Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 104

Fiona Frightening Was Officially Cancelled

In 2017, we discussed the long silence concerning Fiona Frightening, a 3D platformer that had been planned for the 3DS and Wii U.

The most recent update had been from March 2017, when the developers said they were waiting for the demo to be finished.

Every now and then I search for news, and today I saw that the TV Tropes page said the creator posted on September 19, 2018 that development of Fiona Frightening had been halted.

And when I clicked the link to read the delay/cancellation announcement… it had been deleted.

However, it isn’t completely gone. It was a DeviantArt journal entry, and previews of it are still readable on DeviantArt. So when I dug further and found people discussing the game’s status, I was able to see what the original journal announcement said:

So, for several months now; I’ve had commenters asking questions all along the lines of ‘How’s Fiona Frightening coming along?’ And it’s only after a lot of thought, soul searching and attempting to contact folks involved with no response, that I have to announce this. As of now, according to my knowledge, development has been halted indefinitely, if not permanently.”

The journal entry goes on to explain the problems they ran into in more detail. Basically, the programmers they hired kept leaving, which stalled their progress, and then he lost contact with the producer of the studio. The preview ends there, so the rest of the announcement has been lost.

However, then I looked up the studio, Azurous Studios… and what did I find but their official announcement of the game’s cancellation.

It also cites the issues with programmers and concludes with a wish that they’ll be able to revisit Fiona Frightening someday.

(My guess is that the announcement from the studio is why the creator deleted his own post about it.)

I was excited for Fiona Frightening was it was first revealed, and I kept hoping they’d return even after their long silence. Unfortunately, it looks like Fiona Frightening is gone for good.

In other news, we have a Patreon now! This is sort of experimental; Patreon is changing the way it handles fees for creators starting on May 7, so if you’re interested in making one, doing so before then is the best option. Since I’ve debated about it in the past, I decided to go for it.

Anyway, if you want to support this site and my other sites (although buying my fiction is always the best option), the Patreon page is up!

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Oninaki Looks Good So Far

We only spoke briefly about Oninaki when it was announced during February’s Nintendo Direct, but it looks like it could be an interesting game.

Oninaki is the third game from Square Enix’s Tokyo RPG Factory studio, after I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear. Unlike those, Oninaki is an action RPG.

In a recent interview with the PlayStation Blog, Tokyo RPG Factory shared some new details about the game. Reincarnation is a key part of the game’s world, and the main character is a Watcher who helps ensure Lost Souls can move on.

Now, grief for someone who has died can make them become a Lost Soul, so people try not to feel strong emotions. Sometimes Watchers need to kill the people’s whose emotions are preventing a soul from moving on.

That sounds like it could get pretty dark. Later on in the interview, they describe it as a dystopia.

A new trailer is also available, introducing some of the characters and showing more combat.

I still wish Tokyo RPG Factory had stuck with turn-based RPGs, but this game looks like it might surpass their previous two. The story definitely has potential, and I hope it ends up being as interesting as it sounds right now.

In the meantime, I probably should play Lost Sphear sometime… What do you think? And what do you think of what we’ve seen of Oninaki so far?

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Persona 5 S is an Action RPG Spin-Off

Well, Persona 5 S isn’t a Switch port of Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal.

It isn’t a Persona 5 sequel, either.

It’s an action spin-off called Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers.

Of all the things I expected, that never occurred to me. Persona 5 Scramble is a Musou-style (think Dynasty Warriors) action RPG being developed by Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force studio, for both the PS4 and the Switch.

Unlike Persona 5 Royal, neither localization news nor a Japanese release date has been announced for this yet. Since the dancing spin-offs came to the west and Persona Q2 will follow, it seems likely Persona 5 Scramble will as well.

All we have so far is a short teaser trailer introducing the game.

It’s supposed to tell a new story, so we’ll see how this fits in with Persona 5. Maybe it’s sort of a sequel after all, even if it’s not quite what we had in mind.

How do you feel about Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers?

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Persona 5 Royal Officially Revealed

After having been teased previously, Persona 5 Royal has now been officially revealed.

(Persona 5: The Royal appears to be the Japanese name, but Persona 5 Royal is the title used on the English site.)

It is an upgraded version of Persona 5 that will have a lot of new features, as detailed on the website.

First up is the new female character shown in the teaser. She isn’t an alternate protagonist, like most people expected, but a new character and most likely party member named Kasumi Yoshizawa.

There is another new confidant as well, a counselor named Takuto Maruki who comes to the school.

Persona 5 Royal will have new activities, new locations, photographs, and a third semester, which sounds like it should mean a ton of new content. I believe this third semester will take place during the time skip in the original, although let me know if I’m wrong about that.

(The website also shows a character who appears to be a human Morgana.)

I’m conflicted about this. On one hand, it sounds like there’s going to be a lot of new stuff, I’m interested in it, and I loved Persona 5. On the other hand, this is a massive game to replay.

Persona 5 Royal will be out on October 31 in Japan and 2020 in the west. Meanwhile, Persona 5 S is set to be revealed tomorrow.

(I was hoping Persona 5 S would be a Switch version with additional content and Persona 5 Royal would be a completely new sequel, so with that possibility out of the picture, I just hope Persona 5 S isn’t just the base Persona 5 without the Royal content.)

How do you feel about Persona 5 Royal? Will you be picking it up? If you already played the original, do you think the new content will be worth playing through it again?

In unrelated news, Critical Mode was added to Kingdom Hearts III yesterday as free DLC, so if you thought the base game didn’t offer enough of a challenge, check that out!

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Judgment Trailer Reveals Hamura’s New Look

As expected, the Judgment character Kyohei Hamura has gotten a new character model following the arrest of his original actor.

We had previously learned that this change would not delay the western release, as it’s still set for June 25. Now they’ve officially revealed the new Hamura.

As you might guess from his similarities to the original Hamura, they didn’t model him after his new Japanese voice actor. Instead, they made an original character model. They still had to replace him in all the pre-rendered cutscenes and other spots where his face showed up, and of course re-record his Japanese dialogue, but his movements and lip-sync remained the same (which probably helps explain why they didn’t have to delay it).

A new short trailer introduces Hamura.

Throughout Yagami's investigation, he'll have to collaborate with, and occasionally face off against, some of the most powerful individuals in Kamurocho.

Meet Kyohei Hamura, the intimidating captain of the Matsugane Family.https://t.co/wAlKs3Jrm8 pic.twitter.com/AVLyFbqwgt

— RGG Studio (@RGGStudio) April 16, 2019

While that trailer has English voice acting, Judgment will have dual audio, as well as dual subtitles to match.

How do you feel about the new character model for Hamura?

(I wanted to blog about Capcom potentially teasing a Resident Evil 3 remake, but after looking through their tweets, it seems more like they’re just tweeting about various games in the series.)

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Let’s Talk about Jedi: Fallen Order

It was a big weekend for Star Wars news, including the official reveal of Respawn’s upcoming game Jedi: Fallen Order.

Set shortly after Revenge of the Sith, Jedi: Fallen Order follows Cal Kestis, a Padawan trying to survive in the aftermath of Order 66.

Cal is forced to go on the run, while being pursued by the Second Sister (an Inquisitor in the Empire) and the Purge Troopers. It’s an action adventure game that will include lightsaber combat and Force abilities.

More importantly, it’s a single-player, story-driven game. I’m not sure what made EA change their minds after shutting down Visceral, but they officially stated that Jedi: Fallen Order won’t have microtransactions or loot boxes.

No microtransactions. No loot boxes. And no, we won't be adding them. A single-player Star Wars story for those of you who are ready to become a Jedi. https://t.co/kTheWVBjJc

— EA Star Wars (@EAStarWars) April 13, 2019

Respawn’s Vince Zampella also confirmed that there won’t be multiplayer. It’s completely a story-focused experience.

That all sounds great. I’ll need to see more of the game, but right now they have my attention. The reveal trailer basically just sets up the premise for the story.

One of its writers is also Chris Avellone, who previously worked on Knights of the Old Republic 2 as well as several other RPGs, so that’s also a good sign.

(Speaking of whom, he recently told VG247 about Obsidian’s hopes for the never-made KotOR 3. If story-driven Star Wars games are in again, can we finally get more KotOR?)

Jedi: Fallen Order will be out on November 15 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. There is a Deluxe Edition that includes some bonus content and cosmetic items, as well as cosmetic pre-order bonuses, but here’s hoping their “no microtransactions” promise is legitimate.

After my disappointment with Visceral’s closure and the reworking of their Star Wars game, I’ve been hoping for a story-driven Star Wars game and I want to believe Jedi: Fallen Order is it. What do you think from what has been revealed so far?

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Tabata’s Next Game is a Fantasy Paralympics RPG

When Hajime Tabata left Square Enix and established his own studio, we wondered what he would work on next… and the answer is something no one expected.

Tabata’s new studio JP Games officially announced The Pegasus Dream Tour, an upcoming RPG they are making together with the International Paralympic Committee.

The game is intended to promote the Paralympics, especially with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics coming up. The Paralympics is organized alongside the Olympics and is a competitive sports event for athletes with a wide range of disabilities.

So what is The Pegasus Dream Tour?

It is a sports RPG set in a fantasy city called Pegasus City. Players will compete in an alternate Paralympics where they awaken special abilities known as Xtra Power. Tabata said it will “represent fully the wonders that are unique to Paralympic sports.”

This definitely isn’t what I expected Tabata to make next, especially since he seems to favor darker stories, but he’s doing it for a good cause and the idea has the potential to be pretty cool. A sports RPG involving special powers makes me think of Inazuma Eleven (which, yes, I probably should give another chance).

It’s also just interesting to me that he didn’t immediately try to develop something that mirrors his past games, which is what a lot of developers seem to do when they start their own studios, but instead went in a different direction while staying within the RPG genre.

The Pegasus Dream Tour is planned for a worldwide launch in 2020, and it will be released for “various platforms, including smartphones.”

Aside from my recent love for Golf Story, I’ve never been much of one for sports games, but I’m interested in seeing where it goes. What do you think of The Pegasus Dream Tour?

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The Phoenix Wright Trilogy is Now Out on All Major Platforms

If you’ve been interested in the Ace Attorney series but didn’t have a platform to play it on, you’re in luck!

The Phoenix Wright Trilogy, which includes the first three games in the series, is now available on pretty much everything (except Vita).

That’s right, it was just released for the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, and Steam.

This means a new audience can now enjoy the Ace Attorney series for the first time!

Will it end with the first trilogy? Hopefully not. The old rumors about the Ace Attorney Switch games seem completely unreliable when you consider the time frame, but a second collection containing Apollo Justice, Dual Destinies, and Spirit of Justice would be a great way for all of these new fans to catch up on the series in time for the next game.

Speaking of which, where is the next game? We’ve been waiting for Ace Attorney 7 news for a while now. Soon we’ll be coming up on three years since the release of Spirit of Justice.

Meanwhile, I’m still hoping that the theoretical future compilations include an Investigations Duology that will finally give an official localization to Gyakuten Kenji 2, and I still hope we’ll see localization of the Dai Gyakuten Saiban games eventually… maybe in 2023 when the final Sherlock Holmes stories enter the public domain.

Are you planning to pick up the Phoenix Wright Trilogy on one of the new platforms? Do you think another Ace Attorney collection will follow? When will Ace Attorney 7 be announced? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Hideo Baba Left Square Enix; What Will Happen to Project Prelude Rune?

A few times now, we’ve talked about Project Prelude Rune, an upcoming JRPG from Square Enix’s new Studio Istolia.

Studio Istolia was established when Hideo Baba, known for his work as a producer of the Tales series, left Bandai Namco and joined Square Enix.

Their first game was announced under the code name Project Prelude Rune and was eventually confirmed to be a PS4 title.

However, last week Hideo Baba announced that he had resigned as head of Studio Istolia in December and left Square Enix at the end of March. He left as part of “the change in Studio Istolia’s management policies.” What exactly that means is unclear.

What does this mean for Project Prelude Rune? Since it hasn’t been cancelled, it sounds as though work on it may continue without Baba.

I’m still looking forward to what Project Prelude Rune will become, but I was hoping for a chance to see Baba’s work outside of the Tales series for a better idea of whether or not he deserves the criticism he gets for recent Tales games (until Berseria, which he did not serve as producer for).

Aside from that, it also makes me wonder if something is happening at Square Enix. Tabata left alongside the cancellation of the remaining Final Fantasy XV DLC, now Baba left, and Hiroaki Iwano of the Million Arthur series (which I’m not too familiar with) announced his departure last week as well.

Square Enix has been restructuring its business divisions, so maybe that is related.

What do you think will happen to Project Prelude Rune? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Golf Story: Weird, Charming, and Funny

I’ll admit, when Golf Story was first announced, I didn’t think too much of it since I don’t typically like sports games.

Then it came out, I saw positive reviews all around praising it as a unique and funny game, and so I decided to play it.

Golf Story follows a young man who hopes to finally fulfill his dream of becoming a pro golfer, so he heads to the nearby Wellworn Grove golfing course to see what he can do. What results is a game that is definitely charming, has a lot of funny moments, and can get pretty weird (in a good way).

It also has a great presentation that fits its quirky tone, with dialogue appearing at different speeds and sizes or even dialogue partially appearing and quickly disappearing as the character changes their mind about what to say.

Now, it’s a game about golf. If you really hate the golf gameplay, you probably won’t be able to get into it. But while it took me a little while to get used to how to play, I loved it once I did.

Golf Story is an RPG (it even has a world map), so in addition to following the main storyline, each area will also present you with numerous side quests. These are usually related to golf in some way, whether you’re proving you can handle a particular challenge or hitting stolen eggs back into their nests (which is far from the weirdest part). As you complete quests, you’ll level up and earn skill points to increase your stats, and each area has new equipment you can buy as well.

There are occasional gameplay sections that don’t involve golf, as well, such as when you encounter a group of characters who prefer to play “disc golf.”

The whole game has an offbeat tone that really makes it enjoyable. It reminds me a little of how Ace Attorney is technically set in the real world, yet you run into characters and situations that you can’t quite call realistic. Golf Story places the main character in situations that are completely absurd without (usually) being too weird, and pretty much everyone you encounter is odd in one way or another.

Even the reasons for visiting other golf courses were often more entertaining than I expected, such as the greenkeeper wanting to infiltrate a neighboring course to learn the secret of their grass.

Golf Story was a lot of fun, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a light RPG with funny characters and dialogue. And since Sidebar Games already confirmed they’re working on something new, I can’t wait to see what it is.

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