Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 40

Charade Maniacs Release Date & Limited Edition Announced

So soon after our previous rush of otome news, we have a new announcement to add: the release date of Charade Maniacs.

Idea Factory has officially announced that Charade Maniacs will be out on June 27.

Now, this isn’t a big surprise. The eShop page has said June 27 for about a month, but it hadn’t been announced until now.

What makes it exciting news despite that is that they’ve also revealed the Charade Maniacs Limited Edition, which will cost $89.99 and include the game (of course), a steelbook case, art book, drama CD, a 44-page short novel, a 10 card bromide set, a collector’s box, and a trading card. Idea Factory’s Limited Editions put other Limited Editions to shame, and this one looks like no exception. Preorders will open on May 2.

We haven’t talked about Charade Maniacs before, mainly due to the way its localization was announced. You might recall an Idea Factory otome live stream that we never actually discussed after its announcement. They announced Charade Maniacs at that live stream, except the stream was over an hour of static with the chat mod pretending they didn’t know why people were frustrated, followed by the Charade Maniacs trailer and then the immediate end of the stream. It might have been a cute marketing stunt if it lasted 10 minutes, but over an hour? After being announced in advance?? To people who had set aside time to watch it, it felt like Idea Factory wasted our time, so I was a bit too annoyed to actually blog about the game.

But I’ve softened since then, since I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they had good intentions. Besides, the plot premise sounds interesting – 10 people are abducted and forced to act out dramas in order to escape, but one of them is a traitor. The mystery elements have me intrigued, so I’m definitely looking forward to this one.

Charade Maniacs will be out on June 27, making the second half of June quite crowded for new games I want to play. Are you looking forward to Charade Maniacs? Are you planning to pick up the Limited Edition?

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Final Fantasy IV: An Old Classic I Finally Played

As a big Final Fantasy fan, one of the most notable gaps in my Final Fantasy playing history was Final Fantasy IV.

Well, no longer! Last week, I finished playing Final Fantasy IV for the first time.

(Because of the pixel remasters coming to consoles, you might assume I played it there, but the timing was actually just a coincidence; I was playing Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection digitally on my Vita.)

Final Fantasy IV puts you in the shoes of Cecil, a dark knight who begins to question the sinister order the king has given him and becomes an enemy of the kingdom as a result. It has a good story premise and some pretty interesting plot points, although I felt the story suffered from its pacing.

This is a fast-paced RPG. I finished in under 30 hours, which is quick for me playing a Final Fantasy game. But a result of the fast pacing is that I rarely felt I’d gotten to know the characters. It could have really benefited from slowing the pace a bit to show more character interactions.

Click for Final Fantasy IV spoilersEspecially since this game absolutely adores party members sacrificing themselves for you. If I’d been more attached to them, those moments would have hit harder.

On the other hand, I have to keep the context in mind. Coming off of the earlier Final Fantasy games, I can easily see how this would have felt like a huge step forward in terms of storytelling.

I also had a lot of fun playing it. Final Fantasy IV’s combat is a relatively basic turn-based combat system, but each character has a fairly unique way to be utilized in combat. It was challenging without feeling overbearing. Exploration was also enjoyable; while there were only a handful of reasons to deviate from the story path, I appreciated that the dungeons had items and secrets areas without being mazes (aside from a couple).

Now, I did end up with unintentional stress during my playthrough when all of my save files abruptly vanished while I was playing. I’ve had concerns about my Vita memory card for quite a while, but this is the first time it did that. Fortunately, since I was in-game while it happened, I was able to save again.

I’m happy I played Final Fantasy IV. It’s not a new favorite for me, but it was an enjoyable game. Since I have the Complete Collection, I’ll eventually play The After Years, too.

From the mainline Final Fantasy series, I’ve now played Final Fantasy III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XIII, part of XIV, and XV. Since I tried I and II but couldn’t get into them, Final Fantasy XII stands out as the next notable gap, but with Final Fantasy XVI less than two months away, it’s safe to say that’s what my next Final Fantasy game will be.

Have you played Final Fantasy IV? If not, it’s readily available now thanks to the PSP collection, the DS remake, the PC port of the DS version, and the pixel remaster available on PC, mobile, PS4, and Switch.

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Even If Tempest: Dawning Connections Release Window and More Otome News

Yesterday, all the developers woke up and decided it was otome day.

All right, so that’s an exaggeration. But it was just three days ago that Jack Jeanne’s release date was announced to be June 15, and more news was hot on its heels.

The fandisc for Even if Tempest had already been teased, but yesterday it was officially revealed as Even if Tempest: Dawning Connections. It will be released this summer in both Japanese and English.

I haven’t played Even if Tempest yet, but it’s been on my list to try – even more so now that the fandisc has a release date.

Meanwhile, the opening movie was revealed for Bustafellows Season 2. There’s been no word about localization yet, but since the first Bustafellows is one I intend to play soon, it probably won’t be long before I’m hoping for news.

Moving on from there, an indie Japanese visual novel called Dormitory Love has been announced for a worldwide release for the Nintendo Switch on April 28. It was originally released for the PC in Japan in 2011, but this is the first time it will be available in English.

Finally, the official website for Hana Awase New Moon is now open, along with an announced release window of fall 2023. We didn’t talk about this one when it was first revealed, but people were pretty surprised that it was getting an English release. It appears that it will be sold as 4 separate volumes instead of a collection, so that sounds like it could get pricey. Nevertheless, I’m intrigued!

This actually isn’t all the otome news, because I think some games only coming out in Japan so far got release dates as well. As it is, I’m already overwhelmed.

Yesterday was a great day for otome fans and a terrible day for my backlog. A wonderful day all around! In non-otome news, NIS announced a collection of the first three Hayarigami horror visual novels, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that NISA finally brings them west.

(As you might have guessed, there was no Clock Tower news to discuss from Sunsoft’s stream. At least all the otome announcements made up for it, for me.)

Are you interested in Even if Tempest: Dawning Connections, Bustafellows Season 2, Dormitory Love, or Hana Awase? Do you think we’ll get Bustafellows Season 2 localization news soon? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed Comes Out Next Week?!

Just two weeks ago, we looked at the Xenoblade Chronicles soundtrack collection announcement and wondered if it could be a sign that the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 story DLC would be released before July 29.

Well, there’s no need to wonder any longer, nor to wait for a Nintendo Direct where they might announce news. Nintendo announced the release date last night.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed, which is a story expansion and the final part of the Expansion Pass, will be out on April 25.

That’s right. Next week.

I haven’t watched the trailer because I still need to avoid spoilers. I did return to Xenoblade Chronicles 3 since we last discussed it, after I finished Fire Emblem, but I’m still nowhere near the end. My hope that I’d finish the game in time for the DLC no longer feels reasonable.

(In other release date news, Jack Jeanne will be out on June 15. The second half of June is looking intense for my backlog.)

I never expected the DLC to be out this soon, but it certainly is exciting. Now I just need to avoid spoilers until I’m ready to play. Will you be playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed next week?

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Is a Clock Tower Revival On the Way?

Clock Tower is a survival horror series we’ve never had a chance to talk about before. None of them are available on modern platforms, and finding physical copies is not an easy task.

Starting in 1995 with a SNES game that was later brought to the PlayStation and then localized, Clock Tower was developed by the now-defunct Human Corporation.

The last main entry in the series, however, Clock Tower 3, came out after Human Corporation was disbanded and instead was co-developed by Capcom and Sunsoft.

Haunting Ground, another horror game from Capcom, is often considered to be a Clock Tower spiritual successor.

But we’re not here to discuss Capcom today, but rather Sunsoft. Sunsoft hadn’t done much for quite a while, but last year they held a live stream called “SUNSOFT is back!” at which they announced a few new games and ended by teasing additional unannounced titles, including a remake. Now they’ve announced a “SUNSOFT is back! 2” live stream for April 20 at 2 AM ET.

Back in December, a leaker claimed a horror game remake was in development and was part of a series that hadn’t had a new game in the past 10 years, but later corrected the statement after learning the series had a minor, obscure release in that time period after all. Myself and several other people realized Clock Tower fit the description, because Sunsoft released a little-known mobile game called Clock Tower ~ Ready For The Next ~ in 2021.

That same leaker now tweeted that horror fans should watch the Sunsoft live stream. Oddly enough, the wording of the tweet implies WayForward could be involved. While I love WayForward for the Shantae series, they’re not who I’d expect to be working on a horror game.

Regardless, it seems there’s a good chance Clock Tower could make a return. We’ll find out during the Sunsoft live stream later this week! Are you hopeful for a Clock Tower revival?

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Monochrome Mobius is Being Localized for PS4 and PS5 After All

Last year, the Utawarerumono series saw a new entry, a turn-based JRPG called Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten.

Only the PC version was localized, with no sign of the PS4 and PS5 versions coming west.

Well, that has changed. Yesterday, NISA announced that Monochrome Mobius would be released in the west for PS4/PS5 this fall. They also revealed a Limited Edition available for preorder.

(The website lists a smaller Deluxe Edition, as well, but preorders aren’t up yet. Initially, the website also listed an English dub, but that was an error and has since been removed.)

I already have Monochrome Mobius on Steam, but I have to admit I’m tempted by the art book, soundtrack, etc. included in the Limited Edition. Is it worth picking it up for collection purposes? We’ll see. Maybe I’ll have played Monochrome Mobius by then.

Earlier this year, I finished playing Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception and found it to be a compelling start to the story told across the two Mask entries. This Monochrome Mobius news has sparked my interest in starting Mask of Truth sooner rather than later.

Getting news like this from NISA, along with other announcements from various developers over the past couple of months, has made me miss the New Game Plus Expo that was held in March the past two years. There are several games and release dates that felt like they would have been announced there if it had been held this March as well. The New Game Plus Expo often showcased games that appeal to me, so I hope they’re just planning to hold it later this year (like in 2020, when it was in June).

Anyway, are you interested in Monochrome Mobius? If you already played it on Steam, are you planning to pick up a console copy?

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Fire Emblem Engage: Addicting Gameplay, Bland Story

This morning, I reached the end of Fire Emblem Engage.

This is an unusual one for me. Normally, story is my top priority for an RPG, but Fire Emblem Engage is a rare example where I didn’t care about the story much at all, but found myself addicted to the gameplay.

The story is… there. It’s not bad exactly, just bland, with predictable plot beats and moments that could have been impactful if not for questionable story decisions.

Click for Fire Emblem Engage spoilersSuch as when the main character died, was immediately revived as a Corrupted with no functional change or even a visual change, then died again at the end of the chapter, only to immediately be revived again.

You play as the Divine Dragon, who awakens after 1000 years with no memory. You soon learn of the Emblems, heroes from other worlds (meaning past Fire Emblem games) who can be summoned to fight alongside you, and set out on a journey to gather all of the Emblem Rings to stop the evil forces threatening the land.

Gameplay is mostly the same sort of turn-based strategy combat found in other Fire Emblem games, with the weapon triangle returning after being excluded from Three Houses, as well as the ability to “break” enemies so that they can’t counterattack on that turn. But the biggest addition is the Emblem Rings. If you have an Emblem Ring equipped, you can “engage” with them to gain special abilities and other enhancements for the next few turns.

There’s a rewind function in combat, which lets you rewind a certain number of times to try different strategies. I played on Hard/Classic, and I found the rewind to be the perfect way to prevent me from getting too frustrated in my mission to keep every character alive.

In between battles, you visit the Somniel, which acts as a hub. There are a handful of activities to do at the Somniel, which can raise support between characters, improve stats in various ways, and so on.

Structurally, the Somniel is perfect for me. It lets me talk to characters and do other things in between battles, without becoming the tedious chore that the monastery in Three Houses eventually became. Taking care of things at the Somniel is much faster, and I never felt like I was hindering myself if I decided to skip some aspects on a visit.

My only wish is that if they stick with this style of hub, they make the activities more enjoyable. There are some small mini-games, but I found them so un-fun that I only did them a couple of times.

Building support between characters is a good use of the other Somniel activities, although the Support conversations are a mixed bag. Some are funny, but others are fairly bland, and too many of them tend to retread the same topics and themes (with an unusually high number of Support conversations about tea). The characters are more interesting than the story, but I didn’t find most of them too compelling. Romance is also significantly lessened, as paired endings are gone entirely, there aren’t many romantic implications (though this might be the result of the translation, from what I’ve read), and only the main character can have an S-Rank Support with another character, which itself might not be too romantic.

Click for Fire Emblem Engage spoilersI S-Ranked Zelkov, because he was one of the only characters I found enjoyable as a character instead of judging solely based on combat use, and… it was romantic if I squinted, but I’d hoped for more.

A large number of characters join you over the course of the story, most automatically. They came so regularly, I found there were some I barely even got to try before I had new characters to use instead. Still, I assume that adds replay value since you can try out different teams.

Everything I said above about Support conversation applies to the characters you can use in combat. Technically, Emblems have something similar, but… while you unlock “bond conversations” whenever a character and an Emblem fight together enough to reach a new rank, these conversations are so short and basic, it would have been better if they weren’t in the game at all.

Every Emblem has a paralogue, which they preface by talking a little about the story of the game they’re from, but they barely felt like characters to me.

That probably sounds like a litany of complaints. Yet despite my general lack of interest in the story and characters, I found myself obsessed with this game. The gameplay kept me coming back for more. Whenever I’d have trouble with a battle, I’d set it down only to find myself returning to try again. I’d pick up the game to play for an hour and check the clock two hours later. I poured over 100 hours into the game without realizing it, because it didn’t feel like it had been that long.

In short, Fire Emblem Engage is not the sort of game you should go into expecting a good story. I’m not sure the game realizes that, since it certainly has enough cutscenes, and I can see how the story could have been great with some different writing decisions, but this is how it is. If you want a fun turn-based strategy RPG, though, Engage has great combat that I found surprisingly addicting!

I haven’t decided yet if I’ll get the DLC. For now, at least, I’m ready to get back into the games my sudden Fire Emblem obsession distracted me from.

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Persona 3 Remake Rumors Surge, Paper Mario Rumors Resurface

I don’t know what made Easter the day for leaks, but I woke up Sunday morning to see a new surge of Persona 3 remake rumors.

A Persona 3 remake has been rumored for quite a while now, but the latest batch of rumors include footage claimed to be from a video shown at an internal Sega meeting in 2021.

The supposed leaked footage posted on Twitter contains a clip from the Persona 3 remake, a segment of Sonic Frontiers gameplay showing a boss that was cut from the game, and a clip from a Jet Set Radio game.

This ties back to Jet Set Radio reboot rumors from last April, and some people say they saw leaked images back then that match the footage in that video.

So if this is fake, that means someone not only made believable Persona 3 remake footage, but also footage based on a Sonic boss shown only in concept art, and Jet Set Radio footage that aligns with previous rumors as well. That’s an incredible amount of effort put into faking a leak.

(Although it’s not impossible. High-effort fake leaks have happened before.)

Meanwhile, Gematsu tweeted that they can’t verify the footage but understand a Persona 3 remake really has been in development.

The rumors further intensified when someone found a domain registration for “p3re.jp” (although keep in mind that Atlus has registered other potential Persona-related domain names without using them yet).

All of this together makes the Persona 3 remake rumors seem increasingly credible.

It might seem strange for them to release a port of Persona 3 Portable while a remake is in development, but then again, Atlus ported Catherine to PC within months of Catherine: Full Body being released for consoles. That’s one of the main reason the P3P port never entirely convinced me a remake couldn’t still happen, although I still might play through Persona 3 Portable in the meantime.

Persona 3 remake rumors dominated online discussions for a good portion of yesterday, but another rumor was right behind it… a claim on Famiboards that Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is being remastered.

This rumor has much less to support it than the Persona rumors. It basically comes down to one person claiming “sources” told them a Thousand-Year Door remaster is being worked on. Paper Mario rumors have cropped up in the past, so I won’t put too much stock in it. Then again, in a year when Ghost Trick and Baten Kaitos are being remastered, who knows?

Do you believe the Persona 3 remake rumors? What about the Thousand-Year Door remaster rumors? Are you hoping for either or both to be true?

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Xenoblade Soundtrack Collection Announced, DLC Release Date Hint?

Procyon Studio, the music studio founded by composer Yasunori Mitsuda, has announced a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 soundtrack release, as well as a “Trinity Box” set, with limited editions released on July 29.

On the website, the Trinity Box is listed as including the soundtracks for Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, Future Connected, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Torna ~ The Golden Country, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass Vol. 4.

(Xenoblade Chronicles X’s music wasn’t composed by Mitsuda, so it makes sense that it’s excluded.)

While it’s exciting to see the soundtracks themselves (the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 soundtrack limited edition even includes two mini replica flutes, among other bonuses), what might be even more interesting is that they include music from the upcoming Expansion Pass Vol. 4.

Volume 4 is the story DLC, which was teased in the February Nintendo Direct. If its soundtrack will be released on July 29, it seems likely that the DLC itself will already be out by then.

The timing also fits. Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s story expansion, Torna ~ The Golden Country was released in September 2018, just over 9 months after Xenoblade Chronicles 2. July 29 will be exactly one year since Xenoblade Chronicles 3 came out, so coming out before then makes sense if we consider Torna’s release an example.

I can’t believe Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has already been out for over 8 months and I still haven’t finished it. I expected to be fully addicted to it, yet I keep putting it aside for games like Fire Emblem Engage. Here’s hoping that I finally get back into it and reach the end in time to get excited for this upcoming story expansion!

Do you think Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s story DLC will be out before the soundtrack releases on July 29? Are you planning to pick up the soundtrack?

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The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog: April Fools’ Done Right

I’ve never been the biggest fan of April Fools’ Day, especially when it comes to video game announcements.

Video game April Fools’ jokes run the risk of being something fans actually want, which makes it hurt all the more when it’s just a joke.

Often companies also fall back on announcing a visual novel as an April Fools’ joke, implying the idea of making a visual novel is inherently funny compared to making a “real” game.

But this year, Sega released The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a free game that escapes these pitfalls by being both an actual playable game and one that clearly had effort put into it.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a visual novel with point & click adventure elements, as well as some platforming. You play a new employee on the Mirage Express, a luxury train hosting a birthday party for Amy Rose. The theme of the party is a murder mystery game, and after an unexpected incident on the train, you discover Sonic as the victim, though it hints at the idea that maybe this isn’t just part of the game…

And so, with Tails by your side playing the role of detective, you set out to question suspects and learn the truth.

Gameplay is fairly basic. You visit each location on the train, inspect the area to collect clues, and then confront the other characters with evidence to either support your argument or contradict their claims. It’s fairly simple, with only a small amount of evidence in each area and no penalties for incorrect answers.

One additional gameplay element comes in the form of short platforming sequences where you automatically run along a track and must collect rings while avoiding obstacles. This is justified as you getting your thoughts in order by trying to think like Sonic, so these stages often occur after you’ve presented evidence but before you explain what it proves. The reasoning is silly, but it helps tie it in to the main series. If you’re bad at these sections and would prefer to focus on the other aspects, there are difficulty settings that let you change the speed or the number of rings you need to collect.

They clearly put a lot of work into the game’s presentation, with great character sprites and music, and I was especially happy with the writing. Unlike a lot of joke visual novels, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is genuinely funny, with humorous dialogue as well as some running gags during investigations. As someone who has never gotten into the Sonic series, I feel like fans will probably appreciate the character interactions even more.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog takes about 2-3 hours to beat. It’s a fun little mystery game that was an entertaining April Fools’ Day surprise.

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