Masayuki Furuya has a remarkable ability to use grim, horrific settings to tell the most heartfelt and hopeful stories. Games like Hotaru no Nikki: The Firefly Diary and A Rose in the Twilight are unforgiving games that explore difficult themes like depression, but their cute character designs always sit in …
Nippon Ichi Software
void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium, the latest game from htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary and A Rose in the Twilight creator Furuya Masayuki*, is confirmed for a release in the West this year. Taking place some few hundred years after humanity was seemingly driven extinct by a plague of toxic fungi, Void …
Every year, Nippon Ichi Software holds an internal event encouraging all staff to come up with ideas for a new game, with one such submission guaranteed to get picked up for development and eventual release. It’s an avenue expressly designed to encourage creativity and to involve staff not usually involved …
After five main games and a handful of spin-offs, it’s easy to get complacent with Disgaea‘s quirks and forget how much of an impact the original game had when it first came out in 2003. With the ability to throw characters around the map insane upper limits for every stat …
It’s a very good time to be a fan of dungeon crawlers. The last few years alone have given us Mary Skelter: Nightmares, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Hyakki Castle, among many others, each of which delivered a classic dungeon romp while also tinkering around the edges of the …
Capitalism is cruel and unforgiving. It follows, then, that a game that, oddly enough, exists as both a parody and a celebration of capitalism should also be cruel and unforgiving. For better or worse, that’s exactly what Penny-Punching Princess is. At first glance, this looks like a fairly typical 2D …
The Longest Five Minutes looks like your typical JRPG, only it starts at the final boss. Our party has travelled the world, fought a great many monsters, made friends, helped people, and now they’re finally ready to take on the Demon King. And then, just as the battle starts, …
A Rose in the Twilight is a dark fairy tale puzzle platformer that’s beautiful, violent, bleak, and uplifting, all at the same time. Masayuki Furuya is quickly making a name for himself as a game designer worth paying attention to, at least for people who enjoy abstract, artistic games. He …
Looking at screenshots or even video footage of Yomawari: Night Alone, you might not expect a particularly creepy game. With its chibi character designs and isometric 2D world, it looks adorable, but that’s a big part of what makes it so unsettling. Japanese horror has a long history of twisting …
NIS America have shared a new trailer for Yomawari: Night Alone, introducing some of the threats the heroine will face. Don’t be fooled by the cartoony presentation and chibi character designs—it looks terrifying. I can’t wait for this game. Yomawari is a survival horror game following a young girl’s search for her missing dog, …