Today during their press event, NIS America announced that they will be releasing Danganronpa Another Episode in North America and Europe this Fall. The title will be available for purchase at retail and digital marketplaces under its new name Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls.
We have written about Danganronpa Another Episode quite a bit in the past but for those who haven’t been keeping up with the title, this one is a bit different than the others. Not only is it an action adventure game but it also takes place between the events of the first and second game, though considering what we have already seen it is best to play both games before trying this one.
In Danganronpa Another Episode players will control Komaru Naegi and Toko Fukawa and try to escape from Towa City. When the title is released it will come with both the original Japanese voice track as well as a new English dub.
Earlier today Sentai Filmworks announced that they have acquired the license to the Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties anime series that aired in Japan in 2014. Currently the company is planning on releasing the series digitally and on home video sometime in the future.
Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties is a bit different from the standard series as it focused on following different character routes throughout the season. It is worth noting that this is not the first Hayate the Combat Butler license that Sentai Filmworks has picked up as they are currently planning on releasing Hayate the Combat Butler: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You in April.
Continuing what has been a weekly tradition over the past month or two, Atlus USA has released a new trailer for Etrian Mystery Dungeon and this time around they are introducing the Dancer Class, a class that focuses primarily on buffing the party’s stats but is also described as a “relentless attacker.”
Dancers will use special swords to damage enemies and unleash their skills and will utilize various buffing skills to increase the parties’ attack power, speed, or even healing the whole group. Currently Etrian Mystery Dungeon is set to be released in North America on April 7th while a European release date has still not been announced.
Continuing in what has become a trend of trailers introducing the cast of the game, Nippon Ichi Software has released a new trailer for Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance focusing on introducing Red Magnus, an ogre from the Burning Netherworld.
In the character trailer, we see that Red Magnus is more interested in taking down Void Dark to show how strong he is compared to the rest of the cast so far who have more personal reasons for facing off against their dark overlord. Currently Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance is set to be released in Japan on March 26th and NIS America has already announced that they will be bringing the title to the West sometime later this year.
Atlus USA has announced that they plan on releasing Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker in North America on May 5th. For those who are unaware of the game, the story of Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker takes place in a world about to become non-existent. Thanks to the main character and his friends using a prank website before the catastrophic invasion began, they have been given the ability to summon demons from their cell phones.
With this new ability, they find themselves being the only ones able to save mankind. Their decisions will have consequences however as whatever the player chooses may save the lives of his friends or seal their fate forever. To go along with this announcement a new story trailer featuring the newly added Tringulum arc has been released and will offer over forty hours of additional content not found in the original game.
With the first episode of the four part Resident Evil Revelations 2 set to be released next week, Capcom has released a trailer aptly named the ‘Drama’ trailer showing off the various plotlines that will be playing out throughout the episodic game.
Currently the first episode will be released on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on February 24th in North America and February 25th in Europe while the PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One platforms will be getting episode 1 worldwide on February 25th. Each episode will be priced at $5.99 and a full retail version will be released on March 17th in North America and March 20th in Europe.
The full release schedule for each episode can be found below:
PlayStation 4 and PS3
Episode 1: Penal Colony – February 24 (NA) / February 25 (EU)
Episode 2: Contemplation – March 3 (NA) / March 4 (EU)
Episode 3: Judgment – March 10 (NA) / March 11 (EU)
Episode 4: Metamorphosis – March 17 (NA) / March 18 (EU)
NIS America announced today that the release date for Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy in the West has been changed to June 9th in North America and June 5th in Europe. This PS Vita dungeon RPG was previously announced for release sometime in April but those plans have changed.
When Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy is released it will be available digitally as well as at retail. To go along with this announcement NIS America has released a new batch of screenshots showing off the various character portrait options in the character creation system that players will have to use before taking the fight to the Variants.
The Order: 1886 has been slated as the next big PS4 exclusive to be born out of the AAA development machine. Developed by Ready at Dawn and with the backing of Sony as a publisher, this game has some significant weight behind it. The game is gorgeous to behold with an interesting design for the characters and the graphical power to showcase them. The setting itself is a new IP which explores an alternate history which is equal parts steampunk and gothic horror.
Heading down to the Australian headquarters of the fictional order (the refurbished ‘Hero of Waterloo’ at the Rocks in Sydney) a couple of days ago. I grabbed myself a tankard of ale and tried to learn as much as I could about the secretive order. I got some hands on time with the game but due to the fairly short duration of the levels, I did not gain too much more insight beyond the fact that the controls have been improved significantly and that bugs have been ironed out. The combat is satisfying and draws from well-established mechanics in third-person cover-based shooters. There wasn’t something as interesting as the thermite rifle from my colleague’s playthrough of the game.
I was also given the opportunity to watch a playthrough of two levels by one the developers. The first level showcased the aforementioned 3rd person shooter gameplay as the Order set about to infiltrating a fancy looking estate. The second level was more interesting as it showcased combat with one of the lycanthrope antagonists (“half-breeds”). It was interesting to see the design for these villains, but it is unfortunate that encounter largely came down to being quick-time events. It was a shame that the two levels I could play through during the event, only had human foes for me to fight.
Unfortunately the hour was late and I had to cut short my time with the game to get home before various ghoulies could ambush me on my stumble home. The game is to be released on the 20th of February of this year and is a PS4 exclusive.
Viz Media recently announced their acquisition of the publishing rights to the new Shounen Jump manga series My Hero Academia.
The first volume of Kohei Horikoshi’s popular action series will be released in North America in August, and will carry a rating of ‘T’ for Teenagers. The series began serialisation in the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine in July 2014. Two tankoubon volumes have already been published in Japan.
Horikoshi was born in Aichi, Japan, in 1986. In 2006, he received a Tezuka Award Honourable Mention, and debuted in Weekly Shounen Jump in 2010 with Oumagadoki Doubutsen (Oumagadoki Zoo) after creating several short stories for Akamaru Jump (now known as Jump NEXT!). Barrage, a space battle fantasy adventure series, was the second title he created for Weekly Shounen Jump, and is currently published in English by Viz Media.
Viz Media describes My Hero Academia:
What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested extraordinary superpowers called “Quirks” at age four? Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Becoming a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study? U.A. High’s Hero Program of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?
Middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but he hasn’t got an ounce of power in him. With no chance of ever getting into the prestigious U.A. High School for budding heroes, his life is looking more and more like a dead end. Then an encounter with All Might, the greatest hero of them all gives him a chance to change his destiny…
Nozomi Entertainment recently announced their acquisition of the Please Teacher!anime and the sequel spinoff Please Twins!.
Nozomi Entertainment plans to release Please Teacher! as a 13-episode DVD collection in summer 2015. The series, directed by Yasunori Ide (Bastard!!), featuring character designs by Hiroaki Gohda (Amagami SS and Love, Election and Chocolate) and animated by Daume (Strawberry Marshmallow, Shiki), first aired in Japan in 2002 on the WOWOW network. It ran for 12 episodes with a single OVA episode being released later that year.
Nozomi Entertainment also plans to release Please Twins! as a 13-episode DVD collection in summer 2015. The series originally aired in 2003. This spinoff focuses on new characters, however many characters from Please Teacher! make an appearance.
An official website for the series has launched, which is available here.
