Visual Novel News:
Making Lovers After Stories has now launched on Steam and other platforms. This is the sequel to SMEE’s original Making Lovers, which was very well received by fans of moege visual novels.
Volume 1 of ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area has announced that they will be launching this September, 2022. An exact launch date has not yet been confirmed.
It describes itself as ‘a visual novel about thirteen struggling singles navigating through soul-sucking 9-to-5s, quarter-life crises, and the harsh truths millennials learn as soon as they hit their 20’s’.
Nursery School Diaries has now been released. In this otome visual novel, you play as a nursery school teacher who needs to interact with the kids at a nursery school to become closer to their guardians.
More Visual Novel News
Gaming News:
Two classic JRPG franchises are being reborn with spiritual successors from their original creators! The Wild West themed PlayStation classic Wild Arms is being reborn as Armed Fantasia: To the End of the Wilderness and is being helmed by the original series creator, Akifumi Kaneko. Alongside him, some of the other staff members from the original game will also be joining the project too.
The second game is based on the cult-classic PlayStation 2 series, Shadow Hearts, with its successor being called Penny Blood. Like the previous project, Shadow Hearts‘ original creator, Matsuzo Machida is involved in the project and has stated that while it will still retain horror elements in a modern setting, this new title will also include mystery elements as well.
Both Armed Fantasia: To the End of the Wilderness and Penny Blood are currently in the prototype phase, but they could become a reality with your help. Both games are requesting funding through a joint Kickstarter project which is now live, so if you’d like to see these projects released, be sure to show your support!
It’s taken a while, but we finally have a release window for Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset! Set to release alongside their new VR2 Sense controllers, the hardware will be released in early 2023. For those unaware, this new headset will include eye tracking, Six-Axis head motion tracking, and two OLED screens for each eye.
Gamescom 2022 recently took place, and with it, a ton of announcements came with it! Here are some of the highlights:
One of the most anticipated games to make an appearance was undoubtedly one based on everyone’s favorite hedgehog! Sonic Frontiers received a brand new trailer, hinting at the story, new characters, and a brand new island to explore. What’s more, over a year after its announcement, the release date for the game was finally revealed.
Sonic Frontiers launches for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on November 8th.
Watch the GamesCom trailer for Sonic Frontiers
While fans of From Software are still pining for a sequel to Bloodborne, it looks like we have an alternate option that should satisfy those same people. Lies of P was announced last year, but we finally have a ton of new footage and a brand-new trailer. This title heavily uses the steampunk aesthetic and sees you playing as an alternate take on the storybook character, Pinocchio. While the slashing and dodging you’ve come to expect from a Souls-like game are here, you’re also able to equip different metal arms to allow for different combat options, as well as a meter that lets you use abilities to turn the tides in your favor.
Lies of P launches for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC in 2023.
Watch the trailer for Lies of P
A new studio announced a very ambitious game at the event! Where Winds Meet is being developed by a studio named Everstone Studio and is set in China during the twilight of the Ten Kingdoms. The game is an open-world action RPG that takes heavy influence from Ghost of Tsushima.
No release date for Where Winds Meet is known at this time.
Watch the announcement trailer for Where Winds Meet
It was thought for many years that Dead Island 2 was as dead as the zombies that inhabited it. That is no longer the case, as the game was re-revealed at the event! Brought to us by Deep Silver and Dambuster Studios, the game will have you play as six different characters and is set in the city of Los Angeles.
Dead Island 2 releases for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on February 3rd, 2023.
Watch the Dead Island 2 announcement trailer
It doesn’t feel like it’s been too long since the last installment, but Nippon Ichi Software are already ready to release the next entry in their beloved strategy RPG series: Disgaea 7! The game takes sees you trying to take repossession of your lost bushido in a world known as the Hinomoto Netherworld Cluster. The big new mechanic being added is called the Dodeka MAX system, which allows you to enlarge your characters to really lay on the damage!
Disgaea 7 currently has no western release but will release in Japan for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on January 26th, 2023.
Watch the announcement trailer for Disgaea 7
Upcoming Releases:
Looking to either be washed in nostalgia or experience some classic titles for the very first time? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection brings together some of the most famous games from the heroes in a half-shell all the way from their arcade beat-’em-ups to their fighting games.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection releases for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on August 30th.
While the second set of episodes for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure‘s sixth part premieres on Netflix this week, arguably the franchise’s best video game is finding new life on modern platforms this week too! Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R brings in over 50 characters to duke it out in a 3D fighting game that is sure to please not only fans of the series, but fighting game players too.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R launches for PC on September 1st, and PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on September 2nd.
Another anime favorite is getting a console game this week with Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness! Join the cast of the series with your own created character and take on various quests in the mysterious abyss while gathering supplies and going up against terrifying creatures.
Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness releases for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 2nd.
An anime/gaming aficionado, experienced content creator and lovable goofball. Name a game genre and Seamus has likely played it… yes, even that one. Follow him @TrueStorySeamus
