New and tentative game announcements (V2)

[Bluie]

Ohh, that looks lovely! Thank you for showing it to me.

[Kikki]

Oops, never mind...

[Kikki]

Meant to post this right after my post in Backlog, but fell asleep for three hours! Whoopsie. But now I can think.

There's a new trailer for Fantasy Life i. The voiceover is so annoying that I can't watch the whole thing, but hopefully everyone else can enjoy it.

[Bluie]

FINALLY.



I've been waiting for Splintered Fate to get off Switch for what feels like ages! Now to get Tactical Takedown released and ported to other platforms too!

[Kikki]

Um. This is a commercial for Fantasy Life i. But I don't get it.

[Bluie]

My very, very rough translation:

"GIANT FISH!"

"We can't do this!"

"This fish is TOO BIG!"

"The four of us can do it!"

"Ohhh my goddd" *dies*

It's basically an advert for multiplayer lol.

[Kikki]

I got the 'omg' in the thick accent, lol, but it didn't seem to have to do with anything. Okay, so they're showing you can fish better in multiplayer or something, then. Yuck, I hate multiplayer. (Good for those that like it, though.)

The last guy to come died, it seems, and only the first three profited. Gonna be cutthroat multiplayer!

Other than that, I saw an article on Gematsu on the Trails in the Sky remake, and one screenshot in particular was horrifying. Apparently you can have Estelle and Joshua be either their normal selves, or their 'plushie' selves (kind of like a chibi version). It's like a costume you can put on, and it shows in gameplay and in cutscenes, it seems, like most costumes/attachments in other games do.

The awful part is that, if you want, you can wear JUST a plushie body while having the normal head (which looks very tiny in comparison!) or vice versa...have a giant plushie head on a normal body. It looks grotesque. The screenshot shows Estelle with a huge beefy plushie body and a little pinhead, while Joshua has a slim body with a big ugly squishy block head.

Why is this a feature?

[Kikki]

I thought we already knew this, but I guess we didn't, since Level 5 just announced that Fantasy Life i will have a Switch 2 version that will have improved frame rate and higher resolution. (Kind of obvious.)

I don't think I care. I mean, if I HAVE a Switch 2, then...maybe. But you have to buy the game and THEN buy the upgrade pack. And probably I can get the game with equally good specs on PC anyway, maybe even better, and without any 'upgrade' fee that's probably something like $30 extra.

EDIT: Warning. On Steam, Level 5 is forcing FLi players to install Easy Anti-Cheat, which is a kernel level anti-cheat program. (Do people still say program, or is it all 'app', now? I still call them programs. Apps sounds stupid to me even to this day. An app is an appetizer, it's not a computer program.)

FLi is multiplayer, but it isn't competitive. Anti-cheat is unnecessary, especially such a potentially invasive one. I won't let any program on my computer that operates on kernel level unless I've got no other choice...this is already a very weird laptop that blue screens almost daily since I bought it (and yet the tech people couldn't find anything wrong.) I'm not letting anything else in there to mess around with this thing's already flawed brains.

I will be using Steam Deck, so I may never need to let EAC onto my laptop, but Steam Deck has its own issues with EAC, being a Linux device, so...just be aware of what you'll be letting onto your computer or Deck if you choose to buy FLi on Steam.

Won't be getting the game on Steam after all, then. Oh well. Maybe I won't get it at all. Tbh, it's looked pretty bad to me all along...the colours are hideously garish. I can wait to see if they change their minds or if I get an S2 and how much FLi costs on it if I do.

[greensara]

I saw Level-5 announced the price for the Switch 2 upgrade for Fantasy Life i: $2.59 USD. That's not bad at all. https://www.fantasylife.jp/fli/en/topics/250527/

[Kikki]

Yeah, I saw a week or so ago that the yen price in Japan was 300, which would be $3 or less in USD, but I didn't know if it would be nearly so cheap over here. Well, if it is, that's great

I want to give Level 5 more money, tbh, because FLi is just that good. Will buy any paid DLC immediately, and I may buy the Layton game when it comes out, too, even though puzzles aren't my thing.

[Bluie]

https://www.gematsu.com/2025/06/austral ... 7-complete

HAH, GOOD. I'll just get Guardians of Azuma on PS5. I will continue to only use the Switch (and the Switch 2) for Nintendo exclusives. Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and Xenoblade still have me in a chokehold. Hopefully the Grand Bazaar remake doesn't take long to get off the Switch too.

[JustABeautifulGuy]

That’s great news. I knew Guardians of Azuma was going to be a timed exclusive. I wonder when it’ll actually come on PS5 though. Didn’t they release the AWL remake 6 months later than the Japanese Switch only release to make sure the global release was on all platforms? That must be the time in the contract with Nintendo or however the things go.

Guardians of Azuma is receiving lots of positive reviews from the critics so far. This might be a breakthrough hit for the series.

[Kikki]

You guys must mean console exclusive, right? Because both Grand Bazaar and Guardians of Azuma are coming to Steam on the same day they release on Switch. GB apparently runs great on Switch, but Azuma I will get on Steam Deck.

[Bluie]

Yes. I don't even count PC games on my radar unless they're in-stone only going to be there.

[Kikki]

I didn't watch it, and no one else mentioned it, but the "Wholesome Direct" (still hate that stupid name) was a couple days ago. You can see a good summary of all (or almost all?) the games in the form of a bunch of thumbnails with Steam page links.

If you prefer you could look at a bunch of thumbnails on WD's own site, but Steam's is better, honestly, and WD's site just takes you to Steam links as well anyway.