Are we having a road to TGS this year Nirolak?
This year will probably be the worst yet for announcements but we'll see over the next three weeks.
I have less time so I'll do a reduced format this year. I'll go from Level 5 vision through the end of September to try and catch the NX unveil (assuming the unveil isn't delayed until March 30th, 2017). This is a hard cutoff to note, so if a game was announced earlier and had debut media later, it's not included.
So for now, I'll:
- Group by platforms (Mobile, PlayStation, and Nintendo platforms only since many games with Xbox and PC ports don't have them mentioned when unveiled in Japan).
- I'll include the game name, developer/publisher (if it's clear, not going super digging for developers this year), and a rough approximation of the genre if evident.
- I'm only including notes for games that I feel need notes to highlight key information.
- I'll report the full list and bold the new ones each week.
- I'm only pulling mobile games I can find relatively easily, so it will focus on mobile titles from major traditional publishers, and games from other major companies that are big enough to hit the news.
Road To TGS:
3DS:
- Puyo Puyo Chronicle (Sega): This is a full priced Puzzle RPG that reminds me of P&D or Monster Strike when they were turned into full RPGs with the puzzle mechanic as the gameplay. There's 3D graphics, a plotline, cutscenes, a world and towns you wander around in, and more. It's the 25th anniversary title.
PS4:
- Metal Gear Survive (Konami): This is a $30 four player co-op zombie shoooter that takes places between MGS: Ground Zeroes and MGSV, and probably represents the type of games we'll be getting out of the series going forward.
- Miko Gakkou Monogatari: Kaede Episode (xinoro): This is a $10 indie game port.
- Arcade Archives: Darius (Hamster): This is an $8 port of a 1987 arcade game's enhanced edition.
- * Project Awakening (CyGames): Once upon a time, the director of 3D Dot Heroes (Silicon Studio) started a new company with CyberAgent and CyDesignation called CyGames. He proceeded to make billions of dollars with endlessly successful mobile games, and now he's seemingly directing his own "High End Console Game" along with a bunch of staff he poached from Square Enix, Konami, and related studios.
- * Project Re: Link (CyGames/Platinum Games): Platinum Games is working with CyGames on what appears to be a four player action RPG based on the Granblue Fantasy series. It looks pretty ambitious for what it is. Technically the only platform hinted at so far it the PC, but given it looks like a co-op game instead of an MMO (they noted it was imagined for multiplayer but you can play it in singleplayer as well), I'd be really surprised if it wasn't on PS4, so I'm putting it here for now. Feel free to pelt me with stones if it doesn't show up on PS4.
3DS/PS4:
- * Megaton Musashi (Level-5): To note, these are platforms "under consideration". The game might not come out for several years, at which point it might drop the 3DS version in favor of the NX. Hino noted he wants the game to appeal to both older Super Robot fans, as well as new children, and that he wants it to be on a portable and "as large as a screen as possible".
PS4/Vita:
- Story of the Good Old Days (Daidai): Simulation RPG, budget title.
Vita:
- The Princess is Money-Hungry (Nippon Ichi): This feels sort of like a retro-inspired indie game though it costs $60.
- id: Rebirth Session (Entergram): Visual novel.
NX:
- I'll include that Dragon Quest XI was reconfirmed to be coming to NX, and that all three versions are aiming for simultaneous release. When this game is formally shown, I might change up how this one is written to match the other formatting.
3DS/Mobile:
- Lady Layton: This is pretty similar to a traditional Layton title, but brought into being a mobile era service game. It's probably one of Level-5's most interesting experiments and it will be a good one to follow in terms of performance and Level-5's statements about how it's done.
Mobile:
- Lost Order (CyGames/Platinum Games): Yasumi Matsuno (Final Fantasy Tactics, FFXII) is back and directing a new Real Time Tactics game developed by Platinum for CyGames. Akihito Yoshida is the art director and character designer on the title. The game is fully 3D, and is Platinum's first mobile title. This game is a good example of what I mean by mobile games in Japan targeting older core gamers a lot more than you see in the West, along with the increasing complexity you see in Japanese mobile titles. Taking a look
at a screenshot, this is also the type of game you would have expected as a Vita title in a world where mobile hadn't risen to its current heights. Mind, CyGames is also making significant investments in console games at this point.
- Yo-Kai Watch: Enhanced port of original game.
- Yo-Kai Daijiten (Level-5): Quiz RPG, looks high effort for what it is.
- Yo-Kai Watch Geraporhythm (Level-5): Rhythm game, similarly looks high effort for what it is.
- Otome Hero: Otome RPG.
- Kamitsuri (Square-Enix): Puzzle RPG.
- Princess Connect Re: Dive (CyGames): It's not really clear what this game is yet, outside of them signing some famous studios and people to handle the anime scenes and plotline. Its genre is "Anime RPG".
- Sevens Story (CyGames): CyGames is rebooting/remaking a 2013 turn based tactical RPG into a new game more fit for the modern mobile market. Based on the screenshots, it looks more like what you'd expect out of an actual tactical RPG, but I'll have to see gameplay to be certain.
Unspecified:
- Inazuma Eleven Ares: I'm going to guess 3DS, smartphones, and maybe the NS, but this one isn't hinted heavily enough to include in a category above.
Cancellations:
- Crows: Burning Edge had its Vita version canceled and is now only for PS4.
Nirolak's opinion as of this week:
- If it weren't for CyGames (historically a browser game mobile company), this would probably the worst start for Road To TGS ever given I'm covering 3-4 weeks worth of content here. Level-5 is the only other company putting in some work, but many of their games were either already announced ages ago, looked like they had made zero progress since they were last shown, or had absolutely zero game content shown at all. Lady Layton and the Yo-Kai Watch mobile games are the primary exceptions. That said, both Sony's TGS timeframe event and the NX unveil are supposedly right around the corner, so this could turn around very significantly.
- It's worth noting that zero PS3 games have been announced.
