Sunday, January 28, 2024
With
the new year behind us, we can finally shake off the haze of drink and
food as we walk towards the Spring. This is a month which is always
relatively slow when it comes to visual novel releases, but there are
still a few games worth your time. We have another Ace
Attorney remaster, a classic mystery collection and a short title
about a certain streamer. Let’s face another year of brilliant
possibilities and find out what the first steps are for visual
novels.
Official Releases
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Replacing
your existing protagonist is a risky move at the best of times and
even more so when they are as iconic as Phoenix Wright. Yet that is
exactly what happened with the Apollo Justice games and to say that
the reaction was mixed is an understatement. Now this trilogy has
received the same remastering and porting as the previous titles and
look its best for a new release. It will be interesting to see how an
entirely new audience deals with this change of guard, but what made
the originals good is still undeniably in these games. However, there
is definitely a shakiness to the first game where you can feel how
unsure the developers were about how to marry the old and the new Ace
Attorney in a way pleasing to fans. At the end of the day if you
enjoyed the stories of Phoenix Wright then you will probably find
some fun following the struggles of Apollo Justice, just do not
expect it to be exactly the same.
Petit Game Collection vol.1
This
is an odd one, a collection of mini games with a visual novel acting
as a complimentary element and all themed around retro aesthetic. It
is an odd way to follow up the success of NEEDY GIRL OVERDOSE and yet
it is that game’s identity and characters from which this
collection derives its appeal. The visual novel section focuses
around a date the Ame-chan and explores it in a more direct fashion
than the very number centric original game could have managed. It is
a nice peak behind the curtain and adds a nice bit of humanity to
Ame-chan as well as her place in this world. All in all this is a
short and cheap title which aims to give the fans a chance to immerse
themselves in this relationship once more with some fun side
activities. Presumably there will be a volume 2 at some point and it
will be interesting to see how this formula is iterated upon.
My Lovey-Dovey Demon
Ebi-hime
is back again with another excellent visual novel, this time in the
romance / slice of life genre complimented by a little supernatural
spice. Taiki has only recently turned into an adult and during his summer holiday he decides to spend
his time with his grandparent and his chaotic younger siblings.
Things do not go as planned as he accidentally summons a demon girl
and she becomes completely infatuated with him. Now he has to juggle
the troubles of looking after his siblings while also considering his
new found guest. This is ultimately a light bit of entertainment in a
sweet and wholesome way that is designed to make the player smile and
feel warm inside. If this sounds like your cup of tea then My
Lovey-Dovey Demon is definitely for you.
Another Code Recollection
Nintendo Eshop VNDB Genre
– Mystery, Sci-Fi, Drama Play Time – 20 hours
Another
remaster, this time for a pair atmospheric mystery titles original
released on the DS and Wii to cult status and they are well regarded for
their distinctive sci-fi undertones. The narrative follows Ashley
Mizuki Robbins as she pieces together the fate of her parents over
the course of the two games. Leaning into a sense of wistfulness and
longing to fuel an atmosphere which piles on a feeling of the past being
ever present and echoing through not only peoples’ lives but the
very environment itself. The graphical uplift does wonders to bring
the package together especially for the first game with its minimal graphics
due to system limitations of the DS and it makes the island where the
title is set on appear mysterious. This collection contains two
strong games that are worth picking up if you want some head
scratching mysteries to solve while being completely immersed in
the experience.
