Welcome to 2009! Here's to another year of great RPGs!
To get the new year started, Aeria Games announced on December 30, 2008 that Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE has now graduated to open beta status, and is welcoming any and all gamers interested to sign up for your own account.
IMAGINE remains free to play, though there are some special items within the game that need to be bought using real money.
Anyone interested in giving the beta a go should visit Aeria's IMAGINE site here.
If one of your new year's resolutions is to stop playing MMOs so much, I apologize for the temptation.
Here and I thought FFXI was done. Not Square Enix though. Nope. They have three new expansions for the game set to debut next year. I would summarize them for you, but the official press release does such a better job at it, I figured cut and paste would be a prudent decision:
A Crystalline Prophecy – Ode of Life Bestowing™ One day, a giant crystal appeared in the skies above Jeuno, triggering a series of unexplained happenings across the land. Now, adventurers will set forth to unravel the mysteries of this primordial crystal that holds the secret of Vana'diel®'s past.
A Moogle Kupo d'Etat – Evil in Small Doses™ It all started with an innocent drop of rainwater and a rickety, ramshackle Mog House desperately in need of repairs. Little did anyone suspect that this was only the beginning of a harrowing nightmare unheard of in the annals of moogle-kind.
A Shantotto Ascension – The Legend Torn, Her Empire Born™ The eccentric Professor Shantotto returned to Windurst one day after a mysterious, unexplained absence, shocking her colleagues with behavior so outrageous it put her old self to shame! When she goes so far as to proclaim herself ruler of her own empire, adventurers set out to discover the truth behind her alarming shift in personality.
The first of the three expansions, A Crystalline Prophecy, is set to release next spring, with the other expansions to follow in later months.
So, is anyone out there still playing FFXI? Will these expansions get you back into it, or (heaven forbid) get you started in it?
I am told that people really really liked Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic. I suppose I can see why. Fantastic RPG developer BioWare + Nerd Seal of Approval IP Star Wars = MASS HYSTERIA. Or something.
Anyways, it has long been rumored that KOTOR (as it has lovingly become known as) would make a triumphant return, and would be all onliney and stuff. LucasArts and BioWare announcing a while back that they had something to announce only added further fuel to the fire.
Well, those rumors have all come true, and LucasArts and BioWare have indeed announced that they will be resurrecting the franchise in MMORPG format, titled Star Wars: The Old Republic.
The game is currently only scheduled for PC release, though representatives have commented on thinking about a console release at some point. There is no set release date at this time, but interested parties are encouraged to join the official mailing list for news and updates on the project.
You can check out the official word plus answers to all your burning questions here.
Though I don't mind them, I'm not desperately in love with either Star Wars or MMOs, so...
You can't keep Sega down. Only months after the huge reception of Phantasy Star Portable, they're back at it with a new Phantasy Star MMO on Nintendo DS, Phantasy Star Zero. But maybe you've been worried. I mean, how can something as small and ancient as the Nintendo DS really handle something as massive and multiplayer as Phantasy Star online?
Perhaps this gameplay trailer will put your mind at ease.
Aeria Games, a Western publisher primarily focusing on localizing free-to-play Asian MMOs, has announced via their official forum that they will be bringing Cave and Atlus' PC MMO Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE to North America and Europe.
Though the game has not received an official release date at the moment, Aeria has revealed that the game will be available in English, French, German, and Spanish.
Having been a member of the Japanese version of IMAGINE since its Beta-testing days, I can safely say that the game is quite fun if you are a fan of Megami Tensei, and fans who wanted to play the game but couldn't leap the language barrier should be quite excited.
I am currently not sure if this is the rumored MMO that Atlus has been hiring for or not, but I will keep my ear to the ground for any info regarding that rumor.
Since we have no official word on this juicy tidbit, we are going to have to classify this as a "rumor," but on Atlus USA's job postings is an ad for a position with the company as a Game Producer who will reportedly be "responsible for overall game performance of a significant MMO title including revenue, game content, and community growth."
Additionally, the position is asking for someone who has experience with MMOs and/or PC game titles, so it seems likely that whatever game is forthcoming is for the PC.Atlus Japan currently has 2 MMOs in operation: Megami Tensei Online: IMAGINE and Perfect World, an original IP set in a high-fantasy world. Both games are free to play for Japanese Windows users, but generate revenue through special items that can only be bought with real money.
Megami Tensei Online: IMAGINE was developed by Cave and published by Atlus. I've personally had an account on IMAGINE since it started its Beta, and for the time that I did play it, I had a fairly enjoyable experience. The game allows the player to customize their character who will roam post-apocalyptic Tokyo, making contracts with and summoning demons ala most MegaTen main series titles like Nocturne. The game is constantly getting new updates (like new items and dungeons) and having events (I should know, the emails about them flood my inbox every other day).
Perfect World is actually a Chinese-developed MMO (developer: Beijing Perfect World) that is published by different companies all over the world. MK-Style, apparently somehow related to Atlus Japan, publishes the game in Japan. Further, it seems that Perfect World has already found a North American publisher (Cubinet Interactive), so it seems unlikely that this is the game Atlus USA is hiring for.
What do you think? Is Atlus USA bringing IMAGINE over to North America? Perhaps they are bringing a different game altogether? Or, maybe Atlus parents an MMO company that is already running an MMO? What do you think?
If I get to make a wish list, I'm gunning for IMAGINE. The game is fun in Japanese, but there's a limit to how much I want to play since most of the Japanese people I know don't play MMOs. Also, since it is a wish list, we is can have a 360 and PS3 version too?
Welcome to 2009! Here's to another year of great RPGs!
