Conan: The Dark Axe was a fun action-adventure game based on the iconic Conan franchise. You played as the legendary barbarian as he slashed and clashed with enemies of all sizes, and rose victorious like he always does. Unlike the 2007 Conan game, this one didn’t play like a copy of God of War or Devil May Cry. It felt unique with all its pros and cons. Looking back, this game excelled in several areas over the 2007 Conan iteration by THQ.
Below, we can see a couple of beta images and concept artwork showing some of the changes.
Here’s a long-lost Dating Simulator game concept from the 1990s, which artist Kinu Nishimura, best known for her work with Capcom, tried to pitch back then. Titled Tokimeki Requiem (working title), it is unknown how far this concept progressed. This particular pitch may have evolved into something else or been cancelled altogether. It’s hard to know. What is known, though, is that this game was going to target women.
Luckily, thanks to a rare page in an old Capcom magazine, we can get a glimpse of what this game might have been. Check out the translation below this picture.
Picture:
Translation (using Deepl)
Top green header section デザイン室夜一夜 第1夜 Design Room Overnight – Episode 1
“いまを去ることン年前……西村キヌが本業の合間につくった！？ 温めていた謎の恋愛シミュレーション。その名は『ときめきレクイエム（仮）』！！” “Many years ago… was this made by Kinu Nishimura in between her main work!? A mysterious romance simulation she had been keeping warm. Its name: Tokimeki Requiem (working title)!!”
Pink text on top-left with picture of the two characters: 愛は力なり!! Love is Power!!
“女性になるため、彼女の心のよりどころであった男子、2回も失恋した。いやいやすべての主人公はプレイヤーのキンチョーの糸をたぐりよせるように進行していくのだ。なんといっても彼の愛を勝ち取るのが目的。しかも全宇宙の女子制服の逆シンパターンを初公開！” “To become a woman, she relied on this boy as her emotional support — but was rejected twice. No no, every protagonist advances as if pulling in the player’s tension thread. The goal is, of course, to win his love. And for the first time ever: a reverse-pattern lineup of girls’ uniforms from across the universe!”
Orange/yellow text block mid-right: ターゲットの男の子は全部で11人！ The target boys total 11 in all!
“ビジュアルからタイトル構成まで、それぞれ一長一短ありまくりますが、なんとかひとつにまとめようと苦労したのがこれ…夢か幻か!! いやしかし、全部人間じゃない!? えっ…宇宙人に獣人、天使や悪魔まで…？ わかるかな？ わかんねぇだろうなァ…” “From visuals to title composition, each had its strengths and weaknesses, but this was the result of trying to bring them together into one… was it a dream or an illusion!? Wait a second — not all of them are even human!? What the… aliens, beast-men, angels, even demons…? Can you believe it? Nah, you probably can’t…”
Small red text bubble near top right next to two characters 似てる!? Do they look alike!?
ゲームシステム Game System
“これが自分の分身となるヒロイン。ちなみに彼の名前は…って書こうとしたら、まだ決まってなかったらしい。” “This is the heroine who becomes your alter ego. By the way, his name was… well, I was going to write it, but apparently it hadn’t been decided yet.”
Lower-left section, game screenshots: 更にゲーム画面では…！ And furthermore, in the game screens…!
“日常もままならない!! テストや部活で忙しい毎日、追い詰められ授業の居眠りは毎度恒例!! サーモの姿勢や部屋（簡単な模様替え）、校内探検、そして突然のバトル展開などイベントも盛りだくさん！” “Daily life isn’t easy!! Busy days filled with tests and club activities, cornered into dozing off in class as always!! Adjust your posture or room (simple rearranging), explore the school, and enjoy plenty of events like sudden battle developments!”
Screenshot captions:
コップを割れれになった!! The cup got broken!!
問題を解いた!! Solved the problem!!
Bottom-left red burst text: ここまでやるとホントにゲームになりそう？ If we go this far, it might really turn into a game!?
Character list on right-hand side (vertical small captions next to each watercolor illustration):
天使くん – Angel-kun
ゴーストスイーパー教師 – Ghost Sweeper Teacher
設くん – Construction-kun
改造島 – Modified Island
人気アイドル – Popular Idol
PAロボJrくん – PA Robot Jr-kun
サイキッカー – Psychic
ホーミンくん – Homin-kun
Important: This game is not related to any Tokimeki games made by Konami.
Before it became known as Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, the game was originally titled ESPionage. In its early beta builds, it looked and played quite differently from the version that eventually hit the store. This was largely because Midway began showcasing the game while it was still in its alpha phase.
The game was indeed shown at E3 2003, where it was featured under the ESPionage codename. Thanks to footage and media from that event, we can catch a few rare glimpses of what the game looked like during its early development.
While the game was officially scheduled to release on the GameCube, that port was eventually cancelled.
Severance: Blade of Darkness (or Blade: Edge of Darkness in Europe) was a brutal and atmospheric hack-and-slash released for PC back in 2001 by the now-defunct Rebel Act Studios. Years later, it got a remastered release on modern platforms, giving it a second life with old fans and curious newcomers alike.
While digging around the internet, I came across an old concept sketch that hinted at a possible sequel. It was originally posted on MercurySteam’s Facebook page but has since been deleted — and there’s almost no info about it anywhere else. Still, it seems like a follow-up was at least being explored at some point.
There’s not much else to go on right now, but if you happen to know anything about this lost project — or have more artwork or details stashed away — feel free to reach out. It would be great to uncover more about what could’ve been.
Jet Li Rise to Honour was a fun beat’em up released exclusively on the PS2. The project began when Sony was exploring ways to bring action-hollywood cinema experiences to the small screen, and it happened that Jet Li fit their goal. After a few calls and discussions, Jet Li decided to give the project a kick (or a punch)
From the images and videos below, we can notice a handful of beta differences that have, unfortunately, gone undocumented for a few years now.
Images:
Beta changes:
Different jacket
Different character HUD (it went through two iterations)
Some different attack moves
Gun pointer was changed twice
The Fei & Huang brothers look different
The guy shooting you early in the game is different here
Different bike colours (blue in this instance)
From the pre-final build, a different HUD can be observed with green circles. It is unknown what their purpose was
Videos:
This video shows the pre-beta footage gameplay of Jet Li Rise to Honour.
This video, on the other hand, is very important as it shows the following beta changes:
Jet Li isn’t wearing a jacket
Different Jet Li fascial textures
Different attack animations (a bit slower)
Different HUD once again
The Fei & Huang brothers are different here
Chueng Mo Pao wears different clothes, and so does Jet Li (White jacket)
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