Ys 9: Monstrum Nox and Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 were arguably the biggest announcements from New Game + Expo 2020, but the show turned up a number of other promising Japanese games, including several world premiers. We've rounded up the biggest announcements here, and you can check out the full list of games on the NGPX website.
Ys 9: Monstrum Nox is coming next year
The next Ys game is official, and it's coming to PS4, PC, and Switch in 2021. In Ys 9: Monstrum Nox, you play as Adol Christin, an adventurer turned into a supernatural monster hybrid called a Monstrum. You can partner with and play as six different Monstrum, mixing new abilities like Gifts and Boost Mode in with Ys staples like Flash Dodge and Flash Guard. Ys 9 has some of the wildest character designs in the series' history, but it's clearly true-blue Ys right down to the bone marrow.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 is "coming soon"
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is something of a sister project to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It's a retro spinoff from Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi, and as Igarashi announced at NGPX, it's getting a sequel. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 is another gorgeous 2D Castlevania-inspired action-platformer, and it's "coming soon" to PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4 gets a release date
We've been expecting The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4 for some time, but we didn't get a proper release date until today. The fourth installment in the modern branch of the Trails series will launch on PS4 on October 27, and it will come to PC and Switch in 2021. If the previous games are anything to go by, we can expect the PC version before the Switch version, but it's possible NIS America will simul-launch them this time around. Oh, and as a reminder, Trails of Cold Steel 3 is out on Switch next week on June 30.
Fairy Tail RPG out soon
Yep, it's just called Fairy Tail. In case you missed its reveal last year, this is a new game from Atelier studio Gust, and unlike most anime video games, it's not a fighting game or an arena fighter. It's a full-fat RPG, and it actually looks pretty darn good. It's got 16 playable characters picked from the core cast of the anime, a wealth of melee and magic attacks in combat, and a suite of side activities that seem to include cat wrangling. Fairy Tail will come to PS4, PC, and Switch next month on July 31.
Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate for Switch and PC
Originally released on the original DS way back in 2010 and then on Vita in 2016, Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is somehow back and still raring to go. Developer Spike Chunsoft is planning to bring this procedurally generated, retro 2D RPG to PC and Switch this year. Shiren was always a feast of sharp character designs and crisp 16-bit art, so it will undoubtedly look better on modern platforms. For DS and Vita players on the fence about double-dipping, the upcoming port also comes with extra dungeons that weren't available in the original.
Danganronpa is now on mobile
Spike Chunsoft brought more than Shiren to NGPX, too. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Danganronpa murder-mystery visual novels, the studio surprise launched the original game, Trigger-Happy Havoc, on iOS and Android. We can apparently expect more anniversary-related news in the future, but exactly what is anyone's guess. Dare we dream of a mainline Danganronpa 4?
