Next Console RPG From Atlus USA Lets Players Transform Into A Dragon

By Spencer . January 24, 2011 . 10:43am

divinityii1Atlus USA is bringing Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga to North America. This Xbox 360 release is an expanded version of Divinity II: Ego Draconis, which CDV games released here last year. You play as a Dragon Knight in this RPG who can transform into a dragon. This ability lets players reach new areas by flying and attack enemies from above by breathing fireballs.

 

Dragon Knight Saga adds a final episode for Divinity II titled "Flames of Vengeance" and a remastered version of Ego Draconis with new quests and monsters to fight. Atlus is packing a spoil with the North American version too. Every launch copy includes a soundtrack CD.

 

Cédric Lagarrigue, CEO of Focus Home Interactive explains why his company chose Atlus to bring Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga stateside. "Atlus has already demonstrated its expertise on the RPG genre and they proved it yet again with the success of Demon’s Souls. Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga was praised by the press and the players in Europe, and we are convinced Atlus is the ideal partner to make the game reach the same success in North America."

 

Prior to Demon’s Souls, Atlus picked up Trackmania DS from Focus Home Interactive. Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga is slated for release on April 12 in North America. Unlike Demon’s Souls it will not be a $60 game at launch.

 

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  • Wow Darn!!! I wish I had an X360, this game looks stunning!

    • SolidusSnake

      Just buy one, don’t you have infinite money?

      • How in the world did 13 people like your comment, lol, jk.

        I would and have been considering an X360 but then I heard about all the awesome things of the PSP2 so I decided to just put my money towards that.

        • Probably because every single title that gets shown on the site has you saying, “Day one,” as well as abusing the word “epic.” So, people figure if you have enough money to buy 400 games a year, then you must have the money to purchase a second console system.

  • Wow, I almost bought this. Glad I held off for this version instead!

  • justinslot

    Played the crap out of the original version of this (Ego Draconis) for a few weeks–got sort of repetitive and unfun at a certain point. Will try this at some point, though possibly I’ll just wait for it to go on sale on Steam.

    • Guest

      Your avatar makes me think they should make a game starring Cobra Commander where you have to run and manage Cobra and weather dominators and things of that nature, while also trying to maintain a normal healthy family life.

      • justinslot

        I would totally buy that! Sadly Hasbro is not into being particularly creative with their properties. (If you know your Joe backstory, you know that CC has an estranged son, so you could have him trying to bring Billy into the family business, Billy wanting to borrow the HISS tank on a Friday night, Uncle Destro disapproving of CC’s parenting, etc.)

        • Guest

          I know thats why I said it. Too bad Hollywood ruined his backstory in the movie.

        • “I hate you, Serpentor! You’re not my real dad! I don’t know why mom married you! My real dad doesn’t make me do chores!”
          “I am the man of this house made of many men and you will take out the trash! THIS I COMMAND!”

  • What A DISGRACE…….is this all atlus usa is now? First naruto, then dd games, and now this?????????

    Atlus usa needs to be slapped. For there total disregard for even there own internal games (catherine/persona 2) and just jrpgs in general

    • ………….. the heck, dude?

    • I don’t get it.

    • SolidusSnake

      I know dude, it’s so shocking that they haven’t announced a release date for games that aren’t even out in Japan. I can’t believe how they’re wasting our time, first with silly games like Demons Soul and now with this.

      • Those were just examples, theres plenty of other games they would of localized in the past but just arent anymore. There localizations have mostly come to a dead hault

        • landlock

          Chill, it’s better to expand there horizons more plus there is a serious lack of quality JRPGS on consoles fullstop.

          Plus it’s not like it’s the first time they’ve published European games I remember them releasing Galleon on the Xbox.

          • I wont chill whats the point of expanding there horizons if they loose the old fans. And theres plent of console/portable rpgs they could be localizing .

            @ below….thats not what I said
            I am talking the naruto games, the wii casual mini game collections, the dd games……… and I am pretty sure this wasnt considered hot in europe at least on the 360

          • Yui

            And here we have it – that delightful sense of entitlement that the “old-school” Atlus fans thinks makes them more important than the investments of the individuals who run the parent companies. As far as I’m concerned, and as far as the shareholders at Index are concerned, forget the so-called “old fans” – ultimately, if they are so SELFISH as to deny the company the opportunity to recoup lost earnings, then they deserve to be left behind. Atlus is a business, not a charity, and if they feel it’s necessary to that business to release products that cater to a certain demographic over another, then who are you to claim that that’s wrong?

          • Thats exactly the point. They care more about money than the quality of the games associated with there name. Is leaving behind the demo that made them relevant in the first place smart? no.

          • SolidusSnake

            “Thats exactly the point. They care more about money than the quality of the games associated with there name.”

            Quality of games? I love JRPGs as much as the next guy, but it’s a little silly to suggest that anything other than a JRPG sucks. Actually this game looks pretty sweet.

          • landlock

            It’s pretty popular in Germany/France which is where it was released first. This version is alot better then the original the graphics, controls and bugs have been tweaked nicely.

            How are they gonna loose there old fans when there releasing stuff like Radiant Historia? What quality JRPGs on the consoles are you wanting to see released in the US exactly that have already been released in Japan? Anything by SE/Namco ain’t gonna happen.

        • Pichi

          I know what you mean. No Luminous Arc 3, Endless Frontier. Other ones as well. Either those titles didn’t perform well, trouble licensing, or they feel that handheld stuff is too risky thanks to piracy & overcrowded software. They will only feel comfortable with their own company made games.

          Its the new reality, so either accept or look for other companies to fill that niche Japanese void. Things might change for the better, but you never know. It can get “worst” for you.

          • SolidusSnake

            I remember an Atlus rep commenting on the company’s forum that they wanted to do Endless Frontier but Bamco were being hardasses about the license (big surprise right?) As for Luminous Arc 3, well… ;_;

          • growlanser 1 psp, devil summoner 1 psp, blaze union psp, yggdra unision, luminous arc 3,the og super robot wars games, the list goes on and on………….

            At least we stil have aksyss, nisa, and nintendo

          • M’iau M’iaut

            With the mice you hear scuttling around when LA3 is brought up I’m sadly expecting between Marvelous going damn near out of business and Imageepoch striking out on their own, the phrase ‘licensing hell’ doesn’t quite do things justice.

    • Volcynika

      I’m glad you aren’t running Atlus USA.

      • Ladius

        Excuse me, but why would he ruin the company by doing what Atlus USA has successfully done for more than a decade, ultimately gaining them their cult status?

        Is it better to use their name to promote titles completely unrelated to their previous offer while ditching the core jrpg fans that supported them till now?

        Of course his rage is wrong, but please understand that when you build your reputation upon a niche fanbase and then change your policies there is bound to be sadness and some kind of “entitlement”, simply because Atlus USA itself has used the “hardcore jrpg publisher” persona for many years. If you completely change your stance regarding something it’s only normal that those who praised you will change their opinion in turn.

        • Volcynika

          I enjoy your hyperbole. Please, show me more.

          • Ladius

            What hyperbole, the one regarding the ditched fanbase (or maybe you replied before my edit)?

            Sadly numbers speak better than me: fiscal year 2007-2008 had 18 titles, 11 jrpgs ; 2008-2009 had 24 titles, 20 jrpgs ; 2009-2010 had 12 titles, 7 jrpgs (2 portings) ; 2010-2011 as of now has 14 announced titles, 3 jrpgs (1 porting, only 1 for 2011, maybe 2 if you include the half-announced Devil Survivor Overclock, another porting).

            I don’t think it’s so much of an hyperbole to say that their jrpg localizations have seen a sharp decrease, but please correct me if I’m wrong.

            Also, it would be nice to hear your opinion regarding this matter.

        • notworksafe

          Yep. Only Japanese RPG games can be niche.

          What do you guys think about the 101 in 1 Megamix games? Y’know the ones that pay for the localization of your beloved niche JRPGs?

          • Ladius

            Pardon me, but I think you are missing the point. The new Atlus USA offer would be wonderful if it was added to their previous lineup, I’m no purist and I’m all for expanding the niche if it can provide revenues. Problem is, it isn’t happening: we are getting more and more mmorpgs, party games, Naruto games and so on while the jrpg localization effort dwindles.

            Also, it’s wrong to say those titles are “paying for the jrpg localizations”: for many years Atlus USA has provided a large number of jrpgs (practically their whole offer) without needing party gamesetc to pay for them, while those new titles are substituting jrpgs, not paying for their localizations.

            Also, I never said that only jrpg are niche: I am a wrpg fan and I am happy to see niche titles promoted (aside from the fact that Divinity 2 isn’t my cup of tea), but there are so few jrpg publishers around that losing one of them has a big impact on some scenes (like the Ds jrpg scene), not to mention Divinity 2 was already available in english in the USA.

          • notworksafe

            fwiw Atlus Online isn’t directly controlled by A-USA so the MMOs are a different thing.

            So that leaves four party games and three Naruto games. Meanwhile they continue to publish plenty of niche RPGs (Japanese, European, Korean, etc). Still not seeing the problem here. Just because the box doesn’t have an anime character on it doesn’t mean it isn’t niche or fun to play.

            Not to mention the great non-RPG games that are being published like the Trauma Center games, Shiren aned Izuna roguelikes, R-Type, Kenka Bancho, Metal Slug, Touch Detective, Zeno Clash etc. Many of these games needed localization too, so it’s not all about JPRG localization.

            Looks to me like they are still a great niche publisher that puts out plenty of fun games that otherwise wouldn’t be seen here.

          • Ladius

            @ notworksafe below: please, see the numbers provided in the reply to Volcynika and you will see for yourself how much their jrpg localization effort has dropped.

            Also, even if the mmorpgs aren’t counted (afaik Atlus Online is a subdivision of Atlus USA, but I will concede the benefit of doubt) we still have party games, Naruto titles and western dd and retail titles taking up a major share of Atlus USA’s new offer.

            Is it bad by itself? Nope, I love wrpgs and some of those games arecould be good, even if bringing Divinity 2 isn’t particularly helping any niche since the game is already available in the USA for both Pc and X360 (released by cdv) in its first version.

            Is it bad in Atlus USA’s case? Yes imho, simply because the company’s previous offer is provided only by a small number of publishers, and if one of them change their offer the fanbase is gonna miss out many series altogether.

        • malek86

          You are looking at this the wrong way. Sure Atlus has been successful for a decade, but saying they should have kept doing what they did without knowing their situation is a bit hasty. A company doesn’t change their output without a reason. Their change of pace means that, either their business model was starting to become unprofitable, or they saw a chance of growth. In both cases, it’s only normal that they would try and change things. I understand why people are frustrated, but it’s a bit like music fans who complain when their favorite underground singer signs a contract with a big company. Sellout? Maybe, but from the point of view of the singer, it’s his chance of making it big.

          Also, since they have a famous name among gaming circles, they would be stupid not to use it. It’s an asset like anything else.

          • Ladius

            Actually Atlus USA has made some of their biggest hits ever in the last years (DS is the most famous, but even 3d dot did really well, not to mention the Persona numbers), and seeing how the other jrpg publishers are continuing to provide their traditional offer I think that the problem revolves more around Atlus USA’s change of policies than some kind of change in the USA jrpg fanbase.

            Also I’m all for expanding audiences: having a publisher deal with japanese and western RPGs at the same time would be fantastic since the two genres have seens few contacts (I’m an avid wrpg player too, no idiotic anti-western ideological stances here). Problem is, Atlus USA’s new efforts haven’t been in addition to their previous lineup, but instead have cannibalized the jrpg localizations of many series (please see the numbers in the reply to Volcynika) :

          • Persona 2 isn’t even out in Japan yet. If you love Atlus so much, you should know that the game was delayed. Catherine isn’t out either. Why would they suddenly be announced for an English release even before Japan when Japanese publishers have never worked that way?

            A lot of us find this constant “Where’s Catherine/P2” stuff really annoying for those exact reasons. You all know exactly how these announcements work. Game comes out in Japan. Wait for a few months. Game gets announced for U.S.

            What do you expect Atlus USA to do in the mean time? Not release any games? How are they supposed to sustain their entire company, eh? By releasing stuff like Luminous Arc that no one beyond a few thousand people care about?

            Another point, which, again, if you care about your beloved Atlus and follow them so closely, you should know about: their parent company isn’t exactly doing well. Index Holdings are also involved with anime through Madhouse Studios, and as we all know, the anime market is in the toilet right now.

            Now, to put this in perspective, Atlus USA, which is ALSO part of Index Holdings, accounts for the company’s entire strategy. Which means that if Index aren’t making money in Japan, they need to look overseas for profits. That happens by making smart budgeting decisions and releasing popular games.

            No doubt Persona 2 and Catherine will make it over, as will the Megaten and Persona and Etrian Odyssey games announced for the 3DS. You just need to be patient. :)

          • Ladius

            Pardon me Ishaan, but I never mentioned Persona 2 IS or Catherine, so I don’t see why you should bring up those points against me in such a way, especially since the only time I mentione Catherine here was to say it would probably get localized. If you read my posts, my main concern is with non-Atlus series previously localized by Atlus USA (aside from Growlanser).

            I have mentioned many other games in that context, and it would be nice to know why they are completely unfeasible when they were the only focus of Atlus USA till two years ago and when they now other types of games on which to base their revenues.

            Atlus USA’s fans loved the publisher because tit satisfied a niche’s desires, and to see those titles downplayed as something “only a few thousand people care about” on a niche site like Siliconera is a bit sad since, well, it is exactly because of that that Atlus USA became so beloved. As I stated before I’m completely fine with Atlus USA expanding its focus, what I can’t understand is why this must coincide with a sharp decrease in their jrpg output.

          • (This is a reply to your reply to me)

            Ahh, you’re right about not mentioning Catherine/P2, and I apologize for that. I assumed that Catherine/P2 were part of your complaint, since those are the most commonly used examples of why Atlus have “abandoned” us all.

            As to the other games…perhaps it simply isn’t viable any more. DS piracy is harsh, and a lot of the people that care about these games are well aware of how to access them without having to pay. Luminous Arc is the best example of that kind of game. As I said, Index need profits, and Atlus USA trying to work on projects that they believe will be profitable is likely an extension of that situation.

            Don’t get me wrong; Siliconera is about pushing interesting games, whether they’re from Japan or anywhere else in the world, but we do have to remain realistic at the same time and not make unnecessary demands of publishers that we understand they can’t always cater to.

    • For the time being, I’m glad that Atlus is actually exercising a little self-control. There was a period a few years back where Atlus employed a ‘hey let’s localize eeeeeverything’ mentality, which led to them spending valuable time and money on games like My World My Way and Steal Princess. I’d rather them focus their efforts on games that are actually worth playing, even if it means we don’t get them quite as often.

      • what are they localizing? Please let me know. All I see is 1 fantastic ds game.

        • See, you just admitted to Radiant Historia looking fantastic. Perhaps look into purchasing that when it releases? Also other companies like Aksys and XSEED are doing a bang-up job with the same sort of quality localizations Atlus has been historically known for, so why not look into some of their recent releases to fill the void?

          • Ladius

            The fact that we have NiSA, Aksys, XSeed, Natsume, Square and Nintendo providing localized jrpgs doesn’t mean that we can give up on Atlus USA’s localizations.

            Who is going to cover the series they localized till their change of policies when all those companies have already their hands full with other titles?

            And yes, I have day-oned almost all recent XSeed and NiSA titles, so I completely agree that there is no need to be Atlus centered, but still it’s sad to see a single jrpg announced for 2011 (and yeah, Radiant Historia seems to be incredible) in a lineup that has nothing to do with the company’s old offer :(

          • You put Nintendo there? After Fire Emblem, I can not think of a single localized jRPG that they have provided for the Wii…

          • Ladius

            @Tsunayoshi: FE11, DQ9, Golden Sun 3, DQ6 and Inazuma prove that Nintendo is interested in the jrpg niche. Of course the lack of Soma Bringer and FE12 (so far, at least) is sad, but Monado is still on their release list and if the stars line up the right way we could see Last Story.

            Of course they could do far better, but with all their faults they still are the most jrpg-friendly among the three hardware houses.

          • Uh, Ladius, he was talking about the Wii Nintendo JRPGs.

          • Ladius

            @Firo: I addressed that too in my reply, not to mention I think a publisher’s jrpg output should be judged looking at every platform. A Ds jrpg is still a jrpg in my book :P

        • SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked for the 3DS

          Its only one month in the year, Im quite sure they have a slate of additional titles lined up and ready to be announced when the time is right.

    • While I agree that it’s disappointing to see that this is the type of game they’re localizing, I do have to ask how exactly one would slap Atlus USA? Are you going to line up all their employees and slap them in the face individually, even though most of them have no choice in what games they work on? Or are you going to slap the actual physical building they work in?

  • SolidusSnake

    Cool, hopefully they managed to fix the bugs that the original release supposedly had. Divine Divinity was a pretty awesome RPG and I’d like to try out the sequel.

  • PrinceHeir

    looks nice though im more into The Witcher 2, Demon Souls, Monster Hunter style. but it’s all good ^^

  • The visual style isn’t my cup of tea, but I might look into this if the gameplay proves interesting.

  • sagadeogo2011

    Tanto is Stealth, nothing see here, just being troll

    • Having an opinion is being a troll?

      Disagree with me, Agree with me whatever, its a lively debate

      But if your going to be like that, thats not fun

      • It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

  • just xbox… and this….

    Something weird happened at Atlus, and im starting to think the trigger was demon souls

    • Something weird happened to atlus starting after 2009

      • Shadow_Raskolnik

        Yeah, like expanding your horizons and experimenting outside of the niche zone is a bad thing. Seriously man, all this whining and complaining is making you seem like nothing more then a spoiled kid crying about not getting what he wanted in the first place.

    • If you use Steam/Impulse/some other shop & download website and you’re interested in this game, there is a PC version available already.
      …
      Revealing that fact won’t detract from sales of this Xbox360 port, right?

      • Oh? It is there? ahh…, but my computer is not good enough for games, and im not that much of a PC gamer, i remember i lagged a lot with Recettear T_T, gotta upgrade this block.

        Haha, i think people might prefer to have it in their xbox though, it seems is a remastered version of the original so i dont think it would be the same anyway

        • Phlo

          Nope, same as the current PC version.

        • Wow and that game wasnt even pushing the hardware…perhaps it is time to invest in one of the many fantastic options available in the glorious Sony Vaio line of notebooks.

          • Ya know… Why does everything have to be from Sony? You seem to want… well I was going to say a lot of their products, but so far you’ve only said you wanted a Bravia, and now a Vaio. Although… at the same time you give Sony products lots of praise when you do mention them. Do you even consider any other company’s products?

          • Dude, we live in a Sony world, why would I own a Dell or HP PC? lol. I proudly surf the internet on my Sony Vaio with Blu-Ray drive, and aim to upgrade with the integrate 3D display when they release those later this year. I use my Sony PS3 for ALL entertainment as well and my Sony PSP for all my portable entertainment goods. You know what, this is the age of Sony and all their products are of superior and epic quality and style. And one cant say that owning a Sony product and sporting it arounds make one look simply stylish and stunning, I even have a Sony Vaio messenger bag to proclaim the high quality of Sony to everyone and their style, you know?

            Ive used competitors products and they just do not compare, their products just dont look sleek or perform well, you know?

        • I just remembered this. You could change the fps in the custom.exe file in Recettear. Did you try that to see if the game wouldn’t lag?

          • Umm i didnt knew that, i could try it later… after im freaking done with tests

    • Ereek

      The game is actually quite fun. I’m not sure why this is a bad thing.

      • I never said it was bad… It wouldnt be a “bad” thing for me… if it wasnt because Atlus’s announcements lately havent been “Atlus-like”, wich is what I would like to have :P. If they were releasing other stuff Atlus normally release and announce this, i wouldnt really care.

        You gotta admit, Atlus’s behavior is different now, they are really leaning towards demon souls style games, and that is what im kind of whining about. Still, I hope the people that have a xbox can enjoy it.

        • Ladius

          I completely agree. We have many western centered publishers but only a few japan-oriented ones. Atlus USA’s output has been pivotal in making many series known to the western audience, and the sharp decrease in their jrpg localization is a punch in the guts to the fanbase, especially the Ds one.

      • malek86

        Uhm. I’m looking for something with big world exploration, single player combat (no party), maybe some nice dungeon crawling. Would this do it?

        Also I see the original game is quite cheap on Steam right now, is there any reason for that?

        • Ereek

          It’s not really for everyone and, honestly, the vanilla version isn’t amazing. The ending is horrible and you don’t get to play with dragon form until halfway through the main story. Fortunately, this enhanced version solves that problem by expanding the main storyline and doesn’t leave you in such a horrible position. If you can get this version (the expansion version) for cheaply on Steam, sure go for it.

          I’d say it’s fun, not a huge time sink like Oblivion/Fallout/Gamebryo-in-general games, and the lore is interesting. I’d rate it about 7.5/10 (with 5 being average) because there are some problems and if you spend a lot of time with it it does get boring and repetitive. It’s also extremely unbalanced. As long as you don’t go in expecting a masterpiece, you should have a fun time.
          Playing as a Dragon is really fun. Better than Breath of Fire.

          The best part is its “role playing” aspect. It’s not like Bethesda’s “Yes. No.” or Bioware’s “I have to be a badass at all times” answers. There’s some silly, ridiculous, and entertaining answers. Think more along the lines of VM: Bloodlines.

          Edit: If you like top-down games (which this is not, just to clarify) with a lot of exploration you might want to try Sacred 2 which, surprisingly, is actually better on consoles. If you like Diablo you might try Torchlight.

          • malek86

            Torchlight I already have, but for some reason, it didn’t do it for me.

            As for Sacred 2, I see it’s really cheap, but is it worth getting if I haven’t played the first one?

          • Ereek

            I haven’t played the first one either and it was fine. Divinity 2 is a better game than Sacred and I would recommend it first, but again, if you can get Sacred cheap enough, why not?

            Sacred 2 is definitely a big game that’s just begging for exploration while also staying loyal to the older games in the genre. It’s not pretty, and the story isn’t amazing, but there’s a lot of quests, exploring, and killing to be done.
            Try to read some reviews maybe? Because it’s a bit buggy.

      • Ladius

        Because the game was already in english, because the X360 port is inferior to the Pc release and because this is yet another sign of Atlus USA’s reject of their previous offer. Amongst all of 2011’s Atlus USA announced games there is only one jrpg, and the last two years have seen a dramatic decrease in their jrpg localization output, not to mention some of the localized jrpgs were portings.

        No one would bitch if they published Index mmorpgs, party games, Naruto games, western titles AND niche jrpgs, but when you compare the localized jrpgs numbers and see a sharp deecrease and then see announcement after announcement of titles previously unknown to the Atlus lineup and not even a mention of Blaze Union, Yggdra Unison, Luminous Arc 3, SRT OGS Exceed, Growlanser PSP, Tokyo Mono, Summon Night X (etc) you know things have changed.

        At least they are still bringing us Radiant Historia and (hopefully) Catherine, but if you compare the lineups you will see how they aren’t the jrpg-friendly publisher they were till 2009 anymore.

        Of course they can do what they want with their company, but the fans who supported them for more than a decade have also the right to speak up when they are ditched like this.

  • Zero_Destiny

    Hhm … The only RPG I ever liked that you could turn into a dragon in was Breath of Fire. But glad to see some new stuff coming out of Atlus, let’s hope it sells well so they can give us some more awesome games like Catherine. I’m not saying this isn’t an awesome game though just saying not what I’m really looking for. lol

  • Phoenix_Apollo

    I’m excited. 2011 just gets better and better in my eyes. I love that Atlus is branching out like this.

  • Ereek

    I, for one, am quite happy with this. I’ve been waiting for this release, thank you Atlus!

    • Hraesvelgr

      Yeah, the hate Atlus gets over just a couple of non-Japanese game announcements is a bit sad… I mean, it’s not like they haven’t released any Japanese games in a long time.

      Personally, I had been looking into the original game, but held off after reading about this version, so this announcement is fine by me.

      • Ereek

        I think it’s more that western RPGs in general don’t get a very warm response on Siliconera, which is a shame. So compound that with Atlus under certain expectations of what their fans think they should and shouldn’t publish, we get these harsh reactions.

        I’d actually like to see more coverage of the niche western RPGs here, but with hostile reactions such as this, I can’t see it happening.

        Oh, and just so you know before buying it, the game uses Gamebryo, which I know is a huge turnoff to some gamers. It isn’t as badly done as Oblivion, though.

        • I dont think people are getting mad about here being western games, or the article being about a western game, people are getting mad that Atlus is going out of their common way for them.

          I havent seen many people here talk bad about western games.

          Me? im not confortable with Atlus being like this, of course, this is always the same when someone tries something new, but im still gonna get that crusader game because it looks pretty cool, i just don’t hope Atlus only focuses on those kind of games from now on. It would be pretty cool if they could balance jap style rpgs releases with western style rpgs releases.

          Im sure if this article didnt said Atlus on it, it would get a lot of positive responses.

        • Ladius

          Western RPGs are completely fine, the problem is that there are only a few publishers interested in localizing japanese games as opposed to the many western-centered publishers (not to mention Divinity 2 is already widely available in english), and Atlus USA’s change of heart is a big loss for our niche.

          Also, as stated in another reply no one here is taking an anti-western games stance, that would be ludicrous.

          • Ereek

            In the past, there have absolutely been comments about how western RPGs are horrible. One guy, who I don’t think posts here anymore and I won’t name, said that Siliconera should stop posting anything at all about any and all western RPGs because they were boring and dull. He went on this huge rant saying how Siliconera “sold out” because it was calling Oblivion: Game of the Year edition a “Game of the Year” game (which it didn’t, because as we know, that’s what the damn thing is called).
            This comment got about 10 likes, which for its time was a lot (about equivalent to 20 now).
            I don’t think the guy had even played the game, or any western RPG, in general.

            Also, let me say this.
            The original Divinity 2 had a horrible ending. One of the worst endings in recent memory. For any and all who enjoyed the first game this is not a waste.

        • Actually, the only reason you don’t see it happening is because we’re already covering so much stuff and we’d rather cover a fixed number of games properly than stretch ourselves too thin. :)

          I actually think people around these parts have been a lot more receptive of different kinds of games lately, and reading this thread, I’m very proud of a lot of our commenters displaying a sense of logic. We’ll cover more stuff as we go on for sure.

      • Is not just because of a “couple” of games, they have been really quiet too, i used to get a lot of emails from atlus and now is just like square enix/sega, i get one every 2 months? When they announce something. We barely heard about Atlus this year, and we only get a video of the crussader game, the rock one that has been announced since last year i think, and this one (im not saying they are bad). They also announced Radiant Historia, but with have been happening lately, it really makes me think that maybe ATLUS Jp asked/made them localize it.

        If you were following Atlus since a long time ago, you would easily notice their behavior is different, not just game related.

        • Volcynika

          I hope when you say “We barely heard about Atlus this year” that you don’t mean 2011. It hasn’t even been a month.

          • Yes, im talking about 2011, Atlus always have some games with a set release date by these times, of course, Aksys, NISA, and XSEED have a couple of good games already with release date as Q1.
            If i remember correctly, Atlus was with 3D dot hero last year

          • Volcynika

            Yeah, and 3D Dot came out in like May. They have Radiant Historia in Feb.

          • And i havent heard a quarter of what i heard when they were releasing 3D dot heroes, with videos everywhere, and emails talking about it. When they seemed to love what they were releasing.

            If it wasnt because of siliconera, i would be like “Radiant what?” “Oh! we can vote for the soundtrack we like the most! So….?” It really seems like they were asked to localize it, and they are just doing because they were ordered to. They always made those devs blogs or such *sigh* All i see now is, a walkthrough of the game on a email they sent, i dont really want to spoil me all the beginning of the game.

            As i said in some other posts, is not 100% the games they are releasing’s fault, is how they have been acting lately. At least in my opinion, i miss the old Atlus D:

      • Ladius

        It’s not a problem of bitching for a single western release, compare the Atlus USA lineups of the previous years and you will see the falling numbers of localized jrpgs (many of them portings) combined with the shift of the company’s focus on titles previously untouched by Atlus USA such as Naruto games, party games, Index MMORPGs and western titles (and western games are absolutely fine, the problem is that there are tons of publishers who provide them while Atlus USA was one of the few publishers interested in localizing jrpgs).

        No one here is starting some idiotic anti-western crusade (I never understood those videogame cultural clashes to begin with), we are simply criticizing Atlus USA’s new policies.

  • Japan is great and all but there’s nothing wrong with Euro-RPG’s. Nevermind, Atlus is doomed.

  • Darkrise

    I don’t really mind but there are quite a few jrpg’s that are worth mentioning to be released here like Shining Force Feather. Last I heard that game was doing quite well and was mentioned as a step back to it’s original tactical roots.

  • Awesome, Atlus are announcing…oh wait…that’s not Catherine. Never mind, don’t care. Carry on.

  • ShinGundam

    Bye Bye Growlanser PSP :|

    • cj_iwakura

      Welcome to 2009.

  • Ladius

    double post –

  • Hours

    I miss 2008/2009 Atlus. I’m really not digging this new direction they are taking.

    Cathrine, Luminous Arc 3, Growlanser PSP, Persona 2 PSP….. Where are they? :(

  • superdry

    I have no problems with Atlus localizing a Western RPG or help localize Naruto games or doing online games (don’t have they a division that takes care of that?).

    I’m sure they’ll continue to port Atlus JP titles over here…just a matter of time (to me…that’s most important). Catherine and Persona 2 Innocent Sin are probably the two titles a lot of us are waiting for to be announced. Other JRPGs? Other US companies are taking of them (Aksys and xseed are doing fine jobs).

    The other games people are clamoring for – gotta be a reason they haven’t been licensed and we, as fans, can only assume the reasons why. Other than those handful of games, other rpgs that have been licensed already, rpgs that won’t be licensed to Atlus -what does that leave? Not much, really. They could take the chance on other strange, quirky Japanese titles…but that’s a gamble (Gal Gun anyone?)

    • Shadow_Raskolnik

      Yeah, they have a wholly separate division that takes care of their online games. As for the Naurto games, they only helped in distributing those titles, they had little to no hand in localizing them.

  • silver_baron

    I can’t blame anyone who’s disenchanted with Atlus. You can agree that something is good business while still being open about how it negatively affects your interests and hobbies, no differently than how one feels if any unpopular product that they enjoy is taken off the market. Entitlement is not merely wanting what you want, but demanding it regardless of the implications for who you’re demanding it from. Would I have personally preferred Super Robot Taisen OG IF Exceed, Luminous Arc 3, etc. over this game? Sure, but I’m not going to demand that Atlus give up their new, apparently more profitable business model.

    I’m not thrilled that they’re no longer localizing JRPGs that aren’t developed by Index Holdings companies, but it can’t be helped and I’m not going to descend into language invoking “true fans”, “betrayal”, etc. That’s not how it works. Why take anything a corporation does personally? In Atlus’ defense, I suppose, the drop-off in localizations looks more severe than it actually is because we’re coming off the enormous spike of 2-3 years ago that mostly came from the huge number of Success Corp. titles. Either Atlus’ contract with them ended or the company died or something, but it was quieter in 2009 even before Demon’s Souls came out and they tasted real success (no pun intended.)

    I’d love to see them support the DS/PSP long after the 3DS/PSP2 are out much like they did with the PS2, GBA, etc, but I guess that depends on whether or not they’re able to sustain their WRPG/MMO/XBLA/PSN/internally-developed title strategy.

  • Got this on Steam already so thanks but no thanks.

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