Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 18

Level-5 Vision 2024 Scheduled for September 24

When we discussed the Fantasy Life i delay a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that Level-5 had yet to announce a date for their showcase that was delayed from April to this summer.

However, we now have a date!

The rescheduled Level-5 Vision 2024 has been announced for September 24 at 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET. It will have English and Chinese subtitles.

So… that’s not actually “summer” anymore, but at least it’s not too far off.

Titles featured in the showcase will be Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, Fantasy Life i (including information about the delay), Decapolice, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, and a brand-new title.

Now, with the delays we’ve seen so far, I don’t know how I feel about them announcing a new game before any of those four are even out. It’s probably going to be the maybe-Yokai-Watch-maybe-spiritual-successor teased last year, but I just wish it didn’t feel like they were taking on too much all at once.

But who knows? Maybe this was the final stumbling block and things will finally get moving. Hopefully we’ll get a release date for both Inazuma Eleven and Fantasy Life i. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if at least Decapolice has now been bumped to 2025, and I worry Professor Layton could get pushed even further off as a result.

(Hey, what ever happened to Ushiro? We never heard anything after it was un-cancelled, although it amusingly keeps showing up on Famitsu lists of Japan’s most-anticipated games.)

Level-5’s resurgence still has me worried, but here’s hoping we get some good news. What do you expect from the Level-5 showcase later this month?

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Atelier Yumia Live Stream Reveals Party Members, Combat, and More

Heads-up: if you’re a blog subscriber, it may be a few days before you get email notifications again, as the service I was using shut down.

All right, now let’s get into today’s topic – Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land and the unanswered questions we had about it after its announcement trailer.

This morning, Gust and Koei Tecmo held a live stream at which they revealed new information about Atelier Yumia, followed by a 10-minute English trailer.

Now, the stream wasn’t translated, so I had to pick up what I could just by watching it and then fill in some details with the English trailer later. Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to see that the next trailer they showed was featuring party members. I don’t know if they saw fans jumping to conclusions that there wouldn’t be party members or if they always intended to introduce them during this live stream, but they showed off five party members.

Their next focus was on field exploration. It looks like you can shoot enemies and materials in the environment. They showed some crafting after that and then moved onto combat.

Combat was the other big question from the announcement, and I watched the combat section over and over to try to figure out if it’s action combat or very fast-paced ATB. They show the character moving right at the start, but for the most of it they stay more or less in one place aside from movement related to the attacks, and there’s a “range” button that changes what range you’re attacking at, so right now I’m leaning toward it being a highly fast-paced ATB system like in the Ryza games. You can also switch characters on the fly.

Base-building also looks like it’s going to be a big deal, as you not only can create and arrange furniture, but also construct entire buildings?? I’m really curious about how much that’s going to play into it.

The story does seem darker than usual for the series, but it also looks like a beautiful game. The environments they’ve shown so far have been breathtaking!

(Oh, and they’re definitely aiming for fanservice again with some of those designs. They know it worked with Ryza and want to keep that momentum.)

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land will be out on March 21, 2025. I still have not played most of the Atelier games in my backlog. I promise to get on that! In the meantime, are you looking forward to Atelier Yumia?

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RGG Summit Set for September 20

RGG Studio has announced the next RGG Summit.

It will be held on September 20 at 3 AM PT / 6 AM ET, and they’re expected to announce the next game in the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series.

Previously they said their next game would be revealed at TGS, which is roughly a week later, so I’m not quite sure what to make of that. Either they meant they’re going to show their next game at TGS and it was misinterpreted to mean an announcement since they hadn’t mentioned the RGG Summit yet, or they have multiple games to announce.

Let’s talk briefly about the past RGG Summits.

The first one was in September 2022. Like a Dragon Ishin had been announced the previous night at a State of Play, and the Summit provided more information about that, along with the first reveal of Like a Dragon 8 (later titled Infinite Wealth) and the surprise announcement of Like a Dragon Gaiden. While not being announced at the Summit, Judgment and Lost Judgment PC ports were shadow-dropped afterwards.

In short, the first RGG Summit was huge.

In June 2023, the RGG Summit returned to show trailers for Gaiden and Infinite Wealth that had already been shown at other events, with a little more information provided.

Then in September 2023, there was another RGG Summit that provided a deeper look at Infinite Wealth.

So this is the first time since 2022 that we’re going into an RGG Summit without the next game(s) already having been announced (unless you count the Switch port of Kiwami). That opens up the potential for it to be an exciting event with multiple announcements like that first RGG Summit was.

Personally, I’d love to see a new Judgment game, and I haven’t lost hope for a Dead Souls remaster. A Kenzan remake would also be quite a pleasant surprise. It feels too early for the next mainline game to be announced, but another Gaiden side game isn’t out of the question. And let’s not forget the mysterious “Yakuza Wars” trademark we thought would be the TGS announcement.

I’m probably in the minority on this, but I don’t want a Kiwami 3. Yakuza 3 might feel a bit clunky to play, but its remaster is still fine and I’d rather them use their time and energy on other games.

Meanwhile, I’ve started Infinite Wealth but am still early in the game, and I’m partway through Lost Judgment. Here’s hoping I make enough progress before September 20 so that I don’t risk spoilers by watching the Summit…

What are your hopes and expectations for this year’s RGG Summit?

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The Nintendo Direct Was a JRPG Lover’s Dream

How does Nintendo keep bringing out awesome showcases like this?

When we discussed the combined Indie World Showcase and Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase announced for yesterday on Monday, I hoped for “some good surprises.”

I got my wish and then some, even though there was no Professor Layton trailer like I’d been hoping for.

The indie showcase didn’t have too much that excited me, although Balatro getting a crossover with The Witcher ranks up there with the most unexpected crossovers, and seeing Sea of Stars DLC reminded me that I never did play that game.

As for Date Everything, the dating sim where you can date personified furniture, I’m still highly skeptical. I need to see more evidence that the stories have actual depth instead of deriving all their interest from the wackiness of dating whatever inanimate object the character happens to be. (Having 100 dateable characters is not proof; if anything, that makes me more concerned that the romances won’t have depth.)

But the Partner Showcase is where things really got interesting.

After a few announcements that didn’t interest me much, they went into a quick montage of upcoming games, starting with… excuse me, was that a Trails in the Sky remake??

Titled Trails in the Sky the First, this full 3D remake of the first Trails in the Sky game got all of 5 seconds despite being a major announcement that sent fans into chaos. Falcom has hinted and teased that they might remake Sky, but nothing had been announced until now. I was shocked when I recognized it, and it being revealed so casually only make it feel more surreal. Fortunately, the Japanese Direct included an actual trailer.

Since then, things have gotten a little strange. No other platforms have been announced yet, which flies in the face of the remake being intended to make Sky more accessible, and it seems they aren’t sure if they’ll even go with a western publisher or not. The translation appears to be the same as the Xseed-published versions currently on Steam.

But regardless of how they handle it, Trails in the Sky the First looks beautiful and it’s exciting to see this remake!

There were a few more announcements after that and then another JRPG announcement… and not just any JRPG, but the next Atelier game! Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories and the Envisioned Land looks a lot more intense than I’d expect from Atelier, but I’m intrigued.

Fans have already jumped to all sorts of conclusion about Atelier Yumia, from believing it’s an action RPG to assuming there are no party members, but further details are set to come on September 2 and will hopefully clear up this confusion.

Moving on, remember the Suikoden I & II HD Remaster announced in 2022? Konami finally remembered them too, as after the long stretch of silence, we got a new trailer, and it looks pretty good. Right on its heels was a new trailer for the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, with a new job revealed.

While not a JRPG, I was also interested in the announcement that the three DS Castlevania games have now been released in a new collection called the Castlevania Dominus Collection.

The next announcement didn’t interest me, but then they moved on to a Tales remaster! Yes, they’re remastering Tales of… Graces? That’s right, it’s not the rumored Xillia remaster, but Tales of Graces f.

Tales of Graces f is being remastered with a bunch of quality-of-life improvements, so unless it turns out buggy, I’ll probably play this over my unplayed PS3 copy. Even more significant than this announcement alone is that the trailer begins with a “Tales of series Remastered Project” logo. It seems Graces f is only the first remaster planned to celebrate the 30th anniversary next year, and more will follow.

(It’s time to localize one of the untranslated games, Bandai Namco! It’s your turn!)

After a few more announcements, they caught my attention again with a new trailer for Rune Factory: Project Dragon, which now has the official title Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. It looks even better than it did before!

Finally, they ended the Partner Showcase by announcing a port of Yakuza Kiwami for the Switch.

I was stunned. Yakuza on the Switch feels like the sort of announcement you’d see in a fake Direct leak. It’s coming out on October 24, and I’m tempted to get it just to support the series on the Switch. RGG Studio had previously claimed Yakuza didn’t fit the image of the Switch, which to me always sounded like an excuse. I personally believed the actual reason was because the original first two games were ported to the Wii U and sold poorly, and they didn’t want to just say that. Yakuza finally making it to the Switch only makes me believe that more.

All in all, it was a surprisingly exciting showcase, especially as a JRPG fan. Trails in the Sky the First, Atelier Yumia, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster, Tales of Graces f Remastered, and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma are all set to be released in 2025, so next year is already looking stacked.

What announcements from the two Nintendo showcases are you most interested in?

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Nintendo Indie World Showcase AND Partner Showcase Announced for Tomorrow

It’s only been a couple of months since the last, amazing Nintendo Direct, and while this next one isn’t a general Direct, it’s still exciting.

Nintendo has announced an Indie World Showcase for tomorrow at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET… and a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase directly at it.

Both showcases will be presented back-to-back, for a total time of 40 minutes.

While often not as exciting as general Directs, both indie showcases and Partner Showcases often have a lot of fun announcements. So although I don’t expect it to be as exciting as the last Direct, we could still get some good surprises out of this.

For example, it was a Partner Showcase in February that included Pocket Card Jockey, among others.

Doing both showcases on the same day is unusual, and since Nintendo once again made it clear that they won’t be talking about the Switch’s successor here, I wonder if they’re getting Switch announcements out of the way by doing them together.

It’s a rare event where I’m not expecting Ace Attorney news, but dare I hope for a Professor Layton trailer? What are you hoping to see at tomorrow’s joint Indie World Showcase and Partner Showcase?

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An Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Demo is Now Available!

We’re quickly approaching the release date of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, and as if that isn’t exciting enough on its own, they’ve actually released a demo.

The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection demo will let you play through the start of each game’s first case, so you can try both the start of Turnabout Visitor and Turnabout Trigger.

Progress will transfer to the full game, too!

They announced it through a new trailer that also lets us hear some of the new Investigations 2 voice lines, but I didn’t embed it here because it includes some out-of-context shots from both games that I feel could be considered spoilers (such as a scene from the first game’s final case).

This is the first time they’ve released an Ace Attorney demo since… well, since we were last getting brand-new Ace Attorney games, back on the 3DS. None of the other collections got public demos.

Since the Investigations games play differently from the rest of the series, I wonder if that’s why they chose to give it a demo – to let players experience the new mechanics for themselves. It’s great to see, and it feels like they really want to give Investigations the best chance to succeed.

Meanwhile, the official Ace Attorney website has now been updated with an official timeline that shows all of the games – excluding the crossover – in chronological order, provides information about each individual game and what collection it can be found in, and shows some basic character relationships.

(It also confirms that they do not see Athena as a main protagonist of Spirit of Justice, only of Dual Destinies, which lines up with how she’s handled in the game.)

Honestly, all of this makes me more convinced than ever that we’re getting a new Ace Attorney game soon. They’re going hard with the Investigations Collection’s marketing and making it easier than ever for players to get into the series. That timeline page feels like the sort of thing you’d bring out to prepare for a new Ace Attorney game – and I’ve still got my hopes set on the Tokyo Game Show.

Are you going to try the Investigations Collection demo? Do you think Capcom is gearing up to announce Ace Attorney 7?

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Thoughts on the Emio Demo So Far

When we discussed the demo for Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club last week, I said I wasn’t sure if I would play the demo or just wait for the full game.

But when the first part of the demo became available yesterday, I decided I couldn’t wait and downloaded it to give it a try!

The current demo contains the prologue and Chapter 1, introducing the player to the start of the game. It definitely feels like a Famicom Detective Club game, with a presentation and controls very much in line with the Switch remakes of the first two.

Like in those games, you pick commands such as “call,” “ask,” “look,” etc. from a menu as you interact with other characters and investigate areas. And yes, sometimes you’ll need to choose the same option multiple times in a row or come back to actions after having chosen others.

However, the “think” command seems to have been improved so that when it’s not necessary for progression, it provides you with a slight hint toward what you should be trying. If that holds up throughout the whole game, it will go a long way toward avoiding the tedious “try every option and then try every option again” cycle the first two games often fell into.

It’s too early to have a good feel for the mystery in Emio, but the prologue and first chapter provide the basic setup for the case and introduce some new characters. There are a couple of fun easter eggs, too.

(And like with the first two, if you have save data from either of the others you can transfer the name you used for yourself instead of entering it again.)

One thing that feels a little strange is that the main character and Ayumi decide to split the investigation work, which means you spend the first chapter talking to the police while she meets with the victim’s family off-screen. Having that part handled off-screen is odd, but since the game’s description says Ayumi will be playable, I wonder if that means the next chapter will show that investigation from her perspective instead of picking up where Chapter 1 ended.

Either way, I’m looking forward to playing Chapter 2 when it becomes available tomorrow, and of course, I’m looking forward to the full game. Have you tried the Emio demo?

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Fantasy Life i Delayed (Again)

The Nintendo Direct in February 2023 had a huge number of exciting announcements, including the great return of Level-5 with DecaPolice, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and Professor Layton and the New World of Steam.

Fantasy Life i was eventually delayed to 2024 and given a Summer 2024 release window, and then at this February’s Nintendo Direct, it got a release date of October 10.

The delay made me a little nervous…

…and now it’s been delayed again.

The announcement says they’ve decided to “change the release date,” which I was faintly hopeful about since it doesn’t actually use the word “delay,” but Nintendo of Europe tweeted about it and called it a delay. So I doubt this is one of those rare cases of a release date being moved up.

More information will come at Level-5’s live stream, which was originally planned for April but was itself delayed to summer and still has no specific date.

As a Level-5 fan, I was so happy to see their big return, but now I’m getting worried. Maybe Fantasy Life i’s new delay is a strategic one, to avoid it being released on top of highly-anticipated games like Metaphor, but it doesn’t feel good that all of the games announced last February still seem to be in limbo. Plus, as a Professor Layton fan, I can’t help but worry this will push New World of Steam even further out.

On the other hand, I don’t want Fantasy Life i to be rushed, either. Here’s hoping that when it does come out, it’ll live up to its predecessor.

In unrelated news, Silent Hill 2 got a new story trailer that looks pretty good (although it’s uncanny to hear lines that are word-for-word the same as in the original but being said with new voices) and Final Fantasy XVI is coming to PC on September 17. Gamescom is tomorrow, so we might get some new announcements there as well. There’s a lot of great games coming out, so I hope Fantasy Life i will be one too when it has its time to shine.

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Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club 3-Part Demo Announced

I still can’t believe that only a few months after I said I wanted a new Famicom Detective Club game, not expecting it to happen, one is actually coming out.

We’re less than two months away from the release of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club for the Switch, and now a demo has been announced to let us try it even sooner.

Nintendo has opted for an unusual format for this demo, as it will be released in three parts. The prologue and Chapter 1 will be available on August 19, Chapter 2 will be added on August 22, and finally Chapter 3 will be added on August 27. Demo progress can be transferred to the full game.

This is an interesting way to handle the demo, and it makes me wonder if they’re imagining it almost like a book club format. Give players one chapter at a time to discuss while awaiting the full release. That could spark more discussion around it. And since Emio drew so much attention from the marketing campaign, a lengthy demo is a good way for new players to see if they’ll like it.

Releasing the first three chapters as a demo also supports my prediction that Emio will be significantly longer than the first two games, since that would be a significant chunk of an 11-chapter game.

I’m not sure yet if I’ll play the Emio demo or not. I’ve got plenty of games in my backlog to occupy me until the full release… but on the other hand, I’m excited to experience this new mystery (and a head start will help me finish ahead of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection)!

Are you planning to play Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club? How do you feel about this 3-part staggered demo format?

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Bakeru Coming West on September 3, Demo Available Now

[image error]Last year, Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru came out for the Nintendo Switch only in Japan.

It’s a 3D action platformer developed by Good-Feel, the company behind games like Yoshi’s Woolly World and the recent Princess Peach: Showtime, and is seen as a spiritual successor to the Ganbare Goemon series.

(The producer of that series founded Good-Feel.)

Set in “Fairy Tail Japan,” you set out to defeat the evil spirits and save Japan, using drums for combat and transforming into different forms to use different abilities.

And it’s coming west!

Titled simply Bakeru for its western release, the game will be out on September 3 for both Switch and PC. A couple new attacks and a new enemy have also been added, which is interesting.

Sadly, it appears like it will be a digital-only release in the west.

I’ve never played the Goemon games, but there’s a demo available for Bakeru, so I gave it a try. It seems like it will be a lot of fun! It’s stage-based, which I don’t enjoy as much as the more open collect-a-thon style of 3D platformers, but it still seems like the sort of game I’ll want to play eventually.

Are you interested in Bakeru?

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