The Release List 08.11.09: Phantom Brave, C.O.R.E, Fossil Fighters, Madden Posted by Tommy Coloma on 08.11.2009
NISA brings its own brand of SRPG goodness to the Wii with Phantom Brave and Nintendo competes against itself with Fossil Fighters. Oh yeah - there's a new Madden too.
It's yet another slow and depressing week. Wii owners at least get a port of Phantom Brave, a non-shovelware game that could possibly take them 100+ hours to beat. C.O.R.E. might also be worth a look for those who are into DS FPS games and Fossil Fighters is noteworthy as it's a Nintendo-published game that appears to have many similarities to Pokémon. Of course, there's Madden, but does that really count at this point?
the C.O.R.E. "multiplayer features" trailer
Fossil Fighters' "Overview" trailer
This week's highlightNote: Release dates are subject to change
Phantom Brave: We Meet Again (Wii) We Meet Again is an update to the original Phantom Brave for the PS2. As it was the game that immediately followed Disgaea, it had a lot to live up to when it was first released back in 2004. Though the SRPG contained many similarities to its predecessor, many fans felt that it strayed a little too much from what made Disgaea a hit. Detractors cite the more serious story as well as the various gameplay changes as their main complaints. However, those who actually gave the game a chance found a lot of the changes to their liking. The absence of the grid system, for example, allowed for more freedom when positioning characters. In addition, the Confine system, whereby the souls of the playable characters must be "confined" to objects on the field in order to take physical form, forced players to put more thought into when and where to use each character. It's not an exact clone of Disgaea, but in this case, that isn't such a bad thing.
As expected, this update sports new items, more characters, improved graphics, and remixed music. There is also a new scenario which can be started from the get-go for those who have already beaten the original. I'm sure most gamers would have preferred another Disgaea port, but considering the Wii's sheer lack of SRPGs, this is still a must-buy for Wii owners who are fans of the genre and missed out on the PS2 release five years ago.
the "debut" trailer
The other US releases Active Life: Extreme Challenge (Wii)
C.O.R.E. (DS)
Fossil Fighters (DS)
Madden NFL 10 (360, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (PSN)
Monster Mayhem: Build & Battle (DS, Wii)
Real Heroes: Firefighter (Wii)
Imagine: Soccer Captain (DS)
The Import SceneJapanese localizations of domestic games, "Asia" versions of games that do not have English options, and "Best" (greatest hits) versions of already released games are ignored.
Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Fullmetal Alchemist - Akatsuki no Ouji (Wii)
Oubunsha Deru-Jun: Rekishi DS
Oubunsha Deru-Jun: Rika DS
Infinity Plus Portable (PSP)
