Tech-Gaming.Com

Few game designers can claim a career spanning the formative years of Japanese action RPGs and the creation of a brand-new title for vintage computers. Tokihiro NAITO made his name as the programmer and designer behind 1984’s Hydlide, later contributing to the development of Hydlide II, Hydlide 3, Virtual Hydlide, and the cult shooter Undead Line.

The term “metroidvania” probably conjures up images of a side-scrolling labyrinth filled with ledges, ladders, and ability-gated doorways. Magical Blush approaches that familiar formula from above, presenting the action from an overhead perspective reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

One recurring detail in Toaplan’s shooters is military hardware. Tiger-Heli established this trend in 1985, pitting your lone copter against an army of tanks, warships, and gunboats. Two years later, Flying Shark sent an incredibly mobile biplane into a similar setting, while 1989’s Fire Shark intensified the action with bigger weapons and an even more merciless opposition.

This week, Marvel’s Wolverine unleashes its claws for some brutal, bloody action, while The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero and The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure bring the complete Crossbell saga to PS5 and Switch 2. Meanwhile, HimaNatsu: Of Churches, Sunflowers, and Long Summers (pictured) delivers a bittersweet visual novel about childhood friends, old promises, and one final summer together.

Games like Trepang2, Turbo Overkill, and Severed Steel have been some of the best first-person shooters of the last few years. While each delivered its own mechanical flourishes, none of these titles has truly tried to revolutionize the genre. Instead, they’ve delivered potent feasts of gunplay as you mow down legions of foes, which is probably sufficient for anyone craving some ballistic-based showdowns.

Unlike Asdivine Hearts’ rubix or Asdivine Kamura’s harbinger system, Asdivine Knot doesn’t deliver a distinctive hook right away. Here, developer EXE-CREATE assembles many of the familiar KEMCO ingredients. There’s brisk, turn-based battles, of course, alongside relationship-dependent endings, and a party obsessed with teasing its brooding lead.

With its pixel art and modest mechanics, XeGrader plus looks like another one of those modern games infatuated with retro sensibilities. But its history is a bit more complicated than that. The title is the work of Tokihiro Naitō and Tadahiro Nitta. The two developers helped define MSX gaming in the last late eighties and early nineties with the seminal action-RPG series Hydlide and notable FM-synth soundtracks for games like Xak and Illusion City.

nce called the “Walkman of the 21st century” by former Sony CEO Ken Kutaragi, the PlayStation Portable was a prodigious piece of hardware. Boasting exceptional audio, visual, and storage capabilities for its time, the handheld became home to a wealth of console-quality role-playing games. For stateside players, that meant being able to enjoy celebrated titles like Star Ocean: First Departure, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Jeanne d’Arc, and Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time.

The success of shows like Shōgun and Andor demonstrates that audiences still have an appetite for sprawling, densely plotted stories. But television isn’t the only medium enamored with elaborate narratives. Nihon Falcom’s Trails series now stretches across more than a dozen interconnected adventures, collectively chronicling political conflicts, technological shifts, and an alarming number of secret societies. Arguably, it’s intricacy is at least, part of the allure.

This week, Onimusha: Way of the Sword sends Miyamoto Musashi into a demon-infested Kyoto, while Phantom: PHANTOM OF INFERNO NITRO ARCHIVE revives Nitroplus’ dark tale of assassins and stolen identities. Meanwhile, SPRAWL zero (pictured) delivers a dopamine-filled dose of Y2K-inspired first-person action, and Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia trades bloodshed for a colorful, character-swapping journey.