Demon’s Souls Arrives, Goes Ahead And Makes My Day…

Posted on September 10, 2009 by geelw

THANK YOU ATLUS! Early impressions: Well, I lasted a whole five or so hours before my avatar finally died, falling (well, rolling) off a ledge trying to get the heck away from something BIG and quite nasty chasing my character. This game is brilliant, beautiful and BRUTAL, all at the same time with a side of fries. Scary as hell in spots, too. As a longtime King’s Field fan, I knew it was going to be great, but From Software has really knocked it out of the park. Hardcore? Oh hellllllllllll yeah. This game will kick your butt all over the living room and into the kitchen, whereupon it shall cook and eat your corpse.

Twice.

Back with a full review in a bit… Did I mention it’s also scarier than a big box of dead, flaming monkeys?

Atlus Does a SMT: Persona Double Launch With A Twist…

Posted on August 6, 2009 by geelw

Once again, Atlus is giving RPG fans the love with a super-cool premium item AND a nice way to kick off the launch of Sony’s upcoming PSP GO! handheld. The remake of the classic PSOne RPG, Shin Megami Tensei Persona will get a simultaneous release in UMD format on the PSP as well as a download version for the PSP GO! on September 22, 2009.

Atlus isn’t letting PSP GO! owners get the really cool stuff, however (although Persona IS a truly deep and mind-bending RPG any discerning genre fan should play). Gamers who pre-order the retail release of SMT:P through retailers such as Amazon or GameStop will get a nice bonus: a 2-disc soundtrack composed by Shoji Meguro. They’ll also get the cool Collector’s Edition box it all comes in, as Atlus doesn’t want gamers walking home holding those CD’s over your head if it happens to rain on launch day… Continue reading →

Gallery: 101-in-1 Party Megamix (Updated!)

Posted on August 5, 2009 by geelw

Atlus just really, really, really wants to take over your gaming life this year. Between the amazing amount of RPG goodness we’re seeing across multiple platforms (Shin Megami Tensei: Persona and Demon’s Souls ftw!), finding time to do normal stuff such as breathe, eat or take a bathroom break is becoming quite a challenge. For me, taking my DS and the ridiculously addictive 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix into the can has on occasion actually led a few folks here to think I pulled an Elvis. Hey, with my schedule, it’s where I get the most quality time with the handheld, so what can I say?

(Wait… that didn’t come out quite right. *Ahem*… moving on…) Continue reading →

Gallery: Demon’s Souls

Posted on July 24, 2009 by geelw

Hands-down, one of my favorite game developers ever is From Software. I’ve been a huge fan of their games for close to 15 years thanks to many unforgettable hours playing their King’s Field series. While the US only saw four of the seven total games released to date, the combination of Western RPG aesthetics, challenging gameplay and interestingly doomed characters (the series has a rather NPC high mortality rate) made for memorable times indeed.

Between the mighty Armored Core franchise, Chromehounds, the two stellar Xbox Otogi games and one-shot brilliance of Kuon, there’s a lot to love about From’s games. That love also extends to From oddities such as Evergrace/Forever Kingdom, The Adventures of Cookie and Cream, Lost Kingdoms, Enchanted Arms, coolimports such asSpriggan: Lunar Verse, Frame Gride and Metal Wolf Chaos. Not to mention the underrated Echo Night games, Eternal Ring, Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower Abyss (one of those great import-only titles that would have been an excellent addition to the US PlayStation 2 library). Of course, not every developer can have a perfect track record. Between you and me, well… we’ll kind of forget about a couple of those later Tenchu games. OK? Continue reading →