Well, prepare to be a bit confused since Natsume decided to announce that they have their very own Harvest Moon game coming out and no it isn’t XSEED’s Story of Seasons, this one is its own game. Natsume has revealed that they are currently developing Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley for the 3DS.
This is one of three games that the company is currently working for on Nintendo platforms and at the moment the game is only announced for North American release. The company describes Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley as a game where players will be able to experience “the role-playing farm simulation in a three-dimensional setting for the first time.” They go on to say that the game will have a “fully customizable world, and players can customize their field in any way they see fit: from a field full of tulips like you might see in Holland, to a valley filled with water like Venice, the choice is up to you.”
Those familiar with the Dynasty Warriors series know that each numbered title goes through a few stages after release. First there is the vanilla version of the game, then we have a Legends title that adds additional content, and finally an Empires version with even more content and the ability to conquer China.
As such it is no major surprise that this week’s issue of Famitsu has revealed that Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires has been revealed by Tecmo Koei and is coming to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 sometime later this year. The game will feature a number of enhancements such as new Strategems and it will also include all new content such as the ability to actually edit flags and soldiers appearances. Expect more information when Tecmo Koei makes the official announcement sometime in the future.
Today EA Sports released the first screenshot for NHL 15 which is going to be the first NHL title available on next-gen consoles. This little screenshot goes with the teaser trailer shown off back when the game was officially announced.
This screenshot, seen above, is likely from the next-gen version of the game and highlights the San Jose Sharks’ captain Joe Thorton, continuing EA Sports’ trend of not really keeping up with what teams are left in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the Sharks were eliminated over two weeks ago. Then again, their cover vote neglected to nominate any of last year’s Stanley Cup Champions as a candidate do there’s that as well.
Paramount Pictures have released Official Trailer #2 of Brett Ratner’s Hercules. It may be cliche for a protagonist to flat-out state he is not a hero, and then proceed to accept his task, but with the promise of such high-action fare visualizing the 12 Labours of Hercules, we can forgive the screenwriters.
Also released is a brand new poster, featuring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in all his glory as the legendary demi-God. The Nemean lion, Erymanthian boar, Lernaean Hydra, Cerberus and every challenge in between, for that matter, clearly could never have stood a chance. Check out the poster in full directly below, and the trailer embedded underneath.Hercules hits theaters nationwide on July 31, 2014.
Today Viz Media announced their digital manga plans for the month of June and with this they have also announced the license rescue for the manga Trinity Blood. More on that in a moment however, as today sees the launch of the new Shonen Jump Advanced series Seraph of the End which is now available digitally for $6.99, and in print for $9.99, while next week will see the one-shot release of The Boys Over Flowers Jewelry Box shojo manga that will be priced at $4.99.
Other releases this month include the first volume of All You Need is Kill on June 19th for $6.99, the aforementioned Trinity Blood Volume 1 which will be released on June 24th for $4.99. Trinity Blood was previously handled by TokyoPop before the company folded and the last four volumes were never released in English. Other notable releases this month include Dragon Ball Full Color Volume 3, released today, Deadman Wonderland Volume 3 on June 10th, One-Punch Man Volume 3 and Future Diary Volume 2 on June 24th as well as thirteen other popular Viz series that will be updated in the month of June.
If you ever wanted to get closer to your favorite CPU without having to deal with fighting numerous enemies or advancing through a storyline that involves saving Gamindustri, then you can now do so through NIS America‘s latest release in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection.
In this game, players do not control the girls directly but instead help manage their favorite CPU through their new career as an idol trying to gain their shares back from the popular idol group MOB-48. They will do this by choosing various tasks such as relaxing, taking lessons, or working to manage your chosen CPU’s mood and stats as well as perform concerts for fans where the player controls the game’s camera angles and stage effects while your idol performs the chosen song and dance.
A couple of months back we learned that Square Enix would be releasing Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call in the West, but at the time we did not have a release date. Well now we do, as the company has announced that not only will Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call be released in North America on September 16th but it will also be given a special Collector’s Edition and some pre-order bonuses.
The Collector’s Edition can only be purchased through the Square Enix Online Store for $69.99 but it comes with the game itself, a 20-track music CD, a 3DS Collector’s pouch, a 5-track remix CD and five CollectaCards from the game. If you don’t feel like spending that much money, you can also pre-order the game which will give you the “Limited Edition” version that comes with the five-track remix CD.
As I mentioned in my review for Drakengard 3, that can be read in full here, the characters in the bloody title are one of the best aspects of the title. As such it was a shame that the only time we spent with Zero’s sisters was trying to kill them.
However now fans of the series have the option to learn more about each of Zero’s sisters as Square Enix has released DLC for Drakengard 3 that expands upon each sister’s story by giving them a unique chapter and allowing the player to play as that sister. A summary of the DLC and the prices can be found below:
Sister Prologues: Additional prequel chapters featuring Two, Three, Four, Five and Zero in a playable level with their own unique weapons; each chapter, minus Two, contains its own unique trophy set as well ($5.99 each)
Sister Prologue Bundle: Contains all of the above prologue chapters, including One ($29.99)
Furiae’s Garb: The costume of the princess turned goddess, Furiae, from the original Drakengard, reduces damage taken by 5% when equipped ($2.99)
Eris’s Garb: The garment of the youngest military commander in Drakengard 2 prevents stamina loss when guarding ($2.99)
Intoner Arrange Tracks: A new music pack that replaces the tracks used when Zero enters Intoner Mode ($1.99)
Last month we heard that Tecmo Koei would be releasing Samurai Warriors 4 in Europe and today we also received confirmation that the game is going to be released in North America as the company has just revealed the game will be released on October 21st in North America. The game will also be hitting stores in Australia and Europe on October 23rd and 24th respectively.
Samurai Warriors 4 will be given a digital release on the PS3 and PS Vita in North America, priced at $49.99 and $39.99, while the PS4 version of the game will be sold at retail for $59.99. To go along with this news the opening video for the game was released and you can check it out below.
Overview There is a very good chance that you have probably seen a series that is some form of an adaptation from the epic novel series Nansō Satomi Hakkenden. This month along we saw the release of a series that spun the story of Princess Fuse into a ‘counterfeit’ style movie and now we have Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East. Now that the first season of this series has been released in North America, is Eight Dogs of the East’s take on Hakkenden worth watching?
Story Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East begins with a village in flames and children dead or dying upon the snow. Through the flames a strange man appears holding a sword, asking one of the children if they wish to continue living. Five years later the series joins these three children who survived the events of their village being burned to the ground, but not without going through some changes.
Shino, Sosuke, and Hamaji live in a church on the outskirts of a village that is afraid of what they are capable of as rumors are constantly whispered about the disease that spread throughout their village. However things are much more extreme than that, as it turns out Shino’s body contains the Murasame weapon that manifests itself as a talking crow. This possession forces his body to not age and gives him an affinity for demons while Sosuke also must deal with sharing his body with a dog.
Living in the church, these three lived a relatively comfortable life but the Murasame is a precious weapon and the Imperial Church moves to take action on the group by kidnapping Hamaji. Despite this kidnapping, Hamaji finds herself in a comfortable lifestyle and even when Shino and Sosuke go to her rescue, they find that she is being taken care of and that the man who kidnapped her is actually the same man that saved their lives five years prior.
This man, named Satomi, tasks Shino with finding others that are similar to him and his brother. You see, these two were both born with flower shaped birthmarks and holding glowing gems with a word emblazoned on said gem. These gems relate to the story of Princess Fuse and her eight dog warriors who died protecting her. While one might think that tracking down people like this would be difficult, the group runs into two almost immediately, even if they do not know right away that they are in fact gem holders.
In fact, even though the whole aspect of the flower shaped birthmark is used initially to show a relation between Shino and the ones they are trying to find, as well as the fact that they are all possessed by demons in some form, is put to the forefront as Shino deals with various issues that arrive in town or on their journey. In fact the whole gem aspect takes a back seat for quite some time and is only briefly brought up again at the end, likely because the series is intentionally broken into two seasons.
As such, this first season focuses mostly on Shino and Sosuke as they meet people similar to them and handle problems that range from insect-familiar wielding monks holding a friend prisoner, and dealing with a mountain god, with Hamaji barely appearing until she is sent off to school for a one-off episode to seemingly get her out of the way. There are one-off episodes scattered throughout this first season where we are introduced to characters that will likely have some role in the future, but are never seen again after they are introduced which is a very poor way of trying to develop characters we are supposed to care about.
Even the characters that do stick around are barely developed as they tend to either be a running gag or someone to be in the background as Shino and Sosuke deal with things. Only until the final few episodes does the plot actually begin to move forward in any way by revealing a certain villain with an obsession with Shino and someone pulling his strings to try and fulfill a prophecy. This makes this season difficult to continue at times simply because it feels all over the place at times while trying to introduce every character before attempting to find a course for itself at the end.
Visuals Eight Dogs of the East is a fairly impressive looking anime with some great looking character designs and a few nicely detailed looking yōkai. Each character has a unique look and whenever they transform into their yōkai forms or whenever Shino makes use of Murasame the sequence is handled incredibly well. There are some minor drops in quality throughout the series but for the most part the designs of the characters fit in well with the era that the series seems to take place in.
There are a few action sequences throughout but they tend to not last very long as most of the fights are ended within a few strikes which is a bit disappointing. The background scenery is generally what one would expect from a series like this but there are a number of standout moments that take place in the church with the stained glass backdrops making the scene look amazing.
Audio Sentai Filmworks has given Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East an English dub which accompanies the original Japanese voice work and the English cast contains quite a few familiar names that work well given the characters in the series. Greg Ayres does a great job handling Shino and the rest of the cast is suitably fitting.
The background music throughout the series ranges from forgettable to simply being there. The only exceptions are for a few insert songs that take place during episodes eight and nine as the vocals do a great job making these moments stand out. The opening theme “God Fate” by Faylan is a mixture of English and Japanese and is rather nice sounding and the ending theme “String of Pain” by Tetsuya Kakihara, the Japanese voice actor for Shino, is a nice closer for the series.
Extras As far as special features go, Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East comes with a bit more than your average Sentai Filmworks offering as it comes with a few episode commentary tracks from the original Japanese cast, a clean version of the opening and ending theme, disc credits, and trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.
Overall Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East Collection One is quite obviously a series that was intentionally broken into two seasons, but by trying to force all character introductions into the first season with barely any attempts to develop these characters outside of the main two it becomes a bit of a mess. There are times where the series starts to move forward but these moments are few and far between and the spin on the old Hakkenden story isn’t as enthralling as one might think. Considering all of the haphazard set-up in this first season, hopefully the second season actually manages to bring things together for some kind of payoff.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
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