RPGs Coming This Week, 6/23/24

Until Then – June 25th (PS5, Windows, Linux)

Now here’s something that makes me feel proud to be Pinoy. Until Then is an adventure game from Filipino developer Polychroma with a stunning aesthetic and what looks like a captivating and touching story. It’s about a high-school boy—living in a surreal, slightly fictionalized version of Manila—whose life gets turned upside down when he meets a girl. The narrative seems to veer a little bit into the existential too, which is always a plus in my book.

Until Then comes off as very similar to A Space for the Unbound, another adventure game with a strong magic realism narrative. That one is a period piece set in Indonesia, but Until Then takes place in the modern day, with sections of the narrative told through a smartphone.

It’s an awesome feeling to see your life represented in a video game; I think I got a little verklempt when I saw an LRT station in the trailer. I hope Until Then does well, and I also hope it paves the way for more Filipino-made games.

by Gio Castillo

Radiant Tale: Fanfare! – June 27th (Switch)

Radiant Tale: Fanfare! is the fan disc follow-up to otome visual novel Radiant Tale, in which Tifalia’s work in a vibrant fantasy world as a producer for a colorful circus troupe continues. Will she find happy endings with her potential suitors once the tent flaps close? Not only will you learn that in this fan disc, you can also see new perspectives of previously told stories, as well as an original tale alongside brand-new character routes!

I enjoyed the original Radiant Tale, so I’m eagerly awaiting jumping into Tifalia’s shoes again. Radiant Tale is an otome that definitely deserves a lot of fanfare and an encore performance. Here’s to hoping this fan disc delivers when it releases this week on the Nintendo Switch!

by Audra Bowling

Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon – June 27th (PS4, Switch)

Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon is a long time coming for Type-Moon fans. It’s a remake of part of the original Tsukihime, the eroge VN that was the studio’s debut work. A Piece of Blue Glass Moon retells the “Near Side routes” following the characters Arcueid and Ciel pretty faithfully, from what I’ve been able to gather, and the most noticeable changes are just to the aesthetics. Of course, the erotic scenes have been excised as well.

by Gio Castillo

Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet & Snow Globe – June 27th (Switch)

The sci-fi VN Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet is coming to Switch, with full voice acting and touchscreen support. It’s coming in a single package alongside the prequel Planetarian: Snow Globe.

by Gio Castillo