Very much in the spirit of trying to branch out, I have tried a visual novel. Unknowingly (at first), the visual novel is also a dating sim. Friends, I’m going to cut straight to the point. Slay the Princess was NOT for me. I’m fully aware that this game has been getting rave reviews across the board elsewhere, and I really did try. But to no avail. Let’s just get right into it.

What is Slay the Princess?

Slay the Princess is a choice-driven horror visual novel from Black Tabby Games. It’s pretty simple really. You’re following a path through a woods, and at the end of the path is a cabin. The cabin has a basement, and inside it is a Princess. The titular princess that you’re on your way to kill. Of course, you can choose to attempt to free her, or even romance her.

There are also a few different endings, and a lot of time looping. The whole game is fully voice acted, however I personally didn’t like the voices. That is absolutely nothing against any of the voice actors, they all do a great job. The voices just didn’t click for me. Audio options do allow you to totally turn off volume for voices, so that’s what I did for my playthroughs. The music is pretty chill, and matches the vibe of the game overall.

Art wise, Abby Howard did a truly fantastic job. The whole game has been hand drawn traditionally using paper and pencil. That is the one thing I genuinely enjoyed about the game. We all know I’m a sucker for a good art style, and I have 100% fallen in love with Abby Howard’s.

Slay the Story

I do understand why Slay the Princess has gone over so well for fans of this kind of game. There is a full narrative there, and a winding, expanding experience. However, it just did not click with me. The dialogue didn’t capture me, and the options just didn’t feel right. There were a couple of lines over the course of my runs that made me laugh, (including a “viva la revolución”) but overall it felt a bit stale.

Like I said above, the one thing that did win for me was the art style. It is truly great. The environments are nice to look at, and the different forms of the princess are well executed. I highly recommend checking out more of Abby Howard’s art, you will not regret it! That was just where the good ended for me.

The romance was fun to try at first, but it lost its charm pretty fast. Again, that came back to the dialogue. It just didn’t flow the way I would have liked.

Slaying Word

I do need to stress, this is all very much personal preference. I do not click with visual novels. Genuinely, I really wanted to like this game. I love the art style, and that frequently adds to my enjoyment of a game. This time around, it just wasn’t enough.

Undeniably though, I firmly believe people who enjoy the visual novel genre would enjoy this. It just wasn’t for me.

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A Reminder on Cabernet

It has been a little while, so let’s have a little refresher on what Cabernet is! Cabernet is a 2D narrative RPG, set in 19th century Eastern Europe. We play as Liza, a young vampire struggling with the world around her. After being pulled into a supernatural world, a world that puts her own morality into question. This new life is intoxicating, overflowing with possibilities, but can it really be that easy?

With new powers to unlock and a new existence to experience, Liza will have to learn the difference between usefulness and a meal.

Demo Days

Before I jump into talking about the demo, I want to give a quick heads up. Currently, there is very little voice acting in Cabernet. However, full voice acting is planned for the game’s full release in 2024.

Cabernet opens with an introduction to Liza, and her passing from mortal life. Admittedly, she doesn’t seem fully aware of what has happened to her. Her face and nightgown are dirty, and she is locked in a chamber. This soon changes when a disembodied knocker grants her release. Liza is plunged into the High Life, encounters the Countess Orlova, and gets cleaned up. Now the time has come to learn about her vampiric abilities.

Cabernet’s demo introduces us quite nicely to the mechanics of the game, which do feel a tad different. It was a little tricky for me at first, as I’ve not played anything 2D that wasn’t purely point and click in a while. Movement is very smooth so far, even as a bat. Honestly, I want to play as a bat in more games. Flying about is fun. And thankfully on a 2D plane, I can’t be a bad driver/flyer! Although realistically, by the time the full game releases, I’ll have found a way.

As the game progresses and you become further immersed in lore, you’ll unlock more of your vampiric abilities. Eventually, Liza will even be able to hypnotise people, or even become totally invisible!

More Cabernet in the future

By now, you all know how critical I am of demos. It’s hard to create the perfect demo, one that shows enough to leave you wanting more, but not so much to ruin the overall game.

Thankfully, Cabernet gets the formula right. It’s the perfect taste to leave you craving more. The more of this game that I get to experience, the more excited I am. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into this one. And no, I am not sorry for the bad jokes I slipped into this article.

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With a gorgeous, comic book-inspired visual style, Hauma’s narrative follows Judith, a former detective forced out of retirement by a variety of suspicious events taking place among Munich’s upper class. Players will explore real-world locations from the historic House of Art, to other locations while discovering pieces of hidden history that reveal information on the city’s past.

Hauma isn’t just about playing through an intriguing narrative, players will also need to solve puzzles and riddles while putting together a mindboard that allows Judith to make investigative deductions and also acts as an inventory containing all of Judith’s items and thoughts. Hauma is fully voice-acted with a story that will have players determined to find out the darkest secrets of the city’s underbelly.

Key Features

• More than Meets the Eye: Embark on a journey of deduction and intrigue, uncover the secrets of Munich’s elite corrupt society, and piece together the puzzle of the conspiracy that lies within.
• Enter the Mind Palace: Become acquainted with the mindboard, an innovative inventory of interconnected items and thoughts that, when weaved together correctly, uncover clues and unravel mysteries. 
• Draw Your Own Conclusions: Utilize engaging investigation mechanics, including a variety of puzzles and challenging dialogue riddles.
• Comic-Inspired Storytelling: Exhibited in vibrant, graphic-novel-styled art, Hauma visually engages you in a gripping story and doesn’t let you go until you’ve unearthed every last conspiracy.
• Hear Me Out: Hauma features a fully voiced cinematic adventure featuring a diverse cast and evocative characters. 

Players can wishlist the game now to be the first to know when it’s available.

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Listed on Polygon’s “The 17 most exciting video game releases of fall 2022,” Roadwarden is an illustrated text-based RPG in which players take on the profession of the titular roadwarden. As a roadwarden, you will explore and change a hostile and grim realm. Roadwarden is described as a modern take on classic text-driven choose-your-own-adventure RPGs. Its gameplay is entirely driven by scenarios presented through text. This means players will make decisions based on events happening around them.

Roadwarden’s Key Features Include: 

• Explore & Change the World: Discover the secrets and face the challenges of a hostile fantasy world. You will eventually unveil its unique and sinister history.
• Grow With the Challenge: Create your own background story, personal abilities, beliefs, and personality. These will help to shape your very own future.

For those interested Roadwarden is now on Steam for £8.29 / €/$10.99 with a limited-time 10% launch discount.

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2022-08-16

In 2018 Digimon fans were shown the first glimpse of a new title in the Digimon franchise. It was simply titled Digimon Survive. Then there was a trailer that got people excited in 2019. From there we got drips and drabs of information.

Most of the information sadly was it being delayed several times. Pushing its release to this month. With all these delays fans were worried that the final product would never match up to that initial intriguing promise. Now with it finally out and fans like myself finally getting to play it and finish it, there’s one big question; Was it worth the wait? Yes, yes it was and in my humble opinion, it is potentially the greatest instalment of the whole Digmon franchise.

Digimon Survive – A story of heartbreak and horror

The story of Digimon Survive is one that fans will recognise. Eight teens are plucked from their world during summer camp and are thrown into a new world filled with strange monsters. This is reminiscent of every Digimon story reaching all the way back to the original Digimon series, Digimon Adventure from 1999. What does Digimon Survive bring to the table? Out and out horror and gut-wrenching tragedy. This isn’t your daddy’s Digimon.

There are tropes from the franchise that are played out in a far more compelling style. It’s as if the franchise grew up with its audience. From how the characters interact with each other to how they interact with their Digimon partners, it’s fresh, engaging and highly emotional. The best compliment I could offer Digimon Survive is that it feels like you’re actually a part of a season of Digimon.

Try and survive this monstrous world

Digimon Survive is a visual novel with RPG battle mechanics. Many will be turned away by this as there is a lot of reading. In fact, it has been review bombed by players who didn’t realise this element of the game is so prevalent. For me, I think if this didn’t have such a strong story with such interesting characters I would have been less forgiving. I myself find visual novel games a mixed bag. However, when the effort is put in they are absolutely phenomenal.

Add to this story over 100 different Digimon to digivolve, train and partner with and you’re for a hell of a good time. You can also affect the digivolutions of your partner Digimon and your friend’s Digimon with the choices you make. It makes the story as well as your actions within it powerful and emotional. If there are any issues the combat can feel somewhat easy. The whole game I failed maybe three times. There are a few moments where there is a difficulty spike which came out of nowhere. Other than that though I enjoyed every moment of battling with my chosen team of warriors.

Ultimately Digimon Survive is a stellar gaming experience. For fans of visual novels, fans of Digimon and fans of interesting stories this is a brilliant game. So much so that I’m about to go into my second playthrough because I want to get every single ending of this wonderful story.

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The Taisho era represents a time of prosperity and optimism for Japan, an intersection of eastern and western cultures that creates a vibrant framework in which to take on the mantle of Seijuro Kamiyama and bring the Imperial Combat Revue back to glory!

Sakura Wars is a reboot that retains many of the features that made the genre-defining series such a hit in Japan, including a poetic vision, a strong cast, and a compelling story filled with intrigue, action, and romance. Our latest trailer puts this portrayal of 1940s Tokyo front and centre as it introduces your mission to restore your squad and the theatre to prestige.

Physical editions of Sakura Wars include a reversible cover featuring the original Japanese cover art for the game, along with a sticker set featuring the main cast of the game. The game will feature Japanese voice acting with subtitles in English, German, French, and Spanish.

Sakura Wars Features:

• Dramatic Character Interplay—Engage with a colourful cast through the dynamic LIPS dialogue system where what you say and how you say it has a profound impact on relationships off and on the battlefield.
• Exciting Combat Payoffs—Your bonds with team members flow into the high-energy combat finale of each episode, featuring action-packed fights with giant steam-powered mecha.
• Brilliant Anime Production—Gorgeous animated sequences, a lush soundtrack, and characters designed by anime and JRPG luminaries will transport you into a vibrant 1940s steampunk Tokyo.

Sakura Wars takes centre stage on the PlayStation 4 on April 28th.

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With its gorgeous art, lots of quality-of-life features and more, it is no wonder that this game received a popular anime adaptation and was praised by both players and critics.

The many rhythms of Aokana – Four Rhythms Across the Blue

The story of Aokana plays in a world where science finally did it and invented anti-gravity shoes! With the dreamlike ability to freely fly through the skies, a form of sport called Flying Circus became popular, where athletes soar through the air to score points.

Slip into the role of Masaya, a former competitor, that encounters the new transfer student Asuka who strives to learn how to fly. Get involved in the Flying Circus sports club, support the ambitious girls and eventually end up with your own head in clouds!

Make sure to check out #Aokana and @NekoNyanSoft on social media!

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2020-02-25

Who doesn’t love a good mystery? That’s the presupposition that Tokyo Dark Remembrance builds off, the innate human desire to make sense of things on a small scale so as to ease our existential fear of things unknowable.

That combined with much people like video games is, of course, a match made in heaven. Stepping into the shoes of Detective Itō Ayami players are assigned the mission of finding her missing partner. However, things quickly take on a supernatural twist as their past comes back to (possibly literally) haunt them. Some kind of… dark… remembrance? In Tokyo?!?

The game is one part point and click adventure, one part visual novel. The core loop revolves around exploring various locations whilst interacting with the environment and other characters. The cast includes a grotesque array of degenerates. An early encounter with an old pervert who enjoys luring younger women into a drainpipe being especially unpleasant.

At times it can feel almost like a parody in its attempts at edginess but is consistently interesting, like a deranged Columbo fanfic. These moments feel at odds with the lighter moments, jumping from sex criminals to cute kittens within minutes. Regardless it succeeds at genuinely chilling moments, essential for a story in its genre.

Click to view slideshow.

The interesting twist is the S.P.I.N. system (Sanity, Professionalism, Investigation, Neurosis). Recalling the Sanity Meter from Gamecube classic Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem this concept alters the game’s ending depending on decisions made. A boasted thirteen outcomes encourages experimentation and adds an interesting replayability give the relatively brief length. This brevity is a positive, keeping the mystery plot well-paced and free of filler. An exciting early encounter requires you to make quick decisions in order to resolve a hostage situation. Weaker games give you dialogue options with an infinite amount of time to easily guess the best answer. Here you’re given very strict time restrictions. This way every choice feels desperate and vital.

The interface by which you interact with the world in Tokyo Dark Remembrance is unintuitive on consoles, feeling like it should really be experienced on with a mouse. This is especially disappointing on the Switch version for the absence of touch screen controls. This is especially a let down given how well it would lend itself to tablet-style play.  The visuals are a mixed bag. Fascinating yet static backdrops with mundane anime-styled characters. A stronger visual identity would really tie the package together but the visuals certainly are clean and precise: a necessity for the genre. This Tokyo adventure may be dark but it’s certainly worth remembering.

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As the Barista in the late-night coffee shop, ‘Coffee Talk’, players offer friendly conversation and late-night warm drinks to the colourful and fantastical inhabitants of alternative-Seattle including elves, aliens, and orcs. The game features visual aesthetics inspired by 90s anime, classic pixel art adventure games, and images often associated with lo-fi chill hop music.

The visual novel storylines are determined based on drinks they are served, not through the dialogue selections. Coffee Talk is the place to be for those who want to chat, relax, and relate no matter who they are or where they come from over delicious expertly crafted hot drinks.

Click to view slideshow.

“This game plays like the warm drinks served within it: warm, mellow, and comforting.” said Shintaro Kanaoya, Founder of Chorus Worldwide. “It’s rewarding to listen to the stories of the varied clientele and offering them up their favourite drinks when asked (and you feel bad when you get their order wrong). Just as the coffee shop in the game is a peaceful place for its customers to rest and unwind, Toge Productions have masterfully created a little oasis of a game for players of all ages to take a breath and relax.”

“After a stressful day, we just want to play something relaxing that’s not stressful or violent, sadly there aren’t many of them,” said Kris Antoni, Founder of Toge Productions, “So, we decided to make one where people can chill, relax, and craft latte-art.”

Coffee Talk is an official nominee of “Dengeki Online’s Indie Prize” at The Tokyo Game Show 2019, the finalist for the “Excellence in Narrative” at Busan Indie Connect 2019, and the winner of “Best Storytelling” at Level Up KL 2018.

If any of this has piqued your interest there is a demo version of Coffee Talk is now available on the Steam Store and PlayStation Store.

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The plot thickens with the release of -Remembrance-, which developers Cherrymochi and mebius. have rebuilt entirely in a new engine. Colourful animated sequences by Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Hellsing Ultimate animation studio Graphinica bring to life the dark horror scenery of a crime-riddled Tokyo. Additional content and more endings for the branching narrative round out this ultimate edition of Tokyo Dark.

The disturbing web of intrigue within Tokyo Dark -Remembrance-

The disappearance of Detective Ito Ayami’s partner isn’t the only unsettling occurrence plaguing Japan’s capital city. Strange symbols and a mysterious masked figure have popped up all over its many districts. Ito must delve into the city’s seedy underbelly to uncover the truth behind the supernatural occurrences and find her friend before it is too late.

Ito’s actions and decisions are tracked by the S.P.I.N (Sanity, Professionalism, Investigation, Neurosis) system, which affects character interactions and available story paths. Playing by the rules might keep her in good standing with her fellow police officers and open up favours to aid the investigation, while often resorting to violence could irreparably turn citizens against her, closing paths further down the line.

“Tokyo Dark -Remembrance- emphasizes balancing opposing forces mechanically, visually and thematically, said John Davis, G&R Representative, UNTIES. The developers have perfected the core ideas with the Switch and upcoming PlayStation 4 releases, taking Ito’s journey to even more chilling places with innovative systems tracking every in-game action.”

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