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Posts with tag roguelike

Square Enix announces new Chocobo Tales, Chocobo roguelike



As a promotion for its Virtual World -- yes, it's a virtual world titled Virtual World -- Square Enix held a special event in the beta 3D space unveiling two new Chocobo titles for the Nintendo DS -- Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+ (fall 2008) and Chocobo and the Magic Storybook: The Witch and the Girl and the Five Heroes (winter 2008).

Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+, as you can guess, will be a roguelike starring Final Fantasy figures Cid and Chocobo. This will actually be Square Enix's fourth Chocobo Mystery Dungeon entry, an enhanced port of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon for the Wii, now with new jobs and a storyline told from a new perspective (Cid's).

The chances of this one coming to the U.S.? Given the current "surge" of roguelikes hitting the States, it's very likely we'll get this one! You can preview some of Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon's first screenshots in our gallery below.

The second title, Chocobo and the Magic Storybook: The Witch and the Girl and the Five Heroes, follows 2007's Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, a minigame collection with RPG and card-battling elements. If you remember our favorable review for the original game, we called it "just about the cutest thing ever." Screenshots below!



[Via Duckroll]

Create Lulz of the Unemployed Ninja, win stuff

Do you enjoy the Izuna character portrait comics on the official website? If not, you probably haven't read them, because they're delightful. Atlus is now offering a chance for the fans to share their own Izuna comics, and get a shot at some free stuff for doing so!

All you have to do is pick one of four templates (each one featuring interactions between different Izuna characters), add text to a form, and submit your hilarity to Atlus for judging. The winner gets a copy of Izuna 2 and all the posters -- even the one that they didn't pick for Amazon copies!

Gallery: Izuna 2

Izuna 2 QA causes a lot of pink hair pulling

Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns is about more than mini-posters and sexy ninjas -- a lot of work goes into getting a game like this localized. Not only does a good localization team have to focus on the translation, but they also need to fix any bugs or problems that gamers found in the Japanese release. Apparently, fixing bugs for a roguelike is especially hard and frustrating, as you might have guessed.

Here's the Quality Assurance stat breakdown, according to Atlus:
  • Number of testers on Izuna 2: 6
  • Number of DS systems almost thrown against the wall: 6
  • Number of system-type bugs our testers reported: 104
  • Number of text bugs our testers reported: 259
  • Number of times the testers nearly gave the project lead a heart attack with a fake system bug: 3
  • Number of bugs our testers reported to which we responded: "That's not a bug, that's the way this game works:" 17
  • Number of monkeys we could have hired to do their job: 0
The production diary is actually a really interesting read that not only Izuna fans, but also people interested in the localization process should give a look. Besides, we always appreciate more insight on how the other side of the gaming industry works.

Gallery: Izuna 2

Izuna poster overload!


The Izuna 2 poster situation has officially become ridiculous. Atlus has revealed that the cover of every copy will not feature the same mini-poster on the reverse; rather, each copy will have one of two pieces of arttwork. In addition, they've released the winning design from the Amazon poll.

With the Gamestop-exclusive poster, there are now four different Izuna 2 posters. Each copy ordered from Amazon or GameStop will include two, one of which can be chosen. Crazy people can try to collect them all by ordering one copy from each retailer and just hoping for two different posters on the boxes.

New Shiren 2 screens are all that and a bag of Shiren chips



We couldn't decide which was more awesome -- these new screenshots for Shiren the Wanderer DS 2: Demon Castle in the Desert, or the fact that Chunsoft went out of its way in 2001 to promote the original Game Boy Color title, Shiren the Wanderer GB2, with bags of steak-flavored chips (In case you're late to the party, STW DS 2 is a roguelike remake of STW GB2).

So, we went ahead and featured both the crisps and an image of Shiren's long-lost and perpetually hungry brother, Pekeji, in our article image. Hopefuly, publisher Sega will have a similar potato chip promotion with STW DS 2! Even better, maybe they'll eventually localize the chips along with the game?

See also: Shiren GB2, Shiren DS 2 compared


[via Inside Games]

Gamestop furthers Izuna's new modeling career

Not only is Atlus including a fold-out poster on the back of the Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns boxart, they're bundling one of two provocative posters with Amazon orders of the game as well.

But even that isn't enough coverage for Ninja Studio's roguelike heroine: GameStop orders of Izuna 2 will ship with yet another mini-poster featuring a more dressed, but no more demure, Izuna than the others. You could probably get away with having someone see this one on your wall.

We predict a minor swell of unopened Izuna 2 copies on eBay shortly after release, sold by people who just couldn't choose a poster.

Izuna's milkshake brings all the boys to Amazon's yard

While Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns comes with a spiffy reversible boxart feature, that's not the only bonus male Atlus fans can expect this July. There will actually be another mini-poster included with the game -- a much more risqué poster, at that. Here's the catch: in order to get one with your copy of Izuna 2, you have to order it from Amazon.com (which means the promotion is only available for folks in the U.S.). Atlus tells us that there are only a "limited" number of these special edition copies available, so take that as you will.

Atlus is also holding a voting contest to see which one of two posters (shown in full after the break) will be included with the software. When we last checked, the two options were almost neck and neck, with the first one taking a slight lead.

If your lecherous curious eyes want to see the uncropped posters featuring Izuna and Shino's scantily clad figures, just click past the break.

Gallery: Izuna 2

Continue reading Izuna's milkshake brings all the boys to Amazon's yard

Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja's Boxart Reverses

Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns featured some fairly risque alternate boxart in Japan, where initial shipments were packaged in H-game-like boxes with art of Izuna and Shino bathing in an onsen. The American box for the game may not be modeled after erogames, but it does feature some extra pinup-style art of the title character.

In an absolutely lovely trend, the Izuna 2 boxart has been revealed as reversible, like the boxart for Victorious Boxers Revolution. However, instead of alternate boxart on the other side, the reverse of Izuna 2's cover is a mini-poster of the title character. Nice to see Atlus treating a niche game like Izuna as such a deluxe product.

[Via press release]

Shiren GB2, Shiren DS 2 compared



No more than a week after Shiren 3 for the Wii shipped in Japan, Chunsoft already has a teaser site and screenshots out for its next Shiren the Wanderer game for the Nintendo DS -- Fushigi no Dungeon: Furai no Shiren DS 2: Sabaku no Majou (Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer DS 2: Demon Castle in the Desert). It's a long title!

Seeing that this roguelike is a remake of a Game Boy Color title, we thought that this batch of new images would make for a great opportunity to compare the updated game's visuals to the original's. While we expected Shiren DS 2 to look pretty much exactly like the first Shiren DS game released in March, we're surprised by how similar Shiren DS 2 and Shiren GB2 (GBC) look based on the shots released so far.

Jump into our comparison gallery to see what we mean!

Gallery: Shiren GB2 vs Shiren DS 2

LogosPrincess AtekaPekejiZaganLord

[Via Famitsu]

Promotional Consideration: Fushigi no Commercials, revisited

We're aware that we write about the Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer games much too much, especially considering that it's a niche series representing such a hardcore genre. But after playing Shiren the Wanderer DS, Chunsoft's remake of the original Super Famicom game and the first Shiren game brought stateside, it's hard for us to think of anything else but the other five Shiren titles that've yet to touch soil outside of Japan.

Chunsoft's recent announcement for Shiren the Wanderer DS 2, another remake, this time porting Furai no Shiren GB2: Sabaku no Majou (Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Demon Castle in the Desert), originally a Game Boy Color title, has only stoked the flames of our yearning. Though it's reckless to assume Sega will eventually localize the game as it did with the SFC remake, we've thrown caution to the wind, blinded by our optimistic heart's promises.

With that explained, hopefully you'll forgive us for featuring another piece on roguelike commercials less than two months after our installment on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon ads. Bring your talking weasel past the post break for two Japanese commercials from Shiren the Wanderer GB2's original 2005 release.

Continue reading Promotional Consideration: Fushigi no Commercials, revisited

Shiren the Wanderer DS 2 no longer a mystery


The latest issue of Famitsu confirms the rumored DS sequel to Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer. Shiren the Wanderer DS 2 is actually based on the second Game Boy game, Sabaku no Majou (Magic Castle of the Desert). It appears to be built on the same engine as the first DS game. The scans don't disappoint, featuring a ton of screens and character art of the new roguelike.

This new DS game will interact with the Wii Shiren the Wanderer 3 in some way, allowing players to "lend a hand." We believe this means that Shiren DS 2 players will be able to "rescue" Shiren 3 players over Wi-Fi, much like Shiren DS players can rescue each other.

Shiren taking another turn on the DS?

According to an unsourced rumor found on the French site wiiz.fr, Sega and Chunsoft are already planning a second Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer game for the DS. Like the current Shiren, Shiren the Wanderer DS 2 is purported to be a remake of a classic Shiren roguelike, this time 1996's Shiren the Wanderer GB for the Game Boy.

Seems like a cheap game for Chunsoft to develop: just remake the Shiren GB dungeons in the Shiren DS engine and send it out the door. Shiren fans would no doubt be pleased to have another set of dungeons in which to die!

More Izuna 2 art than you can shake your fist at

Her games haven't broken any sales records, but everyone seems to like Izuna anyway ... which may go far in explaining why we've seen tons of artwork for Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns, but not a lot in the way of screenshots. Guess that's one way to rope the unbelievers into laying hands on a roguelike, but will the pretty, pretty character portraits make them forget the ass-kickings that came before? We'll see. Besides, you can always get some ass-kickings in yourself with the recently-announced Windy x Windam, eh? Check out the new portraits in our gallery below and start gathering your courage. You'll need it come July.

Gallery: Izuna 2

Izuna 2 screens simulate gameplaying experience

Do you see the tears in this screenshot? This is a message. Don't be fooled by Izuna's pink-haired cuteness -- this girl isn't as easy as she looks. The first title was all about kicking your ass (and having a laugh about it), so we fully expect the same challenge from Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns. The big zero next to the hit points here gives us hope.

If, like us, you enjoy a challenge, make your way into the gallery below for the latest screens from the upcoming title.

Gallery: Izuna 2

Take a trip to the Dungeon of Windaria


After getting wind (yes, we know) of Dungeon of Windaria, we were intrigued. Maybe because we like the visual style we were presented with, or perhaps its our unnatural love for the act of crawling about in dungeons and killing countless enemies. Whatever it is, this new video isn't helping.

Unlock most Japanese teaser trailers, this one is longer than 10 seconds. The rub is that about half the trailer won't be understandable to any of you who cannot read Japanese. Still though, nestled deep within is some tasty gameplay footage. We know how you all like that!

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