Category: anime

TGS 2017 Trailers: Left Alive and more

Left Alive:

A new intellectual property (IP) from Square-Enix. The details and directing staff have hyped up many fans of Mech games. Set in Novo Slava, Russia in the future, humanity has apparently not learned about allowing something to live or die. The trailer doesn’t show much but there are actual gameplay and in-game cutscenes. Surprisingly, it shows 3rd person shooting aspects against the Wazers (mechs). If you’re interested in more of the game, click here.

Hokuto Ga Gotoku:

Yakuza developers are working on a new Fist of the North Star game. Based off the hit classic manga, you play as Kenshiro, master of the assassination art: “Hokuto Shinken.” Although the trailer doesn’t reveal much, it is a free roaming game similar to the Yakuza series. You’ll explore the towns and fight random thugs, bandits, and thieves and murder anybody in your way. Many of the kills are censored for the Japanese audience. Similar to the Yakuza series, you’ll also do random side jobs that will seem out of character such as work in bars and mingle with people. It is set for Japan in 2018.

More updates coming soon

Best of TGS 2017

Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2017 was a great show for PlayStation. This show is directed towards Japan’s audience and many Japanese RPG games were shown. Standout winner for TGS is Square-Enix. Here are the highlight games from the show:

Left Alive:

A new Role-Playing Game from Square-Enix is a Dystopia Mech Robot game. Fans of Japanese mecha series will be excited as the game is being produced by Front Mission series’ Shinji Hashimoto, directed by the Armored Core series’ Toshifumi Nabeshima, and featuring character designs by the Metal Gear series’ Yoji Shinkawa. Some Wanzer (mecha) designs will be done by Mobile Suit Gundam 00‘s Takayuki Yanase.

You’ll play and switch between three protagonists. Left Alive is a survival based shooters revolving around gunplay and traps. The world setting is actually between Front Mission 5 and Front Mission Evolved. Progression in the story is determined by the player and there are several different outcomes that can affect the one main ending. You won’t be able to customize your Wazer but you can customize weapons with materials. It is stated to be an offline experience with some online experience that hasn’t been explained yet. If you’re a fan of the Front Mission series, Producer Shinji Hashimoto: “We wanted to make a Front Mission with a new lineup. We started this new title to see Front Mission in a slightly different perspective. Square Enix wanted to convey the feeling that we cherish Front Mission.” Left Alive is planned for a 2018 release.

Monster Hunter: World

Fans of Monster Hunter will finally have their mainstream console hunting game. Set for January 26th, 2018 release. The game will obviously include new monsters and environments. Pukei-Pukei and Nergigante, as well as the Coral Highlands stage and Astera, the base of operations for the Research Commission, are new areas show in the trailer.

For $69.99, the Deluxe Digital edition will come with the game, Samurai Set skin, three gestures, two sticker sets, plus an extra face paint and hairstyle option for the hunter. The PS4 deluxe edition will also come with 14 Weapon Avatars. The Physical Edition is $149.99 and comes with everything above and 32 hard page art book, monster statue, and a digital soundtrack.

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain

You’ve probably heard of the Earth Defense Force series before and may have found a few copies at random game stores. There are currently 4 main releases and a 5th one coming this December in Japan. Iron Rain is set to release in 2018 which features a dark tone for the series although it still revolves around humans fighting giant ants, robots, and aliens with guns and mechas.

 

Final Fantasy IX:

Final Fantasy IX has been released for the PlayStation 4 today worldwide. It is a higher resolution version with improved cutscenes and character models, trophy support, and cheats that allow you to skip random battles, high-speed mode, and master all abilities for armors and weapons, and give you max levels, magic stones for summons, and gil. The cheat options are great for players who’ve finished FF9 (like myself). There is currently a deal for US PlayStation store for the game. The price is $16.79 and includes several avatars and a PlayStation Theme until September 26th.

Sources:

Gematsu 2
Polygon 2

 

 

 

 

Yoko Taro saves Platinum Games

1Yoko Taro, director of NieR, has been announced as the saviour of Platinum games (Bayonetta, Vanquish, Metal Gear: Rising). NieR Automata released early 2017 and received mass praise. It sold extremely well despite the competition against Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Persona 5. It sold 1 million units and sold 7x the amount of its predecessor’s (NieR) first 7 months in Japan. It may not seem like a huge deal but it was for Platinum.

Scalebound cover art.jpgLast year, Microsoft announced their cancellation of Scalebound. Scalebound was a huge project collaborated with Platinum games. It was meant to be an exclusive for the Xbox One and also be Platinum‘s first entry into making a huge game project. Most Platinum games are licensed or contract work such as the Legend of Korra, Transformers: Devastation, and Metal Gear: Rising. Unfortunately, there was a lack of progress or announcements from Microsoft or Platinum regarding Scalebound. Eventually, the plan was cut and Platinum loss a huge amount of funding.

 

According to Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101 director and professional Twitter master Hideki Kamiya, Nier Automata and Yoko Taro single handily saved Platinum.

“Nier’s success has to this point given Platinum a new fanbase, a growing staff, a brilliant success story, an increase in qualified job applicants, and a great benefit,” Kamiya said on Twitter

“Normally, I can’t help but do everything by myself… it’s a pitiful story, but to say that Yoko-san saved Platinum would not be an exaggeration. I cannot thank him enough.”(translation via NeoGAF user BRSxIgnition).

Opinion:

The original NieR was a cult classic but the sequel: NieR Automata has received mass praise. Considered one of the best games of the year, it is extremely impressive for Platinum studio as well as Yoko Taro‘s creative works who are generally producing good games but lack popularity. Hopefully, this leads to more work for Platinum and gives companies bigger trust in Yoko Taro’s directing.

Source: Eurogamer Gamespot

Persona Game Overload

If you love Persona, Atlus and P Studio has more games for you. Three spin-offs have been announced for the main franchise. For Rhythm Game Fans (Dance Dance Revolution, Rock Band, Hatsune Miku), Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night. While they definitely don’t keep the same theme as their original games, they are non-canonical stories. Persona 4: Dancing All Night had a story for the game, so it’ll be interesting to see what the developers have in store for Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night. Persona 5 had a reference to a character in Persona 4: Dancing All Night but no other mentions. They will release for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2018 for Japan.

Also, P Studio also announced Persona Q2, a sequel to the Nintendo 3DS Etrian Odyssey type game: Persona Q. All that has been shown is the logo which alludes to Persona 5 characters. The original was a connection story for Persona 3 and 4.

Sources: Polygon Eurogamer