Latest Reviews of Marvelous (XSEED) Games
Review Farmagia (Switch) - A Lighthearted Anime-Style Romp With Monster Crops
Guess how many days take to grow a dragon in your farm?
When Marvelous revealed Farmagia during the June 2024 Nintendo Direct, we saw a familiar concept wrapped in an intriguing package: an action RPG with farm sim elements, like those so fundamental in two of the publisher's biggest series, Rune Factory and Story of Seasons, but wrapped up in a...
Review Fashion Dreamer (Switch) - Some Decent Dress-Up, But Lacks Style Savvy's Depth
Flashy façade
Fashion Dreamer, the newest release from the developer (Syn Sophia) of the cult classic Style Savvy games, garnered high expectations from fans hoping to find a spiritual successor to the series. While Fashion Dreamer is not technically part of the Style Savvy family (known as 'Style Boutique' in Europe), it offers fans of those DS...
Review Rune Factory 3 Special (Switch) - The Same Great Farm Sim/RPG, Though 'Special' Is A Stretch
Another day of sun
Being a Rune Factory fan has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the past several years. After Rune Factory 4 launched in 2013, the games went on hiatus for nearly a decade, with the fate of the series itself being pretty up in the air for most of that wait. Against all odds, and after a change in development teams and rights...
Review Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (Switch) - Slow, Old-Fashioned Yet Fulfilling Farming
A Wonderful Life, or A Terrible Remake?
What is the value of a remake? That's something we found ourselves asking as we played Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, a remake of the 2003 Harvest Moon game on GameCube, and a surprising addition to Marvelous/XSEED's catalogue of games. Should a remake of a game bring it up to today's standards, with...
Review Loop8: Summer Of Gods (Switch) - Feels More Like A Laborious Summer Job
Let’s get to know each other, over and over again
There are plenty of roguelike games on Nintendo Switch, but Loop8: Summer of Gods takes an interesting twist to the formula: a classic turn-based Japanese RPG that has roguelike elements. More specifically, the game is similar to something like Persona. However, Loop8 implements neither Persona’s...
Review Trinity Trigger (Switch) - A Blast From The Past For Secret Of Mana Fans
Pull my (Trinity) Trigger
Fans of '90s JRPGs, particularly those released for the SNES, will have been watching Trinity Trigger closely. The game boasts a veritable dream team from some of the best JRPGs of the past 30 years, including those who worked on Xenoblade Chronicles, Octopath Traveler, and, of course, Secret of Mana. There is a lot for...
Review Rune Factory 5 (Switch) - A Dependable Old Farmhand That Could Use A Spruce Up
Finally back in season
Farm sim games are rather difficult to mess up. Give players a welcoming town full of friendly residents, a field that they can till to make ridiculous sums of money, and a few side activities like fishing or mining to fill in any gaps, and you’ve pretty much got the basics covered. Rune Factory games have always nailed all...
Review Shadowverse: Champion's Battle (Switch) - Switch's Best Card Battling RPG Yet
The game based on the anime based on the game!
It’s rather shocking to consider how few card games there are on the Switch today. Sure, there are quite a few deck-building roguelites that incorporate elements of card games into their design, but these don’t quite manage to scratch that same itch. Luckily, Cygames has seen fit to bring over its...
Review Story Of Seasons: Pioneers Of Olive Town (Switch) - Enjoyable, But Unremarkable
Is POOT a fart in the wind, or a glorious trumpet?
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town might not bear the Harvest Moon title that would identify it as a continuation of the beloved series, but that's all down to copyright, Japanese-to-English translation, and a schism between XSEED and Natsume. It's not very interesting, so to summarise: Story...
Rice, Rice, Baby
As comedian Mitch Hedberg once said: "Rice is great when you're hungry and you want 2,000 of something." You can buy it anywhere. Everywhere. But those grains don't come from nowhere – they are grown in huge flooded paddy fields, filled with workers who painstakingly harvest the stalks, dry them on racks, hull them, and process...
Latest Marvelous (XSEED) Articles
News New Action RPG 'Farmagia' Celebrates Switch Launch With Free DLC Skins
A "baby tomato" skin is available now
Marvelous launched its new action RPG Farmagia on the Switch last week and it's now been announced the title will be receiving some free DLC skins the month. Starting this week, players can now receive a free "baby tomato" themed Afanc skin. Here's a bit about this character (via Gematsu): "A bit of a...
News 'Ys Memoire: The Oath In Felghana' Finally Comes West January 2025
After launching in Japan last year
After sitting in the "early 2025" release window for a good few months, XSEED Games has today announced that Nihon Falcom's Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana will be making its way to Western Switch eShops on 7th January 2025. This one initially launched in Japan in April 2023 as a remaster of the 2010 PSP title...
News Marvelous Officially Reveals Farmagia, A New Monster Game Releasing This Year
Meet the characters
One of the other highlights during the Marvelous Game Showcase this week was an update on "Project Magia", now officially known as Farmagia. This title was initially revealed during a "sneak peek" in May last year, and during the latest broadcast, the game's product manager Takehiro Ishida introduced viewers to the game's intro...
"Collaboration contents from outside Capcom will not be carried over"
The Nintendo 3DS had plenty of incredible exclusives and in its heyday, a lot of those were in the Monster Hunter series. One gem that truly stands out from its no-glasses-3D siblings is Monster Hunter Stories. Developed as a collaboration between Capcom and Marvelous, this...
News Marvelous Provides Development Update On New Story Of Seasons Game
"Please wait just a little bit longer"
Last year, during the Marvelous Games Showcase, the company revealed it was working on the next major entry in the farming and lifestyle simulation series Story of Seasons. Now during this year's showcase, the Story of Seasons series manager Hikaru Nakano has provided a development update and another look at...
News DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion Gets A New Teaser Trailer
Another look at the "mech-action sequel"
At the Marvelous Game Showcase last year, First Studio and "visionary producer" Kenichiro Tsukuda lifted the lid on DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion. Now to close out this year's show, Marvelous has shared another teaser of the "all-new entry" in the series. Here's some PR: "DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion:...
News Rune Factory's New Spin-Off 'Project Dragon' Introduces The Protagonists
"Under development"
Following a reveal last May, a new trailer for Rune Factory: Project Dragon has now been shared at this year's showcase. It formally introduces the title's protagonists Subaru and Kaguya. Instead of farming, the pair will use "the power of dance" to communicate and interact with the world around them. There will be plenty of...
News Marvelous Game Showcase 2024 Airing Later This Week
Tune in for the latest announcements
Marvelous has announced its 2024 digital game showcase will be taking place later this week. According to the official announcement, the team will be delivering a 30-minute broadcast featuring the "latest information" on its projects currently in development. You'll be able to watch this showcase on the...
News Potionomics: Masterwork Edition Brews Up An RPG Shop Sim On Switch This Fall
Update 2: Now official after accidentally leaking earlier
Update #2: The trailer is back up. Enjoy! Not only that, Marvelous has confirmed that the game will be getting a physical release as well as a Limited Edition Box Set release: Update: Marvelous (XSEED) has removed the announcement trailer from YouTube, suggesting that today's...
News Fashion Dreamer Receives Another Free Update For Switch, Here's What's Included
Future Fair has arrived
Since its arrival on the Nintendo Switch, Fashion Dreamer has received multiple major updates adding all sorts of content. This week marks the arrival of "free update 5" - officially titled Future Fair - which includes with Limited Time Fair Rewards as well as new Catalog items. There are some new Gacha items, roo. Keep in...
Soapbox Vanillaware's Most Underrated Game Is More Than Just A Pretty Picture
Deserving of a Rebirth
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Alana is talking about a Vanillaware oldie — Muramasa: The Demon Blade, a Wii title that is celebrating its 15th anniversary. And, in the wake of 13 Sentinels and Unicorn...
News A New Corpse Party Game Is Creeping Onto Switch This Autumn
Hey, who turned out the lights?
Those who are easily scared might want to look away for a moment because the cult-classic Japanese horror series, Corpse Party, is once again getting creepy on Switch as Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion brings the chills this Autumn (or 'Fall,' if you'd rather). Published by Marvelous Europe (XSEED in North...
News Fashion Dreamer Releases Its Fourth Major Content Update On Switch
The free "Wonderland Fair Update" is now available
Update [Fri 15th Mar, 2024 01:00 GMT]: Nintendo has now uploaded an English trailer highlighting this new "Wonderland Fair Update" for Fashion Dreamer. Once again, this is the fourth major update for the game (Version 1.4.0) and comes packed with new specialty items, 64 new patterns as well as over...
Feature Shiren The Wanderer Devs On Preserving Series' "Difficulty" And "Uniqueness"
"I made sure to preserve what I believed to be valuable"
Shiren the Wanderer is one of the longest-running roguelike series in the world. Debuting back in 1995 as the second entry in the Mystery Dungeon series, Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer introduced the world to the young boy who would explore many procedurally-generated dungeons over the...
Feature "It Just Felt Right" - How Story Of Seasons & Piczle Cross Is The Perfect Union
"I am an unapologetic fan of the Story of Seasons series"
What's more relaxing than a farming sim? Many of us love to wind down with a few hours of tending crops, looking after cows, and taking in the seasons in a good ol' Story of Seasons game. And for almost 30 years, this hugely popular series has been sowing the seeds and setting the standard...
Back Page The Best Cows On The Nintendo Switch
We would never steer you wrong
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible...
News Fashion Dreamer Releases Its Third Major Content Update On Switch
The free "Classic Fair Update" is now available
When Fashion Dreamer arrived on the scene last November, it was admittedly a tad underdone compared to certain other series like Style Savvy (New Style Boutique). Fortunately, developer Marvelous has made an effort to improve the situation with ongoing updates. This brings us to the third major...
News Freedom Planet 2 Locks In An April Release Date On Switch
Free from delays?
Following a recent delay, Marvelous Europe and GalaxyTrail have revealed that Freedom Planet 2 will launch on Nintendo Switch on April 4th, 2024. Featuring four playable characters, the sequel boasts some gorgeous pixel art visuals and gameplay that will look comfortably familiar to fans of the first game (and the Sonic...
News Fashion Dreamer's Free Winter Collection Update Unfolds On Switch Next Week
New items, features, patterns and more
We found that there was some fun to be had in the Switch-exclusive title Fashion Dreamer when it hit the console catwalk earlier this month, though we felt that it was very much lacking in depth at the time of launch. It looks like more content is on the horizon, however, as publisher Marvelous Europe has today...
News Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life Offers Up Free 'Pumpkin Patch' Cosmetic DLC
Available now
XSEED Games has announced that it is offering up a free piece of cosmetic DLC for Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life in the form of a Pumpkin Patch outfit. Yes, just in time for the pumpkin season, you can get your farming protagonist dressed up and in the spirit right now for the price of... well, the few seconds it will likely take...
Video Here's Eight Minutes Of Brand New Rune Factory 3 Special Gameplay
Return to the Sharance Tree this September
Rune Factory fans will be celebrating in just under a month's time, as Rune Factory 3 Special will be launching on Switch on 5th September in the West. This remaster of the popular DS title from 2009 brings back many fan's favourite entry in the "Fantasy Harvest Moon" series, gives the game a fresh lick of...
News Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life 'Precious Memories' Trailer Is Full Of Farm Sim Nostalgia
"Tell your own generation-spanning tale"
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life sprouted back onto Switch earlier this summer, reintroducing us to the farm sim world that we first visited on the GameCube in 2003. Cashing in on this cross-generational appeal, publisher Marvelous Europe has released a new post-launch trailer for the game titled 'Precious...
News Stylish Switch Exclusive 'Fashion Dreamer' Stitches November Release Date In The West
Just one day after the Japan release
Update: Nintendo of America has shared a brand new eight-minute overview trailer for Fashion Dearmer. This mammoth overview gives budding fashion designers and the style-savvy a look at just how jam-packed their fashion worlds will become this November. Don't forget, the game launches exclusively on Switch on...
Step aside, 2003 GameFAQ
Will you be playing Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life? Or are you, perhaps, one of the original fans of the GameCube/PS2 game? Either way, we know what you need: A ton of tips, tricks, and hints to get past the game's special little idiosyncrasies, and into the heart of this charming farming game. (We would like it to be...
News Switch Exclusive 'Fashion Dreamer' Locks In November 2023 Release (Japan)
One for Style Savvy & Style Boutique fans
One game featured in last week's Japanese Nintendo Direct that didn't get a spot in the Western broadcast was the upcoming Marvelous XSEED fashion title, Fashion Dreamer. It was previously shown in the February Direct, and now, if the Switch's release schedule wasn't already busy enough for the second half...
News New Action RPG 'Farmagia' Celebrates Switch Launch With Free DLC Skins
A "baby tomato" skin is available now
Marvelous launched its new action RPG Farmagia on the Switch last week and it's now been announced the title will be receiving some free DLC skins the month. Starting this week, players can now receive a free "baby tomato" themed Afanc skin. Here's a bit about this character (via Gematsu): "A bit of a...
News 'Ys Memoire: The Oath In Felghana' Finally Comes West January 2025
After launching in Japan last year
After sitting in the "early 2025" release window for a good few months, XSEED Games has today announced that Nihon Falcom's Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana will be making its way to Western Switch eShops on 7th January 2025. This one initially launched in Japan in April 2023 as a remaster of the 2010 PSP title...
News Marvelous Officially Reveals Farmagia, A New Monster Game Releasing This Year
Meet the characters
One of the other highlights during the Marvelous Game Showcase this week was an update on "Project Magia", now officially known as Farmagia. This title was initially revealed during a "sneak peek" in May last year, and during the latest broadcast, the game's product manager Takehiro Ishida introduced viewers to the game's intro...
"Collaboration contents from outside Capcom will not be carried over"
The Nintendo 3DS had plenty of incredible exclusives and in its heyday, a lot of those were in the Monster Hunter series. One gem that truly stands out from its no-glasses-3D siblings is Monster Hunter Stories. Developed as a collaboration between Capcom and Marvelous, this...
News Marvelous Provides Development Update On New Story Of Seasons Game
"Please wait just a little bit longer"
Last year, during the Marvelous Games Showcase, the company revealed it was working on the next major entry in the farming and lifestyle simulation series Story of Seasons. Now during this year's showcase, the Story of Seasons series manager Hikaru Nakano has provided a development update and another look at...
News DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion Gets A New Teaser Trailer
Another look at the "mech-action sequel"
At the Marvelous Game Showcase last year, First Studio and "visionary producer" Kenichiro Tsukuda lifted the lid on DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion. Now to close out this year's show, Marvelous has shared another teaser of the "all-new entry" in the series. Here's some PR: "DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion:...
News Rune Factory's New Spin-Off 'Project Dragon' Introduces The Protagonists
"Under development"
Following a reveal last May, a new trailer for Rune Factory: Project Dragon has now been shared at this year's showcase. It formally introduces the title's protagonists Subaru and Kaguya. Instead of farming, the pair will use "the power of dance" to communicate and interact with the world around them. There will be plenty of...
News Marvelous Game Showcase 2024 Airing Later This Week
Tune in for the latest announcements
Marvelous has announced its 2024 digital game showcase will be taking place later this week. According to the official announcement, the team will be delivering a 30-minute broadcast featuring the "latest information" on its projects currently in development. You'll be able to watch this showcase on the...
News Potionomics: Masterwork Edition Brews Up An RPG Shop Sim On Switch This Fall
Update 2: Now official after accidentally leaking earlier
Update #2: The trailer is back up. Enjoy! Not only that, Marvelous has confirmed that the game will be getting a physical release as well as a Limited Edition Box Set release: Update: Marvelous (XSEED) has removed the announcement trailer from YouTube, suggesting that today's...
News Fashion Dreamer Receives Another Free Update For Switch, Here's What's Included
Future Fair has arrived
Since its arrival on the Nintendo Switch, Fashion Dreamer has received multiple major updates adding all sorts of content. This week marks the arrival of "free update 5" - officially titled Future Fair - which includes with Limited Time Fair Rewards as well as new Catalog items. There are some new Gacha items, roo. Keep in...
Soapbox Vanillaware's Most Underrated Game Is More Than Just A Pretty Picture
Deserving of a Rebirth
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Alana is talking about a Vanillaware oldie — Muramasa: The Demon Blade, a Wii title that is celebrating its 15th anniversary. And, in the wake of 13 Sentinels and Unicorn...
News A New Corpse Party Game Is Creeping Onto Switch This Autumn
Hey, who turned out the lights?
Those who are easily scared might want to look away for a moment because the cult-classic Japanese horror series, Corpse Party, is once again getting creepy on Switch as Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion brings the chills this Autumn (or 'Fall,' if you'd rather). Published by Marvelous Europe (XSEED in North...
News Fashion Dreamer Releases Its Fourth Major Content Update On Switch
The free "Wonderland Fair Update" is now available
Update [Fri 15th Mar, 2024 01:00 GMT]: Nintendo has now uploaded an English trailer highlighting this new "Wonderland Fair Update" for Fashion Dreamer. Once again, this is the fourth major update for the game (Version 1.4.0) and comes packed with new specialty items, 64 new patterns as well as over...
Feature Shiren The Wanderer Devs On Preserving Series' "Difficulty" And "Uniqueness"
"I made sure to preserve what I believed to be valuable"
Shiren the Wanderer is one of the longest-running roguelike series in the world. Debuting back in 1995 as the second entry in the Mystery Dungeon series, Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer introduced the world to the young boy who would explore many procedurally-generated dungeons over the...
Feature "It Just Felt Right" - How Story Of Seasons & Piczle Cross Is The Perfect Union
"I am an unapologetic fan of the Story of Seasons series"
What's more relaxing than a farming sim? Many of us love to wind down with a few hours of tending crops, looking after cows, and taking in the seasons in a good ol' Story of Seasons game. And for almost 30 years, this hugely popular series has been sowing the seeds and setting the standard...
Back Page The Best Cows On The Nintendo Switch
We would never steer you wrong
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible...
News Fashion Dreamer Releases Its Third Major Content Update On Switch
The free "Classic Fair Update" is now available
When Fashion Dreamer arrived on the scene last November, it was admittedly a tad underdone compared to certain other series like Style Savvy (New Style Boutique). Fortunately, developer Marvelous has made an effort to improve the situation with ongoing updates. This brings us to the third major...
News Freedom Planet 2 Locks In An April Release Date On Switch
Free from delays?
Following a recent delay, Marvelous Europe and GalaxyTrail have revealed that Freedom Planet 2 will launch on Nintendo Switch on April 4th, 2024. Featuring four playable characters, the sequel boasts some gorgeous pixel art visuals and gameplay that will look comfortably familiar to fans of the first game (and the Sonic...
News Fashion Dreamer's Free Winter Collection Update Unfolds On Switch Next Week
New items, features, patterns and more
We found that there was some fun to be had in the Switch-exclusive title Fashion Dreamer when it hit the console catwalk earlier this month, though we felt that it was very much lacking in depth at the time of launch. It looks like more content is on the horizon, however, as publisher Marvelous Europe has today...
News Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life Offers Up Free 'Pumpkin Patch' Cosmetic DLC
Available now
XSEED Games has announced that it is offering up a free piece of cosmetic DLC for Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life in the form of a Pumpkin Patch outfit. Yes, just in time for the pumpkin season, you can get your farming protagonist dressed up and in the spirit right now for the price of... well, the few seconds it will likely take...
Video Here's Eight Minutes Of Brand New Rune Factory 3 Special Gameplay
Return to the Sharance Tree this September
Rune Factory fans will be celebrating in just under a month's time, as Rune Factory 3 Special will be launching on Switch on 5th September in the West. This remaster of the popular DS title from 2009 brings back many fan's favourite entry in the "Fantasy Harvest Moon" series, gives the game a fresh lick of...
News Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life 'Precious Memories' Trailer Is Full Of Farm Sim Nostalgia
"Tell your own generation-spanning tale"
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life sprouted back onto Switch earlier this summer, reintroducing us to the farm sim world that we first visited on the GameCube in 2003. Cashing in on this cross-generational appeal, publisher Marvelous Europe has released a new post-launch trailer for the game titled 'Precious...
News Stylish Switch Exclusive 'Fashion Dreamer' Stitches November Release Date In The West
Just one day after the Japan release
Update: Nintendo of America has shared a brand new eight-minute overview trailer for Fashion Dearmer. This mammoth overview gives budding fashion designers and the style-savvy a look at just how jam-packed their fashion worlds will become this November. Don't forget, the game launches exclusively on Switch on...
Step aside, 2003 GameFAQ
Will you be playing Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life? Or are you, perhaps, one of the original fans of the GameCube/PS2 game? Either way, we know what you need: A ton of tips, tricks, and hints to get past the game's special little idiosyncrasies, and into the heart of this charming farming game. (We would like it to be...
News Switch Exclusive 'Fashion Dreamer' Locks In November 2023 Release (Japan)
One for Style Savvy & Style Boutique fans
One game featured in last week's Japanese Nintendo Direct that didn't get a spot in the Western broadcast was the upcoming Marvelous XSEED fashion title, Fashion Dreamer. It was previously shown in the February Direct, and now, if the Switch's release schedule wasn't already busy enough for the second half...