia get a remaster, especially after the recent Tales PS3 delistings.

I’d be even happier if the remaster included both Xillia games bundled together, since I haven’t played Tales of Xillia 2 yet. It would be nice to play it on a modern platform.

(Since Tales of Symphonia Chronicles on the PS3 included both games, but then every subsequent Symphonia remaster skipped the sequel, I could see it going either way.)

If it’s just the first Tales of Xillia, I might still pick it up… as long as it doesn’t suffer from bugs and other problems like the recent Tales of Symphonia remaster. We’ve gone a while now without news of a new Tales game, and a solid remaster could help fill that gap.

Do you think the Tales of Xillia remaster rumors are true?

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