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.
Seems like it's been a while since we've heard much about Tales of Hearts, Namco Bandai's third Tales of title on the Nintendo DS. For the forgetful, the game launches in Japan next month in two flavors: Anime and CG (a first for the series).
Via the latest issue of Jump it has been revealed that characters from previous Tales of titles will be making appearances in 2D glory as supporting characters in battle. Judas from Tales of Destiny 2 (never released in North America), Jade Curtiss from Tales of the Abyss, and Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia have all been confirmed, and it has been hinted that there are more yet to be announced, including at least one "surprising" cameo (something I doubt unless it's a NOT Tales of character...). These characters do not appear to be controllable by the player, but function more like special attacks or summons that become available after the player has fulfilled certain requirements.
Additionally, the game's 8th playable character has been revealed. Richea Spodune is a woman of the Quote tribe (a strange name for a species that is written literally as "Crystal People" in Japanese) who, despite her young and delicate appearance is actually over 2000 years old and very strong willed. She also apparently was friends with Shing's grandfather.
Tales of Hearts will be available in Japan on Nintendo DS on December 11, 2008. There is currently no word on a North American or European release at the moment.
As teased last week, Atlus has officially unveiled Megami Ibunroku: Devil Summoner for the Nintendo DS via this week's issue of Famitsu.
Devil Survivor puts the player in the shoes of a nameless, voiceless protagonist (as usual for the MegaTen games) who has the ability to make contracts with demons using a portable game device known as a COMP. He, and several of his classmates (all high school students) have 7 days before Tokyo is destroyed. Saving it depends on your actions throughout the game.
Though the game is retaining a very MegaTen theme (apocalypse, devil summoning, link to the digital, etc.), Devil Survivor an SRPG, a genre that the series has never before attempted (at least, not in my knowledge).
The game is also being handled by a relatively new team, with Shinjirou Takada directing (previously worked on the Growlanser and Langrisser series, but apparently hasn't worked on MegaTen before this), Akiko Kotou working as the art director (previously worked in non-director capacities on Nocturne and Kuzunoha Raidou vs. The Soulless Army), with Suzuhito Yasuda handling the character design and a new sound director as well (I can't make out his first name on the scans, but his last name is Asano, I think). Series veteran Kazuma Kaneko is acting in a supervisor role over the project, and is also handling the demon design (as usual).
The article introduces 3 characters, the nameless protagonist (who looks oddly like a cat-person-robot, but is supposedly normal), Atsurou Kihara, the hero's best friend, and Yuzu Tanikawa, the hero's childhood friend.
The game is already reportedly 90% complete, and is due for Japanese release on Nintendo DS on January 15, 2009.
I will take requests for full translation on the article (minus the developer interviews) below.
Oh that PlayStation 2. Will not die, that thing. The necromancer forcing it to continue its undead life this time is Japanese SRPG developer Flight Plan, announcing yet another SRPG, Sacred Blaze, for release next February on the little 6th gen console that could.
Sacred Blaze puts the player in the role of God descended to the world to guide and save the people from the darkness that has begun to cover it. Recruiting heroes from among the people, the player and his up and coming army must tackle the hordes of monsters that threaten the world.
The game is fully 3D (too bad, as I think their 2D sprite work is much more attractive), but plays in a traditional isometric SRPG fashion.
Sacred Blaze will be available on PlayStation 2 on February 19, 2009 in Japan. There is no word on North American or European release at this time, and I have to honestly say that I can no longer reasonably expect any Japanese PS2 games to make the jump over anymore.
Dust off your PSTriples, Valkyria Chronicles (known as Senjou no Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles in Japan) ships to North American retailers today. Sega wanted to make sure that you didn't forget, so they released a quaint little launch trailer to commemorate the game's... uh, launch. It's embedded below.
Some gorgeous stuff there. The graphics look fantastic and the story looks like it could be quite good. However, battles that take over an hour to play are not my forte, sadly. But hey, it would be nice to see Sega using this graphics engine to make a non-SRPG. ;)
Valkyria Chronicles is already available on PlayStation 3 in Japan and Europe, and ships today in North America.
The Korean developers behind the RTS / RPG series Kingdom Under Fire, Blueside, have recently announced via Famitsu that they have begun development on Princess and Knight, an action-RPG on the Nintendo DS aimed at a worldwide audience.
Princess and Knight, though functioning behind the scenes as an RPG, will reportedly handle more like an action game, pitting the hero of the story against hordes of enemies using the touch screen and stylus.
Though there is little information available at the moment, the game seems like it will play out more like Blueside's recent Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom for the Xbox 360, though reportedly with more emphasis on the story.
On one hand, Blueside can certainly handle action games and have a great eye for artistic detail, but on the other, I found Circle of Doom rather underwhelming, mostly due to the real lack of story or motivation to accomplish much. I want to believe that Knight and Princess will be good, but I suppose we'll just have to wait for more information to trickle out.
Princess and Knight is being made with a worldwide release in mind (as the English screens will no doubt convey), but no solid release date has been confirmed at this time.
Sure, you have to go back to work/school today, but there are new RPGs waiting for you as well! ...Well, actually there aren't many RPGs shipping this week. Sorry to get your hopes up.
Below are all the new RPGs that will be shipping to retailers across all 3 major regions for this week (November 3 - 7, 2008):
North America Valkyria Chronicles - Sega - PlayStation 3
Japan Lost Odyssey (Platinum Collection) - Mistwalker, feelplus, Microsoft - Xbox 360 Nostalgia no Kaze - Matrix, RED, Tecmo - Nintendo DS
Europe Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - Ascaron, Koch Media - PC
Like I said, slightly slim pickings this week with really only one new release per region.
North America gets its first real PS3 JRPG of note, Valkyria Chronicles, while every other system (including the DS) takes the week off.
Japan grabs Tecmo's Wind of Nostalgia, and gets a cheaper reprint of Mistwalker's Lost Odyssey.
Europe gets Sacred 2 for the PC and absolutely nothing else.
My wallet is taking a long-overdue breather this week. What about you?
