So a few more titles revealed for the fall & beyond.
- Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy - Koei Tecmo
Expected reveal for Gust, after the worldwide success of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout, it was the best selling game in the franchise WW with over 420K sales. In Japan, I wouldn't call this a major announcement. The last game in the Atelier series to sell over 100K on a single platform was Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk back in 2012. This one might sell over 100K on the Switch, it could become the best selling game in Japan on the franchise if it beats Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg which sold 212K in 1997. Considering the new demographics buying the Switch right now this might prove to be a great time for Gust to really grow this franchise.
- Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne- Atlas
Atlas is bringing SMT III to the Switch and PS4 in Japan this year, expecting this one to sell >300K on the Switch. Nocturne originally released on the PS2 back in 2003, so this will be the first remaster of the game. Not too familiar with this franchise but the original had two versions with the first selling 245K and Nocturne Maniax launching the following year selling an additional 77K
- Shin Megami Tensei V - Atlas
We've known about this game for a while, as far we know it's still at the very least a timed exclusive for the Switch in 2021. We'd see how the SMT III does and be able to better predict what the expectations for this game to be. The best-selling Altus games in Japan are Persona 1 & 5 which both sold over 400K.
- Momotaro Dentetsu - Konami
Again Konami is bringing another big game in time for the holidays, this game might be the best selling in the franchise in a long while. Its actually the biggest announcement during the mini-direct for Japan. The last game Momotaro Dentetsu 2017: Tachiagare Nippon!! sold >400K on the 3DS, if we are following the pattern this one will have long legs and could double that on the Switch.
Overall we still have one heavy hitter, one AA JRPG remaster, confirmation for a big game next year, and a few titles that will definitely prove popular on the Japanese market. Also, Altus is now officially on the train, as I had written previously they endured a lot of potential loss by not supporting the Switch earlier. Finally, there was two more games shown:
- Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin - Marvelous
The game is by XSEED a Western subsidiary of Marvelous, It interesting that Nintendo pushed this in the Japanese Direct but didn't highlight it in the Western one. Overall this is actually the title I'm most interested in, not sure whether this will get a wide retail release but it looks like it might hit certain niches and new demographics on the Switch. Difficult to predict it.
- Crypt of the NecroDancer - Brace Yourself Games
It's amazing what type of push Nintendo is giving this indie in Japan no less, they must have a big expectations to spend so much time on it during their own mini-direct. Using their own IP to market this is genius as usual. Not sure what to expect in terms of physical copies but it could do very well on the Japanese eShop. Perhaps Nintendo views this as a replacement to smaller Hyrule Universe games like TriForce Heroes, we already saw them utilize the IP for a Warriors game but it's great to see them diversify their partnerships.
Last edited by noshten - on 20 July 2020
