PC Gamer at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 4 report: Capcom, Konami and SNK stands in focus

Sad news, folks. It’s the last day of the Tokyo Game Show 2024. PC Gamer has been at the show for the last three days and, as detailed in previous reports (see links above), it was a good show for PC gamers and PC gaming. After analyzing the latest trends at TGS 2024 in both our Day 1 and Day 2 reports, we then moved on to deeper dives into the booths of key Japanese game publishers. Yesterday we covered offerings from Square Enix, Sega and Bandai Namco in our Day 3 report, while today we’ll be focusing on Capcom, Konami and SNK.

Capcom is probably the strongest Japanese game maker right now, thanks to the continued success of its evergreen IPs, which include Street Fighter, Monster Hunter and Resident Evil. The latest games in this series, all of which I might add are 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 really well, and that kept momentum high at the Osaka-based gaming software house.

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

It’s still possible to play the game in solo-only mode (as was the case when it released on the PSP), but the focus is now heavily on co-op play. So if you play alone, the co-op mode will be simulated by the AI. However, the real way to play is in multiplayer mode, where other real players join in the monster hunting fun.

However, in general, Monster Hunter Wilds can be described as “more” because it simply offers more or expands on everything in Monster Hunter: World. For example, you can now take multiple weapons with you on each hunt, and these weapons can now also be modified, adding layers of customization.

More so, as all NPCs are fully voiced, increasing the production value and immersion. Apparently, there are also a lot more open worlds to explore and hunt at this time and large group rooms that are intended to appeal more to casual gamers.

And finally, at least in Japan, Wilds also delivers more in the spirit of its collector’s edition: the Ultra version offers a literal Monster Hunter bike to ride around (see image above). The cost to you and me? $1250! Crazy. Monster Hunter Wilds is still a long way off and will be released on February 28, 2025.

Over at the Konami booth there are two games being pushed, and both are remakes. As I noted in our Day 1 report, remakes and remasters are currently very popular with Japanese publishers as they are cheaper to produce than a brand new AAA game and are also considered a safer bet, which keeps shareholders happy. This means that we made great progress on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Silent Hill 2 at the Konami booth at Tokyo Game Show 2024.

This remake is one of the highest rated games in the entire Metal Gear saga, even without its original creator Hideo Kojima at the helm, and still drew large crowds at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 due to it being a remake of a previous game , I can understand why it’s so popular.

Not only will this new remake be as it was when it was released in 2004 (it’s a very faithful remake, tonally), but it will also – and this is the really big news for me – introduce improved gameplay mechanics and camera techniques in later ones Playing the series. This means Snake is now easier to handle and looks better than ever.

Look, a remake can probably only go so far when it comes to maintaining interest in a series, but I have a feeling if Snake Eater is a huge success (and it now looks like it will be will be the case), then I feel it could be the ideal vehicle to reignite the Metal Gear fire for fans in a post-Kojima world. The game is roughly scheduled for release in 2024, but I have a feeling it could stretch into 2025. Let’s wait and see.

Then there is the Silent Hill 2 remake. Interestingly, the game is not being developed by a Japanese studio, but by a Western studio, Poland-based Bloober Team. What fans of the original game will be happy about, however, is that Bloober is approaching this remake with the goal of making it very authentic and similar to the original experience. Definitely loyal. Of course, Silent Hill 2 won’t be as big as the recent, very successful remake of Resident Evil 2, but I personally think it’s a good start since we never got a proper sequel to that game. If this remake sells well, it could be enough to get the green light.

SNK: Fatal Fury: City of Wolves

Finally, SNK is going back to what it was like in the 1990s for all of us. I still own a Neo Geo AES, actually the white rental version, as do all the CD versions (including the CDZ, which were never released outside of Japan), so it’s wonderful to see SNK again. The former kings of the versus fighter genre develop new games and release them on the first day on the PC.

SNK’s booth at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 is huge, and what’s more, the new Fatal Fury game actually seems to be good, with long lines of Japanese gamers lining up to get their hands on a demo. Because of these queues, I only managed to play it once today, but it feels great. However, whether or not it will continue to challenge Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 remains to be seen.

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

Now I realize that there has been some criticism of this new Fatal Fury from some purist or combative fans, and yes, I can see where they are coming from to some extent. However, I don’t think City of Wolves was designed exclusively for Versus Fighter purists. Rather, the point is that SNK, under its new ownership, is trying to get back to the position it held in the Japanese gaming industry in the 1990s, and that requires games with broad appeal. So if City of the Wolves becomes a hit with more casual gamers and not just fighter enthusiasts, then that will be seen as a win for the company. The game is scheduled to be released on April 25, 2025.

TGS 2024 Indie Game of the Year: Nightmare Operator

Finally, I just want to point out what I consider to be the Tokyo Game Show 2024 indie game: Nightmare Operator by DDDistortion. Of all the indie games shown at the show this year, and of which there were more than ever before, this is the one that I think will be a huge hit. Of course the game is coming to PC and can be played via Steam.

Nightmare Operator is an action-horror shooter about hunting youkai (demons and ghosts) in the haunted ruins of a dystopian Tokyo. Sounds neat, right?! It features great PS2-era style graphics and exciting third-person shooter action. Additionally, it has very low minimum hardware specs (Intel Core i5-2300 or AMD FX-4350, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (1GB) or AMD Radeon HD 6570 (1GB), 4GB storage) so I Already looking to use it on Steam Deck. There’s no release date yet, but one to keep an eye on as we approach 2025.

Tokyo Game Show 2024 Summary

Ok, that’s it, the end of our four days of roundup coverage of the Tokyo Game Show 2024. We’d really like to talk about lots of other games here at the show, but as you can imagine at the largest video game trade show in the world, we If we did that , we would be here until next year. It was a good trade show that really highlighted to me (and many colleagues here at the show) just how much PC gaming is on the rise in the Japanese gaming industry (where it has been more than a little ignored in the past ). .

PC gaming has always been there when it comes to generating interest in games from major Japanese developers like Konami, Capcom, Square Enix and Bandai Namco, but now these studios have finally given up their focus on consoles and are considering PC as a priority, who launch all their new games on it, usually on the first day and with strong ports. The days when there were never exclusive console versions or when they only came to the PC years later and as a buggy mess seem to be over.

Furthermore, this shift among major Japanese publishers is also accompanied by a major rise in indie studios and smaller studios in Japan. Due to the rising costs of producing large AAA games, there is now a greater influx than ever of games from smaller teams such as Nightmare Operator and Platform 8 coming to PC from day one. The result is an exciting explosion of Japanese gaming goodness on PC, and that’s great news for PC gaming.

But at the moment that’s all. But remember, if you like PC gaming news and coverage of the video game industry from Japan, you can always follow our Made in Japan section that we publish every month in PC Gamer magazine. For example, our next issue features an exclusive interview with the director of Square Enix’s new RPG remaster Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. Mata no!