We must admit, we were curious about the state of the Marvelous/XSEED relationship when we found out that Ignition had grabbed the publishing rights for Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The two companies seem to be doing okay, though, because XSEED just announced that it will publish Valhalla Knights: Eldar Sagafor the Wii in North America this summer. Rising Star previously announced it will handle European publishing.
This will be the first console entry for the formerly PSP-exclusive series, and adds two-player online coop to the series’ action-RPG gameplay. Unlike the PSP games, this version lacks separate battle screens, with real-time battles taking place on the main world map.
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.
We’re going to take the rest of the day off. We just uploaded a ton of new screens of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, and we just need a little mini-vacation to stare at them. We are always surprised when we see this game again and realize that it’s even more beautiful than we remember it being. This is what it feels like to care about graphics. We totally understand it. The gorgeousboxart is also in the gallery.
If you’re as awestruck by the backgrounds as we are, you should have a look around the newly redesigned website (updated in anticipation of the April 9 Japanese release date), which has character/UI-free background images. Marvelous also added a new trailer to the page, which we’ve embedded after the break.
Apparently, there will be some sort of preorder bonus for the Japanese version, an unknown item that will show off the character art and other artwork. A poster? Art book? Whatever it is, we want it.
We’re completely dying of charm here. The TGS trailer for Cing’s Little King’s Story has dialed the quirky adorableness to levels that are potentially hazardous to human sanity. Look at Howser the Bullknight and his faithful companion, Pancho! One of the job classes is “Carefree Adult!”
Seriously, every aspect of this game has been designed by Science to melt hearts and fill the air with joyous laughter. We’re going to have to do our very best to overcome our natural aversion to games about ordering a bunch of people to build stuff for you and try this. Speaking of which, we’re looking forward to finally reading more hands-on impressions from TGS!
The official website for Bokujou Monogatari: Waku Waku Animal March has updated with new screens and art of all the super-adorable animals that will be featured — the ones above can even be kept as pets. But even more heartwarming than cartoon pandas is the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection logo on the front page. The game supports WiiConnect24 in some as-yet-unspecified way — sharing crops? Sending pictures of yourself riding a goat along the beach?
Marvelous has also announced the Japanese release date: October 30. Since this is a Harvest Moon game, we expect Natsume to pick it up for release here, but they’ve got to finish with Tree of Tranquility first. Less likely to leave Japan is the promotional campaign associated with Animal March, in which lucky winners will receive Harvest Moon stickers … or yogurt.
The two companies have partnered to bring Little King’s Story — not to be confused with Square Enix’s somewhat similar strategy title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King — to the states this winter. Hopefully, the charming looking game won’t be lost amid all the other holiday releases.
Quick primer on the game: You play as Corobo, a shy boy who stumbles upon a crown in a nearby forest. Corobo discovers that with the crown, he can charm anyone in his village and give them orders. Howzer, a bull-knight, soon stops by and tells the kid that he’s now the king of the village and that it’s his responsibility to lead the hamlet into building a grand kingdom. Bring your scepter into the gallery below for some kingdom-building screenshots!
An announcement on the No More Heroes website says that during November and December, a Sylvia Christel cosplay event called "PLAYSYLVIA" will be featured. In the "web cosplay event," gravure idols will dress up as Sylvia and then do what they do best -- be photographed. If you like to see girls who look sort of like fictional characters, you will no doubt be pleased with this.
Could this be inspired by the amazing Travis Touchdown cosplay we featured yesterday? Probably not! It takes more than a few hours to plan an inititative like that and hire models and photographers and stuff. Also Grasshopper Manufacture seems to be pretty in tune with their target audience (otaku) and having pretty girls dress up as one of the characters is basic marketing for otaku stuff.
Check after the break for this week's new No More Heroes videos! They are comical, and also (as usual) very short.
We've had some pretty messed up dreams in our time -- like that one where we drove through the mall in a robot octopus to pick up girls, beckoning eight of them at a time with our come-hither, mechanical arms -- so it's no small feat exceeding our sleeping imaginations. This trailer for King Story (Project O) does just that, however, seducing us in just its first fifteen seconds with an arrangement of Maurice Ravel's "Boléro."
The three-minute English trailer goes over a lot of what was already revealed in yesterday's site update, but the accompanying cartoon has more charm to it than a box of leprechaun cereal. In-game clips show off your cheering villagers, town building and maintenance, and even some combat with a spicy dragon! If this RPG/sim wasn't a "must buy" for you before, it should be now.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Though we haven't forgotten about the low-key releases, we've collected a selection of games and media to ensure that these titles stay on your mind too! Read on for our top ten list of awesome 2008 games that you totally forgot about!
Though we haven't forgotten about the low-key releases, we've collected a selection of games and media to ensure that these titles stay on your mind too! Read on for our top ten list of awesome 2008 games that you totally forgot about!
XSEED publishing Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga this summer originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 May 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
