Thursday, April 05, 2012

Nintendo is doing its darndest to kill my marriage

How so, you ask? By releasing so many "must buy" games for their many systems over the next few months, that's how.

Specifically, by releasing Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii sometime this month (this week? next week? I have no idea...), Mario Tennis Open for the 3DS on May 20 and The Last Story--also for the Wii--on June 19.

Oh, and Pokémon Conquest--the Americanization of the just-released-in-Japan Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition--for the DS on June 18. (Here is Pokémon Conquest's box art, by the way, and here is the game's first English trailer.)



In case you didn't know already, Pokémon Conquest's stateside release was announced yesterday by the folks at Nintendo of America.

More information about this strategy RPG, developed by Tecmo Koei, can be found at pokemon.com, so head over there if you're at all curious about it. (You are, aren't you?)

(Via siliconera.com and tinycartridge.com)

29 comments:

Andi Lea said...

Wait, does this mean I can play Oichi with Jigglypuff?

The Last Story looks intriguing. The graphics are beautiful. I think the Wii at my house will be seeing more action besides Netflix.

So, I have question. My kids believe that I will love playing Final Fantasy. But, I have no idea which version to get or where to begin. Advice?

I have X360, PS2, and/or I could play it on the PC. I've recently been thinking that I should buy a PS3. But, you know groceries are a priority.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Andi!

Unfortunately, I can't answer your question because I don't know who Oichi is. (I know ... shame on me!) I'm guessing he/she is part of Nobunaga’s Ambition?

It's good to hear you're excited about The Last Story! I'm more excited about Xenoblade myself, but both games are worth being excited about, I think.

As for Final Fantasy: Hoo, boy, I'm not sure what to say! Well, other than, "Don't buy the 360/PS3 versions (XIII and XIII-2)." At least, that's what I've heard on the Interwebs.

Are you against playing retro games? If not, I'd personally start with Final Fantasy IV, V or VI. You could play the original, SNES versions via emulation on your PC, or you could play the PS1 versions on your PS2 (or via emulation on your PC). IV also was remade for the DS and PSP, but I'm not sure if you have those systems.

Personally, V and VI are my all-time favorite FF games. Also, I personally feel the series has gone downhill ever since VI, so I'm not the best person to talk to about the games that have been released since :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

BTW, I should mention that Square Enix and SEGA are trying to kill my marriage, too -- what with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy being released (for 3DS) on July 3 and Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure being released (also for 3DS) on July 10. Arrrrrrrrgh!

Retr0gamer said...

I never thought Pokemon Conquest stood a chance of a western localisation but great to see it being available in English!

Bryan Ochalla said...

You and me both, Retr0gamer! I guess the Pokemon connection won out in the end. Yay! I've heard good things about this game, BTW, so I'm going to pre-order it as soon as Amazon will let me :P

diaglyph said...

Will be interesting to see how it goes :)

Also http://mynintendonews.com/2012/04/05/kingdom-hearts-3d-and-theatrhythm-final-fantasy-north-american-release-dates-announced/ (which also confirms the Theatrhythm date again)

I would guess Kingdom Hearts will come out a week or so later (as has been typical fashion). Still not sure about Kingdom Hearts myself (couldn't get into the the first 2 games).
Theatrhythm - quite likely to pick this up if it comes out here!

With regards to Final Fantasy - I don't think 13/13-2 are that bad! I still haven't finished 13, but I don't think its as bad (though I do think the combat system was dumbed down too much).
If I were to recommend a starting point: X and X-2 :) Those two really got me into the series. I loved the turn based element in X and found the story interesting and sad. In X-2 (a direct sequel to X) I loved the story surround the 3 girls (I'm a little bit of a anime fan and love the whole magical girl transformation sequences in X-2 LOL). So yea, I would suggest playing X and X-2.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Igor! Oh, yes, I knew about the Theatrhythm FF date -- at least for North America. In fact, I mentioned it a few comments up ;)

I'm actually not that interested in Kingdom Hearts. I mean, I'm glad fans of the series will get to play another installment, but I've never played any of the series' games, so I really can't get too excited about another one.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts RE: a FF jumping-off point. I've never played X or X-2, so I couldn't exactly recommend them. I really should get to that eventually, though, shouldn't I?

diaglyph said...

Oh -_- I'm being slow again and not paying attention LOL

On FFX and X-2: yea you should play these games :) I really liked the characters in X. Though wait for a bit, a HD remake of X is coming soon to PS3 and Vita (I wish they would do it for X-2 as well!) You've probably seen this before http://youtu.be/-PWC6vUext0 but it's one of my favourite parts of the game, quite touching!
I really like how the combat system works. First off, turn based! yay!! Also Yuna is a summoner. You go visit special temples to unlock a summon (pretty cool temple stuff and there are also special summons that you can go and find, some powerful ones) One of my favs was Yo Jimbo http://youtu.be/gBBm2q2aoiY (the summon sequences were quite cool, like Shiva's, especially her attack animations).

In FFX-2 I just loved the transformation sequences :) http://youtu.be/vs1edLm3KMY You had a "dress sphere" which represent the different classes like Black Mage or White Mage etc The combat system was more based on their older ATB system (think FF7).
And how can you not love the intro to FFX-2? :p http://youtu.be/oiXcL06P3ko

Bryan Ochalla said...

Well, then, I'll *definitely* have to check out both X and X-2 sometime soon. I've read good things about both games before, of course, but I just don't play my PS2 much these days (sad, I know) and so I kind of forget about all of the PS2 games I need to add to my collection. Thanks for all of the X and X-2 links, by the way. I'll check them out shortly :)

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Questions!

Firstly, did you also hear about Pokemon Black/White 2?
Secondly...Thatrhythm is getting a US release?

And...Xenoblade comes out tomorrow, I believe.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, duh, yes, I definitely heard about Pokemon Black/White 2 -- but I forgot to mention it in this post. It doesn't have a release date in the US, though, does it?

Hmmm, now I'm going to have to go look...

Nope, no release date for NA, as far as I can tell. Just "autumn/fall." Anyway, I'll definitely be picking up White 2, I think.

Also, YES, Theatrhythm FF got a North American release date, too! July 3. Can't wait.

And if Xenoblade comes out tomorrow, that should mean I'll get my copy early next week at the latest. Yippee!! Did you order the game, Justin?

diaglyph said...

Just found out euro dates:
Theatrhythm - July 6
Kingdom Hearts - Aug 3

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=175019

Unknown said...

Oh man, you and me both, Bryan. We'll have to console each other when we're left stranded, sad and alone ;) Though my husband plays games, he has quite different tastes than I, so I'll be playing things like Pokemon Conquest solo. But he LOVES Final Fantasy, so we may end up fighting over that one... ;)

Anyways, I am beyond excited! This year is shaping up to be really great for game releases!

Anonymous said...

So Bryan you are married! I'm disappointed! (Kidding, LoL)

I played through FF3,7,8,9, and a little bit 10, 12, 13. I like 7,8,9, 12. FF13 is the worst!

Jeff

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Not yet. I'm kind of hoping I'll get it for my birthday...

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hello again, Igor! Thanks for sharing the KH date. I don't think I knew that one before. Of course, it could have been because I'm not all that interested in the series :) I'm definitely interested in Theatrhythm, though, as I'm sure you know by now!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Anne! Yes, let's console each other when and if that happens. Hopefully it won't, though! At least we'll have some awesome games to help take our minds off of our divorces, though, right?

Which games are you most excited about, by the way? For me, it's got to be Xenoblade and Theatrhythm, I think. I'd be more excited about Mario Tennis Open if it had an RPG mode like the previous portable entries in the series :(

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Jeff! Yep, I've been married for some time now :)

As for FF: You've played quite a good swath of them, eh?

I've really got to get to FF9 soon. I bought a copy some time ago, but just haven't gotten around to it.

Anyway, if you're at all up for playing old/retro games, I'd highly suggest playing FF 1, IV, V and VI. I love all of them :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Justin: Ah! And your birthday is soon, right? If so, I hope you get this game -- and many others -- on the big day :)

diaglyph said...

I'm expecting lots of posts about Xenoblade ;) am curious to read about your experience as you go along!
I had a brilliant time with the game, and can't wait for you guys to experience the game :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Count on it, Igor! I'm definitely looking forward to playing it. I've been waiting for sooooooooooooo long!

Anonymous said...

Hey Bryan,

I will definitely try them:)

jeff

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yes, get on them, Jeff! Just know that you may find the first one waaaaay too archaic. Regardless, I look forward to hearing what you think of them someday :)

Unknown said...

Haha, well, I think for me it's a tie between Pokemon Conquest and Theatrhythm. I know I'll just loose hours to nostalgia with Theatrhythm, and if they bring over the DLC songs then those very well could be my first DLC purchases. I'm such a sucker for my favorite FF songs! Pokemon Conquest, on the other hand, just seems like such a crazy idea in theory that I can't wait to give it a go myself. Playing Samurai Warriors, which features the same Nobunaga's Ambition characters, made me a little partial to how they portray various famous Japanese figures from history, too.

That's too bad about Mario Tennis Open. I don't really follow those games so I don't know about the RPG mode... Do you know why they'd get rid of it? One usually thinks they should *add* features to the newer versions, not get rid of old ones...
Kingdom Hearts 3D is something I'm looking forward to, but I don't really know if I'm *that* excited for it. As for Xenoblade, I'm definitely psyched to try it sometime, but since it's been out here for a while I haven't really had it on my mind lately. We just got The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower is still on the way, too!

Bryan Ochalla said...

It'll be interesting for me to play Pokemon Conquest without having ever played a Nobunaga's Ambition game, Anne. I can't imagine it will negatively impact my experience, but I'll bet it would be interesting, etc., to me if I *had* played any of that series' games.

As for Mario Tennis Open: I've read that Nintendo wanted it to be like the console Mario Tennis games rather than the past portable ones. Which is kind of weird, because most people seem to prefer the portable ones -- the ones that have the RPG mode.

Also, someone at Nintendo recently said that they wanted to put Miis into the game, and doing so while also putting in an RPG mode didn't gel in their mind.

So, I guess those are the reasons. I don't consider them all that good, mind you, but what can you do?

Are planning to get either The Last Story or Pandora's Tower, Anne? I can't remember if you've said you were or weren't going to get them. I'm on the fence about The Last Story myself. Pandora's Tower actually seems more interesting to me, but I'm not all that sure it'll be making its way to the US any time soon.

Melody (Lizzi) said...

I really hope it gets to Europe aswell...
I think there's no release-dateyet :/
Want this so bad >.<

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh my! You mean, not only hasn't it been released there, but it hasn't even received a release date yet? That's too bad. I guess you could always buy the US version if you had to, though -- unless it's a DSi-enhanced title?

diaglyph said...

Which game are you talking about?
If its Pokemon conquest that had come out and has been available here in aus for a while so it should be in euro too

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hmmm, I assumed Melody was talking about Pokemon Conquest, Igor, but I'm not sure. Anyway, you're right -- it was released in Euroland a few months ago!