Many games have tried to create a good hybrid of matching puzzle games and RPGs, but few have succeeded quite as well as Hero Emblems ($2.99), from developer Heat Pot Games. Cute graphics, engaging gameplay, a somewhat mysterious translation, and the fact that it was a paid game in a genre that has almost entirely migrated to free-to-play all helped the game stand out from the pack. While the game got a couple of updates post-release, the developers soon got to work on a sequel. It’s still a ways off from release, but Hero Emblems 2 was playable at Tokyo Game Show 2016.

So, bad news first: the developers have said the game probably won’t be ready until late 2017 at best. The good news is that even though the first game didn’t make as much as it probably deserved to, the developers have opted to stay the course and make the sequel a paid game, rather than go free-to-play. The graphics have received a big overhaul, but the gameplay is largely familiar at this stage of the game’s development. There are a few small tweaks, like the healer being able to attack if no one needs healing, but generally speaking, this is more of an extra helping of what you enjoyed before than anything else. There’s a new cast of characters, new monsters, and a new problem to save the world from, but the basic mechanics and underlying structure mirror the original game closely.

For those who couldn’t get enough of Hero Emblems, that’s probably all they want, though. And with a year left in the game’s development cycle, who knows what might be added? We’ll bring you more information on Hero Emblems 2 as we get it, and you can always drop by the forum thread for some discussion, but if nothing else, at least we know that it’s coming, right? The developers feel quite strongly about the paid model, so let’s hope they get rewarded a little better this time for their efforts.