RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Sony has announced a new promotion for the PlayStation Network to run throughout October with the PlayStation Store featuring a number of PSN-exclusive games and releasing new ones each Tuesday. Additionally, the Store will carry a small selection of rare PS2 games: God Hand, Odin Sphere, Ring of Red, GrimGrimoire, and Maximo: Ghosts to Glory.

Source: 1UP

With the recent release of Game of Thrones: Genesis, French developer Cyanide has announced that an RPG in the same universe is in development. Based on the HBO series – which in turn is based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels – the Game of Thrones RPG takes apparent cues from Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic with an increased emphasis on storyline and decisions over action.

Set sometime during the first book, the story follows two original characters, though some established figures and locations from the TV series are being used in the game; some actors will also reprise their respective characters. No publisher has been revealed, though Cyanide aims to release the title early next year.

Source: 1UP

Square Enix has announced the price of its Vita launch title Lord of Apocalypse. Standard retail price is set at ¥5980 with the downloadable copy at ¥4980. The title will also see a simultaneous release on PSP with the same retail and digital prices.

Source: Andriasang

Sega announced that Phantasy Star Online 2 will not make its 2011 target date for online service. Producer Satoshi Sakai said that the decision is in response to initial test feedback, and a second alpha test has been scheduled for early 2012. A beta test and full online service are to follow at an unspecified date.

Source: Andriasang

Square Enix has given details on the job system for Dragon Quest X and specifically the jobs players will have access to. Apart from setting race, players will pick from the following classes to start: Warrior, Mage, Monk, Martial Artist, Thief, and Minstrel. You can change your job by visiting the nearest Dharma’s Shrine branch office. As in Dragon Quest IX, points are distributed across weapons to unlock new skills as you level up.

Source: Andriasang

Good evening and greetings!  Hope the fall is treating you well so far, and your punt returner didn’t showboat in the end zone, giving the other team good field position to score an answering touchdown.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Devin Hester as should any red-blooded American male (cryingeagle.jpg) but that touchdown could have been avoided and thus the Bears didn’t beat the spread.  Celebrate after the game, Devin!

That was a sweet return though, wasn’t it?

Ahem.  Anyway, here’s what’s going down this week:

• Square Enix’s CEO catches up to everybody else by admitting the damage FFXIV did to the brand.  I suspect the real issue is who did the damage to FFXIV, and I think Wada knows it.
• Meanwhile, City of Heroes goes free-to-play while The Old Republic reveals its pricing packages, providing an interesting compare/contrast as to who can withstand going F2P and why.
• Activision’s Jamie Berger says paid services like Call of Duty Elite – providing stat tracking, clan management, etc. – will be mandatory in 3-5 years.  Hey, some of us remember when games provided that sort of thing for free.  Don’t get greedy, man.  Well, greedier, anyway.
• CliffyB gives a neat postmortem on Gears of War now that Gears 3 is out, speculating on how giant musclemen with saw-guns fighting evil intelligent bugs could be taken more seriously.
• Shigeru Miyamoto speaks out a bit on Skyward Sword, suggesting it’s one of the most expensive projects the company has worked on.  Well, I guess if you’re gonna send the Wii off…
• I catch up on the Netflix news and correspondingly terrible stock performance, while Joystiq regales us with a story of the fastest-thinking men in the industry.

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Good evening! Never too late for media time, so without further ado here’s what we have for today: Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga, Maho Shojo Madoka Magica Portable, Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, Ragnarok: Hikari to Yami no Koujo, and RPG Maker DS+. (more…)

Further information regarding Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance has emerged.  Apart from featuring new Disney-themed areas, old worlds will also include new ground to cover.  “Dream Eaters” play a central role, likely referenced by the game’s title.  Spirit type Dream Eaters fight alongside Sora and Riku as allies, of which you can bring two into battle with you.  Nightmare types, by contrast, serve as powerful enemies.

The game’s combat will feature new mechanics that allow certain context-sensitive actions: Free Flow Actions, which use walls and other objects to launch attacks, and Reality Shifts, which temporarily freeze the enemy in place while Sora or Riku drop to the lower screen to perform other special moves.  Lastly, Neku from The World Ends With You will make an appearance in the game.

Source: Andriasang

In recent press conference, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada publicly acknowledged the damage that Final Fantasy XIV has caused the brand name.  Released to negative, indeed scathing reviews on PC last year, the title has undergone significant restructuring, with a large portion of the development team replaced and the PS3 version delayed indefinitely.  Wada indicated that the fixes are ongoing and the company intends to “revive the FFXIV that should have been released.”  No timeframe was given for the redevelopment efforts.

Source: Andriasang

At the Eurogamer Expo, BioWare’s Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk announced the release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic: December 20 in North America and December 22 in Europe.  Subscription prices are set at $14.99/£8.99 a month, with bulk pricing at $41.97/£25.17 for three months and $77.94/£46.14 for six.  As is customary for many MMOs, the first 30 days will be included free with each copy.

Source: Eurogamer

Chrono Trigger is now available for download on PSN in Japan for ¥1200.  As for upcoming releases, mecha-flavored strategy RPG Vanguard Bandits is being brought to the North American PSN.  The exact price and release date aren’t yet known, though Gaijinworks’ Victor Ireland – former head of Working Designs, Bandits’ developer – has indicated an October-November window with a price around $8.99.

Sources: Andriasang, 1UP

Details have emerged regarding a new Nippon Ichi property coming for the PS3, titled The Witch and the Hundred Cavalrymen; or Majo to Hyakkihei if you prefer the Japanese title.  Reportedly a dark fantasy action RPG, little is known about the plot and mechanics.  However, the game will feature seamless transitions between town and field, and death results in item loss rather than a straight game over.  The bullet points hype up a large number of sidequests, a sandbox-type world, and “a choice between good or evil,” although the nature of each has not yet been explained.

The game is expected to release in Spring 2012 in Japan.  No US release has been announced.

Source: Andriasang

And we’re back on task, no worse for wear. Well, I’m still fighting a cough, but at least we’re up and running again. As I said yesterday, sorry for the delay folks. Fortunately it wasn’t too busy a news week so I had time to chew on some rich, yummy financial analysis alongside the TGS leftovers. Let’s get down on it, shall we?

• Tokyo Game Show wrap-ups: 3DS releases are promising and its match-up with the Vita is the fight to watch; Square Enix needs something to reassure fans it knows what it’s doing, which probably isn’t FFXII-2; Konami lets Suikoden out of the cellar into yet another cellar; Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 confuses yet taps into the mysterious ‘buy me’ impulse; Namco-Bandai still hates money.
• Dualshockers.com provides some insights into the Japanese stock market and its reactions to TGS.  Short version: Sony should be thankful Japan likes the Vita.  The full article is definitely worth the read.
• Sony has a brief network outage that’s quickly corrected as authorities nab yet more LulzSec participants.  The irony of this is not lost on me.
• A university study crowdsources viral protein modeling to a bunch of FoldIt players, with surprising results.  Look to see someone try to weaponize this in the near future.
• Not exactly game-related, but the CERN researchers firing a particle that seemingly broke the speed of light is too fascinating not to discuss and/or fantasize about.  Read up on it if you haven’t already, it could very well be science fiction in the making.
• And speaking of science gone mad, code-hunters find an apparent teaser for Half-Life 2: Episode 3 in Valve’s DotA 2.  Don’t play games with my heart, Valve.  Just… don’t.

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Due to a tight schedule, technical difficulties with the site, an ill-timed Audacity crash, and Chicago Bears-induced trauma, What Happened This Week will be posted tomorrow instead of tonight. RandomNPC and subsidiary John Boske Productions, a division of John Boske Holdings LLC, apologize for the delay.

Coffee vs. cold medicine: the eternal struggle rages on. Hey, I needed something to stay up long enough to finish the media, what with my browser deciding that now is a fantastic time to fuss over every single image. But I ramble. Let’s get to said media: 7th Dragon 2020, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime 3, Dragon Quest X, Final Fantasy Type-0, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Lord of Apocalypse, Tales of Innocence R and Tales of the Heroes Twin Brave. (more…)

To counter the deluge of TGS news, BioWare recently revealed more DLC for Dragon Age 2 is in development. Mark of the Assassin puts Hawke in touch with, surprise surprise, an assassin by the name of Tallis (voiced by Felicia Day). Tallis convinces Hawke to join up for a heist of sorts involving the heavily guarded estate of an Orlesian baron. Even money says the head of a certain famous statue won’t be in this one.

Further details can be found on BioWare’s homepage, and a trailer is available over on YouTube.

During the last day of the Tokyo Game Show, Namco Bandai revealed a few choice bits of Tales information. In particular, a PS Vita remake of Tales of Innocence is in the works as Tales of Innocence R, along with entirely re-recorded voices.

Additionally, Tales of the Heroes Twin Brave will feature both a playable cast from 15 previous Tales games and bosses from the same.

Source: Andriasang

Confirming rumors featured in a recent Weekly Shounen Jump, Square Enix has announced a 3DS remake of the 1998 Dragon Quest Monsters for 3DS. Dubbed Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D, the title will include all creatures from Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional along with various new monsters.

The title is set to release sometime in 2012.

Source: Andriasang

During TGS, Konami announced that Genso Suikoden Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki, a new installment in the Suikoden series, is being developed for the PSP. Although little information was paired with the announcement, the company did launch a teaser site for the game which includes a trailer, accessible here.

Source: Andriasang

Developer Falcom has announced that a downloadable version of Legend of Heroes: Ao no Kiseki will launch alongside retail copies on September 29. Digital copies will be priced at ¥5200, slightly cheaper than the ¥6090 for retail.

Source: Andriasang