RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

As is basically customary for big releases, Deus Ex: Human Revolution will sold in both regular and collector’s editions.  The Augmented Edition will include an artbook, a “motion graphic novel,” and a bonus DVD containing making-of videos, trailers, and part of the soundtrack.  Those augs run an extra $10 over the base package, with the AE hitting $69.99 on consoles and $59.99 on PC.

Start wearing your sunglasses at night in early 2011.

This past week, Harvest Moon got a dose of online multiplayer in Japan.  Marvelous Entertainment, creators of the farming sim series, launched a free-to-play MMO dubbed Harvest Moon With Everyone.  Players will be responsible for building their own farms, and gain experience for completing tasks to that end, but can also visit other farms to help out with chores and such.

As is common for the model, the base game carries no charge, but players can spend money to buy premium items.  Presently the game is only in Japanese, and no plans have been announced to translate the game for English players.

Source: 1UP

Not to be outdone, Double Fine has thrown their own hat into the DLC ring with Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice.  Taking place after the end of Costume Quest, the content drops you into a land of oppressed Grubbins, your candy-stealing nemeses from the original game.

Apart from new costumes and equipment, the content also comes with a patch to address performance issues; new features, such as cutscene pausing, are also added.  With an estimated playtime of about five hours, Grubbins on Ice is set for a PSN/XBLA release this December.

Source: Gamespot

For games that start with F, the DLC keeps on coming.  Details have been released for both Fable III, with content released today, and Fallout New Vegas‘s upcoming Dead Money: (more…)

Via press release, Atlus announced today that Radiant Historia, their upcoming time travel-centric DS RPG, will see a North American release.  Historia will be available at select retailers starting February 22, 2011, and all launch copies will include a bonus CD featuring unique piano arrangements from the game’s score.

Remember what I said last week about Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together not having a set US release date?  Yeah, forget about that.  Square Enix announced over the weekend that the PSP remake will be released in the States on February 15 of 2011.

Source: 1UP

“More of the same” is only a bad thing if same was bad the first time around. Consider Eschalon: Book II, the next entry in Basilisk’s classic-styled roleplaying series. Functionally identical to Book I, it boasts a few new hooks but overall just expands and refines the content: same engine, same gameplay, same ground rules. That basically means every other paragraph of this review will start with words like “As in Book I” and such. Fortunately, more of Eschalon – a challenging, intelligent, and versatile RPG by any measure – is most definitely a good thing. (more…)

As March creeps ever closer, Square Enix and Eidos have just released a new gameplay trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  Some of the newly debuted stuff is subtle, like interaction highlights around objects and inventory layouts – fans will note that the inventory grid seems to have returned from the first game – but it also shows various weapons, gadgets, and what appears to be a computer hacking interface.  Check it out over at YouTube.

Human Revolution is set for an early 2011 release.

The PSP version of Phantom Brave, subtitled as The Hermuda Triangle, has been give a launch timeframe in the United States and Europe.  In a recent press release, NIS America confirmed that US retail and download copies would be available in March, with the European release, also in March, exclusive to PlayStation Network.  As previously stated, The Hermuda Triangle will include all the content from the Wii adaptation, plus new bonuses added for the jump to PSP.

Barely a month into release, Bethesda has just announced the first downloadable content for Fallout New Vegas.  Dubbed Dead Money, the DLC will find players burned by a deal gone bad.  Partnered with three other captured wastelanders, players must pull off a daring heist, the goal being the treasure of the Sierra Madre Casino.

Dead Money will be available via Xbox Live starting December 21, at the price of 800 MS funbucks.  PS3 and PC availability was not mentioned in the press release, which can be read in its entirety here.

Developer CD Projekt announced that The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings will launch on May 17 of 2011.  The date had been pushed back a few weeks to allow more time for quality control, according to project lead Adam Badowski.  Additionally, details about the game’s Collector’s Edition will be released via streaming conference through the official site, starting 12:30PM EST on November 18.

Source: 1UP

In the wake of further details for the upcoming November and December updates, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIV players will receive an additional free month if they register by November 19.  All current players will automatically receive the extension, including those who were eligible for the previous one in October.

The November version update is tentatively scheduled for November 25.  Full details can be found at the Lodestone.

With the November update coming up, Square Enix has revealed more information about the soon-to-be changes to Final Fantasy XIV.  The updates contain many items players have been requesting since the game’s release, and a list of key adjustments follows: (more…)

The PSP-bound Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together will be receiving free DLC, says Square Enix.  The content contains extra scenarios and will be hosted on the PlayStation Store, though said scenarios will only be available after meeting certain conditions in the game.

Currently, three scenarios are planned, with the first – dubbed Search for Warren – scheduled for December 1 in Japan.  Although confirmed for the US, Let Us Cling Together has not received a US release date.

Source: andriasang

Developer Mistwalker have revealed a well-hidden detail of their upcoming title, The Last Story. Up to six players will be able to team up or fight each other online via the game’s Raid Lobby, with co-op battles set against select monsters.

Due out in Japan early next year, The Last Story has not received a US release date.

Source: Destructoid

Man, where to even begin?  Let’s start with big.  Fallout New Vegas is mind-bogglingly big, easily outpacing Fallout 3 in terms of content.  With the hard work of engine development out of the way, Obsidian was free to expand on the template Bethesda provided; a long-awaited homecoming for many of the original Fallout developers.  The team clearly didn’t hold back, and there’s enough game here to overwhelm even the most industrious player.  While the results aren’t quite perfect, New Vegas is a clear improvement in most respects and easily one of the best RPGs this year. (more…)

Addressing the official forums, BioWare’s Jesse Houston confirmed a few details about the upcoming PlayStation 3 release of Mass Effect 2.  Correcting a translation error in an earlier interview, Houston confirmed that all content currently available for 360/PC will be available on PS3.  Of particular note is that most of the substantial DLC content to date – Lair of the Shadow Broker, Kasumi: Stolen Memory, and Overlord – will be included for free.  As with other platforms, retail copies will also permit access to the Cerberus network and its content.

Unique to the PS3 release is the interactive comic, of which few details are currently known.  However, Houston mentioned that it would allow players “to be faced with some of the major choices which will have consequences your Mass Effect universe.”  It was specified that the comic would initially be exclusive to the PS3, given the first game did not appear on the platform.

Houston’s post can be read in full here.  Mass Effect 2 will be available for the PS3 in January of 2011.

The third Valkyria Chronicles title has a confirmed release date for the demo.  So far only confirmed for a Japanese release, the Valkyria Chronicles 3 demo will be available on the PlayStation Network starting November 9.  It reportedly is similar to the version debuted at the Tokyo Game Show, though it will have an extra mission and players who complete it can unlock exclusive weapons in the retail release.

Source: 1UP

Not content with preparing for the rise of the machines, Facebook will soon be hosting a new installment in the Dragon Age series.  Dubbed Dragon Age Legends, the title centers around the city of Kaiten in the Free Marches.  Once plagued by a pride demon masquerading as the city’s ruler, Kaiten is again beset by strange circumstances and it falls to you – one of the people who eventually unmasked and slew the demon – to get to the bottom of it.

The beta is scheduled to start January next year, and requires an account with both BioWare and Facebook, along with subscription to the Dragon Age newsletter.  Beta registration and additional information can be found on the Legends homepage.

One part tabletop RPG, one part multiple strains of vampire fiction, and three parts of that special Troika blend of high-ambition but low-stability programming; that’s Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines in a nutshell.  A serviceable first-person RPG, Bloodlines is also a newbie’s field guide to the World of Darkness and its modern-day undead secret societies.  How well the game works depends largely on how well you can tolerate subpar coding and questionable design choices, yet buried under the usual PC RPG mess is a versatile story and a cast of memorable, well-acted characters. (more…)