Author: Anne Lee

Some ClaDun x2 Impressions

As some of you may already know, I’m reviewing the latest NIS America import for the PSP, ClaDun x2. Though my review won’t be live for another day or two while I finish up my playthrough, I thought I’d take the opportunity to post some nifty screens I took of my characters in action and tell you all what I think of it so far! 
One of my characters getting pummeled while I try to figure out how to take a proper screenshot
First, a confession: I have not played ClaDun: This is an RPG!. I do, however, consider myself rather well-versed on the title, and have made sure I’ve caught myself up to speed before playing ClaDun x2, largely due to the help of one of the most fabulous gamers on the net, Bryan Ochalla of The Gay Gamer. From what I understand, there are two trains of thought when it comes to ClaDun: people either love the customization and the endless dungeon crawling, or they hate it and its steep learning curve and graphical style. ClaDun x2 is more of the same but offers expanded options for virtually everything: there is more customization, more random dungeons, more character classes, weapons, you name it. 
I don’t want to spoil my upcoming review, but I will say this: if any game needed an instruction manual, this one would be it. Unfortunately, ClaDun x2 is only available as a PSN download, and the very short tutorials and in-game dictionary just don’t cut it. In all honesty, I still don’t know some of what I’m looking at on that HUD (namely the negative number next to SP in the bottom left corner. Someone please tell me what it is and why it is negative!). People who don’t want to spend the first couple of hours in over their head will probably not be willing to stick things through long enough to get the hang of the game’s magic circle systems and numerous customization options, which is a shame, because I found that once I stopped worrying about whether or not I was playing the game “right,” I found myself quite enjoying the experience overall.
For those of you who are not familiar with the game, ClaDun x2 is an action RPG focused on lots and lots of dungeon crawling. You control one character at a time, who is your “main character,” and all other characters can be equipped to your main character in order to enhance his or her stats via a system called “magic circles.”  You’ll pick up various items in the dungeons to boost your character’s stats in the magic circles, and in order to maintain a well-rounded party it is important to switch main characters every couple of levels and update your magic circles as you unlock new ones and obtain better items. While this may seem daunting at first, especially without much guidance, I found that after experimenting a bit it really wasn’t as intimidating as I previously thought. 
My 1st character, Apricot, is an ass-kicking guardian.  You can see my sub characters acting as human shields in the top right corner. This is one of the randomly generated dungeons, or Ran-geons. 
With all the character customization and equipping/magic circle swapping, you may quickly find that you’re starting to spend a lot of time in menus and not so much time fighting beasties and nabbing sweet loot. This is one area where I really felt the game could have benefitted from better instruction, so that rather than staring at the screen and wondering what the hell you’re looking at, you could actually be playing the game. But really, your ClaDun x2 experience is what you choose to make it, and once the Ran-geons opened up to me, I quickly lost myself in the superior loot and difficulty they offered. 
It is worth noting, I think, that if you’re looking for the 3 new classes (ninja, dragoon, and monk) you’ll have to replay the pre-made dungeons and beat them within the time allotted in order to gain fame, which will net you various items and unlock a number of important things in-game. 50 fame is what it takes to get the new classes, and even then you’ll need to pay a significant sum for them, so it’s worth doing this early on if you wanted to try the new classes in particular. There is no penalty for creating characters, so it’s up to you to experiment! As of now, I have 6. 
My newest character, a dragoon, getting bashed as I try to take an epic “in action” screenshot for you all
ClaDun x2 is shaping up to be a great retro-style dungeon crawler for the PSP, and bite-sized dungeons make it perfect for a handheld. The lack of story may deter some, but I think it fits well with the style of gameplay, making this a good candidate for short commutes or an hour-long plane ride. Virtually limitless customization options allow you to create music, characters, and weapons if you so choose, and the whole experience can really be catered in such a variety of ways that I think a lot of people who might not even consider picking up this title in the first place could find a lot to like here. That said, many will probably be deterred by the lack of explanation of the game’s systems, and might not be able to stick with it long enough to really begin to enjoy the experience. 
Please look forward to my full Video Game Writers review! 

Japan Envy: Pokémon Center Limited Edition Merchandise

EDIT: Well, thanks everyone for all the page views! People seem to be taking my offhand Ruby/Sapphire remake comment and running with it. Honestly, I’m just saying that others have been speculating of a remake being in the works due to the new Pokémon time Hoenn series. You can read the post I referenced here at Pokémon Aus. If you’re interested in learning more about Pokémon time, please check out this fabulous Pokémon time fansite.

For a little background for those of you too lazy to go digging around over there, Pokémon time is a series of merchandise offered only at Pokémon Centers, and has been around since 2008. It originally started with only the first generation of Pokémon and coincided with Pokémon’s 10 year anniversary and has gradually grown to include more Pokémon from generation 1 and 2, so it’s very possible that the generation 3 Pokémon making an appearance in the 2011 collection are just part of the series’ natural progression and not a sign of a remake. Feel free to speculate as you will! If we were going to get any announcements, they would probably come from the Japanese magazine CoroCoro, where most Pokémon game reveals have been made in the past.

The Pokémon Center. A rare treat for any fan of the internationally adored Pocket Monsters, they are a rarity even in Japan, with only 6 locations in the whole nation. They have proved so popular, in fact, that according to a recent survey they are the 3rd most popular tourist attraction in Japan! Indeed, yours truly has even made her own pilgrimage to the Osaka Pokémon Center:

The Pokémon Center in Osaka, Japan
Pokémon Centers are famous for their exclusive merchandise as well as frequent Pokémon downloads, available only at centers for a limited time. It may be a bit early, but the Pokémon Center newsletter has already rolled out its line of holiday goods, which will include some adorable clear file folders and collectable plush toys featuring Pikachu, Oshawott, Audino, and Cubchoo in Santa hats, riding on a Pokémon-themed train. 
Detail of the illustration to be featured on the exclusive file folders. This Pikachu looks quite like the Pokemon Rumble Blast style Pikachu, if I may say.
Each plush will be sold separately for approximately $15, but will combine to form a complete train. 
And at the bottom of the announcement flyer, there is an interesting little reveal for a series called “Pokémon time.” Pokémon time will only contain Pokémon from the Ruby and Sapphire generation of games, but what kind of merchandise will be in the series isn’t detailed in the flyer. Of course, this has sparked whole new rumors that Nintendo will be revealing a remake of Ruby and Sapphire for the 3DS on September 13th, which is when when Nintendo will be holding their next press conference. 
The Pokémon time series
I actually like these Pokémon Time illustrations quite a bit! I love the pop art style and the color combos. How about that Torchic? (second from the right)
It’s really too bad Nintendo doesn’t distribute these goods outside of Japan. Those of us who don’t have access to a Pokémon Center will have to rely on proxies and eBay for now, unfortunately. 
Thanks go to Pokémon Aus for the info! 

Is Atelier Elkrone’s protagonist a Rorona clone?

Ok, if you haven’t seen me tweeting like a mad fiend about the recently-announced otome Atelier game, then, well, I suppose you haven’t missed out on much, unless you’re living under a rock and didn’t know that an Atelier otome game was recently announced. It’s big news for me, at least, seeing as I’m a recently-converted Atelier Rorona fan and long-time otome game enthusiast. Tthere are probably at least 2 other people in the world excited for this game besides me, I’m sure.

So far there hasn’t been much news about Atelier Elkrone aside from the fact that it will somehow combine traditional otome game elements, allowing you to pursue the love interest of your choice, as well as some aspect of the alchemy gameplay from the Atelier games. How much alchemy will be involved has yet to be seen, and I’ll admit I’m a little worried the most “Atelier” we’re going to get in the game will be in the form of character designs and story elements, but who knows. Call me a cynic.

Speaking of which, I’m already seeing some Atelier Rorona in Mery, Atelier Elkrone‘s protagonist:

Atelier Elkrone‘s Mery
Atelier Rorona‘s Rorona

You may have bought a new hat, Rorona, but you can’t fool me! I would’ve been fine if they had come out and said the game was going to be about Rorona again, but making an entirely new character that still manages to look almost exactly like Rorona seems a bit like a cop-out to me. In fact, I don’t think I’ll be able to think of Mery as anything but Rorona, actually! It’s literally hard to tell them apart!

I did some snooping on the NISA forums (NISA is the company behind the localization of Atelier Rorona and Atelier Totori) and apparently Idea Factory, the company working on the Atelier side of things, has a reputation for recycling their own material? I’d love more information on this, but I can’t say I’ve played a ton of Idea Factory games myself, so I can’t really comment. Of course the art in Atelier Rorona and Atelier Elkrone looks like it’s done by the same artist, but that doesn’t excuse them for being lazy! Well, if nothing else, this guy looks interesting enough:

Digging the steampunk goggles!

There’s still a lot to be seen regarding Atelier Elkrone, but even if the protagonist looks exactly like Rorona, knowing me, I’ll probably give it a shot.

Dissecting the ‘Beyond the Labyrinth’ trailer

So, this entry is going to be pretty much word-for-word from a news piece I posted recently over at Video Game Writers, but as much of my Japanese game coverage often does, it seems to have gotten lost in the pile. I think I have a few readers here who I think would appreciate my insight on the Beyond the Labyrinth trailer, which was just released yesterday. I’ve not only watched it but have also provided some translations for it, since it’s Japanese-only. It doesn’t seem like much, but I think an understanding of what’s being said actually gives you a lot to think about in terms of what the gameplay will actually be like. Feel free to watch the trailer and then read the translation! It makes more sense that way rather than the other way around:

Finally, some more news surfaces on tri-Ace and Konami’s intriguing 3DS game Beyond the Labyrinth in the form of a trailer. Unfortunately, the trailer doesn’t feature all that much except for some text and dialogue in Japanese, along with a few shots of the game’s mysterious female protagonist. Not much is said in the dialogue and text, but the “conversation” highly suggests that the girl in the game will actually be “interacting” with the player.

The trailer opens with a girl calling out “Is anyone there?” and is followed by text on the screen answering her call. She then says “Let’s go!”, leaving the “text” to wonder where they are going. The girl appears to, in fact, be talking with the “player,” rather than another character in the game, and even interacts with the 3DS system by talking directly at it and even shaking the screen at one point. Here’s some of what the other text in the trailer reads:

A magnificent world beneath the earth. 
A mysterious girl in a labyrinth. 
An adventure full of riddles. 

But what could it all mean? We’ve been told previously that Beyond the Labyrinth is going to be a dungeon RPG, but so far there has been no hints regarding what the actual gameplay will be like, and whether there is a battle system. If we could hazard a guess, it more resembles an ICO-esque puzzle adventure, at least in terms of aesthetics. Perhaps the player will be guiding the female character much like Ico guided Yorda through the Castle in the Mist? Or are there remaining characters that are yet to be revealed? We should hear more at this year’s Tokyo Game Show in September.

Ok, well, I haven’t translated *all* of it, because the beginning is mostly the girl going back and forth with the on-screen text saying “Is anyone there?” “Yes, I’m here.” “Let’s go!” “Where are we going?” “Come on!” “But where are we going?” … Nothing too exciting. I think the main thing to take away from this trailer is that there is some kind of interaction between the girl in the game and you, rather than characters in the game (though there may be other in-game characters). I have to say, I’m intrigued!

And yes, I suppose that would be me using the royal “we” in that write-up… 

Japan Envy: CHiRAL MOBiLE

Anyone that has ever been to Japan, and probably a few who haven’t, will tell you that Japanese cell phones are pretty much as awesome as they come. They’re always at the forerunner of the latest and greatest technology, with high-quality cameras and music downloading sites that made listening to music on your phone easy and fun even before the iPhone was released. Nowadays, “cell phone novels,” or keitai shousetsu are increasingly popular, and boys love/otome (for girls) titles are coming out left and right (ok, I admit my knowledge of how popular cell phone novels are is a bit dated, but I’m pretty sure their popularity hasn’t gone down in the past couple of years, anyway).

Well, famed BL game company Nitro + CHiRAL (why they keep the “i” lower case I’ll never know) is capitalizing on Japan’s mobile phone culture with its new cell phone site, called “CHiRAL MOBiLE.” You can click the link to view the PC site, which details the various downloads the site will offer, but the whole thing won’t be up and running until December 16th. Or you could just stick around here and I’ll detail all the cool stuff us non-Japanese residents are missing out on, since it only works on Japanese phones!

First of all, Nitro + CHiRAL announced, along with this service, an entirely new cell phone novel called World’s end Nightmare that will launch the same day as CHiRAL MOBiLE, with new chapters coming out every week on Tuesday and Thursday for an estimated total of 30 chapters. There isn’t much about the novel’s story available yet save the tagline “––A poor soul that has never known love. Let’s give him one more chance––” and a very short, vague description stating that the protagonist, Itto, was supposed to have died, but reawakens in an unfamiliar world. Below are the characters that have been revealed so far, from left to right: Itto, Faceless, Siegfried, Kai, and Baron. The story will feature at least some boys love elements, to be sure.

Nitro + CHiRAL will also be releasing a mobile version of their popular game Togainu no Chi, as well as a visual novel version of a boys love CD drama titled Itsuwari no Alkanet. 


But even these 3 new releases aren’t what gets me really jealous of Japan today–it’s all the downloadable goodies from Nitro + CHiRAL’s three big boys love games that really make me wish I had a Japanese cell phone and lived in Japan. Check this out:

What you see before you is an array of “accessories” you can download at CHiRAL MOBiLE for Togainu no Chi and Lamento-BEYOND THE VOID-. The top left image is a wallpaper, while the top right is a menu screen, and then you have a text sending icon, signal bar, and battery display. So, if you’re big on BL and live in Japan, you can have your entire phone decked out with your favorite game or series! I’m sure they have things like this for all sorts of other famous games and anime, as well.

The service does cost a monthly fee of about $3, but for the amount of free downloads you get with the subscription, including World’s end Nightmare, I’d say it’s a pretty good deal! Too bad cell phones in America and Australia don’t offer awesome services like these…

For those of you interested in World’s end Nightmare, I’d be more than happy to do translations of the character descriptions posted on the CHiRAL MOBiLE website… Just let me know if you’d like to see them and I’ll dedicate a post to it! I won’t bother doing the work unless there’s someone out there who will actually read them (or if I get a burst of idle creativity, but don’t count on it).

Various Media Endeavors

Lately I’ve been doing so much consuming of various forms of media, I thought I’d just list some of it and hopefully delve into my thoughts on a couple of them. I’ll post a more cohesive blog update later this week,  which will most likely be my review of the English otome game X-Note (I’m going to review that game by the end of the week, I swear).

Film

So, Shaun and I went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes on Saturday. Besides having an unnecessarily long title, it was actually pretty good! Even if you could care less about Planet of the Apes (which is pretty much me), the film is a fun Sci-Fi flick with a strong emphasis on characters, and it’s probably the first of the “summer blockbusters” that I’d say is worth going to see.

Besides having a pretty uninspiring female girlfriend character, that is. When all the characters are actually rather thoughtfully rendered, including an ape doctor who almost instantaneously becomes the “grounding girlfriend” is a little disappointing. I suppose you can’t have everyone be the star, but I suppose you’re also going to have to have me pick on a film when it can’t have any well-developed female characters (what can I say, it’s my nature). Either way, it’s still heaps better than that awful Tim Burton rendition of a few years back… Plus, the animation is gorgeous, and any film that can make you care for a character that is 100% animated deserves some respect.

Also, Shaun and I both agree that we like James Franco, so having him in the film was a plus (I’m not sure why we do… are we the only ones?)… I liked him as the son of the Green Goblin, anyway.

We’re also going to watch Dinner for Schmucks on DVD, which comes very highly recommended from my parents! I hope it’s good.

Manga


I don’t talk about manga very often here, but I finally picked up a few volumes of Loveless at the library the other day because the art is, in my opinion, pretty gorgeous.

The story is a little weird, though, which has kept me away from it until now, and though I’m enjoying it well enough, I think the only reason I’ve really stuck with it for 4 volumes is the art and the way it plays with gender norms, but even then I’m not sure where it’s going with that. I probably won’t seek out the rest of the volumes now that Tokyopop, the English distributor, has gone under, unless my library happens to have them already.

Games


I always have a weird relationship with games: I seem to write more about them than I actually play them!

I did start Patapon the other day, because Shaun was playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the PS3, and it’s been sitting expectantly on the shelf for a couple of weeks now

The gameplay is fun, but I’m finding that it’s getting a little repetitive to tell my troops to move forward over and over again, especially when you were fighting an enemy who just ran away. But I’ve still only played a couple of missions so far, so I hope things change up a bit after I play a couple more. I’m not that rhythmically inclined, though, so I have to focus all my energy in playing the game and not getting distracted by whatever Shaun’s doing beside me. Hah!

So, what are you all playing/reading/watching these days? I’m all ears!

Wesker vs. Cat

Capcom isn’t really getting on my good side lately, and I’m sure most of you know why, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still appreciate Resident Evil‘s big baddie Wesker and his weird nasally voice. I don’t know about you, but I know if I had a cat and a Wesker action figure at my disposal, this is exactly what I’d do with them:

I’ve gotta say, that is one cool cat to put up with his/her owner’s shenanigans like that. I don’t think either of my cats (who are back with my parents in the US, sadly) would be so accommodating.

Unfortunately, I don’t know who to credit for this wonderful thing, but if anyone out there knows where it came from, I’d greatly appreciate if you’d let me know!