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Layton Brothers out on iOS today
Professor Layton series developer Level-5 has launched Layton Brothers Mystery Room, a crime-solving "interactive mystery novella" for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Layton Brothers stars Inspector Alfendi Layton and his assistant Detective Constable Lucy Baker, who must work together to solve a series of grisly murders. Players will need to carefully examine crime scenes for clues in order to sniff out suspects and establish motives. Layton Brothers also seems to share the same quirky charm that defined the Professor Layton series; as part of the game's first case, you'll need to disassemble a deadly sandwich. Was the lettuce laced with poison? Or does the pickle have something to hide? Don't forget to interrogate the bread, if that's an option. The core Layton Brothers app is a free download that includes two cases to solve. Seven additional cases are available as in-app purchases.%Gallery-192555%
The 1 trailer of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
Square Enix released its E3 trailer for the new DS RPG Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, the back-to-basics Final Fantasy game developed by Matrix Software. Even with all the gameplay footage sequestered inside a tiny window in the middle of the video, the game's cute character designs and striking color scheme come through. 4 Heroes of Light replaces the traditional magic points -- and even attacks -- with a strategy RPG-style "Action Point system" in which every gameplay action subtracts from a gradually replenishing stock of action points. No longer are spells and other special attacks nested within menus: each character has a limited set of actions that can be assigned to the touch screen. You'll be able to try the streamlined Final Fantasy on October 5. %Gallery-93782%
Hands-on: Nostalgia (DS)
There's only one word I can use to describe the tone of Tecmo and Red Entertainment's Nostalgia, but that one word describes it perfectly: jaunty. I don't think I've ever played a jauntier game in my life, one that's so upbeat about the abstract notion of adventure. This enthusiasm for getting out and seeing the (fake) world is aided by a simplistic, familiar RPG gameplay system that keeps the mechanics of the game out of the way of your adventurin'. If Dragon Quest were set in a fake version of early 20th century Earth, it would be Nostalgia.%Gallery-75764%
Final Fantasy Gaiden out in Japan this October
Today, Square Enix announced the release date for its original multiplayer DS Final Fantasy title, Four Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden. The Matrix Software-developed RPG will be out October 29, at a Square Enix Tax-laden price of ¥5,980 ($62) -- the same price at which Dragon Quest IX launched.Speaking of Dragon Quest IX, this new game seems pretty well targeted at the Dragon Quest audience. We doubt it's a coincidence that Square Enix is releasing a streamlined, multiplayer version of its other major RPG franchise on DS three months after the release of DQIX. Check out some lovely new screens at GAME Watch.
Final Fantasy Gaiden is classic role-playing for four
Square Enix's totally mysterious teaser site has revealed -- surprise! -- Four Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden, only a few days after Jump revealed it. The site offers a bit more detail about the game than we knew -- most importantly, it confirms that the Four Warriors of Light, described as a "newly retold classic," is designed for play by up to four people.Like the last couple of Final Fantasy remakes on DS, Four Warriors of Light is being developed by Matrix Software. It features a new implementation of the standard Final Fantasy "job system," called the Crown System, which lets players switch jobs whenever desired. That sounds like the Dress Sphere system from the maligned Final Fantasy X-2.A statement from producer Tomoya Asano on the site, as translated by Andriasang, indicates the team's hope to deliver a game with "the charms of the classic RPG era before RPGs became JRPGs."
SaGa 2 remake arrives in Japan this September with limited edition DSi
Square Enix announced a Japanese release date for Matrix Software's DS remake of SaGa 2 (Final Fantasy Legend II): September 17. The remake is getting the same kind of treatment from Square that any major DS RPG would -- by which we mean Square is charging a lot for it and releasing an even more expensive limited edition.Though the company has yet to reveal the design, a limited-edition SaGa 20th Anniversary DSi system will be available on the game's release date, for 24,880 yen ($261). It's a good idea for Square Enix to release this limited edition and celebrate this milestone with this particular SaGa game, as ... people like this one.%Gallery-43148%[Via Siliconera]
Avalon Code all dressed up for your viewing pleasure
Matrix Software's intriguing Avalon Code may be in limbo at the moment -- already out in Japan, and not scheduled for release in English until next year -- but that doesn't mean we're not keeping an eye on the ARPG. You may not be wielding your own special book for a while yet, but you can certainly watch someone else do it. In Japanese. And admire their elaborate costumes while you're at it. Gallery: Avalon Code
TGS08: Rising Star reveals four for Europe
Rising Star Games just unfurled an official list of Marvelous games that it plans to localize for Europe, including Luminous Arc 2, Avalon Code, Rune Factory 2, and a fourth game that is yet to be announced for North America: Steal Princess. We expected most (if not all) of these to reach us at some point, mainly because Rising Star Games is totally awesome and we love them.Previous evidence has suggested that Steal Princess and Luminous Arc 2 won't be appearing before the end of March 2009, but we can't be mad at Marvelous. The company has had an action-packed Tokyo Game Show, and this is the cherry on top of a whole pile of other excellent announcements for Nintendo fans. Make the jump for screens, screens, and more screens! %Gallery-34394%
Promotional Consideration: Circuit City savings with Cecil
This week's installment of Promotional Consideration comes with an excellent bonus -- a Circuit City deal for the Final Fantasy IV remake, which ships to stores next week. The electronics retailer is offering a $10 gift card with any purchase of the 3D RPG, on- and offline. Factor in free-shipping for orders totaling over $24, and this makes up for "the Square Enix tax," that extra $10 the publisher often adds to its DS games.Now that we've done our part to sell the game to you, let's look at how Square Enix has been pushing Final Fantasy IV. %Gallery-3278%
E308: From mop-tops to monsters, Avalon Code looks the part
Put this in your logbook: Avalon Code looks resplendent. Matrix Software has already demonstrated its mastery of the DS hardware through its remakes of Final Fantasy III and the soon-to-be-released Final Fantasy IV; and if the latest dozen screenshots are anything to go by, Avalon Code and its mop-topped hero can stand proud next to either of those. Thank goodness it's heading this way!%Gallery-22487%[Via press release and Gamekyo]
Wind of Nostalgia keeps sounding better and better
If we're (maybe) not getting a Skies of Arcadia sequel, Wind of Nostalgia sounds like the next best thing. In fact, it sounds like the same thing, only instead of air pirates, you're ... Londoners. Even with that not-as-cool difference, the gameplay of this RPG includes both dungeons and air battles, just like Skies. Interestingly, though, the setting for Wind is in the 19th century -- you don't usually associate the 1800s and air ships together, not that we're complaining.IGN pointed out another interesting detail that has us salivating over this new IP. Not only is Matrix (think the Final Fantasy III and IV DS remakes) working on the project, as we knew, but also the producer is Keisuke Kikuchi of Fatal Frame fame. asdlfjasdlkjfa -- oh excuse us there, we were just wiping drool off the keyboard.
Famitsu reveals new Tecmo title, Wind of Nostalgia
click to embiggen Forget looking ahead to E3 -- today is the name for new DS game announcements. Despite their current issues, Tecmo is still kicking around, and is set to release Wind of Nostalgia, an action game from developer Matrix Software. Matrix has handled Square Enix's Final Fantasy III and IV for the DS, and the similarity is obvious in the snippets revealed on the one-page announcement in Famitsu. Wind of Nostalgia is scheduled for a Japanese release this year. Also? Looks like it will feature some pretty spiffy airships. We'll get more on this one as details are released.
Bother the Final Fantasy IV team
Square Enix Membership has its benefits. The company has made a web form available through which anyone with a Square Enix Members account (it's free) can submit questions to the Final Fantasy IV team. According to the site's blog, "All of the questions will be forwarded to the team, but only a few will be answered." If you're curious about changes made to the Final Fantasy IV story or gameplay for the remake, or about the development of a DS game in general, this is a good opportunity! Just try not to submit five thousand questions (or one, even) about a Final Fantasy VII remake. They know.%Gallery-3278%[Via Square Enix Members Blog]
Avalon Code heading west, Steal Princess, Luminous Arc staying put
Marvelous has some intriguing DS wares on the horizon, yet it looks like that's where most of it will stay -- on a horizon far, far away from the majority of us. Sob.Part of a recent financial report from the publisher contained forecasts for forthcoming releases, as spotted by a keen-eyed Siliconera commenter and posted on NeoGAF. The estimations for Avalon Code's were notable, as they included figures for the U.S. and Europe, which in turn tells us we'll be getting the diary-keepin' ARPG here in the west at some point before March 2009.Alas, we'd only just finished chest-bumping one another and shouting stuff like "HELL YEAH" when our excitement was tempered by the realization that Luminous Arc 2 and Steal Princess didn't have figures for the U.S. or Europe. This (probably) means that those games won't be localized this financial year (despite our hopes for the former). That's not to say they'll never make the trip across, of course, but for now it's one in, and two out.%Gallery-22487%%Gallery-15251%[Via NeoGAF]
More information for your Avalon Code logbook
Matrix Software's Avalon Code affords players a decent amount of customization in terms of weapons: as revealed in this latest update, you'll be able to equip a weapon in each hand, from a selection including swords, axes, crossbows and other implements. In addition, you can use items to add elemental attributes to those weapons, increasing their effectiveness against certain types of monsters. We're sure you'll be able to identify monsters' elemental weaknesses on sight, both from having played an RPG before or from possessing a modicum of common sense (if there are ice monsters, for example, they would obviously be weak against Cap'n Crunch fire), but just in case they aren't obvious, that information will be among the data gathered when you attack the enemy with your book.
Final Fantasy IV trailer speaks to us
For those of you who wondered after the last Final Fantasy IV trailer if the North American version of the DS remake would have English voices, here's your answer. Well, above here. Up there, in the video part. Turn your speakers on. The latest trailer, focusing on the story of (non-Batman) dark knight Cecil, features fully-voiced cutscenes, in English.Square Enix may like to charge more for their DS games, but at least they are willing to sink some money into the the development of the things. The high-quality presentation of this game almost justifies the Square Enix Tax.
Filling your diary in Avalon Code
This gameplay trailer for Matrix Software's Avalon Code provides a nice representation of the ARPG's gameplay, as far as we can tell: fast-paced battles against big hobgoblins in silly hats, with menu controls in the lovely book-like interface on the bottom screen. Here, we can see a player switching out characters in the middle of this hobgoblin battle.Interestingly, data about the hobgoblin doesn't appear in the book until the hero has pulled off a combo attack against the creature. It appears that the basic attacks still caused damage, but that there's some kind of prerequisite for obtaining monster information.We're pretty sure the actual game will have sound, by the way.%Gallery-22487%
Final Fantasy IV trailer gets English subtitles
We here at Joystiq HQ are, as you might imagine, savvy world travelers, and therefore have a vast knowledge of the languages of many countries. Swedish, Italian, Esperanto -- one of us (we shall not reveal who) is even fluent in Klingon. Unfortunately, Japanese is one of our weaker subjects, thus a majority of the promotional material for Squeenix and Matrix Software's (the guys who made the DS remake of FFIII) recreation of the 1991 SNES role-playing classic Final Fantasy II (or IV, for purists) has largely gone over our heads.Luckily for us, this astonishing trailer created from promotional footage already released in Japan comes with English subtitles -- not that words would be required to appreciate the visuals featured in this preview. Regardless of whether those CGI cutscenes make their way into the handheld package, the game's 3D models look fantastic, filling us with unbridled desire for some old-school crystal hunting. July 22 can not come soon enough.
Marvelous unlocks Avalon Code site, screenshots
Japanese publishers have game promotion down to a science, nowadays. The routine: announce a game in Famitsu, release a bare official site for the title several days later with artwork and a few shots, update the site sporadically for the next several months until the game's release, launch, and move on.Marvelous Interactive has kicked off the second stage of its operations, putting an Avalon Code page online just days after debuting the ARPG in this week's issue of Famitsu. You won't find any video or downloadable items there yet, but you can preview a dozen images to check on what developer Matrix Software is preparing for the game's 2008 release.The screenshots don't look bad -- they're about on par with what we've seen in Namco's Tales titles on the DS and the Final Fantasy III/IV DS remakes, the latter examples being titles Matrix had its hand in. Hit the gallery below to see if Avalon Code's 3D is for you. %Gallery-22487%[Via NeoGAF]
Final Fantasy remake developers reveal new original ARPG: Avalon Code
Matrix Software has been in the press most recently for their work on the remakes of Final Fantasies III and IV. Before that, they had their own original action RPG, Alundra, which was released in the U.S. on the PlayStation by the decadent Working Designs. Their latest project is another original work, this time for Marvelous: an action RPG called Avalon Code. From what we can see in the scan, it has impressive 3D action on the top screen, with an art style reminiscent of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. The bottom screen appears as a book, and shows information about onscreen monsters, as well as your inventory. New details should show up for this game by the end of the week; until then, squint away in wonder!
