I got tricked. The SEGA channel just reposted the same damn video from April. The only difference is pre-ordering the game now gets you 3 Days early access
Both Sega's Asia website and Steam recently released new details that don't seem to have been picked up elsewhere. They include overviews of the story and the game's first two stages, along with new character art and descriptions. A notable returning character is Naoko, Musashi's fiancé (now wife!) who is kidnapped in the events leading up to The Revenge of Shinobi. This seems to be our first official confirmation that the good ending in which Musashi rescues her during the final boss fight is canon.
A new behind-the-scenes video features some commentary from Lizardcube along with a few snippets of new footage, including what appears to be cutscenes with spoken dialogue. There's a combo counter prominently displayed in the gameplay footage too — wondering if they'll have a system where your power increases as you chain hits together a la the PS2 entries (looks like stealth-dash is making a return, so that might not be too far-fetched).
Another new "stage introduction" video, this time featuring the "Neo City" level shown in some early screenshots. While it shares the same name as the final level of The GG Shinobi, it bears a greater resemblance to the Round 2-2 "Tokyo" stage from The Revenge of Shinobi. Several large, bright signs featuring logos from past Sega consoles can be seen early in the footage. You can also spot some additional moves, such as zip-lining and a double-jump.
So annoying that this doesn't look like it has a non-limited physical release in western territories - the only US release announced seems to be handled by Limited Run, and while Europe is getting a retail release, it's one of those ridiculous waste-of-plastic code-in-box releases. I've been looking forward to this one and was hoping to pick up my region's release to support it at launch, but now it looks like I'll either have to import the Japanese version (which does seem to be getting a proper physical edition with the game on cart), or commit up-front to Limited Run's US release when I hadn't budgeted for any spend on gaming this month. Shame on SEGA for cheaping out on this one - it really makes me wish they hadn't decided to publish this themselves, as previously other publishers have given Lizardcube's revivals of other SEGA IP the proper releases they've deserved.
Yeah, that I can't get a nice physical version for PS4 to go with my Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap and Streets of Rage 4 games is a shame and then some.
I pre-ordered the Japanese Switch version on Amazon yesterday. I *assume* that version is an actual cartridge as it doesn't say otherwise. After shipping came to £30. That'll do nicely.
Yeah as soon as I heard we weren't getting a physical I fired off an order on the LRG edition that's been sitting in my browser tabs for the last 2 weeks. SoE failure again.
I was also frustrated by the code-in-a-box situation for the Switch version, and I'm unsure as to how I'm going to deal with it - my budget's tight at the moment so I might have to either go for the Japanese version or buy the PS5 release instead. On the plus side, I was able to play the game last week and I think it's shaping up very nicely. I was unsure on the art direction when I first saw the game revealed, but the excellent animation won me over when I actually played it. The combat feels particularly satisfying, as you have plenty of opportunities to branch things out into different types of combos from your basic attack string. It offers a nice level of challenge, too. You can see a few highlights of my gameplay in this video.
LRG are the biggest con artists around and nothing but shills, I so wish SEGA would look to license their products to someone else. I've put my pre-order in using my gamepass discount, not that I'm holding up that much hope for the game and wish SEGA Japan was handling Shinobi internally and TBH I think Shinobi should have been given the big budget 3D AAA treatment, rather than Golden Axe, which should have been given the 2D style treatment (but I bet 3D Golden Axe will turn out to be amazing to prove me wrong) Hopefully, it will be a great 2D Shinobi game and the Shinobi IP is such a cool franchise
Having looked at it, I think I'll probably end up going for Limited Run's version if budget allows - from the order page it looks like the DLC pass from the Digital Deluxe version is actually included with it, even in the standard edition! I can take or leave stuff like the cosmetics or extra coins, but the fact that the upcoming SEGA Villains extra stage is included at no additional cost is very welcome. Since it's included in the base order price, it seems getting Limited Run's version would actually give a little more bang for your buck than just importing the Japanese retail edition, which doesn't include the DLC pass and costs roughly the same once shipping etc. is included. Of course, said DLC pass would be for the US version of the game, but I've learned from multiple Ace Attorney pre-order bonuses that grabbing DLC not native to your region on the Switch is as simple as just changing your account's location, downloading your content, and then changing it back again - so not really a massive barrier to overcome in order to access it.
