Upcoming Purchases: July and August 2013

If you have ever seen me type the phrase "Too many games" on this blog before and would not like to see it again (beyond that inclusion) then, by all means, skip this post.  Because in this post I'm going to complain loudly that there are in fact so many games that it borders on too many, even if there technically cannot be too much of a good thing.  Tonight I went to the effort of putting together a list of games that I know for a fact I have pre-ordered or that I have a very real intent of pre-ordering and the fact that it is 13 items long over the course of the year without including PS4 purchases or digital games is nothing short of being outright terrifying.  This is, of course, compounded by all the games I already have and haven't touched, and while it's a simple matter of just saying to myself, "It's really really hard for games to become rare anymore so I don't -have- to get things on the first day or second day" to which I then say "Shut up".  It is...not very productive.

Still, I would like to allow you a slight peak into the insanity that is simply the next two months.

Metal Gear Solid:  The Legacy Collection

July 9th, 2013

The next "Definitive" Collection of Metal Gear Solid games (likely to be preceded by the next next "Definitive" Collection if Kojima actually does find a studio to re-remake Metal Gear Solid 1) is a very, very impressive and alluring box collection if there ever was one to be had.  Every game in the proper Metal Gear Solid series up to 4 and Peace Walker (excluding Portable Ops because I guess nobody liked Portable Ops) is included in some way, shape or form.  Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 are featured yet again on Metal Gear Solid 3 HD (I imagine), Metal Gear Solid 1 and the VR Missions may or may not come in disk(s?) form (I've seen it stated as such, but I'm wary of believing it), Metal Gear 2, 3 and Peace Walker are all their respective HD versions from the collection that is friggin' impossible to find in the wild and Metal Gear Solid 4 is the Trophy version of the game, meaning the trophy patch that was released for all prior copies is printed right on the disk requiring no update.  This is, of course, leaving out the fact that the two Digital Graphic Novels (?) created by Ashley Wood will appear in this as well, which I don't believe they -were- available in America before.  If so, then it was...very, very limited.

The eternal torment I'm faced with in regards to Metal Gear Solid is that all I want, all I have wanted since the Vita was released, was a version of Peace Walker for the handheld in which Peace Walker dreamed the PSP would be.  (Well, that and a new Ac!d game, but we're talking realistic possibilities here)  The HD Collection for PS3, I had heard, contained a digital code for the PSP version of Peace Walker so that you could do the whole Transfarring thing between the HD and Portable versions, given that it was built entirely around that, yet I over-estimated just how available the HD Collection would be.  By the time I had a space in my calendar for it and began looking, it was nowhere to be found and I've never been able to confirm whether or not I could -get- a digital code from the game.  It is all, of course, just an effort to avoid spending money on buying a game again since I bought Peace Walker on UMD and played the absolute shit out of it to degrees that I never would've envisioned.  And I want to do that again, but I don't $30 (or has it price-dropped yet?) want to do it again.  I very much doubt the Legacy Collection will help me with this venture either, unfortunately.

Regardless, it is a package that is enticing to me as I do not currently have in my possession blu-rays that contain Metal Gear Solid 2, 3 or Peace Walker on them due to my lack of ability in finding the HD Collection without online ordering, which is basically me stating that I'm lazy and I wouldn't play any of them right away anyway.  (As a point of fact, I've had the Vita Collection for....weeks and I haven't put it in aside from checking for an update during the time in which I had barely-there internet)  In a lot of ways, that's solely why I would want to pick up the Legacy Collection, though I do worry because I have not, in fact, remembered to pre-order it which makes me kind of a dumb.  I have a week and I simply don't know if I'll manage it within that timeframe (If I can still pre-order it at all), but I can give it a shot, or take a chance on it just...being in stock.  We'll see.

Shin Megami Tensei IV (Limited Edition Box Set)

July 17, 2013

The PowerUp Rewards site assures me that my copy of Shin Megami Tensei IV for the 3DS is among those that were elevated to the Limited Edition Box Set for the first shipment of the title.  I'm not sure I'm willing to allow myself to believe that I was, in fact, so lucky, but I suppose that's something I'll find out in a couple weeks.  I'm not too fussed about it, personally in the sense that I'm not really buying SMT IV out of the pure excitement for the title, but rather a bit of curiosity and the knowledge that, being an Atlus title, it will quickly become fucking impossible to find at a reasonable price, barring the times when you simply get lucky and the copy of Devil Summoner 2:  Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon that you bought for $20 was in fact one that somebody pre-ordered and never picked up and comes with the neat little plastic enclosure and the awesome little Raiho plushie.  For $20.

I've never played a proper SMT title, which is something I'd always hoped to rectify and SMT IV is simply a means to that end.  I've not paid attention to any of the hype, any of the people who played the Japanese version or anything.  I have nothing in my head about what an SMT title is, much less SMT IV specifically, and when I purchase it, I hope I'm still of similar ignorance.  I don't know really what I expect from the game, but I know that I expect something and I don't want that to be colored by anything else.  I want it to be the easiest litmus test as possible about whether or not it's a series that I can enjoy, since I wouldn't be surprised if its continued existence is exclusive to handhelds and I do so enjoy handhelds.  Regardless, it will be a neat experiment, that's for sure.

Dynasty Warriors 8

July 16, 2013

Releasing on the same day as SMT IV and being the game that I am genuinely excited about purchasing on that day is Dynasty Warriors 8, KOEI's latest and greatest iteration of the series where Chinese Warlords, Generals, Officers and Fictional Characters murder beat up people by the thousands at a clip and I am going to love the shit out of it.  Though I do believe I have expressed as much already (after I once again whinged for paragraphs about KOEI's dickery) and largely enough, that all remains the same.  If you'll allow me a sidenote for a moment.

Sidenote:  I still find KOEI's reason of not releasing WO3 on a disk because they were simply staunchly adhering to a Sony guideline stating that no dub = no physical media is absolute horseshit.  Since I definitely just purchased Muramasa Rebirth a few days ago, it is definitely on physical media, and it definitely does not have a fucking dub.  Now, we resume.

In the days since I posted that original article, I have found more reasons to be excited about DW8 - 11 of them to be exact - and they are all new (and in on case, returning) characters.  Caring not for our silly notions of roster balance, they've added three new characters to Shu (plus one from DW7 Empires which was Digital-Only in North America, fucking KOEI), two new characters to Wei (plus the three from Xtreme Legends which had a retail release meaning I fucking bought it), two new characters to Wu, three new characters to Jin and none to the Others with the exception of bringing back Zuo Ci for the first time since DW5.  That brings the total roster up to 77 characters, 21 of them being Shu, 18 being Wei, 18 being Wu, 12 being Jin and 8 being Other.  Lop-sided much?  While there is quite some grumblings I can make about KOEI's choices of new characters this go around, that probably deserves its own post considering how verbose I can be about history.  Just know that More Characters = More Gooder and that makes me more excited to own the game.  (Yes, I know gooder isn't a word, it's a joke)

Dragon's Crown (Vita Version)

August 6th, 2013

Yes, yes, we know.  I have always been firmly in the camp of "Does the game look neat?  Yes?  Okay, Cool" without a single trudging away from that opinion even when that whole thing happened that I'm not even going to link because it doesn't deserve anymore damn coverage.  Dragon's Crown is just a sidescrolling Beat-em-Up with fantasy characters and that's all I want it to be.  That's why I put money down on it, and that's why I'm going to buy it.  It is going to be a neat game, and I don't think I have to quantify it any further than that.  As it gets closer and closer towards release, perhaps I'll have more to say about it (and hopefully neat pictures like this one to link) but for now, that's really all I feel I need to put down as my justification.  It looks neat, it's likely going to be fun considering who's behind it, and I want in on some of that action.

Rune Factory 4

August 13, 2013 (Placeholder Date)

I have been excited for Rune Factory 4 for a very, very long time.  It was one of the three titles that finally made me admit that a 3DS purchase was inevitable for me and is, quite honestly, the one title of the three that did it for me.  The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.  Few other games could have done it - not even something the likes of Pokemon X&Y - and it's for that reason that I made sure a copy of it was reserved for me weeks before I even had a 3DS XL in my possession.  Absolutely nothing I've seen in the weeks since it was announced as a thing that was being localized has done anything to damper my excitement for the game and, in fact, has only made me that much more giddy as time went on.

It certainly helps that a Production Assistant for XSEED Games who was spear-heading the text localization talked about the game a lot on her Twitter, mentioning exactly how fun it was (note:  it was megatons of fun) and generally being a wonderful person to follow for someone who is very interested in RF4 as a whole.  (It also helps that she is a wonderful person of wonderful taste which I'm not solely stating because of her apparent excitement for Drakengard 3, but it helps) Being that the text turn-in date was fairly recent, I'm hoping that means a release date will actually be announced soon because it will technically mean that I am that much closer to owning the game.  Which I sometimes worry that I appear as if I am simply chomping a little over-eagerly at the bit for, which is subsequently ignored because I just want to play Rune Factory 4.  If the date is not August 13th, I certainly hope it's not too far removed from that.

Killer is Dead

August 27, 2013

It's a little odd to follow up Rune Factory 4 with this one as I am fanatically devoted to Rune Factory 4's release, whereas my primary reason for pre-ordering Killer is Dead is mostly like SMT IV's reason:  I want it because of who is making it and putting time into it.  Killer is Dead was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture which, as you know, have No More Heroes and the fantastic Lollipop Chainsaw under their belt already.  It's honestly that simple as well - they made Lollipop Chainsaw, so I want to throw money at them for making another good-looking action game.  I haven't looked into it too deeply because I don't need to.  I am going to get to cut things up and if Lollipop Chainsaw is any indication, I will have a lot of goddamn fun while doing so.  So there, it is that simple.  Pre-order down.

It should once again be stated that these are only the physical releases since digital-only titles tend to....not have their release date known for some reason.  We know of the big list of indie games planned for PS3/Vita that is only getting longer and longer as the days go on and we know that some of them have a tentative "Summer" release window.  Then we have this tweet from Shahid Ahmad who is at least partly (probably mostly) responsible for courting a good bit of the indies over stating "Lorenzo looked at our Vita line up for July tonight and said “we have too many games coming out”" and you cannot help but cover your wallet's ears.  My personal hope is, of course, Terraria is among those titles given that it has a Summer release date and damnit I just want to play Terraria on my Vita, but there are a lot of tantalizing options that could very well be coming in the month of July alone and they add up rather quick.  So yes, the next two months are going to be rather brutal.

I swear I will never stop harping about that goddamn Warriors Orochi 3 bullshit

Oh, Right, There Was a Nintendo Direct Thing

So, because Nintendo is in panic mode because they are not used to selling less than a hojillion (it is a number, totally) consoles at any given moment in time, despite the Wii U's sales being...well, completely reasonable for what it is, we have some new announcements.  New announcements that are....mostly unnecessary.  Popular media might be saying that Nintendo is 'failing' with the Wii U (which is impossible to tell at this early juncture and it pains me to have to make this a fucking point to talk about) and while they're perhaps not advertising it well enough it is, as I said, selling fine enough.  Remember, once upon a time the 3DS was considered "failing" as well and boy oh boy, that happened, didn't it?  Really, I think Nintendo's panic is stemming from a sense that there is actually competition now - let's face it, the Wii was in its own league in more ways than one so they haven't been on this front in a long time.  But they decided to enter a different ring this go around and I don't think they were prepared for it at all.

If you've got the muscle, then you might as well flaunt it, is the thought process I'm going with here and while Nintendo's 'muscle' is a little flimsy with me, I am not in the majority here.  So let's go over that first and get it out of the way.  Possibly the only thing I would care about in all of this is the above-pictured Yoshi's Island game that is, clearly, being helmed by the Kirby's Epic Yarn team.  It looks absolutely wonderful for what it is, and while I don't really hold a particularly different spot for the Yoshi's Island games over any of Nintendo's other series, it's good fun and with this art style, I can only hope to see some real good things.  Kirby's Epic Yarn, from what I was told, brought some rather neat things to the table, really taking hold of that fabric universe concept and running with it.  Maybe I'll find out myself one day if I pick up a Wii U and a copy of the game, but that's basically all the information that I found about it - It is a Yoshi game and it is being done up in Epic Yarn style.  And that's probably enough for now.

Actually, I lied.  If there was -anything- I cared about at all from the Nintendo Direct, it would be the news that Xenoblade Chronicles is probably (definitely) getting a sequel for the Wii U, of course.  I am in the slightly awkward position of knowing absolutely nothing about any of this, however, beyond the fact that I friggin' -want- to play Xenoblade Chronicles and the only thing standing in my way is owning a Wii outright (or, again, a Wii U) and the game which currently retails for $50 if you can find it in a store and good luck with that.  My excitement stems from the dangerous, perilous place of being told that it is, in fact, a fantastic RPG.  That sort of information had led me astray in the past (no, I'm not linking it this time, you know what I'm talking about) and it could very well be the case here.  But....I doubt it, considering the team that's behind the games.  So if anything, I'm just glad they're getting a push to do what they do - make good RPGs.  Hopefully one day I will be able to say I have played both.

Another 'no info, just a thing that says it's happening' tidbit was the announced Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem game which is, yes, Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem in the same game.  Why?  I don't know.  How?  Beats the hell out of me.  There was absolutely no information beyond a thing showing that they were in this thing and that development is 'in progress'.  Personally, I'm not at all -what- kind of sense this makes....because it's not really striking me any right now.  Maybe it's just because I've been considering both series by their previous years, but both seemed to have been in a transition away from Consoles, moving on to handhelds.  Indeed, the latest entries to -both- series are being released on the 3DS in the coming future and the last console releases for either series was in 2007 (Fire Emblem on the Wii) and 2003/4 (SMT 3:  Nocturne) respectively.  So to combine them both -and- put them on a console is a little wonky.  Perhaps it's because of the off-screen play that kinda sorta makes it like a handheld that you can't take anywhere, but that's flimsy.  It all is, kind of.

Speaking of flimsy, after all the hurr-durring and grumbling about Sony's line of HD up-makes, I'm seriously waiting for some people to eat crow after The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD became a thing.  Because this is the exact scenario, and it's not even one that Nintendo's new at.  Excusing the 'Nintendo selling the same game to you over and over again' (more on that in a moment) meme, I need only point at The Legend of Zelda:  Ocarina of Time 3D and Starfox 64 3D to show that Nintendo has absolutely no qualms pimping out their old titles with shinier graphics.  Yet you never ever hear those titled 'cash-grabs' or anything of the sort.  It's a bit petty of me to harp on, I realize, but well, somebody's gotta.  Anyways, aside from the announcement of Wind Waker HD, there was a little bit said confirming the existence of a new Zelda title for the Wii U in development that will 'challenge the old conventions' to sort of reinvent the series a bit, but that's literally all that was said about it.  There might be info about it at E3, but I would highly doubt it.

Finishing out the Wii U news from the direct, the important bits, at least, it was mentioned that the Virtual Console is headed towards the Wii U proper, for full implementation rather than simply from Wii Mode.  There is a slight caveat here, however:  if you're planning on being able to off-screen play your favorite Nintendo or Super Nintendo games that are supported, then expect to pay for the privilege.  It should be noted that when the Virtual Console launches, it will only support Nintendo and Super Nintendo titles and not all of the ones that the Wii's Virtual Console supports.  Because Backwards Compatibility isn't just a flip to switch and we've all been aware of that already, but I somehow think people will manage to be patient, considering it's Nintendo behind this which isn't unfair at all, no sir.  Anyways, if you've purchased an NES game or SNES game through the Wii's VC then you've probably already played it by now and if you want to use it in Wii U, as mentioned, you'll have to pay for that.

Now, I've heard tell that this is because the VC games are packed in their own individual emulators, thus it requires a new emulator for the Wii U which is incomparably stupid, for the record.  It seems like a smart enough idea at first - packing the game with the emulator basically all-but ensures that it'll work with it because they've obviously been tested with one another.  That's fine.  It does, however, completely kill the possibility of a quick-n-dirty solution in the future and, if there's anything we've learned from the combined efforts of the VC and the PS1/2 Classics over these last years, it's that if a quick-n-dirty doesn't exist, neither does the game anymore.  Developers simply don't have time, nor the drive, to put anything into repackaging old games that sell for a pittance, and even signing off on making it a thing and paying a slight cost is far too much to ask in many cases.

So what does this mean?  Well, if that's the case, then don't expect to see much of the meager selection of the NES/SNES games on the Wii's VC to make the jump to the Wii U's VC, for one.  They might get a good portion, hell they might surprise me and get more than half, all-told, but there's no way the Wii U's VC will be 1:1 for the Wii's.  Beyond that, thanks to the $1/$1.50 Wii U tax (For NES and SNES respectively) either expect similar things for the next Nintendo console (which is admittedly -years- away), or expect that the next this whole thing comes around, there won't be even an option - Wii U mode or bust.  For what it's worth, it seems like the extra dollar and change has been built-in to the pricing of the NES/SNES games for the Wii U VC (NES games run around $5 on Wii VC, and will be $5-6 on the Wii U, SNES generally run $8, will be $8-9 on the Wii U VC) so at least Nintendo (probably) isn't singling out the folks who have actually supported them previously with these purchases and demanding an extra buck for a full-featured experience.  Of course, if they were, who would honestly raise a fuss about it?  I'm genuinely curious on that.

On top of that, Nintendo basically made a lot of promises to unveil some Mario things at E3, Super Smash Bros. U and probably elaborate on some of the already mentioned pieces here.  So really, they're flaunting their big guns for no other reason than they can.  Mostly because, if we've heard right, E3 will be a big deal for Sony and Microsoft as well and Nintendo just loves trying to steal thunder whenever possible.  Well, they generally succeed at that anyway, so it's not really 'trying' so much as it's Nintendo not letting anyone else have a fair shake.  It's good business to be sure, but it's also just kind of a dick move.  A mountain of dick moves by this point.  Yet every other company is 'the jerk company', always trying to screw over everyone else, including you, up-charging you for the shiny new thing and offering what is clearly sub-standard service.  Nintendo never does that, clearly! 

Mmm, Yummy Atlus News

Andriasang got their hands on an issue of Famitsu for this week and spared no detail in delving into the delicious, delicious information within, as far as it concerns Atlus.  And they're all Persona-flavored which, depending on your tastes, may just be the best flavor.  While my dips into the pool that is Persona and, well, Shin Megami Tensei in general have been shallow at best, more Atlus news is always good, as Atlus is always good to us.

The first, and possibly most exciting announcement of the bunch, for me at least, is that Persona 4 is getting the portable treatment like Persona 3 before it, but unlike Persona 3 Portable Persona 4 will be a Vita title.  Now you see where the excitement comes from right?  Right, of course you do, because I am pretty damn transparent and am not at all mad at the fact.  But it also does come from a place of genuine curiosity as well, since, well, I haven't played Persona 4.  I own it, in possibly one of my few instances of gaming excess, but I have yet to start it since I have been told on numerous occasions that playing Persona 3 after Persona 4 is, for all intents and purposes, less fun than to do so in the proper order.

Of course, that would suggest that I have to play Persona 3 to completion, which I just haven't done yet.  Despite owning one of the first run of Persona 3 prints, what with the art book and CD that came with it, as well as FES, which I found at a garage sale from a nice middle-aged couple who had simply exhausted it for themselves, I just have not sat down and played Persona 3 from start to finish.  Mostly from crippling Game OCD, since I know that there is an incredibly hard-to-get Persona towards the start of the game that you have to follow a stringent set of activities in which to obtain.  After trying to follow said set of activities, I quickly burned out and burned hard and drifted off to play something else.

With my PS2 time almost non-existant, I'm forced to look towards the PSP/Vita time for playing versions of these gems, so I imagine at some point I only have to purchase Persona 3 Portable and play it that way since I'm sure I'll find it much more manageable that way.  Which.....seems a little strange and/or irresponsible but oh well, this is why I like the portable market since I can play it whenever I'm not playing consoles proper.  Which....ends up being a lot of time, honestly!  If I could rig up one of those handy portable console deals to play PS2 on whenever I wanted, I would be all over that, but instead I'm just having to rely on the generosity of developers to sell me their games on multiple platforms.

That said, the information on Persona 4 Portable, actually titled Persona 4 - The Golden, is fairly light.  We know kind of what's going to be included, but details like if the game will be more like Persona 4 proper and less like Persona 3 Portable (basically in regards to losing the non-battle maps and, as such the barest of free-roaming aspects) haven't been really clarified.  Then again, this is the first piece of information put out there about the game.  Still, what we know is that, in true re-release fashion for the Persona series, there will be a new character, a girl named Mary as well as more voice-acting, new movies, some more elements that "fans of the original have heavily requested" whatever that means, and a neat-sounding wireless feature that will let you call out to your friends (nearby only?) to save you from certain peril in the dungeons.  Somehow.

Also of note from the Famitsu information is that Atlus has decided to team up with Arc System Works (makers of the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue games, the latter pictured above) to work on a 2D fighter (surprise!) starring characters from both Persona 3 and Persona 4, taking place after the events of Persona 4.  It's going to hit arcades first (surprise!) and then hit PS3 and 360 later on, but in what form, I'm not too sure.  I'm....imagining they can't get many characters for a game, and as such I don't know if they'd do a disk version, but maybe they'll manage to flesh it out enough to make it worth that rather than a PSN/XBLA release.  This, of course, might be showing my fighting game ignorance as well.

The article closes with the tidbit of information that Persona 5 is in the starting stages of development.  That's.....about all that's been said about it, really.  The usual Persona team is working on it, which is comforting, but no details on the game itself, platform(s) or anything else of the sort have been said.  Just that a Persona 5 is indeed on the way.  Honestly, do we need much more than that at this point?  I mean....that alone is pretty sweet.

Update!:  Siliconera has some screenshots of Persona 4:  The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, which is the above-mentioned but never-named fighting game Atlus is working on with Arc System Works.  They look rather nice, I must say!  (I would embed one in here, but Siliconera links always go down and I am far too lazy to rehost it.)