We’re fans of The Witcher here at Ripten. We’re obviously not alone, as CD-Projekt, the Polish developer of the fantastic RPG, are bringing the game to both the Xbox 360 and the PS3, under the name The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf. Jakub Stilinsky, the game’s designer, had plenty to say about the console version- it has refined controls, more fluid combat, better graphics, a new engine, and better enemy behaviour. He describes the new combat as “more dynamic and more engaging,” and adds that the console player will feel more in control- one of the problems I had with the PC version. With a developer like CD-Projekt, we can be sure that there will be a lot of polish (the noun, not the country) on this game. Hit the jump for the video.

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Just saw over at Famitsu a bunch of news about the new RPG coming out for DS titled Blood of Bahamut.  With what they seem to have planned, I am very excited about this game being released.  Read on to find out what I’m stoked about. Read more…

Sega’s PS3 exclusive Valkyria Chronicles looks good. It looks really good. Alternate WWII-timeline, elegant painterly graphics, cameos from Skies of Aracdia characters and some newfangled take on strategy-RPG gameplay? We won’t even have to wait too much longer for it, either, as Sega has announced that the game will come out on American shores on November 11.

For the serious Japanophiles out there, the game will include the original Japanese voice-over work - a nice backup option in case the American voice-overs are too hammy. Hit the jump for more info. Read more…

It’s been a long time since Square Enix started milking their audience for everything they’re worth. Since Final Fantasy IV’s original release and prior to its appearance on the Nintendo DS, it had already been ported three times over. With its arrival on the DS marking its fourth port, it also marks its first real remake that would recapture the magic of the original, as opposed to just regurgitating it. Read more…

As demonstrated during Microsoft’s Press Conference at E3, Bethesda is nearing completion on the third iteration in the Fallout series, due out October 7th. Of course, with the changes that have been made to the series in Bethesda’s hands, Interplay is giving gamers a reality check by releasing the first game in the Fallout series on GameTap - for free.

Starting this Thursday, you can head over to GameTap’s website and pick up a free download of Interplay’s critically acclaimed Fallout for Windows. I recently picked this game up along with Fallout 2 for the Mac, and I most definitely do not regret it. Interplay’s Fallout titles are classic RPGs, and I recommend getting your hands dirty with the originals before venturing into Fallout 3- especially since you can now do it for free.

We have a dilemma here. On the one hand, we love beating down ogres and dragons and would happily do it year after year. On the other hand, we hate buggy gameplay and crippling slowdown. Fortunately it seems SouthPeak might have has found a way to minimize the glitches and maximize the ogres in their standalone expansion pack for Two Worlds, Epic Edition, due out in August. Read more…

Famitsu has the scoop on some new details about Infinite Undiscovery, the tri-Ace/Square Enix RPG for Xbox 360.  The game begins with Capel, a flute player, imprisoned due to his resemblance to the actual hero of the story, Sigmund. Luckily, the guards aren’t the only people to mistake him, so he is rescued by a cute, freckled girl called Aya. The new details revolve mostly around Aya, but also shed a little more light on the types of moves we can expect from the Connect Action system. Read more…

Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard is a fantastic RPG for dedicated players and a fine homage to the classic dungeon crawling RPGs like the PC Wizardry games. Players are given the opportunity to create a guild filled with characters from classes of their choosing, and then can explore a labyrinth at their leisure - mapping things out, leveling up, and fulfilling quests from the Duke and citizens of Lagaard.

It is a game that requires a lot of imagination and dedication on the part of the player. The only real stories in the game involve the labyrinth and its origins, since the characters in the party are all created by the player. Read more…

So much for a slow transition via the ice hole. Blizzard.com now features a fancy-shmancy flash animation announcing Diablo 3 — ice nowhere to be found. Who knows, maybe they had a good reason for all that frosty goodness.

Perhaps you will be able to ice your enemies with Sub-Zero like swiftness, or perhaps it was nothing more than a marketing attempt which, in the end, appears to have no logical connection to the fire filled reveal that was Diablo 3.

However, while we here at Ripten are a little miffed over the lack of connection between the two, we realize that things could have been worse. The reveal could have given birth to the monstrosity below. Enjoy a glimpse at what could have been after the jump. Read more…

Looks like game publisher Atlus is headed to Los Angeles and is taking their Shin Megami Tensei franchise with them. According to our promptly received e-vites, the 2008 Anime Expo will have a panel dedicated exclusively to Atlus’ long running series. The panel is called “Shin Megami Tensei: Behind the Scenes”. Read more…

We reported just two days ago that a Famitsu article was translated revealing among other things a statement made by FF Versus XIII director Tetsuya Nomura in which he claims that resources were reallocated from Final Fantasy Versus and asked to instead assist in the completion of Final Fantasy XIII.

This translation along with further comments made in the article lead many to believe the game would be delayed even further. However, the following response was issued by Square Enix regarding the matter:

“Reports that development for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is on hold are false … The truth of the situation is that when free, some staff from the Versus team have been helping with the XIII team on development of Final Fantasy XIII. Development for both titles is continuing as originally scheduled.”

It appears now that the game is still very much on schedule — the same schedule that has had us in the dark for a very long time now. Hopefully some light will be shed during this years E3.

Source: eurogamer.net

You know you are getting old when an RPG that resembles the look of something you used to play on your Sega Master System can be crammed into a mobile device. It’s also a reality check when you see your twelve year old cousin walking around with a $400 cell phone — all proof that the times are changing and mobile gaming is a huge opportunity. Read more…

From Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and his crew at Mistwalker, Lost Odyssey is a traditional Japanese-styled RPG that thrusts gamers into a fun, beautiful and epic voyage. Read more…

Out of many of the video games out there, the Shin Megami Tensei games do a wonderful job at being mature without being gratuitous. Rather than padding out the game with over the top mature content, such as jiggling boobs or excess violence, they fill their games with genuinely disturbing material. Many of the things that go on in any given SMT game can range from disturbing to flat out nauseating in concept but they are never without a point, which is more than some games could say. Read more…

Westerners should count themselves lucky that the World Ends With You managed to make it out of Japan. As recently as five years ago, Square-Enix’s quirky RPG starring a typically angst-y teenage protagonist playing a bizarre game in the middle of Shibuya might have been deemed too bizarre for western audiences. And who knows, they might have been right. But times change, and it looks like we’re the better for it. Read more…

If there is one thing that Etrian Odyssey 2, a.k.a. Sekaiju no Meikyu II, succeeds in doing, it is throwing in additional content. After only a short time playing, I can honestly say that if Atlus chooses to release the sequel to this first-person RPG in North America, fans of the original will be quite pleased. Read more…

Kingdom Under Fire is a strange breed. The original games on the Xbox were a healthy mix of real-time strategy and sword-and-shield brawling, but apparently that involved too much thinking. Blue Side effectively removed all that pesky thought-requiring strategy and left us with Circle of Doom — a fairly straightforward hack-and-slash RPG with just enough emo to make you want to put on some eyeliner. Read more…

“Heroes?! In MY Labyrinth?!”

Have you ever gotten lost in a dungeon? Frustrated, confused, swamped by enemies with not a single health potion left in your inventory? Well, have you ever wanted to be the jerkface that designs those soul-killing labyrinths you loathe so much? If so, then you clearly need to play “Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaiki da,” or “Brazen In Spite of Heroes.” Read more…