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Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker battle footage
Taken from Nintendo World 2006, this embedded video reveals more on the battle system for Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker. Featuring a turn-based system, it appears that the player will have a roster of 3 monsters that are out, in battle, by default. Also, is it just us, or does this game look amazing?
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker game footage
The Dragon Quest franchise has hit the ground running on the DS. The next installment in the franchise looks to offer fans a different experience in the universe, albeit more traditional in the gameplay department from the looks of it. The embedded video is a promotional video for the game, yet features the first ever bits of gameplay. As always, the video is embedded into the post after the break.
Metareview: Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
A Dragon Quest title with an odd twist, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is an action-adventure game starring one of the most popular monsters from the Dragon Quest series of games. Set in the kingdom of Slimenia, players must take over as Rocket and defend the land from an invading force known as "the Plob." Reviews for the game have been fairly positive: IGN - 85%: "It's technically sound and solid in its gameplay, though it remains to be a primarily one-button game on a system with six buttons and a touch screen, which may baffle a few people starting out. Even still, the development team over at Square Enix made the right move, as Rocket Slime works great as a top-view adventure game that, quite frankly, doesn't need elaborate controls or touch-screen gameplay to make it fun." 1Up - 85%: "Rocket Slime seems an unlikely candidate for the level of greatness it demonstrates. But between its genuinely clever elements and its preposterously over-the-top ridiculousness, Square Enix and TOSE have crafted a spin-off that captures the appeal of the source material in an amusing and unique way." RPG Gamer - 70%: "The gameplay is fun, the visuals are nice, and the game's original. The interface issues hold it back a lot, though, and the repetitive music certainly doesn't help. Rocket Slime is still likely to entertain those looking for something original, or pretty much anyone for that matter, but the game is by no means epic or without flaw." In being an original, different take on a well-established franchise, is the game able to entertain new and old fans alike? What do you guys and gals think of Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime?
Rocket Slime trailer oozes onto the web
A new trailer is up for Rocket Slime Adventures. This trailer demonstrates a lot of the gameplay in the title, as well as some of the game's cutscenes. What we're referring to as the "huge frickin' battlestations" have some inspired names, such as the gigantic tree dubbed Chrono Twigger. Overall, it's a fun video and may be seen embedded into the post, after the break.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker screens
Dragon Quest, as we all know, is getting a lot of recognition. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is shaping up rather well even though we swear we are looking at another episode of Dragon Ball Z every time we get a new screenshot. Doesn't the main character look like Trunks with extra crazy hair? Too bad Pokemon already grabbed the main concept of the game or DQM:J would really cause a ruckus in this industry. We realize that not everything similar to Pokemon can be traced back to it but you have to admit the similarities are present. Joker doesn't have a set release date for Japan and who really knows if we will see it stateside. It would be a nice change of pace for Pokemon lovers or haters.
IGN's got their hands on Slime
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime doesn't have a very usual protagonist. In fact, we can't think of a game that features a blue blob of Jello as the hero. This might be the first. IGN got to the chance to play the final version of the game and their impressions are rather positive. While we think not having stylus control in the game is rather weak for a system designed to do just that, being able to fight with humongous tank-things in game or with friends is pretty cool. While there aren't any signs of Wi-Fi, the idea of having an entire slime army back you in battle is appealing. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is set to release September 19 and it will be interesting to see how it measures up to all the other fall releases.
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime Preview
Square-Enix knows how to make money and they do it very well. With Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest (among many others) they dominate the RPG world. Their latest venture? Spin-offs. Any type of spin-off they can make based off their popular empire they do and loyal fans buy it all... us included. Square now realizes that they have already abused the hell out of Final Fantasy and they need more spin-off character games and they need them now! Why not make a game about that cute little slime from Dragon Quest? Sure! We have already seen screens and trailers for DQH:RS and GameSpy has delighted us with another preview for it. What's unique about this preview is that it starts off with one of the toughest questions of all time -- "Who would win between the Millennium Falcon and the starship Enterprise?" It's a doozy. Better take your time.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker details
Thanks to the typical chaos-incarnate informative advertisements found in Japanese magazines, some new details regarding the upcoming Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker have surfaced. The game will have the player choose a team of monsters to battle for him or her, and in typical RPG fashion, they'll get stronger as you use them. You can (genetically?) combine two monsters together, providing for new abilities and balance: the key is not simply choosing the strongest two of your bunch, but to pick the pair whose abilities compliment each other. We'll be honest, the game does remind us vaguely of a Pokemon clone. However, the Dragon's Quest series is nigh revered in Japan; the depth of the game, in both complexity and plot, will most likely exceed the typical "defeat the Elite Four" business found in everyone's favorite cuddly GBA cartridge.
Metareview - Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
IGN was one of the first outlets out of the gate with a Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth review as they awarded it an Editor's Choice award, but now, more reviews have been pouring in. While this is another port, which some people don't seem to like, it seems like it's one of the best RPGs yet for our beloved PSP. However, that may not mean a whole lot since the PSP's RPG library is nothing to write home about. Will Lenneth change all that? IGN (85/10) gets right to the point by saying it's "the best RPG that the PSP has received to date." 1UP (80/100) appreciates the change of pace Lenneth brings to the table. "As an originator, Valkyrie Profile is an inspired maverick in a field of me-too RPGs, beautiful to look at and exciting to play." Gamespot (75/100) thinks it's a decent game, but only fans of the genre may have fun with it when they said, "A solid port of a one-of-a-kind role-playing game that is endlessly appealing to genre fans who are looking for something different, but it's a bit too dense for everyone else." So there you have it. While Lenneth doesn't appear to be anything spectacular, it should offer someone itching for some RPGing on the go a lot of fun.
Valkyrie Profile earns an IGN Editor's Choice award
Another day, yet another Valkyrie Profile review. The 1UP Show got me thinking: "maybe the load times will make this a bad game." Rest assured, IGN has posted their review of the game, one long day before its final release, and it is good. In fact, it's so good, it gets a shiny Editor's Choice award. While I nervously wait for 24 hours to pick this game up, the IGN staff goes into painful detail about the non-linear gameplay, multiple difficulty settings, multiple endings and revamped audio. With a potential of 40 hours of gameplay, you're only paying a buck for an entire hour of gameplay. It might not be as impressive as Blade Dancer's supposed 70 hours of gameplay, but it's enough for me to take the plunge. So how about you, PSP Fanboys? Will you be making the trek to your local video game store tomorrow to play with the gods?
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?
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.
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth "Promotion Movie" up for grabs
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth has a new "Promotion Movie" up online, so either click away for the 20MB preview (with our handy image link to the right), or find it in the Outline section of the official VP web site. Square Enix is bringing its considerable production values to its PSP remake of the original Valkyrie Profile with added pre-rendered cutscenes and a widescreen display. Just be aware that the video may look best at 50% of its current dimensions (which is probably the way it was encoded). If the weird live-action segments throw you off at the beginning, don't worry: tri-Ace pulls out the actual (32-bit?) sprite-based gameplay near the end. Aw, so no true 3D remake then? [Via Siliconera]
