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Extreme Conditions

It's fair to introduce the Super Robot Wars: Original Generation series as a remarkable exemplar of just how healthy giant-robot geekdom is in Japan. The entire Super Robot Wars line started as an all-star battle of popular anime mecha, plus a few original characters for novelty's sake. But there were so many anime-filled Super Robot Wars titles that Banpresto just took all of their original pilots and robots and packed them into the Original Generation sub-series. Being an Original Generation piece, this new PlayStation 3 outing lacks the Gundams and Gunbusters and other anime icons that many associate with the Super Robot Wars games, but fans are excited all the same. Part of that's due to this being the first new Super Robot Wars in HD, which makes the mecha battles look all the prettier. And part of it is due to some fans growing attached to Excellen Browning and Axel Almer and Ing Egret and all of the other goofy-named characters and delightfully over-armed robots.

Dai-2-Ji Super Robot Wars continues from the PlayStation 2's Super Robot Taisen Original Generation Gaiden, and the game offers two (or three) protagonists: Super Robot Wars D's Joshua Radcliffe and Cliana Rimskaya, the latter of whom has two separate personalities, Riana and Chris, dwelling within her. They're just the start of the dozens of characters within the Original Generation universe, which spans subterranean worlds, alternate dimensions, and all sorts of other nonsense. This might not be the best point for newcomers to jump in, but there's a wealth of robot-battle-porn on display in the game's strategy-RPG levels. Players can pair up various characters in the field, and the new Maximum Break maneuver lines up four mecha for to attack in succession. Of course, the real fun comes from upgrading robots, customizing pilot skills, and then watching all hell break loose as those robot pull off elaborately animated attacks on some poor enemy drone. And boy howdy, does Dai-2-Ji Super Robot Wars have a lot of that.

Import Barrier: You can appreciate the mecha-combat chaos without knowing Japanese, and you can also run the game on a U.S. PlayStation 3 without much bother. But you'll still need to figure out the battle menus and upgrade system. Good luck.

Chances of a Domestic Release: The lack of licensed characters gives it a shot at North America, but publishers don't seem interested.

Let us compare the upcoming Lost Planet 3 with the recent Lost Planet spin-off E.X. Troopers. Lost Planet 3 is a slow and dramatic game that chronicles the early colonization of planet E.D.N. III, as told through the eyes of an honest working stiff named Jim Peyton and his trucker-like comrades. E.X. Troopers is a cel-shaded action game where grinning teenage explorers jet across the icy wastes of a distant planet, with comic-book cutscenes detailing their rivalries, crushes, and camaraderie. The lead teenager is Bren Tanner, a pink-haired doofus who heads to the planet in search of fame and mecha-piloting opportunities. His trip there finds him piloting an experimental Vital Suit (that's what robots are called in Lost Planet), and he's joined in his explorations by his uptight rival Chris, walking textbook Luan, chipper mechanic Julie, and sensitive snow-pirate mystic TeeKee. Of course, there's a colonial network to support them with upgrades, missions, and power-up snacks.

Embracing a faster pace than its Lost Planet brethren, E.X. Troopers makes it easy for its characters to maneuver through wintry environments and tackle the giant, insectile Akrid in battle. Jetpacks allow for double-jumps and dashing, and attacks involve both melee hits and lock-on weaponry. It's won comparisons to a speedier Mega Man Legends (one supporting character also resembles Grill from the unjustly canceled Mega Man Legends 3), and the whole thing's painted with a bright anime gloss down to the onomatopoeic sound effects, and it fits both the PlayStation 3 and 3DS well. The game's also big on multiplayer, with online play on the PS3 and local stuff on the 3DS. The modes include co-op missions, plus team-based matches for up to twelve participants.

Import Barrier: The PS3 version is region-free, the 3DS one is region-locked, and both are comprehensible even if you don't understand Japanese. But you'll miss out on the subtleties of, say, Chris and Bren's competitive quibbling.

Chances of a Domestic Release: Right now? Not good. Capcom's said no to both versions of the game. Their tune might change once Lost Planet 3 arrives here.

Some might see this crossover as a clear and dirty cash-in on two established franchises: the steadily popular Professor Layton puzzle-adventure games and the recently revived Ace Attorney legal-simulator series. But consider that this game is designed and scripted by Shu Takumi, the creator of Ace Attorney and last year's wonderful Ghost Trick. Takumi wisely didn't try to cram one series into the other's ongoing storyline. Instead he warps them to another locale entirely. Technically, both Layton and Phoenix Wright visit London at the start of the game, but they're soon transported to the curiously medieval Labyrinth City, where most of the denizens look somewhere between the people of Wright's world and the more abstract designs of Layton's. Seemingly crafted by the whims of mysterious storyteller, the city is in the grip of hysteria over an alleged secret society of witches, and a girl named Mahone is currently on trial for witchery.

The “versus” part of the title isn't quite accurate. While Layton and Phoenix are surely at odds in some plot points, the two of them are mostly on the same side. Phoenix finds himself defending Mahoney against the skilled accusations of knightly prosecutor Barnrod, while Layton investigates the city's darker side and secret societies. This involves gameplay from both franchises. Logic puzzles crop up in the style of Layton games, with both Layton's assistant Luke and Phoenix's sidekick Maya seeking solutions to the various challenges. Meanwhile, the courtroom scenes unfold as a superstitious witch hunt pulled off in Phoenix Wright fashion, where each witness is delightfully eccentric and shocking arguments are hurled back and forth in a fistfight of legal statements.

Import Barrier: Between the regional lockout on the 3DS and the plentiful dialogue, this one will leave English-speakers mystified.

Chances of a Domestic Release: Capcom's danced around the idea of bringing Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney over here, and it's unlikely that any Layton game will go unlocalized. In fact, the title already showed up in some European release lists. Perhaps someone's jumping the gun, but there's good reason for that.

The original Unchained Blades covers a lot of ground, both in terms of game territory and calculated geek preferences. It's a dungeon-hack with a variety of monstrous characters, most of them transformed into stock anime-RPG faces by notable industry artists. Exxiv attempts an even broader array of styles in its gameplay and character lineup. Another round of artists was recruited not only for the player's party, but also for the villains who harry them throughout the game's numerous walking labyrinth-creatures. Suzuhito Yasuda supplied the game's lead, Ryuga, and Yoshitaka Amano himself crafted a dark knight. Ryuga's allies were similarly designed by other artists: the angelic Sofia by Haruyuki Morsawa (Dream C Club), the gloomy Hilda by Yusuke Kozaki (Fire Emblem: Awakening), beast-man Sieg by Kunihiko Tanaka (Xenogears), the birdlike Mint by KEI, the gothic Emil by Minako Iwasaki (Rune Factory), and the demon-horned Reisled by Katsumi Enami (Baccano!). Then there's Diane, a dragon woman (or is she a dragon-phoenix woman?) drawn by Luminous Arc artist Kaito Shibano. The villains include a reckless warrior designed by Ace Attorney artist Kumiko Suekane, plus mages designed by Senmu, Mizuki, and Eiji Kaneda. They're led by the imposingly armored Zagan, drawn by Etrian Odyssey's Shin Nagasawa.

Exxiv also explores some new venues in its combat. Dungeons are charted and battles are fought with a first-person view reminiscent of the original Unchained Blades, but some new hazards present themselves during those maze-dives. Boss battles also break out of the static interface, as players have to switch perspectives to attack different sections of towering creatures. Enemies can be recruited by players once again, but the wide-scale Judgment Battles of the first game are replaced by monster-versus-monster duels where button-mashing often decides the victor.

Import Barrier: Exxiv requires some reading comprehension in both its battle text and character customization. Plus there's that lockout if you go for the 3DS version instead of the region-free PSP.

Chances of a Domestic Release: XSEED's still caught up in releasing the first Unchained Blades on these shores. It's out for PSP at the moment, but the 3DS version is taking its time.

Crimson Shroud is the most intriguing of the four games that Level-5 packed into the Guild01 omnibus. Yes, Liberation Maiden had the president of future Japan piloting a mecha, Aero Porter is a luggage-sorting simulator, and Omasse Rental Weapon (which we won't see in America) is a unique spin on RPG capitalism. However, Crimson Shroud is the first new Yasumi Matsuno RPG in a long while. Matsuno has quite the reputation thanks to Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics, and the Tactics Ogre series, all games complex in both mechanics and storytelling. Yet Matsuno hasn't done much since he gave up directing Square's Final Fantasy XII about three-fourths of the way through. He wrote the script for MadWorld, oversaw the PSP remake of Tactics Ogre, and then joined Level-5. He actually left the company about a month ago, but he was at Level-5 long enough to craft Crimson Shroud for the Guild01 get-together.

The game has the marks of a Matsuno title, and it plunges deeper yet into his fondness for tabletop RPGs. It unfolds in a darkly medieval world where magic is tied to mysterious artifacts called Gyfts rather than natural forces, and the player controls a party of Chasers--that's what the game calls all-purpose bounty hunters. In the Matsuno tradition of arcane character names, the protagonist is a gentlemanly Chaser called Giauque, and he's joined by an archer known as Lippi and Frea, a woman of the heretical Kush tribe. They're tracking the original Gyft, the Crimson Shroud, and their search leads to all sorts of dungeons. Battles are carried out with menus and character turns, but the game frequently breaks out dice rolls to decide an action's success. This isn't the only way Crimson Shroud evokes tabletop games, as all of the characters and monsters are represented like little Warhammer or Dungeons & Dragons figures. They even stand on bases and wobble as they attack and cast magic. This results in some stilted battles that might disappoint those in search of Vagrant Story's dynamism, but there's a lot going on below the surface. And if you find the tabletop-game atmosphere unconvincing, just crack open a bag of Doritos and have two of your friends argue about charisma-spell effects for twenty minutes.