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Vanillaware's Muramasa: The Demon Blade coming stateside
The publishing duo of XSEED and Marvelous Entertainment announced plans to bring Vanillaware's Wii-exclusive ninja-action title, Oboro Muramasa Youtouden, to the US sometime next year. The game, which will be redubbed as Muramasa: The Demon Blade for the local market, marks the second title to emerge from a co-publishing deal inked in May, following this week's release of Valhalla Knights 2 for the PSP. Muramasa looks to continue the tradition of Vanillaware's eye-poppingly gorgeous titles, Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire, promising hand-drawn 2D sprites and side-scrolling levels. Beyond this, details are scarce, though more is expected to be revealed next week when the game is officially unveiled during TGS.
Marvelous, XSEED to tell Little King's Story this winter
Both XSEED and Marvelous Interactive have confirmed plans to bring the Wii-exclusive sim-style RPG Little King's Story to North America. Previously known simply as "Project O," the game marks the second "key" title to emerge from the companies' recent co-publishing alliance. Not to be confused with that other game about kings and town building, Little King's Story is said to combine simulation, strategy, and adventure game elements as players build their kingdom, manage townsfolk, and conquer rival nations. The art style alone has our interest piqued, and with devs and designers from such games and series as Harvest Moon, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Super Mario RPG attached to the project, we doubt that we'll be able to resist waving the Wii remote in the air like a scepter when Little King's Story drops this winter. %Gallery-24964%
TGS07: Oboro Muramasa Youtouden looks even better in motion
We're already in agreeance that Oboro Muramasa Youtouden is one of the best-looking games announced for the Wii -- we shook hands on it, signed the appropriate forms, and even had a notary stamp the papers to make it official. Still, this first video glimpse of the 2D ARPG managed to leave us in a state of ecstasy, our skin alive with pleasure. What secret resource has Vanillaware tapped into that other developers have so far ignored? Most of the titles we saw at the Tokyo Game Show didn't look half as good as this.
Project O trailer better than our wildest dreams
We've had some pretty messed up dreams in our time -- like that one where we drove through the mall in a robot octopus to pick up girls, beckoning eight of them at a time with our come-hither, mechanical arms -- so it's no small feat exceeding our sleeping imaginations. This trailer for King Story (Project O) does just that, however, seducing us in just its first fifteen seconds with an arrangement of Maurice Ravel's "Boléro."The three-minute English trailer goes over a lot of what was already revealed in yesterday's site update, but the accompanying cartoon has more charm to it than a box of leprechaun cereal. In-game clips show off your cheering villagers, town building and maintenance, and even some combat with a spicy dragon! If this RPG/sim wasn't a "must buy" for you before, it should be now.
TGS07: No More Heroes says yes to more videos
Now that we know that one of our favorite games has a publisher outside of Japan, we undertook the watching of the latest footage from TGS with a particular zeal. While neither offers sound, we do get a glimpse of the controls and a long, lovely look at the game in motion, which puts all the short clips offered by the official site to shame. Before, we were excited; now a new word will have to be created to communicate the passion with which we approach tSuda 51's offbeat No More Heroes. If anyone has any linguistic suggestions, please let us know. In the meantime, hit up the videos after the break.
Oboro Muramasa Youtouden continues to ravish our eyes
You've likely seen these screenshots of Oboro Muramasa Youtouden already from when we covered the newly announced ARPG last week, but we'll grab at any opportunity to put the spotlight back on this beautiful looking game. Supplementing its weekly magazine, Famitsu has updated its site with direct-feed images, providing a more accurate display of the Vanillaware-developed title than what scanned pages can provide.We have a couple more images past the post break for you to check out if you're interested -- though we can't imagine why you wouldn't be interested in the most gorgeous 2D game coming to the Wii.
Vanillaware brings its 2D talents to the Wii
Vanillaware, the same developer behind GrimGrimoire and Odin Sphere, both gorgeous 2D PS2 titles, revealed in Famitsu's latest issue an ARPG for the Wii, Oboro Muramasa Youtouden. It looks absolutely stunning, almost to the point where we're disappointed in other companies for not working on their own 2D games at a similar level. Loading up the magazine scans, which you can see for yourself past the post break, was like sighting the promised land, a brand new colony, from a distance after months of wandering our ruined, post-apocalyptic Earth. JC fell to his knees beside me, tears in his eyes. The amaranthine sun slipped out of view behind us, leaving our caravan to celebrate its newfound hope. We had many hard months still to weather, but we'd finally found a place to call home.
Luminous Arc 2 loves big butts and it cannot lie
Perhaps to counter Luminous Arc's mediocre review scores and lacking sales, character designer Kaito Shibano has shifted the sequel's art direction away from the ample bustlines of the original game, instead drawing our eyes to the only thing boys dream about more than online-enabled SRPGs: callipygian women. The above image, minus the Sir Mixalotism we've added (of which we have many we're waiting to share with you), greeted us upon our arrival at the official Japanese site that publisher Marvelous Interactive set up yesterday. There's not much available in the way of new media, but the character section is sure to eventually include a better look at the witch antagonists's cheekier outfits. Of course, while we're on the subject, we have to ask: Are you a Luminous Arc kind of guy, or do you consider Luminous Arc 2 Will more of a priority?[Via GBA Temp]
Trio of brief clips from No More Heroes
When we say "brief" here, we really mean it -- these video updates from the official No More Heroes site offer no more than glimpses of the game. There's also a Grindhouse-esque grain to the footage, and we're not sure if it's simply the video quality, or the intentional look of the title -- either way, it doesn't spoil the effect. We've tucked the clips away after the break, and re-ordered them to save our pick of the best for last, since on the NMH site, it was first.
Wii's Project O unveiled with dev team fit for a King
The latest issue of Famitsu (via IGN) has some new revelations concerning Marvelous Interactive's upcoming Wii title Project O, now entitled Ousama Monogatari (translation: King Story).The development staff has previously worked on titles such as Final Fantasy XII, Dragon Quest VIII and Harvest Moon, which fits perfectly with the description of the game. As a sick boy, you find a magical crown that turns you into a king. From there, you give orders to your group of followers and build up your town into a vast kingdom. You will also be required to lead troops against kingdom-razing foes such as fire-breathing dragons. The RPG aspect of the game has not been fully revealed; all the staff has said is that it is present and that you will be privileged to "dramatic story sequences" by communicating with various characters / residents. King Story is due out in 2008; a trailer is expected to be shown at this year's Tokyo Game Show.
Sequel day continues with Luminous Arc
Image Epoch isn't wasting any time unloading the sequel to their first effort, Luminous Arc. Marvelous Interactive has announced that they will publish the sequel in Japan by year's end, despite the fact that the first only hit there this past February! But is that really the best time for this sequel? At year's end, Luminous Arc 2 will have a lot of similar competition fighting it out on Japanese shelves. There's Dragon Quest IV, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, the thus-far irresistible Archaic Sealed Heat ... and we're just scratching the surface. Let's hope Luminous Arc 2 Will doesn't get lost in the shuffle. The sequel does promise more in the way of content, equipment and battles, as well as more of the eye-catching art style that brought the first into the spotlight. We'll keep our eyes peeled to see if this latest entry can hold its own.
No More Heroes pages packed with images
For once, we don't even mind that the text is difficult, because these new scans from Famitsu have so many No More Heroes pictures that we're too distracted to be unhappy. This is one game we never get tired of looking at; the character models are awesomely twisted, the environment is full of dirty, yet colorful images, and the whole thing has a sinister-yet-cartoony feel. We can barely tear our eyes away. We can't wait to get in there and start swinging our not-lightsaber. To check out the full scans, take a peek past the break, and get to clicking for the high-res versions.
Project O still rolling slowly along
It's been so long since we heard anything about the fantastic Project O that as soon as new information popped up on IGN, we gobbled it like a tasty bar of chocolate. The best part? There's more information to come at this year's Tokyo Game Show. We are now officially counting down the days. For those who need a refresher, Project O is a large-scale simulation game with elements reminiscent of Harvest Moon, but from the sound of this latest interview from Famitsu, it seems this title will have some significantly darker themes, despite the cheerful anime-inspired look. Each individual NPC in Project O is set to have their own unique attitudes and memories, of both good and bad events in their lives. In fact, one of the examples given in the interview is of the darker sort, but definitely intriguing -- an NPC will be affected while traveling a route he once walked often with a girlfriend who died. How sad! And yet, that tiny, humane detail makes us rabid for this game. How will all of this affect your actions as the main character in the game? Will you even be a main character? So much remains shrouded in mystery, but we'll be watching this one anxiously for new developments.
Promotional Consideration: The Buxom Witch Trial [update 1]
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.Grabbing someone's attention while simultaneously providing useful information about a game can be a difficult task, especially when you only have a fraction of screen space to do so. This week, we'll be chewing over several banner advertisements for Luminous Arc, tallying their strengths and, more often than not, shortcomings. Join us past the break for more site ads from both ourselves and Atlus.
Luminous Arc site localized along with game
Atlus played it smart, sending its press releases out before E3 officially kicks off with announcements from bigger publishers. This time tomorrow, we'll be too busy with megatons like Brain Age: With a Vengeance to even register news about Draglade's localization, a Trauma Center sequel, or, in this case, the launch of Luminous Arc's official English site. If you're curious at all about the details that separate this Marvelous-Interactive-developed title from other SRPGs -- synergy attacks, flash drives, and online battles -- definitely hit the page up. As for "extras," there isn't much there yet except for the standard wallpapers, but we're hoping for some Etrian-Odyssey-esque hilarity by the time Luminous Arc's August 14th release comes into view.
Travis vs. Holly: new No More Heroes images
Considering that Holly Summers is ranked several slots higher than our antihero, Travis Touchdown, it's probably no surprise that she's kicking his ass in these screenshots. But just because it isn't surprising doesn't mean it's not cool. We've put the latest shots in a gallery for your viewing pleasure, because we figure that, just like us, you can't get enough of No More Heroes. %Gallery-4611%
No More Heroes site updates
The No More Heroes site continues to leak bits and pieces of information -- just enough to keep us drooling -- and this latest update covers some of the ground already tread by this morning's video. Our hero Travis and his beam katana are the center of the new information, which is all about combat and the tools of the assassination trade. The beam katana can be used to deflect bullets (where've we seen that before?), but it's not a never-ending source of bloody awesome; like any gadget, it can run out of juice. Luckily, there are battery packs scattered around, but in the event you can't find one and find yourself in need of a good cutting edge, you can always get your waggle-charge on. Charging the katana is as simple as jerking the Wiimote up and down. The updates also show off something we've already seen -- Travis's penchant for wrestling moves -- and a shot of a fight brought to a grappling standstill. The image isn't terribly clear, but it seems that with a turn of the Wii remote, it's possible to break free and beat your opponent down. We couldn't possibly want this game more, but at this point, all we really want is to find out just what's up with the tiger indicator on the upper part of the screen. In videos, it can be seen wiggling around, and in these screens, it looks like he takes a little tiger-journey across the top of the image, but for what reason? We can wait for the game, but we must know the secret of the tiger! Perhaps he's like a pet, feeding on the blood of your enemies. It's either that, or he's linked to all the tiger rugs we keep seeing in the game.
Rune Factory 2 screens burst into light
We don't even have the first Rune Factory yet, and already there are screenshots from the sequel. This is getting entirely too common with games we're interested in, like Professor Layton and his Many Mysterious Venues. Rune Factory 2, like its predecessor, is a spin-off from the Harvest Moon series. There's some debate as to whether or not we even need the first title, but we're willing to give it a spin when it finally comes out. In the meantime, we'll check out these shots from the sequel
Rune looks like a lady
With only a few weeks left before the North American release of Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (5/1), developer Neverland Co. has announced a sequel to its farming sim and RPG hybrid. The latest issue of Famitsu has screenshots for the follow-up, and they show a remarkable amount of improvement to the original's graphics. It's still too early to call the redhead protagonist's gender, but our money's on the character being a guy. You can never tell these days, what with all the effeminate farmhands running around. Let us know what you think -- is he one of the dudes? Or is she the princess of Cootie Town? Check past the jump for the Rune Factory 2 magazine scans and a full profile shot of the androgynous hero.
Rune Factory opening movie
Fighting, farming, and ... uh. Young love. Yeah. Sounds like the makings of an epic!While this may not be the best of all movies on YouTube (it's a little on the jiggly side), it's still a love peek into the new Rune Factory releasing in Japan this week.
