RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

NIS America has set the date for Ys: Memories of Celceta‘s European release on the PS Vita. The retail version launches on February 21, with the download version on February 25.

Source: Gematsu

Ready to receive your special seed, baby. Continue reading ‘Belated Mass Media 11-09-13’ »

NIS America has revealed that Ys: Memories of Celceta for PS Vita will see a European release, with a launch window of early 2014.

Source: Gematsu

Apart from its standard release at $39.99, Ys: Memories of Celceta will see a special limited edition, according to developer XSEED Games. Priced at $59.99, the Silver Anniversary Edition includes the game, a special box, a cloth map, an Ys branded compass, an artbook/strategy guide, and a three-disc soundtrack collection spanning the franchise’s history.

The game is planned for a holiday release in North America.

Source: Gematsu

XSEED is looking to have a busy 2013, having announced several games to be localized this year in addition to the already-revealed Pandora’s Tower. These include: Rune Factory 4, Valhalla Knights 3, Ys: Memories of Celceta, and Ys I & II Chronicles+.

Rune Factory 4 hits North American 3DSs this Summer. Valhalla Knights 3 and Ys: Memories touch down on US Vitas in Fall. And Steam users can serve the Newell with Ys I & II Chronicles+ starting February 14.

Source: Gematsu

SlayerGhaleon: I was reading DMWL and they had these two gag comics that featured Minatsuki playing evil tricks on people.
SlayerGhaleon: And every comic ended with her giving an evil grin.
Sicondera: Heh
SlayerGhaleon: So they literally translated the descriptor as the Japanese word, and then explained that it meant “Evil grin” in Japanese.
SlayerGhaleon: And I’m like “Why not just put down ‘sneer.’ It means the same f-ing thing, you f-ing morons.”
SlayerGhaleon: If you’ll pardon my language, dear lady.
Sicondera: Dictionary-itis.
Sicondera: It’s a common ailment among translators.
SlayerGhaleon: In other words, “Look, I know what this word means, and I’m going to explain it to you! Ooh! My e-penis is so big!” Continue reading ‘Mass Media 09/08/12’ »

I appreciate Persona 4: Arena including a lot of fourth wall jokes regarding Mitsuru and Akihiko’s outfits. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 08/11/12’ »

I’m the MVB! Wah ha ha! Continue reading ‘Not So Mass Media 07/22/12’ »

Speaking with Dengeki Playstation, Falcom CEO Toshihiro Kondo briefly brought up the Vita entry in the Ys series, Ys Celceta: Sea of Trees. The game has “evolved greatly” from its TGS 2011 showing, and more details will be released following Nayuta no Kiseki. Sea of Trees is expected to launch sometime this year.

As for Nayuta, Kondo indicated the game has no ties to past games in the Legend of Heroes series, hence its absence from the title. Further details were also revealed: the game world has boundaries and is not spherical, as no one knows what lies beyond the sea; the aforementioned mysterious girl, Noi, emerges from one of the ruins falling from the sky; gameplay and battle systems have been adjusted in response to feedback about prior games’ slow pacing; and boss fights were apparently one of the first things the staff designed.

Source: Andriasang

Falcom has announced, by way of Famitsu, that a new installment in their Ys series is coming to the PlayStation Vita. Little was revealed apart from the title: Celceta no Jukai.

Source: 1UP

Ys is a series that gets far less attention than it deserves. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that Americans have not really gotten to experience as many of the adventures of Adol the Red as their Japanese counterparts. There are also some people that are probably turned away simply by its title; it’s not exactly intuitive to pronounce it as ‘ease.’ Regardless, Nihon Falcom and XSeeD are determined to rectify the first issue by releasing more games stateside, hoping to give Americans more time with the top-down action RPG series. That’s where Ys Seven comes in, and as it takes the series in many new directions, there’s a lot to like. Continue reading ‘Ys Seven – Staff Review’ »

XSEED Games has confirmed that Ys I & II Chronicles for the PSP will arrive in North America on February 22. You can get your copy as a digital download via PSN or a traditional physical copy via the retailer of your choice, whichever is Ys-ier for you.

In the meantime, check out the official website.

The PSP is about to get a bit more metal, or so XSEED announced today.  All launch packages of Ys I & II Chronicles will be 80s-themed “Hair Metal Packs”, which contain bonus soundtrack CDs and will retail for $29.99, with the downloadable version five bucks cheaper.  The hair metal theme is a tribute to the jdk Band, Falcom’s in-house rock band who made their debut the same year as Ys I in 1987.  Among those preordering is notorious Russian mob kingpin Konstantin Brayko, who was last seen selecting music for a confrontation with a rogue US agent.  We at RandompNPC suggest he run, run so far away, that he run, run all night and day.

(Spoiler alert: he couldn’t get away.)

Chronicles will launch in February.  Hair spray, eyeliner, and a spot on VH1’s “Behind the Music” twenty years later are not included.

Been too long. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 11/09/10’ »

XSEED just launched the official website for the PSP-bound Ys Seven, located here. Apart from the usual menagerie of background info, preorder links, and collector’s edition extras – CD soundtrack, 60-page art book, and cloth map – the site lists the game’s release date as August 17.  The standard and downloadable versions will cost $29.99, while the CE will retail for $49.99.

As the North American release of Ys Seven draws closer, the developers have launched a promotion-slash-contest for fans to submit their names as possible in-game quest characters.  From now until June 11, anyone who joins the Ys fangroup on Facebook will have their name entered in the drawing; a total of 14 names will be picked at random.

Further details, such as legal requirements for participants, can be found on the official Ys Series Facebook page.

Coming straight from XSEED is the announcement of a partnership with Japan-based developer/publisher Nihon Falcom, with the intent of bringing the latest three installments in the Ys series to the PSP.  The ports of the titles in question – Ys Seven, Ys: The Oath of Felghana, and Ys I & II Chronicles – will see a US release, though no date has been announced.

The deal also allows XSEED to release the next three chapters in Falcom’s Legend of Heroes series, the Trails in the Sky trilogy.  As with the above Ys games, release dates are not yet known, though the titles will be brought to the PSP for North America.

That Ys game is a PSP remake of a PC remake of Ys III. Just pointing that out. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 11/28/09’ »

The complete soundtrack to Ys Online: Call of Solum has been released for free. It’s available for download through the official website, courtesy of the online portal Key to Play.

In Wild Arms 5 there is a shop that lets you exchange experience levels for items and equipment. It’s run by the vampire chick from 2, who refers to it as exchanging your life force for items. The lesson here is that Wild Arms 2 always comes back to bite you. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 08/08/09’ »