A new character trailer has been released, this time featuring Alicia, this time however more than just the trailer has been released. The “book” style apperantly plays into the gameplay and story as the game menu is a book and the story follows a single story, likely a diary of one of the characters. In battle it is a curious mix of real time with pause and strategy, where you run around in real time but attacks are made in a paused mode and you make each unit’s move in turn using this method. Being defeated doesn’t immediatly result in death, instead the character will be “pushed down” and a medic can be called to recover them. Inbetween battles players can train their troops, and do R&D to improve weapons for the characters or upgrade the tank. An interesting tidbit is that the game can be , but apperantly does not have to be installed on the harddrive, coming in at a whopping 3.3 GB, and with load times at a paultry 15 seconds without an install one has to wonder what the point is.
Without further ado, Alicia: (more…)
Yet more Valkyria goodness. This video introduces Zaka “the Mosquito”, leader of the group. I’d be interested to learn how he got that nickname! Apperantly Zaka is also related to Isara, making it one big happy family. It should be interesting as family dynamics are rarely explored in RPGs. (more…)
Since it is just 5 days before the classic gothic-horror rougelike RPG finally hits the states, let us whet our appetite with a video.
Fair warning for those watching the video: this game is not for the feignt of heart. With a dark storyline, slower paced action gameplay and a completely unforgiving death system where you lose it all; this game is not for everyone. But if you enjoyed the Shin Megami series and Azure Dreams or Izuna this is surely one to check out.
Click Here for a new Valkyria Chronicles trailer.
Here’s a new trailer for Valkyria Chronicles. It showcases one of the main characters, Largo Potter, a gruff, ugly guy with a big gun. When I first saw screenshots for this game, I was rather turned off by the art style and the color palette, but I’ve changed my mind. It works and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s due out on the PS3 in Japan on April 24th and is slated for US release in the Fall.
I was just about to go to bed when I noticed that I had new RSS feed stuff from GAME Watch. AQ Interactive is releasing the KORG DS-10 Synthesizer in July. KORG is a very popular synthesizer and sequencer company. I grew up in a music store that had a pretty decent sized synth department, so when I saw the big KORG logo, I was immediately intrigued. Very much like a full sized keyboard, you can record tracks using different sounds and mix them all together with a built-in drum machine.
The touch screen is used to do things like input notes and change sound levels. There’s even online WiFi support for multiplayer. According to the official website, this product is being demonstrated at the Musikmesse in Germany this month, which is probably the world’s largest music trade show. And if you’re curious about how it sounds, the official site has a demo song. Pretty cool stuff.
I get all kinds of excited whenever I hear about a JRPG for the 360. I think, “Oh! My 360 will have purpose!” The official Japanese website has a trailer for download. There are two options. The first is an actual download (r-click save as…) and the second is streaming. Honestly, I tried the streaming first. Took too long. So I downloaded the 1280 x 720 and wow, it’s pretty. Crystal clear animation made my mouth water. I love the Tales of… series. Most Tales of… games seem to come out eventually in the US, so I’m crossing my fingers for this one. Nothing like playing stuff like this in HD…
The service will launch with Dr. Mario, Pokemon Ranch Channel, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Little King, Star Soldier R and some random Japanese craziness that I will detail below.
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Developed by Gust and published in the US by NIS America, Mana Khemia is a nice diversion. If you like the Atelier Iris series and Ar Tornelico, you’ll like Mana Khemia. Call me boring or a pathetic fan girl, but I think this is a good thing. There are times when I’m looking for something comfortable and familiar. Playing a game like that is like snuggling under the covers on a chilly Sunday morning and just being lazy. So if you’re looking for something different, amazing, and revolutionary, this isn’t the right choice. But if you’re into snuggling with hot chocolate, I definitely recommend checking it out.
You begin the game as Vayne, a young man with a cat companion named Sulpher. A teacher from the alchemy school invites him to be a student and so he begins his studies. On his first day of school, he befriends a super-cute, pink-haired girl, a spunky cat-girl, and a brash loser of an upperclassman. Each chapter is broken down into events and classes. In order to progress the story, you have to pass your alchemy classes. These classes might teach you combat, alchemy, or judging whether or not to run from battle. I am in the second chapter and so far, there are hints that there is something special about Vayne, but nothing concrete. There also isn’t some great evil threatening the world yet, either.
The battles are turn based, although when you get to take your turn next is determined by your actions. There is attack, defend, run away, item, and skill/magic. Instead of experience points leading to increasing levels, your points can be allocated to an alchemy grid, similar to the sphere grid in Final Fantasy X. The primary difference, however, is that in order to allocate your points, you must synthesize items, armor, or weapons using alchemy and have them either in your inventory or equipped. If you haven’t synthesized them yourself, you can’t learn the skills associated with them. As such, leveling up your character is directly determined by how far you’ve progressed in the story and what items you’ve picked up along the way. In addition to that, as you progress through a dungeon, time passes. When it becomes night time, the enemies get a LOT more difficult. Unless you’ve got a lot of skills on the grid unlocked, the night enemies are too challenging, so you have to leave, come back, and start the dungeon over. So forget grinding. It doesn’t get you anywhere. Enemies are visible on screen as you traverse the dungeon, so you can avoid them, if you’re careful. This definitely helps with the time passing issue.
The alchemy system is the basis of the game since you have to synthesize items in order to “level” your characters. Experimentation is easy and you can receive support from other characters in your party. I haven’t messed around with it that much yet, so I’m not entirely sure how the different characters can affect your outcomes. The synthesized items have qualities like “muddy” or “powdery.” I haven’t figured out how they affect the game yet, though. I haven’t found my Heal Jars to work differently based on whether they’re muddy or powdery.
The graphics are what we’ve come to expect from Gust. The enemies are the same, as are the mana. I love Punis. And the pretty boys. 
There is a Japanese voice option, thank God. The English makes me cringe. (I’m one of those Japanese voice acting purists, though…) The story so far is fluffy, but I’m guessing that it will get interesting later. I’m definitely enjoying this game, but it’s not breaking down any barriers. It’s more of what I like about Gust’s games and that’s good enough for me.
In addition to being useful for breaking windows, bashing people over the head, stabbing, driving, and other random acts of violence, you can now use the Wii Remote as a universal remote for watching television. Japanese Wii owners can download the TV Guide Channel, which will let them surf through channels, share their favorite shows with their friends, rate shows, view demographic data to see what other Wii users are watching, and receive an e-mail or SMS message 30 minutes before a show they want to watch is going to begin.
It looks like for all its “pure gaming” ideals, Nintendo is bowing to the multi-media desires of the masses with this. Still, if they were to implement this in the US, I’d be all over it. Unfortunately, I think that until cable television becomes nationally standardized (as opposed to only within a certain state or company), this cannot be a reality.
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