Even among the most ardent fans of Goichi Suda (aka "Suda 51"), I don't think it would be controversial to say that he specializes in style. Most of his major releases are marked by high-concept ideas and identifiable art styles, but the mechanics don't always match the ambition. Killer is Dead certainly has its own splashy stylistic identity, but as usual, some hands-on time made it hard to tell if the game would keep up.
XSEED Games, the publisher behind several recent Japanese localizations in North America, is going through a transition. MarvelousAQL announced today that it has turned XSEED JKS, Inc. into Marvelous USA, which will oversee all of the company's US operations. XSEED Games will continue being the brand for PC, console, and handheld games. The newly-formed Marvelous Online will handle mobile and social games.
The trouble with dating simulators is that they're so unrealistic. Flowers, fragrances, whiskey and chocolates are awful gifts for one you want to stick it to. Now Pandora's Tower, that knows what to give: hunks of flesh torn from the still-twitching corpses of rare monsters. We can all pick up a few tips come April 16, as publisher Xseed announced today that's when the action-RPG's awfully late North American release will be.
Grasshopper's Killer is Dead was recently confirmed for North America. We knew the broad strokes about the game's hero, an executioner named Mondo Zappa, but today's trailer lets us see him putting his skills to work.
Pandora's Tower will quite possibly be the last major release on Wii. XSEED Games is publishing the long-awaited JRPG come April, which should give Nintendo fans reason to dust off their Wii (or Wii U) consoles.
The first story trailer for the US focuses on the game's characters: Elena, a cursed singer, and Aeron, the man who loves her. Aeron must retrieve the flesh of 12 "masters" in order to free Elena of her curse, lest she become a monster.
XSEED is quickly becoming a favorite of Japanese game fans, having already released several games that might not have otherwise made the trip overseas. Today the company announced five more games coming stateside, including Killer is Dead from Grasshopper Manufacture.
Read more: Others include Rune Factory, Valhalla Knights, and Ys »
The year-old "Operation Rainfall" campaign sought western localizations for a trio of Wii-exclusive JRPGs. It can now be called an unqualified success; the final game has been announced for a North American release. Pandora's Tower is coming to our shores some time this spring from XSEED.
Invited to a party! Ooh, how exciting! Your party frock is so pretty and you've brought such a thoughtful gift, but... why do half the guests have blank faces? And why are they eating people? There's no such party, of course, this is purely a lie I've told to introduce the news that publisher Xseed has confirmed horrifying PSP adventure sequel Corpse Party: Book of Shadows will hit next week.
The Last Story has quickly become the biggest game yet for its publisher, XSEED Games, which made its name on importing Japanese cult favorites. But it was a struggle to bring it to the west at all, since concerns about releasing a $50 RPG on a "dead platform" made some people, even inside the company, skeptical of its success.
Japanese dungeon-crawler Unchained Blades is coming to the 3DS next month. Publisher XSEED brought the game out for PSP earlier this year, and is now making it available on the 3DS eShop on January 3 for $29.99.
Huzzah PSP owners, you're all invited to a party! XSEED Games is giving a reading from the Book of Shadows and bids you join it. Actually, that's a lie I told to introduce this story. In truth, XSEED has announced it's bringing anime-inspired horror-adventure sequel Corpse Party: Book of Shadows westwards this winter for PSP. No one wants to invite you to their party.
XSEED has announced that Way of the Samurai 4 will hit the PlayStation Network on August 21, at a budget price of $39.99. The game has been out since March of last year in Japan, and XSEED announced it would be publishing the game earlier this year.
XSEED has announced it's bringing two more niche Japanese titles to handhelds in the US. The publisher will be releasing both Ragnarok Odyssey and Orgarhythm to North America. Both Vita games are slated for a 2012 release.
Grand Knights History won't be published in the US by XSEED, the company has announced. The latest from developer Vanillaware was slated to come out for PSP this year, but the company has stated it lacks the localization resources needed for the game.
Read more: Resources 'required to localize the game were not available' »
Way of the Samurai 4 is finally getting a North American release, more than a year after its initial Japanese launch. The game will be published by XSEED Games this summer, distributed through the PlayStation Network. The game was developed by Acquire and has been out in Japan since March of 2011.
Read more: Japanese localization intact with English subtitles »
The Lunar and Grandia series are some of the most beloved amongst hardcore JRPG fans. XSEED's new RPG, Unchained Blades, demands attention--if only because of the pedigree of the creators involved. Originally released in Japan as UnchainBlades ReXX, this dungeon-crawler was directed by Lunar's Toshio Akashi, with a story written by Grandia's Takashi Hino. While the game may be part of a niche genre, publisher XSEED will be bringing a localized version Stateside by distributing the game digitally, via the PlayStation Network on PSP and Vita, and the 3DS eShop.
Niche publisher and import specialist XSEED Games is taking its first steps onto PC with Steam releases of two games from Nihon Falcom's action-RPG series Ys. This'll be the first time Ys Origin is sold in English on any platform, and the first official English PC release of Ys: The Oath in Felghana--though fans have already translated them unofficially.
Read more: XSEED is "excited about the future possibilities" »
Last summer, Nintendo fans banded together to form "Operation Rainfall," an effort to convince Nintendo to localize Wii-exclusive titles from Japan. The movement's first victory was Xenoblade Chronicles, a JRPG that will be arriving Stateside on April 6th. Today, Nintendo revealed a second game for localization--The Last Story.
The Last Story is an action RPG developed by Mistwalker, helmed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series.
Sumioni: Demon Arts has been announced for PlayStation Vita, using the system's OLED screen to deliver painterly, Japanese art-inspired visuals. The action-platformer is being developed by Acquire (Way of the Samurai), and published by XSEED. It's due sometime during the "launch window" for the handheld in North America.
XSEED Games has announced plans to publish Grand Knights History, the PlayStation Portable title from developer Vanillaware and Japanese publisher Marvelous Entertainment.
Originally released on September 1 in Japan, Grand Knights History is a turn-based RPG featuring awfully pretty, hand-drawn graphics. The game is expected to launch this winter.
When you hear the phrase "Corpse Party," you probably think of zombies kicking back with some beers, or maybe Andrew Yoon's plans for Saturday night. You probably don't think of a grisly cult-hit Japanese PSP game, but that's exactly what it is. Now XSEED has announced that it's bringing the game to North America this fall as a downloadable PSN title.
Corpse Party is an adventure game with hand-drawn 2D sprite art, that tells the story of high school students trapped in a haunted elementary school. The school houses the souls of children who have vanished over the years. In case you were wondering: yes, a school full of dead kids warrants an M rating.
XSEED is bringing the cult Nintendo DS JRPG, Solatorobo, to North America this fall. Originally released in Japan last year, Solatorobo is about a group of anthropomorphic furries that use mechs in their everyday lives. The gameplay primarily centers around Red using his mech, "DAHAK," in battle.
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is developed by CyberConnect2, best known for their work on the Naruto Ultimate Ninja games and the PS2 RPG series .hack. The game is positioned as a spiritual successor to one of the team's earliest works, the even-more-cult classic, Tail Concerto, an obscure PS1-era action game published in the US by Atlus. Read more »
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