Level-5 Vision Conference

Gaming developer Level-5 (Professor Layton, Dark Cloud) held its annual press conference today and Andriasang was present for all the details. Here's a link to their live blog.

I'll just narrow it down to a few highlights and snippets.

• Ni no Kuni, a game being made for both the DS and PS3. This looks pretty cool, an RPG with lots of puzzles.
• A new Layton game for the 3DS. They will put up a new puzzle for download every day for an entire year. Release planned in the Spring.
• A new Inazuma Eleven game for the regular DS. These are silly soccer games with RPG elements. Never played them, but if they're anything like the old Captain Tsubasa games, I'll have to try them out.
• Little Battle eXperience, also known as Danbal Senki. A PSP game, and they're going to be making an anime and manga at the same time. It's a mech/robot game.
• Mystery Room, another puzzle-style game for the DS. Music by Yuzo Koshiro (Ys I & II, Streets of Rage, and more recently, the Etrian Odyssey series)!
• Kyaba Joppi, a waitress simulation game for the 3DS.
• Time Travelers, a crazy looking suspense game for the 3DS. Here's a trailer.

Review: Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals (DS)

With clever puzzles, monster rearing and an awesome soundtrack, Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals is often regarded as one of the best RPGs on the SNES, on par with the Squaresoft classics. Now, fifteen years later, developer Neverlands returns to remake it on the Nintendo DS.

Fans of the original that are looking for a simple port or maybe a port with upgraded visuals are going to be surprised. Curse of the Sinistrals has been remade from the ground up. There has been a ton of outcry over the new character designs, and it’s hard to blame the fans – the simple, traditional fantasy look has been thrown out, replaced by an over-the-top Japanese anime makeover.

Atelier Rorona Artwork

I've been advancing a little further into Atelier Rorona, but it's starting to get a bit repetitive. The characters grow to become likable, but the battles are still too simple and the requirements for crafting are somehow getting easier. My last assignment was to deliver food for a festival. I don't even have to waste time making it, I can just go to the cafe and buy a handful of pies and soups to turn in. That leaves me three months of grinding other quests.

The one outstanding thing about this game is the 2D artwork, done by artist Kishida Mel (岸田メル). I love it so much I thought I'd upload some. All this stuff is from the early/mid-game. Each of the 14 endings has its own illustration, but as awesome as they are, I don't want to spoil anybody.

 Japanese box art. The west gets shafted again.