01.29.07
Posted in Japanese, News at 3:38 pm by yuka
It’s amazing how even a week doesn’t hold anything that’s worth mentioning. Of course, there are the little games that won’t even ever see the light of day over here coming out in Japan, and there are their own MMORPG news left right and centre, but seeing none of us here are going to be playing them, I believe it’s a moot point (or a ‘moo point: like a cow’s opinion, useless’, if you’re like Joey off Friends). I suppose people don’t have a marketable incentive just yet.
The new RPG that’s coming out for the Wii though, the new Fire Emblem one, looks good graphically. Coming out 22nd Feb in Japan, cross your fingers if you want to play it before the year’s out here. (Yoshi’s Island DS is being released 8th March in Japan, and it’s already been out for a while here. Such occurences however, are very rare, so don’t count on it.)
A further 22 games is expected to be released via the Wii Virtual Console at the end of January to the beginning of Feb. Among them are such fondly remembered titles as Mario Kart 64 and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but of course, they’re worth 1,000 and 1,200 Wii points respectively.
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01.21.07
Posted in Japanese, News at 5:15 pm by yuka
That’s for the upcoming title for the Legend of Mana series due out sometime this year. Titled Heroes of Mana, it’s coming out on the DS (1-2players, strategy RPG, 8th Mar., approx. £25.20). Not much in the way of details is out yet, but there’s going to be a conference for it on 11th Feb. in Tokyo – open only to lucky winners who fill out this form – where apparently those lucky people can get even luckier with ‘premium goods’ given free there.
FF I &II will be out on PSP soon, as the series will mark its 20th anniversary soon.
Not much in news though this past week. So I’ll just get back to the addictive world of the Burning Crusade. (TBC? Shouldn’t it be just BC?)
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01.12.07
Posted in Online gaming, Reviews, UK at 6:32 pm by yuka
After complications in downloading the patch the last two days (many people seem to have the exact same problem – download the latest version of Direct X or else!), I’ve finally been able to play Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Another MMORPG as may be, it does seem to have some promise. It’s out 30th Jan. (in the UK at least) for £17.99 according to Play.com (Amazon doesn’t even stock it. somehow when you type the product name, it comes up with The Burning Crusade…).
The opening screen… is uncannily similar to WoW as is most of the game – in that sense, it’s very playable for me (I spend probably more than 15hours on WoW a week). But the characters are more in-depth – probably a lot more realistic looking than the comic-based looks from WoW, and the scenery – it’s really good. The details are more in line with Guild Wars though you don’t get the gay ‘every bit outside town is an instance’ thing here (that really put us off playing for good). The music’s soothing in an ambient kind of way too (or down right classical), but I kept having a deja vu of sorts – the elf starting place in WoW (Teldrassil) and some of the starting areas in VG kind of look similar to me. Of course, what with this being a Beta and the fact I’ve only been playing it the last couple of hours (and not having seen much of the continent), the comparisons to WoW may be uncalled for. But it’s there to illustrate my point – how playable this seems to be. Of course, as soon as you get used to the way your character moves, etc.
There are little problems, as any games would. There was even a shouted argument in the chat pannel – it turned out slightly one-sided as one person seemed to be the target of everyone else. But that one unnamed person was right. There does seem to be an awful amount of bugs (patching took well over 9hours, not to mention that Direct X problem which wasn’t highlighted until today), and a respawn rate of mobs from bloody awful (several players gathered in one spot trying to find a mob needed for quest) to a fastness that resembled popcorn (several players were killed due to ultra fast respawn rate in one area). I realise that there would be problems, especially in Beta stage, but yes, there certainly seems to be a lot going wrong. The Quest log does tell you where to go – or which direction to go to – but it doesn’t give you a detailed map of an area… so you could be wandering in the general vicinity for a while.
I can quite complaining though – every quest I finish, I get to leave feedback on, so maybe, in a couple of weeks’ time, the problems will be sorted :)
PS I never really thought I’d miss my left thumb, but there we are… I do use it for typing after all. Was dicing some onions last night for curry, and managed to slice a bit of the thumb along with them. Didn’t hurt at the time, but without hourly rests, it does now. Utter stupidity!
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01.08.07
Posted in Japanese, News at 10:59 am by yuka
You know, the Japanese kids generally learn English from the age of 12/13 (Junior high) upwards. And yet their understanding of the language is abysmal. (I personally feel it’s the way they’re taught, that’s to blame.) For whatever reason, on the DS, there’s a new game out to help them learn better. If they will or not… well that’s open to suggestion. The example translation screenshot… now… well, I can find a problem with the Japanese ‘equivalent’ already. So if that’s the standard, these kids really haven’t much of a chance. 
Oh and Mist of Kaos will now be released 22nd March instead of in February. Their excuse? Upping the quality.
Finally the long awaited Dragon Quest Swords has a few screenshots out. You can see their promotional video too, though be warned it does stop and start intermittently as it loads (excessive use of Flash again, thanks Square Enix). Out for the Wii, on 8th March for approx. £25.20. 
Although I haven’t found much info on this title yet, Fire Emblem – The Goddess of Dawn – is listed as being out sometime next month for the Wii (no price). Luminous Arc will, as written before, be out on 8th Feb. (DS, £25), and ENCHANT ARM which was originally released on Xbox360 is making its way over to PS3 for the 25th (£41). Something to help you speak Japanese right, 日本語文章能力検定協会協力 正しい日本語DS＜毎日コミュニケーションズ＞ will be out for £20 on the 25th too, if anyone feels like trying it (not for complete novices!).
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Posted in Japanese, News at 10:29 am by yuka
Slightly old news (published Boxing Day), but one I missed earlier – Final Fantasy XII – Revenant Wings – has updated its site, and screenshots are available here. The promotional video (the one that’s on the main page before you click Enter Site – it starts playing as soon as the site loads) blurb translation goes:
“I don’t understand your meaning for your tears,
If they are that kind of entity, they might as well be gone
I have a plea
Can you show me your dance?
I may yet remember, if I have the power too”
Then,
“The young sky pirates take to the beyond
Friends who gather to free their wings:
(and here’s the list of characters in order of appearance)
The new Wing who lives for his dreams,
A believer and a true partner,
An adventurous private eye (Treasure! Gold! Love!),
Magic of the brave, Rabanasta’s Boy Pirate,
A sky flying cheerful girl with the best smile,
Aegyl’s warrior, the Red Wing,
An actor, never to return to the stage with his fantasies,
With unquenchable trust, Viella’s partner,
The new power that The Stone gives
And the Sword that was given”
Right at the end, you’ve got a voice saying “What a hell of a mess! No main character would ever do something like this!” and another “The main character has retired”.
Prologue translated:
The story is set in an age where magic still existed, and airships roamed the skies. “There is a place in the sky beyond that has a great flying continent.” Swayed by such sayings, there was a group of young people who dreamt of being sky pirates. Lead by “Grebados’ Treasure”, the fading memories reawaken. In the great beyond, lies a place where winged people live.
Lemures:
Like a mirage, far over the continent of Ivalice lies a few floating islands, and several other smaller islands surrounding them. Known only as a great floating continent (Pulvama), it is protected by the Sun and is most near to the Gods. Depending on the stones of each island, their climates greatly differ. On each of these islands live the winged people, Aegyls, but where once they prospered, they now have dwindled in number and lives among their ruins humbly. Their architecture reflects the way they live – they prefer high places.
It is believed that they use the Stones still, as the Sky God (Forsanos) had made their kingdom several millenia ago. Because of the mists surrounding the group of islands for the last several thousand years, there were very few people who knew of their existence. Those on earth only knew of them as myth and indeed, only those few sky pirates knew of them.
The Aegyl:
It is said that without their wings, Aegyls are not much different from the earth people, and so it is believed that they were originally of the same race. However, their average mortality is much lower at 40. Whether it’s the stress of the wings, or for some other reason, there are not many who survive into old age. Some believe that it is the fate of their race to be short-lived for having the gift of wings. Although they have existed in Lemures, outside people believed in them only as some long ago myth.
Although they have intelligence, because of the lack of contact with the outside civilizations, their’s remained one from a much earlier age. Not unlike the Viella (who live in the forests), they believe in having a symbiotic relationship with nature. Because of their characteristics (temperate – do not express emotions much, but also do not have dreams or ambitions), they do not war against each other. Even young, because of their early deaths, they have a far off look that makes others think them noble and saintly.
Neither the release date nor the pricing are available yet. Looks good though. If you go to the Downloads section, you’ll find two wallpapers up.
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01.02.07
Posted in Japanese, News at 9:03 pm by yuka
新年明けましておめでとうございます。Or as most people in the world would say it, Happy New Year. A month’s break from writing has been good for me. There’s more to write about (finally) and I feel like writing it. Mind, for the next few days, Japan’s going to be still in holiday mode, so no new news from there for the duration. As it is, here are some stuff I missed while up north gorging on food and getting drooled on by dogs…
Legend of Mana 4 screenshots can be found here – the one that’s coming out on PS2 sometime this year (came out 21st last month in Japan for approx. £37). The reviewer says that because of the range of things you can do in the game, it may be hard to come to grips with at first. For example, within the game, there are several ‘Mono’ lying around, which you can use to hit your mobs with. Just going into combat without these things might very well cause more damage to you. (Kind of sounds like Children of Mana (DS), using rebound action to go through a level.)
Final Fantasy Tactics – The Zodiac Brave Story - site has officially opened, though as per usual with Square Enix sites, they use a lot of Flash… so download time can be excruciatingly slow. When it’ll be out or how much it’ll cost on what platform, is still unavailable. As long as we’re on news from Square, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix + is due out on 29th March in Japan for approx. £40 – this, because fans of the game wanted to hear the English voice actors!
20years since its creation, Dragon Quest series has announced that its next project will be on DS, due out sometime this year, at least in Japan. Titled Dragon Quest IX – 星空の守り人 (roughly translates to Guardians of the Starry Skies), it hopes to use the DS’s multi-player capabilities for better gaming.
FF XI Original Soundtrack Premium Box is due out 28th March for approx. £55. It includes 7CDs (2 bonus discs: piano collection and collectors-only disc) and a book of musical scores.
Finally, something that isn’t related to Square Enix… Mist of Kaos (PS3, Feb, £36) has a lot of hype going on around it at the moment. Personally I can’t see anything that’s unique about it from the article, but then again, the author of said article may have missed something. Judging from the pictures though, I think I like those frog people :)
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