Author Archives: Draikin

Panzer Dragoon: Remake and Panzer Dragoon II Zwei: Remake Announced by Forever Entertainment!

Draikin December 10, 2018 1 Reply

Forever Entertainment, probably best know for developing and publishing Fear Effect Sedna, has announced that they will be releasing remakes of Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon II Zwei! The remake of the original Panzer Dragoon will feature “completely new graphics “ and modifications to make the game “more attractive to modern players, while remaining “faithful to the original in terms of story”. The first game is planned to be released before the end of 2019, and new materials will be presented in the upcoming months. No mention was made of a potential remake of Panzer Dragoon Saga.

We did learn that SEGA (aside from obviously being the IP owner) will also be a co-publisher for the game. Meanwhile, Forever Entertainment will be a co-publisher and co-producer as well as handle co-financing. Development will be handled by MegaPixel Studio. While there’s been no announcement regarding the platforms the games will be released on, we do know that MegaPixel Studio was established as a studio which would “focus on porting and publishing new games on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4”.

Outside from a comment from Atlus USA director Sam Mullen, there’s been no official announcement on the part of SEGA. This appears to be similar to deals SEGA made for other games handled by third party studios, such as Shenmue 3, Bayonetta 2&3 and more recently Streets of Rage 4. From the information available it doesn’t seem like Yukio Futatsugi’s Grounding Inc studio or Land Ho! (developer of Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 27: Panzer Dragoon) will be involved with the development of the game. You can read the entire press release from Forever Entertainment here:

Forever Entertainment together with SEGA Holding Co., Ltd. from Japan will co-create and publish Panzer Dragoon: Remake and Panzer Dragoon II Zwei: Remake. The premiere of the first part is planned before the end of 2019!
Panzer Dragoon: Remake is a refreshed version of Panzer Dragoon. The original version of the game had its premiere on the Sega Saturn console in 1995 and was well received by both players and critics. The entire Panzer Dragoon series has been repeatedly remade and released on many platforms. The last re-launch took place in April 2018 on Xbox One, where players can play Panzer Dragoon Orta with a backward compatibility. The new version of the game will be characterized by a completely new graphics compatible with today’s standards and several modifications of the game, making it more attractive to modern players, while remaining faithful to the original in terms of story. The first materials from the game will be presented in the upcoming months!

This is of course huge news for the Panzer Dragoon community, coming out of the blue (pun intended). The Panzer Dragoon series has been largely dormant since 2002’s Panzer Dragoon Orta, with only an updated (but not fully remade) version of the first Panzer Dragoon released as part of the Sega Ages lineup in 2006 and more recently the arrival of Panzer Dragoon Orta on the Xbox One as part of the backwards compatibility lineup. We’ll be sure to share more details as soon as they become available.

Note: featured image is a screenshot from an emulated version of Panzer Dragoon Zwei, running in Yabause.

SEGA Announces RTS game “Revolve8” for iOS and Android, Pre-Registration Open Worldwide

Draikin October 10, 2018 1 Reply

SEGA have unveiled Revolve8, a new RTS game for Android and iOS which has a lot of familiar names in its key creative staff. For starters, the game’s senior producer is Masayoshi Kikuchi (Producer of Yakuza, Director of Jet Set Radio). For the game’s art, the character designer is handled by Koji Igarashi (creator of the Igavania genre) and the character artist is Ryota-H ((Shingeki no Bahamut, TWIN HEADS manga). The sound producers are Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenoblade) & Shunsuke Tsuchiya (Luminous Arc, Arc of Fantasia).

Sega Details Release Dates and Pricing for Valkyria Chronicles 4’s DLC Missions

Draikin September 4, 2018 3 Replies

Sega has released the details on their DLC release schedule for Valkyria Chronicles 4, allowing us to finally get a complete view of how much all the content for the game will cost. It was reasonable to assume that Sega wouldn’t offer a considerably better deal than what fans in Japan have been offered, but it’s not just the pricing that stands out here. The release dates for the DLC are surprisingly far apart given that this is the localized version of the game and all of the game’s DLC has long been available in Japan. In particular, the DLC included in the game’s premium edition will be playable at launch, but will be only be made available separately in December for those who bought the regular or digital version of the game. One has to question if most won’t have lost interest in the game by the time the DLC is actually released.

The Original Valkyria Chronicles Will be Released on the Nintendo Switch in October

Draikin September 2, 2018 Leave a reply

In a live panel at PAX West where Sega talked about how they bring Japanese Games to the West, they also announced that the original Valkyria Chronicles will be released on the Nintendo Switch on October 16, a few week after the release of Valkyria Chronicles 4 (September 25). The game, which will apparently be a digital-only release, will cost $19.99. However, those who already own Valkyria Chronicles 4 will receive a 25% discount. It’s also worth noting that the Switch version isn’t actually the Remastered version that was previously released on PS4. As such, it’s not clear if the game will be running at 60fps with a 1080P resolution.

Streets of Rage 4 Announced, Developed by Dotemu, Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games

Draikin August 27, 2018 Leave a reply

In an unexpected announcement, publisher Dotemu has announced Streets of Rage 4, a game being developed by Lizardcube (Wonder Boy) and Guard Crush Games. As the title suggests, the game is the long-awaited next entry in the Streets of Rage franchise. Sega is staying quiet regarding this reveal, suggesting that their role in this is probably limited to providing the license, with everything else being handled by Dotemu, Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games.

New Valkyria Chronicles 4 Trailer Introduces Grenadiers, Ship Orders, and Last Stands

Draikin August 20, 2018 Leave a reply

SEGA has released a new trailer for Valkyria Chronicles 4, showing some of the new elements added to the game compared. First off are Grenadiers, a new class that can launch long-distance grenades at the enemy. During the opponent’s turn, Grenadiers will also bombard moving enemies within range. That said, as shown in the video, the enemy also has their own grenadiers.

Sega Appears to Have Quietly Removed Denuvo Anti-Tamper from the PC Version of Shenmue I & II

Draikin August 19, 2018 1 Reply

In the latest updates made to the PC version of Shenmue I & II, some Steam forum users have found that one of the entries on August 14 notes the removal of the controversial DRM Denuvo (for what it’s worth, the company itself claims it’s not actually DRM, but that’s a different debate altogether). The game’s Steam page also no longer lists the Denuvo implementation. It’s not clear if this is a permanent change, and so far it only seems to apply to Shenmue I & II specifically, as other upcoming SEGA PC games such as Valkyria Chronicles 4 and Yakuza Kiwami continue to use the DRM.

Atlus Reveals Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection, Includes All 3 Persona Dancing Games

Draikin August 9, 2018 1 Reply

ATLUS has revealed the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection, a bundle contains the complete catalog of Persona Dancing games, including the upcoming Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, as well as a digital download for Persona 4: Dancing All Night. Aside from a physical release featuring an exclusive hardcover artbook package, the collection will also be made available digitally on both PS4 and PS Vita. The collection will release on on December 4, 2018, with a price of $69.99 for the PS Vita version, and $99.99 for the PS4 version. The price of the EU version hasn’t been revealed, but is said to be commensurate to the US version. Pre-order links are available on the official website. Amazon appears to have mistakenly sold the collection for $59.99 for a limited time before pulling it from their store.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Digital Pre-Order and Demo Now Available on PS4, Xbox One and Switch

Draikin August 7, 2018 Leave a reply

Sega have launched digital pre-orders and a free demo for Valkyria Chronicles 4 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch today! The demo lets you to play through the prologue and the first two chapters of the game, as well as an exclusive bonus mission created specifically for the demo. A neat bonus is that demo save data, including items obtained, class levels, earned experience, and currency total will transfer over to the full game. In addition, importing save data from the demo will net you an exclusive accessory for use in the full game.
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Draikin

May 6, 2018

Back when Korean company Snowpipe announced their new “Sakura Wars M” mobile game, I was surprised to find that the copyright section no longer referenced the company that developed the past Sakura Wars games, Red Entertainment. Back in 2005, Red Entertainment had separated from their parent company SEGA by buying back a major portion of their SEGA-owned stock, a move that allowed them to regain their independent status. Nonetheless, they still retained part of the Sakura Wars IP, as any copyright mention related to Sakura Wars games noted “©SEGA ©RED”. Puzzled by seeing Red Entertainment not mentioned on the new Sakura Wars M game, I went and verified Red Entertainment’s website, but it was still listing their company as a Sakura Wars copyright owner. So I couldn’t be sure if Red Entertainment had indeed lost control over the Sakura Wars IP.

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