Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 14

My Absurd, Out There, and Improbable Game Awards Announcement Hopes

The Game Awards is next Thursday, just a week away, and we already discussed some notable nominees.

So what about announcement predictions?

The announcements are the main reason I tune in to the Game Awards each year, and in the past ahead of this or other game events, I’ve tried to predict what games might be shown.

But with my backlog overwhelming me and many of my “pipe dream” announcements already coming true, making reasonable predictions of games with a good chance of being shown just doesn’t seem as much fun this year.

Instead, here are my ridiculous predictions of games that definitely won’t be announced at the Game Awards (but wouldn’t it be awesome if they were?) this year.

Ace Attorney 7

You knew Ace Attorney had to be on the list, right? While I don’t actually think the series is big enough for a Game Awards announcement, it would be an incredible moment. Just picture it: Geoff is talking about this game or that when suddenly–“OBJECTION!” The iconic shout would cut him off as the world premiere of Ace Attorney 7 begins to play.

With the Apollo Justice Trilogy and the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection being released in the same year, it feels to me like they wanted them out to make way for a new announcement. It didn’t happen at TGS, so why not at the Game Awards?

The Great Ace Attorney Investigations

But why have one Ace Attorney announcement when you could have two? I haven’t forgotten the mysterious Van Zieks captions we still have no explanation for. Maybe they were misplaced captions meant for a Game Awards announcement video all along! Yes, after the long-awaited announcement of Ace Attorney 7, they’ll keep the Ace Attorney train going with the announcement of The Great Ace Attorney Investigations!

(It’s one of my most-wanted games, so I’ll probably start putting it on pipe dream lists from now on. You know, unless it’s announced at the Game Awards.)

Judgment 3

While we’re at it, how about a new Judgment game? Infinite Wealth being nominated at the Game Awards surely means RGG Studio’s games are big enough to get an announcement there, right? We’ve already got the pirate game coming out in February, but that’s practically here already!

So let’s return to the Judgment spin-off series with a third game instead. It would pair nicely with the Ace Attorney news to really appeal to the mystery game crowd this year.

Xenoblade Chronicles X2

Let’s move on from mysteries… and into space! Not content with just announcing Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition last month, Nintendo could turn this into a Bayonetta 3 situation where they follow up the remaster news with an announcement of a sequel. Now, Xenoblade Chronicles X2 probably won’t be for the Switch, but nothing says they can’t tease a game for the Switch’s successor before it’s even been shown.

Announcing a remaster and sequel at the same time is actually a legitimate hope I had for the Switch 2’s launch, until the remaster was announced on its own. It could still happen. Maybe.

Kingdom Hearts Missing Link (as an offline game)

Now I’m legitimately hoping for a Kingdom Hearts IV trailer, but this isn’t the post for those sorts of predictions. Instead, what about the upcoming mobile game Kingdom Hearts Missing Link? It’s been delayed and delayed… so what if that’s because they decided to abandon the GPS gacha game concept and rework it into an offline single-player game? I’m intrigued by Missing Link’s story, but I’d be much happier if it was a smaller scale regular game instead of a gacha game.

For bonus points, they could troll everyone by showing off the Bloodborne-esque environments first before revealing it to be Kingdom Hearts.

Rhythm Thief Remaster

And finally, we’ll head back to Sega for the return of that long-neglected gem, Rhythm Thief. Sure, I want a sequel more than a remaster, but like Xenoblade Chronicles X, its best chance of getting a sequel is if more people can play the original game. With the Nintendo eShop closed, Rhythm Thief is not easy to come by. A modern remaster will give it a new chance to shine and pave the way for that sequel.

It deserves it.

Conclusion

Absolutely none of these games are going to be announced at the Game Awards, but if they are, you’ll probably hear me screaming all the way from wherever you are (followed by a series of half-hysterical tweets and posts). What are your most outlandish Game Awards announcement predictions?

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The Hundred Line: -Last Defense Academy- Will Be Out on April 24

The Hundred Line: -Last Defense Academy- is the upcoming new game from the creators of Danganronpa and Zero Escape.

We talked about it when it was shown during that amazing Nintendo Direct earlier this year (alongside other amazing announcements like the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection).

It looks very Danganronpa-inspired aside from being a strategy RPG, and since I like the creators’ past games, I’ve been looking forward to it.

Today, Xseed announced that it will be out on April 24, 2025 for the Switch and PC in the west, the same date as its Japanese release.

Alongside the release date and a new trailer, they also revealed a Limited Edition for the Switch version that includes the game, a soundtrack CD, an art book, a short novel, 15 character art cards, a lenticular art card, an acrylic diorama, and a metal collector’s pin. That’s a pretty good Limited Edition, especially since it looks like it’s going to cost $99.99.

(I’m particularly interested in the short novel.)

It’s strange to have a post like this without talking about games I still need to catch up on, but I finished the last of the Danganronpa games last year as well as Rain Code! I’m all caught up on Zero Escape (and AI: The Somnium Files), too. So for once, I have no reason to not eagerly anticipate this game.

The mix of Danganronpa-like systems and strategy RPG combat has me curious about what to expect from The Hundred Line: -Last Defense Academy-. It’s definitely among the games I’m looking forward to the most next year.

Are you planning to pick it up?

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9 R.I.P.: A Flawed But Entertaining Supernatural Otome

Of all the otome games coming out this year, 9 R.I.P. is one I was looking forward to the most due to its spooky, supernatural premise.

I originally intended to play it as one of October’s games, but since it’s on the longer side due to having 9 different routes, that didn’t end up happening.

Instead, I finished it this weekend, so let’s talk about it!

9 R.I.P. follows a young woman named Misa who is stressed about her plans for after high school. Her mother is pressuring her to go into medical school, but that isn’t what she really wants. There’s a legend that says someone with significant worries will be spirited away – and depending on your early choices, Misa will find her path crossing with those of ghosts and spirits in one of four different scenarios.

Similar to Winter’s Wish, which I we discussed last year, 9 R.I.P. has a branching common route that focuses on only a couple love interests before splitting off into the individual routes. I’ve found that I like that format for a game with numerous routes like this. It lets you get to know the characters before starting their routes without requiring a common route lengthy enough to accommodate all of them at once.

While 9 R.I.P. isn’t a horror game, it has levels of spookiness that vary depending on which scenario you’re playing. Well, for three of the common routes, that is. The fourth is a comedy, and that ended up being my favorite.

Despite what seems like a high stakes premise – getting stuck in the world of the dead or being stalked by vengeful ghosts sounds like it should make for an intense game – the whole game actually has a fair amount of focus on slice-of-life situations and individual character dynamics. There are some tense moments, but they aren’t the norm. Even so, I wasn’t expecting one of the common routes to be a wacky comedy instead, nor did I expect that to be exactly what I needed. It was just fun.

(Really, I could have played an entire game just of that scenario and their goofy antics.)

Anyway, an otome with this many routes sometimes suffers from feeling rushed… and unfortunately there were several routes that felt like they progressed too quickly or like they would have benefited from an extra chapter or two to help flesh things out. There were even a couple that had me baffled at how what on paper sounded like a perfect route for me could end up feeling so boring.

Fortunately, they aren’t all like that. There are some excellent routes here as well, and the grumpy spirit Koharu was pretty much worth the price of admission alone as far as I’m concerned.

This being a story about romance between a mortal and ghosts/spirits, a lot of the routes end up feeling bittersweet instead of truly happy. Still, there were enough good feelings there that I’d say it’s still a happier game overall – although one perplexing aspect is that most of the time, the low affection endings are more positive than the high-affection endings. Not always in a subjective way, either. It’s an odd quirk of 9 R.I.P. that I don’t quite understand, although I do have a theory.

Click for vague/general 9 R.I.P. spoilersMy guess is that the high affection endings ended up worse more often than not due to the dangers of being obsessively in love with a ghost or spirit. So without that extreme attraction forming, the characters could resolve things more reasonably and achieve a happier ending.

It’s still weird though, because it flies in the face of how romance games (otome, galge, or anything else) almost always do things. If it was meant as an intentional subversion, they didn’t make that clear.

Overall, while I did finish several routes with mixed feelings and criticisms, I enjoyed my time with 9 R.I.P. and found it to be an entertaining experience. More importantly, I liked the characters enough that if they localize the recently-announced sequel (please), I’ll definitely get it.

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Best Gaming Deals I’ve Seen So Far

You know what time of year it is – the time when excellent deals start popping up!

(Actually, I’ve been seeing Black Friday sales for over a week already, so I guess everyone decided to just pretend it was last week and get started early.)

So if you’ve been looking for some great video game deals, especially as we head toward the holidays, here are some that stand out to me the most.

First up, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is on sale for $24.99. Yes, I bought it at full price. No, I haven’t finished it yet. While I can’t give too many thoughts on it yet as a result, at a price like that it’s hard to go wrong.

Two more on sale for $24.99 or thereabouts are Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy XVI. I went for this deal myself, so here’s hoping 1) I don’t regret it, and 2) they don’t get an even deeper discount before I get around to playing them.

(I bought them alongside the Silent Hill 2 remake for $29.99, but that deal sold out very quickly.)

The Apollo Justice Trilogy, meanwhile, is on sale for $29.99. It still feels amazing that we now have (almost) all the Ace Attorney games on modern platforms, so be sure to check out this collection if you still need to play the 4th, 5th, and 6th mainline games.

Leaving Amazon and heading over to VGP, they’re having a 1-day blowout sale today only on Persona 5 Strikers, pricing it at $7.13 for the Switch version and $3.56 for the PS4 version. This is an absurdly good deal for a game I loved.

Play-Asia is also having a Black Friday sale, which makes it a great time to pick up any imports you’re interested in. Atelier Lydie & Suelle and Super Mario RPG especially stand out to me as being good deals.

I’m sure there are plenty of other great deals out there – last week, one retailer even had the 3DS Dragon Quest games on sale until they sold out almost immediately – but these are a few that stood out to me. What are the best deals you’ve seen?

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Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian Confirmed to Be Offline & Non-Gacha

It seems like we completely forgot to talk about this one, so let’s start at the beginning.

Back near the end of September, Gust and Koei Tecmo announced Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian for Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC.

(That name is a mouthful, but it looks like the official account shortens it to RW, so that’s what I’ve done in the tags.)

It will be released in 2025, which means we not only have Atelier Yumia coming next year, but this new game as well.

If the title “Resleriana” sounds familiar, it’s because this is an offline game with an original story set in the same universe as the gacha game Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator, which we discussed when its localization was announced.

I’m not especially interested in that one because of its nature, but an offline game? Now that has my attention.

A short teaser trailer shown at the time of the new game’s announcement revealed a bit of the world, but not much else.

Although it was widely assumed at the time due to it being an offline game, Koei Tecmo has now confirmed this game has no gacha system. They also said it can be enjoyed without knowledge of the other Atelier Resleriana.

It’s interesting that they have two Atelier games in development at once, and even more interesting that one is set in the same world as the gacha game, which is itself considered a mainline entry.

They still haven’t said anything about the combat system, which is what I’m most curious about. Atelier Ryza opted for a very fast-paced ATB system and Atelier Yumia is taking a step even beyond that into action combat, but Atelier Sophie 2 was turn-based (and so is the gacha game). A lot of fans think Atelier Resleriana RW might also be turn-based, and that’s why they’re working on both it and Yumia.

2025 is already shaping up to be a good year for JRPGs, although I’ve still got a backlog of Atelier games to play. What do you expect from Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian?

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Ever 17 and Never 7 Remasters Announced and Coming West

Over the weekend, remasters of Ever 17: The Out of Infinity and Never 7: The End of Infinity were announced for Switch, PS4, and PC, and today Spike Chunsoft confirmed that they’ll be coming west.

If you’ve never heard of them, these are the first two visual novels in the Infinity series, written by none other than Kotaro Uchikoshi before he did Zero Escape.

According to the official website, Ever 17 is about a group of people trapped in an underwater theme park, while Never 7 follows a protagonist having premonitions of a girl’s tragic death.

(Never 7 is the first game in the series, but all the information about the remastered collection lists them in the order of Ever 17 and Never 7. I’m not sure why.)

The Ever 17 / Never 7 Double Pack will be available on March 6, 2025. Only a digital release has been announced so far, although it looks like the physical Asia release of the double pack will include English.

Now, here’s where things get a little trickier when it comes to fan reception to the news. In 2011, Ever 17 was remade with 3D models and a rewritten script. This remake was only ever released in Japan. The new remaster appears to be based on that remake but with the 2D sprites restored. That means it will have the remake’s script, which some fans say is inferior and gives away the twists too soon (along with some criticism for marketing it as an Uchikoshi game when he wasn’t involved with the rewritten script). So some fans are encouraging new players to play the original Ever 17 before this version.

(While the original Ever 17 was translated, the English version is no longer available, so you’d need to get a Japanese copy and patch it with a fan translation.)

This has caused some consternation around what is otherwise excellent news, which is unfortunate. I’ve been curious about these games for a long time, so I was excited to see the announcement. I don’t know if I’ll try to find a way to play the original first or just dive in with the remaster and hope for the best.

There is also a third game in the series called Remember 11, which isn’t included here, as well as a spin-off and a reboot. Whether we’ll see any of those games again remains to be seen.

Are you interested in the Ever 17 and Never 7 remasters? How do you feel about the script controversy?

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Bug Fables Gets an Update for Its 5th Anniversary

It’s been almost 4 years since I played Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling, and 5 since the game came out.

I found Bug Fables to be an excellent game that satisfied my craving for a classic Paper Mario game while still having an identity of its own. There’s still no sign of a sequel, but I have my fingers crossed.

But even if there’s no sequel, that doesn’t mean there’s no news. For its fifth anniversary, the game got a surprise update!

(I’ll admit, when they teased news coming yesterday, I had hoped for a sequel announcement, but this is still exciting.)

The 5th anniversary v1.2 update adds a fishing mini-game, a new post-game boss fight, a medal that lets allied characters support you, 11 other new medals, new items, a new music track, and some quality-of-life improvements.

It’s wonderful to see Bug Fables being supported even five years after launch, and it increases my hopes that we’ll see more from this universe someday. The additions aren’t enough to make me replay the game just yet, but it sounds like Bug Fables will be an even better experience for new players now.

Bug Fables is available on Steam, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One (all digital-only, although there was also a Limited Run Games physical release for the Switch), so if you’ve been hoping for another game in the style of Paper Mario, this looks like the best time to give Bug Fables a try!

What do you think of the new Bug Fables update?

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Control 2 Will Be an Action RPG

Two years ago, we discussed the official announcement of Control 2, and last month I finally finished Control.

Now some new information has come out, although what it means isn’t quite clear yet.

Remedy made a few small announcements yesterday, including the detail that Control 2 will be an action RPG.

This made me pause when I first read it, because the first game already has some RPG elements despite being classified as an action-adventure game. You earn experience and unlock upgrades from a skill tree. It sounds like Control 2 will go even further in that direction (maybe something similar to how Alan Wake was a thriller with horror elements while Alan Wake 2 was survival horror). What that exactly means, however, hasn’t been explained.

Of course, it’s sparked all sorts of arguments about what defines an RPG. I usually focus on leveling up as the main criteria, but it’s definitely muddied by games with RPG elements. But if your definition of RPG excludes most JRPGs, I disagree there completely.

What I’m imagining for Control 2 right now is an expanded version of those systems so that you can customize your build and combat style, maybe with more types of equipment available, too.

Meanwhile, in a curious maybe-easter-egg-maybe-glitch, some Control players are reporting that a certain spoiler character has disappeared from their game. The discussion involves spoilers, so don’t click that link if you’re avoiding Control spoilers. There was a Control update after the release of Alan Wake 2’s Lake House DLC that this might be related to, but it’s still not entirely clear since not everyone has been able to replicate it. If it is an easter egg, however, that’s pretty neat.

I enjoyed Control despite how long it took me to finish it, and I’m planning to play Control 2. Although the multiplayer spin-off coming out in between doesn’t interest me, I’ll be looking forward to learning more about Control 2 and what its new RPG direction means.

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Game Awards Nominees Announced, Infinite Wealth Has Two Nominations

The nominees for this years Game Awards have been announced, and there’s quite a few titles that interest me on the list.

The Game of the Year category, has been drawing the most attention, with Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio being nominated.

Elden Ring is causing the greatest stir, because they said ahead of time that DLC is eligible to be nominated in any category. A lot of people are saying they changed the rules just so Erdtree could be nominated, but I don’t think this is a rule change. The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine DLC won Best RPG back in 2016, so it seems to me DLC was always eligible for any category and they only emphasized it this year because it was a GOTY nominee specifically.

Anyway, I’ve started Metaphor and have Astro Bot and Rebirth in my backlog waiting for me. Will I finish any of them in time for the Game Awards show? We shall see. I actually played a good deal of Elden Ring when it came out, but I took a long break from it, so I’m nowhere near ready to even try Shadow of the Erdtree. Someday…

In the Best Game Direction category, the nominees are Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor ReFantazio. Yes, it’s the same as the GOTY nominees.

Now for Best Narrative, we have Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, and Silent Hill 2.

That’s an excellent lineup of which I’ve finished none (although to be fair, I know the story of Silent Hill 2), but it does my heart good to see Infinite Wealth making the list. Like a Dragon is still a niche series compared to the big ones, and I thought Infinite Wealth might be skipped entirely. I still need to get back to my playthrough, but I’m happy to see it get a nomination.

Best Art Direction has Astro Bot, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Neva as nominees. From what I’ve played so far of Metaphor, it deserves its spot here.

The nominees for Best Score and Music are Astro Bot, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Silent Hill 2, and Stellar Blade.

Metaphor has a great score from what I’ve heard so far, and I’m happy to see Silent Hill 2 on this list as well. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade is another game on my list to finish. It’s nice to see it get a nomination, although I haven’t played enough yet to really comment on the soundtrack. On the other hand, it’s also one of the nominees for Best Action Game, which I think it has a shot at.

I’m not going to go through every category, so jumping ahead to one of the categories nearest and dearest to my heart – Best RPG – where the nominees are Dragon’s Dogma II, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Now I might not have gotten far enough in Infinite Wealth to comment on the narrative yet, but it definitely felt like a solid RPG. It’s going up against some heavy-hitters, but maybe it has a chance.

There are plenty of other categories and nominees, which you can check out at the official site, so I’ll just mention that the Most Anticipated Game nominees are Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotei, Grand Theft Auto VI, Metroid Prime 4, and Monster Hunter Wilds, none of which would even crack my top 10 most anticipated games. It’s actually a bit startling to see so many games I was excited for and plan to play nominated for other categories, while none of my most anticipated games got nominated there.

Meanwhile, it says something dire about my backlog that there are so many games I planned/plan/want to play but still haven’t. Whoops.

Anyway, I’ll try hard to have at least finished a couple of these contenders so I can root for them properly. The Game Awards 2024 is set for December 12 at 4:30 PM PT / 7:30 PM ET, and I’ll tune in more for announcements than for anything else. How do you feel about this year’s Game Awards nominees?

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Trails in the Sky SC is an Excellent Sequel

All the way back in 2018, I played and loved Trails in the Sky and was anxious to play the sequel.

It took me longer than I expected.

I don’t quite know how to explain why I waited this many years to finally get around to a game I was so eager to play. Different games just kept taking up my time, I suppose.

But my interest in the Trails series surged enough that I finally made it a priority this year.

Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter picks up immediately where the first game left off. The story has a faster pace this time around; while it still has some slow sections, there are a lot more exciting moments throughout.

The combat system is the same grid-style turn-based combat system as in its predecessor, and more powerful orbment setups allow for greater customization of the magic you can use. And while the first game has a revolving party, where characters come and go in each new chapter, the party here is much more flexible, with more permanent party members you can choose from for your active team.

Best of all, it is still the game for NPC dialogue. Having learned my lesson about missable side quests and their tiny windows of availability last time, I made a concerted effort to backtrack after every plot point in this game. NPC dialogue updates every single time, and it’s so much fun to see these minor background characters go through their own miniature stories. For example, one town included a married couple having trouble with their relationship, and I found myself strangely invested in their outcome as I checked back each time. This sort of thing really makes the world feel alive and real, and I love it.

It also seems to have a lot more sections where dialogue changes depending on your active party – at one point I had an all-female team and the characters referenced it in a conversation, and that’s just a minor example.

Now, Trails in the Sky is the first arc in a lengthy series, and it was especially interesting to see how that came into play here. Although SC tells a more conclusive story than the first game, it does so while dropping hints and details for things that are to come later. I was actually surprised to see how much it quietly sets up a larger series despite being such an early entry. It left me even more excited to move forward and see the rest.

Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter is an excellent game, and I had a lot of fun playing it. Since it took me over 90 hours, however, I’m going to take a break before diving into the next game – but this time, it won’t be a break that lasts for years.

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