Another of the games shown in video-only form at Nintendo's recent North American media summit, Mario and Luigi 3 (or Mario and Luigi RPG 3, depending on who you ask) is the latest chapter in Intelligent Systems' superb action-RPG series, and the second on DS.
This outing adds Bowser as a playable character, and, from what we saw (and you can see in the above video), Mario's long-time nemesis brings some nasty power-moves to the party. It also looks like players will control him solo, rather than throwing him into a three-character combat system. That's okay with us; as long as IS keeps coming up with cool gameplay mechanics using both Mario bros. and crafting a zany story to compliment them, we're there.
The latest issue of Japanese gaming supermag, Famitsu, had a welcome surprise for fans of Nintendo's three-DVD-wide home console -- the announcement of Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga for the Wii. Gamekyo originally posted scans of the article announcing the title, translating a few key features of the former PSP series' Wii-imagining -- chief among these being an online co-op mode using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. While the PSP version of Valhalla Knightsreceived middling reviews, we remain, as ever, cautiously optimistic about any RPG offerings for the Wii -- though considering the game is about 70 percent complete and not due out in Japan until next year, it may be a while before we get our hands on it.
Square Enix's The Last Remnant will be available in a special edition Xbox 360 bundle when it launches Nov. 20 in Japan. The box comes with the standard stuff, but includes DVD remote, game, faceplate and soundtrack CD for around $331 - the bundle saves about $30 off the cost of the standalone game plus system.
As Microsoft reaches for the million Xbox 360 sold mark in Japan, we're already prepared for another sales surge anomaly when The Last Remnant releases late next month. We've seen Microsoft's console receive a sales spike twice recently with exclusive JRPG releases of Tales of Vesperia and Infinite Undiscovery. However, unlike those other titles, The Last Remnant is not an Xbox 360 exclusive and will be available on PS3 at a later date.
Lionhead Studios' latest developer diary hits a high note covering the audio of Fable 2. Music and sound effects are detailed for most of the piece, but the last section features British actors using those adorable accents of theirs. Prolific actor Stephen Fry, who is also the narrator of LittleBigPlanet, makes an appearance in there, and you may recognize some of the other actors as well. Check it out after the break.
For PS3 owners somehow unacquainted with Puzzle Quest, we suggest stocking up on antibiotics and extra time. D3Publisher has revealed plans to bring not only the original Puzzle Quest but also its recent fan-named expansion, Revenge of the Plague Lord, to the PlayStation Store this winter, a move that according to our calculations will make it scientifically impossible not to have lost sleep playing the puzzle-RPG hybrid.
Both titles will be released as a single purchase and download, though the publisher has not announced how much the time sink combo will cost. We're currently waiting to hear back from our man on the street, who's diligently checking the alleys to see how much a twofer of digital crack goes for these days, anyway.
At last, some good news for those gentlemen and noble women who believe battles are best waged in a polite, turn-based fashion. Nintendo has revealed that its cherished Fire Emblem series will see a new installment arrive on the DS, sometime during the first half of 2009. Well, a new-ish installment.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a remake of the original NES / Famicom game, albeit one packed with extra DS content. Nintendo has promised two new scenarios, six difficulty levels, and one-on-one Wi-Fi play, along with full voice chat when playing online (and yes, online play is a series first) or via local wireless. You'll also be able loan out your units to other players via Wi-Fi -- when you get them back, they'll retain all of the EXP, etc. gained while your friends have been using them.
Would you try not to get our dudes killed, okay, hypothetical friend?
Curse you, "supply chain issues!" You can blame them for the undignified nerfing of the Fable 2 Limited Collector's Edition, which will now ship sans Fate Cards, adorable Hobbe figure and splendid, premium box. Thankfully, the reduction also affects the package's price, which will go down by $10 to $69.99 (£39.99 for our UK chums). It will still include a "making-of" DVD and the bonus in-game dungeon, weapon and Spartan armor.
To make up for the loss, Lionhead Studios has offered a downloadable Fable soundtrack. To obtain the tunes, visit sumthingdigital as of October 6th and enter "FableCollection" as a promotion code.
The latest Famitsu has some info on one of those nine unannounced PS3 games coming from Sony and to be shown off at TGS next week. Demon's Souls is a single-player, fantasy-themed action-RPG being developed by From Software (and directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, of Armored Core fame), and published by SCEJ. Though it's a new IP, the game's director and SCE producer mention From Software's RPG series King's Field – perhaps a spiritual successor of some kind? Demon's Souls will be playable at TGS, so we'll find out then, okay?
After almost two years of waiting, Square Enix has datedDragon Quest IX. Sort of. Staying true to its previous promise of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, the company plans to launch the game in Japan sometime next March (Protip: If you don't know Japanese, just keep an eye out for 2009年3月). No international release has been set, but we're willing to bet the game will see a US release before the impending 2012 apocalypse. Square Enix is hosting a 90-minute Dragon Quest session each day at this month's Tokyo Game Show.
Square Enix has revealed a new chapter in the long-titled Final Fantasy sub-series, Crystal Chronicles. According to the latest issue of Shonen Jump (via Gamekyo) FF:CC:Echoes of Time is coming January 29 in Japan for both Wii and DS. The game will allow DS and Wii users to play alongside one another simultaneously, and will enable Mii characters to be used in the DS version.
No other details are provided, but given the timing of this issue, we'd be surprised not to see Echoes of Time at this month's Tokyo Game Show.
A mere 27 days from now, many of you will – as we've had a chance to – be taking your first steps outside of Vault 101 and into the Wasteland. As your eyes adjust to the unfamiliar, natural daylight, you'll be greeted by a sweeping vista of ... utter ruin.
We spent just over four hours utterly absorbed in the spectacularly bleak world of Fallout 3, sticking purely to side-quests and generally getting a lay of the land; its people, places, and many irradiated things. What you're about to read is our account of what we saw, shot at, and ran screaming from during our (all-too-brief) time with the near-completed game.
Lionhead CEO Peter Molyneux is saying that Fable 2's online co-op could be available on launch day. Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog announced over the weekend that the feature would not be available at launch, but should be auto-patched in later, hopefully within a week.
Speaking at a video game festival in Paris yesterday, Molyneux allegedly said that Fable 2 would include online co-op at launch, though clarified today that he could not confirm the timing, saying the team had an "ambition" for a day one patch. Having that wiggle room of a week would probably be best for Lionhead, but we're happy to take the online patch at launch too.
We were positively thrilled when Lionhead announced at E3 2008 that their upcoming peasant-murdering, prophylactic-infused RPG, Fable 2, would allow us to murder said peasants with friends in distant lands via an online co-op mode. Unfortunately, a recent post on Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog made a disheartening declaration -- while the local co-op remains in tact, the developer is "still making tweaks" to the game's online mode, so it won't be included with the title come launch day.
Before you swear off Molyneux's highly anticipated brainchild, know that later in the same post, it's explained that the feature will come to the title in an auto-update -- Lionhead and Microsoft Game Studios are hoping to make it available within a week of the title's North American launch. We're just glad to know that Fable 2's online co-op mode didn't go the way of the real-time growing trees.
While coding away on its PS3-exclusive RPG, White Knight Story, not to mention the newly revealed DS project with the animators at Studio Ghibli, and two DS sequels, Japanese dev Level-5 somehow still has time left in the day to work on two more PSP titles. Who needs sleep, anyway?
A new Famitsu scan reveals that the studio behind 2007's Jeanne d'arc is developing a new scare-tastic RPG for the PSP called Ushiro, in which players will step into the boots of a shinigami, or God of Death in order to battle monsters and -- oddly -- help grant people's wishes. Dambol Senki (translated as "Cardboard War Machine") is described as an RPG in which you're tasked with building a small robot (called an LBX) and battling against other LBXs you encouter around ten. Little beyond this is known about what Level-5 has planned, though with TGS bearing down on us like a runaway scythe, we wish hope we'll find out more soon.
Original Fallout designer Chris Taylor – not to be confused for Total Annihilation and Dungeon Siege designer Chris Taylor – has re-upped with his former employer Interplay to work on unannounced MMO "Project V13," currently in development with several other members of the Fallout team.
While Interplay isn't coming out and saying it, all signs point to this being the Fallout MMO. Besides the Fallout-infused dev team, the company itself reaffirmed plans for the game last April. Even the logo bears resemblance of the Fallout aesthetic, and V13 could stand for either "V13" or if you interpret 13 as a 1337 version of "B", you have Project VB, the initials of which make the codename for Interplay's Fallout 3 (i.e. Project Van Buren) from before Bethesda took the reins. If Interplay's looking to ride next month's Fallout 3 hype train, we'll know more soon enough.
Conduit, Mad World and more: All our hands-on impression from Nintendo Fall Media Summit 08
Joystiq at E for All, the highlights and lowlights
Nintendo officially unveils Nintendo DSi and online store, coming Nov 1 in Japan for $180
Nintendo DSi vs. PSP-3000 vs. iPod Touch, v1.0
Joyswag: The Video Games Live Album
Listen to the Joystiq podcast (because your ears can't read)
Posts in category rpgs
At last, some good news for those gentlemen and noble women who believe battles are best waged in a polite, turn-based fashion. Nintendo has revealed that its cherished Fire Emblem series will see a new installment arrive on the DS, sometime during the first half of 2009. Well, a new-ish installment.
