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

So Much 'Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!'

So, because I feel the need to counter yesterday's post full of happiness and rainbows to balance the universe, today I'm going to talk about a couple of bits that have just pissed me off.  Like, just straight-up, 'Who pissed in your cornflakes' type of things, because it is very cleansing to just talk about them and get them out there.  One bit because I just found out about it, and the other because I haven't talked about it directly since I found out about it and I figure it's about time I do that.  Because it's really gotten my ire up and I just need to really directly address it to have it out there and make it known.  So let's start, shall we?

The above is an imagine we're likely going to have to get used to because, as far as I can tell, that's the American Box Art for the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection in America.  Take a real good look at it, because there is something that is missing there.  Something that is very obvious, very glaring, and very, very annoying.  Clearly, the thing missing is any hint, nod, or showing of Metal Gear Solid:  Peace Walker which was, indeed, included in the HD Collection for both Playstation 3 and XBox 360.  You would think that, since Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 HD are being ported from their PS3 versions to the Vita, it would be a simple matter to port the PS3 version of Peace Walker to the Vita as well.  It's not really a matter of needing to figure out the way it handles Vita-specific functions, since Metal Gear Solid 3 is already doing that, going so far as to bring in Major Zero's voice actor to record new lines about these new functions.  I can only assume the same will happen for the NA version.

Could the information be false?  Quite possibly.  The only reason I'm not blindly shouting that I think Peace Walker will be included is because of the press release in this Joystiq post which very obviously seems to be American-centric.  Now, the Japanese version of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection only had Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, whereas Peace Walker HD was it's own, separate game.  Why?  I don't know.  I literally have absolutely no idea as of this post and I'm not too fussed to go off and research it.  Unless Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 were on their own disks in Japan, because I believe there's some regulation over there that they can't have more than one game on a disk or something.  Whatever regulation meant that they had to sell Ico HD and Shadow of the Colossus HD 'separately' or together but with their own cases.  If that's the case, then just selling Peace Walker HD on its own makes a little sense for them.  I cannot, nor will I attempt to make a case for why that's even remotely acceptable here when we literally have a product that is everything the Vita version of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is, but then some.  Unless it's a size/space issue, but if that's the case, why isn't there some sort of disclaimer about that?

This raises the question about the price of the Vita's version of the Collection as well, which I've yet to see a solid figure on.  I should hope that if it's only released as both games, we can look forward to a $10 reduction (making both games $15, rather than ~$13, which I can take), but I never take these sort of things at face value.  It also raises the question as to why, at this point in time, it doesn't look like an HD version of a Portable Game is going to be on an HD Portable system.  Like, this is beyond dumb if you look at it for what it is, so I can only hope for some clarification on the whole thing and soon.  I don't think "Just Download Peace Walker, you know, the PSP version" is sufficient as a suggestion either, especially, especially because as of this post, you literally cannot Buy, Download and Play Peace Walker unless you have a PS3, since you have to get it on there and then transfer it to the Vita, as it's not on the Vita's PS Storefront.  So really, I guess the ball is in Konami/Kojima Productions Hands at this point.  Hopefully they'll get us an answer relatively quickly.

So, if you're a faithful reader of this blog, you probably know what's coming because of the above picture.  This isn't new news by any means, but it's news that I need to pass out regardless because I have my own opinions on it and I really need to get them out in a way that is more effective than a couple tweets about it.  For everyone else, the above pictured is something from Warriors Orochi 3, which was something I was so excited about that I made an entire post about it being localized, citing the simple fact that it wasn't going to have English Voiceovers as something that I would just have to get used to because it could, in no way, dampen the excitement I had for the game.  Because I really really like the Warriors Orochi games for the simple fact that the blending of the characters and such makes for a very interesting story, something they're given real free reign on since it's all fantasy.

I was so wrong.  Now, I'm going to just go ahead and state the, er, 'facts' of the matter first off before I really get into my own editorializing and fact-spewing over the whole situation.  In the US, Warriors Orochi 3 is going to be Digital Distribution only for the Playstation 3.  That is the stated fact, nothing going to change it that is exactly, clearly the word as it is.  It will be available as a Retail (meaning on-disk) title for XBox 360 and, quite possibly, also be in their Games on Demand or whatever service; the one that sells full games that isn't Live Arcade.  That's not confirmed, it could be assumed given that it will be available (only) through PSN for PS3, but all we know is that 360 gets a Disk, PS3 does not.  Tecmo-KOEI states the reasoning for this is the 'strict' policy SCEA has about not allowing games to have a Disk Release if there is not English Dub present.  Which KOEI stated it would be without, y'know, hinting that it would cause release troubles.  Of course, SCEE has no policy because it covers too broad an area to restrict languages, so the only region that won't get Warriors Orochi 3 for PS3 on Disk is North America.

So, those are the 'facts'.  Now it is conjecture time and my conjecture is thus:

Bull.  Shit.

That is far fancier looking than I anticipated, but it is what it is.  There are so many goddamn holes I can poke in this line of reasoning that I don't even know where to start.  But I guess the obvious is the best place here:  Yakuza games since number 2 have been released in America, On-Disk, with Promotion, without having English Dubs.  Of course, the stand-by to knock that down is "It doesn't count, it's an exclusive franchise".  Okay, fine - What about Way of the Samurai 3?  Or, as the comments of the above article so helpfully point out, Agarest War Zero and it's sequel?  The PSP games that I assume are bound by the same rules as PS3 games?  All had Japanese Dubs only, (In the case of Way of the Samurai 3, I don't think there was even enough content to count as a 'dub') and all had physical media releases.  There are more, if not just as many, exceptions to the rule provided that it just doesn't count as a rule anymore.  So right there, without any outside interference, I call bullshit.

There is absolutely, positively, no denying that Tecmo-KOEI, specifically the KOEI portion off the company, has a vested interest in Sony.  More of their titles than not are Exclusive to Playstation Systems, by choice rather than regulation, and while it may very well be because Sony has a better market in Japan, it still counts and it's still obvious.  The several disgruntled 360-only people who are fans of KOEI's products will attest to this, seeing as they have gotten shafted out of a lot of games for little reason other than "360 doesn't sell well in Japan".  So, if you're trying to tell me that there is absolutely no way KOEI could use the clout they very obviously have to waive the oh-so-strict rule about No-Dub-No-Disk, then I call bullshit on that too.  At the very least, they could've just sweetened the pot with the DLC trick; keep it exclusive to the PS3 version of the game or at least just timed exclusive.  Bam, incentive to buy it on the PS3 rather than the 360 (which would in turn, give Sony incentive to let them have their game released on disk) is there, quick and easy.

So I reiterate:  There is absolutely no reason why Warriors Orochi 3 will be PSN-only in North America and it's killed my interest so much that I might literally just skip it.  I've looked into importing it from the UK which won't be -too- costly, but I really really just don't know if I'm willing to bother.  There are entirely too many games to be had this year, I was already wobbly because of no English VA (pretty much purely because I wouldn't get to listen to Jamieson Price as Lu Bu), so any extra hoops added just really start tipping me over.  And, aside from all that, given the way things are priced these days, I have absolutely no reason to think that the PS3 version will be cheaper for the simple fact that there is no physical media to it.  In fact, I would suggest it's rather naive to think that.

So, we'll see.  Regardless, I've gone and made myself extra grumpy now, so it's time to go listen to inappropriate music (K-Pop or something similarly vapid but enjoyable) and just try and relax.

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!

Woah Now, Europe

Stop getting all this shit I want, okay?  I mean, I know we Americans are kind of spoiled with releases since we get things when you generally don't but, well, these are things I want.  Earlier today, a Tecmo KOEI community manager mentioned the fact that Warriors Orochi 3 will see a European release, though it was not, y'know, confirmed quite yet.  Notice that it was, indeed, called Warriors Orochi 3 because it will be the third proper Warriors Orochi game outside of Japan where it, much like Dynasty Warriors, has been quite funky with its naming of the iterations of the series, leading our Warriors Orochi 2 to only be considered an expanded version, thus making our Warriors Orochi 3 their Warriors Orochi 2.  It's all quite confusing and brought about by quite dumb things, but oh well, that's just sort of how it flies.

My interest in Warriors Orochi 3 is very well documented and I never really -doubted- a version with English would get released, considering this would be a mainline release which we get fairly consistently.  I just never imagined that English would mean, well, English, as in from the UK.  I still don't think it'll come to that, but if it does, then I guess I'll just have to jump into this whole importing thing with both feet, because I am going to get this damn game one way or another.  It's apparently the closest I'm going to get to play Samurai Warriors 3 on PS3 in English, so I guess that's all I've gotta think about when I go for it.  (Tangentally related, Samurai Warriors 3 is getting a PSP version which means it's going to stay in Japan, obviously.  They can port the game to everything under the sun, but not localize it?  Makes total sense, of course.)  Aside from that, I love the Warriors Orochi series, as I've said before, for the simple fact that it goes crazy with mystical stuff, screwing with the timelines and relationships and doesn't even care.  I can respect that.

You would think that with me playing so much Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 that I'm actually grumbling about random things with it (Like it having -9- missions that are the same as every other mission with guaranteed aces that have to be played on hard for no reason other than to pad it out some) that I would be a little tired of Warriors news.  Or, maybe you know me and wouldn't think that at all, because I am very obviously a Warriors sponge and I soak this shit up and can't wait for more.  I'll keep an eye out for an official announcement regarding overseas release, but I would imagine at least the PAL release is concrete and a NA release would be right behind it.  With any luck, KOEI will be brilliant and release it right after/before One Piece:  Pirate Warriors and something else to flood the market with KOEI games and then wonder why only some of them get bought, instead of reasonably releasing them at something resembling a good pace.  Because why would they do that, that would be sensible!

In other "Getting a European release but no word of American release" news, Way of the Samurai 4 is finally getting released outside of Japan 'sometime this year'.  It seems a bit late and all, since WotS4 has been out for quite a while already, but, hey, any chance for us to get our hands on it is a good one because of just how different the games are.  I imagine Way of the Samurai 4 is a little....errr...more realized in this gen than 3 was by any measure as well, which should make things a bit nicer for it on the whole.  Just the picture above is miles and away better than how 3 looked at some points, possibly even its best, but that's fairly expected from something that was sort of realized as a budget title anyway.

Still, as I mentioned, the amount of choice and the way the story conforms around your choices is pretty much unmatched by any other game out there.  Sure, it's not very long if you're just looking to get a couple stories down, but if you are the type who wants to (or has to because of trophies) get into everything, these types of games will give you endless hours of content that, at times, will always seem a bit new to you, if just because something different than the norm, or what you expected to happen, happened.  Those subtle little details are taken into account always, and especially so with 4, as it seems your choices might directly impact the next time you play as well.  So not only does what you do build the story, it also shapes your next one which likely means that much more possibility.  I'm not sure how it works, but it's interesting, at least on the surface.

More KOEI Chat

Obviously, with Dynasty Warriors 7 Xtreme Legends being the only thing I'm playing lately I'm thinking a lot about it and the other KOEI games out there that I just can't wait to get.  Like Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 which I will hopefully be getting for Christmas and Dynasty Warriors NEXT for the Playstation Vita which I will definitely be getting for sure.  And of course, there's the above-pictured Warriors Orochi 3 that I have already talked about but I still want a whole lot.  And of course there's the never-coming-to-America Samurai Warriors 3Z along with Warriors Orochi Z that I can always pine for vainly on top of the hopes of ever playing a Romance of the Three Kingdoms game ever again, especially on a handheld where it would be a perfect friggin' fit.  Basically, what I'm saying is that I really, really enjoy the KOEI games that come out, no matter how often and how varied (which they really are, despite what reviewers tell you.) they are.

Warriors Orochi 3 is the thing that's highest on my list, however, as more and more reasons keep getting added to it as enticement for buying.  Even more cameo characters have been announced to join Ryu Hayabusa, Jeanne D'Arc and Achilles to the tune of Ayane from the Dead or Alive series (also from Ninja Gaiden, and she's no real stranger to DW games after being present in Strikeforce) and Nemea from Trinity:  Souls of Zill O'll.  Much like the previous three mentioned, they will have stages crafted specifically around the games from which they hail, so their inclusion is more than a token effort and it lends credence to the idea that even -more- could be on the way, as there still are franchises under the Tecmo-KOEI umbrella as well as their friends over at Bandai-Namco that are as of yet untapped.  Is it too much to hope for Ken from Fist of the North Star to find his way into Orochi's realm?  I think not.

Moving on, I am really looking forward to Dynasty Warriors NEXT as I said before for quite a few reasons.  Sure, it's looking like it's basically Dynasty Warriors 7 in your pocket which is fine enough right there, but there's quite a few improvements going on with it from what I can see.  For starters, every character that is in the roster from the latest release, Xtreme Legends, will be in NEXT, meaning you have the full list right at the start without having to wait for some sort of expansion pack game or anything else of the sort.  The next reason would be that some characters might just be 'decloned' or, in better terms, given new weapons so that they're not just randomly carrying around the same weapon as someone completely different from them.  No longer will Cao Ren and Dong Zhuo be walking around with the same flail, nor will Pang De and Zhang Liao thankfully.

But really, the top reason here is the return of CAW or Create a Warrior for those not in-the-know.  Create a Warrior is exactly what it sounds like, in that you have a character editor and can make your very own Chinese Warrior to run about the battlefield wielding whatever you choose and doing whatever you wish.  Or, just make a Time Traveler who dresses up like the rest of the people back then to fit in.  It more or less just depends on what you name your character and whatever you hope to have going through your head while playing your character out.  For instance, "Dian Shan" would likely find himself comfortable back then whereas, er, someone named "Alexander" might....not.  Just saying, it all kind of depends on what you want out of the experience; if you just want to make a dude to join the roster of 65 other characters and kick ass alongside them and don't care much beyond that?  More power to you.

Still, with KOEI games, you more or less have to take what you get which is a shame as there really is way more material out there that would be fantastic if we could get our hands on them.  The entire Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga's Ambition series has basically been scrapped outside of Japan and while I understand it, I don't like it as I have lamented in the past, because that breed of game just...doesn't see enough usage.  I have heard whispers of Romance of the Three Kingdoms 12 (which is PC-Only for now) being compatible with some sort of touch screen support which gives me hope for a Vita release, but only just so, especially because Romance of the Three Kingdoms 12 puts you directly into the Rulers shoes rather than letting you decide just what you want to do.  Still, if it would come out, I'd buy it if just to encourage them to do better.  Also because it might be enjoyable still.  But mostly the 'do better next time' reason.

Goddamnit KOEI, Let Me Buy This Game

Back in September, KOEI announced the Japanese Release Date for Warriors Orochi 2 which, surprisingly enough is the third game in the series, despite what you might think in the naming.  From my understanding, the second game wasn't given a number as it was in the states, thus, this will be the second true Warriors Orochi game and blah blah blah.  Similar thing done with the mainline Dynasty Warriors series; the first game in the series was actually a fighting game, then when put on the PS2, it became a very early concept for what we now know as the real, classic Warriors-style gameplay.  In Japan, the PSOne game and the PS2 game were called different things, thus no real number change, but in America they just saw fit to title it as a sequel for the express purpose of confusing everyone for years to come.

Anyways, that's not important.  What's important is that Warriors Orochi 3 (That's what I'm referring to it henceforth) has been announced for Japan, will hit there in late December, and nothing's been said for a stateside release.  You would think this is a no-brainer, but the machinations what makes KOEI turn are mysterious and confusing (read: dumb and terrible) so the chances of any game of theirs coming out in the west is always a 50/50 split at best.  If you need any examples, let's just take Samurai Warriors 3 and pluck it out of the air, since it's the perfect tool with which I might explain the way this beast works or, more succinctly, does not.

Samurai Warriors 3, as you might know, was released for the Wii way back last year (in America) and the Wii only, confusing everyone who's put anything into the Samurai Warriors series because we're sitting back with our PS2s, PS3s and 360s wondering "Uhhhhhhhhhh where's our game?".  And this isn't bashing the Wii at all of course, merely pointing out that we, as -game purchasers- generally know where our series are going to stay.  While there's always exceptions, the general rule is, if a series was on the PS2/OXBox/360 when the gen was still considered 'last gen', we more or less expect them to simply move up to the new gen at 'least'.  This does not exclude a Wii version, merely suggests that such a version would be released alongside the version for the series supporters as well.  It would be akin to, say, Persona 5 being announced as a Wii-U Exclusive; those of us that have played the series would expect it to be on PS3 at least, for the simple fact that Persona 3 and 4 were on the PS2, and all of the other Persona games have made it to the PSP one way or another (notwithstanding P4's upcoming Vita re-release).

My point is that, Samurai Warriors 3 on the Wii and Wii only was a weird, unfriendly move.  Not a bad one, not a good one, just a weird one and one that doesn't necessarily scream business sense.  Even though it's able to be rationed out as reasonable in that there are simply more Wii consoles out there than PS3's or 360's in theory and thus, greater sales could be expected, it doesn't make it anywhere near the reality that they eventually found and could have seen coming.  As is what it obvious, Samurai Warriors 3 did not see smashing success in the West at least, and I would imagine not so much in the East either (though I have no numbers to support this).  At the very least, every iteration of the Samurai Warriors franchise (both of them at the time) had had an Xtreme Legends version to go along with it, so betting on one was not a farfetched idea.

And this is where it got -weirder-.  Upon announcing Samurai Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends for Wii, KOEI also announced Samurai Warriors 3Z, a PS3 version of the game that included both the original and the Xtreme Legends in the same package (possibly on the same disk, haven't checked).....and kept both in Japan.  As in, in the face of poor sales, they made a conscious effort to increase the possible sales audience to the people most likely to buy the game....and then instantly shoot said possibility in the foot by opening it up to a portion of that audience.  Now I know there's all sorts of costs that go along with porting a game and localizing it, but in all honesty, most of it was localized already in the western release of Samurai Warriors 3.  For the Wii.  I imagine that takes out a good portion of the work and cost, provided contracts with the voice actors were proper and such, so it couldn't have been too bad.

So I think it's easy enough to say that I am -wary- of seeing this game come stateside, though I desperately want it to.  The Warriors Orochi games provide such a different setting from the main two series from which they draw, given the setting is completely different despite the familiar characters and that experience and that setting is something I crave.  The impressive roster of over 120 characters is nothing to shake a stick at either, despite worries that with that many characters, you will be -forced- to do something with all of them if you're in it for the trophies or the achievements.  Not to mention that said roster will include notable non-Dynasty and Samurai warriors characters; namely Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden, Jeanne D'Arc from Bladestorm:  The Hundred Years War, and Achilles from Warriors:  Legends of Troy, each of which will have a stage/map dedicated to the game they come from.  So it's not just a token inclusion, but a bit more than that in terms of effort.

This.....this rant has nothing to do with the pre-order bonuses that were just announced, by the way.  N-nothing at all.  Honest.  I don't even ca-OKAY I am a whore for Christmas things, we all know this and I want those so bad and I don't know why.  It's quite possible that I just want the one for Wang Yuanji since she saw a lot of use in my DW7 playings as her moveset was quite fun and she was a fairly decent character.  But clearly, the costumes were only the final tip to push me over into a froth of desire bordering on rage-inducing at the thought that it might actually not see the shores of the states.  I do so hope that I'm wrong in this, that I honestly have nothing to worry about (the fact that it was released on PS3 -and- 360 in Japan would suggest that the groundwork for the west has been laid already), but this is KOEI and KOEI is dumb when it really matters.