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Despite the Horrors, Do No Harm Is a Surprisingly Zen Game Medical workers are faced with a myriad of difficult choices every day. From deciding which medicine to give a patient, to choosing the right equipment for the job, to wondering about the twitching fish-like human standing right outside your window... Well, that last one only applies to the doctor you control in Do No Harm , a Lovecraftian doctor simulator that places you smack dab on a 19th century island full of fishy residents. Like a medical and more cartoon-y Papers, Please , Do No Harm is a puzzle and strategy game with a lore-rich setting that fans of eldritch horror would enjoy exploring. In Do No Harm , you play as a doctor who just started working at a clinic on an island full of unsettling locals. Your goal is to treat your patients’ various complaints by injecting them with the right humor for their symptoms, while also making enough money to buy more supplies for the next day. However, it doesn’t take long for the more supernatural elements of the island to surface. Hallucinations may occur while you're tending to a patient. If you don’t drink laudanum before sending them off, it’ll have a negative impact on your sanity. As you continue to progress through the month, your patients come to you with increasingly bizarre and unnatural ailments as the eldritch influence over the island deepens. Screenshot by Siliconera As a doctor simulator in a game called Do No Harm , it should come as little surprise that your goal is to do as little harm to your patients as possible. Administering them the right humor is of utmost importance, as giving them the wrong medicine can potentially kill them. That being said, the game doesn’t always let you uphold your Hippocratic oath in peace. Some of the island’s residents may drop by with lists of patients they either want you to kill or give specific medicine to. One recurring patient can even lead to a bad ending if you don’t do something about him. These little moral dilemmas help break the monotony of routine, and completing (or ignoring) these quests are the key to unlocking the various endings of the story. The strategy in the game comes not only from diagnosing your patients, but also on balancing how much medicine you give them. I often ran out of a specific humor halfway through the day because I accidentally used too much or misdiagnosed someone. This means that if any patient comes wanting that particular medicine, I literally can’t cure them and have to turn them away. From what I can tell, the game doesn’t have randomized patients, though, and so if you know in advance what you need for the day, you can probably aim for a perfect run. Screenshot by Siliconera But for the most part, you don’t need to. The game has a handy book to reference and you're not as pressured to make as much money as possible like in Papers, Please . So you can take your time with each diagnosis (within reason) and still end up with enough money to fully stock up for the next day. It doesn’t take long to get in the habit of checking every part of the patient to make sure there aren’t any hallucinations happening, and even if you mess up, the game will give you a blatant hint about what you missed so you can look out for it next time. In that sense, and I know how bizarre it is to say this about a game based on Lovecraftian horror, it's a pretty relaxing game. With multiple endings, simple yet engaging puzzles, and a fun eldritch horror twist to the doctor simulator genre, Do No Harm is a fun experience for those who prefer some horror spicing up their strategy game. Though it’s not difficult enough to provide a challenge for those who’d prefer that, it still provides an enjoyable experience between its intriguing lore, high replay value, and surprisingly zen gameplay. Do No Harm is available on Windows PC via Steam . The post Despite the Horrors, Do No Harm Is a Surprisingly Zen Game appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraApr 28

Umamusume English Mobile and PC Release Date SetThe Umamusume global release date is set, and we'll see it in English on the PC via Steam and mobile devices this summer.

SiliconeraApr 27

Summer Pockets Is Delightfully Peaceful and Relaxing Release any anime from Key or Jun Maeda ( Angel Beats , Charlotte , Clannad , etc) and I will be there. So once I found that the popular visual novel Summer Pockets was getting an anime adaptation during this Spring 2025 season, I had to give it a go. Early on, Summer Pockets is endearing in how relaxing and peaceful its setting is. The story is quite simple in Summer Pockets : Takahara Hairi is a young man that travels to the island Torishirojima to stay with an aunt and help with the aftermath of his late grandmother’s passing. At the same time, the story quickly hints that Hairi is running away from some sort of recent unfortunate event, possibly related to the swim team he was part of. Image via Key and Feel The first episode of Summer Pockets is pretty darn slow, and not a lot happens at all. Normally, this would be a detriment to a series. However, Key and animation studio Feel happen to make this work in the series’ favor, at least to start. This is because few other anime series handle immersion and atmosphere as well as this one. The island of Torishirojima is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Every inch of the island is so bright, cheerful, and full of vibrant colors. The stunningly blue ocean is frequently in the background of scenes, with the warm aesthetic giving off such a strong summery vibe. It also helps that the soundtrack is noticeably great as well. Unlike a lot of anime series that feature forgettable soundtracks or far too many moments without songs, it feels like Summer Pockets constantly has music going in the background. Even an early montage of Hairi exploring the island felt so alive and grabbed my attention because of the high-quality music that accompanied it. At the core of the series, though, is Hairi’s relationship with the girls that he meets on the island. You only get a tiny glimpse of this in the first episode, so it is hard to say how the romance will go here. This is especially interesting to see since the original visual novel has multiple routes focusing on each girl. Image via Key and Feel That said, Hairi’s few interactions with the main characters are adorable and fun. I even enjoyed his little moments meeting and getting to know his aunt. She also happens to be up there already for an early pick for one of my favorite female anime characters in 2025. Few anime this season have the setting like Summer Pockets . This is even seen in a scene where Hairi’s aunt sends him to eat dinner at a local restaurant. This goofy moment has only him and the cook in the restaurant, which throws off the urban boy. These scenes do such a great job at building out the world and reminding me of my own time living in Japan in the past. At the same time, the heavy summer vibe also has me wanting to lay at the beach all day. It is for this reason that I actually really wanted to take a nap after watching the first episode of Summer Pockets . This may sound bad at first, but it actually isn’t. Instead of boring me, this series managed to relax me with nostalgic summer vibes to the point where I wanted to just take a peaceful nap. If the first episode is anything to go by, Key is back once more with its anime adaptation of Summer Pockets . If you like series like Kanon and Air , you will find yourself right at home here. The detailed atmosphere of Torishirojima is one of the most relaxing you will ever find in anime and it has me hooked enough to see how the romance there plays out between the main character and his love interests. Summer Pockets is streaming right now on Crunchyroll. You can also purchase the visual novel on PC via Steam . The post Summer Pockets Is Delightfully Peaceful and Relaxing appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraApr 26

Oblivion Remastered Is Out, So Let's All Play MorrowindHaving booted up the original Oblivion only a week or so ago and realizing just how playable that 20-year-old game still is out of the box despite the recent release of an official remaster , it got me wondering about earlier Elder Scrolls games. Can I just load up Morrowind and play that too? The answer is: sort of.… Read more...

KotakuApr 25

Review: Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 Is Brilliantly Goofy Surprise! Strange Scaffold did it again with the team’s latest game, Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 . Which might not be a surprise, given how things have gone for the developer so far. But it’s nice to find a game with an incredibly goofy premise played up for laughs also ends up being both clever and a joy to play. It’s great. Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 begins as a send-up of the Resident Evil series with perhaps a hint of Dino Crisis. This is great on its own. J.J. Hardwell is an agent who really doesn’t want to go into a disturbing mansion to check it out for illegal and dangerous behavior, but he must. Once he finds a raptor inside, he realizes he’s now duty-bound to clear the situation. The quips and responses to situations are fantastic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf7l6vtDkxo&ab_channel=StrangeScaffold Except then Strange Scaffold adds another layer by revealing that there’s even more going on. So J.J. still needs to deal with the mansion’s horrors, which include things like fighting a zombie T-Rex returning from the “first” game and sneaking past a Brontosaurus that might shimmy you against a wall to death. Said situations are most often handled with match-3 puzzles with RPG elements, such as in the Puzzle Quest series. However, there are also visual novel style adventure elements in which making the right choices can ensure survival and access to new paths or events. Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is fantastically funny. The script and concept is great, and I don’t want to spoil what’s going on too much. But know that it is clever even if you aren’t familiar with games like Resident Evil or Dino Crisis . Images via Strange Scaffold Now, while I did reference Puzzle Quest and you will feel deja vu for those types of games while playing Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 , it feels unique. When J.J. needs to accomplish certain actions or face specific enemies, you’ll be presented with an 8x8 grid filled with colorful gems, knives, and occasionally other symbols. Both J.J. and whatever threat or opponent he is facing use the same space and take turns making matches. Your goal is typically to match enough of certain color or shape icons to perform certain actions, some of which will end your turn after you perform them. However, since this is a shared space and your opponent is also gathering icons to unleash their own skills, you also need to worry about if you are setting them up for a great combo or match that lets them retaliate. Frankly, I loved it. Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is surprisingly strategic in the best way, and by going through the story, finding items, making purchases, and getting upgrades through experiences, you get new tactical options. The fact that there is a bit more thought put into it and a fear that you’ll do okay on your turn, but an enemy will do much better, is a constant. Plus there’s the knowledge that yes, using one skill could be a good move now, but your turn ends when you use it and there’s a fantastic match that could lead to a major combo on the board. Images via Strange Scaffold But when it comes to the visual novel elements, Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is really fun too! There are a lot of branching decisions and choices you can make to influence and gain access to things. My favorite is when it involves making J.J. do something probably stupid, then realize it leveled up some stat that made it possible to unlock access to an ability or worked out pretty well for you. Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is another example of how clever and unusual a Strange Scaffold game can be. It’s really appreciated. The fact that it also arrived at a time when I ended up dealing with a lot of serious, unpleasant, and heart-wrenching things made its arrival all the more welcome. It’s well executed and quite a delight. Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is available for the PC via Steam . The post Review: Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 Is Brilliantly Goofy appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraApr 22

Super Robot Wars Y Release Date Set Bandai Namco announced the release date for Super Robot Wars Y in a new trailer for the game. It'll come out on August 28, 2025. First, here is the second trailer for Super Robot Wars Y . It's available in English, to help make things a little more clear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byejfIiqnfA&ab_channel=BandaiNamcoEntertainmentSoutheastAsia For the first time in the game’s history, it will include characters and robots from: SSSS. Dynazenon, Godzilla S.P., and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury season 1 . This entry will also mark the debut of Macross Delta: Passionate Walkure and Getter Robo Arc units in a home console game. Other IPs include Mobile Suit Z Gundam, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Code Geass , and Combattler V . The standard version of the Super Robot Wars Y will cost 8,900 JPY ($63.20). If you pre-order the digital version of the game, you can get some special missions. Some of these will grant you new robots as well. You’ll be able to obtain the Cybuster, VangNex, and GranVang. Other versions include the Collector’s Edition (27,200 JPY), the Digital Ultimate Edition (18,000 JPY), and the Digital Deluxe Edition (14,200 JPY). These provide useful skill programs, bonus missions, and DLC. As well, some of them contain the original soundtrack and a set of physical merchandise like figures and acrylic stands. Super Robot Wars Y will release on the PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC via Steam on August 28, 2025. The post Super Robot Wars Y Release Date Set appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraApr 21

Assassin’s Creed Shadows On Steam Deck Surprised Me More Than Getting Stabbed In The NeckWhen I heard Ubisoft claim that Assassin’s Creed Shadows would be Steam Deck verified at launch , I responded by saying “yeah right” with all the sass I could muster. I’ve tested a lot of games on Steam Deck here at Kotaku. I’ve seen games that should be slam dunks on the device fall short, and even games with the… Read more...

KotakuApr 21

Review: The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Is a Masterpiece With intriguing mysteries, a colorful cast, and fun strategic stages, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a gem of a game that never wears out its welcome in spite of its staggering length. As the perfect split between the styles and humor of Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kotaka and Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi, it will more than satisfy anyone who enjoys bombastic sci-fi stories with a resonating emotional core. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy follows Takumi, a boy living in the dome-shaped Tokyo Residential Complex. He’s an ordinary student living an ordinary life with his mom and childhood best friend Karua and doesn’t expect that to change. However, an invasion from otherworldly creatures flips his life upside down. He finds himself, along with a smattering of other high schoolers, conscripted in a war against the relentless army of invaders. They must defend the Last Defense Academy for a hundred days, while also figuring out who brought them there in the first place and why they were chosen for this task. Screenshot by Siliconera I really enjoyed the story and cast! Unlike in Danganronpa, where losing characters is a given and leads to some with less development or screen time, it feels like everyone gets an even share of the spotlight. Even characters with off-putting quirks, like Ima and Kurara, became endearing. Conversely, it can make bonding events feel weak, since they’re more of a monologue that provides trivia rather than anything meaningful. With how much we learn about them throughout routes in the game, though, the bonding events never left me wanting for more. The writing is hilarious too. This was the most physically hazardous review for me, because I had to put down the game at several points after laughing way too hard. The localization was successful at taking specific memes or references that would fly over the head of an English-only audience and turning them into jokes that are in-character and true to the original context. Minor inconsistencies and punctuation errors exist, but it's hard to fault minor mistakes when one considers the scope of the project. As a whole, the localization team did an amazing job! Screenshot by Siliconera The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a very long game. Even with over a hundred hours of playtime—excluding idling and retries—I haven’t explored every route or seen every ending. Sometimes, the routes can read like an episode of The Simpsons . You think the story is going in one direction, only for it to be about something completely different. Because of the sheer number of options, the story can feel like a smorgasbord of genres. Not every route is a winner and it can suck when the game traps you in a boring story for hours, but I never tired of the game. Aside from being a visual novel, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a combination of a Fire Emblem -like SRPG and a tower defense game. Some levels can be surprisingly difficult, especially when you haven’t upgraded your characters. A major reason for this is that you can’t choose where to place them. I remember one level that had two characters I would’ve never put together to hold down the fort. Since you only have a set number of AP to share with your entire army and characters can’t move too far after an action (unless you expend Voltage or an item), I had no way of sending more mobile units over to help. Finding the optimal strategy can feel more akin to a puzzle, rather than pure tactics or strategy. Screenshot by Siliconera Usually in these games, you don’t want to lose your units. The Hundred Line : Last Defense Academy goes against this notion. It encourages you to let them die or kill them off. Aside from providing you with bonus points after the battle, you gain 100% Voltage. Voltage is one of the most important resources, since you can use it to power up characters via hemoanima boosts. This includes increasing their attack strength or granting them a counterattack. So kamikaze your characters or don’t bother with healing them. Who cares if you win a battle with only one person standing? Death is glory! I recommend first focusing on characters like Takumi and Kako (star AP farmers) or Shouma (a literal godsend). As he’s the protagonist, you always have Takumi. He’s the safest option to pour resources into until you’re at a more comfortable spot with BP and materials. My major gripe about the game is the UI choice for the chapter select screen, which is where you can see all the story branches and routes. You can’t zoom out to see the entire chart and every path looks the same, which can make it hard to tell what you’re looking at without hovering over a node. It’s just genuinely a difficult flowchart to look at or use. The lines linking all the nodes together and the line dividing up the timeline into days look the same as well, which adds another layer of frustration. Maybe a future patch can introduce colors to make the routes stand out more, or make it easier to look at the whole thing. Screenshot by Siliconera Kodaka said while promoting the game that he considers The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy his “ best work ” and a game that’s close to his ideal . After experiencing it for myself, I have to agree. It’s unique and unforgettable, and a magnum opus that Too Kyo Games will be hard-pressed to top in the future. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy will come out for the Nintendo Switch and Windows PC via Steam on April 24, 2025. The post Review: The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Is a Masterpiece appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraApr 21

Hololive Vtuber Nekomata Okayu Okayunyumu Game English Site Opens Okayunyumu , the Hololive game about basically dating and falling in love with the Vtuber Nekomata Okayu, will appear in English. The official site for the visual novel is now open, as is the Steam product page for the PC version. It will release on August 7, 2025. The game and a demo is already available in Japan, where Switch and PS4 versions are also on sale. The official site and Steam page also confirm the game, known as Okayu Nyumu in Japan, is presented as one word for the localization. In Okayunyumu, we meet an unusual purple cat that turns into a cat girl after being fed. The two end up living together, and the result is something of a love story. As you spend time together and make decisions, you’ll learn more about the character and her past. You’ll also get to interact with the mysterious Inugami Korone. The Steam page offered some details about the English Okayunyumu release, so those who didn’t follow it ahead of the launch of Okayu Nyumu in Japan can know what to expect. Only Japanese audio, which will involve voice acting from Hololive Vtubers Nekomata Okayu and Inugami Korone, will appear in the game. However, English subtitles and menus will be present. There are also two screenshots that show off the English translation. Here are those two images: Images via Entergram and Cover You can also get an idea of what to expect from the opening movie from the game, which Entergram and the Hololive Vtuber shared online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFH-KEZGYRk&t=1s&ab_channel=OkayuCh.%E7%8C%AB%E5%8F%88%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8B%E3%82%86 This Nekomata Okayu game isn’t the only Entergram visual novel starring a Hololive Vtuber, as Minato Aqua starred in one as well. Aquarium appeared in 2023. It also appeared in English on PCs following the Japanese debut. Okayunyumui will come to the PC via Steam in English on August 7, 2025, and the game is already available in Japan on the Switch, PS4, and PC. The post Hololive Vtuber Nekomata Okayu Okayunyumu Game English Site Opens appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraApr 18

Popular Steam Game Lowers DLC Price Due To Everything Else Getting More ExpensiveEverspace 2's upcoming paid expansion is set to launch in May. But it will cost a bit less than originally announced, and the devs cite the ongoing economic crisis in the world as the reason for the discount. Read more...

KotakuApr 18