Tag Archives: Atlus

New Japanese Dragon’s Crown Trailer Is Anything But Vanilla…

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A ha ha. I’ll take “MORE puns you don’t get if you’re not a gamer” for a thousand, Alex. Anyway, Atlus has dropped this nice new slice of lovely 2D gaming bliss into the Japanese PS Vita web event and yes indeed, I want to see this get as much love as possible. George Kamitani and his talented team at Vanillaware are making sure the side-scrolling flame is kept alive and well, and thanks to the gorgeous art style and chaotic gameplay crafted for solo and multiplayer action, this one’s a guaranteed winner on both the PS3 and Vita. Release dates for North America are TBA, but I’m hoping we see this soon, as both systems need all the cool exclusives they can handle and then some.

“Retro” Review: The Dark Spire

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The Dark SpirePlatform: Nintendo DS

Developer: Success

Publisher: Atlus

# of Players: 1

Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

 

Score: A (95%)

(Note: while I’m buried in a few other reviews and working on some new site stuff, here’s an old review to peruse. This previously “lost” review was written LONG before the PSN Wizardry games from XSEED and Wizardry Online were announced, but I decided not to alter anything mostly because I’m surprised this turned up in a folder packed with stuff I thought was gone for good – enjoy!)

Since no US publisher seems to even be thinking about reviving the classic Wizardry franchise anytime soon, Atlus has pretty much taken up the mantle of “publisher of Wizardry-like gameplay experiences” on the Nintendo DS. Some of you might be asking “Hey! what about that excellent 2001 PlayStation 2 game, Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land, huh?” However, that game (great as it was) wasn’t at all related to the eight Sir-Tech PC games. Other than a few console remakes of the first seven games scattered over an assortment of Japanese consoles and a few handheld version the numerous Japanese-developed Wizardry games are their own bird (and yes, it would have been grand to see them localized in English), but that’s another subject for another time. Anyway, thanks to titles such as the two Etrian Odyssey games (which can be seen as spiritual successors to Sir-Tech’s original games) and now The Dark Spire, developed by Success, Atlus will absolutely make you do a happy dance if you love your RPGs old-school tough yet completely user-friendly.

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Laugh of the Day (Sort Of): A Patch, Reviewed

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While patching console games seems to be the new black these days, it’s rare that you see reviews of that patch being used in an ad. Actually, this is the first time I’ve ever seen this and I thought it was a joke until I poked around online a bit. Somehow, this is hilarious and terrifying and annoying all at the same time. Anyway, you can grab your own copy of Persona 4 Arena HERE. Of course, you need an Xbox Live account in order to grab that patch, but you already know that, correct?

Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time Trailer Update (Or, Why I Still Need A Working Time Machine)

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Let’s see now, stirring score to get you all hopped up for the SRPG action and deep story? Check. Lovely character artwork by Satoshi Urushihara (of Der Langrisser fame, among other things) lending a distinctly nostalgic feel to things? Check. PSP release on UMD (yes!) set to hit stores in a mere six days? Check. Thanks, Atlus (once again)… except where the heck am I going to find TIME to actually play this gem? Eh, you can’t get everything you ask for, right? I’ll just grab the game when I see it and figure out when I’ll have time to play it afterward. You can add yourself to that list of gamers needing to figure out how this time travel stuff is supposed to work by making a beeline to your favorite brick and mortar emporium on July 31… or pre-ordering it here

Persona 4 Golden Cover Art: Vita Owners Can Start Up That Happy Dance Again…

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Speaking of Persona 4… I posted that last article and went off to make some coffee and as soon as I sit down again, *ding!* this pops up in my inbox. Nice. I now have another game I want for my Vita (and finally, a RPG getting a US retail release that’s deeper than what’s currently on the handheld!). Naturally, clicking on that link above will fly you over to the teaser site where you can go temporarily blind from the burst of color that will hit your eyeballs then upon your recovery, pre-order the game if you like (no pressure here!).

Of course, if you don’t have a Vita yet, you probably won’t be clicking away, but I’d say this is one of those JRPGs that’s worth a console purchase if you like your games ridiculously PACKED to the gills with content and replay value.

Persona 4 Arena Is Looking Mighty Cool For A Game I Was Ignoring…

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OK, I’m guilty! Although I’ve been ignoring all those character moves trailers for a while just because I’m too busy with other stuff, after finally watching this latest trailer I can safely state that Arc System Works + Atlus’ key JRPG franchise = instant classic for genre fans of all skill levels. I’m terrible at most fighting games, but I’ll give this a shot because it looks like fun and I’m a Shin Megami Tensei fan from the Super Famicom days. Granted, I still prefer Kaneko Kazuma’s more unique art style over the art in the series since Persona 3, but I’m not crazy enough to ignore a good game over something like that. Anyway, August 7 is the release date and yes, you can pre-order the game and get a nice bonus (par for the course with an Atlus release). Hmmm. perhaps Persona 5 or a future Shin Megami Tensei title will feature a fighting game engine based on this game instead of a turn-based combat system… that would be a total trip, wouldn’t it?

Atlus Wants YOU To Win This Cool Persona 3 Artbook…

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Hooray for free stuff, as it’s a nice Monday brightener! Atlus is going to be making 25 lucky, lucky random winners across the U.S. of A. (only, sorry overseas folks!) VERY happy with this lovely Persona 3 Official Design Works book published by Udon Entertainment (a $39.99 value!) simply by signing up as a new member (or already being a current member) of the Atlus Faithful and keeping their fingers and toes crossed when the drawing is held on July 16th.

I’d have my own fingers and toes crossed, but I need to type and I also have to go to the bathroom as soon as I finish posting this.

 

Atlus Is Having A Half-Off Sale On PSN This Month. Yes, You Should Grab A Bunch Of Games While You Can.

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OK, you’ve got a few short weeks to get in on some cool games for your PS3 and PSP (and you should be able to run these downloads on your Vita), so get to it. North American gamers only on this deal, so that’s another cool Independence Day deal, I suppose.   Hmmm… I may have to get Hexyz Force and Crimson Gem Saga as both are insanely tough to find cheap as UMD releases. Speaking of… Hey, Atlus! Put Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner up on PSN as well at some point, as hell, someone stole my complete copy a few years back and it’s impossible to find another one (that’s not going to cost me an arm and a leg), grrrr!

Random Game Never To Play Alone (Or Else) #1: Dokapon Kingdom

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I have a stupidly long list of article idea and as usual, not enough time to get them all written, but every so often I’m going to post the occasional test article for your perusal. Here’s one goofy idea I had ages ago while writing for another site about games that made for a terrible time when played alone. I thought about reviving the idea recently while listening to some folks in a game shop arguing about what was the worst game to play alone and getting a chuckle that every game mentioned in their discussion revolved around survival horror, MMORPGs or assorted shooters (with every game mentioned in the latter two genres geared for multiplayer gaming). The first game I thought of was Atlus’ 2008 US release of Sting’s 2007 hybrid board game/RPG, which some have very incorrectly labeled a straight Mario Party clone. The Dokapon series was around a bit longer than Mario Party and Dokapon Kingdom is more or less a polygon-based reworking of a Super Famicom game from 1994 called Dokapon 3-2-1: Arashi o Yobu Yuujou, which is equally challenging as a solo play experience. Now, neither are anything resembling “bad” games at all. They’re fun to play and funny, but are both just designed to work better with more than one person playing them…
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E3 2012: Two From Atlus: Zeno Clash II & The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

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Like plenty of publishers these days, Atlus has been diversifying its games lineup for a while now with unique games in assorted genres outside the ones they’re know for in the US. Here are trailers to two titles from their lineup, one a sequel to a PC, PSN and Xbox Live Arcade fighter/action/shooter hybrid (that i REALLY wish would be put on a disc with the first part so MORE can play it) and the latest in the Sherlock Holmes game series ported from PC (which has ZERO to do with that bizarre BBC show everyone seems to like save for Holmes purists). Oh yeah, my Game of Thrones review will be up once all the E3 madness subsides, it’s not as bad as some sites are saying… you just need a great deal of patience and not mind at all that the game takes itself REALLY seriously (for the most part)…