A couple of years ago, I chose three titles I presumed would never make it to the West. While Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories was canned after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, Catherine and Yakuza: Dead Souls did eventually see Western releases.
Two years later, and just back from this year’s Tokyo Game Show, I’m ready to inform you on the titles that may have slipped under your radar which aren’t guaranteed western releases just yet.
E.X. Troopers (Capcom, 3DS/PS3) 22/11/2012
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JNVelNa8bY&hd=1[/youtube]
The lowdown: An odd platform combination, to be sure, but the speed and style of this game are what a certain Frank West would describe as “faaantastic.” Think cel-shaded, fast-paced and free gameplay with a variety of light primary and heavy secondary guns and you’re there. The 3DS demo featured 3-player co-op while the PS3 demo was limited to the single-player mode, but 1-6 player modes are available for both (via local play for 3DS and online play for PS3). Multiplayer is the way to go here – had a lot more fun with the 3-player demo.
Importability: The PS3 version will almost certainly be region-free, although the 3DS version will require a Japanese unit. While there’s plenty of Japanese text, none of it seemed important in terms of figuring out what you’re doing.
Western release: All signs point to “no” for the moment. Unless a buzz gets going soon I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Project X Zone (Banpresto/Monolith Soft, 3DS) 11/10/2012
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3nQKML06Fk&hd=1[/youtube]
The lowdown: If you read that as “Project Cross Zone,” feel free to pat yourself on the back. Here we have an oddity featuring an absolutely HUGE character roster from three companies: Namco, SEGA and Capcom. The game is a mash-up of a strategy RPG with some basic combo fighting mixed in for good measure. You control multiple parties of two characters and an assist character populate an isometric, gridded map then button-mash each enemy to death in 2D fights. Bahn from Fighting Vipers is in – I’m sold already.
Importability: 3DS again, so you’re out of luck unless you have a Japanese 3DS. If you’re i it for the characters and mechanics rather than the story you’ll be fine disregarding most of the Japanese text though.
Western release: Feasible. Just let the SEGA fanatics do their thing.
Fantasy Life (Level-5, 3DS) 27/12/2012
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGPtXtDpA28&hd=1[/youtube]
The lowdown: A long time in the making. You may remember this as a cute spritefest Level-5 were working on for the original DS (which, in my opinion, looked better). Speaking to the PR about this game, they were really pushing the “casual” aspect of it. To sum it up as Animal Crossing with jobs and a real-time battle system would be unfair, but that’s me for you. The demo had me create my own avatar (a mustachioed podgy girl… I like to embrace my inner self), pick a job and go on a little adventure into the woods. I played as a fisherman first, then a knight of sorts. The multiplayer aspect boils down to having a crew with different talents together at once meaning you don’t have to head back to town to change your job every five minutes. There will also be some form of StreetPass functionality, but Level-5 can’t go into details yet.
Importability: Noticing a theme yet? 3DS again… so unless you’re a mad importer with a Japanese 3DS it’s not happening. Quest markers pop up on the map, but it can be hard to tell what you’re meant to be doing if you have no grasp of Japanese at all.
Western release: It’s being pushed as Level-5’s BIG title at the moment, so I wouldn’t be surprised. I wouldn’t expect anything before 2014 though.
Well… that’s you informed. Stay tuned for a full TGS round-up as well as a some interviews and previews from both Ryan and myself over the next week.
Keep on importing!
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