Author Archives: InTheSky

Genei Ibun Roku #FE Protagonist and Mirage Trailers

InTheSky October 8, 2015 Leave a reply

Nintendo has posted two character trailers and one Mirage-focused trailer for Genei Ibun Roku #FE for the Nintendo Wii U.

The first trailer is a character “debut” and general story trailer for the cast, building off of the theme of this game where new hopefuls are introduced to the entertainment world. The next trailer is a one minute trailer sharply focused on Itsuki Aoi, the protagonist. The last trailer is only 30 seconds and is supposed to focus on the idea of Mirages and Mirage Masters. Basically half of it features a battle cinematic involving Tsubasa and Caeda, her Mirage.

In other news, the official website has been updated featuring character art for Itsuki, the new trailers, and three new blog posts (the button in the bottom right that says the word “STAFF” on it.) They’re all quite lengthy entries!

Continue reading to check out the trailers!

Shin Megami Tensei IV Final for 3DS Announced

InTheSky October 6, 2015 Leave a reply

Atlus of Japan struck suddenly with the reveal of Shin Megami Tensei IV Final for Nintendo 3DS via Famitsu. It’s due for release in Japan on February 10, 2016. Contrary to what the subtitle and the name of the game might suggest, this isn’t meant to be an expanded release (in the same vein of Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker) – this is a new game set in the same world that Shin Megami Tensei IV took place in. There will be new characters, and perhaps some returning faces too.

While Persona 5 seems to have red as a recurring theme color (as do the Persona games in general) it seems that SMT IV Final is following in its stead by making liberal use of the color green. I personally like the look of mixing black and green…

There’s a preview site up right now, but nothing really in the way of content is on it. We can expect more this coming Sunday at 7PM (Japan time) when a Niconico stream featuring a more detailed reveal of the game goes live.

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition Adds Shirai Kuroko and Kazari Uiharu

InTheSky October 5, 2015 Leave a reply

At Akihabara’s Dengeki Bunko Fall Festival, new characters for Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition were revealed: Shirai Kuroko (playable) and Uiharu Kazari (support) from the A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun. The announcement was teased leading up to the event by Sega.

Kuroko is the best friend of the other playable Index/Railgun representative Misaka Mikoto, and possesses the Teleportation Esper ability. Uihara is Kuroko’s friend, and she possesses the Thermal Hand Esper ability. They’re both in “Judgment”, a student-based law enforcement organization. In the image above, both Kuroko and Uihara are on the right side of the screen, with Kuroko closer to the center.

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition releases for Japan on the 17th of December for Vita, PS3, and PS4. So far four new playable characters have been announced for Ignition. There’s no word on whether or not more will be joining.

Credit to this Dengeki Online article for breaking the news and for the featured image. And thanks to fellow Segalization contributor Kuronoa for the explanation on these newly revealed characters.

7th Dragon III Code: VFD Mage Trailer

InTheSky October 3, 2015 Leave a reply

It’s less than two weeks until 7th Dragon III Code: VFD‘s release in Japan. With this character class trailer, seven out of eight classes have been covered. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel that one has to admire that pacing of promotional media leading up to the game’s release…

Anyway, this time we have the Mage. They’re a traditional squishy magic user class. Mages are capable of offensive magic (using the elements and arcane forces) and healing spells, so they’re at least diversified in that sense. However, they might benefit the team more by focusing on offense, depending on the usefulness of their spells. And unless they’re profoundly stronger than the enemies they’re facing, the Mage really could do with some support since their defense is lacking, so it’s a good thing 7th Dragon is party-based. They are in your care!

Continue reading to check out the trailer.

Project X Zone 2 1st Commercial, Japanese Demo and 2nd PV Coming Soon

InTheSky October 2, 2015 Leave a reply

The first Japanese commercial for Project X Zone 2, due for release on November 11th in Japan, has been published online. It’s short, but some quick new character glimpses are available (notably, of Street Fighter‘s M.Bison and Xenosaga‘s T-Elos as villains hiding in the featured image above) though nothing else can be seen.

Additionally, the official website’s blog (which receives the occasional update, sometimes even when character reveals aren’t announced) has a new entry posted on it revealing some cool items: a Japanese demo planned for the 9th of October, and announcement of the impending release of the second promotional video. The Western releases of Project X Zone did see two demos; hopefully audiences for the localized versions will also have access to demos as their release dates approach.

As for the second PV – a lot of new information is promised for this video. It’s probably the last major push possible for this game since there’s a little less than a month remaining until the game releases. So all information, including the character roster, is ideally known sooner so that people on the fence will be able to bite. I’m hoping we get as many characters in Pair Units as possible, and I’d love to hear whether or not Shenmue‘s Ryo Hazuki is part of a Pair or is a Solo Unit.

Check out the commercial after the break!

(credit for the featured image goes to this Famitsu article)

Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity’s Multiplayer Servers Closed

InTheSky October 1, 2015 Leave a reply

Online game servers for Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity were closed on the 29th of September in Japan. The announcement for this closure was actually made three months ago in June. Downloadable content will still be available, but multiplayer online features are discontinued.

Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity released in Japan on February 24, 2011. That means the game’s servers saw more than four and a half years of activity. It’s often in the nature of the modern Phantasy Star games that there’s always someone out there interested in playing; activity on such sites as PSOWorld is a testament to that! While Phantasy Star Portable 2 was released outside of Japan, Infinity was not.

Moving forward, Sega seems to be putting their efforts towards Phantasy Star Online 2′s PlayStation 4 version and the animation project, rather than other Phantasy Star subseries or spinoff titles.

7th Dragon III Code: VFD Demo Out in Japan

InTheSky October 1, 2015 Leave a reply

A couple of days ago, Sega released a demo for 7th Dragon III Code: VFD onto the Japanese eShop. It’s a limited demo; there’s no character creation and the level cap is 10 for characters, but you will be able to play through to the beginning of the first chapter (similar to the Stella Glow demo.) Additionally, character data from the demo save file can be imported into the full game when it releases, allowing you to edit your characters from the demo.

Sega, through an official 7th Dragon Twitter account also announced the release of the demo and the bonuses of demo participation in this Tweet. It’s always a nice thing to see them having a presence like this in promoting their franchises.

7th Dragon III Code: VFD is due for release in about two weeks (October 15) in Japan. Previous games in this franchise haven’t been localized. This could be the last game in the 7th Dragon series – it remains to be seen whether or not the game will be picked up for localization. The story for this game might be seen as self-contained enough to merit localizing in spite of the previous games not being brought outside of Japan.

Credit to this NeoGAF thread for demo information.

New Sakura Wars Biking Gear, Inspired by Sakura Shinguji

InTheSky September 30, 2015 2 Replies

The Japanese online shop Monoclover is now carrying special Sakura Wars-themed biking gear. All of the accessories/clothing pieces are pink and prominently feature Sakura Shinguji, the lead heroine of the Imperial Assault Force and the de-facto face of the series.

For customers outside of Japan, there’s a Facebook app available that can be browsed in English. The clothing items come in various sizes, sometimes going up to 3L. These items will set your wallet back quite a bit though – the windbreaker at pre-tax price level runs for about $117! The items do look nice, though.

And besides that, it’s an unexpected level of activity for a franchise that’s mostly dormant. Then again, Chisa Yokoyama is running a Sakura Wars solo performance live concert and a Sakura Wars mobile game is still operational while Valkyria Duel has ceased operation. Almost makes you hope for a return of Sakura Wars, which in its heyday was an incredibly strong franchise in Japan.

There are six clothing items available! All items are credited to the order page listed at the beginning of this article.

Bib shorts
Windbreaker
Long-sleeved jersey
“High functionality” jersey
Quick-drying sweat fabric jersey (material like this is actually amazing, I love it)
Gloves

Bib Shorts

Windbreaker

Long Sleeve

High Function

Quick Dry

Gloves

New Genei Ibun Roku #FE Characters and Mirages

InTheSky September 29, 2015 Leave a reply

This week new characters and Mirages were revealed for Genei Ibun Roku #FE, the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem-inspired Atlus work.

Barry Goodman is a former musician who comes to Japan to learn more about otaku culture. He eventually ends up as the trainer for the protagonists on their music career. Barry is also voiced by Yuichi Nakamura – a prolific voice actor who also voiced Kurt Irving in Valkyria Chronicles 3!

Mamori Minamoto is an elemental school student and a Mirage Master. She belongs to the same entertainment agency as the protagonists. She’s a fan of Showa-era performances and music. Mamori is voiced by Kaori Fukuhara. Draug, from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, accompanies her.

Mirages were also revealed this week for some previously announced characters:

Virion, from Fire Emblem Awakening, accompanies Eleonora Yumizuru.

Tharja, from Fire Emblem Awakening, accompanies Kiria Kurono.

Credit for the information goes to this Gematsu article. The Hachima article that Gematsu sourced didn’t have media for all of the characters and Mirages, but they’re sure to come out in the future.

Stella Glow: English Song Magic Trailer

InTheSky September 26, 2015 Leave a reply

A new trailer for Stella Glow from Atlus U.S.A. shows the game’s “Song Magic” mechanic. Only the five witches in Stella Glow’s world know how to use Song Magic, and one of those witches (Hilda) is actually the game’s antagonist, who wants to use her power to destroy the world. The player assumes the role of the protagonist Alto, who teams up with the four other witches to try and stop Hilda. Using the witches’ Song Magic will be a key component of the game’s battle system. During battle, the “Song Stone meter” will gradually start to fill. Once it has reached a certain level, it allows you to use Song Magic, which can be used in a variety of ways such as damaging the enemy or healing your allies. To acquire more Song Magic, a process called Witch Tuning is used, which we talked about in an earlier article. For more details, watch the new Song Magic trailer below!