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Vanillaware has been something of an darling among consumers for upwards of a decade now. And who can blame anyone that gravitates towards what this studio puts out? With unique visuals and an interesting catalogue of games, we've created a list of what we think are some of the best Vanillaware has to offer. And feel free to let us know what you think and other titles you'd recommend in the comments!

I am divided between Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Odin Sphere (the Leifthrasir re-release in particular). While both are excellent and unique games, in of both gameplay and tone, I have to go with Muramasa. The environments and vistas in that game are especially stunning. It's a real shame that Muramasa is currently trapped on the Wii and PS Vita. Maybe if it appeared on modern platforms and PCs, more people could play it? Hey, Vanillaware? — Daniel

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a work of art, both from the actual classic Vanillaware visual standpoint and the incredible storytelling as well. The massive cast of playable characters are all memorable with some poignant moments and shocks throughout. I will it the combat is forgettable and the ending was really disappointing for me, but I still think fondly about this game quite often. — Cody

For me, the answer is pretty cut and dry. I loved playing Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow of Mystara, so naturally my favorite Vanillaware game has to be Dragon's Crown. It's a great 80's-esque side scrolling beat'em up, only made better by Vanillaware's signature painterly art style that lends itself so well to the atmosphere of the game. I'm personally a huge fan of the character designs in Dragon's Crown because I'm a big "sword and sorcery" fan, but outside of the impressive visuals I'm a sucker for co-op. So being able to dungeon crawl with friends meant I dedicated around one-hundred or so hours to this simple but exciting title. — Kazuma

Listen, I'm going to come here and be the weird one. I liked Kumatanchi on the DS, and I still die a little inside every time I think about how I let someone borrow it and didn't go full bounty hunter on them to get it back. (It is going for $200 on eBay, last I checked.) It's a fun life sim about a bear-girl hybrid named Kuma-tan. You look after her at the zoo, ensuring she's well cared for so she performs well, while also seeing her interact with the other people-animals there. It's not an artistic achievement like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, but I consider it one of the best Vanillaware games. -- Jenni

The post Which Vanillaware Games Do You Like Best and Recommend? appeared first on Siliconera.

Odin Sphere and 13 Sentinels developer Vanillaware celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2022, but this year will see the launches of a commemorative Vanillaware art book and merchandise. Pre-orders for the celebratory goods are now open, via the Japanese online retailer Ebten. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The main item in the 20th Anniversary celebration is the Vanillaware Official Art Book -Assortment of VANILLA-. The book can be pre-ordered on this page, with an expected release date of June 30, 2023. The book will cost 13,200 Yen (about $96 USD). Pre-orders on Ebten will include several additional items, including a B3-sized wall scroll, a tote bag featuring Vanilla Boy, the studio mascot, key chains featuring the logos used by the studio, and a laser-engraved "3D crystal" that shows Vanilla boy. No previews of the included material in the Vanillaware art book are available on the store page at the moment.

Besides the Vanillaware art book, dozens more items are available as part of Ebten's Vanillaware 20th Anniversary offering.

One set includes framed reproductions of key illustrations from various Vanillaware titles. The illustrations on offer include the designs used as box art for games like Muramasa: The Demon Blade, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Dragon's Crown, Odin Sphere, GrimGrimoire, Grand Knights History, and Princess Crown, which technically predates the Vanillware name. Even Vanillaware's lesser-known DS-based life sim, Kumatanchi, has a print up for order. 13 Sentinels character designer Yukiko Hirai also created a special 20th anniversary picture for the occasion.

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Each framed print costs 33,000 Yen (about $240 USD), and is expected to ship by August 2023.

Other items include tote bags, acrylic standees, soundtracks, and other goods based on Vanillaware games. The main selection is listed on this page, but here's a gallery of some of the more notable items.

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The Vanillaware art book and other 20th anniversary goods are available via retailer Ebten. The studio's games are available on various platforms. The newest game, GrimGrimoire OnceMore, arrives on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS5 on April 4, 2023. A playable demo is available now.

The post Vanillaware Art Book and Merchandise Sold for 20th Anniversary appeared first on Siliconera.

Over the years, a number of Vanillaware games came back again. Odin Sphere. Princess Crown. Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Dragon's Crown. Now people are poised to yet again return to the world and characters of GrimGrimgoire with the OnceMore remaster. To help learn more about the game, as well as its influence on 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and possible projects, Siliconera spoke with Vanillaware President and Producer George Kamitani, Director Yoshio Nishimura, and Programmer Teruhisa Kanayama. Kamitami served as director on the original game and producer on OnceMore. Meanwhile, Nishimura served as a UI/background designer on the PS2 game.

Jenni Lada: Did you face any challenges in remastering the GrimGrimoire character designs?

Yoshio Nishimura: Since we’d originally drawn each illustration in high resolution already, we honestly did not run into much difficulty renewing the design.

However, since the game is 15 years old, some data had already been lost, and it took some additional work to correct certain anomalies in the animations and to change the screen ratio from 4:3 to 16:9, but with a bit of time, we were able to get it done.

What GrimGrimoire OnceMore addition do you feel is the most extensive, and how difficult was it to implement into the game?

Teruhisa Kanayama: The skill tree. The power-up elements in the PlayStation 2 version used to be tied to story progression, but this time they can be obtained from the players’ abilities of choice.

Maintaining the unit characteristics from the PlayStation 2 version while adding abilities that would broaden the scope of the game’s strategy aspects was a challenge.

Other major additions include an illustration gallery and a fast-forward function.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOFwoilgAeE&ab_channel=NISAmerica
How did you prepare internally for the GrimGrimoire OnceMore remaster?

Nishimura: We were working on a major project within the company at the time, and it was difficult to secure a production budget and production staff, so we had to make sure not to do anything that could cause problems.

We also gave priority to in-house staff who were interested in the game to work on the title.

How did you decide which quality of life changes to include? How influential was from players?

Nishimura: Things can change quite a bit in 15 years, don’t you think?

It was for that reason that we decided on the content of the changes based on from the production staff this time around rather than from the s at the time.

Basically, we tried to add features that would have been implemented in a typical game today, so that people who played the game 15 years ago could enjoy it with a fresh new feeling and without complaints.

The “HARD” difficulty level is more difficult in GrimGrimoire OnceMore. What did you adjust to ensure it is satisfying, but balanced?

Kanayama: Since there are more power-up elements for the players this time around, such as new familiar abilities and grand magic, some adjustments have been made, like reducing the maximum amount of mana that can be taken from crystals on "HARD" and enemies using more abilities in the final stages of the game.

In the PlayStation 2 version, the "HARD" difficulty was unlocked after the game was completed, but this time it’s playable from the beginning so as to satisfy s who are already familiar with real-time strategy games.

There’s a whole new cast for GrimGrimoire OnceMore’s characters. How much say did you have when determining the new characters? For example, did you know, “We want Iori Saeki as Lillet?”

Nishimura: Some of the voice actors for the Japanese version had already retired from their jobs as voice actors, and there were some issues with the contract for the PlayStation 2 version, so it was necessary to re-record them.

Voices for characters are in high demand due to the influence of the Japanese animation industry, so we wanted to incorporate the current trends in voice quality after 15 years.

How do you feel GrimGrimoire, your first real-time strategy game, influenced 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim? Likewise, how did your experiences with 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim influence the GrimGrimoire OnceMore remaster?

George Kamitani: The original version of GrimGrimoire was remade into 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.

Based on the response to GrimGrimoire, we flipped the “story-to-RTS” ratio and created a totally new experience through the framework of the story. And since GrimGrimoire was a loop scenario, the starting point of 13 Sentinels needed a loop that did not actually loop.

Nishimura: As for influence from 13 Sentinels, we were able to use a substantial amount of materials from the 13 Sentinels setting in this game.

GrimGrimoire actually has a fairly detailed setting, but that hasn’t really been shown off. That’s why we decided to add illustrations and text to OnceMore in order to expand on the setting.

Kanayama: The fact that there were similar features in 13 Sentinels, such as saving and fast-forwarding during battle, made it easy to come up with the idea of trying those things in GrimGrimoire OnceMore.

Could we see a return to other Vanillaware games and further re-releases? Could Kumatanchi or Grand Knights History make a comeback?

Kamitani: Kumatanchi! That’s a great idea! (laughs)

As for Grand Knights History, we may or may not be working on a similar yet totally different project.

I'd like to port something like Muramasa, but there are certain complications there.

At the end of the day, I think I really would love to release a new original title.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore will come to the PS4, PS5, and Switch in North America on April 4, 2023 and in Europe on April 7, 2023. It is already available in Japan. It first showed up on the PS2 in Japan in 2007.

The post Interview: Vanillaware Talks GrimGrimoire, 13 Sentinels, Future Games appeared first on Siliconera.

Dimple Entertainment is ending their stint as a video game publisher. A message written by Takashi Kamio, President, thanked fans for their loyalty and announced the company will be closed on August 31.

Loveroot Zero, released this past April for the PlayStation 2, will be Dimple Entertainment’s last the game. Dimple is probably best known for Kumatanchi, a Vanillaware developed Nintendo DS game where players care for a bear girl. Marsh: The Mysterious English Eating Animal, a cutesy virtual pet meets English training game, and the touch screen tapping Pinky Street games were some of Dimple’s other works.

The post Dimple Entertainment Closes Their Doors appeared first on Siliconera.