3rd-party News and Announcements

[Nester the Lark]

A remastered version of Romancing SaGa 2 is coming to Switch, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, and PC on December 15. I guess it's based on the mobile version.

Official site and trailer:



The only SaGa game I've played is Final Fantasy Legend II on Game Boy, but I've been wanting to check out more of the series. Something about Akitoshi Kawazu's eccentric game design intrigues me.

[Nester the Lark]

Apparently, Yuji Naka now works at Square Enix. That's interesting...

[Leon]

Does that mean Prope is no more?

[Nester the Lark]

Good question.

Their website is still online, although it doesn't seem to have been updated since last April. However, Yuji Naka posted on its Facebook page just last month for the release of a new mobile game, so... yeah, I guess Prope is still around. Although I wonder if it's just a one-man show at this point.

[Nester the Lark]

This was an unexpected announcement from a few days ago.

CyberConnect2 has announced that they plan to develop and self-publish three new games for the PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC worldwide. One of them includes a sequel to Tail Concerto and Solatorobo (the "Little Tail Bronx" series) called Fuga/Fugue on the Battlefield, and it's described as an "action strategy RPG."

The other two games are Tokyo Ogre Gate and Cecile, which seem to be action games. CC2 is referring to them as the "Trilogy of Vengeance."

Seems like they're only in the planning stages at this point, and frankly, I'll be a little surprised if any of them actually come to fruition at all, but I kinda hope they do. You can read the details at the official site and Gamatsu.

---

EDIT: Here are more details on each game:

Fuga:

- set in the ‘Little Tail Bronx’ universe, in an area close to that of Solatorobo: Red the Hunter
- set quite a bit further in the past than that game
- action strategy RPG that focuses on 11 orphans who find a tank laying dormant under the village, which used to house ruins
- gameplay has management simulation aspects, where the characters need to be assigned to different roles
- some shooting and roguelike elements to the gameplay as well
- attention has been given to the ‘feelings’ of the characters, who the developers want to feel lifelike
- characters not obeying orders, or sickness and depression may happen

Tokyo Ogre Gate:

- ‘high speed parkour slashing action’ game
- set in a fantasy world that is inspired by post-WWI Japan
- the main character, Towako, speeds up as she slashes through enemies
- the faster she’s going, the higher her damage output is
- the game will shift from sidescrolling, to front scrolling and back scrolling at times,
- this project is popular with the staff because it is very try-hard edgy in the way they love
- the kanji for Tokyo is that of ‘sword’ and ‘evil’

Cecile

- the characters in Cecile are four sisters who hate each other, and fight to take each others’ hearts
- 2.5D sidecrolling action game
- the main character Cecile fights with an umbrella with unique animations
- this project was sent in by a young developer
- the company president wants to put them and other young developers in the spotlight with these sort of projects

These actually sound kinda dark.

[Nester the Lark]

So, if all the Neo Geo games on Switch weren't enough classic SNK games for you, they've announced the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection for Switch, which is made of up their pre-Neo Geo arcade and console games. And yes, it includes Crystalis!

[nocturnal YL]

And here I am, still hoping to see a renewal of Metal Slug Anthology. The Wii version supported only composite output for some reason.

I don't think that will ever happen, given a combination of the ACA NEOGEO series and a Metal Slug XX port on PS4. SNK obviously wants to treat these games as individual releases at this point.

On a positive note, I'm glad the 40th Anniversary Collection has a physical release.

[Nester the Lark]

Turns out it's being handled by Frank Cifaldi and Digital Eclipse, the same people who worked on the first Mega Man Legacy Collection and the Disney Afternoon Collection.

It also supports vertical orientation in handheld mode.

The Neo Geo collections were some of my most played games on the original Wii, so I am pretty hyped for this. Also, Vanguard was a favorite from my childhood, albeit it was the Atari 5200 version. (And yes, I know the arcade version was originally developed by TOSE.)

Also also, I've always wanted to play Psycho Soldier, but mainly because I'm a fan of the Psycho Soldier team in King of Fighters.

[Nester the Lark]

So, Sega has finally announced Shenmue I & II for PS4, Xbox One and PC for later this year.

"Key features" listed on the Steam page include:
Updated user interface
Choice of modern or classic controls
Japanese audio available for the first time for a global audience

Teaser trailer:


Also, Sega announced a proper "Sega Genesis Mini" in the vein of Nintendo's mini consoles. No other details were given (such as price or games included).

Also also, Sega announced that Sakura Wars 6 is in early development for release in 2019 or later. No platforms were revealed.

Also also also, Sega announced the Sega Ages line for the Switch. Development is being handled by M2. The first three games are Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star and Thunder Force IV. They'll start rolling out sometime this summer.

[Nester the Lark]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World and the arcade version of Gain Ground are also confirmed for Sega Ages on Switch. Also, like the 3DS Sega Ages games, they'll include extra modes and options, such as the spin dash in Sonic 1 and the Styx Mode in Thunder Force IV that was in the Saturn version. (Plus, it's being called Thunder Force IV instead of the embarrassing "Lightening Force" (sic). )

Speaking of which, if the initial batch of 15 titles sell well, Sega will consider adding Saturn and Dreamcast games in the future. Bring on Thunder Force V and Panzer Dragoon!

In other news, Sega is also porting the original Valkyria Chronicles to the Switch.

[nocturnal YL]

If they're going to port Dreamcast games, I want to see Crazy Taxi. Or maybe Segagaga, since they're already thinking of including that in SEGA Forever anyway.

(EDIT - Ugh, forget it. If they're doing it with Unity, I'm not interested.)

Not a game announcement per se, but Project DIVA Future Tone is going to get an update this Thursday with a few EXTRA EXTREME charts added. I'm especially looking towards to Aikotoba, which is rated at ☆8.5 but looks somewhat easy to me. Maybe I can claim my first ☆8.5 perfect with this?

But more than anything, I'm glad SEGA didn't forget about the PS4 version. Now when will the next proper game come out? Also DIVA X songs new songs new modules Switch version blah blah blah

[The Qu]

Sam Mullen from SEGA/Atlus has said if we want re-releases of Saturn/Dreamcast games to make our voices heard.

I've done my part on Twitter, going as far as pointing out that SEGA has orphaned a lot of decent games with no re-releases ever, including JSRF.

[Nester the Lark]

So, Neo Geo Mini on the way?

[nocturnal YL]

Oh, you mean this?

It actually feels weird to have publishers making their own retro consoles. These have always been poor-quality, throwaway versions that the original console manufacturers usually don't care about. Like the many, many versions of plug-and-play Genesis.

And then Nintendo released one such system themselves, proving that retro consoles can be high quality. And then everyone else jumped on the ship. That's the most uncreative game product ideas I've seen in a good while.

Apr 16, 2018 9:23:08 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

I'm especially looking towards to Aikotoba, which is rated at ☆8.5 but looks somewhat easy to me. Maybe I can claim my first ☆8.5 perfect with this?

Guess what, I actually perfected it on the same day the update came out!

[Nester the Lark]

Ikaruga confirmed for Switch, published by Nicalis.



Here's a blog entry with more info.

tl;dr:
- Releases May 29.
- Can be played with a vertical screen orientation.
- Costs US$14.99

I own this game twice already (GameCube and PC), so I don't need to triple dip, especially for the steep price (Steam version is only $9.99, and often on sale for $4.99). And quite frankly, it's not my favorite Treasure game. I want to support Treasure, but I'd rather they port Radiant Silvergun or Bangai-O instead.

Of course, there's always Sega Ages. (Fingers crossed for Guardian Heroes.)