In further evidence of the extinction of 3rd party exclusives, Compile Heart's prequel to the steamy SRPG that could, Agarest Senki Zero, has been confirmed to be getting an enhanced Xbox 360 port sometime this year.
Agarest Senki - recently released in North America as Record of Agarest War - is a typical Japanese SRPG with a twist: the girl that the player chooses to romantically pursue will change the next generation's hero.
Zero returns to this system - which they call 'Soul Breed' - as well as introduce new functionality to the game, including interactive costume changing, and changes to girls' appearances as their feelings for the hero grow.
The Xbox 360 port will reportedly have new costumes and costume changing modes, new CG scenes, and a gallery mode for different event scenes.
Agarest Senki Zero: Dawn of War will be available for Xbox 360 on July 29, 2010 in Japan.
In 2007 Compile Heart released a quirky PS3 SRPG called Agarest Senki, and later a 360 port of it called Agarest Senki: Reappearance. It was a standard Japanese SRPG affair, with grid turn-based battles and talking hand-drawn artwork in place of cutscenes. Nothing really revolutionary there.
What made the game stand out, as it were, was the inclusion of a system they called "Soul Breed," which allowed the player to choose his wife, and thus affect what his offspring would look and play like for several generations.
It also had some risque ecchi-like scenes. Not hugely revolutionary, but probably noteworthy to many fans.
Well Compile Heart decided that they just couldn't quit the Soul Breed thing, and have returned with Agarest Senki ZERO, a prequel to the original title.
ZERO will reportedly take place 1000 year prior to the events in Agarest Senki, and will retain the Soul Breed functionality, as well as the naughty moments.
It is being developed again by RED Entertainment, and is scheduled for a June release on PlayStation 3 in Japan. (Is it just me or is everyone blowing their load in June so far?)
Also, soft porn has ruined bananas for me forever. :,(
By way of correction, I have apparently been caught up in a rush of mass hysteria, failing to read the actual Japanese title of Tecmo and Matrix's recently released DS RPG, Nostalgeo no Kaze, selfishly subsitituing an "a" where there is actually an "o."
Hence, Tecmo's official name of the game in question is Nostalgeo no Kaze, meaning Wind of Nostalgeo, rather than Nostalgia.
As per request, here is the translation for the latest Famitsu article on the upcoming DS RPG, Nostalgia no Kaze (Wind of Nostalgia).
Set in the world at the end of the 19th Century, Wind of Nostalgia follows the story of 4 young adventurers who board an airship for individual reasons. This article focuses on 5 of the game’s features, in addition to short introductions to the 4 main characters.
First, the characters:
Eddy A young man of England’s famous adventurer family, Eddy has inherited a strong sense of justice from his father Gilbert. After his father goes missing during an expedition, Eddy determines to become an adventurer himself and sets out to look for him. Lovingly using his father’s airship, the Maverick, he departs on his journey.
Padd A young man hailing from the slums of London, Padd has been separated from his parents since birth, and has no knowledge of what kind of people they were. He is seen as the older brother of the children from the slums, and is very good at looking out for them. He has a somewhat cold attitude, and is uninterested in dreams or adventures, but out of a desire to search for his long-lost mother, he leaves London with Eddy.
Fiona A quiet young woman possessing the power of “miracles,” Fiona is being targeting by an organization known as the “Ancient Fathers Society” due to her ability to draw immense power from lithographs known as Tablets. She is saved from an attack at the beginning of the adventure by Gilbert, but passes out shortly thereafter. She later meets up with Eddy and decides to join him.
Melody A young girl from the village of the few remaining wizards, Melody is strong-willed and often selfish, but possesses great skill in magic. She is asked by Eddy and his friends to create a power source for their airship, but she refuses. However, after a mysterious sorcerer named Hartman attacks her village, she agrees to join the group in order to defeat him.
Next, the game features:
1. Airship Customization Throughout the game, you are able to change your airship’s blade, cannon, and other parts. New parts may be purchased and fitted at airship docks at various cities. Through equipping more powerful parts, you can swing airship battles more in your favor. The look of your airship will also change depending on which parts you use.
2. Use Points to Expand Your Skills Eddy and his friends can use special abilities known as ‘Skills.’ Each character utilizes unique Skills playing to that character’s strengths, including sword moves and magic. Skills level up through distribution of SP (Skill Points) which are earned from battle, and new Skills will become available as certain existing Skills reach a certain level.
3. Adventurer’s Society Quests By visiting the Adventurer’s Society offices in the worlds 7 different cities, you will be able to accept job requests called Quests. Through fulfilling these jobs, you will be rewarded based upon the Quest in question. Through Quest completion, your Adventurer Rank will improve, allowing you to receive new jobs. Quests are not integral to the game’s story, and can be accepted regardless of the game’s story.
4. Seeking out the World Treasures Eddy and his friends will be asked by an ally named Evans to seek out the remnants of ancient societies known as World Treasures. The resting places of these World Treasures can be found only through meticulous information gathering and searching throughout the world. You will be rewarded based on how many World Treasures you have found.
5. Complete the Adventurer’s Notebook After passing the Adventurer’s Society Entrance Exam, you will be able to receive the Adventurer’s Notebook. Throughout your various travels this book will become filled with notes from Eddy’s Journal (which records the events of your journey), your battle data, dungeon details, enemy information, and various other things. Filling this notebook will require you to travel around the world, and is one of the game’s features.
Wind of Nostalgia will be available on Nintendo DS in Japan on November 06, 2008. Those who pre-order the game will receive a free select soundtrack and information guide. There is currently no word on a North American or European release at this time.
Though initially only announced through some random retailers' listings, Compile Heart has opened the official site for Agarest Senki Reappearance, confirming its release. You can check it out here (may be slightly NSFW).
The game is set for release on November 27, 2008 in Japan. There is no word on a North American release at this time.
Remember a while back when Tecmo announced that it would be publishing a new DS RPG developed by Matrix (the FFIII and FFIV DS guys)? Y'know, the one that kind of had a Skies of Arcadia feel about it? Wind of Nostalgia? Sure you do!
Well Tecmo just recently released a brand new "debut" trailer for the game, showing off its main characters, locales, airships, and all of that good stuff. And though the game takes place during the 19th century here on Earth, it, of course, features some heavy fantasy elements. As expected, it still retains a very heavy Skies of Arcadia feel for me, what with outdated 3D models (that the DS is so good at), the big emphasis on airships and airship battles, and the old school anime design.
The trailer also reveals a release date for Japan: November 6, 2008. Not too far off.
Any of you who follow the Japanese RPG scene obsessively (as I do) are probably already aware of an obscure PlayStation 3 SRPG called Agaresuto Senki (Record of Agarest War) from Compile Heart and RED Entertainment. Okay, so it's half SRPG, half H-game (minus the explicit stuff), kind of like Tears to Tiara.
The game looks like your average SRPG/H-game hybrid. Really, nothing special going on here. Battles are fought using a grid system, and cutscenes are handled with talking character art, with some risque shots thrown in during "important" scenes to keep the decidedly male-centric audience interested.
What Agarest War has tried to do differently is provide some consequences for your little near-erotic escapades. No, you don't get STDs. Depending on which girl you hook it up with will determine your posterity.
The game lasts for several "generations" of you ultimately deciding how your geneology is going to look, and probably to a lesser extent, act.
I'm not going to get really down and dirty with all the details (you can read my intial impressions of it here if you're really interested). Really, I just wanted you to have a bit of background on this game, as RED Entertainment is apparently planning a "complete" version of the game on Xbox 360 this November (in Japan, of course), featuring all of the bonus downloadable PS3 content, as well as some other extras.
Titled Record of Agarest War Reappearance, the game will supposedly land on November 27, 2008. No word on a North American release, and really, you shouldn't expect one.
DS Day continues with yet another DS RPG announced, this time from Tecmo.
...Wait, Tecmo makes RPGs?
Anyways. Developed by Red Entertainment, Wind of Nostalgia (JP=Nosutarujia no Kaze) has a decidedly Skies of Arcadia look to it, with a heavy emphasis on air ships and crappy 3D graphics.
In accordance with the rest of today's DS announcements, details are extremely scarce at the moment, but the game is reportedly scheduled to release sometime this year in Japan.
In further evidence of the extinction of 3rd party exclusives, Compile Heart's prequel to the steamy SRPG that could, Agarest Senki Zero, has been confirmed to be getting an enhanced Xbox 360 port sometime this year.
