The X Button

Anthology Apology

What sort of game is Ciel no Surge? Gust designates it as a “communication” title, but feel free to label it a girlfriend simulator. The girl in question is Ion, a shy young thing in the grip of an unfortunate case of amnesia. In order to restore her memory, the player talks with her and shows her around a vaguely futuristic city, while events unfold in time with the Vita's internal clock. When such mild therapy falls short, the player can use computer terminals to dive into Ion's psyche, revealing an eerily ruined world and a number of secrets. If it's perhaps inappropriate for players to be Ion's lover as well as her therapist, Ciel no Surge doesn't care. Whether on dates or memory-recovery expeditions, Ion blushingly flirts with the player, apparently forging a relationship that could affect the entire planet. And players aren't alone in these sessions. Three neighborhood kids help Ion adjust, and fairies called Char can be created by scanning barcodes with the Vita's camera. The conveniently girlish Char then enter Ion's mind to solder her nerve connections back together.

Ciel no Surge is the work of the minds responsible for the Ar Tonelico series, which doused RPGs in sugary-cute anime characters and psychological exploration. But there's no RPG to be found in Ciel no Surge, as much of the game plays out in conversations. It's not an entirely solo experience, though; players can combine Char-related points to unlock new costumes and hairstyles for the confused heroine. Clearly aware of Ciel no Surge's audience, Gust put most of their work into Ion's appearance and personality. Will she stand out from the numerous other girls in Japan's unavoidable crop of “communication” games? She already has, in a way: Ciel no Surge Volume 2 is coming out in June.

Import Barrier: There's a lot of talking, and it's all in Japanese. If that's not a problem, the Vita has no regional lock-out to further dissuade you.

Chances of a Domestic Release: Relatively low. The Ar Tonelico series made it over here, but those were RPGs at the very least. Dialogue-driven games like Ciel no Surge are a harder sell.

Anthology games are quite rare. So rare, in fact, that I'm not sure if the industry's ever before attempted something like Guild01, a collection of four smaller-scale games by different directors. In theory, it frees them from the constraints of big-budget planning, and the results mix established genres with stranger pursuits. The most marketable of the four is easily Goichi “Suda51” Suda's Liberation Girl, a 3-D shooter that pits a future Japan's teenage girl president against an invading force. Naturally, there's a giant robot for her to pilot and a bevy of anime cutscenes to convey her chief executive struggle.

Less readily commercial is Aero Porter, a baggage-handling simulator by Seaman creator Yoot Saito. It begins with a single luggage conveyor, but players can expand their enterprise to an entire airport. A similar entrepreneurial spirit drives Weapon Rental Shop de Omasse, the work of comedian Yoshiyuki Hirai. The game views an RPG quest through the eyes of a blacksmith's apprentice who forges and sells weapons to various adventurers.

Crimson Shroud is by far the most interesting game in the set, as it marks the return of Yasumi Matsuno. Though he's responsible for RPG standard-setters like Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, Matsuno hasn't directed a game since 2006's Final Fantasy XII (which he left mid-development). Crimson Shroud is vintage Matsuno: down-to-earth medieval settings, ornate costumes, and names like “Gianique.” However, it's all used to simulate a tabletop RPG session. Players roll dice, characters look like miniature figures, and players can choose diverging paths in the story. It all seems quite different from the typical RPG, but Matsuno's previous works always had some complex stats fueling their gameplay. Perhaps Crimson Shroud is the game he always wanted to make.

Import Barrier: Liberation Girl is an approachable shooter, but the other three games all involve copious text. Oh, and 3DS games are region-locked.

Chances of a Domestic Release: Despite some interest from Level-5, it's unlikely that any Western publisher would take on all four of the games. Perhaps someone will work out a deal for Liberation Girl and Crimson Shroud.

Back in 2004, Cave reached a turning point with Mushihimesama and the bug-befriending schoolgirl princess Reco. Earlier Cave shooters often used anime-ish heroines, but Mushihimesama was the first of the developer's games that really emphasized its main character, to the point of inspiring Reco statues and other merchandise. It all worked to profitable effect, and to this day Cave's shooters usually have marketable, big-eyed female characters to appeal to some sector of the modern anime community. Mushihimesama remains Cave's biggest property in that regard, since it inspired a sequel, an iPhone action game, and, most recently, this HD remastering. The new package here includes the original and arranged versions of the game, a downloadable "1.5" version, and a beginner course for those of us who are intimidated by the massive swarms of bullets in Cave shooters.

As for the game itself, Mushihimesama is fairly straightforward among Cave shooters. Reco and her beetle-like steed have three types of shot as well as pawn ships that can follow her in several ways. It lacks the shields and bullet-slowing mechanics of Cave's ESP series, and there's nothing like Progear no Arashi's impenetrable dating-sim undercurrent. This leaves players to focus all of their attention on scoring points and dodging enemy fire. And since this is one of those “bullet curtain” shooters that Cave so loves, there's a lot of enemy fire. For the money, however, the overall package seems a bit spare; it's nicer than the Mushihimesama port that hit the Playstation 2, but you'd think Cave could bundle together the sequel, Mushihimesama Futari, and possibly even the iOS game, Bug Panic. Yet shooters fans will likely find endless challenges in this upscaled version of an influential shooter. Casual players will note that they can get Mushihimesama on their iPhones (as “Bug Princess”) for about five bucks.

Import Barrier: Some of Cave's Xbox 360 shooters are region-free. This is not one of them. At least it's easy to understand once you get past that roadblock.

Chances of a Domestic Release: Fairly low, but Rising Star Games may go for it. It's also possible that Cave will work out a downloadable release on Xbox Live, as they did with Deathsmiles II.

By now fans have accepted that the long-running Ys action-RPG series won't be as popular in North America as it is in Japan, where it's helped Falcom turn a profit each quarter. Yet it's never been easier to find Ys games in English: XSeed released Ys Seven and Ys: The Oath in Felghana on the PSP, and they've only gotten more direct in delivery methods. Felghana arrived on Steam earlier this year, and now the PC-based games service has the first official English version of Ys Origin.

Granted, the game's an oddity in the series. It doesn't star recurring hero Adol Christin, and it actually stretches back centuries in the franchise's timeline. The tale concerns goddesses Feena and Reah, whose absence sends a bunch of adventurers from the floating kingdom of Ys to the inhospitable lands below. The three playable heroes are axe-hefting knight trainee Yunica Tovah, sorcerer Hugo Fact (there's a hint, Ys fans), and a certain antagonist who's only available once the game's finished.

Ys Origin almost seems a dungeon hack in disguise. All of its gameplay transpires within the ominously named Devil's Tower, seen in at least two previous Ys games (and also known as Darm Tower). If that sounds restrictive, the tower nonetheless houses a full complement of action-RPG stages: lava stages, icy stages, desert stages, and even a little tower set off by itself. Yes, the game's level design goes for clichés whenever it can, and it's hard to find Ys fans who consider Origin the best of the series. It's hardly terrible, though, and anyone who follows the Ys mythos will find a prequel story that's a little darker than the franchise's norm. And for those who must have Adol in their Ys games, he pops up in a bonus mode.