Alright, so the word is out. Our next project is 99 Spirits.

There are several points of interest that make this game a very special release for us.

1. The game was just released in Japan.

• 99 Spirits was released on Comiket 82 in August 2012. That is to say, less than 3 months ago now. We’re looking to release it in early 2013, which means our English version should hit the shelves around half a year after the game’s original release. Given also that this is an RPG, which are among the more difficult genres to localize, a release this fast would be almost unprecedented. Of course, we haven’t decided on a release date yet and won’t release the game before we’re confident we got everything just right, so it might end up taking a bit longer than that, but this ETA is based on our current projections.
• Though we don’t necessarily target the newest games (as seen in our previous release), this rare opportunity is one we want to take full advantage of.

2. The game is challenging (localization-wise).

• We like a good challenge, and as we’ve stated on many an occasion, our main criteria in choosing projects is that they are interesting and actually require translation to be playable by English speakers. Still, we were almost stumped ourselves by the challenges localizing 99 Spirits promised. At the core of this difficulty lie its puzzle mechanics, which we’ll go more into later. Anyone who has played the game or its trial in Japanese will know what we’re talking about. But hey, this is what we do best!
• Actually, at War of the Human Tanks’ release party, Yakiniku Banzai, the developer duo of the game, commented on 99 Spirits: “If you guys can translate this game, there’s no game you can’t translate.” We feel the same, and this is another reason why we’re having a lot of fun with this project. Even the initial work on the game’s infrastructure we’ve already completed was a real test of imagination.

3. The game has some damned pretty art.

• Uh, well, just had to say that! I love all the charming little details in the artwork, like the way Hanabusa’s portrait starts to nod off when you don’t touch the game for a while.

Also, a new character has been unlocked in the character section of 99 Spirits homepage’s: Soujun the wandering monk. We’re planning on adding a new character each week.

So with all that said, look forward to 99 Spirits when it’s done. Also, if you have something specific you’d want us to talk about on the blog, feel free to drop a comment.