Last time Arc System Works teased something, we came away rather disappointed. This time though, it looks like they’ll be trying their hand at the BloodRayne franchise. Not much is known beyond what is shown on the teaser site itself. All we see is a countdown and some text above it. “She who fights with monsters might take care lest she thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you,” is written.
Over in Japan, the location test of Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear Xrd was well underway, and with it came the reveal of returning favorites. First up is the anchor wielding May, followed by the massive Potemkin, who’s either sporting a full suit of armor or has gone fully robotic. Chipp Zanuff and Venom also make a return as well. The pictures from RadioKaikan also show off other characters as well, like Jam and Bridget, though it’s possible that it’s just promo material for Guilty Gear in general and not specifically for Xrd. Still, it’s a safe bet that they’ll be coming back as well.
Guilty Gear Xrd is the first game in the series to use the Unreal Engine, and it’s using it in way you wouldn’t expect. While what you see in the initial trailer and in the pics from the location test might look like 2D sprites, the character models are actually in 3D. In other words, it’s cel-shading that resembles sprite work. Pretty impressive if you ask me. You’ll see what I mean if you look at the “You Rock” and intro/victory screens taken by Famitsu.
You can check out some more screens after the jump.
As the U.S. starts their journey on Persona 4 Arena this week, Arc System Works has revealed the next chapter in the BlazBlue storyline, BlazBlue Chronophantasma. With this new bitch-to-type entry comes three new characters. The ultra feminine kimono-wearing Amane Nishiki, the ballistics packer Bullet, and the diesel as hell Azrael. Everyone else, save for Nu and Lambda, makes a return in this entry with new portraits and new moves at their disposal. Now keep in mind, this is definitely another sequel to BlazBlue, not an update like some of these poor chaps are thinking. Calamity Trigger was the first. Continuum Shift was the sequel. Continuum Shift II and Extend were updates. Chronophantasma is an new entry, not an update. One observant fan also noticed some new changes that will be introduced in this game, like removal of guard primers, a new Overdrive mechanic, and redrawn neutral sprites.
See the reveal of this game only reminds me that I still have… Calamity Trigger to finish. Dear lord do I still have a long way to go. Welp, time to get crackin’! Chronophantasma is set to release this Winter in Japan. U.S. release is TBA, but it’s highly likely it’ll come here too in the future.
Ain’t no rest for Arc System Works. After Persona 4 Arena, they’ve got a new game planned and they’re already teasing it. But what is this game. Judging by the kanji characters, it alludes to ghosts, houses, and one more thing I got. There appears to be no other hints to what this game is. Nothing in the URL, the page source… nothing. If anyone knows some Japanese out there, I’ve pulled the writing out for you to decipher.
According to game director Kazuhisa Wada, in a post on the official Persona 4 Arena Blog, Persona 4 Arena’s story mode will be a huge part of the game and will last somewhere between 30 to 40 hours. On top of that, the story is being written by the Persona Team themselves and will feature full voice acting. You can check out the Japanese trailer after the jump.
Update: An official release date has been confirmed. Persona 4 Arena will be arriving in North America on August 7th and will feature both the original Japanese voice track as well as the new English voice-work.
Here’s a new trailer for Persona 4 Arena with more gameplay, one very hyper announcer, and a tease of the Midnight Channel’s return. Persona 4 Arena is still slated for release this summer and I believe many Persona and fighting fans alike have this game on their radar. I know several of us at The Wired Fish do.
Continuing the trend of checking official websites, it looks like Persona 4 Arena‘s Japanese site got an update too. Several in fact. Going there now, you’ll notice that the sites taking a little longer to load. That’s because the theme song gotten a change. Now someone is singing the theme song in glorious, glorious Engrish. Delving into the characters section, you’ll see three new combatants have been added. First is Elizabeth, Igor’s assistant from Persona 3. This might peak your interest if you’ve played to the end of Persona 3 and fought Margaret in Persona 4. Since Persona 4 Arena is canon and takes place after Persona 4, her inclusion might indicate something. She’ll be using Thanatos as her Persona.
Along with her is a character named Labyrs. She looks like a new character since I’ve never seen her in Persona 4. Maybe I haven’t played far enough in P4 (I’m still in Naoto’s Dungeon). The other character is Shadow Labrys. She (meaning both) looks like another android like Aigis. Her uniform suggests that she’s from Inaba. Her regular form’s Persona is Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete in Greek Mythology who was in charge of the Labyrinth. The Shadow form’s Persona is Asterius (aka Asterion), the Minotaur of Crete that was in the Labyrinth. Huh, looks like Atlus had a dream of seeing Japanese and Greek mythological figures clash. Persona 4 Arena is slated for a Summer release in the U.S. on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Atlus has just confirmed that Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena will be released in the U.S. for Xbox 360 and PS3 this summer. With this release comes a new, shorter name for those that thought it was a mouthful (or just felt uncomfortable using the P4U abbreviation). It’ll be known as Persona 4: Arena in the U.S. No word yet if the English voice cast will come back reprise their rolls, or what that one card is hiding on the Japanese website’s character screen. Pre-orders are currently being taken though Gamestop, Amazon, and VGP. The U.S. site is up, but so far there’s only the pre-order information shown.
I don’t care how many times I do these articles, I’m not calling P4: The Ultimate “P4U.” It just sounds dirty. Anyway, here we have footage of a location testing (or “Loketest”) of Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena. Here we have a fight between Kanji and my homegirl Mitsuru. Things are still as fast as ever. One interesting thing that one of the youtube comments pointed out was that the blue bars under the life gauge have been changed to look like the backs of the Arcana cards from Persona 3&4. Pretty interesting. What other changes have you noticed? Point them out in the comments below.
Atlus you cheeky bastards, leading us to assume that Aigis was the only P3 representative in that fighting game you’re making with ArcSys. Shame on you! But I digress, Atlus has revealed recently that Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko Sanada from Persona 3 will be playable characters in Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena. Since this takes place some time after Persona 4, you already know these two aged when you consider when P3 took place. Akihiko has now lost his shirt and is sporting a huge scar across his chest (that looks like it came from a bear). Mitsuru now looks like a spy for the KGB and is now wearing a fur coat, and hot damn am I okay with that! They’ll be sporting their ultimate Personas, Ceasar and Artemesia respectively. The official website has been updated to show these characters. Screens after the break. Now if you excuse me…Continue reading →
And just when I thought Atlus and Arc System Works would remain hush for a while after revealingPersona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, here they come with more screens. From the looks of it, this game is going have more flash than MvC3 on acid. One thing I never noticed was Rise next to the portraits of the fighters cheering you on. Though, given the context that she’s friends with everyone revealed so far (except for Aigis), she might serve more of a purpose than being a cheerleader. Also, the debate over the P4 antagonist’s name has been settled, as he’ll go by his anime name, Yu Narukami (as o opposed to the fan favorite manga name, Souji Seta). We also see more of the characters’ Personas dishing out some attacks. My assumption is that either you have to build up that super meter at the bottom to call them out for a super, or they’ll just come out for a quick moment for special attacks. We’ll know more as time goes. In the mean time, hit the jump to see some screens [UPDATE] and the trailer!
Last time Arc System Works teased something, we came away rather disappointed. This time though, it looks like they’ll be trying their hand at the BloodRayne franchise. Not much is known beyond what is shown on the teaser site itself. All we see is a countdown and some text above it. “She who fights with monsters might take care lest she thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you,” is written.
The Wired Fish Network 