Friday, November 13, 2015

European and North American 3DS owners: you've already pre-ordered copies of Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII, right?

Well, folks, the day so many of us have waited for has arrived.

No, not the day that Nintendo releases a Birdo-themed 3DS system. (Note: I'd even take an original 3DS featuring a Birdo design. Hell, I might prefer it to a Birdo-ized 3DS XL or New 3DS.)

Rather, it's the day that the company finally admits it's bringing the 3DS remakes-ports-whatever-you-want-to-call-them of Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII to the West.

Don't believe me? Fast-forward to the 39-minute mark of yesterday's European Nintendo Direct (below) and see for yourself.



Or, if you prefer watching Nintendo Directs from my side of the pond, as the saying goes, jump right to the 39-minute-mark of the North American broadcast.

With that out of the way, you're all set to pre-order both of these games via Amazon like I did yesterday afternoon, right? (Here's a link to Dragon Quest VII's Amazon entry, and here's a link to Dragon Quest VIII's.)

I'd share links to similar pre-order listings on Amazon's UK site or other European Amazon sites, but unfortunately I've yet to come across them.

Anyway, how many of you also are looking forward to getting your grubby mitts on one or both of these portable adventures at some point in 2016?

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Attention European and North American Vita owners: the dungeon-crawling RPG, Stranger of Sword City, is coming your way in March

And not only that, but you'll be able to choose between digital or physical versions of this Experience Inc.-made game once it finally arrives in your neck of the woods.

If this is the first you've heard of Stranger of Sword City, the gist is it's a Wizardry-esque RPG that's been ported to a number of Japanese systems since it first hit the Xbox 360 in summer of 2014.

Sadly for Western PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners, the Vita iteration is the only one that's being brought to North America (on Mar. 22) and Europe (on Mar. 25).



Footage of the Japanese version of Stranger of Sword City--known in that region as Stranger of the Village of the Sword--can be seen in the trailer above, in case you're wondering.

Now that you've watched it, what do you think? Will any of you pick it up upon (or at some point after) release?

I have a feeling I'll buy a boxed copy--assuming it's not stupidly expensive. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Stella Glow and your $50 price tag.)

(Via gematsu.com)

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Thanks to this trailer, I've now got my eye on the 'sci-fi romance adventure' Alone With You

You'd think that I'd be interested in Alone With You simply because it's being made by Benjamin Rivers, who also brought the world the highly acclaimed Home: A Unique Horror Adventure in 2012.

The thing is, I've yet to actually play any version of Home. In fact, I barely know a thing about it--other than a lot of people who have experienced it seem to have enjoyed it.

Of course, I also don't know a whole lot about Alone With You--other than it's a "single-player, sci-fi adventure game" that has a "pretty unique romance element." Oh, and that it'll be released for PS4 and Vita this coming spring.



The quoted portions of the above are from a recently published PlayStation.Blog post written by Rivers. Here are a few more of Rivers' words about the game:

"You’ll trek through beautiful, varied areas--which include a series of communication towers, the dilapidated Colony B, the workspaces and staff quarters of the facility’s agricultural operation, and the various components of the planet’s mining and processing centres. As you do so, you’ll be in constant communication with the AI, who acts as your lifeline and your tour guide. It’ll give you info on all the things and places you find, but it’ll also speak to you--asking you questions and responding to your answers. And if you’ve ever played Home, you’ll know: sometimes even the smallest decision can have unexpected consequences."

Are any of you fine folks looking forward to Alone With You's release as much as I am at the moment? If so, why? Also, have you played Home, and if so, what did you think about it?

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Let's talk about RPG Maker MV's awesome Japanese cover art

Did any version of the Enterbrain-made, Degica-published RPG Maker MV actually earn a physical release somewhere in the world?

I ask because although I'm assuming this latest entry in the decades-old make-your-own-RPG series is available in boxed form in Japan based on the following image, I can't find any evidence to support that assumption.

Regardless, the concoction on the right, which was noted in this NeoGAF thread as being the Japanese PC version's official box art, is pretty spectacular, if my opinion.

Granted, it's from the same, boring "cram a bunch of the game's characters into an amorphous blob" mold that produces too many of Japan's cover images these days, if you ask me, but its colors are so nice and it's so pretty overall that I'm willing to give this example a pass.

Have any of you played any iteration of RPG Maker since the first debuted 22 years ago? I'm sad to say I haven't, but I'd love to hear from someone who has--especially if that person can help me figure out which version (if any) would be worth picking up in 2015 or 2016.

Oh, and if you're curious to learn more about RPG Maker MV, which was released on Oct. 23 carrying an $80 price tag, check out its official site at rpgmakerweb.com.

Monday, November 09, 2015

Convince me not to buy this awesome limited edition Rockman Classics Collection for 3DS

OK, so I'm not as on edge about this upcoming Japanese release as I make it seem in the headline above, but I am really interested in it.

Of course, how could I not be interested in a package that includes such wonderful things as a boxed copy of the 3DS iteration of Rockman Classics Collection (that's the Japanese name for what's known elsewhere as Mega Man Legacy Collection), a 2016 planner with a Rockman--er, Mega Man--cover, a set of five bookmarks and more?

Thankfully, I've already missed the boat on this e-Capcom limited edition, which will the streets of Japan in late February, as far as Play-Asia is concerned. It's still available via nin-nin-game.com (for 11,690 yen, which comes to about $95), though, so my bank account and I aren't out of the woods yet.



Even if it remains available for a while, I have a feeling the most likely course of action for me will be to pre-order a boxed copy of Rockman Classics Collection before the year is up. If any of you are interested in doing the same, by the way, you can do so now at both AmiAmi (where it's being offered for 3,780 yen, or $30) and Play-Asia, where it has a slightly higher price tag of $34.99.

The funny thing about all of this: I'm not exactly the biggest Rockman or Mega Man fan out there. In fact, I'm not sure I've played a game in the series since the 16-bit era. I enjoyed a good number of the 8-bit games back in the day, though, so I've got a hunch that I'll at least get my money's worth out of whichever product I wind up buying.

How about all of you? Are any of you interested enough in Mega Man or Rockman to pick up the e-Capcom LE package or even a loose copy of this Classics Collection?