Astrae Oratio mixes the thrill of fighting games and gal games in a Heisei era-inspired “retro but modern” urban fantasy. We talk to the director
AUTOMATON interview with Astrae Oratio director Jong-gyu Lim.
VERACITY IN GAMING
VERACITY IN GAMING
Takayuki Sawahata
JP AUTOMATON Reviewer
Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember developers on switching to an open-field design, making combat more acrobatic, and lessons learned from the first game
Interview with Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember producer Masakazu Hirayama and development producer Masaaki Yamagiwa.
Astrae Oratio developers detail combat system, including Street Fighter and Persona influences, during TGS 2026 media session
Report of NC and Dynamis One's TGS 2026 media preview for Astrae Oratio.
ANANTA is a free-to-play title, but its rich cinematic style and lifelike cityscapes make it feel more like a full-priced AAA game. Gamescom 2026 demo impressions
AUTOMATON's impressions of the Gamescom 2026 ANANTA demo.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A hands-on preview: the series is finally trusting its players with more challenging gameplay, and it’s never felt more immersive
We played Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and it felt like a real step-up from Pokémon Legends: Arceus - both in difficulty and immersion.
Lost Soul Aside review – an unfortunate niche project that collapsed under the weight of its AAA-colored marketing
AUTOMATON Japan review of Ultizero Games' new 3D action RPG Lost Soul Aside.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC hands-on preview: An expansion that turned my “good memories” of Elden Ring into hungry anticipation for more
A report on our hands-on preview of FromSoftware's Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree, including new weapons, dungeons, bosses and more.
Interview: Upcoming free-to-play mech game Mecha BREAK will not be “Pay to Win,” producer promises
We interview Amazing Seasun Games' producer Kris Kwok about the upcoming mech-piloting action game Mecha BREAK and its influences.
Fate/Samurai Remnant was meant to be a soulslike at first – producer interview reveals fascinating insight
In an interview, Fate/Samurai Remnant producer Tomohiko Sho talks about details such as how the game was meant to be a soulslike and why Saber isn't fully playable.
Zenless Zone Zero: What I learned about the new HoYoverse game playing the 15-minute demo at Tokyo Game Show 2023
I played 15 minutes of HoYoverse's Zenless Zone Zero demo at Tokyo Game Show 2023. Here's what I thought about the yet to be released title's gameplay mechanics and character designs.
An interview with the art director of Dordogne. What were the ideas and artistic goals behind the unique watercolor visuals?
We interviewed Cédric Babouche, art director of the 3D narrative game Dordogne, going into the ideas behind the game's story and unique watercolor visuals.
The reason Honkai: Star Rail needed to have turn-based battles
Honkai: Star Rail bears a striking resemblance to Genshin Impact, another of HoYoverse's popular titles. So why would they decide it was necessary to release another game so similar to one that is already popular?