Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 60

Metroid: Samus Returns – So Many Metroids

After finishing Zero Mission in December, I moved on to the next Metroid game on my list, Metroid: Samus Returns.

Samus Returns is the 3DS remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus.

(I’ve never played the original, so I can’t compare them.)

This is the third Metroid game I’ve played, since I started with Fusion. While I had fun with Samus Returns, I’d say it’s my least favorite so far.

The gameplay is fine. I enjoyed the new melee counter system a lot once I figured out the timing. Switching between different abilities was a little annoying, but not bad. And of course, I love the general gameplay structure of exploring and finding upgrades.

It’s just so repetitive. The first time I had to fight a bunch of Metroids and then come back to drain away the deadly liquid that filled the lower part of the area, I thought it was neat. Then it happened again. And again. And again.

Sure, there are different types of Metroid fights, but once you encounter a new type, it shows up over and over.

I was so tired of fighting Metroids and following that same basic pattern to progress through an area, that by the time I got near the end, I was ready to be done. However, something that happened near the end made me feel much more kindly toward the game than I might otherwise.

Click for Metroid: Samus Returns spoilersTEENY TINY METROID

TEENY TINY METROID

I love the baby Metroid! It’s so cute! I mean, I actually stopped thinking about Ace Attorney briefly, because my mind was occupied with how cute this little tiny Metroid was.

So despite growing tired of the game, I actually ended it on a positive note.

Overall, I’d say I still found Metroid: Samus Returns to be a fun game worth playing, just a bit too repetitive compared to the others I’ve played in the series so far. Next up, Super Metroid!

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Mitsuda’s New Project Could Be Announced Next Month

Back in August, we talked about composer Yasunori Mitsuda’s work on an unknown project that felt consistent with rumors of an upcoming Xenoblade announcement.

Well, now the rumors have reason to fly once again.

In a recent tweet, Mitsuda said his new project could be revealed as early as next month.

Naturally, this has sparked new hopes of a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 announcement, especially since it’s common for a Nintendo Direct to be held in February.

Another popular possibility is the rumored Chrono Cross remaster, which I thought might be announced at the Game Awards due to how credible the rumors seemed at the time. Mitsuda was the composer for Chrono Cross, so it’s likely he’d be involved with a remaster.

That then ties into the rumors that there will be a State of Play in February.

So which will it be? A new Xenoblade game revealed at a Nintendo Direct, or a Chrono Cross remaster revealed at a State of Play? Of course, it could be neither, and since his tweet says it’s the earliest the project could be announced, it might not happen in February even if it is one of the two.

For that matter, it might not be a video game at all.

What do you think Mitsuda’s project is? Do you think we’ll get a Xenoblade announcement this year?

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Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin Appears in the PlayStation Wrap-Up as Yakuza Ishin

PlayStation 2021 Wrap-Up started yesterday, which means you can see stats on the PlayStation games you played in 2021.

(Or you can get an error message, like me.)

For the people who have been able to successfully do their wrap-up, something curious has happened as far as the Yakuza series is concerned.

Ishin, one of the untranslated spin-offs, gets reported as Yakuza Ishin for the PS5.

This Reddit post is the first place I saw it, and then a little searching on Twitter turned up more people questioning and/or sharing it.

We might all call it Yakuza Ishin, but since it’s never been localized, its only actual title is Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin. It’s also only available for the PS3 and PS4.

So why are fans who played the Japanese Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin on their PS4 seeing it reported as Yakuza Ishin for the PS5?

Now, someone told me that the same happens with Yakuza 7 – PlayStation Wrap-Up recognizes the Japanese version of Ryu ga Gotoku 7 for the PS4 as Yakuza: Like a Dragon for the PS5. It’s definitely some sort of bug. But while there it matches Yakuza 7 to its correct English title, where would it pull “Yakuza Ishin” from unless that title has been officially used?

This might mean absolutely nothing. Maybe the system is just able to recognize the series name and uses its English counterpart. Still, I want to believe it means the title Yakuza Ishin is in the database somewhere because localization is on the way.

What do you think? Does the curious case of Yakuza Ishin showing up under that title in people’s wrap-up reports mean something?

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Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary Event Set for April 10

2022 is the 20th anniversary of the Kingdom Hearts series, and a special anniversary celebration has now been announced.

The Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary event will take place on April 10 in Tokyo and feature a mini concert, a developer Q&A, and more.

It doesn’t sound like they’ll be streaming it, but rather a video will be made available later.

So, could a new Kingdom Hearts game be announced at this event?

In an interview back in 2020, with the details translated by KH Insider here, Nomura said they hoped to deliver good news for the series in 2022.

Don’t forget that multiple Kingdom Hearts games were in development in 2020, too. Dark Road and Melody of Memory came out since then, but that still seems to leave an unknown entry.

There is good reason to believe a Kingdom Hearts game will be announced this year, but on the other hand, an anniversary event that isn’t being livestreamed might not be where they’d reveal it. We might have to wait a little longer for that news.

(Maybe they’ll announce the date for the final Dark Road update, though, since it missed its initial 2021 estimate.)

Do you think there will be any announcements at the April 10 Kingdom Hearts anniversary event? If not there, do you think a new game in the series will be announced this year?

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Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani – Supernatural Slice-of-Life

After I finished The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, I needed something a bit more… low-key, compared to the emotional highs of that game, so I turned to Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani.

Dairoku is an otome that saw somewhat of a mixed reception due to not having the most thrilling plot. But I liked the premise, so I got it, and it sounded like just what I wanted.

The story follows a young woman who joins a secret organization in charge of monitoring a special realm where supernatural creatures like oni and kitsune can live in peace without causing trouble for humans.

You might think this lends itself well to some serious conflicts, but it really is much more of a slice-of-life story, especially since the characters are fascinated by the human world. Think less “fighting dangerous yokai wreaking havoc” and more “hanging out with the oni to play video games.”

Each route does have a conflict, but even when the story gets serious, it never stays too serious for long. It’s just a pleasant, relaxing story, and every route has its share of cute moments and humor, although the romance isn’t too prevalent.

I liked it. I ended up getting all of the endings, since the friendship and lost love endings are enjoyable in their own right. I liked all of the characters (but Akuro is far and away the best), and it really was just… pleasant to play.

There’s a decent amount of humor, too. I won’t say it’s an outright comedy, but it had some pretty funny moments, especially from Semi and Hira.

If I have one criticism, it’s that there’s a gameplay element that feels pointless. Early on, you learn how to cast a spell by performing a simple mini-game where you press buttons in the sequence they’re shown in the screen. Now, the common route has several sections where you choose which character you want to spend time with from a map screen. You can alternately choose to fight a battle instead. Picking the battle options will put you on the path for the finale route, but that’s the only time it ever comes up.

It just feels out of place. Until I played the finale, I never saw the “combat” outside of the tutorial, and the fights don’t even come with more story content. I’m really not sure why it’s there at all.

Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani is not an otome to play if you’re looking for a high-stakes plot, but rather one to go into looking for some cute, laidback character interactions. That’s what I was after, so I got what I wanted.

(Well, almost. If they ever make a fandisc, some of the side characters had better get routes. Being unable to romance Hajun or Orochi is a crime.)

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Trails from Zero Limited Edition Revealed

Trails from Zero is one of my most-anticipated games of the year, so I was excited to see NISA teasing news for today.

That news turned out to be the reveal of the Limited Edition.

The Trails from Zero Limited Edition is available to pre-order from NISA’s store, and it contains an artbook, 10-track soundtrack selection, a poster, and an acrylic stand, along with the steelbook and collector’s box (and the game, of course).

That sounds pretty good to me for a Limited Edition, so I might go for it. There’s also a plushie and puzzle available to order, too.

I was hoping for a release date so I’ll know how long I have to catch up by finish the Trails in the Sky games, but “Fall 2022” is still all we have. I’d better not wait too long, or I’ll run out of time…

What do you think of the Trails from Zero Limited Edition? When do you think we’ll get a release date?

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Eternal Radiance is Out on Switch and PS4 Tomorrow

You might recall that after its initial Early Access launch, the full version of Eternal Radiance came out in December 2020 for PC.

Eternal Radiance is an action RPG about a squire named Celeste who sets out on a journey to reclaim a stolen artifact and prove herself worthy of becoming a knight.

I wrote the story and dialogue, making this one of the biggest game projects I’ve worked on.

Well, now the console version are on their way! Eternal Radiance will be out for the Switch and PS4 tomorrow, January 13.

(The Switch version is also available as a physical copy from 1Print Games with a manual, soundtrack, and keychain.)

It’s exciting to see a game I worked on available on consoles!

So, if you’re interested in Eternal Radiance but have been holding out for the console release, it’s out physically now for the Switch and will hit the digital stores tomorrow.

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The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game is Silly and Cute

Near the end of 2021, I ended up playing a couple of short games to meet my goal for the year.

One of these was The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game, which I got along with its sequel in a bundle.

The Haunted Island is very short. It took me 37 minutes to beat.

It’s also very silly. This is not the sort of game that takes itself seriously at all.

You play a frog detective who is called in to investigate an island that might be haunted. Several animals are on the island, and you’ll need to talk to them to get more information and the items you need to continue. It has a fairly simple adventure game structure – you need an item from a character who wants a different item, so you help someone else to get that item and give it to them.

Most of this revolves around the four items you need to make explosives: toothpaste, wool, gold, and pasta.

Yes, that is the level of ridiculousness you’ll find here. The dialogue is wacky, and it generally just has an absurd atmosphere throughout its entire short run.

It might not have a deep mystery to solve or any serious levels of drama, but I went into The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game looking for something silly and funny, and that’s exactly what I got.

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Team Asano Has Multiple Titles Planned for 2022

Like many other game developers, Square Enix’s Team Asano had a special New Year’s greeting to start off 2022.

In that message, translated here by Gematsu, they promise “several title announcements and releases in addition to Triangle Strategy.”

Team Asano is Tomoya Asano’s division of Square Enix, the team behind the Bravely Default series and Octopath Traveler.

I’m in an odd position when it comes to their games. They make the sort of classic turn-based JRPGs I love, but I fell away from Bravely Default and ended up not playing Octopath Traveler. On the other hand, Triangle Strategy is one of my most-anticipated games of the year.

It’s interesting to hear that they have multiple announcements and releases planned for this year besides that. One could be the Dragon Quest III remake announced last year, which I’m definitely looking forward to, but what else could there be?

There’s a Bravely Default mobile game in development, so that’s a possibility. Last year, they also teased an Octopath Traveler sequel.

So we’ll see what 2022’s announcements will bring! Meanwhile, I’ve been intending to give Bravely Default a second chance to see if the series is for me after all. What are you hoping to see from Team Asano?

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2022 Writing Goals

A new year brings new writing goals!

The outcome of last year’s goals was mixed: although I met my first two goals, I opted to revise On An Island of Oaks instead of the next two novels I’d intended to focus on based on my prioritized list, and since that one was in much worse condition, it left no time to get around to those two.

And while I did write a new pulp fiction story, I only completed two other short stories in addition to that. My website traffic didn’t quite meet the goal either, although one came close.

So let’s set some goals for this year!

By 2023, I will:Send out regular batches of queries for my novels in the querying stage.Revise Mage’s Test.Revise The Sunken Sapphire.Send On An Island of Oaks to a beta reader.Write at least 5 new short stories, any genre.Regularly update side websites and increase traffic to 500+ visits per month.

Once again, no book signing goals until things settle down… and of course, I’ll write a new NaNoWriMo draft in November!

Do you have any writing goals for 2022?

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