Howdy everyone! Ryan from NIS America here, dropping by to talk about our upcoming PS3-exclusive title Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland! Due out May 22nd in North America, this is the final game in the Atelier Arland trilogy and we are super excited for its US debut.

For those new to the Atelier series, they are RPG games that revolve heavily around adventuring and using alchemy to synthesize items, weapons, and armor. In order to make items with alchemy, you will be out leveling up your characters and gathering materials in various areas. Although Atelier Meruru is the third title in the Arland trilogy, the story itself is independent from the previous two titles, so you can totally pick it up and enjoy it without having previous knowledge of the backstory. For those who have played the other two Arland games, you can definitely look forward to seeing familiar characters from the previous two titles!

The story itself takes place in the tiny kingdom of Arls, located on the northeastern border of the Arland Republic, which Princess Meruru calls home. Ever since she was exposed to alchemy by famed adventurer Totori Helmold (Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland, 2011), all she could think about was becoming an alchemist. With Totori’s guidance, Meruru sets out to develop her kingdom using the power of alchemy. On her way, Meruru will encounter new adventures, obstacles, mysteries, and friends, and discover what life is like outside the castle walls. How you choose to guide her through the advancement of her land will determine the final outcome in the tale of Atelier Meruru.

What’s new for this Atelier game? First and foremost, there is a new “development” system that allows you to actually develop new areas in Arls in order to gain access to new lands to explore – doing this will also change the physical appearance of areas and facilities within the game. Another new addition is that you will can pick up quests and interact with NPCs outside of town while you are out gathering and adventuring. The previous titles used the main town as the quest hub to undertake and hand in all your quests, so this is a nice new feature for this series. Alchemy is back with a vengeance, with plenty of new items to make, and of course be on the lookout for the Homs, who will gladly gather and synthesize items for you while you’re out adventuring!

We’re greatly looking forward to the launch of Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland next month on May 22nd exclusively on PS3. If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment and I’ll do my best to answer your questions. Thanks again!

ClaDun x2 will be available only on PSN at the end of August. I don’t have the exact date just yet, but please look out for ClaDun x2 when it pops up on the PlayStation Store. You can also sign up for our Prinny Bomb newsletter at our website to get all of our announcements and news straight from us!

If you played ClaDun: This is an RPG, you might feel like this will be just another run-of-the-mill sequel. But don’t jump to conclusions too quickly! ClaDun x2 returns with tons more customization—more Magic Circles, more artifact types, more classes, more everything!

So how does this game work? Here’s a quick rundown: at its heart, ClaDun x2 is an action RPG. There are two parts to the gameplay; first comes the preparation, where you strategize your battle formation, then comes the dive into battle. Victory is heavily based on the preparations you make in your Base before you head into the dungeons. Customizing Magic Circles with your characters and artifacts, which boost your stats and grant different abilities, is the most crucial part of this game. Each character class has its own specialties and weaknesses, which you’ll have to take into consideration when forming your Magic Circle. When you’re ready, you can head into a dungeon to battle deadly enemies. As you go through the story and level up, you’ll gain more Magic Circles, more gear, and more artifacts! This may sound easy-breezy, but it will actually require a lot of strategy and thinking! Here are some screenshots from the Magic Circle system.

In ClaDun x2, there are 10 classes. Some of the new classes include the Swordmage, which strikes the perfect balance of spells and melee attacks, the Shaman, which is an expert magic user and wielder of powerful Magic Circles, and the Ninja, which excels at sneak attacks and even has a Magic Circle that allows them to fight alone in battle! There are more classes to discover, and as I mentioned above, each class has different abilities and specialties. I’m sure you’ll have a blast exploring them all!

ClaDun X2 has also gotten a major boost to its editing system. This time around, you can add facial expressions for when your character is walking, running, and even dying… Yes, sad I know, but it’s a pretty cool system. And of course, you can also customize your weapons, armor, and even background music. I hope you’ll all pick up the game when it releases on PSN and dip into this super addictive dungeon RPG! You can also check out our official website for more information!

Let’s talk about Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland! This is the highly anticipated sequel to Atelier Rorona, which was released in 2010. And here’s some good news for our Rorona fans out there; Rorona will return in Atelier Totori! Rorona appears as Totori’s teacher, and she’ll help Totori grow as an alchemist and become a great adventurer on Totori’s quest to find her mother. Supposedly, Rorona is a responsible, grown-up lady now, but I’ll leave the final judgment on that to you. Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland will be shipped to retailers on September 27th! The Premium Edition of Atelier Totori will come with a full-color art book and soundtrack!

Atelier Totori features a hugely expanded world map setting, and there are some new features as well. One of these new additions is the “Adventurer’s License” system. The higher Adventurer’s License rank you get, the more places and lands throughout Totori’s massive world you can unlock and explore. In order to get higher ranks, you’ll need to accumulate points by defeating strong monsters, helping the citizens of Arland with quests, creating rare items through synthesis, and so on. Your ultimate goal in the game is to help Totori find her missing mother, and this task will require you to explore the entire world of Atelier Totori. Dust off your adventurer’s hat, and get ready!

It sounds really exhausting to do all that by yourself, right? Not to worry! You can get up to five Homunculi to help you gather ingredients and synthesize items while you’re doing more important things out in the world. They’re very helpful, but they’ll need some extra time to synthesize at first. And in order for them to stay happy and healthy while they work, you’ll need to provide them with delicious pies. Yes, pies! But pie is a small price to pay for such great helpers, right? Here are some screenshots of your helper Chims (That’s how Totori calls them!) Ahhh, they’re so cute!

I know you guys can’t wait to get your hands on Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten! Very soon, your Disgaea needs will be fulfilled… Disgaea 4 will be shipped to retailers on September 6th! The Premium Edition of Disgaea 4 will come with a full-color art book and a Fuka figurine.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the trailer for Disgaea 4 already, but I wanted to post it here once again, in case anyone missed out. I think this trailer perfectly explains what Disgaea 4 is all about. “One copy in every home!” Ha ha ha Here you go!

So, Disgaea has returned with some awesome hi-res graphics. The adorable characters move around the map smooth as silk, and they flawlessly capture the illustrations of character artist Takehito Harada. When you think of Disgaea, one of the many elements that comes to mind is customization. In Disgaea 4, you can customize characters, items, special attacks, character personalities, battle voices, and more! Not to mention, you can rocket your characters up to level 9999! And your attack damage can go over 10,000,000,000!!! Oh my gosh, seriously!? Yeah, that’s pretty much how I reacted when I found out.

The game’s developer, Nippon Ichi Software, wanted you all to enjoy and focus on the gameplay, so they made sure that there would be no load times during battle. You also have the choice to skip the (incredibly awesome and hilarious) battle animations, as well as other shortcut options. Personally, I love the battle animations so I like to leave them on, but for those of you who want to just go go go, this is definitely a cool option to have!

The main story is all about friendship, promises, and love (gotta have that, right?) in the Netherworld! This time around, the story is based on political power and balance, so you get to have your own cabinet, influence the Senate, and so on. There are 10 chapters in the main story, along with multiple endings. Just playing through the main story is plenty satisfying, but NIS knows that no true Disgaea fan would be content if things ended there! So what did they do? They added even more stories for you to unlock after you finish the main story, of course! In these special stages, you will battle against more than 10 hidden bosses. These bosses are…just ridiculously dangerously powerful. The final boss in the main story is maybe level 100, but the hidden bosses are…well, I think you guys should find out on your own. But you’ll see lots of familiar faces, so it will be a treat! (I am sure some of you can already guess who they are…)

For those who really want to spend the next year or two, or three, with Disgaea 4, try to find items called Promotionhell Tickets, which you can use to unlock the X-Dimension. In this world, you’ll get to play some really super duper hard battle maps. Even if you clear the main story, these stages will still be challenging. So good luck!

There is so much more to talk about for Disgaea 4, but I think I’ve kept you here too long already. So I’d better get going, and hopefully I can come back again soon!

Bleach: Soul Resurrección

First up is our brand new title, Bleach: Soul Resurrección for PS3. We are really excited because a lot of us in the office are fans of the anime and manga. Soul Resurrección is the first Bleach game to reach the PlayStation 3, and we’re excited to host its big debut! Soul Resurrección’s plot places you as the main protagonist in the series, Ichigo Kurosaki, closely following the current story arc unfolding in the anime/manga, in the land called Hueco Mundo. Along with your friends, it is your job to stop the evil Aizen who threatens the peace of both the Soul Society and the World of the Living with his army of evil Arrancars. It’s up to Ichigo and the rest of the Soul Reapers to destroy the Arrancars and bring a stop to Aizen’s evil ambitions. That’s really all I can say about the story so far. I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you all!

Bleach: Soul Resurrección is a hack-and-slash action game. It features beautifully cell-shaded graphics that helps maintain the anime feel of Bleach we have come to know and enjoy. Within the game you will find various modes including the main Story mode that will allow you to play as various characters from the Bleach universe as the battle against Aizen unfolds. In total there are 21 selectable characters, so needless to say, the game is jam-packed! Each character his or her own unique combo moves that can be performed both on the ground and in the air to inflict crazy amounts of damage on the Arrancars! As you defeat Arrancars and bosses, you will also collect “Soul Points” that can be used to upgrade your character by using a character upgrade map system. This upgrade system is unique to each character, so there is plenty of replay value to level each character to their fullest potential. Be on the lookout for Bleach: Soul Resurrección exclusively on PlayStation 3, coming this summer! Don’t forget to check out the official trailer too!

Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland

Atelier series fans! We are happy to announce that Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland will make its English debut on the PS3 this fall. For those new to the Atelier series, Atelier games are RPG-style games that focus on adventuring and alchemy. Atelier Totori is the latest installment of the series, starring a girl named Totori. Young Totori decides one day that she wants to become an adventurer, so she decides to open a small workshop (“atelier”) to fund her quest. Along the way you encounter a bunch of brand new friends to help you in your adventure and you’ll notice a few familiar faces (as the story takes place a bit after Atelier Rorona) from previous Atelier games that will appear to help.

One of the new features included in Atelier Totori is the incorporation of MP (Mana Points) for Totori and party members during battle sequences. In the previous Atelier game, Atelier Rorona , players’ special moves relied solely on HP, which would deplete the corresponding amount from your health pool. This time around, players can look forward to having access to both MP and HP, and we hope players will appreciate this change to the turn-based combat system. It wouldn’t be an Atelier game without alchemy, so you all can look forward to hundreds of synthesizable items! Since Totori is bent on becoming an adventurer, a lot of the game’s focus is pointed toward exploring new areas. You will gain licenses to access different areas — most brand new, a few familiar. Lastly, like the previous Atelier games, you can look forward to multiple endings depending on your actions during the game. Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland is set for release this fall. Check it out, dood!

ClaDun x2

Last but not least for our newly announced titles, we have ClaDun x2 for the PSP, which will be available exclusively on the PlayStation Network this summer! For those who aren’t familiar with the ClaDun games, they are exciting action-based dungeon-crawling games that also incorporate RPG facets. Graphically, ClaDun x2 has a classic feel to it, as the graphics scheme pays homage to the pixilated characters of old-school 8-bit games. The premise of the game is to progress through dungeons and level your party members, any one of which can take the role of the main character. You know the phrase “You are only as strong as your weakest link”? This phrase in essence sums up a lot of the “leveling” in ClaDun x2. The whole process is facilitated through a “Magic Circle” system. There are various ways to structure your group, and which characters you place in your Magic Circle will determine their strengths (and weaknesses).

In ClaDun x2, expect more dungeons, updated weapons, more items, more Magic Circles, new monsters, and of course new custom character classes. However, there are a few noteworthy changes to discuss, including an updated character edit system: Now you’re now able to edit your character’s appearance even more than before, this time including movement animations, and even weapons! Last, if you enjoyed the “Ran-geons” from the first ClaDun, you’ll be happy to know that they’ve made the transition to ClaDun x2. We are also happy to announce that “Neo-geons” and “Tri-geons” have been included in the new ClaDun. “Neo-geons” allow you to change certain variables within them, such as weapon and item drop rates, monster levels, and more. “Tri-geons” allow players to choose different paths of difficulty within them, and depending which path is chosen, item drops, item rarity, and monster difficulty will change. If you have a PSP and are looking for an awesome “pick up and play” style dungeon crawler, definitely try out ClaDun x2. It’ll be available on PSN this summer!

Disgaea 4 Trailer

Before I sign off here, I want to leave on a strong note: please take a gander at the Disgaea 4 trailer above. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a must-watch for anyone that’s a fan of the series, or for anyone that enjoys humor in general! For more info, check out our Disgaea 4 website.