Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 36

Could Breath of Fire Return?

Remember when Capcom had a turn-based JRPG series called Breath of Fire?

Breath of Fire feels like a forgotten series, with its last release being a 2016 Japan-exclusive mobile game that fans hated, and the last entry before that being from 2002.

But maybe we shouldn’t lose hope yet.

As part of its new “Capcom Town” feature, Capcom has been holding polls about various Capcom games.

The latest poll, which just ended on the 17th, asked fans if they wanted Sengoku Basara, Breath of Fire, or Capcom Arcade Stadium featured in the next Capcom Town museum exhibit.

Now the results are out (presented by Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey, just as the previous poll’s results were, and I love that Capcom apparently considers Ace Attorney iconic enough to give them this role), and… Sengoku Basara won. But the international breakdown shows that Breath of Fire got 71% of the vote in North America and Europe, as well as 56% of the vote from countries under “Others.”

After the voting ended, Capcom also posted an additional poll on Twitter asking fans which Breath of Fire game they played first. They did a similar poll for Sengoku Basara, although only in Japanese.

While celebrating Capcom history is a big focus of Capcom Town, even this much attention being given to Breath of Fire is more than the series has seen in a while. With fans showing their love for the series, maybe Capcom will realize it’s popular enough to deserve a collection or even a new entry.

Breath of Fire III is still the only Breath of Fire game I’ve played, so I might not be in the best position to ask for more. But I love JRPGs, and I’d love to see the series return. It’s been my hope for a while now that the success of Monster Hunter Stories will show them that they have a market for turn-based RPGs.

In the meantime, maybe I should get around to playing the other Breath of Fire games that are still in my backlog…

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CyberConnect2 Wants Fans to Ask Bandai Namco About .hack Remakes

Remember a year ago when we got our hopes up unreasonably for a potential collection of the original .hack games, only for them to be dashed?

(“Last Recollection” turned out to be a Sword Art Online game.)

Well, .hack hopes are in the air once again – not because of any rumors, but because the developers would like to see it return as much as the fans would.

For a quick explanation if you’re unfamiliar with the series, .hack began with four games developed by CyberConnect2 for the PlayStation 2 set in a fictional MMORPG.

These four games are .hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, and .hack//Quarantine. This is why you might sometimes see the original quadrilogy referred to as IMOQ, taking the first letter of each title.

The original four games were followed by an actual MMORPG adaptation in Japan, an anime series, manga, novel tie-ins, and other additions to the franchise, and eventually a sequel trilogy for the PlayStation 2 called .hack//G.U., along with even more spin-offs and tie-ins.

So while conversations about the series often focus on IMOQ and GU, there’s been a lot of .hack media over the years.

Anyway, 2017 saw the release of a remastered collection of the sequel trilogy, .hack//G.U. Last Recode, which also added a short fourth volume. The original four games, however, remain stranded on the PS2 without any ports or remasters in sight.

I played .hack//G.U. thanks to the Last Recode collection, and I enjoyed it! Although some parts were repetitive, the story was interesting enough to keep me invested. It came with a recap of the first four games that I watched, but I’d love to have a chance to play them.

In a recent interview with Noisy Pixel, the Vice President of CyberConnect 2 said they would love to bring back or remake the original .hack quadrilogy, but can’t do so without Bandai Namco’s permission. They “urge the readers to fire away all the requests to them so that we can get the green light from them to work on those titles.”

This has led to a new wave of fans tweeting with the hashtag #dothack and petitioning Bandai Namco in the hopes that the series will return.

Fan movements are nothing new – some of my earliest blog posts here are about trying to get Capcom to localize Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (which I still haven’t given up on) – but it’s less common for it to happen at the developer’s request. If enough .hack fans make their voices heard, maybe we’ll see the a .hack quadrilogy collection or even a brand-new .hack series after all!

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Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 3: The Mysteries Deepen

Look at that, I actually continued Higurashi without letting another year pass me by again.

So far, each chapter of Higurashi has felt quite different. The first episode was a slow build-up to intense paranoia. The second episode played out like a mystery, with surprises waiting just when it seemed everything was resolved.

That brings us to Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 3 Tatarigoroshi.

Like the previous episodes, the third entry begins with a slice-of-life section in which everything seems lighthearted and fun. This time, those fun days are cut short by sadness, with an unhappy section of the story that retains the slow pace but sees the main character falling into despair as he’s unable to do anything to help a suffering friend.

The tone felt much more somber than the previous two episodes, and then it took a darker turn in a much different way.

And from there, things start getting strange – adding even more mysteries on top of those from the first two episodes. As I played, I started to develop theories about what was actually going on, only for later developments to throw those theories into confusion again. The ending, especially, left me with more questions than ever.

That’s about all I can say without spoilers.

Click for Higurashi Chapter 3 spoilersRight now my two major theories that I keep being torn between are “Keiichi is an unreliable narrator with false memories” and “there are parallel timelines and Keiichi jumps between them sometimes,” but neither of those has an explanation for the creepy footstep.

The story Keiichi’s friends tell about him being with them at the festival seem to overlap with what happened in one of the previous chapters, which is why I started to wonder if they could all be running parallel to one another. And the previous chapter, like this one, had people being alive when they were supposed to already be dead; it can’t be all just delusion.

It feels like each chapter carefully builds up to a plausible rational explanation for the curse, only to pull the rug out from under you with an inexplicable incident.

Then there are characters like Ooshi and Takano, who seem to be more sinister in each new episode.

This wasn’t my favorite chapter, because of how long it took for things to really start happening, but the questions raised once they did were worth it.

Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 3 Tatarigoroshi was sad, disturbing, and confusing all at once, and I’m really curious to see how this will all be wrapped up. Maybe for this October, we’ll actually get through the whole series to see how it plays out!

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New Shantae Game Announced at LRG3

While not held during June like the rest of the “Not-E3” events this year, Limited Run Games held its 2023 “LRG3” showcase on Wednesday.

I expected some announcements of previously digital-only games I’d want to pick up physical copies for, and maybe some old classics being resurrected again.

We certainly got that, and even the Clock Tower rumors came to fruition, with an enhanced port of the original SNES game announced with a translation for the first time.

But what I never saw coming was a new Shantae game.

Shantae Advance was originally planned as Shantae 2 for the Game Boy Advance, but the lack of sales for the first game meant the game’s ambition couldn’t be realized, and it was cancelled. Now it’s back – and they aren’t just releasing the incomplete pieces, but finishing the game to release Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution as a new full entry in the Shantae series.

Not only that, but it’s being completed and released as an actual GBA game.

So far it’s unclear if Risky Revolution will be released on modern platforms or if it will be a GBA exclusive. When asked on Twitter, WayForward said they don’t have anything to announce at this time about it coming out on other platforms.

While it seems like a strange decision to release a GBA exclusive in the year 2024, it does contribute to the sense of this old cancelled game being released as it was originally conceived. Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution preorders will open in September, with the game itself being due out in early 2024.

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Yo-kai Watch News Teased On Its 10th Anniversary

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of Yo-kai Watch, and Level-5 opened up an anniversary website to celebrate.

There isn’t much of note for those of us outside of Japan, especially since the Switch games were never localized (not even the port of the first game).

What’s much more interesting is a tweet from Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino, in which he talks about the anniversary.

If Google’s translation is accurate, his tweet says the “next work” is progressing even though it isn’t ready to be announced yet. This follows a tease back in February, in which he similarly commented on “the next amazing thing” in the works for Yo-kai Watch.

It’s been a long time since we’ve had any reason to discuss Yo-kai Watch.

For a while, the series seemed like it was poised to become the next big thing. It was huge in Japan and had begun to gain ground in the west. Yo-kai Watch, three different versions of Yo-kai Watch 2 (following the Pokémon model), the first Yo-kai Watch Blasters spin-off (also with two versions), and Yo-kai Watch 3 were all localized.

Then Yo-kai Watch localizations ground to a halt.

We never got Yo-kai Watch 4 or any other spin-offs, despite persistent hope for 4. Back in 2021, the trademark of “Y School Heroes” made fans hopeful that the spin-off Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Academy Y was set to be localized, but nothing came of that.

(Then again, in that same blog post where I discussed that trademark, I mentioned that nothing had come of the Baten Kaitos trademark, and the Baten Kaitos remaster was finally announced this year.)

Now we have another chance. With Level-5 already having announced Decapolice, Fantasy Life i, Megaton Musashi: Wired, and Professor Layton and the New World of Steam this year, with a new commitment to worldwide releases, I’m hopeful that the next time a Yo-kai Watch game is announced, we’ll finally get it again in the west.

Back in March when the 3DS eShop was being shut down, I played through the start of Yo-kai Watch 3 to get far enough to download the free DLC before the eShop closed. It was fun, and it made me sad that we never got more Yo-kai Watch. While I still need to play 2 and 3, here’s hoping there is a new Yo-kai Watch game in our future!

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Bayonetta Origins is Surprisingly Excellent

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is a spin-off of the Bayonetta series as well as a prequel, starring Cereza when she was a child.

Being a T-rated action-adventure game instead of an M-rated stylish action game like the main series, it caused some doubts among fans when it was announced, especially since Bayonetta 3 was already divisive.

Adding to that is the fact that the fairytale storybook aesthetic and simpler style made a lot of people assume it would be a short game without much to offer.

Well, that’s not true!

I finished Bayonetta Origins yesterday with a playtime of around 18 hours or so, and I had a fantastic time with it. As a child, Cereza ventures into the forbidden Avalon Forest, driven by dreams that say she’ll gain the power to save her mother. Yet the forest is home to malicious faeries, and she only survives by summoning a demon into the body of her stuffed cat, Cheshire.

You control both Cereza and Cheshire, either together when Cereza is carrying him, or separately. This is especially important in combat, where Cereza acts as support with limited magic techniques while Cheshire is your primary fighter.

Controlling two characters at once takes a bit of getting used to, but I found the combat surprisingly fun and more involved than I expected. It won’t have you using crazy combos like the main series, but it has a lot more action than you might have expected from the trailer. As you progress through the game, you also gain new abilities for Cheshire that play a role in both combat and exploration.

Exploration is a big part of Bayonetta Origins, and one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much. Avalon Forest is more or less one huge interconnected map. While you could stick to the main path, there are a ton of side paths to take to find upgrades and other collectibles, especially once you have more abilities. That lends it some light Metroidvania aspects – each new power means new places to explore and items to find if you care to backtrack for them.

Meanwhile, the story is quite heartfelt. I found myself invested in the relationship between Cereza and Cheshire, as well as the development of Cereza herself from a timid, uncertain girl to someone I can see growing up into the Bayonetta we know.

Although… Bayonetta’s 3 story does raise some questions about that, making me even less a fan of the multiverse.

Click for major Bayonetta 3 spoilers(Yes, this is primarily a spoiler for 3, not Origins.)

Which Cereza are we playing as in Origins?? Since Viola has Cheshire in 3, that made me think this Cereza was her mom, the Bayonetta who died at the start of 3. But parts of Origins strongly imply this Cereza is the Bayonetta we play as in 3 (who may or may not be the same as the protagonist in 1 and 2; join the debate). Being uncertain about whose origin story this actually is makes it feel less special.

Complications from being directly tied to Bayonetta 3 aside, Bayonetta Origins tells a compelling story with some truly excellent moments. While it’s certainly a very different genre for the series, Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is not a minor spin-off to be ignored, but a great game I had a fantastic time with.

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It’s the 23rd Anniversary of Final Fantasy IX

Today is the 23rd anniversary of Final Fantasy IX.

While it wouldn’t be released in North America until November (and not in Europe until the next February), July 7, 2000 was the date Final Fantasy IX first came out in Japan.

Final Fantasy IX holds a special place in my heart. It was my first Final Fantasy game, as well as one of my first JRPGs, although I might have already played Paper Mario and Pokémon.

I fell in love with it as soon as I started playing, and it got me hooked on the genre.

It’s been so long since I played Final Fantasy IX, I’ve probably forgotten a lot of details. Still, the parts I do remember are wonderful memories. The “You’re Not Alone” scene is one of the most powerful scenes in the series to me, along with a certain scene where two characters fight side-by-side.

So I keep wondering if we’ll see Final Fantasy IX return someday.

Most attention has been on Final Fantasy XVI and the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but there have been some whispers of Final Fantasy IX news. For one thing, there’s supposedly an animated series being made… although the total silence about it makes me wonder if it will ever exist.

There also have been rumors of a Final Fantasy IX remake for a while now. It was part of the Nvidia leak, and further rumors have followed since then. Even Gematsu says it’s in development. If the remake does exist, could it be set for 2025 for the game’s 25th anniversary?

I don’t often replay games since there are so many games I have yet to play in my backlog, but a Final Fantasy IX remake is one I’d play for sure.

Many fans think the rumored Final Fantasy IX remake will feature turn-based combat, as a love letter to the classics just like the original Final Fantasy IX was. I would love that. It would be amazing, especially with recent games in the series switching to action combat instead.

There’s no real news to discuss today or anything like that. But after seeing that it was the anniversary of the game that really got me into the genre, I wanted to make a post remembering it. Have you played Final Fantasy IX? Would you play a remake if one came out?

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Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo – An Unexpected Rollercoaster of Emotions

Back when Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo was announced back in 2021 (alongside a ton of other exciting otome announcements), it was one of the newly-announced titles I was most excited for.

It’s a fantasy story with a historical setting that follows a young woman named Suzuno who has the ability to see people’s emotions. Although she lives an isolated life since the villagers are afraid of her, she’s recruited by the shogunate to join a secret group trained to fight demons/yokai known as blightfall.

That premise appeals to me, so I was looking forward to it, but I generally expected Winter’s Wish to just be “fine.” Something that would have some sweet moments, some nice routes, and nothing that would especially stand out… but I was surprised by just how much I ended up enjoying it!

Winter’s Wish has an interesting structure. Instead of a single common route that leads to the character routes, the common route itself splits into three branches.

There are six love interests who work in pairs, and after a short common route to set up the story and characters, you pick which pair to join. Then you have a common route focused on those two characters before your choices place you on one or the other’s route.

It also employs a clever means of locking routes without making it obvious from the start. Any character’s route can be started, but some will only let you play a certain amount before locking you out if you haven’t met the requirements yet. They’re effectively the same as locked routes, but a bit more subtle about it.

Anyway, each route focuses on a different central conflict related to the love interest of choice. It’s one of those games where drastically different events occur just based on who you’re working with, which always seems a bit unnatural to me from a narrative perspective, but since all the important details remain consistent across routes, it didn’t bother me too much.

In addition to the external conflict of each route, the romances have an additional element of drama due to the love interests being Vessels, artificial constructs created specifically to the fight the blightfall, who have their hearts sealed so they can’t feel emotion.

Click for Winter's Wish minor spoilersThey also make a big deal out of how if a Vessel regains his heart, he’ll need to be destroyed immediately, but since that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense (a Vessel with a heart is just like a regular human), it felt a bit forced. Fortunately, it took more of a back seat compared to the other conflicts.

The first few routes I played were indeed just “fine,” like I had expected. As a diehard fan of kuudere characters (the serious, seemingly-emotionless sort), Genjuro won my heart due to his personality and all the funny/cute moments in his route, and the others had some exciting moments. But the final two routes took me by surprise with how exciting they were! They ratcheted up the intensity and hit me with some twists and plot developments I never saw coming.

Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo. While not every route was as memorable as others, some parts had me invested in the story much more than I expected.

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Sympathy Kiss, My Next Life as a Villainess Otome, and Tsukihime Localizations Announced!

We were hoping for exciting news from Anime Expo, and a few announcements certainly stand out to me as a visual novel fan.

While there was no live stream of Idea Factory’s panel, fortunately Twitter was working again so I could wait for tweets about the news, since they’d teased at least one otome announcement.

They turned out to have not one, but two otome localizations to announce. The first one announced was Sympathy Kiss, an office romance about a woman who starts working for a mobile app developer. Sympathy Kiss has gotten some criticism from fans because the protagonist has an eyeless design presumably intended to make self-insertion easier. She also has no written dialogue, only dialogue indicated through the narration.

Despite this, fans who have played it in Japanese says she does have her own personality instead of being a complete self-insert. It sounds interesting enough that I’ll probably try it.

Sympathy Kiss will be out in early 2024.

Idea Factory’s other announced otome title will be out even earlier, with a winter release window, and that is My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! – Pirates of the Disturbance.

This extremely long title is because it is based on the anime My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, which I know little about except that it’s a reincarnation isekai “otome” anime that has little to do with actual otome tropes, so it’s ironic that an actual otome was developed based on it.

I’ve seen people say the game is a good comedy, so I’ll be keeping an eye on it (and looking up whether or not I should have greater knowledge of the anime before playing it).

As I mentioned, it’s set for winter 2023, so the second half of this year is even more stacked than it was before. Idea Factory has Limited Edition pages up for both titles, so it seems both Sympathy Kiss and My Next Life As a Villainess will receive Limited Editions.

Meanwhile, let’s swing our attention away from Idea Factory and toward Type-Moon, as it was announced that Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon will be released in the west for PS4 and Switch in 2024.

The original Tsukihime came out in 2000, and this is the first half of a two-part remake. (That’s right, Final Fantasy VII isn’t the only game getting a multi-part remake.) Apparently it was rewritten for the remake, with new characters and additional content that brings it to 45+ hours despite being only the first half.

After Witch on the Holy Night received an official translation (which I quite enjoyed) last year, I wondered if more Type-Moon visual novels would follow… and it seems the answer is yes! Who knows, one of these days we could be discussing an official Fate/Stay Night localization.

There might be more exciting news yet to come, but as a visual novel fan, these three announcements already have my attention. Are you interested in any of the three?

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Ghost Trick Remaster is Out Now, Capcom Shares “Four Prologues”

The Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective remaster is out now, so if you never had a chance to play this game, there’s never been a better time.

Capcom led up to the remaster’s release by tweeting the “Four Prologues,” four short prologues set just ahead of the start of the game, which were originally exclusive to Japan.

These four prologues follow Sissel, Lynne, Nearsighted Jeego, and Ray. Personally, I would have picked a lot of characters to get a prologue before Jeego, but since they’re specifically about the characters in the junkyard, it makes sense. While short, they were fun to read.

So, why am I making such a big fuss about a remastered DS game?

The original Ghost Trick was one of the titles I included on my list of must-play games/series back in 2016. Parts of that list might be outdated by now, but Ghost Trick still deserves its spot.

I also reviewed the remaster for MonsterVine, where I called it a masterpiece. I can’t say enough how much I love this game. It has great puzzles, an excellent sense of humor, and an absolutely fantastic story.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is out now on Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and I couldn’t be happier. A game that was once tricky to recommend to anyone who didn’t want to play the mobile port is now available on every major console.

It’s a digital-only release in the west, unfortunately, but if you’d prefer a physical copy, you can buy Ghost Trick from Play-Asia with English on the cart/disc.

Play-Asia has both a Japanese copy for $29.99 and an Asian copy for $39.99, so you might wonder if there’s a difference. I certainly wondered what the difference between them was, so I asked customer service, and they said the price difference is just a regional thing and all the content itself is the same.

(I subsequently preordered a copy, although it hasn’t shipped yet since I ordered it alongside an item that has been delayed.)

Meanwhile, the creators said in an interview with Game Informer that they hope it sells well enough for them to consider making a sequel. I’d love to see a Ghost Trick sequel with a new cast of characters, so here’s hoping! I’ve done my part.

Play Ghost Trick! It’s a fantastic game, and its remaster is out now!

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