Castlevania, Chocobo, and Valkyrie coming in October ... to Japan

by Eric Caoili on Jul 25th 2008 10:00PM

The Japanese release date for Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia might not seem like useful information to you readers out west, but the desperate, Castlevania-starved gamers among you will at least now know the exact day their import copy will begin its trans-Pacific journey towards their hands -- October 23rd, 2008.

Furthermore, considering that the US release for Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin was only three weeks after Japan's, we also now have a general idea of when Order of Ecclesia will see its stateside release -- mid-November.

Square Enix also has two titles scheduled to hit Japan during the tenth month, Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One (October 2nd) and Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Labyrinth of Time DS+ (October 30th), the latter being a roguelike remake of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

Perhaps the publisher will keep the promise it made back in March to aim for simultaneous worldwide releases with its new titles? It's unlikely, but we can dream ...

Tags: castlevania, chocobo, chocobo-tales, final-fantasy, konami, labyrinth-of-time, maze-of-time, mystery-dungeon, order-of-ecclesia, port, roguelike, rpg, square-enix, the-accused-one, tri-ace, valkyrie-profile

Reader Comments (3)

can i just say that box art is AWESOME. Hope it stays for the US.

Augh, I was hoping for September. Oh well. The only other game slated for November that I'm looking forward to is Moon, so if it comes out then it's not going to throw too big of a wrench into my DS gaming works.

...although, of course, a sudden November announcement for ASH or Soma Bringer or Super Robot Wars DS would be welcome to throw as many wrenches as they please into said works.

As a fan of Castlevania since its first NES game, I can't fathom why Konami keeps releasing these games in November and December. I mean, the Japanese release date is absolutely perfect. You have Castlevania land right in the midst of all the grand splendor of autumn: all manner of sugary treats, Reese's pumpkins, cool temperatures, colorful leaves and Halloween.

Instead, year after year as of late Castlevania is released after the fact when all the pumpkins are rotten or smashed, all the spirits have returned to the netherworld and all the Halloween decorations are in people's basements... or attics or spread all around the neighborhood because I ran around and smashed them late at night like some wilding, fetid pig tripping on peyote and horny goat weed.

Indeed, I feel this is terrible timing once again, this is not just another release date; this is a national security issue. This is a travesty.

I am going to have to order the Japanese version with expedited shipping.