This Week in Games

Hack The Past

Hi, everyone! As you read this, I'll be trying to assemble a new PC. I've had my new PC case (emblazoned with my favorite VTuber) taking up space in my room; I may as well put it and the new computer components I acquired to use. Hopefully, the cable management won't be a pain in the ass! More importantly, once it's assembled, I'll have a better rig than my current one; it's served me well, but it was a budget rig with parts from 2018, so it's rather long in the tooth now.

In other news: it was Boktai's 20th anniversary earlier this week!

Anyone who's read our column for any amount of time knows I especially love the Boktai games on the GameBoy Advance, a series of stealth-infused RPGs made by Kojima Studios starring the Spaghetti Western-inspired Red Django and his trusty Gun del Sol. The cartridges had a solar sensor installed, letting them detect the Sun's UV rays to affect the environment in-game. Sadly, the games got screwed over in the U.S. in much the same way Konami would hose over the Metal Gear Solid games (at least you guys got Metal Gear Solid 5). Boktai 3 never came stateside, and Boktai DS was localized as Lunar Knights, stripping all of the Boktai nomenclature and iconography for... some reason. Fans can still enjoy some fun Boktai love in the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, as from the fourth game onwards, the series crossed over with Boktai in a lot of fun ways. Here's to one of my beloved favorites. I have a much more in-depth column on my experiences with the series over on another site (it was the first column I ever wrote that got published online, too!).

I touched upon this in the tidbits section last week, but this merits actual discussion. Shiravune Studios has been going through Aquaplus's catalog, porting their games to Steam. But they hit a snag last week as far as the releases for Dungeon Travelers 2 and Dungeon Travelers 2-2. A pair of dungeon crawlers (with some cheesecake elements), Shiravune found themselves on the negative side of Valve's policy—specifically, because both Dungeon Travelers 2 titles were denied for Valve's digital storefront, Steam.

This isn't the first time an anime game has seen issues with getting hosted on Steam. Last October, Valve made a similar decision with Chaos;HEAd Noah, with Spike Chunsoft making a similar declaration to that of Shiravune concerning how Valve's suggestions would not allow them to release the game to their standards. Criticism from fans eventually led to Valve relenting, with the follow-up statement that they had "examined the process that led to the previous decision about Chaos;HEAd Noah, and made some changes to avoid situations like this in the future." Nevertheless, here we are.

Many people, yours truly included, are tired of Valve's double standards with their titles. Valve's desire to ensure quality tends to be most visible regarding anime-esque titles, not so much when it's the countless asset swaps or obvious chaff that inundates their storefront. Now, Dungeon Traveller 2 (both of them) don't feature any actual pornographic content, nothing that would surpass a hard PG-13 rating. The game's art style means that some characters look younger... but again, if the game isn't explicit, this shouldn't be an issue. That this case is so similar to Chaos;HEAd Noah doesn't help matters; we've already been through this song-and-dance. And unlike Chaos;HEAd Noah, Dungeon Travelers 2 doesn't have the same kind of following whose presence would urge Valve to reexamine their decision. This also hurts Shiravune, as that's one less platform they can use to host Dungeon Travelers, making selling it a much more challenging prospect. All the while, many fans of the Dungeon Travelers games point out that Valve's decision is doubly-nonsensical, as Dungeon Traveler has already seen release in the U.S. before on the PS Vita, with an ESRB rating and everything.

In the meantime, Shiravune will sell both Dungeon Travelers 2 on Johren, where they are currently available.

In what could be one of the biggest blows to Japanese PC gaming, I received news that Illusion will be closing down.

Hoo boy, Illusion... where to begin with them. How's this: "Illusion was responsible for some of the most renowned adult simulator games on the market, churning out a series of hits akin to The Sims titles but with sex." Actually, that sums it up. They were most famous for a ton of their 3D rendering; when most people think "eroge," they think of adult visual novels like Kuroinu or Taimanin Asagi. Illusion instead focused on the "simulation" aspects, allowing players to direct rudimentary 3D animations and set up their own scenes. Or, in the case of games like Sexy Beach or Artificial Girl, completely design their characters from the ground up with some seriously intensive character creation options. Artificial Academy took it one step further; an entire interactive dollhouse composed of an entire classroom (plus one designated "teacher"), with each character featuring their own customizable personalities, likes, dislikes, kinks, red flags, and relationship values. The scope of this needs to be underlined: you could swap between any of the characters and follow them along during their day while building up their academic stats (which served to help impress paramours). Illusion also accounted for "weird" scenarios, like a couple leaving school after someone gets pregnant... or, on the darker side, is the victim of another student's jealousy.

Unfortunately, this willingness to explore darker themes got Illusion into a world of hot water when they released RapeLay in 2006, exposing them to intense worldwide scrutiny and even getting the game banned in some countries—even though RapeLay was never available outside of Japan. The controversy led to several Japanese developers refusing foreign IPs access to their websites, as well as Illusion ceasing distribution of RapeLay. But it worked out in the end: Honey Selects and Koikatsu Party have gone on to be released in the United States on both Steam and Fakku, where they were celebrated for their amazing character creation modes. Seriously: a ton of artists use Honey Selects or Koikatsu Party to design OCs, and that's before you get into the deep rabbit hole that is modding an Illusion game.

Illusion's statement on their website offers no hints as to why they're shuttering, though it does seem like they're aware of their worldwide reputation as the URL for the press release reads "see-you-next-time" (in English, even). They instead mention that they'll cease all distribution of their titles on August 18; this includes Steam. They also thanked their fans for their loyalty and support.

Reactions to this news have been pretty bummed out all around. Adult VTuber Projekt Melody is quoted as saying, "Nooooooooo." American VTuber Mira Pink echoes these sentiments, stating "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 😭😭😭😭". (Note: pages NSFW) Meanwhile, friend of the column Heidi Kemps offers a good point as to why Illusion might have been forced to close doors: "Thing is, eroge are still generally niche products, and there's been a race to the bottom to make and sell a lot of them cheaply. Illusion spent a lot on visuals, UX, etc., and it seems even with international sales, it couldn't keep them afloat."

While there is nevertheless a thriving adult game industry in the U.S. and abroad, Illusion was nevertheless considered the peak of the industry. With them gone... I mean, heck, what could possibly replace Artificial Academy? How long will it take for something like Honey Selects or Koikatsu to get made again?

Illusion's shutdown will be finalized on August 18. Anyone looking to support their U.S. releases, now's the time.

Normally I would ignore fandoms making petitions to bring X or Y games back. It seems like a daily occurrence that some fans demand a Scrimblo Bimblo revival. But this time, there's a bit of meat to it. We've talked about the .hack//IMOQ games, a quartet of RPGs originally released on the PS2 (subtitled Infection, Mutation, Outbreak, and Quarantine) that served as an entry in the long-running .hack series. Playing as Kite, players were swept into a web of intrigue as they delved into the supernatural comings and goings of The World, a fictional MMORPG. While the latter .hack//GU trilogy went on to overshadow the IMOQ, there is still a lot of fan-drive in seeing the IMOQ games ported to any of the modern consoles—moreso since the .hack//GU games have been ported and given HD remasters. The last time we talked about the .hack games, it was because CyberConnect 2's CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama punked the fandom by joking about a new game being made (he later clarified that he was just kidding). Well, we've had a new chapter in this saga—because CyberConnect 2's vice-president Taichiro Miyazaki has tossed some gas onto the fire...

Upon being asked by NoisyPixel, vice-president Miyazaki stated that whether or not the IMOQ games get ported is outside of CyberConnect 2's hands—Bandai Namco owns the IP, so fans would have to direct their wishes at them, which Miyazaki supports, even! The vice president said, "We urge the readers to fire away all the requests to them so that we can get the green light from them to work on those titles." Fans have taken his words to heart, using the Twitter hashtag "#dothack" to tweet about their affection for .hack and to voice their wishes that the IMOQ games get ported. Best of all, there's official support—CyberConnect 2's official localizer, Till Stiehl, has replied and retweeted many of these tagged posts. He's also called fans to throw in their support, emphasizing that even being a studio, CyberConnect 2 is "just one voice," and Bandai Namco is far more receptive to a greater crowd of voices.

.hack got huge in the early days of the MMO craze in the 2000s. Many players appreciated how well the games captured the feeling of playing an MMO, from random players spreading false rumors to letting you visit in-game message boards discussing game news like The World getting ported to the Wonderswan. The true soul of .hack was getting to know your party members as people, however. Half of the intrigue in the anime was getting to know who these players were. It turned out the cast came from all walks of life: from your bog-standard Japanese schoolgirls to fashion models living under strict diets (alas, poor BT) to bratty kids to even a politician from the Diet. The IMOQ games kept this alive: you could send your party members e-mails to get to know them better. They, too, were eclectic: a loot-goblin housewife (a far truer stereotype than you'd expect), a die-hard Akira Kurosawa addict, and a 32-year-old who worked for "CyberConnect Corporation"... best of all, circumstances would lead to some of these characters being unavailable for periods, forcing you to swap around with other players as their schedules allowed. The core mystery was also fascinating, letting Kite explore the nature of the mysterious ghost Aura and the puzzling entities sending players into comas. And sure, it was a very simple action RPG, but the extent to which it simulated playing an actual MMO was unmatched. It was a major part of that first wave of the anime bubble in the early '00s, and it's just not right for those games to be out of the hands of fans. Hopefully, fans can bend Bandai Namco's ears.

Yeah, it still sucks that Sony 86ed their Japanese first-party studio in exchange for just more The Last of Us remakes, especially when Sony had so many charming games of their own. And among them was Patapon, a charming-as-hell series of rhythm games where you played as an all-powerful god who motivated and controlled a tribe of critters called Patapons through rhythmic drumbeats. Hitting the beat and keeping the beat would activate Fever mode, where the Patapons would perform their actions with a greater flourish—also, the music would seriously come to life with extra instruments and enthusiastic chants from the Patapons themselves as they bopped around to the beat. As I said, charming as hell. But it's not PrEsTiGiOuS enough, so into the bin it went with the rest of Sony's forgotten properties like Legend of Dragoon, Vib Ribbon, Gravity Rush and Parappa the Rapper. Huh, come to think of it, Sony liked their rhythm games. But Sony isn't interested in them now, so they remain on the dusty shelf of history. Thankfully, Patapon's creator Hiroyuki Kotani is up for more musical fun. Welcome the next "spiritual successor, Kotani's Ratatan!

Spiritual successors have to do a lot of work; the failure of Mighty No. 9 showed the world that you can't just rest on your nostalgic laurels. Koji Igarashi's Bloodstained games have done an excellent job with this, while Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a good-enough Metroidvania to avoid coming off as Symphony of the Night warmed over, the Curse of the Moon games do enough wild things with their simple pixelated 2D approach to really make a name for themselves. So with that said: here we have Ratatan, a 2D rhythm game titled after the onomatopeia of its central gameplay mechanic where you guide a tribe of weird, cute critters to victory in a series of battles as they chant and march to your drumming. The art style completely differs from Patapon's original monochrome approach. Kotani has brought back his musical collaborator Kemmei Adachi, with whom he made Patapon. Kotani also wants to add new elements like rogue-like mechanics and multiplayer to Ratatan. Further details are scarce so far: what we know for now is that Kotani's crowdfunding campaign for Ratatan starts on July 31.

Kotani also took the time to emphasize that he's still open to making a new Patapon. While Ratatan represents him doing his unique take on the formula, he is still interested in the possibility of collaborating with Sony again in the future, praising their "creative energy."

It's a Gunda—Wait, "closure"?!

Man, this sucks. Bandai Namco released Gundam Evolution in September. While it was yet another hero-shooter along the lines of Overwatch or Capcom's upcoming Exoprimal, it gave players access to a bevy of beloved Mobile Suits from across the esteemed history of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise. And this included a lot of surprising choices—while the RX-78-2 (as in, the very first Gundam) and the Zaku II were obvious additions, it avoided the "Oops! All Gokus!" problem most of these anime-based games deal with. So while it also gave players the Turn ∀ "White Doll," Celestial Being's Exia Gundam from Gundam 00, the Gundam Barbatos from Iron Blooded Orphan, and the Heavyarms Custom from Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, it also gave players access to the DOM Troopers from Gundam SEED, the Aasimar from Zeta Gundam, and Suletta's beloved step-dad, the Guntank. Each of these units was well-adapted from their very shows, making all the sounds, whirs, and clanks you'd expect. I think the worst thing about Gundam Evolution was that for all of the fanservice it had, it was very restrained—no voice clips or musical flourishes from the show, no stages or missions to re-create the most important fan-loved moments... it did a great job at being accessible to non-Gundam die-hards, but it could have stood to be a bit weirder about its references.

Sadly, it could have also stood to be a bit more in other ways. Gundam Evolution was fun but didn't stand out as a hero-shooter. The missions were pretty pedestrian, and the maps were largely forgettable. It was a great starting point but it needed a shot in the arm. And that shot in the arm... never came. Plenty of balance patches and even new units were added, but that was that. And so here we are: Gundam Evolution is coming to a close. Bandai Namco will pull the plug on the game only one year after its launch. While we have another new unit to look forward to, it's too little and too late; Gundam Evolution will end service on November 29. What's worse, there don't seem to be any plans yet for the game to continue with an offline mode. Once it's gone, it's gone—space dust to be swept away by the stellar wind.

It's easy to bag on live-service games when they die within a year of their launch when they're boneheaded, like Babylon's Fall or Chocobo GP. It's another when the game is somewhat good, though; Gundam Evolution did an excellent job of not feeling as exploitative as other games. The game had some issues with hackers during matches, but besides that, it was enjoyable to play. I especially enjoyed attending matches to spam classic Gundam lines in chat. You know the ones. "You hit me! Even my father never hit me!" "We're jumping onto White Base! AAAAAH!" "This Nu Gundam isn't just for show!". I still regret never playing a Sazabi in a match, getting paired up with an RX-78, whispering, "I came here to laugh at you," and disconnecting from the match. It'd be worth the ban.

My heart goes out to the devs who worked on Gundam Evolution; they did good work. And here's to the Gundam Evolution believers; they're a good bunch.

That'll do it for this week. We're having a lot of terrible fires in Canada; my neck of the woods is getting a little bit of the smoke from all that. I'm hoping our friends up North are keeping safe. Meanwhile, I know folks across the country are struggling with triple-digit weather. Keep safe, heatstroke is no joke. Keep hydrated, avoid direct sunlight whenever possible, and remember to get some sunscreen before going outside. If you're feeling thirsty--you're already dehydrated. Be careful out there, and be good to each other. I'll see you in seven.