Never heard of the developer GUST?  You're not alone.  This small group hasn't been able to produce any of their games outside of Japan... well, that is until Nippon Ichi and their new found glory in America picked up their newest PS2 game, Atelier Iris, and brought the game overseas.  However, was it a wise move to bring the next installment of the long-running Atelier to the US shores, or should the series just stayed in Japan?

In Atelier Iris, you play the role of Klein Kiesling, a young alchemist.  Klein, apparently like most alchemists of his time, seeks to open the gates to the ruins of Avenberry, an ancient alchemical city that has long fallen from its grace.  Of course, you shouldn't expect that the gates will just OPEN without any work, so you end up in the nearby town of Kavoc, where you find employment (by finding I mean you were half-forced into the job) as a Galgazit.  For simplicity's sake, let's just say that a Galgazit is basically a kind of mercenary helping out the townpeople, though it's more deeply involved than that.

Anyway, from there on out the story plays like the typical RPG fare with some twists:  You meet a variety of pretty cliched party members and the story quickly evolves into a "save the world" plot, though some plot twists along the way do make the story a little more unique and interesting.  Really, though, the story has a bit of a "been there done that" feeling, but depending on an individual's taste that may not be a bad thing.

The battle system in Atelier Iris is your typical turn-based RPG affair, with turns depending on the speed of your party and whatnot.  If you played any battle system like it before, you know what you are going to get from this game.  One not of worth, though, is that you can switch party members in and out of battle at any time, and it won't even cost your turn, which is nice.

The overall difficulty of Atelier Iris is pretty easy, thought there might be a few boss battles that can be difficult.  So, if you're looking for a challenging RPG, don't look here.

One of the game's biggest draws is the item creation system.  Using items and materials you find lying around, you can go to various shops and make new items.  It really is deeper than it sounds; you can go to different shops to make different items, use different stuff to make new items, and do quests for the shopkeepers to get new recipes.  What's also interesting is that every new item created sparks a cutscene about the item between your party and the shop owner, and for the most part they are quite humorous.  However, there are many points where the system can get tedious, as some ingredients are really rare, or you have to make other items first, requiring you to run around the different towns getting the items.  Overall though, it's a nice addition to the game, and almost always is rewarding.

In addition to the normal items you create, you can also obtain Mana items.  Unlike regular items, only Klein can create these items, and he does so not by using ingredients, but by using elements you can collect on the field.  By using these elements and the corresponding Mana, you can make these items, ranging from healing items to high powered attack items.  Usually these items are much more effective than the majority of regular items you get in battle, but since only Klein can make and use them, it makes it difficult to use them properly, especially since it's hard to make a revival item that is NOT a Mana item, placing an extremely high priority on keeping him alive at all costs.

The graphics of Atelier Iris are nice, though don't expect to push your PS2 to the limits.  The characters are sprite based on a typical background, and it's all well-drawn.  The in-battle sprites are especially nice, with vividly moving characters and high quality (though I wouldn't say remarkable) spell effects.

The music to Atelier Iris is a bit of a hit-or-miss.  While a lot of the tracks were stunning, some of the tracks were just average, though none of them managed to grate on the nerves.  For the most part, the music fit the atmosphere for the game, though the track for the volcano area was kind of... out of place... How do you fit metal into an RPG like this?  Oh well...

So, is Atelier Iris worth picking up?  If you're a big RPG fan like myself, then yes, but if RPGs aren't your life's blood, then it's a maybe.  The story and characters can be a bit cliche, but he item creation and other sidequests can keep you busy and make up for some of the game's shortcomings.  It all depends on your personal tastes... Take what you see here and decide for yourself!

Nippon Ichi reveló el primer trailer de Disgaea DS, el remake para la portátil de Nintendo del juego que saliera hace algunos años para PlayStation 2.

Este RPG táctico tiene muy buena fama (no lo he jugado) y saldrá el 26 de junio en Japón, así que ojalá llegue pronto a nuestros continentes.

PD: Si alguien entiende todo lo que dicen en el video, mande un correo con la traducción a nuestro buzón xD

The main characters in the game are the two in the center there named Kannagi Yuuto (left) and Aiba Mikoto (right). Don't know much about the story, but I think it's got something to do about hunting collecting souls to prevent the destruction of Yuuto's home world. The fighting system is turn based with what looks like some kind of combo system. Other features of the game include being able to swap the look of the characters in the game by dressing them up in different outfits (japanese school gym + bloomers outfit anyone?).

As seen in the magazine scan above, for now confirmed characters will most likely include:

Capcom
Darkstalkers/Vampire Hunters: Morrigan, Felicia, Dmitri

Bandai Namco
Ar Tonelico: Orica, Misha, Shuleria (sp? on all three)

Nippon Ichi
Disgaea: Etna, Prinny

Idea Factory
Spectral Souls: Myuu

Gust
Mana Khemia 2: Liliane, Rozeluxe
Atelier Marie: Marie

Don't know if this will be coming stateside, what with the game screaming jrpg all over. Perhaps Atlus hmm (brought over Disgaea1 and is bringing Spectral Forces 3 to the 360)? They have a tendency to bring over niche games so who knows? I mean who would overlook a game that gathers so many of people's favorite characters from their favorite games into one place? If it doesn't become localized, since it's on PS3 it can always be imported with no problems and I'm sure a guide would show up sooner or later lol. Chances are ron from Otadesho will probably put up a helpful guide for those who decide to go with the import route. ^^

Fans de los RPG, vayan por su traje impermeable, pues luego de leer esta noticia, estarán bañados en su propia saliva y líquidos seminales: Cross Edge, el nuevo RPG que está en desarrollo para PS3 para Compile Heart saldrá en Septiembre en Japón.

..."Momento Rob, ¿Eso qué tiene de emocionante?" preguntarán ustedes, pues que Namco Bandai ha unido fuerzas con Capcom, Nippon Ichi, Gust e Idea Factory para hacer Cross Edge. El juego contará la historia de un mundo en el que la única forma de sobrevivir será consumiendo y destruyendo las almas de otros mundos.

Es todo lo que se sabe del juego, bueno, además de que habrá muchos personajes conocidos en él, de series tan diversas como Disgaea, DarkStalkers, Air Tonelico y Atelier Marie, sin contar aquellos que no han sido revelados aún.

Además, es sabido que las batallas en el juego estarán reguladas mediante un sistema de Puntos de Acción que limitarán el accionar de los personajes en cada batalla, aunque no muy revelador y revolucionario estaremos atentos a más detalles.

Mientras recordarles que el juego estará en venta en Japón para Septiembre y que tenga a mano más trajes impermeables para próximas noticias.

[Ver Scans|Página 1|Página 2]

Para los fanáticos de los juegos de rol hay muy buenas noticias, pues Capcom, Namco Bandai, Nippon Ichi, Gust e Idea Factory se han juntado para desarrollar Cross Edge, un RPG que saldrá a la venta en septiembre de este año para PlayStation 3, en Japón.

De esta colaboración saldrá un juego en donde veremos personajes de series como Darkstalkers, Disgaea, Ar Tonelico y otros más, con combates por turnos, una historia en donde deberemos rescatar almas, y al parecer también contará con la opción de vestir a los personajes con una gran variedad de ropa.

Así que ya saben, "errepegeros", si todavía no tienen PlayStation 3, y si este juego logra llegar al continente americano (difícil, en realidad...), vayan ahorrando para comprarse esta consola.

Fuente: Kotaku

Ayer les avisamos que se había confirmado el desarrollo de un juego de Disgaea para el Nintendo DS.

Hoy sabemos que se trata de una adaptación del primer episodio que salió para PlayStation 2, así que no lo jugaste y sale en nuestro continente, valdrá mucho la pena.

Este RPG táctico saldrá durante el segundo trimestre de este año en Japón.

Después de haber pasado por la Ps2 y PSP, Disgaea verá la luz por fin en una consola de Nintendo, siendo su portátil DS quién recoja el primer título.
Así lo ha confirmado hoy la revista japonesa Famitsu, la cuál ha informado que el título del juego será titulará Disgaea DS Prince, de momento solo se sabe como se titulará, ya que no hay imágenes ni más datos sobre el juego aparte de su título.

Vía | Pixel o´Rama

Famitu confirmó hoy que una versión para la consola portátil de Nintendo, del RPG Disgaea, está siendo desarrollado.

Por el momento no hay imágenes ni información, aparte de que se llamará Disgaea DS: Prince...y algo más que no se sabe aún.

Así que ya saben, fanáticos de esta serie, un juego para el DS está en camino. Y para quienes tienen la consola pero no conocen esta serie, pueden estar seguros de que vale muchísimo la pena.

Fuente: Kotaku

El PlayStation 2 vió llegar una serie muy buena de Nippon Ichi, los RPG Disgaea y Disgaea 2 hicieron su aparición.

Ahora le tocó al PlayStation 3 recibir la tercera parte de esta serie y Disgaea 3 salió hace poco en Japón, pero ahora Nippon Ichi Software anunció la llegada a territorio estadounidense de este juego para agosto de este año.

El PlayStation 3 ya tiene asegurado otro muy buen juego, que lo ayudarán a meterse aún más de lleno en la guerra de consolas.