Bloodstained-Igavania on Kickstarter

Growing up I played a lot of Castlevania games, and I mean A LOT. In fact I really like the concept of Igavania games; though more people will know and refer to them as Metriodvania. Well however way you want to say it, there hasn't been a good track with Konami this year and dealing with their IPs, so now Koji Igarashi the producer of Symphony of the Night has put out his own kickstarter campaign for his new title Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

Though we only have concept art it does look really promising so far.

Igarashi has already stated that he's using 2.5D for the game and is taking inspiration from Guilty Gear Xrd as inspiration for usage of the Unreal Engine and will be focusing on shading ASAP to get a more painted/anime feel. Which if you haven't seen Xrd's graphics go check them out because they look pretty sweet and I think they'd lend well to Bloodstained.

Another great thing, and this is just a personal like on my side; our main character.

Our main character is named Miriam. While games don't usually have female protagonists Igarashi stated in a small Q and A that the main reason of my the main character was chosen to be a girl dealt with his previous workings on Castlevania. Whatever the reason my be, I am enamored with her design and how well it fits with the gothic and stained glass theme they're giving overall. Also... Even though I know that's a part of the curse on her legs, they look like cute tights instead.

 The main villain of the game, Gebel looks pretty awesome as well and looks like a mix between Alucard and Soma which also fits well in this. We don't know much about the characters yet but again the concept art does look promising.

While they're are many tiers since this is a kickstarter, I decided to go for the $60 tier and secure myself both a physical copy and the artbook. The kickstarter edition does include a few things not included anywhere else:
-The SwordWhip: If you went to swordorwhip.com it was a voting for items that you wanted to see or something (I'm not sure as I just answered whip), and is a limited item that joins both clans together.
-One special boss which is how you get the SwordWhip
-Kickstarter edition slipcase

Now I will have to get a PS4, because there's no way I'm just buying a glorified steam key and I don't like the Xbox (I already have a computer).

Though just a final note on this kickstarter, Igarashi has come out and said he has most of the cost of production secured but will only happen if he can prove there are people who want this type of game which is why Igarashi went to crowdfunding. It wasn't that they weren't confident with Igarashi but said that these games have no fanbase, so that's where we come in. If you want to donate go ahead, but as I'm writing this the campaign has already surpassed  2 million dollars. With it having a slated release of 2017 as well may bring people off of it.

Please everyone remember that this is kickstarter and there are risks, if you're uncomfortable with donating; or in other peoples cases have been spurned by video game kickstarters I do not blame you for not helping even if you want it to succeed. This is my first video game kickstarter and I am really anxious about it, but I do know the inherit risks with these kinds of things.

Funding for the project ends on June 12 at 8pm PST so if you want to donate here is the link again.

WAS~The Hourglass of Lepidoptera-Kickstarter

Well it's time for another Kickstarter that I'm funding and where I talk about it, and it's about something close to my heart; visual novels.

Sekai Project is bringing us another kickstarter for another visual novel and this time it is WAS-The Hourglass of Lepidoptera. If you are interested in seeing if you want to donate to this visual novel there is a demo in their first update right here.

I have downloaded the demo and have played a bit of it:

A word of warning when you download this game, turn down the volume as if you wear earphones as I do. I got a huge blast of sound that has hurt my ears. Now for the demo itself, it's a bit of the common fare of waking up and not knowing what your surroundings are and have to be explained everything and a huge twist of events.

I only played up to the point of when you get out of the chapel, and for a good reason too. I was already started to get interested in the game. As I am a backer for the project I just knew if I was going to keep it up, I would wanna play the whole thing now. But I have to keep that restraint as I do want to be excited for the real deal when it comes out.

As for the Kickstarter itself, it was only asking for $10,000 and we're already past that. As I type this the exact amount is $13,389 so far. Though while we are already past the mark, voices will be unlocked as stretch goals, since they have to pay for the rights of the voices.

$30,000 will get us events and rewatching scenes voiced while $46,000 will get all voices unlocked and additional characters to be voiced except for of course the protagonist.

If you are interested in the game here is the main Kickstarter page. Sekai Project has done already a few sucessful projects via Kickstarter and has games (including World End Economica) on Steam as well. The minimum donation is $15 for a copy on Steam while deluxe for everything is at $150. If you want a physical copy of the game, you need to donate at least $75.

I'd suggest reading the information and downloading the demo if this seems up your alley. I know I am donating to make sure good VNs come out that retain various audiences. And it seems Sekai Project has a more general reach than the other few translators of Japanese VNs.

The Majority Complete Collection-Kickstarter

If there's one thing I really like it's games, especially card games. They're one of my favorite things to play since it's rather easy to teach people how to play and is an engrossing experience.

So when I was browsing the traditional games on Kickstarter I was surprised to see one for The Majority-Complete collection.

The Majority Collection-What $25 gets you

The Majority is a doujinshi game (an independent printed and created game) by the circle Ayatsurare Ningyoukan; The Majority is made only by two people. Those people are Muneyuki Yokouchi; an indie board game developer who has been making games since 2006 and Kiyoshi Arai; an illustrator who has worked on video games (including Final Fantasy 12 and 14). The objective is forming strong political factions and gaining money in the supernatural filled world of Pandemonium.

While The Majority looks rather simple it is played with 3-4 players so the instructions tell all but The Majority 2 is played with two people and the cards reflect it with instructions on the cards.

The Majority 2 cards in action

For the Kickstart itself the company, Ninja Star Games is asking for only $10,000 as their goal which would break down to $5,000 for each game. The game pledge is only $25 which is not entirely bad at all for two games.

Most likely the reason for the $10,000 has to deal with paying the developer and illustrator, translating the game, editing and typesetting, and the actual printing and shipping of the game itself. If this succeeds we may be getting more Japanese games translated into English as Ninja Star Games goal is to find gems and get them translated into English, a more international appeal and more importantly to play more fun games.

The Majority Kickstarter is here!

*All images are from Ayatsurare Ningyoukan's site and The Majority Kickstarter.

Tanto Cuore Oktoberfest-Kickstarter

So if you've ever seen Tanto Cuore at conventions in the dealer hall, you'll know it's a game about maids. Well it seems that there's a new Kickstarter out for a new version of the game which; Tanto Cuore Oktoberfest.

Tanto Cuore Oktoberfest

The game itself plays similar to Dominion, but the main difference, besides the whole theme is that you feel more connected with your other players, even though you're competing against them.

For $50 you get the game, which is the same price as the other Tanto Cuore games, but you also get all those sweet promo card stretch goals. Though some of them I don't like, just because I don't like cosplay cards. But the actual barmaid cards are adorable.

The add-ons for the game are standard fare though; playmats, towels and shirts. But the one thing I do like from the add-ons is the beer steins.

Ceramic Beer Steins, for the beer or the hot chocolate

I wouldn't have actually thought Japanime Games would commision a beer stein to be made, but there it is. While the actual cup is simple , the logo does a good job of covering up the face of the stein. Some people wanted there to be pictures of the barmaids but I think the emblem is classy.

Basic Tier

The tier I got was the apprentice maid tier since all I want is just the game, and nothing else.

Comes with the oversized playmat

The barmaid tier had quite a bit of anger and resentment since there is another promo that is not in the basic tier. Yeah even I commented on how weird it was that it wasn't offered to the people who pledge overall $75 and above (with add-ons) but I just wanted an answer as to why it was just in the barmaid tier. We did get an answer a bit later, though it looked like the kept skipping over it on purpose. But at least we got an answer. So I put my donation of $50 back. I don't need another playmat but I am ok without having that Mimoza maid card.

The Kickstarter ends on September 16 and the game is supposed to be sent out in December 2014.