The best box art of 2016

This past year was a great one for games. It also was great for game cover art--as the following examples hopefully prove.

Culdcept Revolt (3DS)--To be totally honest, I originally chose to include this piece of box art in this post because it's awash in red. I've since come around to appreciating that the game's cast of characters aren't huddled around the middle point of the illustration, which seems to the case for most Japanese cover images these days. Add in Culdcept Revolt's slick logo, and you've got yourself an obvious winner.

Dragon Quest Builders (PS4/Vita)--What's not to love about Dragon Quest Builders' Japanese cover art? After all, it sports a top-notch logo, a charmingly stylized main image and is so sweetly colorful it could give you a toothache. Sadly, Square Enix's designers gave it an extreme makeover when prepping the game for release outside its home country.

Final Fantasy XV Deluxe Edition (PS4)--I've drooled over Yoshitaka Amano's work since I learned he was responsible for the key art for one of my all-time favorite games, Final Fantasy VI. What he conjured up for Final Fantasy XV's Deluxe Edition may not be quite as mind-blowing as those aforementioned creations, but it's still completely gorgeous and very much worthy of being mentioned in a write-up such as this.

Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna (PS4/Vita)--This may be my favorite of all the box arts mentioned in this post. I love that it's subtle. I love that its designers weren't afraid of white space. I love the pop of color provided by the lone tree in the upper-right corner. I love the logo, which straddles the line of looking handwritten and looking like a computer-enabled font. And, oddly enough, I love the feeling of loneliness it evokes.



The Last Guardian (PS4)--Please note that I'm talking about the Japanese "First-Press Limited Edition" here. As in, the chartreuse-tinged label affixed to the cardboard outer box shown in the photo above. That's the only cover image associated with this long-awaited release I find at all appealing, by the way.

Nippon Ichi's Roze to Tasogare no Kojou coming to North America as A Rose In The Twilight

I don't know why, but I was genuinely surprised to see NISA announce yesterday that it's bringing a localized version of its Japanese parent company's Roze to Tasogare no Kojou to North America this coming spring.

If this is the first you're hearing of Roze to Tasogare no Kojou, it's basically a spiritual successor to another Nippon Ichi Software-made Vita game, 2014's htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary.

For more information on this pseudo sequel, check out my post about its first Japanese trailer.

Am I planning to buy a copy of A Rose In The Twilight? Not at the moment. The main reason for my lack of interest is that I have a physical copy of the Japanese release--and haven't played it yet.

Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't stoked for North Americans who are looking for another cartridge to stick into their Vitas.

If that describes you, you'll probably like hearing NISA is selling two different versions of A Rose In The Twilight via its site. The standard edition is $19.99 while the limited edition is $39.99. The extra $20 for the limited edition gets you: a collector's box, a soft-cover art book, a soundtrack, a double-sided rubber strap and a giant stress ball.

Are any of you going to pick up one of the above-mentioned iterations of A Rose In The Twilight once it hits the streets on this side of the pond?

Let's ogle some Japanese PS4 and Vita box art

OK, so not all of the PS4 and Vita box covers that can be seen below are all that recent. In fact, two of them are kind of old. Still, I'm including them in this post because I didn't want it to include just three or four pieces of art.

Caligula (Vita)--This may be my favorite of the bunch. Why? The color scheme--black, purple, pink, red and white--is the main reason for that, although I'm also pretty fond of the illustration, the layout and even the rather simple logo.

I can't say I know a ton about the game itself, although I believe it's supposed to be some sort of Persona spinoff. Which sounds cool to me--as long as it's a high-quality (or at least medium-quality) spinoff.

Cladun Sengoku (Vita)--When this game was revealed, I was surprisingly uninterested. I say surprisingly because I'm a big fan of the two Cladun titles that were made and released for the PSP a few years ago. A third entry set in Japan's Sengoku period, though, doesn't really appeal to me.

Or so I thought. I mean, I can't say I'm all hot and bothered about this Cladun sequel's setting now, but I'm intrigued enough by it that I'm seriously considering picking up a copy of this game in the coming months. (The only reason I haven't already pre-ordered it is that I'm waiting to see if someone localizes it for a North American release.)

Coven and the Labyrinth of Refrain (Vita)--I've got to be honest here: I don't completely love this particular piece of cover art. Oh, it's nice enough overall, and I like the soft, cool colors it showcases. The layout's kind of awkward, though, don't you think?

Still, I decided to include it here because: a) I like its flowery, Etrian Odyssey-esque logo and b) I like the little I've seen of its gameplay.

Final Fantasy XV (PS4)--Am I itching to play Square Enix's next mainline Final Fantasy title? Not really, to be completely honest. Granted, I haven't been all that interested in the company's main moneymaker for years, and although I think Final Fantasy XV looks grand--literally and figuratively--I don't see myself running out and buying a PS4 later this year just so I can experience it. Stranger things have happened, though, so who knows? Maybe I'll have a change of heart between now and then.

In the meantime, I'll gladly ogle the game's Japanese box art, which adeptly conveys the "epic road trip" that seems serve as the backbone of this particular Final Fantasy adventure. I'm also enamored with Final Fantasy XV's "Deluxe Edition" box art. How about you?

Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator (PS4)--No one's ever going to accuse me of bring a fighting-game nut. In fact, I haven't been into fighters since Street Fighter II's glory days. Still, I know--and like--a good cover illustration when I see one, and I'd definitely call Revelator's cover illustration "good" (if not "great").

I especially like the inventive use of color on display in this piece of box art, by the way. In fact, I'd say that's its main selling point.

Republique (PS4)--I'm kind of embarrassed to admit I know nothing about this game aside from its name. I'm going to do my best to educate myself about it in the next few days, though, as I like its cover imagery enough that I'd buy it if its gameplay is compelling and it won't cost me an arm and a leg to add to my collection.

Rose to Tasogare Kojo (Vita)--I'm already rubbing my hands together in anticipation of this upcoming Vita title arriving on my doorstep. That's mostly due to its htoL#NiQ-ish gameplay, of course, but owning a game box that looks as slick as this one's does is more than a minor factor.

You know what kills me, though? In the past, a game like this would come with a similarly stellar instruction manual. Today, we'll be luck to get a single piece of paper that explains its controls. Oh, well.

Feast your eyes on the first gameplay footage of htoL#NiQ's soon-to-be-released spiritual sequel, Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight

Is it weird to be excited about the sequel to a game you've never played?

If it is, I'm not embarrassed. The sequel in question--Roze to Tasogare no Kojou, which translates to something like Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight--looks amazing, and that's enough for me at the moment.

Plus, it's quite possible this soon-to-be-released Vita game will be less aggravating than its predecessor, htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary, seems to be.

Speaking of which, I finally bought a copy of the Asian version of htoL#NiQ a couple of weeks ago, and it should be in my grubby little hands by the end of this weekend.



While we wait for that to happen, and while we wait for me to play it and then pass along my (hopefully not completely exasperated) impressions, let's check out the first footage of Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight. It certainly reminds of htol#NiQ, doesn't it?

The question is: will the gameplay be more enjoyable than that of The Firefly Diary? I have a feeling it will be, but there's no way to know for sure until April 28, which is when Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight hits store shelves in Japan.

Do any of you have designs on picking up this Vita title? Let me know why that is in the comments section that follows.

Pre-order: the regular (Japanese) edition of Roze to Tasogare no Kojou or the premium box edition