This week, the gaming community is all abuzz over the Scottish automobile larceny simulator, and no wonder, considering the reviews it’s getting. The only problem with this is that a number of other gems are liable to fly under the radar, and in the case of games that may or may not come to our shores to begin with, a lack of attention could ensure that they never do. Here are two Japanese DS titles, revealed in Famitsu and due this summer, that look particularly awesome.
World Destruction is a Sega RPG with a promising concept — instead of investing adventurers in their clichéd responsiblity to save the world, World Destruction tasks you with destroying it, in order to free humankind from the oppression of their monster overlords. And according to 1UP, Sega has spared no expense in putting together an all-star development team to flesh out this doomed planet:
World Destruction reunites three veterans behind the PS1’s popular Xenogears: scenarist Masato Kato (also of the original NES Ninja Gaiden and Chrono Trigger fame), character designer Kunihiko Tanaka, and composer Yasunori Mitsuda (known for his work on Chrono Trigger, Shadow Hearts, and a number of other titles). Backing them up is a dev team of nearly 50 creators[...]
[...]the team promises to push the 2D sprite animation to the limit, even going so far as to bring Grandia design director Masatoshi Azumi onto the project. Also joining the staff as monster designer is Etrian Odyssey’s Shin Nagasawa. Some of the game’s monsters are so huge they span both screens.
The talent involved in this project just blows my JRPG-loving mind.
Anime News Network reports that Sega isn’t satisfied with just a game, either; studio Production I.G. is also planning to expand the title into a full-blown anime series, slated to air this July.
Japanese readers or the graphically-inclined may wish to visit the newly-opened official website (via Game|Life).
The Square Enix horror title Nanashi no Geemu (lit. The Game with No Name), meanwhile, takes a horrible cliché and runs with it. Learning of a DS game that kills its player within *ahem* seven days, you must play through the game, unraveling the mystery and hopefully saving yourself in the process.
But there’s more: according to DS Fanboy, the game will apparently feature insanity effects a la Eternal Darkness, breaking the fourth wall as your character plays the cursed old-school JRPG on a fake Nintendo DS. There’s no Pictochat, but other characters will send you DS e-mail instead.
Most impressive, however, is the powerful 3D engine driving your interactions in the game’s ‘real’ world, and Square Enix’s choice to use the second screen not as glorified map but as an incredibly atmospheric extension of your vision, as demonstrated in the trailer below:
GoNintendo also recommends checking out the interactive flash demonstration of the game at the official website — simply press the left button (みる）then the third from the left (ゲエム）before letting your curiosity drive you to a painful demise.
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