New and tentative game announcements (V2)

[Kikki]

Saw the Atelier DX pack and knew Bluie would have something to say

I don't think anyone's particularly interested so I won't post them, but Ys IX: Monstrum Nox got a new official trailer today that appeared to be story-oriented, and Haven (coming up in two days) got a 44-minutes-of-gameplay video, too, with the audio in English and the text in, uh...Spanish, maybe? Okay, I don't know what the text was in, as I only looked at it very briefly since I didn't actually want to see any gameplay spoilers. I saw both bits of news on Twitter this morning, along with regrettably uninteresting setsubun ACNH pictures and a clip of a little girl talking in Japanese of RF5.

Not hyper exciting, but more news than I've seen in several weeks, sadly.

If I can figure out a camera setting that allows me not to feel too nauseated (I can get accustomed to low levels of head-lurching, but never if it rips my eyeballs out within minutes) I will definitely be getting Ys IX, and I'm going to get Haven, too...just not right now. I can't play it now so having it sit around, making a backlog form, would just be unnecessary pressure.

[cinnamon_yuki]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition is coming out on May 14th! Very excited to try out the original trilogy after enjoying MEA!

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/02/mass-ef ... hes-may-14

[Harvest Moon kawaii]

(Kitaria Fables)

https://pqube.co.uk/kitaria-fables/ (more information)

Kitaria Fables, an Action RPG and farming sim will be coming to Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and XBox Series X later this year (2021).

You can currently wishlist it on Steam.

[Kikki]

Just got the Kickstarter email: Littlewood hits Nintendo Switch on February 25th. (But it's also been posted by Sean Young on Twitter, and by Nintendo Everything, as well.)

This'll be nice to have, since I already paid for it at the Kickstarter and I'm not buying any new games at all in 2021 until Olive town at the end of March.

[K8sMum]

Kitaria Fables looks very promising.

I finally got Sakuna Of Rice & Ruin. I'm enjoying it. It's a very pretty game but I don't really know what I'm doing a good deal of the time. Hints and tips are dribbled out as you progress.

[Bluie]

The next Final Fantasy XIV expansion was announced last night, and it's titled Endwalker.

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/02/final-f ... -announced

I'm extremely hyped as it looks like it's going to be an extremely meaty expansion. Unlike previous entries where the story needs to be finished over further patch updates, they're instead going to have the full story in 6.0 and then 6.1 is going to be a brand new tale. I fully expecting a time skip of sorts, because the resident twins have been hinted to grow up relatively soon (it's been a few years in-game time but they still have their 15 year old models/bodies more or less).

The new healing class, Sage, looks really fun. I've been « Baaaa *glomp* » a lot lately to my friends about how little healers are in the game (there's 3, and then there's 2 DPS with healing capabilities) compared to the colossal shitton of DPS we have. I mainly play White Mage, because it's very easy to play, but it's so easy it can be brain dead at times. Scholars are nerfed to hell and back, and Astrologians were just too fussy for me to learn properly(plus it's getting a rework soon). Sage looks really stylish and I'm hoping it give the healing class a little more oomph.

I'm also really looking forward to the 'Island Sanctuary' they're adding, as it seems like we're going to get our own farm to tend to, and our pets are involved! You can already farm in the game if you're one of the lucky few to have a house, so this seems like it'll be a nice alternative.

Another big thing is that this expansion is ending the story that's been going on for 10 years now. I wasn't one of the few to play FFXIV in it's original state and I honestly only started playing it a few months after Shadowbringers (the most recent expansion) released, so I haven't been in for the long haul, but I'm just as invested in the story surrounding Zodiark and Hydaelyn as those who have been here since day one. It has been such a long journey for so many, and I can only wonder where the story will go next.

[Harvest Moon kawaii]

(Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town gameplay trailer)

I know the gameplay trailer for Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town was put on Fogu's main news-page. I just wanted to post it here.

((Nintendo Minute - Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Co-op Gameplay))

On Nintendo's Youtube channel, Kit and Krysta of Nintendo Minute show off some of the new gameplay from Bowser's Fury.

[cinnamon_yuki]

The next Final Fantasy XIV expansion was announced last night, and it's titled Endwalker.

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/02/final-f ... -announced

I'm extremely hyped as it looks like it's going to be an extremely meaty expansion. Unlike previous entries where the story needs to be finished over further patch updates, they're instead going to have the full story in 6.0 and then 6.1 is going to be a brand new tale. I fully expecting a time skip of sorts, because the resident twins have been hinted to grow up relatively soon (it's been a few years in-game time but they still have their 15 year old models/bodies more or less).

The new healing class, Sage, looks really fun. I've been « Baaaa *glomp* » a lot lately to my friends about how little healers are in the game (there's 3, and then there's 2 DPS with healing capabilities) compared to the colossal shitton of DPS we have. I mainly play White Mage, because it's very easy to play, but it's so easy it can be brain dead at times. Scholars are nerfed to hell and back, and Astrologians were just too fussy for me to learn properly(plus it's getting a rework soon). Sage looks really stylish and I'm hoping it give the healing class a little more oomph.

I'm also really looking forward to the 'Island Sanctuary' they're adding, as it seems like we're going to get our own farm to tend to, and our pets are involved! You can already farm in the game if you're one of the lucky few to have a house, so this seems like it'll be a nice alternative.

Another big thing is that this expansion is ending the story that's been going on for 10 years now. I wasn't one of the few to play FFXIV in it's original state and I honestly only started playing it a few months after Shadowbringers (the most recent expansion) released, so I haven't been in for the long haul, but I'm just as invested in the story surrounding Zodiark and Hydaelyn as those who have been here since day one. It has been such a long journey for so many, and I can only wonder where the story will go next.

I'm deeply curious about FFXIV but can I solo here? Another reason I didn't give this a try is it's a subscription basis type of game.

[Bluie]

To an extent, yes, but really no.

You can purchase level boosts to make you level 70 automatically (cap is currently 80, it's going to be 90 with the next expansion) so you can « Harvest Goddess » your way through the first two expansions (A Realm Reborn and Heavensward) and solo all content, but once you get to Stormblood, you'd be hard-pressed to do everything on your own. It's not impossible, I've seen people do it with specific classes. Once reaching Shadowbringers, there is a system where you can bring NPCs with you into story dungeons, but not Trials (basically big boss fights with 2 healers, 2 tanks, and 4 DPS - double the norm parties) - so it's half solo. It's going to be the same with Endwalker.

However, the community is extremely nice and forgiving to newcomers. I've had maybe once instance of someone getting mad at me for not knowing a mechanic 100% on my first run and the rest of the party pretty much put him in his place and told me to ignore him. Honestly, the only time you're really going to have to worry about morons is if you're doing Savage endgame content, because it's there mainly for people who are pros at the game.

I DO understand the want of just playing solo in a massive JRPG and I totally understand just not wanting to play with others or rely on them. Maybe what you can do in the meantime is give the free trial a go? It's now free up to Heavensward, so you can realistically try it and see how you like the feel of it. Every other activity outside of story is solo whether it be crafting, side quests, doing FATES (instanced battles on the world map), participating in events, or honestly just doing whatever you want. I spend most of my time making new outfits to strut around in.

If you have any questions, just let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

[Harvest Moon kawaii]

A new Pokemon event will be going on in the US and Canada from February 19 in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Either a code obtained from a Pokemon Pass app in Gamestop stores (probably using a poster or standee) in the US or from serial codes from EB Games in Canada will give you a Shiny Toxtricity.

https://serebii.net/ (News from Sunday, February 7th, 2021)

Edit at 11:55 AM:

So, Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing is coming out on February 14th, 2021 (this Valentine's Day) on Switch and Steam. On Switch, it already has a regular price of $6, but is on sale at 17% off at $4.97 US. I'm excited, since I bought the first game. I haven't played the first game yet, but it seems that it's a short game, and this will likely be one, too.

I'm not into the whole recent trend of people making games to capitalize on the current/recent situation, but this looks interesting. Plus, it's on sale and will only be about $5 US including tax. I think I'll get it, too.

[Pachi]

the Dai Gyakuten Saiban (Great Ace Attorney) leaks were true!

[Kikki]

That's still just a rating for Taiwan, and now Europe, though. I'm not gonna get too excited until we at least get ratings for North America, even if we haven't gotten an announcement, yet. Plus North America always butchers the series a little by overly-localizing and Americanizing everything, which they'd find really hard to do with Dai Gyakuten, being so very Japanese, so...I'm not yet ready to believe it's coming here. (Though I could at least easily buy it from Europe, most likely.)

Though really, I want Phoenix Wright. But this is much better than nothing.

[Kikki]

Monster Hunter updates incoming (including for Stories, according to Gematsu):

[cinnamon_yuki]

That's still just a rating for Taiwan, and now Europe, though. I'm not gonna get too excited until we at least get ratings for North America, even if we haven't gotten an announcement, yet. Plus North America always butchers the series a little by overly-localizing and Americanizing everything, which they'd find really hard to do with Dai Gyakuten, being so very Japanese, so...I'm not yet ready to believe it's coming here. (Though I could at least easily buy it from Europe, most likely.)

Though really, I want Phoenix Wright. But this is much better than nothing.

Same. I'm not going to hype too much because it's possible that they're going to localized it in Mandarin instead of NA.

[Bluie]

Going to be a Pokemon presentation tomorrow.

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/02/pokemon ... kemon-news

It's only 20 min, so my expectations are low. What I do expect is more Pokemon Snap and that weird Pokemon MOBA footage because they're known upcoming titles. I REALLY want Gen 4 remakes and I'd even take a 'Let's Go' variant of Gen 2 or remasters of Gen 6&7, but, yeah.... The current Pokemon Anime is set to be ending relatively soon (according to Netflix, it's English streaming service), so I wouldn't put it past them to be announcing a remake to coincide with a different anime series, but a new entry seems unlikely, especially since we just got the Sw/Sh expansions last year. Ah well, expecting disappointment regardless!