Focus on the Capcom, Konami and SNK stands

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Sad news, guys. It’s the last day of Tokyo Game Show 2024. PC Gamer has been at the show for three days, and as detailed in previous reports (see links above), it was a good show for PC gamers and PC games. After analyzing the latest trends from TGS 2024 in our Day 1 and Day 2 reports, we then moved on to the main in-depth analyzes from the Japanese game publishers’ booth. Yesterday in our third day report we covered offerings from Square Enix, Sega and Bandai Namco, while today we will focus on Capcom, Konami and SNK.

Capcom: Monster Hunter Wilds

Capcom is probably the most powerful Japanese game publisher today thanks to the continued success of its evergreen licenses, including Street Fighter, Monster Hunter and Resident Evil. The latest games in these series, all playable on PC, such as Street Fighter 6, Monster Hunter: World and Resident Evil 7: Bio Hazard, have not only received critical acclaim, but also sold very well, and it is has maintained its momentum at the Osaka-based gaming software company.

Enter Capcom’s big effort at Tokyo Game Show 2024, Monster Hunter Wilds, which builds on the success of Worlds with a variety of improvements. This open-world game is produced by Capcom founder Kenzo Tsujimoto’s son, and Monster Hunter Wilds introduces a more casual approach and “social” element to the franchise.

It’s still possible to play the game in single-player only (as it was when it launched on PSP), but the emphasis is now on cooperative play, so if you’re playing solo, co-op is simulated by AI. However, the real way to play is in multiplayer, with other real players joining in to hunt monsters.

In general, the way to describe Monster Hunter Wilds, however, is “more”, because it simply offers more or expands on everything in Monster Hunter: World. For example, you can now take multiple weapons on any hunt, and these weapons can now also be modified, adding layers of customization.

Additionally, all NPCs are fully voiced, adding to the production and immersion values. There’s obviously also a much more open world to explore and hunt this time around, and large group spaces designed to appeal more to casual players.

Finally, at least in Japan, Wilds offers more in the sense of its collector’s edition, with the ultra version offering a real Monster Hunter bike to ride on (see image above). The cost to you and me? $1250! Mad. Monster Hunter Wilds is still a long way from being a solution, with its launch scheduled for February 28, 2025.

Konami: Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Silent Hill 2

On the Konami stand, two games are offered, and both are remakes. As I noted in our Day 1 report, remakes and remasters are currently very favored by Japanese publishers because they are cheaper to make than a brand new AAA game, and are also considered a safer bet , which satisfies shareholders. This means we have big efforts on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Silent Hill 2 at the Konami booth at Tokyo Game Show 2024.

One of the most beloved games in the entire Metal Gear saga, even now without its original creator at the wheel, Hideo Kojima, this remake still drew huge crowds at Tokyo Game Show 2024. But, to be fair, although it’s just a remake of a previous game, I can see why it was so popular.

This new remake will not only be as it was when it was released in 2004 (it’s a very tonally faithful remake), but also – and this is the real big news for me – it introduces mechanics Improved gameplay and camera techniques that were introduced. in later games in the series. This means that Snake is now more maneuverable and better looking than ever.

Now look, there’s probably only so far a remake can go in terms of maintaining interest in a series, but my feeling is that if Snake Eater is a big success (and it looks like it will be the case at this point), then I feel it. could be the perfect vehicle to rekindle the fires of Metal Gear for fans in a post-Kojima world. The game is vaguely slated to launch in 2024, but I have a feeling it could slip into 2025. Let’s wait and see.

Then there is the remake of Silent Hill 2. Interestingly, the game is not developed by a Japanese studio but a Western one, Bloober Team based in Poland. What will please fans of the original game, however, is that Bloober approaches this remake with an eye toward making it very authentic and similar to the original experience. Faithful, that’s for sure. Obviously Silent Hill 2 won’t be as big as the recent highly successful Resident Evil 2 remake, but personally I think since we never got a true sequel to that game it’s a good point of focus. departure. If this remake sells well, it might be enough to get one.

SNK: Fatal Fury: City of Wolves

Finally, SNK returns to what was for all of us in the 1990s. I still own a Neo Geo AES, the white rental version in fact, as do all the CD versions (including the CDZ never released outside of Japan), so seeing SNK back is wonderful. The former kings of the versus-fighter genre are creating new games and, yes, releasing them on PC on day one.

SNK’s booth at Tokyo Game Show 2024 is huge, and what’s more, the new Fatal Fury game looks really good, with long lines of Japanese players lining up to get hands-on with a demo. I only managed to play it once today because of those queues, but it’s great to play. Whether or not it will challenge Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 remains to be seen.

There’s some big news for this game too. After speaking with the folks at SNK here at TGS 2024, they told us that the game’s first DLC will see Street Fighter characters like Ryu and Chun Li join the action. Suddenly I remember the old SNK vs. Capcom fighters like SVC: Chaos.

Now I realize that there has been some criticism of this new Fatal Fury from some purist versus fighter fans, and yes, I can see where they are coming from to some extent. I don’t think City of the Wolves was created solely with versus combat purists in mind. Rather, it’s about SNK, under its new ownership, trying to return to the position it held in the Japanese gaming industry in the 1990s, which requires very attractive games. As such, if City of the Wolves is a hit with more casual gamers, and not just fighter enthusiasts, then it will be seen as a win for the company. The game is scheduled to release on April 25, 2025.

Indie Game of the Year TGS 2024: Nightmare Operator

Finally, I would just like to mention what I consider to be the indie game of Tokyo Game Show 2024, namely Nightmare Operator from DDDistortion. Of all the indie games at the show this year, and there were more than ever, this is the one that I think is going to be a huge success. Naturally, the game is coming to PC and will be playable via Steam.

Nightmare Operator is an action horror shooter about hunting Youkai (demons and spirits) in the haunted ruins of a dystopian Tokyo. Sounds nice, right?! It boasts stunning PS2-style graphics and delivers suspenseful third-person shooter action. Additionally, it has very low minimum hardware specifications (Intel Core i5-2300 or AMD FX-4350, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (1 GB) or AMD Radeon HD 6570 (1 GB), 4 GB storage space), so I’m already considering using it on Steam Deck. There’s no release date yet, but one to watch out for as 2025 approaches.

Tokyo Game Show 2024 Recap

Ok, that’s it, the end of our four-day comprehensive coverage of the Tokyo Game Show 2024. There are plenty of other games we’d really like to talk about here at the show but, as you can imagine at the world’s biggest video game show , we would be here until next year if we did. This was a good show, which really made me (and many colleagues here) realize just how much PC gaming is on the rise in the Japanese gaming industry (where, historically, it has been more only a little ignored). .

PC gaming has always been around when it came to games from major Japanese developers, like Konami, Capcom, Square Enix, and Bandai Namco, but now these studios have finally abandoned their focus on consoles and are considering the PC as a priority. , launching all their new games on it, and most of the time from day one and with powerful ports. The days when we never received console exclusives or, if we did, those that arrived on PC years later and in buggy form seem to be over.

Additionally, this shift from major Japanese publishers is also accompanied by a large increase in independent and small studios in Japan. Due to the skyrocketing production costs of large AAA games, there is now a greater influx than ever of games made by smaller teams, such as Nightmare Operator and Platform 8, for example, also coming to PC from day one. The result is an exciting explosion of Japanese gaming goodness coming to PC, and it’s great news for PC gaming.

But for now, that’s it. Don’t forget though, if you like PC gaming news and reporting from Japan on its video game industry, you can always follow our Made in Japan section, which we publish every month in PC Gamer magazine. Our next issue, for example, comes with an exclusive interview with the director of Square Enix’s new RPG remaster, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. Mata don’t!