Visual Novel contents at Tokyo Game Show 2022

[HataVNI]

If you have followed the TGS2022 and did not get overwhelmed, then you are probably made of steel and you have capacities that I would be proud of. There have been more than 470 companies present and most big publishers and AAA companies announces a ton of amazing things. This definitely overwhelms our website's field of interest, so we told @Hiromi to go research a little into the relevant part for us. And hey, the amount of shown (not exclusively announced there) new visual novel projects is still overseeable. Without further ado, let's begin!

 

So, I've done some research. English sources seem to focus on AAA titles like CoD and Tekken. And when they do bring up anime style games, these are mostly RPG and action games.

I googled "TGS 22 ノベルゲーム" and was rewarded with some discoveries:

Indies

 1) Binary Syndrome https://store.steampowered.com/app/2003300/_/ PC-98 style ADV. The game system reminds me of titles you find on Asenheim (Ring Out, Scoop titles, etc.) (so obscure it is not even on VNDB LOL)

2) Coffee Talk Ep. 2 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1663220/Coffee_Talk_Episode_2_Hibiscus__Butterfly/ Pixel art OELVN. VA-11 Hall-A, but as a barista. Not newly announced, but not released yet. Slated for 2023.

3) Ihanashi no Majo https://store.steampowered.com/app/1950570/_/ "Kinetic Novel" with around 10 hr length. Cute art. A boy moves to an island in Okinawa and meets a tanned girl from overseas. (JP/CH only Download release in October!)

4) Trolley Problem Inc. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1582680/Trolley_Problem_Inc/ Text adventure with narrative choices. Philosophical themes and dark humor. (Not on VNDB, most likely doesn't qualify? Out for a while now, still interesting. Even got a video by xqc)

5) Chigau!!!+ https://studio-thursday.work/chigau+/#/ Orthodox Bishoujo-ge... But with meta elements like DDLC: Some heroines remember what happens in their own route, even when you're in another girl's route.

These are some of the indie VN titles which were represented on the TGS in the section Indie Games Selection. https://tgs.nikkeibp.co.jp/tgs/2022/jp/contents/indie81.html I think I've caught all the VNs from these 77 titles. That's barely 6% of the total.

Big announcements

6.) Aoishiro & Akai Ito After like 20 years, there is a remaster bundling Akai Ito & Aoishiro in one for Switch & PC. We have already seen this announcement in another thread and the VNTS, but it might be worth announcing it here too. It contains Mystery-Folklore setting with gay girls. Also it supports English language!

7. Seabed Audio Novel Collection Speaking of gay girls, @PhleBuster(Fruitbat Factory) was also at TGS2022 and they announce that they will be releasing the Seabed Audio Novel Collection. It has been translated by Steiner, so it will be more quality. The original game is a Conjueror work, rip him

Here's everything. While only the last two are proper announcements and the other games earlier were just showcased in that event, I still believe just for Aoishiro & Akai Ito this year's TGS was worth it. Maybe it is also worth it to keep paying attention to such events in the following years..?

Missed anything? Please comment!

[auntwitch]

Aoishiro being released is one of the most hyped moments for me. I've always wanted to play it but I didn't know how to purchase it. One more year!! 

[gygyme]

Oh wow, I had no idea about Inahashi no Majo. The art looks so good and the trailer music is splendid !! 

I had actually forgotten about TGS entirely somehow lol

[Shiawase_Rina]

I love it when VNs get an all in one Switch version that supports English! I will never run out on VNs to play on my Switch it seems lol

I barely even touched all the galge or yuri on Switch I want to play!

Besides AoiShiro I'm also interested in The Trolley Problem and Chigau!!. Gotta keep them in mind and hope for an English release...

 

[littleshogun]

Very late to the party here. Anyway seeing that there's a thread about Akai Ito and Aoishiro duology I'll try to comment about those later on, so in here I can only comment on Seabed. While I can say that I did enjoy the VN to a degree, I doubt that I'll come back to listen to the audio drama here. Still it might be worth to listen to any Seabed fans out there, seeing that this is might be the closest thing for Seabed to have voices, and maybe someday we can have Seabed VN re-released with voices in the future.