We're now in August. The heat's been brutal since around the end of June and I figured by now I'd finally be used to it. But nope, turns out you never are.
That sigh that escapes as you walk off the cool train into a wall of heat? It's basically become a summer tradition for anyone living in this city.
Anyway, right at the start of peak summer, we held this year's Fate/Grand Order Fes. over two days, August 1st and 2nd, at Makuhari Messe in Chiba.
This year marked our 11th anniversary, and the theme was a School Festival.
The official name is "Fate/Grand Order Fes. 2026: Chaldea Academy Festival, 11th Anniversary," which is a bit of a mouthful. If I had to sum it up in one line, it's an FGO school festival for us and all the Masters to enjoy together.
Walk into the venue and the first thing that greets you is the giant inflatable slide themed to "Learning with Manga!". The photo doesn't do it justice, it was way bigger than I expected. On day one, when I went to check out the rehearsal, the first thing out of my mouth was just "Whoa, that's huge!"
Pass through the slide, and Chaldea Academy's schoolyard opens up in front of you.
The sports clubs area had soccer, basketball, baseball, and archery, all kinds of physical ability attractions lined up, while the cultural clubs area covered everything from the science club, art club, and manga club to (and this one made me do a double take) the Shark Club.
For class booths, there was the "Heroic Spirit Café Chaldea" and the "Thriller Night Classroom". And from the sports clubs: "Pierce the Enemy's Heart! Amor's Target Game" and "Charge! PK Shootout".
As you can tell from that list up, there was a lot going on.
It really was a Fes. built on the effort of so many people: our on-site staff, everyone who helped from outside the company, the voice actors who fully embraced the school festival concept, our official cosplayers, and our mascot performers. It was a huge group effort.
But I'd also like to share my thoughts as the company president.
Going into this 11th anniversary I had a fair amount of anxiety.
Last year, FGO hit the huge milestone of its 10th anniversary. And by year's end, we managed to deliver another major milestone: the final chapter of Part 2.
This 11th anniversary comes right after that.
It doesn't carry the same weight as a 10th anniversary, and it comes right after the story reached a natural stopping point with the final chapter. So when it came time to plan an 11th Anniversary Fes, I found myself wondering: would the Masters really make the trip out to Makuhari again? Would we get to feel that same energy one more time?
That's where my head was at. But once the doors actually opened, all that worry turned out to be completely unfounded.
On day one, before the venue even opened, there was already a long line of Masters waiting outside. And once everyone got in, every club area and every classroom was full of smiles, gasps of surprise, and groups of friends huddled around their phones, getting excited together.
When we announced new 11th anniversary content on stage, including the arrival of Hassan-i-Sabbah (Azrael) and new systems like the Mausoleum of Azrael, you could hear the whole venue let out this collective "oooh."
We saw so many great comments on X (formerly Twitter) and in gaming media. "It's amazing that FGO can still generate this kind of excitement in its 11th year," and "The school festival concept turned every single Master into classmates," are just a few examples of the amazing response.
Some media outlets even said that this momentum looks set to carry on into year 12 and beyond, which really put a smile on my face.
This isn't something we could have ever created on our own. It's only possible because of the Masters who have journeyed through FGO's world for 11 years now, making it their own story.
So once again, thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart.
And over the course of those two days, there's one thing I came away feeling strongly about. I want to put even more time and effort into FGO, and into the Masters who play it every single day.
Fes is a once-a-year celebration. But the place where Masters actually spend most of their time isn't those two days. It's the main game, which you open up every single day.
I want that same energy from the School Festival to carry straight into everyday life in the app, which means honing every part of how we develop and run the game.
With the 11th anniversary Fes is behind us, that's the main message I've been passing on to the team.
Now, as I do at the end of every post, let me share a bit of recruiting news. If a studio that's spent 11 years growing alongside the Masters sparks even a little interest in you, I'd love for you to knock on Lasengle's door.
We're putting particular focus on new graduate hiring right now.
We're currently running regular online company info sessions, along with sessions specifically for planner and engineer roles. Our hope is to give people a real sense of what kind of company Lasengle is, what kinds of jobs are available, and what the atmosphere on the ground is actually like.
▼ Online Company Info Session
https://job.mynavi.jp/28/pc/corpinfo/displaySeminar/index?optNo=LAdtIC&corpId=276107
▼ Planner & Engineer Job Info Sessions (ongoing)
https://www.lasengle.co.jp/news/news-company/20260727_571419/
We're also now accepting entries for our FY28 new-graduate hiring.
https://recruit.lasengle.co.jp/fresh2028/
We'll keep posting updates on upcoming info sessions and events through Lasengle's official X (formerly Twitter) account and the News section of our corporate site, so be sure to check in.
We're also planning to take part in overseas recruiting events again this year, including the Boston Career Forum. We look forward to meeting in person with people studying outside Japan or working overseas. If even one more person out there feels like Lasengle is somewhere they truly belong, I'd love to meet them.
One last thing. In the ongoing "Takes from the Lasengle Team" series, we share game reviews written by our own staff. The idea is to give you something beyond a simple rating. A look, from the perspective of people who actually make games for a living, at why a particular title works right now, or what specific design choice really lands.
So, this time around, here's the title we're covering.
◆Takes from the Lasengle Team
The Dark Queen of Mortholme
By K, Planner (joined as a new graduate, April 2025)
◆ A Game System Like No Other
The Dark Queen of Mortholme has a genuinely unusual premise: you play as the Dark Queen, and the whole point of the game is watching yourself get defeated by the Hero.
In about 30 minutes, it manages to pack in a surprisingly layered story with two very different ways to read it, plus a clever twist where getting a Game Over is actually how you finish the game.
It's a title that turns the traditional RPG setup on its head. Instead of the usual goal of winning or surviving, you're playing to be defeated by the Hero.
◆ Limited Actions and Basic Tactics
What you can do as the Dark Queen depends on how far the fight has progressed. At the start, you've basically got one attack to work with.
As the battle goes on, that opens up to three: a close-range charge, a skill attack, and a magic attack. You build your strategy around those three as you face off against the Hero.
◆ How the Hero Adapts and Grows
The Hero studies your patterns as the fight continues and slowly figures out how to counter them.
Phase One
Every clash makes the Hero a little stronger, boosting their attack power, gear, and max HP, until eventually they've learned your moves well enough to take down the Dark Queen's first phase.
Phase Two
Once the first phase has been defeated, the Dark Queen shifts to phase two with wide, powerful attacks that overwhelm the Hero for a while. But they adapt to that almost immediately and come back for more.
How the Battle Ends
The Hero starts out getting crushed instantly, then grows little by little until they finally bring the Dark Queen down. That whole arc is a big part of what makes this game so compelling.
◆ Losing Is How You Win
A game where getting killed, normally the definition of losing, is actually how you win is genuinely rare, and it's a game that's hard to forget. There's something oddly cathartic about working toward your own defeat while your enemy grows stronger, and it's a clever way of turning familiar game logic on its head.
◆ A Lot Packed Into a Short Runtime
For a playthrough that only runs about 30 minutes, it delivers a surprising amount. Nothing here feels like filler. The gameplay and the story are both building toward the same moment, the Dark Queen's defeat, and it's a satisfying experience that leaves a real lingering impression once you're done.
◆ A Story With Two Ways to Read It
Part of what makes this game work is how open the story is to interpretation. On the surface, it looks like the Hero is growing stronger through repeated battles until they defeat the Dark Queen.
But it's just as easy to read it the other way: the Dark Queen is the one slowly opening her heart to the Hero and gradually holding back her attacks, which is why the Hero starts to gain ground.
Is the Hero really getting stronger? Or is the Dark Queen the one who's changing? That ambiguity gives players a lot to sit with, even in such a short playtime.
◆ Final Thoughts
The Dark Queen of Mortholme is a low-priced indie title, but it's also an incredibly polished narrative action game. The mechanics and the story both point toward the same ending, the Dark Queen's defeat, and the game still manages to hit hard emotionally in a short amount of time.
It takes the familiar hero-defeats-the-villain setup and flips it completely, telling the whole story from the Dark Queen's side instead. If that idea grabs your interest even a little, this is a game worth playing.
...So there you have it, another look at games through the eyes of a Lasengle team member.
The 11th Anniversary Fes was two days that left me full of gratitude, and lit a real fire for what comes next. Day one of our journey toward the 12th anniversary has already begun.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support of FGO and Lasengle.
Until next time on "From the CEO's Desk."
Yoshinori X（Twitter）