https://www.gematsu.com/2021/06/shin-megami-tensei-v-website-update-reportedly-leaks-november-11-release-date

The (old) trailer has me excited as the series is finally coming back to console after SMT IV. I understand that Persona have essentially taken over SMT as the "mainline" series and the primary project of Atlus. It's unfortunate but it seems that Kazuma Kaneko won't really have as much contribution as he did in the past, at least not in terms of design. He's among my favorite artists and what really defines the SMT universe. Soejima and Doi are good artists and possibly better than Kaneko in terms of skill but they lack his idiosyncratic approach to design. Their style are more in line with mainstream anime and I would argue to be boring in comparison to their mentor's.

>>14272
I like the few designs they showed and the idea of a system around the deadly sins. No PC version for now though.

Battlefield 2042: Macross Frontier edition https://youtu.be/yY877xAE9Jg?t=177 :cloud_lightning:
KOF Luong time no see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opNubV7j1Tc :stuck_out_tongue:

>>14281
That looks so dumb. I'm disappointed but I don't know why I should expect better. I am surprised by the comments people were making though, there seemed to be a huge backlash against BFV for adding ridiculous things but they all seem to love that man jumping out of an F-35 with a rocket launcher and shooting another jet and then jumping back in his own jet...

Guess I won't buy this one either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6pCyV7PnqI

Still not too enthusiastic about the collab with George R. R. Martin but at least visually and atmospherically everything is congruent with From Software's past titles albeit there might be a little more fantastical elements than usual.

>>14280
It's ironic how it bears so much resemblance to the Persona series, considering Persona was conceived as a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei if.. which the big names involved in Monark was the creator of. It has all come full circle. The deadly sins system might be interesting but I'm not as keen on the designs.

Post edited on 10th Jun 2021, 8:34pm

>>14283
At least, GRRM isn't writing a story and he has others to hopefully keep this tardiness in line.

>>14283
It's just Darksouls 4 but with horses.

>>14290
>>14291
I hope so. I could be wrong but I seem to remember it being mentioned when it was first announced that the game will be different from the Souls series in that there will be predetermined player character/s, which would make it more similar to Sekiro and possibly more plot driven than the Souls series. Never read GRRM's works but it seems very much like tolkienesque high fantasy, not my cup of tea. There are certainly influences of it in Elden Ring but fortunately it still looks very much like a Souls game. Off the top of my head, DS2 is probably the closest to Elden Ring in terms of aesthetic.

>>14292
That's annoying, I like being able to pick my own character.

It's not high fantasy, it's more mid to low. GRR is not a very good writer and I don't think he has the ability to actually create a Darksouls type world and story, it's far too subtle and nuanced for him, so he may not contribute much if anything to the project anyway(and it would be for the best).

>>14293
https://www.gematsu.com/2019/06/elden-ring-is-an-evolution-of-dark-souls-says-director-hidetaka-miyazaki

Never mind, seems like I was very much off the mark and as another poster said, he's only really involved in the world building and mythos of the game.

>I don't think he has the ability to actually create a Darksouls type world and story, it's far too subtle and nuanced for him
I agree, I would say that the subtle approach that the Souls series adopt is its main charm and an aspect I find is unique and ingrained to the Japanese design philosophy.

>>14294
>ingrained to the Japanese design philosophy

You just made me remember how much I hate people that calls Dark Souls a western RPG.

>>14295
Why people are saying that? I don't want to look this shit up. If having a medieval europe setting or having characters wearing western school uniforms or western white collar suits make Japanese games Western games then holy shit, I'm afraid Japanese games don't exist.

>>14296
It's a medieval Europe setting AND the characters don't look like they're from an anime.

>>14294
Dark Souls is about as subtle as a jackhammer.

>>14296
Because what you said and because they hate JRPG's but like Dark Souls, therefore Dark Souls has to be a WRPG.

>>14298
If he's talking about the visuals yes, but I think he means the inconspicuous way the story is told by being silently dropped here and there through item description and small, loose conversations that you have to piece together instead of railroading and hitting you with a loud cutscene loaded with exposition, which is something I also like it a lot. Given how on the nose GoT is with its flamboyant and sometimes obnoxiously loud characters, I understand the concern of connecting GRRM to this project, though It's probably unfair to say that writing something with more restraint is beyond him. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

If that's the case, I do think calling that Japanese design philosophy is rather odd though. That approach to storytelling is pretty much how locked-room mystery fiction works, which is not something Japanese originally. Gamewise, many D&D stories work the same way (grimdark, unobtrusive characters and plot, finding pieces of information you have to put together like a puzzle), and some of those supplements came out in the 70s. Well, I don't expect anyone to be as sick and addicted to consuming massive amounts fiction as I am to even know that stuff exists anymore, but still.

That said, I still agree with that anon in the sense that the way the Japanese understand dark fantasy and grimdark, at least in the soul games, is very attractive. It has a very special type of silence and the whole thing has this self-effacing approach to it that is hard to explain. I know it might not look like if you're just paying attention to some of the more gaudy weapons and armor designs you find in the series but it's there, and it's certainly very different of how GRRM usually understands it, or approaches it at least. I feel the same way with how some Japanese developers understand post-apoc and distopias, I'm thinking about games such as Panzer Dragoon Saga. I would probably have to write an essay to explain exactly what I mean but I'm sure most of you already know what I'm talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PgRBcRi5NY

For some reason the protag's design looks like a sentai character and feels a little out of place for me. The color scheme feels off as well. Still excited nonetheless. Also looking forward to the new Super Robot Wars and Fatal Frame.

The English trailer for Rune Factory 5 was recently released. It's pretty sad to see that the style of the graphics looks poorer than Frontier, but perhaps that's just me. Thankfully, visuals aren't high on my list outside of the character portraits, but I will miss the 2D artwork of the previous games; they were quite pleasing. Also, since the Rune Factory 4 Special included Japanese voices, while the original English release of RF4 didn't, I remain hopeful 5 will also have them.

>>14270
>there is no romance option and relationships are generally just triggers to advance plotlines.
This is why it's low on my backlog, but then again, I'd probably would have already finished it if I played games more often.

>the bgm is good
Speaking of, it kills me that SoS and Rune Factory games possess such mediocre (or even sub-mediocre) BGM. This is one of the easiest things to fix, and yet it's still a problem. The fact that a spin-off has better music than the mainline games is both good to hear but also kind of saddening.

>Seems like they are adding new communities with the new patches but it only makes it even more disjointed to me.
Tree of Tranquility and Animal Parade had something similar where there were districts scattered across the world: shops, industry, and farmlands. They looked pretty nice, actually, but it also meant the player needed to travel more--kind of a hassle.

>A New Beginning sounds interesting but I did read up on it and unfortunately it seems that it's riddled with a lot of issues as well and the aforementioned system aren't very well implemented.
Biggest problems with the town-building is that it's tedious. If future games improved upon it, I think such a feature would be a great asset to the series. But the worst part of ANB is that the first month was an absolute slog, and it's one of those games that require one to collect and horde items to complete story objectives. As I mentioned in previous posts, I'm pretty sure this is done to artificially inflate playtime. With that said, ANB also had the Witch Princess, and she's best girl even if her evilness was significantly reduced.

>>14304
Yeah, I suppose the bgm for the series were never its strongest suit. That said the mineral town series probably have the most memorable ones in the series in my opinion and the ones made for the sixth generation consoles were decent as well.

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/08/bloomberg-netease-games-in-final-negotiations-to-poach-toshihiro-nagoshi-from-sega

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1437930124490457088


After many many years, Nintendo finally caved and added Bluetooth audio support to all switches via a new update.

>>14338
I hate bluetooth headphones. I assumed this already worked though, strange.

>>14339
I think there were technical limitations because the controllers work off Bluetooth too. So far I've heard using BT audio limits the amount of controllers you can use to 2, and some people can't connect their headsets anyway.

Well, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is available on Steam. Still haven't played despite being excited for it, and posting about it in this thread, but it just looks so God damn disappointing and bland.
At least you'll be able to play it now without the overhead of the emulator, only-other-anon-who-plays-hm.

>>14341
I've actually been playing for the past days, been meaning to post about it but I thought it'd be better to wait until I've played it further and post it in another thread. They've certainly fixed a lot of the things we've criticized about in the past. I suppose playing it with very low framerate in an emulator didn't really help my initial experience as well. Overall I think it's a decent game. I still agree to an extent that the design is bland and even now I struggle to remember the name of the villagers. The gameplay is probably the best part about it but I still have some peeves with some of the game design choices. I find that the game progression are less natural as older games are but this is not a problem with SoS alone but rather modern games in general. If you have the chance to pirate it I'd encourage you to give it a try yourself and see if you like it before making a purchase.

>>14342
Certainly curious after reading your post, and I kind of want to play it so at least you're not the only one posting about it in the prospective thread.

I haven't followed Rune Factory 5 all that much, but the Western release will be coming in March. Sadly, it seems the performance is complete garbage, and the game looks worse than the Wii ones. And, supposedly, the reason for the delayed release for the Western world is because the devs were told to implement fagshit since it wasn't in the Japanese version. I wouldn't be upset, really, about such a system being in place, but it's probably going to be implemented poorly since it wasn't in the original scope of the game.
Rune Factory died with 4, arguably 3.

Post edited on 23rd Sep 2021, 6:19pm

>>14344
My opinions in this post were hyperbolic in retrospect. Really, I'm disappointed that the game runs like complete shit (and looks bad too), and that it takes cues from 4 rather than 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMqQBm93MM
Looks like Saber is going to be in the new Melty Blood.

Sora in SMASH

Rest in peace.

Some brief snippets:
-Sakura Taisen is finally going to be featured in a Super Robot Taisen series.
-Following the 20 year rule, the PS2 is finally allowed on GCCX and the first game featured is Earth Defence Force.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/playstation-patents-the-worst-idea-of-all-time

The Advance Wars remake's new artwork looks fucking terrible, and the "upgrade" to 3D completes the removal of the originals' charms. Who the hell is the target audience for this cheap crap?

>>14354
Westerners. It's not releasing in Japan which is insanely funny to me.

Damn, that looks bad. Much worse than I thought it would look like by reading your post. This reminds me of the girl art, Nell, she was actually "localized" as well, even on the original game. In the japanese original version her light-purple jacket had no sleeves, showing some armpits, and the US version had sleeves. This one actually makes me feel conflicted. I like her armpits, but at the same time the sleeveless version seems unprofessional and doesn't leave as serious a impression as the other one, which is more serious and war-like.

Post edited on 29th Oct 2021, 9:48am

>>14355
>It's not releasing in Japan which is insanely funny to me.
I did not know this, but that explains a lot. Hope this shit bombs.

>>14365
Yeah, I wasn't upset all that much about the changes done to Nell for the reasons you stated. Still, however, disappointed that they felt the need to censor in the first place. Perhaps they were afraid that Nell's armpits would make too many fetishists?

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/11/made-in-abyss-binary-star-falling-into-darkness-screenshots-the-world-of-the-abyss

Sony continues to implode.

>>14411
I really, really don't understand the appeal of AAA games.

Netflix has announced a Bioshock movie adaptation

- https://twitter.com/nichegamer/status/1493635133361983490

Rune Factory 5's English version was leaked. Though I'm waiting until after it's officially released as it'll probably need a patch or two (even though it shouldn't.)

Never mind: it's already officially out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUdpF2a--D0
Just a few more days.

>>14449
I could 1cc the first snes one and go through all but the last stage with no damage. My computer can't emulate neither of those consoles though, that's a pity.

>>14449
What the fuck was wrong with Americans?

>>14449
I was watching the videos for this release on Natsumeatari's site and then checked the teasers for the western release as well. How hilarious, they actually went ahead and mutilated one of the character's design, not only on the promo material but in game as well. Feels good not having to depend at all on localized garbage. On the brighter side, at least you don't need to know Japanese to enjoy this particular game.

>>14454
Funny how the motivations have changed but the outcomes haven't
Reminds me of back in the 90s when any localization was obsessed with Christians being upset about whatever nonsense and now things are no different for totally different reasons

>>14449
That's impressive, I'm not very good with shmups but reshrined is very forgiving and I've managed to complete it on normal in a relatively short time. It's a fun game overall and the pixel art is gorgeous. The Switch emulators Ryujinx and Yuzu have come a long way and the game itself is not very demanding, perhaps you could give them a try. My PC isn't very powerful and is more than 5 years old but it's able to run it decently enough.

>>14449
Well I just finished. It's adorable. I'll post a review.