Muramasa Rebirth

Port Over of an Action RPG

As an action RPG, Muramasa Rebirth offers a slightly different kind of game play than most.

Some gamers might have noticed that Muramasa Rebirth looks a lot like Muramasa: The Demon Blade for Nintendo Wii. If nothing else, they might very well have noticed that because Demon Blade is one of the most prominent anime style RPGs of this type available to those who play games on the Wii. Muramasa Rebirth represents a port over of this game to the PlayStation Vita console, and because it doesn't use the Wii controller it might actually be considered the superior version.

Using Japanese Stories

Like the original Oboromuramasa, this PS Vita installment features a great deal of Shinto and traditional Japanese influence. Those who like to play these kinds of games are often fans of anime. Those who are certainly going to like scenes where the character Momohime goes along and ends up fighting an Oni spirit demon that is wielding a kanabo. Those who practice the martial arts or have a background in kabuki might also appreciate some of the themes more so than other gamers, as this game has a number of themes that those who are otherwise uninformed may not be able to recognize.

Top Vita developers like Marvelous AQL had their hand in the game, and while its single player those who play it have thus far not really considered this to be a drawback. It's the type of game that actually benefits and uses the single player setup to its advantage, even if it feels like a cross between an RPG and a fighting game at times.

Art Direction

Hashimoto Yoshifumi and George Kamitani worked on the game. Vanillaware in general has a very distinct style, and that's obvious in this game. They refer to their graphic development process as tenbineri, which is also known as hand shaping. These figures are generally 3D looking, but they're rendered completely from objects that stand as two-dimensional pixels instead of actual 3D models or anything of the sort. That gives all of their games a very unique look, which has certainly been well demonstrated by this particular title. The game is unique in its own right.

MLB 14: The Show

Major League Baseball Sports Title

The ninth entry in the MLB: The Show franchise is a great title for PS 3, 4 or Vita players.

PlayStation 3 and Vita players will be able to pick up MLB 14: The Show as soon as April, though PS 4 gamers will have to wait for March. The line up for play-by-play includes Matt Vasgersian, Eric Karros, and Steve Lyons. Fewer games have given much attention to stadium details, which is why it's so nice that the game has done so.

Attention to Detail

For instance, they actually took the time to hire a professional PA announcer to do the stadium voice over work for this game. Mike Carlucci has leant his talent to the game. He is known not only as the Dodger's PA man, but he also has worked for the Ducks and the Kings. He even did the Olympics a few times, which should certainly boost his popularity. Games have been giving this kind of attention to detail since NBA: The Life '06, '07 and '08, which the aforementioned Carlucci was also involved in. Some hockey fans might also know him because he leant his vocal talents to games in that respect as well.

The soundtrack to the game is where Sony Computer Entertainment has taken things to a whole new level though. At one point it would have been unheard of for alternative bands like Band of Skulls and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to ever make it onto the soundtrack of an extremely mainstream game like this. While some people might make negative comments as to their inclusion, it's actually a positive and rather unexpected twist to be perfectly honest.

Regional Differences

Numerous people in the world of video game media have been commenting on how Miguel Cabera is the featured athlete on the cover. Strangely, though, this single-player and online multiplayer sports game will not feature the prominent Detroit Tigers first basemen on the cover in Canada. Brett Lawrie from the Toronto Blue Jays will be on it. Apparently Sony Computer Entertainment has been trying to attract more Canadian interest by putting in local talent when selling the game outside of the US. Though some people might consider baseball a relatively minor sport out of North America, there could be additional Latin or Japanese players on localized covers in the future as well according to some speculators.

FINAL FANTASY X|X-2 HD Remaster

Those who played the original Final Fantasy X or X-2 will find that not much changed in this new installment.

Anyone who is getting ready to purchase Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster should note that it's a collection. Those who want the to maybe reduce the physical size of their collection could look at this as a way of replacing a few discs and boxes with a single PS3 or Vita game. On the other hand, all of hte benefits of this game merely come from the fact that Final Fantasy X was one of the greatest Japanese RPGs of the modern era.

What's New in this Version

Essentially as a result there's nothing new in this version. Instead, the game is an HD reworking of the original two. Certainly fans will like to have a look at Yuna in all the new footage, but a few people have balked at the current designs. There was an image circulating in cyberspace showing the extent of these changes. Some footage in the cut scenes was actually modified for the sake of making it more suited to high definition televisions.

Interestingly while Naora Yusuke, Toriyama Motomu, Kobayashi Masaki and Matsuda Toshitaka were all onboard with the project they did not do much of the remastering work. Pan Feng from the Virtuos studio headquarters in Shanghai actually made the majority of the changes. As a result fans might actually note that the art is a little different. In some ways it's better, and might suggest that Virtuos could be going onto better things. Unfortunately they've developed a reputation for only working with licensed film properties, and this might be the way of changing some people's opinion of the firm.

Roleplaying Power

This is an RPG that even spurned an audio drama. Some people suggest that there might be a second sequel to X that could come around as a result of these new storylines. Gamers that want to play this game are primarily interested in the story, and they might look less to the game play as a result. Either way it should be noted that playing it is essentially like playing an anime.

FIFA 14

Cross Platform Soccer Action

Gamers who invested in the PS Vita will now be able to play the big sports games like FIFA 14 like they had on the full sized consoles.

Unlike a lot of other handheld soccer games, FIFA 14 on the PlayStation Vita actually focuses on the simulation side of thing. Make no mistake; this isn't the kind of game that has a great deal of arcade like play. While quick game options are available, the majority of players won't spend a lot of time with them. Seasons and the like are much closer to the core of the game play when it comes to FIFA 14.

Ignite Engine Features

Those who purchase FIFA 14 for the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One will have access to a new game engine called the Ignite Engine. It features a number of graphical and game-play changes that allegedly make the computer-controlled players act more like human ones. Since the PS Vita version won't feature the Ignite code some people have been claiming that it's a dumbed down version of the console top big brother. Nothing could be further from the truth, however.

Licenses are the big features that drive this sports game. There are 21 different Brazilian clubs that got licensed, for instance. All of the 20 from the 2013 season of the A series of Campeonato Brasileiro were added in. Chile's Campeonato Nacional Petrobra joins a few other South American teams as well. While there are some European teams as well, the fact that they added all of these South American teams to the mix is really heating up the media. The addition of countries like Poland to the mix, however, should not be missed. It's exciting to enjoy matches involving top eastern European athletes, and the Polish team will not disappoint.

International Game Covers

It's always important to consider who makes it onto the cover of a sports game, and different athletes made it onto the cover of this one. Americans who purchase the game will get a shot of Javier Hernandez, while Australians will be admiring Tim Cahill. Polish gamers will cheer for Robert Lewandowski while Gareth Bale is prominently featured in the United Kingdom and in Ireland.

Dragon's Crown

2D Fantasy Action RPG for Vita

Those who have been playing video games for some time will especially like Dragon's Crown.

Vanillaware developed Dragon's Crown, and they're already known for their work with the Muramasa release on the PD Vita. The company is described as consisting primarily of artists, and that means that the game continues to maintain the unique art style that many of their games are noted for. Additionally it has a connection to a Sega Saturn game that some really serious hardcore fans might already have in their collections.

Connections to Other Titles

Those who might have enjoyed Golden Axe will certainly enjoy Dragon's Crown. In some ways the game actually appears rather close to the original Sega Genesis title, but clearly transported over to the far more current PS Vita. An online mode allows four players to play at once, which again increases the feel of this being something rather like an old time brawling title.

While there are stats sheets and there are elements that make this an action role-playing title, it really does have far more in common with a brawler. Of course the fantasy theme and the setting of the Kingdom of Hydeland help to bolster the RPG feeling that the game has, but overall it really is a brawler. Those who primarily play fighting games or the like will especially enjoy it considering the controls. Moreover as it has some semblance of a cell shaded game it really starts to look like a fighter in some ways.

Those familiar with Princess Crown for Sega Saturn will see some connections, and this is sort of a spiritual successor to that game. Some people have called it the most gorgeous RPG ever, and that same look has come over to the Dragon's Crown arena as well.

Development of the Game

What might interest some fans is that George Kamitani claims to have been working on Dragon's Crown for years. He said that the game was conceived immediately after Princess Crown came out for Sega Saturn. The original version of Dragon's Crown would actually have been a Dreamcast title, and that fact might help to explain why it appears so much like some other great Sega games.

Demon Gaze

Dungeon Crawl RPG with an Unusual Twist

Those who've already played Demon Gaze have said it resembles Harvest Moon combined with the original Final Fantasy.

Those who can think back and actually say that they loved the first Final Fantasy game or its GBA remake should definitely fall squarely in the intended demographic of Demon Gaze. This new PS Vita dungeon crawler allows games to control a young man named Oz. With a magical eye capable of sealing away demons, Oz would have enough trouble already if it weren't for the fact that he were expected to form relationships with NPCs left and right.

Spending Money at the Inn

A good portion of the game play involves dungeon crawling and fighting around monsters that gamers find on missions. Immediately after leaving these dungeons though, people will probably want to go back and use their loot at the inn. Rather than having a town and village system like every Adventure of Link clone ever has used, Demon Gaze uses a primary inn that allows players to spend their money and upgrade the party.

On top of this, Oz is expected to form relationships and interact with the NPCs that are in the inn. These interactions form a core part of the game play that actually have helped to separate it from many other anime inspired RPGs. Summoning spells and the like allow players to bring those that they have defeated back. Since Oz can seal demons, when players defeat demons they're able to actually then use them as summoned monsters. This actually has drawn some unnecessary comparisons to the Monster Rancher series, though Demon Gaze doesn't actually focus too much on training or anything to that effect.

Development Information

Kadokawa developed this game, and they're well known by fans of anime and manga. As a result it shouldn't come as any surprise that Kurono was involved with the Demon Gaze spin off media. In fact there's a manga that's being serialized in Dengeki Maoh based on the events in the game. Those who have some ability to collect information explained in this manga may actually be able to put it to use in the game, though its unlikely that this will ever see an official release in any form of western media unfortunately.

Deception IV: Blood Ties

Anime RPG for Vita and PS3

By revisiting an older Tecmo game, Deception IV brings back interesting strategies to modern gamers

Those who play Deception IV: Blood Ties are in for a really interesting twist in the way that the game is played. The object is to prevent the enemy from ever reaching the player. To do so, the player has to end up using a variety of traps to keep them from approaching. This is certainly a lot different from the game play in many other titles.

Using Traps in the Game

Players can choose between rolling boulders, flames, spring boards, electrocution, spiky walls, bathtubs that fall out of the sky, an iron maiden, railway locomotives, human cannons and other types of traps to ensure that the enemy is defeated. Proper timing is always the best, considering that one false move will make the traps instead activate on the player. Combinations that are used to humiliate or brutalize the opposition make up a main portion of the game play. By using the touch screen on the PS Vita players are easily able to set off different types of traps, which make it ultimately more suited for handheld gamers than those who would have played the original game on a full sized console.

More or less the game follows Laegrinna, who is a daughter of a demon that created her using a fragment of his own soul. These twelve Saints who sealed him up using certain scriptures then defeated the devil. The Holy Verses were divided into 12 different objects that were sent to descendants of the saints. By collecting them, Laegrinna is going to be able to help out her father. Those interested in the story will probably start to wonder whether they had intended to make the player character evil, or whether there will be some plot twists considering the verbiage the developers ultimately elected to use.

Deception on Vita

While it's certainly not the first RPG to come to Vita, it's going to be one of the best according to all of the remarks people have made about it. It combines both storyline with an action RPG feel, which is different from many games in this category. In fact a few people have even started to make comparisons with the Children of Mana release a few years back for Nintendo DS.

DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Action-Adventure RPG

Trigger Happy Havoc has both elements of classic RPGs and visual novels.

While one might call this installment of the DanganRonpa series a murder mystery visual novel, even that's not giving it enough credit. The creators of the game had genuinely intended to make a meta-series with it. It was initially released in Japan for PlayStation Portable in 2010, and the remake was released by NIS America for Vita players in 2014.

Other Media and Gaming

Players of Trigger Happy Havoc should note that the game is intended to go along with Lerche's television anime adaptation. There were additionally two manga adaptations, and the game has been novelized twice. Individuals who play this installment and genuinely love it should certainly check out Zettai Zetsubo Shojo: Danganronpa AnotherEpisode if it ever actually comes to this continent.

Hope's Peak Academy is where most of the game takes place. This elite high school requires students to commit murders if they don't wish to be imprisoned at the academy forever. Class trials are held to attempt to catch those who are committing the murders. Several students are killed throughout the course of the game, and it's going to be up to the player to handle these grizzly murders. If they play their cards right then they might be able to get to the bottom of the mystery and figure out why everyone is being held here against their will and all. Otherwise they too could be trapped at Hope's Peak for the rest of their lives.

Intended Audience

Since the game play is sort of like the game play in the Ace Attorney series, those who like to unravel a mystery will certainly be attracted to it but perhaps the biggest comparison someone could make is to Death Note. Fans of the Death Note anime and manga will probably be attracted to this more than anything else. It has characters that even resemble the thought processes of L and Light to some degree, though it's very clear that it wasn't actually intended to be a derivative work of that series in any way. There are also some elements that borrow from the mecha genre, and this has certainly helped to broaden out the appeal all things considered.

Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars

Turn-based Roleplaying Game with Anime art

This Japanese role-playing game features downloadable content, which might really attract an interesting class of fan.

Children of the Seven Stars is a sequel to a game that was never released to English speaking audiences. While this game might be coming out for PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS players might want to have a look at it as well. Those who liked first generation anime games for the Nintendo DS will certainly love Conception II, since it has all the turn-based battles and storyline that a game from that genre would be expected to have.

Those who don't really care for RPGs aren't the intended audience, so the developer had quite a bit of fun working without having to worry about the market that they were going to actually sell the game to. It sort of had a built-in audience so to speak.

Charming Sequel

Ore no Kodomo o Undekure for PlayStation Portable never left Japan, and it has a slightly unusual plotline. Japanese speakers would note that Conception Part I's title suggests it could have something to do with giving birth, and the overarching story involves a main character named Yuge Itsuki trying to charm pure innocent girls. This isn't an eroge, so those who have a certain fear about very serious material in visual novels shouldn't have to worry about picking up a title if they happen to speak Japanese. The character charms these girls to have offspring of a sort with them.

Rather than literally charming them in a romantic sense, though, he has to have Star Children with them by pouring out energy at the Granvania National Star God Academy. Conception II picks up with this slightly offbeat story, but doesn't require gamers to have ever played the original. It's a stand-alone title so English speakers don't have to fear. It also has some interesting downloadable content, like a boss battle with Monokuma from Danganronpa.

Looking at Teasers

From what's currently known in the North American and Japanese media, this is a standard Japanese role playing game. An RPG like this might very well focus primarily on grinding techniques, and has even been compared to the Persona series. As a result hardcore gamers are certainly going to love it straight out of the box.