I kind of can't believe I'm mentioning the above news here, as I've never played any version of this dungeon-crawler. (It first saw the light of day on some rather ancient Japanese computers--the NEC PC-9801 and the FM Towns, to be exact--in 1991 before being given a second chance on the PC Engine and Super Famicom in 1994.)
Don't take that to mean I'm indifferent to it. In fact, I'm quite interested in it. The only reason I haven't bought some iteration or other of Brandish yet is that I can't decide which one to pick up.
I have narrowed things down a bit, though. Specifically, I'd like to own either a physical, boxed copy of the Japanese PSP release or XSEED Games' recent English localization of it.
Because the former can be acquired for about $20 these days, it's probably my first choice at the moment. Or it would be if the latter weren't just $10 on the PlayStation Store. (It's playable on both PSP and Vita, by the way--in case you're curious.)
A video showcasing the gameplay of this most recent version of Brandish can be found above. After watching it, do any of you think you'll be adding it to your digital PSP or Vita collections?
Showing posts with label Nihon Falcom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nihon Falcom. Show all posts
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Thursday, October 29, 2015
So, who's buying some version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC today?
Is it weird that I decided to publish a post about a game--and game series--I know very little about today? I guess so.
So many people have been talking about the long-awaited North American release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC, though, that I couldn't help myself.
The thing is, I really am quite uneducated when it comes to this game and to developer Nihon Falcom's Trails in the Sky series in general. Given that, I'm going to hand the reins over to you fine folks.
Specifically, I'd love to hear from those of you consider yourselves at least somewhat knowledge about The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC. What should I and other people like me know about it? Why is it so appealing?
Also, for those of you who picked up either the PC or the PSP version of this highly acclaimed RPG or are planning to do so soon, what pushed you down that particular path?
As for me, I may buy the PSP iteration--for my criminally underused Vita, of course--of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC down the road, but before I do that I want to buy and play the first Trails in the Sky game that Xseed so kindly brought to North America a couple of years back.
If any of you are in a similar situation, by the way, you still can purchase the physical version of the first Trails in the Sky title at Amazon for just $19.99.
So many people have been talking about the long-awaited North American release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC, though, that I couldn't help myself.
The thing is, I really am quite uneducated when it comes to this game and to developer Nihon Falcom's Trails in the Sky series in general. Given that, I'm going to hand the reins over to you fine folks.
Specifically, I'd love to hear from those of you consider yourselves at least somewhat knowledge about The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC. What should I and other people like me know about it? Why is it so appealing?
Also, for those of you who picked up either the PC or the PSP version of this highly acclaimed RPG or are planning to do so soon, what pushed you down that particular path?
As for me, I may buy the PSP iteration--for my criminally underused Vita, of course--of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC down the road, but before I do that I want to buy and play the first Trails in the Sky game that Xseed so kindly brought to North America a couple of years back.
If any of you are in a similar situation, by the way, you still can purchase the physical version of the first Trails in the Sky title at Amazon for just $19.99.
Friday, September 04, 2015
Apropos of nothing, I really like these recent examples of Japanese Vita box art
My original plan was for this post to be filled with pieces of box art that represent a variety of current-gen game systems--from the 3DS and Vita to the Wii U and PS4.
After contemplating things a bit, though, I decided to focus my attention on the Vita. Specifically, I decided to focus my attention on the following trio of Japanese Vita covers:
This first piece of box art, for those of you who can't read katakana, is for a game called Airship Q. Don't worry if this is the first you've heard of it, as I hadn't heard of it until I came across the image above while perusing NeoGAF about a week ago.
So, what's the point of Airship Q? Well, for starters, its developers--which include a bunch of ex-Square Enix employees--are touting the game as a "sandbox action RPG" in the mold of Minecraft and Terraria. (Visually, it calls to mind the latter far more than the former.)
There's more to this intriguing title than that, of course, but I'll hold off on saying more until tomorrow, when I'll publish a more extensive post about this upcoming release. (It's due out in Japan on Nov. 19, although it seems it'll eventually hit other regions as well.)
Even if there weren't more to it, though, I'd be seriously thinking of buying a copy because of its beautiful box art alone, which calls to mind some of the lovely illustrations that graced the covers of Sega Mega Drive games back in the day.
This cover art, on the other hand, is for a Namco Bandai-published game called Tokyo Ghoul Jail. All I know about it, unfortunately, is that it's based on a popular anime and manga series and that it'll hit Japanese store shelves both digital and physical on Oct. 1.
OK, so I know one more thing about this Tokyo Ghoul game adaptation: it'll be a visual novel--at least for the most part. (Its second trailer, which can be viewed here, suggests it'll feature some battle scenes, too.)
Is Tokyo Ghoul Jail's in-game art as wondrous as the art that's set to appear on its packaging? Not really, but you can't have everything, right? And at least the folks who buy retail copies of this title will be able to ogle the cover imagery found above whenever they feel the need.
Finally, we have the box art that's been prepared for Nihon Falcom's latest--and hopefully greatest--effort, Tokyo Xanadu.
Unsurprisingly, Tokyo Xanadu is going to be an action RPG. (I say unsurprisingly because Nihon Falcom has made a bunch of games in that genre, such as the Dragon Slayer, Popful Mail and Ys series.) Surprisingly, on the other hand, this one looks to be taking some cues from Atlus' mega-popular Persona titles.
You can see some of the latter influence in Tokyo Xanadu's cover illustration--which, admittedly, isn't as immediately sexy as the other two examples that've been shared in this post so far, but it's still pretty darn impressive.
What do you think of the pieces of box art shown throughout this post? Do you like all of them? Some of them? Even just one of them? Also, can you think of any other pieces of Vita box art that you consider wow-worthy?
After contemplating things a bit, though, I decided to focus my attention on the Vita. Specifically, I decided to focus my attention on the following trio of Japanese Vita covers:
This first piece of box art, for those of you who can't read katakana, is for a game called Airship Q. Don't worry if this is the first you've heard of it, as I hadn't heard of it until I came across the image above while perusing NeoGAF about a week ago.
So, what's the point of Airship Q? Well, for starters, its developers--which include a bunch of ex-Square Enix employees--are touting the game as a "sandbox action RPG" in the mold of Minecraft and Terraria. (Visually, it calls to mind the latter far more than the former.)
There's more to this intriguing title than that, of course, but I'll hold off on saying more until tomorrow, when I'll publish a more extensive post about this upcoming release. (It's due out in Japan on Nov. 19, although it seems it'll eventually hit other regions as well.)
Even if there weren't more to it, though, I'd be seriously thinking of buying a copy because of its beautiful box art alone, which calls to mind some of the lovely illustrations that graced the covers of Sega Mega Drive games back in the day.
This cover art, on the other hand, is for a Namco Bandai-published game called Tokyo Ghoul Jail. All I know about it, unfortunately, is that it's based on a popular anime and manga series and that it'll hit Japanese store shelves both digital and physical on Oct. 1.
OK, so I know one more thing about this Tokyo Ghoul game adaptation: it'll be a visual novel--at least for the most part. (Its second trailer, which can be viewed here, suggests it'll feature some battle scenes, too.)
Is Tokyo Ghoul Jail's in-game art as wondrous as the art that's set to appear on its packaging? Not really, but you can't have everything, right? And at least the folks who buy retail copies of this title will be able to ogle the cover imagery found above whenever they feel the need.
Finally, we have the box art that's been prepared for Nihon Falcom's latest--and hopefully greatest--effort, Tokyo Xanadu.
Unsurprisingly, Tokyo Xanadu is going to be an action RPG. (I say unsurprisingly because Nihon Falcom has made a bunch of games in that genre, such as the Dragon Slayer, Popful Mail and Ys series.) Surprisingly, on the other hand, this one looks to be taking some cues from Atlus' mega-popular Persona titles.
You can see some of the latter influence in Tokyo Xanadu's cover illustration--which, admittedly, isn't as immediately sexy as the other two examples that've been shared in this post so far, but it's still pretty darn impressive.
What do you think of the pieces of box art shown throughout this post? Do you like all of them? Some of them? Even just one of them? Also, can you think of any other pieces of Vita box art that you consider wow-worthy?
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Does the impending North American release of Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP) mean I can continue to dream of a similar localization of MonHun Diary: Poka Poka Airu Village?
OK, so we all know that isn't going to happen. MonHun Diary: Poka Poka Airu Village finally getting a North American release, I mean.
I can't help but wonder, though, if some adventurous company--you know, like Xseed Games, for instance--would have brought it out here if it weren't a Capcom property.
Oh, well, why bother fretting over that when games like Brandish: The Dark Revenant actually are coming to our shores, and likely before the calendar flips over to 2015?
Unfortunately, Brandish: The Dark Revenant's impending North American release will be of the digital-only variety (something that's likely to limit buyers to Vita owners, I believe), but it's kind of hard to fault publisher Xseed Games for going that route in this day and age.
Anyway, to learn more about this curious-looking, Nihon Falcom-made dungeon-crawler, check out the trailer above (yes, the Japanese version actually came out all the way back in 2009) or the rather cool "localization blog" that was published on Xseed's Tumblr last week.
P.S. I'm pretty sure this is the longest header I've ever written for a one of my blog posts. Don't worry, I won't make a habit of it.
I can't help but wonder, though, if some adventurous company--you know, like Xseed Games, for instance--would have brought it out here if it weren't a Capcom property.
Oh, well, why bother fretting over that when games like Brandish: The Dark Revenant actually are coming to our shores, and likely before the calendar flips over to 2015?
Unfortunately, Brandish: The Dark Revenant's impending North American release will be of the digital-only variety (something that's likely to limit buyers to Vita owners, I believe), but it's kind of hard to fault publisher Xseed Games for going that route in this day and age.
Anyway, to learn more about this curious-looking, Nihon Falcom-made dungeon-crawler, check out the trailer above (yes, the Japanese version actually came out all the way back in 2009) or the rather cool "localization blog" that was published on Xseed's Tumblr last week.
P.S. I'm pretty sure this is the longest header I've ever written for a one of my blog posts. Don't worry, I won't make a habit of it.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
10 video games that made my life gayer (#3): Ys Book I & II
Would it surprise you if I said that Monster Lair, and not the great Ys Book I & II, was the game that sold me on the TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM attachment back in the day?
Well, it's the truth, shocking as it may sound.
That's not to say Ys Book I & II didn't jump to the top of my "to buy" list as soon as I laid eyes on it. Honestly, how could it not--what with its amazing (at the time) animated cutscenes and Red Book audio, both of which were unheard of in the (console) gaming world until the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM attachment was introduced?
Although I find the game unplayable today--those bump-into-your-enemies battles were acceptable back in the day, but today they're the definition of boring--I was pretty fond of it in 1990. Granted, I think I was a bit blinded by the game's superficial sheen (i.e., the above-mentioned animations and audio), but it's not like it was behind the RPG curve in terms of gameplay when it came out. (For comparison's sake, the seminal Final Fantasy II/IV wasn't released until the following year.)
Anyway, none of that is important at the moment. What is important is that Ys Book I & II, like Final Fantasy before it, solidified my interest in the RPG genre--something for which I'll always be grateful.
Note: In this post, and in all subsequent '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts, gayer is used in the old-fashioned sense, as in happier or merrier.
See also: '10 video games that made my life gayer (#1: Bubble Bobble) and (#2: Final Fantasy)'
Well, it's the truth, shocking as it may sound.
That's not to say Ys Book I & II didn't jump to the top of my "to buy" list as soon as I laid eyes on it. Honestly, how could it not--what with its amazing (at the time) animated cutscenes and Red Book audio, both of which were unheard of in the (console) gaming world until the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM attachment was introduced?
Although I find the game unplayable today--those bump-into-your-enemies battles were acceptable back in the day, but today they're the definition of boring--I was pretty fond of it in 1990. Granted, I think I was a bit blinded by the game's superficial sheen (i.e., the above-mentioned animations and audio), but it's not like it was behind the RPG curve in terms of gameplay when it came out. (For comparison's sake, the seminal Final Fantasy II/IV wasn't released until the following year.)
Anyway, none of that is important at the moment. What is important is that Ys Book I & II, like Final Fantasy before it, solidified my interest in the RPG genre--something for which I'll always be grateful.
Note: In this post, and in all subsequent '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts, gayer is used in the old-fashioned sense, as in happier or merrier.
See also: '10 video games that made my life gayer (#1: Bubble Bobble) and (#2: Final Fantasy)'
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