Back in 2023 (dear lord, time flies fast), Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo was a surprising release by Square Enix. By that company’s standard, it was a humble and straightforward visual novel, but clearly the execs had seen the success of Danganronpa, AI: The Somnium Files, Famicom Detective Club and others and wanted a piece of the pie. The…
Jen Williams has seen the future, and like many of us, she’s worried about it. The studio lead at Cherrymochi, the Japan-based indie outfit behind the cult hit Tokyo Dark, spent the early 2000s working with Hewlett-Packard on GPS-triggered gaming experiments in Bristol. Back then, everyone was certain they were…
After introducing Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse at last week’s Nintendo Direct Partner…
Idea Factory International has announced a late May release date for Birushana:…
The next standalone entry in the Coffee Talk series, Coffee Talk Tokyo, moves the series and its fantastical concepts from Seattle to Japan. Coffee Talk Tokyo will open its doors this coming March, bringing new faces and new drinks, but the same heart. There are also new gameplay options and…
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While it began as a mobile game, D.M.L.C.: Death Match Love Comedy has been remade into Death Match Love Comedy! It launched in Japan in 2020, but developer Kemco and publisher PQube are bringing the visual novel to the West in early 2026. The Western version of the game will…
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Idea Factory International has revealed a Western release date for its upcoming game, Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights. The title will launch digitally and physically in Europe and North America. (Read on for specifics!) The game’s website has also been updated with information about the game systems.…
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The creative team at Acquire has always had a knack for blending traditional Japanese storytelling with experimental gameplay structures and, in recent years, a particular flair for 2D art. Its upcoming title, Monster Eater, being published by Red Dunes Games, continues that tradition. At its heart is a striking idea:…
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Just in time for Valentine’s Day, otome visual novel Hakuoki SSL ~Sweet School Life~ will be released in English this February, both digitally and physically. It centres around heroine Chizuru Yukimura and the handsome legendary warriors of the Shinsengumi. Most of the series is set in Edo Japan, but this…
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Japanese otome visual novel Kurenai no Homura: Sanada Ninpouchou launched for PS Vita in Japan in 2018, and for Nintendo Switch last year. Today, Idea Factory International announced that an English release, titled Homura: The Crimson Warriors, will be coming West next year, exclusively for Nintendo Switch. It will be…
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Forsaker: DingDing & Blade follows Papeti. She is a Forsaker: someone who looks human but has the instinct to devour their own kind. Her nature clashes with her need for love and freedom. Battles involve deckbuilding and roguelike elements, though there is an option to play the game as only…
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Last year, a humble Ukranian developer released Light de Deux, a sweet little romance visual novel about ballet dancers that I absolutely loved. The dance theme got to me, of course, but it was also well-written, well-drawn, and the characters inspired me so much I arranged with the developer to…
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Iwakura Aria caught my attention for several reasons: It’s a MAGES visual novel, and as a big-time fan of Steins;Gate and the rest of that series, I’ll play anything MAGES attaches its name to. Secondly, the project was being compared to The House in Fata Morgana, Raging Loop and Umineko,…
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I’m sorry if my title is a little odd — it’s hard to work a title like “and Roger” into a sentence that makes sense! and Roger is a mysterious point-and-click slice-of-life visual novel about a girl whose world changes as she comes downstairs on what seems like a typical…
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