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http://www.andriasang.com/e/topics/2011/03/01/flying_get/

Famitsu has a four page feature on The Last Guardian. It apparently includes a demo play session along with an interview of Fumito Ueda.

Here's some of the info that has leaked out of the feature:

- You initially can't communicate with Torico, so he'll quickly fall asleep.
- Torico can't eat everything. If he eats something he doesn't like, he'll spit it out.
- The game uses a collision system with similar capabilities to that of Shadow of the Colossus.
- Even if you're caught by the guards that fill the dungeons, the game doesn't immediately end.
- Torico may have a life gauge.
- They're currently looking into the possibility of showing gauges to support the player -- this is one area that Ueda is worrying over.
- In its impressions of the game, Famitsu commented that it exceeded expectations -- it's -real that exceeds real.
- Torico actions are very detailed -- down to the level of his reacting differently depending on the sound in the area.
- The game uses a fake language
- Famitsu commented that the boy main character's movements are also incredible. Ueda responded that when the boy approaches a wall, he will naturally extend his arms out, and as he approaches Torico, he will touch the creature. To show the feeling of existence for the characters, you need to show such actions that make it look like the character himself knows that there's a wall there.

Ueda also talked quite a bit about the game's expressive and physical computation power.

Regarding Team Ico's PS3 remakes, Ueda said that Shadow of the Colossus is amazing when you see it in 3D. For ICO, he said that they're remaking the opening scene.

This week's Famitsu has an updated look at Dark Souls, From Software's spiritual sequel to Demon's Souls.

The big point of note in this update is the "bonfire system." During your exploration, when you encounter a bonfire, you can use that as a starting point to explore further. If you die, you'll restart there. You can also recover your HP at the bonfires. The bonfire can also be used to collect a substance called Est which can be placed in jars and carried around.

Other points mentioned in the Famitsu article:

- When you're connected online, you can see the images of other players.
- There are some enemies who will chase you up ladders. You can kick them down.
- You can summon an undead cursed knight called Kurogane no Kishi, or Black Iron Night (the official English translation will probably be cooler sounding)
- Using magic, you can turn yourself into iron form. However, your movement becomes slow.

The magazine also introduces an NPC called "Mysterious Saintly Woman," a variety of enemies like the Dragon Zombie, and a variety of fields like the Giant Library, the Submerged Ruins, and the Marshes. These are all seamlessly connected, as previously announced.

A few details on Armored Core V in Famitsu this week:

When you start off, your team doesn't have any territory. As you acquire territory, you can customize it. As previously announced, this includes placing things like canons. Your customized territory is distributed to other teams who can try to invade it. In the event that someone on your team is logged in, they they can deal with the invaders.

For the invader side, it seems that there are multiple means of clearing.

You'll find over 500 customization parts. One example of a new part is "Recon," which can be used to search the area.

During combat, you can switch between battle mode and scan mode, the latter used for figuring out the abilities of your enemies.

As previously detailed, one member of your battle party serves as Operator. While not directly taking part in the battle, the Operator can view a special overhead view map that better gives an understanding of the current situation, and can give instructions to players via voice chat and markers.

Following last week's in-depth feature on 3DS, this week's Famitsu has a feature on Sony's new NGP portable.

Included in the feature is some commentary from many third party VIPs. Here's some of what has leaked out from the commentary:

Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase
Says he'd like to make an online RPG.

Sega's Satoshi Sakai (aka Mr. Phantasy Star)
Says he'd like to make a multiplayer game with online elements.

Crafts & Meister's Noritaka Funamizu
The NGP game they're making is of a different type than Wii's Earth Seeker.

Namco Bandai's Katsuhiro Harada (aka Mr. Tekken)
Said they'd probably include NGP in future HD multiplatform plans.

Konami's Akari Uchida (aka Mr. Love Plus)
He's forecasting a bold ¥24,980 price point. He is making an NGP game, he confirms, and says its a game where you communicate with friends. (I'm not sure if he's talking about real friends or in-game virtual friends.)

Level-5's Jiro Ishii (aka Mr. Time Travelers)
Said he's excited about the rear touch panel. He'd like to make an adventure game that you download and play one weekly chapter at a time.

The feature also has commentary from Suda 51, Jun Takeuchi (Capcom), Hiroyuki Kobayashi (Capcom), Toshihiro Nagoshi (Sega), Hiroshi Matsuyama (CyberConnect2), Yoshifumi Hashimoto (Marvelous), Yousuke Hayashi (Tecmo/Team Ninja) and others.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Dark Souls with that RE4 tech

 

[oracrest]

Great thread combo.

 

[Gravijah]

"Even if you're caught by the guards that fill the dungeons, the game doesn't immediately end."

So, how exactly does this game play?

 

[Vic]

Should have made it this week's Famitsu thread. There's an NGP article as well.

 

[brandonh83]

The cover of Last Guardian should say

REAL THAT EXCEEDS REAL

 

[Tain]

Dark Souls better not be getting soft with that bonfire stuff.

 

[GraveRobberX]

So, how exactly does this game play?

MS Kinnect = "You Are The Controller"

The Last Guardian = "You Are The Game"

Dun dun dun...

 

[Vic]

"Following last week's in-depth feature on 3DS, this week's Famitsu has a feature on Sony's new NGP portable.

Included in the feature is some commentary from many third party VIPs. Here's some of what has leaked out from the commentary:

Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase
Says he'd like to make an online RPG.

Sega's Satoshi Sakai (aka Mr. Phantasy Star)
Says he'd like to make a multiplayer game with online elements.

Crafts & Meister's Noritaka Funamizu
The NGP game they're making is of a different type than Wii's Earth Seeker.

Namco Bandai's Katsuhiro Harada (aka Mr. Tekken)
Said they'd probably include NGP in future HD multiplatform plans.

Konami's Akari Uchida (aka Mr. Love Plus)
He's forecasting a bold ¥24,980 price point. He is making an NGP game, he confirms, and says its a game where you communicate with friends. (I'm not sure if he's talking about real friends or in-game virtual friends.)

Level-5's Jiro Ishii (aka Mr. Time Travelers)
Said he's excited about the rear touch panel. He'd like to make an adventure game that you download and play one weekly chapter at a time.

The feature also has commentary from Suda 51, Jun Takeuchi (Capcom), Hiroyuki Kobayashi (Capcom), Toshihiro Nagoshi (Sega), Hiroshi Matsuyama (CyberConnect2), Yoshifumi Hashimoto (Marvelous), Yousuke Hayashi (Tecmo/Team Ninja) and others."

 

[Crisis]

"Even if you're caught by the guards that fill the dungeons, the game doesn't immediately end."

So, how exactly does this game play?

My guess is that the guards will return you to a cell.

 

[Grampasso]

Kurogane no Kishi

Sounds more like Knight of the Black Shadow... moon language speaking GAFfers?

 

[HYDE]

My guess is that the guards will return you to a cell.

Maybe like Wind Waker, and you have to escape.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

omg checkpoints noooooooooo preorder cancelled etc. etc.

sounds good, makes sense in the context of an open world giant library? i seem to recall a library being one of the areas mentioned when the producers where asked what stuff didn't make it in.

 

[Gravijah]

Maybe like Wind Waker, and you have to escape.

What? No. Please, no.

 

[Foffy]

omg checkpoints noooooooooo preorder cancelled etc. etc.

sounds good, makes sense in the context of an open world giant library? i seem to recall a library being one of the areas mentioned when the producers where asked what stuff didn't make it in.

Technically Demon's Souls had checkpoints too, with the archstones. Maybe bonfires appear when something is restored to a particular area?

 

[Yoshichan]

A combination of the two best games released 2011...

Spoiler

I wish

 

[ObnoxiousZebra]

So they're remaking the Ico opening scene? No wonder we haven't gotten a release date for Ico/SotC Collection yet.

Regarding TLG and DS, I'm excited for both and they both are sounding fantastic. 2011 will be incredible (please make 2011 with TLG, Ueda. Pleaaaase)

 

[JackSmithy]

I can't decide which one I'm more excited about.

Probably Dark Souls.

 

[Jonnyram]

Included in the feature is some commentary from many third party VIPs. Here's some of what has leaked out from the commentary

lol This is typical Sony.
NGP special features the week before AND after 3DS launch. Good game.

 

[Vic]

lol This is typical Sony.
NGP special features the week before AND after 3DS launch. Good game.

Reusing the tactic used with the Dreamcast all over again.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Dark Souls with that RE4 tech

Psh Wish RE would allow slow movement while aiming.

 

[JaseC]

So they're remaking the Ico opening scene? No wonder we haven't gotten a release date for Ico/SotC Collection yet.

Regarding TLG and DS, I'm excited for both and they both are sounding fantastic. 2011 will be incredible (please make 2011 with TLG, Ueda. Pleaaaase)

No, but we've known the window since TGS.

 

[The_Reckoning]

Dark Souls better not be getting soft with that bonfire stuff.

Yeah, not sure about this. I do trust From Software though, so day 1 regardless.

 

[Mush]

"Even if you're caught by the guards that fill the dungeons, the game doesn't immediately end."

So, how exactly does this game play?

You switch to Torico and mount a rescue mission!

(if that fails, then the game ends)

 

[Nirolak]

Well, if you didn't have the bonfires, you would have to walk all the way across the world to get to where you died.

This is more of a way to enable a seamless world without having eight hour corpse runs as opposed to making the game notably easier.

 

[AndriaSang]

lol This is typical Sony.
NGP special features the week before AND after 3DS launch. Good game.

The one before the 3DS launch felt like Sony bought out a huge advertisement in the magazine.

The 3DS feature felt more like actual editorial content.

I haven't seen this week's issue yet, but it's hopefully like the 3DS one.

 

[lordfroakie]

Was the 3DS feature ever translated? Anyways, can't wait to hear more about Crafts & Meister's NPG game

 

[teh_J0kerer]

The main thing Im worried about with the bonfires is their healing ability. If you get to a hard part and can chip away at enemies one at a time and then run back to the bonfire to heal, it seems like the game would be a lot easier. If Est is any kind of renewable healing potion, that could cause the same issue.

If enemies respawn when you go to the bonfire, and if Est is something different than what I might guess, then it could be fine.

 

[duckroll]

Well, if you didn't have the bonfires, you would have to walk all the way across the world to get to where you died.

This is more of a way to enable a seamless world without having eight hour corpse runs as opposed to making the game notably easier.

The campfires are just Dark Souls' version of the archstones in Demon's Souls imo. Obviously they will have slightly different functions and features which makes sense in the game world and narrative, but the ultimate purpose seems the same.

 

[Baloonatic]

The campfires are just Dark Souls' version of the archstones in Demon's Souls imo. Obviously they will have slightly different functions and features which makes sense in the game world and narrative, but the ultimate purpose seems the same.

Yeah, and King's Field IV had containers you could refill with healing and mana potions. If that's what "Est" is for, then odds are they will make it so you need the stuff.

No point in worrying about difficulty, they aren't going to start making wimpy games now.

 

[perfectnight]

Yeah, and King's Field IV had containers you could refill with healing and mana potions. If that's what "Est" is for, then odds are they will make it so you need the stuff.

No point in worrying about difficulty, they aren't going to start making wimpy games now.

Didn't they say they wanted to make Dark Souls more difficult than DS? Haha yeah I am not worried at all.

Sega's Satoshi Sakai (aka Mr. Phantasy Star)
Says he'd like to make a multiplayer game with online elements.

Phantasy Star Portable 3 is a go? This makes me extremely happy.

 

[Regulus Tera]

The cover of Last Guardian should say

REAL THAT EXCEEDS REAL

You could even call it surreal!

 

[LOVE & TRUTH]

Sounds more like Knight of the Black Shadow... moon language speaking GAFfers?

Kurogane no Kishi is probably 鉄の騎士 - Iron Knight.

 

[duckroll]

It's 黒鉄の騎士.

 

[LOVE & TRUTH]

It's 黒鉄の騎士.

How do you pronounce that?

 

[Always-honest]

Last Guarian is the one to look forward to for me. I have such high hopes for that game.

 

[The Return of]

How about a Phantasy Star 5

 

[SentientStone]

I really hope they announce the release date soon for the Ico / Shadow collection. I thought they were aiming for a spring release before.

 

[One Ok Rock]

Level-5's Jiro Ishii (aka Mr. Time Travelers)
Said he's excited about the rear touch panel. He'd like to make an adventure game that you download and play one weekly chapter at a time.

I'd really like to see something like this. It would be extra great if they devs could pull off super fast iterative design and keep improving the game bit by bit.

 

[Nirolak]

How about a Phantasy Star 5

Well, I'm sure you will eventually get a Phantasy Star

Spoiler

Portable

5.

 

[Nirolak]

Armored Core V Update:

A few details on Armored Core V in Famitsu this week:

When you start off, your team doesn't have any territory. As you acquire territory, you can customize it. As previously announced, this includes placing things like canons. Your customized territory is distributed to other teams who can try to invade it. In the event that someone on your team is logged in, they they can deal with the invaders.

For the invader side, it seems that there are multiple means of clearing.

You'll find over 500 customization parts. One example of a new part is "Recon," which can be used to search the area.

During combat, you can switch between battle mode and scan mode, the latter used for figuring out the abilities of your enemies.

As previously detailed, one member of your battle party serves as Operator. While not directly taking part in the battle, the Operator can view a special overhead view map that better gives an understanding of the current situation, and can give instructions to players via voice chat and markers.

Source: http://www.andriasang.com/e/topics/2011/03/01/flying_get/

 

[darkwing]

real that exceeds real? 4D confirmed!

 

[The Return of]

Well, I'm sure you will eventually get a Phantasy Star

Spoiler

Portable

5.

lol not cool at all, but hey those games are fun playing with friends.

 

[jump_button]

NGP MMORPG new home?

 

[ULTROS!]

I guess we might be getting Final Fantasy XIV or Final Fantasy XVII on PSP2.

 

[gofreak]

I guess we might be getting Final Fantasy XIV or Final Fantasy XVII on PSP2.

Strangely, NGP could be a (slightly) easier target for them than PS3 if memory is the main trouble in their porting efforts at the moment

 

[Ratrat]

I really hope they announce the release date soon for the Last Guardian demo. I thought they were aiming for a spring release before.

fixed.

 

[IonicSnake]

Strangely, NGP could be a (slightly) easier target for them than PS3 if memory is the main trouble in their porting efforts at the moment

Wouldn't storage be what limits them on the NGP?

 

[Ellis Kim]

Konami's Akari Uchida (aka Mr. Love Plus)
He's forecasting a bold ¥24,980 price point. He is making an NGP game, he confirms, and says its a game where you communicate with friends. (I'm not sure if he's talking about real friends or in-game virtual friends.)

That's a very bold price point, and perhaps a bit wishful. If Sony ate it and straight up competed with Nintendo at that price, it'd be fucking amazing, or perhaps even lower via 3G carrier contracts, but realistically...

 

[Appollowexx]

I had an enormous smile across my face reading that entire paragraph of Last Guardian news. The game sounds even better than I expected. I love in particular the way that the little boy actually reacts to his surroundings and Torico by extending his arms to touch him as he moves closer.

I really hope they find a way around using helath bars though, or at least include the option to switch them off. It would be so much less immersive if they have to include things like this.