Dragon Quest X
Last July, Square Enix held a special Dragon Quest presentation, in which the publisher shared that two games in the series would be heading to NX, with the titles in question being the already-released Dragon Quest X, and the upcoming Dragon Quest XI. Although still uncertain if both games would come to NX following the presentation, this week’s issue of Famitsu offers a confirmation.
According to the mangazine, which spoke with director Jin Fujisawa and producer Yosuke Saito as the series celebrated its fourth anniversary last week, Saito specifically mentioned NX and PlayStation 4 as being the “climax” of Dragon Quest X. Of course, there were no specifics about how the online RPG will play on Nintendo’s new system, but it’s good to know Square is planning to support the console with one of its main series.
Dragon Quest VII
Nintendo is continuing its Dragon Quest VII video series with a new entry focusing on the game’s tactics. You can watch it below:
Meanwhile, some members of the press are starting to get their hands on the game as the release date approaches. According to these, the download version amounts to 11,638, which is 1454.75MB.
You can find some gameplay footage below, courtesy of Polygon, Nintendo Everything, and GameXplain.
Monster Hunter Generations
Nintendo UK recently caught up with a few Monster Hunter newcomers at Hyper Japan in London and asked them how they feel about Monster Hunter Generations. Check out their answers in the video below:
Monster Hunter Stories
Capcom has shared a new wave of videos showcasing the various monsters available in Monster Hunter Stories. These four include the Barioth, Rathalos, Stygian Zinogre, and Arzuros. Besides that, the game was once again featured on Capcom TV, so you can watch some more gameplay footage in the video after the trailers, which you can find below.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice
Capcom has announced that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice will release in both North America and Europe on September 8. The game will cost $29.99 / £24.99 / €29.99.
Prior to launch, a demo will be released on the 3DS eShop on August 25. Here’s what you can expect from it:
“The demo features a section from the first courtroom scenario in the game, and allows players to slip into Phoenix’s shoes in the Kingdom of Khura’in and get a taste of the newest gameplay feature, the Divination Séance. Through royal priestess Rayfa and her Divination Séances, players can revisit the last moments of a victim’s life and must fight to unravel the discrepancies and contradictions between the Royal Priestess’s Insight and what is shown in the séance. This demo is sure to make for an exciting first test to bring about justice before the game’s full release!”
Capcom also posted a new trailer introducing various characters plus their respective features and special abilities. You can watch it below, after some additional information about the title.
This new game’s cast is full of many zany favorites alongside a new ensemble of characters to meet, and today Capcom is announcing several of them, including the return of forensics scientist Ema Skye, who first appeared in the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Ema has passed her certification exams and is now a full-fledged forensic investigator. Here she returns to assist Apollo in his defense of the series’ popular magician, Trucy Wright, Phoenix’s adopted daughter. Trucy is famed for her magic tricks and vanishing acts, until she suddenly finds herself mixed up in an unfortunate incident that takes place during one of her magic shows. With Phoenix away, it’s up to Apollo and Athena to uncover the truth about the tragic death of Mr. Reus, one of Trucy’s co-performers. During this case, players will also meet the brand new character Bonny de Famme, a fledgling magician who appears in Trucy’s show and wants to help Apollo in any way she can, but what will her witness testimony reveal?
In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, forensic investigation techniques play a vital part in players analyzing the evidence to help solve some of the game’s mysteries. Utilizing the features of the Nintendo 3DS system, players will be able to dust some crime scenes and search for fingerprints, while being able to examine certain objects at the scene a full 360 degrees to uncover hidden evidence like never before in the Ace Attorney series. Will the fingerprints match any of the suspects on file and uncover new truths? Combined with the ability to examine video evidence from multiple angles to check for inconsistencies, and other investigation techniques, this latest title in the Ace Attorney series is set to be the most thrilling outing to the courtroom yet!
Capcom has also begun a series of development blogs for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, and the first one of those can be found over here. This blog talks about how the story of each episode and the entire experience was put together. The game’s director and one of the writers also discussed the theme as well as the writing process.
While on Ace Attorney news, it is also worth mentioning that two games in the series have been discounted on the 3DS eShop. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies are now both on sale in North America and Europe.
Below you can find the pricing for both regions:
North America:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy – $16.49 (was $29.99)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies – $11.99 (was $29.99)
Europe:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy – €14.99/ £12.49 / CHF 19.45 (was €29.99 / £24.99 / CHF 38.90)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies – €9.99/ £7.99 / CHF 12.76 (was €24.99 / £19.99 / CHF 31.90)
The sale is valid until 8:59 AM PT / 11:59 AM ET on August 18 in North America, while the European discounts ends on August 25 at 22:59 UTC.
Dragon Ball: Fusions
Bandai Namco has posted another commercial for Dragon Ball: Fusions. You can watch it below:
A Famitsu review of the game has also been translated by Nintendo Everything, and can be read over here.
Finally, according to Media Create, Dragon Ball: Fusions did pretty well in its debut week, having moved around 75,000 units. When compared with other Dragon Ball releases on 3DS like Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission 2 (73,000 first week; lifetime 277,000) and Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden (72,000 first week; 174,000 lifetime), Fusions managed to outperform both despite these belonging to different genres.
Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan: Shijou Psi-dai no Psi-nan!?
Bandai Namco has now released the first trailer for Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan: Shijou Psi-dai no Psi-nan!?. You can watch it below:
https://youtu.be/eLR_sMxXNAQ
Super Battle for Money
Bandai Namco has released a new trailer for Super Battle for Money: The Ultimate Ninja and Battle Player’s Top Decisive Battle!. You can find it below:
SEGA 3D Classics Collection
SEGA has announced that SEGA 3D Classics Collection will finally come to Europe on November 4.
The game includes nine classic titles, including Sonic The Hedgehog, Thunder Blade, Galaxy Force II, and Altered Beast. Maze Walker and Power Drift are also coming to Europe for the first time ever. On top of that, Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, an extension to Fantasy Zone II is included in it.
Etrian Odyssey V
Etrian Odyssey V was declared the best-selling title during the week of August 1 in Japan, and during its first four days on the market, the game sold around 92,500 units.
Media Create indicates that Etrian Odyssey V sold through 75.84% of its initial shipment. The series’ previous entry, Etrian Odyssey IV, had sold 96,000 copies with a sell-through rate of 75.68% in its first week, so given these numbers, it’s safe to say the new title is off to a good start.
Yo-kai Watch 3
Level-5 has shared yet another new commercial for Yo-kai Watch 3. Give it a look below:
Harvest Moon: Skytree Village
Natsume has recently introduced one of the new animals that will be included in Harvest Moon: Skytree Village. In the game, players will be able to raise the Poitou Donkey.
Here’s the official description and look of the species:
“The Poitou Donkey is a new animal available to raise in Harvest Moon: Skytree Village! These aren’t pack animals – they’re shearing animals, like sheep! If you found someone who could tailor, they might make a new outfit for you…”
Azure Striker Gunvolt 2
Inti Creates said back in August that Azure Striker Gunvolt would be receiving an update which would add in Japanese voices. Although it is still to be released, the good news is that it’s still on the way. Moreover, the Japanese voice mode will absolutely be included in the Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack.
Here’s the what Inti Creates had to say about that:
“Also, in regards to the Japanese Voice Mode for Azure Striker Gunvolt 1 on the 3DS, we are sorry that it is taking as long as it has to give you any concrete information. At this point, we can tell you that the Japanese Voice Mode will definitely be included in the Striker Pack for sure. Just like the Steam version, it will have all of the voices back in place and the new translation to go along with said voices. As for any sort of patch/update to the digital version of GV1, as soon as we have something for you, we will not hesitate to announce it.”
However, according to Inti Creates, the Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack’s late September launch isn’t entirely set in stone, so it “may extend slightly into October by a few days”.
Besides that, new official details on the Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 bosses Gibril and Asroc have also been shared. You can find more about them below:
Gibril, “The Full Metal Jacket” (VA: Maya Enoyoshi)
“You’ll pay for that, buddy-boy…and it’s going to hurt!”Gibril is an adept whose “Metallon” septima gives her the ability to control metal. She has a cruel, yet sadistic personality, but more than either of those her true nature is quite masochistic. She harbors great insecurities about her height, and she tends to express those insecurities by acting out in fits of pure rage. So, within the ranks of Eden, it is quite taboo to say words like “small” or “tiny” when she is around.
During battle, she can create metal-based weapons while in her “Alchemist Mode”, utilize her high-speed “Beast Mode” form, and her most powerful form, “Crisis Beast Mode”.
Asroc, “The Pygmalion Furnace” (VA: Kazuki Ohta)
“Now gain wisdom by the fire of the Galette Krone!”His “Puppetmaster” septima grants him the ability to extend special energy wires from his fingertips that allow him to power-up and control machines.
He once had a dream of owning an pastry shop par excellence, but became discouraged about his dream after experiencing constant discrimination at the hands of non-adepts.
Before he knew it, he became obsessed with the idea of taking revenge on them, and has kept that fire going is his heart ever since.Asroc controls a robot named “Galette Krone”, which was developed by Eden to be used with his Puppetmaster septima. This is the only way to control it, since it’s not a normal functioning robot.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
The developers behind Bloodstained have released a new Kickstarter update, in which the team goes over weapon animations. Currently, the plan is “to add a number of basic weapon animations, which will vary depending on the weapon you have equipped”.
Here’s what they had to share, and a look at a few animations:
The kick motion will be be triggered any time you’ve equipped shoes, although Miriam will be able to kick by default. Kicking attacks trade attack speed for diminished range.
Swords and maces are wielded with the single-handed horizontal slash motion, which is the baseline attack motion as far as speed, range, and power are concerned. Attacking with a mace also causes thrust-type damage.
Short swords and rapiers both utilize a single-handed pierce style, but each type has different range and speed. (Short swords have less range than rapiers, but players can wield them in a continuous attack with the help of some judicious button-mashing.)
Katanas alone receive the single-handed vertical slash motion. This is the animation we based on that umbrella-swinging video!
To wield larger weapons like great swords, axes, and rods, your character will use the two-handed vertical slash motion. Use it correctly and you can deal huge damage to your opponent. Axes are even slower than great swords but deal more damage, while rods are somewhat faster.
Spears receive their own two-handed pierce motion. Their long range can make the difference when engaging an enemy, but their length and slow attack speed could leave you defenseless if you miss.
And of course whips have their own motion. But… it’s different! I won’t say what it’s different from, but it’s not from THAT series. Like you might expect, it takes a while to swing a whip, but your reward is increased range.
Finally, guns use the shooting motion, giving you a projectile attack. But you’ll use up a bullet each time you fire.
Backers at our RUNIC FORGING tier will choose from one of these 12 weapon types to design their own unique weapon. If you’re a backer at that tier, please design your weapon based on the weapon type and its motion.
River City: Tokyo Rumble
Natsume has sent in some information, artwork, and screenshots from several River City: Tokyo Rumble characters. Check it out below:
KUNIO – Kunio seeks to take back Tokyo from the massive Lion Alliance gang. Kunio is a thug with a heart of gold who looks out for his pals and fights for justice.
RIKI – A misunderstanding with Kunio roped Riki into the fray. Riki fights for justice, but when he gets really mad, he snaps and goes berserk.
MISAKO – Misako frowns on delinquents, but makes an exception for Kunio.
SHINJI – Shinji went to school with Riki and is older, so he expects to be respected. He demands respect from his lowerclassmen, with fists if necessary!
MISUZU – Physically huge, Misuzu intimidates people and has a tough personality to match. Treat this delicate flower like a lady, or she’ll introduce you to her fists!
RANDY – Returning from River City Ransom, twins Randy and Andy make up the Double Dragons!
SABU – Gunning for revenge against Kunio, who previously humiliated the Sanwa Gang. Fans of Renegade should remember this bad guy!
TEX – Usually easygoing, until something gets him riled. Then he turns nasty! Watch out for his spin attack!
TIGER CLAW – The younger of the Double Tigers wrestling brothers!
Gurumin 3D: A Monstrous Adventure
GameSpot has released a new preview trailer for Gurumin 3D: A Monstrous Adventure. You can watch it below:
If you would like to learn more about Gurumin 3D you can read this interview with Mastiff at Nintendo Everything. In it, Bill Swartz, president and CEO of Mastiff, talks about why the company is returning to the game on 3DS, the challenges of implementing stereoscopic 3D support, overall improvements, if a Wii U or NX version could ever happen, and the possibility of a physical version, among other minor things.
SmileBASIC
SmileBASIC had recently been pulled from the 3DS eShop due to a exploit that allowed for homebrew installation. The issue has now been addressed, and the app has returned to the eShop.
SmileBASIC can now be purchased once again, and additionally version 3.3.2 is now available for download too.
Below you can find a list of the new patch notes:
Bug Fixes in Ver. 3.3.2 (August 10, 2016)
BASIC Interpreter-related
Severity: High
- Vulnerability due to checking given parameters found in BGSCREEN instruction
- Screen display is corrupted if a GRP file is loaded by LOAD instruction with a strings or an array specified in the second or third arguments then the application stops responding as it goes
- In an infinite loop with WHILE or GOTO instruction a LOAD function with an nonexistent file and FALSE parameter specified causes a program unstoppable by pressing the STOP or START button in an error dialog
- RINGCOPY instruction may bring SmileBASIC a forced termination if an negative number is set to a “copy destination offset” argument
Severity: Middle
- PRGNAME function returns a corrupted file name if a program is loaded with a length of both a project and a file is 14 characters long
- MIN or MAX function returns unexpected values if an array with zero elements is specified
CHKFILE function returns incorrect value if any file(s) included in a DLC project which does not exist or not yet purchased are specified- BACKTRACE instruction does not work properly in the DIRECT mode
- FILES and LOAD instruction fails if PROJECT instruction points to the SYS folder as a default project
MENU and UI-related
Severity: Middle
- Incorrect characters on “á” key top
- Incorrect definition of the standard sprite #166
Compatibility notes until Ver.3.3.2 (As of August 10, 2016)
- If the newly added instructions have already been defined, duplicate function errors will occur.
- (The newly added instructions are: BGMPAUSE, BGMCONT, SNDSTOP, CLIPBOARD, GOFS, BIN$, DLCOPEN, BIQUAD, BQPARAM, FFT, IFFT, FFTWFN, PCMSTREAM, PCMPOS, PCMVOL, PCMSTOP, PCMCONT, and ARYOP. The new system variables are: MILLISEC and EXTFEATURE.)
- Previously, when loading a text file, &H0D was converted to &H0A. However, from Ver. 3.3.0, this conversion will no longer be made.
- Fixed so that the Z-coordinate will also be tracked when setting SPLINK. Due to this change, the display priority for the link source (child) when using SPLINK will change.
- Up until Ver. 3.1.0, the SQR function was mistakenly also registered as the SQRT function. This was deleted in Ver. 3.2.0.
- Instruction and function checks are now stricter. If an argument was incorrectly specified, up until Ver. 3.1.0 the argument was ignored, but from Ver. 3.2.0 an error may occur.
- In the sample game GAME3JUMP, the BG priority has been changed from 0<1<2<3 to 3>2>1>0. Therefore, when creating a program using the GAME3JUMP map data, unexpected behavior may occur.
- A function was added that gets empty management numbers in the SPSET instruction. Due to the addition of this function, processes that handle sprites (e.g. SPOFS, SPHIDE) will return an error when the SPSET instruction is not passed. When using a sprite, it must first be converted to SPSET.
- Up until now, there was a bug in which if SPCHR was used during SPHIDE, the sprite’s state would become SPSHOW. The new version has been fixed so that even if SPCHR is used, the sprite’s state will not become SPSHOW (the sprite will not be displayed).
Therefore, programs in which display is controlled using only a combination of SPHIDE and SPCHR, the sprite’s state will no longer become SPSHOW (the sprite will no longer be displayed).
Please add SPSHOW after SPCHR to display the program.- The Origin X and Y coordinates for sprites with a definition number greater than 2048 that are installed as standard are adjusted to a more general position. The center of the diagram seen from the top becomes the origin and is not limited to the footing of the base axis.
Therefore, the home coordinate for sprites with a definition number greater than 2048 will change (mainly image types that are viewed from directly above).
For example, as the origin of images, such as a fighter plane, has changed from the bottom to the middle of the image, the behavior of programs that use rotation may differ to the previous version.
Sprites for which the origin position has changed 1473 Block Parts 2161-2163 Pickle 2165-2167 Shovel 2169-2171 Blinking Hammer 2177-2179 Slingshot 2181-2183 Hook 2185-2187 Small Sword 2189-2191 Knife 2193-2195 Super Sword 2197-2199 Wooden Cane 2201-2203 Steel Stick 2205-2207 Super Cane 2209-2211 Axe 2212-2215 Shield 2218-2221 Wooden Bow 2222-2225 Steel Bow 2227-2229 Arrow 2230 Throwing Star 2237-2239 Frying Pan 2241-2243 Whisk 2245-2247 Kitchen Knife 2249-2251 Wooden Spoon 2253-2255 Wooden Fork 2286 Balloon String 2308-2309 Big Thorn 2322-2323 Footprint 2324-2328 Reversi Piece 2329-2334 Dice 2335-2337 Rock-Paper-Scissors 2338-2345 Cursor 2346-2347 Aim 2348-2351 Triangle Mark 2352 Flag 2353 Warning 2364-2366 Bat 2367-2370 Golf Club 2372-2374 Table-Tennis Racket 2376-2378 Baseball Glove 2380-2382 Racket 2383-2388 Sports Equipment 2389 Darts 2392-2393 Bowling 2395-2410 Car 2412 Checkered Flag 2421-2436 Boat 2437-2452 Frog 2453-2460 Jellyfish 2461-2464 Fish 2465-2472 Spider 2473-2480 Mouse 2481-2484 Cockroach 2485-2488 Bee 2489-2492 Butterfly 2494-2499 Musical Note 2500-2511 Zodiac Sign 3225-3228 Umpire’s Flag 3229-3230 Effect 3233-3242 Speech Balloon 3243-3270 Option, Shmup Enemy, Spiky Ball, Worm 3271-3274 Bomb 3275-3278 Power-Up 3279-3282 Broken Pieces 3299-3341 Shmup Player Craft, Enemy Robot 3341-3415 Shield, Effect, Laser, Bullet, Bubble, Water Droplet, Icicle 3424-3431 Explosion Effect 3432-3434 Dragon 3435-3436 G Boss 3465-3470 Large Enemy, Submarine 3476-3479 Stretching Hand 3480-3494 Hakase, Wanpaku, Kanzaki, Intelli, Dummy 3495-3500,
3504Shrimp General 3507-3511,
3513-3514Crab Lord 3515-3520 Block
THQ Nordic
Nordic Games has recently made a significant change to its company, for they’ve been reincorporated, and will be known as “THQ Nordic” from now on.
The studio’s official statement reads:
Whilst we take great pride in our Swedish roots and accomplished a great deal under the Nordic Games masthead, we decided it was time to incorporate the THQ name. Those key brands will continue to shape our business in a meaningful way going forward, and THQ Nordic represents a core approach of doing much more than “owning” a highly competitive portfolio of IP. We cherish them, and align them with the very best development resources to expand upon them with the level of experience that communities and established fan bases expect and deserve. Side note – another upside to this whole rebrand thing is we don’t get asked about the Nordic Game parties at Gamescom anymore – it was the other guys who threw them. With this rebrand we are entering the next phase in our company’s evolution.
As of now we have 23 game projects in development, 13 thereof have not yet been publicly announced, but are sure to be in the next months. Needless to say, the majority of these projects are based on former THQ owned IPs and franchises.
The news was accompanied by a new logo, which is pictured above. About this, THQ Nordic founder/owner Lars Wingefors said:
“As for the new logo design, we literally stumbled across it when browsing some art files, after we bought the THQ trademark and figured: why not? We hope the reception from our partners is less ambivalent but we’re OK either way. We invite you to our Gamescom booth to play our games and see the logo in large-scale format.”
Virtual Console
Nintendo has recently released a few trailers for some New 3DS Virtual Console SNES games, including the North American release of Mega Man X, and the Japanese releases of Street Fighter Zero 2 and Final Fight. You can find the trailers below: