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DS Daily: We're soooo pumped for Blue Dragon
Having several friends who're all kinds of knee-deep in the Xbox 360 game Blue Dragon, we found that we too wanted to get our role-play on and started it up. We didn't get far, but the 2 hours or so of the game got us pumped. We genuinely felt that this game could be excellent beyond all comprehension.And now it's coming to the DS?! Holy hand grenade, we can't wait for it, even if it's a card-based game. How about you, folks? Are you as excited as we are? Or, could you care less?
Blue Dragon casts its shadow on the DS
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Blue_Dragon_coming_to_DS'; Mistwalker seems to be pro-DS, which we guess means they like money. Not only are they bringing us ASH, which looks not completely terrible, but now it seems that they will be sending us Blue Dragon, the title that encouraged Japanese gamers to buy an Xbox 360. We smell a special edition DS Lite in the works for this one. After all, they have to try to drive system sales again somehow.So what's the less-than-good news? It's a card game. Technically, a role-playing card game, according to the scan from Shonen Jump (available after the break). Mistwalker apparently likes to blend game types; one style just isn't enough for them when it comes to their DS offerings. We'll keep an eye out for more information on this one, because Mistwalker might just surprise us and turn out the best damned card game ever.
TGS07: Lost Odyssey is crazy big: 4 DVDs, 50 hours
Japanese developer Mistwalker apparently looks at larger storage capacities as some sort of challenge. Unsatisfied by the three discs of DVD content filled with their previous RPG Blue Dragon, Mistwalker has announced that the upcoming epic Lost Odyssey will span four DVDs, reminding us that razor blades aren't the only medium that benefits from a steady increase in quantity. The four discs are stuffed with a 40-to-50-hour RPG adventure, told using a mixture of CG and real-time cutscenes. Also contributing to the bloating are separate audio tracks for Japanese and English voices, allowing us to switch to the Japanese languages when we inevitably grow tired of the awful anglicized voice-acting (see also: Soul Calibur). Lost Odyssey is due out in Japan in early December, with the North American and European releases pushed to February 2008. [Via AMN]
Lost Odyssey journeys through 4 DVDs
Speaking to IGN in behind-closed-doors meeting at TGS, Hironobu Sakaguchi, head of Mistwalker, intimated that the upcoming RPG Lost Odyssey will span 4 DVDs. Considering Mistwalker's previous title, Blue DragonMass Effect managed to hit retail on 3 DVDs, this isn't exactly surprising. Still, in the dark circles of the internet, the announcement is still likely to spark up the Blu-Ray / DVD debate yet again. Note to 360 defenders: the galaxy-trekking Mass Effect fits quite nicely on one DVD. In less flame-worthy news, Sakaguchi also announced that Lost Odyssey will ship with multiple language options including English and Japanese, though facial animations will be synced to the English dialogue. Sakaguchi explains that many western movies are shown in Japan and that English lip sync is more or less a sign of gratitude to the support of Mistwalker's western audience. [Via Evil Avatar]
ASH media blowout: trailer, scans, and more!
For those of you who've been starving for more Archaic Sealed Heat media, we have a veritable feast for you to gorge on today, sumptuous meats piled atop each other, loaded plates threatening to slip off of the banquet table's edges. Above, we have Mistwalker's newest trailer for the SRPG mixing CG scenes with some in-game (!) combat. Past the post break, we've crammed the page with a Japanese commercial, more official video clips, and magazine pages scanned from the latest issue of V-Jump. Try not to choke while you consume these treats we've laid out for you.Read - Ash videosRead - Ash scans
Lost Odyssey delayed to 2008 in US
Lorne Lanning! If you're reading this, be sure to note our continued frustration at typing "Oddysee" instead of "Odyssey" every single time we discuss Hironobu Sakaguchi's upcoming Xbox 360 RPG. The cumulative seconds wasted in correcting every article must surely extend beyond 2008 by now -- much like the English version of Lost Oddysee Odyssey. Confound it! In Microsoft's pre-TGS conference held in Japan, Mr. Final Fantasy announced that his Unreal-powered tale of turn-based timelessness would be radically altering the meaning of "simultaneous worldwide release" to be more along the lines of "out in Japan on December 6th, then in North America in February 2008." Judging by the release schedule adopted by Mist Walker's most recent RPG, Blue Dragon, a European date for this Odyssey should be found on the same calendar page.
ASH boxart seals the deal
It's fitting that one of the most beautiful games for the Nintendo DS receives the same attention to aesthetics with its Japanese packaging design. Even if we hadn't already seen Archaic Sealed Heat's gorgeous prerendered CG scenes, spotting a cover like this on a shelf would've compelled us to pick the box up and study the screenshots on its back.The posture and headdresses of the characters lined up in the background make us think of chess pieces, an apt comparison considering ASH's SRPG trappings. Now let's just hope that Nintendo of America keeps the same arrangement for the boxart when if it brings the game to the US.
ASH still pretty, still sans motion
There's no doubt about it -- Archaic Sealed Heat continues to be one of the prettiest DS games we've seen in ... well, maybe the prettiest game we've seen ever, at least in stills. Everything from character art to the pre-rendered scenes that make the game unique looks fantastic, and obviously, Mistwalker has put a lot into the art direction in their effort to create a fully-realized and immersive world. But with less than a month to go until the title's Japanese release, we can't be the only ones burning for a little video. Even our trust in Mistwalker head Hironobu Sakaguchi only goes so far.Jeux France has a few fresh images, from character art to screens, that may be worth a moment's perusal ... and comments there indicate that we are not the only ones waiting impatiently for something more.
ASH: Class breakdown
Prepare for a megaton: in Archaic Sealed Heat, black mages cast elemental spells and have low defense. Also, they wear hats. We hear white mages hang around healing people as well. Clearly, RPGs will never be the same.Siliconera has the full goods on the character classes in the upcoming Mistwalker title, and if you've ever slipped a roleplaying game into your system of choice, it looks like you will find familiar territory here. There are some slight changes; for instance, thieves here are "stealers" (brilliant), and itemers rely on -- can you guess? -- items. When this one gets localized, we may skip the instruction manual. We must say, if the jobs are so aptly (and obviously) titled, we can't wait to see the game's dialogue. "What is this thing what has scales and breathes fire? I shall call it 'Scaly Firebreathing Thing.'"We'll be here all week.
Archaic Sealed Scans
Alright, Mistwalker. We've seen the scans, and even these beautiful portraits of mages, thieves and more can't tempt us from our real desire. We want video on Archaic Sealed Heat. We want website updates. We want more! But at this rate, with the game less than two months away, we may not get much more than we already have -- and that makes us very sad. We need more opportunities to express our need for this game (and to make sure we do need it) so that someone starts localizing it. The sooner the better, we say. In the meantime, we'll just have to make due with the latest from Famitsu. Hit the jump to check it out.
Archaic Rounded-Up Heat
We've experienced a minor explosion of information regarding Mistwalker's Archaic Sealed Heat from different sources around the Internet. We're glad, because, as much as we enjoy staring at scans, we don't know much at all about the game.First, Siliconera has outlined the battle system, meaning that we finally have some information about how to play Archaic Sealed Heat. It uses a grid-based strategy-RPG system, combined with traditional Final Fantasy-style turn-based combat, combined strategic party movements with the JRPG fighting we've all grown to love.Bilingual Gamer has also dropped some more real information on us, in the form of a translation of the Story and Character sections of Nintendo's official ASH site. "The cheering turned to screams, and the beast's unearthly sounds echoed throughout the land. A castle shattered and destroyed by flames, the noblemen of the House preparing for their deaths, and voices overshadowed by the fire." Now that's how you start an RPG. And, in case you don't trust an ASH post without scans, Jeux-France has posted a few scans loaded with screenshots. We feel so much more caught up now! Okay, back to waiting for the game.
ASH screens get a spit and polish
We burn like this flaming fellow for new information on Archaic Sealed Heat, but instead it seems we'll have to settle for updated screens that we've seen before in rough scanned form (and also, character art). It's always nice to get to see the real deal, though by now, we're itching like itchy things for Mistwalker to release some new media. Since the articles started hitting magazines, it seems we've been rehashing the same tidbits over and over. Look, Mistwalker, we're grateful, truly ... but see, here's the thing. You've gotten us addicted now. We need a fix. And that fix needs to be all new.Uh. Please? Thank you. Love, us.
Japan hit by ASH in October
No wonder we've been seeing so much on Archaic Sealed Heat in the magazines lately -- it's scheduled for release in Japan in early October. They must have been working overtime at Mistwalker, because this is no cobbled-together piece of work ... ASH looks like it could end up being one of the most amazing games we've seen on the DS to date. And now, it seems very likely that we'll be seeing a lot more in the coming months. Let's hope for some proper screenshots and a video or three!
Every glimpse of ASH makes us want it more
Over at Jeux-France, they have an amazing new set of scans from Nintendo Dream that show off some of the more incredible aspects of Archaic Sealed Heat. Unlike our last foray into the scanned coverage of ASH, these new pages are not quite as text-heavy, and instead offer a bevy of pictures of the controls, both the top and bottom screens, and comparisons between the artwork for the character models and how they appear on the bottom screen, as well as in the pre-rendered CG. The whole thing is very impressive, and with this limited view of the touchscreen controls, we're even a little more excited than we were before. We've included a few of the images after the post break, but you'll have to head over to Jeux-France to see the rest, including lots of close-ups of the scanned pages.
More Archaic Sealed Heat scans turn up
While we burn for new info on Archaic Sealed Heat, we'll happily take these enormous scans, even if they're mostly filled with images we've seen before. You know what else we want to hear about? Companies jockeying for the chance to localize this bad boy. Between the amazing top-screen FMVs and our love for all types of RPGs, we're going to need to see this one head outside Japan within a year of release. We're willing to wait -- but don't make us wait forever.Hit the jump for the scans, all of which are clickable for hi-res versions. And we're not kidding when we say that the bigger versions are big.
Blue Dragon demo out on Xbox Live
One secret that Microsoft left out of the press conference: a demo for Mistwalker's Blue Dragon is now available on Xbox Live. The enthusiastic description for the 1.1GB download reads as follows: "The Blue Dragon Demo is available! Play the grand adventure in two dungeons filled with Mecha Robos and Ancient Monsters!" Enjoy.
Rumor: Sakaguchi working on Xbox 360 MMO
Mistwalker founder Hironobu Sakaguchi has revealed that he is working on a new Xbox 360 title that is "50% MMO and 50% RPG," according to Total Video Games. Speaking at an anime event in Paris, France, Sakaguchi reportedly said that the project is not previously-announced titles Blue Dragon sequel or Cry On. (Though there has been talk about Blue Dragon 2 going online.)The announcement has not been confirmed and we have no other details, so consider this a rumor for now. Should the news end up being true, we just hope the 50% MMO and 50% RPG comment doesn't equate to twice the level grinding and only half the story of most genre-oriented games.
Mistwalker developing 360 MMO?
Speaking to gaming site TVG at a Paris anime event, Hironobu Sakaguchi apparently revealed that his Mistwalker Studio is currently working on an unannounced MMO title for the Xbox 360. According to Sakaguchi, the new title -- which isn't Blue Dragon 2 or Cry On -- is "50% MMO and 50% RPG." Nothing else is known about the title at this point in time. With both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey preparing for release this year, we don't expect to hear about any new projects anytime soon. Of course, that doesn't mean we're abandoning hope that we'll hear something at E3 next week.
New Archaic Sealed Heat scan proves that we didn't just dream up the game
We knew that it would be a while after Mistwalker's late 2005 announcement before we'd see Archaic Sealed Heat's release, but with little-to-no new media on the SRPG since its unveiling and half of 2007 gone by without word on its status, it was hard to convince ourselves that the game still existed.Shonen Jump's latest issue confirms that, yes, ASH is still being worked on for a holiday 2007 release, and that the graphics look just as impressive as ever. Check past the post break for the scanned magazine page to see a sampling of the ASH's artwork, CG cutscenes, and screenshots!
Blue Dragon demo scheduled for July 20th
Can't wait until August 28th to play the Xbox 360-exclusive JPRG Blue Dragon? You could always import the Japanese release and stumble your way through three discs of inscrutable Japanese text or, if you can settle for a slightly smaller experience, just download the demo on Xbox Live Marketplace July 20th. The Japanese language Dengeki Online claims a 1.1GB demo will be released overseas (that's over here, folks) on July 20th, containing roughly 120 minutes of playtime. But you'd best make sure you download it in that 2-week window, since the demo will fly away on August 3rd. Now let's see, if we only play for about three and a quarter minutes a day, this demo should just last us until the retail release. Just ...[Via X3F]%Gallery-1935%
