Atlus USA have announced that Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker will release on May 5th of this year. Accompanying this news is the release of a story trailer in English. Continue reading to check out the trailer!
Author Archives: InTheSky
“Shining Seed” Trademarked by Sega
Gematsu reports that a trademark Sega filed “Shining Seed” recently went public. Although the trademark itself was originally filed on the 28th of January, the trademark went public on the 10th of February, so now the name Shining Seed is protected for Sega’s use.
Shining Resonance for the Playstation 3 was released last December. It’s been regularly supported by DLC since its release. There’s been no word on localization prospects for the game in the West, as of yet.
Credit for the featured image goes to this jpgames.de article.
Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker Developer Interviews on Official DS2:RB blog
Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker’s Shinjiro Takada (game director) and art director (Akiko Kotoh) took to the official blog of the Japanese Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker website to participate in an interview about the Devil Survivor 2 series of games. Siliconera provided a translation with some notable insights in this article.
The first topic addressed is the special subtitle for the game: “Record Breaker”. The developers aren’t willing to divulge its meaning, seeing as it’s probably significantly related to plot developments. “The subtitle has some deep roots in the story, so it’s kind of difficult to comment on that. (…) There are actually several meanings behind it, so please check it out for yourselves once you get to play it.” They did mention that it was inspired by the English idiom “break a record.”
Next they touch on Miyako Hotsuin. She is the younger twin sister of Yamato Hotsuin, the leader of the powerful JPs institution, who tasks himself with the preservation of Japan. At the same time, he is harboring knowledge regarding the demons and Septentriones that others aren’t privy to. In the new post-game “Triangulum” story arc introduced in Record Breaker, Miyako assumes the leadership role that the mysteriously-disappeared Yamato previously occupied. Takada comments that Miyako was a character originally planned to be present in the first iteration of Devil Survivor 2, but the development team could not find a way to satisfactorily integrate her into the story and so she was cut. However, her presence was reconsidered during development of Record Breaker and she was included in the new scenario.
The next question involved talking about notable aspects of Record Breaker’s development. Takada commented that he had trouble coming up with a conflict that could appropriately follow-up the Septentrione arc (the original scenario) and cause believable drama. He noted that characterization of the returning cast in the Triangulum arc was also a concern because he wanted to show that the events of the Septentrione arc made the characters mature. Kotoh, as art director, mentions that her main focus was on the game’s opening movie and that it went through lots of cuts and revisions. She hopes one day to show the work that went into the opening movie and the different opening movie versions to the fans.
Lastly, the developers were asked about what prompted the inclusion of Durarara!! characters. The collaboration content features rivals Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Heiwajima, alongside the motorcycle-riding dullahan Celty Sturluson, as recruitable characters with powerful abilities. They are freely downloadable for set periods of time in Japan. Takada explains that “one day, I was there wondering what would it be like if characters from one of my favorite works in Durarara!! were to appear in the world of Devil Survivor. They’re both modern dramas, and both illustrated by [Suzuhito] Yasuda , so the opportunity came from the thought of how they would appear as guests.”
While perhaps not as prominent a sub-series of the Shin Megami Tensei games as the Persona series or the classical SMT games, Devil Survivor has managed to carve a decent name for itself. Both of its main DS titles saw 3DS remakes, and Devil Survivor 2 saw an anime adaptation in Devil Survivor 2: The Animation. It was a one cour anime that started airing in the Spring season of 2013.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon: English Gunner Video
Atlus USA’s weekly Etrian Mystery Dungeon character class video series continues with the Gunner class. The Gunners specialize in ranged combat, as you might expect, but what some may not know about them are their special skills that allow Gunners to bind the limbs of their enemies. This allows Gunners to bind enemies’ arms to prevent them from attacking, or bind enemies’ legs to hamper their mobility. Beyond that, Gunners can also attack in unconventional formations and fire healing bullets to their allies.
Atlus USA’s #EMDMysterybox promotion is continuing this week too, so be sure to share the video on Facebook or Twitter if you would like to enter. Continue reading to check out the video and to read Atlus USA’s description of the Gunner class.
Sega and Atlus Garage Kits Revealed at Winter Wonderfest 2015
The biannual Tokyo Wonder Festival saw some interesting figma announcements related to Sega and Atlus franchises. For those unaware, twice a year Wonder Festival shows off a variety of “garage kits” or figurines of anime and video game characters. Sometimes, announcements are made of figurines to be made in the future. These garage kits are often produced through licensing agreements with the I.P. holder of a certain character (Sega, Atlus, Bandai Namco, etc.).
This past weekend, plenty of Sega and Atlus-related garage kits were announced or shown off. Do note that some of these preview pictures are NSFW. On the Sega side, a Kazuma Kiryu figure made by Max Factory is currently in development, though there are no preview pictures currently available. There are a couple varieties of Hatsune Miku figures coming out, including Greatest Idol Hatsune Miku, Ebata Risa version Hatsune Miku, and Racing Miku 2014 EV Mirai version. A special Snow Miku Nendoroid was also exclusively available to Wonderfest, though it will apparently be made available in limited capacity outside of Wonderfest. In addition, a figure for Len Kagamine is also in development by Max Factory. Representing Atlus properties are Yukari Takeba from Persona 3 and the Sorceress from Dragon’s Crown.
It certainly appeared to be an eventful Wonderfest! Be sure to check out the links in the first sentence of the second paragraph in this article to see larger lists of announced figurines. You may find something else that interests you.
Featured image found at this Yakuza Fan post.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon: English Medic Trailer, North American Website Up
Atlus released their next character class video for this week. The trailer shines a spotlight on the Medic, a specialized healer class and a staple archetype in class-based RPG’s.
The #EMDmysterybox promotion also continues with the Medic video so be sure to share the video on Facebook or Twitter if you want to participate. There’s no mention of the end of the promotion for sharing the Medic video but based on previous videos, it should end early next week.
I’d also like to take the time to draw attention to the recent launching of the North American Etrian Mystery Dungeon website. It’s quite similar to the Japanese Etrian Mystery Dungeon website; even the color scheme viewing options for different classes are left intact. There are some omissions from the Japanese website like some videos, wallpapers (to be added later) and Twitter icons. However, now that all of the content is English elements of the game are more readily understandable, like localized names for the game’s systems and what certain Skills do. It is nevertheless nice to see attention in the form of elements like a website and preorder links through retailers being devoted to this new game.
Continue reading to check out the video and Atlus USA’s description of the Medic class!
First Print Copies of Persona 4: Dancing All Night Contain Special Persona 5 Preview
The recently-finished Persona series livestream hosted by Atlus has proven to be eventful especially for those awaiting Persona 5 news, treating fans not only to more footage of animated cutscenes, but also first looks at main characters and gameplay. Bolstering the Persona 5 preview momentum is an article from Siliconera announcing that first print copies of Persona 4: Dancing All Night for the Vita will include a Blu-Ray disc with content previewing Persona 5.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night releases in Japan on June 25, 2015. Persona 5 is also tentatively set to release in 2015 for both Japan and North America, so it appears we may be looking at a Q3 2015 or Q4 2015 release window for Persona 5.
Yakuza Zero Mobile Capture Videos from Taipei Game Show
Sega showed off Yakuza Zero at the Taipei Game Show held this past weekend. This game is being localized in Chinese, so it’s a move that is understandable as Sega increases their overtures to this market with the Chinese localizations of Shining Resonance and Phantasy Star Nova. There was a Chinese interpreter translating the speaker’s demonstration on stage.
These videos were shown off at a stage event and are captured through mobile phones, and are not direct feed videos. The quality is pretty good, in my opinion. They are all under two minutes long, and feature combat sequences: two with Kiryu, and one with Majima. Some random encounters have unique introductory sequences, which is a nice touch.
To watch the videos, continue reading!
Etrian Mystery Dungeon: English Runemaster Video, Upcoming Japanese Nico Stream with Atlus and Spike Chunsoft
This week Atlus USA released a video for Etrian Mystery Dungeon’s Runemaster class, the analogue to a traditional mage: squishy defenses, elemental attacks, and all. Atlus’s description, following the company’s custom of using quirky descriptions for the game’s classes can be seen below:
Is there anything better than roasting your enemies by hurling giant balls of fire at them? Or calling down a deadly maelstrom to zap your enemies into oblivion? Maybe you’re the type who likes to impale enemies on deadly lances made of ice? Yep, that’s probably the right one. Lances made of ice. Ice lances.
Well then Etrian Mystery Dungeon’s Runemaster has your name written all over it! This staff-wielding master of elements is a walking force of nature, throwing out direct damage elemental attacks or summoning powerful AoE spells, the Runemaster is a potent damage dealer. Just remember to bring a Protector along, because a Runemaster won’t last long if an enemy is whaling on it.
In other news, Atlus of Japan and Spike Chunsoft employees are planning to stream Etrian Mystery Dungeon in Japanese through Nico Nico on Saturday from 4:00 PM to 5:00PM Japan Standard Time. It’s the closer of a larger stage event that day, following after Chain Chronicle event.
If you are interested in watching the stream for this event, you’ll need to sign up for a Nico Nico account. Registration instructions are available in English by visiting the nicovideo homepage, however the streams will still be conducted in Japanese without English language support.
Continue reading to check out the video for the Runemaster! Like last week’s Protector video, Atlus notes that those who share the video for the Runemaster have a chance to obtain swag from the Etrian Mystery Box, so be sure to share the video on Facebook on Twitter if you want to participate. The video also features the hashtag #EMDmysterybox, so you may want to make use of the hashtag also if entering. The video description notes that the second winner will be chosen on the 3rd of February.
Yakuza Zero Video Series: Kiryu “Chapter One”
Gematsu writes that a new entry has been made into the Yakuza Zero Video Series with the introduction of Kiryu “Chapter One.” For those who are unaware, Sega is periodically releasing approximately half-hour long videos centered on certain important aspects of Yakuza Zero leading up to the game’s release. This video is about the early parts of Kiryu’s scenario in Yakuza Zero.
The game itself starts roughly at the 2:30 mark, opening with the oft-promoted cutscene of Kiryu roughing up an indebted client that seems to exemplify the Dragon of Dojima’s rough and complicated past. Viewers will also be watch to watch a random encounter from start to finish, with new special effects in tow. There’s also a karaoke segment that follows shortly after encountering Akira Nishikiyama. Towards the end of the video, reference is made to the Yakuza Zero-themed Hot Dog Press cover art – for more information on it, check out this Yakuza Fan link.
It’s worth noting that certain dialogue segments seem quite stylized, in a way that I personally think looks cool. One such example can be seen with Nishiki and Kiryu talking after the karaoke segment.
Continue reading to check out the video!