Why am I talking about this game on this website? Well, as I wrote previously, Final Fantasy VII played a large role in getting me into the anime scene. The JRPG, especially the Final Fantasy series, is an integral part of otakudom. Plus, I’ve been waiting for this game for months and haven’t been excited to play something for a long time. So I felt it was appropriate to write about this, the first new FF on a new platform, and see how the first few hours stack up thus far.

This article is, by the way, spoiler-free. Enjoy!

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YOTSUBANE, makers of danmaku game Crimzon Clover, offer a web demo.  The demo was previously released at Comiket 77, and an earlier version was released at Comiket 76.

The older version.

Japanese gamer NGD reviewed an earlier version, suggesting that parts were loud, flashy, or outright ugly, especially during BREAK mode, but admitting that overall it was “surprisingly good” despite these shortcomings.

European reception to the present version seems to be centered on its high production values and difficulty.  Comparisons to Do-Don Pachi Daifukkatsu and Ketsui have been made.

BREAK mode.

As a demo, the game contains only three stages and an incomplete third boss fight.

Anime fandom didn’t lead me to JRPGs. JRPGs led me to anime, a little more than 10 years ago around this time.

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Game publisher MangaGamer announced Soul Link CGs would be removed, leading to cries of hypocrisy over their initial plans to produce an “uncensored” version.

A total of 6 CGs from the game will be removed due to having an arguably underage looking character naked.

Comments so far have been unilaterally negative:

“I fear Mangagamer intends to take the censorship even further than JAST.”

“Decisions such as [this] will cause your fanbase to turn against you.”

“It’s taken a good 2 years (or more) and tons of bad translations and delays for Manga Gamer to establish the reputation that they have right now and virtually overnight, with the announcement of “censorship” it’s on the brink of shattering.”

Several countries view attempts to sexualize underage persons with alarm, and Anime Diet has previously reported on efforts in the United Kingdom and the Philippines to ban all works that portray minors in a sexual context. It is unclear what laws, if any, would be applicable in the United States, where such works are legal, provided no actual children were used in their making.  Still, the official MangaGamer website prominently features a young girl as its welcoming image, indicating the company intends to court loli eroge buyers.

MangaGamer is better known in some circles for its upcoming release of Higurashi no Naku Kokoro ni, scheduled December 15th.

The Japan Times Online had an interesting article regarding the attendance and  aftermath reaction of this year’s Tokyo Game Show (TGS).  I’ll let you guys familiarize yourselves with the article before I share my thoughts on it.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nc20090930a1.html

All done?  Cool.

So basically the article points out that attendance dropped by almost 10 thousand people from last years show.  Additionally, the article describes there were no big announcements, no console reveals, or surprise “mega” game disclosures, which in some people’s eyes means it was a “lackluster” show.

Simply, there were no announcements because everything had already been announced at previous trade shows (such as E3), and those products aren’t out yet, such as Project Natal or that Sony motion wand thingy.  And most of the big game companies either have their name game already revealed, planned and dated such as with FFXIII, or they had a game already come out earlier this year, making it a little to soon to announce the next sequel in the chain, such as with the Metal Gear franchise.  Still for a big trade shows like TGS, the big guns would usually have an ace hidden up their sleeve to surprise everyone right?  So why not this year?

Because of the attendance drop and the lack of new products, some people like Mega Man creator Kenji Inafune, made statements to the extent that “The Japanese game industry is dead.”   Is this true?   Personally I don’t think so.  I don’t think that any of this is surprising during a world wide recession.  Less expendable cash means less people able to attend trade shows.  The recession may even play a factor in why some of the big products and games (that are still a looooooong ways from being finished) were announced earlier this year instead of holding off till TGS in late September.  They needed to reassure the stockholders by showing them early in a tough year, “Hey! Look at this spiffy new toy we are working on!  It’s going to make you a mint!”

On the first TGS public day this year, attendance was 62,138 people.  62,138 bodies squeezed together and stepping on each other’s feet in a crowded convention hall!  That’s nothing to sneeze at (and probably a bit painfully to boot).  E3 this year only hosted about 41,000 people.  So is the Japanese game industry dead?   I don’t think so.  It’s just a bad year.  If attendance drops that much again next year, then I think we have something to worry about.

- DC

How do you like your Touhou?

Fans of the definitive danmaku (bullet hell) game by ZUN have been working Touhou characters in everywhere.  For all their efforts, however, ExitJMouse may have trumped them. He used Moemon – a reworking of Pokemon with loli monsters – to create his very own stable of Touhou girls!

It’s a little old, truthfully, but with the recent surge of interest in Touhou due to anime, MADs, and appearances in ISML, now is a perfect time to showcase another Touhou-related curiosity.

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Alteil is a web-based CCG whose claim to fame is that many famous mangaka were commissioned to draw the images.  It bills itself as “Japan’s #1 online card game” and is designed for the grown-up gamer who has a life and doesn’t want to spend more than 10 minutes per game on average.

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Blue Dragon Plus, a strategy RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics for the Nintendo DS, turns out to be a pretty easy-to-learn and engaging game so far. It avoids some of the pitfalls I encountered with FF Tactics and proves to be a good way to pass the time.

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My, my…my first real article in a month, and it’s a game review of all things. This isn’t just any game, though–it’s a very anime-ish game, featuring Hirano Aya no less as the main girl, and it offers a blend of story, music, and sensible gameplay that has me enthralled like I haven’t been since the old Final Fantasy games.

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Fan of DBZ? Check. Fighting game? Check. Playable? Check.

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