Gust’s upcoming PS Vita moeblob-dating sim “Ciel nosurge” has been attracting a great deal of favourable attention online, and looks set to become the most hotly anticipated title on the Vita – at least amongst the creepy otaku demographic.

Ciel nosurge – Ushinawareta Hoshi-e Sasagu Uta (シェルノサージュ ～失われた星へ捧ぐ詩～ – “Ciel Nosurge – A Song Dedicated to a Lost Star”), is being developed by Gust (which was recently reduced to a fully-owned subsidiary of Koei) as their first entry onto the PSV.

The game reportedly revolves around fairy courting, possibly the only theme which can compete with the schoolgirl dating so common to the sub-genre. The setting is a standard science-fantasy setting, with a musically-themed magical system.

The busty animal-eared fairy main heroine (who, of course, suffers from amnesia and needs help finding something precious) revealed so far is Ion. Needless to say, she has already started to develop a following. She is accompanied by the obligatory harem of fairies, lest she not prove enough.

The actual game is said to incorporate “7-dimensional communication” as a major element, which appears to be a reference to heavy use of Love Plus-style virtual interaction features, coupled with Persona and Ar Tonelico style RPG-dating game features – although it appears to be closer to an adventure game or visual novel than an RPG with dating elements.

All this combined with the relatively high quality graphics of the Vita and the extremely high quality of Gust’s moeblobbery has served to rapidly drive anime otaku gamers into heights of excitement not seen since the advent of little Totori.

The game’s Japanese release is due on the 26th of April, 2012.

Whether and when the title will see the light of day in the barbarian lands is as yet undetermined – although with Gust’s other English-language Atelier releases having provided model localisations for some time, the chances of a happy ending seem reasonable.

Newly unveiled “HD anime” JRPG Toki to Eien: Tokitowa has been enthusiastically greeted by both anime and RPG fans (admittedly two groups with a great deal of overlap) as the “ultimate RPG for anime fans.”

By Namco Bandai and Image Epoch, Toki to Eien: Tokitowa (“Time & Eternity: Tokitowa”) boasts “2D-styled 3D” graphics, “HD quality” anime, character designs by VOFAN (the Taiwanese illustrator behind the character designs for the ****monogatari series), and animation by Satelight on the production side.

In addition to the traditional 10 minutes of random anime snippets which plague such games, Satelight is supposedly animating the game’s character models as though they were 2D animation to give the game a more cohesive anime feel (motion-capture apparently still being a concept alien to JRPG developers).

As for the game itself, it boasts the all-important generic fantasy setting and a nameable knight protagonist (voiced by Tsubasa Yonaga) set to marry a 16-year-old bishoujo arquebusier (queen Toki, voiced by Kana Hanazawa of Suou and Tenshi fame).

Doubtless, saving the kingdom from an ancient evil with the aid of some other adolescents will also feature. A flat-chested girl with twintails and pseudo-nekomimi features for good measure.

The trailer:

The gorgeous graphics and character designs have earned the title an instant following, with the only concerns being raised relating to its as yet unknown battle system and length:

The game is set for a 2012 release on the PS3, so with any luck an English language release will be available by 2015 – just in time for the console to become obsolete.

Top gaming rag Famitsu has quizzed its readers as to what games they find themselves dhedding the most tears over, unsurprisingly finding them to be a soppy bunch reduced to tears by the latest overwrought Final Fantasy yarn…

The ranking (note that most of the visual novels featured debuted on the PC as eroge, but for some inane reason Famitsu only acknowledges the Bowdlerised console editions):

1. Final Fantasy x (PS2)

2. Crisis Core – Final Fantasy XII (PSP)

3. Okami (PS2)

4. Clannad (PS2)

5. Metal Gear Solid 3 (PS2)

6. Steins;Gate (Xbox 360)

7. AIR (DC)

8. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

9. Mother 3 (GBA)

10. Final Fantasy Type 0 (PSP)

11. Little Busters! (PS2)

12. Final Fantasy IX (PS1)

13. Nier Replicant (PS3)

14. 428 (Wii)

15. Tales of the Abyss (PS2)

16. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)

17. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

18. Tales of Legendia (PS2)

19. ICO (PS2)

20. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

Final Fantasy X in fact routinely dominates lists of the most emotionally charged Japanese games (those which exclude PC eroge, at any rate) – although this is probably the first time Okami has managed to secure such an accolade…

Final Fantasy XIII-2′s first week sales figures reveal it has been outsold by Tales of Xillia, a fact which is being greeted as a massive humiliation and confirmation that Final Fantasy brand now lies in ruins.

The sales figures (with weekly and total sales)

1. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) 524,217/524,217

2. Monster Hunter 3 G (3DS) 208,427/730,386

3. Mario Kart 7 (3DS) 182,418/789,871

4. Inazuma 11 GO (3DS) 135,259/135,259

5. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)112,533/837,143

6. Kirby Wii (Wii) 71,028/398,516

7. Minna no GOLF 6 (PSV) 61,412/61,412

8. Uncharted (PSV) 48,224/48,224

9. JUST DANCE Wii (Wii) 44,021/323,293

10. PokePark 2 (Wii) 43,829/164,018

For those wondering, Vita sales stood at 324,859 – compared to 367,691 for the 3DS.

Meanwhile, Tales of Xillia sold 525,605 in its first week, a fact which has not gone uncommented upon:

“It’s dead, completely dead.”

“Bloody hell, FF can’t even outsell Tales now!”

“So the brand has finally collapsed. I suppose it was to be expected, they’ve just gotten too bad.”

“It sold even less than I thought it would… Maybe I’ll buy it cheaply second-hand.”

“Everyone will wait for the second-hand copies. They’ve learnt their lesson from the first one.”

“It can’t even win in the first week. There’s no chance for it now.”

“This is seriously dangerous:

FF13: 1,516,532
FF13-2: 524,217 (Xbox 360 too small to register in sales figures)

Refer back to this:

FF10: 1,749,737
FF10-2: 1,472,914″

“They were saying it would sell a million without difficulty…”

“And it was released in the holiday season.”

“The Vita is already finished… it can’t even beat the 3DS even now!?”

“Both FF and the Vita are dead.”

“The 3DS is at its peak. I think we can expect Vita sales to grow from here.”

“Considering how bad it is I think FF13-2 did well to sell what it did.”

“Final Fantasy can’t even manage a million now. It’s done for.”

“TOX: 525,605
vs
FF13-2: 524,217
This is a historic moment.”

“Maybe now that awful company will realise how bad a fix it is in.”

“Tales is now the leading JRPG!”

The cute Miyuko cosplays as Milla yet again (not that anyone is likely to complain), opting this time for a maid outfit and double buns, yielding a highly “ero-kawaii” cosplay indeed.

Compile Heart is at it again with their upcoming PS3 RPG Attoteki Yugi Mugen Souls (圧倒的遊戯 ムゲンソウルズ), a game already earning early notoriety for its profusion of ero-kawaii girls being stripped and splattered in the traditional manner.

The trailer:

The game is set to be released in March 2012, with the limited edition coming with a set of puchi Nendoroids:

For Final Fantasy XIII-2, Square Enix seems to have been busy correcting the extreme linearity and general absence of RPG-ness which  caused so much criticism of Final Fantasy XIII, with some maps looking distinctly complex – although this has immediately prompted complaints that they “will be a complete hassle to navigate.”

Some of the maps:

Towns and other crucial RPG elements were also promised, so it would appear Square Enix is attempting to address some of the major complaints levelled against the original.

In fact it may have achieved the ironic position of being less linear (at least in terms of dungeon design) than the latest paragon of open-world RPGs, Skyrim – a game in which almost all dungeons consist of a corridor to the boss followed by a convenient one-way shortcut back to the entrance or surface.

The original, by way of comparison:

However, the online reaction still seems to be demonstrating that, for some at least, Square Enix can do no right:

“I hope you guys are happy – after you complained about it being non-linear it is now a total bitch to navigate.”

“ヽ(´･д･｀)ﾉ”

“It’s super-complex now. This game is godly!”

“It’s more complex than I expected.”

“They should have done the first like this.”

“Nobody really wants non-linearity with such small maps in any case.”

“They’ve just piled in pointless forks so much it’ll be a total hassle. Damn idiots moaning about linearity.”

The game’s international release is due in January, although the Japanese version is available now.

The young Elise Lutas from hit RPG Tales of Xillia is here being cosplayed by Tomia, accompanied by her familiar and looking more youthful than ever before.

See also the same band’s Millia cosplay.

Tales of Xillia heroine Milla Maxwell has been given a suitably ero-kawaii portrayal by sassy Korean cosplay queen Miyuko, viewable below:

Namco Bandai Games have announced that Tales Studio, the studio responsible for producing its popular line of Tales RPGs, is to be disbanded and merged into Namco Bandai proper.

The official announcement of their dissolution and merging merely points out that as a fully owned subsidiary there is no substantive financial change in it being dissolved.

A detailed rationale for the decision is not provided, although the studio’s financial performance has been in doubt for some time, despite healthy sales of recent “mothership” titles.

As far as Japanese corporate politics go, for a fully owned subsidiary to be rolled back into the parent company suggests at the very least a considerable loss of independence and prestige, although just how it will affect their game output is not clear.

Online there is no small scepticism about the move:

“TOX was planned to sell 400,000 but managed 600,000, why are they doing this!?”

“The expansion of Bandai Namco’s exploitative business practice continues apace.”

“This sounds like a streamlining move, but I don’t see how they can avoid layoffs.”

“Nothing will change… right? It was a fully owned subsidiary after all. And the parent is the one who keeps churning out loss making games.”

“The influence of the Tales staff is sure to decrease with a move like this, you know.”

“Haven’t they lost enough staff already?”

“Tales Studio was an actual company?”

“It’s the same as with SCE. But unlike Sony there is no way they’ll reorganise them into another company.”

“So they won’t be able to choose their platform and number of titles now?”

“So Xillia was a beta after all…”

“If TOX could sell 600,000 and still make a loss their organisation must be pretty rotten. Anyone else could make a crappy game like that with only 200,000 sales.”

“Some of these Tales games are good. I hope they keep making them.”

“Why annoy all the users and retailers by dissolving their studio?”

“They’ll make it CG and have them appearing in Soul Calibur, mark my words.”

Aselia The Eternal, a quite complete and fully voiced romantic (though non-adult) RPG by Xuse has been released in English by JAST.

The OP:

The game is available in either DVD or digital editions now.

An MMORPG company which accidentally deleted its MMORPG during server maintenance has announced it has no choice but to shut the game down.

Japanese game developer Sankando and game operator Hangame had to make what must be the worst announcement (at least of those not pertaining to FFXIV) in MMORPG history with regards to their “M2″ title:

There is something we must inform our valued customers of.

On the 21st of October, 2011, at 20:00, we undertook emergency maintenance on the server due to a critical issue.

Service was to resume promptly, but work performed by Sankando could not restore the game’s data. It is tremendously regrettable, but unfortunately we have no choice but to end service.

Thank you all for enjoying M2 for so long! Our heartfelt apologies for it having turned out like this.

It is not clear how many players are affected, and the extent of the operator’s backup precautions is not known either. The game was based on item charges – some conditional refunds have been announced.

With billions of dollars of virtual “property” now lodged on game servers the world over, the prospect of server problems now seems to offer a novel form of financial chaos capable of bankrupting millions – not that this is much different to what happens daily on the markets.

RIP M2:

Nippon Ichi’s newly unveiled “dark fantasy action RPG” Majo to Hyakkihei (“The Witch & The Hundred Knights”) is attracting attention – through mainly due its sexy dark heroine, Bog Witch Metalica.

The plot concerns Bog Witch Metalica’s efforts to vanquish the wicked Forest Witch and swamp the world in bogs, marshes, fens and other paludal biomes, using an immortal magical summons – the “Hundred Knights,” whose role the player takes.

The most notable aspect of the game itself seems to be that veers away from traditional JRPG railroading of the player somewhat – a relatively open world with plenty of sidequests is promised, and as an amoral familiar the player can choose whether to go about things in a benign or malign manner, and be treated accordingly (or, put more bluntly, it may be “Bioware meets Disgaea”).

As for the actual game graphics – once again Nippon Ichi looks set on bringing stunning PSP level graphics to the PS3:

There is some scepticism about all this online:

“The main character is tiny?”

“Isn’t Metalica the main character?”

“Looks boring, Wii-level at best.”

“Looks like Magicka for the Japanese.”

“When they say it has freedom, there’s probably not much. They’ll never keep it balanced otherwise.”

“Protagonist, you are too small.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Well, Nippon Ichi are trying at nay rate. But frankly, this looks like some overseas DL game.”

“It feels really sweet, but then they make the protagonist into a totally bland and boring character – Nippon Ichi always does this.”

Japanese release is set for the spring of 2012.

Tales of Xillia has proven a major hit, shifting over half a million copies in its first week and already securing the title of fastest selling Tales title ever.

The latest week’s sales figures show Tales of Xillia firmly in the number 1 spot with 525,605 copies sold (as opposed to merely shipped to retail channels).

It is also the best selling Tales title ever, and the second best selling PS3 game in the Japanese market (second only to FF13, and in both cases in first week terms – its eventual sales remain to be seen):

TOX　　525,605
TOD　　450,099　　829,271
TOD2　498,142　　762,861
TOE　　384,790　　669,248
TOR　　372,767　　596,493

More recent Tales titles had tended to exhibit weaker sales, putting the future of the franchise (at least as a major JRPG) in doubt, but it seems that trend has been dramatically arrested.

The game itself has received some of the best critical reviews of any Tales title, and online raillery is largely absent – although there is the usual grumbling about Bandai’s aggressive use of DLC in place of elements which were formerly part of the game proper.

So far, fans have not uncovered any evidence of Bandai’s much reviled beta-marketing strategy, which can only add to the game’s popularity.

With the Final Fantasy franchise under definite strain in recent iterations, and Dragon Quest reduced to an online game for its latest title, Tales fans are hailing this impressive showing as a sign of a Tales renaissance – although international fans are still left to worry over when, if ever, they will ever see the title.

The Japanese edition is however available internationally now.

In other news, Bandai has announced Tales of Innocence R for the Vita – the “R” standing for “Reimagination” rather than “Remake,” although the latter seems to be more accurate.

US reviewers have been raving over the recent American release of Disgaea 4, with some going so far as to award it 100%, lavishing praise on its highly refined SRPG gameplay whilst maintaining diplomatic reserve about other elements…

Reviewers seem to have generously overlooked the decidedly hackneyed plot and still awful (if improved) graphics in favour of the highly refined strategic RPG gameplay the series is a byword for – an appropriate evaluation, given the expectations of fans:

The game is available now.

An article concerning which games women looking to snag a hot otaku boyfriend should feign familiarity with has lately been attracting derision from gamers – with such gems as “be sure to say how cute Blanka is!”, it is not hard to see why.

The article:

Otaku may have had a bad image for some time, but these days everyone plays games and reads manga.

Even a really hot and stylish guy may be into a few games – we’ll introduce a few game titles sure to let you close the distance with a boy you’ve got your eye on:

LVL 1. A must for all! “Dragon Quest”

Even girls know Dragon Quest… if the conversation turns to DQ, be sure to immediately comment on how cute the slimes are!

[...]

LVL 2. A game with a high proportion of hot players! “Final Fantasy”

[...]

Be sure to take note of this one – Final Fantasy is lately going all out with visual-kei taste. Make sure you comment on how cute the chocobo are!

[...]

LVL 3. Everyone loves it! “Street Fighter”

All guys love Street Fighter. Make sure you know it. Try to make sure you can say whether you prefer Ken or Ryu, and if you say “Blanka’s so cute isn’t he!” you’ll surely sound like a pro.

[...]

LVL 4. Lots of hardcore players play it! “Metal Gear Solid”

[...]

Ensure you can say “I’d really fall for a man like Snake!” Also, he’ll surely think you’re cute if you say something like “You’d so get busted trying that with a cardboard box, wouldn’t you?”

[...]

LVL 5. The music is great too! “Chrono Trigger”

[...]

You want to be able to say how great the field music is!

[...]

Fortunately for those not keen on forever having to pretend to like games just to keep a boyfriend, there is already a guide concerning how to force men to give up their gaming once they have been secured.

The general opinion seems to be that there may be more efficacious means of achieving the same results:

“Who cares what you know, most would be happy just that you’re showing an interest!”

“The only otaku guys women will bother approaching are hot guys. They won’t come near us!”

“It’s never going to happen!”

“What’s with this retro selection. Try it with Bayonetta.”

“Real otaku are probably going to have much more obscure tastes than this selection…”

“I’d think talking like that about something you nothing about would be more annoying than anything else.”

“The basic work is anything by Key.”

“The creepy otaku who rejoice at seeing this article are seriously creepy.”

“There are guys who try to use their interest in BL to appeal to fujoshi, but it is basically lame.”

“I remember that story about someone’s elder sister who approached her brother about learning BF and COD so she could marry an FPS otaku she had her eye on…”

“Don’t forget not all otaku are into games. What are you going to do if he is a train otaku?”

“If she likes a guy and wants to learn about games to get closer to him, what’s wrong with that?”

“Blanka’s so cute isn’t he!”

Dragon Quest X Online has been unveiled, though the news that it is apparently both an MMORPG and developed by Square Enix has prompted a great deal of scepticism.

The game is said to be due in 2012 for both Wii and Wii U (with 3DS combined play possible), with play data portable across the two platforms.

Gameplay details released include the fact it is based around 5 races, has job, skill and housing systems, along with the usual generic RPG and MMORPG staples. An unusual feature mentioned is the ability to gain levels whilst renting a character to another player. A USB keyboard is “recommended.”

What kind of charging system the game will incorporate has not been revealed, and the announcement is oddly reticent about describing the game as MMORPG or similar, although an Internet connection is definitely required and it not clear whether there is any offline play (although it is promised the game can be enjoyed alone).

Financial markets seem less than convinced – Square Enix stock plunged on the announcement:

2ch is less than convinced also, although the reaction is far from universally negative:

“Online…”

“What the hell, it’s online?”

“Online…”

“Online…”

“It’s for the Wi!!!”

“Online and for the Wii…”

“Seriously, it’s online?”

“Seriously, 5 races?”

“It’s an online game…”

“An MMO…”

“Not an online game, please.”

“I can forgive it being online. But an online game for the Wii? No.”

“The leak was right then.”

“This is a total online game!”

“Looks good, for the Wii.”

“Scary ogres!”

“Ogre is quite hot…”

“This looks good!”

“Calling it ‘online’ – it must be an MMO, right?”

“So how much are the monthly charges?”

“There’s sure to be monthly charges and item charging.”

“I was excited, but the thought of a Square Enix online game fills me with uncertainty.”

“It’s really a full MMORPG?”

“Is this an MMO or more of a MO game?”

“What are they going to do about updates for Wii with no HDD?”

“Aren’t there any normal humans in the game or what?”

“Can you even play solo?”

“They do say you can enjoy it alone.”

“They’ve abandoned true single player fans…”

“Can’t we have a normal sequel to DQ8?”

“I love DQ but there’s no way I’m playing an MMO.”

“Dragon Quest is now done for…”

“At least there’s a Wii U version!”

“The Wii is finished and so is Square Enix, why does it have to be these two?”

“Will they make this one in China too?”

“So they made such a mess of FFXIV that they are now trying to drive everyone onto another MMORPG using Dragon Quest?”

“Square Enix are making it themselves, what could possibly go wrong?”

“Square Enix…”

The apparent reluctance to openly describe the game as being a MMORPG seems to be regarded as highly suspect by most – presumably there is sensitivity over the fact both Dragon Quest fans and Wii owners may very well want nothing to do with an MMORPG, and that Square Enix is developing it.

The perverse reluctance of the shade of Atlus to make a new Persona title for the PS3 is now reaching farcical levels – the latest addition to the series is to be a 2D fighting game spin-off, accompanied by yet another portable remake.

The game, dubbed “Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena,” is set to hit arcades in the spring of 2012, with a console port for PS3 and Xbox 360 following in summer. Along with the expected Persona 4 characters, some characters from Persona 3 will also make an appearance.

In addition to the fighting game, the PS Vita is to see a heavily upgraded port of Persona 4 proper, dubbed “Persona 4: The Golden” – including a new character, new voicing, more anime movies, and some coop play possibilities utilising the Vita’s new features.

The online reaction of most fans seems to be one of fatigue at having to endure yet another non-RPG release (at the current rate of progress it seems the PS3 will be obsolete before it gets a fresh Persona RPG), but there still appears to be a great deal of interest in the Vita edition.

Disturbingly sexualised young girl RPG Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 has opened a veritable Pandora’s Box by including the ability to create custom textures for the heroines, leading to an immediate flood of textures featuring transparent clothing, carefully placed band-aids, and, of course, outright nudity…

The textures and so on:

The small but dedicated fanbase the game enjoys (almost the entire game is based on material from a single games board on 2ch, and only this tiny group has any hope of getting the obscure references the game is packed with) seems very much intent on supporting the title:

A real nude filter for those feeling short-changed by blurry PS3 textures:

The game itself is available now – whether the near miracle of the first game reaching the west will be repeated is already the subject of some speculation, although it would surely be worth it just to hear the western game press whine about the even more sexist sequel.

Tales fans are hailing the upcoming Tales of Xillia as the sexiest Tales RPG to date, with some exceptionally revealing (for a Tales title at any rate) character designs and costumes on display…

Omake fan art – it seems even the official portrayals cannot agree on Mira’s size, let alone the fan ones…

The game’s Japanese language release is due in September.

Top HRPG Ar Tonelico has finally provided western fans with one of its saucy artbooks, available now.

Ar Tonelico Visual Book is available for orders now.

Fans of Valkyria Chronicles can now inspect in English the character and vehicle designs which made the franchise such a success (if a succession of PSP “sequels” can be considered as such), thanks to the recent publication of the Valkyria Chronicle Design Archive – replete with detailed treatment of each character’s swimwear…

The book is available for purchase now.

Square Enix has finally remade Final Fantasy VII – though perhaps not in the way fans have been so interminably clamouring for…

The characters are on sale as DLC from the 14th onwards, for those still willing to brave PSN.

Aside from the obvious inexplicability of Square Enix’s refusal to produce the most demanded remake in gaming history, some concerns have been voiced about a certain lackingness in poppet Tifa:

Lovely valkyrie Gwendolyn, from Vanillaware’s hit PS2 game Odin Sphere, has received a new figure rendition by Yamato due to be released in October 2011.

Gwendolyn is available for pre-orders now.