Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Praise the f$%kin' goblins, a sequel to Ancient's Protect Me Knight is set to hit the Japanese 3DS eShop this September

Although I was really excited when it was revealed that Yuzo Koshiro's company, Ancient, was going to release a retro-tinged tower-defense title--called Mamotte Knight in Japan and Protect Me Knight elsewhere--for the Xbox 360's indie-games service, I have to admit that I barely played the resulting effort after I downloaded it in 2010.

That's not a comment on this pixel-packed game's quality, mind you. Actually, I rather enjoyed what little I played of it. The fact is, though, that I just didn't use my Xbox 360 very much, and as such titles like this one suffered (by being ignored).

I doubt that's going to be a problem with the expanded 3DS sequel that the folks at Ancient recently announced--complete with a September release date--via their Twitter account.

Sadly, this game--to be called Minna de Mamotte Knight, I believe--is going to be a Japan-only affair at first, although the person in charge of Ancient's Twitter output already has informed followers that the company hopes it'll eventually be able to bring it to Western 3DS eShops, too.

As for what will differentiate the digital-only Minna de Mamotte Knight from its predecessor, according to a couple of NeoGAF threads (here's one and here's the other) the 3DS game will feature "about 10 times" as much content as the Xbox 360 one, a handful of new characters (the buff dude on the right isn't one of them, by the way, as he appeared in the first Protect Me Knight) and four-player local co-op.

Should you want to see a localized version of this sure-to-be-quirky title on non-Japanese 3DS eShops, I'd suggest aiming a Tweet at @AncientGames_JP at your earliest convenience.

Note: the "f$%kin' goblins" mentioned in this post's headline is an homage to one of Protect Me Knight's funniest lines--in which the game's damsel in distress demands that the titular warrior to "DEFEAT F$%KIN' GOBLINS!"

16 comments:

Josef Axner said...

Excellent news! I loved the XBLIG game, even if it was bit lite on content. Well worth the asking price! However I'd like to offer a slight correction - the reading of the Japanese title of the series is "Mamotte Knight".

"Knight" is indeed written with the Japanese word, 騎士 (kishi), but it's a play on words: Mamotte Knight is read as "Mamotte nai to" which translates to "[You] Have to Protect [...]". It's a pretty clever pun - and as usual with Japanese wordplay, absolutely untranslatable.

thegaygamer.com said...

Hey there, Josef! Always nice to hear from a fellow Protect Me Knight fan ^^ BTW, thank you for the correction. I love the pun! Quick question for you, though: how should would you change the name of the game in this post to make it correct? Mammotte Nai To? Mammotte Naito? Er, leave it in Japanese?

Josef Axner said...

I'd just write it as Mamotte Knight, that's how I always refer to it. It's pronounced "Naito" in the sense that that's how a Japanese person would say it (and how the furigana is written), but it's meant to be "Knight".


It's kind of similar to how Contra in Japan is written as 魂斗羅; it's sort of a play on words, but it's still "Contra", not "Kontora".


We're getting pretty deep into the rabbit hole here, but I guess at the end of the day, it's a distinction that never existed in Japanese in the first place, so when transcribing, you may as well write it in the way that would make sense to an English speaker.

Justin Difazzio said...

Ha! Sounds like something I'd enjoy...although tower defense and I have a love hate relationship.

thegaygamer.com said...

That makes sense to me, Josef! It's really too bad the first person to translate/localize the Japanese title didn't do a proper job, as now the rest of us who talk about it use the wrong words/name :|

thegaygamer.com said...

I'm not all that experienced in the tower-defense genre, Justin, so I can't say if you'll like this one more than you've liked others. I'd actually compare it to something like Witch & Hero for the 3DS. Did you ever play that? I can't remember.

michaelstearns said...

That's the ninja from the first game. :)

thegaygamer.com said...

Gah! See, I told you I didn't spend much time with it XD Thanks for letting me know, Michael. I'll go update the post now. Are you looking forward to this one, too, BTW?

michaelstearns said...

I was going to say, that looked like proof to me! :)


I actually didn't get the first one, though I did play with some friends a few times. I don't really remember what I thought of it, mainly I just thought it was really cool that a "well-known" developer was on XBLI! The 3DS is definitely a better place for me to pick it up and actually play it as well. It's a maybe for now, I guess!

thegaygamer.com said...

Yes, the 3DS is a better place for me to pick up a game like this, too, Michael--if only because I'm far, FAR more likely to play the game on my 3DS than I am on my 360.

TheGameroomBlitz said...

I've got this on the Xbox 360 as well, but didn't spend a lot of time with it. It's not because I don't use my Xbox 360, because I definitely do, but because Microsoft did its best to make playing Indie Games an uncomfortable experience. You absolutely must be online to play them, and even then there's something about the way they're presented that leaves you feeling like you wandered out of Microsoft's pristine walled garden and into a dimly lit back alley.


I do remember Protect Me Knight being pretty entertaining regardless, with an authentic 8-bit design. Your characters feel like they'd be right at home in The Legend of Zelda, making it easy to forget that you're playing a tower defense game. Lots of developers these days do the faux 8-bit thing, with some being more successful than others, but Koshiro nailed it.

Justin Difazzio said...

No. It's still sitting there on my wish list.

thegaygamer.com said...

Well, then, it'll be interesting to hear what you think of either of these games should you get around to them.


I'm guessing this one will cost a bit more than Witch & Hero, for what it's worth. After all, I believe Ancient's Twitter rep said the new Protect Me Knight would cost about twice as much as the first one, and I believe that one was $4 or $5, while Witch & Hero is just $3 (or close to it) right now.

thegaygamer.com said...

This just proves how little I've played my 360 in the last year, Jess -- or overall, I guess -- as I don't remember the experience of trying to play XBLIG games being so traumatic! Maybe I'll have to turn the darn thing on again this weekend and see what you're talking about.


Anyway, yes, Koshiro -- or maybe we should say his sister? -- really nailed the art style of this game. Hopefully we'll be able to say the same about this sequel after it's released, too!

Xinen said...

Really awesome, wish I still had a working 360 to try it on. If its sequel does come west I'll try to snag a 3DS to get it on lol.

thegaygamer.com said...

Wow, that's dedication, Xinen! Thankfully, there are many other 3DS games you could/should enjoy, too :)