RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

At the Penny Arcade Expo, Bioware showed off its Dragon Age Toolset, which as the name suggests, is a developer-grade kit for user-generated content for the upcoming game Dragon Age: Origins. It will allow players the freedom to modify locations or create completely new ones. The tools will also let would-be scenario writers script their own stories for use in the game. Between the two, players will be able to create entire quests from scratch, and there will also be a special Content Creater’s Community for people to hash out their ideas and discuss. And naturally, Bioware has promised updates to the toolkit, so it will always have shiny new things to play with.

Square Enix has formally submitted an offer to Tecmo to purchase a controlling interest in the company. The deal has three major points. (more…)

Microsoft dropped a pretty big bomb when it declared that Final Fantasy XIII will not be PS3 exclusive in North America or Europe. In the Land of the Rising Sun, you’ll still need Sony to play the newest installment. There have been rumors on the internets that this final exclusivity might not actually be exclusive. To clear things up, Motomu Toriyama, director of Final Fantasy XIII had this to say:

“There will absolutely not be an Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII for Japan.”

There you have it. Square Enix is showing no love to the 360 in Japan.

Source: Kotaku

All you NISA-loving TRPG fans should be able to pick up Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice most anywhere. It officially hit stores yesterday for the slightly reduced price of $49.99. And if you pre-ordered, enjoy your official soundtrack.

The good news is Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars is coming to the Virtual Console. The bad news is it’s only going to be in the PAL territories. This is part of the Hanabi Festival in Europe, where rare, Japanese only games see a temporary release on the Virtual Console. Considering it has already graced the downloadable service in Japan, the Americas are now the only ones that don’t get to enjoy Mario’s famous ‘stache.

Source: Kotaku

Bethesda has finally set a date for the highly anticipated Fallout 3. It will hit North American shelves October 28, and amazingly enough, those in Europe will not have long to wait before they can get their hands on it. The PAL release is October 31.

The latest pages of Famitsu have some details regarding the PSP release of Parasite Eve: the 3rd Birthday. Square Enix is always happy to create new genres, and it seems this game will be a 3D gun action game. Project director Hajime Tabata called the game a “true third person shooter” and said it would be different from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. (more…)

Fans will not have to wait until the End of Time for the DS port of the time traveling classic Chrono Trigger. It will arrive in stores November 25 unless Lavos decides to be nine years late.

The Fire Emblem series makes its triumphant return to consoles with the only entry to grace the GameCube, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. The tried-and-true mechanics return with a whole new race of characters to make one of the best RPG experiences to ever grace the console. (more…)

Fire Emblem is among the longest-running RPG series today, and though each new game brings a new plot and characters, each one holds on to nearly the same mechanics. In Fire Emblem, it is a given that if characters die, they are out of the game. Permanently. One can also count on the fact swords beat axes; axes beat lances; and lances beat swords. And, interestingly enough, all weapons will break if used a set number of times. These are truths remain constant and set up the basis for Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. (more…)

Australia recently reversed its decision to deny Fallout 3 classification, essentially banning it from distribution in the country. The game had to undergo some minor censorship, but it’s not as bad as it could be. The following is directly from the report from OFLC, the committee that assigns ratings Down Under. (more…)

Natsume is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the Harvest Moon series by releasing the newest two on the same day. Of those, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for the Nintendo DS has gone gold. It will hit shelves on August 26 for $29.99, and those that pre-order will get a free chicken plush.

Atlus games are notorious for being hard to find about a week after they hit shelves. People pouring over used game bins for Disgaea or Odin Sphere will be pleased to discover these two games will be easier to find soon. Both will be joining the Greatest Hits series and getting the $19.99 price tag and red bar across the top in September.

Source: Kotaku

Final Fantasy IV is a classic RPG that has seen release on five different gaming platforms, so remaking a game that has been played by so many, and often played so many times by those people, is a particularly difficult challenge. How does one make a game that is so familiar to its fans seem fresh and new while retaining the nostalgic feel at the same time? Fortunately, the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV exceeds expectations and is a new yardstick by which to measure remakes in the future. (more…)

Asda Story is a popular MMORPG from Korea and Japan that is beginning an open beta on August 5 at 9:00 PST. To participate, players need only sign up on Gamescampus, and it’s guaranteed to be fun. (more…)

It’s Sunday again, so it’s time for another round of our Current Quests. (more…)

Square Enix’s DKΣ3713 event has been full of good news for Japanese gamers, and most of it will probably end up as good news for North Americans. The biggest news thus far is that when Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children finally comes to Japanese Blu-Ray in March, it will include a playable demo of Final Fantasy XIII for the PlayStation 3 along with new videos of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy XIII Agito on the disc. Square Enix has not announced any plans for the North American Blu-Ray release, but those willing to pay import price will be in luck. Japan and North America are in the same region when it comes to movies, and games are region free. (more…)

NISA has confirmed via press release that more diving, singing, and sword-swinging action will be coming to North American PS2s this December.
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It was recently revealed that Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha was getting a sequel. Our lovely in-house translator took a few looks at the magazine and has dished out the goods. (more…)

In news that should shock absolutely no one, Dragon Quest V shipped over one million copies in under two weeks in Japan. Considering the fact that Japan loves Dragon Quest and the DS, it’s kind of surprising it took this long. Dragon Quest IV performed similarly well when it saw its release in November of last year, and Dragon Quest VI has yet to see release. All three games are coming to North America, with Dragon Quest IV hitting our shelves on September 16.

Source: IT Media