Atlus goes dungeon crawling for the Wii, PS2

by Jason Dobson { Dec 13th 2007 at 12:30PM }

When the chips are down and creativity's glass feels half empty, we know we can always look to the mavericks at Atlus to come up with something just a hair shy of normal for an experience that is, if anything, unique. With surgery sim Trauma Center: New Blood's release sewn up and a pair of Japanese-style strategy RPGs for the Xbox 360 on the way, Atlus is one of the last remaining 'garage bands' of video game publishing.

Now the company has announced its next project, namely a dungeon crawl-style action RPG called Baroque, describing the game as "hardcore" and "a pure RPG experience" for both the mini-game addled Wii and aging PS2. With an art style that is all its own, Baroque is set for release on both consoles in February, and is a remake of Japanese dev Sting's Saturn/PlayStation original, no doubt throwing yet another log on the fire for those weary of the Wii's growing catalog of last-gen ports. For us, we're just more interested in finding out what a trek through a post-apocalyptic dungeon has to do with excessively intricate art. Color us intrigued.

Tags: atlus, baroque, dungeon crawl, dungeon-crawl, DungeonCrawl, niche, ports, PSone, saturn, sting

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mr nimblewick (SegaDF - Jogurt Ring) @ Dec 13th 2007 12:37PM

I've always found Atlas's definition of "hardcore" to be "making the game more difficult by half-assing gameplay elements."

But that's just me.

NATO_Duke @ Dec 13th 2007 12:38PM

artful or not....it looks like more jrpg standards.

Fernando Rocker @ Dec 13th 2007 12:39PM

I saw the trailer yesterday... It looked good. Hope they don't screw this game. I want a good RPG on the Wii, besides Fire Emblem.

Fernando Rocker @ Dec 13th 2007 12:40PM

Here's the trailer:

http://www.atlus.com/baroque/

mr nimblewick (SegaDF - Jogurt Ring) @ Dec 13th 2007 12:42PM

Does the Wii Fire Emblem still feature the "when they're dead they're dead" gameplay that forced me to start the ENTIRE GAME over in the GBA one?

Fernando Rocker @ Dec 13th 2007 12:50PM

Yes, and the game is extremely difficult... you have to think very well your movements.

But I'm not a fan of Strategy RPG, thats why I want that Baroque will be a good RPG. And specially, Fragile... that game sounds interesting.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 13th 2007 1:14PM

Thats both the best and worst part of fire emblem.

Mr Khan @ Dec 13th 2007 3:43PM

At least with Wii Fire Emblem i don't have to stand up to reset the game when someone even marginally important dies

5 chapters in, and i'm loving it so far, although the lack of mounted units (on both sides) early in the game is an odd oversight

ThePassenger @ Dec 13th 2007 12:48PM

'Heal your sins, heal the world'...

God, it sounds like the lyrics from one of those identikit myspace emo bands. I hope the game can do better than 10th Grade Goth poetry.

MD @ Dec 13th 2007 1:02PM

If it is even remotely like Etrian Odyssey, I'm in.

MD @ Dec 13th 2007 1:18PM

...The trailer's artwork is in the Persona 3 style, along with the doom and gloom attitude. SOLD.

Unless of course the advance reviews totally blow. I'm not that blind.

aaron_k7 @ Dec 13th 2007 1:12PM

It's interesting to me that Xbox1 games stopped coming out last year (except for three sports games this year that I counted) and yet the PS2 is still releasing games (granted, with varying degrees of success). Sony's made a lot of mistakes with transitioning from PS2->PS3, but I'm glad they didn't neglect their heavy-hitting last-gen system.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 13th 2007 1:16PM

How does atlus, a third party dev, have ANYTHING to do with sony's strategies?

People are still making games for PS2 primarily because the PS3 isn't selling, and there is a current gen console with similar capabilities.

It is not in sony's best interest to try and keep the PS2 floating. Every PS2 sold now is a lost PS3 sale.