Ok, so maybe this partnership isn’t actually as awesome as the marriage between peanut butter and jelly, but, it’s still pretty great. Atlus U.S.A., Inc., publisher of Demon’s Souls,and Frozenbyte, developers of Shadowgrounds and the award-winning Trine, today announced a publishing partnership for an as-of-yet unannounced 2011 digital distribution title.

“In a short amount of time, Frozenbyte has established itself as a premiere international developer, delivering original, critically-acclaimed interactive entertainment,” stated Tim Pivnicny, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Atlus.  “Their last release, the cooperative physics-based action-platformer Trine, achieved arguably more acclaim and success than anybody expected, and left an indelible mark on the industry as to how new technology can help completely redefine a classic gaming genre.  We’re incredibly excited for the opportunity to help them bring their next impressive project to the international gaming community.”

“We couldn’t be happier signing our new game with Atlus.  As an independent developer we felt that partnering with a publisher who is flexible and shares our vision of the game was the best way to bring the game out to a large audience,” said Lauri Hyv¤rinen, CEO of Frozenbyte.  “We can’t wait to unveil the mystery – I’m confident that we’re creating one of the best titles of 2011!”

More details about their upcoming project will be disclosed upcoming E3 2010 Expo in Los Angeles.

3D Dot Game Heroes is all about familiarity and nostalgia. The most obvious comparison to the game is The Legend of Zelda–the music, the enemies, the level design, the items (the list goes on) all bring Nintendo’s classic franchise to mind. That’s not the only game that From Software’s latest is honoring though, as there are countless references to old-school gaming and games scattered throughout the experience.

I’m not going to spoil any of that for you here, because that takes a lot of the fun away. What I can tell you is that 3D Dot Game Heroes leans very, very heavily on Zelda gameplay–specifically, NES-era Zelda, where dungeon rooms were all the same size and enemies walked back and forth and reacted when you got close. Now, that’s not to say that this game is a ripoff–that’s a word with negative connotations, the kind of thing we would rather use on a title that just isn’t very good so we can shoo it away. We’ll stick with “homage” here, because what I have played of 3D Dot Game Heroes, I love.

Think of it like Shadow Complex, in a way. That game was a love letter to Super Metroid, the kind that, in many courts, would result in a restraining order. That title was fantastic though, one of the best on the Xbox 360 last year, and 3D Dot Game Heroes is shaping up to be the same way. From Software understands what made Zelda and other classics into, well, classics, and they have used that knowledge to create their own love letter to a Nintendo franchise–I’m perfectly fine with that so far.

Gameplay should be familiar to anyone who has played Zelda in the past, and should be easy enough to pick up if you never have. You attack with the X button, and can swing your sword around in a sweeping motion by rotating the analog stick in the direction you want to swipe. When your health is full, rather than fire a bolt of energy, your sword grows to massive proportions that will fill up a lot of the screen’s real estate. You can customize your swords at the blacksmith shop as well, adding width and girth to it, as well as strength and the ability to pierce through objects with it.

The item acquired in the first dungeon was a boomerang–your fairy companion made obvious reference as to what it may be capable of, something you should get used to as you play along. The boomerang stuns enemies, turns switches on–you didn’t need the fairy to tell you that, which is why her role is more comic relief than anything. I’m curious to see what other kinds of items you acquire, but based on the HUD itself, you can see that bombs and a bow are eventual acquisitions.

Humor in the game is something that stands out, as the translation, even in the early goings, has made me crack more than a few smiles. There are easter eggs and references to old games all over the place, nestled within caves, out in the open, or found in the loading screens, which are based off of the cover art for old-school titles. Again, I don’t want to spoil anything, despite the fact that I’m bursting at the seams to share even one thing with you, but I won’t be responsible for ruining your trip down memory lane.

The character I selected was the default Hero, but there are loads of pre-created characters you can choose from. I say “pre-created” because you can also design your own–seriously, whatever you want to make is good by the game. One of the characters you can choose is a shark that now wields a giant sword, and he fits into the storyline as the descendant of the (human) hero of the past. If that isn’t classic video game logic, I don’t know what else could qualify.

Graphically, this game looks even better in motion than it does in screens. Everything is bright, crisp and colorful, and the effects for light, shadows, water–you name it–all look nice and pretty. It’s got a decidedly new-age sheen to it considering its retro feel, but my eyes appreciate it.

It’s still early in the game, but there are seven dungeons total to conquer on my way to save the world. We’ll have an early review of 3D Dot Game Heroes up later this month so you have plenty of time to save up for May 11 if you decide it’s your cup of classically trained tea. For now, enjoy the screens from early portions of the game.

The Shin Megami Tensei series has seen many forms and focused on many sub-genres over the years. The previous (and first) entry on the Nintendo DS was last year’s underrated Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, a tactical RPG that utilized demon summoning and turn-based combat. This year, Atlus has released another SMT title: Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

The latest will feel very familiar to those hardcore RPG enthusiasts who played one of Atlus’ other series, Etrian Odyssey. That’s because Strange Journey is a dungeon crawler with a first-person viewpoint. It’s not as tough as Etrian Odyssey, thanks to far more save points as well as healing stations, and, in comparison, an abundance of money, but that doesn’t mean this is an easy game. It’s an SMT game, which means it comes with the kind of tough battles that requires a thorough understanding of the battle system.

At its most basic, Strange Journey is a dungeon crawler with turn-based battles. While seemingly random, battles occur after a set number of steps–you can see when one is imminent on your HUD thanks to a color gauge. You control one character that you can name, as well as up to three demons at a time in your party. You recruit these demons through conversations and negotiations — you have to answer a few of their questions in a way that will make them like you, and then give them money, items, or health in order to convince them it’s worth joining your party. Questions are sometimes tough to gauge, but you can figure it out easily — don’t make it sound like you want to kidnap barely legal fairies for  pedophilic pleasure, and you shouldn’t have any troubles recruiting those types of classes. Make big, tough demons respect you by showing how tough you are (or admitting how strong they are) and they’ll join up–you get the idea.

You fight by plugging attacks, skills or item commands into the menu for your entire team, and then a round plays out. You can summon new demons to the fight as well in order to replace either fallen ones or those you just don’t want in the battle anymore. If you don’t feel like fighting, you can select auto fight with the X button, which can be stopped in between rounds. This happens quickly, so make sure you do it if you know you’re going to win anyways. You wouldn’t want to lose a match against some tough demon because you were too lazy to go through a menu.

The first time you encounter demons, they appear as blue static on your screen. Once you have fought them and collected information on them–their name, weaknesses, etc.–they will show up in their true forms. You continue to collect information on them after this–after battles, you may notice that your Analyze level for a particular demon went up. You can reference that information to know their weaknesses or what they are strong against, which is useful knowledge not only for fighting, but when you’re building your own party for a region or boss.

You can carry up to 12 demons at a time, though that number is smaller at the start. Capturing demons won’t be enough though–you need to fuse demons together in order to make more powerful ones. You can’t fuse a demon more powerful, level-wise, than your main character, but there are still some excellent combinations to be had at all times in the game. After you have leveled a demon a certain amount, they will give you their “source”, which is basically some of their skills that you can apply to a demon fusion in order to customize a bit. There is also special fusion, which requires three demons rather than two, but this makes some of your better fighting companions who have much better skill-sets and base abilities than your standard fusion.

The story and presentation in Strange Journey are also worth discussing. Graphically and artistically, this game is appealing. Environments are varied, despite the fact they are mostly just walls and alleyways for you to traverse in a maze-like fashion, and character animations (and designs) are splendid, as is normally the case in SMT titles. Conversations are menu-based using statis animations, but you don’t do a whole lot of talking unless you are in between missions or a new story element pops up while you’re out in the field.

As for  the story, you are part of an elite strike team sent to accompany scientists and researchers to the Schwarzvelt, an odd distortion of time and space that appeared in Antarctica and is threatening to swallow the planet. In addition to completely satisfying the quantum physics nerd in me with constant references to advanced sciences and theories, the story remains entertaining throughout thanks to the dialogue that permeats the experience–the main conflict is between humans and demons, and although demons are considered evil and terrible (as well as dangerous) their behavior and the world they live in is simply a reflection of human activities and the selfish desires of humanity. Sure, the demons are bloodthirsty, and many of them want nothing besides your death (or at least a sandwich made from your corpse), but their existence is tied directly to humanity’s treatment of the planet during the absence of the demons. For once, you can stop to think about what a JRPG is trying to tell you on a philosophical level–and that level is something besides, “As long as you have friends, no goal is outside your reach!”(and a cliche cast of friends, at that).

Strange Journey is a lengthy experience as well–you don’t necessarily have to level grind to succeed, but you will have to spend time searching out demons and leveling up sufficiently. No worries though–dungeons are long enough, and with plenty of goals in them, so you won’t have to do much running around outside of what is required of you from the story and side missions you can take on. You may fly through the early portions of the game as the game teaches you about recruiting demons, fusing them and the like, but as time goes on and you need to make sure your party is loaded with enough firepower to take on the demon clan’s heavy hitters, things get a bit more difficult and time consuming.

Luckily there is plenty to do outside of just fighting while you roam the mazes. Forma can be found using an application in your suit–forma is basically a material that is used in the ship’s laboratory to make items, weapons, accessories, and additional apps. Once you have the app for locating forma, an indicator will go off on your map once you are within range–it’s worth finding every piece of forma you come across, because chances are good the ship’s labs can turn it into something you can use. This helps keep your searches for battles and demons from feeling grindy, which is welcome in a game like this that requires so much fighting.

Blast Factor: Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey is a blast from the past in a lot of ways, but it’s a welcome one. The DS gets another lengthy RPG title to add to its collection, but it’s one time with. There’s an entertaining story, one that’s a little deeper than you would think from a handheld RPG, as well as the joy of fusing and creating new demons–and of course, it’s a challenge to complete, which is welcome news to those who follow the SMT games, or even those who can’t wait for Etrian Odyssey III.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey is available exclusively on the Nintendo DS. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

Atlus’ “Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey,” the space-bound role-playing-game releases next week, but before release, publishers love to hype their titles with gameplay videos out the wazoo.

This is one of them.

SMT: Strange Journey hits shelves next Tuesday, March 23 and each copy of the title ($34.95), comes bundled with the game’s official soundtrack.

More information about the game at its Web site.

There are many 3D gaming heroes out there. Link, Mario, Master Chief, Nathan Drake are all saviors of their respective digital worlds, but who will save the land of Dotnia?

Atlus released a  trailer for “3D Dot Game Heroes” today dubbed “The Most Interesting Hero in 3D” explaining why the game’s hero is the most compelling yet.

The retro-action adventure game slides its way to the PS3 exclusively May 11.

Sony wished it signed up to publish the award-winning and freakishly-difficult “Demon’s Souls” and said not doing so was a “mistake.”

Sony published the title in its local Japan, believing it wouldn’t do much in terms of sales, and the port that made it stateside was handled by Atlus.

Demon's Souls

The game went on to push more than 250,000 copies and became one of last year’s biggest sleeper hits.

Sony Computer Entertainment VP of international software Yeonkyung Kim, speaking at a GDC 2010 panel, said passing on it “was a mistake.”

“It should have come out as a first-party title,” Kim said.

Now, if Demon’s Souls II is made, we know who’ll be first in line to publish it.

Source: CVG

Atlus released a video walkthrough of Shiren the Wanderer. The video highlights the Wii game’s backstory, characters, controls and interface. An introduction to combat and navigation basics is also provided.

The official summary of the game: “For a thousand years, a princess has slept inside the Karakuri Mansion. When Shiren’s former master bestows upon him the Karakuri key, he quickly finds himself entangled in a millennium-old mystery, wandering through past and present to unravel the story of the girl and vanquish an ancient, lurking evil…”

Fans of Japanese culture will like the graphic throwbacks while enjoying the vastness and depth of the game. The game looks highly addictive, so be sure to check out the youtube video and pre-order your copy today.

If you want to learn more about the game go to the official website. Check out the trailer here. The game will be released February 9.

Atlus U.S.A. today announced Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 for the PlayStation Portable, confirming our speculation, and bringing one of the highest-rated role-playing-games of all time to Sony’s handheld.

It’s not a straight port from the PS2 and is said to include over 100 hours of gameplay and will bring about “numerous additional improvements and enhancements serve to streamline the experience for optimal handheld RPG enjoyment.”

From the mouth of Aram Jabbari, Manager of Public Relations at Atlus:

“Persona 3 Portable takes everything that made Persona 3 such a tremendous, award-winning hit and translates it into the perfect handheld RPG experience.”

Well now, we’ll see just how true that claim actually is when the title releases July 6.

But for now, hit up the game’s official Web page for more.

Atlus unleashed a slew of new and intriguing screens from Silicon Studio’s 3D Dot Heroes today and there’s one commonality among them; this game is like none other.

The game is said to belong in the “retro action-adventure game” genre, but we’ll keep it open to interpretation.

Atlus is famous for its witty press releases, and this sentence was too awesome to keep to myself.

“While players are drowning in a sea of nostalgia thanks to the game’s euphoric old-school gameplay and retro sexy art, they’ll be treated to an endless stream of parodies and witty references to past gaming classics.”

3D Dot Heroes comes exclusively to the PlayStation 3 May 11.

Shiren the Wandererer is coming out next month, so to celebrate Atlus has released their third official Blog detailing the Story and Characters of the game.

The strategic combat RPG features randomized dungeons which will bring a challenge to the Wii.

The Japanese influence is very apparent from the screenshots and definitely look very appealing to fans of anime.

The graphics look ok, but remind me of the old Spyro games for PlayStation. The plot looks interesting enough to forgive that, but we won’t know until the finished product is released.

For more information, check out the official blog post here.  Shiren the Wanderer will be released on February 8, so be sure to pre-order a copy when you get the chance.

Struggling in Atlus’s epic PS3-exclusive role-playing-game Demon’s Souls? Can’t get through the dungeons in our Game of the Year-winner?

No problem (well actually, still not easy), as the glorious development team behind the award-winner came through today and posted the third and final entry in the “Walkthrough” series.

In this one we’re shown “the intricacies of the World Tendency system, the impact of White versus Black, and some basic strategies on making the most of each.”

Have a look!

Those of you with an itch for nostalgia might want to pay attention, as Atlus has released a trailer for the upcoming 3D Dot Game Heroes–and this time we can actually read the language it’s in!

This is very clearly a tribute to Zelda by From Software, the company that brought us what is potentially 2009′s best RPG in Demon’s Souls. Sure, there are other titles that this game is pulling from, but even the imagery in this trailer reeks of Zelda–I’m not complaining though, because if you’re going to find your inspiration in gaming’s past, you may as aim as high as you can.

Two questions circling in our brains for quite some time now were, who’s publishing 3D Dot Game Heroes, and when the frack is it releasing?

Thankfully, both questions paired up nicely with answers today as Atlus of America, the blokes behind Demon’s Souls, revealed they’ll publish the game and set it free for all PS3-toting gamers May 11, 2010.

The game will bear a $40 price tag and can be reserved today at all the places you already know of.

Atlus today launched the Demon’s Souls Strategy Guide replacement program, granting purchasers of the Deluxe Edition who received busted strategy guides, the opportunity to snag a new copy of the book, on the house.

Atlus PR issued a statement today, and in true Atlus fashion, it’s highlighted by a smidge of hilarity.

“While it seems that not every copy of the guide is affected, and the cause of the cover ink fading remains unclear, we suspect a few Atlus staff of taking in too much of that new-game smell and over-inhaling the guides,” said Crystal Murray, Public Relations Specialist at Atlus. ”We appreciate the tremendous support Demon’s Souls has received and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused,” she added.

Head on over to the official replacement page for detailed instructions on how to get yourself a new strategy guide, but act (sorta) soon, as the offer expires Dec. 31.

Atlus today announced that Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey would be making its way to North America in the spring of 2010. This game is very different from previous Shin Megami Tensei entries, as it is a first-person affair in a sci-fi setting, though it still retains RPG elements despite the different viewpoint.

In the near future, a mysterious, growing, black void appears at the Earth’s southern pole. Unable to determine its cause and powerless to stop its deadly encroachment, humanity sends an elite team of explorers into the heart of the phenomenon, just as Strange Journey’s look and feel represent a return to the heart of Shin Megami Tensei, bringing to mind the all-time classic Nocturne™. With over 300 demons to bribe, coerce, and negotiate with to gain assistance in battle, Strange Journey is every bit the deep, rewarding RPG experience fans have come to expect from the SMT franchise, yet delivered with a fresh new sci-fi story that taps into mature themes of morality and introspection.

The game received a 36/40 from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu upon release overseas, the highest rating any Shin Megami Tensei title has ever earned from the mag. Considering how much we loved Atlus’ previous SMT effort on the DS, we’ll be keeping an eye on this one as more information releases until its March 10 release. For now you have a bunch of screens and art work to gaze upon, so gaze away.

I can’t think of a worse feeling than shelling out extra dough for a Deluxe Edition of a game only to find arguably the most prized commodity, the strategy guide, gnarled, torn, and ink-stained.

Sadly, this was the case, as today Atlus sent out a note lettting gamers know that “some copies of the Official Strategy Guide were experiencing unusual cover ink wear/fading.”

Atlus promises a forthcoming replacement program because they “strive for nothing less than full customer satisfaction of our customers,” but we don’t know too much about it yet.

All Atlus has said is that customers will be asked to mail the first page of their guide as proof of purchase, and for forthcoming details you should check the official Atlus Replacement Forums.

Atlus U.S.A., publisher of the newly released and wonderfully received, Demon’s Souls, today announced that they’ll be shipping more copies of the title to retailers nationwide in response to overwhelming retail success.

“We’re thrilled at the level of interest and acclaim gamers are showing for Demon’s Souls, one of the best reviewed games of the year and one of the highest-rated role-playing games of all time,” stated Aram Jabbari, Manager of PR and Sales for Atlus.‚  “We’re working quickly to get more copies of the game out onto store shelves.‚  We thank fans for supporting a daring, innovative product, and we ask interested gamers to be patient as stock is replenished.”

Additionally, the Deluxe Edition of the game, with its 160 page guide book, is now considered out of print and will not be manufactured any longer. We hope you got yourself a copy!

We loved Demon’s Souls. In fact, our edition, Marc, said “Brutal, old-school elements mixed with modern day technology makes for one of the PS3′s best.” Read the full, written review, right over here.

Imagine, for a moment, that the world as you know it has had a terrible tragedy befall it. Demons, of all things, have spilled into the real world, and most of the people you know have died because of them. With nowhere to hide from these abominations, you do the only thing you can: attempt to survive each day. In present times, that would mean finding some means of defending yourself, like a gun, a place with food (c’mon, you’ve all seen zombie movies)”"during the time that Demon’s Souls takes place in, that means you would need to use a sword, shield, spear, bow, or whatever other medieval weaponry you can get your hands on. That’s the exact situation you find yourself in as well as you start the game”"you have the intentions of being a hero, as you have come to the fallen city of Boletaria to slay demons, but in reality you are just a regular guy or gal with the same kinds of weaknesses a person in the real world would have.

This is a fantasy RPG, but you are not some kind of powered-up super soldier that swings a sword larger than they are to cleave through any foe. Nor are you some kind of dexterous, agile creature that can run and jump without tiring, avoiding the blows of the enemies around you. You’re a regular person with regular weapons and you can (and will) bleed. And you will die. You think that giant axe looks awesome? You’re probably only strong enough to swing it if you use two hands, which means you can’t use a shield. No problem, right? You’re sure to cut through anything in your path with it. Well, assuming you can swing it often anyways”"which you can’t, given its heft and the energy required to swing it once. You power up as you play (more on that later) but you can’t just start off as a force to be reckoned with. You have to earn that through the lessons the game attempts to impart on you, but this learning process is part of what should draw you into the world of Demon’s Souls to begin with.

Here’s the story in non-spoiler form: you’ve come to Boletaria to either save the world from the demons or use their power for your own ends, but either way some demons are going to pay. You can pick from a variety of classes, all with their own strengths, weaknesses and strategies for playing. Want to overpower your foes? Become a knight, fully decked out in an armor suit. Maybe you want a bit more movement”"become a soldier with lighter plate armor, but less strength and protection. Maybe you want to attack from a distance with a bow (Hunter) or spells”"that last category has multiple options all its own. You have to approach each situation differently depending on your class, but there’s no wrong answer. You just have to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each class”"they will become apparent to you soon enough”"as you progress through the game, or else there will be no progression for you.

You attack with your primary weapon using R1, and utilize strong attacks with R2. You can equip a secondary weapon on the same hand if you want a sword/spear combination or something like that, and in your other hand you can carry a shield or another weapon, like a crossbow, bow or wand for magic. You run by holding down the Circle button, and you can also roll and take a quick step back using the Circle and a direction on the left stick. Items are used with the Square button, and your on-hand items are rotated using down on the directional pad. The controls are easy to use once you get used to where everything is.

Just like many of today’s RPGs, you have to deal with inventory and equip weight; too much on hand means you won’t be able to show off your agile rolling and running effectively, so be mindful of this. Unlike many of today’s RPGs, there is no pause button, so you can’t just hit pause and equip a more powerful weapon or heal yourself while a bad guy tries to lop your head off. Always be prepared is right up there with any other personal rule you can come up with for surviving Demon’s Souls.

We already knew about the 2009 Atlus-O-Weenie cosplay contest the publisher is holding, but today we’ve learned the vast assortment of prizes that will be granted to the winner and runners-up.

The contest rules are simple. Dress up like your favorite Atlus character for your chance to win some serious swag.

Popular-vote will decide the Grand Prize winner, the Atlus staff will hand-pick a Special Recognition (second place) winner and four random entries will also earn free goodies.

Sign up at the contest page here, and this is what you’ll win. Hopefully. The contest runs until November 3 at 11:59:59 PM PST.

Grand Prize:

• Demon’s Souls Deluxe Edition PLUS Bonus Artbook/Music CD
• Demon’s Souls Large Poster (3.5 feet wide X 4 feet tall)
• Demon’s Souls Mini Poster signed by Takeshi Kajii (producer of Demon’s Souls)
• Droplitz Downloadable Game Code for PlayStation‚®Network OR Xbox Live Arcade

Special Recognition

Your Choice Of

• Demon’s Souls Standard Edition
• Demon’s Souls Artbook/Music CD
• Demon’s Souls Mini Poster signed by Takeshi Kajii (producer of Demon’s Souls)
• Droplitz Downloadable Game Code for PlayStation‚®Network OR Xbox Live ArcadeOR
• Persona PSP game with 2 disc sound-track,
• Persona 4 Visual Data signed by Shigenori Soejima (illustrator/graphic designer known for art direction and character design of Persona 3 and 4)
• Droplitz Downloadable Game Code for PlayStation‚®Network OR Xbox Live Arcade

Four Random Winners:

Your Choice Of.

• Eternal Poison: Librum Vespera signed by Tomatika (main character designer of Eternal Poison and creator of the exclusive art on the North American art book cover)
• Droplitz Downloadable Game Code for PlayStation‚®Network OR Xbox Live ArcadeOR
• Luminous Art signed by Kaito Shibano (main character designer for Luminous Arc & Luminous Arc II)
• Droplitz Downloadable Game Code for PlayStation‚®Network OR Xbox Live ArcadeOR
• Persona 4 Visual Data signed by Shigenori Soejima (illustrator/graphic designer known for art direction and character design of Persona 3 and 4)
• Droplitz Downloadable Game Code for PlayStation‚®Network OR Xbox Live Arcade

Atlus unleashed the bloodstained Demon’s Souls role-playing-game today exclusively for PlayStation 3. Maybe you landed yourself an early copy, or a deluxe edition, or a stork carried one to your doorstep. However you acquired the game, you’re likely currently enjoying it.

As you read this we’re trudging through its dark environments and will have a review in the coming days. But for now, enjoy this deluxe edition unboxing and gameplay trailer.

Demon’s Souls is scheduled for a massive release this Tuesday and the PS3-exclusive role-playing-game isn’t the niche market type endeavor publisher Atlus is used to operating.

For this reason some shipping issues have occurred and some lucky souls (maybe you!) have the game in their hands today, one entire day before the game’s official release date. This all seems well and good right? Not so much.

What this means is if you scored yourself an early copy, the first thing you’ll notice when you pop the disc into your PS3 is a horrific PSN error message that’ll mandate offline play. And that’s no good because we’ve heard all about how bloodstained and helpful the online play will be.

However, Atlus promises that when the clock strikes midnight on October 6, the day the game officially launches, they’ll flip the switch and turn on the Demon’s Souls servers, allowing you to experience the game, in it’s complete and online-buffed entirety.

Aren’t you glad you read this post before you went out and stabbed your internet service provider? We saved you a life-sentence!

Atlus today announced that Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition is on the way to the Xbox Live Arcade, bringing a slew of new content and features based off‚  ever-important gamer feedback.

Atlus is touting the Ultimate Edition as the definitive version and according to the press release “new features, and added content combine with a series of tweaks and improvements based on fan feedback to deliver the definitive version of the critically-acclaimed game.”

Look for the first-person melee action game on XBLA spring 2010 at a to-be determined price.

Additionally, Atlus teased more saying; “as-of-yet-unannounced other new mode exclusive to the Ultimate Edition” will be in the “vastly improved and enhanced version” next Spring.

As always, we’ll keep you in the loop as we hear more.

You think you’re a badass because you’ve got a black coat and your hair’s kinda shiny? Let Chiba-chan teach you how to be the top Bancho in the new PSP game Kenka Bancho.

Here’s the first lesson in becoming a Bancho: You need to find banchos before you can fight them. Earn experience and fight until you discover an Itinerary to tell you where your enemies are hanging out. To get an Itinerary, just beat it out of some schoolmates.

Sound like something you’d be interested in? Pre-order the game before it’s November 10 release. For more information, check out the official website.

Atlus, the Japanese video game developer and publisher responsible the Shin Megami, Trauma Center, and Persona franchises , teased their annual Atlus-O-Weenie cosplay event today, and needless to say, we’re excited, very excited.

The contest, held around Halloween, hence the name, challenges Atlus-faithful gamers to deck themselves out as their favorite Atlus-themed character, and judging from last year’s entries, 2009 will be a hell of a year.

Here’s a lady who didn’t win last year, but makes me extremely pants-happy. Have a look, and stay with us for our continued coverage as information becomes available.

This is your 2008 winner, followed by a great Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere.

Do you have what it takes to be a kick ass leader? Want to learn? Atlus has released a video highlighting the way to become a Bancho in their new video game Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble. Here’s the video, so take a lesson on how to be a Bancho and start being a better (read:virtual) version of you!

Comment below with your thoughts on the trailer. The game is coming out on 11. 10. 09 on the PSP.

Demon’s Souls, the epic role-playing-game from Atlus and a PlayStation 3 exclusive, releases in less than a month on October 6, but today we get our first look at the “Deluxe Edition” and all it contains.

Priced at $79.99, this upper-tier package contains the game itself, a detailed strategy guide, an embossed flipcase with foil accents, and an artbook and CD soundtrack.

The strategy guide is a whopping 160 pages long and will not be sold separately Atlus says. So if you want one, act quickly and pre-order at your local video game purveyor.

The upcoming PS3-exclusive role-playing-game from Atlus “Demon’s Souls” continues to impress us, this time around with the publisher releasing a gorgeous and scintillating trailer dubbed “visceral action.”

Enjoy the video and stay with Blast for our continuing coverage of the game as its October 6 release date rapidly approaches.

<center></center>

All of the Trauma Center games (two on DS and two for Wii) have been fun, but they needed to change the formula a little more in order to suck more people into things and keep the faithful fans intrigued. Atlus conducted a survey months ago that led you to believe that major changes would come to the series, and that those who played the games would be helping to shape what direction it took. Now we have more to show for it than just the picture of Nurse Angie in a bikini that was sent out to those who took the survey, as Atlus details their next Trauma game, Trauma Team, in this new video.

It’s a behind-the-scenes video meant to tell you about some of the changes, like the fact that you no longer work exclusively in surgery. You will control multiple doctors working in different areas, which should help keep the gameplay fresh and bring in all new sorts of fun that the other four titles in the series never got to.

Sadly, details are still scarce about the game at this time, as it isn’t due out until spring of 2010. You can still see, even in this short video, that a lot more is going on. There was endoscopy, orthopedics, first response aid, diagnosis, surgery, and forensics, which is a huge change from before. The adjustments they have made to storytelling are also a big change for me, as the previous means of telling a story worked, but could have also dealt with some tweaks and improvements. What do you think about how different this looks? Excited? Upset? Let us know.

As long as they kept the same tone, I feel like I could play new installments of Shin Megami Tensei for years without tiring.‚  Excluding the most recent console edition, Persona 4, almost all of them take place during desperate situations or in a bleak dystopia.‚  With the Final Fantasy series being escapist in tone “" you ride on birds, listen to long-haired freaks talk about world domination and explore forgotten lands “" the SMT games are oppressively depressing, as if all of them were programmed by George Orwell.

The latest installment, SMT: Devil Survivor, is not an exception, and despite all this negativity, I always look forward to the experience.‚  Frankly, there aren’t enough role-playing games that feature realistic scenarios and characters, as opposed to some tart with a sword.‚  Depressing at times?‚  Absolutely, but it also feels that much sweeter when you do reach that conclusion.‚  You need sour to make the sweet taste so great when you finally do get it.

Devil Survivor takes place in present day Tokyo, which has been sealed from the outside world by a civilian defense force after a demon outbreak and a power outage occur.‚  As the self-named, 17-year-old lead character, you and your allies use COMPs (portrayed tongue-in-cheek by the game as DSes) to summon your own demons to beat enemy demons.‚  The COMPs also receive mysterious e-mail reports that seem to predict future catastrophes, unless you can stop them beforehand.‚  Along the way, you have to make painful decisions that cause people to live or die.

The best way to describe the gameplay of Devil Survivor is as conventional, turn-based RPG with tactical elements.‚  Your human characters serve as leaders of a trio, the other two members of which are demons purchased from an auction house or created via fusing other demons.‚  You can control as many as four squads on a map, for a total of 12 active characters, although you can swap out demons in the middle of a map.

While you form squads and approach enemies on a map, hence the tactics, the battles take place in turn-based fashion.‚  You and your demons attack enemies in rounds of combat based on speed, hitting weaknesses and avoiding strengths.‚  Hitting enemy weak points “" such as using zio (lightning) on mechanical enemies “" sometimes rewards you “bonus” rounds of combat.‚  And, in a welcome improvement from the past Persona and Digital Devil Saga games, the top screen of the DS is used wonderfully to display all the strengths and weaknesses of enemies, meaning you don’t have to memorize them for 100+ demons.

In fact, everything in Devil Survivor is streamlined, simplified and enhanced from previous SMT installments, if that makes sense.‚  For example, the Persona games featured inherited skills by fusing together monsters, but you’d often have to annoyingly try the same combination multiple times to get that Angel-character with fire skills.‚  In Devil Survivor, you can simply choose what skills to retain when fusing.‚  This alone prevents a lot of tedium of past games.‚  Other nice features include an easy-to-use fusion database, and a profile database to keep track of character background and developments.

If I have to find something to quibble about, it would be that the demons are still a bit too disposable.‚  In the Persona games, you have to rely on fusion to power-up characters, as gaining levels only provides incremental stat gains.‚  As a result, it isn’t uncommon to use fuse your way past several demons without even trying them out.‚  There is little room for sentimentality; each new day of the story essentially requires you to cycle your old demons out for new, more powerful ones.‚  However, even this makes sense from a story perspective, since the situation is so bleak you shouldn’t expect to bond with your demons…

BLAST FACTOR: Devil Survivor is yet another near-mandatory RPG for the DS.‚  While the story’s tone and characters aren’t for everybody, if you liked any of the previous SMT games, then this really is mandatory.

If you are on the Atlus Faithful mailing list, then you have seen this, but if you are not (for shame, unbeliever. For shame) then you should take a look at their latest promotion. Atlus wants you, the fans, to help them name an upcoming PSP release. In Japan, the game is known as Kenka Bancho 3, a street brawler. I have no idea what those words mean outside of “3″, but luckily Atlus has given you an assist on that, with a guide to what the word means and some background on the game.

Now, to keep everyone from simply naming this game “Streets of Rage 3: Part Deux” or LOLCats presents “I Can Haz Street Brawlz”, Atlus has given us a list of names to choose from that we feel fit the as of now unnamed brawler the best. For those who like their imports authentic, they have also included the original title, sans the 3.

Be sure to give this survey a look and have a hand in naming a game. It’s not something we get a chance to do every day.

With a considerable amount of pluck and charm, Steal Princess manages to elevate itself past some middling gameplay mechanics and into the range of an above-average puzzle game. While the premise is utterly bizarre on paper, the tongue-in-check humor reminiscent of Disgaea, Makai Kingdom and other Atlus imports creates an experience ultimately worth sticking through.

The humor starts within a minute of gaming. After watching your controlled hero, Anise, get caught by an Indiana Jones-esque boulder puzzle while robbing from the Demon Palace during the opening scene, she is seemingly dead. This causes an unidentified voice to remark, “No!‚  You can’t die before they reveal my face!”

Wisecracks like this are a common element of the game, most emanating from reluctant hero Anise. She wants no part of saving a kidnapped prince and the kingdom at-large from the threat of the Almighty Demon Emperor. Unfortunately, because of a thief with the same name as her “" wink wink, nudge nudge “" she takes up the mantle of “legendary hero” instead of being strung up at the gallows. The supporting cast is similarly nutty. The unidentified voice from the game’s opening moments is your guardian fairy, Kukri, who zealously insists that you are the legendary hero, and whom Anise ignores with hilarious thought bubbles for the majority of the game. Although the Demon Emperor is capable and coherent, none of his henchmen are, especially the sprite-ish demon Lucretia. How does she talk? Well, she always asks her own questions and provides her own answers, often repeating, that’s how she does it!

Steal Princess needs all of this humor and personality in its characters, because the game itself is fairly by the books, and downright frustrating at times. It is a traditional top-down mix of puzzle and adventure, as you use the stylus and control pad to move Anise around a grid layout. Anise comes equipped with a whip, which is mostly used to position enemies and hit switches. Other items, like swords, bombs and lances, are left lying around stages and are used to defeat enemies. The whip is the only item that carries over from stage to stage, and Anise can only carry two items at a time, so much of Steal Princess relies on good planning.

Most stages require you to complete a stated objective “" normally, defeat all enemies “" and to also bring a key dropped by the final enemy to a locked box in the stage. There is no time limit, although beating a stage within certain times earns you gold, silver and bronze medals. Gems are also scattered throughout stages and dropped by defeated enemies, which are used to pay down Anise’s debt in town and to buy items for your own maps in the Create-A-Map mode.

The initial stages of the Grasslands area walk you through the controls and mechanics, but Steal Princess starts to tax the brain pretty quick, and I hit my first dead end within the first 10 stages. Throughout my experience, there was nothing so ridiculous that I couldn’t figure out what needed to be done. This isn’t an esoteric graphical adventure like Myst, or one of the mind-numbing puzzlers from the 1990s like Solstice, The Lost Vikings or Young Merlin. “Tricky” is a descriptive and correct term for most of Steal Princess’ difficulty.

When the difficulty of Steal Princess is elevated, it is generally a reflection of the game’s lack of focus. It mostly rears its ugly head in design and play control. For example, while the game is primarily a puzzler, it throws mini-bosses and stage bosses at you. None of these battles are particularly entertaining, as most either involve running circles around the boss until you get an opening for an attack, or vaulting up to their platforms to take a slash at them. Repeat either tactic for two minutes, and you have victory with minimal effort and danger.

The second issue is the slippery play control. Movement is much easier with the control pad, but vaulting “" using your whip to scale up several platforms “" is easier with the stylus. Several stages in a row might require minimal use of whip, meaning you haven’t used the stylus for 20 minutes, and the next stage will require seven vaults in a row over a chasm that means instant death if you fall. Then, you might be right back to control pad gaming the next stage. There is little rhyme or reason to the game balance.

If you dig the Steal Princess experience, you can also create levels with the custom map maker, and then trade them over WiFi or with friends locally. There are 150 levels to start with, but it will be interesting to see what comes out of the minds of the niche Atlus fan base now that they have been handed the keys. It’s a solid addition to the game that extends its replay value further, and you can’t complain about that.

If you can overlook these flaws and focus on the quirky characters and dialogue, then Steal Princess is a good addition to your DS gaming library. It aligns itself closely with the type of off the beaten path games Atlus is known for.

Steal Princess is available exclusively for the Nintendo DS and retails for$34.99

Living in the United States is great with our ubiquitious fast food houses and all, but when it comes to great RPG’s, sometimes we catch the shaft.

Not to worry however as publisher Atlus announced that they’ll be bringing Shiren The Wanderer to North America beginning in 2010.

The title garnered an excellent review from the world renowned Famitsu gaming publication in Japan and with its “most accesible Shiren game yet” tag, we expect it to perform just dandy over here in the land of opportunity.

You’ll play as Shiren, an adventurous, monster-slaying wanderer who traverses beautiful countryside alongside your companion, a talking ferret in this satisfying RPG experience, or so they say.

Shiren the Wanderer is currently slated for a 2010 release exclusively on Nintendo’s Wii.

I can stop being bitter about this now thanks to Atlus, but initially, the somewhat generic and unfocused looking Ninja Blade was the From Software title coming to North America, while this incredible, ambitious looking fantasy game was staying in Japan and Asian territories. It just boggled the mind that this would happen, but as I said, Atlus was here to make everything better and keep us all from spending lots of money on an import.

It’s a good thing too, as you can see in this first North American trailer for the game. We have also pulled some screens from the trailer for you to check out, highlighting a few of the “whoa!” moments contained within it. Everything about this game is huge, and it looks like it could be loads of fun to play.

Demon’s Souls is an open-ended, dark fantasy RPG that features three player co-op as well as competitive play. Early reviews for the game overseas ranged from solid to impressive, and we’re looking forward to its North American release so we can get our hands on it as well. For now, check out the trailer and screens, and be sure to drop back in for more info as we near release, as well as Demon’s Souls recently opened website.

Atlus, the famously famous publisher of all things medical-gaming announced Trauma Team today to cut its way to shelves spring 2010 with a trailer dropping next week at E3.

The latest installment in the altogether popular Trauma Center franchise, Trauma Team will set itself apart in a grand way by allowing players to try their hand at a wide variety of medical roles including general surgeon, diagnostician, E.M.T., orthopedic surgeon, endoscope technician and medical examiner.

Simply put, I love that a game of this nature exists, and although I’m not a fan, I respect what’s going on, and am glad to see the franchise moving forward.

What about you? Ever deal with some drama-filled-trauma in video game form?

Knights in the Nightmare has a multi-layered combat system that may take some time to learn-that’s why there is a demo on the Nintendo Channel that allows you to go through the tutorial and practice each of the different battle aspects, but for those who either do not have a Wii and can’t download the demo or just want to see a little more explanation, Atlus is here to provide.

They have sent us the second in their tutorial video series for Knights in the Nightmare, with the focus this time on the lawful and chaotic phases that you must switch between. You earn different items and can use different attacks depending on which phase you are in, and as the Atlus folks in the video attest to, you will need to switch between the two in order to be successful.

If you haven’t checked out the first video in the series, be sure to do so; the trailer for the title is also there. If you have, check out this new video below as well, and get yourself pumped for the release of what looks to be, at the least, a unique and challenging RPG experience for the Nintendo DS.

Nightmare’s are heart racing, blood-pumping affairs and Knights are, well knights.‚  Combine the two and what do you have?‚  Knights in the Nightmare, the highly anticipated and eerily close to release DS strategy title is now available for demo download via the Nintendo channel on your Wii.

Atlus, creators of Knights, describe the demo as such: “Interactive, educational, and lengthy.”‚  The demo, which is essentially a tutorial, will hold your hand and show you how to control your troops effectively in order to prepare you for full battle come June 2.

Not to plug away for the title, but Atlus is offering up a 96 page art book and soundtrack to those who pre-order.‚  So you may want to at least consider, especially if you’re picking the game up anyway.

The Dark Spire should come with a large warning label on its cover, and not in the good way, like a new Wu-Tang compact disc, or whatever the kids listen to nowadays.‚  Rather, the warning should concern its anachronistic gameplay:

CAUTION!‚  Game will cause flashbacks to mid-1980s and early 1990s computing exploits.‚  The game programmers would like to take this moment to laugh at you if you were expecting any sort of overall story arc, automated functions or general helpfulness present in games released when more than 16 colors existed.‚  Also, please check any responsible feeling of popularity at the door, as otherwise, you will surely lose it playing this product.

With this pseudo-warning, I don’t mean to rag on The Dark Spire, but instead to put everyone on notice for what you can expect.‚  If you love Dungeons and Dragons, or wonder why they don’t make ‘em like they made Wizardry and Might and Magic and Ultimaanymore, then The Dark Spire will have significantly more appeal than if you grew up with the post-SNES Final Fantasies and gaudy full-motion video of PSX and PS2 titles.‚  The only game I can think of that is kind of like this game that came out in the past five years is Etrian Odyssey. This is a game that throws you into the middle of things and expects you to know how to plot a course – literally, because its map does not keep track of where you are at any given time.

If you have no idea what I’ve rambled about for the past three paragraphs, then honestly, this game probably isn’t for you.‚  If you’re kind of curious, realize that The Dark Spire has practically no graphics, outside of cardboard, non-animated models for its enemies and slightly-shifting backdrops, depending on whether a wall or door is in front of you.‚  The music is simple as well, strictly bleeps and blips as effects with a background theme underneath. It is a bare-bones, turn-based, dungeon crawl role-playing game that will only appeal to diehard fans of the genre.

The result is a bit mixed though, even if you grew up playing these sorts of games, like I did.‚  Playing this sort of game now seems masochistic.‚  The lack of refined graphics and sound isn’t as much of a killer as the crippling lack of options and accessibility.

The most glaring example of this would be the complete lack of information about any of the game’s weaponry.‚  The only idea you have of a weapon’s quality is 1) its price and 2) a short, one-paragraph description.‚  Traditional table top dice rolls are used to calculate damage, with modifiers based on class and race, but I only know this because of exhaustive testing done by hardcore gamers on various message boards.

Nowhere in the game does it tell you that a short sword is an 0d6, one-handed weapon.‚  Heck, it won’t even tell you if a shield can be used with it until you buy the damn thing and try to equip it.‚  And even though price is a guideline of a weapon’s efficiency, it’s not perfect.‚  A katana costs 3,000 gold, but if you have a dwarf warrior, a battle axe that costs a fraction of the price will do just as much damage.‚  But then, if that dwarf takes on a secondary class of ninja, it’ll do a ton of damage with a katana.‚  Such reasoning seems more random than logical and intuitive to me.

The other “why is it THIS hard?” issue would be the lack of direction and positioning on the auto-map for The Dark Spire.‚  In other games like the Might and Magic series, you can either cast spells or purchase skills that will reveal your position on the map for more than one move. ‚ Not so in The Dark Spire–if you get disorientated, you either have to cast a one-use spell or to keep compasses stocked in your (limited) inventory.‚  Neither is a satisfactory option for an issue the programmers could have simply solved.

Overlook these two annoying gameplay quirks, and you have a game that would be above-average if we time warped back to 1985.‚  It is at its best when your characters are churning through floors of the ominous tower, earning experience points to power-up base stats, class levels, secondary skills and spells.‚  There is the full array of traditional, esoteric quests that require you to do things like finding a pirate’s journal to gain access to their ship so that you can go up a couple floors to feed a squirrel pickled beer nuts to later get the elevator on the first floor working.‚  Weird?‚  Absolutely, but it is charmingly old school lunacy, as opposed to the frustration of the auto-map and weaponry.

In the areas of level grinding and quests, The Dark Spire is second-to-none, as you don’t have to re-roll your characters’ stats 50,000 times to get an 18 in one area.‚  Why bother with that when you can earn experience points to raise it later?‚  Later quests allow dual class characters to take on an uber-class combination.‚  For example, a character with level 10 training in thief and warrior can become a ninja, a front-line killing machine.‚  If you can master the mage class piously enough to retain your priest skills, you can become a druid, which has full access to spells from both classes.‚  These uber-classes also have their equipment restrictions lifted.‚  A thief can’t equip plate armor, but a ninja can because of its previous warrior training.

Because these battle and customization aspects are so good, The Dark Spire gets a moderate thumbs-up.‚  Like the latest independent flick, it clearly has a very defined, narrow audience, but it does provide snack food nutrition for that group.‚  However, if anything, The Dark Spire just stoked my nostalgia for the genuine article–After a few weeks with it, I just re-installed my copy of Might and Magic III with a DOS emulator, and found that entirely more satisfying overall.

Knights in the Nightmare looks like it may be 2009′s version of The World Ends With You. I don’t mean that it’s copying the gameplay, or the style, or anything like that. What I mean is that developer Sting and publisher Atlus have created an RPG that breaks from the norm by a considerable amount, partially thanks to an innovative and multilayered battle system that will be unlike any standard RPG you’re used to.

In fact, the battle system has so much going on that at first glance, without any explanation, it seems tough to figure out just what is going on. That’s why Atlus has started to release a set of tutorial videos, meant to help potential players get interested in the title, as well as teach us about just what is going on.

The first of these tutorials is below, as is the trailer for the game. Check back here for more info on Knights in the Nightmare, as this is looking like one any DS-owning RPG fan would be crazy to miss out on.

I have to say, if the music in the game is anything like the music in the trailer, then we have even more reason to be excited.

Blending elements of the RPG, real time strategy, and shooter genres, Knights in the Nightmare, set to release exclusively on the Nintendo DS this June, just got a little sweeter.‚  ‚ ‚ Pre-order bonuses seem to be the new thing these days, and whether the prize is physical or digital, the feeling of added value is undoubtedly what publishers are after.

Atlus, publisher of Knights in the Nightmare, is offering up a CD of the games soundtrack, as well as a 7″X10″ full color art book, through their Atlus Spoils program.

The art book will feature characters, world designs, concept art, and anything else your mind can conjure.‚  As far as the soundtrack is concerned, the music in Knights is reminiscent of age old Pokemon titles, peaceful and harmonious, but also tense and nail-biting during those epic boss battles.‚  If you have a ‘video game music’ playlist on your iPod, the Knights soundtrack will fit right in.

Previous spoils from Atlus have been the hefty, image adorned, 100 page Persona 4 art book, and the Raiho plush doll with Devil Summoner 2.

But don’t run out and reserve Knights just anywhere, when Atlus says ‘Participating retailers’ they mean GameStop, EB Games (Canadian stores), GameCrazy, and Amazon.

For those console owners wondering where the RPG-mania of the last generation is this time around, look no further than the handhelds. Between the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS, there’s no shortage of RPGs, and a significant reason for that is the development and publishing work of Atlus, who today announced Class of Heroes for Sony’s handheld.

There are not a lot of details about the game thus far, but some of the key factors are there: it’s a dungeon crawler, there’s a ton of gameplay (80 hours on a handheld is an incredible bargain) and like another Atlus dungeon-crawler, Etrian Odyssey, there’s plenty of customization for different character and class creation, and a weapon creation system that as well.

Class of Heroes, developed by Zerodiv and published in North America by Atlus, ships April 7, giving you plenty of time to finish up whatever old-school RPG you’re currently working on. Check out the video provided by Atlus below.

From Atlus:

CLASS OF HEROES^TM TO ASSEMBLE ON

PSP‚® (PlayStation‚®Portable) SYSTEM; PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS ENCOURAGED TO BUY TEXTBOOKS AND SWORDS EARLY

What do you think of when someone, some random stranger, says the‚ term “dungeon-crawler?”‚  Well, aside from, “Why exactly is a stranger talking to me about video games?” or, “This person seems a little strange,” your next thoughts might include: first-person RPG action, deep character and party customization, a fun premise, a story that you get to tell as much as it is told for you,‚ etc.

Those would all be correct, of course, if you’re talking about the upcoming dungeon-crawler for PSP‚® (PlayStation‚®Portable) system, Class of Heroes^TM.‚  And, like all good RPGs, you’d only be scratching the surface.‚  In the grand tradition of first-person RPG classics like Etrian Odyssey, Class of Heroes puts you in a world where everyone wants to become the next great adventurer, out in search of monsters to slay and treasure to uncover.

The twist with Class of Heroes is that you’re actually a student in an academy for adventurers, and each subject mastered and quest solved is a step towards your graduation into‚ full-fledged dungeon masterdom.‚  What’s more, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a handheld‚ RPG with more content than Class of Heroes: over five hundred character possibilities, over a thousand items to collect or craft, hundreds of foes to defeat, and over 80 hours of hardcore, tried-and-true gameplay translate into a heck of a lot of RPG goodness.‚  Worried about battery life?‚  Don’t be; you can save at any time.‚  How’s that for convenient.

Class of Heroes opens enrollment‚ on‚ April 7th.‚  Don’t forget your lunchbox.