Now that SHINRAI has finally been released on consoles, today, I’d like to talk a little more about this whole porting endeavor.
It’s another milestone and, honestly, a rather momentous event for me, so this post is going to be a bit more on the personal side.
It’s still very surreal to see our little VN show up on the Nintendo eShop, the PlaySation Store and the Microsoft Store as well.
On PSN, it’s even listed right below Neptunia x Senran Kagura and, as a fan of both franchises, it made me very happy to see, haha.
(Seriously, it’s so strange to see this, I just can’t get over it w)
What really is the most amazing thing to me, however, is to actually see the game on the Nintendo Switch. As someone who grew up a Nintendo kid, and who wanted to make my own video games since way back in fifth grade, I’ve always had the desire to one day release one on a Nintendo console. So, with SHINRAI now on the Switch, I have quite literally fulfilled another childhood dream of mine. Not only that, it even came out on the same day as a new Mario game (Mario Party Superstars) and seeing ours get mentioned in press releases right alongside Super Mario… damn, I’m really at a loss for words, haha.
As you can clearly tell, I’m super happy and excited about all of this and I need to once again take the opportunity to give a huge shout-out and big thanks to Ratalaika Games who we worked together with in order to make this happen. Without them, this literally would have been next to impossible for just Natsu and myself to bring about. At the very least, it would have required an insane amount of time, energy and money, and I’m glad that we could invest all of it into GENBA no Kizuna instead.
Still, some work had to be done from our side as well and, even with the extra help, it sure took a while to get to this day. I originally signed the porting contract in May of 2020, and we got to work right away, which resulted in SHINRAI’s anniversary update last year.
I’ve explained most of the reasons for the update in the post linked above, but now I can also unveil that the other thing that played into it behind the scenes, and which I didn’t want to divulge for so long, was indeed the console port. I had always intended to update Broken Beyond Despair before the release of GENBA and Withering Without Hope, and it just seemed like the ideal opportunity to finally tackle that task, so that all the new console players would be able to have an improved experience right away.
To be honest, I would have loved to go all out with this, doing a full HD remaster with increased resolution, updated artwork and all that kinda jazz. However, that definitely would have taken way too long and, rather than invest so much time into a project we had already released, I wanted to focus on our new one instead, especially since even that is already taking way longer than anticipated.
Maybe one day, when we have the necessary funds, a proper HD remake will still happen, though! I’d love to see it myself, haha.
Anyway, with SHINRAI now being available on a multitude of different platforms, we have certainly increased our chances to reach a much broader audience. It’s quite an exciting time and I’ve never before received so many notifications from various social media platforms in just a single day! This is, in huge part, all thanks to our fans and supporters who’ve been with us for so long and still stick with us, eagerly awaiting our next project despite the huge delay. It’s moments like these that really invigorate my passion and motivation to keep going, no matter how frustrating and daunting things may seem at times. So, even though it’s taking a little, we’re going to continue working to finally unveil our next project to you as soon as we can!
Besides, releasing a game is such a rush, I definitely want to experience it again in the (very near) future, haha.
Now, on that note, I’d like to highlight once again that we actually have a playable demo for our new project, which you can download right here. Patreon supporters can even check out the entire first chapter (more than twice as much content as the public demo) and help us improve the experience through their feedback and suggestions!
We’re currently working hard on getting the next demo (containing the second chapter) ready before the end of the year, with the plan being to finally get the full thing out in 2022. I will talk more about all of this during the next few weeks and months, so keep an eye out for our progress updates, if you’re curious!
Now, to get back to the console release… there sure were quite a few hurdles we had to overcome along the way, so I’m very glad that we have finally made it. There was actually a concern that Sony would want us to censor the game, as Ratalaika Games apparently needed to tone down much tamer things in the past, but ultimately, SHINRAI got accepted as is, no edits required! So I’m very happy to state that all versions of the game are identical (except for the fact that only some of them offer trophies/achievements)!
I don’t personally own any of the latest Xboxes, but I do have a PS4 and a Switch, so I can’t wait to platinum my own game and experience it on the go, haha. Let us know which version you’ll be getting and, if you’re a new player, we’d also love to hear your thoughts, impressions and suggestions, so that we can further refine future projects! You can find us on the social media platforms linked through the little icons at the very top of this page! We’d be very happy to hear from you!
Now, before we come to a close, I’ll just leave you with this:
I really just did this for fun, since I couldn’t resist, but who knows? Maybe, one day, there’s actually going to be a physical release as well (and we’ll design a proper cover for it)!
But with that, I’d like to wish you an enjoyable remainder of your weekend and, of course, a very spooky Halloween!
Have a fun time and, until next Saturday, take care :3
