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Some kind of Monster Kingdom
Elaborate costumes? Check! Magic seals? Check! Monster battling and androgynous men? Check! Well, according to my checklist Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner is indeed a Japanese RPG. While it sounds similar in title, this game has nothing to do with Capcom's Monster Hunter series. According to RPGamer the game features monster breeding, wi-fi battles and trading, over five hours of voice acting and a soundtrack featuring ten loved RPG composers. The game comes from Cozy Okada of Shin Megami Tensei fame. For the curious, Gamespot has new screens of this Atlus RPG. If after seeing those screens you're anxious to play it as soon as possible, have no fear. You can get grabbed by the jewlies soon since Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner hits store shelves this February.
Unemployment can turn a good ninja into a drama queen
It seems like just yesterday that we were first talking about Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja, a roflcoptery title if ever there was one, and now it's mere weeks away from a February release. It's crazy how time flies, especially when we're busy being fanatical for our favorite handheld. Just to get you into the campy ninja spirit, there's a video of poor Izuna after the jump. Please, for the love, give this girl a job. Everyone deserves to feel like they have a purpose in life, and we have a soft spot for funny-colored hair. Not to mention we do love a game that doesn't employ the stylus unnecessarily, and apparently, Izuna is stylus-free. We're in! Now go watch the video.
Etrian Odyssey trailer teases
Personally, we can't get enough RPG action on our DS. Final Fantasy III and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time will have to be pried from our cold, dead hands! That's why Atlus', which is one of our favorite developers, title Etrian Odyssey gets us so pumped. It causes our under-collar to become hot and soaks our brow in sweet, sweet sweat. We wants it and the loose release date of Q1 2007 isn't cutting it!Oh well, we'll just have to settle for watching the embedded Japanese trailer for the game, available past the jump, about 50 bajillion times. Won't you join us?
Metareview: Trauma Center: Second Opinion
It may be a port of the DS game, but Atlus has assured us it is in no way a quick and half-assed effort to bring the DS game to the Wii. It has new graphics and new missions, which is everything on paper making it out to be a new game experience. Has Atlus succeeded or did gamers have enough of surgery on their DS? The critics say: IGN - 80%: "Putting aside the fact that Second Opinion is a retelling of the DS version, the game is absolutely perfect as an introductory game for Wii players. There's a ton of diversity in the missions, an all-new Hard mode for previous fans of the series, and an entirely new sixth chapter of the game to appease the "been there, done that" attitude of the hardcore crowd." GameSpot - 80%: "This is about as unorthodox of a launch title for a new game system as they come, but then again, the Wii is pretty unorthodox too. So maybe it shouldn't come as any surprise that the game and the console make a great match. Trauma Center: Second Opinion isn't going to wow anybody with its presentation, yet it's got so much inventive gameplay and takes such a spirited approach to its subject matter that it still stands out from the crowd." 1UP - 65%: "Don't let the score dissuade you from playing the game. It is enjoyable. Actually, it reminds me of that college professor who taught a fun class but didn't explain things very well -- in the end, you didn't learn as much as you could have. Second Opinion's fun, but in the end, you feel like you didn't enjoy it as much as you should have."
Atlus giving jobs to ninjas in 2007
Yesterday, a NeoGAFer got their hands on a press release from Atlus with some interesting news for eBay resellers and ninja lovers alike. Their game, Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja, is making its way to the US February of next year. Here is a snippet from the release: Finally, a dungeon RPG strong enough for a man... but played as a hot chick! Drop your stylus, you pansy, and get back to the old school, hardcore, monster bashing we all grew up on! See if you have what it takes to conquer the impossible levels and gruesome bosses. After all, does it get any better than the feeling of cold steel at the palm of your hands? Hmm ... played as a "hot chick," Atlus? Trying to kill two birds with one stone by appealing to both lustful men and women with low self esteem? On top of that, we totally disagree that "ninjas are sooo yesterday!" Ninjas are the past, present and future! [Thanks JC!]
Metareview: Touch Detective
Color us disappointed. Touch Detective looks so fascinating, from the unusual art style to the story to the eyebrow-raisingly strange sidekick Funghi. We were looking forward to it, and still are ... just with less fervor. It's interesting to note that while the game is often compared in reviews to Trace Memory (and, of course, our beloved Phoenix Wright), due to the gameplay and style, the way reviewers refer to Trace Memory is quite varied (it's terrible! it's great! it's so-so!), so it's probably not surprising that some love Touch Detective and others think the developers should probably be beaten. Most of the reviews have one thing in common, however -- the gameplay aspect of Touch Detective, well, it isn't so good. GameSpy - 40%: Touch Detective may have the weirdest, driest sense of humor I've ever encountered in a game. It's rarely if ever laugh-out-loud funny, but it did make me smile a bunch, particularly when reading Mackenzie's secret thoughts on the top screen. The localized script is very capably written. Despite all this, the storylines are just not very intriguing. Worse, the game isn't very engaging to play. The puzzles are a weird combination of simple yet obtuse; there's generally not a lot of items you can get at any one time, yet the way you use them is often weird enough that the solution's not very obvious. Sometimes I'd seem to run out of options, which led to much frustrated back-tracking through the game's decidedly small number of environments. The problem often turned out to be that I simply hadn't clicked in the right place on a certain screen; for example, in a store, it transpired that only one of the items was purchasable, and it took me several trips there (and a lucky tap) to figure out I could get the item I knew I wanted. That's the epitome of very annoying game design.
Metareview: Contact
Grasshopper Manufacture is certainly developing a reputation for unpredictability. Opinions on their last Nintendo foray, Killer 7, were all over the place -- some loved the twisted rail-shooter, others hated it, and many just scratched their heads and offered up a simple "wtf, mate?" Their new Atlus-published RPG Contact, while a little more straightforward, seems to be getting the same wide range of responses. As this is a metareview, Contact seems like a metagame; it's the little things that are praised, the inclusion of other games, references to games, influences from games, the touches from old school games. Unfortunately, the actual game seems to have suffered a bit -- even the most praise-worthy reviews indicate some gameplay issues. 1UP - 80%: "Savvy players will almost certainly enjoy all these little references and arty concepts, so it's a shame the entire package won't hold up to their scrutiny. In crafting their gaming curiosity, Grasshopper has made some design choices that are simply curious. The autobattle system is far from engaging ... fighting enemies in Contact is a woefully straightforward process. It's impossible to dodge or block attacks. In fact, the player can only watch as Terry trades hits with his target."Games Radar - 60%: "Contact is a mixed bag and will delight some while disappointing others. It feels "classic," but the flipside of that is "outdated." Even though it's chock-full of personality and pomp, Contact falls short on fun, with some disappointing shortcomings. Casual RPG fans will have no problem finishing this game in less than 14 hours and a lot of that time will be spent backtracking through previous areas and grinding to boost your stats before boss fights. Also, weapons and special attacks unlocked near the end are just as unimpressive as the ones you begin with. Contact does sport an incredible surprise ending that adds depth and changes your perspective on all the main characters in the game. However, its impact is greatly diminished by the extremely short play time."Yahoo Games - 70%: "The linearity is one area where Contact is particularly disappointing. You'll end up stuck because you can't figure out how to trigger a certain bit of scripting (pay attention to the dialogue!), or maybe you can't figure out the trick to defeating some inscrutable boss battle. Or perhaps you haven't quite leveled up enough to easily dispatch the latest round of monsters in a new area. At times like these, all of Contact's charm can't save it from the tedium that bogs down a lot of RPGs. But it's still as solid as they come, not terribly spectacular, but the perfect fare for devotees of the genre."So it seems Contact definitely reaches out with its intriguing concept, and Grasshopper knows how much we like references and in-jokes, but RPGs have evolved over time for a reason. Some of that evolution should have perhaps been maintained for this title.
DS releases for the week of October 16th [update 1]
Big week, Nintendo fans! Looks like the winter glut of games has begun ... and so many of us already blew our gaming wads for the month on Wii preorders! Guess it's time to start making some sacrifices, since this week brings us a new Nintendogs as well as the latest published by Atlus, Contact. Grasshopper Manufacture's new offbeat RPG is our pick for the game of the week, though there's a good possibility that anything with the Nintendogs logo might just outsell the Bible, much less any games that dare to compete.DS: Contact Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long, Attack of the Dark Dragon Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action Justice League Heroes Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, The Lionel Trains: On Track Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab GBA: Justice League Heroes: The Flash SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2 And for our counterparts in the UK, the exciting release this week is Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007, which hits shelves on the 20th. As always, availability is subject to manufacturer delivery.[Update 1: Changed category from Interviews, which this ain't, to news, which it is.][Via Joystiq]4 leaves take 5 4 good, 6 feet under. A shame, really.
A quartet of new Touch Detective videos touch our heart
When we aren't busy touching our DS (and Joystiq isn't busy touching on disgusting topics during interviews), we like to casually daydream about Touch Detective. Atlus always does such a bang-up job on their localizations, we feel compelled to seek out their projects and make them our own. Touch Detective is no exception.It brings us great amounts of joy to report that IGN has put up 4 new videos of the game. You may find them all conveniently located right here.
A touching talk with Touch Detective's Jamie Ortiz
Joystiq's Ludwig Kietzmann sat down recently with Touch Detective's project lead, Jamie Ortiz, for a little hands-on. Or more likely just discussion, since we're pretty sure there's a court order floating around that keeps Ludwig at least twenty feet from everyone in the industry. Among other topics, they discussed the challenges involved in translating a story-heavy game from Japanese into English and the changes that had to be made -- and how they tackled those challenges while remaining true to the original characters. They spent a little time exploring the art style as well, and Ortiz mentioned that the style is often compared to Tim Burton's work, but we prefer the comparison one of our readers here at DS Fanboy drew -- the style looks influenced by the work of Jhonen Vasquez, the brilliant and twisted mind behind Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee!, and Invader Zim.And it seems we're not the only ones who think Funghi is somewhat questionable in shape, though the esteemed Mr. Ortiz did not seem to share our opinion. We'll leave it up to you to decide.
Joystiq interviews Touch Detective's Jamie Ortiz
If the adventure genre truly is dead, it's the kind of dead you find mulling about in a shoestring budget zombie flick. All visible signs point to a loss of life, but the supposed corpse is still surprisingly animated, shambling towards you in search of an exposed brain. Before you know it, you've been surrounded and your only choices concern the order in which you lose vital body parts. While Atlus' Touch Detective is likely a good deal more fun than being eaten alive by a snarling, undead force (that quote coming to a review soon!), it forms a firm part of the genre's inability to stay beneath the ground. A traditional adventure game in almost every sense, Touch Detective joins Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Trace Memory on the portable platform that seems to have been made for pointing and clicking. Or rather, touching. The DS lends itself well to typical adventure gameplay mechanics, though a functional interface does not a good game make. The story, the characters and the puzzles are the elements you'll remember as being stellar or awful. Touch Detective promises to lump itself into the former and largely preferable category as it follows the adventures of a young sleuth searching for answers, culprits and stolen dreams. Using our finely attuned detective and e-mailing skills, we grilled the game's project lead, Jamie Ortiz, about the game, localization and questionably shaped mushrooms:
Touch Detective's sinister boxart
Touch Detective leaves us a little speechless around the DS Fanboy offices. The game looks great, but there's just something about the art style that seems ... well ... sinister. Creepy, even. Sure, the game will be a blast. It's the new Phoenix Wright -- offbeat and interesting story and touchscreen-centric gameplay. But just look at the characters! We can handle the robot butler, though with that beaky nose, he resembles some sort of evil muppet refugee from the '80s. But Mackenzie, the heroine, looks perpetually terrified and it makes us wonder if she's just traumatized by the death of her father or if maybe that little phallic mushroom guy is exploiting her offscreen.Or maybe we just have too much time on our hands. Touch Detective will be available for a little hands-on next month.
Trauma Center interview
Tomm Hulett of Atlus USA recently sat down with IGN to discuss his project Trauma Center: Second Opinion on the Wii. During the interview, Tomm discusses such things as how the name of the game was decided, the difference between remakes and ports, and how the new doctor's "Healing Touch" is unique. Nothing much was said in regards to improvements or new features in the game, however Tomm did at least reveal one new tool:"I think the coolest new tool is the Defibrillator. It just seemed like a natural fit for the Wii, so we really argued for its inclusion. You move your controllers forward to place the paddles on the patient, then you see a voltage meter. You have to press the Z Button and B Button at the same time when the voltage is at the right level."Turns out Progressive Scan support is still up in the air and 16:9 is a no-go for the game. On top of that, Tomm sees the rumble-enhanced control scheme of the nunchuk-Wiimote combo superior to the already-amazing controls of Trauma Center: Under the Knife on the DS.
A MegaTen fanboy covers a MegaCool interview
Any hardcore RPG fanatic knows about the long running Shin Megami Tensei series and have been keeping an eye on the latest installment set for release in October on the PS2: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner. An interview, covered at Luv2Game, talks about that and the future of the MegaTen series. While covering Devil Summoner here would be awesome, it's not PS3 related, so we'll skip that portion, even though that portion of the interview is strongly recommended for anyone who loves RPGs or Action-RPGs.About halfway through the interview, the future of MegaTen games comes into question. Kazuma Kaneko, lead designer and artist for the games, responds: "probably the next Devil Summoner title." Cool, cool... but where? "Probably the PS3 and Wii." Now, longstanding supporters know that the original titles were set in a first-person perspective and that style of gameplay would work best on the Wii, with the Wiimote and all the intertactions and such. Are we to assume, then, that the next Devil Summoner will be on the PS3 along with any other more "modern" RPG MegaTen games? Let's hope so!
Yggdrasil Labyrinth gets new name, US release
Looks like the U.S. is about to see yet another RPG for the DS -- Yggdrasil Labyrinth, in development by Atlus, will hit the U.S. as Etrian Odyssey. Maybe they decided labyrinthine games weren't such a good idea after all.Etrian Odyssey is a first person RPG that puts you in the role of an explorer searching for riches and glory in the just-discovered labyrinth of -- you guessed it -- Etria. The touch screen features a customizable map, allowing you to track your own progress and mark spots that you find useful in your exploration. We half-wish they'd keep the original name. In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the tree that connects the nine worlds, including Midgard, the world of man. The name Midgard gets so much game love in various forms that it's about time Yggdrasil had a moment in the sun. Oh well. Etrian Odyssey is scheduled for release early next year in the U.S.More screens after the jump.
Tantalizing Trauma Center scans
GameFront has a really lush set of scans on Trauma Center: Second Opinion that offer a look at the controls for the Wii. Now if only we could get someone to translate the text! Oh well, the pretty-pretty pictures are enough for a lazy Tuesday afternoon. Look closely, too, for an inset that appears to compare the DS original with the expanded "Wiimake" that will launch with the new console. Is it just us, or could this be one of the best games to introduce a world of irregular gamers to the Wii? Considering the popularity of medical-themed shows, we're thinking the only better possibility could be CSI: Wii. Wait, not better ... make that other.
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.
New Contact screens
We have heard this and that about Atlus's newest action RPG, Contact, and the mechanics of it are definitely interesting. Story wise -- it sounds a little like Pikmin. A professor who crashes his ship and needs your help to find the pieces? Maybe the whole secret society and constant Wi-Fi connectivity will woo us. Until then, there are some new screenshots for the game. It looks cute. No surprise, the art is done by Atsuko Fukushima. You may remember him from games like PoPoLoCrois. Atlus is known for finding new and innovative ideas and this could be the next best thing for the DS since Trauma Center.
Trauma Center: Second Opinion scans
Some screens for the upcoming Wii launch title Trauma Center: Second Opinion have been revealed over at a French gaming site. While the site confirms that the screens were pulled from a Japanese magazine, they do not confirm which (Famitsu?). Also, they have some artwork up for a pair of the game's characters as well.Have you seen a nicer looking pair of lungs?[Via Jeux-France]
Sadness details that are not exclusive in any way
IGN's banner headline: "We bring you exclusive new details on the psychological-horror title." We're appreciative and all, but now we're just gonna take those exclusive details and steal them. You should certainly check out the original article if you're interested in hearing a bit of sample music from the game.NIBRIS has, thankfully, acquired a publisher for their work. Rumored to be either Atlus or Majesco, this mystery group is quite unwillingly to allow the Sadness team to unveil any in-game screenshots. You'll remember that the game is in all black and white...a gutsy stylistic choice. We like it. Now, NIBRIS is confirming that the game will have no HUD (heads-up display) to mar the cinematic quality of the game. This worked quite well for the PS2 masterpiece Shadow of the Colossus, and we applaud the decision.Also of note is that NIBRIS is essentially oursourcing the graphics engine and programming to well-known companies: Frontline Studios for the code, and Digital Amigos for the engine. These are experienced sources, and so hopefully some veteran shine will come through on what is otherwise a very "indie" game.The team seems very committed to bringing a truly frightening and intuitive experience. Novelists and psychologists have been consulted for the game script, and the designers promise us the ability to interact with the environment in ways only made possible with the Wii controller. There is a downside, however...we're going to have to wait. Sadness isn't touching our consoles until Q4 2007...at the earliest.
