RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Famitsu recently revealed that a sequel to Valkyria Chronicles is in the works. Unlike its predecessor, which was for the PS3, Valkyria Chronicles 2: The Gallia Royal Military Academy will be for the PSP.

Set two years after the events of the first game, Valkyria Chronicles 2 follows the story of military cadets dispatched to suppress an insurrection in the southern part of the country. And you thought your final exams were rough! A release date hasn’t been announced, but the game will be out in Japan sometime this winter.

Sources: Famitsu, Kotaku

Atlus recently put up a strange teaser site with a standard-issue announcement-of-an-announcement and a scrambled image. Nosy little investigative reporters have delved into the site’s source code and discovered the text “Shin Megami Tensei: STRANGE JOURNEY 10.08.” Atlus will clarify this on July 24 when they officially announce what the game is.

Until then, you can pass the time by interacting with the scrambled image. You can click on each square and drag it to the side to reveal the picture beneath.

But if you don’t have time to fritter away with the site, you can simply click on the cut to find out what it is.

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Lots of people and companies are on Twitter these days, including Bioware, which recently revealed the contents of the upcoming Collector’s Edition of Dragon Age: Origins via a link to GameStop on its Twitter feed.

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In a press release posted on its forums, Riot Games has announced that its upcoming multiplayer session-based online game League of Legends: Clash of Fates will be free-to-play. Advancing in the game is free too; players can earn points to spend on special bonuses for their characters through hard work and dedication in sessions. For those who truly want to spend real money on virtual items, the game has optional microtransactions for certain content enhancements.

Riot Games has also announced the League of Legends Collector’s Pack, which will retail for $29.99. It includes extra goodies like unique Champion skins, free character power-ups, and some free points for microtransactions. If you pre-order with the game’s official site, GameStop, or Best Buy, you’ll receive an additional Champion skin.

The company has also invited everyone who’s interested in League of Legends to join a live chat on their website on Friday, July 17 from 2-4PM PDT.

Citizens of Earth, Bethesda has announced that the final Fallout 3 DLC pack, Mothership Zeta, is on its way to the Xbox 360 and PC.

In Mothership Zeta, an alien ship visits the Capital Wasteland and beams the player’s character on board. The objective is to explore the ship, test out strange alien technology, and team up with people from Earth’s past and present to welcome the space-faring visitors in true Fallout 3 style. The DLC will introduce new gear, such as the Alien Atomizer, the Drone Cannon, and the Gemini-Era spacesuit.

Mothership Zeta will land on the Xbox 360 and PC on August 3, and the experience of an alien abduction can be yours for only 800 points.

The upcoming PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia is heating up like a sidewalk in the summer sun. The Japanese demo for the game will hit the PlayStation Store on July 13. It has also been announced that the full version of the game will include swimwear for the game’s characters.

Sources: Kotaku, Dengeki

Pokémon Heart Gold and Silver Soul pre-order goodies for Japan have been confirmed. Heart Gold pre-orders will include a Ho-Oh figurine, and Silver Soul pre-orders will include a Lugia figurine. If you have the yen to throw aroun, you can pre-order both versions and receive an Arceus figure.

Source: Kotaku

The latest issue of Famitsu has revealed that yet another Rune Factory title is in the works, this time for the Nintendo DS. Entitled Rune Factory 3, it has a couple of new special features. The first is an item called the Transformation Belt. By donning this piece of gear in battle or in town, the main character, Maisu, will be able to turn into a monster. Townspeople will react differently to him while he’s a monster, and he’ll also gain special combat abilities.

Another new addition will be special seeds called active seeds. These seeds, once planted, start growing immediately and will mature into a plant monster that will fight along side the main character.

Source: Famitsu, IGN

Translation: Adrienne Beck

Since we first reported on Summon Night X: Tears Crown back in November, we haven’t heard much about it. It was due out in February of this year but never made it to Japanese stores. Now Dengeki is reporting that the Nintendo DS game is still very much alive and ready to make its new Japanese release date of November 5.

Summon Night X: Tears Crown is more of a straight-up RPG than its predecessors. Many of the series’ well-known features like monster summoning and night-time conversations will remain unchanged, but new RPG staples such as a random-encounter battles, turn-based combat, field maps, and dungeon exploring will be added.

Source: Dengeki

Translation: Adrienne Beck

Sega recently revealed that its Nintendo DS RPG Infinite Space will be released in North America in the spring of 2010. In the meantime, check out the shiny anime trailer.

According to a post on Bioware’s Mass Effect forums by lead designer Preston Watamaniuk, Mass Effect 2 will not have the same so-called “new game +” feature that its predecessor had.

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Nippon Ichi has posted a teaser site for Last Rebellion, its upcoming PS3-exclusive RPG. The site only features the game’s logo and a spirited folk-rock theme song.

However, unlike Square Enix with its teaser site tactics, NISA has already released news and screenshots for The Last Rebellion. According to the press release, Last Rebellion has “[a] story of revenge featuring a dark anti-hero.” Gameplay will consist of action-game field movement and turn-based combat. Players can switch between Nine, a male character who specializes in physical attacks, and Aisha, a female mage who attacks and disables enemies with spells. In battle, the characters can target different parts of the enemies’ bodies, like in Vagrant Story and Fallout 3.

Last Rebellion will be released sometime this fall.

If you like to make multiple save files while playing a Dragon Quest game (or any RPG for that matter), we have some bad news for you. According to the game’s packaging, Dragon Quest IX will allow only one save at a time. This also spells trouble for any siblings who will be stuck sharing one copy of the game.

Source: Kotaku

Nintendo has announced that the upcoming Nintendo DS remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver will arrive in Japanese stores on September 12. The games will be bundled with a PokeWalker, a special kind of device that counts the user’s steps (like a pedometer) and then sends the data to the game. The purpose of the PokeWalker is not clear at this time, but it seems to play a key role in gameplay. The addition of the device will not alter the price tag, however; the bundle will cost 4,980 yen, the same as any other Pokémon title.

A North American release has not been announced.

Source: Siliconera

When it comes to teaser sites, Square Enix always has a flair for the dramatic. The company’s latest offering emerged sometime last week as a simple drawing of a landscape, a countdown timer, and the number 4. Over the last few days as the timer has ticked down, the drawing has evolved to include a dragon and a boy with a sword. There’s also some 8-bit style music playing in the background.

It’s anyone’s guess as to what this game could be, but we won’t know for sure until the countdown ends on July 6.

According to a news post on the official Warhammer Online website, EA has combined game development studios BioWare and Mythic Entertainment into one entity for the sake of “restructuring” its RPG and MMO development.

BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk will become the group creative officer for the RPG/MMO development studio, and Mythic co-founder Rob Denton will become Mythic’s general manager. Both will report to BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka, who will become general manager of the newly formed RPG/MMO development studio group.

BioWare’s operations remain largely unfazed as the studio operations will be the same, but Mythic has suffered one casualty. Mythic’s current general manager, Mark Jacobs, left the company yesterday and will not be a part of the merged studios. His future plans are unknown, and it is not clear whether he willingly left or was handed a pink slip.

Those who are playing Cross Edge may be interested in three free downloadable packs that just hit the PlayStation Store. The Departure Pack has free basic healing items, the Wanderer Pack has free stronger healing items, and the Power-up Pack has free ability-enhancing items. Any of these should give players the edge they need in combat. Did we mention that all of these are free?

Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games recently joined hands in friendship and announced that they are releasing Bioshock and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion as a bundle on July 7. The Xbox 360 version has a price tag of $39.99, and the PC version sells for a bit less at $29.99.

Hoping that this next gig will make things all better, Marvelous Interactive has promised a plethora of changes in the upcoming makeover of Valhalla Knights 2, branded as Valhalla Knights 2: Battle Stance. These changes were recently outlined in a lengthy feature in Famitsu.

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Famitsu has revealed the identities of the lead characters for the next addition to the Tales series. The hero is a young man named Asbel, and the heroine is a nice, quiet girl named Sophie. Even though her name refers to the Greek word for “knowledge,” Sophie is an amnesiac. Such are the perils of plot devices. The game’s story will focus on the themes of love and honor.

Tales of Graces will be out in Japan this winter for the Nintendo Wii.

Source: Famitsu

Translation: Adrienne Beck