Atlus U.S.A. had been teasing an announcement today involving a new collector’s edition for one of their games, and they’ve now revealed that they will be releasing a special version of Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir called the “Storybook Edition”, exclusive to PS4. Aside from a copy of the PS4 edition, it also contains a collector’s metal slipcase, a potion recipe T-Shirt, premium outer box, 64-page hardcover art book and a mystery art print.
It’s less than two weeks until the November 26th launch of Blade Arcus from Shining EX on Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 in Japan. Ahead of this occasion, Sega has released some new battle videos to promote the game.
The videos feature a couple of event scene dialogues for the cast members, and a couple rounds of fighting afterward. Continue reading to check out the two new videos! They make a point to highlight the special promotion for Sonia Blanche from Shining Resonance at the end of each video. It looks like waiting fans will have to keep an eye out for first-print copies!
Atlus and Vanillaware posted a new trailer for the upcoming Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, showing gameplay footage of one of the playable characters, Mercedes. She uses a bow in combat, which combined with her ability to fly, makes the gameplay similar to what you’d see in a 2D side-scrolling shooter. In one of our previous articles, we also talked about the background story of Mercedes.
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir will be released on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita in Japan on January 14th, 2016. The release for the Americas is scheduled for 2016.
While the West gears up for the English release of Yakuza 5, the next major Yakuza title to be released in Japan is Yakuza Kiwami, a full remake of the first Yakuza game. And this time it won’t just be Japanese Yakuza fans that will get to play the game – Yakuza Kiwami is set to receive Korean and Chinese localizations. The Korean-subtitled version was announced on the Japanese official website for the Yakuza series, and was noticed by KHHSubs. The Mandarin Chinese version was mentioned in this tweet from the Ryu ga Gotoku official Twitter account. This tweet also provides us with our featured image for this writeup. There’s a tall banner for Yakuza Kiwami on the right, and this banner is an advertisement in Taiwan.
Toshihiro Nagoshi has in the past expressed doubts about the sustainability of Yakuza maintaining a Japan-only presence, so this is a logical step. It also seems unsurprising given Phantasy Star Nova and Shining Resonance‘s Chinese localizations. It isn’t as if Sega’s had a strong console presence in China or Korea (especially the former, since laws against games have only recently been relaxed there) though we might attribute that to the relative weakness of console gaming nowadays compared to the past. So what we’re seeing here is Sega should be Sega doing their best to cement a foothold in Asia.
Ideally, what we should also be seeing is greater Western presence for Yakuza games too! Let’s hope that such a path pans out.
Sega has recently released a new (and rather large) batch of screenshots for Yakuza 5‘s Western release. Many of them are themed around combat and Heat actions, but there are some other types of screenshots to look at as well. With the release of new media and live stream demos of the game, promotional activity for Yakuza 5 has starkly increased over the past couple of weeks. Perhaps the game’s release is soon to come?
Check out the images below! Also, if you missed the most recent Twitch broadcast (the second one) of Yakuza 5, we’ve attached that for your viewing after the image gallery.
As you could already see in Sega’s recent Twitch Stream for Yakuza 5, there’s plenty of activties to do in the game aside from just following the main storyline. You can play darts, visit a Hostess Club, try your luck getting a prize from the UFO catcher, go bowling or play pool, take pictures at a photo booth, participate in idol handshake meetings as Haruka, play Virtua Fighter 2 in the arcades … You can even breed, race and bet on chickens. You’re bound to find something to enjoy! The game’s precise release date is still unknown, but it’s expected to be released somewhere mid-November on PS3 as a digital download. Take a look at the screenshots featuring the mini-games below, courtesy of Sega! We also included the official press release.
Of the Shining Resonance characters, Sonia was always a clear favorite. She ended up overtaking the other heroine Kirika in popularity despite Kirika receiving slightly more promotion leading up to Shining Resonance‘s release.
So if there were a Shining Resonance character to be included in Blade Arcus from Shining EX, it’d naturally be Sonia. Sega recently uploaded a 2 minute showcasing a bit of Sonia’s fighting style. She is purely a short-ranged fighter, but some of her attacks come out quickly, and she has a handful of options with wide range (especially one of her aerial attacks!) The closer she is to the opponent, the more dangerous she becomes, as Sonia has some follow-up options even if her opponent is blocking. Unique to her character is the ability to play her Armonic (the sword that doubles as an instrument, unique to Resonance) as a violin. In addition, she can also access her “Dress Armor”, the golden armor that shows up sporadically towards the end of the trailer. On the flip side, she seems to move rather slowly when not attacking. So while Sonia is strong once she’s next to her opponent, Sonia also has to get in first.
Continue reading to watch the trailer for Sonia! Do remember that she is a bonus character exclusive to first print copies of Blade Arcus from Shining EX.
Missed the recent livestream for Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition? It’s fine – Dengeki Online have uploaded the stream footage to their YouTube account. The stream clocks in at around a hefty hour and a half! But, you’ll want to be aware that most of the footage features discussion from the panelists or skits.
The stream is notable for featuring the first gameplay footage of Kuroko Shirai, the newly-announced playable character for Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition. You can see her at the 38:20 mark and the 1:04:50 mark (and the two matches that follow directly after this.) It’s an opportunity to glean a little more insight into how she might play as a character.
Check out the footage at around the 28-minute mark (the first instance of gameplay footage being demoed,) and you’ll notice a new stage. It’s the SeHaGaga Academy from Hi☆sCoool! SeHa Girls! It’s the central location for all of the SeHa Girls’ shenanigans in the anime series that aired last year, and features a number of Sega-related shoutouts. I think NiGHTS floating around is a cute touch, but I personally just like NiGHTS.
Continue reading to watch the YouTube video!
Dengeki Online revealed a couple of new support characters for Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition. Pictured above is Zero, from Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu. She’s a witch, and it looks like the particular support attack she’s using can cover a lot of space.
This is Iriya from Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu. While just an awkward high school girl on the surface, she’s also the skilled pilot of a special jet that helps her to defend the Earth from aliens. Wonder what her support technique does…
And lastly is Tomo Asama from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere. She is a Shinto priestess and adept with the bow and arrow. Incidentally, she isn’t a main character – it makes you wonder if someone else may show up from this series in the future.
Remember that the special livestream for Uiharu in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is coming up tomorrow! The Dengeki Online article linked above has got the links you need towards the bottom of the article.
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition comes out in Japan for Vita, PS4, and PS3 on December 17th. This latest iteration of Fighting Climax already out in arcades.
Credit goes to this Dengeki Online article for the featured images.
Kuroko Shirai, the recently revealed new playable character from the Index/Railgun series, is going to be featured in a livestream for Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax: Ignition on October 28th, 8PM Japan Time. This stream will be viewable through the YouTube link shown on this Dengeki Online article, and through a Niconico stream that is linked to right underneath the YouTube link (made visible as a rectangular button. Just be aware that you need a Niconico account to watch videos!
Sega’s Ryutaro Nonaka, the producer of the Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax series, will be on hand to demo the game.
Credit goes to the Dengeki Online article cited above for the featured image.