A project that was born and unreleased for the Game Boy Advance more than two decades ago is finally ready to be made available to the public. this is about Navigation Aid: Monster BaneA 2D Japanese role-playing game focused on capturing and training supernatural creatures, Happinet will be released on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam in 2027.
This game is made by Xiaoba Studioan independent team made up of former members of NASCAR, the studio behind the Metal Slug series. The story tells that the mechanical Onmyoji Navigator Nosuke experienced a period of fictional version of ancient Japanseveral areas there have been occupied by monsters. The protagonist must resolve incidents involving supernatural creatures and face them in strategic turn-based battles, trying to convince them to join his team.
The game should include more content 200 Creatures Inspired by Japanese Folklore. An important part of this new version’s graphical style will still be associated with the original project: Navinosuke: The Yo-kai Buster actually retains the Game Boy Advanced Editionwhile the interface and game system have also been redesigned.
However, its story is the most special aspect of the project. In the early 2000s, the Navinosuke was designed to take advantage of a GPS unit that could be connected to the Game Boy Advance for the purpose of using geolocation in games. So it was an idea that was ahead of its time.
The GPS system was subsequently abandoned and the game was modified to be able to fOperates without geolocation-related mechanisms. Although work began on the project, Navinosuke was ultimately shelved for undisclosed reasons.
The project was subsequently revived and transformed into the version announced today, retaining some of the original graphical material but updating the structure and interface. The game was previously announced exclusively for Nintendo Switch and is expected to be released in 2026. Happinet has now confirmed Steam version and moving both versions to 2027.
