Level Up! Seize the Experience!

My June issue of Nintendo Power announced yet another RPG coming for the DS, Nostalgia. Apparently the game was designed with the spirit of the older games constantly downloaded on the Wii’s Virtual Console in mind. The story is an alternate historical universe set in the 19th century. The game takes you through real regions such as London and Egypt, but it still has the fantasy element of magic that most RPG gamers (like me) crave.

The article starts off saying that the game is reminiscent of Indiana Jones, and as I read through the game synopsis and elements, I could not agree more. The game starts off with an adventurer swooping in and rescuing a damsel in distress, hauls her to his airship, but the airship crashes and the adventurer winds up missing. It’s up to his son and the rescued damsel to find out what happened to him. Along the way, they’ll use airships, magic, and discover artifacts and lost worlds. There is even a screenshot of a character running from a giant, rolling boulder.

A fantasy-based Indy game? SIGN ME UP!

Scheduled release is currently set for September of this year. I hope I can speedily finish Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days so I can quickly get my hands on this potential gem.

It was hard to believe any gaming news yesterday with it being April Fool’s, but I found confirmation today that the news stories I read about Tales are true. Huzzah!

Tales of Vesperia is indeed coming to the PlayStation 3. It’s going to have an additional character, but no news on whether the story will also be altered or added to. I haven’t bought Vesperia yet because I still haven’t played Tales of Symphonia for the Wii. (I’m still remaining true to my New Year’s resolutions: I can’t buy a game from a franchise until I complete a game.)  But I had played a demo of it, so it was on my to-buy list. Now I think I’m going to wait for it to come out for the PS3. The only thing I’ve done with the PS3 is play DVDs and watch my husband play Killzone 2.

I know that this announcement doesn’t help the PS3 and its lack of exclusive RPGs, but it’s something for now.

But there is other Tales news.

A new Tales game, Tales of Grace, will be hitting the Wii later this year too. Way to go Nintendo! That’s two RPGs for the Wii this year. We’re making improvements! I’m even more eager to finish Lost Odyssey so I can start Tales of Symphonia. I thought this year would be filled with Final Fantasy games, but it looks like Tales may fill my gaming calendar as well.

Word has it that the entire story of Final Fantasy XIII is complete along with 80% of the graphics. The development team’s current task is to refine the battle system. This means that more than likely the trailers littered across the internet are from older schematics, and so the graphic levels and gameplay are far more advanced than what we have seen so far.

This makes me happy for two reasons. One, it looks like the game will actually be on schedule. Japan will definitely receive the game this fall or early winter, and that will ensure that the US gets the release in spring of 2010 as currently predicted. At least, it’s supposed to ensure that, but we all know how these things go, unfortunately. I’m also ecstatic about this news, because it looks like we’ll be in for a real treat graphics-wise. I was already frothing about the graphics from the trailers released earlier this year, but if those are from older builds, then I can’t wait to see the high levels of detail and gorgeous Final Fantasy graphics we’ve come to expect and love.

I’m still disappointed that it’s not coming out this year in the United States, but I also need to let that go.

NIS America recently announced that Cross Edge is coming over to America this May. It’s going to be a conglomeration of characters from NIS, Capcom, Namco, and other developers in one new RPG. You can read more about it here .

At first, I was excited to hear the news. One of my wishes for 2009 was for more RPGs for the PS3, so it looked like my wish was on the verge of fulfillment. Then I found gameplay videos on YouTube. My excitement depleted faster than it arrived. The gameplay appears to be identical to Disgaea, and well hey, a few characters from Disgaea are on the roster so Disgaea fans should be very happy indeed. The graphics are also straight out of Disgaea, which is once again great for Disgaea fans, but that’s a joke for a platform as powerful as the PS3. These graphics belong on the Nintendo DS or a PlayStation 2, but not on the PlayStation 3.

At the very least, bring us the graphical content similar to Tales of Vesperia or Eternal Sonata. That’s not asking too much.

So I guess I’ll keep playing my Xbox (when I get a chance… I’m really missing playing games!) and Nintendo DS until Final Fantasy XIII comes out NEXT YEAR.

I’ve been meaning to talk about this for a long time, but what can I say… Cloud’s spikey hair and Kaim’s midriff armor keep distracting me.

Nintendo Power’s February issue was deemed as their “RPG Special,” where they raved all about all of the glorious RPGs coming to the Nintendo DS this year (oh, and they mentioned the one RPG coming for the Wii). That really didn’t catch my eye, as they really didn’t tell anything new. Sure I got to see some more screenshots and learn a little bit more about the games, but they didn’t sway my interests either way.

What did catch my eye was the little checklist the mag included with every RPG preview, listing all of (what they believe) are the typical elements of a role-playing video game. I don’t believe that the list is serious, but it is quite funny and it does kind of sum up the most famous RPGs… like well, the famous one I’m playing right now. According the Nintendo Power, the following elements make up a typical RPG: spikey-haired protagonist (please note that “the spikiness of the protagonist’s hair is up to you”), earnest/clueless female lead, amnesia a key plot point, events foretold by prophecy, random battles, orphaned party members, airship travel, underage heroes, and technology is evil.

This list has made me sit and think about the most recent RPGs I’ve played and check off the elements. Most of them have checked off the first one, because most of the RPGs I have played have been products of Squaresoft or Square Enix. I personally think that the airship travel element should be a combined with a watership element, or just written as “ship.” Kingdom Hearts had a spaceship (yes, the Gummi ship was a sad excuse for a rocket), and Lost Odyssey has a giant boat. The most annoying element: those damn orphaned kids. I know that they’re there to appeal to younger gamers, but they still annoy the hell out of me.

And is it just me, or could this list also be applied to fantasy novels? Maybe anime?

(It is interesting to also note, that one of the hailed RPGs coming to the DS, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, only satisfies one of the checklist elements. Perhaps NinPow has left off some crucial points?)

Hey PC Gamers! Heard of Steam? It’s an online alternative to buying PC games from a video game retailer from Valve. You can purchase and download PC games for the same prices as retail, and then access your downloaded games from any PC! At last, you don’t have to have a laptop to experience portable PC gaming.

Square Enix has taken notice of this innovative idea and has decided to be a part of it. They will release a PC-version of The Last Remnant on April 9, 2009, around the same time as the PlayStation 3 release. Steam has a free online demo available for the game right now. If it goes well, we could see more games from Square Enix, and therefore, plenty more RPGs.

Steam already has a pretty impressive collection of RPGs, and it’s definitely worth checking out. If nothing else, the account is free and so are any game trailers and demos for download.

America’s economic recession has been hitting the international circuit, and now it appears that Square Enix is feeling it a bit as well. Sqeunix’s stock dropped 11% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the lowest it’s been in five years. With this plummet, rumors are now circulating that Squenix may postpone releasing both Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII, although it’s more likely for Dragon Quest than Final Fantasy.

Personally, I think if Square Enix tries to push Final Fantasy XIII back any further, rabid fans will be storming the building with torches and pitchforks. Pushing back Dragon Quest — not that I’m saying there aren’t a lot of fans of this series — is probably the wiser decision. Of course, this is all speculation. None of this has been announced… yet.

Well I was at the grand unveiling at the Final Fantasy XIII game website this morning, and I watched the clock wind down to zero and then restart. After a brief moment of anger, the site cleared and a new trailer presented itself. The trailer is two and a half minutes of cut-scenes, views of gameplay, and some hints about the underlying story. The gameplay looks like it will be turn-based, like every other Final Fantasy game, and this is no real surprise. So far, the graphics look like Square Enix is proving that they still do dominate the CGI world. After their latest two releases, this is more than refreshing to see. I breathed a sigh of relief after I remembered to breathe after being so captivated by the beauty of the graphics and animation.

As for the story, it looks like another conflict either involving haves and have-nots or an anti-technology faction. You know, the usual. The game world is very reminiscent of the world from The Matrix, and whoa, these people are fighting against machines too. Although like the Final Fantasy games of the past, I’m sure this game is slightly deeper than just that. But I can only take what I can from a fast two and a half minutes.

What I have taken, though, has made me all the more excited about this latest installment in the series. I better get crackin’ at Final Fantasy VII!

Square Enix has posted a mystery countdown for Final Fantasy XIII on both their North America and Europe web sites, with no real clue what it is about other than a new vision will be revealed.  In order to find out what it is, you have to register for it and then the new vision will be announced to you on January 28th.

I’m trying to be optimistic about this new vision, but all I feel is “meh” and dread. I can’t get that excited about it, especially when I read on the Squenix blog that it’s “the first of many countdowns to come.” Countdowns for what, exactly? I know that we’re all chomping at the bit for the latest Final Fantasy installment, but are they thinking that random announcements about the new game will produce further froth at the mouth? Is this their way of trying to appease the masses since the game has been delayed?

I can’t speak for other fans, but personally, countdowns aside from the actual release of the game will do little other than annoy me. That said, it didn’t stop me from registering for the unveiling. I’m a sucker, I know.

Tune in on January 28th when I unveil the unveiling.

Square Enix announced on January 9, 2009 that they are moving up the release date for their second Xbox exclusive from March 3rd to February 24, 2009. I suppose this is Squenix’s way of announcing that they are ready to release this bad boy; by releasing it earlier than scheduled, they are showing how confident they are that this game will not have all the problems of their earlier two releases for the console. It will not seem rushed or forced, and it will not have graphics engines issues.

 I really hope that is the case, especially since it’s an installment of a popular RPG franchise. If this one exhibits as many problems as Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant did, then fans will be overly worried about another beloved franchise release: Final Fantasy XIII. And if, IF, The Last Remnant release for the PS3 fixes all of the issues from the Xbox version, I bet more PS3 versions sell than Xbox. And wasn’t Square Enix’s purpose in producing games for the Xbox to sell more games, especially Final Fantasy?

 So please. Please don’t let Star Ocean fans down, for their sake, the Xbox’s sake, and your own.