I am so ready to be 'Alone With You' on Aug. 23

Full disclosure: I've yet to play--or even buy--Benjamin Rivers' first game, Home: A Unique Horror Adventure. I've wanted to play it, though, thanks to its appealing graphics and intriguing gameplay.

The same could be said for why I'm planning to purchase another of Benjamin Rivers' titles, the upcoming Alone With You, around the time of its release on Aug. 23.

I'm interested in Alone With You beyond its graphics and gameplay, though. Specifically, I'm interested in the fact that it's being described as a "sci-fi-romance adventure." Who wouldn't want to experience such a thing?



If this is the first you're hearing of Alone With You, check out the launch trailer above. It should answer many of the questions you have about how this PS4 and Vita title looks, how it plays, and more.

I don't know about you, but between this game, 2064: Read Only Memories (out on Aug. 16 for both PS4 and Vita) and VA-11 Hall-A (supposedly coming to Vita in late 2016), my Vita's going to get a lot of love this fall and winter.

Are any of you also psyched about these in-the-works Vita (and PS4) releases? If so, let me know why by leaving a comment below.

Thanks to this trailer, I've now got my eye on the 'sci-fi romance adventure' Alone With You

You'd think that I'd be interested in Alone With You simply because it's being made by Benjamin Rivers, who also brought the world the highly acclaimed Home: A Unique Horror Adventure in 2012.

The thing is, I've yet to actually play any version of Home. In fact, I barely know a thing about it--other than a lot of people who have experienced it seem to have enjoyed it.

Of course, I also don't know a whole lot about Alone With You--other than it's a "single-player, sci-fi adventure game" that has a "pretty unique romance element." Oh, and that it'll be released for PS4 and Vita this coming spring.



The quoted portions of the above are from a recently published PlayStation.Blog post written by Rivers. Here are a few more of Rivers' words about the game:

"You’ll trek through beautiful, varied areas--which include a series of communication towers, the dilapidated Colony B, the workspaces and staff quarters of the facility’s agricultural operation, and the various components of the planet’s mining and processing centres. As you do so, you’ll be in constant communication with the AI, who acts as your lifeline and your tour guide. It’ll give you info on all the things and places you find, but it’ll also speak to you--asking you questions and responding to your answers. And if you’ve ever played Home, you’ll know: sometimes even the smallest decision can have unexpected consequences."

Are any of you fine folks looking forward to Alone With You's release as much as I am at the moment? If so, why? Also, have you played Home, and if so, what did you think about it?

Have you always wanted to play a visual novel featuring lesbian romances? Starlight Vega may be the game for you...

While recording the latest episode of The Nichiest Podcast Ever early last week, Anne (Lee, of the Chic Pixel blog) took the opportunity to educate shidoshi and I about an in-the-works visual novel (for PC) that will feature lesbian romances--an unfortunate oddity when it comes to this particular gaming genre.

That alone makes this game, called Starlight Vega, worth discussing, but what makes it doubly so--in my opinion, at least--is that it actually looks like it could wind up being pretty darn good.



I especially like its art style, which appealingly straddles the line between what's traditionally found in Japanese visual novels and what's usually created by your typical Western illustrator.

Starlight Vega's Kickstarter--which wraps up on May 22--surpassed its initial goal ages ago, but some of you may still want to invest in it given that its final stretch goal would allow for the creation of additional endings (including a "harem" one).

If you'd like to learn more about Starlight Vega, I'd suggest checking out its Kickstarter page, its official site, its Tumblr or its Twitter feed.

The Great Gaymathon Review #65: Sweet Fuse: At Your Side (PSP)

Game: Sweet Fuse: At Your Side

Genre: Otome/Visual Novel

Developers: Comcept and Idea Factory

Publisher: Aksys Games

System: PSP

Release date: 2013

Considering how much I enjoyed Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom a few years ago, I approached the kind of similar--yet decidedly more modern--Sweet Fuse: At Your Side with fairly high expectations.

Which may explain why I initially, at least, found myself feeling a tad underwhelmed by this PSP "visual novel," despite the fact that I consider both its creative setup (it's a mystery that takes place at a video game-themed amusement park) and its colorful cast of characters to be far more appealing that the ones offered up by Hakuoki.

Thankfully, my indifference only lasted for an hour or so. After that, I was fully and joyfully involved with this game's plot--a doozie that involves saving game illustrator and producer Keiji Inafune and a few other folks from being blown to smithereens, along with the aforementioned theme park, by a porcine villain.

That's not to say the experience was all puppies and rainbows. There were times, for instance, when I just wanted the characters to shut up so I could move things along. (And by that, I mean so I could spend some more "alone time" with my main-squeeze-to-be, Ayumu Shirabe.) Granted, chattiness kind of comes with the territory when you agree to play a virtual novel, which tend to feel a lot like Choose Your Own Adventure novels in game form, but that isn't going to keep me from occasionally becoming annoyed by someone who's being just a bit too verbose.

Speaking of visual-novel standbys, another Sweet Fuse element that proved to be a bump in the road for me, from time to time, was the one that basically dictates that a player use a guide if he or she wants to end up successfully wooing a particular man in the end. (And let's be honest here: as much as this game is about solving a mystery and saving Inafune, it's also about winding up with a hot boyfriend.) I know this is a staple of the genre--that one or two missteps can keep you from finding love--but I really would've preferred it if the developers of this game could've found a way to make things less rigid in that regard.

Other than those two aspects, though, I found Sweet Fuse to be a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable affair. Like I said earlier, there's a lot to like about this game's cast--from its spunky protagonist, Saki Inafune (she's Keiji's neice), to its disparate band of potential paramours, to its cigar-chomping baddie, Count Hogstein.

The overall story here deserves praise, too. There are twists and turns, red herrings, dramatic confrontations and colorful dialogue--all of which are part and parcel of any good mystery, if you ask me.

And then there are the little things that conspire to keep players excitedly--or at least attentively--pressing their PSPs' X buttons, like the "Break Time" and "Explosive Insight" segments and the moments that prompt Saki to get pissed and scream, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Does all of the above mean I wholeheartedly recommend Sweet Fuse to anyone who happens across this review? Not entirely. Some folks just aren't going to enjoy spending 10 or so hours mostly clicking through text, even if that text is both witty and entertaining. If that doesn't bother you, though, and if you're even slightly curious about this game's concept, I'd certainly recommend giving it a try as soon as you can.

See also: previous 'Great Gaymathon' reviews and Sweet Fuse posts