RPG posts(Subscribe to this feed)

Well, this is a surprise. Square Enix's iPhone RPG Chaos Rings looks, in terms of design, like one of its PlayStation-era RPGs and, in terms of graphical quality, better than one of its PlayStation-era RPGs. Watch the trailer for the Media Vision-developed game after the break, and you'll see what we mean. Dynamic camera angles, detailed -- and stylish -- monsters and characters, and interesting prerendered environments are all on display.

What's nice is that since RPGs don't really require precise controls, we can semi-safely get interested in this game without having our hopes dashed by the platform. It could still turn out to be terrible, but it isn't guaranteed to be.

[Via Touch Arcade]

If you've been nervously tapping your fuzzy Hobbit toes in anticipation of the project behind the trademarked "Lord of the Rings: War in the North," then prepare for a delicious second breakfast of information. Warner Bros. Interactive has officially announced the game which, as it turns out, is an RPG from Champions of Norrath / Justice League Heroes developer Snowblind Studios, due for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in 2011.

It sounds like it will be familiar gameplay to fans of those games, as well. Snowblind head Ryan Geithman calls it "a natural evolution of the acclaimed RPG gameplay that Snowblind has consistently delivered over the past years." In this online co-op RPG, up to three players will take part in the War of the Ring, visiting areas and meeting characters from the films and uncovering "unseen lands, story elements and characters from Middle-earth."

The game will receive a full reveal in PlayStation: The Official Magazine's May issue, which will be on shelves April 6. Head past the break for a trailer.

Somehow, developer CyberConnect2 is making a game that is neither Naruto nor .hack. In fact, Solarobo for DS is a spiritual successor to CyberConnect2's 1998 PlayStation game Tail Concerto. Like Tail Concerto, Solarobo is a platforming action RPG starring anthropomorphic animals in walking mechs.

As Red Savarin, you pilot the robot DAHAK-AZI03 on bounty hunting missions. Without weapons, your only method of combat is picking up and throwing objects using the robot's arms. Solarobo is due in Japan this year from Namco Bandai. It features some kind of 1-4 player support, but the details of that have yet to be released -- as does any information about a release outside of Japan.

Have you seen those Dos Equis commercials, with the "Most Interesting Man in the World?" He doesn't always drink beer, but when he does, he prefers Dos Equis? No? Go ahead and watch the commercials now before heading past the break and watching the latest 3D Dot Game Heroes trailer. You'll find it a lot funnier that way.

Even if you aren't well-versed in the culture of beer commercials, you'll find some impressive gameplay footage in the trailer, including giant (and, of course, blocky) bosses. Just try not to be mesmerized by the hero's speaking voice.

Steam is having a "midweek madness" sale on Dragon Age: Origins until Thursday at 4PM PST. BioWare's fantasy epic is discounted 33 percent, making the regular and "digital deluxe" editions $33.49 and $43.54, respectively.

Of course, the discounts are to get you on the hook to purchase the game's first expansion, Awakening, which releases today. But, just so you go into this with eyes wide open, DA:O is a long game -- especially if you get the bundle stuffed with the extra DLC missions. The game is so long, in fact, that if you purchase the base game now, by the time you're ready for Awakening, you may very well be able to get that at a discount, instead of its initial $40 price.

When Capcom woke up this morning, it decided it would like to have roughly a bajillion more dollars by this time next year. It walked over to a secret panel in its foyer, slid it open and pressed a button inside, labeled "New Monster Hunter." A press release was instantaneously launched announcing Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, the next PSP-based entry in the franchise, due out in Japan in late 2010.

The announcement heralds new monsters and areas to explore, an expanded "Felyne Comrade" system (we're pretty sure that's Russian for "cat friend") and improved co-op play. There's no word on plans for localization, but Capcom's been pretty diligent in unleashing the Monster Hunter series worldwide. You can get your first look at the outrageously large-sworded title in a trailer posted after the jump.

[Thanks Krystian!]

Justice takes center stage in the latest, and perhaps last trailer for Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (which is due out this week). Justice is actually a "person," and not the principle -- a ghost trapped in a human body by a sorceress. Uh-huh, it's up to you to help him escape this mortal dilemma.

To make things worse, Justice's "new" body is basically Christian Bale's body (and not the Batman one). In other words, he's a skeleton tightly wrapped in skin. We're surprised Justice can even lift that shield and mace! Forget Elfroot, somebody get this guy some delicious Corpse Gall to fatten him up.

The creators of Final Fantasy XIII have been notoriously tight-lipped about the Fabula Nova Crystallis trilogy, a series comprised of FFXIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the PSP-exclusive Final Fantasy Agito XIII. During a GDC panel titled "The Crystal Mythos," director Motomu Toriyama gave a few scant details about the other two branches of the trilogy, and the few similarities connecting the entries in the franchise's 13th series.

Toriyama's main point during his presentation is that Agito and Versus won't be sequels to the recently released Final Fantasy XIII -- they'll both have their own unique set of characters, gameplay systems and overarching stories. The only thing connecting them is the "Crystal Mythos" motif -- a theme where the fates of ordinary humans are controlled by omnipotent gods. Players of Final Fantasy XIII should already be acquainted with this storytelling device.

The other detail about the series Toriyama mentioned was that, like XIII, the rest of the series will continue to focus on story-driven gameplay rather than allowing the player to explore an open world. For better or worse, it sounds like Versus and Agito will possess the same linearity for which XIII was frequently criticized.

Like some of the best loyalty quests in Mass Effect 2, "Kasumi's Stolen Memory" is an inventive sub-story that steps away from all the galactic peril just long enough to explore the motives and traits of a newly recruited squad mate. The downloadable add-on introduces Kasumi, a cocky human thief in search of data relating to a former partner (in crime?), and sees Shepard accompanying her on an important and incredibly dangerous two-person mission. You know, a date.

Donning a sleek bit of evening wear and a false identity, Shepard accompanies Kasumi to an exclusive party -- the kind that requires either a shiny invitation or a shady conscience. While the commander mingles, a cloaked Kasumi keeps an eye out for the hidden art vault that she believes holds her partner's grey box. What they eventually find encroaches upon spoiler territory (that's especially sensitive given the 90-minute length of the mission), but unsurprisingly triggers one of Mass Effect 2's intense combat sequences.

Plenty of attention has been lavished on one nontraditional Japanese RPG this week -- but Sega sneaked out another one alongside Final Fantasy XIII. Luckily, enough reviewers remembered that Yakuza 3 exists to provide a decent swath of reviews.

While it's certain to be the best game this week about playing fictional arcade shooters, singing karaoke with dates from hostess clubs and hitting gangsters with street signs, how did Kazuma Kiryu's latest saga fare under more common rubrics?

• IGN (8.5/10): "You're getting this intense story about Japan's seedy underbelly that's set in an open world where you can take all sorts of side quests, but as you do so, random battles are popping up, you're earning experience points so you can level up your moves, and you can take stuff from your extensive inventory list and craft new weapons and armor. There are no cars or chocobos, but you see where I'm going with this -- one minute you're slamming a crowbar into a guy's face or tearing off a fingernail with pliers, and the next minute, you're taking photos to blog about or on a fetch quest to find a certain fish."
• GameSpot (8/10): "While the pace and events of the story are enough to propel you towards its conclusion, the non-story peripheral content gives Yakuza 3 a welcome sense of diversity. There are more than a hundred side and hitman quests that allow you to do everything from carrying ice cream for a father who has overpurchased, to playing UFO Catcher claw machines in the arcade, to chasing down a bag snatcher, to offering financial advice to a man deep in debt and precariously perched on the edge of a bridge."
• Eurogamer (8/10): "From the publisher that brought us Streets of Rage, Virtua Fighter and Shenmue, Yakuza is essentially a mashup of all three, which is hardly surprising but does mean it's the stuff of Segaphile fantasies. Liberally sprinkled with their genius, it's the grateful beneficiary of some of their most satisfying elements, in a context which delivers a uniquely Japanese -- and uniquely Sega -- flavour."

The first details about Mistwalker's mysterious Wii RPG The Last Story have been released, in the form of a blog entry on Nintendo's Last Story site. The game takes place on Ruri Island, which, as home to a necessary harbor, has become a wealthy and important city. The affluent island is run by "Lord Arganon," a power-hungry ruler who is well-versed in magic. If we had to guess, we'd say he's going to be the villain.

We still have yet to see real screens or footage of The Last Story, but the blog entry includes concept art of the island, which is quite lovely.

[Via VG247; All Games Beta]

While Mass Effect 2's in-game DLC pipeline, The Cerberus Network, continues to transport new weapons (and soon, a new vehicle) to players for free, BioWare has announced the game's first pack of paid downloadable content. "Kasumi's Stolen Memory" finally completes Commander Shepard's dirty dozen, adding a confident female thief to your anti-Reaper repertoire. It's currently scheduled to launch for Xbox 360 and PC on April 6.

After downloading the DLC, players can get in touch with Kasumi on the Citadel, either in the middle of an ongoing Mass Effect 2 game or after the completion of the main story (lesson learned from Mass Effect 1 DLC!). Once recruited, Shepard aids Kasumi on a secretive mission of recovery, which requires a suave disguise and a run-in with an influential and predictably corrupt art collector. The content, which also provides the "Locust" SMG, a flash-bang grenade loyalty power and a new Achievement, should take about an hour and a half to complete.

BioWare is currently in the midst of "internal discussion" to determine the price of the DLC, but we'll keep you updated as soon as it's finalized. Look for some impressions of "Kasumi's Stolen Memory" coming soon to Joystiq as part of our ongoing GDC coverage. Spoiler: It looks great.

If, for some reason, you didn't purchase and love Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes on DS -- or even if you did -- you'll have the opportunity to buy the puzzle RPG on two new systems this year, in glorious hand-drawn HD. Capybara Games has revealed a new PSN/XBLA version of Clash of Heroes, with totally redrawn graphics that eschew the 16-bit look of the DS original for more realistic proportions and a generally sharper look.

In addition, new equippable artifacts are being added, and the existing ones tweaked, to improve balance in multiplayer. Even better, you'll now be able to go back and replay segments of the game after completing them. Capy expects to release Clash of Heroes in late summer.

[Via GameSetWatch]

You and your trusty White Knight Chronicles monster-slaying team don't have to repeat the same quests over and over again (though you will, simply for the experience and materials). Every Thursday, starting this week through June, Sony will add new quests to Level-5's RPG, visible in the world map, and all downloadable for free.

Each week, a new permanent quest will be available, along with limited-time quests that you can only download for two weeks. And to mark the occasion, Sony is giving away a 12-inch White Knight figurine to one lucky player that logs into one of six quests during a certain time period. See PlayStation Blog for all the details.

In a Japanese press release, Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIII has shipped 5 million copies worldwide. Surprisingly, 3 million of those copies were shipped outside of Japan. Of course, Square Enix isn't saying how many of those copies have been sold, so bear that in mind when marveling over these impressive numbers.

These 5 million XIIIs, according to the release, bring the total number of shipped games in the Final Fantasy series up to 96 million. How many of those were ports or remakes of the first Final Fantasy, we wonder?