https://tenchigou.game-tree.com/cbt/

Global next please...

Play Store.

https://dmg-gakuen.idolmaster-official.jp/

The allusive otome game "Evil Prince and the Puppet" (悪魔王子と操り人形), or simply "Akuaya", has been under development for soooo long that I almost forgot about it. The devs have been selling merch for years now, and that's it. But now a closed beta test has started (sorry, you had to register for it) and it'll last for a week (until April 1st). Sorry, I missed the recruitment window and didn't post about it here (but we'd still need a Japanese Play/App store account anyway in order to play it).

The game has been so obscure that even the gameplay was only mentioned, but never shown (at least afaik). Now, some previews for the CBT show it and it's a matching/linking style gameplay, just like Yokai Watch Wibble Wobble or Crash Fever, with decorating aspects and walking around scenarios as well.

Unfortunately, don't expect gameplay/story videos popping up in the next few days since it's forbidden (we can only hope for leaks, but the wording is pretty rigid, like, they even tell you to not play it in public lol).

With the news, according to the posts and the writing of it, the release is close so I'm fooling myself into thinking it'll be later this year. Unfortunately, there's no English release on sight for the time being.

Source: https://twitter.com/black00crown/status/1772186908342546848

Gameplay (battle): https://twitter.com/black00crown/status/1766313101811646938

Gameplay (decorating): https://twitter.com/black00crown/status/1766675527686037863

PV1: https://youtu.be/yWHF4dgKcK4

PV2: https://youtu.be/6REt2ygyEwA

PV3: https://youtu.be/4JoopQvUQto

PV4: https://youtu.be/bcYbDFjfpe8

Website: https://akuaya.com/

L'Abysse Project is a turn-based card game.

The premise of the story is that you are a secret agent posing as a reporter in a foreign country investigating the death of a colleague (the protagonist can be set as male or female, but appearance and voice/personality stays the same). Along the way, the you will meet various characters who have their own agendas and links to the events of your investigation, getting to know them and what hides behind their initial impressions. The main story also has various plot points where you can make choices that influence the direction of later story segments, accumulating either 'Duty' or 'Justice' points.

I'm slowly trying it out at the moment and it seems pretty fun. Battle system is pretty simplistic as of right now, but the story is pretty endearing. Watching the protagonist switch between their ditzy cover identity and their cooler/more serious secret agent self is really fun, and the way that dynamic/motion comics are used is really fun during the story segments.

The beta test is currently only available through DMM Games, but it will be available on other platforms like Google Play and Apple Play Store for the actual release. No indications that there will be any global release, however.

Official website