This Week in Games

Diving Into The Crunchyroll Vault

Welcome back, folks! I've reached a rather embarrassing situation with my Nintendo Switch: I'm running out of space on the console. I've installed so many games over the years that my 256-gig SD card only has about nine spare gigs of space left. Whoops. Let's, uh, chalk that up to the Switch having an expansive library...? I can get a 1 TB SD card with no problem, but then what happens if and when the new Switch comes out...? I don't want to have to spend another $120 on a second 1 TB card if I don't need it, especially since we still don't know how the backward compatibility will work. I'm overthinking it, to be sure. Other folks want the new console because they want new toys to play with, I just want it so I can be done with the logistics of transferring to another console sooner and not later and be done with it...

Well, it had to happen sooner or later.

Mega Man X DiVE is a mobile game based off of the greater Mega Man series; while it's ostensibly Mega Man X-themed, taking place in remixed versions of beloved MMX stages, it also features characters from the classic Mega Man series, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man: Battle Network, and Mega Man ZX. Even Mega Man Zero gets some love. You roll the gacha for new, fancy weapons as well as various characters to enlist in your team of Maverick Hunters, with the requisite fanservice coming from both the selection of characters (it's evil Mega Man Volnutt, with his iconic sunglasses and briefcase!) and the usual "cute robo-babe in her requisite summer swimsuit". Hey, what else are they going to do with Layer? Put her in a new Mega Man game?

Mega Man X DiVE had already gone offline in Japan and Taiwan as of September of last year, with the English-based Global version staying up due to it technically counting as a different game. While it looked like the English version had a bit more leg to stand on, it wasn't that much more. We finally have an end-of-service date for the English version, and it's not even a year out from the Japanese version's EOS: July 30th.

The usual facts apply: the in-game store has been deactivated, although there isn't yet any word on what'll happen to folks who've just spent money on the game without knowing of the EOS.

It's sad to see X DiVE go, especially in light of what the game did right. Bikini variants of the cast aside, it definitely dug deep for Mega Man characters to add to the gacha rotation. Sure, all of X's different armor variants filled out the roster, but we even got a few unique versions of Rock or a few of his fellow Robot Masters. X DiVE was one of the few games to actually give the cast of Mega Man X Command Mission some love, remembering that Steel Massimo, Cinnamon, Marino, and Ferham actually existed. (Marino was the one character I seriously wanted once the game launched, while Ferham is currently my white whale—no such luck.) And for what it's worth, the game was pretty fun. Sure, the controls are sloppy as heck, as expected of a platformer designed for a touch-screen—but it's a good-enough Mega Man-lite to tide you out while you wait for something else to drop. And for what it's worth: Mega Man is in a far, far better position now than it was when X DiVE first launched. The Mega Man Zero/Battle Network Legacy Collections have all come and gone and sold fairly well, giving plenty of fans both old and new options for playing most of the Mega Man series. At one point, something like X DiVE getting 86ed would've felt like an insult to injury; in the here and now, things don't nearly feel that dire.

And heck, it's not even like Mega Man X DiVE is entirely being sent to the farm upstate; there's an offline version of the game available on Steam. That's a lot more than most mobile games get. The one small problem: none of the collab characters will be available, so the Monster Hunter-themed characters and the Devil May Cry versions of Zero and X are lost. And even then, fans have diligently found ways to mod them back into the PC version. Heck, they might even have mods for Nathan Spencer.

It's a shame to see Mega Man X DiVE go, but there's plenty to look forward to on the horizon. Here's hoping we can at least look forward to a Mega Man Legends Legacy Collection or somesuch.

Gonna be honest: I never had a PS Vita and I feel like I missed out. I struggle to think of many Vita-original games that I'd have wanted, but it was a damn fine console if you wanted RPGs. Before the Switch came around, the Vita was the best way to play classics like Chrono Cross. The poor handheld never had a chance, especially since many of its best titles never came to the US. Like Tokyo Clanpool! Something like a bizarre cross between Etrian Odyssey with Sim City, Tokyo Clanpool saw players exploring a first-person dungeon while also trying to manage their approval rating. A high approval rating granted you bonuses; a lowered rating would grant you the privilege of your cabinet's resignation. Players can also use the unique abilities of their party members to find new ways around the dungeon, like by digging new tunnels or flying across gaps. Tokyo Clanpool never came to the US, and folks clamoring for more dungeon crawlers with a modern twist were left high and dry...

... until now! EastAsiaSoft is now working with Idea Factory and CompileHeart to bring Tokyo Clanpool to the Nintendo Switch and Steam in the US. It only took seven years for this game to come to the US, yeah? Sadly, the only place to preorder a physical copy is on PlayAsia (don't worry, it comes with both English and Chinese language options). There's a fancy Special Edition collection, pictured above, but that set is limited to 3000 copies; by the time this column goes live, there's a good chance any of my lovely readers will have already missed their chance to have reserved their copy (fingers crossed, let me know if you managed to nab one!). Thankfully, there are also open pre-orders for a vanilla Switch version.

The Nintendo Switch has been a lifeboat for weird re-releases and ports throughout its lifespan. And while, in hindsight, much ado has been made for a lot of the Wii U-exclusive titles that are "trapped" in Wii U jail (of which I think only Xenoblade Chronicles X seems to be the remaining title), I shudder to think of all the fantastic PS Vita titles that have been left to oblivion. Besides Tokyo Clanpool, the only other title I could think of (and verified that it indeed was a Vita exclusive) was the Vita port of Vanillaware's Muramasa: The Demon Blade. And that one is a particularly sore spot because the Vita port is the definitive version of Muramasa, featuring gameplay improvements and two whole extra playable characters over the original Wii version. And it's never been brought to newer consoles. Hey, at least Dragon's Crown made it to the PS4, right?

This is one of those sad cases where game preservation and historians are really needed since it hasn't been that long since the Vita went under and there are further untold riches of games locked on that console that would definitely reach a wider audience on, oh, literally any other console. Even a Tiger Electronics handheld would be a more dignified fate for (lemme look up some Vita-exclusive titles real quick-like...) Bullet Girls than just... languishing in oblivion. Special shout-out to Food4Dogs, a delightful old woman from New Zealand who does phenomenal work in celebrating the PS Vita's extensive library (while also being an all-around ray of sunshine). She's even spotlighted Tokyo Clanpool in honor of its upcoming English release.

While Tokyo Clanpool's preorders started this July 4th, we don't yet have any word on its proper release date. We'll keep you guys posted in the meantime.

Hironobu Sakaguchi's name has sadly vanished from the gaming industry at large, which is a crying shame. We've discussed some of his past before (especially thanks to Fantasian Neo Dimension and its impending re-release on Switch and Steam), but the story is as follows: Sakaguchi is basically the father of Final Fantasy, working closely on the titles from its inception through much of the 90s. Sakaguchi's influence was such that it was because of him Square Enix—then just "Square"—pushed for a theatrical studio and tried producing Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which... infamously bombed. Sakaguchi heavily banked on the idea of Aki Ross, the CG-generated protagonist of The Spirits Within, becoming a major "virtual" actor, with a long chain of appearances in later films, her appearance and age altered as needed. They even had Aki Ross appear in a photo shoot for Maxim magazine. The failure of The Spirits Within and other issues during his his time at Square, led to Sakaguchi breaking off from the company where he had made his name and founding his own studio: Mistwalker.

Sakaguchi's time at Mistwalker, sadly, didn't fare much better. Make no mistake: the studio fired on all sixes. Lost Odyssey is beloved by all who know its name; a tragic turn-based RPG with character designs by Slam Dunk creator Takehiko Inoue, about an immortal man and his journey across the centuries. If anything, Lost Odyssey represented the kind of mature storytelling Sakaguchi likely felt he couldn't get away with in a Final Fantasy title. Sadly, Mistwalker hitched their wagon to Microsoft; they tossed Lost Odyssey out the window during the fifteen minutes where they considered competing with Sony's expansive and diverse library of PS2 titles, then gave up the ghost when they realized there was more money to be had with cover-based third-person shooters. Blue Dragon didn't fare much better: even with the help of Akira Toriyama's character designs and a ton of unique RPG mechanics like being able to challenge whole groups of enemies at once to fight them in "waves." It also had an absolutely sick boss theme composed by Nobuo Uematsu and his inspiration, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame (hence the killer electric organ solo). Blue Dragon was just a speedbump in an era that was extremely hostile to Japanese turn-based RPGs. The Last Story fared a bit better—just a bit, though. Nintendo didn't feel confident in taking a risk in localizing it when it released on the Wii, so The Last Story joined the likes of Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower in Operation Rainfall, a major grassroots movement where fans mailed tiny books, bags of jerky and tiny plastic swords to Nintendo's offices in a display of support for these games, given their pedigree and innovative stories and mechanics. Thankfully, we eventually did get those games in the US—but good luck finding a copy of The Last Story, since it's landlocked on the Wii.

Sakaguchi has been a bit more reclusive as of late... but oddly enough, he began to get a bit closer to Square Enix. It all followed from Final Fantasy's 30th anniversary, which was celebrated back in 2017. Sakaguchi actually drummed up on Final Fantasy XIV to take part in the celebrations... which led to him not only becoming a huge fan of Final Fantasy XIV (on rare occasions, he's needed his teammates to log in and message him about meetings he's late for) but also becoming buddies with Naoki Yoshida, aka., Yoshi-P. In fact, it was because of a suggestion from Yoshi-P that Sakaguchi and Mistwalker approached Square Enix with porting Fantasian.

It's the kind of reunion you don't see that often. Provided, these big names don't often leave their home studios—we've only seen it happen a handful of times, like with Hideaki Kamiya leaving Platinum Games, or Tetsuya Takahashi leaving Square Enix to found Monolith. But even rarer is seeing them reunite with their old stomping grounds. It's fascinating to see Sakaguchi get help from Square to polish Fantasian Neo Dimension since, in so many ways, it's a form of divergent evolution from what Sakaguchi established at Squaresoft all those years ago with Final Fantasy.

Of course, Sakaguchi being on good terms with Square makes fans wonder if this means we'll see Mistwalker's older games get ported. Sadly, that doesn't seem too likely; even with his newfound love for Final Fantasy XIV, Sakaguchi isn't interested in going back to work on Final Fantasy. Which, fair enough; it's been a long time, and his creative vision is likely too far removed from the current ethos Square has in mind for Final Fantasy. He claimed that he's become too much of a "consumer", and worries that going back to work on Final Fantasy would strain his relationship with Final Fantasy XIV. But when pressed on the possibility of Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey also getting a do-over, Sakaguchi confirmed that he "isn't interested" in it. He's keen on giving Terra Battle (a defunct strategy RPG series developed for mobile devices by Mistwalker) a second chance at life, but that seems to be about it.

The news is disappointing, to be sure; Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey really weren't helped by being released when they were. If there was ever a time when they would definitely receive a warmer evaluation, it's now. On the bright side, Sakaguchi might change his mind... but also, he might not. Who knows, maybe his experiences with those games were negative and he'd rather leave them in the past. The man is 61 years old and has seen a lot in his time as a game developer. I'll let him have this. The industry has been rough for Sakaguchi, he definitely seems to want his peace. And hey: the effort that likely would have gone into Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey is definitely going into Fantasian Neo Dimension, so I can't complain. Maybe all the guy needs is something to look forward to, not look back upon. A lot of beloved game developers are getting older and older, and their views and priorities are shifting to match.

For now: things are good for Sakaguchi, I think. Let the man have his FF14 and his Fantasian. I think that's plenty to look forward to.

Crunchyroll is best known for its anime streaming, but they have a little "vault" for all of their games via their "Crunchyroll Games" section. I had figured they only had some anime-themed gacha games in there, like the now-defunct Princess Connect! Re:Dive, but their variety is pretty impressive. We decided to tour through the Crunchyroll Game Vault and give folks a taster of what titles they might find in there.

Hey, I remember this one! We previewed the One-Punch Man World right here in This Week in Games last year. Think of it as a miHoYo-style gacha game set in the world of One-Punch Man (though more Honkai Impact 3rd than Honkai Star Rail or Genshin Impact). Roll up a few Heroes, take them through select missions, and explore playable versions of famous One-Punch Man moments like the fight against Mosquito Girl. You can also patrol a little in-game city to see some bonus side-stories for the lesser-known heroes in the One-Punch Man universe. If you really need more One-Punch Man in your life (or really need Fubuki or Tatsumaki on your phone), look no further!

Yeah, so Street Fighter Duel, uh... isn't the best gacha adaptation of a fighting game. (You'd wanna go to Skullgirls Mobile for that.) Far from being a handheld port of a fighting game, Street Fighter Duel is content to let you collect some of the beloved World Warriors and have them duke it out in an auto-battle that plays on a 2D plane. You can trigger some Supers once the skills proc, and... that's about it. Street Fighter Duel is also infamous for doing Elena dirty; we covered this past February how the official art for Elena makes her look more like "Ellen with the good hair" (don't worry, she'll look better in Street Fighter 6). If you need a Street Fighter-themed time-waster on your phone, I guess Street Fighter Duel fits the bill. You can do better, though.

Okay, look, I don't know anything about Eminence in Shadow and this is one of many gacha games in Crunchyroll's vault based on an existing anime franchise. I see a ton of ads for other gacha games based on isekai, like Overlord or the sadly-departed Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Memoria Freese. I have to question the logic of making a gacha game off of just a single anime property since it seems like you'd run out of characters to reiterate upon pretty fast (you can only shove Ochako Uraraka into so many swimsuits for so long). However, gacha games are just part of the merchandising machine for anime now. Used to be, they'd get a low-budget beat-'em-up title... Anyway, Eminence in Shadow. This one... sure is based on the Eminence in Shadow anime. So it's very chuuni. The gameplay seems like a very pared-down Tales of... title with a neat combo system for your party members. The models look pretty spot-on to their anime renditions, so I have to imagine Eminence in Shadow fans are happy with how Cid is depicted. I struggle to imagine this game landing all that much with anyone else, but to its credit, if it were a full-fledged RPG it might be a bit more interesting... Also, Hololive vtubers Momosuzu Nene and Takane Lui were featured in a collab with Master of Garden, since they're also huge Eminence in Shadow fans.

I'm struggling to find much of anything to say about Bloodline: The Last Royal Vampire. See, it's another mobile gacha game, this time a turn-based tactical card collector. It promises old-school RPG action, but it's really not—the game emphasizes its auto-battle mode for collecting materials with which to upgrade your characters. So it's a gacha game that's gated by both the money you put into it (for whaling for expensive characters) as well as time (because you can only get so many materials within a certain time frame—unless you buy boosts). The designs are all right, I can see folks really liking the gothic anime aesthetic. But I'm not really feeling anything towards this game.

My Hero Academia: World's Strongest Hero has some of the same issues that the Eminence in Shadow game has, I think. On the one hand, it's a very competent mobile 3D beat-'em-up featuring all of your favorite My Hero Academia characters. On the other... it's a mobile game based on My Hero Academia, so I struggle to see the appeal this game would have for someone who isn't already a fan of My Hero Academia. Similarly, while there are loads and loads of heroes in the series (and folks would likely kneel on rice grains for a new Momo Yaoyorozu or Ochako), how many variants of Bakugo could someone really want to roll for? (Note: I do not know the extent to which people will whale for Bakugo.) Still, it looks fun and you also have another fun open-world exploration mode where you can run around as your favorite hero. This one makes me tilt my head, but I can see a lot of folks whaling for this one, but hard.

Okay, so Evan's Remains is a fun game (and finally, a game that isn't a gacha game!) that promises puzzle-platforming and a unique mystery story. I'd go so far as to consider it a must-play on the Crunchyroll Vault. But here's the thing: it's exclusive to the Crunchyroll Premium service if you want to play it on Android or iOS. And it's not even exclusive to the Crunchyroll Vault, because it's also on Steam (as are a lot of the other Premium-locked games in the Crunchyroll Vault). It's an interesting game and a fun one, but unless you really wanna play it on mobile devices, you can play it elsewhere.

Dawn of Monsters feels like a slam-dunk for the Crunchyroll Vault. Again, you can play it elsewhere, but this one definitely feels like a must-play. A beat-'em-up designed by WayForward Technologies, you can play as a number of ersatz kaiju (or giant robots, or Ultraman-esque giant hero) as you battle your way through hordes of other kaiju. Not much more to it, but WayForward's 2D wizardry makes this one a must-play all its own.

Sushi for Robots is a great little time-waster if you need a little low-impact puzzle game on your mobile device. It's a simple concept: you run a little kaitenzushi joint (one of those restaurants that sells sushi on a conveyor belt), and your restaurant is patronized by robots that are in the mood for sushi. It's your job to arrange your dishes to ensure that the appropriately shaped sushi is sent to each robot of the corresponding shape (square sushi for square robots, etc). It's a simple concept, requiring timing and some foresight, and later levels have some wrinkles like stickers that can teleport your sushi or change its shape. Fun stuff!

Oof, if Battle Chasers Nightwar isn't a history and a half. So, back in the 90s, the artist Joe Madureira made his fame via the Battle Chasers comic series. At that time, a comic book with anime- or manga-inspired characters was far less common than they are today, so Battle Chasers stood out. The story of a group of misfit adventurers in an "arcanepunk" setting, Battlechasers stood out courtesy of Joe Mad's killer art. Sure, Garrison is just Guts with a ton of Miura's cross-hatching cleaned off, but the rest of the series is a ton of fun and Joe Mad certainly had folks hook, line, and sinker with Red Monika's design. Sadly, Joe Mad got distracted from comics as he tried to break into video games. This gave the world the Darksiders series... but eventually, Joe Mad would get back to his roots with Battle Chasers Nightwar! Being from the era he is, Nightwar has a ton of Final Fantasy VII-inspired mechanics. It's a turn-based RPG where characters can balance using their physical attacks to "overcharge" their special movies without using mana. And, of course, Joe Mad's designs take center stage. Folks who want an old-fashioned RPG adventure would do great visiting Nightwar. And if you really need more Battle Chasers when you're done, Joe Mad even went back to continuing Battle Chasers as of June of 2023!

By now, you've likely heard of River City Girls. Originally a spin-off of River City Ransom (themselves the localized version of the Kunio-kun games), River City Girls sees Misato and Kyoko try and rescue Kunio and Riki after they've been kidnapped. It's a fun, lavishly-animated beat-'em-up, courtesy of WayForward Technology's stellar 2D animation. River City Girls has also proved popular enough to have become the "face" of the River City games, such that Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka (the Super Famicom Kunio-kun title where Misato and Kyoko debuted) was retroactively localized in the US as River City Girls Zero. With some killer art by David Liu, I should add. Anyway, River City Girls is a fun beat-'em-up romp where Misato and Kyoko pummel their way through waves of themed gangsters and crooks. Along the way, you earn money that you can use at a shop run by Marian from Double Dragon to buy new attacks—like dabbing on your opponents. You can also buy stat buffs for the girls, similar to the original River City Ransom (though you don't see the girls chowing down on a whole dish of gravy, dish included). I'm puzzled why the Crunchyroll Vault doesn't have River City Girls 2 included, but in the meantime River City Girls is an absolute blast and totally worth picking up—especially if you haven't yet.

Hey, we've talked about this one before! Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions is a fun strategy game starring Damien, a young boy who confronts the conflicts of moving to a new country by imagining himself as a "Spaceman Spiff"-style superhero teaming up with famous characters from Shonen Jump's Jump+ service. The list of characters is still pretty relevant even years out from the game's release since Damien/Captain Velvet Meteor meets up with Princess (Tis Time for "Torture," Princess), Loid Forger (Spy×Family), and Kafka (Kaiju No. 8), who's animated adaptations are either ongoing or still extremely recent. It's a very simple strategy game, definitely aimed at younger players or folks who don't have as much experience with strategy titles. The basic gimmick is that Damien will have one manga character as his sidekick, each one with a unique ability that you can use to defeat enemies as efficiently as possible. There's also a sort of "open world" system at play where Damien can try different storylines in any order he chooses; there's no EXP system, so the challenge is consistent throughout. Like I said, definitely aimed at younger players, but a fun strategy-lite game with some really fun cameos. You can read my review of it from 2022, as well as our interview with the developers, Rinaldo Wirz and Adrian Stutz. (Their reasoning behind why there isn't a Chainsaw Man cameo still makes me laugh.)

So, here's a fun story: way back in 2006, my class went on a cruise to celebrate our high school graduation. The arcade onboard the ship had Ex Zeus as a machine. It was fun: the machine had controllers on the arms and you could use them to fly an actual mech around to shoot waves of enemies. I never saw that machine anywhere else. Anyway, Ex Zeus: Complete Collection compiles both Ex Zeus games. It loses a bit of the experience without the massive arcade chair, and I'm not entirely sure if a 21-year-old arcade game is enough of a draw for folks (unless you're already paying for Crunchyroll Premium).

Considering how long it's been since we got the last Punch Out!! game, Thunder Ray is a good ersatz stand-in with way more of a creative twist: instead of fighting comedic foreign stereotypes (like Soda Popinski), you fight aliens. Not sure why you'd want to play it on mobile devices instead of on a console, but the world is positively starved for a new Punch Out!!. I didn't know this game existed, and I'm glad it does.

Hime's Quest has charmed me, in spite of myself. Starring Crunchyroll's mascot, Crunchyroll-Hime, Hime's Quest is a top-down adventure game in the style of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. They definitely play the graphical style to the hilt, and even the official art evokes Ken Sugimori's old GameBoy-era watercolor art for the Pokémon games (which, I confess, I deeply miss even if all of the characters from that era were ramrod stiff in their postures). It's a cute game if nothing else.

Yuppie Psycho is a unique title, by it being a survival-horror title. Playing as a hapless young man, you're soon recruited by a mysterious robot woman to root out a witch in your workplace and kill them. The thing that stands out for me is that the robot woman Sintra is 100% a stand-in for Colon from Choujuu Sentai Liveman. The game makes good use of its pixelated characters (peep the dude raving on the lunchroom table), but I can't exactly vouch for its writing since I haven't played it. I definitely want to wrack the brain of the devs for that Liveman reference, though...

Ponpu has a striking art style, with high contrast between its dark-colored characters and bright backgrounds. It gives me vibes along the lines of The Binding of Isaac only without a lot of the gross-out visuals. Also, ducks. There is also a multiplayer mode, for hectic duck violence, and it reminds me a little of Bomberman. You could do way worse, I think.

Here's a fun one I'm happy to have discovered! Wolfstride's protagonist looks a ton like Wolfwood from Trigun, but the plot is a bit more Megas XLR than anything else; a trio of losers find a junked mecha and decide to enter it in a local mecha competition. You'll take side gigs for money for new parts and fight a host of goofy weirdos in mech battles. It's a pretty solid title, from the looks of it; definitely give it a look.

Behind The Frame is a cute, low-key concept: you play a young woman trying to finish an art piece while solving puzzles in their room (and also trying to pursue a relationship with a neighbor). The visuals impress, the tone is cozy, and the main character has a cute cat. It's a simple game, but the vibes are what sell it.

Finally, there's Inbento. Playing as a mother cat, the game challenges you to re-create bento dishes from a recipe book using a handful of tiled food components. There are a ton of fun rules to work around, like an overlapping component replacing the food underneath or special tiles that can swap squares around. There's also a cute story about preparing lunches for your family. It's a simple concept, but one that lends itself well to gaming on the go on a mobile device.

And that's the entire list. Not as many anime-themed gacha games as I'd expected to find, but there are a lot more games available on other platforms than I'd have expected. I don't think the selection of Premium games in the Vault is enough to convince anyone to spring for Crunchyroll Premium, but if you've already got Crunchyroll Premium then you might as well enjoy what they have. There are a few good obscure titles that are definitely worth checking out, at least.

Last year, we covered the announcement that the Muv-Luv visual novels would be coming to the Nintendo Switch in America. We finally have a release date for the release: Muv-Luv Remastered and Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered will be released this July 11th.

Good news for folks who don't like IHOP but like Sonic The Hedgehog, I guess; if you missed your chance to nab Amy Rose's Retro Diner costume for Sonic Superstars from IHOP's Stacks Market, the costume is now available for free on all platforms! Sadly, you'll have to supply your pancakes.

Holy crap—Popful Mail is coming to the Switch! The original PC-88 side-scrolling RPG will be released on the Japanese Nintendo eShop this July 11th. Sadly, no word yet on an American release, but man, am I hoping... If you're planning on nabbing the Japanese port, just know that only certain menus are in English; the rest of the game is officially untranslated.

News has broken off a new voice actress for Juliet Starling; Lollipop Chainsaw: RePOP will now feature Yukari Tamura as the cheerleading zombie killer! You might best remember her as Nanoha "The White Devil" Takamachi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha or Ami from Highspeed Étoile; I remember her as Navi from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. You can choose Yukari in addition to Yōko Hikasa Eri Kitamura, or Tara Strong if you want an English voice.

That'll do it for this week. Good news to folks in Portland: after taking a gap year, I've submitted a panel application to Kumoricon for a panel on Digimon virtual pets! I haven't done a panel since 2022; even if I hadn't missed last year's Kumoricon due to that accident, I felt I needed time to gestate panel ideas. Of course, if anyone in my audience has ideas on other stuff they'd like to see me cover in a panel, I'm open to suggestions! Who knows, it'd be nice to meet some of my readers at a panel for once. At any rate: keep safe with this sweltering heatwave. Be good to each other, I'll see you in seven.

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This Week In Games! is written from idyllic Portland by Jean-Karlo Lemus. When not collaborating with Anime News Network, Jean-Karlo can be found playing JRPGs, eating popcorn, watching v-tubers, and tokusatsu. You can keep up with him at @mouse_inhouse or @ventcard.bsky.social.

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