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Anniversary aftermath: Next year's awesome games that you forgot about
We spent yesterday going through the big releases that've been announced for next year so far -- Smash Bros. Brawl and/or Wii Fit likely topping your personal "must get" list -- but what about the second-tier games that don't usually receive much press or attention? Though we haven't forgotten about the low-key releases, we've collected a selection of games and media to ensure that these titles stay on your mind too! Read on for our top ten list of awesome 2008 games that you totally forgot about!
We Built This City on Project O (artwork)
Not all of you shared our excitement when we posted Project O's trailer two weeks ago, many questioning our declaration of the game as a "must buy." We considered sassing back with our usual acerbic wit, riposting, "Yeah, well your mother is a 'must buy.'" Oh, how it would have burned. We eventually decided against attacking our readers, opting instead to chip away at your defenses with as many updates on the RPG/sim as we can muster.Jeux-France posted new artwork of Project O's buildings and characters that strengthen analogies between the game and a Pikmin-styled RTS. Some of the structures are predictable, like the smithy and archery hut, while others, such as the mustachioed and heavy-eyebrowed fish restaurant shown above, are a bit more eccentric.We've got more images past the post break which you can preview while you try desperately in vain to shake the musical stylings of Starship out of your head. Consider that last link our weekend gift to you. You know, to make up for that whole your-mother-being-a-must-buy burn.
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.
Official Project O site tells the King's story
Publisher Marvelous Interactive has finally replaced its King Story (or Project O, if you prefer its "working title") teaser page with a more substantial site, and, joy of all joys, there's an English version!Along with listing King Story as a cross between a role-playing game and a "simulated life game," the new hub has information on a few of the characters and creatures that populate the village. The UMAs, Unidentified Mysterious Animals, are particularly interesting -- miniature humanoids with a featureless turnips for heads, mushrooms bearing the faces of old men, and spicy dragons!We also love the story: "In a small village, there was this little timid young boy named Corobo. He was often lonely and too shy to make friends. Until one day when he received a mysterious Crown. This Crown had a mysterious power. The power 'to charm people and make them follow any orders ... '"Any orders, you say? We can already imagine ourselves smiling cruelly, watching our minions toil under a terrible sun to erect a monument immortalizing our rule. An advisor pleads, "Your highness, this cannot go on! They'll revolt if you continue to push them like this."We answer, "Obviously, you've no idea what power this Crown holds over them. Lest they wish their women and children sold to the Spore slavers, they'll break their backs completing the obelisk." The advisor opens his mouth to object, but finds that he's suddenly paralyzed, frozen in place by an unseen force. He screams silently, a sentient statue, unable to live or die for an eternity.
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.
Monster Rancher DS and some guy in a puffy suit
We may love Monster Rancher like ice cream, but we totally draw the line at donning a huge, unwieldy Mocchi suit. In other words, we don't envy this guy's (gal's?) job one bit, but we still love the idea of a Monster Rancher event. Especially since attendees learned an interesting tidbit of information -- when the shop that hosted the event's name was spoken into the DS, the sounds produced a special monster. Considering preorder copies also come with a unique monster, Tecmo is starting gamers out right with the franchise's latest version. We'll have to give the phrase GAMES Maya a go when we pick up the localized version ... just in case. The event also featured quality time with the Mocchi-suited mascot and a quiz about the Monster Rancher series, as well as a chance to try out the new monster creation features. Sounds like a good time was had by all! For those of you lucky enough to be around a Japanese download station, you can snag a Monster Rancher demo right now, as well.
Preorder Monster Rancher, get a unique monster
Monster Rancher is looking more and more like a fantastic example of the way the unique features of the DS should be used. The latest word is that gamers who preorder a copy of the anniversary game Monster Rancher Jamboree will receive a punch card with a special monster encoded within, much like the cards for Spectrobes. From the look of the design, the cards are in keeping with the tablets that carry the monsters' genetic codes.Now let's just hope someone doesn't decide that this is a gold mine in the making -- if these cards were packaged and sold, things could be bad. Our bank accounts just shuddered at the mere thought. We'd much rather stick to GBA carts and holding the DS mic up to the stereo speakers. We do hope, however, that this preorder bonus makes it to US gamers, because we're all about free monsters.
Monster Rancher DS gets the scan treatment
As promised, if the tiniest scraps of Monster Rancher Jamboree information fall from the heavens, we're going to scoop them up and cradle them like tiny baby monsters. You were warned. In keeping with that, here's the latest from Famitsu, showing off plans for the upcoming title, which will celebrate a decade of the Monster Rancher franchise. That's ten years of awesome. Well, several years of awesome and then a few we're not sure about, but hey, close enough. Check out both the scanned pages after the jump for all the monstrous cuteness you could possibly shake a stick at. Oh, to be able to read Japanese ....
Friday Video: Ranching, now with monsters
There's something you guys will figure out in the coming months, so you might as well just accept it now: a certain girl-type blogger around these parts loves Monster Rancher. So get ready for random odes to the art of ranching, like today's featured video. Some people call it an ad. We call it art. Someone bring over a countdown timer, please. The time cannot pass quickly enough.(Someday, someone's going to make a video mashup of Castlevania, Final Fantasy, and Monster Rancher, and I'm simply going to die.)
Monster Rancher DS has a surprising developer
We've been keeping a close eye on Monster Rancher DS (or, to use the more exciting! Japanese name, Kaite, Shabette, Hajimeyou! Monster Farm DS). Now we have more reason to be excited, we think. Who has Tecmo "farmed" (heh, heh) the development of this title out to?Cing, for some reason! Cing, who is responsible for Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk, both of which were fairly well-received and high-profile. We aren't sure how their adventure-game development skills will transfer into monster-training, but we're optimistic. Cing at least knows a lot about making good use of DS features. What do you think about the news? Is there another DS-centric developer you'd rather see on the Ranch?
Project O teaser site launches
Marvelous Interactive, Townfactory, and CING recently announced that they had joined their development forces in hopes of producing a new game for the Wii titled Project O. Not much else was revealed except for a vague release date of sometime in 2008, but hearing that Hotel Dusk: Room 215 developers CING are involved was enough to hold our interest. We didn't have to wait long for more hints on what the game could be, as Marvelous Interactive has already uploaded a Project O teaser site for our analysis. The concept art shows what looks like resource gathering, structure building, multiple units engaged in combat, and an overhead shot. Could this mystery title be an RTS game? We will keep you informed as more news develops![Via Jeux-France]
Hotel Dusk developer working with others on new game
Cing, who developed the recently-released Hotel Dusk: Room 215, along with Interactive Marvelous and Townfactory, are all coming together like Voltron to complete a title on the Wii. As of now, the only information we have on the title is it is being called Project O and will be available to Japanese gamers sometime in 2008. Still, even with the lack of information, a trio of developers coming together like this is news in and of itself.[via Go Nintendo]
Full Hotel Dusk site now open
As the title indicates, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 has graduated from a minisite to the full treatment, complete with loads of new content just waiting to be discovered. If you need to slake your extreme thirst for this intriguing title until you can get your hands on it, this is the answer you're looking for.
Friday Video: Questions and answers
There has really been a flood of videos for Hotel Dusk this week, and so we figured it was only fitting that we bust out another for this week's featured video. If we were any more rabid for this game, it would be called Phoenix Wright. Check out a little gameplay footage after the jump!For anyone who's having trouble checking the video out here (we know there are sometimes issues with nonYouTube vids), just hit it up directly.
Hotel Dusk in the twilight of the year
It's been a great week for videos -- and now we get a peek at one of our most hotly anticipated titles, Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Unfortunately, it's not embedded here, so you'll have to go see it, but it's definitely worth a watch. Possibly even multiple watches. On the last Friday of the year, at Hotel Dusk, anything could happen ... but on this, the last Thursday of this year, we bring you the gift of video.
Hotel Dusk in stills
Famitsu featured a flood of screens from the mysterious Hotel Dusk: Room 215 yesterday, and all we can say is wow. If style was everything, this one would already be lining up for accolades. Let's just hope the unusual graphic adventure (set in 1979) is as good as it looks. We've seen a lot of these before, in video from the game, but it's nice to get to pore over some of the more interesting shots. Who knew a lone puzzle piece could look so sinister?
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 trailer brings the noir
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 caught some attention at E3, but since the spring we haven't seen or heard much about this upcoming adventure title. A new trailer surfaced at Nintendo World, however -- a trailer that features some of the same footage as the E3 trailer, but with double the content as it's twice as long.Hotel Dusk is an adventure story, a mystery that follows ex-cop Kyle Hyde as he tries to track down a missing friend. The beautiful art style is what really pushes this one into the spotlight; the game looks like a graphic novel come to life, and the fact that the DS is held as a book during gameplay only emphasizes the unique style. If Hotel Dusk is as good as it looks, our beloved Phoenix Wright may have some competition at the top of the heap of DS adventure games.Check out the new trailer after the jump.
