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Joystiq impressions: Edge of Twilight


Amid the vast array of Japanese developers and publishers on the TGS show floor sat one small booth which seemed slightly out of place. FUZZYEYES, an Australian development studio, chose to debut its upcoming 2009 title, Edge of Twilight, at the show, and we were invited in for a private demo. The game captured our attention with its dichotomous day/night gameplay and intriguing combat.

Edge of Twilight is pegged as a steampunk fantasy title which is part Soul Reaver, part God of War. A lot of emphasis is placed on dark and light. Day and night have been split apart, each inhabited by a different civilization. As a half-breed outcast your character, Lex, is able to pass between the two at certain points. Not only does gameplay change in each realm, but your character will also drastically change appearance.

During the day Lex looks similar to Keats from Folklore, with a metal arm and a steampunky lancer-style gun. While in this realm you are able to affect machines, your character is too heavy to jump around, rendering platforming sections nearly impassable. At night he transforms into something a little more monstrous. Part Gollum, part Nightcrawler. In this realm machines are dead, but the emphasis is more on platforming.

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TGS 08: Resident Evil 5 co-op impressions


While Capcom wasn't showing off any new Resident Evil 5 levels at TGS, it was enabling one of the game's biggest back-of-the-box bullet points – co-op gameplay – as well as showing off the game's new (and improved!) control type: "Shooter" mode. Ludwig and I took the game for a two-player spin, then condensed our thoughts for you in this totally unedited back-and-forth format.

Chris: Maybe since it was such a poorly kept secret, we almost forgot to play Resident Evil 5 co-op at TGS this year. Almost!
Ludwig: Well, as one of the most popular games at the show, the lines for it were quite intimidating. Good thing we used the Microsoft Booth exploit.
A brief wait the morning of the first public day (seriously, someone should have told the hundreds of people lined up at Capcom's booth!) we were in Microsoft's RE5 tent, an English-language sheet in front of us detailing the "Classic" and "Shooter" control types.
You get to choose the control type before the play session starts, but can also change it mid-game. I initially went with the "Classic" setup, which is identical to that found in Resident Evil 4.

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DS Daily: Most anticipated


Since the first footage of Ni no Kuni: The Another World appeared at the Tokyo Game Show last week, it has become the DS game I'm most looking forward to. A Level 5/Studio Ghibli collaboration is the stuff dreams are made of. The animation, predictably, looks wonderful. I already just want to hold the included spellbook. Maybe stroke it. Is that wrong?

Plenty of other titles were showcased last week in Tokyo, so now seems like an appropriate time to see which made the most impact on each of you. Are you crazy about Chrono Trigger? Giddy about Gyakuten Kenji? Cuckoo for Castlevania? If you could have one upcoming DS title in your hands right now, what would it be?

TGS08: New Fragile trailer reduces stress



Because seriously, how mellow is that tune? Lovely. Yours truly almost drifted off at his keyboard watching this. It's also nice to be reminded that we don't reside in a post-apocalyptic wasteland! This is the Tokyo Game Show trailer for Namco Bandai's Fragile, featuring plenty more of hero Seto and his female colleague Ren (who could both do with a comb through their hair), the floating spirit of a young girl, and a lot of cut-scenery. All in all, it's as enchanting and as beautiful as ever, if a little light on gameplay.

Gallery: Fragile

TGS 08: Hands-on with Demon's Souls


click to embiggen
"Nothing but a player?s decision and a tactics of using various weapons are important than anything that you really need to think to play." This line, taken from the official Demon's Souls site blurb, should make you feel as scared and confused as I felt when I got my hands on the game. My first thought, "ouch," remains scrawled at the top of my notes and, sadly, it's all downhill from there.

Gallery: Demons Souls

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TGS 08: Hands-on with Demon's Souls (PS3)


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"Nothing but a player?s decision and a tactics of using various weapons are important than anything that you really need to think to play." This line, taken from the official Demon's Souls site blurb, should make you feel as scared and confused as I felt when I got my hands on the game. My first thought, "ouch," remains scrawled at the top of my notes and, sadly, it's all downhill from there.

Gallery: Demons Souls

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TGS 08: Inside Edgeworth's office


click to barge in
This one's especially for the Phoenix Wright fans. Those lucky enough to survive the enormous crowd surrounding Gyakuten Kenji's (Turnabout Prosecutor) playable Tokyo Game Show demo were invited into a detailed replica of Miles Edgeworth's office, complete with classy furnishings and a faint air of egomania. We imagine playing Capcom's latest point-and-prosecute in this environment must have been quite surreal for attendees.

Though Edgy himself wasn't available to complete the illusion, we did discover his excellent figurine at the Capcom store -- it's included in the gallery as well.

[Special thanks to Ariel A. for the office snaps.]

TGS 08 picture tour: Namco Bandai booth


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Namco Bandai was all about the anime games at TGS this year. That's counting playable builds of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, at least three Gundam titles, Macross Ace Frontier and Soul Eater. Other titles like the Idolm@ster PSP games were also a hit with the crowd, as huge queues snaked beyond the booth's perimeter. Get a closer look inside our Namco Bandai Booth Photo Tour.

TGS 08 hands-on: Gomibako (PSN)


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When we say that Gomibako -- a new PSN title -- is trashy, we're not aiming to dis the game. You see, we're not referring to the game's quality, we're simply referring to what the game's all about. The given name "Gomibako" literally means "trash box," or "trash can" if you prefer. It's all about festering piles of garbage and how to get rid of them properly (and by "properly," we really mean "in outrageous and silly ways").

In going about our Earth-friendly activities, Gomibako asks players to fill up a giant blue bin with as much trash as possible. The game plays a lot like Tetris, and so, it's important to properly place each falling piece of garbage in order to conserve space for more items to come. But since we're talking about irregularly-shaped articles of trash, conserving space proves to be a little more difficult than it sounds.

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TGS 08 picture tour: Tecmo booth

click to enter
Tecmo showed off about a dozen games at TGS this year, though only a few took up actual floor space. Newly revealed games like Quantum Theory and Undead Knights were only shown in trailer form, but other, already known titles like DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense 2 Shin Tantei Series (say that five times fast!) took up space as large as an entire side of the squared Tecmo territory. (Perhaps Tecmo needed the extra room just to fit the game's title on the wall.)

Honestly, Tecmo's booth isn't about the games anyway. That's not what draws the crowds. Ask people who visited Tecmo's booth what they loved most and they'll likely respond: booth babes! You'll see what we mean once you take our Tecmo Booth Photo Tour.

TGS 08: Sonic Unleashed meets us halfway


Comparing Sonic Unleashed to 2006's Sonic The Hedgehog nightmare is an utterly useless endeavor. Yes, Sonic Unleashed (or Sonic World Adventure, as it's known in Japan) is observably the superior game, but this confirmation is worthless when the previous adventure not only failed to raise the bar, but rather buried it somewhere deep within an abandoned mineshaft. The question then isn't whether Sonic Unleashed is better, but whether it's any good.

And ... well, it's not bad.

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TGS 08 picture tour: Konami booth

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Konami's booth may not have been one of the larger booths at Tokyo Game Show this year, but it was certainly the most visible. It was nearly impossible to miss Konami's booth considering it was the very first thing you'd see after passing through the media entrance.

Anyway, what did Konami show on the floor? Its showing this year was all about sequels. The company dropped names for games from the Suikoden, Silent Hill and Castlevania series, just to name a few. Grab your tickets for the Konami Booth Photo Tour and see Konami's wares. It's free!

Monster Hunter 3, two Sega games honored by TGS organizers


CESA announced their list of the best games of TGS 2008, known as the "Future" category of their Japan Game Awards. Of the twelve games given the award (in no specific order), three are on Wii.

Of course Capcom's Monster Hunter 3 got a nod; nothing short of not calling it Monster Hunter 3 will keep this from being a ridiculous hit in Japan, and that held true at TGS as well, with the game commanding ridiculous lines. But the two other Wii winners may be more of a surprise: Chunsoft's Sega-published visual novel 428: The World Doesn't Change Even So, and Prope's experimental Let's Tap. Sega must be very happy right about now!

For the sake of Nintendo fandom, we'll include the DS winners here as well: the Phoenix Wright spinoff Gyakuten Kenji and Dragon Quest IX, which wasn't even playable.

Gallery: 428


[Via Kotaku]

TGS08: Chrono Trigger, as good as it ever was


This Chrono Trigger trailer from TGS may seem familiar to you. No, not because it's the same ol' Chrono Trigger, but because it's the same ol' trailer. Not precisely the same -- the new trailer is a little longer and differs in parts, but most of it is the same.

Listen, we love Chrono Trigger. Which is why we think that maybe Square Enix could use that entire game they have lying around, largely unaltered, and hack out a little more footage for a new trailer.

TGS 08 picture tour: Sega booth


click to enter
Sega's booth was hidden away in a corner at the backside of the Makuhari Messe. Despite this, Sega still drew in massive crowds. We suppose the guiding blue lights of Sega's logo would grab any fan's attention and bring them back towards the house that Sonic built.

This year's Sega offering was all about Yakuza 3, Phantasy Star, and many more DS J-RPGs. Why not take our Sega Booth Photo Tour and see things for yourself.

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