Trailer Catch Up

I think I missed posting about a half a dozen RPG trailers this last week. This is me catching up as best as I can.

Watch the trailers that catch your fancy below.

Blue Dragon Plus
Nintendo DS
Mistwalker, feelplus, AQ Interactive, Ignition
February 24, 2009 (North America)



My Comments: Err... I don't know what to say about this. The jury is still out.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii
Square Enix
January 29, 2009 (Japan), March 24, 2009 (North America)



My Comments: At last! A Wii game that looks like a DS game! Now I think it's safe to say that the 7th generation of video games is in full swing! /sarcasm

Shining Force Feather
Nintendo DS
Flight Plan, Sega
February 19, 2009 (Japan)



My Comments: I like the anime scenes. I don't know if it's enough to make me excited for another SRPG on the DS, but it at least doesn't hurt its chances.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Xbox 360
tri-Ace, Square Enix
February 19, 2009 (Japan), February 24, 2009 (North America), April 24, 2009 (Europe)



My Comments: It's interesting to see the differences between the Japanese trailers and the North American ones. This trailer is decided trying to come off as more "hardcore" than its Japanese relatives, and actually does a pretty good job at it. Though some of the voice acting may not live up to everyone's standards, "Calnus, Engage!" was a pretty cool line. Especially considering Star Ocean's admitted Star Trek influence.

This is this game's first English trailer that I actually like.

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
Nintendo DS
tri-Ace, Square Enix
March 17, 2009 (North America)



My Comments: The CG is cool, and the tag lines are catchy, but it's still pretty clear that people have a hard time making DS games look really interesting. If you didn't know, you might think, "Whoa! I wonder what this is going to be like!" But then you'd see the DS SRPG gameplay and go, "Oh."

What do you guys think?

Trailer Thursday: All the Trailers I Didn't Post This Week

Sometimes there is media released for an RPG and I just don't have that much to say about it. Rare, yes, but it does happen.

However, I don't think that is a fair reason to prevent such media from reaching your ever-thirsty-for-moar eyes. And since I'm all about the mass propagation of my favorite game genre, I feel like I would be doing you no disservice by posting game trailers that came to my attention this week, though I neglected to mention.

So, enough of my preamble. Watch the trailers and leave exciting and insightful comments!

Shining Force Feather
Nintendo DS
Flight Plan, Sega
Feburary 19, 2009 (Japan)


My comments: I never actually got into the original Shining Force games, so though I've heard that people are cautiously happy that the series is returning to its SRPG roots, my own experience with the Shining Force games limits my excitement somewhat. This condition is compounded by the fact that its on DS.

Suikoden Tierkreis
Nintendo DS
Konami
December 18, 2008 (Japan), March 17, 2009 (North America)


My comments: I find it a crying shame that this game has what I feel are the coolest character designs in the series thus far, and yet are relegated to being rendered in extremely crappy DS 3D. My request to developers: if you absolutely must develop for the DS, please please for the love of God stick with 2D. Crap like this should be punishable by law.

Blue Dragon Plus
Nintendo DS
Mistwalker, feelplus, Ignition
February 2009 (North America)


My comments: The 3rd English trailer from Ignition. Though I appreciate what they are trying to do, I honestly laughed when I saw more EPIC TEXT FLY-INS. To be fair, though, by the end of the trailer, I was sort of excited about Blue Dragon again. So, one thumb up for Ignition. I hope this game works out for you.

Mana Khemia: Student Alliance
PSP
Gust, NIS America
January 20, 2009 (North America)


My comments: Uh... what part of this trailer makes me think this will be any different from the PS2 version? Other than the multiplayer (which I don't need), I honestly couldn't figure out what any of the "new features" the game was offering. That said, the theme song and anime clips are straight out of the PS2 version and kinda made me nostalgic for it. Kinda makes me want to go play a Gust game...

Well, I think that's just about all of them. Nothing really Earth-shattering going on here, but I thought you might enjoy checking out a few trailers that you might have missed. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

New Blue Dragon Plus Trailer Remains Epic

Ignition has released a second trailer for the upcoming DS RTS-RPG Blue Dragon Plus, and it retains that "edge of your seat" feel that they were going for last time, but actually tosses in some gameplay just for good measure. Make sure you're sitting down for this.



I'm impressed that Ignition is putting so much oomph into promoting Blue Dragon Plus. They are certainly outdoing the nearly non-existant advertising campaign that AQ Interactive backed in Japan.

My biggest problem is that though I like Blue Dragon, I still don't like RTS. Hmm, troubling.

Blue Dragon Plus will be available on Nintendo DS in North America next February. It is already available in Japan.

Blue Dragon Plus English Trailer is Maybe TOO Epic

I liked the original Blue Dragon. It was no second coming of RPGs, but it was rather charming and had it's definite high points.

Mistwalker and AQ Interactive struck out to create Blue Dragon Plus, an RTS-RPG hybrid for the Nintendo DS that attempted to capitalize on the series by expanding on the plot of the origin, in a small, handheld-sized serving.

The 2nd of 3 Mistwalker DS games, Blue Dragon Plus has already been confirmed for North American and European release courtesy of Ignition Entertainment, and they have just released a new trailer for it (below):


As a heads-up, this trailer inevitably spoils the end of the original Blue Dragon, so those who have yet to finish it may want to skip this trailer.

I must say, the trailer is quite cool, and even on the epic side of things. However, as with most DS trailers, it shows no gameplay, and is perhaps a bit misleading in that the gameplay looks nothing like the vid. Tsk tsk.

Blue Dragon Plus will be available on Nintendo DS in North America sometime next March, with a European date likely close.

Blue Dragon Plus Confirmed for North America

Chock one up for Sword Machine rumors! As unearthed from the cryptic AQ Interactive press release, Blue Dragon Plus will indeed be seeing a North American release.

Ignition Entertainment has recently announced that they will be publishing Mistwalker's most recent Nintendo DS title on North American shores in March 2009. Though no specific date has been revealed beyond that, March 2009 falls into AQ Interactive's "fiscal year 2009" (which ends March 31, 2009).

Fans of RTS-RPG hybrids or Blue Dragon should have something to look forward to early next year.

Thanks to RPGamer.

Blue Dragon Plus gets a Launch Trailer

For the RTS-RPG fans out there, Blue Dragon Plus will be launching on Nintendo DS tomorrow. Being the direct sequel to Mistwalker and Microsoft's 2006 Xbox 360 RPG, Blue Dragon Plus follows Shu and his friends in the newly created Cube Worlds as they search for the reason Nene has been revived, and the mystery of the Shadow-wielding machines.

AQ Interactive has released a final trailer before the game launches via their official Blue Dragon Plus website. You can check it out below courtest of GameTrailers.

Blue Dragon Plus Coming to North America?

In AQ Interactive's recent account report press release (issued August 8, 2008), the company mentions its plans to increase sales through publishing and licencing of its titles in North America. Among the titles mentioned for "overseas release" were Mistwalker's two upcoming Nintendo DS titles, AWAY: Shuffle Dungeon and Blue Dragon Plus.

We already know about Majesco bringing AWAY over this fall, but no North American publisher has been forthcoming on Blue Dragon Plus, and many (myself included) assumed that the title would be passed up for localization. However, as you can see from the chart below (included in the above mentioned press release), BDP is right there with AWAY for foreign release (bottom quarter of the chart).



Since no company has fessed up to licensing the title at the moment, we have to label this one as a rumor. However, with both ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat and AWAY: Shuffle Dungeon getting the ride over, it seems natural that Blue Dragon Plus would also get some love.

With the game's impending September release in Japan, it seems likely that someone will be coming forward with an announcement sooner or later.

And yes, I do read through companies' financial reports just for fun. Thank you very much.

P.S. Before anyone mentions it, I am aware that the chart is labeled March 2009 Period Lineup Plan. That perplexed me for a while as well. But considering the other titles mentioned throughout the entirity of the release (that is, already released or scheduled for release within the next 3 months), I can only assume that AQ labels its financial quarters in different terms.

UPDATE P.P.S. After thinking about it a little bit more, the date could be referring to 2009 as 'fiscal year ending 2009' which some companies do, and the March thing (which in Japanese is literally called 'month 3' or 'the 3rd month') could actually be referring to the 3rd quarter of the above mentioned fiscal year if you group the kanji a little differently (which makes a difference in Japanese). A little dizzying logic, and I doubt any of you care one way or the other, but it's been bugging me.