RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Greetings from the Chicago suburbs, currently known as the Greater Illinois Snow Field of Doom.  Come on in and warm up with some fresh media: 3rd Birthday, Atelier Violet, Dissidia 012 Duodecim, Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, Final Fantasy Type-0, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Persona 2 Innocent Sin, Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity, and Valkyria Chronicles 3. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll spot familiar faces, you’ll wonder what the DPS on Luka’s giant fish is.

I am actually somewhat curious about that, but I digress.  On with the media! (more…)

The steady drip of Skyrim information continues with a breakdown of the game’s menu system, which has effectively discarded the existing Oblivion and Fallout 3/New Vegas models.  Director Todd Howard stated that they looked to Apple’s UIs for inspiration, and the result is a radial interface with different directions bringing the player to subsections. (more…)

Following Square Enix’s 1st Production Department Premier event, Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama sat down for an interview with Dengeki.  The topic: the recently announced Final Fantasy XIII-2, which features Kitase as producer and Toriyama as director.  While scant few gameplay details were covered – the battle system has seen unspecified upgrades over Final Fantasy XIII‘s – the two did discuss how XIII-2 fits into the series. (more…)

Media’s here, folks! Hope you’re hungry, because we have a ton of it for you: Atelier Violet, Dissidia 012 Duodecim, SaGa3: Ruler of Space-Time – Shadow or Light, Shining Hearts, The Last Story, Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll, and Venus & Braves PSP. (more…)

Valkyria Chronicles is an odd beast: a grim war story constructed with standard anime elements, all wrapped around an unusual twist on turn-based strategy and painted with every bright color in the palette.  It’s not always an easy fit, and the plot has an annoying habit of telegraphing its punches.  Yet there’s a respectable narrative at the core, backed by some solid direction and a charming cast.  And if that doesn’t do it for you, the game is still some of the most fun you can have with tanks involved. (more…)

The upcoming 3DS entry for Kingdom Hearts has been titled Dream Drop Distance.  Clever, innit?  Anyway, it reportedly features a new battle system and will take players to areas not featured in previous games.  According to Nomura, Kingdom Hearts‘ current story is entering its final arc, with Dream Drop Distance considered a prelude to the final battle.

Source: Dengeki

Transaltion: Adrienne “Sicondera” Beck

In a press release, Nintendo announced that Pokemon Black and White will launch in North America on March 6.  This will be in conjunction with a slew of other new Pokemon media and marketing, from a new movie and TV series to a trading card game expansion in April.  The press release in full is available here.

The much-talked-about Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection will be getting an Ultimate Pack.  Apart from the PSP version of the game and The After Years, said pack will throw in an official guide book, artbook, and bonus soundtrack called “Final Fantasy IV The After Years Sounds Plus.”  Marked at an asking price of ¥9,445, the regular and Ultimate versions of the Complete Collection will hit Japanese stores starting March 24.  A US release has not been announced.

Source: andriasang

Dragon Age 2 looks to have some interesting bonuses from outside the game, keeping with the series tradition thus far. (more…)

More information about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been making the rounds, with the latest detailing the changes made to combat since Oblivion.  (more…)

In partnership with Atlus, Focus Interactive announced that Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga will be hitting 360s in North America.  A “fully remastered version of the original”  Ego Draconis, Divinity II includes the Flames of Vengeance expansion and will reach US retailers starting April 12 of this year.  Further details about the game can be found at the official site, located over yonder.

In a direct email exchange, NIS America confirmed that La Pucelle: Ragnarok will not be published for a stateside release.  The exact quote is as follows: “All right. No, we will not be able to bring it over. We’ve got a lot of fantastic new titles lined up for 2011, and we think fans will get pumped over those even though we can’t bring LP:R out of Japan. For those who’ve supported it over the years, thank you very much for your efforts, but in the end, we won’t be bringing it out of Japan.”

Ragnarok was released for the PSP in Japan back in November of 2009, and, for the time being at least, it looks like it’s staying there.

Source: Siliconera

With the results from the player survey compiled, Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida posted a list of planned changes on the Lodestone alongside his reaction to player feedback.  The list is surprisingly extensive, and key bits are bulleted below: (more…)

In an official press release, Square Enix announced that Dissidia 012 Duodecim will hit North American retailers starting March 22, with the SRP set at $29.99.  The press release in full can be found here.

Since his recent entry as producer/director of Final Fantasy XIV, Naoki Yoshida has understandably been busy working to turn the game around from its troubled launch.  However, he recently stopped to clear a few things up and address player responses to a recent survey.  In particular, he revealed the following information: (more…)

You’ll be doing a lot of shouting in the next Elder Scrolls game, according to director Todd Howard.  Skyrim centers around abilities known as Dragon Shouts, which are separate from magic but also deliver a range of powerful effects.  Historically, this is a power reserved for individuals known as dragonborn; the first emperor, Tiber Septim, was one such person.  A major part of your adventure in Skyrim involves gaining access to these powers, which typically requires either defeating a dragon or uncovering words of power from other sources.  Players will collect over twenty shouts, each with multiple words to them, and shouts can be used at varying strengths depending on the number of words.

Shout, shout, let it all out starting November 11 of this year.

Source: Game Informer

Among the many, many things to come out during Square Enix’s 1st Production Department Premier event was long-awaited Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Versus XIII news. (more…)

Atlus just announced that Persona 3 Portable will be available in Europe later this year.  Through publisher Ghostlight, the PSP update to Persona 3 will come in both boxed Collector’s Editions and as digital downloads.  Exactly what the box would contain beside the disc was not specified.

Source: Eurogamer

Paired with the Valkyria Chronicles 3 media was additional gameplay information and some background on who the pictured characters were.  In no particular order: (more…)

Well, “Mass” in the sense that there’s more than one, anyway. Hot on the heels of the Devil Survivor 3DS redux are some screens and artwork, and Valkyria Chronicles 3 wanted in on the fun too. Check it out, won’t you? (more…)