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Free 'Ghostwire: Tokyo' visual novel for PlayStation sets the stage for the game
You can now read a free 'Ghostwire: Toyko' visual novel prequel on your PS4 or PS5.
'Danganronpa' visual novels are finally coming to Nintendo Switch
The Danganronpa visual novels will finally be available for the Nintendo Switch.
Famicom Detective Club is a pair of visual novels for people new to the genre
Nintendo's re-release of the Famicom Detective Club games is an interesting time capsule of the visual novel genre.
'Famicom Detective Club' hits the US for the first time in May
Visual novel and mystery fans will finally get a crack at a Japanese classic when 'Famicom Mystery Club' comes to the US in May.
Live theater over Zoom is better when it’s interactive
Live theater over Zoom is a lot more fun when the audience gets to call the shots.
Interactive love story 'Florence' will break your heart on Switch, PC and Mac
Just in time for Valentine's Day and two years after it debuted on iOS, the interactive visual novel Florence is coming to Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac. It tells the story of a young woman, Florence, as she discovers herself and experiences the joy and heartache of first love.
Landmark visual novel Steins;Gate heads west on PS3, Vita next year
Acclaimed Japanese visual novel Steins;Gate will be localized and released in North America and Europe next year for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, publisher PQube announced today. Taking place on the streets of Japanese electronics shopping district Akihabara, Steins;Gate tells a sci-fi tale in which its characters can change past events by sending text messages through time. The mystery deepens when the cast receives replies from a dystopian future hinting at a world-changing conspiracy revolving around the Large Hadron Collider. Steins;Gate topped PC sales charts in Japan for many consecutive months following its initial release in 2010, spawning multiple spinoffs and ports for the Xbox 360, PSP, and mobile platforms. While an English-language PC version premiered earlier this year via JAST USA, PQube's upcoming localization will mark Steins;Gate's first appearance on consoles in North America and Europe. Speaking to Siliconera, PQube head of marketing Geraint Evans revealed that the company is pursuing a retail launch in addition to a digital release via the PlayStation Network. "I'm personally against digital-only releases, so I will do my very best to ensure a physical release happens," Evans stated. [Image: PQube]
The best game about depression stars a homicidal toy bear
Whether it's because you can't afford to give the gifts that society says mark you as a good person, or because you're missing someone who used to be at your celebrations, or even just because it's cold and dark, depression can hit particularly hard during the holidays. One of the biggest problems with depression is trying to explain it to people who've only ever experienced the transitory kind that everyone faces at some point in their lives - the kind that hits after a breakup or a loss. They tend to think that depression means you're sad and just need a good cheering up. If you're suffering this holiday season, rather than suffer through another round of suggestions that you "shake it off," consider handing your well-intentioned friends a Vita and copies of Danganronpa:Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair and let Monokuma explain how depression really feels. I'm as surprised as you are that a game starring a homicidal mechanical bear would be a good instructor on the nuances of mental health, and I rather doubt it's what the developers had in mind, but Danganronpa does a surprisingly elegant job of conveying what it can be like to live with depression. In case you're not familiar with the games, they involve a group of exceptional students who are kidnapped, have their memories erased, and are forced to kill each other if they ever want to return home. Admittedly, it's a situation that just about anyone would find depressing - murder someone or never see your loved ones ever again - but the most important part is the villain of the games, known as the Ultimate Despair. Every one of the students is the Ultimate Something-or-other - baseball player, programmer, swimmer, traditional dancer - but the villain's speciality is making people feel despair on such a deep level that they lose all hope. In that state, they become part of the Ultimate Despair's terrorist network because, really, why not? When you don't see the point in anything, does it really matter if you destroy entire cities or kill yourself? Nothing's ever going to get better anyway. It's an extreme depiction that serves the over-the-top nature of the game, but it's a pretty apt description of what it's like to live with depression.
Super Famicom visual novel makes English debut on iOS
Visual novel Banshee's Last Cry was released as a choose-your-own-adventure novel on the Super Famicom back in 1994, but this week's iOS port is the first chance to experience the game in English. You can try out Banshee's Last Cry for free, but you'll need to pay $3.99 if you want to flip through every digital page. The who-done-it murder mystery takes place in a ski hotel lodge. No, you cannot just leave and let the authorities handle it - the app store description notes that guests are "snowed in" to the resort, so you can either channel Scooby Doo or let a killer go unchecked. Have we mentioned that local legends involve a banshee that can rip through flesh just by screaming? Sounds like a good time! Banshee's Last Cry has multiple endings and unlockable side stories, so diligence is likely rewarded. While the novel is currently only available on iOS, Assistant Localization Editor "@Aksys_June" tweeted that an Android version should appear soon.
Romance your anime boss in Our Two Bedroom Story for iOS and Android
It's a fantasy come true: After admiring him from afar for so long, you're now moving in with your dreamy boss from work. Will this be the beginning of a budding romance, or is it the start of a workplace disaster? It's up to you to keep your professional life on track while spending quality time with your pretty anime boyfriend in Our Two Bedroom Story, a rare English-localized entry in the otome (female audience-targeted) romance simulation genre released today for iOS and Android devices. "As the player is thrown into her secret, new life with her boss," the game's description reads, "she can experience the excitement of seeing a side of her guy that she never sees at work." Our prediction: He refuses to do the dishes and his room smells like a fart circus. It's up to you, then, to shape him into the boyfriend you want him to be while not getting fired from your day job. That would be awkward. Our Two Bedroom Story's prologue chapter is free to download, but to continue your romantic conquest, you'll need to purchase one of two story paths, priced at $3.99 each. The game's epilogues cost an extra $1.99.
Manipulate friends, tie girls up in Christine Love's Ladykiller in a Bind
Christine Love, the creator of visual novels Analogue: A Hate Story and its sequel Hate Plus, is currently working on a new game called Ladykiller in a Bind. This new erotic visual novel focuses on "social manipulation and girls tying up other girls," Love wrote on her blog, though an interview with Polygon thankfully sheds more light on the game's manipulation hook. "Really, dating sims are inherently about manipulating other people – pick the right dialogue choices based off what you think they expect, learn about their interests so you can give them perfectly tuned gifts, make decisions based off whether you'll impress them or not – but like to pass it off as being about romance. Well, fuck that. You can still do that in Ladykiller in a Bind; we're just not going to pretend that it's anything other than manipulation. It'll have consequences." Sex is another big aspect of not only the game, but relationships overall, Love argues, and she's striving to "get that right" in Ladykiller in a Bind. "Sex is a pretty crucial aspect of how people in relationships interact, not just some arbitrary achievement at the end of a romantic arc. So I feel like I really want to get that right ... and what's a better way to explore power dynamics than through kinky sex? Framing it in a BDSM context just makes it more explicit." Ladykiller in a Bind is due some time in 2015 and could possibly be Love's last visual novel, she told Gameranx. The author admits she's becoming worried that she "focused too much on making the same sorts of games" and that she needs to take steps toward increasing her range as a developer.
Hate Plus dev's erotic visual novel, Ladykiller in a Bind, due in 2015
Analogue: A Hate Story creator Christine Love is embarking on a new project with Analogue's character artist, Fiohnel Fiver – it's another visual novel but this time with a distinctly erotic storyline. It's called My Twin Brother Made Me Crossdress As Him And Now I Have To Deal With A Geeky Stalker And A Domme Beauty Who Want Me In A Bind!!, but we'll call it by its shortened title, Ladykiller in a Bind. It's due out in 2015. "An erotic visual novel about social manipulation and girls tying up other girls, by the team that made Analogue," Love writes. Love is known for visual novels that play with romance, sci-fi, mystery and taboo, including Digital: A Love Story, Analogue: A Hate Story and Hate Plus. Analogue and Hate Plus are available in a bundle on Steam for $20 (including each game's original soundtrack), or individually for $10.
Judge or be judged in new Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc screens, trailer
Anime archetypes and evil remote-controlled bears engage in a murderous battle of wits in Spike Chunsoft's Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, a visual novel set for release next year on the PlayStation Vita. Publisher NIS America sets the stage this week with an array of new screenshots, along with the introductory trailer above. Danganronpa finds a group of high school students trapped in an academy headed up by Monokuma, a two-faced bear that sounds like an unhinged cross between Persona 4's Teddie and a Prinny from the Disgaea series. The only way to win Monokuma's deadly game is to kill a fellow student and not be identified as the murderer in a group-led courtroom trial afterward, under penalty of execution. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc will premiere at retail in North America and digitally via PSN on February 11, 2014.
Sexy warrior dating sim Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi coming to North America
Aksys revealed plans to localize Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi a choose-your-own-adventure-style visual novel for the PlayStation 3 and follow-up to last year's PSP release Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom. The Hakuoki series is part of the otome (female market-targeted) visual novel subgenre, offering a harem of cuddly warriors for players to woo in a 19th-century Japanese setting. While Aksys released the Dynasty Warriors-like spinoff Hakuoki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi for the PSP earlier this year, the upcoming Stories of the Shinsengumi sticks closer to the series' roots, featuring text-based gameplay that focuses entirely on dialogue choices and branching narrative. Aksys recently announced that it will also bring the Nintendo 3DS series sequel Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi stateside. A release date for Stories of the Shinsengumi has not been announced.
Analogue: A Hate Story coming to iOS, Japan this year
Indie developer Christine Love announced that her sci-fi visual novel Analogue: A Hate Story is coming to iOS devices later this year ahead of a Japanese release for PC platforms. Named as an Indiecade finalist in 2012, Analogue is a text-based adventure game in which players investigate a derelict space vessel with help from a lonely AI companion. The iOS version, developed in collaboration with Golden Gear Games, will require "a little bit of reworking," by Love's estimation, before it hits the App Store. The Japanese version of Analogue will feature a translation by Playism, who previously produced a remake of the indie PC platformer La-Mulana. A release date has not been announced.
PSA: Hate Plus now on Steam, 10 percent off until August 26
Hate Plus is now available on Steam for $8.99 until August 26. The game is a non-linear visual novel set directly after the events of Analogue: A Hate Story, and has players taking a three-day trip back to Earth, reading a spaceship's log to discover what happened to its crew. While those new to the series can start their adventure fresh with Hate Plus, the game can pull save data from Analogue: A Hate Story and incorporate the game's ending into the sequel.
Disgaea Infinite trailer makes as much sense as the other Disgaea games
That Disgaea Infinite trailer that snuck out in Japanese a little while back has now been officially released and translated into almost-English and, while it's a little harsh to call the series "the ultimate grind-fest" (unless fans want to wear that title as a badge of honor), this weird little adaptation that turns the strategy RPG into a "visual novel" adventure game still looks interesting. Last we heard, this one was due out for the PSP in May, but this trailer actually says June of 2010. We checked in with NIS America, and they informed us that the game is due out on June 8th of this year. Look for it as a downloadable title on PSN then.
Disgaea Infinite visual novel for PSP releases this May
We certainly didn't see this coming. While it may seem strange to doubt the release of another Disgaea game, Disgaea Infinite is not what you might expect. No, it's not a SRPG. It's not even a platformer. Instead, it's a visual novel game -- an interactive story-based adventure, akin to the Phoenix Wright series. According to a press release, this will be NIS America's first visual novel published in America. Disgaea Infinite promises to keep the same over-the-top humor the franchise is known for. Players will assume the role of a Prinny on the hunt for an assassin trying to take down the demon Laharl. With the power to take over other characters minds and bodies, Prinny will be able to solve this almost-murder mystery. Expect it on PSP this May. %Gallery-84266%
Nippon Ichi reveals Disgaea Infinite visual novel
Nippon Ichi continues to crank out announcements for its new upcoming games -- though calling this one a "game" might be a bit of a stretch. Though Disgaea Infinite shares a name, setting and characters with the core Disgaea series, it's far from a strategy-RPG title. In fact, this installment is a PSP visual novel, starring a Prinny who's tasked with solving a murder by possessing other characters and reading their minds. As you might be able to tell from the above description (and the trailer posted after the break), it's shaping up to be bizarre -- even by Disgaea's typically weird standards. Regardless, Japanese Prinny enthusiasts can grab the game Nov. 1 on the PSN for 2,500 yen ($27).
For Famitsu, 428 equals 40
The Famitsu 40/40 has lost some of its lustre in recent times. Since 1998, the magazine has awarded nine perfect scores, but three have come in 2008, including one for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.However, even we found the latest game to receive the honor surprising. 428: The World Doesn't Change Even So is a "visual novel," a graphical text adventure from roguelike kings Chunsoft that keeps player interaction to a minimum. In other words, it's very unlike any other game to receive a flawless Famitsu grade. In fact, it's unlike most other games, period.We haven't posted a great deal about 428. That's not because we don't find it interesting -- we definitely do. It's because, as Alisha has noted, a game of its ilk is almost entirely impenetrable to our western eyes. Suffice to say, it has now been instantly promoted from "intriguing curio" to "must-own import." Not that a release outside Japan will ever happen.%Gallery-27138%
