These are two games that America probably will not be seeing.... ever. I say I educate you guys a little on them. Game #1: Rodea the Sky Soldier THIS. EXISTS. IN FULLY PLAYABLE FORM. But we'll probably never see it because, like Pandora's Tower and FF: Type-0, it's just too late. The game is from Yuji Naka (creator of Sonic the Hedgehog) and his studio Prope, who is famous for giving us... almost nothing. Seriously, their track record includes six iOS games ranging from okay to awful, Ivy the Kiwi for Wii and DS, and that's about it.... Oh, and they're making the PSP Digimon Adventure... With that in mind, they pulled this game out of their budget and we'll probably never ever see it. IF THAT'S NOT DEPRESSING ENOUGH! Game #2: E.X Troopers This game was a Lost Planet spin-off title coming out for PS3 and 3DS. It was a very stylish and hectic looking shooter seeking to emulate the Persona 3 aesthetic while improving the established mechanics of Lost Planet. Heck, they even threw in side quests and RPG elements. ANNNND co-op. So what's the status? http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/09/sorry_lost_planet_fans_ex_troopers_isnt_coming_to_the_west So, do you ever wonder why JP games have "started sucking," "changed" or "lost their soul"? Well, if you have, it's because Japan assumes we hate creativity and fun and color. Congratulations, we suck.
Personally I probably would say that localising these games to the west would be... Unprofitable? I mean, let's look at these two games individually. I am only ascertaining my views on these games from the descriptions given and the videos shown. Rodea, the Sky Soldier: It's got a nice colourful vibe about it, interesting gameplay, comes from a studio headed by a well known games creator, which are the good points about it. Can't really comment on the plot, since i don't know if it has a proper one. But to the bad points. Made by a relatively bad studio in their production of games, the art style would likely direct the audience to kids (a small part of the market), repetitive looking gameplay, would cost for english voice actors and translators to be used, which may result in a bad localisation and reduce the quality of the game and is on the Wii, a console not usually seen as a proper gaming platform in the west so gamers wouldn't liekly pick this up. I can see why this isn't being released. It doesn't look worth the trouble for a company to take a chance on. E.X.Troopers: Lovely manga art style, fast paced fun and some diverse character types, co op fun, all great stuff. However, it's fairly linear gameplay wise and seems to be a Hack and Slash. Being a hack and slash looking game doesn't really help it's selling point, since that genre is greatly popular in the west and isn't that succesful of genre, Dynasty Warriors has only lasted in the west as lkg as it has because of a dedicated fanbase, which a game like this doesn't have. Even LP wasn't a greatly succesful series in terms of returns in the western world. I think it looks good but doesn't have much in terms of substance. We already have similar games in the market from Japan, which aren't doing considerably great anyways. Being an unestablished spin off of an unrelatively known game doesn't give it any unique selling point that would at least make me want to buy it. It's just the way of things now. Games from Japan aren't appealing as much anymore because the Western world has established it's mark in the western gaming world, something once dominated by the Japanese market in the 90s and early 00s. It's the way of things, unfortunately some gems are slipping through the cracks and not making their ways to our shores, a tragedy for people who want them. But if the markets not their I can't blame them for making a relatively safe decision as keeping to their national market. But theirs my 2p sterling on the matter.
E.X. Soldiers actually looks really good. I would get it. IF IT GOT LOCALIZED Anyways, when the Japanese niche games do get localized, it's almost always with excellent results. Like when Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon got localized, I was really excited and when I got the chance to play it, I was really blown away by how much respect there was for the original Japanese. They didn't change any of the textures or assests to mae it in English. All the signs were in the original Japanese, but when you examined something, there would be a translation. And it had the option for the VAs to be in English or Japanese. It was such a wonderful game and probably the best localization effort I've seen.
>Rodea Okay, you say this without knowing stats and it's hilarious! Wii is still popular man. Xenoblade hit a million units. Color is alllll /v/ and neogaf rave about, and unfortunately, they're biiiig parts of the internet. This game would come out like titles such as Muramasa, NiGHTS, etc and actually probably sell better than its Japanese counter part. This chart is for you: Spoiler Except you're kind of incorrect.... Saying Japanese games don't matter anymore is COMPLETELY ignoring the backlash of Bayonetta 2 and DmC, the hype for The Wonderful 101 AS SOON AS IT WAS SHOWN, the anger towards lack of Last Guardian and FFvsXIII. Western games AREN'T more popular. Some are, mainly only the big names, but a lot just don't sell. Japanese games AREN'T more popular. Good games are popular. Also, the western market is so over-saturated that it's causing many a western studios to close while many major Japanese studios stay afloat, so I'd say someone is using their money a bit more... correctly.[DOUBLEPOST=1348425724][/DOUBLEPOST] First love, I love Fragile Dreams and you're completely correct about it. Because XSEED and I love them Actually, A LOT of people have told Capcom they'd have bought E.X Troopers, because Lost Planet always had open worlds and crazy boss, and adding anime art style, sidquests, and even crazier mecha fights seems like nothing but fanservice to most people.
