Because I Don't Talk About KOEI Enough...

I'm gonna be honest and say that I don't -know- how I manage to come up with so many occasions to talk about KOEI games in general, in that I don't actively look for them.  I guess news just...sort of crops up and me being a whore mass consumer of KOEI things in general, I can just extrapolate enough words from what is very simple announcements and turn it into a post or two.  It happens, and I haven't heard any complaining directly, so I assume you folks don't mind all that much.  Which is good!  Because I'm just gonna...keep doing it, I assume, until KOEI milks out every last bit of goodwill that I have towards them which will likely take a while despite my constant bitching criticisms.  Anyway, this post will be chock-full of new and less-new KOEI goodies that I decided to talk on tonight because I can't think otherwise since my back hurts again.

The above is a trailer for Nobunaga's Ambition:  Creation for PS4, which in itself is just a port of the game of the same name for PS3 and PC that was released last year.  I'm sure I could get some information about the game from the internet, but the fact is, it's probably not going to get localized, so I'm not looking too much into it, even though it would be fucking perfect for Remote Play (if not an outright Vita version, but no, that makes too much sense) and that fact alone makes me all the more sad that I'll never play it.  Of course, I -have- reached out to TecmoKOEI USA's official Twitter about it, but I really doubt that I'm going to hear back from them because, well, you know.  KOEI.  The fact that the account went inactive for months and only resurfaced -yesterday- says more than enough for the prospects of it being used as more than a means to congratulate themselves for whatever small accomplishes they make and no, I'm not bitter at all.

I'm not sure why they chose to go with what appears to be the Honnō-ji Incident for the intro cinematic to a Nobunaga's Ambition game either, but....well, that's at least -one- way to show off your pretty graphics, and especially so on an updated piece of hardware.  Reports indicate that Creation will run at 1080p and 60fps on the PS4 which is hardly surprising (unless you don't trust KOEI's technical acuity) but impressive nonetheless.  You'll also be able to command up to 1,000 men at a time (I assume they're not using the traditional 'units' anymore) rather than only 300 which is certainly something that will add quite a bit to the gameplay.  Regardless of anything, it's going to be a smooth entry (re-entry?) into the Nobunaga's Ambition series and I -do- hold out a little hope of seeing it come out in the West, but that's just it - a little hope.  Still enough to speak on, however, as I did.

There's some good news about Samurai Warriors 4, beyond the (old) news that it might (probably will) come here in the Summer.  The news, specifically, is that Create-a-Samurai is making a return in the base game, and not waiting for one of the expansions to introduce it.  Create-a-Samurai (or Create-a-Warrior for a general application in the Warriors games in general) is fairly self-explanatory, but it's a mode that allows you to customize your own character in name, appearance and fighting style to take into battle.  In the original Samurai Warriors, they handled it in a rather cool way, where you went through 'courses' to train specific aspects of your character, shaping their base attributes to contribute to their overall growth.  I'm not sure if there'll be a similar sort of thing in 4, but it sounds like there's -something- beyond "make your character, okay cool, go kill stuff".

The post mentions that officers will pose questions to you, to which your answers will help mold an image of how they see your character, which I'm sure will have an affect on their build.  Unless it's a fame/infamy type deal in which it won't matter in the least and will be another one for the "waste of effort" pile.  There's also a mention of a map where you can pick missions and if that's true, then that's certainly a departure for Samurai Warriors at least, though it brings it a little more in-line with what the Dynasty Warriors games have been doing with Conquest Mode and the like.  Unless it's specifically for Create-a-Warrior mode, which would be really cool, and reminiscent of Destiny Mode from Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends.  Also known as "one of the reasons DW5 was fucking awesome".

Destiny Mode was a mode in which your character started out as a grunt in the personal army of an officer of your choice.  When I say a grunt, that's explicitly what I mean - your moveset was a three-hit combo, you had shit for health and were more of a liability than anything else, yet were still expected to power through and destroy officers.  With each victory, you gained skill points to bring your character up to par to an -actual- warrior of the ages (buying the ability to have longer combos, musou attacks, etc.) while also bringing glory to whoever you were pledged to, which you could change at certain points if you felt like it.  However, the person you ended up with at the end of the last mission was the person whose weapon set you took after (I believe), so you needed to make sure to stay the course if you wanted someone in particular.  Still, it was empowering, playing some podunk little soldier that moved up to the big leagues (even giving you jobs such as Base Captain and the like) and I'm amazed that KOEI hasn't used it again.  I doubt that Samurai Warriors 4 will use it, but goddamn, I can hope for that too.

Aside from the (probable) release of Samurai Warriors 4 to us, we still don't really know anything about anything else.  Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends is heading this way as we already know, but there's plenty of other games that could get an announcement for Stateside travel as well.  Samurai Warriors 2 HD+XL/Empires, Warriors Orochi 3 Special or whatever the name is, Nobunaga's Ambition, Shin Dynasty Warriors Gundam and I'm sure a few other things I'm forgetting right now.  Hopefully the revival of KOEI's North American Twitter means good things, but in situations where KOEI is concerned, Hope and two quarters'll just get you fifty cents.  Still, I never expected the Vita vesion of DW8+XL to be announced for us (because KOEI would be the ones to be dicks like that) and that's happening, so who knows anymore.  It's a strange, confusing and maybe not all-together terrible world we're living in now.

yes, I know I said hope a lot, I don't care

Of Course, More KOEI Things

The image above is fairly obvious enough, but it's also confirmed by a close to official source that Dynasty Warriors 8:  Xtreme Legends for PS3 and Dynasty Warriors 8:  Complete Edition for PS4 and Vita are going to see releases in North America and Europe.  The Complete Edition, obvious as it may be, will include Xtreme Legends, but the base game as well, featuring a 'complete' compilation of both titles, which is all sorts of handy and economical.  Also the only way possible for PS4 and Vita owners to play Dynasty Warriors 8 without...doing so on the PS3.  Which makes things a wee bit difficult, even if the games will support cross-save, and I believe they do.  Hilariously, for as many games as I own with Cross-save, and games that are better suited for it, I assure you, this will probably be the first time I ever use the feature.  Because I'll be damned if I'm not going to carry over my meticulously groomed Dynasty Warriors 8 save by the time I'm done with it.

Details are scarce as usual - even KOEI hasn't put up a press release or anything of that source, simply posting an image on Twitter and then leaving it to their Community Manager to pass out the little bits of details that he could infer.  Therefore, the information may or may not be absolutely reliable, but I'm erring on the side of "yes" given that KOEI has more or less thrust his statements to the forefront as their own and not bothered to correct anything he said.  Thus, I'm inclined to believe that there will be physical releases of all three products, given that there will apparently be English voices and -maybe- Japanese voices as well, instead of the other way around.  This is more than ideal for me, as I'm sure you all know.

I'm getting the Vita version.  Full stop.  However, I'm not quite sure whether or not I'll pick up the PS4 version of the Complete Edition, or just get Xtreme Legends for PS3.  I imagine I'm going to play the console and Vita versions in tandem regardless because of Cross-Save, but I don't know whether I'll want to 'complete' my library on PS3 that much more, or simply begin a new one with the PS4 beyond inFamous:  Second Son, Watch_Dogs and potentially Metal Gear Solid:  Ground Zeroes.  Aw, who am I kidding, I'm getting GZ and I'll grin like an idiot when I set K-Pop music to play in the helicopter section, flash back to Peace Walker and then be mildly disturbed that I find it fitting now.  Regardless, it is quite the quandary.

I'm wary of picking up the PS4 version because it will be KOEI's first attempt with new hardware and it will be a port - not something native.  KOEI's games aren't technical wonders to start with and while Dynasty Warriors 8 runs smooth for the most part (Chibi and a couple other stages get really chuggy at times) I'm not willing to put my faith in their ability to take full advantage of the power inside the PS4.  On the other hand, if they do manage it, I'll constantly kick myself when I'm playing the PS3 version knowing that it could be smoother and prettier on the PS4 that I will presumably have by that point.  Granted, I could find it some time down the line, but...I'm not really sure if I'm comfortable buying Dynasty Warriors 8 three times, given the issues I have with it, even if I do think it's rather fantastic.  Which is to say I will probably do it anyway because I am kind of a whore like that.

this better just be the first of a few localization announcements KOEI makes - Samurai Warriors 2 HD Complete, plz

Toukiden Is On the Way West

The last time I said anything substantial about Toukiden was over a year ago when it was revealed, from which it eventually released, sold and did all that over in Japan with nary a word of western shores in its sights.  For some reason, I had thought Toukiden being localized was a foregone conclusion so when I heard that it was officially announced, I was a little confused at first.  "Didn't we know this already?," I said and it turns out that we did not.  So, good news everyone, Toukiden is releasing in North America (on carts! also digitally) as Toukiden:  [The?] Age of Demons.  (I'm seeing conflicting reports on whether or not the 'The' is there.  It is superfluous anyway.)  As far as I know, Toukiden isn't a real word, but it's damn fun to say, and a lot easier to figure out how to pronounce than Ys:  Memories of Celceta, which I learned from experience last wednesday, but that's a topic for a different night.

That's the good news about the situation.  The bad news begins to to the tune of the knowledge that the game is yet another Monster Hunter clone, but an actual really real one this time, not something that's just called a Monster Hunter clone because of poor reporting.  However everything in that trailer above screams Monster Hunter, from the segmented maps, to the giant monsters, to the four-player co-op with the bars on the upper left side literally like the MH UI (though not unique to that game) to the hub town and you get the point.  It's Monster Hunter with a side of Monster Hunter on a Monster Hunter plate in a Monster Hunter restaurant that calls itself Toukiden from KOEI and it's more than a little disappointing.

I'd personally hoped for something a little....less like that, clearly.  While my enjoyment of the KOEI games is well-known here, I don't necessarily want them to only make hack-n-slash games, so while that's what I expected with this, I would have been happy to have been wrong in most cases.  Perhaps with a proper Action-Adventure title, something along the lines of a Ninja Gaiden game, but actually fun, would have been great.  As it is, I'm assured that Toukiden will at least be a little more fast-paced than Monster Hunter which is one of my issues with it, and I'm hoping there's more variation to the game than "go here, kill monster", but I don't know what to expect and I don't want to spoil it for myself by reading impressions on the Japanese version of it.  It will serve me better to simply blindly pre-order and buy it and hopefully not be disappointed.

That is part of the other half of the bad news.  The game is releasing in February of 2014 which is right dead-smack in the middle of Christmas II which just so happens to include March this year, meaning they decided to release it the Sega way; at a time where it has the least chance of being bought 'just because'.  I'll be buying it because KOEI has so many fucking games to localize and I don't want them to be able to use their own shitty logic to leverage less and less localization projects because I fucking -want- to play these things.  I want Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends on my Vita, preferably with Dynasty Warriors 8 built into it, because I still don't know how DW8XL being on Vita/PS4 is going to work when DW8 proper is on PS3 and the selling thing of Xtreme Legends in the past has always been connecting the two games to expand on the original.  Despite my whinging, it does look like a nice game and seems capable of tricking everyone into forgetting that it's not actual Monster Hunter, but rather something close enough like it that they can just play it instead.  Because damned if a Monster Hunter wouldn't help matters.  CAPCOM.

I just want to run around maps and cut things and not worry about small areas and hrrrgh

DRAKENGARD 3 IS BEING LOCALIZED

In a Playstation Blog post, Sakura Minamida did the one thing that I have been hoping for for a while now:  Announced that Drakengard 3 is heading to North America.  Part of me wants to say that it's not surprising, especially after being buoyed a bit last week with that website registration, which is actually a site now, but it is surprising.  It always seemed like one of those "Never going to happen, but wouldn't it be awesome" things, but, hell, that's what this whole year has been like.  Still, this is Squeenix we're talking about, and they're almost on the same level as Sega in the whole dream-killing, terrible decisions game.  God knows we're all damn lucky that Drakengard 3 wasn't a fucking tablet game.

Details at this moment are scarce, really.  The game will be released on North American (and European, I believe) shores sometime within 2014, I'm assuming the latter half of it, and it'll be for PS3.  The above trailer, as you can see, is subtitled instead of dubbed, which, if they were going to keep that way might indicate a Digital-Only release (if you believe KOEI's lies) but obviously the game isn't really in the throes of Localization just yet, so if they're going to dub, they probably haven't even hired Voice Actors yet.  Furthermore suggesting a physical release is the fact that the game is available for pre-order 'exclusively' through the Squeenix Store for $50.  Now, call me crazy, but I don't think Squeenix is crazy enough to take pre-orders this early for a Digital-Only release of a game. 

What this does question, however, is just how accessible the game is going to be.  Perhaps a physical version is only available through them directly, otherwise it's digital-only dub or not?  Or maybe this is just a ploy to gauge interest to determine how much effort needs to go into the game's localization.  Or maybe it's just Squeenix being weird because that's what they do.  I'm not one for internet purchases like this, but it's Fucking Drakengard 3 so of course they're going to get my $50 before the end of the week.  And hell, if the game goes up for pre-order at GameStop at some random point in the future that is 2014, I might just reserve a copy there too.  I'm just fucking excited and happy about this happening that I want to make it worth-while.  Most of all, I just want the damn game that bad.

Now, remember kiddos:

If it does happen?  You better buy the fucking game.  I don't care who you are, I don't care what you want.  If you're looking for a pure action game, I can tell you that this won't be it.  But what it will be is a very particular type of game that has grown amazing over a long-running series.  A particular type of amazing game that I will make you buy.  If you buy the game, that will be the end of it.  I will not look for you, I will not pursue you.  But if you don't, I will look for you.  I will find you.  And I will slam your head against your keyboard until Amazon has ordered a copy for you.
(I won't.  Please just buy the game.)

 It's happening.  Thus, it is on.

really, it's not on but please buy Drakengard 3, I know I tell you guys to buy a lot of games, but especially this one

Goddamnit Sega - Yakuza 5 Localization "On Hold"

So, you guys like Sega news, right?  Well, how about Sega non-news?  Is that also good?  Because that's what this amounts to, really.  Sega's CCO recently stated that Yakuza Ishin is getting all their man-power to ensure it makes the PS4 launch, meaning things like localizing Yakuza 5 simply aren't on the table for now.  As in the game that's already been out in Japan for just under a year (released last December), there's been absolutely no work done on a localization for it in that year.  Presumably because they started on Ishin right away, but still, that's a bit egregious.  Also more than a little worrying considering this is fucking Sega we're talking about here.  But it's not like Yakuza 3 didn't take its sweet time getting over here either, so it's not exactly unprecedented.

Yakuza Ishin, if you weren't aware, is another game that goes back to the era of Japan where Samurai still wandered the lands, much like Yakuza Kenzan! which...well, you know how that story ends.  Or rather, you probably don't since it was never ever released outside of Japan.  So I'm not exactly buoyed by the news that they're working on a game that is potentially going to stay inside of Japan for its entire lifespan instead of localizing a game that could have and should see a release in the rest of the world.  There have been rumblings that it'll get localized, sure.  Potentially by Sony's new Third Party Productions division instead of Sega proper, but maybe even by Sega.  Or maybe by Atlus USA since that's definitely a possibility now.  It would definitely be nice, and a boon for PS4 and Vita both since the game is releasing on the PS4 and will at least be Remote Play-able on the Vita as well, if not boasting some other sort of functionality on top of that.  Not to mention the PS4 will be wanting for games in the first year or so as all new systems are (especially since it can't rely on backwards compatibility) so a Yakuza game to ease into the system would be very good.

Of course, that's all considering whether or not it makes it outside of Japan and just how long it'll take.  It's launching alongside the PS4 in Japan and we get the PS4 a little bit earlier on top of that.  That's sort of the key point in the matter here, and it's expressed through a line that absolutely just...kills me to read because it's so absurd when you think about it.

Nagoshi explained that due to the Yakuza team's size, they decided to pass up working on a port of Y5 to focus solely on Ishin. Nagoshi feels that he and his team "owe it to PlayStation fans" for Ishin to be a PS4 launch title, "even if it means a bit of pressure."

Emphasis mine, obviously.  If nothing, that's ridiculously telling of Sega's attitude towards the whole situation, since he says "Playstation Fans" when this is really only for Japan, are you fucking kidding me?  That is the specific situation here - this is a game being finished up for the Japanese PS4 launch and -only that-, but you're saying you owe it to "Playstation Fans" to do that?  The point I'm clearly leading to is that there are Playstation Fans everywhere outside of Japan and they fucking know this by now.  Their constant lack of acknowledgement is frustrating, and is definitely at least somewhat the reason for their lackluster sales in the West.  There's no guarantee that a Sega game you like will be continued and if it is, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to play it, which tends to stay the purchasing hand in the first place.  It happened with Phantasy Star, it happened with Valkyria Chronicles and it seems to be happening with Yakuza here (could argue that it already has with Kenzan! and Black Panther series) and it's hurting Sega far more than anything else.  Pick a side of the fence and stick with it.

And it's not like it'd take much effort to make the Yakuza series seem like it's going to be around in other regions.  Advertising is crucial, of course and they did a lot of that with 4, but it didn't seem to really take which is unfortunate because 4's advertisement was grand.  That had a lot to do with the residual distaste of Sega that clearly still lingers today, however.  All you need to do, if you're Sega, is announce that the Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Remaster is getting localized (Physical and/or Digital, I suppose.  Would prefer Physical, but I'll take what I can fucking get) and then get Yakuza 3 and 4 on the Playstation store with a bundle version of the two as well.  ($40 individually, $60 for both+the few bits of DLC that came out for them or something, maybe even a super bundle of all four games)  Then announce that Yakuza 5 is indeed getting localized and point to those previous efforts to show that you can get the whole Yakuza experience on Playstation 3 in order to be prepared for the launch of 5.  Punctuates the lead-in and you suddenly have a series that is expansive and crazy but accessible to anyone because it's just two purchases (or maybe even one) has it all right there on a single console.  No muss, no fuss, it's all just there for you to enjoy.

If you'd do all that and also work out with TPP to localize Ishin (or Restoration as it'll probably be called) then it creates an exponential effect, because it establishes a sense of security.  It's suddenly a series that you -can- get into because it's going to keep coming and it's going to keep coming out -here-.  Do a little focused advertising on top of that (maybe a goddamn commercial, yeah?) and you'll have an entire new pool of customers to dip into who will grow to appreciate the product as the quality work that it is.  That I even have to figure this out and explain it, however, is the height of frustration since it's very obvious things that they could do to bolster goodwill.  And if Sega needs anything at this point and beyond, it's goodwill because without that, they could release Call of fucking Duty and it'd sell like shit.  Maybe one of these days they'll figure it out themselves.

by the way, still waiting on word for Phantasy Star Online 2 which will literally print money in the West

KOEI, Seriously, Please Start Announcing Localizations

KOEI really, really, really likes the Vita...

....in Japan.

No less than four Warriors titles are in production for the device at the moment, and it borders on absurd at just how much attention the Vita's getting from KOEI, even if it -is- half ports.  Yet, when those ports are Samurai Warriors 2 (and Xtreme Legends -and- Empires) and Warriors Orochi 3 (as an enhanced version of the game, same as PS3's enhanced version) you will be surprised at just how fucking okay I am with this.  Those two games join the line-up alongside Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends (potentially 8 somewhere along the line too?) and the newly announced Shin Dynasty Warriors Gundam which are both being developed for PS3 -and- Vita.  And that's all of just what I know about, who the hell knows if there's other stuff that I've missed completely, because it's entirely possible.

The first reaction to this is supposed to be a level of cautious optimism, of course.  They're not exclusive games to the Vita, but they're being developed for it nonetheless, and that likely fosters a sort of side-by-side mentality about them.  Consumers will only buy one or the other by-and-large of course (KOEI ain't gonna touch Cross-buy with a ten foot pole) but it broadens the pool of potential buyers at the very least if you put both out, and there's no reason -not- to.  That they're coming to the Vita at all is a good sign no matter how you look at it.  I basically mention that side-by-side mentality for the localization aspect of the games, of course.  Speaking of...

The next reaction is the slow, creeping disdain and cynicism that one has naturally fostered for KOEI by this point when it comes to actually releasing games outside of Japan.  We did get the original Warriors Orochi 3 (as digital-only for PS3 which is something that I have ranted about enough), and we did get Samurai Warriors 2, Xtreme Legends and Empires way back in the day easy enough as well.  DW8:XL seems a given to come out over here, but I'm not pinning any hopes on disc-based, and Shin Dynasty Warriors Gundam....is the sticky one of the bunch.  We don't know anything about it really - is it just another DW: G game with a new name? - so it's hard to say one way or another, especially with Namco Bandai being involved on top of KOEI.  Warriors Orochi 3 coming out over here originally might even be a strike against its chances since WO3 Ultimate is a (highly) enhanced version of it.  But we'll just have to see on that, I suppose.

Now, as mentioned, the really sticky thing to wonder about if -any- of these games come out is format.  KOEI surprised the hell out of me by announcing DW8 on disc with a proper localization and such, but I expect that to be the exception rather than the rule moving forward.  I have zero problems throwing money at people at GameStop for a copy of a KOEI game on a disc.  Zero.  While I've raised a stink about digital-only in the past (and it's still an issue, though definitely something I've chilled out on some), I only have a few issues with throwing digital money at PSN for a copy of a KOEI game in digital form.  Those issues are primarily "How big is it" and "That's going to take fucking forever to download".  Which was a legitimate concern with my current PS3 - the fans kick on to 100% or seems like it, which means it's not long for this world.  It takes the better part of six hours to download one gig of data, I'd bet, so something like WO3 which was eleven gigs?  Ridiculous.  Cannot, will not ever happen unless I cart my system to someone else and it manages to not die after I delete 22 gigs of data to accommodate the strange way PSN downloads work with full games or something.

When I get a shiny new PS3 with 500 gigs of storage space this will....be far less of an issue.  It'll obviously still take fucking forever to download, but the great thing is that I might actually be able to let it.  In the end, it's all about just being able to buy and play a game that you want to play.  So when there's an unreasonable barrier, of course it's going to be frustrating, but I guess the option then just becomes "Make it work".  So maybe I will.  I can tell you with certainty that if the games come out in the West on Vita, I don't care what format, I will buy the ever-loving shit out of them.  I will make a KOEI page and it will have all the bubbles for Dynasty Warriors Next and Toukiden and whatever of the above titles actually come out, even if I have to buy them all digitally.  I will eschew whatever I have to in an effort to have multiple KOEI Warriors games at my fingertips.  And I will seriously consider a 32 gig stick if need-be.  You just have to make it happen, KOEI.

there is honestly nothing about the prospect of any of those four Warriors games on my Vita that I don't love

Is Final Fantasy Type-0 Still a Possibility?

Probably not.  Still, hope springs eternal and all that.

If' you're unaware of what Final Fantasy Type-0 is, then you're likely part of the overwhelming majority which likely includes at least half of Squeenix itself.  So, for the uninitiated, Final Fantasy Type-0 is the renamed Final Fantasy Agito XIII, which was one of the three games announced back when Final Fantasy XIII proper and Versus were also announced, all as arms of the Fabula Nova Crystallis branding.  In 2006.  And, as we all, know, that has gone so swimmingly with one and a half of those three titles having actually seen release.  I say half, of course, because one of Final Fantasy Type-0's many changes, aside from the transition from a Cell Phone game to a full-fledged PSP title, was its name to Type-0 for its Japanese-only release.  In 2011.

Being that it's been so long since its Japanese release on a platform that didn't particularly do well in the West, most everyone has just assumed it will never see a Stateside release.  Or rather, if you still believe that it will see a release in the West, you're one of the outliers, since there's almost no reason, no incentive to do it.  Except making fans happy and selling a product, but who the fuck cares about that.  Certainly not Squeenix unless it's Eidos-developed, sells more than any iteration in the entire franchise it's a part of, yet is still 'underwhelming' which I am not bitter about at all, no sir.  None of this is helping, however, and is only tangentially related to the game, so let's shift gears.

As stated, Agito XIII began its life as a Card-based game for Cell Phones and eventually transformed into a sort of real-time action RPG with online and social elements that eventually was known as Type-0 on the PSP.  A game so large that it required two UMDs, and remains one of the few titles that have ever needed this functionality.  To say that it grew and evolved into something quite different than it started is an understatement, and that's not only for the game itself.  In its humble origins as a Cell Phone game, nobody seemed to really care for it, as it would just be another After Crisis or similar - a game that wasn't very good and we didn't get it anyway - and it was only after it started evolving, became a PSP game and went unreleased long after XIII came out to its polarizing opinions and Versus became considered vaporware that it was turned to, latched onto, even.  There had to be one project from this Fabula Nova abomination that wasn't going to cause some sort of rift, the same opinions as XIII or the same nebulous assurance of quality unseen with Versus.  Type-0 was all at once something more tangible and more tantalizing than either of the other projects.

With that set of circumstances, it's not hard to see why the game has a sort of cult undercurrent of support and hope behind it.  From its pre-release information, the videos that showed it off, it seemed to have the things that are missed from older games, that it had some itch of the Final Fantasy Formula in it.  A story that seemed genuinely heartfelt, or at least keyed to play on your emotions.  An overworld that you eventually gain an airship to traverse, as well as Chocobos to do the same in a much more limited fashion.  It felt like taking those classic games and actually 'evolving' them with the multi-player aspect to it, rather than taking a game and tacking on something to it.  Or attempting to attach it to every single mechanic the game offers.  Or at least, this is all the impressions I've gathered since I've barely heard a peep about it since it was actually released in Japan.

It's not impossible to consider that Type-0 has become much more than it actually is because of all of this, and that, should it ever actually see a release, it might be taken as "underwhelming".  In fact, I would almost bet on it, since we are a fickle bunch like that.  Still, we can all be proven wrong on things.  If this trademark registration of "Final Fantasy Agito" (dropping the XIII entirely) is, in fact, indicative of a re-release of Type-0, a Western release at that (or even an international release that is actually international), then it will prove enough people wrong there to believe anything.  But I personally don't buy it.  Perhaps I'm overly negative of Squeenix these days, but this seems to easy.  It would be a soft-ball pitch to just do this and have it mean an actual localization of the game.  Or even an enhanced Vita version of it that would actually be released to the west.  I'm betting on them taking this opportunity and striking out, and in a spectacular fashion. 

So really, I'm either betting on a PS3 HD Remaster that will stay Japan-Exclusive, or that this is just for a Cell Phone/Tablet game and will actually be the card game promised all those years ago.  Prove me wrong, Squeenix.

no, seriously, prove me wrong and while you're at it, announce a Drakengard 3 localization so that I can love you forever

Japanese PSN Is Getting The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter

So, The Legend of Heroes:  Trails in the Sky (Japanese Eiyū Densetsu VI Sora no Kiseki FC), a trilogy of games released in Japan.....years ago, saw its first State-side release back in March of 2011 as, well....The Legend of Heroes:  Trails in the Sky.  (Note that there's no FC, indicating First Chapter, thus giving no real indication that it is, in fact, a trilogy)  It was not only a game localized by XSEED, but a promise for continued efforts on the PSP in the West.  Not only was Trails in the Sky promised, but Second Chapter and The Third as well, which might have been a bit more than they rightly could have promised, considering where we are now.  We are more than a year past the anniversary of the first game's release and this, this mention of Second Chapter finally going on the Japan PSN is the first, the only bit of news about the process of getting the other TitS games we've gotten recently.

You see, Second Chapter provided a rather interesting problem for the whole situation - a problem I think that everyone underestimated, which culminated in the cluster of problems we've seen now.  Recall that, for the year TitS has spent being released here, it was originally released in Japan in 2006 for the PSP and the other titles followed suit in reasonable time-frames I should say, with Second Chapter officially releasing in 2007 for PSP in UMD format.  Dual-UMD format, I should say, which is the real rub here.  Yes, Second Chapter is one of the first (if not -the- first) and few games to require two UMDs for the whole thing, and it's even more of a pain than the days of yore (and....current-gen, if you're a 360 gamer, though cases are rare) when you were forced up from your playing position to meander to the console you were playing and switch out disks to progress further.  I'm not sure how, but by virtue of being UMDs, it adds a whole other layer of technical gubbins or somesuch which affected the entire way it was coded.  And thus made it coded in a way that was conducive to being on two separate things, and not one -thing-, like a digital purchase.

That one thing, and the fact that Second Chapter's script is literally twice as big as the first game's have been the two issues mentioned when asked what the hold-up with the localization has been.  Which is not an unreasonable thing, I should say.  "We're waiting for Falcom to make the game work" is as good a reason as any to hold off on doing a whole lot with it, though I do hope they've at least been able to get some preparations done.  Getting some of the script translated and paced out and such so that when they actually get the game to play around with in a state that means something, they can jump into it and hit the ground running instead of hopping in and starting on everything right that moment.  The localization process, admittedly, is a nebulous one to me, as I can likely place some of the things that occur in it, but certainly not all or even most of them, and it's all just based on my own notions which is not mired in anything resembling first-hand experience or even second-hand experience.

As you might remember, I quite enjoyed Trails in the Sky and the fact that it leaves off on a very, very wonderful cliff-hanger is one of the main reasons why I am a man who waits for Second Chapter like a man waits for water in the desert; not well, and is furiously cursing the powers that be when that next dune offers nothing more than the previous one did.  Beating TitS and then trying to find out about the localization of Second Chapter was painful as mum is the word, apparently, on progress and ultimately I found out that progress was more or less just a misnomer.  Or that's what it seems like at least as finding anything beyond XSEED saying basically "It'll happen when it can happen" has been a fool's errand.  Of course, I understand why it was an issue now, what with the whole 'game wasn't in a playable version of the format you're getting' thing and all, but something of a reminder or an official statement about that would have been nice.

Oh, and yes, I should mention that when we get Second Chapter, there's almost no chance that it will be anything but PSN-Exclusive.  Perhaps they might roll out an Atlus trick and make a physical version a 'Collector's Edition' which packages it with some stuff to validate a $40-60 pricetag (whereas I would imagine digital-only will be $30 to start) that include the game on its dual-UMDs, but even that, done in limited quantities (perhaps even with the caveat that you have to order it direct through their website or something) is likely not going to happen.  I would buy the shit out of it if it did, but it's not, so I'm fairly safe in assuming my money is safe.  I know I've been staunch in my stance that digital-only is not 'the future', nor is it even 'the present', but there is simply no way to say this without making myself a hypocrite:  I don't care, I'm buying it. 

I've sort of alluded that I am completely and totally lenient on digital things for handhelds but it does not match my blanket statement, for which I am kind of....well, embarrassed.  I have my own justifications of course, in that handhelds have been molded to more or less -be- digital platforms, whether you're trying to edge out Apple or just copy their success in the field, as well as the fact that it's just all-around safer in a sense.  If something were to happen, you could just yank out the memory stick, toss it into another system and, after setting it up with your account (and deactivating the old one) you are right back there, no real progress lost.  When my PS3 died, I lost everything on it and this would also be true for a PC platform if your PC shits the bed as they are wont to do.  Since you cannot really just yank the HDD out of the computer and put it in a new one with the same ease as a memory stick in a handheld.  Aside from all that, being a portable thing, it allows you to go to places that offer the internet, faster internet than you have, and make use of it which cuts down the annoyance of those download times considerably.  Just earlier today, I was at a place where a demo that would take me hours to download here would have been done in a mere 24 minutes.  It is not perfect, but it is also not hours of time spent waiting.

Justifications and qualifiers or not, Trails in the Sky Second Chapter is a game that I am foaming at the mouth over for a mere chance to be able to download.  I want it that much that I've taken the stance I've taken with all of the other games of its ilk (digital-only), and I've thrown it aside because there are no principles to stand on or excuses to hide behind with this game.  It is a simple thing - when Second Chapter comes out, I will buy it and I will go wherever the hell I have to go to download it if necessary.  I say when because I firmly believe that XSEED is committed to bringing over the entire Trails in the Sky series, and I applaud them for it.  Of course, I believe as I do because I suspect the backlash of not doing so would be legendary, since the game inspires as much verve, as much excitement in me as it does and I am certainly not even close to being alone in this.

Yakuza HD Collection a Possibility

So, Joystiq brought it to my attention (almost personally, it feels like) that the possibility of an HD Collection of Yakuza 1 and 2 is a thing that could happen.  Listed for a brief moment on a Sega Japan Release Schedule, the Yakuza 1&2 HD Edition leaves little to the imagination, suggesting that it is simply HD Editions of Yakuza 1 & 2 (Presumably sold separately, since Japan seems to be finnicky about bundling games, as is referenced by the Ico/SotC Collection, and Peace Walker HD).  Of course, I saw this Joystiq post and proceeded to immediately lose all of my shit.  Look around, do you see things that shouldn't be there?  Yeah.  It's my shit.  Because I lost it.  For a moment that was entirely too sweet, entirely too brief, I experienced what I can only describe as ecstasy unlike any I have experienced in recent memory at the mere thought of being able to re-visit Yakuza 1 and 2, older and wiser and more well-versed in the series as I am now without plugging in my PS2 and dicking around with Memory cards and all that we have more or less sworn off since the days of the PS2.  To see Kamurocho as it started in a resolution that isn't torture on the eyes, even if it will not be as detailed as 3 and 4's (seen above) offerings.

For that all-too-brief moment, life was amazing and everything was wonderful.

And then I had that reality check that I'm sure you have already been thinking of since you read the title of this post.  Sega is in the shit.  It makes perfect sense to start doing things like this, up-porting old games for a quick buck that has fairly little spending associated with it.  It makes sense to do this and release it to a public that absolutely loves the Yakuza series where the sales numbers shows as much.  And that all happens.....in Japan.  Not so much here in the States.  So that sort of makes one think that the Collection just might not make it over here because Sega doesn't want to part with the paltry cost of localization.  And if they do, then the chances of them doing it on an actual disk are pretty much incomprehensibly infinitesimal.  Which for me more or less means that they shouldn't bother localizing it at all since I'll never be able to play the fucking things.  So this whole thing has the potential to be bittersweet at best, and infinitely disappointing at worst unless Sega just kind of magically does the awesome thing with money that they presumably don't have.

That means there's really not a whole lot I can do or say alongside this, honestly.  If this happens to play out and get localized on-disk, I'll be a very happy man, but if it doesn't, or if it's DD-only, I don't know what I'll do.  I'll probably buy them anyway just to throw Sega the $30-40 and the support, even if I won't be able to feasibly play the games by any stretch of the imagination.  (It takes me a ridiculous amount of time to download shit.  Like, three hours to download a 500 MB game at best ridiculous.  Not so much an issue on Portables since they're not about to explode or anything, but my PS3?  Nah.)  But goddamn if I won't be bitter as -fuck- about it the whole time and for quite a time thereafter.  It's pretty much this sort of scenario that I was basing an entire "Digital Distribution is Not the Answer to Every Fucking Problem" article around and never got around to writing because I just started to lose a little bit of the venom I had with it.  The thing is, I'm not anywhere near alone in the "I have shit internet and I must scream" territory, but it just doesn't seem to matter one bit since way of the future and other such utter fucking nonsense.  In a world of data caps and shit internet infrastructure not to mention shoddy internet security (From everyone, not just Sony don't even -start-) we can't just throw every fucking thing on the internet and do Jazz Hands until magic happens, people.

It's honestly a little more than depressing to have that realization weigh-in like that.  At first, I thought that maybe the Collection, should it exist and come out, could be an example of Sega's willingness to give physical media for the Yakuza one last shot, despite it not being one of the 'key' franchises that they're basing their physical releases on.  But it's hard to think of a scenario where I could realistically expect them on-disk, which means I still don't know what to think of Yakuza 5.  Even though I'm in the camp that says it would be the worst fucking idea imaginable to go DD-only with Yakuza 5, I can't realistically say it's not a possibility.  And one that'll be all the more real if the sales numbers of the theoretical DD-only Collection run more or less along the lines as they would expect it to, meaning the people who buy the series are still -there- and willing to buy it no matter what.  I guess I am over-thinking it more than a little bit, but as I've made it perfectly clear more than once here, the Yakuza series is that series for me, and it sucks that the reality for it is as negative as it is.

With any luck, all my sudden sullenness and negativity will be for naught and we'll get some good news from the whole scenario.  It's wholly unlikely, of course, but Sega does so love proving me wrong (I figured they would've announced a new Phantasy Star for Vita - PSO2 doesn't count - by now, I figured something would happen with the two Yakuza:  Black Panther games for us, figured we'd hear -something- about VC3 in the west, I could go on and on) so that does leave a slight window open.  I can say with some certainty that if they -do- prove me wrong and throw us a disk, I will probably be buying several copies of the game if just to send the message that physical games will still sell, I assure you.  So there's at least some incentive there.  Only thing left is to see it play out, I suppose, which will likely be more painful than several things that I'm not going to bother to explain because I'm sure you can think of painful things.

Update!:  Aaaand it's official.  For Japan, at least.  I'm sure we'll get localization news....uhh....sometime.

Maybe.

Please give us this, Sega.

Phantasy Star Online 2 Officially Coming Westward

Nobody believed me when I said it (Okay, several people believed me, shut up), but now it's official:  Phantasy Star Online 2 hits NA PCs in 2013.  It was pretty much a foregone conclusion, of course, since it's a game that a lot of people are going to play if only on the merits of it being Free-to-Play (which means quite a few chances at people throwing money at it through micro-transactions.  Which will happen.  Bitches love micro-transactions) and a lot of players only means good things.  Still, as always, it's nice for these types of things to be official, especially in the face of the hardships that Sega is going through which some might expect would keep them from doing something like this, despite the monumental chance of profit occurring.  Also because that is kind of how Sega rolls, with the whole not doing things that are smart, which has pretty much done poorly for them as you might expect.

Though, the move is not without its critics already, of course, considering that the game actually just released last week on PC in Japan.  As in, full release, final build, etc.  Granted, it will be updated and such, in fact one update is already in the works, but it's an officially released product.  So "Early 2013" seems to be a little late already for some people who are understandably anxious for the game.  These same people worry that the game will be in a constant state of being behind in terms of months for the Non-Japan version of it, which is apparently a practice that occurred with Sega's last real online venture:  Phantasy Star Universe.  I know nothing of it, of course, but I would suppose that if the servers are meant to be region-locked (an unfortunately very real possibility), that such a thing could go on again.  Wouldn't bother me too much, however, since I know precisely one or two people I would ever play PSO with, they're in the same country as me, and I'm sure PSO2 will launch with enough content regardless of it's the exact same as the Japanese launch, or if it has everything incorporated into it at the start and remains at an even update with the other versions.

Also worth wondering about is, of course, the Vita and Mobile versions that have been talked about.  Not -just- because I am obsessed with the Vita, but because they are certainly things that have been announced already and, judging by the comments, are things that are heavily being looked forward to.  Moreso the Vita version than the Mobile, of course, as they will be two very different things, where the Vita version will more or less simply be a mobile version of PSO2, if all goes well.  I do worry that perhaps Sega announced the two versions a little too early, and promised too much, what with saying that the Vita version would allow cross-play (which is not an easy task) as well as promising the Mobile game would connect to the account while offering a more 'social' aspect that they simply haven't gone into since.  Granted, those games, whatever they might be, simply aren't even in the Beta phase or anything, so anything could happen with them.  Still, I don't doubt that they -will- come out, and I really don't doubt (as I didn't doubt this would) they won't make it to the States, as Sega will simply want to make it available for just about anyone who would want to play the game.  Aside from making it on every platform, of course.  That would just be silly.

Phantasy Star Online 2 is pretty much the only MMO I've been completely invested in and interested in since it was announced, and it will, by all accounts, likely be the only MMO I even bother with.  Barring The Old Republic going free-to-play as well and getting ported to non-PC platforms, it'll pretty much be the only MMO I have a real chance at playing, of course, without splurging for a big computer and such.  And that's just my kinda price range, so to speak.  Regardless, I won't be able to experience PSO2 as it first comes out, much to my chagrin, and will simply have to wait for the Vita version, hoping that it will allow for character creation and the like on it, rather than simply being a companion version to the PC game, which I can imagine being an all too real possibility, given the way several Apps have worked for the portable.  However, with the game requiring you be online all the time (unless that changes in development or thereafter), I would assume that it's a full-featured version of the game regardless, which I'm certainly hoping for.

I find it a little hard to say a whole lot about this, as I haven't been paying a lot of attention to PSO2 news, having simply waited for it to be announced for the West.  Even then, it's more one of those things that I can't put into words, so much as she anxiously await, as it'll be like going home again, I suspect.  Sliding into the character of a Cast Hunter, likely, as that's just kinda how I do, will be something that never gets old, and will simply be constantly associated with fond memories.  Though whether nostalgia overshadows what I can expect from PSO2 or not will be something to see.  I certainly hope it won't, but such is the way of these things sometimes, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it.  Aside from, you know, just enjoying it for what it is, which I will need no invitation to do.  Just lemme play it how and where I want to, and I'll be a happy lad, that's for sure.

XSEED Localizing Ragnarok Odyssey (Maybe)

I don't generally like linking to places that aren't Joystiq or Siliconera because, well, I've just used both those sites for a while now and they seem pretty reliable.  (Despite my whinging here and there about them)  Which is why I've used them for a while.  But every now and then, there's something that gets announced elsewhere that grabs my interest enough that I just have to go for it.  This would be one of those such times because GamesRadar seems to think that XSEED has announced localizing Ragnarok Odyssey for North America (as well as another title that I haven't looked into).  I say 'seems to think' because I can't find info about it elsewhere quite honestly.  Joystiq and Siliconera hasn't mentioned it, despite the even apparently happening last night, nor does their official site (which...hasn't been updated lately it seems) or their Facebook page mention it in an official capacity.  And even then, XSEED has already broken some hearts lately regarding localization, so I'm not exactly bursting with excitement.  Basically, I'm saying that I'm not going to trust this one right off.

For the sake of argument and posting, however, let's assume that this is totally legit, both in announcement, as well as XSEED following through.  Because that would be pretty awesome.  (Also, it would make sense on cancelling GKH in that case, if they're working on two projects)  I haven't really followed Ragnarok Odyssey a whole lot because I worried that it would stay Japan-centric since, well, that seems to happen with good games.  Regardless, from what I've seen (Skip to 8:17 for actual gameplay), it looks like a Monster Hunter game with a really interesting art style and battle system.  And by really interesting art style, I mean it looks gorgeous from what can be seen on a camera recording a held Vita.  And by interesting battle system, I mean a really fast-paced one.

The thing about Ragnarok Odyssey is that it really is a game that we -need- since it is, as I said, basically Monster Hunter, which the Vita still lacks because Capcom is dumb.  Monster Hunter is a big deal, especially with the PSP, so having something of its kind, even if it's not MH itself, will be a huge boon.  Of course, Ragnarok Odyssey probably won't be the first by the time it comes out, nor the last, but the reason I bring it up, why I pin any hope on it is because it honestly just looks good.  On top of that, if the Japanese release is anything to go by (which it should be), the game will have a proper online system for multiplayer which was the real main draw for MH as a series.  Coupled with the Vita's in-built capabilities for online play, and it should be a real hit, or at least do decently while we await Monster Hunter 3 HD or Monster Hunter 4 or something.

For me personally, I'm probably going to end up snapping this up, depending on when it comes out.  While I'm not really a fan of Monster Hunter games (I've only had a little exposure, mind, without Online) I am interested in this simply because it seems like it takes the slowness out of MH (one of the things that has me iffy about the series for me) and, with any luck, it might have a single-player campaign worth a damn.  Probably not, but, well, there's a chance I guess.  Considering it's out in Japan, I imagine I could just look around for the answer but that requires effort - not only as a base, but for yet another game that I just don't have the time nor money for that I will end up buying anyway (likely).  It's like when you tell yourself you're on a diet but just keep buying cookies or stuff anyway because, hell, who are we kidding, they're delicious.  Also, because I'm sure if I don't get it (again, depending on when it comes out), I will have very annoyed friends with Vitas, because I will be unable to Hunt Monsters with them.

Update!:  A minor update here, but XSEED has confirmed not only the game, but the fact that it will be a retail title.  Which, by the very nature of Vita releases means that it will be a Retail and Digital title rather than simply digital, which XSEED has stated that they are going to do more of and is proving that with Way of the Samurai 4, ensuring that I'm not going to bother with the game.  Because I can't download a gig on my PS3, much less however the hell big WotS4 will be.

Persona 4: Golden, Officially Coming Out This Fall in NA

It's official, Persona 4: Golden (apparently formally dropping the "The") will be hitting western shores sometime this Fall which isn't as specific as we all might hope for, but it's at least a little better than "sometime in the future".  Yes, it's a port, an enhanced one at that, and as I've discussed before, we're apparently to hate any of these types of things, but hell, it's Persona 4.  Nobody's going to hate it based on being a port of itself for a handheld (especially given that it doesn't seem anything's being cut from the original), and if they're going to hate it for anything, it'd be over how they didn't like the original.  Though, I seem to see even more praise for 4 than I do 3, which I imagine is saying something.  I say this, that I see the praise, for the simple fact that, like Persona 3, I haven't fully experienced Persona 4 yet despite owning it on PS2 and this portable version will be my first exposure.

Excessive?  Yes.  Entirely too much so, considering I bought my copy of Persona 4 brand new at $40 years ago and barely even opened the case to read the manual.  Seriously, I didn't actually realize that my copy came with the Soundtrack CD until just now when I checked to see if my copy was still shrink-wrapped.  Because it honestly could have been.  Of course, the reason for not playing Persona 4 was because the battle system was apparently so improved that it made going back to Persona 3 difficult.  Is that true?  I don't know.  I honestly probably won't know because I don't intend on throwing Persona 3 regular or FES in my PS2 and playing it out, and Persona 3 Portable reportedly has a lot of influences from Persona 4 in it, system-wise, so I won't be able to properly judge.  So long as the story is as entertaining as Persona 3's, I'm sure I honestly won't care too much.

Speaking of P3P, I feel like I should share the amusing little coincidence I experienced - I beat Persona 3 Portable this morning at 6 something AM (because endgame means forget about time) and after the ending finished, I promptly conked out.  By the time I woke up and got around to checking my LiveTweet on the Vita, Persona 4: Golden had officially been announced for the US ala above.  As I stated elsewhere (at Penny Arcade) it's like they were waiting for me.  Which means that I have to apologize to you all for not finishing the game much much sooner, but, well, you've played it I'm sure, so you know how it is.  I just wasn't sure that I'd be able to swing it since I couldn't kill The Reaper and went on a little grind-a-thon after I worked the courage up to do so with Odin, Raphael, Loki, Gabriel and Horus.  And....other Personae that I can't remember at the moment.

But P3P is a topic for another post, so I don't want to steep too much of this one in it.  I mentioned how Persona 4: Golden will be an enhanced port and, from what I've seen, that's exactly what I mean.  While P3P had to make a lot of sacrifices for the PSP as the platform of choice (namely the ability to traverse the world in-model, instead seeing everything as a blip on a map), P4G seems as if it will have to make none of those sacrifices and will, in fact, have additional content on top of the original game in its entirety.  I'm....not quite sure what it all means, of course, having not played Persona 4, but I'm sure the list, which will follow here, will make sense to those who have played the game.

• A bike that lets you travel to another town
• Revised background graphics
• A winter event
• New Personas for the main cast
• Team Attacks
• Rotating TV shows (including a quiz with Teddie)
• A brand new character
• 1.5 times the amount of voiced dialogue

Again, about the only one of those that I can make sense of are the last two which are pretty self-explanatory.  I can't find information on whether this new character will be a party member, a social-link, both (perhaps) or just 'story-important', but she's new at least.  Also more voice acting which apparently makes people all groany because it's mostly likely, 99% probably going to be English-only.  Which is....uh, a bad thing, apparently.  I am not, nor will I ever actively participate in the "Sub vs. Dub" conversation beyond saying that there's a time and a place for both, and will instead say that the voice acting in P3P was pretty good, so I don't mind it whatsoever.  Of course, those are just the pieces of info that they're actively sharing with us, though it's also probably the only bits that really matter.  But, I mean, I hope we can hope for another in-game nod to a future title ala Vincent explaining his situation from Catherine in P3P.  (That was so neat to stumble across, mind, and I think it was P3P only?)

I kind of hate that "the Fall" (sorry, I had to do it) is so far away, but I'm sure I can keep myself entertained until then.  Resistance:  Burning Skies is coming up and at the very least, P4G is skipping June by a wide margin.  Regardless, in the meanwhile, I have New Game + and/or "Girl Mode" on P3P to keep me busy for those moments when I don't have anything else, as well as a whole other RPG that I haven't even touched.  (Legend of Heroes:  Trails in the Sky)  My point is, I have everything at my disposal to be patient for this which is fairly rare, and not something I'm going to take very lightly.  Still, it will be oh so sweet when I finally get my hands on that (presumably) gold and blue case.

Bonus Post - Dragon's Crown Being Published by Atlus

The Playstation Blog has proved to be an invaluable source of information these past couple days with the God of War:  Ascension info and now this.  Now, we all know that the future of Dragon's Crown has been in a nebulous position these last couple months, and we were just sort of left holding the bag and waiting for further information.  And lo and behold, out of friggin' nowhere, here is said information.  It's almost like they said it was going to come out or something.  Now, while any news on the game's future is good news I'm sure, there are a few bits of that that will be slightly disappointing to those who carry a vested interest in the game, Chance.  And I just want you to know, Chance, that I'm making this post with you in mind, Chance.

Now, first off, the obvious bit is that, as stated a couple times now, Atlus will be handling the publishing of both the PS3 and Vita versions of Dragon's Crown, pictured above...kind of.  I'm guessing the picture was in the blog post to show that both games will be in physical format (as well as digital for Vita, obviously), since aside from that there's no real purpose or flair to it.  They will -also- have a little hand in the production of the game, apparently, which is likely pretty cool.  The post goes out of its way to mention that they will be 'key' members of the internal development team who has worked on the Persona series which...again, I don't really see the connection, but I think this is all hype fodder.  The post is very, very inclined to get you as excited as possible before dropping the two bits of unfortunate news on us.

First off, the game(s) will not see release in 2012.  I know, Chance, you're already looking for the Vadernoooo video, and it is unfortunate, but hey, 2012 is pretty friggin' packed already, right?  At least, that's been my opinion of the year, since I know friggin' six games that I -have- to buy before the bell tolls on January 1st, 2013.  The second bit of bad news is that the game "simply cannot retail for $29.99" as "it would have essentially destroyed any chance for profitability".  Now, I'm not quite sure if that's Atlus being super-up-front about things, or Atlus with a classic wink-and-a-nod approach, but I'm going to heavily lean towards the former.  The Vita version of the game is apparently going to go up on the Pre-Order pages as $39.99, the general MSRP for Vita games, which isn't much of a surprise.  The PS3 version didn't have any real mention, however, so take that for what you will.  If it's going to be a full-price PS3 game, then perhaps you can hope, at least, that some retailers will have a discount for buying both as they did for The Show just recently when it came out.

So that's really the long and short of it.  Dragon's Crown is still a thing that is happening and is now being handled by Atlus, in so far as publishing and certain producer positions are concerned.  We can expect it sometime in 2013, but with no real narrowed down scope beyond that quite yet.  When it'll retail, the Vita version will most likely be $39.99 as most Vita games have been, and the PS3 version will likely be anywhere from $39.99 to $59.99, since anything near the original $29.99 price-point just wouldn't offer a whole lot of profitability.  If we know one thing, it's that Atlus knows just how to make a game profitable, so no worries on that field.  Here's hoping we get some more information on it all sooner rather than later, because I know there are certain people who will be chomping at the bit for it.

Nobunaga's Ambition X Pokemon Now Pokemon Conquest

So, uh, this was officially made a thing whilst I was on hiatus and while I was a little skeptical when the Japanese version was announced, I more or less figured on it being a reality.  Of course, without proof, I can't really prove that, so you'll just have to believe that I became less of a skeptic and this is not me being full of hot air.  Regardless, it had a pretty good shot just being a Pokemon product of some form, so that it's coming out in America (and PAL Land as well) isn't too much of a surprise.  The only thing to wonder about is just how well it's going to sell since the Pokemon name will give it legs, but not for everybody of course.  I imagine it's different enough that people won't be buying it on blind faith alone, and the Strategy aspect might turn off some of the more casual players of the game (which I imagine is a good bit).  At the same time, maybe the twist will go over more smoothly than I think.

Being a title in June however is, well, a problem.  Hell, being a DS title is kind of a problem for it for me, since I honestly don't really use my DS that much anymore, but even if I loved playing my DS and was hungering for a new Pokemon game (which, obviously, neither is true), I wouldn't be buying the game at launch because there is just no time whatsoever.  Depending on how it reviews and word-of-mouth, I might pick it up for the latter portion of the year, provided I'm not full of -other- new games to play, but, really, no guarantees here.  Which is pretty wild to imagine; not being able to buy new games because I have too many new games already.  I mean, I have too many games that I haven't played at all or at least not enough, but I haven't had a situation where I've literally bought a few games and just went "Shit, what do I play first, screw you every other game".

I guess talking about purchasing the game might just be a little premature, however, since I really don't even know what Pokemon Conquest is, in a manner of speaking.  Yes, I know it's the Sengoku Era of Japan, except everyone has Pokemon and the wars are thusly fought with Pokemon battles that take place on a wide map as opposed to just one-on-one duels, but I don't know the rest of it.  I guess asking for a 'why' is a bit much, but I guess a 'how' would work.  As in, a better showing off of the mechanics, not only with the battles themselves, but overall.  How will you get more pokemon?  You should likely be able to get more than just the Eevee to participate in the battles, I mean, and even then I imagine you'll be able to evolve said Eevee at some point.  And I still don't really know how other people are going to be set up with their pokemon either, since some have 'favored' ones that aren't actually the ones they've been showed off with or something.

I guess what I'm saying is that there is still a lot about Pokemon Conquest that is a mystery.  At the same time, that's probably a good thing since such a weird thing as this cross-over would be a little disappointing, I think, if it could be explained with ease.  However, part of me is just so curious since it's no secret that I enjoy KOEI's take on History, despite them making it really fucking difficult for me to like it, and that's basically what this is:  KOEI's take on the Sengoku Era, ala Samurai Warriors, plus Pokemon for absolutely no reason.  Not that a reason is necessary of course, since it'll be pretty fun regardless; just where it falls on the 'wackiness vs. good' scale it lands is hard to tell.  Based on my exposure to the battle system in Nobunaga's Ambition, it should be fun enough if it follows along with it.  Though it might be a more stripped down version since the one I played was free-move where this is grid-based.

Even if I probably won't be buying it right off, I did at least want to bring it up since it's something that I -would- have written about had I not been on hiatus.  Just because it's a KOEI thing, it's a Pokemon thing and it's both of those at the same time as well.  We all know that's just a recipe for my genuine interest more than many things could hope for.  Well, unless it was Yakuza and Feudal Japan but Sega would never....oh right, but at least they would localiz....oh..right.  Now I've made myself sad.  I guess I'll just bide my time by drawing up a pool of the next crossover game to be announced from Japan since that seems to be a thing for now.  Strike while the iron is hot and all that.  I'm only partially kidding about the pool, though.

Warriors Orochi 3 Officially Coming to America

Earlier today, I just so happened to be informed that there is an official site up for Warriors Orochi 3 and that is Warriors Orochi 3 with a 3 and not a 2 meaning it's not something to do with, y'know, the Japanese release from a couple months ago.  Or last month.  Looking at the site, an ESRB logo is plain to see which, y'know, heavily suggested a North American release to me as I -think- the ESRB is just America's thing.  So I was super excited about that and then I went on Siliconera to find that yeah, it's officially a thing and just could not be happier.  For.....a few minutes until I took the time to actually read the news towards the end of the article.  Specifically the part that says...

Additionally, Tecmo Koei’s community manager in the UK mentions that Warriors Orochi 3 will only feature Japanese voices with English subtitles.

I'm honestly not too sure how I feel about that.  On one hand, I've played and enjoyed games with Japanese Voice-Overs before (granted, I think 100% of them were Yakuza games) and I do enjoy the language.  On the other hand, I can't understand it and while it's not -vital- to the enjoyment experience, I imagine I'll eventually miss -something- and will be constantly annoyed by that.  Also I'll be missing out on the awesome voice of Jamieson Price yelling as Lu Bu which is near worth the price of admission right there.  Still, it's not enough to prevent me from buying the game, happily at that, so it seems that it's a non-issue.  It's just a non-issue that I find myself grumbling about currently.

That we're actually, officially getting the game is pretty much enough for me to not care about much else, really.  While I didn't really doubt we -would- get it, having it confirmed is a load off my mind which is really, really helpful lately.  And from what I've seen, the game should be pretty neat on top of existing.  It's a direct continuation of Warriors Orochi 1/2's storyline in which the warriors, brought together by Orochi who has since been slain, are still stuck in Orochi's realm.  Years pass and the warriors find themselves fighting still and, of course, losing members along the way.  When the threat of a giant hydra rises up, the fractured remnants find they're no match for it and that is when a strange woman of mystery appears with the answer.  By going back in time to prevent the death of their foes and comrades alike, they can ensure their combined strength is where it needs to be when the Hydra strikes.  Perhaps with that foe defeated, they'll finally be able to return to their own times.  (I hope not)

There's really not a whole lot else to say.  The game has been fairly dramatically changed from 1/2, obviously, but I won't know the full extent of those changes until I have it in my hands.  I hope that all the guest characters are written in a bit coherently at least, but even if they're not, I probably won't care too much.  And is it too much to ask that the game didn't have to come out in fucking March?  Between Lollipop Chainsaw, Yakuza:  Dead Souls, this, and oh yeah, the fucking Vita, the front-end of this year is loaded with entirely too much stuff that I don't have money to buy.  And people were concerned that 2011 was going to have more than 2012.  Ha!

Localization News Ahoy!

So, there have been various tongues a-waggin' about Xenoblade Chronicles ever since it saw a PAL-only launch (aside the Japanese launch) a few months back and they were all saying roughly the same thing:  "This is a great damn game."  And for those of us who are usually the bearers of such news to the PAL-Land folks, this was a really, really terrible feeling, since Nintendo of America refused to acknowledge that the game was going to come out here.  Now, we all sort of figured it would, especially after the whole Operation:  Rainfall scenario (which has two games yet to have localized before they're 'done') played out, but it was always one of those things that could have just not happened, especially with the surprising amount of silence surrounding the whole thing.

Now, I only have a tenuous (at best) connection to the game in that the 'Xeno-' prefix brings up good (and less good) memories of Xenogears and Xenosaga (respectively) which only the latter were made by the same team (Monolith Soft) which gives me even more pause.  Xenosaga Episode 1 was fine enough, and I've heard several good things about 3 (and would be willing to put in a few of those good things, though I haven't played all of it), but Episode 2 was just.....just awful.  Really, really bad.  And it's such a shame, too, because that series could've been amazing, especially if they went with the original plan and had it spaced out over the original amount of games they wanted (I believe it was six with rumblings of a possible 're-telling' of Xenogears for one of the episodes), but they caved to entirely too much pressure by the 'fans' and ended up with a terrible product as a result.  While there's something to be said for a team that will do what they can to please their fans, there's also something to be said about keeping true to your original vision, which I highly doubt they did.

As I've said time and time again, I'm really not a Wii person.  If anything, I'll pick up a few titles (to complement the two games I own for the system:  Madworld and Animal Crossing:  City Folk) when and if I grab a Wii-U, so long as backwards compatibility keeps and play them then, so this news doesn't bring a whole lot of excitement to me.  I'm glad that the game didn't get stuck in Europe and Japan to never see the shores of people who spell 'armor' without a u, but I can't be super hyped about it because I can't really play it and even if I could....I probably wouldn't.  I have far too many games as it is, as we all know, and working through them will be what I'm most concerned with.  But I can be happy for something that doesn't directly impact me and I am, quite so.

However, speaking on something that does directly impact me, and very much so, there's a bit of a clarification that I think I need to make about the whole "International Version" of Final Fantasy Type-0 I brought up the other day.  While at the Penny Arcade forums, I lamented the fact that it was labeled as an International Version and grumbled about what that meant, where I was then told that it was called an "overseas version" in the interview that Andriasang reported on and it is, in fact, typed as such.  I'm guessing this means that the possibility of the game coming to America shot from "Good" to "Gonna happen" just like that, but I'm personally not going to let my hype meter go up until I get something more official.  Still, it is probably happening, but as to the way, the when and the how, that's all up in the air for now.

And that's really the hardest thing to figure on, so far as Type-0 goes because it's pretty much a given that it won't set the sales charts on fire; at least, not initially.  People don't -buy- PSP games enough, apparently, (outside of Japan, at least) so it'll come over to tepid sales at best, which means they have to be thinking about the best level of 'control' over the sales and profits.  That would, logically enough, make me think that they would do a PSN-only release of the game, so that, yes, people will still pirate the hell out of it, but at the same time, they're not paying to manufacture the UMDs (two per game, remember), the manuals (though they'll still have to be translated for the digital version), cases and sleeves for every copy of the game, yet still selling it for $40.  (You know they will).  But this is Squeenix we're talking about, and to say their support of PSN has been consistently good is....well, just a flat-out lie.  They're getting better about it, but there are still glaring examples of their games just not on the PS Store.

I guess we'll just have to see how it works out.  Either way, UMD version or PSN only (or both, but if there's a UMD version, it will be mine) I'm going to grab it and hopefully be able to passport it onto my Vita (since it'll likely be out by then) and have some fun with it.  Because after all the things I've seen and specifically pointed out here about the game, I can't see how you could not have fun, which is something I find strange to be able to say about a Squeenix game again.  It's been a while, honestly, but I'm glad that there's still genuine good talent in Squeenix, even if I'd be more willing to bet a Perfect Storm situation happened than good planning.  Still, the results are what counts here and the result is that Type-0 looks fantastic.

Still Sick, Sega Sucks

So, if you look above, you will see Valkyria Chronicles 3 in Japanese.  Apparently, we'd best get used to that visage, since VC3 is 'officially' not planned for NA or Europe, which means no localization, which means goddamnit Sega, what the hell.  Of course, there were 'no plans' for Yakuza 3 for...what, two years?  And look how that happened.  Anyways, blah blah, NA and PSP don't get along, yadda yadda, VC2 didn't sell well, let's all put on our best surprised faces, so VC3 localization is simply 'not profitable enough'.  Which, I've said it before, on some level I understand it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, especially since it seemed to take its roots back to a more 'Western' approach, as the first game had (When compared to 2) rather than going full-on Anime-Bullshit like 2.  Again, our best surprised faces at how that possibly could've gone poorly.

Of course, being Sega, they can never give a firm "Nah", so when asked if there was any chance of VC3 being available for the Vita (I guess as an up-port?  The statement is a little vague in the Joystiq article: "Asked if VC3 would be available as a downloadable Vita title,"), the reply was simply "We'll discuss it with Sony", which means "We're too busy working on Daytona USA right now, don't bother us".  They'll ask Sony in due time with however much conviction they really want to show, and that'll determine if we ever get to see VC3 or not.  Let me just say I won't be surprised either way, but I'm sure it's obvious which side of the fence I'm on.

Anyways, I'm still not feeling all that well, so unfortunately this is going to be a bit short.  To any concerned, I just have a cold plus aches plus allergies/sinus problems plus family issues which sounds really bad when I say it like that, but really, I'm pretty okay.  I hope to get back to full capacity soon, and hopefully won't be skipping anymore posts unless I need to.  Of course, I make no guarantee as to quality for a bit.

Update!: Hey, right after they announce this about VC3, they give us a trailer for Daytona USA.  It's like I'm psychic or something.

Yakuza: Dead Souls is a Thing. My Body is Ready.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Er, ahem.  With that out of the way....So, as the title says, Yakuza:  Dead Souls is a thing of the Official nature, announced just today for release in March 2012.  Funnily enough, when I first get online, I generally check my blog first thing, then Chance's blog, then my new outlets to start getting an idea of what to write of a night.  So, while reading through the latest game diary post about Odin Sphere, RAGE, and Dark Souls, I just happened across the last paragraph which was just...exactly what I needed tonight.

Ooh! Yakuza: Of The End is getting localized! Well, I'll leave that one to Mogs.

I'm taking it, and running with it, don't you worry.  While it's not as much of a "Holy Shit, Surprise!" as Yakuza 3, it's a little more unexpected than Yakuza 4 (since we knew fairly after Yakuza 3's release that Sega fully intended to bring 4 over, highly contrary to their normal "we have no comment at this time") but just as welcome, of course.  Any and all Yakuza is good and welcome Yakuza.  While I still know fairly little about the game itself (mostly on purpose), Siliconera does tell us that the DLC will be coming, as I hoped, but whether it'll be on disk or not is up in the air.  I believe Yakuza 3 and 4 mostly had the Japanese DLC on-disk already, or was a pre-order bonus, so I'm not exactly worrying about it.

Of course, if it comes down to it, I will absolutely shell out money for Majima's Pirate Costume.  I don't even fucking care.  Morals and standards and stuff be damned, I want to shoot zombies with a shotgun as Dapper Pirate Goro Majima.  Still, a little more information than "Yeah, the control change is happening", "March 2012" and "Yes DLC somehow" would be nice, though I'm guessing that's to come yet.  There was quite a media blitz for Yakuza 4 (by Sega Standards) with Character Trailers, Combat Trailers and such, so a little more information should likely be coming out closer to the release.  Here's to hoping they get the guy from the Yakuza 4 trailers to do stuff like that again.  Speaking of a trailer, Yakuza:  Dead Souls has an Announcement trailer.

It's barebones, but it does well enough of showing off the characters you'll play as (I'm assuming somewhat like Yakuza 4, in that you'll go through each story in a row, then a final bit where you can switch and/or team up with others) and giving a general idea of the, well, the theme.  There are zombies, you shoot them and are badass whilst doing so.  Again, I'm looking for something more substantial when it gets further along in the localization process, and will obviously update here when such a time arises.

I also love how the Yakuza games come out/are set in March.  It's almost like Sega is trying to do all this just for me.  I understand they're not, clearly, but it's one of those happy coincidences and I can't help but revel in it.  Openly.  And if the DLC is on disk, I will go through with my promise and take back everything bad I said about Sega.  (and then immediately re-state it where it concerns Valkyria Chronicles, Kenzan and Black Panther, but they don't need to read this part.)