Poorly received games in Japan usually don't get localized elsewhere, but European publisher Mercury Games picked this one up and renamed it Warriors of the Lost Empire -- so Europe will get its hands on another dungeon-crawling hack n' slash action RPG and the US can import it if they really want. The title doesn't look that bad, really, so pehaps it really just wasn't the type of game for the Japanese audience? We'll scour for some more information and let you know if it's something to pay heed to.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-28-2007 @ 7:12PM
merc25 said...
This is old news you know. GameFAQs had this info up for about a month, and they also have a US release date up. http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/data/933772.html
For the record the game was already import friendly(the Asian version, not the Japanese version) by having the option to switch to the English language.
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8-28-2007 @ 8:16PM
RagolSlayer said...
Actually, Wizardry was quite popular in Japan. It was popular enough to justify making its own anime, as well as many console sequels, ports and whatnot.
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8-29-2007 @ 12:22AM
BornToKill said...
why dont they pick up kingdom of paradise 2 instead, as a matter of fact why doesnt anyone pick it up? and whats up with all these dungeon crawlers like tales of the world on the psp?
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8-30-2007 @ 11:58PM
farfisa said...
Hey, I picked up the Honk Kong (I think) version of this which has Chinese and English too.
I got hooked on it, but I can see it not being for everyone.
The story's pretty light and linear, though intriguing enough. Dialogue was limited, but entertaining. Level design is pretty lame and there's that fog everybody talks about.
Aside from that (and possibly in part because of the uninspired level design), the action is great. The combat especially is fast, easy to get the hang of, and just plain cool. There are some dumb opponents, sure (and why do dungeon crawlers always have giant spiders?), but there were occasions where there were six or seven guys running at me and it was genuinely invigorating--especially when I found out I couldn't just leave the room to make them stop coming!
I used a gladiator character with dual swords and he had some great attacks, which were fast and seamless. I have Monster Hunter too, and can't stand how long it takes to get my sword around! At the same time, it's more fun and real feeling than the combat used in a lot of dungeon crawlers like Dungeon Siege and X-men (Dungeon Siege, for example, was a little too generous with the auto-targetting). The character modelling and animation was great, and there's enough variety in opponents to keep things fresh.
You gain special attacks as you progress, and leveling up (and upgrading/downgrading your character's abilities) is very simple and flexible. There's also a handy 'feature' where things you can't use (like armour and weapons that your opponents drop) are sent automatically back to your item box. I like this because I don't want to spend much time worrying about choosing what to keep as I wander around.
There are also mushrooms and items that have different effects on you and your opponents (like reversing the controls, speeding you up, slowing you down). Instead of magic and spells, you have item you can throw or use on yourself.
The trading and weapon / armour upgrading is also pretty interesting. Everything's based on trading of items you find, instead of gold pieces or something like that.
All in all, I found it to be a really fun title. I'd like to see the combat system used in more interesting environments (that screen cap above? that's what you get most of the time).
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