East to west

On p72, we report from Tokyo on the sad closure of what used to be known as Sega Akihabara Arcade #4, one of the most iconic game centres in Japan, as we examine the struggles facing the country’s arcade scene. Were you to ignore the effects of the COVID pandemic, you could perhaps interpret this as another sign of Japan’s waning influence on today’s videogame industry. Yet, as this issue’s Hype selection demonstrates, Japanese games continue to strongly inspire contemporary game-makers, at home and overseas.

Take Necrosoft Games’ Demonschool, for example. Its central premise of students fighting demons – not to mention its isometric perspective – might seem like nods towards the first two Persona games, but as the studio’s founder Brandon Sheffield tells us, it uses the likes of the Shin Megami

Tensei and Yakuza games (in the latter case, borrowing its approach to side missions) as a starting point, while the planning and action phases of its battle system nod towards Sega’s own Valkyria Chronicles.

Meanwhile, Another Crab’s Treasure (from Going Under developer Aggro Crab) has been kicking around in art director Nick Kaman’s brain for six years. It was only when the Seattle-based developer decided that it should be a Soulslike – with its parry-based combat taking cues from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – that this aquatic action adventure, in which you play as a treasure-seeking, junkwearing hermit crab, started to take shape. And, while the likes of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (from Nioh developer Team Ninja) and RGG Studio’s longawaited Like A Dragon: Ishin prove that Japan’s capacity to combine kinetically satisfying combat with spectacle remains unsurpassed, the Shinobi-inspired Ninja Or Die points to an indie scene in rude health, too. Its arcades might not be what they once were, but in the home, Japan’s ability to delight players is undiminished.