- The Concrete Sutra #1 "Mid development trailer" is released! - 24 September 2026
Hello, fellas!Slowly we're moving to the release and since I don't run any media now I decided to share development news here at Steam.First of all, check out this new "Mid development trailer":I read some comments after releasing the last trailer, that the game "obviously isn't a jrpg". Rest assured it really is. But in yeo's style, of course )I planned to not include any grind in this part (not in the whole game, cause the game is really about the grind), but it happened that something still leaked through. So you can still grind your stats (a very little) and unlock some action skills (a really few as well). Almost a week ago I even returned random battles to the world map locations (they're not that annoying).I think that overall playtime expanded maybe for 30 or so minutes, so the game is still short. I haven’t tested the difficulty yet, because nobody besides me has played it, so…
- Our beloved Ueda M. is celebrating her anniversary! - 12 September 2026
Hello, fellas!Ueda M. turns XX (asking a woman her age is bad tone)!Our story began here, on Ringo's Steam forum when I was looking for a Japanese translator and asked players for the help: https://steamcommunity.com/app/846110/discussions/0/1728701877525133113/?snr=2___We continued to talk via email, she proofread the whole translation, and then in the middle of Arrest development I proposed to draw some sprites for a jrpg game (which is going to release next year, I hope: So we started to work on it, she tried pixel art for the first time as I remember and her 5th or 6th background work was this:During the development, CIRCLE Ent. (my Switch publisher) proposed to make a physical release of Ringo but we were short on time (we had only a little more than a month to deliver all materials), and I asked Ueda M. to use her Ringo fan art as it. She, thankfully, agreed, so we used a manual s…
- Ringo is featured in the NAG Winter Edition 2026 - 15 July 2026
8 years later some players still discover the game! 3 games later Ringo still sells the best out of them and makes it possible for me to continue living by gamedev. I consider it a pure luck actually (aka gift of Heavens), cause there's a lot more hardworking devs than me, thousands as talented but with lesser successful or even completely unknown games. So I was just lucky and can't be grateful enough. Digital games are some kind of a mirage though. Something that exists only in the imaginary world of the internet. So it really feels different when you materialize in something substantial, whether it's a physical edition of a game, or an article in a magazine of the real world. So I really appreciate the editors of NAG Magazine for including Ringo in this issue. Thank you very much! The NAG Winter Edition 2026 is available through the following stores: https://www.takealot.com/nag-maga…
- Old speech bubbles are back! - 30 June 2026
Hello!I discovered that some players prefer old version only because of old school speech bubbles. So I added an option to turn it back in EX version.Enjoy!P.S.Please let me know if something went wrong after this update.
- Why do players still play the old version? - 29 June 2026
Hello! From time to time, when I check screenshots section (to hide the ending scenes) I see that some players still play pre-EX version (mostly Chinese players, but not only them). At first I thought that maybe there was some problems with old saves or something like that. But it's already more than 1 year after EX update and I still see many pre-EX screens. Do you have any guess?
- Thanks to the Dude and the players - 19 May 2026
Hello everyone! Some of my followers know that I deleted Twitter last summer, and this spring I got rid of YouTube, and generally decided (perhaps temporarily) to reduce my online socializing to a minimum and not promote the upcoming game at all (in fact, the new game was only announced here on Steam). But today I came to check the summer sale dates, checked Sutra's wishlists, and was surprised by the slight spike on May 16th. I decided to find out why. A quick Google search led me to Dude's channel: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxAaErDOlK1NfUoZ1Pqo5HGIBO4ETyPEtT And somehow it really warmed my heart. Dude helps me whenever possible, mentions me in interviews, and when I created the Telegram channel, he immediately got people on it, promoting my games in every way possible. And regular players do the same: they write reviews and guides, discuss plot twists and meanings in the comments…
- "The Concrete Sutra #1" My new game announcement! - 13 April 2026
Hello, fellas!I made a Steam page for my new game today, please, check it!
- Cloud saves bug fixed - 9 November 2025
Hello!I've got a bug report via email that Cloud Saves doesn't work. I checked and it seems that the game uses before ex-update catalogue "the_friends_of_ringo_ishikawa" instead of "the_friends_of_ringo_ishikawa_ex".I changed it to "the_friends_of_ringo_ishikawa_ex", so maybe there'll be some jeopardy with cloud saves now. I also don't quite get how it affects saves at the old version branch.Please report if anything goes wrong.
- Physical edition of "Fading Afternoon" is opened for preorder - 10 April 2025
Physical edition by Tesura Games is opened for preorder: https://store.tesuragames.com/producto/fading-afternoon-uncensored-nsw/ It's the only full version on Switch (it matches the Steam version, digital Switch version has no gambling mini-games, additional waifu etc. because of age ratings in Japan). I also wrote some introduction dialogue and Ueda M. illustrated it. So 24 pages "manual" is included. Copies are limited so it's better to preorder while it's available. Enjoy!
- Brazilian Portuguese localization is live! - 3 March 2025
Hello, fellas! New Brazilian Portuguese localization is finally live. Done by Masamune (http://masamune.com.br/), who translated SoR4, TMNT, Yakuza like a Dragon, Fading Afternoon etc. So I hope you'll be satisfied with the quality. Enjoy.
- Solitaire mini-game - 1 February 2025
Hello. Now you can play solitaire mini-game on the roof (after Goro gets enough with it). There's also one new achievement. I know that you don't like new achievements but it's probably the last one. Maybe.
- Happy Chinese New Year! - 28 January 2025
Dear Chinese players! I fell in love with Chinese culture as soon as I watched an old (1961) animated movie about Sun Wukong "Havoc in Heaven" on Soviet TV, it was the mid 1980s and I was 6-7 years old. Hong Kong's 80-90s movies and martial arts practicing cemented that love, and while I was growing up I tried to learn more about your country's story, religion and philosophy. I finally visited China for the very first time in 2023 (I was in Shanghai) and since I was amazed with the country I took my family on another trip soon after that and we've been in Beijing and Hong Kong. Hong Kong was good, but was a little too western, but both Shanghai and Beijing were great. Clean streets, many trees, people are friendly and helpful, city colors, I really was impressed. I'm really proud that more than 70% of the players of my games are Chinese people. I want to wish all the best to you and you…
- Juggling mini-game - 23 January 2025
You can now juggle a ball on the playground (100 times for an achievement). Player 2 will be able to do it in the next update.
- Old saves should work now - 22 January 2025
Hello. Thanks to grap3_day sending me an old save file I was able to fix the issue. Now you can use save files from original game. You have to manually relocate them from: C:\Users\YOUR_ACCOUNT\AppData\Local\the_friends_of_ringo_ishikawa to C:\Users\YOUR_ACCOUNT\AppData\Local\the_friends_of_ringo_ishikawa_ex Don't forget that not all EX features will be available though (like fish and bicycle shop won't have shop owners etc.) and it could contain more bugs. If you report a bug please pinpoint that you played from the old save. Thanks!
- Player 2 can ride a bicycle solo, pet the cat etc. - 21 January 2025
Hello. After EX update I added: DONE: 8 new achievements Free roam mode after completing the story Player 2 can pet the cat Player 2 can use scales in the gym Player 2 can ride bicycles solo (he could just sit on Ringo bicycle before) IN WORK: Player 2 controls friends in ping pong and pool Player 2 can take bags You can check status of future updates here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/846110/discussions/0/510695968495149823/ I'm not sure for how long I'll be working on the game, maybe couple of days or weeks. Mostly I'm already satisfied with it.
- Looking for the author of the Br-Portuguese translation - 20 January 2025
Hello. It seems that the translation wasn't done by the author of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obkd_QkHNCg I found older videos with instructions for installation of this translation, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMwKOo5o-6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwX7mtTb4IM Didn't check from the start cause I'm used to believe people. Sadly, he didn't say it to me when I proposed to pay for the translation (I hope that my partner didn't send the money yet). In any case, if you're the real author of this translation and has a proof, please write me to [email protected] The above person already deceived me (if he has proofs that he made the translation - I apologize), so I can't believe the next person by word. Sadly.
- Free roam mode and new achievements - 19 January 2025
Hello, fellas! I added 7 new achievements (5 from XBox 2nd update and 2 brand new ones). And a long awaited "Free Roam Mode". You can pause/unpause the story any time on the "pause screen". To activate it you need to finish the story and see the credits roll. After you get the achievement and run the game from Steam - you'll see the option. You also can turn the music off now (on the same screen). Maybe I'll add a couple more achievements next week, but overall I'm happy with the update so that's it. Enjoy! * Please report bugs at the forum so I can fix them.
- EX update is live now! - 18 January 2025
Hello! EX update is live now. What's inside: 1. Local 2 player coop 2. Updated sprites for characters 3. Bicycles 4. New street with a bicycle store and a fish store 5. New skills for Mechanic "dojo", new throw (suplex from FA), brand new karate drop kick 6. Updated battle mechanics 7. KO animations from FA 8. Skippable cutscenes and dialogues 9. Jumping will be removed 10. Lowering screen size from 250x140 to 240x135 so the game will look cleaner in full screen 11. Br Portuguese localization (some GUI lines are Deepl translated for now, will be replaced when I get proper translation from the translator) 12. Korean GUI (Korean dialogues are available for a long time) 13. Changeable shoes (you can change to white ones in the school) 14. Fishing mini-game 15. Little tweaks here and there You can play old versions anytime via beta-branches: I tried to make old saves work but I can't guaran…
- Need help with Korean, French and Spanish GUI - 12 January 2025
Hello! I need a little help with Spanish and French GUI: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15us8fYVTrfnqgxLdnCQ7A0zCE2gzw3rFI9DwbJ5M8g0/edit?gid=0#gid=0 DONE! And more help with Korean GUI. I took names from dialogues, but item names are just Deepl translated, also I doubt that Deepl will translate skill names and descriptions correctly. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qMT9hlLLl1S6Qxu6YWdCTfdyQAeOffGzwFHCg1hdzIY/edit?gid=0#gid=0 Please fill the tables! DONE! The update is almost ready, I hope to release it by the end of the next week. Thanks!
- Brazilian localization - 2 January 2025
Hello! Recently I found out that there's a fan's Brazilian localization of the game. After I updated the game to GMS 2.3, the method which the author used to apply the translation doesn't work, so I decided to buy this translation and make it official. So the upcoming update will be available in Brazilian.
