The Marvelous/XSEED publishing superteam has announced a release date for Matrix Software’s action RPG Avalon Code. Should you RPG fans finish Blue Dragon Plus and Legacy of Ys this week, you’ll still have Avalon Code to look forward to on March 10.
Avalon Code tasks players with filling a magical “Book of Prophecy” with monsters, people, and everything else found throughout the world. Once profiled, the pages from this book can then be used to alter the game world and “influence a myriad of parameters from monster attributes to weapon strength.” The book is also useful for identifying stats and elemental weaknesses about monsters you encounter.
No, this is not a hyperviolent sequel to Endless Ocean (though that might be kind of awesome, until PETA got wind of it and freaked out), but rather a little underwater adventuring — or hunting, if you will — in Monster Hunter 3 (tri-).
In these latest screens, our dear Hunter is faced with an underwater beast of epic proportions that might just be a very large, distant, and pissed-off cousin to the electric eel. There’s lightning, anyway. And teeth. Big, sharp, point teeth.
Not that we’re complaining! Monster Hunter 3 (tri-)will probably launch in Japan next year, but first the port-happy Capcom wants to get you in the mood/tide you over with … more Monster Hunter! Famitsu reveals that Monster Hunter G, an extra frills edition of the first Monster Hunter game, will be coming to Japanese Wiis in the spring.
The Wii version, which Famitsu says (with ridiculous specifity) is 77% complete, will allow you to choose from PS2 or PSP controls, has widescreen support, and is apparently a near-identical port. Will we see this in places that aren’t Japan? We hope so! The title already came to the west (as Monster Hunter Freedom), but only on the PSP.
In Japan, the Monster Hunter series is one of the most successful game franchises in history, selling millions of copies on the PlayStation 2 and (especially) PSP. But outside of Japan, it’s that one action RPG from Capcom or something. It’s far from the system-selling sensation it is for Capcom of Japan — over there, it sells PSP systems.
Is the Wii version enough to change that in North America (if it even comes out in North America)? Has your interest in the Monster Hunter games been increased at all by the existence of a Wii version?
Nintendo's going to have to divert every Wii shipment straight to Japan for this one. The Monster Hunter series, while certainly doing decent business in the U.S., is an absolute sales monster in Japan. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd on the PSP sold half a million copies on its first day and became the first million-selling PSP game in Japan.
Monster Hunter 3 was previously announced for the PS3, but Capcom has now changed their plan and announced it as a Wii exclusive. Without the barrier of having to buy a new $500+ system, Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) (that's the official title-- we don't know either!) should be quite the hit. An important part of the Monster Hunter experience is online play. We expect such a feature will appear on the Wii, though we don't look forward to seeing how the game will integrate friend codes.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Mark it in your datebook: Avalon Code coming March 10 originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
