3/17/07 - Daily Links

Icewind Dale Revisited on Game Banshee - New images, a rewritten walkthrough, and interviews!

Action Trip Previews Fable 2 - A look at the game, including info on the dog.

CVG Reviews Titan Quest: Immortal Throne - The expansions receives 7.0/10. The article is dated a few days ago, but I seem to have missed it.

3/16/07 - Daily Links

Today I came across a couple of reviews of Immortal Throne as well as two interesting interviews.

Titan Quest: Immortal Throne on Gamespot - They rate the expansion a 7.9

Titan Quest: Immortal Throne Reviewed by Gamespy - Gamespy also takes a look at Immortal Throne, and 4 stars is the result.

RPG Vault takes a Peek at Silverfall - Project Leader Jehanne Rousseau discusses the upcoming RPG with RPG Vault.

Gamespot Interviews Hironobu Sakaguchi - The man behind the upcoming Blue Dragon spends some time with Gamespot.

Lost in Blue Pre-order Freebies!

Konami has announced that those who pre-order Lost in Blue from participating retailers will receive a special Lost in Blue themed stylus and screen wipe for their Nintendo DS.



The game ships March 20, 2007, so there's not much time left to pre-order if you want to take advantage of this pre-order offer. Participating retailers include the Konami Online Store, EB Games, and Gamestop.

More of IGN's Top 25

IGN has updated their feature on The 25 Best Games of All Time to include picks 6-10. The top 5 from each platform are yet to be posted and will be available soon.

Only a few additional RPGs have made the list in the 6-10 spots, but I assume we'll see some more in the top 5. On a side note, I just want to mention that both Starcraft and Sim City 2000, my two favorite non-RPGs, made it to the PC top list in the 6-10 range. :)

PC
7. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn


Xbox
8. Fable

GBA
8. Final Fantasy VI
10. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire


The link below leads to the PS2 list. From there you can also visit the lists for the Top 25 from the other platforms.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/772/772296p1.html

Two Worlds "Sneak Mode"

South Peak Interactive has released some information regarding the Sneak Mode in their highly anticipated RPG, Two Worlds.

For the times when you need to be stealthy, sneaking past guards or stealing from an unsuspecting victim, you'll want to have a high Sneak Skill. To help you out there will be a visual indicator about your target's head. A green eye, half closed will appear when sneaking. When you're in danger of being seen, the eye will open a bit and turn from green, to yellow, to orange and eventually bright red if you're found. See the image below for more...

Sneaking is an active skill that you'll upgrade in the game, so the effectiveness of sneaking is dependent on how high your sneak skill is. Other factors, such as having few people around, fog, and darkness can help increase your chance of sneaking to success.

Castlevania to Arrive on Xbox Live March 21st

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, often regarded as the best game in the series, will be available for download on Xbox Live starting March 21, 2007 at 2 AM Pacific time. The game will cost 800 Microsoft points to download.

The Xbox 360 version of the game allows you to play the original game just as we remember it on the Playstation, or an updated version, with modern audio and improved graphics. There is also high-definition support and new native widescreen. Hardcore 360 fans will be glad to hear about the addition of 12 Achievements in the game that total 200 Gamerscore points.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the 12th game in the series and provides non-linear action RPG gameplay. It chronicles the story of Alucard, the half-vampire son of Dracula, who is fighting to put and end to his father's tyranny.

3/15/07 Issue at Just-RPG!

We've posted a new issue at Just-RPG with new reviews, press releases, screenshots and trailers. This is the first time we're officially "unveiling" the RPG Geek Blog, so hopefully all goes well. We've also got a brand new Lunar Knights Giveaway, so make sure to sign up!

• Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters Review
• Lunar Knights Giveaway
• King's Field II Review
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Trailers
• Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos Movie
• New Two Worlds Screenshots
• Depths of Peril Screenshots
• And More!!!

Read it all here!

3/15/07 - Daily Links

I've managed to dig up a few noteworthy links from the day, many of which are from CVG. Enjoy!

CVG's Witcher Preview- A look at the highly anticipated PC RPG.

CVG's Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Review - A 6.8 is their score for the recently released MMO from Sigil.

Jade Empire SE Review at CVG - More CVG coveage. This time the Special Edition of Jade Empire gets an 8.6 from CVG.

Digital Devil Saga II Reviewed by Strategy Informer - Strategy Informer takes a look back at the Atlus RPG from a few years ago. They weren't nearly as impressed as many RPG fans.

New D&D Tactics Screens on Strategy Informer - New images from the upcoming PSP RPG.

Tales of the World Heading to North America!

Namco Bandai has announced that they will bring the next installment in their popular Tales series, Tales of the World, to North America! The game has already been released in Japan and is expected to land in North America on the PSP some time in Q3 2007.

The U.S. version of the game will be more fine-tuned, with a lowered level of difficulty, increased item dropping rate, and Grade Points that can be used to purchase special items.

IGN has posted a recent Q&A about the game with Namco Bandai that you can read here.

Final Fantasy Tactics Skirmish Mode

Square Enix has confirmed that the upcoming Final Fantasy Tacitcs: The Lion War will allow for two player skirmishes. In skirmish mode, one team will play as red and the other will play as blue. You will then duke it out Final Fantasy Tactics style, but will have a limited number of turns to finish each other off in order to prevent players from avoiding each other.

The Lion War is a remake of the original Playstation classic, Final Fantasy Tactics. It will be the first installment of the series on the Sony PSP and will feature improvements such as new job classes and new FMVs.


Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War is set to release in Japan next month on the PSP. No North American release date has been set, so we'll just have to keep waiting for now. Personally, I'd be fairly suprised if this game didn't come to North America, but either way the PSP is region free, so you can always import it.



Thanks ot IGN for the info.

New Pokemon Details

Nintendo has released some interesting new details about Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The first two DS Pokemon titles will feature the 380 Pokemon avialable in previous versions, along with over 100 new ones! Gamers will also be able to import Pokemon from their GBA games after completing certain objectives.

The game's wireless ability is what's really getting some attention. By using a local wireless connection, up to eight Pokemon trainers can connect and play together. The game's are fully Wi-Fi compatible, so players can log onto Nintendo Wi-Fi and compete with players from all around the wold. The microphone built into the DS will even allow gamers to talk to one another in voice chat.

Diamond and Pearl will also feature a Global Trade Station where players can trade Pokemon with other players all across the world. From here gamers can browse the boards to find out what Pokemon other players are looking for, or post Pokemon that they want to trade.

Starting March 18, fans who pre-order a copy of either game will receive one of two collectible Pokemon styluses

3/14/07 - Daily Links

God of War and Spectrobes have both been recently released, and I've dug up a few reviews of the two games that are worth a read. There are some interesting feature articles out there too!

The Witcher Screens on Strategy Informer - Five new images from this very beautiful game.

God of War II Review on IGN - IGN gives the game a very impressive 9.7! While this isn't an RPG, some of the key elements of an RPG are there, and the high scores it's receiving certainly make it worth a glance.

Dawn of Magic Screens on Strategy Informer - They previewed the game yesterday. Today they've got some new screens.

Yahoo! Games Rates God of War - They like the game too and give it a 5/5.

IGN takes a look at the localization of Blue Dragon - Localizing a Japanese game can be a lengthy ordeal. IGN takes a look at how the process is going for the highly anticipated Xbox 360 RPG.

Spectrobes Reviewed by IGN - A 7.0 is their verdict for the brand new DS RPG from Disney Interactive.

Gamespot Reviews Spectrobes - A second review of the game, and this one has a similar rating of 6.0/10.

RPG Watch's Arena Retrospective - A look back at the begining of the Elder Scrolls series.

IGN's Top 25

IGN has posted an interesting feature that picks out their Top 25 Games of All Time. Games are divided up by platform (GBA, Xbox, PC, PS2, Gamecube) and the 25 best are selected for each. Only picks 11-25 are up to view today, but the remainder will be posted in the coming days.

It's worth noting that the Gamecube and Xbox lists are a bit pathetic because they both contain several multi-platform titles. However, I guess you can only work with what you've got.

Quite a few RPGs have managed to make the list. Here's a taste:

PS2
24. Suikoden III
22. Kingdom Hearts
14. Dragon Quest VIII

PC
20. Deus Ex
17. World of Warcraft
16. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
13. System shock 2

Xbox
15. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Gamecube
23. Baten Kaitos
16. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
11. Animal Crossing

GBA
24. Golden Sun
21. Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
20. Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
16. Fire Emblem
14. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
12. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga


The link below leads to the PS2 list. From there you can also visit the lists for the Top 25 from the other platforms.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/772/772296p1.html

3/13/07 - Daily Links

Here's some RPG-related articles from around the Web from Tuesday, March 13th. Enjoy!

RPGLand takes an early look at Valhalla Knights - A positive look at XSeed's upcoming RPG for the PSP.

RPG Vault's Geneforge 4 Interview - They sit down with Jeff Vogel for a little Q&A.

Strategy Informer Previews Dawn of Magic - After playing a version of the game, they seem optimistic! Looks interesting...

Sacred 2 Preview at Gameshark - A first look at the Xbox 360 version of the game from GDC.

God of War II Ships/ PSP title Confirmed

Despite the recent release of the next generation consoles, most of the attention is on the PS2 today as God of War II arrives on store shelves. The original God of War sold nearly 1.7 million copies in the U.S. alone, so over 1 million units of the sequel have already shipped in order to keep up with demand.

God of War II has already been reviewed by several sites and magazines, and as of now has an impressive 94.9% on gamerankings.com. The original averaged a score of 93.2%.

It has also been confirmed that a God of War PSP title is in the works. Little is known about this upcoming game other than it will be an all new adventure rather than a port of one of the previous games.

3/12/07 - Daily Links

Make sure to check out these articles from around the Web:

AllRPG's Shining Force EXA Preview - They like what they see.

RPGLand gets their hands on Sword of the New World - A look at the MMO from inside the closed beta.

Age of Conan Screens on IGN - The title pretty much says it all... new screens of the highly anticipated RPG on IGN.

Spectrobes In Stores Now!

Spectrobes, from Disney Interactive, is in stores today (March 13, 2007).

Spectrobes is an action-RPG on the Nintendo DS that allows you to train and customize prehistoric creatures called Spectrobes. These Spectrobes hold the key to defeating a vicious and merciless force, known only as the Krawl, that threatens to destroy the galaxy. You'll play as two junior Interplanetary Patrol officers named Rallen and Jeena who learn of the power of the Spectrobes and embark on a mission to excavate, awaken, train and collect as many as they can in order to defeat the Krawl.

FREE Puzzle Quest

Game World Network is giving away 10 copies of the Puzzle/RPG hybrid, Puzzle Quest. So head on over to their site and sign up for the giveaway! Good luck!

Puzzle Quest Giveaway on GWN


Puzzle Quest is headed for release on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP on March 20, 2007. The game will challenge gamers to create and customize the ultimate hero to save the land of Etheria from the evil Lord Bane by progressing through a series of turn-based puzzles.

Two Words Screens

There are six new Two Worlds screens floating around the internet as of late. The link below is from IGN and shows off the newest screens as well as some older ones.

Two Worlds, from SouthPeak Interactive, is headed for both PC and Xbox 360 with a release date later this spring. It promises extreme realism, freedom of choice, and deep RPG gameplay. Many are hyping this game as an "Oblivion Killer", so this may be a game to keep an eye on! Personally, this is one of the RPGs that I'm most excited about.

Two Worlds Screens from IGN.

3/11/07 - Daily Links

Here are some articles from over the weekend that you may want to check out.

ALLRPG reviews Mazes of Fate - ALLRPG has largely negative things to say about this one. I've played it also, and would have to agree with some of their conclusions. Still, there aren't many reviews of Mazes of Fate out there, so this is worth a read.

Game Apex reviews NWN Diamond Edition - An 8.5 is the result.

FFVII: Crisis Core News on IGN - IGN has some new details on the FFVII spinoff, including the characters.

Go see 300!

If you haven't seen 300 yet, I highly suggest that you do! It's a beautiful film that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. While the movie is based on true events, it does a great job of blending in a bit of fantasy for flavor.

I know this is a bit different than RPG Geek's normal coverage, but this is definately worth seeing. 300 opened this weekened and is at the top of the box office charts.

3/10/07 Daily Links

Some technical troubles kept me from updating last night, so here are some noteworthy links from yesterday.

Gamespot previews Sacred 2 - GDC based preview of the upcoming RPG for PC and Xbox 360.

Games Radar Previews Hellgate London - A brief look at the game from the recent GDC.

Gothic 3 Sells 50,000

Jowood has recently announced that their RPG Gothic 3 has sold over 50,000 units worldwide. This places Gothic 3 among the best selling German RPGs ever, and continues the success of the series.

Read Jowood's full press release here.