RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

With Disgaea D2‘s announcement still warm from the oven, producer Shogo Kozakai released a few general details. As mentioned before, the game follows the original Disgaea and its eccentric core cast, with Laharl again at center stage. D2 will apparently scale back the content somewhat, reacting to fan feedback that Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten was a bit too large.

The team originally considered remaking the original, but eventually settled upon a new story. Kozakai indicated this may be the start of a new subseries, as Disgaea 5 has also been confirmed to be in development. D2 will hit Japanese PS3s on March 20 of next year.

Source: Source: Gematsu

This week’s Dengeki PlayStation has revealed the release date for Valhalla Knights 3 as January 31. At present, no release outside of Japan has been announced.

Source: Gematsu

Square Enix has announced that the Wii U beta test for Dragon Quest X will start in February, with vouchers for the beta to be included with Wii U Premium Set editions. As the Wii and Wii U playerbase will share the same server, Wii character data can be imported to the Wii U.

DQX is set to launch on the Wii U sometime next year.

Source: Gematsu

As the title subtly suggests, developer Ackkstudios will be releasing their Kickstarter-funded title Two Brothers on the Wii U’s eShop in 2013. Already available on PC, 360, and OSX, the retro styled action RPG is currently “in the early stages” of the porting process.

The developer is also working on a second RPG, which will share a visual influence by Earthbound and The World Ends With You. It is not yet titled, nor has a platform been decided; the game will be revealed at PAX East in March.

Source: Gematsu

It all started with a badly timed bald joke.

Continue reading ‘Mass Media 11/03/12’ »

Namco Bandai’s next Tales escapade comes in the form of Tales of Hearts R, a Vita remake set for a Spring 2013 release in Japan. As is customary, the remake will include new events, full voice acting, and Calcedoni as a new party member.

For the curious, the official site is now live and located here.

With the cut-off for saved character data already past (October 31), Final Fantasy XIV itself will be taken offline for the Realm Reborn changeover starting November 11. The first of four waves of alpha testing on ARR is now underway, and current active players can join the alpha test by applying here.

Source: Gematsu

Via the latest issue of Jump, a 3DS remake of Dragon Quest VII is confirmed to be in development. While few details are available at this time, the game is planned to release in February 2013.

Source: Gematsu

A retail listing on Amazon Germany preemptively revealed a Premium Edition for Skyrim, planned to launch in December. Bethesda has since confirmed the listing, though regarding the release date, a spokesperson said only that details are coming soon. The package reportedly includes a world map, t-shirt with the Empire insignia, an Elder Scrolls novel titled “Hell City,” and six concept art postcards. Notably absent from the listing was any mention of DLC.

Source: Eurogamer

Vita redux Persona 4: Golden has been given a tentative release date of February 20 in North America, with the European release following on the 22nd; The publisher has noted that this date could be changed if necessary.

Source: Eurogamer

Wild ARMs series playthrough in progress!

Continue reading ‘Mass Media 10/28/12’ »

With last year’s orchestral album based on video game music under their belt, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is putting together a second one. The tellingly-named Greatest Video Game Music 2 launches on November 6, and includes the following tracklist:

Continue reading ‘London Philharmonic Composes Second Game Music Album’ »

Amidst the Edmonton Comic & Entertainment Expo, BioWare unveiled a few more choice bits regarding Dragon Age 3: Inquisition. Particularly, the game has had a longer pre-production cycle than either Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, or Dragon Age: 2. One level in the game is supposedly as big as all of Dragon Age 2‘s levels, though it’s unclear what form of ‘big’ they meant.

In more specific news, party equipment customization is coming back, with armor tailored to whoever is wearing it. The main character is human again, but the origin stories of the first game will also be incorporated; not playable, but with a presumably similar impact on the overall game. Past choices may not involve save game imports, though details were not given on this. Regarding followers from previous games, the answer was “You may see what happened to some.”

Dragon Age 3: Inquisition has a release window of late autumn 2013.

Source: Eurogamer

Epic Games’ Infinity Blade Dungeons will not be released until next year. Part of the reason, according to the company, was due to the logistics of setting up the in-house studio behind the iOS dungeon crawler. Epic recruited many former Big Huge Games staff in the wake of Kindgoms of Amalur: Reckoning and the 38 Studios fallout, reforming them under the label Impossible Games.

Source: Eurogamer

Square Enix has signed a licensing agreement with Epic Games, who will allow the Final Fantasy developer to use Unreal Engine 3 and 4 for multiple games. It is not yet known which games, though Epic’s Japanese studio is reportedly working with Square Enix directly.

Source: Gematsu

Via Famitsu, RPG developer Experience has announced a dungeon crawler for the PS Vita. Titled Demon Gaze, the game is planned to launch in January 2013.

Source: Gematsu

With Bravely Default: Flying Fairy released just weeks ago in Japan, Square Enix revealed a free to play follow-up for the PC. Titled Bravely Default: Praying Brage, this sequel of a sort takes place 200 years after the 3DS game. Little is known at this time, though an open beta test will begin on November 1.

Source: Gematsu

Nippon Ichi has lifted the veil the next entry in the Disgaea series. Previously known as Project: D, the now-titled Disgaea D2 will bring Laharl back to center stage, alongside fellow series icons like Etna and Flonne.

D2 will hit the Playstation 3 in Japan on March 20, 2013. Standard pricing is 7140 yen, with limited editions throwing in an art book, Etna and Flonne figures, and the original soundtrack for 11,340 yen.

Source: Gematsu

With Project Eternity fully funded and production officially underway, Obsidian released the grand total for donations: $3,986,929 through Kickstarter itself, plus another $176,279 through Paypal. This puts funding above the game’s $4 million stretch goal and, more notably, makes it the highest amount yet for a videogame (Double Fine Adventure clocked in over $3.3 million and Wasteland 2 hit $2.9 million, both not counting Paypal). Said stretch goal for Project Eternity was broadly defined as “enhance the whole game,” with previous goals including extra cities, a deeper bonus dungeon, more classes, and so on, as for the online games to make bets and money online, there are sites specialized in this which you can find listed here.

Also per the terms of the $4 million mark, Chris Avellone will force himself to play Arcanum and stream the results. I humbly suggest getting all the popcorn and alcohol you can legally acquire.

Source: Eurogamer

I love the art for this game.

Continue reading ‘Bravely Default: Flying Fairy Media’ »