EnchantedArms
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Enchanted Arms screenshots to scoff at?
Let's not deny it -- Sony's last two consoles have been great mediums for the role-playing enthusiasts. Has been for this guy. Anyway, one of the few traditional JRPG's to grace the XBox 360, Enchanted Arms, has been ported over to the PS3... or... it's still in the process of being so ported. Honestly... not too excited about it. Perhaps a rental. Just to get an RPG that's not PS2-i-fied.In any case, there are some nice screenshots of the game on the PlayStation website. Looks nice, looks neat. Speaking of games that looked nice but played like a pile of poo, anyone out there give that Magna Carta game a try? Still have a 33 hour save on my PS3, but I sold that thing without much hesitation. See... the battle system was good in concept, but it was pretty unforgiving. And when you needed magic to fight enemies, all your magic users were conveniently rendered unplayable via the surprisingly decent story. Damn... now I want to play it again. Er, check out the Enchanted Arms screens!
Ubisoft releases first quarter game line-up
Aren't you curious to see what Ubisoft has planned this first quarter? While we'd love to just copy and paste the list in its entirety, it's probably best if we just list the games coming out for the PS3. It's more honest and, well, it makes the list much smaller. Enchanted Arms Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent Again with your monopolization... damn you, Tom Clancy! Now keep in mind some of the games listed should be coming out on the PS3 -- they just have a different release date from the other systems and fall outside of the first quarter. Well, Ubisoft, hopefully these three games (along with the other March releases) will wholly satisfy us.
Enchanted Arms to grope PS3 in March
Ubisoft have announced that the bilingual PS3 port of Enchanted Arms will be released in North America this March. When it landed "exclusively" on the Xbox 360 last year, From Software's first-to-an-empty-market initiative ticked just about every box on the official list of Japanese RPG requirements. Goofy protagonist with a hazy memory and an untapped power? Check. An ancient evil unleashed within the opening moments of the game, completely wiping out the hero's beloved town? Check. A surly princess who refuses to act like a princess? Check. A flamboyantly gay stereotype and an army of sentient pizzas? Ch -- wait, that doesn't seem to be on here.If you were one of the few that embraced Enchanted Arms initially, you'd know that it was a solid, albeit unremarkable, RPG with an enjoyable battle system and varied golem creation (essentially a form of enemy recruitment). The Ubisoft press release mentions "Sixaxis wireless controller integration" as one of the PS3 enchancements, but it's unclear whether motion sensing is actually used in gameplay. Apparently, you can "use the motion-sensitive controller harness weapons, recover your EX power meter, unlock more powerful attacks and solve puzzles." We're not convinced that means you'll be doing anything other than pushing buttons on a motion-sensitive controller, but lack of tilt control isn't a common complaint in the wonderful world of turn-based RPGs.
Boxing Day sales galore at Best Buy
It's rather simple, Americans have Black Friday and Canadians have Boxing Day, so let the sales begin! If you live in Canada Best Buy is running some great deals on Xbox 360 goodies. The best example would have to be Enchanted Arms for only $19.99, but Gears of War is selling for $49.99, and the premium console bundle with GRAW is $100 off. So, if you haven't already, brave the cold, trample fellow shoppers, wage war on those who hinder your path, and spend some more holiday cash on video games ... that is if you live in Canada, eh?[Thanks, Archangel04]
PS3 Enchanted Arms gets some 'enchancements'
Eager to cash in on an empty market, From Software is busy applying the finishing touches to its Enchanted Arms port for PlayStation 3. Lack of RPG presence in PS3's unripened catalogue certainly gives From the option to 'copy-paste' its year-old Xbox 360 title onto Sony's platform, but there appears reason for improvements; be it the off chance that there are owners of the original who would be interested in a buffed reprise.Along with expected graphical tweaks (including new character animations), new chapters will be added to the Enchanted Arms story, new golems will appear, and the battle system will be improved. Even the themes for the opening and ending will be re-composed -- by "mink" no less (never heard of her/him/them either). The magic returns to Japan on January 25 (no word yet of a new translation).
Enchanted Arms slated and priced for the PS3 market
As with many "exclusives", developers change their minds pretty quick. Enchanted Arms is no exception, quickly moving onto the PS3 to face off against the multitude of other RPG's on Sony's consoles (the PS3 might not have many yet, but I'm still trying to get through the PS2 library). From Software has dubbed the release date January 25th, 2007 at a hefty price tag of 8190 yen (over $70). The game has a ho-hum story we've come to expect from many RPG's -- a hero with powers has to save the world for some reason, forms a ragtag group of heroes, battles some evil. Good stuff, even if most RPG's come in the same general flavors, not unlike beer. Mmm, JRPG-brew. Anywho, the game will be a welcome addition to the PS3 library but there has been no word on an American release, officially. It's safe to expect it sometime soon, though. I'm guessing March, to coincide with Europe's release. A little optimistic? Maybe.
Enchanted Arms grabbing PS3
It's easy to be the life of the party when you're the only one attending. Enchanted Arms is generally acknowledged to be an entertaining, albeit unremarkable, game that has gained a bit more attention simply for being the first traditional Japanese RPG to hit the Xbox 360. It may even wind up beating others to the magical punch (that's a play on enchanted limbs and the earlier party analogy, you see) on Sony's next-gen console, as the game's official website now indicates that a PS3 version is in the works. Ubisoft has yet to announce intentions to publish an English version again, but such information should likely arise once the Tokyo Game Show kicks off later this month and a firm release date emerges from, err, From Software. If you plan on foregoing the Xbox 360 version in favor of this one, you can look forward to a motley group of heroes, an ineptly imprisoned ancient evil and an adventure which the Official Xbox 360 Magazine (UK) calls a "most likable cult oddity." [Via Eurogamer]See also: Enchanted Arms' Metacritic page Enchanted Arms embraces bilinguilasm
Enchanted Arms rumored to approach the PS3
If this rumor turns out to be true, Sony fanboy's wait to see their first true next-gen RPG will be shortened. The game's developer, From Software (our buddies from the Armored Core series), recently had a talk with Famitsu magazine and implied there was a Sony version of the game already planned. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise since From Software's Armored Core games are a staple of the Sony gaming experience (this guy is still searching for a copy of Armored Core 2, actually). Any extra content? So far, nothing has been noted. We can safely assume that it will, at the very least, be a direct port of the 360 game. Although, with all that extra space thanks to Blu-ray, we can not-as-safely assume there will be something added. This is pretty good news, then. Sony isn't one to miss out on many RPGs and From Software isn't one to readily toss Sony aside (we assume). Those two things add up to a port of Enchanted Arms. More on this as rumor becomes fact.
Watch some Enchanted Arms
myFlash = new FlashObject('http://www.gametrailers.com/umremote310.swf', 'swffile', 425, 362, 8); myFlash.altTxt = ''; myFlash.addVariable('mid', 12811); myFlash.write(); So, Enchanted Arms came out a few days ago, but we thought we'd share this video anyway -- be thankful that the game allows you to opt for Japanese dialog. It's not exactly a secret that the 360 is no treasure trove of Japanese games (though Dead Rising might change that). As such, Enchanted Arms presents a rare opportunity for the monotonous random battle masochists out there (like me). If you need, need a JRPG fix, Enchanted Arms just might do it. Clearly, it's no Final Fantasy, but if you've got to have a hero with feathered hair (you just don't see it nowadays) Enchanted Arms is your only choice. Anyone pick this up yet? Recommend it for die hard JRPG fans?
Enchanted Arms embraces bilingualism
Due for release on 29 August, Enchanted Arms is the fully localized version of From Software's more awkwardly named and rather annoyingly capitalized [eM] eNCHANT arM, the first traditional Japanese RPG to emerge on the Xbox 360. For its American release, the fine French folks at Ubisoft have bravely volunteered to publish the game and translate the gratuitous amounts of Japanese voice and text into something more palatable to a Western audience. Then again, many localizations turn out be anything but palatable, representing the aural equivalent of vicious food poisoning. The mere memory of Shenmue's soulless soccer kids causes great discomfort and anxiety, feelings that are slightly dimmed by Ubisoft's intentions to include both Japanese and English soundtracks on the Enchanted Arms disc. Excellent news, to be sure, but frustrating in the sense that Ubisoft is one of the few publishers that actually does put a great deal of care into cinematic presentation, generally avoiding talentless talkers who end up in the recording studio through sheer chance. Based on Grandia II, their English efforts might not be nearly embarrassing enough to warrant this feature.And really, "feature" is a good word to describe it. With advanced compression techniques and new, Blu-tinged storage mediums arriving, there should be no reason for gamers not to have a choice in who they hear blathering about chosen ones and ancient, poorly imprisoned evils. It's about time that publishers and developers realized that poor voice acting is no laughing matter.[A video involving magical limbs is embedded in the second part of the post.]
A JRPG? On the 360? Video proof
There's a rule of thumb about Japanese RPGs: if you want to play Japanese RPGs on your Xbox, you still need a PS2. Until now that is. This video of Enchanted Arms shows off the game's story and some of its features. The absolute best feature: you can select English or Japanese dialog. So, if you've been hungering for some hitpoints and long CGI cut scenes, you'll get your chance later this month. The question remains, is the game any good? Let's put it this way: if you want a traditional Japanese RPG on your 360, you don't exactly have a choice.
[eM] -eNCHANT arM- becomes Enchanted Arms
[em] -eNCHANT arM-, the bizarrely named JRPG that snuck up on us in January, is coming to North America this summer with a shiny English translation (we assume) and a new, easier typable name, Enchanted Arms. IGN says, "As Atsuma, an Enchanter-in-training, you'll caper through 50 hours of gameplay adventuring with more than 75 unlockable creatures in turn-based strategy warfare."Combined with the upcoming Japanese titles announced at last month's press conference, Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker games, and the recently announced Phantasy Star Universe, Microsoft's plan for Japan is looking increasingly strong.[Thanks, Master X 24]
-eNCHANT arM- coming to America
From Software's RPG title [eM] -eNCHANT arM-, currently released in Japan, will be making its American and European debut this summer under the title Enchanted Arms. It's the first Japanese RPG to appear on the Xbox 360, and by the time it's released, Oblivion fans may well be looking for a new RPG to play.IGN has previewed the game, describing it as an "eccentric, epic title rich with character, story, and an evolving combat system". While its review scores in Japan have been reasonably low, the quirky nature of Enchanted Arms may increase its worldwide appeal, paving the way for more Japanese titles to travel abroad.
