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Random JRPG News Thread

Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
FFXV did well enough for SE to milk it. It was the reason they had one of their best financial report in ages. PC version is coming, new DLC and whatever else they'll come up with.
 

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Arcane
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Codex 2014
Rise of the Third Power, a new game from the creator of the cool looking RPG Maker game Ara Fell:



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Rise of the Third Power is a love letter to the glory days of the console style RPG, with modern conveniences such as auto-save, and a combination of the best elements of Japanese and western style gameplay and writing. Experience this fusion of east and west, old and new, in a game meant to surpass Stegosoft Games' previous work in every way!
  • CUSTOM BATTLE SYSTEM - Rise of the Third Power offers 8 playable characters in a battle system built from scratch, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, all of whom are meant to participate in battle simultaneously without the need for tedious party management. Combine each character's unique strengths and weaknesses, analyze the abilities of your foes, set your formation and charge into battle.
  • POLITICAL INTRIGUE - As the world of Rin is recovers from the Great War, the balance of power remains badly skewed, with vacuums of power still waiting to be filled. The player's party will be both beset and aided by schemers, liars and betrayers, all while the clock ticks down to a reprise of the greatest war in human history...
  • PERSISTENT EQUIPMENT - Each piece of equipment found, purchased or stolen is a permanent and unique unlockable upgrade for each character. Instead of purchasing replacements, the player purchases upgrades. No more buying that awesome helmet back in town only to stumble over a better one as treasure in a dungeon... Each character has 3 equipment slots with 8 upgrades each, with 192 to find in total! This system avoids the tedium of inventory management, while also giving the completionist something useful to hunt for.
  • STORY DRIVEN - Join a party of 8, each with their own unique ambitions, perspectives and personalities as they embark upon a suicide mission to topple the Arkadyan emperor, Dimitri Noraskov. A blend of humor, drama and tragedy await players as they navigate the treacherous world of Rin.
 

Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
EDIT: No physical release in Europe. Shit! I'll not get it, then.

The Alliance Alive will launch for Nintendo 3DS on March 27 in EU/NA. Both as physical and digital release.

Going to buy.
 
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Codex 2014


https://gematsu.com/2017/12/xseed-games-teases-three-unannounced-2018-titles-qa-promotion

XSEED Games teased three unannounced game localizations for 2018 in a promotional image for a Twitter Q&A the company is running.

The lower part of the image features XSEED Games’ announced 2018 lineup, which includes Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin for PlayStation 4 and PC, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II for PC, Zwei: The Arges Adventure for PC, and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero for Switch, alongside three silhouettes.

ResetEra user Saphirax has figured out the second silhouette to English Detective Mysteria, an otome visual novel published by Marvelous for PSP in 2013 and PS Vita in 2016.

XSEED Games Forums user Banballow has discovered the third silhouette to be Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal, the upcoming remake of Senran Kagura Burst and Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows for PlayStation 4.

The first silhouette has yet to be figured out. If you have any ideas, let us know in the comments!

Thanks, ResetEra.
 

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Arcane
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Codex 2014
Some non-English Japanese doujin RPG-ish things:



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Winter Wolves' latest visual novel/RPG thing:



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Self-Ejected

aweigh

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could a kind soul sift through the last few pages' worth of releases (or even entire thread!!) and make a nice list of what's out in english that is actually good?

pretty please!

a lot of these titles, especially the chinese ones, look really good but the posts themselves offer no info on whether there's an english trannie coming or whatnot, let alone whether the game is actually good.

Perhaps could even make a seperate thread titled "Non-Mainstream JRPG Incline Of 2016-17", even! Just a thought. I would make it myself but as I said, I haven't played any of the titles posted about here for like last 25 pages. Last JRPG I've been slogging thru is DQ7 remake on 3DS, which even non-JRPG fans would know about.
 

Hobo Elf

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could a kind soul sift through the last few pages' worth of releases (or even entire thread!!) and make a nice list of what's out in english that is actually good?

pretty please!

a lot of these titles, especially the chinese ones, look really good but the posts themselves offer no info on whether there's an english trannie coming or whatnot, let alone whether the game is actually good.

Perhaps could even make a seperate thread titled "Non-Mainstream JRPG Incline Of 2016-17", even! Just a thought. I would make it myself but as I said, I haven't played any of the titles posted about here for like last 25 pages. Last JRPG I've been slogging thru is DQ7 remake on 3DS, which even non-JRPG fans would know about.

Romancing SaGa 2 (now released on Steam!!) is probably the biggest most recent non-mainstream jRPG you should be aware of. Too lazy to make a list since I feel sick.
 

Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
could a kind soul sift through the last few pages' worth of releases (or even entire thread!!) and make a nice list of what's out in english that is actually good?

pretty please!

a lot of these titles, especially the chinese ones, look really good but the posts themselves offer no info on whether there's an english trannie coming or whatnot, let alone whether the game is actually good.

Perhaps could even make a seperate thread titled "Non-Mainstream JRPG Incline Of 2016-17", even! Just a thought. I would make it myself but as I said, I haven't played any of the titles posted about here for like last 25 pages. Last JRPG I've been slogging thru is DQ7 remake on 3DS, which even non-JRPG fans would know about.
Tell me what platforms you have, and then we'll discuss.
 
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aweigh

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Anything that can be played on PC, or that can played on PC via an Emulator, with the only Emulator currently off-limits for me being the PS3 one (rig can't handle it).
 

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Arcane
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Codex 2014
Cupid Bistro!! 2, a 2005 anime role-playing/restaurant management/dating sim hybrid by Hong Kong studio, is coming to Steam. Without English for now:



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Love, restaurant, and RPG adventure all in one, the sequel of the "Cupid Bistro!!" is back!

This time you are the main character Dill Bergamot, led by the main character of Cupid Bistro!! 1, Rato Coriander, you went back to your homeland Bayleaf. You need to run your restaurant here, research for more cuisines here and get to know different people here....

However, the darkness is reaching out to Bayleaf, and Dill, you are the one to decide all different endings!

Game System
Bistro Cupid!! 2 is a game you develop your relationship with the girls by running your internship restaurant, the "Cupid Bistro". As Dill, your objective is to get a happy ending in the graduation ceremony 1 year later.

The game was composed of 4 main parts, and you can schedule them to your weekly planner.
  • "Going out": To talk and meet the girls
  • "Management": Manage your restaurant
  • "Adventure": To find new recipes and level up your characters
  • "Research": To master the new recipes you got
Features
  • 9 beautiful heriones
  • 10 maximum levels of restaurant
  • Improved RPG dungeon adventure mode
  • Full Japanese voice acting from famous voice actors
 

Reinhardt

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Started Omega Quintet. It's stupid fun, like always with IF titles, but Order Break is a cancer. Someone who thought it was a good idea should be fired. From cannon.

"Your turn? Lol, bitch, now it's MY turn. Actually, it's 6 my turns in a row. Enjoy your party wipe."
 

karoliner

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https://gematsu.com/2017/12/catherine-full-body-announced-ps4-ps-vita
Catherine: Full Body announced for PS4, PS Vita
A third Catherine makes her debut.
Atlus has announced Catherine: Full Body for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. It is developed by Studio Zero, the studio led by Persona 5 director Katsura Hashino.
Catherine is an action puzzle game released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011. It follows the story of Vincent, a 32 year-old man who cheats on his fiancee Katherine with a woman named Catherine, and is desperately trying to survive while suffering from nightmares that come as a result of his actions. Catherine: Full Body will feature a “third Catherine” whose personality and aura seem to be quite different from the previous two, as well as new scenes with Katherine and Catherine.
The December 21 issue of Weekly Famitsu will have the exclusive first report on Catherine: Full Body, including a profile for the third Catherine, an interview with the developers, and a front cover illustrated by character designer Shigenori Soejima. Famitsu.com has already shared two screenshots from the game, the first of which shows the third Catherine and the second a new scene with the original Catherine. (Update: Read more here.)
 

Crooked Bee

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Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire MCA Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Kotaku has interviewed Akitoshi Kawazu, director of the SaGa series: https://kotaku.com/saga-frontier-director-says-ending-in-the-middle-of-the-1821426733

Square Enix’s Akitoshi Kawazu, director of the SaGa series, says he doesn’t want to go back to Final Fantasy. He hopes to bring more SaGa games to the West. And, believe it or not, that jarring ending to Blue’s campaign in SaGa Frontier was totally intentional.

In 2016, Square released a mobile remake of Romancing SaGa 2, a 1993 role-playing game for the Super Nintendo and the fifth game in Kawazu’s quirky series. Last Friday, Square brought the remake to modern consoles (including Switch), and to celebrate the occasion, the company offered me an e-mail interview with Kawazu. I sent over a bunch of questions about the game, his plans for the series, and my obsession with SaGa Frontier, a game that is wonderful, maddening, and almost certainly unfinished.

Here’s the whole Q&A:

Interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Jason Schreier: To readers who might not be familiar with Romancing SaGa 2, can you talk a little bit about the game and why you think people should check it out on these new platforms?

Akitoshi Kawazu: The main character is the Emperor. The enemies that need to be defeated are the Seven Heroes. They were once heroes but now, they are different. That said, they are powerful beings, so much as to have once been called heroes, and defeating these enemies is no easy feat for the main character. That’s when the Emperor discovers a way that enables the succession of his own abilities across generations.

Romancing SaGa 2 is a story about the conflict between the Seven Heroes and the Emperors across several generations. The game was created over 20 years ago, but to this day, it still stands as a title that upholds a unique mechanic with no comparable RPGs in existence. It’s finally available on current gaming devices, and furthermore, it can be played in English, so we would love to see everyone attempt to take on this challenge.

Schreier: There’s been a lot of focus on Romancing SaGa 2, both with the iOS/Android ports last year and now these new ports - why did the team choose to focus on that game specifically?

Kawazu: We focused on this title because we determined there is value in playing this particular game in modern times due to its unique game mechanics. Furthermore, an English version hadn’t been developed for gaming consoles yet, so that became another reason for taking on this project. We wanted as many players as possible to have an opportunity to experience this game.

Schreier: SaGa Scarlet Grace never made it to the West - do you plan to ever bring it here?

Kawazu: I would like to make this decision after monitoring the situation of Romancing SaGa 2 in the overseas market. Of course, I would like to if I could.

Schreier: Similarly, in Japan, Square released DS remakes of SaGa 2 andSaGa 3 but never released them here. Are there any plans to release those remakes in the West? Are there plans to remaster any other SaGagames?

Kawazu: It happened to be a time in which it was extremely difficult to determine whether the games should be released overseas or not, and we unfortunately had to forgo the overseas release. As the latest releases for both titles were on the DS, there are high hurdles to realizing such a project since the games would need to be rearranged to fit the current landscape of single screen gaming devices. That said, we are hoping to continue bringing titles from the SaGa series to a wider audience—I don’t know when this will be, but I would love to tackle those projects.

Schreier: Remakes of classic games like Romancing Saga 2 are great to see, but unlike Japanese gamers, we in the West don’t have the option of legitimately playing these games as they originally appeared. Have you considered localizing original versions of those games?

Kawazu: The latest version of Romancing SaGa 2 also implements modes that are very close to those in the original. Of course, we wouldn’t be able to make it exactly the same as the SNES version, but we feel everyone should be able to get a grasp of the overall feel of the game.

Schreier: I have many fond memories about SaGa Frontier, and I really enjoyed that game, but it’s also infamous for having parts that seem to be unfinished. For example, Blue’s scenario ends in the middle of the final boss, simply by saying “The End.” Also, parts of the game like Fuse’s scenario were reportedly cut from the game. What happened during development?

Kawazu: The final boss battle in Blue’s scenario is complete as it currently stands. That’s the way we envisioned it when we created the game. The Blue versus Rouge sequence is the true last battle, and anything thereafter merely serves as an epilogue. Additionally, the Fuse scenario and other events/dungeons that were cut did exist. Unfortunately, we had to forgo implementation due to the size of the CD-ROM and the timing of release.

Schreier: Would you ever consider remaking SaGa Frontier with the content that was cut from the game?

Kawazu: Of course I’d like to, but I’m not sure if god would keep me alive until the day it can be realized.

Schreier: Do you ever want to return to Final Fantasy? If you could make a new Final Fantasy game, what would it look like?

Kawazu: If there is ever a time when no one is around to develop Final Fantasy, then I feel like I would have no choice but to work on it. That said, it would be best if a situation like that never occurs, and it is also highly unlikely to occur. As such, there’s no need to think about what it would look like.

Schreier: How do you feel about Legend of Legacy and The Alliance Alive, games that are sort of spiritual successors to the SaGa series?

Kawazu: It’s easier to play games (rather than creating them), so should more games along the lines of what I’m thinking get released, all I’d have to do is play those games every day. But, that day has yet to arrive.

Schreier: Would you like to give any sort of message to SaGa fans in the West?

Kawazu: We have finally been able to release Romancing Saga 2 on gaming devices for the West. Whether you’re a passionate fan who struggled to play the Japanese version, or a player who will be experiencing SaGa for the first time, how you enjoy the game is completely up to you, so I hope you’ll thoroughly experience the various aspects of the game. We plan on continuing to release titles overseas in the future, so we hope you look forward in anticipation.
 

Deflowerer

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https://gematsu.com/2017/12/catherine-full-body-announced-ps4-ps-vita
Catherine: Full Body announced for PS4, PS Vita
A third Catherine makes her debut.
Atlus has announced Catherine: Full Body for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. It is developed by Studio Zero, the studio led by Persona 5 director Katsura Hashino.
Catherine is an action puzzle game released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011. It follows the story of Vincent, a 32 year-old man who cheats on his fiancee Katherine with a woman named Catherine, and is desperately trying to survive while suffering from nightmares that come as a result of his actions. Catherine: Full Body will feature a “third Catherine” whose personality and aura seem to be quite different from the previous two, as well as new scenes with Katherine and Catherine.
The December 21 issue of Weekly Famitsu will have the exclusive first report on Catherine: Full Body, including a profile for the third Catherine, an interview with the developers, and a front cover illustrated by character designer Shigenori Soejima. Famitsu.com has already shared two screenshots from the game, the first of which shows the third Catherine and the second a new scene with the original Catherine. (Update: Read more here.)


What the fuck is it with Atlus and those generic animu waifus in the Enhanced Editions?
 

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Arcane
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Codex 2014
Part 1 of XSEED fan Q&A: http://xseedgames.tumblr.com/post/168735807265/2017-end-of-the-year-qa-extravaganza-blog-1

Two things related to PC release:

Question: Has selling your games on PC worked out for you so far? I know supporting the PC platform is a relatively recent choice for XSEED. - @Nate_Nyo

Ken
: Being on PC has been great for us as it allows us to reach anyone anywhere in the world regardless of region or console. We were probably one of the earlier adopters in terms of bringing content from Japan to PC as we first published Ys: The Oath in Felghana on Steam almost 6 years ago in early 2012.

Brittany: I love working on PC. The work involved is greater than working on console, but I feel like it’s a bigger learning experience, too. For console, the developers normally handle the graphics after we translate them, and they do all the programming and such. For PC, everything falls on us. I wasn’t that experienced with Photoshop in the beginning, but I think I’ve gotten a lot better with it over the years. We can also receive updates instantly, and since I talk with our PC programmer through Skype, it’s easier to suss out our exact needs and think of ideas to improve the game or bring it to modern standards.

Question: With the Steam marketplace becoming increasingly saturated and being seen as a greater risk to publish on in recent times, what does XSEED plan on doing in order to remain prominent and relevant in the PC gaming space? - @myumute

Ken
: It is indeed getting harder and harder to stand out as hundreds of new titles are releasing on Steam each month. We are working our way towards simultaneous release across all platforms to help leverage some of the coverage from the console version to get more attention to the PC release, so hopefully that’s something we can accomplish soon. For PC-exclusive releases it continues to be a challenge, but at least they have a long tail and even if it’s not an immediate success at launch we know it can continue to produce sales for years to come.

Upcoming Part 2 has interesting questions about Korean and Chinese RPGs, but I expect generic answers (like, 'don't have plans to do that but will do if opportunity arises'):

Question: If possible, would you please consider researching and localizing classic Korean-made PC xRPGs? - @DragEnRegalia

Question: Do you have any interest in pursuing the localization of any of the large, beautiful Chinese RPGs that have been hitting Steam? Or are you focused exclusively on Japanese titles? - @TheDanaAddams
 

karoliner

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https://gematsu.com/2017/12/legend-...d-saga-announced-ps4-launches-fall-2018-japan
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV ~The End of Saga~ announced for PS4, launches fall 2018 in Japan

Sen-no-Kiseki-4-Ann_12-20-17.jpg

Falcom has officially announced The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV ~The End of Saga~ for PlayStation 4. It will launch in Japan in fall 2018.
Here is a brief overview of the game, via Falcom:
(Editor’s Note: It goes without saying, but any The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV ~The End of Saga~-related information and images may be considered a spoiler for previous titles.)
Due to the “The Great Twilight” plan being put into effect, a loathsome “curse” spread across the empire.
Rean Schwarzer, the “Ashen Knight,” was overtaken by his rampaging ogre power and lost self-control.
As the world heads for its demise, what will the remaining members of the new and old Class VII do?​
According to Falcom, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV ~The End of Saga~ will be the final chapter of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series, and depict the conclusion of the Erebonian Empire through overwhelming volume and grand scale that surpasses its predecessor, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III.
 

duanth123

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Tokyo Xanadu eX+ for PC will be released in the same day with PS4, December 8th:

Is it good?
Playing Trails of Cold Steel from the same dev and like it very much.

It's good, in the sense that it's similar in plot structure, fleshed out characterization of the NPCs, party members, as ToCS. You may notlike the real time combat though. The dungeons are kinda generic and a bit cramped.
 

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Arcane
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Codex 2014
Upcoming Part 2 has interesting questions about Korean and Chinese RPGs, but I expect generic answers (like, 'don't have plans to do that but will do if opportunity arises'):

Question: If possible, would you please consider researching and localizing classic Korean-made PC xRPGs? - @DragEnRegalia

Question: Do you have any interest in pursuing the localization of any of the large, beautiful Chinese RPGs that have been hitting Steam? Or are you focused exclusively on Japanese titles? - @TheDanaAddams

Well, their answers are detailed than expected!: http://xseedgames.tumblr.com/post/168803417750/2017-end-of-the-year-qa-extravaganza-blog-2

Brittany: The main reason we focus on JP > EN is because we’re mainly an office of Japanese to English speakers, and we can verify the quality. We haven’t completely ruled out the idea of other languages in the future, but we can’t do anything to guarantee these games will be accurate yet. If we hired a person to localize games into a specific language, there’s no checks-and-balances system in place for us to know we’re investing in a project people will be happy to play because it’s the best quality we can offer. Personally, I would hesitate to expand outside of JP > EN localization regularly until we’ve gained more experience as a company.

We’ve done a few instances of EN > FIGS, but since our games usually are very text heavy, even this is difficult. I would want to experiment with smaller games first. Hopefully, there will come a time when we can expand beyond JP > EN on a regular basis, since I’ve noticed some badass-looking games outside of the EN/JP languages. I also like the Korean developer Cheritz, who did Mystic Messenger. Jaehee will always be the love of my life.


Ken: We are definitely looking to expand where we source games from in the future and not just limiting ourselves to Japan. Definitely lots of good stuff coming out of China, Korea, and other parts of Southeast Asia these days, and we’re big fans of Western indie games too. You will be seeing a lot more variety of games from us in the future, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll be giving up on our staple of games from Japan - they will be in addition to those.


Nick: I figured I’d field these not because I have any special ability to get XSEED to license a game (we’re all free to suggest games for consideration, which is pretty cool), but because prior to working at XSEED, I actually did localization for Korean and Chinese F2P MMOs.

There’s a lot of game dev talent in places like China, Korea, and Taiwan that we in the west are only tangentially aware of due to their games market being significantly different from ours. To generalize a bit, outside of Japan, Asia doesn’t have a strong lineage of console development, as existing consoles haven’t been widely available in most of those countries. Rather, PCs are where people in Asia play their games – online games in particular, with net cafes being popular places to log in and play.

One of the first bits of localization work I ever did in my career was for the F2P MMO Dream of Mirror Online, for which I handled seasonal quests and ongoing localization (the base game had already been localized before I got there). The developer of that game, Softstar, has a cool, long-running Wuxia fantasy RPG series in China known as Xuan Yuan Jian, one installment of which is available on Steam right now. Wouldn’t it be cool to release an anime-style wuxia adventure RPG here? As a fan of drama, martial arts, and sweet swordfights, it would be pretty rad.

Personally, I’m totally up for dipping our toes into games like this as a company, but there are some extra challenges to taking on Chinese or Korean games that we haven’t had to contend with during our work on Japanese titles.

Perhaps most important is establishing audience interest in these titles. Even if we find cool Chinese or Korean games (and I’m sure we could), if we don’t sense a market demand for those games, it doesn’t make sense to expend the effort to publish them. That’s not a statement on their quality; it’s an issue of market awareness. Japanese gaming has an advantage for us, in a sense, in that it’s been pervasive in Western culture long enough that the names, language, and even history of Japan seem less strange and foreign to Westerners now than they were 20-30 years ago. We’ve come to have a taste for Japanese games and culture, one could say. That sort of natural predilection doesn’t currently exist for games from elsewhere in Asia. I think that a good game’s quality will be self-evident enough that it can become well known, but it would take considerably more work to make people aware of and interested in a cool game from China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, or elsewhere than it would if that game were from Japan. And given that XSEED’s marketing and advertising resources are admittedly smaller than we wish they were, licensing and localizing a cool Asian game for a Steam release could prove difficult if we couldn’t connect the game with enough of an audience that would appreciate it. Before you nay-say me, look around at the amount of Chinese or Korean games currently available in the Western market that aren’t MMOs or mobile games. It’s…not very many, is it?

Not to say we’re not interested, of course! There’s a huge amount of potential in games from Asian developers, and an ocean of possibilities to explore. But I think, before that happens, we have to either find a game we think would be a pretty sure thing our fans would enjoy, or see that there’s a demand here for these games. If you’re interested in seeing XSEED work on Chinese or Korean games, do feel free to write us, especially if you have suggestions of titles you think are particularly worth checking out or that you think are very “on-brand” for XSEED.

Arcturus (Korean RPG Helly is doing translation) probably? There are a few things many weaboo/JRPG fans can aware in that game:

- developed by Gravity, the developer of Ragnarok Online, with the same (or previous version of) engine
- it was published by Falcom in Japan
- it has Grandia-like combat

But then again, I guess it's a bit tricky to license, as the game's rights are probably distributed among multiple entities.
 

Hyperion

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Messages
2,120
We've got a weird ass trailer update from Atlus regarding that Project Re Fantasy game from Katsura Hashino / Studio Zero. Normally I'd be a little weirded out, but this is the Persona director we're talking about here. Typo 2 lines in ("It's" instead of "its") triggered my autism, but whatever.
 

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