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Solstice shifting Demon's Souls to 'pure white tendency' for short time

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 17th 2009 at 5:45PM }

Atlus' Demon's Souls will take pity on the masses this holiday as the game shifts to the "pure white tendency" this holiday. What this means is that "new areas and special NPCs" will exist in Boletaria during that time -- as a bonus, enemies cause less damage and players inflict more. Pure white is not easy to achieve, so this is a great opportunity for players. Atlus does note that adventurers may need to "log in and out a few times before [the] tendency shifts to match the server."

Demon's Souls had a similar event during Halloween, but that was "pure black." There is no shame in using the game's official wiki and, for soul's sake, we recommend using it.

Update: We followed up with Atlus and received a more specific time for the event: "Noon PST to noon PST, 12/21-28." Happy hunting!

Square Enix accepting beta applications for PC Final Fantasy XIV

by JC Fletcher { Dec 16th 2009 at 8:05PM }

Final Fantasy XIII? Totally old hat, even though it's not out yet. Square Enix has just opened applications for a Final Fantasy XIV beta, for the Windows version only. "All individuals are invited to apply," the page reads, "regardless of their past MMORPG experience."

Slow down, chocobo! Before applying, you need to be 18 years old, have plenty of hard drive space and an internet connection (obviously), be fluent in Japanese, English, French or German for the purpose of bug reports, and have a Square Enix ID account.

Though the current round of applications is only for the PC version, Square Enix indicates that a PS3 beta may be on the way later. And if you don't get in this time, don't worry -- the company says there will be "several rounds of tester selection, with the total number of participants increasing each time." And if there's anything Final Fantasy fans are good at, it's waiting their turn.

Gallery: Final Fantasy XIV

GameStop offers pre-order bonus for Divinity 2: Ego Draconis

by JC Fletcher { Dec 16th 2009 at 3:45PM }

Sadly, pre-ordering a copy of Divinity II: Ego Draconis from GameStop won't net you any divinity. Or any dragons, for that matter. What you do get for putting your money down on a copy of the Xbox 360 sequel to Divine Divinity is some exclusive in-game armor and armaments, representing the Blood Echelon, "a select lodge of elite Dragon Slayers who have earned the highest of distinctions on the battlefield."

Both online and in-store pre-orderers will be entitled to look like they're in the Blood Echelon when they freely roam around Divinity II's landscapes, reading minds. But only if they buy the Xbox version: the PC release does not list any bonus items. Divinity II will be available December 29.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope International trailer isn't terribly international

by JC Fletcher { Dec 16th 2009 at 3:15PM }

This trailer for Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, the new PS3 version of the once Xbox 360-exclusive RPG, starts off by introducing a bunch of characters. It's like the trailer is showing off that all these anime stereotypes and more can be yours if you just play the game. And then there's some fighting.

If you like the Japanese voice work you hear in this trailer (that is, if you don't mind not being able to understand it), remember that the International release will feature both English and Japanese voice tracks, in addition to several subtitle languages. It'll be out February 9, just before the spring 2010 release of an actually new tri-Ace RPG.

[Via Famitsu]

Final Fantasy VIII 'coming soon' to PlayStation Store

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 16th 2009 at 2:30PM }

Though Japan finds itself awash in Square Enix RPGs in the PSOne Originals channel of the PlayStation Store, the American PSN is suffering from an inexplicable drought. Fortunately, that situation will be rectified shortly -- according to a recent email bulletin sent out to its customers, Sony revealed Final Fantasy VIII will be coming to the U.S. PlayStation Store. No exact timeframe was given for the game's arrival, but it's listed under a section of the newsletter titled "Coming Soon." We've contacted Sony to try and get something more concrete than that.

[Thanks, Solace.]

The World Ends With You, Crisis Core, FFIV just $10 today on Amazon

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 16th 2009 at 1:30PM }

Looking for a ludological stocking stuffer for the RPG fan in your life? Amazon's Deal of the Day has you covered -- three of Square Enix's portable titles (Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for PSP and The World Ends With You and Final Fantasy IV on DS) have had their prices rolled back to just $9.78 for today only. At those prices, you've got no reason not to buy one of these for your dearest friends and family. Especially family who writes for the same gaming news site as you, who let you borrow their copy of The World Ends With You in March, which you beat and then traded in, you thoughtless bastard.

[Via CheapAssGamer]

New trailer reminds us that LOTR: Aragorn's Quest exists

by JC Fletcher { Dec 16th 2009 at 2:30AM }

For the first time since the announcement of the game's burial in the first quarter of 2010, WBIE has released new media for The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest. In case you've forgotten about the upcoming Wii/DS/PS2/PSP action-RPG, it's a kid-friendly game starring a cuddly incarnation of Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn -- and, in the Wii version, an equally huggable Gandalf (for a second player to handle).

It seems that, even though you're in the middle of a war and hacking up thousands of monsters, the game's been approved for kids because your avatar has big feet.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey launch copies to include bonus soundtrack

by JC Fletcher { Dec 15th 2009 at 8:05PM }

At some point, people are going to get spoiled by Atlus's (coincidentally named) "Atlus Spoils" program, in which the company includes some kind of bonus item with pretty much every game it releases. When the publisher doesn't release a game with an artbook or soundtrack or figurine or something, somebody out there is going to be irritated to buy just a game.

That won't happen with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, though. Atlus announced today that every launch copy of the first-person RPG will include a soundtrack disc. You'll have to wait a bit longer to get that launch copy: the publisher also announced that the release date has moved from the March 10 date found on Nintendo's Q1 schedule to March 23.

Gallery: Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (DS)

Square Enix teases something 'stylish' for FFXIII

by Justin McElroy { Dec 14th 2009 at 2:31PM }

As if the wait for Final Fantasy XIII wasn't already difficult enough, Square Enix's assistant PR director, Sonia Im, is making it even more torturous. On her Twitter account, Im teased "something cool most of you can participate in a few days from now" within a mysterious Square Enix memo. Im later added that the memo "eluded [sic] to something stylish." If you squint, the date in the memo seems to be December 17, which would coincide with a PSN update.

It's anybody's guess past that, but we're hoping for a totally magical Final Fantasy-themed fancy dress party for us and a few of our closest friends, set inside PlayStation Home. Can you even imagine?

That, or a demo like the one our Japanese friends already have. Either way.

Gallery: FINAL FANTASY XIII (12/14)

Amazon listing for Pokemon remakes includes March 14 release date, Pokewalker accessory

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 13th 2009 at 9:00PM }

Though Japan has been enjoying the adorable bounties of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver for months now, us poor westerners still don't know when to expect the games on our store shelves, or whether they'll include the Pokéwalker accessory which allows you to take one of your encapsulated soldiers out for a discreet night on the town. Fortunately, if the games' Amazon listings are on the money, both these Unown pieces of info have been divulged: According to the listings, they're coming March 14, along with the Poke Ball-shaped peripheral.

The latter information actually comes from the games' supposed box art, which we've posted above. We've contacted Nintendo to find out if the Amazon listing is authentic. If it's not, we're going to give them the most guilt-inspiring sad puppy face anyone's ever seen. It will be absolutely brutal.

XSEED reveals preorder bonuses for Ragnarok DS

by JC Fletcher { Dec 10th 2009 at 7:30PM }

click for a Massively Multi-Image Online GalleryRemember Ragnarok DS? If you do, you're likely an avid fan of the Ragnarok Online MMO, and thus exactly the kind of person XSEED hopes to entice with the pre-order bonuses for the DS game.

Pre-orders for the DS RPG will include exclusive in-game items for the PC game, which increase experience, attack speed, damage and other stats when used. In addition, every retail package will have more items thrown in, which increase even more stats.

While at first blush it seems obvious to target people who like Ragnarok with this Ragnarok spinoff, it actually strikes us as kind of odd. People obsessed with Ragnarok have a lot of online gaming in their lives as it is! Are they going to want to jump into some random dungeons with just a few people?

Gallery: Ragnarok Online DS

Continued →

Mass Effect 2 cast bolstered by Battlestar, Star Trek actors

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 10th 2009 at 1:30PM }

Mass Effect 2 is bound to have some recognizable actors, what with 90 actors voicing 546 characters with 31,000 lines of dialogue. EA revealed today that the cast includes ... oh, by Grabthar's hammer, here's the list:

Martin Sheen (Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez's dad) -- Illusive Man commanding Cerberus
Shohreh Adhdashloo (sexy voice lady from FlashForward) -- Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay
Seth Green (hand in your geek card if you don't know) -- Joker
Yvonne Strahovski (wiener lady, lust of Chuck) -- Miranda Lawson
Adam Baldwin (a man named Jayne... or the man they call Jayne) -- Kal 'Reegar
~~David Keith~~ Keith David (Halo's Arbiter) -- Admiral David Anderson
Michael Dorn (Star Trek TNG's Worf) -- Gatatog Uvenk
Tricia Helfer (2020 Oscar winner after people stop treating her like meat) -- EDI, voice of the "new Normandy"
Michael Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh) -- Captain Bailey
Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity from The Matrix, singular, no sequels exist -- especially not Revolutions) -- Aria T'Loak

We also can't forget Jennifer Hale, who is reprising her role as the real Commander Shepard, nor Mark Meer, the male Shepard and known expert at cutting the council off at weird times.

Back into the labyrinth: Atlus announces Etrian Odyssey 3

by JC Fletcher { Dec 9th 2009 at 4:30PM }

The latest Famitsu reveals a third entry in Atlus's hardcore dungeon RPG series Etrian Odyssey (Sekaiju no Meikyuu). Etrian Odyssey 3 ditches the series' forest setting for the seaside town of Armolode, in which an earthquake has recently uncovered -- surprise! -- a big labyrinth.

According to the 1UP translation, the new game will include new character classes "including prince/princess, phalanx, monk, pirate, and shinobi," and will allow players to explore the ocean by ship when they aren't being killed in the labyrinth. The game will be released March 4 in Japan, and has a pretty good shot at a North American release: not only has Atlus USA translated the previous games in the series, it continues to show willingness to publish first-person DS RPGs like The Dark Spire and the upcoming Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

New Mass Effect 2 trailer showcases the Engineer class and its killer robot

by Ben Gilbert { Dec 7th 2009 at 1:20PM }

BioWare has just released a new trailer for Mass Effect 2, featuring the exploits of strategic tactician "Commander Shepard the Engineer" and his murderous robot. Much like the first game, engineer class players will rely more heavily on strategery and tech management than direct confrontation.

Lead gameplay designer Christina Norman guides us through some combat-heavy gameplay, which depicts the aforementioned android aggressor along with some cool abilities, like freezing enemies on the spot and hacking mechanized enemies. Oh, Mass Effect 2, you had us at killer 'bot.

Gallery: Mass Effect 2 (Engineer class)

Trademark suggests upcoming European release for Dragon Quest IX

by JC Fletcher { Dec 3rd 2009 at 12:30PM }

While we wait for the real, official announcement we so desperately need to hear from Square Enix, another hint has been dropped about a Western release for Dragon Quest IX.

Square Enix has filed a series of trademarks for the phrase "Sentinels of the Starry Skies" in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German (search for trademark #008724528 on the EU trademark database to see the English application for yourself). The phrase corresponds closely to the Japanese subtitle of Dragon Quest IX, Hoshizora no Mamorubito ("Defenders of the Starry Sky").

The publisher could be waiting to get its other big RPG out the door before saying anything. It previously noted that if it does localize the DS game (which it will!) it'll be in the next fiscal year, which starts in April.