Many have wondered just when Microsoft would make their next big move for the Xbox Series X and now we at least know when their next major event will be held. The company has announced that they will be hosting an Xbox Games Showcase featuring first-party titles for the Xbox Series X on July 23rd starting at 9AM PT and streamed on numerous streaming services at the time.
Microsoft did not state what exact games would be shown off, nor did they say how long the presentation would last, but given the recent teaser for Halo Infinite so it is highly likely that that is at least a guarantee, possibly some Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, though a number of surprises are likely to be revealed as well.
Alongside announcing a number of release windows for previously revealed projects, Sekai Project has also announced a number of new visual novels that they are planning on bringing out in the future. These games have no release windows at this time but this first one is set to be released on both the PC as well as the Nintendo Switch when it is released and it happens to be called Please Be Happy from Studio Élan.
Please Be Happy‘s storyline is described as follows: Born as a fox in the forest of Korea, Miho carries with her the memory of a traveler who showed her kindness and spoke of home. Now more human than fox, Miho has spent a long, long time searching for her person. She arrives by airship to Wellington Skyport, one of the jewels of the floating island of New Zealand.
Despite her years spent observing humans, she still has a lot to learn about their culture and society. She’s made a living so far as a thief, her heightened senses allowing her to easily take advantage of people. She’s also seen a lot of the worst of what mankind has to offer. It’s only after meeting Juliet, the owner of a small library, and Aspen, an aspiring novelist, that Miho starts to understand what kindness is, and that there’s more than just the bad stuff when it comes to people.
The second title happens to be the Whirlpool developed Slobbish Dragon Princess which features a main character that lives in a dilapidated dojo. He and his family are known martial artists, but his father is a deadbeat; a gambling drunkard constantly getting into fights. Meanwhile, he refuses to work, claiming it to be part of his training. Ichinose Suzuka from the neighboring sweets shop often takes care of him.One day, he picks up a strange, lizard-like being on the side of the road.
At first, he planned to cook it, but Suzuka vetoes the idea. Instead, he names it “Haru” and keeps it as a pet. As he grows fonder of Haru, dragonkin suddenly invade from space. The dragons are about to take over earth, but Haru suddenly transforms from a lizard into a beautiful lady and persuades them! Wouldn’t you know it — Haru was actually the princess of the dragons!Mankind somehow avoids total subjugation, but now Haru joins the protagonist in his NEET lifestyle.
The company is also bringing over the final chapter of the KARAKARA series in the form of KARAKARA 3. The “Age of Dusk.” It is a time of senescence for the human species, during which hybrids known as the “Others”—those who are human, yet not—exist in great numbers. On the windswept barrens of a land without moisture, a small gathering of people make their living in a world they no longer know. Down a stretch of highway and far from the heart of the town are two such people, Leon and Lucia, who run a small diner.
Together with Aisia and newcomers Rebecca and Mari, they lean on each other to survive in this arid land. Those peaceful days come to an end when Leon hears the sound of a telephone, a Relic from the past and is informed that Cullen, a member of the town vigilante corp, is being held hostage.What is it that the kidnappers seek from Leon? Will this lead to an understanding of the disaster that befell the world in the past?
Finally Sekai Project announced that they will be continuing to bring the 9-nine- series over to English speaking audiences with episode 4 being the next on the way. While the company did provide details about the game, they feature heavy spoilers about previous entries in the game but you can check the trailer above if you wish to learn more. Alongside these announcements a number of pieces of artwork and some CGs from a few of these visual novels have been released and can be found below.
After keeping fans waiting a bit longer than usual, it looks like Sekai Project now has a narrower release window for Nekopara Volume 4 as well as a number of other PC visual novels that have been scheduled to be released this year. The company has announce that the English version of the game is “nearly complete” and it will be releasing sometime in November 2020 under the name Nekopara Vol 4: Noel avec les filles-chat et Patissier.
Despite the popularity of Kashou Minaduki’s patisserie, “La Soleil”, his father continues to disapprove of it. Seeing how troubled Kashou was, Shigure offers up a suggestion as a change of pace. A hot springs trip with Chocola, Vanilla and the other catpanions. With Azuki and Coconut’s encouragement, Kashou is determined to confront his father while Maple and Cinnamon suggest a trip to France to seek advice from the teacher who taught him his craft. But why is Shigure also tagging along!? And an encounter with a new catgirl in France…
Alongside Nekopara Volume 4 the company also revealed that Island Diary, developed by Watakubi, will be releasing in Winter 2020 and tells the story of a young man found unconscious on a beach by a bear-eared girl named “Momo”. According to Momo, the young man was washed up on this isolated island and had no recollection of what happened to him before.
Returning to the beach where he was found, he finds his belongings and from that he knows that his name is “Ryou”. However, Ryou still cannot remember how he ended up on this island and what happened before that. Ryou learns about the island from Momo. She tells him that other girls like her such as the cat-eared “Kuro” and the rabbit-eared “Mocha” also are here. The three girls put their energy together to live together but the possession of a certain diary has taken them further and further apart.
Alongside these two the company also revealed that Harumade Kururu developed by Sumikko Soft and Love’s Sweet Garnish 2 by Canvas+Garden will be releasing sometime in 2020, and that the short fan disc for The Ditzy Demons Are in Love With Me will be arriving in Q3 2020. A number of CGs for Nekopara Volume 4 were released to accompany this announcement alongside a bit of artwork for Island Diary, and a trailer for The Ditzy Demons Are in Love With Me were also released and can be found below.
The Fate franchise has fans all around the world but many were surprised that a cooking game was being developed for the Nintendo Switch and these same people, and likely mostly everyone else, will be even more surprised to hear that that same cooking game will be released in English sometime in the future. During the Aniplex Online Festival it was revealed that Everyday: Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family will be released in English sometime in the future, though this news does follow the delay of the Japanese version of the game to a currently unknown date.
In Everyday: Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family players will cook a variety of dishes seen from the numerous games and anime series in the Fate franchise through mini-games and watch some of their favorite characters eating or cooking the food. More details about the game itself and the Western release is said to be “coming soon.”
Sometimes when developers try for something a bit different fans of the company may not know what to expect from the campaign and People Can Fly are trying to clear things up a bit for those looking forward to Outriders as the company has detailed not only how the game’s campaign will work, but also the various side-quests, companions, and travel systems that players will be able to use in the game.
The campaign will take players on an epic journey across Enoch, a savage world where everything has mysteriously hyper-evolved to wipe Humanity from the face of the planet. From the lives and secrets within the Human colony, to the mysterious jungles and unforgiving deserts, you will explore the far reaches of the frontiers, gain incredible powers, and make discoveries that will change everything.
The company also introduced the Pyromancer class and the various abilities, skills, and passives that players using the class will be able to benefit from. Currently Outriders is set to be released by Square Enix sometime this holiday for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC and you can check out all of the aforementioned videos below.
Yen Press has announced that they have acquired a number of new licenses that they plan on releasing sometime in the future since none of these titles have currently been given release windows. These include three manga titles, a pair of light novel series, and an art book.
The three manga series that were acquired are The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap, Wolf & Parchment, and Sword Art Online Project Alicization.
The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap is adapted from an online novel and is described as follows: “My life was pretty ordinary. Go to college, live in an apartment, hang out with people. But because of that pompous, irritating girl I grew up with, I got dragged into a huge mess. As usual. Now I’m in another world where she’s a well-respected shrine maiden…and I got turned into a cat. How did it come to this?!”
Wolf & Parchment is similarly a manga adaptation of the light novel that is already licensed by Yen Press and continues the story of the Spice & Wolf series ten years after the events of the original. “When Col leaves the cozy mountain village of Nyohhira aspiring to become a full-fledged member of the clergy, a certain impetuous wolf can’t help stowing away aboard his ship to follow him for a chance to have a grand adventure of her own!”
Sword Art Online Project Alicization is a manga adaptation of Sword Art Online’s Alicization Arc, the basis of the ongoing anime titled Sword Art Online: Alicization.
As for the two light novels, both are side stories based around popular main stories in the form of A Certain Magical Index SS, which was originally published alongside the main light novel series as a spin-off featuring side stories of fan favorite characters such as Touma, Hamazura and Accelerator as well as Goblin Slayer Side Story II: Dai Katana which is set a decade prior to the events of the original series and tells the story of Sword Maiden and her party of six as they journey to slay the Demon King, a feat which made her a legend in the world of Goblin Slayer.
Last but not least, the final acquisition Yen Press announced for the future happens to be an art book that Spice & Wolf fans will love as Keito Koume Illustrations: Spice & Wolf – The Tenth Year Calvados is a deluxe collection of Spice & Wolf illustrator Keito Koume’s artwork for the manga adaptation which includes cover art and a full color manga excerpt.
Sentai Filmworks has announced that they have acquired the worldwide (minus Asia) rights to the Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time, also known as Peter Grill to Kenja no Jikan, anime series which will begin airing on July 11th.
The series follows the story of Peter Grill, the world’s strongest fighter, whose rise to the top has led to some unexpected consequences. With being the strongest in the world, monster girls around the world and many others now want to try and bear his children but considering Peter is already engaged to the love of his life, he will need every ounce of self-control to avoid cheating on her in this comedic ecchi series.
Sentai Filmworks will feature Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time on streaming outlets this summer and will release the series on home video sometime in the future.
Quite a while ago NIS America announced that they would be delaying the release of RPG Maker MV from its original 2019 release window and after that window came and went the company has now set a solid release date for the game. The title will now be released on September 8th in North America, September 11th in Europe, and September 18th in Australia for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch with the Xbox One version being cancelled.
RPG Maker MV gives players an assortment of tools to create their own elaborate and exciting video games straight from the console and then share them online with other players. Want to tell a high-fantasy tale of knights and dragons or a modern story? The options are all there with hundreds of graphical assets at the player’s hands. A new trailer for RPG Maker MV was released to accompany this announcement and can be found below.
Ragnarok Game LLC is pleased to announce a new update revealing the new direction with narrative and gameplay structure for the Viking-inspired action adventure game, RUNE II. Available to all RUNE II players via the Public Test Realm (PTR) branch, the Studio 369 dev team has completely rebuilt the first chapter of the game: instead of repeating the same loop in the game until players are powerful enough to kill Loki, the Ages of Raganrok will progress linearly. Over thirty new main and side quests are planned for the new narrative direction of RUNE II where every Age will have a different boss encounter that will progress the new story forward.
In addition to the redesigned narrative, RUNE II’s tutorial has been rebuilt based on player feedback. The tutorial will teach players everything they need to know about mastering the game: from how to equip items, crafting gear, and repairing weapons and armor. Other additions to this PTR update include improved audio and voice over quality, destructible buildings, and more.
A complete list of features that will be updated to the PTR branch of the game can be viewed in the official patch notes rune2.com/ptr15472/
Loki has plunged Midgard into perpetual chaos, and you are the chosen warrior who must embark on a perilous journey to end Ragnarok. Fight off legions of minions bent on preventing you from destroying this pious menace. Alone or with friends, tear each enemy apart limb from limb in this chaotic, open-world saga, filled with brutal melee combat. Collect rare resources, locate divine artifacts and battle through the unique Ages of Ragnarok as you seek to craft the very sword used by Loki himself and destroy the trickster god with his own blade.
RUNE II is now available at RUNE II website or on the Epic Games Store starting at $29.99. For keeping up on all things RUNE II, join the epic Viking war cry on Discord, read the latest update on our website, like us on Facebook and Instagram, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on Twitch and Twitter.
LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 3, 2020 – Ahoy Pathfinders! Today, a new adventure awaits as the “Season 4: The Maelstrom” map launches for PC and Xbox One players. Replacing the original ATLAS map, Maelstrom is smaller in size to intensify exploration, making it easier to find collaborators or foes as you sail the high seas. The update is scheduled to launch today on Steam and Xbox One at 11pm ET/8pm PT.
The Maelstrom Map is a richer gameplay experience designed in a circular pattern with higher difficulty, more lawless waters in the middle (beware the Kraken!) and safer refuge with additional resources around the world edges for pirates just beginning to level up. Supplies are spread out around the globe to encourage farther world travel – no more homebodies, players must venture out to find all their necessary resources.
This is just the first step in a greater plan to shift gameplay from the land out onto the open seas, driving more interaction between players – both competitive and cooperative! Grapeshot Games has plans for regular content updates to the pirate MMO that will bring joy and piracy back to the lawless waters, with schemes for Trade Winds, Farms, Warehouses, and more! ATLAS is currently on-sale during the Steam Summer Sale for $9.89 (67% off)!
ATLAS pirates will stake their claim in this vast open world while endeavoring to construct custom ships, search for buried treasure, siege and conquer fortresses, plunder traveling merchants, then recruit a crew to join their powerful Armada and engage in the ultimate quest for fortune and glory! ATLAS has full cross-platform support, allowing Xbox and Steam PC players to battle together in the same gigantic world.
For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS, keep yer one good eye trained on this here information:
Hoist ye sails to our Homepage: www.playatlas.com/
Natter n’ chatter on Discord: discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Navigate ye olde Subreddit: www.reddit.com/r/playatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: www.facebook.com/playatlasgame
# # # ABOUT GRAPESHOT GAMES Grapeshot’s core focus is to create ATLAS, a highly ambitious pirate MMO of massive scope and scale. Set sail for the ultimate pirate experience! Embark on a grand adventure alongside thousands of other players in one of the largest game worlds ever built (and even claim a piece of it to call your own). Build your ship, assemble your crew, sail the high seas, and become a pirate legend!
