This Week in Games

Santa Kamiya Got Us That Dog We Wanted For Christmas

Welcome back, folks! In between wrapping up some of the quests in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, I've actually given Path to Nowhere a look—and not a moment too soon, because Eleven (that character I was obsessed with) has her event rerun active through the 24th. Also, Aisno (the company that produces Path to Nowhere) unveiled some official merch... and they had some goodies with Eleven on them. So, uh, time to learn how to import tchotchkes from China! I love it when stars align like this. Also, we learned that one of the guys in our VTuber community is the son of a Turok dev, his dad was very amused by the announcement of that new Turok game. Small world!

I don't wanna talk to much about the Game Awards, if only because I've made it very clear that I hold the whole charade in contempt. If you're gonna hold a big event celebrating the achievements and efforts of the game industry's best and brightest, do that—don't rattle off categories in one breath so you can squeeze in a quartet of teasers after. The real thing that got people talking was the winner of Game of the Year. I was rather convinced that Shadow of the Erdetree was gonna walk away with it, especially after the debacle of getting DLC nominated in the first place. In a surprising twist... Astro Bot walked away with the award.

There's a lot of consternation over this, and I think some of it deserves consideration. My biggest issue is that the game represents Sony's bad habit of constructing a ton of Member Berries for games it hasn't really done anything with in ages. "Sure, we'll make you remember Jak & Daxter. But we're not making a new one!" For all the crap people give Nintendo about burying their old games, fans of Jumping Flash! or Parappa the Rapper have been living off of fumes lately.

But the argument people have been focusing on is whether Astro Bot "deserved" to win, and that's where I start scrunching my face. It's an offshoot of the take that Balatro's nomination was undeserved—an opinion that holds less weight the longer you've played Balatro. For a long time now—and I do mean "long," this has been going back since at least the early 2000s—there's been a trend in the industry that certain genres are "lesser." The "real" games belong to prestige genres—primarily ones that allow you to feature big, fancy graphics and sweeping narratives. They used to be RPGs until 3D first-person shooters and action games (and now Souls-likes) took center stage. It's akin to how people hold that awards for "Best Editing" or "Best Direction" Oscars are instead "Most Editing" or "Most Direction." In the same way we've had Oscar Bait for ages and ages, we have "Game of the Year Bait," and a good chunk of them are about sad dads.

But good design—and good games—are not inherent to a single genre. Genres do not become "outdated;" just because we had a ton of furry mascot platformers in the '90s doesn't mean that platformers became irreparably passé, any less than the interminable list of World War II shooters in the PS2 days meant first-person shooters were passé. And Astro Bot is loaded with great platforming ideas; Team Asobi knows how to take a lot of their engaging tech-demo ideas from Astro's Playhouse and extend them into entertaining levels. The ultimate mark of pride that Astro Bot could ever boast is that Nintendo fans wanted to play it. Because for once, someone else got it: a charming game that feels good to play and gives you pretty worlds to explore. We saw a bit of that with Super Mario Wonder last year, another game I saw a few people decry as "only getting the nomination because Nintendo made it."

And that's something else that stood out to me about the nomination; Team Asobi's rep even gave Nintendo a moment of (indirect) gratitude. Not for no good reason; Nintendo is about the only major company that still produces platformers on a major level in the industry (the genre has sadly become the realm of indies over the years). Don't ask me if I think Super Mario Wonder or Astro Bot is the "better" game, but both together show that there's a lot that you can do in the genre—and at the end of the day, a little charm goes a long way. And Asobi was willing to take a risk on that. To say nothing of the show of good faith from Asobi's folks; a lot of people get caught up in the console wars, forgetting that game developers also love games and everyone has some degree of respect for everyone else. (Hell, Masahiro Sakurai makes no small bones about having all of the consoles.)

Given its rampant adulation, it'll be interesting to see what happens to Astro Bot now. It's the least-"Sony" game out there: a game designed for families with a loving look at the history and culture surrounding the brand, with simple-yet-engaging puzzles and environmental obstacles—a far cry from the "prestige games" that Sony has been pushing for ages and ages. Will Astro Bot mark some course-correction for Sony? That's a nice thought, but I don't think it will. Sony's current output is the result of years of decision-making and corporate culture; you don't change that overnight. Add to that Sony's image; imagine trying to hawk such big games as Intergalactic when your mascot is a cute little robot-dude and not John Videogameman from the hit game, Sad Murder Dad: He Feels A Little Bad This Time. I also imagine it would be a bit harder to sell your investors or sponsors on something like Astro Bot or, say, a new Ape Escape instead of something that pushes the tech or some dumb jargon like that.

Regardless, I think Astro Bot's win is a big deal for the industry. It helps show that we don't need to make "prestige games" to have an impact on people, that charm and tight scope can outweigh raw tech tossed into our faces and that devs are far more appreciative of the efforts of their colleagues than the peanut gallery can ever comprehend. Not bad for the little guy.

We talk a lot about "tiny miracles" here at This Week in Games: those moments where the stars align and someone at a studio somewhere finally moves a few dominoes around that leads to an old, forgotten game getting revived. We've seen more than a few of those here at This Week in Games, and we try to put each one in the spotlight whenever possible. ONE getting an American release, Sigma Star Saga's upcoming remaster, the return of Fatal Fury, Tango Gameworks getting a second chance at life... this is one we can't call a "tiny" miracle, because the circumstances are not "tiny" by any means. This is (fittingly) a case of divine intervention. What happened here is a miracle, period:

We're getting that Okami sequel. And Hideaki Kamiya is making it.

This has been a long-time dream for a great many people. The original Okami was a labor of love, a passion project by CAPCOM's esteemed Clover studio—the people who had also made fan-favorites like Viewtiful Joe. Hell, Kamiya made his name off of the reputation of Joe, and it was successful enough as a game to get two sequels, a spin-off, and an anime series. Consider Okami as Clover's magnum opus: a massive adventure game where you play as the Japanese goddess Amaterasu, the source of all that is good and mother to us all. (Note: I'm tearing up writing that.) A fantasy-esque version of Japan is in decay, eroded by the forces of darkness; Amaterasu descends as a wolf to restore life to the land and hope to the hearts of people. Like a great many anime in the early-to-mid-'00s, Okami came out at just the right time to enamor fans with its sumi-ee-styled art and fantasy take on countless Japanese myths and stories, from the legend of Momotaro to the story of Princess Kaguya and the bamboo cutter. Central to the game's identity and visuals were the use of brushes: Amaterasu was capable of using the Divine Brush (read: her fluffy wolf-tail) to "paint" symbols, creating miracles in the world: cutting branches, summoning firestorms, or—most vitally—reviving plants and nature around her. Hence, the teaser up there emphasizes the brush reviving that one lone blossom.

While Okami was a critical darling at the time of its release, it was sadly overlooked; this was the era of gunmetal-grey cover-based shooters, so Okami gathered dust on shelves alongside Beyond Good and Evil. It was eventually ported everywhere, but even now, it's one of those games that you had to be there to understand. Of course, with Okami failing in the market, Clover shut down, and its talent went on to make Platinum. And with Platinum's fortunes tarnishing rapidly, a lot of that talent has joined Kamiya in his exodus from Platinum to a new studio named—wait for it—"Clovers." Plural. Hey, man, there's a side-quest involving giant clovers in Okami; kudos to Kamiya for maintaining the pun after two studio changes. Regardless of its failure, Platinum still made sure to keep Okami in their DNA—hence Bayonetta turning into a panther that leaves flowers in her wake when she runs (that's Amaterasu's thing).

Of course, the distancing from CAPCOM was also why we didn't get an Okami sequel for so long—Clover made the game, but the rights belonged to CAPCOM. And CAPCOM, understandably, wasn't about to sink money into a sequel for a game that sold poorly, no matter how good the ratings were. But here we are: Kamiya got through to them, Clovers exists, and we're getting a new Okami.

Kamiya even expressed great gratitude towards everyone who helped make this project possible. I can vouch that this has been a big deal for folks; wolf-themed VTuber Silvervale was positively bawling at the reveal (she's been an Okami true-believer since Day One). Granted, we know literally nothing else about Okami 2 or whatever it's going to be called—we don't even know what console it'll release on. So, of course, there is nothing to do but wait. But we can certainly appreciate that a goddamn miracle happened in the meantime.

With that said, the creation of Clovers does raise a lot of questions about Platinum—and none of the answers look good. In an interview with Denfaminicogamer, Kamiya explained some of his reasons for leaving Platinum. Long story short: their creative vision was being hampered.

With Platinum's projects all suffering and the greater emphasis on "live service" projects like the failed Babylon's Fall, Kamiya (himself never afraid to speak his true mind) felt he wasn't capable of producing games he was proud to put his name on. After Kamiya left Platinum, he had plans to go fully independent like Yokō Tarō. But with several other Platinum developers willing to join Kamiya wherever he went, he spoke to current-Clovers CEO Kento Koyama and got the ball rolling on forming Clovers. The goal is the same that no doubt led to the birth of the original Clover and Platinum: producing titles with strong creative vision (albeit focusing more on smaller projects than AAA-sized ones this time around). This bleeds into the studio's mission statement; the four "C"s that compose the clover-shaped logo for the studio represent "Challenge, Creativity, and Craftsmanship," with the fourth "C" being an idea each developer decides upon for themselves. For Koyama, it's "cleanliness," for Kamiya, it's "curiosity." As a major point, the one "C" Clovers is looking to avoid is "Capital"—as in, third-party capital. As pointed out by many others, the rampant expenses incurred with making massive AAA games means depending on outside investment—which can lead to compromised projects in the name of ensuring recurrent user spending. Hence, Clovers' philosophy is to pitch games directly to studios to garner funding on a project-by-project basis.

If anything, this is a great time to pick up a copy of Okami; it's on almost every platform out there and almost always on sale for $10. I don't normally emphasize this kinda thing, but: play the Steam version. Because of rights issues, all of the latter-day ports of Okami lack the song "RESET" playing over the credits. And you haven't played Okami until you hear "RESET" at the end. It completes the whole thing, like "Fly Me To The Moon" with Neon Genesis Evangelion. The Steam port has a mod fixing that; I'd like to hope that Kamiya can grease a few hinges to restore " RESET " to the other ports, but I'm not holding my breath. However, he is facing this project with all of the pomp and circumstance he is known for.

Okami wasn't even the only massive throwback from last week. Heck, it wasn't even the only resurrected franchise from CAPCOM! For a while now, CAPCOM has released somewhat regular press releases underlining their desire to revive more of their older franchises... but to be quite honest, I was starting to lose my faith in them. Sure, game development takes time, but you can only poll fans for franchises you'd like to see revived so many times before you start feeling like Charlie Brown getting the football yanked away from him. CAPCOM could have just left it at the Okami revival and left us all with cell-shaded egg on our faces... but just in case, they revealed another game so that we knew they were serious.

First up is another throwback to a CAPCOM classic set in fantasy Japan! Long-time CAPCOM fans were astounded to see a trailer for a new Onimusha last week. The Onimusha series had its heyday during the PS2 era; an action series that diverged some from Devil May Cry in its less over-the-top stylishness in favor of a more "grounded" atmosphere. You played as the fictional samurai Samanosuke, a warrior tasked with rescuing Princess Yuki from the demonic oni-filled army of Nobunaga Oda (himself a demon, courtesy of the influence of the evil Fortinbras). Armed with a magic gauntlet that can absorb the souls of slain oni, Samanosuke slashed his way through countless foes across three games—the third one even featuring the likeness of actor Jean Reno as agent Jacques Blanc. Sadly, the Onimusha series' fate seemed tied to the PS2; 2006's Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams didn't move the needle much, and the series had lain dormant ever since (not counting 2019's remaster of the first Onimusha). With the newly-announced Onimusha: Way of the Sword, we'll be seeing the first new Onimusha game in twenty years. Hopefully, it still plays like an action game and not a Souls-like... Meanwhile, in their press release for Onimusha: Way of the Sword and the Okami sequel, CAPCOM once again mentioned its desire to revive some of its older IP. God help me... I think I believe them this time...

Sega also surprised us with an announcement of their own. Last month, we covered Sega's off-hand confirmation that they were working on a new Virtua Fighter. Virtua Fighter being the grand-pappy of 3D fighting games (as well as also not seeing a new entry in almost 20 years), this was certainly cause for celebration. And the festivities only got stronger once the teaser dropped. Not only is Virtua Fighter still steeped in all its realism and groundedness, but it's also sporting a ton of new blood: instead of Sega AM Research & Development No. 2 (who worked on most of the older titles), Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios is making this new game—as in "the folks that make the Like A Dragon games." This is rather fitting; the Like A Dragon series has a fairly deep combat system, and more than a few of Sega AM-2's older titles have been made playable in older Like A Dragon games. We can be sure that the Ryu Ga Gotoku people will be hard at work making the new Virtua Fighter worthy of its legacy. Also, peep the new Virtua Fighter logo. I miss the old one, but in hindsight, I have finally realized after all these years that the old logo has the "F" in "Fighter" backward; the new one finally corrects that. More to follow.

The final throwback we'll be discussing is for Ninja Gaiden! Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja haven't quite done much with Ninja Gaiden in a good while; the XBox's Ninja Gaiden revival (overseen and overshadowed by the controversial Tomonobu Itakagi) breathed new life into the ninja Ryu Hayabusa and even tied him into the Dead or Alive games, for... some reason. But after Itagaki was frogmarched out of Team Ninja, the Ninja Gaiden series just kinda floundered. Koei Tecmo tried with Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden in 2014, to no real avail. So it seemed that was it for the famed demon-slaying adventures of Ryu Hayabusa. Until now! Dotemu, the bastion of old-school pixel gameplay that they are, has decided to take a stab (heheheh) at reviving the series. And they're working with an outstanding studio for it: The Game Kitchen! You likely remember The Game Kitchen from their brilliant Blasphemous series, a gruesome and difficult Metroidvania set in the fictional European land of Cvstodias, dripping with classic Spanish-Catholic-inspired art and lots and lots of gore. Most would've expected The Game Kitchen to take a swing at Castlevania, but instead, they're giving us hordes of demons to slice up with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. They also gave us a new protagonist: Kenji Mozu, a ninja from the Hayabusa village who has trained under the legendary Ryu Hayabusa.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound hearkens back to Ninja Gaiden's 2D roots (like the old NES trilogy). The gameplay is frantic and intense, with all kinds of dashing attacks, jumping attacks, and counters that let you do wild things like slice through an enemy, uppercut into another enemy, then bounce off of an enemy's thrown weapon to kill that enemy—all in one motion. It definitely makes my fingers itch in that way Mega Man Zero does. Don't ask me if I have the finger dexterity to carry out that kind of constant ninja activity (it takes me quite a bit of practice to get those A-ranks in Mega Man Zero), but damn if the game doesn't look badass. And don't worry: all the 2D gore you'd expect from The Game Kitchen is still there, just with less Catholicism. Also, peep the new art for the game; David Liu (whose art you might recognize from Metal Slug Tactics and Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons) was also tapped to handle that absolutely-bitchin' cover art. Good choice! Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is likely to be just as hard as its 2D predecessors but screw it, I'm here for those gorgeous 2D sprites. Look forward to it on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox this Summer 2025. If you need a taste test (albeit far slower and moodier), I recommend you try out The Game Kitchen's Blasphemous. Would it help if I pointed out it has a Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night DLC...?

Hey, so remember that whacky Pac-Man-inspired short from that Secret Levels anthology? Well, the same way Secret Levels was itself a bunch of stealth ads for upcoming games, that edged-up Pac-Man short re-imagining Pac-Man as a lost alien trying to survive in a dark underground labyrinth (likened to a Pac-Man version of the disastrous Bomberman: Act Zero) was indeed a teaser for an actual game that's to be released in the future. You play as Swordsman No. 8, an alien stuck on a bizarre planet. A familiar-looking robotic sphere named "Puck" awakens you and guides you deeper into a shadowy underground maze, where No. 8 must embrace his inner darkness and eat his foes to survive. He does this by merging with Puck and becoming a giant round maw that devours his foes. Oh, and every so often, No. 8 retreats into Puck's tiny shape and eats little yellow pellets while the classic Pac-Man sounds play. Goofy? Sure. Intriguing? Also sure.

I can only imagine the tongues at Bandai-Namco were firmly planted in their cheeks with this idea, but I'm also somewhat open to the idea. It helps that Shadow Labyrinth is playing around with Namco's other ancient properties; one clip in the trailer reveals No. 8 exploding a round, red monster with massive eyes. Not only is that monster an edgy redesign of the Pookas from Dig-Dug, they're even using the classic Dig-Dug sound effects to really hammer it in. (Older players will remember that pumping monsters full of air until they popped was a thing you could do in Dig-Dug.) And it's not just Dig-Dug getting referenced; eagle-eyed Bandai Namco scholars on the Internet have pointed out tons of references to—of all things—Xevious in the Shadow Labyrinth episode from Secret Levels. Some writing in the episode, when compared to the actual cipher from the old Xevious games, references "GAMP," the villains from Xevious. The protagonist from the Secret Levels trailer is also seen wearing a United Galaxy Space Force-branded cloak, while Xevious isn't officially part of the UGSF timeline of games in Namco's history, it was planned to be included through a canceled game titled New Space Force. For the record, other games tied into the USGF include Ridge Racer and Ace Combat (via Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere).

I touched on this earlier this year, but gamers in Japan really, really loved Xevious. It's a pivotal game and a landmark in gaming history over in Japan. Countless vertical shooters like 1942 and TwinBee stemmed from Xevious' influence. A dark re-imagining of Pac-Man tying itself into old Xevious lore is actually incredibly ballsy and also incredibly reverent. To say nothing of how well it actually fits; the same way that Shadow Labyrinth uses clones of the starring Swordsmen as a plot point, Xevious' lore originates with the GAMP being protectors of human clones. And Bandai Namco has a canonical representation for the alien Xevi that live on the eponymous planet Xevious:

Yellow. Orbs.

This game is going to have some buckwild references to Mappy, I swear... Shadow Labyrinth doesn't have a release date yet. We'll keep you posted.

We touched on Trails in the Sky's announced remake a few months back. The remake, notably, was promoted in a Japanese Nintendo Direct but omitted from the American one. It is not that unusual for a Nintendo Direct, but it is unusual since the game was confirmed for an American release after the fact. Well, now we have a more official reveal for the thing; it's using the Japanese trailer, but it's confirming the release date for the United States: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter releases this Fall 2025 for the PS5, Steam, and Nintendo Switch. Is there a chance it might be released on the Switch's successor...? Who knows? It'll likely be released by then, but I'm a terrible judge of time for these matters.

As the title implies, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a ground-up remake of the original The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. This is a long RPG series that goes back a few years with beloved characters and writing, but I also have terribly little experience with any of the Nihon Falcom franchises. Hell, I've never even played a Ys game (as much as I might try to talk them up). They're some of the best RPGs you can play that aren't made by Atlus or Square Enix. You can play the original Trails in the Sky on Steam, you're likely to have a grand time.

On a sadder note, Nihon Falcom announced earlier this week that their founder, Masayuki Kato, had passed away at the age of 78.

Kato had founded Nihon Falcom in 1981. For a long time, they focused on PC game development in Japan. Their original titles like Ys, Dragonslayer and Panorama Toh, not only popularized PCs as a gaming platform in Japan but also popularized action RPGs. Their games have an esteemed legacy to them, with many of their franchises splintering off into bespoke series unto themselves—a complicated family tree involving Dragonslayer, Sorcerian, Xanadu, Faxanadu and Tokyo Xanadu.

Nihon Falcom's games weren't just incredibly influential to the Japanese market and the birthplace of numerous talents. Famed game composer Yuzo Koshiro lists himself among those; Koshiro offered his condolences to the late Kato, thanking him for "the first to recognize [his] talents as a composer." Koshiro himself would go on to become one of the most accomplished composers in the Japanese gaming industry, with a resume including classics like Actraiser, Streets of Rage and the Etrian Odyssey series. He got his start as a fresh-faced youth of 18 years working with Nihon Falcom to produce music for Xanadu's sequel.

Kato had stepped away from overseeing Nihon Falcom in 2007, but his legacy is an enduring one and every bit as important to the growth and development of the Japanese gaming industry as that of Square Enix or Bandai Namco. His loss is a tremendous one for the industry. It is a pity he won't be with us as we enjoy Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter.

Speaking of Nihon Falcom, we have confirmation that Ys X: Nordics will be receiving an updated re-release in Japan. Titled Ys X: Proud Nordics, it'll feature new story elements and new areas. So far, all we have is a release date: sometime in 2025.

Shadow the Hedgehog has joined Sonic Dream Team! If you have it on AppleArcade, have at it.

Stellar Blade has received a cute bit of seasonal DLC in the form of a new minigame and some Christmas-themed outfits. There's also a new update that allows you to toggle the Christmas DLC as well as the NieR: Automata DLC, as per your gaming preference.

As per Bandai Namco's Tales Of... 30th Anniversary livestream earlier this week, Bandai Namco promises they'll be releasing remastered Tales Of... games at a "fairly consistent" rate. In the meantime, Tales of Graces f Remastered releases on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, and Steam on January 17, 2025. No other release dates have been offered.

That'll do it for this... year, actually. I'm very bad at paying attention to holidays; I tend to hunker down badly when working on this column. This will be our final column for 2024; we'll be taking a break next week in honor of Christmas (as well as Día de los Inocentes, for anyone keeping track of Puerto Rican holidays). Our next column will come in after New Year's; we'll celebrate Arcueid's birthday next time (she's a Christmas baby!). I'm always a sap when it comes to speaking to you guys, but I always do mean it: thank you all for joining me for this year's columns. We've had... well, not so much "ups and downs" but a series of escalating "ups," considering I came back following last year's accident and haven't stopped since. I'm grateful to all my readers who patiently awaited my return and continue to look forward to my columns. It brings me joy to help you all ring in the weekend with these columns, and it brings me greater joy still to help you all build excitement for new games—or see you discover old classics you might've overlooked. Similarly, I've learned plenty from you guys, and I appreciate the insight you share with me. I hope you can all have a warm, happy holiday, enjoy the love and affection of those close to you, and share goodwill liberally towards your peers and strangers. Column aside, there was plenty of hardship in 2024, but we all have each other; I look forward to sharing 2025 with you all. Be good to each other, I'll see you in... fourteen, I guess?

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This Week In Games! is written from idyllic Portland by Jean-Karlo Lemus. When not collaborating with Anime News Network, Jean-Karlo can be found playing JRPGs, eating popcorn, watching v-tubers, and tokusatsu. You can keep up with him at @ventcard.bsky.social.

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