Cosmo Machia acquires Triggerheart Exelica (UPDATE 2025: EXELICA EXA LABEL)

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Looks like the release date of Exelica Enhanced was changed from "End of July" to "Coming Soon".
While my best guess was due to Bitsummit the 13th (where the game was shown), there's no news about the new release date yet.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Marked as English subtitles on the Steam page (which I don't think Enhanced has the option for on Switch) so perhaps it's delayed because they're doing a localisation as per the regular re-release?

[Steven]

Has this game never been in English before? They did release the Xbox version in the USA or something like that, didn't they?

I never realized that this game was supposed to release at the end of July, which is uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh today, but it's kind of good for me that it isn't releasing yet because I got Cotton already (in the mail!) and will be getting Earthion when it launches in 4~5 hours. I don't need to spend more money on STGs today, especially on one that I kind of already have if you count the original version of the game.

[Faith]

I never realized that this game was supposed to release at the end of July, which is uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh today

If I remember correct on Steam it did have the release date as 31 July originally.

I wanted to get the one that is on Steam already when it was summer sale, then when I saw "oh Enhanced release 31 July ok I wait" I did not buy it lol... oh well.

Now the date is just Coming Soon lol.

I really hope that the graphics are cleaner for Enhanced when it is finally released just to make it look fresh @_@"...

[Steven]

lol

I did something very similar, actually. I was going to buy the Zero/Fatal Frame games on Steam during the summer sale after I got paid even though they were on sale prior to that.

And then they weren't on sale anymore. lol oops.

Oh well. As for this

I really hope that the graphics are cleaner for Enhanced when it is finally released just to make it look fresh @_@"...

The graphics in the regular version's menus seems oddly blurry. The menus seem to be running in a sub-native resolution, although I don't know why they'd do that. It's just the menu and nothing demanding is going on in there. I do hope they fix it with Enhanced. I think it was like this on the original Switch version too. Next thing to hope for is that the game is actually playable on Steam Deck this time because the original certainly is not!

[Faith]

The graphics in the regular version's menus seems oddly blurry.

Yes I noticed that too X_X"...

Problem is, so far, from the few screenshots on the Steam page... does not look very promising.

I understand if the game is old with old models but at least texture resolution should go up a bit and the side borders and main menu should all be 100% sharp no excuse.

I actually decided to play Gunvein again and I am always surprised at how stupid crazy sharp that game is, so clean looking @_@"...

Old 3D low-poly models are ok... but texture res please!

[AGermanArtist]

Having put a few hours into this using Redream at 4K, I don't think I'll be buying this again. I'd choose this emulation over even the 360 version on Xbox Series S.

[NeoStrayCat]

Has this game never been in English before? They did release the Xbox version in the USA or something like that, didn't they?

Yeah, it wasn't until the X360 version that it came out in English worldwide. But for Enhanced, no, it never got a localization and was stuck on the PS2 and then up until the Switch port, until now. It'll get its overseas release eventually (for both PC/Steam and Switch), but it seems that it won't be right now.

Speaking of...yeah, outside of the BitSummit 13th event. The official site for Enhanced just has a general "Scheduled to begin distribution in July 2025" line, which that isn't obviously happening. Even the JP game news sites (4Gamer, Automaton, etc.) that had articles on them mentioned "End of July" for its release. To which its already 7/31 here (stateside), and well...its most likely delayed until further notice. Not even Cosmo Machia has yet to make any official statements unless otherwise noted.

Also, for those wondering on the graphical front, its just taking the basis of the X360 versions graphics from that version and applying them to the current gen ports.

As for Enhanced working on Steam Deck, I've checked on their latest posts from their crowdfunding campaign from Makuake that they'll get it working this time on Steam Deck with the line "We've updated the main program to make it compatible with Steam Deck, so stay tuned".

But yeah, this isn't the first time Cosmo Machia delays something, they already did that with Shiki 3, but that eventually released. Enhanced more likely needs some time to get ready for its localization.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

We've got some information from CM's latest Makuake post.
https://www.makuake.com/project/cosmoma ... l/1691353/

"Dear Supporters

Thank you for your support. This is the Cosmo Machia Makuake representative.
Thank you for your support of the "Triggerheart Exelica Revival Support Project Part 2."

We previously announced that the Steam version would be released at the end of July, but we apologize for the delay.
Thanks to all of you, we decided to develop a port. To be honest, the game was released on the store soon after, but the build approval has been pending for a month. (Tears) There's no indication of when it will be released, and the staff is getting really frustrated.

*This time, we've made the game compatible with Deck, but a review for that hasn't even been done."


...and the delay seems to have to do with Faintear's Triggerheart Spec Suit forcing CM to change the ESRB from "E10+" to "T"

"Well, my guess is that it was previously said that the "Faintear Original" suit was too provocative (like the difference between Soryu and Shikinami), so the North American rating was changed from the original "E 10+" to an enhanced "T", and while normally it would be finished with just an AI check, I think they're now manually checking and judging the content.
Apologies to those who were looking forward to it. (I don't think you'll get banned, though...)

As an aside, I'm at a loss as to how the market price of the Switch version of the complete set has skyrocketed.
Many customers have scolded me, saying "What's going on, it's only been a month and it's priced at 20,000 yen?"
Package production lots are ordered two months in advance, and are regulated to be in the thousands. It's difficult to increase production unless there are more than a thousand repeat orders.
That's the scheme for manufacturing packaged ROMs.

When we made the original, we made a lot, but orders stopped completely within six months, and then when we started the second revival project, we were told "we'll return it," so we came up with the complete set as a last resort.

So, to be honest, I deeply regret that we were too slow to act. What's more, when we re-assembled and shipped the games, scalpers said, "Don't be ridiculous, they're no longer selling at the high price."
The truth is, I wish they wouldn't bully small and medium-sized businesses. We're not a big-capitalized company that keeps churning out million-copy titles...

If we move to digital distribution, will there be a "barrier of expression," and small publishers be forced to leave the market? ...Oh, it looks like someone's coming."

[Steven]

Also, for those wondering on the graphical front, its just taking the basis of the X360 versions graphics from that version and applying them to the current gen ports.

So are the menus on 360 low resolution like this too? That's... weird. It's not like it's gonna make the planet explode or whatever, but okay.

...and the delay seems to have to do with Faintear's Triggerheart Spec Suit forcing CM to change the ESRB from "E10+" to "T"

Last I checked, PC games don't need ESRB ratings. They have the ability to tell the ESRB to go to hell and release it on Steam without a rating at all, at least in the USA, unless something's changed since the last time I bought a PC game in the USA, which was like 12 years ago. Japan/CERO might care, though. If they want to get the game rated anyway for some reason, I guess they can, but...

[Star Lurker]

Last I checked, PC games don't need ESRB ratings. They have the ability to tell the ESRB to go to hell and release it on Steam without a rating at all, at least in the USA, unless something's changed since the last time I bought a PC game in the USA, which was like 12 years ago. Japan/CERO might care, though. If they want to get the game rated anyway for some reason, I guess they can, but...

I don't think the problem is the ESRB rating change per se, more that the rating change somehow caused Valve to flag the game for manual review.

[NeoStrayCat]

So are the menus on 360 low resolution like this too? That's... weird. It's not like it's gonna make the planet explode or whatever, but okay.

The menus and stuff on the X360 version aren't low resolution from what I've seen. Especially when its backwards compatible and has the option of Auto HDR (though those options are on the X1 and Series consoles). I think it just looks fine to me seeing both the X360 version and the PC/Steam version of the original if you put them in full screen formats. On a handheld/docked/etc. situation, I guess it varies.

I don't think the problem is the ESRB rating change per se, more that the rating change somehow caused Valve to flag the game for manual review.

Yeah, from what I see, putting a game rating is optional on Steam, and for example, even the current gen version of the original doesn't have it on its store page. I'd assume the ESRB rating change is possibly for the Switch version overseas (if/when it does actually happen). Since console versions of games stateside have to include the game rating in their digital store pages and in physical versions somewhere. And yeah, chances are, Valve flagging the PC/Steam version for manual review is what's causing the delay. As they most likely tried an automatic submission process, but that didn't work. Hopefully the manual review process doesn't take too long and that it eventually comes out.