New Dragon Quest IX Info: Battlefield, Hissatsu Special Moves and new monsters

Back from the holidays! And lo and behold there is new Dragon Quest IX information in this week’s Shonen Jump. Here is the one-page scan:

Battle

The article goes through a sample round of combat. If you want to follow along, start at the top center of the scan page and follow the arrows.

1. You choose from various commands that should be familiar to players of the DQ series. Once you’ve selected all commands, the battle will start.
2. The Mage advances towards an enemy (a Wyvern) and casts a spell (Mera, ie Blaze). Looks like the Mage got the first attack!
3. Next the Fighter charges in and gets in the enemy’s (a Puchi-Zucchinya) face.
4. The screen moves to the monsters perspective as the Wyvern attacks the Fighter.
5. The screen rotates. The Puchi-Zucchinya attacks the Fighter from behind.
6. The camera zooms out to the Priest who casts a spell (Sukara - raises one ally’s defense rating).
7. Finally it’s the Soldier’s turn. He uses a Technique and finishes off the Puchi-Zucchinya.

The article mentioned that a monster attacked a character from behind. It doesn’t state whether back-attacks are stronger than front-attacks or not. I wouldn’t read too much into this yet. The tone of the article seems to be hyping the camera movement on the battlefield, so more than likely they are just pointing out “Ooh, look. It’s not just a line of stationary enemies anymore.”

Hissatsu, aka Special Oh-Shit Moves

DQIX also has Hissatsu moves. I don’t know how this will be translated, but they become available to you when you are in deep trouble (like low hit points). They are special attacks that presumably do lots of damage. Different classes have different Hissatsu moves.

1. When you are in a pinch, Special Hissatsu moves become available.
2. Hissatsu moves differ by class. Soldiers, for example, can invoke an Excellent Hit.
3. When Hissatsu moves are available, your Hissatsu command will light up to let you know you can use it.
4. What happens if all of your party members join together and do a Hissatsu move at the same time? Super Hissatsu Move! Likely to be badass. Note the big sword falling from heaven.

Pretty cool to see these in there. Note that Hissatsu moves are different from Techniques that each class learns through Skill Point distribution.

New Monsters

Finally we have some new monsters. These monsters are unique to DQIX.

From right to left.
1. Nubon - This monster appears sluggish and lazy, but watch out because he might suddenly grab a boulder and throw it at you.
2. Desert Runner - Nicknamed “Desert Meteor”, this sucker is fast. In the screenshot he is casting Biorimu (SpeedUp or Accelerate), which is a spell that raises all allies’ agility.
3. Upa Soldier - This guy is good at dodging attacks. In the screenshot it says “Upa Soldier is getting ready to dodge an attack.”
4. Snail Frog - In Japanese Denden-gaeru, a cross between the words for snail and frog. This guy licks you in the face and makes it so you can’t move, much like other DQ monsters with big tongues.

Conclusion

That’s it! Can’t wait for DQIX! To keep up-to-date on the latest Dragon Quest IX news, subscribe to my RSS feed.

Dragon Quest IX will be released in Japan on March 28, 2009. It will cost 5980 yen.

Links:
Official Site

New Dragon Quest IX Info: Quests, a Thieves’ Guild and more!

Today a new issue of VJump magazine was released and they had an article about Dragon Quest IX for the Nintendo DS. Here are the scans:

Introduction

Before I get to the NEW STUFF, I’ll talk very briefly about the old stuff.

A lot of the information in this article is just repeats of stuff from the Shonen Jump article that I posted about earlier. I won’t go into detail again, but I’ll make a brief list.

1. Laviel and multiplayer
2. Six monsters (Zucchinya, Argon Devil, etc)
3. Ability to split up in multiplayer games
4. Calling your allies to battles in multiplayer mode
5. Travelling performer class
6. Viewing multiplayer friend info
7. Gestures

Nevertheless, there are a few new tidbits thrown in there:

1. Traveling Performer class has a Technique called “Breathe Fire“
2. Gestures are done by pressing the B button + directional pad. There does seem to be space for more than four Gestures, so they may get more complicated.
3. You can view city maps in the top screen like DQV. Probably with the Y button

Now onto the new stuff.

Quests

Dragon Quest IX will have a Quest system. You will talk to various people in towns and sometimes they will ask for help, hence the Quest.

You get to choose whether you want to accept Quests or not. Quests are generally not connected with the main story, but they can be fun. There are many different types of Quests. Some common ones include:

1. Go on an errand for me.
2. Get an item
3. Eliminate a monster or group of monsters

They include some sample quests. Check the 5th scan.

Thieves’ Guild?

One such quest has a guy named Dulio asking you to steal an item from a Metal Hunter. If you steal it and bring it back to him, he will let you join “Dulio’s Thieves’ Guild”. The Quest log tells you that you can find the Metal Hunter in a cave to the north. Then it shows a picture of a Thief character using the Steal Technique in a battle with a Metal Hunter.

Simple Quests

Not all quests are complicated. Some Quests are more simple.

The first quest (they are numbered) has a girl named Maron asking you to retrieve a (Spotted) Spider’s web.

Another Quest has an old man named Irohon asking you to get some “Magic Fairy Water”. If you bring him some, he gives you a new quest, asking you to bring him a history book from the castle.

Strange Quests

Some quests are funny. In one town there is a man named Tatsu. Somebody told him that he looks like a Tensk (a monster from DQVI). This hurt his feelings and now he wants you to go outside and kill 10 Tensks to make him feel better (literally “heal his heart”).

Town Names

I’ve caught some town names by reading textboxes. We already knew about Sentstein, but we also have Beksaria Village, Wolro Village, Katekota (bridge? cooper?) and Sanmaro.

Conclusion

That’s it for this article. Most of it was stuff we already knew, but there were a couple new things. To keep up-to-date on the latest Dragon Quest IX news, subscribe to my RSS feed.

Dragon Quest IX will be released in Japan on March 28, 2009. It will cost 5980 yen.

Links:
Official Site

New Phantasy Star Zero Scans

Today’s Weekly Famitsu had a little two-page article about Phantasy Star Zero. Here are the scans:

Intro

Just one week away from the release of Phantasy Star Zero. The people at Famitsu got to play the sample ROM. They mention how the game really comes alive in multiplayer because of the pictures and messages you can send back and forth.

Difficulty

As you advance the story, you will be able to select Hard mode. In this mode, enemies’ strength and attacks become more fierce, and rarer items appear. Not only is there a Hard mode, but also a Super Hard mode.

You select the difficulty at the Quest Counter. You can also choose difficulty when playing with friends.

In harder difficulties, the monsters are much tougher, but they drop rare items!

These difficulty settings will allow you to continue your adventuring even after you finish the story.

Character Creation

You make your hero yourself. As a member of the Hunter’s Guild, you will help resolve problems that occur on the earth and moon. There are 14 character types in all. Incidentally, you can use the same character in all modes (story mode, wireless, wi-fi).

You choose different parts and colors for your character based on character type. When naming your character, it looks like you can use katakana, hiragana, roman characters, numbers and symbols.

Human

Humans are the sole surviving race from the Great War. As a whole, their abilities are balanced and they can manage any type of job well.

Cast (Androids)

After the Great War, these man-made life-forms were left sleeping all around the land. They can set traps and automatically recover Hit Points.

Newman

Raised on the moon, the Newmans were forgotten and left behind. They are good at Techniques, and their Photon Points (needed to perform Techniques) regenerate automatically.

Three modes of play

Phantasy Star Zero has three modes of play: Story Mode, Wireless Play Mode, and Wi-Fi Mode. Multiplayer is more difficult than Story Mode and some quests can only be accessed in multiplayer. There are also monsters that a single player couldn’t possibly hope to defeat, so gather your friends and kick their ass together.

Story Mode

In this mode, you band together with some NPCs and adventure. Depending on your character’s race, your story and NPC party members will be different. Many fascinating characters make an appearance.

Sarisa

Sarisa has a docile personality and doesn’t hide her feelings. The story starts when you meet her.

Kai

A big brother that the main character and Sarisa can rely on. He’s rough and doesn’t care about fine details.

In the textbox, Kai says something like: “You have amnesia, but the way you move… movements that your body knows well are not easily forgotten. They are a big deal.”

(The amnesia refers to the Newman story, where you crash land on earth and lose your memory.)

Anime movie scenes are done by GONZO.

Wireless Mode

You can play with up to four friends who are near you. The places you can go in your adventure are determined by the host. Players can only go to places that the host has unlocked in Story Mode.

Key Points
1. Friend codes are automatically exchanged in wireless play.
2. Visual Chat is enabled
3. Item Trading is allowed

Wi-Fi Mode

Using the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection you can connect with faraway friends and adventure with people all over the country (doesn’t mention the world, but who knows what’s really possible). Wi-fi Mode has three modes itself.

1. Wi-Fi Friend Mode.

   If you exchange Friend Codes ahead of time, you can play with friends you get along with. It’s basically the same as Wireless Mode, without the distance restrictions.

   

   Visual Chat. Make your own pictures or download someone else's.

   Key Points
   1. Friends of your friends can play, even if you don’t exchange Friend Codes with them
   2. Visual Chat enabled
   3. Item Trading allowed

2. Wi-Fi Free Mode

   Play with anyone in the country. Select a stage and a difficulty and the system will automatically match you up into a party. There is an Evaluation System in place too.

   Pre-made message chat is in Japanese and English, so you can communicate with people around the world (makes me think the note about playing “country-wide” is only half of the story).

   

   Pre-made messages are bilingual.

   Key Points
   1. You play in one area
   2. Chat with pre-made messages available. (see my previous post on PSZ)
   3. Item Trading prohibited

3. Wi-Fi Single Mode

   Play Single Mode will logged in. If a friend logs in, you can form a party, so this mode is good for hanging out and waiting for friends to come online.

   You can play the difficult multiplayer quests on your own in this mode. You will find it quite challenging.

   Key Points
   1. You can play Multiplayer-specific quests by yourself
   2. You can check Friend Info

Famitsu Game Reviewer’s impression

Here is what Reviewer Fukami had to say:

First I tried Story Mode. The voices and animation were a nice touch! I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t get into too much detail, but in addition to the main quest, you will have to manage subquests and along the way you will face some really hard fights.

Once you finish Story Mode, Hard mode and then later Super Hard mode open up, so really finishing the game feels like you just crossed the starting line. I went through Phantasy Star Portable’s Story Mode pretty smoothly, but this time the harder modes really made an impression on me.

When you make a party in Wireless Mode and Wi-Fi Mode there isn’t any lag at all! In Visual Chat, if you make shortcuts beforehand, you can communicate really quickly. When you go it alone, checking the Friend Ranking feature is pretty badass. When you make friends and play with them, the game keeps track of who does what and ranks you. Getting messages like “This guy collected more weapons than you…” and “You should practice some more before you play next time!” really motivates me because I hate to lose. And I think its cool how the rankings automatically update the next time you play together.

Also, just as advertised in the commercial, there will be Visual Chat art drawn by famous people and in-house designers. You can download beautiful illustrations and use them in Visual Chat! You can also use pictures that your friends draw. Since I suck at drawing, I was really happy to find this out! Man, I can’t wait to play this on Wi-Fi when the game is released to the public!

If you suck at drawing pictures, no problem!!

Conclusion

That’s it for this update. If you want to stay up-to-date on the latest Japanese game news, please subscribe to my RSS feed.

Phantasy Star Zero will be released in Japan on Christmas. It will cost 5040 yen.

Links:
Official site

Square-Enix wants your help to name weapons in Blood of Bahamut

Cool little news bit I read on Famitsu.com.  Square-Enix wants some weapon names for their new RPG Blood of Bahamut, so they are asking you, the general public to help them out. 

From December 15th to January 4th, Square-Enix Members can submit weapon name ideas.  Then Square-Enix will select which ones they want to use, and if yours is chosen:

1. Your weapon(s) will appear in the final game!
2. Your nickname will appear in the game’s credits! (Square-Enix Members nickname)

You can submit as many ideas as you want. They must be a maximum of 8 characters, and the following writing systems are allowed:

1. Hiragana
2. Katakana
3. Alphanumeric (yes, this is your chance non-Japanese speakers!)
4. Joyo Kanji

Sounds like a pretty cool way to be part of the creation process. To send in submissions go to the Blood of Bahamut special page and click the button at the bottom of the disclaimer-looking thing.

If you aren’t a Square-Enix member, you can sign up here for free. You can probably google translate your way through the sign-up process, but if you can’t I might be able to guide you through it if you ask nicely.

How to fill out the Weapon Name submission form

Once you are on the submission page, you will see some radio buttons and 3 text boxes. These are the fields to fill out (Ibuki, Yui and Kamo are character names):

1. Choose either a sword for Ibuki, staff for Yui or axe for Kamo (required)
2. Enter the name of your weapon (required)
3. Write about the story/origin/history or image you have for your weapon (required)
4. Write a message for the development team.

After you fill in the fields, hit the button on the bottom. Then it will bring you to a confirmation page and at the bottom you click the button on the right to confirm and submit.

Good luck!

Blood of Bahamut is an RPG for the Nintendo DS and doesn’t yet have a release date.

Links:

Official Site
Source: famitsu.com

New Dragon Quest IX Scans: New monsters, new class, multiplayer info and more!

In today’s Shonen Jump Weekly Jump magazine they had a feature article on Dragon Quest IX. Here are the scans:

On to the juicy bits:

Package Art

The first page is the official package art. Some of our old favorite monsters are there, as well as a couple of new ones.

Here are the monster types I spot:

1. Slime
2. Drakee
3. Healer
4. King Slime
5. Lilypa
6. Troll
7. Big Hammer Guy
8. Ozwarg
9. Zucchinya (new)
10. Moomon (new)

New Class: Traveling Performer

The Traveling Performer class had already been spotted before at the recent press conference, but this is the first time that we have any official information on it. It says their offense and defense are “balanced”, and it looks like they takeover the role of the Goof-off from previous Dragon Quest games.

One of their skills is Acrobatics. Increasing this skill will allow you to learn special Techniques (see DQIX Skills System article). The example Technique is making the enemy laugh, causing them to be unable to move (from laughing too hard). The screenshot on page 2 shows this technique.

The sample Traveling Performer character is equipped with the following equipment:

1. Serpent Whip
2. Feathered Cap
3. Dancer’s Shirt
4. Gaudy Pants
5. Acrobat Shoes

Another new class?

On page 4, if you look closely at the orange-yellow screen, one of the characters is listed as a Bodybuilder. Sweet!

New Monsters

At the bottom of pages 3 and 4, we are introduced to some new monsters. Some of them we have seen in previous screenshots, but now we have some info about them:

1. Zucchinya. A vegetable monster from the pumpkin/squash family. He is good with a spear.
2. Tiger Lance. Not only does this atrocious beast have a huge lance, he also casts spells! In the screenshot he is casting Rukani, which is the Sap spell (the one that drains your defense).
3. Moomon. In Japanese it’s Mo-mon, but it’s meant to be the sound of a cow, so I made it Moomon in English. This baby monster has skin like a cow. It looks really cute at first, but when it attacks you it’s quite scary.
4. Ponpoko Tanuki. Ponpoko is the Japanese onomatopoeia that a Tanuki makes when it beats its fists on its belly. A Tanuki is something like a raccoon. You probably know it from Super Mario Bros. 3. This monster is known as a “dance hero” throughout the monster world. Watch out for their beautiful dance steps. In the screenshot, the Ponpoko Tanuki is doing a Tempting Dance
5. Argon Devil. Not too sure if I should translate this “Argon” or not. Making use of its slender body, this sucker is fast! I has long arms and sharp claws and it will use these to scratch you to shreds.

New Angel-winged NPC

At the press conference, there was a model dressed up as an angel named Laviel. Now we have information about her!

She works in Luida’s Bar. She’s your gateway to multiplayer stuff. Talking to her will allow you to “connect to an outside world.” Which brings us to the bulk of the article….

Multiplayer

You can play Dragon Quest IX with your friends via wireless connection. How it works is this:

1. One person will talk to Laviel and Host a new world.
2. Other people will talk to Laviel and join that new world as your Guest.

Once you have four characters in the new world (only one character per person), they can explore freely. You can go out and adventure together or everyone can split up and go on their own.

It appears that there are some treasure boxes that Guests can’t open. If something is important to the Host, Guests can’t get it. I doubt this means all treasure boxes. More likely it’s quest-related treasures that would cause you to get stuck if someone joined your game, grabbed it and left. That’s my guess.

Also, we catch the name of one of the towns. There is a castle town called “Sentstein“. Sounds German.

Multiplayer Battle

Naturally you can fight monsters together with your friends. But what happens if you are separated?

If your party is separated, and the host gets into a tough battle, the Host (and only the Host) can call for help. If you are a Guest, separated from the Host, and he calls you for help, you will be instantly teleported to the battle. In the game, it looks like the traditional Dragon Quest “X calls for help. Y arrives” scheme that some monsters (damn you Goopis) use to do. The Guest called has the option to decline of course.

Also, if some characters are in a battle, and you happen to run up to them, you can join the battle too. Just charge right in.

It also looks like we see the return of the Rammore monsters from Dragon Quest 3. And is that a Demon Anteater I see? Hard to tell, but I sure hope so!

Other Multiplayer Stuff

The game keeps records of the stuff you do together with your friends.

You can check their record sheet and see things like:

1. Class (Bodybuilder here!), Name
2. How long they’ve played.
3. ??? Something I can’t read. What the hell is renkin? Alchemy?? Smithing??
4. Number of battles won.
5. Number of titles received.
6. Number of quests cleared
7. Percentage of monsters faced and defeated.
8. Percentage of items gotten.
9. Percentage of renkin (alchemy? smithing?) recipes

Wow, titles! And some kind of recipe book!

Gestures

Hidden throughout the world are Gestures that you can learn. Find them and learn them and then show them off to your friends. Some example poses are raising your fist in the air, waving goodbye, bowing and jumping (one screenshot shows three characters jumping at the same time).

Conclusion

Whew! That’s it for this update. Lots of new information. I can’t wait to get my hands on this game. If anything strikes you as cool, please leave a comment! And if you haven’t already, subscribe to my RSS feed to get Japanese game news updates as they happen.

Dragon Quest IX will be released in Japan on March 28th, 2009. It will cost 5980 yen.

Dragon Quest IX Links:
Official Site

Phantasy Star Zero: new scans, three online modes, story info and more

This week’s Weekly Famitsu has an article about Phantasy Star Zero for the Nintendo DS. In it they talk about three different Wi-Fi modes, story information for two of the races, special shops and a boss enemy.

Phantasy Star Zero is coming out on Christmas and I want it bad. Not gonna happen this year though as Christmas shopping is all done and money is in short supply. I’m grabbing it in January though. Should keep me busy until the release of Dragon Quest IX in March. Onto the scans:

Online Wi-Fi Play

First they talk a bit about online play via Wi-Fi. There are three modes.

1. First we have Free Mode, which is highlighted in this pic:
   

   Free mode let's you chat with premade bilingual messages.

   In Free Mode, you play with other people online and you can chat with them using premade messages. These messages are bilingual in Japanese and English, so you can play with people around the world without communication problems. Notice the text box says “Switch, please” in both English and Japanese.

2. Friend Mode is where you play with your buddies who you have designated as “friends”. Here is the relevant shot:
   

   In Friend Mode, use visual chat to send your own original pictures and text to your friends.

   This mode is a lot like Free Mode except that it enables you to use Visual Chat. In Visual Chat, you can make your own pictures and text and send them to your friends. This differs from Free Mode, which only allows you to use pre-made (i.e. Sega-made) messages. The reason for the distinction is probably to protect players from getting spammed with porn/ads from people they don’t know.

3. Finally we have Solo Mode. Yes, you can play online all by yourself. Here’s the shot:
   

   Play in Solo Mode to take on extra missions or to pass the time while you wait for your friends.

   You can play with up to 4 people via WiFi, but solo play is also available. Solo Mode has quests that are not available in the normal single player Story Mode, and monsters are tougher. Also, if one of your friends happens to connect while you are playing Solo Mode, a little icon will pop up (the green one with the letters PSO next to it) in the bottom screen to let you know. Solo Mode is a great way to pass the time while waiting for your friends to come online!

   Also, at any time you can check the Friend Status screen to see if your friends are offline, online, playing with another group, playing solo, etc. If they are online, you can jump in.

Story Intros

Phantasy Star Zero has three races: Newmans (from the moon), Humans, and Casts (cyborgs/robots). Depending on which race you choose for your character, you get a different story to play through. This article tells us the opening stories for Newman and Cast characters. Here are the shots:

Cast

You open your cyborg eyes to the form of a young girl. You are in the middle of a vast snowy field. You were in a frozen sleep and the young girl, Sarisa, woke you up. On your way to the city, a fateful encounter with the Hunters awaits you.

The text the girl says is: “I’m Sarisa. I’m from a faraway place. Hey, what’s your name?”

Newman

During the trip from your home (the moon) to the earth, something malfunctions during landing and you lose your memory. You decide to head to a nearby city when you encounter a young girl who seems to know all about you. Her name is Sarisa. With her, you join the Hunters and get your first quest.

Along the way, you encounter an enemy that looks like a giant octopus. You must cooperate with your new acquaintances Sarisa and Kai to defeat it.

First dialog pic is your character. He says: “I can’t believe it. To not only forget about myself, but to also forget such an important thing…”

The next dialog pic is Kai. He says: “Hey you. You can fight, can’t you? In that case, how about helping us out?”

Special Shops

As you advance through Story Mode, you can eventually go under the city and find secret shops. Here’s the relevant pic:

You can get powerful weapons and armor at these special shops.

1. Enemy Collector Shop. When you defeat enemies, you can pick up “raw materials” from them. Take those raw materials to this shop and you can get “Enemy Weapons” crafted for you, for a price. There are lots of badass weapons you can get here, so make sure to bring your raw materials here. Then show off your cool weapons to your friends.
2. Photon Collector Shop. If you search around out in the field, you can find items called Photon Drops. At this shop you can trade your Photon Drops for rare weapons and valuable items.

Humilius

This article also introduces a boss called Humilius.

Two war machines combine to become Humilius, a gigantic robot. He has high attack power and he’ll kick your ass. Take him on!!

Conclusion

That’s it for this article. I was a big fan of the Phantasy Star series when I was a kid, so I’ve been eying this one for awhile. Can’t wait to grab a copy.

Phantasy Star Zero will be released on December 25th, 2008 for the Nintendo DS. It will cost 5040 yen.

Links:
Official Site
Gamekyo (lots of videos and scans here).