Atlus continues the tradition of bringing over games from Japan that usually would be left to the Japanese market.
by Aceinet

The Atlus booth at E3 this year was showing off a total of three games and one game that is being distributed by Atlus.  The games on display from Atlus were Digital Devil Saga, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Pro Fishing Challenge and Phantom Brave by NIS America.  With the exception of the Pro Fishing Challenge, all of the games on display continue the Atlus tradition bringing to America unique games that usually would be left for the Japanese market.   

One of the first items mentioned by Gail Salamanco, Marketing Manager, is the fact they continue to focus on certain sections of the gaming market.  Atlus would love to have huge sales numbers just like any other publisher, but they put their time, money and resources into the hardcore gaming market.  The fans of games produced by Atlus are the ones willing to pay $100.00 for an Atlus game on eBay.  These are the gamers that purchase the games published by Atlus.  This segment of the market can remain static throughout the trends within the gaming industry.

The first game on display was Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne for PS2.  For hardcore gamers they know that the Shin Megami series has been around for years in Japan.   Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne will be the first game from the series released in America on PS2.  The game is a RPG game that is set in a post apocalyptic Tokyo where almost the entire population has been destroyed.  It’s up to you to figure out what happened and either save the world or destroy it.  The game has a heavy demonic and apocalyptic overtone.  The graphics for the game are presented in a cell shaded setting that makes the game play out almost like an anime.  The game will have over 50 hours of gameplay, over 100 monsters to ally with, and the ability to customize your character with demonic abilities.  The game even includes Dante from Capcom’s Devil May Cry series.  Mr. Salamanco mentioned that the developers at Capcom were so impressed with how Dante worked within the game that Capcom gave Atlus their blessing to include Dante as a character.   The game is expected to ship in September 2004.

The next game shown by Atlus was another RPG game, Digital Devil Saga.  Digital Devil Saga is the newest game from the developers that worked on the Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne game.  The game was running on an enhanced engine that powers Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.   Just as in Shin Megami the graphics are similar to a cell shaded style that looks more like an anime than a videogame.  The story behind this game is you play the role of Serf who is a warrior that is suddenly transforming into a demonic creature after a strange and unusual object called the Pod appears.  But at the same time of the Pod’s appearance another character named Sera appears that has the abilities to control Serf’s transformations.  But Sera has no idea who she is or where she comes from.  You will team up with Sara and try to reach an area called Nirvana where you will be named champions.   The video on display showed off some interesting moves during battle.  You can either fight as the regular version of Serf or the transformed version.  There was even a section where you could link up your attacks to create different and more powerful attacks.  There will be over 50 hours of gameplay in Digital Devil Saga.  The game is expected to ship in Winter 2004

The last game shown by Atlus was Pro Fishing Challenge.  The game is described as the most realistic fishing game on the market for Xbox.  The game included 4 different lakes, realistic weather effects, water temperature, wind speeds and day & night cycles.  You can also customize your character and have the ability to choose from over 100 pieces of tackle.  The game will include an online mode that will support up to 8 players that can compete in a virtual fishing tournament.  The graphics for the game worked well, but lacked the polish that most gamers associate with an Xbox.  The game is expected to ship in Summer 2004.

The last game on display was Phantom Brave by NIS America.  The game is being localized by Atlus and co-published by NIS America and Atlus.  The game is from the same developers of Disgaea, Nippon Ichi Software.  Phantom Brave is not a sequel to Disgaea but players can think of it as a spiritual sequel since it’s a turn based strategy game.  The game looks similar to Disgaea with close to the same graphics.   Phantom Brave includes 20 missions with additional hidden missions that can be discovered.  One of the big changes to the combat system is the elimination of the grid system.  Your character has the ability to move almost anywhere on the screen.  Now you have to worry about your attack range, which is how far away and how much damage can be done during an attack.  If you have a large attack range then all of the creatures in the attack range will register damage.  There is also the ability to possess objects, equip objects as weapons and combine the items to make different items.  Phantom Brave looks to be a great game from a fantastic developer that has produced some quality games.  The game is expected to ship later this year. 

Atlus has a nice line up of quality titles for release this year.  The titles might not fit in with the other big name titles such as GTA, Halo or Metroid but RPG fans shouldn’t pass up Shin Megami and Digital Devil Saga.  Xbox fans looking for a fishing game should be on the look out for Pro Fishing Challenge, especially those looking for an online fishing game.  Phantom Brave shouldn’t be missed by anyone.  It’s a quirky and hardcore to the bone strategy RPG but you don’t want to miss out on this game. 

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