Nippon Ichi Japan has just announced two new Prinny-themed sports towels for their online store. One features a pink Prinny silhouette, appropriately named the "Silhouette version," while the second is a done in comic style in blue and white, aptly named the "Comic version."The towels (like the rest of the merch available on the Japanese store) are not eligible for shipping outside of Japan (at least I couldn't find a way to ship them out), making them all the more alluring.People want stuff they can't have. It's how it goes.That being said, RosenQueen often brings over strange trinkets, especially if they are Disgaea-themed, so it is possible that you may be able to get them one day. Maybe.
I don't know how I feel about "Greatest Hits" (or "Player's Choice" or "Platinum Collection" or "The Best" or any such thing), as my feeling is that a truly best-selling game shouldn't need crappy re-packaging and an artificial price reduction in order to sell itself. Re-prints of hard to find games? Good idea. Ugly packaging to sell games that have supposedly already sold a ton of copies? Bad idea.But, regardless of my feelings towards such things, it is certainly nice to see some rare gems getting more mainstream attention.Starting early next month, 3 rather obscure PlayStation 2 RPGs are getting the "Greatest Hits" treatment, and so should provide you with a good opportunity to check them out, should you have foolishly skipped them.
First, and least surprising, is Nippon Ichi and Atlus' Disgaea: The Hour of Darkness. Basically the trigger that got Nippon Ichi to start its very own North American branch (NIS America for those of you who haven't yet made the connection), Disgaea has become something of a cult phenomenon. It was incredibly rare after its initial printing, and would regularly fetch eBay bids of near $100 before it received several reprints. Disgaea is a quirky SRPG set in the Netherworld, where Laharl, the Prince of Darkness, awakens to discover that his father has been killed and his Evil Realm has been taken over by various demons claiming to be the true Dark Lord. Though it does a few interesting things with the genre, the game plays very much like a standard SRPG, and its biggest draw is arguably its comic appeal.
Next is Vanillaware and Atlus' Odin Sphere. The spiritual successor to the Dreamcast's Princess Crown, Odin Sphere was released almost simultaneously in Japan and North America to high critical acclaim. However, as with most of Atlus' projects, it flew clear under most people's radars. Thus, the Greatest Hits treatment seems more like another shot at mainstream attention than an actual indication of huge sales.Odin Sphere is a 2D side-scrolling action RPG that tells one story from 5 different people's perspectives. Everything from the game's beautiful hand-crafted 2D artwork, its gorgeous soundtrack, emotional story, and clear attention to detail in every aspect sets it up as one of the finest pieces of independant development ever to grace a console, and should have a home in any JRPG fan's collection. It made my 10 favorite PS2 RPGs, and if you haven't played it, I strongly suggest you pick it up at this reprint.
The final entry into the Greatest Hits club is Clover Studio and Capcom's Okami. Winner of several Best of the Year awards at its release, Okami is another artistic triumph of RPGaming that has been sadly overlooked by far too many. Following the story of the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, Okami places players into the role of a white wolf goddess with the ability to drive out darkness and revive nature in ancient Japan using a celestial paint brush. Though the game is completely 3D, its heavy cell-shading and absolutely brilliant art direction makes the game look like a moving painting. Like Odin Sphere, there is a level of detail acheived in virtually every aspect of Okami that few games even come close to achieving (even with many times the budget to work with). Again, if you don't have this game in your PS2 or Wii collection, go buy it when it goes greatest hits. I'm serious.Despite my distaste for Greatest Hits, I hope that this reprinting and lower price tag will allow many to experience these fantastic games.
Now, I hope all the comments on this article will tell me that you already have and love these games, and if you don't, that you will repent and buy them when they go Greatest Hits. If I get even one "meh," I'm totally going to beat you up. You've been warned.
Okay, so this is probably old news for most of you, but since Ar Tonelico II just got announced, I thought I'd put a plug in this morning in case anyone who reads this blog didn't know this yet.A few relatively rare PS2 RPGs recently got the reprint treatment and are going for pretty reasonable prices at various spots on the internet.The games in question are Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga, and NIS America's Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia, and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.Disgaea has already seen a few reprints before, and besides the existing PSP port, it is also on its way to DS this September, so we're pretty confident that you'll be able to get yourself a copy of it somewhere if you really want to play it.The other three games, however, all saw very limited printings, and people who didn't pre-order them probably had some trouble tracking down copies. (I personally paid $100 on eBay to nab my copy of Digital Devils Saga a couple of years ago. Luckily, I pre-ordered Ar Tonelico, and was able to find Nocturne for a reasonable price.)Each game is available on Play Asia for a measly $44.90. Additionally, Ar Tonelico is also available via Rosenqueen for $19.99.Note that none of these reprints come with the same premium boxsets, etc. that came with the first printings, but honestly, they are still very much worth their prices.So, anyone miss out on these games and planning on picking up a reprint?
