Nice Package! (Ore no Shikabane, PlayStation)

Truth be told, I completely ignored the Japanese PlayStation game known as Ore no Shikabane o Koete Yuke for a good couple of years after I first became aware of it due to its cover art, which I found oddly creepy.



Eventually, I learned more about this Alfa System-developed game, and what I learned prompted me to have a change of heart about it.

Specifically, I learned that Ore no Shikabane o Koete Yuke (Over My Dead Body in English) is an RPG with a really cool art style and an intriguing premise that revolves around the son of a legendary warrior who has been cursed--along with any and all offspring--to age much faster than usual. The only way to get rid of said curse is to kill the demon who put it on you, so that's exactly what you and your spawn are tasked with doing throughout the course of this game (or so I've been told).



Which I guess helps explain why both the box cover and manual cover produced for Ore no Shikabane--or, Oreshika, as it's known in Japan--feature close-up shots of children's faces.



Speaking of Oreshika's manual, it's a real doozy--as in, it's almost biblical compared to your typical, run-of-the-mill PlayStation instruction booklet.

Although most of its many pages are rather boring and are filled with a ton of text (such as the example showcased in the photo above), a choice few feature gorgeous illustrations like the one that can be seen below.

Here's another pretty good example, I think. Plus, the art in the snapshot below includes a bit of beefcake, which is never a bad thing, if you ask me. 

Please accept my apologies for not chronicling via a photo or two the CD that contains all of Oreshika's surely convoluted code. If memory serves, I passed on doing so because the disc in question is of the mirrored-surface-bearing-a-not-entirely-appealing-design variety.



Anyway, I know I say this all the time, but I really am going to do my best to pop this game into my adorable Japanese PSone sometime soon and at least try to stumble my way through its first few hours. After I do that, I'll return here and share my thoughts in some form or fashion.

In the meantime, have any of you played either this game or its Vita-based sequel, which was released in the West earlier this year?

It looks like I'll be getting my second Vita game sooner rather than later

Which game am I alluding to in the header above? Why, Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, of course--which will be released in North America on March 3 (and in Europe on the following day).

I'm a bit bummed that Oreshika won't be getting a physical (boxed) release in either of the above-mentioned regions, but I'm far less bummed than I'd be if the game weren't being released at all.

Plus, Oreshika will cost just $19.99 upon release in North America, and €19.99 in Europe, so it's hard to complain too much about the situation surrounding the localization of this lovely looking RPG.

Oh, and in case I haven't said so here already (I know I've mentioned at least part of the following somewhere on line in the last few weeks, but I can't remember where), I recently bought a Vita. More specifically, one of the Japanese pink-and-white Vita 2000 systems, as they're sometimes called.

And just before I bought that Vita, I bought a Vita game--with the game in question being the first Danganronpa, of course.

Anyway, the Vita is due to be dropped on my doorstep any day now, and as soon as that happens I'll let everyone know via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and here, although not necessarily in that order.

In the meantime, are any of you planning to buy Oreshika--either at launch or at some point down the road?

Someone please tell me Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (Vita) won't hit North American store shelves until at least September

I say the above because, frankly, I don't want to add another system to my "collection" until this fall at the earliest.

I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself from buying a Vita, though, once the fascinating RPG known as Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (aka Ore no Shikabane wo Koete Yuke in Japan, which translates to something along the lines of Go Forth Over My Dead Body) arrives on our shores.

In case this is the first you've heard of Oreshika, the gist (via the PlayStation Blog) is that it's "an RPG in which you take charge of an ancient Japanese clan that have been cursed with a maximum lifespan of just two years. Your task is to lead the clan on their quest to lift the curse and enlist the help of gods inspired by Japanese mythology to make sure each new generation of the clan is more powerful than the last."

Are any of you now itching to pick up this title? Or maybe you're planning to use your hard-earned dough to buy one or more of the other Vita games--like Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrifice Delta and Tales of Heart R--we've just learned will be heading West sometime this year instead?

Watch: Ore no Shikabane wo Koete Yuke's Tokyo Game Show 2013 trailer

Dear Sony: bring Over My Dead Body 2 to the States and I'll finally buy a PS Vita

True story: I've been eyeing up copies of the original, PlayStation release of Over My Dead Body (aka Ore no Shikabane wo Koete Yuke or Oreshika) for ages now.

Why haven't I bought one yet? Because Oreshika looks to be a rather convoluted JRPG--albeit a beautiful one--and I'm just not sure I have it in me to try to stumble through such a game anytime soon. (A summary of its intriguing plot, via RPGamer.com: "A lineage of demon-hunters is cursed to live, age and die within a single year's span. A twelve-year campaign against the lord of demons thus becomes a matter for the generations.)

Anyway, I have a feeling I'm going to have a similarly tough time resisting Alfa System's upcoming sequel once it's finally released for the Vita sometime next year.

In large part, that's because the sequel looks absolutely stunning--as evidenced by the following, just-released screenshots:







Assuming Over My Dead Body 2's story and gameplay is even a smidge as impressive as its graphics, well, I think it's safe to say it's going to be hard for me to pass up this sucker--even if I don't yet know (much) Japanese and if I don't yet own a Vita.

Of course, Sony's North American arm could solve both of those problems by localizing and releasing the game here--but, really, what are the chances of that happening?

See also: more amazing Over My Dead Body 2 screenshots