Japan's Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, which aired yesterday, had a fair few differences from ours. And one of the biggest of them was the announcement of The New Denpa Men RPG Free!, a brand new free-to-play game from Genius Sonority (thanks, Gematsu!).

This is the first game to feature the Denpa Men since 2017's The New Denpa Men on mobile. At the time of writing this, the game has only been confirmed for a Japanese release.

In case you've never heard of The Denpa Men before, this series of augmented reality RPGs debuted on the 3DS back in 2012. There are five games in the series — four 3DS titles, (one of which never left Japan), and one mobile title, which also never left Japan. the aim is to collect Denpa Men and form a party to explore dungeons and fight enemies in turn-based combat.

The New Denpa Men RPG Free! looks to do much the same as its predecessors — catch Denpa Men, form parties, explore dungeons, and dress them up on your base island. You can farm, fish, and even decorate a house. And the Denpa Men can essentially "evolve" too.

A release date hasn't been confirmed yet, but the game is due to launch sometime in 2024. Whether that includes a Western release remains to be seen, but we'll let you know if that changes. In the meantime, check out the game's website for more details. And why not have a read of our reviews of the 3DS games, too?

Are you looking forward to The New Denpa Men RPG Free!? Let us know in the comments.

[source youtube.com, via gematsu.com]