Something About Japan: the 3DS games coming Direct to the west

[wraggster]

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/04/NintendoDirect.jpg (http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/04/NintendoDirect.jpg)This week’s Nintendo Direct (http://www.edge-online.com/tag/nintendo-direct/) revealed the Western release of a number of hit Japanese games for 3DS, among them Square Enix’s Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, Level-5′s Professor Layton And The Azran Legacy and Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei IV.Bravely Default will retain its bizarre name as it makes the localisation leap sometime this year. Released in Japan in October 2012, the RPG has sold over 300,000 copies and has been hailed by many as a return to form for Square Enix, with a turn-based combat system similar to Final Fantasy V, lots of voice acting, innovative community features and AR use, plus multiple endings.Ahead of the game’s original release, producer Tomoya Asano spoke to Japanese site 4gamer (http://www.4gamer.net/games/140/G014037/20120922040/) about how StreetPass had been implemented to enhance gameplay.“It uses three main elements of communication,” he said. “One is the reconstruction of your village. You can accelerate your progress in building item shops and so on by recruiting the characters of people you StreetPass with. It also enables you to buy stronger weapons (from these shops).”He also detailed the Abilink system, whereby you can borrow job classes from your StreetPass buddies. “And the third element is that you can ‘summon’ friends to deliver a powerful blow,” he said.The game also makes use of the 3DS’ AR functionality, with a nine-minute intro where characters prance about your living room. “There are a few other places where you can use AR,” said Asano, “but we’ve implemented it in such a way that you can still proceed if you’ve left your marker card at home.”Just two weeks after Bravely Default: Flying Fairy was released in Japan, a PC-only sequel, Bravely Default: Praying Brage, was announced. Given that “brage” is a word sometimes used in connection with both pornography and violent attacks, let’s hope they change the name of that one if it also heads West.Level-5 has said that Professor Layton And The Azran Legacy will be the puzzle-mad prof’s final outing. And in Japan, while the game sold 130,000 copies in its first week in February, there’s no denying that the series is losing its lustre – there was a time when Layton games would move 300,000 units in their first week. Famitsu gave Azran Legacy a score of 32/40, made up of four 8/10s in its cross-review.

http://www.edge-online.com/features/something-about-japan-the-3ds-games-coming-direct-to-the-west/