News by Lindsay M., News Editor
Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s regular catch-up news feature. With each issue we will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Friends of Mineral town gets a new trailer; NA release announced
As I tend to do while writing about Story of Seasons, I feel the need to point this out: if you’re looking for Harvest Moon, you really want Story of Seasons. The naming rights for Harvest Moon were sold, leading to the original developer making games of the same theme with a new name – Story of Seasons. So Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is, at heart, the newest Harvest Moon title. And here’s a new trailer to celebrate the announcement of the North American release date:
XSEED Games will publish Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town for Nintendo Switch in North America, and the release date has been set for July 14. It will be released both physically and digitally, with physical pre-orders including a bonus cow plushie while supplies last. The game published by Marvelous in Europe, and will be released in that territory on July 10.
Friends of Mineral Town was recently in the news because, unlike in the original or even the Japanese version, it will allow for same-sex marriage. The game is a complete remake of the original title with the same name, returning players once more to Mineral Town in order to save their late grandfather’s farm. Aside from farming activities, you’ll relax, fish and mine, make friends, and share in heartwarming stories.
There’s a new trailer for Root Film
Root Film, the sequel to Root Letter (which we adore here at DDnet), has has its second trailer released. The game was originally set to launch this spring in Japan, but has been pushed back to a date of July 30. It is set to come to North America and Europe as well, although no details on that release have been made past the announcement. Anyway, here is the new trailer for the Japanese release:
Root Film is about a TV series that was cancelled a decade ago. In order the reboot it, three teams have been cast; each team consists of a director and an actor, including the game’s main character of 23-year old-Rintaro Yagumo. A horrific murder interrupts location scouting, and the characters find themselves drawn deep into the mystery.
The game is technically a visual novel, but it will feature some different elements from the traditional genre. Intuition allows players to acquire words that are key to the investigation during conversations. Max Mode can be activated once enough keywords have been collected, and allows players to face off in a fighting scenario. There’s also the Zapping system, a puzzle-solving mechanic that shows the perspective of two characters at the same time.
Hotel Sowls is coming to the Switch
Originally launched for PC via Steam last December, publisher CFK is bringing mystery adventure title Hotel Sowls to the Nintendo Switch eShop, presumably worldwide. A release date has not been announced, but we do know it will support English, Japanese, and Korean language options. Oh, and there’s a new trailer available!
Developed by Studio Sott, Hotel Sowls is set in a surreal, dreamlike world with music to match the atmosphere. The player takes on the role as a pharmacologist, exploring Hotel Sowls to discover who stole a precious stone that they managed to bring back from Sowls; it’s stolen overnight as you rest from that journey, and now it’s time to start another.
There are different locations to explore and NPCs to meet. The player will need to gather information from them to solve the mystery. What choices are made will determine the pharmacologist’s fate.
It’s all Greak to me
Please forgive the pun, I had to do it. Publisher Team17 has partnered with Bromio to publish Navegante Entertainment’s Greak: Memories of Azur for consoles and PC via Steam. The versions should launch at once on an unannounced date in 2021. To celebrate, there’s a new trailer:
Single-player side-scrolling adventure title Greak: Memories of Azur features traditional hand drawn animations and a live orchestra soundtrack. The player controls three different characters, guiding them each to escape the Urlag invasion of Azur. The characters aren’t played at all once, rather, the player can alternate between them. Each has their own unique abilities.
In a press release, the head of publishing at Team17, Max Everingham, states the reason the company wants to publish the title: “As soon as we saw the visual style and entered the world of Azur, we were instantly absorbed into the universe that Navegante is creating, and we’re sure that our audiences will enjoy the Metroidvania journey just as much as we are.”
