You may remember back in August it was revealed that an anime adaptation of Compile Heart’s Hyperdimension Neptunia game series was being created. Today a few new details have been revealed thanks to the anime’s official website launching.
The website, which can be seen here, has revealed that the anime will be airing during the Summer 2013 anime season and it will be produced by the anime studio David Production which has worked on shows such as Level E, Ben-to and the currently airing JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Currently no information about the voice cast has been announced, though it is likely that the Japanese voices of the characters in the game will probably be used to voice the characters in the anime.
TodayEA announcedthat the Dead Space 3 demo would be available for download on the 22nd of January, 2013 for the 360 and PS3, but no mention was made for a PC demo. If you are an Xbox 360 owner, you are in luck because you have the chance to get the demo one week early if you sign up herewith your Origin ID.
Dead Space 3 will be released on February 8th in Europe, and on February 5th in North America for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. If you are curious about the story of the Dead Space series so far, or simply need a refresher on the lore, you can watch a short video explaining the main plot points below.
While the Western release of Phantom Breaker may be in limbo and facing some unknown release issues, it seems fans of the game won’t be left entirely in the dark. 5pb., the developer of Phantom Breaker, is currently working on a four-player brawler called Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds and they are planning on bringing it out both in Japan and the West sometime in 2013.
As such, the company released some new gameplay videos for the title today which show off how the game’s “Battle Ground” mode will work, as well as the game’s co-op mode. You can find both videos below and can expect to see Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds sometime in 2013 as a digital download on the Xbox 360.
While all we officially know in the West for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is from a trailer, the latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu contains quite a few details that were left out of that minimalistic trailer. As such, we’ve gathered together all of the information contained in the leak as provided by Game Nyarth.
First and most importantly, the new battle system is currently being called “Amazing ATB” though Square Enix has currently not settled on an official name for the system. In battle players will be able to perform various attacks which are mapped to the face buttons on the controller. As you defeat enemies in combat you will earn points to increase her available time as well as items that improve her equipment.
It also has been confirmed that Lightning will be the only playable character though according to the magazine, the new system makes this solo combat fast-paced and exciting. Enemies will appear in towns and about half of the game’s enemies will be brand new.
Players will be able to move between continents on foot or by monorail in a new system called “open world” and apparently the world will be rather large. The magazine also lists that test players were able to clear the game in two to four days worth of game time and while it is possible to increase your time limit past the 13 day deadline, the method for doing so is still secret.
It is also worth noting that the ending will not change much depending on how long it takes you to finish the game, but certain events appear to be time-specific meaning it is possible to miss a number of side-events that can then be experienced in subsequent playthroughs.
Remember that announcement that Compile Heart as going to make today? Well it was a brief trailer teasing a game that would be revealed on Thursday, but don’t worry, Dengeki PlayStation details have already been leaked. As such it has been revealed that they are making a sequel for the Mugen Souls title under a new name called Mugen Souls Z.
Apparently players play as a new character called Shirma that uses a coffin for a weapon, is voiced by Sachika Misawa, the voice of Kuroyukihime in Accel World, and she has two followers named Ace and Nao, who are voiced by Yuki Matsuoka and the popular Rie Kugimiya respectively.
The details list that there will be twelve worlds to conquer as Shirma and the combat system has been revised slightly to add in more co-op attacks as well as something called “Chou-Chou Energy.” Currently Mugen Souls Z is set for a PlayStation 3 release in Spring 2013 in Japan and anyone who reserves the game from a Japanese retailer would receive a Nepgear Veil avatar as a pre-order bonus.
It appears that all of the threat letters and event cancellations surrounding Kuroko’s Basketball (also known as Kuroko no Basuke) aren’t doing anything to limit the manga’s popularity because today it was revealed by Manga News Japon’s Twitterthat the next issue of Shonen Jump Next contains a reveal stating that the manga will be getting a second anime season.
Currently it is unknown when the anime will air nor have any actual details about the production studio have been revealed but it is worth noting that the first anime season aired earlier this year and the episodes were streamed on Crunchyroll, and are still available for viewing, but were not licensed by anyone in the West.
It is worth noting that Gust, the developer of the Atelier titles, has not officially confirmed this rumor and as such it should be taken as such. However yesterday it was discovered by Game Jouhou that a listing for Atelier Meruru Plus appeared on the 7Net online store in Japan.
This listing revealed that the game will apparently be released on March 20th in Japan in two different versions, a standard and special edition. It will feature not only new bosses like Atelier Totori Plus but also a slew of new costumes as well.
This leak isn’t too much of a surprise, considering the fact that Atelier Totori Plus was recently released in Japan and must have done well enough to warrant continued support for Plus versions of the series on the Vita.
Little is truly known about Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, outside of the fact that it will be a Ninja Gaiden spin-off featuring zombies and robots and even stranger elements. However it appears that thankfully, the game will not be exclusive to any specific console.
The latest batch of job listings that have been posted by the developer for the game, Spark Unlimited, reveal that the game will be “a bold new take on 3rd Person slasher with Horror elements for the PS3 and Xbox 360.” Obviously this is decent news for fans who may have been worried that the title would only be available for the PlayStation 3, though any new Wii U owners may be disappointed.
Steins;Gate: Complete Series Part Two Studio:White Fox Publisher: FUNimation Format: Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Release Date:December 18, 2012 Price: $64.98 – Available Here
Overview: The second half of a series can do many things. It can either continue the normal aspects of the first half of the show or drastically change the tone of a series by introducing new and intriguing elements that will not only keep fans of the show watching, but ensnare new viewers with the series’ new direction. Such is the case with Steins;Gate.
Whereas Steins;Gate Part 1 (the review of which can be found here) had its share of drama and mystery, many of those aspects were overshadowed by some more comedic and slice-of-life happenings. However when Steins;Gate Part 1 ended, viewers were left with an extremely shocking cliffhanger. Does Steins;Gate Part 2 provide a similarly spectacular experience as the first half?
Story: Now it should really go without saying that anyone who jumps into the second half of the series at this point will have no idea what is going on, nor should any reader expect this review of Part 2 to not spoil some events of the first half of the series. That being said, here’s a quick summary of the first half of the series.
The story follows a man named Rintarō Okabe who is a self-proclaimed mad scientist studying the idea of time travel. Now when Okabe manages to discover an actual way to send things through time, he realizes that his actions can drastically change the world around him as the timeline shifts according to his actions. The first half of the series serves itself well as a set-up to the events of the second half by making viewers grow attached to members of the cast and also introduce a number of time-travel aspects and theories that are not only well explained, but can be ran with in the second half of the series.
Ironically, the best reference to the second half of Steins;Gate for Western audiences is a movie nearly twenty years old. However this movie, called Groundhog Day, is the best example of the situation Okabe finds himself in. At the end of the first half we find that Okabe and his friends’ activities have been tracked by an inside source and when the phantom organization does appear to put a stop to their time-travel plans, the young girl in Okabe’s care, Mayuri is shot and killed. However with his new ability to send his conscience back in time to an earlier version of himself, Okabe throws caution to the wind to try and save Mayuri’s life.
Thus, Okabe finds himself trapped in a loop of repeating events as he constantly tries to save Mayuri from dying but failing at every turn. Watching a character which earlier in the series spent most of his time having fake conversations about an “organization” or joking around about being a mad scientist slowly devolve into a defeated man who has seen his friend die countless times in horrifying ways makes for powerful drama and every failed attempt will feel like a body blow to the viewer.
Things can slow down a little bit thanks to the fact that, true to his time jumping ways, Okabe and viewers must relive certain sections of the anime multiple times but it is intriguing to see how Okabe must make specific decisions each time with his knowledge of past outcomes to make another attempt at saving Mayuri’s life. Thanks to this, there often seems to be an almost peaceful tone over the show despite the drama behind the scenes.
In fact, the second half of the series sees Steins;Gate become a potent drama thanks to many of the choices Okabe must make in his venture to shift the timeline enough to save Mayuri’s life. While the series can be a bit difficult to follow over time, often thanks to the fact that at times the viewer has no idea how many times Okabe has re-lived a certain scenario only to fail, the terrible decisions that Okabe must make and force on his friends can be quite tragic as their new happy lives must be sacrificed for their friend make for an emotional but ultimately satisfying series.
Visuals: Steins;Gate continues to impress visually throughout the second half of the series though it is worth noting that the overall brightness of the already subdued color palette and the show overall has dropped as the show focuses heavily on the drama. That being said, there are a lot of special effects added into the show that provide some great visual flair, especially in regards to Okabe’s time jumping or failures with Mayuri.
Throughout the second half the character designs remain rather consistent and the environments are just as well detailed. It is also worth noting that the amount of text messages that have been subtitled has dropped significantly in the second half of the series, meaning viewers will not have to worry about speed-reading them during their brief time on screen that often.
Audio: Thanks to the emotional drain on Okabe and the amount of drama that takes place during the second half of Steins;Gate, the English voice actors shine better than they did in the first half of the series. While, as one would expect, Steins;Gate Part 2 does offer both the Japanese and the English voice tracks, the English track’s voice work packs a heavier emotional punch due to the quality of the dub.
As far as background music goes, there are a number of impressively used sound effects and dramatic tracks that do wonders when paired up with the events occurring on screen. The rest of the background music is forgetful outside of these well-used tracks however. It is also worth noting that the opening theme remains the same “Hacking the Gate” by Kanako Itō while there is only one main ending song in the second half, which is the already familiar “Toki Tsukasadoru Jūni no Meiyaki” by Yui Sakakibara and a special ending used once called “Sky Clad Observer” by Kanako Itō.
Extras: As far as bonus features go, Steins;Gate Part 2 contain a rather basic offering such as trailers for other FUNimation anime, the English trailer for the ending and opening songs. It is worth noting that there are two versions of “Hacking the Gate” which feature different visuals so keep an eye out for the differences between the two and fans of the briefly heard “Sky Clad Observer” ending can listen to it again here.
Also included are commentary tracks for episode 19 and episode 24. Episode 19 features Patrick Seitz who is the Script Adaptor for the series and also voice of John Titor as well as Jessica Cavanagh who voices Moeka. The two mention how much they love the series as well as other aspects of the show, though it isn’t quite as enjoyable as other FUNimation commentaries.
As for episode 24, we have Colleen Clinkenbeard the director for the series, Nathanael Harrison, the senior mixer engineer and Stephen Hoff, the ADR engineer. This is a very technical commentary track which is actually rather interesting thanks to the fact that the three discuss many of the different aspects that go into creating a new English dub for a show such as Steins;Gate.
Overall: With all of the set-up over the first half of the series, Steins;Gate Part 2 sees Okabe drop his preconceptions of the world and of time travel as he repeatedly breaks his own rules to try and do anything to save someone close to him. While some aspects of the show can be complicated and difficult to understand, this goes to show how well-woven together the plot is that even if someone doesn’t manage to understand everything, they will find Steins;Gate’s second half incredibly emotional and intriguing thanks to Okabe and the group’s emotional journey to save a friend’s life and set the world right again.
Survarium’s Facebook page released some new screen shots today in addition to announcing the launch of the game’s official website. The website features a few fun things, like a new wallpaper for Survarium in several resolutions here. For those unaware, Survarium is the spiritual successor to the STALKER series in the form of a F2P MMOFPS planned to release for the PC in late 2013.
The screen shots give the ambiance of a creepy, dark world that also manages to look full of things to explore. All this is a great setting for an MMO that will rely heavily on in game survival skills and awareness. The game will also feature a collective story that is affected by the actions of the player base, and some parts are not even hinted at by in game NPCs or quests and must be uncovered by the user exploring the world on their own.
