Vanillaware, the Japanese studio responsible for some of the most gorgeous hand-painted RPGs ever made, has confirmed that its next game will launch on Steam. That's a genuinely big deal. For 23 years, Vanillaware has been a console-only affair, which meant PC players had to either buy a PlayStation or watch jealously from afar while people posted screenshots of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim that looked like animated oil paintings come to life.
This is exactly the kind of news that makes you want to go back and replay Dragon's Crown or Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir on PC, except... you couldn't, until now. Vanillaware games are notorious for their layered storytelling, obsessive worldbuilding, and combat systems that reward you for actually paying attention to mechanics rather than mashing buttons. The idea that a new entry in that tradition will be natively available on PC, with hopefully proper keyboard and controller support, feels like a long overdue correction. Whether the next project leans more into the tactical structure of 13 Sentinels or the action-RPG roots of GrimGrimoire or Dragon's Crown is still an open question, but either way, PC RPG fans have earned the right to be a little smug about this one.
Monika
RPGs — CRPG, JRPG, ARPG, story-rich
