Clan of Champions | "DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!"

So, Clan of Champions still isn’t getting a budget retail release? Boo. Still, it’ll be worth a buy or try if you’re a fan of the underappreciated Gladiator Returns on the PSP or Warriors of the Lost Empire, another PSP game that’s got visual similarities as well as some of the same game mechanics, menus, options and even typefaces as Gladiator Returns. Well, all three games are from the same developer, so I don’t mind this sort of recycling, although Warriors was one of those games that you had to get used to (and actually only really got great after you beat it once). Gladiator Returns was better in some respects, but had some of the same flaws as Warriors. That said, both games had more than enough going for them to keep me playing and CoC looks to hit that same spot.

Of course, I still have my fingers crossed that NISA gets back to doing more with retail as well as DLC so MORE people can play these games, as not EVERYONE has the ability to or hell, even likes to download ALL their game content. Getting this game and perhaps some of their other upcoming PSN-only content on a disc at some point (together in one package deal) would indeed be sweet… but I’m not holding my breath. It’s kind of hard to type when you’re blue in the face, you know…

This spring, NISA will be publishing Acquire’s upcoming downloadable PS3, Xbox 360 and PC fantasy action game (for up to six players), Gladiator VS under a name that makes it sound exactly like either a RPG or a League of Legends pastiche. This of course, could work for or against the game as I can see JRPG fans wanting to snap it up automatically because of the Nippon Ichi connection and overly protective LoL fans thinking it’s a shoddy rip-off of some sort. Yours truly falls under the happy medium label, as I want to see the game succeed on its own merits and not just some accidental honors blessed upon the game by those who automatically support ANYTHING certain companies put out just to add another notch to their gaming belts. Of course, i don’t want it to fail miserably because it gets bad word of mouth from too many people who haven’t a clue (and nope, uninformed opinions based on NOT touching the game don’t count). In English: personally, I like what Acquire has done here (and with previous entries in the series) and want to see how it’s all turned out, no matter who publishes it and under what name.

Granted, if it were titled “Mr. Pablum’s Peanut Butter Palace” or something similarly silly, I’d wonder who the hell was thinking up these game names and how the hell I could get a piece of THAT particular pie. I can think up dopey names all day, so I should at least be able to collect a paycheck for that…