Official Nintendo PDF

Looks like everyone that was holding onto rumors of a new DS can enjoy a bit of vindication now, as Nintendo has unofficially announced the Nintendo 3DS. This new handheld platform will sport 3D effects “without the need for special glasses.” Interested yet? And don’t worry about your old games; the Nintendo 3DS will be backwards compatible with all DS and DSi software. Whether or not that means DSiWare remains to be seen, but hopefully we’ll be able to transfer that data over as well. The DS3 will release at the end of the fiscal year, March 2011, with more details and an official announcement at E3 in June. Until then you’ll just have to dream about the possibilities of 3D handheld gaming.

Via GoNintendo

This Fall, Nintendo fans will be treated to a double dose of Batman gaming with a “side-scrolling action thrill ride,” based on the cartoon and developed by WayForward. There’s plenty to be excited about in that sentence (particularly the thrill ride!) but the fact that WayForward is developing the game is cause enough to take a closer look. With such modern 2D masterpieces as the Wii version of A Boy and His Blob and the delightfully difficult Contra 4 on the DS, WayForward is no stranger to 2D gaming goodness. Furthermore, not only is Batman: The Brave and the Bold co-op, but by connecting the DS to the Wii, you can control Bat-Mite (Batman’s number one fan, apparently? My Batman knowledge fails me) to either aid or annoy the Caped Crusader. See below for more details, and check out the official site to see a little Batman pose menacingly.

• Explore areas of the DC Universe, including crime-filled alleys, strange alien planets, abandoned underground cities, and mysterious island laboratories (all staples of any good comic series!)
• Play co-op with characters such as Green Lantern, Robin, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman
• Unlock gadgets such as Batarangs, Plasma Sword, and Flash grenades

Official Site

Scribblenauts managed to do very, very well last month.

According to NPD, Scribblenauts managed a little under 194,000 sales. That is amazing for a third party game on a Nintendo system, especially from a small developer in a month with other great DS games.

If you couldn’t tell, this news makes me very happy, because Scribblenauts is such a breath of fresh air in the stale air of this year’s games. It’s great to see a third party doing so well.

If there ever was evidence that word of mouth works, Scribblenauts would be it.

Kotaku: Scribblenauts Spells Sales Success in September

According to Bright Side of News nVidia has won the bet to be the systems developer for the next DS, which may be announced, and possibly released, within the next 2 years.

This would mean the next DS would have GCN level graphics, putting Nintendo in a a unique spot where their console is only a tiny bit more powerful than their handheld. The next DS would be able to have full backwards capibility, and it is assumed because of that, it will again feature two screens.

Tegra is used in next generation Zunes, and is a very powerful system. nVidia hopes to cover the market once dominated by AMD and Intel, the card developers of choice for consoles so far.

Don’t you just want to hug him!

Here’s the snuggliest trailer ever. So cute!

Oh and the game looks pretty amazing. Some of the best 3D on the DS, although I might find that trail of flowers to be a tad annoying.

It turns out, the simple answer is, it just doesn’t. I did three trials with the Nintendo Channel DS Recommendation system.

First, I tried a control to make sure my wireless worked. Scribblenauts was in my DS, so that worked just fine. Fired up the Nintendo Channel, and recommended it just fine.

Next up, I tried a true Japanese only title; Jump! Ultimate Superstars. So I fire up the DS and Nintendo Channel. When it comes time to make the recommendation, the channel tells me that the game does not have a record on the Nintendo Channel. So that’s what happens in case anyone was curious.

Just for one final test, I tried a game released in both Japan and America, however this was the Japanese version of Pheonix Wright: Trials and Tribulations. So I repeat the same steps, and I get the same error as the Japan only game.

So there you have it. If you wanted to know what happens but didn’t have the tools to try it out (maybe there was a doubt it wasn’t going to work), then here’s the answer. No imported games, even those eventually released here can be recommended. I can’t say I was surprised, but it was worth just checking out.

Yes, you read that correctly: the cult-smash Okami is getting a sequel, not for the PS2 or Wii, but the Nintendo DS. While gameplay (and it looks like graphics) remain the same, the story is set a few months after the end of the first game, and features a new wolf. The game’s director, Kuniomi Matsushita, said that he wanted to develop a portable Okami in the hopes of reaching a wider audience. Okamiden is set for a 2010 release in Japan with no word on other region releases yet. Read below for a full list of details on the game.

- Full title: Okamiden: Chisaki Taiyou
- new wolf: Chibiterasu
- events take place a few months after the end of Okami
- Issun is accompanying Chibiterasu to meet up with Sakuya, as Sakuya wants to ask Chibiterasu for help
- combat system similar to the original Okami
- draw lines to slash enemies, circle trees to make them grow/bloom
- partner characters for Chibiterasu to work with
- partner will both aid and hinder you, bringing up puzzles that you have to solve in order for you and your partner to progress
- one partner revealed: Kuninushi, son of the swordsman Susano
- learn why Susano has a son, when he didn’t a few months ago
- producer: Motohide Eshiro
- director: Kuniomi Matsushita
- Matsushita wanted to make a portable Okami, so he made a prototype and showed it to Eshiro. When Eshiro saw the prototype, the team decided to move forward
- Matsushita wants to go portable with Okami in the hopes of getting a bigger audience to experience what the world of Okami is all about
- due out 2010 in Japan

Source: Go Nintendo (picture)

It seems Famitsu is on a hot-streak for perfect games. In a recent issue Famitsu gave Dragon Quest IX a perfct 40/40, and this week it is Monster Hunter Tri that is granted the honor. And it truly is an honor; only a handful of games have been given such high marks, leading some to question the validity of such a score. Nevertheless, this short blurb from the full review shows how well composed Monster Hunter Tri really is:

The controls and gameplay has been refined and are pretty kind to players. Exploring the new maps is more fun than I thought it’d be; even hunting for mushrooms is exciting. Of course, hunting the new monsters is a constant stream of surprises, leaving me incredibly satisfied. The unique parts of online mode are good, but the single play here is just amazing.

I know I can’t wait to go hunting mushrooms. Unfortunately, American audiences will have to wait until early 2010 to judge for themselves how perfect Monster Hunter Tri really is.

In other news, Famitsu also announces a new entry in the growing Luminous Arc series for Nintendo DS, Luminous Arc 3: Eyes is scheduled for a winter release in Japan with no US release announced. Though the gameplay remains the same from the previous two games (strategy RPG), the story places more emphasis on forging alliances and rivalries with fellow students at the Ulgard Magic Academy, potentially changing the direction of the game. There aren’t many more details yet, but this could be a title to look out for, if it manages to outstrip its predecessors.

Luminous Arc 3 announced (via 1Up)

Famitsu gives Monster Hunter Tri 40/40 (via 1Up)

If there’s one thing the DS can’t get enough of, it’s RPGs. Suikoden Tierkreis adds to the DS’s already impressive library with a traditional RPG style mixed with an elaborate and extensive story. With 108 heroes available to recruit, Suikoden Tierkreis has you battling the Order of the One True Way and their fatalistic doctrine of blind acceptance as strange occurrences seem to be tearing the world apart. As impressive as it may be, the plot weighs the game down heavily, slowing your progression and forcing the gameplay to struggle to keep pace. Expect plenty of cutscenes; you’ll be listening to dialogue more often than you fight enemies.

The story starts out simply enough, with a fairly standard formula: a group of ragtag kids from an unknown and isolated village stumble across a mysterious book and unlock unknown powers within themselves. Soon they are hurdling through an adventure encompassing alternate dimensions, strange shifts in terrain and peoples’ memories, anthropomorphic animal tribes, and a tyrannical religious group, bent on converting everyone in the world through any means necessary. The beginning is a little scattered–many of these elements are briefly introduced then ignored for long stretches of time as new characters or scenarios are introduced. Once the plot sorts itself out, though, the concept of alternate dimensions and the threat of the One King shine through. With so many characters, it often feels like characters are briefly developed, then ignored–understandable given the 100+ character roster, but it is still odd to see early allies forgotten by the end of the game. A lot of the character interactions are predictable and a little trite (the theme of the plucky young hero who convinces everyone of his just cause quickly tires itself out), but overall the story is engaging and long. So long, in fact, that it often feels like more of the game is devoted to telling the story than letting you play the game. Most noticeable around important parts of the story, you will often encounter long stretches with little to no actual gameplay–you’ll fight one or two battles, then jump back into a cutscene. This really hurts the flow of the game and prevents the gameplay from shining through on its own accord; the focus of the game is squarely on the story, and you’ll often feel that your involvement in the game is minimal.

Anime style cutscenes provide extra flair as the story unfolds.

When you do get to actually play Suikoden Tierkreis, the gameplay harkens back to classic RPGs. With a party of four, you can fight random enemy encounters, raise levels, buy equipment, and gradually through the game each character will learn special abilities called marks of the stars. Some characters (those that have a personal bond to one another) can even use group attacks, delivering a lot of damage to one enemy. Outside of battle, your characters will explore standard RPG locales: forests, mountains, mines, deserts, and various towns. Exploration, however, is incredibly slow. Either your character’s avatar is especially slow or the environments are larger than they appear, but it can be tediously sluggish to move across one screen. The main character’s castle headquarters is particularly annoying, spanning over several massive and largely empty rooms. Hunting down one person to move the story or proceed with a mission can be a challenge in and of itself. With random battles constantly popping up, progress drops to a crawl, and with the already lethargic story, the whole game seems to listlessly drag on, artificially drawing out the game time.

As already stated, there are over 100 characters that you can find and enlist in your army, all of which you can bring into battle, in one form or another. Those few that do not actually fight with you can be used as support characters, providing bonus abilities such as healing one member of your party each round, or increasing the probability of preemptive strikes. Not all of these characters are required, however. In fact, the vast majority of them aren’t, and by the end of the game, you can skate by with only truly using a dozen or so characters. Still, the potential is there for nearly endless party formations and character customization, plus you’ll receive a bonus ending for going through the trouble of collecting all 108 characters. Those that do not join you through the main story can be found through side missions and otherwise exploring less traveled roads. Between important, story-based missions you can work on various side missions that, if they don’t give you an extra character, will at least provide more money or a fancy new weapon.

Special techniques called Mark of the Stars unleash powerful attacks with status effects or elemental sway.

Otherwise, you’ll be buying weapons and armor the good ol’ fashioned way. Though you can only bring four characters into your party at any given time, occasionally you’ll be required to form two or three separate parties as you defend your castle or storm an enemy fort. It behooves you to keep at least a few characters well equipped–fully outfitting each and every one of your 108 characters would take more time and money than even the most obsessive gamer could stomach. Unfortunately there is no convenient way to de-equip members once you are done with them aside from adding them to your party, stripping them of their items, then tossing them aside again. Similarly, buying equipment is rather clunky, with vague and unclear measurements of each item’s attributes and attributes. It can quickly become pricey to outfit even just four characters, and vanquished enemies do not drop money (or potch, as it is called in this game). Instead monsters will drop trade items which, as the name implies, you’ll have to bring into a town to sell. Each town has different rates on each trade item; one town may give you 400 potch for an animal hide, while another will give you 600. You’ll have to figure out the trade rates to make a decent amount of money, except that the whole system is inefficient and more of a bother than a compelling minigame. You can spend hours traveling from one town to another, buying low and selling high, but the game is already so slow that this distraction quickly becomes a pain. Furthermore, you can only hold a limited amount of each trade item, meaning that even if you try to build up an inventory, you’re limited to what the game restricts you to. The whole system is far from addicting, and is most likely to be ignored as you try to just play the actual game.

There’s little need to mention the controls; you can use standard button controls or the stylus and touch-based controls, either works fine. Nothing fancy, just simple and easy. Graphically, the game produces some impressive 3D characters and environments. Like most 3D games on the DS, though, the execution lacks the style and detail of a well animated 2D game, but Suikoden Tierkreis’ visuals are still well-crafted. In addition, the game peppers in a liberal dosage of anime cutscenes. For some reason they look a little muddy on the DS screen, but they add a nice flair to important scenes in the game. The game also provides full voice-overs for all major and minor cutscenes. The voice-acting is hit and miss; the main character’s voice can be particularly awkward, as if the actor spoke his lines too quickly, while others sound essentially like what their characters look like. Of course, you can always turn down the volume and just read the text if it ever becomes too much.

The hero’s mantra throughout the game: “We never know till we try!”

Just completing the game will take almost thirty hours, and with dozens of extra characters to recruit, various side missions, and the trading game to accumulate money and buy equipment for your units, this game has the potential to last a long time. Your patience, however, might not endure. It’s easy to get frustrated with how slow the game can be, and you’ll likely just want to plow through many portions of the game just to keep moving.

Suikoden Tierkreis’ one crippling fault is the pacing. Granted there is a lot of plot to tell, especially with over 100 characters–even describing only the required characters would take a fair amount of time. But the often plodding tempo breaks the game’s flow, making battles and the actual gameplay feel more like placeholders in between the over-abundant cutscenes and explanations between characters. Otherwise, Suikoden Tierkreis boasts some solid visuals, massive plot, and varied character options with a classic RPG coating. It’s easy to spend dozens of hours playing this game, it’s just too bad that most of those hours are spent watching cutscenes.

7/10

~Eliwood

Vengeance is a powerful motivator, driving neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother, and almost always ending in blood. For young Wylfred in Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, anger and frustration become a promise of vengeance against the heavenly Valkyrie who takes the lives of warriors in battle, and took the life of Wylfred’s father, Thyodor. Wylfred will stop at nothing to sate his hatred for the Valkyrie for ruining his family, even making a deal with a demon to harness the awesome and awful power of the Destiny Plume. Control Wylfred and up to three allies in this tactical RPG, and explore this sinful and gripping story of revenge and growth. If the deep plot doesn’t capture your interest, the addicting tactical gameplay surely will.

This game is thick with plot, and there are three general plot points to keep in mind. First is the Norse Mythology setting, where Valkyries take the souls of warriors–called Einherjar–as well as the basic structure of the world as being on three planes: Asgard, land of the gods, Midgard, where humans dwell, and Niflheim, for the souls of sinners and ignoble deaths. This is the basic setting of Valkyrie Profile, and influences a lot of how people think (Einherjar and their children are highly respected) as well as some of the weapons and armor you can collect (Odin’s property is often the best equipment in the game). Within this world is a political conflict as two princes fight for ownership of the throne, resulting in strife and warfare. It’s pretty convoluted and difficult to follow the first time you play, especially the various names of lords who impact and influence the princes, but sets a good backdrop for the more detailed character development of Wylfred and company.

On the personal level, this story is about Wylfred, as he journeys to become stronger and defeat the Valkyrie for what he believes to be a wrong against his family. He goes so far as to make a pact with a demon, granting him increased power and use of the Destiny Plume but at the expense of his friends. Though allies are introduced in each section of the game, their stories do not extend beyond the chapters that introduce them, as you are liable to kill them at any time with the Destiny Plume. Still, there are important themes woven into each and every character of the game: vengeance, hatred, redemption. Wylfred is brimming with the first two as he begins his adventure, and most of the people he meets are anti-heroes, each carrying scars and burdens than hang heavily upon them. But perhaps Wylfred can reach the last quality, redemption, and end the bloodshed. It’s up the the choices you make in the game, as three different endings await you, depending on how you use the Destiny Plume. It may sound hard to follow (and it most certainly is at first), but Valkyrie Profile has a deep and powerful story that resonates throughout each and every encounter you enter. Will Wylfred take the noble path, or become absorbed by his own bloodlust? You decide.

Surround foes to conquer them!

The actual gameplay is just as intriguing. Valkyrie Profile is a tactical RPG at heart, but there are a number of twists that introduce new gameplay elements. First of all, you can only bring up to four units with you into any battle. It’s not about sheer numbers, but about how you use your characters that will bring about victory. Unlike other RPGs or even most video games, your characters are incredibly underpowered compared to enemies. In one-on-one fights, you have little hope of lasting long (though you can revive allies that die to normal attacks with items or spells). The key to victory in Valkyrie Profile is maneuvering your units so that all four units can attack a single enemy at once. One unit will initiate the attack, but anyone within attack range can join in, and with all four units attack at once, most enemies won’t have a chance. If you pincer the enemy with multiple units on two, three, or four sides of the foe, you can initiate a siege, which increases your units’ abilities. Of course, your opponents can just as easily surround and conquer you, so it behooves you to destroy enemies quickly before their allies can assist them. Archers and mages are particularly troublesome in this respect, but it’s a whole different way of thinking strategically, and once you master it, is a lot of fun to play.

It’s not just about defeating your opponents, though. It’s about obliterating them. To appease the demonic forces that Wylfred has joined, he must earn Sin points in battle by continuing to deal damage even when an enemy has fallen. Successfully earning the amount of requisite Sin in each level (different in every battle) grants you useful items and equipment at the end of the battle. Failing to collect Sin comes with no other punishment than not earning said items and equipment, but the rewards are often so valuable and powerful that you’ll be kicking yourself for missing any opportunity to collect Sin. The easiest way to deal such massive damage, though, is through Soul Crushes, devastating attacks that are available once you have charged the attack gauge through normal attacks. Each character has a different move, and most are simply brutal. Each is accompanied by a grand attack animation, and a quip from the unit, often mocking the enemy. It’s almost too pleasing to watch your enemies crumble under these Soul Crush attacks–just don’t get sucked into the same frame of mind as Wylfred.

Decimate your opponents with dramatic Soul Crushes.

All this time I’ve been mentioning it, and I’ve still yet to mention exactly what the Destiny Plume does in combat. By invoking the Plume, Wylfred can sacrifice one ally to “unlock his full potential.” All of that unit’s stats are increased tenfold, and a special ability is activated for the duration of the battle, such as auto-revive allies when they die or extend attack range by two spaces (far more useful than it sounds). After battle the unit dies, but Wylfred is able to use whatever ability that the ally activated, though with less efficiency. It almost seems counter productive, killing your own men, but since you can only bring 4 units into battle anyway, it’s easy to get rid of extra characters. There is, of course, a danger of overdoing it, and the number of times you invoke the Plume has an effect on what ending you reach. Don’t be afraid of using it when you need to though; early levels can be punishingly difficult, and the abilities unlocked by use of the Plume can change the tide of battle, so it behooves you to unlock them quickly for Wylfred to use in later fights. It’ll take every strategic bone in your body to get through some bosses or through rescue missions without using the Plume, and even some normal levels require much planning. Without the ability to save mid-battle (aside from a temporary quicksave), the game can be frustrating at times, but oh-so-satisfying when all enemies lay dead at your feet, and your Sin meter is full.

Unlike other strategy-RPGs which have tried to incorporate touch controls, Valkyrie Profile is all D-pad and face buttons. Touch controls wouldn’t really work anyway, because each of your four units is assigned to a button: A, B, X, or Y, and when you attack, you press the corresponding button to have that unit attack. It makes the battle sequences more active, and also gives you some slight control over how you raise the attack gauge for Soul Crushes. It is a surprisingly efficient system, and grants you a little more strategy over how you attack enemies. Otherwise you’ll select options from menus for attacks, items, or special moves–all standard fare. One move you might not realize instantly, though, is using the L and R buttons to rotate the camera on the battlefield. The game often tries to deceive you, hiding units behind trees or shrubbery, so remembering the L and R buttons can sometimes mean the difference between victory and sending your units to their untimely deaths.

The game’s introductory video is simply beautiful, a gorgeously composed, fully 3D introduction to Wylfred’s past. The animation is only repeated a few more times throughout the game; otherwise, you’ll be staring down on an isometric battlefield with 2D sprites, or 2D character portraits when characters are speaking outside of battle. These graphics are just as good, and even with such small, pixel-ridden sprites, there are some good battle animations for your viewing pleasure, though it is not quite the same as the opening video. Interestingly, the game has voice work, but not during cutscenes. Instead characters will spout one-liners when attacking an enemy or when an enemy has been defeated–they’re repetitive, but not so bad that they become annoying. You’ll most likely forget it’s even there, much like the background music.

Sacrifice Cheripha to the Destiny Plume to unlock Gleipnir’s Bonds, paralyzing all non-leader enemies.

The first time you play the game, you might be a little underwhelmed by the approximate 11 hours you’ll spend to reach the credits (not including deaths/retries). It might not sound like much for a proper RPG, but Valkyrie Profile sports not only three branching paths, but three endings as well. In addition, you can replay the game and use different characters, so there’s a fair amount of replay value. Unlike other games that support New Game + modes or multiple ends, you’ll definitely want to play the game again, as you’ll most likely not see the best ending (achieved by sacrificing no one to the Destiny Plume) without a few tries. Three branching paths and multiple characters mean that this is more than just going through the motions again; not only do the maps change, but you are able to see the story from a different perspective as well, giving each character a more rounded story and shedding light on some of the cryptic details. All told, it’s easy to spend 30 hours to see everything the game has to offer.

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume has you throw out a lot of what you’ve learned about tactical RPGs; allies are expendable when they need to be, but group attacks are more effective than individual prowess. The deep and often intense combat is topped with a rich and complex plot of vengeance and redemption, wrapping around each character and exposing their true natures. It can take some time to get into, but when you master the nuances, Valkyrie Profile is an immensely satisfying strategy RPG experience.

8/10

~Eliwood