NIS America, the North American arm of Nippon Ichi, has announced this week that they will be bringing Gust's 2nd DS Atelier title, Atelier Annie to North America this October as Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island.
From my personal time with the Japanese version of Atelier Annie, I can definitely say that it's an improvement over Atelier Lise, the studio's first DS title. However, it felt (to me) rather heavy on dialogue and short on meaningful gameplay. For Gust fans, however, this should be nothing but a good announcement.
Additionally, NIS also announced that they will be shortly adding Trophy support to their PS3 SRPG, Disgaea 3. So I guess if you like Trophies, you can, uh, play it again?
They have also confirmed Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love for release this Fall on PlayStation 2, and have announced a limited edition boxset that will include discs for both English and Japanese language tracks.
I guess I just noticed this, but NIS really likes to announce several games at once, don't they?
As you may recall, Gust's latest entry into their alchemy-RPG series, Annie no Atelier: Sera Shima no Renkinjutsushi, was supposed to be out in January, then delayed until sometime in March. Gust feared that the miniature figures included with the premium boxset posed a choking hazard to younger children, and pushed the game back in order to deal with the problem.
Though I'm not sure what they did to change the figures, the game has been officially redated for a March release in Japan, and will still be available with a premium box (including figures of Annie and Pepe) for the collector-at-heart.
The new Japanese release date has been set for March 12, 2009 on Nintendo DS.
Gust has announced that their upcoming DS entry into their alchemy RPG 'Atelier' series, Atelier Annie: Sera Shima no Renkinjutsushi, has been delayed by about a month.
Originally scheduled for a Japanese release of January 29, 2009, the game has now been pushed back to March, though no solid date has been confirmed yet.
According to the official press release, the delay is due to the company's decision to remake the figurine that was to be included in the game's limited bundle, which they feared might pose a choking hazard to young children.
We'll let you know when the game gets a firm release date.
Is it just me, or has this week felt pretty slow in terms of news? I guess there were a couple of games announced (probably most the notable being Devil Survivor), but things have just felt a little slower than normal. Maybe that's a good thing...
Anyways, below are a whole pile of RPG scans from the latest issues of Famitsu and Jump. They all surfaced today (as far as I know), so I'll just throw them all together here for your browsing interest.
Annie no Atelier: Serashima no Renkinjutsushi (Atelier Annie: Alchemist of Sera Island) Nintendo DS Gust January 29, 2009 (Japan)
Chrono Trigger Nintendo DS Square Enix November 20, 2008 (Japan), November 25, 2008 (North America) Destiny Links Nintendo DS Namco Bandai February 05, 2009 (Japan)
Dragon Quest IX: Hoshizora no Mamoribito (Guardians of the Starry Sky) Nintendo DS Level 5, Square Enix March 2009 (Japan)
Gensou Suikouden Tierkreis (Suikoden Tierkreis) Nintendo DS Konami December 18, 2008 (Japan)
The Last Remnant Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC Square Enix November 20, 2008 (Xbox 360, Worldwide), TBA (PlayStation 3, PC)
Ougon no Kizuna (Golden Bonds) Nintendo Wii Jaleco Winter 2008/2009
Phantasy Star Zero Nintendo DS Sega December 25, 2008 (Japan)
Rune Factory Frontier Nintendo Wii Marvelous November 27, 2008
Lots of stuff here. I'll take translation requests in the comments.
There's something very unique about Gust's Atelier series of RPGs. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but the old school feel, anime style designs, cheery-yet-haunting soundtracks, and surprisingly interesting stories always keep me hungry for more.
Well, they seem to have done it again. The recently announced Atelier Annie has just got its first teaser trailer that really shows off very little besides some character and location art, all displayed in terribly tiny resolution. And yet here I am, already super stoked for the game.
Give it a watch and see if you are as in love with Gust as I am.
So, Mana Khemia 2 has been out in Japan for a while, and while we all know that Gust is working on a PSP port of Mana Khemia, that certainly shouldn't be tying up all their resources.
Well, thanks to the latest issue of Famitsu, we now know what they've been up to: Atelier Annie for the Nintendo DS.
Following the young (and apparently good-for-nothing) alchemist Annie Irenberk, Atelier Annie looks like its building off of Atelier Lise's engine, feauturing heavy graphic novel elements and super SUPER deformed character sprites. The character artist from Lise is back as well (unfortunately, I don't know who it is). Unlike Atelier Lise, however, Atelier Annie will feature combat on what looks like a system similar to Enchanted Arms battle system (i.e. allows for strategic placement of characters on an SRPG-esque grid, but separated between allies and enemies).
The game is vaguely slated for release sometime in 2009 in Japan. There has been no announcement regarding North American or European release.
You can check out the Famitsu scans below (thanks Gamekyo). As usual, I will translate them if you are interested.
NIS America, the North American arm of Nippon Ichi, has announced this week that they will be bringing Gust's 2nd DS Atelier title, Atelier Annie to North America this October as Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island.
