Sega really didn't have much of an RPG presence at E3 this year. Despite their decidedly massive amount of JRPGs in development (World Destruction, Garnet Chronicle, Infinite Line, Valkyria Chronicles), they showed almost none of them. (Valkyria Chronicles got a 1/2 second of screen time at Sony's press conference under the wrong console. Sega was none to pleased about it either.)
What Sega did show were a couple of their upcoming Western-developed RPGs. Check out the round-up below.
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3)
Developed by Secret Level Published by Sega Available Fall 2008 in North America
Alpha Protocol (Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3)
Developed by Bethesda Softworks Published by Sega TBA 2009
I'm still not sure how I feel about these games... They look decidedly average to me. But then, I'm not the biggest fan Western RPGs ever had. I liked Mass Effect though, so I'm trying to keep an open mind these days.
I find it extremely curious that VC and Sonic Chronicles received so little attention when both are very close to release over here (certainly closer than Alpha Protocol). Then again, I've never claimed to understand why Sega does the things it does.
So, Majesco was present at E3, showing off their large variety of games you probably don't care about. The one game that might interest you is the previously mentioned AQ Interactive + Mistwalker DS RPG, AWAY: Shuffle Dungeon.
Majesco released a few new screens for E3. Take a look at them and imagine what it would be like to play it (since they didn't release a trailer).
AWAY will be available in North America in October 2008.
I really didn't cover XSEED's E3 offerings at all. This is partially because there wasn't a lot of new media released for any of them, and partially because they don't really interest me very much. (Hey, at least I'm honest about it.)
I've posted a little bit on what I could find. The majority of it comes from IGN, so if you're really interested in any of these titles, I would suggest checking their coverage.
Little King's Story (Nintendo Wii)
Developed by Cing Published by XSEED (North America) TBA 2008
Valhalla Knights 2 (PSP)
Developed by K2 Published by XSEED (North America) Available September 15th, 2008 in North America
Avalon Code (Nintendo DS)
Developed by Matrix Published by XSEED (North America) TBA 2008
Rune Factory Frontier (Nintendo Wii)
Developed by Marvelous Published by XSEED (North America) TBA 2009
Note that all of these games are published by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan. Looks like XSEED is really utilizing that partnership right out of the gate.
Namco Bandai, as was expected, didn't really make any waves this year at E3. Both Tales of Vesperia for the Xbox 360 and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World for the Nintendo Wii were shown, but only ToV had a playable demo on the floor. Tales of Vesperia was also given an official release date for North America, as well as an official Xbox Live demo.
Below are gameplay videos for the two upcoming RPGs. There are certainly more gameplay videos available at various sites around the internet (including GameTrailers, IGN, GameVideos, Gamekyo, and Gamersyde) for those interested. (I personally tried to stay away from them to keep as much of the games a surprise as possible).
Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360)
Developed by Namco Tales Studio (Team Symphonia) Published by Namco Bandai Available August 26, 2008 in North America
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Nintendo Wii)
Developed by Namco Tales Studio (unknown team) Published by Namco Bandai Available November 2008 in North America
Note that ToS2 was developed by a team that was put together specifically for it. I can't seem to find that team's name at the moment, but will update this post if/when I do.
EDIT: Whoops! I totally forgot about the PS3 port of Eternal Sonata. I've embedded a battle clip with Polka in one of the new costumes below.
The game still looks like Eternal Sonata. Not necessarily a bad thing. Not necessarily a good thing either.
Eternal Sonata (PlayStation 3)
Developed by Tri-Crescendo Published by Namco Bandai Available Fall 2008
Over the course of E3 I tried to focus mostly on new information and spotlights, and tended not to post much media for games that had no new information. Well, here is part 1 of me making up for that. Below you will find trailers for each of Square Enix's upcoming portable games (DS & PSP) along with whatever release information I happen to have.
Final Fantasy IV (Nintendo DS)
Developed by Matrix Published by Square Enix Available July 21st, 2008 in North America
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (Nintendo DS)
Developed by ArtePiazza Published by Square Enix Available September 15th, 2008 in North America
Chrono Trigger (Nintendo DS)
Developed and Published by Square Enix Available Holiday 2008 in North America and Japan
Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP)
Developed by tri-Ace Published by Square Enix Available October 21st, 2008 in North America
Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP)
Developed by tri-Ace Published by Square Enix Available January 6th, 2009 in North America
Song Summoner (iPod)
Developed and Published by Square Enix Available Now
Note that I had read somewhere that the Star Ocean ports on PSP were not actually handled by tri-Ace directly. Unfortunately, I can't seem to track down the name of the company that worked on them. I will update this post if/when I find them.
Okay, so I had to post this because I'm a slave to 3 out of 4 of these games. (The jury needs more convincing with Last Remnant - I like the idea and the art, but I'm not sold yet.)
Take a look to see what kind of commercials Japanese gamers get to watch.
Note that this video may also be used to hype whatever interest you have in any of the included games.
Thanks to YouTuber NOBURIN2006 for posting the vid.
