Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 4

Let’s Talk About the New Pokémon Legends: Z-A Trailers

Well, none of my Pokémon Presents predictions came true except for the obvious – a new look at Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

They did announce a new spin-off, a puzzle game for Switch and mobile that’s free-to-start on mobile and $9.99 on Switch, both with additional DLC packs for more puzzles.

It looks cute, but I don’t think I’ll get it.

So let’s focus on the real highlight of the presentation, Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Two new trailers have come out of the presentation. They introduce Team MZ (the group you’ll be working with), show how Lumiose City is different at day or night, and reveal the Rust Syndicate, which seems to be this game’s villain team. They also show off the customization options, which look better than ever.

And remember how I was excited to see Looker’s office after the previous Pokémon Presents? I don’t know if he’ll be back, but Emma is returning as a detective who gives you quests, so that’s great! Mable from Team Flare is back, as well.

The story involves Pokémon Mega Evolving on their own and going rogue, so that could be interesting.

I still don’t have as much excitement for this one as I did when it was first announced. I loved the exploration in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and the city-based focus of Z-A just isn’t quite grabbing me in the same way. I wish it had stuck with turn-based combat, too.

On the other hand, the story seems interesting, and it’s nice to see some returning characters. Arceus was a pleasant surprise for me, so maybe this one will be too.

What do you think about the newest trailers for Pokémon Legends: Z-A?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post Let’s Talk About the New Pokémon Legends: Z-A Trailers appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Delayed to November 14

Has any game been delayed more than Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road?

The upcoming Inazuma Eleven game was first announced back in 2016 as Inazuma Eleven Ares and was set to be released in 2018. It got delayed to 2019, after which time it was renamed Inazuma Eleven: Great Road of Heroes and delayed to 2020. In 2020, it was delayed to 2021, and then in 2021 it was delayed to 2023.

By the time it was shown again, it was Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, and then in 2023 it was delayed to 2024. In 2024, it was announced for June 2025, but was then delayed to a final release date of August 21, in a live stream that promised this was the release date “for sure.”

But now Level-5 has announced that Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road has been delayed one last time, to November 14 (or November 13, depending on where you live).

Another delay this late feels concerning, but it seems it’s mostly because of the voice recording and localization time due to the amount of content in the game. Fantasy Life i turned out well despite its concerning number of delays, so hopefully the same will be true of Inazuma Eleven.

…But I have to admit, this is making me a little nervous for Professor Layton and the New World of Steam.

Do you think this is truly the final delay for Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Delayed to November 14 appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

Project Code Neon Mafia Officially Revealed as Neon Clash -Echoes of the Lost-

You might remember that back in 2023, Voltage announced three new Nintendo Switch otome games.

Their code names were Project Code Neon Mafia, Project Code Kaleido Tower, and Project Code Vampire Hunter.

The initial schedule got switched around a bit, and the first to come out was actually Project Code Vampire Hunter, under the title Red Bell’s Lament.

Despite Red Bell’s Lament being the one that interested me the most, I ended up not buying it because of the concerns over AI-generated art used for the backgrounds.

There still hasn’t been any clear answer on that either way, which is frustrating.

But now it’s time for the next of the three to be official released, as Voltage (or AmuLit, the brand used for their console games) has announced that Project Code Neon Mafia will be released in Winter 2025 as Neon Clash -Echoes of the Lost-.

The new trailer makes it look pretty intriguing, with a power to give someone else strength by erasing your own existence.

(A different studio is handling the background art, so hopefully this one will be free of AI controversies.)

Of course, I still haven’t played Even if Tempest yet, not to mention all the other otome games still in my backlog. I’m sure I’ll play them all… eventually.

Are you interested in Neon Clash -Echoes of the Lost-?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post Project Code Neon Mafia Officially Revealed as Neon Clash -Echoes of the Lost- appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

Predictions for Next Week’s Pokémon Presents

The next Pokémon Presents is set for July 22 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET, which means we’re less than a week away.

The last Pokémon Presents back in February showed pretty much nothing of interest to me besides Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which left me with mixed feelings.

What will be shown at this one?

Another look at Legends feels like a safe bet. It’s coming out on October 16, so they’ll want to feature it.

And they always have a section devoted to mobile games and things like that, so I expect to see those as well. But what about some new announcements?

Gen 10 is probably the biggest question.

A lot of fans think they won’t announce the next generation ahead of Z-A, but I’m not so sure. A tiny teaser trailer might not be enough to overshadow it.

But how about a new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game? The last one released was Rescue Team DX in 2020, and that was a remake. The last entirely new entry was Super Mystery Dungeon all the way back in 2015. It sounds to me like we’re more than due for a new game. And it would provide me with good incentive to finally start one of them, too!

What are you hoping or expecting to see announced in next week’s Pokémon Presents?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post Predictions for Next Week’s Pokémon Presents appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

Bandai Namco Filed a New Tales of Destiny Trademark

Bandai Namco recently filed a trademark for Tales of Destiny.

Now, trademark news doesn’t always lead to an announcement, but don’t forget that we’re supposed to learn about the next Tales remaster soon.

Could it be Tales of Destiny after all?

Tales of Destiny is the second game in the Tales series. After being released for the PlayStation in 1997, it was remade in 2006 for the PlayStation 2, and then a Director’s Cut of the remake came out in 2008. Although the original was localized, the PlayStation 2 versions remained exclusive to Japan.

If it does get remastered, I hope it’s the Director’s Cut. I have the original Tales of Destiny (although I haven’t played it yet), and I’d love to be able to play the Director’s Cut.

We now have a handful of contenders for which Tales game will be remastered next.

Last July, retail listings for a Tales of Xillia remaster sparked speculation that Xillia would be the next remaster after Symphonia, so it was quite a surprise when the Nintendo Direct a month later did include a Tales remaster… Tales of Graces f.

That was followed by the announcement that Bandai Namco plans to remaster Tales games consistently, then last month they said they’d announce the next remaster this summer.

Earlier this year, a Tales of the Abyss trademark was filed, and now Tales of Destiny has a new trademark as well. Those feel like the most likely possibilities for the next announcement, unless the Tales of Xillia retail listing amounts to something after all.

But who knows? Maybe they’ll take us all by surprise and announce Tales of Eternia or something like that.

Which Tales game do you think Bandai Namco will reveal as the next remaster?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post Bandai Namco Filed a New Tales of Destiny Trademark appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

Atelier Ryza DX Trilogy Announced

Gust and Koei Tecmo have announced the Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack for PS4, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and PC.

It includes DX additions of all three Atelier Ryza games, along with new story content exclusive to these versions.

I was surprised, since Atelier Ryza still feels like a new game, but I suppose the timing isn’t that different from the Mysterious DX games compared to the originals.

Sadly, it looks like it will be a digital-only release in the west. As for the physical Japanese copies, the PS4/PS5 versions will support English, but the Switch version won’t. (The Switch 2 version is digital-only in Japan as well.)

The trilogy is due out in 2025, and more information will be revealed on August 4.

I enjoyed Atelier Ryza, but I haven’t played the second and third games yet. I probably won’t buy the trilogy pack unless the new story content looks exceptionally worthwhile or the DX versions of the second and third games are significantly better.

(I’ve heard 3 had an awkward translation, so maybe that’s something they’ll address.)

Meanwhile, there’s also a new trailer for Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian showing the gameplay systems.

Do you realize that with Atelier Yumia having come out in March, Atelier Resleriana RW set for September, and now the Atelier Ryza DX Trilogy announced for 2025 as well, that’s a whole three Atelier releases coming in the same year? I know they release games fast, but wow.

I remember when I thought the mobile game would give me time to catch up on all the Atelier games in my backlog. It didn’t. But hey, I’m sure I’ll catch up eventually!

Are you planning to pick up the Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack? What are your thoughts on the new Atelier Resleriana trailer?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post Atelier Ryza DX Trilogy Announced appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

It’s the 10th Anniversary of The Great Ace Attorney!

Today is the day. On July 9, 2015, The Great Ace Attorney first came out for the 3DS in Japan.

I remember when it was first announced. Initially, I was uncertain about an Ace Attorney game set in the past with a new cast of characters, but I quickly came around to being excited for it.

I remember my excitement and confusion over the reveal of Sherlock Holmes and Iris, and how I waited and waited for localization news…

…and waited and waited…

…and waited…

…until the glorious day when The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles was leaked and the even more glorious day when it was officially announced.

When The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles came out in 2021, I finally had my chance to play the games I had been waiting for. My impressions of The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures were favorable, but for the first time I thought its long-delayed localization might have been a good thing, since I was kinder to the game’s loose ends and unanswered questions knowing I had the second game right there waiting for me.

And The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve ended up being an amazing experience and possibly my favorite game of all time, so I’d say it was well worth the wait in the end.

Now here we are, just a few years later, celebrating the 10th anniversary. So far it looks like all they’re doing for the anniversary is releasing a variety of merchandise, but the merch is taking strange and unexpected forms, like kitchen appliances that talk to you in the characters’ voices.

They’ve also announced acrylic stands of every character, and I do mean every character. They’ve even gotten around spoilers by censoring certain characters’ names in the official list.

Click for major The Great Ace Attorney 2 spoilersWhich means yes, there are acrylic stands of Kazuma as a prosecutor and in western clothes, as well as one that includes Klint and Balmung.

The acrylic stands are tempting, but the sets are expensive.

Anyway, while there’s a good chance this is the big event for the anniversary, I still have my fingers crossed that they might announce a new game. They ended some of their social media posts by asking fans to continue supporting The Great Ace Attorney series, so maybe there’s some hope after all!

But whether we get a new game or not, I’m glad The Great Ace Attorney exists, and I’m glad I got to play it. What are your thoughts on The Great Ace Attorney’s 10th anniversary?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post It’s the 10th Anniversary of The Great Ace Attorney! appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

Let’s Talk About Shuten Order

I can’t believe we haven’t talked about Shuten Order until now.

Shuten Order was announced back in May, while we were busy discussing mystery games, and it’s one of the upcoming games I’m most interested in.

It’s being developed by Too Kyo Games and Neilo, and what sets it apart the most is that it has 5 distinct genres depending on which route you’re playing.

Set near the end of the world, you play the reincarnation of the murdered Founder of the organization known as the Shuten Order. With your memories gone, you have four days to find and kill your murderer, with the five ministers of the Shuten Order as your suspects… and each minister has a route.

The Minister of Justice’s route is a mystery adventure, where you’ll investigate a crime by gathering evidence and questioning witnesses. The Minister of Health’s route is an escape game, where you’ll solve puzzles to escape a room and survive the death game. The Minister of Science’s route is a multi-perspective visual novel, with choices to make that affect the outcome. The Minister of Education’s route is a romance adventure, where you have to build affection with three heroines and confess your love. And the Ministry of Security’s route is a stealth horror game, where you have to solve puzzles while being pursued by a killer.

It’s such an interesting idea for a game, and I’m really intrigued by it.

Shuten Order will be out on September 5 for the Nintendo Switch and PC. (Will I even be done with Hundred Line by then? We can only hope…)

Unfortunately, it seems like Shuten Order is going to be a digital-only release in the west. Oddly enough, there is a special edition, but only for the PC version; it’s a handful of physical items alongside a Steam code.

It looks like Play-Asia has a multi-language edition of Shuten Order, so I might get that to have a physical copy.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on Shuten Order? Which route are you most interested in?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post Let’s Talk About Shuten Order appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

Aksys Showcase: Only One Otome, but Other Exciting Announcements

As we discussed, Aksys held its Anime Expo showcase yesterday, with the promise of new announcements.

Now, let’s get it out of the way, they only announced one new otome game. That was a little disappointing.

But they had some other interesting announcements as well, so let’s take a look.

Although they didn’t stream their showcase, some people who were there in person were sharing updates as it went, so I kept track of the news that way. The first piece of information was the one I’d been anticipating, a release date for Mistonia no Kibou. With the official English title of Mistonia’s Hope: The Lost Delight, it will be out on November 13.

They also announced Path of Mystery: A Brush with Death, a murder mystery game that looks right up my alley.

The next few announcements didn’t interest me as much. There was Q Collection, a collection of three drawing-based puzzle games, Tristia: Chronicles, a bundle of two town/shop management games, and C.A.R.D.S. RPG: The Misty Battlefield, a card-based RPG. They also announced a Metroidvania called The Good Old Days that could be interesting.

Next up was the sole otome announcement, Otome Daoshi -Fighting for Love-, and while it sounds decently interesting, the reception to this one in Japan was pretty poor. It’s due out in 2026, but this is one I’ll probably wait on.

All right, so it’s rather frustrating that they had only a single new otome game announcement and it’s not a well-received title. I’ve seen a lot of fans wondering why they picked that one. (Maybe it’s because Idea Factory secretly has a huge lineup planned, but since they only announced two last time and one of those got delayed to 2026, I don’t know…)

Anyway, they finished with one final announcement, and… it’s one I’ve been following ever since it was announced , but I didn’t expect it to show up at an Aksys showcase! They’ll be handling the console release of Project Code M, the new game from the developer of The House in Fata Morgana.

(Judging by Novect’s follow-up posts, it’s still coming to PC as well.)

I was not expecting that at all, but it was a nice surprise to see Project Code M! It makes up for the disappointment of only getting a single otome announcement…

Which games from Aksys’s showcase stood out to you the most?

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post Aksys Showcase: Only One Otome, but Other Exciting Announcements appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.

The 428: Shibuya Scramble Successor is Titled Shibuya Scramble Stories

Back in April, we discussed the announcement of a new successor to 428: Shibuya Scramble from its executive producer.

I still haven’t played 428: Shibuya Scramble, although I did start it. I’d hoped to finish it as one of May’s mystery games, but it was too long (and being balanced alongside too many other games) for me to get there.

But since I’ve started it, here’s hoping we’ll get back to it soon.

Anyway, let’s get back to talking about the successor. It now officially has a title, Shibuya Scramble Stories, revealed in a short trailer alongside some additional members of the cast.

They also blasted past their crowdfunding goal, as their Ubgoe page currently has them at over 700% of their intended goal.

(Speaking of crowdfunding, Volontés also made its goal, so I’m excited about that! They got an extension for their campaign and still have the rest of this week to hopefully hit the Steam version stretch goal.)

I’ve been enjoying what I’ve played so far of 428: Shibuya Scramble, so I’m happy to see they’re doing well with Shibuya Scramble Stories! Here’s hoping we get to play it someday too!

Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to share it with your social networks! The post The 428: Shibuya Scramble Successor is Titled Shibuya Scramble Stories appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.