AliceSoft and its flagship series Toushin Toshi have been around for a long time, but next January the series will go where it's never gone before — actual console hardware. Toushin Toshi - Girls Gift RPG will appear on the 3DS, but with a few caveats. Unlike every other game in the series, it will be lacking in sex. Seriously, that is what the series is known for. The title refers to the "Battle God City" and its famous tournaments. Every year, powerful warriors gather with their lovely companions cheering them on. Losing combatants must give up their companion to the victor, who may then use the girl in any way desired for one night. Obviously, this is not going to fly with the usual 3DS audiences (Starfrost Amazons notwithstanding).

Though I can see that the cheesecake factor is still strong in this one. Apparently, instead of being able to solicit sexual favors from the girls in this game, the hero can receive gifts in the form of skills that grow in power as the relationship deepens.

It does say a lot about this game that only one of the six available screenshots from Famitsu actually features combat. What we can see looks pretty pedestrian.

Not much is said about the story, though it is supposedly based on the game Toushin Toshi III. It seems that the hero's betrothed (blue-haired girl) is a point of contention between him and his main rival (the dude on the right). Other than that, I have no idea. Not even the promotional video helped, though it did provide some embarrassing cheesecake. See for yourself, if you're in the mood for that sort of thing.

Toushin Toshi: Girls Gift RPG hits the shelves on January 30th, 2014.

The year is 20XX, and a killer is loose in Tokyo. He shows no mercy, leaves no witnesses, and has the entire city gripped in a reign of terror. The police and the military have proven useless against him, so what is the government to do? Hire a bunch of teenage paranormal investigative warriors. This is Japan, after all. Operating out of Hinowaku High School in central Tokyo, the Special Operations Division X works in conjunction with the government and the Center for the Paranormal and Occult (CPO) to pursue bizarre cases and investigate the mysterious labyrinth known as Babel that has recently appeared in the heart of the city. All in a day's work in Tokyo Shin Yoroku Operation Abyss

This being a crazy neo-futuristic magical dungeon crawler, the student body is probably obligated to dress like this. These are three of the recruitable classes, by the way: the Royal, the Divine, and the Martial. At least, that's my best interpretation of Oujutsushi, Seijutsushi, and Bujutsushi. Note the elements of the student uniform in the first two, and the slightly fetishized shrine maiden outfit (complete with hip-openings) on the third. Operation Abyss is a first-person dungeon crawl, so the normal rules apply. The bulk of the party is composed of player-created peons, with a handful of plot characters to provide a connection to the narrative.

So here are a few of the plot characters. The one on the left is the head of the Special Operations Division X, so of course she looks like a pop star. The one on the right is the student body president. The one in the middle is apparently an android, because why not.

The monsters, on the other hand, all look sort of monochromatic in blue.

So if you're in the mood for another romp in the dungeon-crawling style, Cyberfront has what you're looking for. This game is scheduled to be on sale January 23rd, 2014, on the PlayStation Vita.

Our last game for the day is slightly old news. I first heard of this one not long after TGS, which means it's been sitting on my backburner for over a month now. In many ways, it's the most interesting game on this list: Ar no Surge, brought to us by Gust. Here's the story blurb:

The heart of the new human civilization is the city of Ferion, ruled by the Heavenly Gun Princess. Its tall towers represent the decaying grandeur of the old world, and in its depths, the last members of the original colonial expedition force, the Ancient Seeds, sleep in cryostasis. As it lies right between the great Divide and the Shaar-plagued outer lands, it's become the most populous habitat by default, in a "rock and a hard place" sort of way.

The two named heroes of the day are Delta Lantaneuille and Ar Ciess (RCS?). Delta is an Ancient Seed, awakened to help defend Ferion. But that's in the past now. While he was once a member of the Genomus team, he has since retired for reasons unknown, and works as a short-order cook in a restaurant on the outskirts of the city. That situation probably won't last long. Ar Ciess is a robot of unknown design, specs, or purpose. No one's sure why he was made, but considering his skill with weapons it's likely he was a military model.

This game was apparently conceived as a merger of the Ciel no Surge and Ar tonelico series, and from what I can see it plays as such. In battle, Delta and Ar Ciess are accompanied by a song-magician, and much of the action in combat centers on keeping the enemy away from her. In towns, the player can synthesize new equipment or use the Genometrics system to explore the psyches of party members (in other words, Diving).

Ar no Surge will be on the shelves on January 30th, 2013, for both PlayStation 3 and PS Vita.

Sadly, I do not know when the next Japandemonium will be. I'm hoping for a monthly update if at all possible. We shall have to see.

And that's the news from Hi-no-Kuni,

Your man in Japan,

Gaijin Monogatari