labyrinth
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Chocobos Wark onto Wii
Why don't scientists show a little more imagination? Genetically engineered Chocobos would solve most of the world's problems in a stroke. Traffic jams would be a thing of the past and all those cute yellow beasties running around would keep everyone way too happy for war or, y'know, other bad stuff.It may be some time before this vision becomes a reality, leaving us with Chocobo's Dungeon: Labyrinth of Forgetting, which is heading to Wii in the not-too-distant future. The Chocobo's Dungeon games feature randomly generated levels, making them a little different every time you play. Details on the new title are pretty thin on the ground at the moment; expect more news at the end of the month.
Etrian Odyssey Age
Developer Atlus admits that it will have a tough time selling Etrian Odyssey to anyone who isn't already a fan of dungeon crawls or other niche genres. As great as a turn-based, first-person RPG might sound to some of you, it's rare for that kind of game to register even a blip on the radar of most gamers or gaming media.Atlus has been updating Etrian Odyssey's official site with promotional webcomics, the first of which proposes how the title can attach itself to current trends and elbow its way to the front of the crowd. Likening the game's dungeon crawl experience to Brain Age is a huge stretch, but we have to applaud the creative approach. See what we mean after the post break!
How many labyrinthine games do we really need?
Infendo has taken a snarky poke at the bevy of Marble Madness-y labyrinthine games gearing up for appearances on the Wii, and frankly, we too are surprised at the sheer number of such titles. Super Monkey Ball (obviously) already featured ball-rolling as one of the better parts of an uneven offering, and now three more upcoming games are centered around labyrinth puzzles. You know, we love rolling balls as much as the next guy, and certainly the gametype suits the console on many levels; the controller and the games-for-everyone theme are both well-supported here. But four games in the first year seems a little excessive. The Wiimote is also really well-suited to pointing and shooting, but we don't need four simple shooting gallery games, either. Sure, each game has different features. In Dewy's Adventure, the "marble" can go vaporous or crystallize into ice. Awesome. Except at the end of the day, it's still all about rolling around from here to there. This is really a pretty simple theme, and there are only so many variations on it. How many labyrinth games are we really going to buy? Does anyone expect to own all of these?
Deal of the day: Buy 1 UMD, get 1 free at Best Buy
I know how you crazy cats love the PSP and UMD deals, and here's a pretty good one. Best Buy is offering more than 20 UMDs in a buy one, get one deal. But there are a few catches: The lesser-priced UMD is free; The deal is online only; Limit three of the same title per customer; and Shipping will be charged for the free item. But even with all that, you still can't beat something you're getting for free, right? Some of the titles I suggest are: The Dark Crystal, The Labyrinth and S.W.A.T. (Just kiddin').(Via Cheapassgamer - Registration required)
Heaven's Will gets moody
While American gamers can enjoy the likes of Killzone next October, Japanese gamers will be able to experience Heaven's Will. You play Nameless (Nes for short... somehow), and you must escape a dangerous labyrinth, filled with traps and evil robots that, for one reason or another, want to kill you. It shares a similar concept as the movie Cube: let's hope it's not as awful.
Review slams Deep Labyrinth
We've been following one major RPG release for awhile, but the lesser-known Deep Labyrinth has not completely eluded our radar. As a part of this week's releases, 1up got ahold of the game and ran it through their rigorous review gauntlet, throwing traps at it and watching the utter look of shock and fear fall upon the game's face once it saw the vast fire pits and packs of ravenous badgers that inhabit said gauntlet. Turns out that while one might expect the game to be victorious, perhaps even severing one of the badger's limbs to wear as some prize of conquest, the game instead only managed to barely escape with its life. It still won't talk about the incident, however 1up has no problem explaining the tragic events that took place inside that dangerous gauntlet. They even go on to compare it to King's Field, which is one of the most mediocre series of games in existence and even going so far as to be the worst game for the PSP.
Atlus talks about Deep Labyrinth
With the recent surge of role-playing titles hitting the DS, Atlus' Deep Labyrinth has received some major attention due to its development team, Interactive Brains, recruiting some key talent from one of the greatest RPGs of all time Chrono Trigger. What's even more interesting is that the game was originally designed for cell phones. So while the game could've been brought to the PSP and enjoyed the added horsepower, the choice to go with the DS was easy. With the touchscreen capabilities and wild popularity the handheld has received so far, the game looks like it could be a big success on the platform. The game will feature two different scenarios for play, one brought over from the original cell phone title and the other being an all-new adventure created specifically for the DS.
