Konami Press Start Recap: Rhapsody in Scarlet Is a New Jazz Age Action Game, Rev. NOiR Lands in 2027, and Silent Hill: Townfall Shows Its Cast

Konami promised a Press Start broadcast with no surprise announcements, and then opened the morning with a surprise anyway. Rhapsody in Scarlet, a brand new action game set in 1920s New York, debuted during PlayStation's State of Play and got a longer look two hours later in Konami's own 30 minute show. If you were only half paying attention to a crowded September 3, it is the one Konami reveal worth rewinding for.

The rest of the broadcast did what Konami said it would do on Tuesday: new footage and developer messages for games that are weeks away, plus one release window. Rev. NOiR now has a 2027 date on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. Silent Hill: Townfall, out September 24, finally introduced its cast. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, dated October 15, showed three new boss fights. And, as pledged, there was not a word about a Silent Hill remake.

Video: Konami on YouTube

Rhapsody in Scarlet: magic, beasts and a speakeasy

Konami's own description of Rhapsody in Scarlet is an action game built around exhilarating combos that mix magic and powerful beasts. The setting is Prohibition era New York, jazz clubs included, with a hidden district called the Sorcellerie Quarter where magi operate out of sight. You play Ellie Myers, a young magus chasing a career as a jazz singer, who gets tangled up with a mysterious mafia organization. She teams up with Ilya Jones, the leader of a magus group called the Seekers, despite the two of them disagreeing on just about everything, and together they chase a conspiracy that threatens the whole world.

Combat, per the PlayStation Blog post from co-producer Takanori Murayama, blends close range attacks, area of effect spells and beast techniques into combos you customize yourself. The trailer backs that up with a wolf like companion wreathed in flame and a staff that doubles as a melee weapon. Cherami Leigh voices Ellie in English with Akari Kito in Japanese, while Hannah Grace and Saori Onishi share Ilya. The theme song, Cool/Hot featuring Emi Meyer, is performed by SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS, which explains why the trailer sounds like a nightclub set. Platforms are PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. There is no release date or window yet, only a wishlist button, so temper the excitement accordingly.

Townfall gets faces, Rev. NOiR gets a year, Castlevania gets bosses

Silent Hill: Townfall is the Konami game closest to release, and the Press Start segment was about who is in it rather than what is in it. Series producer Motoi Okamoto presented a trailer focused on the creative team and cast. Writer and director Jon McKellan said he cast Jovan Adepo as Simon after seeing him in 3 Body Problem, called Terry O'Quinn his dream casting for the game, and welcomed back Kezia Burrows, who previously worked with developer Screen Burn on Observation in 2019. The game itself remains a first person, full length psychological horror set on a fog covered Scottish island, where Simon Ordell is called back to St. Amelia to put things right with limited weapons and a pocket television called the CRTV. It launches September 24 on PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Games Store, with 48 hour early access for pre-purchases.

Rev. NOiR, the stylish RPG developed by ILCA, got the day's only new date: 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. Its two leads, Asch and Fine, are drawn together to stop Lightfall, a calamity that kills everything it touches, in a world guided since ancient times by astral ordinances handed down from a celestial Determinant. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse stuck to gameplay, showing new abilities and weapons for Rose and three boss encounters ahead of its October 15 launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch and PC. Rounding out the show, Project Zircon reappeared as a dark fantasy deckbuilding roguelike with multiple endings and no mention of the blockchain angle it was announced with in 2023, Wai Wai World Craft showed its block based level creator with Castlevania and Contra crossovers on PC and mobile, and eFootball Kick Off! on Switch 2 teased a Leagues mode for this autumn.

Our take

Konami is quietly doing what fans begged for a decade ago: shipping real games from its dormant catalog and, now, trying new ideas alongside them. Rhapsody in Scarlet is the riskiest thing here, an original IP with a genuinely fresh setting, and it looks better than a first showing has any right to. The frustration is timing. Townfall is three weeks out, Belmont's Curse six, and both got solid segments, but the newest game has no date and the RPG is a year or more away. A good show, then, as long as you go in expecting momentum rather than megatons.