Visual Novel News:
Bushiroad Games has announced an upcoming release of Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club TOKIMEKI Roadmap to Future (Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai: Tokimeki no Mirai Chizu) on Nintendo Switch, with English and Japanese language support. It’s due to release on April 24, 2025.
The TOKIMEKI-filled days that you spent with the 12 members of the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. You loved and cherished all of those sparkling moments, each of which shone like a rainbow. But then, all of those irreplaceable memories suddenly slip away from your mind, lost. “They were so bright and warm, truly irreplaceable… But now, I doubt that I’ll ever hold them again…” The members do all they can for you to regain your lost memories. The curtain rises on the story of you and the 12 members searching for the missing pieces of that TOKIMEKI!
MangaGamer have announced the release date of DEAD DAYS by CLOCKUP, a dark dark, psychological horror story with a scenario from the writer of Maggot Baits. This will be available on MangaGamer from this Halloween (October 31st, 2024). Anyone who pre-orders will receive 15% off.
Four strangers died that day. Now they live again, forced to hunt down specters just to keep their new bodies charged with the energy now fueling their second chance at life. Any joy they may have had at living again is soon stifled by the dispassionate employer that treats them as disposable combatants with no concern for the unnatural libido and arousal caused by their new bodies’ reaction to stressors. Can these ordinary people estranged from violence cope with the murder they must now inflict to survive and endure the flames of lust now burning within? Will they ever truly return to their normal lives, or will their return remain a superficial farce?
In positive news for Yuzusoft fans, they have announced that Senren＊Banka has now sold over 700,000 copies worldwide. They have extended their thanks to everyone for their support.
An English localization is available from NekoNyan, both on PC and Nintendo Switch.
The Queer Halloween Stories Bundle is once again available for 2024. This bundle offers 140+ projects, with 90+ of them being digital games. Some examples of these include Zero Sum Heart by Citreat Studio, a new horror-romance visual novel, Half Haunt Halloween by Heiden, a visual novel about raising enough money to pay off your family’s debts before Halloween, and Visual DOS: Integer Overflow by Abbie Gonzalez (the developer behind the Open Dyslexic font), a narrative adventure game about investigating the disappearances of several tech employees.
It’s available in a $10 and $60 version, both with the same content.
Find the $10 version of the Bundle here and the $60 version here.
More Visual Novel News
- Studio Elan has released four short free yuri games via Itch.io
- Forbidden Ward: Raunchy Recovery Plan has now released on Steam
- Fruitbat Factory has announced an upcoming digital art book for MAMIYA
- Seabed Complete Collection is now available on Steam
- KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE has announced a release date of February 20th, 2025
- Re;quartz Raid has announced a release by the end of November, 2024
- The Dreamwalkers has announced a release date of September 30th, 2024
- Loop has announced a release window of October 2024
- Kosa Suru Unmei has launched a Kickstarter
Gaming News:
In case you missed it, the Tokyo Game Show took place in Japan last week, and with it came a metric ton of new announcements! Many publishers put their best foot forward for the event, so there’s a lot to cover! Here are the highlights from TGS this year:
We received a brand new trailer for the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater! The trailer focused entirely on the game’s story and how the many memorable events from the original game have been remade for modern platforms. We even got a look at many of the recognizable characters throughout the game, with the trailer concluding with the reveal of Eva.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC. No release window has been announced at this time.
Watch the trailer for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Capcom provided us with more details on the next installment of Monster Hunter! Travel across multiple environments that make up Forbidden Lands and take on all kinds of monsters, with this new installment now including cross-play multiplayer across multiple platforms. The new trailer also revealed the game’s release date, and we won’t have to wait too much longer.
Monster Hunter Wilds launches for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC on February 28th, 2025.
Watch the release date trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds
A sequel to Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima was announced! Titled Ghost of Yotei, this new game stars a new character named Atsu and takes place around the lands of Mount Yotei in 17th-century Japan. Details are sparse at the moment, but we know this is one of the first games to benefit from the added power of the PlayStation 5 Pro.
Ghost of Yotei arrives exclusively for PlayStation 5 in 2025.
Watch the announcement trailer for Ghost of Yotei
Speaking of Sony, we also got an extended panel with more updates for Kojima Productions’ next game: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. The panel showed off some of the characters in the game, unveiled a photo mode that could have an influence on the game’s story, and confirmation of the release window.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach launches exclusively for PlayStation 5 in 2025.
Watch the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach TGS panel
After the huge critical success of Astro Bot, fans of the little robot will be happy to hear that we’re getting more content for the game! New DLC featuring more cameo bots to save and five speedrun levels to play are being added; all of which will be free of charge.
The Astro Bot speedrun update will arrive sometime this Fall.
Watch the add-on trailer for Astro Bot
SHIFT UP’s PS5 exclusive, Stellar Blade is getting some updates! The game will be adding a robust photo mode in the first update, but the second update is much larger by comparison. NieR: Automata is collaborating with the game, though to what extent is unknown as of now.
Both updates for Stellar Blade are planned to be released in 2024.
Watch the update trailer for Stellar Blade
We’re getting new remasters for another classic RPG series! The Lunar Remastered Collection brings with it the first two games with a newly recorded English voiceover, the choice to play with either classic or remastered graphics, and the option to speed up battles and some new strategy settings while in combat.
Lunar Remastered Collection releases for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC in Spring 2025.
Watch the announcement trailer for Lunar Remastered Collection
The latest entry in the Professor Layton series got a new trailer at TGS! The story sees the titular professor and his apprentice Luke travel to a strange steampunk city named Steam Bison to solve a strange mystery. The puzzles for this new entry were ones created by QuizKnock and boast the largest amount of puzzles across the entire series.
Professor Layton and the New World of Steam launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch in 2025.
Watch the trailer for Professor Layton and the New World of Steam
Unfortunately, LEVEL-5 announced that their new game, DECAPOLICE has been delayed to 2026. On the bright side, this delay means the game is now coming to PC and we got our first look at the game’s opening theme song.
Watch the theme song trailer for DECAPOLICE
We’re less than one month away from Shadow the Hedgehog’s return, so SEGA brought us the goods with some more info on the title! Firstly, we got a trailer that highlights the story of the Shadow portion of Sonic X Shadow Generations and reveals more characters we’ll be seeing on his journey. The second trailer was something nobody could have predicted, as we’re getting post-launch DLC themed around the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie with Keanu Reeves reprising his role as Shadow for these levels.
Sonic X Shadow Generations arrives for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on October 25th.
Watch the Movie Pack DLC trailer for Sonic X Shadow Generations
From the creator of the Final Fantasy series, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension uses a combat system that revolves around trajectories and encourages you to draw in as many enemies as possible to make the most out of the combat area. The new trailer for the game showed off some gameplay and revealed the full release date, which is coming just before the year ends.
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension releases for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC on December 5th.
Watch the release date trailer for FANTASIAN Neo Dimension
A classic game franchise is coming back for its 25th anniversary! Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is getting an all-new remaster of the first two games with enhanced graphics of these classic 3D games. You take on the role of Raziel who’s out for revenge against his master, Kain. Traverse between two different realms and gain more strength by absorbing the souls of your foes.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered releases for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on December 12th.
Watch the announcement trailer for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered
We finally got word on when we can expect to play Koei Tecmo’s latest entry in the Dynasty Warriors series! The new trailer showcased more of the characters and the many grand battles players will be partaking in. At the end of the trailer, we got the full release date and it won’t be long before you can get your fix of taking on thousands of enemies all at once.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins launches for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC on January 17th, 2025.
Watch the release date trailer for Dynasty Warriors: Origins
SNK’s latest game is getting some surprising guest characters! Much like how Street Fighter 6 includes Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui as DLC, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves revealed that Ken and Chun-Li will be joining the roster as DLC and will be released in 2025.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves releases for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and PC on April 24th, 2025.
Watch the Street Fighter character teaser for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
The latest console Bleach game revealed one of the series’ most popular characters is coming to the game! From the Hueco Mundo arc, Ulquiorra got a big focus in this trailer, which revealed the forms he and Ichigo take during their iconic battle from the original series. On top of this, we also got a release window for the game and it’s coming much sooner than you might expect.
Bleach: Rebirth of Souls launches for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and PC in early 2025.
Watch the trailer for Bleach: Rebirth of Souls
The sequel to Koei Tecmo‘s RPG based on Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail got a bunch of new gameplay showcased during TGS in the form of an overview trailer! The game uses a real-time combat system which will have you take on hordes of enemies at once with your party. Also included are scenes that strengthen the bonds with your party members when outside of combat. On top of that, after the final battle from the original manga has concluded, the game continues with an all-new story exclusive to this game.
Fairy Tail 2 arrives for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on December 13th, with a PC version releasing on December 11th.
Watch the overview trailer for Fairy Tail 2
The first DLC character in the new season pass for Guilty Gear -Strive- was showcased at TGS! Arc System Works revealed the design of Queen Dizzy and she’ll be releasing on October 31st. They’ll also be hosting a second beta test for their 3v3 mode from November 8th to November 11th.
Watch the Queen Dizzy teaser trailer for Guilty Gear -Strive-
Anime News:
While we’re less than two weeks away from Dragon Ball‘s return to television, what if you’d prefer to watch the series with an English dub? Well, good news: the English dub of Dragon Ball Daima has been confirmed and will be coming to US theaters later this year! This premiere will feature the first three episodes of the series.
Dragon Ball Daima‘s English dub will be released in theaters from November 10th to November 12th.
One of the most recent and popular anime adaptations is continuing! During Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End‘s first anime anniversary event, a second season has been confirmed to be in production at MADHOUSE. While we got a short teaser and key visual for the new season, no release window was announced at this time.
Watch the teaser trailer for Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End season 2
On the topic of adaptations, another successful anime adaptation is getting another season too! That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is getting a fourth season, but that isn’t all. The series is also getting a new movie, but aside from a short teaser announcing both projects, no other details have been announced at this time.
Watch the season 4 and movie teaser for That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Hatsune Miku’s first anime movie got a new trailer! While brief, the new trailer shows more of the characters we can expect to see in the final film.
Watch the trailer for Project Sekai the Movie: The Broken World and The Miku Who Can’t Sing
We sadly lost a young and talented Japanese music artist recently. Sayuri passed away on September 20th at the age of 28 due to a chronic illness. She was most well known for providing ending themes for ERASED, My Hero Academia, EDENS ZERO, and Fate/Extra Last Encore. Her husband made a statement on Sayuri’s passing and was quoted saying, “Even until the end of her life, when she was battling with a chronic illness, she was truly devoted to music.” Rest in peace, Sayuri.
Upcoming Releases:
From some of the creative team that brought us Danganronpa comes their latest game: Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE! Players take on the role of an amnesiac detective named Yuma Kokohead and are aided by the god of death, Shinigami. Yuma journeys to a bizarre city that is clouded by endless rain and it’s up to him and Shinigami to solve mysteries both in the real world and a strange alternate world. The game was originally released exclusively for Nintendo Switch last year, but now the game is coming to other platforms this week.
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE launches for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC on October 1st.
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
