Xseed Games Has Been Busy, As You Can See Here…

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 Felghana and 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!

Xseed Games Bringing The Last Story To Wii (And You’d BETTER Buy It, Grrrr!)

 

Fans of many Japanese games (in particular, JRPGs) can be a persistently prickly bunch often to the point of working themselves up into a frenzy if they feel slighted in the slightest bit by a publisher they feel isn’t working hard or fast enough at localizing certain Japanese games (no matter how niche). However, that’s actually a good thing when we all benefit from a publisher like Xseed that can make the magic happen. One example of this is today’s surprising news that Xseed has picked up the publishing rights to Hironubu Sakagushi’s The Last Story, one of the best current-gen games on the console that has a lot of people very excited. You can ogle some more video info on the Mistwalker-developed title over at the Nintendo Direct channel (just skip ahead to 10:11 in the video and prepare to be awed).

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Sumioni: Demon Arts Coming To Vita From Xseed Spring 2012

As someone who’s into Japanese art of all types, I love it when developers are inspired by old woodblock prints, Sumi-e and textile art from the past when creating new games. While some less savvy gamers will see this Sumioni trailer and immediately think of the late Clover Studios’ wondrous Okami, in Acquire’s upcoming Vita exclusive, I see yet another in a long list of Japanese games that takes from the past and presents itself to modern gamers with an eye toward a bit of education under all that fun. Well, that’s how a bit of MY mind works, folks… Er, anyway: GO, Xseed!

Xseed Bringing Grand Knights History To North America (Go Vanillaware!)

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Even if you’re not into gaming, it’s hard not to look at a Vanillaware game and see the love and care that goes into them. While the company has only a handful of titles under their belts, each has been … Continue reading

Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls Website Goes Live

Well, alright! Xseed has set up a beautiful website for the upcoming PSN-only release and I’m loving every bit of art and info I see there. Still, with PSN possibly under attack again, will US audiences actually get to download this game? We shall see…

Update: Xseed Still Loves You, Wizardry Fans – You Just Need To Get With The Program…

Well, it looks as if Wizardry fans in the US hoping to see the upcoming Labyrinth of Lost Souls as a retail release will have to go all in on the digital version instead. I poked a note Xseed's way a few days ago and got back this reply:

Hi Greg,

Good to hear from you, and please excuse the late reply as things have been pretty busy with the launch of TiTS.*

Didn't see this article of yours before our Wizardry announcement, how funny. Unfortunately, we have no plans to release it on disc right now so no use holding a survey just yet, but perhaps we can consider something similar to Japan where the first one did so well as a digital game that they released it and its sequel together on one retail package later (of course that means sales here will have to be above expectations too for us to consider this).

Thanks for posting the news, glad you liked our announcement.

*Er, for the record… TiTS refers to The Legend of Heroes: Trails in The Sky, the new PSP role-playing epic just launched a few days ago. That acronym is banned on GameFaqs, as i amusingly found out while updating a post there with this news. My evolving thoughts over this (which may be helpful to the resolute die-hards grumbling away about a download-only release) can be distilled HERE. Read more »

Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls Set to Hit PSN This Spring (Huzzah!, But It’s Time To Start A Retail Release Petition, I Say!)


Well alrighty, then! I guess my little commentary from a few months back made the rounds at Xseed's offices or something, as the news that the publisher is in the process of localizing Acquire's PSN role-playing game for a US release over the PlayStation Network. While that Spring 2011 download-only release is in the works, I'm hoping that Xseed just does the right thing and gives us BOTH games on a disc as Wizardry Double pack (the same way they were released in Japan after their PSN debuts).

Is it nicely-written and well thought out online petition time? We shall see… in the meantime, I'm a damn happy camper with his fingers crossed. Press release below the jump – more screens, too!Read more »

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Limited Edition Box Announced

Xseed Games is determined to keep PSP and UMD-loving owners as well as JRPG fans like me happy, happy campers. While their upcoming release of Falcom's The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky will be available over PSN as a download and as a standard edition retail release for $29.99, the lovely Limited Edition will be the way to go for those who want the always cool bonus items included in these packages. Trails' omake items are shown in the pic to the left and include the game, soundtrack CD, 13 x 19.5 inch poster and a metal “Bracer Guild” badge, all in that over-sized box for $39.95. March 29, 2011 is the release date which means you should have enough time to finish Ys I & II Chronicles, right?

As a big Falcom fan, I can't wait… but I really need to stop procrastinating and get to work on that time machine (this year, there's just not enough time to play EVERY game I like that's coming out! No fair!). And yes, you can pre-order the game online through Amazon or GameStop just so you don't have to hoof it outside in this terrible weather we're having.

Game info, box art and screens below the jump.

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Ys I & II Chronicles Official Site Launches

February 22, 2011 is going to be a RIDICULOUS day for new game releases, but there’s only ONE Ys I & II Chronicles on the way, “Hair Metal” edition and all. The game’s gone gold and the official site is up and running, looks cool (as usual) and yes, you can go watch that hilarious trailer all over again and save me the trouble of re-posting it once more.

Ys I & II Chronicles Gameplay Footage Kicks It Old School

Here’s a peek at gameplay from Xseed Games’ upcoming PSP title, set for a February release. According to the latest info, players will be able to choose between three different soundtracks during gameplay – the newly arranged version (by Falcom’s in-house band done on actual instruments), the synth version from the 2001 Japan-only PC version of the game or the original chiptune versions of each track as recorded in 1987 and 1988. Excellent!