baroque posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Ten for under twenty at Gamefly's sale

by Chris Greenhough { Oct 22nd 2008 at 5:11PM }

In these belt-tightening, penny-pinching times, it literally pays to have a nose for the bargains. That's where we, or rather Gamefly, comes in. The game rental outfit has a broad selection of used Wii software for low, world banking crisis-friendly prices, and we chose ten of the best sub-$20 games to tempt you. Thar be bargains ahead!

Baroque for $12.99
Battalion Wars 2 for $17.99
Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy for $9.99
Dewy's Adventure for $13.99
Geometry Wars: Galaxies for $16.99
Mercury: Meltdown Revolution for $15.99
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams for $12.99
No More Heroes for $17.99
Sega Superstars Tennis for $9.99
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure for $17.99

There's actually a ton more we could have mentioned, including Super Mario Galaxy for $32.99, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for $30.99, and Metroid Prime 3 for $26.99. Sadly, "One hundred and fifty-eight for under forty-two" just doesn't work as a headline. Hit up the "Source" link for the full set.

Gallery: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

[Thanks, William!]

Go Baroque without spending a lot

by JC Fletcher { Oct 8th 2008 at 11:47AM }

Sales on Atlus games have become more common in this hardware generation, but it still feels special and a little bit transgressive to buy an Atlus-published game for less than it cost at release. Of course, novelty is hardly sufficient reason to buy Sting's Baroque, but there's also the fact that it's a pretty good game -- and some people may be starved for a Wii RPG experience by now.

Amazon is featuring both the Wii and PS2 versions of the sorta-roguelike as their Deal of the Day, for a scant $16.98. At that price, you could buy both versions for comparison purposes and still pay less than regular price. Or you could save money!

Gallery: Baroque

Fanswag: Baroque goes to ...

by David Hinkle { Sep 3rd 2008 at 10:45PM }

Well, our latest giveaway has come to a close and it's about time we crowned a winner. It was a tough decision (not really, we choose the winner via random drawing), but we managed to do it. Who won? It was none other than:

comtar, who is a fan of Run Saber

Congrats to our winner and thank you all for entering this giveaway. Better luck next time!

Fanswag: Get lost in Baroque

by David Hinkle { Aug 27th 2008 at 8:59AM }

We've got another giveaway for you all, with the prize being one copy of Baroque. Folks who enjoy the roguelikes will likely want to bounce on this one. Or fans of Atlus overall. Either way, free stuff is good stuff.

How do you enter? Simply leave a comment telling us what your favorite Atlus game is. If you've never played an Atlus title before, check out Wikipedia. You can leave one comment per day, between now and 11:59PM ET on Monday, September 1st, which is when the giveaway ends.

As always, this latest giveaway is only open to current and legal residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec). Also, entrants need to be at least 18 years of age. Read up on the official rules right here.

Gallery: Baroque

Wario Land Shake gets dated for Europe, among others

by David Hinkle { Jun 24th 2008 at 11:00AM }

We've been following Wario Land: The Shake Dimension for quite some time now. After the numerous scans and screens, we're about ready to hear something on a release date for the game. Well, as ready as we are in North America, it looks like Europe is the only region with a cemented release for the game. Wario Land: The Shake Dimension will release in Europe on September 26th.

Aside from that game, Nintendo of Europe also dished out release dates for plenty of other Wii games, including Baroque (July 18) and Manhunt 2 (August). To check out the full list, head on past the break.

Continued →

Baroque sale won't leave you broke

by Eric Caoili { Jun 19th 2008 at 11:00AM }

It's hard enough to convince gamers to buy a roguelike, but asking them to pay $39.99 for a dressed-up remake of a Sega Saturn dungeon crawl? Fuhgeddaboudit!

If pricing has been that barrier keeping you from exploring Baroque's Neuro Tower dungeons, look to Amazon for a deal-of-the-day discount. The online retailer has slashed $14 off Baroque, bringing it down to $25.99. That makes this Sting-developed, Atlus-published title eligible for free shipping!

Make sure to read our review for Baroque first to get an idea of what you're jumping into! It's not a game for everyone!

Gallery: Baroque

[Via CAG]

This Week in Review has a Nintendo overload

by Ross Miller { Apr 19th 2008 at 5:00PM }

We had quite a bit of fun at Nintendo's Media Summit this year checking out the new DS, Wii and WiiWare titles. Enjoy our impressions from the event, including several WiiWare launch titles (Major League Eating!). While we keep re-reading the amazing "Cooking Mama 2" letter, check out all of our hands-on impressions and reviews from the Joystiq Network this week:

Nintendo WiiWare

Continued →

Wii Fanboy Review: Baroque

by Candace Savino { Apr 18th 2008 at 2:15PM }

I'll be frank -- when I first started Baroque, I hated it. Being thrown into such a strange and ugly world with the barest of backstories was completely disorienting. I had no idea where to go or what to do, and didn't have the luxury of taking my time to explore because my vitality meter was plummeting from the get-go. One character (known as the Coffin Man) kept yelling "goddamnit!" at me, and when I finally got to the place where I was supposed to be, it wasn't long before I died.

If I hadn't been reviewing this game, I probably would have quit right there. But, since it's (clearly) considered bad form to write a review after only twenty minutes of playtime, I trekked on -- and I'm extremely glad that I did. Once I delved deeper into the world of Baroque, I realized that first impressions aren't always the best impressions.

Now that you've kindly read through my personal aside, let's move on to the actual review, shall we?

Gallery: Baroque

Continued →

Europe gets Baroque

by Candace Savino { Apr 12th 2008 at 8:00PM }

We're impressed with Rising Star, who have been bringing a lot of niche games to Europe. The most recent one on the publisher's list is Baroque, which will be hitting the continent on June 27th. We're sure that Rising Star is hoping that the game will sell decently, but after seeing how it was received in Japan, the company might be a little worried. Of course, it can't do any worse than that ... can it?

In any case, we're sure that at least some of you folks in Europe will be glad to get the chance to play Sting's hardcore roguelike on your Wiis.

Gallery: Baroque

[Via press release]

WRUP: Playing the role edition

by David Hinkle { Apr 11th 2008 at 1:30PM }

Many folks have had their eye on Baroque, taking note of its release this week. And if you aren't one of those people, then this isn't your week. There's, uh, Mini Copter Adventure Flight, if you're brave enough to try and tackle such a big adventure in such a small copter. But, other than that, nada.

So are you going to check out Atlus' RPG? We suggest you wait for a certain gaming blog to weigh in first, as they're in the process of reviewing it as you read this. Until then, might we suggest seeing if there is a Virtual Console game you want to download or checking out one of the many Wii games that recently received a price slash? If not, what are you playing?

Gallery: Baroque

Wii releases for the week of April 7th

by David Hinkle { Apr 7th 2008 at 10:30AM }

It's Monday again, which means we check out what's on the radar for Wii. This week, a pair of new titles release, including Atlus's latest for the Wii. It may have been pushed back a few times, but RPG fans may finally rejoice.

This week's releases are:

Mini Copter Adventure Flight
Baroque

Anyone interested in either of these titles? Planning on picking up a new game this week?

Gallery: Baroque

Additions to your Baroque flipbook

by Alisha Karabinus { Apr 2nd 2008 at 11:15AM }

We've gotten a peek at so many screens from Baroque that we're ready to hijack someone's posh color printer and start making our own little flipbook. We hear that if you turn the pages at just the right speed, you can see Creepy Bastards and Emo Mummies in full motion. Sure, we could pick up the manga, but we're shooting for creativity here. Try not to stifle the process.

In other news, we have seen a gushing floodwater of media from this title. Go ahead -- check it out in the updated gallery.

Gallery: Baroque

[Via press release]

Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 3/17-3/23

by Candace Savino { Mar 28th 2008 at 6:00PM }

Goodbye, Family Ski and Winning Eleven: Play Maker 2008 -- we hardly knew ye. While Family Ski enjoyed a seven-week run in the top thirty, Wining Eleven (aka Pro Evolution Soccer) only lasted for four. It's no coincidence that they fell off this week, though, as fifteen spots were taken up by new releases.

The big Wii dog in town was not Brawl (which ended up 7th), and not even Wii Fit (which ended up 5th), but new release Deca Sports. We can't help but wonder if the appearance of Deca Sports will have an effect on that other sports game for the Wii. Is there room for both on the charts? (We think so.) And will Deca Sports have the same longevity as Wii Sports? (Probably not, but we're sure the game will do well for itself.) It's also worth noting that Deca Sports had the third highest third-party sales debut for the Wiil, following only Dragon Quest: Swords and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles.

Continued →

New Baroque screens blazing forth

by Alisha Karabinus { Mar 21st 2008 at 6:00PM }

Atlus doesn't want you to forget about Baroque, and we don't, either. Clichés like amnesia and world-saving aside, the dark RPG sounds -- and looks -- really fascinating, and we can only hope it delivers. For now, however, we're delivering up some new screenshots, courtesy of Atlus, showing off some battle footage, as well as the support character, the Baroquemonger. Despite his onscreen discussion about customers, he does not ask, "What are you buying?" We're sad.

We've added a ton of character images for you to check out, too. The artistic design for Baroque is really setting a high standard -- we can't wait to see the final product!

Gallery: Baroque

[Via press release]

A few Baroque screens to darken your day

by Alisha Karabinus { Mar 6th 2008 at 10:30AM }

Baroque may have experienced a few delays, but it's still on the way, as evidenced by the screens in our spiffy new gallery. Or perhaps we should say new-ish, because we've seen a couple of them before in blurry, muddied forms, and now they're crisp, clean, and much more attractive. We're happy to be reminded of this title, and happier still that it was pushed back so as not to compete with Super Smash Bros. Brawl; after all, we want more RPGs on the Wii, not fewer, and if Baroque does well, it might help developers to realize that there are more than just casual gamers among the Wii's audience.