In a Class (of Heroes) by itself

I'm sure some of you PSP fans are well aware of this already, but for those of you who aren't: Gaijinworks, the publishing company founded by Victor Ireland of Working Designs fame, is considering releasing a physical (you know, with a case, manual and UMD) version of its latest title--the PSP dungeon-crawler, Class of Heroes 2--if it's able to pre-sell at least 2,500 copies within the next few days.

Should this pre-sale prove successful, by the way, boxed copies of Class of Heroes 2--which will include a digital download code for the game as well a UMD--will cost interested parties just $34.99.



Although I've heard mostly bad things regarding the first Class of Heroes, which the folks at Atlus brought to North America in 2009, I'm throwing my hat into the proverbial ring for this sequel mainly because of Ireland's involvement. (Plus, I'm a sucker for dungeon-crawlers and I'm not yet through with my trusty PSP.)

Should you also want to a copy of the physical edition of Class of Heroes 2, head over to gaijinworks.com ASAP and fill out the form that can be found at the bottom of the page.

Five favorites: European DS box art

All the way back in mid-November, I published a blog post about five of my favorite examples of Japanese DS box art. Last week, I followed it up with a similar post about five of my favorite pieces of North American DS box art.

As I promised at the end of the latter post, here are five European DS box arts of which I'm particularly fond:

1. Contact--How much do I like this RPG's European cover art? So much that I recently bought it despite the fact that buying the North American version would have been a bit cheaper. Really, though, how could I have said no to those adorably pixelized characters and that awesome, retro-tinged logo?

2. Final Fantasy III--True story: I've seriously considered picking up a European copy of this game (even though I already own the North American version) simply because of its beautiful box art, which brings to mind the classic imagery that appears on the packaging of the Super Famicom release of Final Fantasy VI and the PlayStation port of Final Fantasy IV.

3. Kirby Mass Attack--What do you get when you combine the best elements of the covers created for the Japanese and North American iterations of this portable puzzler-platformer? You get the glorious artwork that can be seen above, of course.

Although I've yet to buy or play Corpse Party: Book of Shadows ...

... I can't help but find myself attracted to the recently announced Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient.

In part, that's because Dead Patient seemingly will return the series to the gameplay found in the eponymous PSP release. Also, as far as I'm aware, this sequel will be the first to be made by Team GrisGris (now known as Grindhouse), the folks responsible for the first Corpse Party.

Here are a pair of teaser trailers for Dead Patient, in case any of you are similarly curious about it:





Word on the street is that Dead Patient will receive at least a PC release, although some suggest it'll be ported to the Vita as well.

Personally, I'd love for it to come to the 3DS, too, but I have a feeling that's about as likely as Sega's wackadoodle golf-meets-pinball title, @field, making a similar platform leap at this point.

(Via apricotsushi)

Kind of embarrassing admission: Osawari Tantei Nameko Daihanshoku is my most-anticipated 3DS title at the moment

Oh, and in case you didn't already know it, Osawari Tantei Nameko Daihanshoku is a match-three spin-off of Beeworks' Touch Detective series of portable point-and-click games.

As for why I'm looking forward to this Japanese 3DS title as much as I am at the moment: for the last week or so I've spent more time than I'd like to admit playing (what I'm pretty sure is) the Osawari Tantei Nameko Daihanshoku demo that can be found at mg.success-corp.co.jp.



I know what some of you are thinking after watching the trailer above: isn't it just a Zoo Keeper clone with a few added bells and whistles? Yes, but that's OK with me, as I've long been a fan of that puzzler's gameplay.

Plus, you can't go wrong with all of the cute-as-buttons--not to mention penile-esque--Funghi characters  that are packed into Osawari Tantei Nameko Daihanshoku. (My current favorite: the fuzzy pink ones.)

And February's 'Bye-Bye, Backlog' selection is ...

... Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime for the DS.

I know this will shock some of you, but I've already started playing this TOSE-developed, Square Enix-published title. I haven't played enough of it to share any worthwhile impressions, of course, but I will say this: I knew I was going to enjoy it as soon as I encountered its adorable title screen (below)--what with its explosion of bouncing, grinning slimes.

Also, I'm already in love with the game's pixel-perfect graphics and the protagonist's "Elasto Blast" move. I'd previously been "warned" (in a good way) about the addictive properties of the latter, but even then I wasn't fully prepared for just how fun it would be to launch Dragon Quest Heroes' Rocket every which way.

Anyway, expect to see an impressions post (titled something like "My Month with Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, Part 1") pop up this coming weekend. In the meantime, have any of you played this one? If so, what did you think of it?

See also: Previous posts related to the 'Bye-Bye, Backlog' project