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The key to Shiren the Wanderer's story

by JC Fletcher { Nov 25th 2009 at 3:46PM }

A beautiful, atmospheric trailer (after the break) introduces us to the story of the new Shiren the Wanderer ... such as it is. Basically, Shiren's master, knowing that Shiren likes dungeons, gives him the key to the Karakuri Mansion, which is a big dungeon. There's more, like a cursed princess and some time travel stuff, but the essence is that Shiren goes into another dungeon. It's rather lucky for us that Shiren's wanderings are so often directed toward dungeons and dungeon-type environments.

Atlus also highlights Shiren's pal Koppa in the trailer, allowing us to hope that the company will choose to bundle the game with Sega's Koppa Wiimote stand.

Gallery: Shiren the Wanderer (Wii)

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Shiren the Wanderer turns up in February minus online features

by JC Fletcher { Nov 19th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Atlus announced a North American localization of Sega and Chunsoft's Shiren the Wanderer at E3, and hasn't said much about it until now. The company just dated the game for February 9 and released a bunch of screens & art for the punishing roguelike, along with a bit of sad news regarding the online connectivity.

"Despite our best efforts, the North American version of Shiren will not include the Rescue, Versus, or Item Transfer online features," Atlus's Aram Jabbari said in the announcement. "However, the downloadable dungeon content from the Japanese version will be included on the disc." Jabbari said that Atlus felt compelled to alert fans because "the absence of these features may influence some fans' decision to purchase the game."

The most identifiable feature of any Shiren game -- repeated, unavoidable death -- should remain intact.

Gallery: Shiren the Wanderer (Wii)

English 3D Dot Game Heroes trailer revives your inner child

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 19th 2009 at 4:00PM }

If you're anything like the majority of the Joystiq staff, you spent the bulk of your formative years slaying all manner of pixelated beasties and saving incredibly low definition damsels in distress. If so, watching the first English trailer for 3D Dot Game Heroes is likely to take you way, way back. If, on the other hand, you're not an old codger like us, you can still appreciate the game's wonderful art style, which is a breath of fresh air in these brown times.

3D Dot Game Heroes is set to pixelate North American PS3s (and our hearts) on May 11.

Congratulations to Silent Protagonist on being the first to comment. You've been emailed a free Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta code. Click here, for more information on this giveaway. Official rules apply.

Atlus shipping 3D Dot Game Heroes in North America on May 11

by JC Fletcher { Nov 17th 2009 at 1:35AM }

In a late-night press release, Atlus announced that it is in fact the company publishing 3D Dot Game Heroes in North America, confirming its status as the publisher of choice for fans of both Zelda homages and From Software games. The company even went so far to give the PS3 game a precise date: May 11, a day which will play host to an unheard-of number of underlines and gold stars on our calendar. GameStop, however, says May 3. We're willing to accept "May" as specific enough for now.

We've got some delightful new screens in the gallery below, if, like us, you're nowhere near over the novelty of giant pixels rendered in HD.

Update: Commenter Orchard Pear points out that the GameStop listing also prices the game at just $39.99. If that turned out to be the final price, it would basically be a miracle performed by the gods of retro gaming.

Gallery: 3D Dot Game Heroes (11/17/09)

Demon's Souls strategy guide replacement program now live

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 12th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Atlus has announced that it's previously revealed Demon's Souls strategy guide replacement program is now active. If you purchased the deluxe edition and wound up with a defective strategy guide -- the defective units have "unusual cover ink wear / fading" -- then all you have to do is visit the replacement program website and follow the instructions. In short, it amounts to filling out a form and shipping off the front cover and first page of the guide. Within 8-12 weeks, players should receive a shiny new copy.

All requests have to be postmarked by December 31, 2009, so hop to it if you've got a defective copy.*

*The editors of Joystiq realize that this post doesn't include a single crack about how incredibly difficult Demon's Souls is. Please accept their heartfelt apology.

Demon's Souls director talks difficulty, sequel possibility

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 6th 2009 at 11:30PM }

Perhaps you've heard, but Demon's Souls is a hard game. Like really hard. Like bone-crushingly, soul-scathingly hard. Speaking to Game Informer, Demon's Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki explains why. According to Miyazaki, the difficulty was designed around giving players "a sense of accomplishment," specifically in regard to the soul collecting mechanic. For those who haven't played the game, souls act as currency and you lose all of them upon death. They can be regained, but only if you make it back to your bloodstain without dying twice more. Trust us, it's not as easy as it sounds.

According to Miyazaki, "If the Souls could be recovered anytime, there would be no suspense or sense of accomplishment." He added that he wants players to feel like, "I did it! I made it to my bloodstain!" Of course, Miyazaki fails to mention the sense of utter, despairing failure one feels when they don't make it back to their bloodstain (a frequent occurrence).

Regarding the possibility of a sequel, Miyazaki said he couldn't give a direct answer, but noted that the team learned a great deal on Demon's Souls and there were several things that didn't make it into the game. Given the opportunity, Miyazaki said he would "welcome the chance to create an even better game in the same style." Gluttons for punishment that we are, we'll take it.

Latest Shin Megami Tensei game taking a Strange Journey to North America

by JC Fletcher { Nov 5th 2009 at 8:00PM }

Well, okay. Maybe being localized by Atlus isn't that strange for a Shin Megami Tensei game. In fact, we'd say it's pretty normal these days!

Atlus announced today that it will bring over the first-person DS RPG Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey in Spring 2010 (of course). The game features the demon negotiation that SMT fans associate with the series, in a new storyline involving a mysterious black hole opening up at the South Pole.

It looks like the kind of thing that would appeal not only to fans of games like SMT 3: Nocturne, but also to people who enjoy the DS's dungeon RPGs like Etrian Odyssey, to which it bears a strong resemblance. Journey into our gallery for screens and art.

Gallery: Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (DS)

Atlus replacing damaged Demon's Souls strategy guides

by JC Fletcher { Nov 5th 2009 at 12:00AM }

Is the print wearing off of the cover of your Demon's Souls strategy guide? It's not entirely because you've been holding it for hours with your sweaty hands, desperately thumbing through the few pages in a feeble attempt to improve your in-game performance. Atlus announced that the cover to the guide, included with the Deluxe Edition of the RPG, is conducive to "unusual cover ink/wear fading."

And because Atlus knows that you've grown attached to your ~~security blanket~~ strategy guide, the company will only ask you to send in the cover and first page if you'd like a replacement, and not the whole book. Full details on the replacement program will be posted here.

Demon's Souls to be even harder on Halloween

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 29th 2009 at 5:15PM }

The land of Boletaria in Demon's Souls will be plunged into "pure blackness" on Halloween for players connected to the internet. Publisher Atlus' announcement about its sleeper hit can be interpreted to mean that all players will have their world tendency shifted to black for the day (or a little longer), which affects enemy strength and player stats. A pure black tendency can mean that new passages and enemies may also exist.

"World Tendency" in Demon's Souls is another aspect of the challenging RPG that has a significant impact on the player's experience. If you're a new player who happens to pick up the game on Halloween ... don't panic. Yes, the game is hard, but it'll be a little bit more so with the entire world black aligned.

Atlus: More Demon's Souls shipping to retailers, deluxe edition discontinued

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 19th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Atlus USA announced today that it's deploying additional copies of Demon's Souls to North American retailers. Those who've been trying get a copy in a local brick-and-mortar establishment have likely noticed the game is pretty much sold out. The company also announced that the "deluxe edition," which included the 160-page strategy guide, will not be "remanufactured" -- good thing there's an official wiki.

Demon's Souls has quickly become one the surprise hits of the holiday season, garnering acclaim from various outlets (yes, even us, for those with reading comprehension skills) and has obviously had stronger sales than Atlus was originally expecting.

Yggdra Unison trailer: welcome back to Dept. Heaven

by JC Fletcher { Oct 19th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Atlus released a trailer for the latest game in Sting's Dept. Heaven series, Yggdra Unison. The most notable, and weird, aspect of the trailer? The seemingly random number-writing. Rather than relating to the amount of damage your characters dish out, it's an odd holdout from the game's first life on mobile phones.

Basically, each of your units is marked with a number, and on the phone version, you'd type that number to trigger that unit's part of the Unison Attack. For the DS version, the keypad is gone, but the numbers are still there. Of course, it has a long way to go before it can out-odd Knights in the Nightmare, a game in which you, as a ghost, take control of your units by possessing them.

ESRB rates Shin Megami Tensei MMO for US

by David Hinkle { Oct 16th 2009 at 4:00AM }

The ESRB website has posted a listing for Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online, an MMO where "players fight against or alongside demons in the post-apocalyptic (fictional) outskirts of Tokyo, Japan." The remainder of the description pretty much fits the MMO bill, as it mentions dungeon crawling, a multitude of weapons and spells, and real-time combat.

The game sounds like it's a bit on the mature side, too -- the listing mentions arterial spray, pools of blood and female demons "scantily clad, hovering in bondage-style outfits, half-open blouses, or the tightest of short-shorts." Hey, underworld, get with the times! Short-shorts haven't been cool since the Nixon administration.

Head past the break for a trailer from the Japanese release, courtesy of Aeria Games.

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Persona 3 Portable features Persona 4 cameo

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 15th 2009 at 4:30PM }

The upcoming PSP version of Persona 3 features a nice easter egg for fans of the franchise. According to Siliconera, Inaba, the town featured in Persona 4 will be a playable locale in the upcoming port. You must play as the female lead in order to visit the Amagiya Inn -- two years before the events of P4. There, you'll be able to meet a younger version of Yukiko.

Certainly, it's not the biggest news surrounding the game, but it gives us an excuse to post this video. P3P hits Japan next month.

Kenka Bancho: Banana Suit Rumble

by JC Fletcher { Oct 14th 2009 at 4:30PM }

How tough are the badasses of Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble? So tough that they can look intimidating in banana costumes, as demonstrated in these new screenshots. Not convinced? These dudes are so hardcore that the game's release date was moved up to face off with Modern Warfare 2. You have to be pretty ice cold to stand against that as a niche PSP game. We respect that.

Atlus sent an email detailing the game's inventory system, which is pretty simple: every item of clothing includes a certain number of pockets, up to a total of eight per complete outfit. Which means you have to be super tough to take on rival gangs in just your undies, because not only would that be really embarrassing to anyone but the most confident of fighters, you can't carry healing items.

Gallery: Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble (PSP)

Review: Demon's Souls

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 12th 2009 at 5:30PM }

Demon's Souls is not your friend, nor does it want or try to be. Your relationship is on its terms and you can love it or leave it.

From Software's dungeon crawler comes from some sick, demented alternate plane of existence, where arcades are thriving and popping quarters into your console is how publisher Atlus recoups the costs of the game. It's a reality where Diablo was a tremendous flop because gamers have accepted masochism as the only measure for a game's quality. Demon's Souls is your leather-clad mistress and -- the worst part -- if you can withstand the pain for almost eight hours, you may, in what can only be described as a horrifying epiphany ... begin to enjoy it.