RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Say what you will about Cerberus’ tendency to create doomed projects that destroy their respective facilities, but their network doesn’t screw around. Coming courtesy of Bioware’s DLC apparatus for Mass Effect 2, players with access to the network can now download the Arc Projector, an electrical heavy weapon which can shock multiple targets.

Whether it will supplant the Cain for sheer “where did all the bad guys go?” factor remains to be seen.

Developer Sting announced this week that Blaze Union, a follow-up to their strategy RPG Yggdra Union, will be coming out May 27 in Japan on the PSP. Blaze Union is set chronologically before the events of Yggdra Union, centering on a corps of knights fighting against a corrupt emperor.

A US release has not been announced.

Source: 1UP

If you played it to completion, the safe money says you’re not forgetting Bioshock anytime soon. 2K’s recent entry into the hybrid role-playing/shooter genre is sometimes a victim of its own hype, but it never lacks for imagination and proves a fun, engaging journey all the same. Bioshock 2 brings us back to the crumbling city of Rapture, evolving the gameplay in all the right places. Sadly, the plot never quite has the legs to stand on its own, and it seems to keep forgetting that the story of Rapture – and its extremist founder Andrew Ryan – is the more interesting one. (more…)

Blogs being written material, however, sort of negates that problem. Anyway, Sega has launched a blog for their upcoming RPG Infinite Space, written from the perspective of the lead character Yuri. The blog is hosted directly on Sega’s website, available here.

In a tragedy of epic proportions, right up there with a candy bar getting stuck in a vending machine, Sakura Wars: So Long My Love has been push back from its March 23 release. The announcement comes from NISA’s Nao Zook, who stated that the game will launch the following week on March 30.

Sakura Wars will launch for both the Wii and the PS2 simultaneously.

Sega has updated the official site for Resonance of Fate with two songs from the soundtrack, free for download. The tracks, “The Beginning of Eternity” and “Resonance of Fate,” can be found under the multimedia section here.

Out already in Japan, Resonance of Fate is due for a March 16 release in North America, with a European release to follow on March 26.

Atlus has just gone live with the North American website for Hexyz Force, their upcoming PSP RPG. Curiously absent is how to pronounce “Hexyz” (heck-sees, perhaps?) but otherwise the site and more information about the game can be found here.

Hexyz Force is due for a May 25 release.

In another case of Exactly What it Says on the Tin (TV Tropes link redacted for safety purposes) downloadable content for La Pucelle Ragnarok has been announced. According to Nippon Ichi’s Japanese website, Elie/Erie from Marl Kingdom – the girl who owns the Rosenqueen store in La Pucelle – will join your party as a playable character.

More details can be found on the game’s site here, though a release date outside of Japan has not been announced.

As the title may suggest, Sega’s upcoming sci-fi RPG Infinite Space, for the Nintendo DS, has just received a North American release date of March 16. Previously known as Infinite Line, Infinite Space sees players commandeer a starship, customize it, and crew it accordingly.

The odds of it featuring a Turian making air quotes are “unlikely.”

Source: Gamespot

Going from no release date to “download now, folks” in record time is the latest DLC for Borderlands. Dubbed The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, the content promises new guns, class mods, vehicles, missions, and enemy types. Additionally, the level cap is bumped up to 61.

The content costs 800 MS funbucks for the 360. Comparable pricing for the PS3 and PC is likely, though the site has not yet been updated to reflect this. Further details, and a trailer, can be found on the DLC’s official website, located here.

Starting today, players can download the original Grandia over the Playstation Network for the PS3 and PSP. It sells for $9.99, which is sure to throw a crimp in the plans of the guy charging $144.99 for an unopened copy on eBay (Buy It Now for $155.99!).

Coming courtesy of SEGA America’s blog, the upcoming DLC for Valkyria Chronicles has just been given a release date. Titled The Challenges of the Edy Detachment, the fourth DLC installment is scheduled for a February 25 launch. Not being just a clever name, the content includes six missions set by members of the Edy Detachment; each is based around learning the finer points of sniping, shocktroopering, and other things that don’t properly end with -ing but involve a whole lot of things being blown up.

Apart from members of said detachment, players will be able to use prior Squad 7 characters in the missions..

Over the weekend, Sega and tri-Ace announced their upcoming RPG Resonance of Fate will be hitting shelves March 16. For reference, that’s one week after the release of Final Fantasy XIII. Just throwing that out there.

2010’s been a busy year for gaming so far, hasn’t it?

Source: 1UP

Bandai has just launched a Japanese website for another entry into the Fullmetal Alchemist games. Subtitled To the Promised Day, the game will launch for the PSP, though neither a release date or North American release have been announced.

The website can be found here.

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony has gone gold, according to XSEED Games, and has a North American launch date of March 2. The standard and downloadable editions will retail for $29.99, while the Limited Edition – which includes the soundtrack and bromide collector cards – is listed at $39.99.

In the press release, XSEED reminded players that those who’ve finished the demo will have bonus starting equipment for the full version.

Upcoming Atlus joint 3D Dot Game Heroes will feature a character editing system, allowing players to build their heroes from the ground up. Coming courtesy of the Playstation Blog, Atlus PR and sales manager Aram Jabbari announced that the system will let players design not only their in-game appearance, but also movement and attack animations. Jabbari also stated the North American version will come pre-stocked with more custom creations than the Japanese release, and that players can share their creations on the 3DDGH community website.

3D Dot Game Heroes is scheduled for a May 11 release.

At Microsoft’s X10 event, Peter Molyneux revealed that Fable III will feature three major changes from previous entries to the series: in-game touching, your weapon morphing along with your character, and the challenges of ruling a kingdom. (more…)

With the worldwide launch of Final Fantasy XIII drawing ever closer, Square Enix announced through the game’s Skynet Facebook page that a special 360 bundle will be released with the game. Along with the game and 360 console, the Special Edition bundle will include a 250gig hard drive engraved with the Final Fantasy XIII name, an exclusive faceplate designed by Tetsuya Nomura, two wireless controllers, and exclusive downloadable avatar items.

The bundle is available for preorder now, and will be available in stores along with the standard retail version on March 9.

Say what you will about Bioware, but they take no task lightly. By any measure Mass Effect was an epic affair, and topping that in a believable fashion – while integrating the characters and choices that made the first game meaningful – must have posed nearly countless problems for the team. To say they pulled it off is a gross understatement; Mass Effect 2 is a vast improvement over its predecessor in nearly every respect and a superb middle chapter in the series. (more…)

In a press release today, Bethesda announced the launch of their first teaser for Fallout: New Vegas, the Fallout 3 spinoff in development by Obsidian. As is often the case with teasers, little about the game proper was revealed, though a cutaway shot offered a glimpse of a surprisingly well lit Las Vegas strip. The teaser in its entirety can be found on Bethesda’s Fallout homepage.

New Vegas is confirmed for the PC, 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms, with a release planned for fall of this year.