Developer: SEGA

Publisher: SEGA USA

Platform:PlayStation 4, Played on PlayStation 4 Pro

ESRB Rating: M

Release Date April 17th

MRSP: 59.99

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is the seventh main entry in SEGA’s open world beat ‘em up series. Yakuza 6 has a lot to live up to; not only is it the seventh mainline entry, it acts as the swan song for serious protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. The game is also the first to use SEGA’s new high fidelity graphic engine The Dragon Engine. So with all of this riding on the games back, how does the game do? Does it live up to the expectations of a Yakuza game or does it buckle under all the pressure?

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Developer: Omega Force

Publisher: Koei Tecmo

Platform: PlayStation 4*, PC (Steam), Xbox One

ESRB Rating: T

Release Date: February 13th, 2018

MRSP: $59.99

*The PS4 Pro Version was used to review this game

Thank you, Koei Tecmo for providing a review copy!

Dynasty Warriors 9 is the long awaited new mainline title in the “Dynasty Warriors” series of hack and slash games. This game attempts to completely redefine the series with an open and fully explorable world full of minigames, armies to fight, and sights to see. Will fans of the series have the next true evolution of musou games? Today we dive in and take a look.

Story:
This series’ story has also been a constant retelling of the classic novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”. This story explains the Three Kingdoms period in chinese history which is essentially a giant Chinese civil war. There are over 80 characters spread out across 5 factions, each of which have stories that carry over to various time periods throughout the war. Playing only one character will give you a story that wouldn’t answer a ton of questions and will constantly have you battling against characters you know nothing about. The more character stories you complete the more sense the overall story with make. The story itself is part cheesy, part serious war drama, and part anime. It isn’t bad by any means, but by the second or third character story you’ll already have seen all the major events at least once.

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Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Developer: Atlus

Publisher: Atlus USA

MRSP: 39.99

ESRB Rating: T

Thank You Atlus USA for a Review Copy of this Game

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is a remake of the DS classic Radiant Historia. However, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology has a much higher production value with fully animated cutscenes, full voice acting, quality of life changes and an entire new timeline to explore. The original release of this game was critically acclaimed by critics and players alike, so now we need to ask: how does this remake still hold up as one of the classics in the history of the JRPG genre?

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For those of you looking forward to Atlus’ upcoming Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology, do I have some good news for you! Today Atlus has announced that a demo of the game will be available to play starting today!

For those who can’t wait for Feb. 13 to arrive, download the Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology demo today in the Nintendo eShop! Get familiar with the story and the game’s mechanics, then transfer your save file when the game launches.

–PR

So if you want to see what the game is like for yourself go ahead and hop in and try it! In other news Atlus has uploaded a unboxing video of the launch edition of Perfect Chronology  in the spirit of the game! Take a look to see what you’ll be getting if you pick it up at launch!

In a live stream over the weekend XSEED Games announced that The Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel II will be hitting Steam this Valentines day. This morning XSEED has released a full statement detailing the PC release of the game along with the price point of the game.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, will be released worldwide for Windows PC by XSEED Games via Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store by Humble Bundle on February 14 with a 10% launch week discount from its regular selling price of $39.99, €39.99, and £29.99. Owners of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel on PC will be able to use their existing save files in The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II to gain access to special dialogue with characters reflecting the prior choices for a more personalized experience.

In addition to higher framerates, improved textures, and other graphical improvements that The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel received when it launched on PC in 2017, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II will launch with support for ultra-wide resolutions, a brand new feature allowing players to bypass the Title Screen and launch the game directly from their most recent save, the return of the popular “Turbo Mode,” and over 50% more voice lines from the title’s original English voice cast!

-PR

Some exciting news this morning from Atlus for all Shin Megami Tensei fans. Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey Redux for the Nintendo 3DS will be launching on May 15th in North America and May 18th in Europe.

Calling all United Nations soldiers, a spatial distortion is expected to appear in Antarctica on May 15 when Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux releases for $39.99 (with commensurate European pricing) for Nintendo 3DS™! Featuring additional story content, new illustrations by Masayuki Doi, and a brand-new character, Alex, Strange Journey Redux is an ATLUS JRPG adventure fans of the series won’t want to miss!

-PR

With the announcement of this release date, Atlus USA has also shown off an updated North American box art which closely resembles the Japanese box art that released last year.

Be on the look out for more coverage of Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey Redux including our review of the game as we get close to launch!

This afternoon XSEED has confirmed that Nihon Falcom game Zwei The Arges Adventure will release on PC January 24th for $19.99.

 XSEED Games, the independent-minded publishing brand of Marvelous USA, Inc., today announced that Zwei: The Arges Adventure, the original entry in the Zwei series from acclaimed developer Nihon Falcom and stand-alone predecessor to Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection, will launch for Windows PC via Steam, GOG, and The Humble Store by Humble Bundle on Wednesday, January 24. To celebrate this launch, the title will receive a limited-time 10% launch discount from its regular selling price of $19.99/€19.99/£14.99.

-PR

For those of you holding out on playing the latest Zwei game that hit PC last year to play this game you are certainly in luck! We hope to bring you a review of both Zwei games in the near future!

This afternoon NIS America has unveiled their release date for YS VIII. PC gamers can get their hands on this JRPG through Steam on January 30th. Alongside the PC release NIS America will be releasing an update that will improve the localization quality of YS VIII on the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita.

We are pleased to announce that the PC release of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA will have a target global release date of January 30, 2018. Included in the PC release are game optimizations and the localization revisions originally announced in October. The localization revisions include improvements to the game’s script, adjustments to graphical text and re-recorded audio and will be implemented across PC, PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®Vita versions simultaneously.

-PR

It’s good to see NIS America is working diligently to improve their localization quality and give the game the translation it deserves. You can take a look at some examples of the improved localization here:

PC Gamers can also take advantage of some bonuses if they purchase the game in the first week of launch as well!

For one week only, PC users will be able to download the following for free until Feb 6, 10:00am PST:

• Adol’s Adventure Essentials DLC – Includes Adol’s Silver Armor, Adol’s Adventurer Clothes, and Adol’s Survival Kit
• Digital Mini Art Book – Includes a 32-page full-color art book
• Digital Soundtrack Sampler – Includes 5 tracks
• Laxia’s “Eternian Scholar” Costume

If you are interested to know how the game plays be sure to check out our review of YS VIII here.