Who doesn’t love visual novels? It seems like everyone is hot on the genre these days, with more and more titles being localized into English and events such as the International Love Ultimatum Jam making visual novels, particularly those of the romance variety, increasingly visible. There are even some folks who would like to take that love for visual novels one step further to make their own, which is where the recently-released engine TyranoBuildercomes in. Touting an easy to use interface, the engine has large shoes to fill considering its competition, Ren’Py, is available for free and has been the go-to engine for western visual novel developers for years. Does TyranoBuilder bring enough to the table to make it worth the $14.99 price tag, or does the sweet price of free reign supreme?
If you’ve been following Chic Pixel for a while, you might remember that I did a JRPG-themed Community Game-Along last July. It turns out that was by far my most successful Game-Along of the year! Tons of people used the hashtag on Twitter to talk about the games they were playing, and there were even a few long form submissions, too. Since it was such a big hit, it only makes sense to do it again this year!
As always, all you need to do to participate is play a JRPG during the month of July. If you’re so inclined, use #JRPGJuly to talk about your experiences or share game recommendations with others on your social media platform of choice. Livestreams, blog posts, podcasts, or any other form of media where you play/discuss JRPGs is highly encouraged, as well! And if you’re looking for a way to stand out, it’s always great to see some lesser-known titles get some love.
I’m sure you’re all wondering what I’m going to be playing… Well, I’m excited to announce that Nier was the winner of my recent Twitter poll to decide the JRPG I’ll tackle this month! Earthbound was a close second, with poor Fire Emblem Awakening taking up the rear. To keep myself accountable, I will be posting weekly updates on my progress every Sunday for the month of July, so keep an eye out for that!
Though I usually end with a list of game suggestions that fit the month’s theme, I’m sure there will be no shortages of JRPGs at your disposal. However, I’ll leave you with a question: If there is one overlooked/under-appreciated JRPG you would like to see someone play this month, what would it be? Maybe someone will take on your request!
In a collaboration with Nintendo’s new ink-based shooter Splatoon, Japanese magazine Famitsu recently held a Squid Fashion Contest to design a new outfit for the game. After going through over 800 submissions, the winning design has been revealed! It will be made available as free costume DLC in August in Japan.
Isn’t it awesome!? There has been so much detail put into this sushi chef design, right down to the shape of the apron knot. And take a look at what kind of sushi that Inkling girl is serving up… Here’s hoping this also comes to North America and Europe!
A number of other finalists were posted, but while they will be receiving prizes for their interesting designs, unfortunately only the one will be making it into the game. You can see the full list over at Famitsu, but here are a couple of my favorites:
Raincoat! This makes total sense – I’d definitely want to wear a trendy neon raincoat if I was constantly getting shot with ink. I suppose it’s a little basic design-wise, but it would be fun if the color of the coat, boots, and glasses changed depending on your current ink color like some of the other clothing in the game.
Now this!! This is adorable. If you’re familiar with Japanese bento, you’ve probably seen miniature hot dogs cut into the shape of octopi before. I absolutely love the idea of turning that into a dress, and the slightly morbid implication of an inkling wearing an Octarian’s skin that the outfit implies. Also, that squid-shaped thing on her head? A toothpick! How neat.
Unfortunately, I imagine some of the runners-up weren’t selected for the DLC due to the fact that they’re designed exclusively for the female inklings. I guess it goes to show that pretty much everyone likes the girl design better!
Today in exciting figure-related news, Good Smile Company and Max Factory have teamed up to form Orange Rouge, an all new brand focused exclusively on male character merchandise! While on one hand, I find myself asking why a separate brand is needed in the first place, if it means more products that appeal to folks like me, then I’m all for it! You can head over to their official website to see their current lineup.
The sculpt for the latest Touken Ranbu Nendoroid, Tsurumaru Kuninaga, was also released today
Fans have long complained about the comparative lack of figures of male characters, but there has definitely been a shift in the past couple of years towards companies recognizing the market for male character merchandise. Orange Rouge will bring together a variety of products from Good Smile Company and Max Factory, from Nendoroids and figmas to scale figures and other character goods. It’s very likely we’ll hear more announcements at this summer’s Wonder Festival on July 26th. I guess this means I should start saving my pennies for all the upcoming male Nendoroids…
Things have been relatively quiet over here at Chic Pixel for the past few days, but who wants to read my latest three month late review or post gushing over Japanese merchandise when the biggest gaming event of the year, E3, is underway? While the expo will continue to offer new gameplay videos and hands-on features for those at the event throughout the week, now that we’re past the majority of the big presentations, I thought I’d take the opportunity to round up my favorite moments related to Japanese gaming.
You’ll probably see a lot of similarities to other lists floating around (how can I not mention the Final Fantasy VII remake bombshell?), but you won’t get to hear my personal take on all the exciting news anywhere else!
It’s been a long time since I last posted a video to my channel, but I’m so glad to be back in the swing of things! In my latest installment of Apricotsushi Reviews, I check out the famous Professor Layton Revoltech. It’s certainly a lot different to do a video review versus my usual written format, but it’s fun to change things up every once in a while. You may recall the Professor Layton Revoltech was featured in my February Ami Ami unboxing video as well as my DIY lightbox tutorial, but this is my first time actually covering the figure itself!
Unfortunately the lighting in my current apartment is not very good for these kinds of videos, but I think it turned out okay! I’d love to hear what people think of this sort of review video and if you’d like to see more like it (either of figures or other items). Please let me know either in the comments here, or on YouTube! Speaking of video content, you can also check me out (well, my voice and lack of gameplay skills) in the Splatoon episode of Asobee with Sarah and Roy. If you’ve got Splatoon fever like I do (and even if you don’t!), it’s definitely worth a watch.
DJMax Technika Tune is, in my humble opinion, one of the most overlooked PlayStation Vita games out there. After the game was released to little fanfare for the Vita in September 2012, the future of the long-running rhythm game franchise has looked increasingly bleak… But SUPERBEAT: XONiC, developed by PM Studios with the help of Nurijoy, looks to be a spiritual sucessor to the all-but-dead handheld DJMax games. Both teams have had previous experience working on the DJ Max series, and SUPERBEAT‘s 45 track lineup sounds like it is shaping up to be as groovy as ever.
I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking at, but sign me up! acttil, the company in charge of handling SUPERBEAT‘s English press releases, says they are working on an upcoming gameplay trailer, and I can’t wait to see how it plays. From the screenshot above, it looks like the blue and green lines move outward from the center and need to be tapped on the left and right sides of the screen.
Hectic rhythm gameplay + bright and catchy music cover art = the DJMax influence I know and love!
SUPERBEAT: XONiC will launch both physically and digitally in North America this fall. While there’s not much more information to go on at present, you can get a taste of the game’s music at the official website.
