Every now and again, I get the desire to play an older game that I really do not have the full capacity to play, and need to undergo several workarounds to get it working. These games are almost exclusively PC games that are not being actively sold any more, and tend to be on the more obscure side. Point is, I’m trying to play Never 7: The End of Infinity, but the original translation group took down all links, and I had to both find the files for this 18 year old game and get it running in English. Which I did, but then I couldn’t get it to play music!
Following speculation and even a leak from a ratings board, Sega have announced that the latest title in their Shining series, Shining Resonance Refrain, will be coming out in the west this summer, where it will release for PS4, Switch, and PC. While this is unsurprising and ultimately good news, I cannot help but feel rather cynical about the whole thing. From how the game looks like generic anime RPG fluff, how it is distinctly not a new Shining Force, in a time when the similar Fire Emblem is now a mainstream success, and how Sega sort of ruined the Shining series back in 2012. You remember, when they removed all sorts of videos about the series from YouTube to help promote the Asian exclusive PSP game, Shining Ark. I have not forgotten about that, and I will never forgive them for doing something so heinous.
The latest Gundam Breaker game, the creatively titled New Gundam Breaker, was previously announced last month, along with a confirmation of a western release, but given how it is a niche license game that I assumed I would never get to play, I did not care to mention it before. But then a Brazilian ratings board accidentally let it slip that the game was coming to PC in addition to PS4, which is a near confirmation of a PC port, and it means that I am suddenly more interested in the game, especially considering how what little I have seen of the Gundam Breaker series makes it look like a blast.
Continuing to step backwards, you may remember that in December 2017 Spike Chunsoft opened up a North American branch to better serve their global audience, localize their own games, and handle their own game publishing. Since then, they have not spoken about what games they will be bringing over, excluding the previously announced port of 428: Shibuya Scramble, but apparently they have 4 titles to announce at their GDC conference next month. I honestly have no clue what these announcements could be, but I am quite curious as to what they could be putting out, given how Spike Chunsoft has managed to put out some of my favorite games of all time with the Danganronpa and Zero Escape series.
That is about all I had for this week, as things were rather slow beyond a few baseless rumors. Hopefully next week brings with it more interesting topics, but until next time, see ya.