Potentially Useful Information For Your Many Adventures
News from Gamescom continues to roll in. This time, it’s an announcement from Square Enix regarding the upcoming release of Final Fantasy XIII. The game is scheduled to be out this winter in Japan, and Yoshinori Kitase said that the 360 and PS3 versions will be released simultaneously in North America and Europe in the spring of 2010.
Source: VG247
The latest issue of Famitsu included a rather surprising article, revealing the existence of Persona 3 Portable. A PSP remake of the popular Playstation 2 RPG, Persona 3 Portable will include a new female character with a Persona that looks shockingly similar to the main character’s Persona, Orpheus. Other additions include entirely menu-based navigation outside of Tartarus, and a new male assistant for Igor.
Persona 3 Portable has a Japanese release date of November 1st.
Over the last couple of weeks, I did something I thought I would never do: play through Final Fantasy XII. I played the game when it first came out, but quickly got bogged down in frustration with the very hands-off combat system. But, in honor of our second year (and the, er, somewhat lacking spate of current releases), I decided to give it another shot.
In order to give myself a little extra incentive to finish, I drew a one-panel comic for every in-game hour I played. This format will be familiar to anyone who’s read John Campell’s Hourly Comics.
Continue reading ‘Time to Complete – Final Fantasy XII’ »
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria has an impressive set of credentials to recommend it. Possessing a high-energy, yet tactically challenging combat system, an unexpected epic symphonic soundtrack, some truly impressive visuals, and a sharp, well written story, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is a remarkable title which should appeal to a wide variety of gamers. However, those expecting an experience similar to Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth will be disappointed, as most of the gameplay mechanics that made it so unique have been gutted or outright omitted. There are also a few problems with stiff animation, poor lip sync, and a bit of excess deus ex machina late in the plot, but the game offers an entertaining and thought-provoking take on the Valkyrie Profile world to those willing to accept the changes it makes to the series.
Continue reading ‘Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria – Staff Review’ »
Not content with simply telling people how their game plays, Square Enix has just released four short videos of Final Fantasy XIV in action. One shows two players, a Hyuran (Not!Hume) and a Lalafell (Not!Tarutaru), taking out three small monsters with basic magic and melee combat. Another depicts ranged combat mechanics, first with a player fighting three dodos (bird creatures) and later showing more detailed targeting and movement. A third video shows character animations for the five races, presumably the various /emote poses familiar to players of Final Fantasy XI. The fourth and final clip focuses on a Lalafell exploring a small encampment and field.
The videos come courtesy of Gametrailers, and can all be found here.
Konami has just released details about several main characters for the upcoming Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment. The story centers on two kingdoms at war, with the protagonist and his friends caught in the middle and presumably trying to make things less bad. Along the way, a lot of enemies are killed so brutally that blood jets out of their bodies in massive, physics-defying fountains. Anyway, here is the cast so far:
Continue reading ‘Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment Cast Revealed’ »
Two years ago today, our diabolical plans dreams became reality as RandomNPC went live. Since then, we’ve grown in readership, added new features, and covered many new games.
For the next week, we’ll be celebrating our birthday by posting some special features. One will be a series of reviews for games that feature “2” or “II” in the title or are simply sequels of previous titles. We think it’s a great way to salute our second successful year, which is itself a sequel of our first year. We’ll also be running a special comic series from our local artist Michael “CactuarJoe” Beckett.
Thank you for supporting us for our first two years. Here’s to many more!
These days, most people just take it for granted that RPGs will make it to North America roughly six to twelve months after hitting shelves in Japan. But despite a devoted fanbase and several petitions for its release, one game stands as one of the most-wanted games that we never got. That game is Mother 3.
Continue reading ‘Game Changers: Volume 20 – Mother 3’ »
Today at Gamescom, EA revealed the newest member of Commander Shepard’s team: a Krogan named Grunt. According to his introduction trailer, he’s irrationally violent, reckless, and unpredictable. He sounds like a great addition to the team, but can he be trusted? And can Shepard count on him to bring donuts to the staff meetings on Mondays?
Source: Kotaku
This week’s podcast features Nerdboy, CactuarJoe, and SlayerGhaleon talking about tri-Ace, the company that created Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, and Radiata Stories. This podcast was actually recorded last week, but it took us a long time to upload all the awesomeness to our server. Enjoy!
Continue reading ‘NPCast 13: tri-Ace, Not to be Confused with tri-Crescendo’ »
This week, we have another reader request. Rather than looking at another absurdly powerful or abundantly useful Pokemon, we’re going to be taking a look at a critter whose usefulness ranks somewhere between a baking sheet made of chocolate and a glass hammer. This is a Pokemon unafraid to stand up and boldly proclaim, “No, I really can’t.” A critter of such stunning uselessness, of such unabashed failure, that it only just beats out Kricketune. Ladies and gentlemen… I give you Ledian.
Continue reading ‘Strategy Session – Competitive Pokemon XII: Ledian’ »
Nintendo announced via the official Pokémon website that Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver will be released in North America and Europe this coming spring.
More details have emerged about the upcoming Rune Factory 3, namely about some of the game’s heroines and creative uses for horticulture. Special seeds, called Active Seeds, grow immediately into something useful, like a pumpkin that sucks in enemies and does damage, or a leaf that can cross bodies of water. Additionally, the cast now includes an elven blacksmith, a girl named Chocola with a predictable love of food, and perhaps the world’s first witch-nurse. Apparently, the need for a healthy resume is truly universal.
Preorders for Rune Factory 3, set to release on October 22, will receive several bonuses, including an artbook, manga, and radio drama CD. Gaming icon Kirby has given no comment as to a possible patent infringement suit over the pumpkin-inhaling-damage thing.
Source: Siliconera
PSOne-era adventure/RPG Vagrant Story has just been re-released on the Playstation Store in Japan. For 600 yen, players can relive the glory days of Ashley Riot, an impractically dressed man’s man tasked with exploring a ruined city, forging his own weapons, and stacking lots and lots of crates.
Source: Siliconera
Riot Games’ League of Legends: Clash of Fates is still looking for players to participate in closed beta testing, and is now offering unique Champion skins to those who sign up for the beta. However, only testers who joined prior to last month will see their names in the game’s credits.
League of Legends is currently scheduled for a September release. Further details can be found at the game’s website.
Bioware recently announced via its Twitter feed that all new copies of Dragon Age: Origins will include codes for the Blood Dragon armor, which works in both DA:O and Mass Effect 2, and “The Stone Prisoner” DLC, which has a special quest and an unlockable golem character named Shale. These bonuses were previously announced as content for the limited edition of the game. Don’t worry; the limited edition still has lots of bonuses to keep it special.
White Knight Chronicles is receiving a patched version which supposedly adds equipment, uncaps Guild Rank, and makes other changes not yet specified. White Knight Chronicles EX Edition is slated for a release in Japan before the game comes to North American markets. Though it will be sold at a discount price of 3800 yen (about $40 US), it is not yet known if the changes in the EX Edition will be applied to the North American version.
Source: Siliconera
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