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Namco Bandai's new Xbox 360 RPG to star Chopin, the composer
Famitsu recently previewed Namco Bandai's latest project, an Xbox 360 RPG known as Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream. The game will star Frédéric François Chopin, the famed 19th century composer, along with fictional characters Polka and Allegretto, as the trio traverses a dream world where the terminally ill* (in the real world) are granted special powers. (Yep, that pretty much sums this one up. Nothing more to say here...) *Chopin died of pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 39.
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker magazine scans surface
While it is unconfirmed which magazine source these scans originate from (the forum poster assumes V-Jump), the media within is very appealing to the eye. It appears that DQMJ will retain the cell-shaded graphical style of Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King. While DQMJ will have the player capturing, training, and battling with monsters, the article does not present any further information on the game unless you're fluent in Japanese. So, anyone out there care to translate?
Paper Mario says, 'OMG the GameCube isn't dead yet!'
Let's face it, Nintendo's GameCube got smoked in the current-gen console wars. But, that doesn't mean the little-box-that-could isn't going to go down without a fight -- the final nuclear bomb could be Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. There are a smattering of unique and great titles for the little lunchbox and, in October, Super Paper Mario is poised to blind side unsuspecting gamers everywhere. Go Nintendo has found some new YouTube videos -- taken at the World Hobby Fair in Japan -- of this new take on the venerable Paper Mario franchise. They're ... well, they're just beautiful. Really, have a look for yourself. On a side note, since the game is not slated to come out until the fall, wouldn't it be nice if they added a little Wii functionality? [Via 4cr]
New Module Available for WoW Pen & Paper RPG
White Wolf Games, makers of the WoW pen & paper RPG, have made a new adventure module available for download from their website. 'Bones of Ironforge' is said to serve as an introductory adventure into the WoW RPG world, although I assume players already familiar with the game could still enjoy it.If you're interested in diving deeper into the WoW RPG, White Wolf is also holding a Week of Warcraft special event beginning on June 14 through June 21st; you can read more details at the official White Wolf WoW page.
Takao Miyoshi Talks Phantasy Star Universe
Hey folks. I'm the new guy, and this is my inaugural post. My inaug-u-post, if you will. Enjoy.During E3, the fine people of PSO World sat down with Takao Miyoshi, producer of Phantasy Star Universe, and asked him a few questions. The interview covers some of the new features in the game, including race specific special abilities, player controlled vehicles (!), and the new player lobbies. The new lobbies will actually encompass entire cities and can host up to 1,000 players. The vehicles are varied and include tanks, jet skis, and even mountable beasts that breathe fire. When asked about the possibility of cross-platform play (the PC and PS2 servers already support it), Mr. Miyoshi said only, "It is actually something that is not finalized." Not finalized? That means there's hope right?Whether or not 360 owners will be able to school PC and PS2 players, they can rest easy in the knowledge that voice chat will be 360 exclusive when the game ships this fall.
RPGs on their way?
While the Wii has an impressive line-up of games coming its way, there isn't much in the way of RPGs. Sure, Square-Enix has announced Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and Dragon Quest Swords, but neither are what we'd call classical role-playing experiences. But wait! There's hope!First off, on June 20th, Namco will unveil another game in their long-running Tales series. While this game is by no means confirmed for the Wii, there is a very suspicious "unannounced RPG" coming to the Wii from Namco-Bandai. Connect the dots?Along similar lines, Square-Enix has registered the name "Friends of Mana" as part of their World of Mana series, which already includes Children of Mana for the DS and Dawn of Mana for the PS2. Will it be released for the Wii? C'mon, it could happen.Maybe we're just grasping for straws, but both companies have shown strong support for the Wii. Would it be so massive a surprise if the Wii got some sword-slashing, magic missile-casting action?[via Cubed3]
"RPG" missing from today's MMORPGs
Are you getting enough role-playing elements out of your MMO? Cari Davidson over at MMORPG.com thinks we could use a lot more, and feels that a true MMORPG with an engaging storyline has yet to be created. She refers to the current crop of online time sinks as "glorified chat rooms" that are big on player interaction, but void of entertaining narrative or character development. The type of experience Davidson longs for may not be possible in today's MMOs, and she acknowledges this, sort of. Initially, she claims "it's really not that hard" to create player interactions that blend well with role-playing, character development, and storytelling. But then she recants, "telling a story in a world populated by thousands of players is a big challenge." I would subscribe to the latter train of thought, and I suspect Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine would as well. DDO favors the "meet and greet" party formation, and the system creates an instance of each dungeon for you and your co-players. This type of controlled gameplay experience allows for the possibility of more immersive storytelling, but its execution has met with little success. As a result, Turbine has added solo play to DDO, and PvP is on the way. Which means more lifeless, formulaic quests for those gamers who prefer a little more depth to their adventures.A happy medium has been around for the past four years in the form of Neverwinter Nights. It supports dozens of party members and, while not quite massive, is considerably larger than a typical Baldur's Gate or Diablo II session. Skilled modders have succeeded in prolonging NWN so successfully that BioWare has even hired some of them on -- maybe to work on the Canadian developer's new MMORPG.What are your thoughts on the current state of MMORPGs?
Tingle starring in own RPG
By way of the 4cr, we're presented with screens for what is being called Mogitate Tingle no Barairo Rupee Land, or to us English-speaking folk, Freshly-picked Tingle's Pink-colored Rupee Land. We're not exactly sure what that is supposed to mean.The only thing we know about the game so far is that it follows Tingle from the days of his youth and through his travels, he meets a rupee-headed old man and woman who looks like she could of been one of the background dancers in an old Madonna music video.[Via 4cr; Thanks Nushio!]
NWN mod creator on Atari, Infinite Dungeons
Neverwinter Nights Vault recently interviewed Jason Lowry, co-creator of the latest NWN premium module (Infinite Dungeons) and architect of the random dungeon generator used in the game. Lowry talks about his experience working with BioWare and Atari's decision to cancel the premium module program. An excerpt:"The 1.67 patch was a direct result of the premium module system. It's too bad we could not keep that system working into NWN2 and beyond, it was good for both the company and the consumer, a win-win, those are hard to come by."Download Lowry's original masterpiece, Elidrin's Random Dungeon Generator, from the Vault. Infinite Dungeons is available at the BioWare store.
Dragon Quest details emerge
Supposedly the newest iteration in the Dragon Quest series, geared to release on the DS and set to release over in Japan this year, is being officially dubbed Dragon Quest Monsters Joker and will feature 3D visuals for both battle and movement. Also, the game is to support Nintendo's wonderful Wi-Fi service, allowing the Japanese to have at it in by causing their monsters to battle in a tournament called Jokers' GP. As if that wasn't enough "Pokemon inspiration" for you, the lead character holds the Scout Ring, something which delegates his Monster Master status. In all, however, these tidbits of info do sound reasonably appealing, so let's hope that when a trailer and/or screens are released, they live up to the promising ideas presented by the game so far.
Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII screenshot blowout
The Magic Box has a plethora of screenshots for the upcoming Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, a prequel to FFVII starring Zack. There is also artwork included showing some of the game's characters, including a sketch on Cloud. What's even more interesting is the addition of the character on the right, who seems to be in possession of the Buster Sword. Every trickle of info that comes in about this game gets me more and more excited.
Interview: Contact developers
A developer interview conducted by CVG reveals some interesting bits and pieces regarding the philosophy and design of Contact, soon to be published in the US by Atlus. It reveals that the game initially started out as a GBA adventure and that the Wi-Fi gameplay is a bit more unusual than you might have initially thought. Takeshi Ogura, one of Contact's producers, explains that when "you are connected to the wi-fi there are new characters that might appear and new events that will happen. The more that you connect to the internet the more characters and events you will have to play with." Check out the interview for more insights, as well as our positive impressions of the game itself.
Final Fantasy III trailer
The official trailer for FInal Fantasy III is hosted, for your viewing pleasure, over at Game Brink. The trailer is low on the gameplay footage, yet features some sweet CG footage of chocobos running along a cliff complete with airship emerging from the clouds. Of the gameplay footage that is shown, some interspersed segments of exploration, dialogue segments, and battle footage make up the majority of it. Also, the site has some footage from E3 you can check out. [Via Joystiq]
PC impressions: Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa is a sci-fi themed MMO from NCsoft. Among its arsenal of features are: party-based voice chat, instances and open battlegrounds, a range of weaponry and an interesting cloning system. The class system is branching, and players can clone their character at any time -- change your mind about a class, and you can just dust off the clone and try again, rather than re-roll at level one. Playing the game, it comes across as the crazy lovechild of a MMORPG and MMOFPS. Combat is fast-paced and loud, with a big focus on guns and special abilities. Aiming isn't the FPS-style twitch-based shooting, though, and players progress through levels and missions much like in other MMOs. Being able to zoom into first-person view makes Tabula Rasa play almost like a straight-up FPS at times, but without the response and accuracy that FPS games are used to.
3 Final Fantasy XIII games; 2 just for PS3
Final Fantasy XII won't be out for the PS2 in the States until October, but we now have a glimpse of Final Fantasy XIII thanks to Square Enix's pre-E3 press event -- and this installment in the series won't be coming alone.Like the different titles in the Compilation of FFVII collection of games and movies, the initially announced installments in the FFXIII universe will span multiple platforms which, in this case, include both the PS3 and sufficiently advanced mobile handsets. Not much is known about the mobile-bound Final Fantasy Agito XIII, but the subtitle-less version of FFXIII will concern a gun-and-sword-toting heroine in a futuristic world, while Final Fantasy Versus XIII will focus on "a spiky-haired character," "extreme action elements," and a primary theme of "bonding" (whatever that means). Anybody ready to "resist the world"?The multiple titles might explain the earlier rumor reported in March that FFXIII was "practically close to being finished" (maybe only one of these games was nearing completion). Whatever the case may be, we're just happy that more than one not-so-Final-Fantasy will be hitting the next PlayStation in relatively rapid succession. RPG feasting: on the way.[Via Joystiq]
Final Fantasy XIII announced for PS3 [Update 1]
As we just reported, Final Fantasy XIII has been announced for the PlayStation 3 (and, so far, only for Sony's console) -- showing that Square Enix is still supporting Sony. According to Chris Kohler at Game|Life, the trailer "looks amazing. Female main character. Looked like prerendered video, except it was realtime. Dramatic action-packed battles with crazy camerawork."The title is being produced by Yoshinori Kitase (Final Fantasies 5-8 and 10, Chrono Trigger) and directed by Motomu Toriyama (FFX, X-2, and the Final Fantasy VII tech demo shown at last year's E3).As far as we know, this is a PlayStation 3 exclusive. While no love was shown for Microsoft, the Xbox 360 does have three RPGs on the way from Japanese developer MistWalker, formed by Final Fantasy veteran Hironobu Sakaguchi.Update: Gamespot reports that there are actually 3 different Final Fantasy XIII titles. The second title, featuring more spiky-haired madness, is also bound for PS3 and is directed by Advent Children's Tetsuya Nomura. The final game in the XIII trio is destined for mobile platforms.
[eM] -eNCHANT arM- becomes Enchanted Arms
[em] -eNCHANT arM-, the bizarrely named JRPG that snuck up on us in January, is coming to North America this summer with a shiny English translation (we assume) and a new, easier typable name, Enchanted Arms. IGN says, "As Atsuma, an Enchanter-in-training, you'll caper through 50 hours of gameplay adventuring with more than 75 unlockable creatures in turn-based strategy warfare."Combined with the upcoming Japanese titles announced at last month's press conference, Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker games, and the recently announced Phantasy Star Universe, Microsoft's plan for Japan is looking increasingly strong.[Thanks, Master X 24]
-eNCHANT arM- coming to America
From Software's RPG title [eM] -eNCHANT arM-, currently released in Japan, will be making its American and European debut this summer under the title Enchanted Arms. It's the first Japanese RPG to appear on the Xbox 360, and by the time it's released, Oblivion fans may well be looking for a new RPG to play.IGN has previewed the game, describing it as an "eccentric, epic title rich with character, story, and an evolving combat system". While its review scores in Japan have been reasonably low, the quirky nature of Enchanted Arms may increase its worldwide appeal, paving the way for more Japanese titles to travel abroad.
Final Fantasy III screenshots
In our continuing salivation over coverage of Final Fantasy III, we've come across some more screenshots taken directly from the game. The new images feature some more NPC interaction, dungeon crawling, and battle segments for you to pine over. We know we can hardly wait to get our hands on this title next week, so keep your eye on DS Fanboy for impressions come E3.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance forged on DS
After beating the radioactive, magical and often otherworldly crap out of each other in Capcom's excellent Marvel Vs. series of 2D fighting games, it seems that the comic giant's major superheroes now find themselves forced to cooperate for the good of the entire Marvel universe. Activision has officially announced Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for PC, current and forthcoming consoles, as well as handheld platforms. I don't know about you, but my hands are usually the first choice when it comes to holding the DS. Developed by Raven Software, the game will be an action-RPG, no doubt similar to the X-Men Legends series (but hopefully a whole lot better). Various levels of customization are touted, but the one that has us most pleased is the ability to create a custom vehicle for your team. When I'm done with that, the Fantasticar won't know what hit it.No word yet on how the DS version will differ from the rest--would cooperative Wi-Fi play be too much to ask for?
