Dragon Fantasy Book II Logo

The early-era JRPG has happily become a resilient genre in recent years. Not only has Square Enix greatly benefited from plentiful re-releases of their earlier titles, but now a number of indie developers are returning to the genre that helped them fall in love with video games in the first place. Dragon Fantasy Book II is successful in reflecting many of the faces that nostalgic gamers will remember from the glory Super Nintendo days, but is less successful in capturing the heart, focus, and polish that made games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI the lasting examples of the genre that they have become.

The most successful element of Book II is its visuals. The overworld, towns, heroes, enemies, and layout of the maps could be pulled directly from the best of the 16-bit era, even utilizing frills such as soft snowfall to great effect. The varied locales should be familiar to JRPG fans, but the graphics are realized with such love that it feels like a comfort to go through the adventure game location checklist, not a chore.

While certainly nowhere close to a failure, the rest of the game’s elements unfortunately do not live up to the visuals. It appears as though the developer, The Muteki Corporation, looked at what people loved about old SNES RPGs and tried to mimic it rather than analyzing the concepts and development principals that allowed those features to exist in the first place. Admittedly, the latter is a far more difficult task, and the fact that Dragon Fantasy Book II is not the next Chrono Trigger is not a strike against it so much as a warning to gamers who might have rather unfair high hopes upon seeing such nostalgia-rich footage.

Plenty of well-placed jabs at common RPG logic.

While drawing obvious inspiration from its ancestors, Book II‘s gameplay is largely enjoyable and engaging for its own merits. Battles take place without a scenery transition, much like Chrono Trigger, and therefore placement and area of effect attacks play a significant role in battle. While there is no way to control placement of heroes or enemies, there is an element of strategy present which insists that the player must decide which attacks or spells the heroes should use that are most effective for the situation without being wasteful with their precious magic points.

In addition to in-battle strategy, Book II offers monster capture for when the primary party members are not all together. The feature is functional, but unremarkable. Gamers will be happy to fill their roster for the times when it empties out, but will likely not think too much about it otherwise, except perhaps when sidequests call for it.

And sidequests are plentiful, if not a little bland and occasionally confusing, owing in part to an interface that feels notably clunky. While the retro style of the menus is welcomed, it is disappointing that a larger effort was not taken to make the experience more user friendly. Additionally, after witnessing a number of typos throughout the experience, the interface will unfortunately begin to feel lazy instead of retro.

With one hero, it looks fine. But after more join the fray, it gets a little messy.

This clunky feeling carries over to the slow speed and occasional confusion of the battle screen. Enemy info is frustratingly only displayed when the party is accidentally engaged with an off-screen enemy. Also, the selection cursor is a little unclear, especially with only two enemies remaining. It feels as though the smallest amount of polish could have solved some of these issues, including something like the addition of a few more navigational sound effects.

Despite it being obvious that events of Book II are being picked up in the middle of a longer story, gamers who start with Book II will not feel lost, and that is a commendable feat. The dialogue is generally light-hearted and filled with the sort of knowing tone that will make any long-time RPG fan feel like their love is understood and shared by others. More dramatic elements are handled with the same sort of begrudging competence that has long been the case in the gaming world. The ideas and character arcs are genuine, but the proper deftness needed in both writing and theme cultivation are not present enough to drive anything too close to the player’s heart.

Similar observations can be made about Dragon Fantasy Book II‘s soundtrack. While it is unfair to compare anybody to Nobuo Uematsu, it is worth noting that his legendary soundtracks made an impact not only for hosting beautiful, fitting melodies, but because the music felt like it was born from the game’s world, therefore giving a cohesive narrative that became as important to the accompanying game’s story as its plot. Dragon Fantasy Book II has a pleasant soundtrack with competent tunes written in the general style of classic Super Nintendo RPGs, but like the rest of Book II, it feels primarily like an homage and so it leaves no lasting impression.

Dragon Fantasy Book II is a charming title that has its fair share of both delightful highlights and clunky lowlights, but it ultimately serves as a comforting step back to a time when RPG gamers could lose themselves in 16-bit fantasy adventures.

Full disclosure: the author was provided with a free copy of the game for review purposes.

The Legendary Zoltan demonstrates that he is MIDI-capable with Chrono Trigger, SiliconNooB brings a wealth of facts and information to bear upon the Xbone, and, in a stunning reversal, Lusipurr plays all of the games that he has not played until now!

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This month, Lusipurr.com is pleased to present the fourth commission from our Music Director: Jahan ‘The Legendary Zoltan’ Honma!

Source Music: Chrono Trigger: Wind Song
Original Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda
Remix: Wind Song Orchestral

This is what I call an “improvement remix.” It is basically Wind Song from Chrono Trigger in its exact same arrangement but with higher quality samples. Wind Song is the music on the 600 A.D. overworld map. There are a lot of popular tunes on the Chrono Trigger soundtrack but I believe this one to be one of the greatest hits. Despite what my previous remixes might lead you to believe, I actually prefer remixes that sound and feel quite similar to their sources. Taking an original piece of RPG music and leaving all of the instrumentation, melodies, harmonies, and tempos the same to make something that “sounds just like Chrono Trigger but better” is really something I would like to do more often. Those who would like to hear more of these so-called improvement remixes should search on YouTube. I have heard some really nice Final Fantasy arrangements where the original is left completely intact and just improved in sound quality. They are quite enjoyable to listen to!

This picture chosen for no particular reason.

Download: Produced 2013.05.19

In a landmark episode, Nate ‘Bup’ Liles returns to keep everyone aware of just why he is not here more often. Despite operating with a horny level that is off the chart, the panel manages to discuss Chrono Trigger, Wii U development, and Lady Gaga news.

Chrono Trigger North American Box Art

In March of 1995, Japanese gamers were treated to the release of a new franchise from Square. Developed by a dream team including greats like Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Akira Toriyama, Chrono Trigger hit the ground running, winning plaudits and praise from every corner of the Japanese game industry. The first two million copies of the game were delivered to Japanese retailers in the first two months–at the time, a practically unheard-of sale rate for a JRPG. Across the seas in furthest America, people took notice. The swift localisation and August 1995 release of Chrono Trigger in North America was met with enormous success. Subsequent re-releases on the PlayStation and Nintendo DS were also very well received, posting chart-topping sales figures each in their turn. The PlayStation release of Chrono Trigger remains a best-selling PlayStation Network ‘Classic’ title more than a decade after its initial disc-based release, and several years into its digital availability.

The Currents of Time are dangerous.

In 2013, the success of Chrono Trigger is on par with other Super Nintendo-era greats such as Final Fantasy VI. Routinely featuring in historical “top ten” and “best of” lists, it came in second place (against Final Fantasy VII) in the first-ever GameFAQs “video game battle”, and it was last year named by GamesRadar as the greatest JRPG of all time. Re-released and ported to a variety of systems, it has continued to sell well despite its wide availability on the internet, having surpassed three and a half million copies sold. The DS version was one of the most well-received titles for that system–a remake which is still held up as an example of precisely how to correctly re-release classic 16-bit JRPGs.

The game opens with the titular protagonist, Chrono, waking up in his hometown in the Kingdom of Guardia. The year is A.D. 1000 and a Millennial Fair is about to take place. Chrono’s friend Lucca–an inventor–has built a matter transporter with the assistance of her father, Taban. It is this device which sets events into motion. Chrono’s fortuitous meeting with a young woman named Marle is the catalyst for an adventure which will span not merely the breadth of the world, but the very length of time itself.

Chrono Trigger Cosplay, by DeviantArt user Risachantag

All areas of Chrono Triggers‘s presentation have been praised since its release nearly a score of years ago. The music is widely considered to be one of the greatest soundtracks ever written for a video game. The graphics represent the pinnacle of sprite-based design; the DS version especially is renowned for its beautiful presentation, including the anime cut scenes from the PlayStation version, and an updated interface which makes use of the second DS screen for menus, freeing the top screen to display an unfettered view of Chrono Trigger’s colourful and detailed environments.

Use the comment thread below to discuss your approach to the game, challenges you have faced, tactics you are employing, and what you are getting out of your playthrough. Do you feel that the presentation of Chrono Trigger has held up since its release in 1995? Are there aspects of the game that you would change, or that you would hold up as an example for modern game developers to emulate? How has your experience with other RPGs released after Chrono Trigger changed your impressions of the game? Do you have any stories about your first experience? Tell us in the comments!

The aim in this playthrough is to complete the entirety of the game in four weeks. For our fourth and final week, we invite users to finish the game. However, feel free to join in, even if you are behind on the playthrough. Anyone and everyone is invited to participate, regardless of game format, speed of play, or familiarity with the series. Tell your friends!

Without further adieu, it is our very great pleasure to invite you now to join the Lusipurr.com staff members, guests, and readers as we return to the sunny days of the Guardia Millennial Fair in Peaceful Days: A Chrono Trigger Playthrough!

Things really are decidedly unfine.

Produced 2013.03.17

EA Fineness Minister Chris ‘Sabin’ Privitere is again called in to announce the news of a further downgrade in EA Fineness. Then, between tears of grief (or are they tears of joy?), the panelists prove to The Legendary Zoltan that Panty Machines do exist!

This logo might as well be a crown.

Launched back in 2006, the PlayStation Network is the second oldest of the three online services. While it is the top online service, it has not been without its share of failures. An extended outage due to a security breach harmed its reputation back in 2011. The outage forced Sony not only to reconsider the security of their network, but they also had to win back their consumers’ confidence.

Today, the PlayStation Network represents the best of both worlds. For customers who only want the free service, the PSN offers the ability to play online with friends and a bevy of entertainment options. Contrary to what Xbox Fantards believe, playing online on PlayStation Network is nearly a one-to-one experience as playing on Xbox Live, the difference being that one is free and the other costs sixty dollars a year.

For customers who desire more features out of their online service, Sony offers PlayStation Plus. Priced at fifty dollars for a year, PlayStation Plus brings some interesting features to the table. It offers a cloud service to sync game saves to so they are accessible on other consoles. It also offers the ability to schedule the system to download game patches each day at a set time. These features are hardly worth the price of admission and should probably be offered along with the free service. The big feature that separates PlayStation Plus from rival services is the Instant Game Collection. The Instant Game Collection is a group of games for both the PS3 and the PS Vita that are available as free downloads for Plus members. Every week brings new downloads. The longer a Plus subscription is maintained, the bigger the collection. The real problem is when a subscription is canceled, the games are no longer accessible. On the bright side, if a subscription is renewed, the previous Instant Game Collection is restored to the user.

Is a share button really needed?

The Instant Game Collection, an attempt from Sony to overhaul its Plus service, began in June of 2012. With titles including Arkham City, Darksiders, Infamous 2, and LittleBigPlanet 2 the Collection has proven to be a good incentive to many people to subscribe to the service. The big issue with this feature, maybe more for publishers than for Sony, is that many subscribers opt to wait for a game to be added to their Instant Game Collection rather than purchase a copy. Many times Plus subscribers will ignore a sale on a wanted game out of hope that it will be available free at a later date. While paying for a service just for the chance to receive a game for free is an insane idea, it is even more insane with the fact that content off the PlayStation Store is not compatible with the PS4.

The announcements regarding the future of the PlayStation Network seem quite grand, perhaps even impossible. One of the big features that Sony wants to push is the social aspect of games. They are so focused on this that the controller of the PlayStation 4 will include a share button. Instead of launching their own social network, Sony has opted to use the share button to push status updates and media to networks like Facebook and Ustream. Besides filling up Facebook feeds everywhere with a new type of useless shit, Sony also wants gamers to be able to beg friends and strangers for help. With this remote help feature, a gamer that is not good enough to pass the current stage they are in can plead to the public for help. Once somebody agrees to help, they will take control of the character to help get past the trouble spot.

The PS Vita also appears to be a large part of the future for the PlayStation Network. With Remote Play – which is not a new feature to the PSN (although Sony seems to think it is) – gamers will be able to play their PS4 games on the go. With the PS4 doing all the processing, there would be little loss in visual quality of the games played on the Vita, however it would also require a fast internet connection. Sony also has stated that they want every PlayStation 4 game to be available for streaming. Their plan is that the streaming games would be available not just on the PlayStation 4, but also the Vita and many other devices. Sony eventually wants their entire back catalog to be available via this streaming service. This all sounds fantastic at an announcement event, but the truth is that there are many factors going against these features.

This service worked out extremely well.

First of all Remote Play may work fine on Wi-Fi, but 3G is different beast. A 4G Vita has been rumored for a few months now, and with Sony trying to push the Remote Play capability, it may end up being an absolute necessity. The overall support of Remote Play will be up to the developers, however Sony is not the type of company to mandate its usage for all games. While Remote Play will be available only for the games it is programmed for, the streaming service is said to include all PS4 games. As a person who tried the OnLive service, I can say that streaming gaming has many things against it. Even with a broadband internet connection, streaming can lag, something quite dangerous in a FPS or action game. Streaming in 1080p and above would require even greater bandwidth to ensure a smooth gaming experience.

Sony has some big plans for the PlayStation Network in the future. Many of these plans rely upon Sony demonstrating a great amount of support. There was a time when the PSP Go was released that Sony made the proclamation that every PSP title would be available on the PlayStation Store. That faded away relatively quickly, especially on the back of weak sales of the PSP Go. Eighteen months from now will be quite revealing for the PSN. Will Sony hold true and have all PS4 available for streaming? Will our Facebook feeds be raped by trophy posts from Ethos? These are the questions gamers everywhere are asking but the answers are still a long ways off.

o/~ Oh, my hero…

Produced 2012.12.09

On the last day of the third England v. India test in Calcutta, Lusipurr, SiliconNooB, Deimosion, and Blitzmage lay bets on when the final run will come. Lusipurr discusses how to read books, Mega Man games are covered, and apparently there’s a feature?

Final Fantasy VI

In the Autumn of 1994, gamers across North America eagerly awaited the latest installment of the Final Fantasy series. With the surprise disappointment that was the non-release of Final Fantasy V, English-speaking JRPG fans had been waiting three years for a follow up to the 1991 release of Final Fantasy IV. Amongst the many people eagerly awaiting their copy was young(!) Lusipurr.

When, on October 11, 1994, Final Fantasy VI was released, it was met with critical and universal acclaim. Shortages of SNES games were unusual–but shortages of JRPGs were even more so. Yet copies of Final Fantasy VI were hard to find, with many retailers finding themselves in the then-curious position of needing to fulfill demand for a video game that did not feature Mario. Backorders stretched well into the following year thanks to a spirited holiday season. The game made the evening news. It was perhaps the first time in history that a JRPG gained the attention of the North American mainstream press.

Terra Branford

Eighteen years later, in 2012, the success of Final Fantasy VI has become the renown of Final Fantasy VI. Routinely featuring in historical “top ten” and “best of” lists, it was this year named by IGN as the number one RPG of all time. Re-released and ported to a variety of systems, it has continued to sell well despite its wide availability on the internet, having surpassed three and a half million copies sold. An announced DS remake was one of the most widely anticipated titles for that system, and when the project was placed on hold, questions were immediately asked about the 3DS instead. To this day, Final Fantasy VI continues to generate headlines. It is simply one of the most beloved games ever made.

Charting the history of a war which will reshape the face of the globe, Final Fantasy VI is ostensibly the story of Terra Branford, the daughter of a human and an esper, whose natural gift for magic attracts the undesireable attention of Gestahl, the emperor of a militarised and technologically-advanced kingdom. Gestahl’s lead researcher, Cid, has devised a means of extracting magical power from espers. This power is used to create magical machines and to give magical power to human beings. With magic at their control, and the military in the command of fearless and valiant generals, the empire of Gestahl seems unstoppable. One by one, the kingdoms and city-states of the world fall against its undaunted might.

Kefka Palazzo

As the story opens, a mind-controlled Terra and two soldiers are approaching the colliery town of Narshe where yet another esper has been found. But, the empire’s desire for the esper’s power backfires when the creature, frozen in a block of ice, dispatches the soldiers and breaks the mind-control, freeing Terra from the enslavement of Kefka Palazzo, one of Gestahl’s closest advisors. Her flight is aided by members of the Returners, a resistance organisation which seeks to enlist the assistance of espers in their fight against the empire. Kefka and the entire empire of Gestahl follows in pursuit, intent on regaining their magic-using secret weapon before she turns her power–and vengeance–upon her former captors.

The story follows Terra and her friends as they seek to overthrow the power of Gestahl, Kefka, and those who would seek to use might to enslave the people of the world. Along their way they will be joined by knights, generals, artists, gamblers, and TREASURE HUNTERS, all of whom have their own reasons for resisting the empire’s hegemony. Together, they will face down not only a militarised, magically-armed force, but also a power beyond their comprehension–a power which seeks to rule the entire world as a God enthroned, dispensing death from above without cause or remorse.

Only by uniting and together bravely resisting evil can Terra hope to find salvation for the world and peace for her own, torn soul. Embodying the hopes and prayers of humans and espers alike, the heroes must overcome their own personal struggles before, united, they can defeat the seemingly omnipotent powers which oppose them.

Character Ensemble

All areas of Final Fantasy VI‘s presentation have been praised since its release nearly a score of years ago. The music (composed by Nobuo Uematsu) is widely considered to be one of the greatest soundtracks ever written for a video game. Its orchestral arrangement–Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale–is still routinely used as an example of the finest in gaming music. The graphics, highly sophisticated for a JRPG of the time, employed numerous cutting-edge technologies: Mode 7 scaling, sampled effects, and highly-detailed environments, some of which are digital renderings of hand-drawn artwork.

Use the comment thread below to discuss your approach to the game, challenges you have faced, tactics you are employing, and what you are getting out of your playthrough. Do you feel that the presentation of Final Fantasy VI has held up since its release in 1994? Are there aspects of the game that you would change, or that you would hold up as an example for modern game developers to emulate? How has your experience with other RPGs released after Final Fantasy VI changed your impressions of the game? Do you have any stories about your first experience? Tell us all about it and join in our discussion below!

The aim in this playthrough is to complete the entirety of the game in four weeks. For the fourth and final week, the goal is to finish the game. Feel free to join in, even if you are behind on the playthrough. Anyone and everyone is invited to participate, regardless of game format, speed of play, or familiarity with the series. Tell your friends!

Without further adieu, it is our very great pleasure to invite you now to join the Lusipurr.com staff members, guests, and readers as we return to the snowy, northern plains in Christmas in Narshe: A Final Fantasy VI Playthrough!

Nigel Smartbottom thinks that too much has been made over Microsoft’s $40,000 patching policy.

The Playstation 3 patch to last year’s much maligned HD port of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 has arrived, promising irate owners a very much belated fix to myriad bugs, framerate drops, audio syncing issues, and a completely borked fog density. While it would be a brave gamer indeed who takes this as confirmation that the PS3 version of the Silent Hill HD Collection is fit for purchase, it is nevertheless progress (after a fashion) for the hapless fools who already own the game, and is sure to be well received among that unhappy community – but not so the Xbox 360 owners of the game.

The Silent Hill HD Collection is the latest piece of highly flawed software to fall victim to Microsoft’s patch pricing policy. The policy dictates that developers must pay Microsoft the hefty sum of $40,000 for the release of all patches after the first, which can be hard to justify for lower-tier software. This has seen the abrupt cessation of support for games like Brutal Legend and more recently Fez, the later of which is particularly noteworthy as the game featured a savefile deleting bug which was unable to be addressed. Thus, in the same breath that Konami triumphantly announced a laundry list of game fixes for Playstation owners, they also poured cold water over Xbox 360 owners on account of a patch for them being economically prohibitive.

“Plans for an Xbox 360 title update have been cancelled due to technical issues and resources. Understanding the issues some users are experiencing, Konami issued a title update for Silent Hill HD Collection (PS3), which fixed frame rate issues as well as audio-synching and other reported issues. Konami apologises to any players who are continuing to experience these issues on the Xbox 360 sku. Silent Hill HD Collection is available at retail stores nationwide.”

While it is difficult to feel much in the way of sympathy toward Konami, a publisher who elected to release a manifestly unfinished game; one must nevertheless conclude that Microsoft is primarily to blame for Xbox users missing out on a patch that may have fixed the game that they purchased. The approval process for game patching costs money to be sure, but then so do Xbox Live subscriptions, which are notionally collected for the ongoing support of digital services for XBL users (in reality: just profit). Of course Microsoft is free to run their Xbox Live ‘service’ as they see fit, but when their greed is the only thing standing between their users receiving a much needed patch, then that is just very sad for everyone.

Dragon Quest X Tanks at Retail

Why the fuck would this even come up when searching for Dragon Quest pictures?!

Dragon Quest games are/were big business in Japan, selling to their domestic audience in quantities best reserved for AAA worldwide figures. The release of a new Dragon Quest title was the one thing (short of a Nuclear disaster) that was guaranteed to bring the nation of Japan to a grinding halt as millions of mad, yellow bastards queued for sometimes days at a time in order to be among the first to slake their thirst for ultra grindy generic JRPGS. But alas, sadly it would seem for Square Enix that Dragon Quest fans want a console style JRPG (whether it be on home console or handheld), and certainly do not want a faux MMO, which requires a subscription and was made for a dead system which is famously incapable of utilising the internet.

Online (and wireless) multiplayer gameplay was accepted well enough for Dragon Quest IX, yet that was largely because it was not required, and fit well within the traditional structure of the Dragon Quest series. Dragon Quest X on the other hand constitutes a very rude shake-up to the Dragon Quest formula, and the sales figures would appear to reflect the disquiet of the fandom. Initial figures for the four days that Dragon Quest X was on sale sit at 420,311 units sold, a figure which looks impressive until contrasted against the fact that both Dragon Quest VIII and Dragon Quest IX sold over two million copies in their first two days on sale.

People have been quick to point out that Square Enix will make up the revenue shortfall from sales lost with their subscription fee, but that all depends on the game’s longevity. It is currently unknown whether the game’s current userbase are serious MMO gamers who intend to stick around for the long haul (which would not seem to be much of a natural fit for the property), or whether they simply picked up the title to see what the latest Dragon Quest was all about before moving on, much like the multitude of gamers who bought The Old Republic for its storyline and promptly dumped it once its main arc was finished. What is clear however, is the fact that sales currently sit well bellow The Old Republic‘s current userbase, which was itself the cause of much alarm for Bioware’s evil EA overlords, prompting them to make the title free to play. Square Enix will definitely be looking for Dragon Quest X to shift some more copies this week if it is to sustain the viability of its paid service. It is well likely that this will still be a very profitable venture for them, but one cannot escape the notion that this is just the latest release in a long line of renowned JRPG franchises who’s currency Square Enix has permanently debased.

Late Breaking News: Konami Updates Their Stance on the Silent Hill HD Collection Patch

Releasing this in the first place was completely inexcusable…

Silent Hill HD Collection owning Xbox users may not be getting a patch for their game, but they will be eligible to receive a free game from Konami, or at least they will be if they live in the Americas. This offer appears to be very generous on the face of it, yet is becomes absolutely laughable when one realises that owners of the game will have had to have kept the game receipt in order to be a beneficiary of Konami’s largesse – one does not fancy that their software inventory will be overly taxed.

The offer as stated on the official Silent Hill Facebook page reads: “Please send your receipts to Konami Customer Service for verification and further details on how to exchange your product. This offer is only valid for Silent Hill HD Collection (Xbox 360 version) games purchased on or before 08.08.2012. All requests must be made in writing and submitted on or before 10.07.2012. and is subject to availability. Any inquiries received after this date will not fall under this exchange program. This offer valid for purchases made in North and South America”.

Essentially this is Konami betting that the amount of people who avail themselves of this service will cost less in terms of software givaways than $40,000. While this is no doubt a cynical exercise in reputation maintenance, it is nevertheless bound to prove a nice silverlining for the several people diligent enough to keep their receipts for all this time. For all those who have not, well, let them eat Microsoft!

RPGamer.com

Produced 2012.07.01

Lusipurr has ruined RPGamer’s podcast one too many times, and the staff of RPGamer finally take matters into their own hands, turning the tables on Lusi and his minions. Sabin hosts, with guest panelists Paws and Firemyst, in this CatFancy-Crossover-Cast!

This will never happen in HD. brb weeping

Square Enix Confirm That a Final Fantasy VII Remake Will Never Happen

Square Enix’s bait and switch Final Fantasy VII remake routine is one of the oldest dances in the world of gaming. An awkward PR shuffle whereby one of the senior Final Fantasy staff will offer just enough of a taste to get fanboys wildly salivating, before withdrawing at the last minute, leaving everyone blue. In recent years it has been a rather common occurrence to have Yoshinori Kitase claim to be looking into the project, only to have Motomu Toriyama proclaim several weeks later that rendering a town in HD would take at least a hundred years to achieve – well, it would seem that such hijinks may have finally come to an end this week, with Yoichi Wada stating in front of a room full of investors that Square Enix will never produce a Final Fantasy VII remake.

Yoichi Wada declared an end to Final Fantasy VII remake speculation in no uncertain terms, stating: “we’ll make a Final Fantasy VII remake once we’ve made a Final Fantasy game that exceeds the quality of FFVII.” Not only is this a tacit acknowledgement of how far the Final Fantasy brand has fallen (an admission that is as shocking as it is obvious), but it is also confirmation that fanboys can pack up their tents and go home, because Final Fantasy VII will never get a HD remake. Wada did not stop there however, as he went on to explicitly state that Square Enix at present is not producing games to the standard of Final Fantasy VII, and that if they were to release a remake of Final Fantasy VII right now, then the Final Fantasy series would be finished thereafter.

It is really quite difficult to understand how Square Enix could get to this point; haunted by the success of a fifteen-year-old game which the publisher seemingly views as both their solitary lifeline as well as their eventual destroyer. This is a company that has been allowed to capitalise on their successes for far longer than they should have, and thus are tormented by a legacy of prestige that they cannot possibly hope to live up to. At any rate, one is well pleased that Yoichi Wada has taken the potential butchering of Final Fantasy VII off the table – it can remain on PSN where it belongs, pristine, as a memento of better times in the studio’s history.

Lusipurr.

Nintendo to Release a 3DS XL Just for Lusipurr

Nintendo have this week announced the July/August release of a 3DS XL system, only a fortnight too late to save their dreadful E3 conference. The larger handheld system will feature a modest increase to battery life, up from the original 3 hours to a whopping 3.5 hours. The system will also feature enhanced chunky start, select, and home buttons, remedying a terrible design flaw of the original model. Meanwhile, the size of both screens has been increased by around ninety percent, from 3.53 and 3.02 inches to 4.88 and 4.18 inches, making the top screen almost as large as that of the PS Vita.

It must be stated however, that the composition of the new system is not without its criticisms. While it has been confirmed that the system will ship with a charger in America, Australia, and New Zealand, Nintendo has come to the incomprehensible decision to sell the 3DS XL without an A/C charger in both Japan and Europe – because goodness knows that the ability to actually use the system is an optional extra. One imagines that a penny pinching Nintendo is pursuing this policy within any market that they legally can; Capitalism ho!

Another point of criticism for the new handheld is the fact that everyone had assumed that the 3DS’ first hardware revision would see the addition of a second circle pad, alleviating the need for Nintendo’s frankly hideous Circle Pad Pro ashtray attachment. The fact that Nintendo have refused to accommodate market expectations is all the more baffling given the surfeit of additional surface area available to the 3DS XL. Nintendo’s failure to include a second circle pad may in fact indicate that Nintendo’s ashtray will be the next in a long line of peripherals that Nintendo has abandoned. Some people may chalk this conspicuous absence up to a frugal Nintendo pinching pennies yet again, but one is utterly convinced that this is an omission of pure contempt towards a market which deigns tell Nintendo what to do with Nintendo consoles.

How does I handle criticism?

Reggie Blasts His Critics

If gamers do have complaints regarding Nintendo’s handling of the 3DS XL, then perhaps Reggie Fils-Aime is not the best person to broach them with – or at least that was the take away message from the spray that he levelled at gamers this week for not getting excited at the prospect of more Wii Fit. Reggie went so far as to suggest that gamers are incapable of telling the difference between amazing software and mediocre drivel on the basis that they ignore ‘amazing’ multi-million selling software like Wii Fit. Reggie does not seem to understand that the Wii Fit audience all bought an iPad. They do not reside in these parts anymore, and they certainly do not comment on game blogs.

Reggie shrilly chastised potential consumers thusly: “One of the things that, on one hand, I love and, on the other hand, that troubles tremendously about not only our fanbase but the gaming community at large is that, whenever you show information, the perspective is: ‘thank you, but give me more’. I mean it is insatiable.

For years this community has been asking, ‘Where’s Pikmin? Where’s Pikmin? We give them Pikmin. And then they say: ‘What else?’ For years this community has said: ‘Dammit Reggie, when you launch, you better launch with a Mario game’. So we launch with a Mario game, and they say, ‘So, what’s more?’

I have heard people say, ‘You know, you’ve got these fantastic franchises, beyond what you’re doing in Smash Bros, isn’t there a way to leverage all those franchises?’ So we create Nintendo Land and they say: ‘Ho-hum. Give me more.’ It’s an interesting challenge.

When we show a game like Brain Age or when we show a game like Nintendogs, what’s the fan-based community reaction? ‘Ho-hum.’ Until it sells millions of copies. When we showed Wii Fit on stage.. go back and read your blogs, what was the reaction?

It’s the question of, as a gamer, ‘Is this for me and something I can get excited about?’ And Wii Fit did not get that reaction. And yet 43-million copies around the world, it’s a phenomenon. And so I would argue that the gaming community actually is unable to differentiate between a phenomenon and something that is ‘ho-hum’.”

There Reggie goes equating units sold with quality, and assuming that what is popular among post-menopausal Women should also be a sure fire hit within the gaming community at large. As far as Nintendo franchises go, the revival of Pikmin was only ever really going to satisfy a large niche – though there are certainly worse things Nintendo could have done to launch a new system. New Super Mario Bros. U for its part looks to replicate an experience that will be available to 3DS owners later this year in the form of New Super Mario Bros. 2. Meanwhile, Nintendo Land is an assortment of mini-games, and all the titles mentioned thereafter are dire bilge. It really goes to show just how out of touch Fils-Aime is that he has to wonder why consumers keep asking him what else there is to sell them on Nintendo’s positively arcane Wii U.

Farewell old friend!

Hiromichi Tanaka Leaves Square Enix

This inevitability has been a long time in coming. The producer overseeing the ill-fated original incarnation of Final Fantasy XIV, Hiromichi Tanaka, has this week left the company that he has called home for well over two decades. The long-time Square producer cites ill-health for his departure, yet it does not take much in the way of imagination to picture him sitting in an empty office for the past year twiddling his thumbs as he waits for the non-compete clause in his contract to lapse – much like Hironobu Sakaguchi’s final days at the company.

While his post-millennial tenure under Square Enix did not bring him much in the way of distinction, it is perhaps better that we remember his contributions to gaming during the halcyon days of Squaresoft. Tanaka pulled game design duties on the first three Final Fantasy games, before moving to distinguish himself by designing the concept and scenario for Secret of Mana, which he then produced – Tanaka would go on to direct 1995′s ambitious sequel, Seiken Densetsu 3. It is for 1998′s Xenogears and 1999′s love-it-or-hate-it epic Chrono Cross that Tanaka is perhaps most likely to be remembered by contemporary gamers, as he acted as producer for both titles, and as battle planner and battle system designer respectively. Hiromichi Tanaka has cited his return to game design as being one of the motivating factors for his split with Square Enix, one can only hope that, like Hironobu Sackaguchi before him, he is able to rise from the ashes.

IZ CELBRATING TIEM!!!1

Produced 2012.06.24

In an effort to bring the latest POSITIVE and UPLIFTING news to gamers, Deimosion and Lusipurr hijack the Trans-Pacific Cable normally reserved for Australian use. In a Lusipurr.com first, the news is almost entirely good: great games are on the horizon!

Microsoft! Or something!

E3 kicked off this year with the surprise news that the show was looking to relocate elsewhere for next year, on account of construction developments potentially rendering one wing of the venue unusable. This would mark the first year that the E3 has not been held in Los Angeles, and may not even be held in California at all.

Of the two console conferences held today, Sony’s was easily the better – not because it was anything special, but because it was a conservative orthodox presentation on gaming, which is more than can be said of Microsoft’s efforts. Sony wowed crowds with footage from Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, which looks to be heavily reminiscent of the Uncharted series in terms of fidelity, if not so in terms of brutality, which looks to be stark and shocking in its gritty realism. Sony’s conference also served as the venue for the official ‘announcements’ of God of War: Ascension and Quantic Dream’s Beyond: Two Souls; two games that have been confirmed in all but words for a number of weeks now. It was also confirmed that hipster actress, Ellen Page, has been cast as the dramatic lead for Beyond: Two Souls, lending the game the Hollywood cred that David Cage so earnestly courts.

High definition = look sweaty at all times.

The Sony conference also saw the announcement of Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, an Activision shooter looking to cash-in on the dearth of credible competitive FPS experiences available on the PS Vita. Finally, Sony made a couple of announcements with respect to upcoming PSN services; stating that PSOne Classics will be available to download for the PS Vita sometime this Summer, and that Sony is currently working to implement PS Vita functionality into two PS3 games, Playstation All Stars Battle Royale and Little Big Planet 2. The games will have the PSVita serving as an enhanced controller of sorts, making use of the enhanced functionality of its colourful and responsive touch screen in a bid to undercut Nintendo on their Wii U gimmick. While excitement is high about the PS Vita possessing this kind of functionality, it is easy to doubt just how much of a positive boon it will prove to be for the two games announced as being compatible.

Microsoft were also looking to negate the Wii U’s gimmick, announcing Smart Glass – a service which will allow smartphones and tablet PCs to interact with Xbox content; both game content and entertainment media. Microsoft also announced that Internet Explorer will be coming to the Xbox 360, for owners who are keen to use their gaming console as a shitty PC. This service is not without a catch however, as an Xbox Live Gold Account will be required for it to function – adding yet another service to the list of the things that Microsoft feels entitled to charge for when other console holders give them away gratis.

Also yesterday, Will.I.Am and Stevie Wonder idiotically wished Happy Birthday to the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee. Americans.

Other than that, the Microsoft conference proved to be a yawn inducing douchefest for the most part, which placed a heavy premium on style over substance, with celebrities like Usher taking to the stage to endorse Dance Central 3, Flo Rida being trotted out to promote Just Dance 4, and Trey Parker and Matt Stone presenting a commercial for their upcoming title: South Park: The Stick of Truth – a game whose relevance to Microsoft extends to the fact that it will launch with an Xbox 360 exclusive costume pack; ah, but it is good to see Microsoft’s marketing dollars at work, no?

That is not to say that Microsoft’s conference was entirely without noteworthy announcements. The Microsoft conference was used to announce (presumed) Xbox exclusives Gears of War: Judgement and Splinter Cell: Blacklist, the latter of which is of particular note given that Michael Ironside, the long-time voice of Sam Fisher, will not be returning to voice the high-tech protagonist. The Microsoft conference was also used to announce Ascend: New Gods, a drab little game which looks to be of no importance whatsoever.

Today was also host to the conferences of EA and Ubisoft. EA kicked off their conference with the news that they had acquired the rights to UFC from THQ, as THQ made the announcement that they were closing down their San Diego studio responsible for producing UFC titles. EA also announced Dead Space 3, the screenshots of which began to leak onto the internet about a week ago. It would appear that the Dead Space series has lost much in the way of identity in the intervening years since Dead Space 2‘s release – long gone is the lonely corridor crawler, replaced with what looks to be a banal Lost Planet knock-off, replete with mandatory co-op, much like every other EA title. EA also used their conference to make two announcements: firstly, that they are indeed launching a premium subscription service for their terrible game, Battlefield 3, in an effort to have players pay twice for the use of servers; and secondly, that Electronic BioArts’ ailing MMORPG, The Old Republic, will be free to play up to level 15 starting in July.

Also appears to have The Matrix cues as well.

Ubisoft used their conference to announce three new titles. The horrendously titled ZombiU is to be a Wii U exclusive, and is almost certainly the game that was being teased in Nintendo’s equally horrid hipster-infused Wii U promotion video, which made the rounds a couple of days ago. The second game announced was a competitive shooter going by the inspired title of ShootMania Storm. Finally, Ubisoft announced Watch Dogs, a Deus Ex cum Hitman fusion by way of Grand Theft Auto. Regardless of how derivative it sounds, this game looks to have some serious potential, and sports a futuristic and extremely attractive dystopian setting.

This picture sums up almost everything one needs to know about Costume Quest.

Costume Quest is the story of Reynold and Wren, two young siblings on Halloween night. Shortly into their planned festivities, one of the two siblings is kidnapped by monsters, and the other sibling (chosen by the player at the beginning of the game) must head out to save them from the candy-hungry invaders. The main villain, a witch named Dorsilla, is not hugely threatening; she and her minions have but one goal: they are trying to obtain candy. The setting, characters, and story of Costume Quest are clearly meant to be simple and fun, and to those ends they clearly accomplish their goal. Furthering the simple fun aspect of Costume Quest is its gameplay. Non-combat situations have Wren or Reynold exploring the suburbs of Auburn Pines and surrounding areas and knocking on houses to trick-or-treat. Depending on who opens the door, the player’s party winds up either receiving candy (the in-game currency) or a battle for the troubles. Costume Quest‘s combat is an extremely simple turn-based affair with Mario RPG-inspired action timing for both offense and defense. The best part about Costume Quest is easily the costumes the party members wear. Depending on which costume one of the children is in, their abilities will be different. For example, the robot costume gives a ranged special attack, while a unicorn costume later on grants a healing ability. The introduction to every combat is shown through a (thankfully skippable) short cutscene wherein the player’s chosen character transforms from their cheap-looking child’s Halloween costume into a large version of whatever it is he or she is dressed as. Battles then play out in large-scale Sentai-style action, with both players and enemies dwarfing the scenery around them. The gameplay, like the story, is both simple and fun; battles in Costume Quest are typically extremely short and fairly easy and the areas are not particularly large or difficult to navigate.

Short and simple, the battles never really overstay their welcome.

From a technical standpoint, Costume Quest is about where a budget title should be. The cel-shaded cartoony graphics are perfect for the world and characters depicted, but the game as a whole is not graphically mind-blowing. The graphics, though simple, do work extremely well for the game, and the battle sequences really do feel and look like something out of a children’s cartoon. The music and sound effects, admittedly, are rather forgettable. The music, seemingly inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas, is atmospheric at first but does begin to grate on the ears after a few hours. Unfortunately, there is not much variety in the soundtrack; the player will hear the same three or four tracks extremely frequently throughout the game. For something as short as Costume Quest, though, a mediocre soundtrack is somewhat forgivable.

Costume Quest is the kind of game one would play through with a young son or daughter. It is not a game for the crotchety gamer or for one seeking a serious or emotional experience. For someone looking for a short and fun little game, though, Costume Quest is definitely worth taking a look at. This is definitely a good contender for “babby’s first RPG”; the simple story and easy-to-grasp game mechanics are useful as teaching tools for one looking to add newcomers to the gaming fandom. The five-hour or so length of Costume Quest is perfect, as the game manages not to outstay its welcome but also does not feel too short or rushed. The game also comes with a free DLC campaign, “Grubbins on Ice”, which adds another hour or two of Winter-themed antics to the experience. Unfortunately, Costume Quest is not quite worth the $15 price tag for the Steam version. Thankfully, the game goes on sale fairly frequently and is almost guaranteed to receive a significant discount when the fall Steam sale insanity begins. Any gamer looking for a moving and deep experience should look somewhere else, but for someone seeking a short and amusing little adventure, Costume Quest is a perfect choice that reminds its player of a simpler time, when kids were kids and candy was the number one source of currency among friends.

We are not joking about this. Seriously.

Produced 2012.04.01

Comic artist Kenjujuu arrives just in time to catch The Red Menace for a podcast on topics including colourful cupcakes and cancellations. The future of Game, Mortal Kombat, and Mistborn are also discussed.

It begins here..

A lone traveller stands wrapped within a simple brown cloak, gazing out at a vast desert stretching as far as the eye can see. The harsh sun makes the rolling hills of sand glitter like water on a summer’s day. Only, there is no water here, only the scattered ruins of a long-lost civilization and, in the distance, a towering mountain split down the center. What choice does the traveller have but to move across the shifting sands towards that distant monument?

Journey, more than a game, is an experience. It throws to the wayside the strong-willed invdividual on a quest for self-fulfillment. It scoffs at the epic battles between good and evil and the end of the world. Instead, thatgamecompany thrusts players into a sparse world with no instruction save “x” to jump and “o” to let out the most musical of cries. And so the nameless, faceless traveller begins his exodus across the desert, drawn to each landmark as an escape from the emptiness of his surroundings, slowly unearthing clues about what might have happened to what must have once been a remarkable civilizaiton.

This is a game that strives to push the world of video games into the realm of high art. It does not impress its players with extravagant voice-acting nor does it drag them through hours of tutorials and flashy cinematics. Instead, thatgamecompany banks on the simplicity of awe-inspiring environments where players are left to explore, to feel dwarfed by their surroundings, and to slowly piece together a story by drawing conclusions from the clues planted within the game. There is no narrator to direct the path. There is no plot save the one created by the players and pieced together through a series of images remiscent of ancient wall paintings.

The Pensive Traveller

Players interact with the world around them by collecting fragments of ribbons. These ribbons allow to traveller to dance upon the winds– to feel, if only for a few moments, empowered. As he traverses the landscape, the traveller is able to collect various ‘power-ups’ which make the tail upon his cloak longer and allow him a few more seconds of flight. Through this ability to fly he must solve various puzzles to open the pathway toward the distant, towering shadow of the mountain. The puzzles themselves are not particularly difficult, in fact, they can hardly be called puzzles at all. They add a cursory challenge to the game, but players will not find themselves stuck for hours upon a single challenge.

Journey’s unique approach to online-play is, by far, its most powerful mechanic. As a general rule, I like to play my games alone. I saw my first fellow traveller and I turned away from him, racing farther into the desert, further into my forced isolation. Later, I found myself alone within a dark ruin and in the distance I saw the soft glow of a song, a beacon within the darkness. We traversed the caves together. I watched in helpless horror as my companion was attacked by a remnant of a long-lost civilization, as her ribbon was torn and she was thrown to the wayside. I rushed to her side. We could not speak, but we shared that silent moment, vowed to travel to the top of the mountain together. And near the end we huddled together behind a stone, frozen by the icy winds, sharing in warmth and shelter. This is the most powerful interactive experience I have ever had within a game. Strip away the voice-chat and rob players of their keyboards, the knowledge alone that the other traveller upon the screen is a person sharing the same experience is enough.

Journey’s graphics are remiscent of a watercolor painting. A desert world is brought to life, each grain of sand reflecting the sun, vivid red ribbons with blazing gold characters dance across the screen. An environment normally considered a wasteland is brought to life through towering ruins, intense blue-green skies, and the subtle details of the traveller’s cloak blown within the wind. Beautiful simplicity is the name of the game, and at times the sparse landscape of Journey is more stunning than the lush, colorful landscapes of other games.

No longer alone

The soundtrack swells and ebbs with the landscape, creates suspense and soothes anxieties in turn. The crunch of the cloaked hero’s feet the only sound that penetrates the silence. His voice is a series of musical notes; notes that he uses to awaken the magic sleeping within the world around him.

All in all, thatgamecompany’s latest release is an immersive experience that proves not all stories need to be told in words.

Don't tease the octopus, kids.

Produced 2012.03.25

When a notorious purple octopus and his taciturn friend get an announced XIII-2 DLC release, the podcast panel finds themselves berserked; the announcement of a Theatrhythm release date only adds to the excitement. Lusipurr is forced to purchase remedies.

The father of the Capcom-EA business model.

Produced 2012.03.11

SiliconNooB is too drunk to attend, so Wedge drops in briefly, Blitzmage drops out briefly, and RootBeerKing stays the course in a podcast which looks at the various pitfalls associated with ‘day one’ and ‘on-disc’ DLC. Spoilers: the panel does not want.

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The triumphant tribesman has no idea what the player has suffered to get him to his goal.

From Dust places the player in the role of a faceless, nameless deity, whose goal is, for reasons that are never given, to protect a tribe of humans and guide them on a quest to colonize various lands. The story, as in most “God-game” simulation genre entries, is extremely minimal, and neither contributes nor detracts from the game experience. From Dust‘s story gets the job done, and that is all that can really be said. The gamer looking for a deep, fulfilling storyline will certainly not find it here, as From Dust may as well have no story at all.

The gameplay of From Dust has the player using a tool called “The Breath” to pick up sand, water, or lava and depositing it in other locations to build bridges, create dams, dry up lakes, and perform various other tasks in order to clear a path for the tribe members to reach their destinations. By sending enough people to the monoliths in each level, the player builds settlements and unlocks new abilities. These abilities are admittedly a great deal of fun to play with; “Infinite Earth” in particular sees some amusing uses. Unfortunately, however, there is very little variety to what the player does with the abilities. Most of the game is spent building bridges of sand, creating dams using lava, or drying up pools of water by turning them into gelatin (no, really). The core gameplay of From Dust is mediocre, and the controls unwieldy.

At least the water is pretty.

The PC port of From Dust has sloppy controls and poor handling. The camera scrolls at an unintuitive pace, and it is distractingly easy to miss a target by scrolling it off-screen. The mouse controls for The Breath are decent, but the “left-and-right-click simultaneously to drop everything that is currently held” mechanic requires unintuitive timing. The pathing for the tribe members is wonky and inconsistent; usually three or four of the five required people will arrive at the target with no difficulty, but there will almost always be one or two people who try and take the long way around a lake of lava rather than the short and easy path laid out before them. The inconsistent pathing is extremely frustrating, and at times the villagers are the game’s biggest obstacle. Worse still, however, is the player’s greatest enemy: the game itself. From Dust needs authentication through Ubisoft, an Ubisoft Uplay account (even if the game was bought through Steam!), but even this is not the worst aspect of the game. From Dust is prone to crashing for almost no reason, thanks to Ubisoft’s brilliant DRM additions. It is not unusual for From Dust to crash before the player even has a chance to start playing; this reviewer recalls at least three instances of the game doing just that.

From Dust is not a wholly negative experience. The game looks good, and the water in particular is beautiful to look at. The game is not particularly colorful, but when the world is as barren as the world of From Dust, this is not a major offense. Musically, From Dust is very minimal, with only a few songs to speak of. The sound effects are neither great nor terrible; they contribute roughly what the player would expect. Sadly, the graphics are the only truly favorable thing about From Dust.

The final point of this review? Do not buy From Dust, especially not for PC. The only gamer who should by this less-than-lackluster PC port is a masochistic gamer looking for bad games, and even that type of gamer should look elsewhere for their games. From Dust is sad example of an interesting concept done horribly wrong, and the terrible PC port only exacerbates the problem. Gamers who are interested in the God-game simulation genre wherein followers must be guided are highly advised to pick up a copy of Lemmings or The Sims 3 instead of From Dust. At about five hours, From Dust is mercifully short, at least. From Dust is a game to be avoided at all costs, both because supporting it supports Ubisoft’s ridiculous DRM policies, and because the game itself is terrible. But what of your experiences, readers? Have you played From Dust, and if so, what were your thoughts? Are the 360 or PSN versions better? Is the game simply horrible in all its forms? Let me know in the comments, dear readers!

Ludwig van Beethoven

Produced 2012.03.04

Chris ‘Sabin’ Privitere of RPGamer joins an already over-stuffed podcast panel to discuss Persona 2 on the PSP, Assassin’s Creed in the American War of Rebellion and Mutiny, the Binding of Isaac, the closure of Sony MMOs, and updates to Final Fantasy XIV.

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Tardiness Has Its Reward...

Produced 2012.02.19

The panelists arrive–some (much) later than others–to discuss topics including Ubisoft’s avaricious attempts to bilk PSVita gamers, Hulu on 3DS, a free-play weekend that has already gone, and the world’s most accurate Valentine’s Day Present simulator.

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Frosty, Cold, Apparently Full of Inbreds

Produced 2012.02.12

In a week positively brimming with hardly any news whatsoever, the panel discusses the Final Fantasy X remaster project, Valve’s security breach, Final Fantasy XIII-2′s sales figures, and Double Fine’s feeble and grasping attempts to obtain money.

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Wild ARMs

Lusipurr.com is pleased to present the Spring 2012 feature: Wild West: A Wild Arms Playthrough.

Released for the PlayStation in Japan in December of 1996 and in North America in April of 1997, Wild Arms received positive reviews but was, unfortunately, overshadowed by the much wider publicity associated with Final Fantasy VII. Yet, Wild Arms stands as the bridge between the era of sprite-based RPGs and polygonal RPGs, and apart from its significance as a bridge between eras, is a solid RPG in its own right.

Following the adventures of three adventurers in a western style setting, Wild Arms chronicles the plight of a fallen humanity, beset by demons. The enormous technical achievements of humanity have been lost, as are the connexion which once existed between humans and the Elw, a mysterious race who have passed from history into legend. Now, references to the wielders of the feared and forgotten ARMs verge on myth. In such an age, three companions from radically difference backgrounds come together to defend humanity in its final hours.

This is the final week of our four-week playthrough, in which we will aim to complete the game. Use the comments thread to discuss where you are, strategies for battles, and your opinions about how things have changed in JRPGs since the original release fifteen years ago.

So, we now invite you to join Lusipurr.com as we go into the west with Wild Arms!

An Amazing Game

Produced 2012.02.05

The Lusipurr.com podcast panel celebrates the release of Final Fantasy XIII-2 with a timely review, an amusing comic, and this podcast. Meanwhile, other news happens, including financial disasters and staff members obtaining Honourable Platinums.

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 may be the best JRPG released in the past decade, and you should play it. Go and order it now. Whilst you wait for your order to arrive, you can play the demo. Whilst you wait for the demo to download, you can read this comic.

WE HAVE PLANNED IT ALL OUT FOR YOU. All must you now do is simply COMPLY.

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BONUS! BONUS! BONUS!

Does this look like the sort of thing you would like on a cup? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.