KOEI announced that they’re releasing Soul Nomad by NIS to the European market this coming June. This is good to hear I’m sure for SRPG fans in Europe, particularly those who love the Disgaea series of games. Soul Nomad has been reviewed favorably since it’s North American release last fall, it scored a 75 on MetaCritic which is respectable for a SRPG, especially a niche SRPG.

Square Enix has just announced that they are launching a North American community website. They are modeling the site after the popular Japanese community site. They stated that the site will offer exclusive content for members including special content, game trailers, interviews, sweepstakes and more. Registration has already start at the site and will officially launch on March 24, 2008.

Summon Night: Twin Age has just been announced for the Nintendo DS by Atlus. The game is set to be released on May 20 of this year. The game will have two playable characters and by playing as the different characters you will be able to view the story from two different perspectives. You will also be able to trade items via local wireless network. I am very impressed with the screenshots below. I love the ornate details in the environments and the great character sprites. This will definitely be a game to keep and eye on. Atlus has also mentioned another announcement for next week so we will keep you posted on any details.

Some interesting news just surfaced for the upcoming PS2 game from O3 Entertainment Chaos Wars. It seems that this game will only be available through GameStop. This will not doubt be a hard to find game shortly after release so if you are interested in the game I would suggest preordering which has already started. The game is a cross-over game that includes characters from other games including Growlanser, Spectral Force, Shadow Hearts plus many others. The game is set to be released on April 24, 2008.

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This is the continuation and full interview with Matt Atwood over at Eurogamer.net. As is to be expected from a console to PC port, the game’s visuals will be updated. Expect to see better frame rates, faster loading times, and higher resolution textures. The games controls and interface are being tweaked to feel more natural on a PC. This means l33t mouse aiming. Atwood also talks about the future of downloadable content as well as leaving the door open for possible user content on the PC version, though he says, “As a company, yes we will be doing it. With Mass Effect specifically? I just don’t know the answer yet.” Dragon Age is mentioned once again in reference to user content which leads to the exert posted previously. I personally would love to see user created Mass Effect content. Even if the dev team doesn’t directly support it, I’m sure someone will figure out a way to do it.

For everyone out there who can’t get enough of the Persona games, Atlus has just released information that they are working on Persona 4 for the PS2. The press release also states that they are working on a follow-up to Etrian Odyssey as well. I could not be happier about this. Persona 3 and Etrian Odyssey were two of my favorite games last year. It would have been great if Persona 4 would have made the jump to newer systems, but still why complain when one of last year’s best RPGs is getting a new game in the series.

Sources: Bloomberg | Gemaga

Great new for Final Fantasy fans in the PAL territories, Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core will have additional game play content and also be released as a special edition. The special edition will come with a hard-backed art book and a slip case that holds the book and the game. This seems like a pretty nice package and the press release states that it will be available at selected retailers. So if you are interested I would start looking now.

A battle rages as the Embryon and Vanguard tribes fight for new territory in the Junkyard. You are Serph, Leader of the Embryon, and battling along side you are your lieutenants Argilla, Gale, Cielo and Heat. The battle is cut short by a falling object from the sky that crashes in the center of the battlefield. Just then a transmission from the Karma Temple, the governing body of the Junkyard, is sent to the Embyon and Vanguard tribes. They are to destroy the pod or face the consequences. Before they can act, the pod opens and light streaks across the battlefield giving everyone in the Junkyard the ability to turn into demons with an uncontrollable hunger to feed. And so begins one of the best RPGs on the PS2, Digital Devil Saga.

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In an interview with EuroGamer, BioWare’s Matt Atwood talked a little bit about Dragon Age, Bioware’s spiritual successor to acclaimed RPG series Buldar’s Gate. Based on the awards that Dragon Age raked in, it’s obvious that it was the RPG darling of E3 2004, however we haven’t heard much more out of BioWare since.

Matt assures us that the game has been on BioWare’s development plate since 2004 and that we should see a release by April 2009. As of now, the game is PC only, but when asked about the possibility of releasing it for other platforms, Matt doesn’t rule it out. “It is for the PC, but as far as exclusivity we haven’t said anything on that.”

Check out the interview at EuroGamer.

Square Enix has just released some new screens for the DS RPG The World Ends With You. The screens look action packed with a lot visually going on. I really like the design direction and the high contrast art style of the game. It looks a lot different than other games out there. Take a look for yourself with the screens below.