srpg
Latest
WRUP: Tactical insects edition
For us, this week's releases only come down to Drone Tactics and Myst DS. Sure, we could check out Prince Caspian (it did launch the Dgamer network, after all), but we're not really ones to enjoy the licensed games too much. What about you all, though? Are you digging on Atlus's SRPG action or the classic Myst? Are you resorting to busting out a dusty, old cartridge and seeing what that's all about this weekend? For us, it looks like mostly rain, so it's the perfect excuse to sit indoors and spend some quality time with our DS.%Gallery-14982%
Promotional Consideration: Moons, Zombies, Dodgeballs, and Tactics
Aside from its preview page tease and Time Hollow's localization, there wasn't much in the way of exclusive DS news in this month's Nintendo Power, at least compared to what we've seen in recent issues.Paging through the magazine, however, we spotted at least two advertisements that we wanted to share with you. As we were tearing them out to throw into our scanner, we thought, "Why not post all of the other DS ads (and the cover)?" Join us past the break for the scanned pages!
DS Fanboy Review: Rondo of Swords
Strategy RPGs aren't exactly rare on the DS -- some people might even argue that the genre is too plentiful on Nintendo's handheld (though this writer would beg to differ). Regardless, it's always nice to see something refreshing in an SRPG, which is why I was looking forward to playing Rondo of Swords. Having heard of its unique gameplay system, I wanted to see if this title would force me to think differently and not rely on strategies I was used to.At the same time, though, I was a bit apprehensive. While change can be a good thing if it's implemented correctly, it can often feel forced if it's not. Moreover, one reason that strategy games don't differ at their core is because the formula works. Can throwing away such tried-and-true methods really lead to an enjoyable game? Just mosey on past the break to find out!%Gallery-14108%
FFTA2 boxart just what you expected
But, in all seriousness, isn't it? When looking back at the game and its coverage in Japan, we've all pretty much seen the boxart. Once it was confirmed for release in North America (and dated), we were fairly certain that the U.S. boxart would just be some rearrangement of the Japanese logo for the game. And, here we are.That's not to say we're any less excited about the whole thing, however. We're still dying to get our play on, one turn at a time.%Gallery-5422% Do you enjoy Final Fantasy games? We've got plenty of coverage on the many titles in the franchise Square Enix is releasing on the DS. Also, be sure to check out our 2008 Blips feature, which FFTA 2 was featured in.
Here come Amazon's Gold Box deals [update 2]
Just a reminder to all you friendly folks in the U.S. -- Amazon is having crazy DS deals today. The retailer kicked off its Gold Box sales awesomely, offering Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for $16.99. If we don't say so ourselves, that is damn sweet. You have until 12am Pacific time to bite on this, but we recommend getting it sooner rather than later because we doubt supplies will last.As for the lightning deals, we've listed them here (with our guesses for ones that haven't been confirmed yet). Keep in mind, these are in Pacific time, and each deal lasts for four hours (assuming they don't go out of stock): 6am-10am: "Will you answer the call?" - Confirmed: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for $18.99 10am-2pm: "Dazzle your unsuspecting friends with your magical prowess." - Confirmed: Master of Illusion for $14.99. 2pm-6pm: "Protect the Earth, destroy the invaders." - Confirmed: Tranformers: Autobots 6pm-10pm: "Your destiny awaits. Experience the power." - (Our guess: Naruto: Ninja Destiny) We suppose that with such an awesome "Deal of the Day," we can forgive Amazon for everything else being subpar. Keep in mind, though, that these are just our guesses. We'll update the post as other sales are confirmed.[Update 1: Master of Illusion was confirmed as the second lightning deal and was added to the post.][Update 2: Transformers: Autobots is the third lightning deal. And, would you look at that -- Master of Illusion sold out. Who would have thought?][Via CAG]
Round Table of Swords
If you haven't picked up Rondo of Swords, you might not have noticed the heavy Arthurian influence on many of the character names. As we were preparing one last set of screens for the Atlus SRPG, we started to notice a few names in the character pictures. Kay, Serdic, Uther, Igraine, Galahad ... there's no ignoring Galahad, even if you're not familiar with the intricacies of the legend and its different versions. So if you're looking for something to do while the battle scenes play again and again and again, keep a copy of The Once and Future King nearby, or maybe something a little lighter, like Gillian Bradshaw's Hawk of May. After playing Rondo of Swords, the characters will seem like old friends.%Gallery-14108%
More creepy crawler machines introduced in Drone Tactics
In the latest batch of Drone Tactics screens, we get to see some new insect mecha. These drones, which are part of the "Black Swarm," include a centipede, cockroach, moth, and spider. From the amount of different units available and their varying strengths and weaknesses, this title is looking just as deep and challenging as Advance Wars. It's still another month before we'll be able to get our hands on this game, but you can bet we're looking forward to it. Which drone do you guys find to be the coolest looking so far?%Gallery-14982%[Via press release]
Fresh screens from Bleach: The Third Phantom
We don't have to tell you that we've liked the look and turn-based gameplay of Bleach: The Third Phantom. Don't get us wrong, we like fighting games as much as the next person, but we always appreciate a franchise trying to stay fresh. It looks like Bleach: The Third Phantom might just do that.If you're looking for a fresh fix, Gemaga has some new screens up for perusal. They show off some of the in-game menus, as well as a couple battles. Anyone interested in this installment in the franchise, or do you like your Bleach to be strictly in fighting game form?%Gallery-20014%
Front Mission 2089 screens: no robots allowed
Much like the first trailer for Square Enix's Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness (and to a certain extent the boxart), the company has decided to emphasize the storyline in the latest screen update about the SRPG. And "storyline" is a euphemism for "the part that doesn't involve awesome big fighting robots."What we get is an introduction to the Vampires, the mercenary unit who are the major opponents in the game. They have mythologically-influenced names like "Golem" and "Chimera," and they wear very complex, futuristic pants. With metal plates and stuff attached. They pilot black Wanzers with mysterious specs and capabilities. The robots' legs are entirely metal, thus eliminating the need for separate metal pants.
Boxart battle: Emblem of Gundam vs Front Mission 2089
Above, we have the covers for two upcoming strategy titles, Emblem of Gundam and Front Mission 2089. Both series have similar themes -- giant mechas battling it out against an intricate backdrop of political drama -- so it's startling to see the different approaches in their packaging designs.Front Mission 2089 puts more emphasis on its character lineup, masking a lone Wanzer in the mist, and the result is a lusterless jacket that looks as unexciting as the starring crew's listless expressions. Emblem of Gundam's cover has more action to it, giving its mobile suits and story characters even billing. One guy is flying through space with a rapier! Another has a gun! And a massive Gundam oversees the entire scene, jets blasting and fingers positioned like a master pianist preparing his next attack. This is how you design a box!Today's lesson: If you have huge robots, use them. Pilot your mecha past the post break for a better look at the two covers.
We think Drone Tactics is still okay
At first, we were excited about Drone Tactics for obvious reasons: insect mecha. What's not to love about skinny, metallic antenna waving around in the middle of battle? But lately, the pithy one-liners we've seen in the screenshots are starting to win us over. On the face, these short lines of dialogue don't seem too important, but the "Booyas" and fools' deaths, we're finding the characters charming, if a little clichéd. Who knew we would look beyond the bugs? Check out the latest screens in our already-packed gallery and perhaps you'll agree.%Gallery-14982%[Via press release]
Bleach: The One that Isn't a Fighting Game
Since we first heard about it, Bleach: The Third Phantom has lived up to its name, with Sega offering little in the way of news or screens. The official site is now full of great-looking screens of the Bleach game that somehow is a sequel to, but is not itself a Treasure fighting game. In addition to the screens, which we have collected as a gallery, the website features short animations of the combat, which still looks pretty fighting-game-like despite being turn-based. If the animations aren't animated enough for you, the "System" area of the website features a large collection of Flash animations which illustrate the game in action. The Third Phantom is scheduled for a June 26th release in Japan, and we wouldn't be too surprised to see it follow its more action-oriented predecessors in localization.%Gallery-20014%[Via Gpara]
Rondo of Skippable Cutscenes
When, as this video displays, one of your characters in Rondo of Swords attacks an enemy, the view zooms in and the perspective switches into side view, as a fast-paced scene of the attack plays out. We happen to think the attack sequences look pretty dang cool, and at first we're sure we'd enjoy a bit of (simulated) action in our strategy game.But how long do you think it would take the average Rondo player to get so sick of the interruption (and so used to the attack animations) that he or she would begin skipping every single attack scene? Three, four minutes?%Gallery-14108%
Drone Tactic #1: Be an awesome robot
We're not terribly fond of insects in the real world, and we think we've been able to figure out why -- normal insects are not giant fighting robots that we can pilot. We wouldn't roll the window down to let one of those out. We can always escape into the world of Drone Tactics, where insects can awesomely shoot bullets at us instead of just being annoying.New screens, which we've collected in a jar with airholes cut out of the lid our gallery, show off some of these cool insecto-bots and also their disappointingly non-insectile and non-robotic human pilots. Although nonchalantly playing violin as you engage in a robot battle is pretty cool, we must admit -- for a hu-man.%Gallery-14982%[Via press release]
More screens illuminate Luminous Arc 2
The Luminous Arc 2 love just keeps on coming. These newest screens show some Flash Drives, some basic attacks, and some character art. The Flash Drives are still a little underwhelming in the details department, but for the most part, the game looks stunning. We also like that the character pictured to the right uses a giant rolling pin as her weapon.Localization for the game is still not planned, but after news of Etrian Odyssey II coming to North America, we're confident that Atlus will come through on Luminous Arc's sequel soon -- even if it's not an in-house game.%Gallery-15251%
Mystifying new screens from Rondo of Swords
Sometimes, the expressions on character models just don't quite match up with the conversations they're having on screen, and this is clearly one of those times. Owl and Marie are way too cheerful for the dialogue we're seeing here, but it's cool. We'll go with it. Maybe this "rondo" isn't so much about swords as it is about maintaining an empty and mindless state of good cheer in the face of a crisis.Hmm, on second thought, probably not. That wouldn't make for a very interesting RPG of any sort, but perhaps it's a valid strategy for facing danger. Or maybe we're just reaching for some sort of explanation here. We should put all those extra Sword Dudes on the case. Check out other, less-mystifying new screens from Rondo of Swords in the gallery below.%Gallery-14108%[Via press release]
Check out more of the units in Drone Tactics
Atlus sent us some new media on their upcoming game Drone Tactics, focusing on some of the units that will be in the title. When this game hits store shelves come April, you can bet we'll be there to get our copy. Each time we see it, the game looks better and better.We've got some nice in-game screens, as well as some rendered art, all available in our gallery below. So dive in and get that notebook out. Knowing is half the battle, after all.%Gallery-14982%
Square Enix confirms awesome trio for Europe [update 2]
Update 2: And now any mention of the paddle peripheral has disappeared again from our press release! We're confused as can be at the moment, but we're contacting Square Enix for clarification ... now. Stay tuned!Update: Silly us, we totally overlooked some critical parts of the press release. It mentions an "optional paddle controller" for Arkanoid DS, which causes us to think the game could release in a bundle including the peripheral. We've also included the full press release past the post break.Oh, happy days!Square Enix just confirmed a tremendous triumvirate of releases for Europe, with Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid, and Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift all due in the region this summer.Fantastic news, but there are two questions we urgently need answering. One: will the two Taito titles enjoy the same budget price that looks likely for the U.S. release? And two: will we be getting the wonderful paddle controller for said games? We can't think of any reason why we shouldn't receive such a peripheral, but the lack of an announcement is concerning.%Gallery-5422%%Gallery-14613%[Via press release]
Tiny Sprites of Gundam
Gundams are huge -- 50-foot-tall mechanical monsters that leave great shockwaves as they traverse the battlefield. Except, of course, in strategy games like Emblem of Gundam, in which Gundams are tiny, thumbnail-sized sprites, rendered so small due to the need to cram as many as possible onto the screen.The latest screenshots put aside the cinematic presentation in favor of the real game, which has a lot of numbers and a lot of little robots. Custom teams can be built from a stock of mobile suits on each side. Each unit seems to add to a team's total attack and defense value, which seems to affect the first-strike ability of the attacking team.
We're willing for localization on Luminous Arc 2: Will
There might not be any big butts in these latest Luminous Arc 2: Will screens (posted in the gallery below), but they're still worth looking at. In case you didn't notice from previous screens, the art style is similar to the first game, but with a much more attractive interface and menu system this time. Hopefully that means the developers have fixed some of the more frustrating aspects of the first game, but then again, if this doesn't end up localized, we suppose we have nothing to worry about. After spending some time with the original Luminous Arc, though, we're hoping that we do see this game on our shores eventually.But, are there already too many SRPGs bound for the DS for you to hope for localization on this one? Or, would you like to see Luminous Arc 2 reach English-speaking and other markets at some point?The official website was also updated with some wallpapers and videos, so fans of the series should head on over there and check it out. As for those of you who can read Japanese, you might be interested to know that this game is set to release on May 15th.%Gallery-15251%
