Monday, October 5, 2009

RPGs of the Week: Multiple Souls Edition

Greetings from a cold Monday. I don't know what it was like where you live, but this weekend it was snowing here. It's not today, so it still feels autumny to me, but I heard a lot of complaining from locals. You'd think it was the first time anyone had ever seen snow before.

On a related note, we're back to the cooler months, and that means more video games (which is a development I always fully support). Check out which RPGs are coming to stores near where you live this week (October 5 - 9, 2009):

North America
A Witch’s Tale – Hit Maker, NIS America – Nintendo DS
Demon’s Souls – FromSoftware, Atlus – PlayStation 3

Japan
Akumajou Dracula X Chronicle (The Best) – Konami – PSP
Blue Dragon: Ikai no Kyojuu – Mistwalker, Namco Bandai – Nintendo DS
Iron Master – Genterprise – Nintendo DS
Phantasy Star Portable (The Best) – Alfa System, Sega – PSP
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey – Atlus – Nintendo DS
Shiro Kishi Monogatari: Inishie no Kodou (EX Edition) – Level 5, SCEJ – PlayStation 3
Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga – K2, Marvelous – Nintendo Wii

Europe
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility – Marvelous, Rising Star – Nintendo Wii
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days – h.a.n.d., Square Enix – Nintendo DS
Luminous Arc 2 – imageepoch, Rising Star – Nintendo DS
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story – Alphadream, Nintendo – Nintendo DS

North America gets Sony and FromSoftware's Japanese-take-on-Western-RPGs, Demon's Souls, graciously published by Atlus (I hear it's very difficult), as well as Hit Maker and NIS' first colaborative effort on the DS, A Witch's Tale.

Japan gets a whole lot of handheld love with the DS getting the latest Blue Dragon (described as a 'casual MMO'), a metal-crafting RPG called Iron Master, and the newest true installment of the Shin Megami Tensei series since Nocturne, Strange Journey. The PSP meanwhile gets budget reprints of Dracula X and Phantasy Star Portable, while the PS3 gets a reprint (with an expansion) of Level 5 and Sony's Shiro Kishi Monogatari. Also, Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga is getting a Japanese release this week.

Finally, Europe gets some good stuff with the first built-for-Wii Harvest Moon, and Kingdom Hearts, Luminous Arc, and Mario & Luigi RPG sequels for Nintendo DS.

Anything worth your cash this week?

4 comments:

zerolocked said...

Actually Magna Carta II comes out this Friday. The date's been moved up to the 9th. I heard about this in a Gamespot forum. I quickly called my local Gamestop and true enough they said they'd have it Friday. So to answer your question, I'm picking up MCII this week =P

Anonymous said...

^yeah i hope so, it's the only rpg i'm lookin foward to pretty much.

anyone else think demon souls looks crappy ?

i know alot of ps3 fanboys will defend it, but honestly doesn't look fun at all.

not really my type of rpg either, an regardless of the good reviews i think the game will fail.

Brandon said...

@zerolocked: I checked on that rumour, and it sounds like GameStop/EB is indeed getting it on Friday in some places in the US, but most other stores are still planning on next Tuesday as the shipping date, so MCII will be on next week's list.

also, consider me jealous that you will get the game before me. D:

@anon: I agree that Demon's Souls looks like a game that I would not enjoy. it will likely fly under many people's radars, but to say that it will "fail" is perhaps a little harsh.

Billy said...

Games that are marketed on how hard they are and how many times you'll have to start over from scratch are just not my kind of thing. With a wife and family you just don't have the endless hours to spend on a game without progressing. I'm not ashamed to say that I play most games on easy/casual difficulty because the story and experience are my priority, and I don't have time to waste playing the same section over and over again. I really like the way Dragon Quest handles game overs, where you get to keep your experience and items, but lose a lot of money and get warped back to town. It still hurts, but doesn't make you feel like you wasted the time playing. So... Demon's Souls is pretty much the exact opposite of what I'm looking for in a game.