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E308: Marvelous and XSEED's lineup is full of charm
We've been nothing but impressed by how drop-dead gorgeous Rune Factory Frontier looks, so we're more than happy to know that good old Marvelous will be showing the game at next week's E3 conference. Hopefully we'll find out whether the game is as pretty in motion as it is in screens, and more importantly, if the gameplay matches up to its lovely graphics. The other game that we're eager to learn more about is Little King's Story, which corners the "looks fun and adorable" market. This life sim meets real-time strategy meets adventure game had our hearts ever since we saw this charming trailer. We'll finally be able to get our hands on it when the title releases here this winter, but until then, a taste at E3 will do us some good. %Gallery-24969% [Via press release]
Create your own creature to appease Little King
Remember all those coloring contests when you were a kid? As you grew older, it became fun to scoff at the children's feeble attempts to color within the lines, and chortle at their crayon selection when a pencil was clearly the superior implement. Well, since we're all so great at drawing and coloring, it's probably a good idea to enter the Little King's Story "UMA" Contest. A UMA is an Unidentified Mysterious Animal. Create one, and your entry is complete! Little King's Story features a whole range of wacky inhabitants, and one UMA entry will be chosen to become an in-game creature! The top 100 entries will also be featured at a museum within the kingdom. Release some creative tension, because there is no limitation on what you can make -- be it an animal, person, entity, or even a higher plane of existence. Just keep it in this dimension, okay? Hit up the contest details, along with some sample creations, right here. Happy drawing, and good luck! %Gallery-24969% [Via press release]
Marvelous, XSEED to tell Little King's Story in U.S.
Nintendo Power already reported that Little King's Story (Project O) had picked up a North American publisher last month, but Marvelous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games are just now getting around to releasing an official statement on the bright and colorful strategy title. The two companies have partnered to bring Little King's Story -- not to be confused with Square Enix's somewhat similar strategy title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- to the States this winter. Hopefully, the charming looking game won't be lost amid all the other holiday releases. Quick primer on the game: You play as Corobo, a shy boy who stumbles upon a crown in a nearby forest. Corobo discovers that with the crown, he can charm anyone in his village and give them orders. Howzer, a bull-knight, soon stops by and tells the kid that he's now the king of the village and that it's his responsibility to lead the hamlet into building a grand kingdom. Bring your scepter into the gallery below for some kingdom-building screenshots! %Gallery-24969%
King Story taking a 'Little' trip around the world
We have yet to see a copy of the latest Nintendo Power for ourselves, so we're technically calling this a rumor, but according to the NeoGAF writeup, XSEED has announced plans to publish Ousama Monogatari/King Story in the U.S. under the title Little King's Story. As if it weren't confusing enough to have two games about little kings building towns, now the title has become more similar to My Life As a King's Japanese title, The Little King and the Promised Land. XSEED recently announced their plans to publish a number of Marvelous games, so it's no surprise that one of their highest-profile Wii games is on the list. According to Revogamers.net, Rising Star Games is planning to publish the title in Europe as well. Again, this makes sense, as Rising Star is a subsidiary of Marvelous.
That Other Guy's Life as a King
With Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King out and tempting obsessives with DLC, it's easy to forget about the other Wii simulation game about a tiny king building a town: Ousama Monogatari (King Story). The latest screens show off King Story's unique textured style well, but they also reveal three of the jobs that the magical king Corobo can force people to take on.Soldiers (possibly translatable as "grunts") stay close to the king and protect him with close-quarters combat. Carpenters, labeled "normal," act both as builders and architects, designing and building new structures and roads for the town. And farmers, described as "serious," dig holes and plant crops.Sure, these may seem obvious, but we don't think we can expect normal real-world logic to apply in a game about a kid whose magic crown makes everyone do what he says.
King Story screens tell an interesting tale
We can't help but be charmed by King Story. While we've never hidden the fact that we love the game's artwork and style, seeing it all in screen form makes us even giddier. Our favorite of the batch is the world map (pictured above), which features medieval-style art that's just perfect for a game of this nature.Aside from learning that hats are serious business in this title, we've also come across a few (roughly) translated details. Since a king is nothing without his subjects, one of your tasks will be to expand your land to attract more people. There are monsters around to threaten the folks living in your country, though (see that big dragon there?), so you're going to have to vanquish those, too. There are also seven other kingdoms (you can see the eight different lands pictured in the map above), each of which has their own king. As for the towns in your country, each person has their own name, job, and business to attend to, leaving a lot of NPCs for you to interact with.But if you're looking forward to this game, don't get too excited yet. While King Story should be releasing in Japan this summer, it will probably be a long while before this title gets localized. In the meantime, though, you can check out the screens we've posted after the break.
Famitsu causes worry over Oboro Muramasa Youtouden
Normally we can't wait for Wednesdays, the day that our fellow gaming brethren report all the juicy tidbits from the latest issue of Famitsu. This week was different, though, because we found out that a game we've been looking forward to might be in trouble.According to the magazine, Vanillaware's Oboro Muramasa Youtouden is "struggling," making us super sad pandas. Not only does the game look gorgeous with its beautiful 2D sprites and atmospheres, but also -- well, actually, now that we think about it, we don't know much about this title other than how it looks. And, considering that we haven't seen any new information or media since last fall, we're not too surprised that it might be in danger of falling by the wayside. Keep in mind, though, that we don't know exactly what this "struggling" pertains to, so it may not be as scary as we think. Until further details are released, we'll just have to hope for the best.In other Famitsu news, King Story seems to be doing well and should release in Japan this summer, showing that at least one game we're excited about is on track.
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.
