Former Basiscape member Manabu Namiki is well-known and well-loved for his work on various shooters from CAVE, from those that he completed entirely, or almost entirely, on his own (Ketsui, ESPGALUDA II) to those where he was a part of the Basiscape team (such as Mushihimesama and Mushihimesama Futari).
But, for my money, one of his best works in years is a game that isn’t really a shooter at all, despite having the word in its title. Yes, I’m referring to BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER THE GAME, a franchise that started with a simple illustration, and then a vocaloid song, and eventually an OVA and a game and detailed figurines … you can get the whole franchise history via wikipedia.
The PSP game, developed by imageepoch as part of their “JRPG” label (part of an attempt to revive the apparently-dying genre), is coming to North America and Europe sometime in either late 2012 or early 2013. But I would recommend VGM collectors import the soundtrack now, while it’s still available (CDJapan | Play-Asia). My unabashedly positive review, after the jump. (more…)
