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.

Final Fantasy II (NA), also known as Final Fantasy IV, arrived on Nintendo’s Virtual Console this week ready to renew nostalgia and the confusion over the numbering system for North American Final Fantasy titles. Joining Cecil on his epic journey will set you back 800 Wii Points.

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

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.

Square Enix announced numerous additions and changes to Final Fantasy XI at VanaFest, a special event in Tokyo dedicated to the company’s eight-year-old MMORPG. These changes are set to be released throughout 2010, thus confirming that the game will remain afloat through this year.

Continue reading ‘Square Enix Announces Final Fantasy XI Additions for 2010’ »

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

It’s been a month since the release of Mass Effect 2, and Bioware has announced that a replacement for the beloved Mako is on the way. The upcoming Firewalker DLC pack will contain the Hammerhead, “a heavy assault vehicle that hovers over the battlefield” and is armed with “a guided missile system,” and five missions designed for its use.

The DLC will be free to all Cerberus Network members, and it should be out in late March.

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.

Today, Nintendo announced at the Nintendo Media Summit that it will not only be co-marketing Dragon Quest IX with Square Enix but handling the North American publication of the game as well. The company also said that the game will be out sometime this summer.

Source: Joystiq

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!).

In last week’s Famitsu, Xenoblade director Tetsuya Takahashi provided the first details on Monolith Software’s upcoming Wii RPG. It turns out that Xenoblade isn’t a part of the Xenogears and Xenosaga epoch but rather an entirely new game and universe. “Xeno” seems to be only an homage.

Continue reading ‘Monolith Software Gears Up Xenoblade As All-New Saga’ »

SEGA announced a new release date for Alpha Protocol today via its blog. The espionage RPG will be released on June 1 for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. SEGA also announced that anyone who pre-orders the game from Gamestop will receive the Exclusive Assault Pack, which includes special weapons and ammo.

Lionhead Studios recently asked its fans via its Facebook page for suggestions for Fable III merchandise. The survey is very simple and it only suggests standard items like apparel, books, mugs, toys, and a collector’s edition of the game. It also has a space for survey-takers to type in their own ideas. The actual Facebook post, however, suggests Fable III “branded condoms.”

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.