'Beautiful' isn't adequate when attempting to describe this brand-new Ray Gigant (Vita) trailer

You've really got to hand it to the folks at Experience, who were responsible for developing the impressive (and oddly titled) Ray Gigant for Bandai Namco; without a whole lot of fanfare, they went out and made a game that both looks and sounds as stunning as any released for the Vita so far.

Don't believe me? Check out the latest trailer for this soon-to-be-released dungeon-crawling RPG, which can be viewed below.

For all sorts of reasons, I can't get enough of Ray Gigant's battle scenes, in particular. I guess some people may think they look a bit "cheap" thanks to the stilted animations, but I even find that aspect of this Vita title appealing.



My favorite of Ray Gigant's many intriguing traits at the moment, though, is the rhythm-game element that pops up when players go to use special attacks. (You can see it in action at the 1:40 mark.)

Does all of this mean I'll be nabbing a copy as soon as the game hits Japanese store shelves on July 30? No, but I may well buy one later on down the road--especially if Bandai Namco fails to bring it to North America. (If you'd like to pre-order one, though, you can do so now via amiami.com.)

In the meantime, drooling over the video footage above will have to suffice.

Bandai Namco's Ray Gigant (Vita) is giving me serious Tengai Makyou and Shining Force vibes, and that's a very good thing

Call me crazy for saying so, if you must, but after watching the following trailer for Bandai Namco's upcoming Vita RPG, Ray Gigant, for the first time a few minutes ago, I can't help but wonder if its developers weren't at least a smidge inspired by Sega's Shining Force titles or Hudson's Tengai Makyou series.



What do you think? Can you see where I'm coming from after checking out the trailer for yourself, or do you consider it a stretch of the imagination? Regardless, what are your early impressions of this late-July (in Japan only, for now) release?

I really like these recent examples of Japanese Vita box art, too

You may recall that at one point in the post I published yesterday (about recent examples of Japanese 3DS box art that I also like) I complained that far too many games released in the Land of the Rising Sun these days sport cover illustrations that are little more than lazy collages of the title in question's colorful cast of characters.

Sadly, that's exactly how some folks will describe the four pieces of Vita box art showcased below, and even though I agree with them--to a point--I'm still more than a bit fond of each of them.

The cover art shown above, for Persona 4: Dancing All Night, is my favorite of the bunch. Of course, how could it not be, right? After all, it features a bunch of the Persona series' regulars striking furious poses while a glittery disco ball bathes them in rainbow-colored light. In a word: fabulous.

As much as I love Dancing All Night's cover imagery, I think I love the example above just as much. Or at least nearly as much. It's for a game called Fushigi no Gensokyo, or Mystery Gensokyo: The Tower of Desire, by the way, and I'm desperately hoping it makes its way to North America sometime soon.

That's not because of its box art, mind you, but because of its adorable roguelike gameplay. Also, it seems this title is going to be a digital-only affair in Japan, which means me picking up that version probably is going to be out of the question. So, here's hoping someone brings it to my neck of the woods--and soon.

In the post I devoted to Bandai Namco's oh-so-attractive RPG, Ray Gigant, a couple of days ago, I mentioned its also-beautiful box art. Well, here it is. Stunning, right? Possibly not as stunning as the pair of examples that preceded this one, I guess, but it's definitely "pretty nice."

This is another Vita title that I hope crosses the pond, as they say--as long as it winds up being a better game than the similar-looking Time and Eternity.

Full disclosure: I know next to nothing about this particular game. Well, other than its title, which is Makai Shin Trillion, I mean. And that it was made by the folks at Compile Heart. That last fact doesn't fill me with much hope, I've got to admit, as I've nothing but complaints about that developer's past efforts.

Not helping matters is that Makai Shin Trillion looks to be some sort of Disgaea ripoff, which rubs me the wrong way for some strange reason. Oh, well, at least its cover illustration and logo are kind of snazzy, right?

See also: 'I really like these recent examples of Japanese 3DS box art'

How on earth did I fail to hear about Ray Gigant (Vita) until now?

OK, so we all know the answer to the question posed in the header above: the reason I'm only now learning of this upcoming Bandai Namco RPG's existence is that I've been far too focused on trying to wrap up Atlus' My World, My Way for DS.

Seriously, though, I'm fairly surprised this game avoided appearing on my radar until the last few days, as the final product is going to sport some pretty snazzy cover imagery.

Actually, "snazzy" is a word I'd use to describe the look of Ray Gigant's battles, too, as they utilize a perspective that's pretty unique as far as Japanese RPGs are concerned. Here are a handful of examples:







Unfortunately, that's about all that's known about this Vita title, which will be released sometime this summer in Japan, at the moment. Well, other than the fact that parties will be limited to only three members and the gameplay will be broken into an undisclosed number of chapters.

Hopefully the folks at Bandai Namco will share a trailer for this sucker with the world soon--and if it proves to be impressive, hopefully they'll follow it up with an announcement that the game will see the light of day in other regions at some point, too.