Author: Ivanir Ignacchitti

9 R.I.P. is the latest otome visual novel from Otomate and Design Factory, brought to the west by Idea Factory International. Exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, it introduces a unique premise: what if the spirits from urban legends were actually husband material? A Strange Night for a Crush The story begins with our protagonist, Misa Isshiki (name changeable), who is at a crossroads in life. She’s in her second year of high school, and the pressure of looming adult responsibilities weighs heavily on her. Misa’s mother is dead set on her becoming a doctor at Seigin University. While Misa has…

Koei Tecmo has shared a new trailer for Fairy Tail 2. It showcases an overview of the upcoming RPG and the many elements that compose it. Fairy Tail 2 is the second game made in a collaboration between Koei Tecmo’s Gust and the Hiro Mashima shounen manga series Fairy Tail. The new game adapts the series’ final arc, the Alvarez Empire. Unlike the previous game, this time, we’ll have a real-time battle system like the one used in the Ryza series. Players can swap characters and use various combos to destroy the enemies’ break gauges and eliminate them. As the…

Koei Tecmo has announced Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian. The RPG is coming to PC (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Switch in 2025. The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is a spin-off the mobage Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator. It features brand new protagonists and a new story, though it shares the same setting as the other game. The game is described as an Alchemy RPG and it’s being developed by Gust. The official site also points to Team Ninja’s participation. In the trailer, we get to see a red-haired…

Publisher NekoNyan has announced the release date for Kakenuke Seishun Sparking. The visual novel by developer Saga Planets is coming to PC via Steam on October 18, 2024. Kakenuke Seishun Sparking tells the story of a young man called Yuu Tono. Despite being on his second year at Kazami Academy, he’s too busy with his part-time job to even think about superfluous things like romance. As his hyper-realist attitude threatens to waste all his youth, his childhood friend, Hibiki, and his classmate Riri decide to do everything in their power to change his mentality. The two girls will drag him…

Team Seventh Star has announced a free expansion called Secret Dreams is coming to CODE Bunny in 2025. The game is currently available on PC via itch.io and a Steam version is in the works but it has no release window announced yet. In CODE Bunny, players can assume the rule of two bunny people working for the Lagos Hyperbolics company to protect Lumna from invaders. However, the conflict isn’t as simple as it may seem at first. Gameplay-wise, the title offers a technical layer in an action platforming format akin to Inti Create’s Azure Striker Gunvolt series. With Axel’s…

Mixed Realms has opened the global playtest for 13Z. Players can now request access to the hack-and-slash roguelike on Steam while the developers still work on the title. While the full game will have co-op, this version only offers singleplayer action. 13Z tells the story of six animal spirits aiming at becoming the 13th member of the Zodiac Guardians. It’s up to us to face the trials as an underdog looking for glory, making the most out of their skills. https://youtu.be/mYN1M70PpqY In the demo, players will be able to play as Lyra the Fox. She’s a fast swordswoman who can…

Voltage has revealed The Red Bell’s Lament in a teaser trailer. This upcoming project was previously known by the codename Vampire Hunter, as it was one of the company’s reveals back in 2023. The Red Bell’s Lament is a new project that’s part of Voltage’s new console brand AmuLit, focusing on Switch and Steam releases, as opposed to Voltage’s usual mobile-first output. The new game is coming to Nintendo Switch during Spring 2025, though we still have to hear more details about it. What we do know about the project is that it features a dark fantasy. Our main characters…

Kodansha’s indie project has taken an unexpected turn with Fairy Tail: Beach Volleyball Havoc. This latest release brings a unique concept to Hiro Mashima’s beloved series, a surprising blend of magic and volleyball. While Fairy Tail is widely known for its flashy combat and battles, this game puts an imaginative spin on the formula by throwing the characters into chaotic volleyball matches. Fairy Tail Meets Volleyball in a Chaotic Blend of Magic and Sports In this version of beach volleyball, players control pairs of characters as they attempt to score points by hitting the ball into the opposing team’s court.…

Celestia: Chain of Fate – A Fantasy Otome Adventure Celestia: Chain of Fate is a PC and Switch port of the first book of a mobile otome game. The title comes from Indonesian developer Agate, which again partnered with PQube after the Valthirian Arc simulation games. In the game, we play as a young noblewoman named Aria Silverwings. As a kid, she loved a fairy tale about an angel and a demon who fell in love. Once she became old, she learned that this story was actually her past. Her biological parents are members of the Angelus and Daemon realms…

Konami has revealed more of their plans for Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection during World Championship 2024. Now we know that the package will include three more Game Boy titles and will offer over 10 games in total. Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is a Switch and PC (Steam) videogame compilation made to celebrate the 25 years of the TCG franchise. While the original manga by Kazuki Takahashi came out in 1996, it was only by 1999 that the card game we know came to be. We already knew that the collection would include Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelists…

NekoNyan has opened the Steam store page for Happiness! Sakura Celebration!. The galge visual novel by developer Windmill Oasis is coming to PC in September 2024, though the company will reveal the specific release date later. Also known as Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration! in Japan, the game tells the story of Ichijou Kazuki. He’s a magician with strong physical skills and twin younger sisters. In the game, cherry blossoms are blooming all over town. This event only happens every 10 years, making it the Year of the Cherry Blossoms. These times remind people of various wishes they hold dear. The…

JAST has opened the Steam page for Goblins on the March: Breed All Humans. The page is tagged as “adults-only” due to the game’s content and it has a September 24, 2024 release date. Goblins on the March is a game that combines visual novel with strategy elements. The game was created by Chaos-R, the developer behind Sweet Sacrifices, and it’s already available on JAST USA’s store. According to the publisher, the Steam version will be totally unedited. With that, players looking forward to some of the more hardcore scenes can rest easy that a patch should not be required.…

JAST has announced a release window for Mojika: Truth Rears Its Ugly Head. The visual novel by developer Nitroplus is coming to PC on JAST Store and Steam in February 2025. While the game’s store page points to a February 28, 2025 release, the company confirmed this date is only a placeholder when asked. Mojika tells the story of a young man called Tanezaki Suteru. Due to his appearance, he has been ostracized and bullied ever since he was a small kid. He’s so ugly that it disgusts people just having to see him around. However, the worst part is…

Introduction to Fairy Tail Dungeons From its conception, Fairy Tail Dungeons is an oddball concept. It’s an indie game based on a very iconic and popular manga and anime series by creator Hiro Mashima. This is a unique opportunity that by definition is already surprising and may inspire more projects in a similar vein. Everything started with Mashima wishing for more games for Fairy Tail and publisher Kodansha holding a contest in Japan to pick indie teams’ ideas. The first one is this roguelite deckbuilder by SOULVARS’ ginolabo. Story and Characters In a world of magic, gifted men and women…

Introduction to Lilja and Natsuka Painting Lies Lilja and Natsuka Painting Lies is the latest visual novel by prolific and highly esteemed developer Frontwing. This time, we get a kinetic experience of a blind painter and her enthusiastic assistant. Let’s first set up the expectations for the game: this is a kinetic novel, so the story is linear, and there are no choices. That means the experience is, by definition, completely guided from start to finish. This design choice will not please some players and should be considered before playing. The Dynamic Duo: Lilja and Natsuka With that in mind,…

Publisher Dear Villagers and developer Studio Plane Toast have announced the release date for Caravan SandWitch. The postapocalyptic narrative adventure is coming to PC, PS5, and Switch on September 12, 2024. In the game, our character has to look for their missing sister. As you explore Cigalo, you’ll meet various communities trying to find a new way of life in a world full of ruins. Helping people with various tasks is one of the core elements of the experience. There are aboriginal groups, robots that have become obsolete in the new world, and humans left behind by others who have…

Shiravune has announced an English and Chinese release for Real Eroge Situation! DT. The game is coming to Steam under the name Real Anime Situation! DT, and its 18+ edition can be pre-ordered on JAST or Johren. Developed by Jitaku Studio, the Real Eroge Situation series revolves around a ridiculous over-the-top setup. While the previous game featured a protagonist with a secret journal of steamy fantasies, the new one has a protagonist who triggers many flags. However, despite getting girls fighting for his attention, he can’t seem to actually go to the next step. In the end, his sister even…

Visual Arts has announced that LUNARiA: Virtualized Moonchild is coming to PC (Steam) on August 30, 2024. The visual novel will have English, Simplified Chinese and Japanese as text options, and it is already available on Switch. LUNARiA is a kinetic novel that came out in Japan in 2021. It tells the story of a young man called Tabito Kamishiro. In the virtual world of the SkyOut Forever racing game, he’s better known as T-bit. Talented to the point of being considered a genius, T-bit one day finds out a moon-based server during a network error. In this Lunar World,…

Indie developer Endflame has announced Instants. The adventure game about building a photo album and diving through memories of a family history is coming to PC in 2025. The company has already opened the Steam store page and shared the game’s first trailer. Instants is a narrative puzzle experience in which players must piece together a family album. We must pick the photos and figure out the correct order for them. It’s up to you to figure out how to make them showcase a natural, historical progression. Solving the puzzles will lead players down memory lane, revealing how things played…

Masala Games Private Limited has shared a new demo for Detective Dotson on Steam. It’ll be possible to check on a bit of the quirky Bollywood-inspired adventure from August 15 to August 22, 2024. As a young man who never wanted to become a detective, we must explore modern day India to look for clues for various crimes. In the process, we can use various disguises, which can help with entering into places and talking to certain people. The protagonist loves acting and would rather have been in Bollywood than solving crimes. As such, Detective Dotson sometimes goes from the…