Plot Twist, a Melbourne-based games studio, has announced that the visual novel Ashes will launch in Early Access this May, with a full launch planned for December. This period of time will be used to finish the story, refine the existing minigames/add new ones, and provide new narrative content. The game blends graphic novel panels with interactive puzzles.…
Not A Cat Studios has announced STARCULT. Night: Twisted Age. The dark fantasy romantic visual novel is set in a world on the brink of disaster, and players must use an Emotion Palette to read others’ true emotions and intentions, influence relationships, and uncover the truth behind a brutal murder.…
Publisher Idea Factory International has announced a preorder date of April 22…
The first otome visual novel that I played – in fact, the…
I admit, I might have a slight obsession with Urban Myth Dissolution Center, which launches in February 2025. It sounds wonderful: the publisher describes it as a single-player psycho-detective mystery adventure that has a unique blend of psychological intrigue and supernatural investigation. It is split into episodes/chapters, and the latest…
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SINce Memories: Off the Starry Sky is a spin-off of an incredibly long-running series: Memories Off, which has been running since 1999, is now close to twenty titles deep, and has, over the years, had some legends of the visual novel medium work on it, including Mr. Zero Escape himself,…
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Writing horror is a tough gig. It’s challenging for writers to create and maintain fear and tension. Horror needs to be character-driven and it needs to make the audience care about the horrible things that are happening to those characters. Meanwhile, it’s difficult for visual artists because even the slightest…
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Dance is a difficult subject to tackle, for many reasons. These challenges are, fundamentally, why it’s not a topic that video game developers typically touch (or filmmakers, or novelists, or painters, or most other art forms). The Ukrainian developer behind Light de Deux has given a ballet-themed visual novel a…
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Otomate can always be trusted to find some way to repurpose the established otome formula for a visual novel that at least feels a little different, even if functionally it’s not. 9 R.I.P. lands at the perfect time for Halloween, and even though it’s Otomate playing it safe with the…
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Valentine’s Day 2025 is shaping up to be a wonderful week for video game players: so far, Date Everything! and The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II both launch that day. But one day prior, a game that may not be on your radar (yet) will be released. Urban…
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Toronto-based indie studio BancyCo has created a new IP, Neo Harbor Rescue Squad. The paramedic action drama title is a long jump from the developer’s first game, adventure horror hit Home. Don’t expect any scares here — unless you find even a hint of injury frightening. Neo Harbor Rescue Squad…
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The Western release date for the latest title in the Memories Off series, SINce Memories: Off the Starry Sky, if officially right around the corner as publisher PQube announced an October release date today. I explain a bit more about the series in my post about the game’s Western reveal,…
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Whispers of the Luminaries is an Aussie-developed idol-themed murder mystery game inspired by the Famicom Detective Club and Ace Attorney series. It is about finding hope in the darkest of times. Following the release of the game’s demo via Steam, its Kickstarter page gained hundreds of followers waiting for the…
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I’ll never pass up an opportunity to play with Tohka. She is, of course, the very best of best girls, there’s no saying otherwise (unless you want to be wrong) and I won’t hear anything else of it. The point is that Date A Live: Ren Dystopia is an opportunity…
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