This Week in Games

Love Is Stored In The Alchemist

Hello, everyone! I'm Jean-Karlo, and I actually got to play some Xenoblade Chronicles 3 this past week!

Of course, I'm only in the very beginning of the game (I haven't even cracked 10 hours), so I'm still playing around with the class system. But I'm stricken by how much of this game has taken cues from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Everyone has much more down-to-Earth outfits that are nevertheless very stylish, if not heavily informed by everyone's prior history of being in the military. Even if a few characters like Eunie or Ethel are still extremely endowed, the outfits don't call too much attention to it. (That said, I think Eunie's bodysuit still awoke a few things in some fans.) The band of six characters is a good way of condensing the Blade/Driver team-ups from Xenoblade 2, and I like that the Collectopedia has been simplified. And! The DLC goodies are starting to arrive! All I gotta do is keep at it to see just what knife-twisting face-punch I'll experience in Chapter 5.

Anyway, this is This Week In Games.

This one's a real bummer to have to type out: Mitsuhiro Yoshida has passed away. Best known as the creator of the River City Ransom games, Yoshida was responsible for the creation of the Downtown Nekketsu games (one of which River City Ransom was a localization of). The squat, square-jawed characters of the Downtown Nekketsu world were iconic and characterful, popping up in a variety of games that spanned a surprising amount of genres: not only were they brawlers, they were also dodgeball players, as seen in Super Dodge Ball. The Downtown Nekketsu would eventually diverge somewhat from River City Ransom, leading to the creation of the River City Girls games, which features the girlfriends of Downtown Nekketsu's protagonists.

Yoshida's work on Downtown Nekketsu was stellar, no doubt about it. The goal going into the creation of the first Kunio-kun game was "A Double Dragon parents could play with their kids" (note: Double Dragon was massive back in the 80s, and Double Dragon damsel Marion would eventually cross over into River City Girls). Featuring a mix of side-scrolling beat-'em-up gameplay meshed with RPG mechanics (you increased your stats by eating food and reading books), the games are still a blast to play in today's day and age. It's amazing just how sophisticated River City Ransom is, even now. Anyone who hasn't played any of the River City/Downtown Nekketsu games, definitely check them out. They're a blast. Fittingly, there was some extra news concerning the upcoming River City Girls 2 detailing the villains of the game and debuting the game's 4-player co-op--and wouldn't you know, Double Dragon's Marion and her shredded abs are playable.

Yoshida is sure to be missed. His work has brought joy to people all around the world, and inspired many to follow in his footsteps in game development. I'm sure all the delinquents of River City are wearing a black band in his honor.

This is a game that has piqued my intrerest; XSeed is bringing us FuRyu and Three Rings' new action RPG, Trinity Trigger to the US.

This one has something of a murderer's row involved in its production: heading up the world design is famed artist Nobuteru Yuki. Yuki's famed for their work on anime like Vision of Escaflowne and Heat Guy J, but they're no strangers to the world of video games courtesy of handling character designs for cult-classics like SoLaToRoBo and Fuga: Melodies of Steel. Meanwhile, the actual character design is being handled by Raita Kazama, best known for the art in Xenoblade Chronicles X (which sorely needs a Switch port). Hiroki Kikuta, composer for the Secret of Mana and Indivisible games, is lending their hand to the music to the game (and the trailer already has his iconic and eclectic blend of instruments).

The story is about a trio of characters who seek to defy their fate as champions chosen by the Gods to continue their divine war as warriors-by-proxy. According to the trailer, they do this by seeking Triggers: little critters that become new weapons. The Triggers feature designs by artists known for designing Pokémon, so there will no doubt be a ton of cute Triggers to fall in love with. Meanwhile, there is planned local co-op for up to three players.

Every aspect of this game gives me a good feeling. While the press release states that the devs are trying to "resurrect a classic 90s RPG for the modern day", everything about this game from the art style to the creative music to the off-kilter story reminds me more of the weirdo RPGs we'd see on the Nintendo DS like Avalon Code or Nostalgia--and that's a good thing. The only console that spoiled us more for off-the-wall JRPGs was the PS2, and it was still close: games like Avalon Code, Rune Factory, Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, Etrian Odyssey and The World Ends With You still wow-ed us all with their creative art styles, innovative controls and memorable characters. (I've actually been jonesing to play Avalon Code so I can go back and romance the red-haired-golden-eyed witch Nanai again.)

I'm definitely keeping an eye out for this one; worst-case scenario, this game is gonna have a lot of charm to it. Look forward to it sometime in 2023.

This past weekend I actually took the time to brave COVID and watch Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero at a local theater. And it was a ton of fun! All of the little call-backs to Dragon Ball history like Piccolo remembering he can turn giant or stretch his arms out were lots of fun, it was great to see Gohan get his due and to see Pan finally brought into Dragon Ball-canon, Cheelai is great as a new-hotness Bulma, Charles Martinet is hamming it up as Magenta with his Wario-voice... it's a fantastic time that I was kinda sad I wouldn't get to talk about in this week's column because there was nothing game related. I mean, the movie does reference Vomi (aka Android/Majin 21), which is amazing to see as far as fanservice is concerned (lore-wise, not Oedipus-complex-wise). Vomi/Android 21/Majin 21 debuted in Dragon Ball FighterZ, quite possibly the best fighting game based on an anime in the market at the moment. Watching the movie, I had hoped we'd see some of the new characters brought back into FighterZ... and it looks like I'm kinda getting my wish!

I'd forgotten all about Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, but that game is still around--and we got a bombshell this past week with the news that we'll be getting a new wave of DLC for the game! Both packs will contain three characters; while the second pack's contents have yet to be decided, the first pack is evidently themed off of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, with Gamma 2 being the first character announced. Presumably, Gamma 1 will be announced later, with maybe Dr. Hedo or Cell MAX rounding out the pack.

I love the Gammas. Their costumes and laser pistols evoke Ishinomori's Cyborgs from Cyborg-009 (a pity they went with capes and not scarves), and it's cute that they have hologram projectors that display sound effects when they do their moves. Also, both Gammas perform Kamen Rider-esque Rider Kicks in the movie, I'll be so bummed out if those aren't attacks in-game.

Gamma is slated for release "this fall". No word yet on when we'll see the other two characters to be revealed in this DLC pack. We'll keep an eye on this one.

Oh hey, Ysbryd Games. There's a name I haven't heard in a bit. While they're best known for publishing Sukeban Games' VA-11 Hall-A and their sadly-delayed sequel N1RV Ann-A, they're also fairly infamous for publishing YIIK, that sadly-disastrous attempt at being a love-letter to 90s JRPGs. Ysbryd released a new trailer for another new stab at the JRPG formula, and this one actually has me a bit intrigued.

What we have here is Necrosoft's Demonschool. And right from the get-go, this game is clearly going to have to struggle with being in Persona's shadow; you can't tell a story about highschoolers dealing with the supernatural without stepping on that landmine. But I actually think this is a good idea, as Demonschool is harkening back to the days before Persona was cool--so basically, the three Persona games from before Persona 3 made the games much more accessible while saddling up with a lot of really problematic writing (Hashino, please retire). The Persona games from 3 onwards really lean in on their aesthetics and anime-style writing, and while they do have some powerful scenes they nevertheless fumble the landing by not quite sticking true to the whole "Be True To Your Mind" message that Persona was all about. Revelations: Persona and both Persona 2 games (yes, both of them--long story) were very grindy affairs but also very moody urban fantasies that really took advantage of the urban setting of their games. Things like rumors bringing serial killers to life, cosmic horrors lurking behind the shadows, and a band of youths and their dreams (and the illegal pistols they're smuggling) being all that stood between life and death really hit different in the PS1 Persona games, and there really hasn't been much like it.

Which is why I'm sweet on Demonschool. It hearkens way back to the original Persona both with its dark, moody atmosphere, its isometric perspective in cluttered Japanese classrooms and its emphasis on positioning in battle; it's a strategy game, unlike the Persona series' turn-based nature. although the first Persona had some strict rules on positioning in its battle system--I digress. It's also taking a lot of cues from the recent upsurge in "HD 2D" games we've been seeing like Octopath Traveller, which doesn't look too shabby when dealing with darker palettes and creepy crawlies. Long story short, Demonschool seems to channel that very specific vibe the PS1 Persona games channeled, and I'm definitely interested in seeing how it shakes out. We won't be seeing much of it until sometime next year, but it's something to look forward to; anyone interested can look forward to picking up Demonschool on the Epic Game Store, Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox series and Playstation series of consoles in 2023.

RPG Maker might be the face of a horde of asset-flipped shovelware that inundates Steam's library, but I have nothing but piles of respect for the game. As a highschooler, I put countless hours into making my own RPG in RPG Maker 2000. The result was a thing I bonded over with my best friends in highschool; it also helped them kickstart their dreams of pursuing art and game design. Really fond memories overall. So yeah, it's annoying to see all those generic-asset games around, but it's a platform through which a lot of people can make the game they've always wanted to make. No comment on the folks who make games about slimes getting too touchy-feely with elf-girls.

Anyway, there's a new RPG Maker coming out: RPG Maker: Unite. And it's powered by Unity!

Engine aside, RPG Maker: Unite features other tools that can really facilitate producing an RPG. For one, there's a new Auto-Guide system that helps balance the game. By inputting the parameters of how strong a character should be, the game can through out a suggested parameter range for things like enemy statlines. It can also be used to chart stat growths for certain classes or suggested equipment bonuses. RPG Maker: Unite itself can be modified through use of C#, for those of you with greater ambitions, along with an addon manager.

That we've continued to receive RPG Maker releases makes me happy; I'm glad this tool continues to be updated for people who want to try their hand at game development. While we still don't have a concrete release date for RPG Maker: Unite outside of a vague 2022 launch window, it's still only September so let's keep tight and keep waiting.

Gust's Atelier series hits the big 2-5 this year! I've been lucky enough to cover two of the Atelier games for ANN, and they've both been very fun experiences--not just because Atelier Ryza 2 was the first game I covered for the site (and involved the first interview I did for ANN), but because both of them are such cozy experiences. I wondered for a very long time what it was that kept fans coming back to games like Mana Khemia when they came stateside, and I'm ashamed at how long it took me to find out. US outlets were outright dreadful to the Atelier games when they first started coming stateside. The late '00s were a sad time for JRPGs... or any kind of game that wasn't gunmetal-grey with cover-based shooting. And the Atelier games are decidedly not that; while, like other JRPGs, they get themselves swept into massive stories, they still manage to have very sweet, personable tales about plucky young alchemists and their beloved groups of friends as they go around and have adventures. Less "Let's go and kill God!" and more "I stepped out to visit my best friend for tea and now we have to help God stop throwing a temper-tantrum". Gust helped build some anticipation for the anniversary with this lovely video, detailing all of the previous Atelier games and their protagonists.

What strikes me is that if you go through the comments, you have such a wide range of favorites that the fans hold close to their heart. In a long-running JRPG series, fans will gravitate towards the better games, of course: Most Tales Of... fans swear by Symphonia or Vesperia, for example. But here, everyone seems to have their own favorite: there's a lot of love for any of the little trilogies in the Atelier series. With how much Atelier focuses on cozy moods and charming characters, it's most likely folks look back on specific games as old friends.

So yeah, the video teases a new Atelier game at the end, and folks are obviously in a tizzy trying to deduce what it might be. It might be a wholly-new title, but given the Atelier penchant for games to come in threes and the fact that, as many fans have noticed, the ending music greatly resembles music from Atelier Ryza 2, the teased game just might be the hotly-anticipated Atelier Ryza 3. Fans especially love Ryza, partly because her games are particularly fun, partly because Ryza has what the great sage Sisqó would call "thighs like what (what what)". Gust is perfectly happy teasing us until they have more to reveal; we'll definitely keep an eye out for more information on alchemists, barrels, and alchemists with thighs like barrels.

...They're love-barrels, see. They're full of love. Love is stored in the alchemist.

For our next story, we have

Aw crap, I thought I left you behind in This Week In Anime, it's a Gunda--

For those whose souls aren't weighed down by gravity, you're probably really excited for Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's upcoming attempt at a team-based shooter. I was privileged with the chance of taking part in the network test last Spring. Honestly, I'd thought the game had already came out by now, but it turns out it was still getting a few touch-ups. We finally have a proper release date for the US and Canada: September 21st!

Gundam Evolution does a good job of turning famed Gundam units into "hero"-units a-la Overwatch, letting teams of six compete in a variety of matches. The game sadly has a lootbox system that unlocks profile pics and skins for your mechs (in case you want a garage full of Char Custom mechs), along with a battlepass system. I'm hoping they were able to fix up the game some from when I played: the matches are fun and entirely too much for me to handle, but there were definite balancing issues. While each Gundam has its own set of abilities and uses, there were no real discernable "classes", and a lot of the mechs were somewhat unbalanced. Two swings of Barbatos's mace, and you were done. That's it. It would be a shame if balancing kept certain mobile suits from being playable, because Gundam Evolution has a nice selection of mechs, and the official release will even throw in an extra three units for players: the eponymous Unicorn Gundam, a melee-prepped Zaku II, and the Mahiroo from Turn ∀ Gundam. I think I might pass on Gundam Evolution, but hopefully Gundam fans enjoy it. Me, it just makes me wish for a new Virtual-On game.

With Sonic Frontiers's release inching ever closer, Sonic-fans are more and more abuzz. It's as divisive a time as any other, to be sure, with some people excited to see Sonic in an open-world setting and some folks torn over the new visuals (myself included). The one thing we all can look forward to, at least, is good music: SEGA has always made sure that the Sonic games have amazing tunes. Even if Sonic R sucks, everyone knows Can You Feel The Sunshine. So SEGA has gone ahead and shared what will serve as the ending theme to Sonic Frontiers: Vandalize, by ONE OK ROCK.

I'm a little confused as to why they decided to focus on the ending theme instead of the main theme, given that so many of the Sonic games live and die off of their main themes. Even if the associated games were hit-or-miss, even the worst Sonic games had some banger themes from Crush 40 that would at least make you wanna try Sonic and the Black Knight out. Vandalize does at least make for a very nice, melancholy ending theme for a Sonic game, with plenty of that attitude-filled guitar licks that are so central to Sonic's identity. It's a nice theme that hints at an emotional angle to Sonic Frontiers.

In the meantime,Sonic Frontiers is slated for a November 8th release. We'll see how the Blue Blur's latest shapes up.

The return of Gungrave wasn't one of those things I ever expected to see, but somehow it happened and now here we are; Gungrave G.O.R.E. is expected to arrive on November 22nd, just in time to bloody up Thanksgiving for everyone.

For those new to the party: Gungrave is the story of a gunman resurrected from the grave named... ah... "Beyond The Grave". He fights off zombies with a set of pistols and a weaponized coffin that contains infinite ammo, a chaingun, a rocket launcher, and basically whatever else he needs to generally reduce the undead (and mafiosos) into a bloody mist. Featuring character designs by Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow, it's always been an over-the-top blast... and one that got a very sentimental anime adaptation that went back into the backstory of Brandon Heat, the man that became Beyond The Grave, and his tragic betrayal at the hands of his closest friend. Gungrave G.O.R.E., the newest title, revisits Grave and his new gang of friends as they take on a new gang of wild characters. And apparently, it's a very divisive concept?

I've seen some folks refer to Gungrave G.O.R.E. as "a PS2 game struggling to find a place" and... like, have you played a PS2 game? Like, ever? PS2 games are still amazing. Give me back my old copy of Skygunners, I'll play that for a whole day. Gimme the original Katamari Damacy or Odin Sphere. Heck, a lot of games released these days are still PS2 games--we just got a Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne remake. HD remastering aside, that game is still a PS2 game, and it's still amazing. Is it a graphical thing? Because plenty of PS2 games still look amazing. Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria is a gorgeous title. Okami has aged as gracefully as Cate Blanchette (ps: someone please cast Cate Blanchette as Cynthia from Pokémon). I dunno what people want to mean when they say "This is like a PS2 game", but to me that means "Jean-Karlo, get over here fast, we have a seat on the couch you need to fill so we can have a real fun time".

PlayStation notwithstanding, we just received word that Gungrave G.O.R.E. is also going to be releasing on Xbox Game Pass on release day, so fans can look forward to enjoying Gungrave G.O.R.E. on Xbox, PS4, PS5 and PC. Join us in the gunplay, or not I guess?

So, I haven't been giving out all of the Pokémon updates--because one new Pokémon doesn't quite come off as something worth dedicating time and space to. Full apologies to Grafaiai, because it's an amazing Pokémon with an amazing design and I love that we have a Pokémon based off of the Aye-Aye. It's an inspired little critter, I hope it gets lots of plushies and children and adults alike fall in love with it all over the world. But this past week, we did see a new trailer with lots of news for us to chew on! So, let's start chewing threw it all...

First off, the trailer introduces us to the antagonists for Scarlet/Violet: Team Star. Their shtick appears to be nonconforming students wearing tacky sunglasses and hanging out at scaffolds after school. It's a good idea for "villains", given that so much of the game is based in an Academy: these aren't bad kids so much as they're they're rebels. A world-ending threat coming from a bunch of teenagers that came back from raiding the local Claire's is a bit silly, even for Pokémon. We also got to meet one of the leader of this team, Mela!

If Penny is the mousy student who totally has an entire wall at Toroana dedicated to her extremely-popular slash-fic comics, Mela is the flashy and attention-seeking class rebel who just needs a bit of encouragement to find a successful life designing fashion. Her outfit is a lot of fun, I love her makeup, and she faces off against the trainer while riding atop an elaborata decked-out Decatora truck. Hell. Yes. That's the good-good I come to Pokémon for. We also got to meet the chairwoman of the Paldea Pokémon League!

I love Geeta. It's just all-around amazing to see some Desi representation in Pokémon. She has a Sanskrit name and her design feels very respectful of traditional Desi characteristics without being caricaturish; her thick eyebrows, big eyes and wavy hair are the peak of style, especially with those snazzy shoes of hers. She's channeling the same kind of presence that beloved characters like Cynthia, Diantha and Chairman Rose had. Hopefully, she won't be a villainess because we've already seen that twist a few times by now. I wanna be surprised; I hope we get something like the Black/White games where the gym leaders rally around and fight off whatever it is we gotta save the world from. I look forward to the Pokémon games continuing to include people of color in their casts. And hey, I hope we get a Pokémon region based off of Latin America. That'd make me really happy.

Before we round things out with the news on the new Pokémon, we also had some info on a news on two new features in the game. First off, there's the return of a much-beloved feature: you can finally have a Pokémon out of its Pokéball and follow you around! Dubbed the "Let's Go!" feature (named after the Let's Go! spin-offs, maybe?), you can choose one of your Pokémon to follow you around on the maps. I don't need to illustrate just how much Pokémon fans have wanted to see this in a 3D Pokémon game. This also ties into a new feature in the games: Auto-Battles! Whichever Pokémon you have out can and will trigger Pokémon fights on its own. You can choose to stick around and watch the fights, if you like, or leave your Pokémon to its devices while you explore at your own pace. Your chosen Pokémon will have a degree of independence, collecting items and fighting battles on its own until it comes back to you.

And now we can talk new blood! Let's look at some new Pocket Monster friends! First up, this thing!

Klawf is a new crab Pokémon! We see a little swarm of them in the trailer, followed by a big'un hanging on the side of a cliff. Perhaps we'll see a return of the giant Pokémon from Sun/Moon's Trials? Klawf is a big guy, and while many would point out how "weird" it is for a crab to be on a cliff it's important to remember that there are species of crab that spend their lives on land and only return to the water to spawn. So who's to say this guy is just a terrestrial crab, doing his crabby thing on a cliff? This is reflected in Klawf's rock-typing.

Predictably, the Pokémon that really set people abuzz this week were Armorouge and Ceruledge. Their striking designs have brought the Mega Man games to the minds of many, with Ceruledge's swords making folks recall Toru Nakayama's character designs from the Mega Man Zero series. The way Armorouge's pauldrons become an arm cannon gives people Mega Man: Battle Network nostalgia, meanwhile. These guys are going to be version-exclusive: the Fire/Psychic Armorouge will only be found in Scarlet, and the Fire/Ghost Ceruledge is only going to be in Violet. Me, I love both of them. Their designs remind me a lot of Bisharp from the Gen V games, and I'm a sucker for Pokémon that hearken back to the franchise's roots in tokusatsu nostalgia (it's all Ultraseven, baby!). Some folks sneer and claim these designs look too much like Digimon, but we had humanoid Pokémon way back in Gen I (see: the Hitmons, Jinx). I love these guys and I want all of the toys of these two. And Shuckle, too, love that little mold-worm guy. (And also Scizor, in case anyone wonders what they can get me for Christmas. Thanks.)

The trailers also gave us a view of some curious bike-looking Pokémon. These guys are intriguing, as they're basically naked Koraidon/Miraidons. I'm thinking we're looking at a Cosmog situation where we get a humdrum Pokémon that eventually evolves into the Legendary on the cover--which is a cool idea. All those other kids get weird naked snakes, we get a freaking feather-bearing dinosaur to lug us around. Eat your heart out, kids!

We also saw some teasers of the Grass-type Gym leader and his star Pokémon, Sudowoodo--or, as he likes to call it, "Truedowoodo": utilizing the Terastalizing gimmick, he can actually turn the infamously Rock-type Sudowoodo into a genuine Grass-type. So, uh, don't try to get the drop on him with Water-types, I guess. This is the kind of thing I was looking forward to: with Terastalizing changing a Pokémon's type, we have all kinds of crazy mix-ups to look forward to. It'll be worse than Faulkner's Pigeotto using Mud Slap to cut down any Rock-types or Electric-types you try to throw at him.

Finally, we have some more details on the three-pronged story in the Scarlet/Violet games. As expected, we have the Victory Road story, where trainers battle the Gym Leaders to become the Pokémon Champion. There's the Starfall Street, where you face off against Team Star. And finally, there's the fabled treasure hunt: the Path of Legends, where you help a classmate track down fabled power-granting Herba Mystica. It'll be interesting to see a Pokémon game neatly divide its story into three paths like this, considering the stories have already been doing that for ages. I still think Gen V did it best, considering saving the world meant stopping the guy who just became Champion, but that would require people giving Gen V some credit for a change, and I don't think they're ready for that. I'll let the Gen V remakes roll around for that.

Nintendo also announced a very snazzy limited-edition Scarlet/Violet-themed Switch OLED model, featuring Koraidon and Miraidon on the front of the dock. It's certainly striking, but the knowledge that the main menus won't feature any kind of cool themeing takes the wind out of my sails a little. Come on, guys, bring back the themes from the Nintendo 3DS! Give the Switch some character! At any rate, this limited-edition Switch will be available on November 4th; Pokémon Scarlet & Violet are due for release this November 18th.

That's me done for the week. The weather is changing, so we have Autumn (and Winter) nipping at our heels. Next week will mark two months since I've come to this column. Feels like I only started a few weeks ago! Hopefully, I'm doing right by you guys. Do we have River City fans in the audience? Anyone else with fond memories of RPG Maker? How about folks whose love of Mega Man: Battle Network was reinvigorated by Armorouge and Ceruledge? Lemme hear your thoughts! I deeply appreciate everyone's comments. As always, be good to each other as this summer winds down. I'll see you in seven.