Well, Mistwalker promised their new big RPG would finally be announced this year, and here it is, much sooner than I anticipated.
The revolutionary action-RPG that Sakaguchi has been talking about on his blog consistently for the last year or so has finally been revealed to be a project for Nintendo. Titled The Last Story, the game is currently planned for an unspecific release on the Wii sometime this year in Japan.
Like Xenoblade, The Last Story has no real media or details worth speaking of at the moment, other than a teaser site up on the official Nintendo site. And, like Xenoblade, the game's site features little beyond a logo and some background music - though both are admittedly very nice.
I have somewhat mixed feelings about this announcement. On one hand, I couldn't be more pleased to see that the game is a console title instead of a handheld one. On the other, I bought my 360 partially to play Mistwalker's first two games, and still prefer to play my 360. I also don't particularly love motion controls (which every Wii game has the possibility of possessing). Further, I am actually quite surprised to see Nintendo funding a Mistwalker game after the dreadfully disappointing sales of Archaic Sealed Heat.
But, hey, I'm still excited to see what it's all about, and I'm quite impressed with Nintendo of Japan's efforts to put more RPGs on their console.
As a bit of bad news, however, Nintendo's most recent finacial report only lists The Last Story for Japanese release, and is completely absent on North America and Europe's release forecast. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it would have been more reassuring to know The Last Story won't meet the same Japan-only fate that ASH met.
Since last year's E3, Nintendo has been surprisingly impressive in their resolve to promoting RPGs on their systems. One RPG that was teased at E3 09 but then fell mysteriously silent was Monolithsoft's Wii RPG, Monado: Beginning of the World.
Though all that was released was a single teaser trailer and a name, many eagerly anticipating the next thing from the studio that created Xenosaga and Soma Bringer were understandably excited.
Since then, it seems that the game has undergone a name change, and has been officially announced as Xenoblade, and according to Nintendo's most recent financial report, will be released this Spring in Japan, with a slightly more vague 2010 release planned for North America.
Currently, the only official media we have since the name change is Nintendo of Japan's official site for the game, which shows off the game's logo while a loop (presumably from the game) plays in the background, and a promise that the official site will launch "soon."
So, I don't remember if I've truly covered Aksys' decision to bring Compile Heart's 'Soul Breed' SRPG, Agarest Senki to North America.
For those who don't remember this slightly obscure title, the game is basically a classic Japanese SRPG, complete with gridded fields, turn-based strategizing, and anime-style still art taking the place of cutscenes. Really, nothing specular there. Where the game sets itself apart is in the 'Soul Breed' system, which allows the player to choose a wife to bear his posterity for several generations. Which girl the player chooses to (ahem) procreate with will determine certain traits of his successor.
Along with this admittedly 'mature' subject matter comes the obvious fanservice - arguably the game's true selling point.
The original title was released in Japan in 2007 on PlayStation 3, then ported to the Xbox 360 in 2008 as Agarest Senki: Reappearance, and contained different and bonus content.
Aksys games has been known for some time now as the North American publisher for the title, but it was pushed back several times to allow for the 360 version to launch simultaneously here. With that, Aksys has claimed that the PS3 and 360 versions are now identical for the NA release, though it is still unclear whether that means the extra content was added to the PS3 version, or stripped out of the 360 version.
Though Aksys claims that this prevents rampant fanboyism over the title, they have chosen to release the PS3 version exclusively through PSN, while the 360 version will receive a classic hard copy, destroying any fanboy peace they may have been striving for.
To further the gap, Aksys has recently revealed a limited print edition (yes, only for the 360 version) that will include a soundtrack disc, a mousepad with boobs wrist rest, and a saucy pillowcase (pillow not included) for, er, more private encounters (I guess?), all wrapped up in a fancy collector's art box.
If you have the choice, I would imagine most gamers will prefer the hard copy, but maybe that's just me. I admit that the special edition sounds like the best deal (and a lot of swag) for $59.99, but I would never get it past my wife. Regular box edition will have to do for me. :P
Record of Agarest War will be available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (via PSN) on April 27, 2010. It is already available in Japan.
Last week Microsoft put up a teaser splash on their official Xbox Japan website which read "Capcom x Microsoft 2010.01.26" and promised a new game announcement. Many Japanese gamers assumed it was the announcement of the Xbox 360 exclusive DLC for GTA4, so I made no effort to report it last week.
However, the mini-event held in connection with this teaser announced many things, the biggest of which is the revelation that Capcom will be porting its highly-popular-in-Japan action-MMO, Monster Hunter Frontier, to the Xbox 360 this summer.
Aside from being run on different servers, it is currently unclear if there will be any major changes from the PC version, and will reportedly have a pay-to-play monthly fee similar to the PC version as well, though the details are still a bit fuzzy.
Though I have no real interest in this series (or MMOs in general), this is undeniably a huge boost for the 360's image in Japan.
Monster Hunter Frontier will be available for Xbox 360 sometime this Summer in Japan. There is currently no word on a possible North American or European release.
Despite being highly derivative - especially of Nintendo's famous Legend of Zelda series - THQ and Vigil's Xbox 360 and PS3 action-adventure-RPG, Darksiders, is quite good. ...Except for some very obvious tearing issues on the 360 version, which were highly headache-inducing for me during long play sessions.
However, Vigil has claimed that this problem is an "easy fix," and had promised a patch soon.
Despite my skepticism that an "easy fix" should have been in the game when it shipped, Vigil has announced that the patch is complete and will be available for all internet-enabled 360 users Wednesday, January 27, 2010 (tomorrow).
It's a little too late for me, as I'm already finished the game, but for anyone who held off until these glitches were fixed should now have no trouble.
Nintendo may not be known as an RPG publishing powerhouse, but the RPGs they do have under their belt tend to be quite good. Above even those, the Legend of Zelda action-adventure-RPG series is known and loved by gamers who can't even spell RPG. It should be no surprise, then, that many have been waiting intently for the next main console entry of the series since Twilight Princess back in 2006.
In an interview with Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has been quoted as saying the long anticipated newest entry in the Legend of Zelda series is nearing completion, and is planned for an end of the year release.
With 2010 already off to a very encouraging start, seeing a brand new console Zelda title would definitely be a nice addition to the year.
However, before your hopes get too high, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has warned fans on the Nintendo Week monthly report that the new title will be released "when it's perfect." In other words, if it's not perfect in 2010, we will still be waiting until it is.
I'll cross my fingers for early perfection if you will.
This has to be some kind of RPG record. Here we are, the last week of January - traditionally one of the slowest, if not the slowest month for RPG releases - and we've had at least one RPG per week. This trend is highly encouraging, and one that I hope continues throughout 2010.
...Except now that I said that, it might jinx it. Crap.
Anyways, check out what RPGs are hitting shelves near you this week (January 25 - 30, 2010):
North America Mass Effect 2 – BioWare, EA – Xbox 360, PC
Japan Ar Tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hiku – Gust, Namco Bandai – PlayStation 3 Dragon Quest VI: Maboroshi no Daichi – ArtePiazza, Square Enix – Nintendo DS End of Eternity – tri-Ace, Sega – Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Last Rebellion – Hit Maker, Nippon Ichi – PlayStation 3 Tales of Destiny 2 (The Best) – Namco Bandai – PSP Tales of Rebirth (The Best) – Namco Bandai – PSP
Europe Mass Effect 2 – BioWare, EA – Xbox 360, PC
Japan has a huge flood of RPGs this week, with three at once for the PS3. We're just breaking records all over the place this week. Namdai and Gust's latest in the Ar Tonelico series, along with Nippon Ichi's first all 3D PS3 title, Last Rebellion, and tri-Ace's first true multiplatform title ever, End of Eternity. The choice is much easier on 360 with just End of Eternity. Meanwhile, the last of Square Enix's Dragon Quest DS remakes, Dragon Quest VI is out this week. Plus two budget reprints of Tales of ports for the PSP, and you have yourself a whole lot of choice in Japan this week.
North America and Europe have decidedly less to choose from, but the only choice is thankfully a good one with BioWare's latest sci-fi epic, Mass Effect 2.
Well, Mistwalker promised their new big RPG would finally be announced this year, and here it is, much sooner than I anticipated.
