The first otome visual novel that I played – in fact, the first visual novel at all – was Hakuouki, back on the PlayStation 3, when visual novels on console were a rare treat indeed. These days, we’re inundated with the genre, but Idea Factory, the publisher behind Hakuouki, have…
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If you were to ask me what genres I think developers should take a very long break from, most days I would respond “Metroidvania” or “Roguelike.” It’s not that I have an inherent distaste for either, but did you know that overexposure to something can result in you acquiring an…
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Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights is a little bonkers, and that makes it delightful. The very concept of the thing is silly, funny, and charming: Cecilia is the third princess in a family that, generally, hates her. She’s also meant to be “unlucky” but has a mysterious…
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I have a particularly strong attachment to the original Cupid Parasite… indeed I think that it is that game, above and beyond any of the others that I’ve played, that convinced me that “hey, I have to make my own one of these visual novel things.” The result may not…
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The partnership between Eastasiasoft and Idea Factory is going strong! First, the pair released Moero Crystal H and Seven Pirates H. Then came the cult classic Mugen Souls. Now, Mugen Souls Z will be launching for Nintendo Switch. The vibrant RPG was originally developed by Idea Factory with Compile Heart,…
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Very, very rarely does a game get made about the Tokugawa Shogunate. There are thousands of games about the Sengoku wars that came immediately before, and there are plenty made about the end of the Shogunate as well. The 250 years in the middle, however, are largely blank (at least,…
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Dokapon Kingdom: Connect is a clever little attempt to take the board game format, and apply it to an RPG. Just go in with the expectation that it’s the latter that only looks like the former, and you’ll be well placed to have a good time of it. Related reading:…
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I just want to start this review by saying that I love Tiara, the blue-haired secondary protagonist from the Fairy Fencer series (it’s a series now that there are two games). Like, I really, really, love Tiara. As far as anime female design goes, she’s my third favourite character ever,…
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I don’t really understand why Idea Factory continues to experiment with action combat systems. Action combat systems are far more resource intensive to get right, and for a company producing JRPGs on a very small budget, it seems counterintuitive. Recent Neptunia titles, including Neptunia Virtual Stars and Cyberdimension Neptunia, have…
Read MoreFormerly set to release on August 25, Idea Factory’s Jyuzaengi: Engetsu Sangokuden 1 & 2 for the Switch has instead been pushed back to a new release date of September 22, with a somewhat vague “various circumstances” being the explanation. The history of Jyuzaengi has its roots enveloped in the…
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