It’s nearly springtime in the Northern Hemisphere, and in a month nature will be well on its way from brown and muddy to green and blooming. What a great time to launch a game about flowers! Hanako’s Flower Shop is a shop management visual novel about running a flower shop, where you craft bouquets based on the flowers’ language. As…
Horror is such a difficult genre for artists to work with. People think it’s easy because they have memories of more-comedy-than-scary slashers and B-grade films, bad acting and all. There’s also the perception that it’s not a particularly subtle genre, and therefore must be quite easy to work with. But…
If you’re being bullied, can the ability to read thoughts solve all…
I guess, given the success of Azur Lane, Girls und Panzer, KanColle…
Hakuoki was my first otome game, right back when it was released on the PlayStation 3. Actually, I think it might have been my very first visual novel. It seems hard to imagine now, but a decade ago, digital distribution wasn’t in the same place, and visual novels being released…
Read More
It’s taken years of waiting but it is nearly time for the first localization of Date A Live: Ren Dystopia to be released for PC worldwide as a launch window of September has been announced. The visual novel has only been available for PlayStation 4 in Japan since its original…
Read More
With its series of Pixel Pulps games, LCB Game Studio is bringing something fresh to the visual novel genre. The games look retro (and the stories are retro-pulpy), but they don’t quite play like a retro title might because different minigames are incorporated into each game. For example, you can…
Read More
It’s hard for us in the West to fully appreciate just how core idol companies and groups are in Japan. It’s not just about the music and performance, though that is certainly a big part of it. Idol groups act as talent feeder pools for just about every other part…
Read More
That’s what I get for taking my time with The Last Waltz. Another indie developer is going to waltz in (hah) and have the first dance-themed visual novel. I’m not jealous though, because Light de Deux looks lovely and I hope it’s a big success. Related reading: It’s not specifically…
Read More
Canadian developer BancyCo (formerly Benjamin Rivers Inc.) has made three adventure games to date: two in the horror genre with Home and Worse Than Death, and (releasing between the others) sci-fi title Alone With You. Home has mixed reviews, while thoughts on the other two games are mostly positive. The…
Read More
There are conventional visual novels, and then there are the kinds of visual novels that Type-Moon produces. Tsukihime is a game that has a fearsome reputation, being one of the very first works of the company (it came before Fate/Stay Night, which has become the Type-Moon behemoth), and was essentially…
Read More
Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open is the second in an anthology series of spooky (sometimes downright scary) games that are presented in a living “paper theatre” style. The first, Paper Ghost Stories: 7PM, is a relatively short game about three children wanting a mysterious new neighbour to play with…
Read More
Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly catch-up news feature, the catch-up coffee. With each issue I 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)!…
Read More
I’m consistently surprised that these “fandisc sequels” to popular otome games get localised. Just recently we saw one for Cupid Parasite, and now there’s one for the excellent Radiant Tale. I would think that given how niche otome titles are, sequels to those otome titles would have an even more…
Read More