I find this trio of recent-ish Japanese PS3 box arts to be really appealing

I may not own a PS3 (yet), but that doesn't mean I lack interest in Sony's third console. On the contrary, I have quite a bit of interest in both it and its catalog of games--especially when the latter sport the kind of delicious cover illustrations that can be seen below.

The following example is for Gust's Atelier Escha & Logy, of course. The game, which is the 15th entry in the company's long-running Atelier series, will hit store shelves in Japan on June 27.

No joke: I'd very likely pick up a copy of this game without knowing a thing about it if it were released in North America with the exact same cover art.

The box art below, on the other hand, was produced for the Japanese retail release of Capcom's Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (known there as Dungeons & Dragons: Mystara Hero Military History), which is due out on Aug. 22.

Although I don't believe I've ever played either of the arcade classics--1993's Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom and 1996's Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara--that will be included in this compilation, I'd strongly consider giving them a go if Chronicles of Mystara were given a physical release in my neck of the woods.

Last, but not least, we have the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn's slightly-cluttered-yet-still-brilliant box art. OK, so it's more than slightly cluttered. Still, I love it.

Of course, it looks as though it was created by Akihiko Yoshida--the man responsible for the amazing character art seen in (and on the covers of) games like Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and Bravely Default: Flying Fairy--so my unflinching support shouldn't be too surprising.

See also: other blog posts about brilliant box art

Speaking of Japanese games with great box art ...

... here are a few recentlyish (don't worry, I know that's not a real word) revealed pieces of cover art that I can't help but find appealing.

1. Phantasy Star Online 2 (Vita)--As far as I can tell, the illustration you see above will only appear on some sort of special edition of Sega's upcoming (it's due out sometime in 2013) online RPG. I say "as far as I can tell," of course, because I know next to nothing about Phantasy Star Online 2. Based on how I feel about this particular piece of box art, though, I think I'm going to have to educate myself about it soon. (Note: I do wish this example featured about three or four fewer logos, as the bottom edge, in particular, is more than a bit cluttered at the moment.)

2. Fate/Extra CCC (PSP)--Oh, hey, another soon-to-be-released game that's as foreign to me as, well, soy sauce Kit Kats. Like Phantasy Star Online 2's cover art (above), though, this PSP RPG's packaging makes me want to know more about both it and its predecessor, Fate/Extra. (Speaking of which, have any of you played Fate/Extra? If so, would you recommend it to someone who generally enjoys dungeon-crawling RPGs?)

3. Fantasy Life (3DS)--Don't worry, I'm not going to say for a third time that I'm clueless when it comes to one of the games I'm highlighting here. In fact, I know quite a bit about Level-5's Harvest Moon clone, as I've been paying attention to it since it was first announced as a sprite-based DS title. Anyway, it's still unknown as to whether or not this one will make its way across the pond, but I'm hoping beyond hope that it is--especially if the folks at Level-5's North American arm decide to use this piece of cover art, too.