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I had no idea what to expect when I began playing Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut. All I knew is that the original edition received tremendously high praise when it was released back in 2023. This disturbingly dark visual novel breaks away from the norm in every way possible. It twists the traditional love story of a courageous hero rescuing a damsel in distress into an unsettling Lovecraftian tale, proposing fascinating psychological and philosophical ideas in the best way.

We often encounter narratives in modern media that stick to familiar, tried-and-tested formulas. While these stereotypical approaches can be effective, they don't always require a deep understanding of lore or a strong emotional investment in the backstory. Let's take one of gaming's most iconic icons, Mario. I don't think the majority of people who play the Mario titles are motivated to because they want to save Princess Peach from Bowser, but it's an easy-to-understand premise that lets you jump into the action rather quickly.

This is where Black Tabby Games recontextualizes and cleverly plays with the accepted formulas in Slay the Princess. Like Doki Doki Literature Club, this is not the type of horror experience that delivers jump-scares, but allows you to make decisions that will shape how the story will turn out. It uses the visual novel format to mimic the experience you would find in a Choose Your Own Adventure storybook. The premise is relatively simple, and the title of the game slightly gives it away. Instead of rescuing a fair maiden trapped in a tower, your mission is to eliminate the princess imprisoned in the basement of a cabin.

Your journey starts in the dank and eerie woods, where you will be accompanied by a voice called The Narrator. This ominous voice will tell you to kill the princess. If not, the world will end. You will then be bombarded with many options, from probing this narrator with questions about potential actions you can take. Later down the line, other voices will you, challenging the authenticity of the first narrator's words and creating a conflicting, but humorous dialogue exchange that mimics the angel and devil on your shoulder dynamic. With such high stakes supposedly on the line, what will you do? Will you listen to The Narrator's words and murder the princess in cold blood or attempt to save her? Regardless of which option you pick, the story will raise profound questions surrounding life and death, free will, and the purpose of existence.  

It might sound like I'm being very vague about the plot, and that's because, to an extent, I am. It's hard to divulge massive details about Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut without spoiling the experience. The less you know, the better. However, I will say that it's incredibly hard not to become engrossed in its narrative, as your actions will create a butterfly effect that directly affects how the world and the princess interact with you. Even merely picking up an item will block out potential outcomes. My first playthrough, which took me about four hours to complete, led to me multiple times physically putting my hand over my mouth in sheer disbelief at what I had witnessed, which resulted in me eagerly starting a new run, wanting to see what would be the aftermaths of different actions.

That being said, the fantastic narrative is not Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut's only draw. The voice acting also plays a key role, as it really helps bring the world to life and makes you feel like you're in the middle of a fairy tale. Some of the voices will be optimistic, while others will be downright snarky and on the verge of condescending. The best performance is delivered by The Narrator voice actor Jonathan Sims, as he will quite literally cover everything that transpires and will take every opportunity to remind you that you must kill the princess. Honestly, the entire game just wouldn't be the same without the stellar voiceovers.

Another standout feature is its artistic design. Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut harbors a striking monochrome black-and-white aesthetic, with every background and character being hand-drawn. It only deviates from this color scheme when depicting serious dialogue or blood, making these moments feel genuinely sinister. The imagery is also clearly inspired by cosmic horror, as some of the figures you encounter will be extremely unsettling and grotesque. Some of the most powerful images come from the portrayal of the princess. The fair maiden can display various expressions, from a radiant, warm smile to a sinister stare. The pencil-drawn art beautifully captures the eyes in particular, creating the impression that they are looking right through you.

If you're a returning player, you might be wondering about the new content in Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut. There are three new chapters, and they're all pretty solid. One of the new chapters was actually one of the first scenarios I came across, which is called "The Cage." It was super creepy, and I thinking near the end that no matter what option I picked, I would not like what I was about to see. Some previous routes have also been expanded upon, including "The Den," "The Fury," and "The Apotheosis." A new achievable ending can also be triggered by selecting specific options in the final fight. As mentioned above, I didn't play the original edition, but I like all the new content here. My only minor critique is that I wouldn't say any of the new content is must-see material, so The Pristine Cut may not pique the interest of all the fans who played the previous version. But, given it is a free update for the PC version, it could be worth returning if you enjoy the title.

Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut is a fantastic horror game that you will think about weeks after you finish playing, as you will be captivated by the story and message the game is trying to portray. It's the type of game where you'll want to close the curtains, dim the lights and binge on for the evening alone or with a friend (if you can agree on options, of course). This is a perfect indie horror title to play during the spooky season and should not be skipped by avid fans of the genre.

Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut is now available on the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

The post Review: Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut Tears Up the Rule Book appeared first on Siliconera.

Keylocker sounds like exactly the kind of game made for me. Stylish cyberpunk aesthetics, a rebellious spirit, rhythm-based mechanics, and influences from classic RPGs? Sign me up, I’m there! Regrettably, Keylocker never landed for me for many reasons.

Keylocker stars B0B0, or Bobo as she prefers to be called, a rebellious musician living in a world where music has been banned. We start the story as she breaks out of prison thanks to her hacker brother, a move so explosive she destroys part of the prison in the process. The siblings then team up with a jukebox robot found in a scrapheap, heading out to take on The Man and bring back music to the people.

It’s a cheesy concept that’s been seen countless times before, but Keylocker knows the exact tone it needs to sell you on it. Bobo is a fun character, full of brash self-confidence and a refusal to accept the system as it stands. It’s not hard to get swept up in her schemes, even when they’re painfully stupid and suicidal on paper.

The world itself is also interesting. It takes place on a colony around Saturn, one where shadowy cabals maintain harsh rules and restrictions that they claim are required to stop the whole colony crashing into the planet. The cast is a quirky bunch of weirdos of various unexplained humanoid races, from robots to hippo children, and where people can replace their heads on a whim, including the religious order’s tendency to replace their heads with cones.

It's all presented in a scratchy, unrefined art style that feels like the developers manually drew every pixel. This perfectly fits the game’s rebellious attitude, where technical skill isn’t required for artistic expression, and where the rough edges give everything personality.

Sadly, this is where my love of the presentation ends, as while the world has an interesting concept and the cast is likeable, the story is poorly told. The world is high concept, but few of its ideas are communicated properly. Strange are casually thrown around without much explanation to the point where it can feel weird for the sake of being weird. I couldn’t help but compare it with Paradise Killer, another game awash with a neon sheen in a world of bizarre concepts, but I latched onto that much quicker than I did with Keylocker.

A big part of this is done to how the early story plays out. Sure, Bobo is a likeable protagonist, but her early quests don’t have much direction to them. They’re little more than fetch quests for characters she has a prior relationship with but we as the audience don’t get much background on. Next thing you know, I’m in a weird dimension in the desert collecting a vitally important music box that will change the fate of the world. I’m not entirely sure how I ended up there.

I’d be able to go along with this if the gameplay felt good but this is the other major problem with Keylocker. Combat is turn-based, taking place on a grid-based system where positioning is important. In addition, the combat utilizes timed hits, where pressing a button at the right time can boost attack or defense depending on who’s attacking. Imagine a cross between Mega Man Battle Network and Super Mario RPG for a vague idea of what to expect here. However, two fundamental problems become obvious early on. The first is that the grid movement feels functionally useless and the timed hits are frustrating to execute.

Let’s start with the grid movement. Combat takes place on a series of hexagons, and your moves will attack a certain shape around you. Some moves will attack in a line, others in an arc immediately in front of you while others encircle you. All perfectly acceptable. However, movement costs a turn, and suddenly the problems arise.

There’s no system of movement and an action, like other games with this sort of movement. You perform an action or you move, you can’t do both. Movement effectively places you in front of an enemy ready to be attacked, but you can neither attack nor set up a counterattack as a trap for them. That has to wait until your next turn and can easily be derailed with an enemy movement or an attack that forces a change to your position. It’s a baffling system and I have no idea why they did it this way as it killed all semblance of strategic movement.

The timed hits are the real maddening issue though. I have enjoyed plenty of games with this mechanic, from assorted Mario RPGs to last year’s Sea of Stars. But what made timed hits such a fun system in those games was how it felt like a reward. Getting the timing right meant extra damage or negating damage you receive. In Keylocker, they feel essential and missing them is a punishment. Miss a parry and you see almost your entire health bar deleted. Miss an attack and chip about 1HP off them.

This is bad enough, but the timing windows are extremely tight. Characters will flash to indicate when to hit the button, but universally it seemed like tapping when you see the flash was always a miss. It got to the point where I felt I had to anticipate the flash and press it slightly ahead of its appearance. However, this had its own problems as attack windups are dragged out longer than necessary, which made all my hits early. I tried working off the sound effects but even they ended way too early.

It’s a massive contrast to the more intuitive timed hits in other games. I never once struggled to grasp when to time a Mario stomp or a Moonerang swipe, and any I missed felt like my own poor timing. In Keylocker, I was constantly dropping the timings and could never truly figure out what I was doing wrong. Even adjusting the difficulty failed to change much.

And this is the problem with Keylocker. At almost every turn it reminded me of better games. Whether it’s the better execution of rhythm-based combat and rebellious rock-and-roll spirit in Hi-Fi Rush, the timed hits of Super Mario RPG or the movement of any half-decent strategy RPG, it made me constantly wish I was playing any of these games instead. It’s a shame, because it’s clear that a lot of love and ion went into this game. There’s a solid foundation for Keylocker to work with here, but what was built on top of it is shaky.

Ultimately, Keylocker was a frustrating experience. There’s some solid writing and a world that I’d love to explore further. Sadly, it’s buried under an unintuitive combat system and poor plotting for it to realize its full potential.

Keylocker is out now for Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

The post Review: Keylocker Struggles to Stay in Rhythm appeared first on Siliconera.

Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut, the enhanced version of the psychological horror visual novel, will be released on October 24, 2024. Developed by Black Tabby Games and published by Serenity Forge, this updated edition will bring the beloved game to consoles for the first time. 

You can watch the official trailer below:

The Pristine Cut adds three new chapters, expanding on key routes like The Den, The Apotheosis, and The Fury. The game will include thirty-five percent more content compared to the original PC version, with Black Tabby Games intending to add new endings, additional hand-drawn art by Abby Howard, and over 2,500 new voice lines by Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight.

In related news, Slay the Princess received a significant free update called The End of Everything back in March 2024, ahead of the Pristine Cut release. While this update didn’t introduce new routes, it expanded existing ones with additional content, new music, and enhanced animations. Over 3,000 words were added to the visual novel, along with reworked orchestral tracks as well as general improvements to UI.

Slay the Princess is available now on PC. Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut will be released on October 24, 2024, for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

The post Slay the Princess: Pristine Cut Release Date Set appeared first on Siliconera.

Amazon Canada is known for occasionally leaking or putting games up for sale early, and that just happened with the Slay the Princess Collector’s Edition. While the Serenity Forge official storefront already had it live for $199.99 USD for a Q1 2025 launch, Amazon Canada now also has the CA$279.99 Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 editions as well and says those will be available in February 2025.

As a reminder, both of these are for the Switch and PS5 Collector’s Edition variants are for Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut. This is the updated version of the game set to launch on the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC digitally in Fall 2024. (The game is currently only on the PC.) This version adds new chapters and potential encounters. A new ending is also promised.

Amazon Canada says the Switch version of the limited edition will ship on February 25, 2025. The PS5 version has a February 28, 2025 release date. The social media for developer Black Tabby Games joked about this reveal via sharing a retweet of someone that found the product listings.

The Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut Collector’s Edition product listing again reiterated everything you get. Many of the items refer to situations in certain routes in the game. There is a seven inch tall figure of the Princess, which shows different sides of her. There’s a reflective lenticular “mirror,” and the sheet of stickers also resembles a broken mirror. There’s a metal bookmark of the dagger and the princess and knight’s hands. You get a code to the soundtrack on a note that resembles the one in-game. There are also references to the Princess’ actions via a swinging arm action acrylic standee and a severed arm enamel pin.

Slay the Princess is on the PC via Steam now, and the Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut will come to the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC in Fall 2024. 

The post Amazon Canada Slay the Princess Collector’s Edition Listing Suggests Release Dates appeared first on Siliconera.

It’s always interesting to see what happens when a Kickstarter project finally appears. Arcadian Atlas appeared on the crowdfunding site back in 2016, and it’s finally shown up seven years later in 2023. While it’s fine and has some great spritework, it also feels quite unbalanced and often a little too easy.

With Arcadian Atlas, players get to see the affects of royal decisions and wars on the people in power and those around them. When a king dies, his wife Queen Venezia succeeds him and declares her stepdaughters illegitimate to get them out of the way. However, that doesn’t mean they disappear. Lucretia begins to fight to reclaim her birthright, with the warrior Vashti on her side. Vashti’s lover Desmond remains in Venezia’s employ. Meanwhile, Lucretia’s sister Annalise is finding her own potential sense of power and recourse. Throughout the story, we see different sides of the conflict and, as you might expect, become pivotal players in the fate of the world. Especially since at some specific moments, we get a chance to make decisions that can shift the course of the story.

[caption id="attachment_975515" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Siliconera[/caption]

Arcadian Atlas is your typical turn-based strategy game. A fight begins with you getting to deploy some of your units. When the match begins, you’ll see where opponents are positioned. Success comes from either wiping out all enemies or getting out of the area while keeping your “main characters” alive. (If one of them dies, you have three turns to get a healer over to revive them.) Each class has various skills, with some like the Warmancer mages featuring abilities that take additional time to cast.

The biggest problem with Arcadian Atlas is a balancing issue. The first is that its battles are quite short and simple. I figured the prologue battle only lasted about three turns as an example, but it isn’t uncommon for most fights to be finished in a handful of turns. This is partially due to the fact that it isn’t difficult to whittle down enemies’ health and SP for special attacks being so plentiful that you can use your best moves frequently. An abundance of Command Points means you can also make anything you’d need to buy incredibly cheap, so you can load up on any equipment you might need.

[caption id="attachment_975514" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Twin Otter Studios[/caption]

Worse, the class system feels uneven. There are are four base ones, with two promotion options for each one as they advance. However, the Apothecary feels ridiculously broken. It features ranged attacks and abilities, with many able to hurt enemies or heal allies. The second most useful end up being the Rangers, due to its even greater range. Oddly enough, there’s no benefit to getting units to higher ground that I can see, which seems unusual for this sort of game. Also, it’s impossible to see enemy ranges. But given that maps never get too big and you can’t even rotate them to get a better sense of perspective and positioning, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that this option wasn’t there.

It’s also generally quite easy, aside from a handful of endgame battles getting a bit overwhelming. Which isn’t a bad thing, per se. Sometimes someone might want a less strenuous strategy game. But the problem comes when you set the difficulty as “Harder,” the most challenging one available, and I didn’t really notice that much of a difference from “Standard.” I can only imagine what the easiest “Story” and “Relaxed” options are like. Fights are fine, if fast. And there’s no hassle about getting units up to speed, as ones you hire will be at your level and everyone deployed gets experience even if they never got a chance to act.

[caption id="attachment_975516" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Twin Otter Studios[/caption]

Honestly, it’s the way Arcadian Atlas looked that left the greatest impression on me. The character designs are quite intricate, especially with the character sprites you’ll see on the field. I didn’t expect them to be so expressive, resulting in some fun animations during story segments. I wish the actual character portraits offered that same degree of expression. Likewise, the maps look really good, even if you can’t rotate them.

Arcadian Atlas is fine. It’s not revolutionary or remarkable, but it’s entertaining enough. Especially if you’re looking for a tactical title that looks and feels a little like Final Fantasy Tactics, albeit is a bit simpler and less of a challenge. It isn’t going to really challenge you, and odds are you’ll find a team that helps you “break” the game pretty quickly. But it has its moments.

Arcadian Atlas is available on PCs.

The post Review: Arcadian Atlas Is Adequate appeared first on Siliconera.

It's been almost two years since the pandemic started, and it's safe to say that a lot of people (myself included) have forgotten how it feels to go on an actual, in-person date. It's at this time that Serenity Forge decided to release Date Night Bowling. The game brings players out on a classic night out bowling, complete with funky music and a fun, distinctly retro vibe. My only problem is that it doesn't last long enough.

Date Night Bowling plays a lot like other bowling simulator games. There are two game modes that are largely the same. One features dialogue interactions and minigames between characters, while the other is a pure bowling experience. You can choose to either bowl alone or with a partner, either using a computer AI or a second player using local co-op. You also have two bowling alleys to choose from with different music themes. Additionally, there are also various customization settings such as lane oil amount, bowling ball weight, being left or right-handed, and two AI difficulty settings.

While there's a cast of ten characters in total, you start off with only two unlocked. I initially assumed that you'd unlock new characters naturally by playing the Dating Night mode, but that was not the case. In actuality, you have to play the solo mode (which has all of the characters unlocked) using the character you want. Doing so will unlock the ability to use them in two-player mode, after which you can go on as many dates as you desire.

The Dating Night mode features the bulk of the game's content. Interspersed between each round, the two characters will flirt and make quips about how many pins they knocked down. After each frame, Date Night Bowling then chooses a random minigame to play. Some are WarioWare-style rhythm and timed games, while others will task you with memorizing a pattern of buttons. If you do well, your Connection Meter will go up.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much the gist of the entire game. Getting a higher Connection Meter score with a character doesn't do anything aside from increasing the number in the stats tab. To my disappointment, your bowling score doesn't influence the outcome of the date either. While the characters may talk about going on a second one, there's nothing to suggest that doing so will progress the story or unlock special content. Playing with a character in two-player mode does unlock a short backstory, but that's the extent of extra content. There isn't even an option to play through specific minigames on their own.

All things considered, I would say the Date Night Bowling offers about two hours of content at most. I do wish the characters had more personality and dialogue as they get a bit repetitive after a couple of games. My partner and I had a fair bit of fun playing the game in local two-player, but it is a shame that the game doesn't online play. That being said, the game is definitely charming. The music is happy, groovy, and upbeat. The game's pixel art and CRT television-style display also give it a unique retro aesthetic.

If you're into casual dating games with low stakes, I'd say give it a shot. Just don't expect this relationship to be long-term.

Date Night Bowling will release for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on November 26, 2021.

The post Date Night Bowling is Short-Lived Fun appeared first on Siliconera.

The latest issue of Famitsu has special coverage on Doki Doki Literature Club Plus, marking the release of the game's official Japanese localization. It also includes an interview with the game's translation team and the Japanese version publisher Playism. The translation team specifically mentioned the struggle to localize 'Just Monika' for Doki Doki Literature Club Plus in Japanese. [Thanks, Ryokutya!]

Here are some of the highlights from Famitsu's Doki Doki Literature Club Plus interview:

• DDLC translation team: "We struggled on the translation for 'Just Monika.' We debated for around a month, and we had 'Monika dake' as an unofficial translation."
• "The Japanese physical version is based on the unofficial one. Playism, Riotloc, and Serenity Forge came for and supervision."
• "Please look forward to seeing how the term is translated into."
• Playism staff: "We felt a great fixation towards 'Just Monika.' The opinions we received are being applied to the official Asian release."

Playism will release the Japanese localization of Doki Doki Literature Club Plus for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on October 7, 2021. This coincides with the Western physical releases for the same platforms on October 8, 2021. Serenity Forge delayed the physical releases twice due to logistical issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The title is immediately available digitally on the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post Doki Doki Literature Club Japanese Localization Struggled With Just Monika appeared first on Siliconera.

Serenity Forge announced via Twitter that Doki Doki Literature Club Plus physical copies will see another delay. This news comes just a week before its planned release on September 21, 2021. Physical copies will now release on October 8, 2021. Serenity Forge also assured customers that there will be no more further delays going forward.

Like the previous delay, Serenity Forge cited the pandemic as the main cause. Specifically, manufacturing limitations and shipping delays, as well as material and labor shortages. The fault doesn't seem to lie with Serenity Forge. It noted that its partners are the ones dealing with the logistical challenges.

However, the publisher has confirmed with partners that there will be "no further delays" past the new release date. Furthermore, Serenity Forge thanked customers for their continued and enthusiasm. Below is a portion of the official statement:

Due to these continued logistical challenges our partners have been facing, the physical release will be delayed to October 8, 2021. After assessing their production timelines our partners have confirmed with us that there will be no further delays in the physical release.

We want to sincerely thank you for your continued as a community, both in your reception of the initial release of DDLC Plus, and in your enthusiasm for the physical edition. We are as excited as you are to experience all the love that has been put into this physical edition when you receive it in just a few short weeks.

The Doki Doki Literature Club Plus physical edition will come with a physical copy of the game, as well as various bonus merchandise such as acrylic stands, a poem from Monika, and more. Doki Doki Literature Club Plus itself features a variety of new content such as art, songs, and six new side stories to enjoy.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is immediately available digitally on the PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. Physical copies for the Switch, PS4, and PS5 will arrive on October 8, 2021.

The post Doki Doki Literature Club Plus Physical Copies Delayed Again to October appeared first on Siliconera.

People won’t be getting the Doki Doki Literature Club Plus physical copies on August 30, 2021. Serenity Forge announced a North American delay due to the pandemic. Instead of appearing as expected, they will now show up on September 21, 2021. The European physical release already had a September 2021 release date.

Here’s the official statement from Serenity Forge, which cited manufacturing and shipping delays as the reason why the physical copies won’t appear when they were supposed to.

Unfortunately, we have encountered unforeseen delays with manufacturing and shipping as a result of COVID-19, requiring us to delay the physical release of Doki Doki Literature Club Plus to September 21st. We understand your excitement and are working around the clock with our manufacturers across the globe to bring you the highest quality and most meaningful product possible. We appreciate your dedication, patience, and continued .

As a reminder, the Doki Doki Literature Club Plus retail copies will be a special edition version. In addition to the game, people will get acrylic standees of Monika, Natsuki, Sayori, and Yuri, stickers, and a digital copy of the soundtrack.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is available digitally on the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC, and physical copies will appear in North America on September 21, 2021 and in Europe on September 24, 2021.

The post Doki Doki Literature Club Plus Physical Copies Delayed appeared first on Siliconera.

Doki Doki Literature Club is a notorious visual novel. It went from a free-to-play game to a phenomenon, due to its characters and content. With Doki Doki Literature Club Plus, for consoles like the Switch and PC, more people get to play what is a richer and fuller experience. It’s as entertaining and haunting as before, with a little more depth. But while the Switch version does everything you’d expect, font and UI choices can make it difficult to read.

Editor’s Note: This is a spoiler-free review. 31y2l

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus begins as most visual novels with dating sim elements do. You’re a high school student roped into ing the club your childhood friend Sayori is a part of. After attending a meeting, which involves club president Monika and fellow Yuri and Natsuki, you decide to stay and get to know your classmates. You write poems, which might resonate with different characters depending on the word choices. And, as you spend time there, you’ll get to learn all sorts of secrets.

Now, part of what makes Doki Doki Literature Club so unique on the PC is being able to… let’s say mess around with files and things. Once you’ve played, the next time you play a virtual desktop comes up. This ensures you get the same sort of experience with Doki Doki Literature Club Plus on the Switch. It presents you with an actual menu where you can access the game, the six side stories, the special pictures that can be desktop backgrounds, and the jukebox with songs from the game. It’s handled quite well.

As for the side stories, those also are a fun addition. For example, the first Trust one involves the Literature Club’s origins. We see as it goes from one member, Monika, to what it is at the game’s outset. The unlocking methods are reasonable and make sense, since they involve playing the main game and writing poems. So all is generally well and fitting with the overall experience. As promised, these side stories offer more chances to spend time with the heroines, with the more effort invested resulting in more moments.

And Doki Doki Literature Club Plus does feel like a game which prioritizes its experience and fits on the Switch. The system is great for visual novels, after all. It looks great on the system’s screen. The accessibility options are a good fit too. in general, I’d wager most people have an idea of what they’re in for when playing the game. It warns you about potential trigger warnings, with an option to see an explanation of what to expect. You can also choose to turn content warnings on in-game before the darkest scenes.

The problem with Doki Doki Literature Club Plus on the Switch is that it isn’t conducive to being played in the ideal condition. That is, playing it in handheld mode on the go. The font is incredibly small and is white on a pink background. While there is a black outline, it is not enough to make it pop on that small screen. And even with all of the accessibility options present, there is no option to change the UI to perhaps have it be white on pink instead. It gets even worse if you go to the options menu to change something, as the highlight color is, you guessed it, pink. In the settings, it is pure white text with darker pink borders on pink, with the highlight also being pink.

Navigating through the Doki Doki Literature Club Plus UI is also not quite ideal on the Switch. Say you’re in the middle of reading and want to choose to turn auto-advance on, skip text, or head to the settings. Well, you can’t press a button to start auto or skip or read the history. You have to press the plus or minus key to scroll through the six options in the bottom of the text box. And when you do that, the highlighted option has a small arrow below it and the text turns, you guessed it, pink. On the pink background. It is an unfortunate design choice, and one where some button mapping and additional color choices would have made a big difference.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is a great way to revisit a visual novel that made quite a splash. For newcomers, it’s easy to hop into and enjoy, even offering the PC “workarounds.” For people who’ve ed the club before, the extra stories and media are enjoyable. The sole downside is that, with all its accessibility, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is difficult to read on the Switch and has an unfriendly UI. It also lacks easy one-button controls for things like auto-advancing or checking the history, as its contemporaries do. Still, it’s a fascinating read and story.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post Review: Doki Doki Literature Club Plus Switch Can Be Hard to Read appeared first on Siliconera.

Barring spoilers and potential reveals, Doki Doki Literature Club is a game that involve some unexpectedly dark topics. In the original release, this meant brief warnings were presented ahead of time. Now, ahead of the Doki Doki Literature Club Plus debut, Team Salvato explained how the content warnings are expanded. However, it also notes that all of these new warning possibilities are optional.

There are essentially two major ways people can get warnings if they wish. The first happens when you start the game. People can choose to see “detailed content warnings” with spoilers. In addition to the textbox warning about spoilers, the button to make your decision mentions it as well. People also have the option to see content warnings before certain in-game events. Should someone make this choice and decide they don’t want or need them, they can then toggle whether they appear in the options section.

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As pointed out in the Team Salvato update, Doki Doki Literature Club content warnings aren’t new. The original game offered them as well. A warning appeared before you played that said, “This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.” Salvato also opened up a website that briefly let people know about four “themes” that come up in the game and could negatively affect people.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus will come to the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on June 30, 2021. The original game is on the PC.

The post Doki Doki Literature Club Content Warnings Added in Plus Edition appeared first on Siliconera.

People won’t only see Doki Doki Literature Club Plus physical copies in North America, as PQube will handle them in Europe. It announced that retail copies of the visual novel will show up on the Switch, PS4, and PS5 in the region. However, the expected Funstock release date will be behind the US release.

The Doki Doki Literature Club Plus physical Switch, PS4, and PS5 copies will have the same contents in Europe as they do in other areas. People will get a poem from Monika, a Literature Club hip card, a “floppy disk” with the code for the soundtrack on it, a sheet of stickers, and acrylic standees of Monika, Natsuki, Sayori, and Yuri. It will cost £34.99/€40.90.

However, people will have to wait a bit longer to get it in the region. The European digital copies are going to appear on June 30, 2021, just as they will in North America. Funstock noted that it expects to ship the European physical copies on September 24, 2021.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus will come to the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on June 30, 2021. Physical Doki Doki Literature Club Plus Switch, PS4, and PS5 copies will appear in North America in July 2021 and in Europe on September 24, 2021.

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There’s a new Doki Doki Literature Club Plus trailer, and this one stars the visual novel’s creator, Dan Salvato. The over four minute video shows both returning and new footage from the game. It also features the developer talking about the newly added content and why it ended up being included in this new release. It closes with another peek at the game’s special edition for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS5.

Here is the four and a half minute trailer featuring Dan Salvato talking about Doki Doki Literature Club Plus. Please note that, even though this is a teaser trailer, it does include some spoilers regarding the nature of the game. Right after the one minute mark, Salvato discusses the new storyline.

When Doki Doki Literature Club Plus debuts, there will also be PS4, PS5, and Switch physical copies. That $29.99 bundle gives people the game, the soundtrack, stickers, and acrylic standees. Good Smile Company is also selling merchandise released to the series, like plush toys, keychains, and shirts.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus will come to the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on June 30, 2021. The original Doki Doki Literature Club is available for PCs.

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People will soon be able to play Doki Doki Literature Club Plus, an enhanced version of the visual novel, on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. On June 30, 2021, it will show up on all systems and both Steam and Epic Games Store. There will also be Switch, PS4, and PS5 physical copies out in July 2021.

Like the original game, this new version involves an opportunity to get to know of a high school literature club. You can get closer to classmates like Natsuki, Sayori, and Yuri. The new version includes over 100 new pieces of art, 13 more Nikki Kaelar songs, a jukebox function, and six side stories.

As for the Doki Doki Literature Club Plus Switch, PS4, and PS5 physical copies, people get the game an array of bonus items. Each one includes four character standees of the main cast, 17 stickers, a club hip card, a poem from Monika, and a digital copy of the soundtrack. The Switch version also has a “poem notebook inner coversheet.”

Here’s the trailer for the new version of the game. Be advised that if you haven’t ever played Doki Doki Literature Club, there spoilers as to the nature of the game.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus will come to the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on June 30, 2021. Digital copies will be $14.99. Physical Switch, PS4, and PS5 copies will be $29.99.

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There are so many elements I loved about Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing. The art direction pulled me in first. Its 2D art is exceptional and the perspectives still offer a sense of depth. The premise made me want to play. A romantic adventure set right as the unnamed, obviously COVID-19, pandemic kicked in sounded easy to relate to. And a few moments with mechanics made it feel like something special. There are things here that are interesting and great!

Then the game ended right when I felt things were getting interesting.

I suppose part of this is my fault. I played and loved the original Half Past Fate, a romantic adventure with multiple relationships explored. I went into this offshoot expecting more of the same. And yes, Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing offers that on a smaller scale. We watch Stephen and Robin meet. We control both characters as they deal with getting to know each other during a pandemic, all while forced to stay alone in their homes.

But the issue with Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing is that it speeds over many of the parts that make these sorts of stories compelling. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I’ll do my best to summarize. The game begins the day before a shelter-in-place lockdown begins during the unnamed pandemic. Stephen and Robin meet, make plans, and exchange numbers. It then picks up the next day, on day one of lockdown, as the two decide to virtually keep in touch and date.

Rather than getting the full experience, Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing picks and chooses the very few moments it considers most important. Which doesn’t work for any sort of story, since it violates one of the most important rules. You show; you don’t tell. By showing, you allow people an opportunity to care about the characters they are watching. By only offering the most abbreviated glimpses into Robin and Stephen’s lives, it does them and their relationship a disservice.

I felt like this most hurt Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing at two specific moments. I loved the game when I was finding objects, performing tasks, and having Robin and Stephen show each other objects that were meaningful to them. But there are two sort of wham moments where you are supposed to see meaningful or impactful scenes. And when they happened here, they were anticlimactic. I understand is intended to be a short episode. But each event ed with my feeling ambivalent about it.

Which I suppose explains why the whole thing hit me as hard as it did. I felt that Half Past Fate was a game good at getting you to care about characters and feel things. With Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing, I didn’t really care about Robin, Stephen, or the outcome when it ended. Which is so disappointing, because for the first fifteen minutes or so, I could really see it heading in a fun and engaging direction. If it were another two or three hours long, I think it would have been amazing.

Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing is available for the Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

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