BioWare knows it has to make up for Dragon Age 2 after a mixed reaction from fans. From all that we’ve got to see of Dragon Age: Inquisition in preview form, it feels like BioWare is really swinging for the fences, manically working to make an epic game that everyone can enjoy. This launch trailer looks pretty great — not just the game itself, but the beautiful graphics. It makes me kind of sad I’m behind on these games; I never finished Dragon Age: Origins, so maybe I’ll be returning to that one in an attempt to catch up to Inquisition. Read more…
Any experienced gamer knows that videogame graphics aren’t as important as gameplay, no matter how good they are. And yet, I think there’s a place for graphic-heavy games. Sometimes I’ll play a game just to absorb the art, or to listen to the music, or to find out where the story goes, and I think that’s alright. So even if Child of Light didn’t look to be a fun JRPG (from Ubisoft, not a Japanese studio), I’d likely still play it for the gorgeous artwork that looks like they painted watercolors into the game. Watch this trailer and just absorb the detailed backgrounds before the game comes out on April 30. Read more…
Half-Minute Hero was a fun PSP game (that later came to PC) giving the player “30 seconds” to save the world, though in-game mechanics allowed you to continually roll back time. Later unlockable modes let you play as an Evil Lord, Princess, or Knight with new gameplay styles. Like many unique ideas, it didn’t sell that well, seemingly dooming the sequel to remain in Japan. But luckily, Marvelous AQL has announced that they’re bringing Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming to Steam on April 4. Here’s where the info gets murky. Because yesterday was April Fool’s Day, the info provided about the game seems fishy. Marvelous claims the game will support the Oculus Rift (which seems unlikely) and that the game will cost $999.99 on Steam — though owners of the first game will get 25% off. If the game is coming out on Friday, I’d expect the price to be much, much lower. Either way, check it out! Read more…
Yasumi Matsuno has made some of the best strategy RPGs, like Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy Tactics. He’s since left Square Enix and gone freelance for almost a decade, but he’s ready to reveal his latest game. Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians is another medieval strategy game inspired by some of his earlier work. You’ll play as several heroes as they take part in the “Seventy-Seven Years War” in the land of Rasfalia, with each hero getting their own episode. The title is being made by American developer Playdek and is planned for PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows tablets. The game is being posted on Kickstarter, so it will have to meet its minimum funding goal. Two of the stretch goals, however, will add PS Vita and 3DS versions to the development schedule, so you have the option to play it on more systems. Other stretch goals include additional scenarios, voice-overs, and a soundtrack composed by Hitoshi Sakamoto, who has scored some of Matsuno’s past games. I’m interested because of Matsuno, but I have to point out that the game has one of the most generic fantasy titles ever. Read more…
Next-gen consoles like PS4 and Xbox One may be considered “current-gen” now that they’ve released, but as with the PS2, it will be a while before developers fully abandon the PS3 and Xbox 360. Case in point: Namco Bandai has announced that Tales of Zestria, a game marking the 20th anniversary of the Tales series, will be released on PS3, presumably sometime in 2014. The announcement was a worldwide announcement, confirming the game’s release in North and South America, in addition to the usual Japanese release. Other statements seem to imply a European release as well. Read more…
Bravely Default finally has a confirmed North American release: February 7, 2014. It’s not as soon as the release date in Europe, but considering how likely it was that this game would stay Japan-only as recently as early 2013, I’ll take it. The Square Enix JRPG is dropping its subtitle “Flying Fairy” and also not using the upcoming Japanese rerelease’s subtitle “For the Sequel”; however, the Western release still includes the enhancements and extras found in “For the Sequel.” Bravely Default is also getting a collector’s edition, which features 34 augmented reality cards, an art book, and a soundtrack CD; looks like the figurine will only be part of the European collector’s edition. Read more…
Technically, getting a Western release of Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, Square Enix’s critically-acclaimed so-far-Japan-only JRPG, in our native tongues counts as an improved version to me. But while it’s great that Squenix finally confirmed the 3DS game for Europe in 2013 and America in 2014, gamers were slightly concerned when the company announced an updated version with expansion content, misleadingly titled Bravely Default: For the Sequel. It features better battles, better UI, better graphics, and more content in general that may hint at a sequel. Interestingly, it also has multiple language options (including English), which made everyone concerned about whether or not this better version was the one the rest of the world would also be getting. Read more…
Sometimes fans do crazy things. This time, it concerns Kanye “Yeezus” West. They’re making Kanye Quest 3030, a PC game made in RPG Maker VX that sends Kanye West through a wormhole to a future ruled by Lil B, The Based God, another rapper. To get back, Kanye West must fight and team up with clones of other rappers like 2Pac, Jay Z, Eminem, and more. Battles play out in RPG style, with rappers dissing each other to do damage. It’s as ridiculous older fan-RPG Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, but I’d imagine this one depends more on a love of hip-hop. Still, it’s worth checking out the trailer below, or grabbing the free PC download here. Read more…
With all of the major press conferences out of the way (thanks for nothing, Square Enix), E3 is starting to stabilize as journalists get their hands-on impressions. But there are still some announcements trickling out, especially for games that may have been a bit too small to trumpet from the heavens (er, stage). One such game is Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl, a 3DS remake of the first Etrian Odyssey game. Atlus made and published the game in Japan, but not every game makes it over. However, since the series does rather well for Atlus USA, they’ve announced that they will be publishing The Millenium Girl in the US this fall. Read more…
Tales of Symphonia, originally released on the GameCube (and later the PS2 in Japan), was one of the high points in Namco Bandai’s long-running Tales JRPG series. It now seems that it may be getting an HD rerelease on PS3, according to series producer Hideo Baba. He teased the rerelease, calling it “a representation of the dreams and hopes of the fans, who have long been wanting it.” Namco Bandai has yet to officially confirm anything, but it also seems that the Wii-exclusive sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, will also be included. Considering how that title shares many assets with the first game, I wouldn’t be surprised, since it would cut down on work. It will be interesting to see how the updated games look once there’s a formal announcement! Read more…
After Nintendo was silent on Western releases for three major RPGs for its ailing Wii system, fans got together and complained loud enough (Operation Rainfall) for them all to get released. Sure, Nintendo claimed it was already planning on publishing Xenoblade Chronicles, and XSEED had to pick up the publishing slack for The Last Story, but at least they were released. This April, XSEED is publishing the third of the missing RPGs and probably the last worthwhile Wii game, Pandora’s Tower. Read more…
Against all odds, XSEED will be releasing Pandora’s Tower in North America. That’s right, a JRPG Wii game published by Nintendo in Japan is getting a 2013 release, after the system is all but dead following the release of the Wii U. This isn’t the first time XSEED has picked up after Nintendo’s remains, having taken similar measures with fellow Wii JRPG The Last Story, which performed well for them. There’s also a tentative release date, and it’s as early as this spring. Read more…
Atlus is keeping it old-school with its Etrian Odyssey series. The player controls a party and traverses dunegons while fighting monsters. It’s like Wizardry, but far more modern. But some things never change, like the need to draw your own map as you go along, like people did back in the NES days. I respect that fact that some developers are keeping alive old traditions like that in an era where many games involve following an arrow down a straight corridor, in terms of how much freedom you’re granted. There’s a new game coming up, Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan, and there’s a new trailer showing off what it’s like. Read more…
Namco Bandai has dissolved their Namco Tales Studio as a separate studio, but that doesn’t mean those same people aren’t working on a new Tales game! Tales of Xillia 2 is a direct sequel to the game that the rest of the world is still waiting for a translation of sometime in 2013. Xillia 2 takes place one year after the original and is being released only a year and a few months after the original game in Japan on November 1, 2012. That’s soon, and so Namco Bandai is already advertising the game. Read more…
After the cliffhanger ending of Final Fantasy XIII-2, everyone expected another installment in what Square Enix has come to call the “Lightning Saga.” Of course, Square Enix seems to have a thing for convoluted names lately, which means that instead of calling it Final Fantasy XIII-3, they’re going with Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Oh well, there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on with the game, and Famitsu has just revealed a lot of it. Read more…
Imageepoch is the Japanese studio behind niche yet well-regarded games such as Luminous Arc, Arc Rise Fantasia, Fate/Extra, and Black Rock Shooter. One of the studio’s major releases for 2012 is Sol Trigger, which some gamers hope may be a stand-out JRPG in a time of uninspired genre rehashes. The game will be released on PSP in Japan on October 4, but on September 6, a demo will be released on PSN. To help promote the demo, Imageepoch has revealed the opening movie, a fully animated sequence by J.C. Staff (Bakuman, A Certain Magical Index). Read more…
Perhaps all the clamoring and petitioning from fans earlier this year was worth it: after Nintendo stated earlier this year that they had no plans to release the fan-favorite and critically-acclaimed Wii RPG Xenoblade Chronicles in the US, gamers rallied to support it. Sadly, Nintendo declined to indulge their enthusiasm and remained silent. Until now, that is. The game now has a general release date of April 2012, but will not be getting a wide release. Instead, the only places you’ll be able to purchase the game will be either Gamestop or Nintendo themselves, via their website. Still, that’s better than no release at all. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 29, 2010 in Videogames
Check out this amazing video of Hironobu Sakaguchi’s The Last Story for Nintendo’s Wii. The battle system looks fantastic and seems to mix a number of popular elements. In addition to the classic menu-based combat we’ve seen in his previous titles, we’re given a bit of action-oriented stealth gameplay as well, and it looks fantastic. Unfortunately, the game will be a Wii exclusive, so it might lack the visual polish that we’ve come to expect in modern roleplaying games, but to be honest, none of that really matters to me so long as I actually enjoy playing it. Read more…
I’m surprised we haven’t really brought this up yet, but I imagine some of you haven’t already heard about the upcoming Level-5/Studio Ghibli collaboration, Ni no Kuni. You can expect the classic art and animation we’ve come to expect from Ghibli, looking very much like your standard Miyazaki fare, and Level 5’s previous titles have proven the studios ability to seamlessly blend animation and 3D using beautifully rendered cell-shaded visuals.
For those who aren’t familiar with it Kingdom Hearts (キングダム ハーツ) is a Japanese RPG series that has been around since 2002 that combines original anime characters with old school Disney critters. To celebrate the series in August Square Enix will be shipping this set of Kingdom Hearts Avatar Trading Arts Mini Vol. 1 collectables. In this set of figurines the original Kingdom Hearts characters have been turned into ultra-cute “avatars” — included in the set are Cloud, Tifa, Sora, Riku and ginger haired Axel: Read more…
This is a very clever rhyming ad for Mabinogi from Japan which is an anime themed RPG game that you can play online. The game was developed in South Korea by devCAT and is published by Nexon — the good news for Americans is that the game is available in English, however if you’re a Mac user the bad news is that the game is Windows only. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 27, 2009 in Videogames
3D Dot Game Heroes is an RPG game for the Playstation 3 which is due out on November 5th in Japan. This title which is designed by From Software takes place in a classic retro gaming RPG kingdom whose king declares that his world should be in 3D to celebrate the defeat of a demon lord. What I love about this title is that it pays tribute to old school videogames while breaking the third wall of the medium by incorporating the medium of the medium into the plot of the game: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 6, 2009 in Videogames
Shown above is the new gameplay trailer for End of Eternity a role playing game for the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 that’s being put out by Sega and tri-Ace (the game is suppose to come out at the end of this year). I’ve got to say that I really love the subtle steampunk look of this game colossal machine-city called Burzel. Below is the first cinematic trailer which came out in April: Read more…
Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike (テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア) is interesting is that it’s a prequel to the videogame Tales of Vesperia, but the twist is that instead of being a game it’s going to be an animated feature film. The film is due out in October this year and is being produced by Production I.G. Read more…
