Friday, March 7, 2014

Localizations, Please! Coming in Like a Beggar, Coming Out Like a Lamb Edition

Welcome to Localizations, Please!, another piece of our Please! series of features. This is where the SuperPhillip Central staff come together and list five titles that are stuck on the other side of the Pacific that we'd love to see come to our shores. We've had some success in the past with games like Bravely Default, Tales of Xillia, Xenoblade, The Last Story, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (we referred to it then as Monster Hunter Tri G, its Japanese name), and several other titles. However, we've also been disappointed with the lack of localizations of such games as Dragon Quest VII, Fantasy Life, Final Fantasy Type-0, and Mother 3. We're too disappointed to list any others.

Anyway, we have five more titles with questionable North American and PAL release statuses, so after you've seen our picks, feel free to cosign them or come up with your own!

Phantasy Star Online 2 (Vita, PC)


Yup. Phantasy Star Online 2 launched in Japan in the summer of 2012 for the PC, with its Vita counterpart releasing the following year. We're still waiting an announcement date for either version in North America and Europe. Perhaps we need to face facts and move on, but we can't. Our memories of Phantasy Star Online on both the Dreamcast and the GameCube are still too vivid in our minds to ignore. We can't give up on the hope of Sega finally letting the West in on the Phantasy Star Online 2 goodness. Heck, Sega even announced their were bringing the game over, but have yet to provide interested parties with any semblance of a date. Hence, it's a game in localization limbo and a perfect qualifier for a game we'd like localized!

God Eater 2 (Vita, PSP)


A software title that was met with great sales in Japan, selling over 260,000 units in its launch week alone, as well as reinvigorating Vita sales to a relatively impressive level, God Eater 2 is the sequel to the excellent Monster Hunter inspired game Gods Eater Burst. New features and additions included in God Eater 2 are three new weapons to vanquish beasts of all sizes. attack-augmenting Blood Arts, and even NPC quests to earn helpful rewards for battle. A PSP localization is almost too obvious in the fact that it won't happen, as that system's presence in the Western market has long since diminished. However, as either a retail or digital title for the Vita, God Eater 2 has a much better shot of localization. The game only came out in Japan this past November, so we may be jumping the gun in asking for God Eater 2's immediate localization announcement.

Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (3DS)


We have a thing for the number two this evening, don't we. A remake of two Game Boy Color classics, Dragon Quest Monsters 2 combines both of those games into one. Now, both main characters' quests are on the same game. After the less than impressive sales that the remakes of Dragon Quest V and VI on the DS received, it is understandable why Square Enix isn't too crazy about localizing more Dragon Quest on this side of the Pacific. Then again, this is the same company who wasn't thrilled with Tomb Raider selling four million copies, so... Maybe we should hope for something more realistic to come out of Square Enix...

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (3DS)


Then how about this game? Theatrhythm Final Fantasy wasn't just a rhythm game containing some of the best music in video gaming history, it was also one of our rhythm games period. This is why we chomp at the proverbial bit to see its sequel, due out in April in Japan, come stateside and everyone else who wishes to play it. Unlike Dragon Quest Monsters 2, Curtain Call has a really good chance of hitting the West. First, the original Theatrhythm did pretty well sales-wise. Secondly, the game was listed on an official Square Enix poll dedicated to the Kingdom Hearts series. We're obviously calling for a localization way too early, but that just shows how much we, as well as many other Final Fantasy and/or rhythm game fans, want to get touching, tapping, and sliding away with the latest in the Theatrhythm series.

Fossil Fighters (3DS)


Known in Japan as Fossil Fighters: Infinite Gear, the third entry in the Fossil Fighters series of games, this 3DS installment appears to be the most complete one yet. The familiar Pokemon-like battling between dinosaurs (or as the series knows them as Vivosaurs) is ever present, as is the dusting of fossils to add their respective Vivosaurs to the player's collection. What the most exciting new addition is is a fully expansive 3D map for players to utilize various vehicles on, each being able to reach new, previously inaccessible areas of the game. While the previous DS incarnations received mixed to favorable reviews, we are still interested in the direction that the developers have taken with this game.

No comments: