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Dragon's Crown arrives on Vita and PS3 August 6
Vanillaware's pseudo-retro side-scrolling hack and/or slash game Dragon's Crown will launch for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3 on Tuesday, August 6, at $39.99 and $49.99 respectively, publisher Atlus has announced. Can you imagine getting a new crown put in for $50? You'd figure dragon dentistry would be a lot more expensive than that, what with the size and plentiful nature of their teeth.... Get it? Because it's a Dragon's Crown, like one you get when ... You know what? Fine. Be that way about our dentistry jokes. Here's some screenshots of various things getting hacked/slashed/exploded.%Gallery-186614%
Dragon's Crown introduces the Dwarf
Having previously showcased the Fighter and the Sorceress, Vanillaware beat-em-up Dragon's Crown moves onto another player class: the Dwarf. While he's not infirm in the slightest, the sudden gymnastics halfway through does remind us of that bit from Attack of the Clones.
Dragon's Crown trailer shows the Fighter mauling blighters
Vanillaware scrolling beat-em-up Dragon's Crown features six classes, and this video shows off the Fighter one. It doesn't matter the voiceover is Japanese, because the game's hand-animated art speaks for itself. Dragon's Crown scorches PS3 and Vita this summer.
Muramasa Rebirth finds new life on PS Vita 'early summer'
During a GDC demo of Muramasa Rebirth, the PS Vita port of Vanillaware's 2D action game Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Aksys PR coordinator Russell Iriye confirmed with Joystiq that the game is currently penciled in for "early summer.""We have not talked about a release date yet. Right now all we're saying is early summer. Within the next couple weeks we should be announcing that," Iriye said.Aksys will also offer a pre-order bonus for early Muramasa Rebirth commitment, plus a limited edition. The standard edition will run $39.99, while the limited edition will cost $59.99. Iriye couldn't reveal any of the contents in the limited edition yet.
Dragon's Crown adorning NA retail, PSN this summer
Vita and PS3 2D hack-and-slash Dragon's Crown gets a North American coronation this summer, both at retail and on PlayStation Network. The PS3 price is $49.99, while on Vita it's $39.99. While the co-op game (for up to four players) won't support cross-platform play, multiplayer can be enjoyed both on PS3 and Vita, the latter via an ad-hoc network.The news swiftly follows the reveal of the Vanillaware game's Japanese release date of July 25, along with a two-minute trailer which displayed once more the Muramasa and Odin Sphere studio's hand-animated style, along with some interesting character designs. %Gallery-183719%
Dragon's Crown reigns in new trailer, bonus art book unveiled
After Vanillaware finally unveiled a new 30-second teaser for PS3 and Vita game Dragon's Crown last month, the Muramasa and Odin Sphere studio hurried back to the drawing board to rustle up a full two minutes of hand-animated, 2D action-RPG trailerness. Which is why it's here for your viewing enjoyment this morning.Not that you need us to tell you the trailer's for a Vanillaware game. The studio's inimitable, time-intensive style makes its games easily stand out, which is why an art book sounds like a great bonus for a limited number of early adopters in Japan. Publisher Atlus revealed the 64-page hardback includes art by Vanillaware, and tribute work from Kinu Nishimura, Akira Yasuda, and Bengus of Capcom fame.Today's trailer confirms the reported Japanese release date of July 25. Last we heard, Atlus said it's bringing Dragon's Crown to North America sometime this year.
Dragon's Crown shines in new trailer
The Vita price drop is great, and Final Fantasy X is exciting and all, but the real news out of Sony's Japanese PlayStation event is this Dragon's Crown trailer. The Vanillaware action game inspired by Capcom's Dungeons & Dragons brawlers, hasn't made a peep since Atlus picked up publishing duties (and development assistance) from Ignition.Even before that, footage was rare. Now we can see what was happening during all that quiet development time: a lot of drawing. A lot.Dragon's Crown is still billed for a 2013 release in Japan on both PS3 and Vita.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade takes a stab at PS Vita
Vanillaware's Wii action game, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, is being ported to the PS Vita. The new edition will be available on March 28, 2013 and be further bolstered by DLC, Sony said during its TGS 2012 press conference.The PS Vita port has only been confirmed for Japan so far, but we expect plenty of people are interested in revisiting or becoming acquainted with this overlooked gem.
Grand Knights History won't be published by XSEED, 'development resources' noted
XSEED Games announced late yesterday that it will not publish turn-based RPG Grand Knights History in North America as previously announced."Unfortunately, it was determined that development resources required to localize the game were not available, necessitating its cancellation," the official statement from XSEED sent to Joystiq reads. "We regret not being able to bring the game to our fans, but we are committed to our 2012 lineup and look forward to sharing more on these games in the coming weeks and months."Vanillaware, the developer of eye candy like Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Odin Sphere and the upcoming Dragon's Crown; will still see Grand Knights History published on PSP later this year in Europe by Rising Star Games.%Gallery-134648%
Dragon's Crown has not been canceled
Vanillaware's lushly illustrated 2D action game for PS3 and Vita, Dragon's Crown, was originally given a Spring 2012 release date. Rumors have since popped up about the game's cancellation -- mostly due to Amazon cancelling pre-orders. Illustrator Shigatake responded to the rumors on Twitter, letting us know that we can still expect our ogre-destroying action and bodice-straining sorceresses."I personally can't say much," Shigatake said (as translated by Andriasang), "but I'll just say, 'Regarding Dragon's Crown, although there are lots of rumors and conjecture, it's still in development. Please wait patiently for an official update.'"We have our own inquiry in with publisher Ignition, and will update you when we get an "official update."
Xseed publishing Vanillaware's online RPG 'Grand Knights History'
XSEED has picked up Vanillaware's recent PSP release, the turn-based RPG Grand Knights History, with the intention to publish it in both UMD and digital releases this winter. Rising Star Games will publish it in Europe at an unspecified time. Vanillaware, if you can't quite place the name, is the developer of absurdly pretty 2D games like Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Odin Sphere, and the upcoming Dragon's Crown. Grand Knights History depicts a war between three European-style nations, Union, Avalon, and Logres. Players choose one of the factions, recruit teams of soldiers, and face off against the other two armies in battles that take place over 30 hours. Each team member is fully customizable. During TGS, I spoke with producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto, from development partner and publisher Marvelous, who explained the unique online functionality of this title -- the part that he thinks will help appeal to western audiences. "The way it works is you have these four parties online," composed from within a group of 32 characters you've built. "When you're online, you can take direct control of one of these; the other three will battle automatically. The other three parties are synced up to the server. But if you can't get online, all four will fight on their own." While the online play is seen as a feature to draw in western players, the choice of gameplay system displays what seems to be a uniquely Japanese view. "The reason this was chosen: we did Muramasa: The Demon Blade with Vanillaware previously," Hashimoto said, "an action game. Some people are good at action, and some people are not. So with this game -- everybody can play a turn-based battle, and so every player will be able to get through the story and see the end, which is what we wanted."%Gallery-134648%
Dragon's Crown announced as VanillaWare's next project, coming to PS3/Vita
Like so, so many E3 2011 games before it, Muramasa and Odin Sphere developer VanillaWare's just "officially announced" PlayStation 3 and Vita title, Dragon's Crown, was already outed. In fairness to the publisher UTV Ignition, the game only showed up in last night's Vita sizzle reel from the Sony press conference, and now we know much more. For one, the very VanillaWare-looking game is described as a "dazzling new multiplayer online adventure," and outs it as the first VanillaWare game to feature HD graphics. Furthermore, DC has four player co-op with online functionality, and arrives in 2012. As for what the game is about, all we know is that it's a class-based dungeon crawler set in a medieval fantasy world, and the goal is to "unlock the secret behind the ancient dragon threatening the world." A lofty goal indeed! As with past VanillaWare games, DC is promised to be rich with hand-drawn animation. And like other PS3/Vita titles, some form of cross-platform functionality will come packed in -- what that functionality is remains to be seen.%Gallery-125734%
Vita sizzle reel teases lineup, shows mystery game 'Dragon's Crown'
Sony flashed footage of a lot of upcoming PlayStation Vita games during its presentation tonight, including some things that remain unannounced. For example, Shinobido 2, a new ninja stealth game in the style of Tenchu, from original Tenchu developer Acquire. And soon after that is "Dragon's Crown," an unannounced, 2D side-scroller that can only be from Muramasa developer Vanillaware. Or someone biting Vanillaware's style big time. We would guess it's Vanillaware, because the title shows up in a trademark by Ignition, who published Muramasa.
Muramasa dev Vanillaware creating 'Grand Knights History' for PSP
The latest (leaked) issue of Famitsu brings word of a new project from Vanillaware, creators of Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Odin Sphere. Vanillaware's Grand Knights History is a new RPG for PSP to be published by Marvelous -- with whom the dev worked with on Muramasa -- and planned for release this summer. Players control the leader of one of three warring factions -- "Logress, the ancient kingdom," "Union, kingdom of the knights," or "Avalon, kingdom of magic," -- and take part in turn-based battles accompanied by a group of knights. Grand Knights History is said to include some kind of innovative online play that Vanillaware has yet to explain, but it involves connecting with other players during battle -- and allows for "infinity" players. Chances are we'll hear more about the online system soon, as the game is reportedly 70 percent complete. And knowing Vanillaware's previous output, we can't wait to see the first screens.
Rumor: Odin Sphere and Muramasa HD remakes coming to XBLA, PSN
According to "sources in Japan" speaking with 1UP, two of Vanillaware's already gorgeous 2D titles, Muramasa: The Demon Blade (pictured) and Odin Sphere, are being remade in HD. The report also posits that the re-releases will likely arrive on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Additionally, both games are now listed by Australia's OFLC as "multiplatform," though each has only been released on a single console to date (Odin Sphere on PS2 and Muramasa on Wii). The evidence may be mounting, but we're still filing these HD ports in the rumor department for now.
Best of the Rest: JC's picks of 2009
Muramasa: The Demon Blade Muramasa appealed to me in a way that Odin Sphere didn't, thanks to an emphasis on combo-heavy sword action instead of planting and whatever. And the RPG elements that are left, like the sword upgrades and cooking, are not only fun, but simple enough that I can get right back into the game after a long break and still know what is going on. Also, I don't mean to be shallow, but the fact that Muramasa is the most beautiful game of 2009 helps me be positive about it.
Ignition: Muramasa sales 'in line with expectations'
Muramasa: The Demon Blade publisher Ignition revealed to Gamer Investments a rough estimate of the NPD sales total for its Wii sidescroller, describing the game's September performance as "in the ball park of 35K," with a margin of "15-20%." It might sound low to us, but marketing director Melody Frieda said that the total was "in line with expectations and we're happy with how it's performing to date." She said that positive reviews should help keep sales up through the holidays. The company sees even better potential for the title in the long term: according to Frieda, Ignition is "quite confident that Muramasa will be a revered cult classic like its sister property Odin Sphere," which went on to be released under the PS2's "Greatest Hits" line.%Gallery-33431%
Muramasa publisher: UK retailers avoiding original IP
Rising Star Games, the European publishing partner of Marvelous Entertainment, is speaking out against UK retailers declining to stock Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which comes out November 13th in the region. COO Martin DeFries told MCV in an open letter, "Here in the UK, the game will not be available to buy in the majority of games retail outlets." He claims that the issue is not with the game itself, but retailers' over-reliance on safer, existing intellectual property. "If it is not first-party, a sequel or supported by a multi-million pound advertising spend, they are just not interested." Defries lamented that Muramasa could find its way into stores -- when it's traded in. Defries pondered in his letter whether the seemingly growing emphasis on franchises represents a "dumbing-down of the medium" that results in consumers having "little or no exposure to a rich and different gaming experience." Of course, retailers (and publishers) have preferred the sure thing for as long as there have been sequels, but actually not being able to market your game, especially one as interesting as Muramasa, seems especially frustrating.
Joyswag: Muramasa prize pack [update]
Update: Contest is closed! Keep an eye on your email to see if you won! Thanks for playing!If you didn't take our word on how awesome this game is, then here's your chance to check it out first-hand. One lucky reader will not only receive a copy of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, but we've also got a small collection of poster art for the game. It's a one-two punch of free gaming goodness. Best of luck! Leave a comment telling us which of the game's main characters you prefer: Kisuke or Momohime You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec) Limit 1 entry per person per day This entry period ends at 3:00PM ET on Thursday, October 1 At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive Muramasa: The Demon Blade ($50 ARV) and a collection of art cells ($15 ARV) For a list of complete rules, click here
Review: Muramasa: The Demon Blade
I was honestly a bit worried about being able to review Muramasa: The Demon Blade objectively, because this game was, from the outset, completely up my alley. Making a fully 2D sidescrolling action game with lots of combo-based swordfighting and a Japanese mythological setting is like titling the game JC Will Buy This, as there is no component of that game description for which I am not a sucker. What keeps me honest? Professionalism the other side of that coin -- if the game worked I may be more likely than most to love it, sure, but if there was anything wrong with it, my disappointment would come out pretty harshly. Luckily, I don't have to worry about my personal biases getting in the way, as I'm quite certain this is a great action game. %Gallery-33431%
