A few more games for the library, this time a few Match-3 puzzle games: Bejeweled 3, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, 7 Wonders II and the recently reviewed Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2. On the PSP front, Taito Legends: Power-Up and The Chikyuu Boueigun 2 Portable (in English, that’s The Earth Defense Forces 2 Portable). Of the puzzle games, of course Bejeweled 3 is the master class in fun, accessibility and replay value, as the game hooks you right on in from the beginning and keeps you playing thanks to its wide variety of mini-games and rewards galore as you play. The music is pretty killer as well. The two 7 Wonders games show an interesting progression, as the sequel fixes some of the issues from the first game while also adding new content.
As a big fan of all things dungeon crawler, I’ll have to pick this one up soon. I’ve been a bit occupied with a few other games and projects, so yes, I’m a wee but behind on newer reviews. Anyway, I’m happy about Unchained Blades for the mix of famous anime/manga artists for the character design, the old school grind-fest gameplay (a la Wizardry) and the fact that the game is PSP and Vita compatible. Now I’ll have to decide which portable to play it on and when to go snap this up. It’ll most likely be downloaded at a Starbucks nearby, as I can’t access my PSN account on my terrible home connection. This digital-only stuff is making me nuts sometimes… Ah, well.
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
If you’re a fan of Natsume’s family-friendly lineup of Harvest Moon or Rune Factory games for the Wii, DS, 3DS, PS3 and/or PSP, want to do some Reel Fishing or have a few cool Adventures to Go, this big blowout sale is most definitely for you. Head on over and check out the lineup and definitely snap up what you want fast, as the company is giving away a cool premium item you won’t find anywhere else. Hmmmmmm, at these prices, there are a lot of excellent buys here as the majority of Natsume’s titles are super heavy on replay value. I guess I can finally get to see the differences between Afrika for the PS3 and Animal Kingdom: Wildlife Expedition for the Wii as they sound like exactly the same game bit with huge graphics differences.
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!
In case you’ve missed them, here are some rather nice trailers for four new or incoming titles from the publisher. First up is Mistwalker’s epic JRPG, The Last Story, which is looking to be one of the last, great Wii RPGs (and another good reason to own the console). Given that it’s a summer release, it looks as if I won’t be getting much son when it drops into stores.
Next up is FuRyu’s Unchained Blades, another PSN download for the PSP that JRPG fans should be thrilled about. Featuring character art from a wide range of top Japanese illustrators such as Pako (Shining Force), Toshiyuki Kubooka (Lunar), Shinichiro Otsuka (Summon Night), Kazushi Hagiwara (Bastard!!) and more. I’m thrilled about this one because it’s an old-school dungeon crawler in the Wizardry vein, which usually means plenty of great fun and challenge. There’s a 3DS version coming as well, but I’m not sure if it’s a retail package or download-only title like the PSP game.
Finally, two games from Nihon Falcom’s long-running Y’s series: Ys: Oath in Felghanaand Ys Origin, both coming to Valve’s Steam download service with some great visual updates and running at a lovely 60 frames per second. Buy them, I say. Still, I also have to ask if Xseed can make these available as direct downloads or set them up as DRM-free on gog.com or some other site. While I do have a Steam account, I can’t use it on my terminally slow connection at all because of the update process that slows everything to a crawl. My gog.com account, on the other hand, is pretty smooth going and I haven’t had any major issues with it. of course, I’d prefer these on a UMD or even better, a Vita card as part of an Ys Collection with an art book that happens to fit inside a Vita case and perhaps a soundtrack and wallpaper on that game card, but that’s just my wishful thinking that SOME publisher would maximize that over-sized case Vita games come in.
OK, enough reading – go play (or pre-order) some games!
Atlus is one of those smart publishers keeping the PSP alive and kicking and PACKED with stellar import RPG/SRPG experiences like this one. I’m not a huge anime fan, but I’ve always loved Satoshi Urushihara’s lovely game artwork since the Langrisser and Assault Suits Valken days (two more favorite games of mine). Anyway, GWoT is set for a “Summer 2012” release, so I say start saving up those pennies if you still have a PSP around the house and want a pretty cool strategy game experience that packs a hefty amount of content and challenge.
As a longtime JRPG fan, I can safely say that this crowdfunding thing IS getting a whole LOT more interesting. A few weeks and months back some writers and game folks online made note that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to fund a console or portable game project, citing all sorts of reasons. Well, thanks to Victor Ireland (formerly of Working Designs infamy), Gaijinworks and MonkeyPaw Games – Class Heroes 2 Deluxe is not only a reality, it’s coming to the PSP as a digital release. Even better, gamers can expect a physical UMD as well… provided the project goal of $500,000 is met by April 27, 2012. Now, half a million may SEEM like a lot of loot, but hell, getting a physical copy of any game out these days does cost a chunk of change. Getting a DELUXE version of the game out with all the swag listed in the Kickstarter page will make that total seem small when you consider that the game will be a truly LIMITED release with the high probability of completely selling out as a physical game (and being worth a mint shortly thereafter).
The original Class of Heroes was an interesting Wizardry clone developed for the PSP by Zerodiv and initially published by Acquire in Japan in 2008, then Atlus in North America in 2009. While not quite a “classic”, the game’s old-school charm and lengthy quest made up for a few flaws here and there. From reading the funding page, it looks as if COH 2 Deluxe will fix a few things and add others the original developer left out of the first game. So far, the project has raised around $27,000, but still has a long way to go. Can the team get the overly skeptical crowd that SUPPOSEDLY loved JRPGs yet somehow doesn’t understand what a truly limited edition means to clam up and shell out a few bucks so they can get this out AND tackle future projects? Or will the game be doomed to a digital-only release that gets swallowed up in the PSN vaults? We shall see, I suppose. OK, back to bed for me – my back is still out of whack, but I saw this news and had to get my two cents in…
Nice. Sony is smart enough to NOT unceremoniously kill off the PSP when the Vita launches in North America, but they are doing something about the rather massive stock of leftover PSP’s and first party UMD’s I hope every publisher with a decent PSP back catalog gets into. Three more UMD Dual Packs are headed to retail in January 2012 and all come highly recommended whether you’re a newly Xmas-gifted PSP owner or a die-hard with the 1000 to 3000 series that hasn’t yet played these gems. To those who somehow don’t know why Sony is still dealing with UMD’s with the Vita about to land in February, there are a few simple reasons. Continue reading →
Well, it’s not much of a library NOW, but it was about twice a big until about two or three years back when I started selling off a chunk of it. Still, with the Vita on the way, I’m probably going to be looking for inexpensive complete games to add to the stack at some point down the road. I actually REALLY want more demos from all over, but I’m too darn lazy and busy to track any more down than what I have. Oh well… one day when I have the time (and definitely, the money) to burn. And, oops… that last pic is what happens when you put stuff away THEN find a few things you left out because they were on another shelf…
A few more games for the library, this time a few Match-3 puzzle games: Bejeweled 3, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, 7 Wonders II and the recently reviewed Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2. On the PSP front, Taito Legends: Power-Up and The Chikyuu Boueigun 2 Portable (in English, that’s The Earth Defense Forces 2 Portable). Of the puzzle games, of course Bejeweled 3 is the master class in fun, accessibility and replay value, as the game hooks you right on in from the beginning and keeps you playing thanks to its wide variety of mini-games and rewards galore as you play. The music is pretty killer as well. The two 7 Wonders games show an interesting progression, as the sequel fixes some of the issues from the first game while also adding new content.
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