So this question is on the minds of all Wii and PS2 owners it seems. Normally I refrain from being so forward, but I think I just need to clarify for everyone. It is not a matter of Baroque being “good”, or “bad”. It is simply a question of if you are a match for Baroque. Here is a simple test to see find out if you should buy it:

Baroque is being released April 8th in North America. To celebrate, here is the OST to the game. It is entirely instrumental, with songs that vary from the energetically charged “Endless Redemption”, to the slower and more solemn “Spilling Tears.” I think that Sting did a good job producing a cohesion between art, music, and graphics to create the overall mood of the game. The songs sound very futuristic and synthetic and give an impression of intensity mixed with sorrow.

I have been waiting for this guide to come out since I first arrived in Japan. This past Friday it was finally released in stores for the reasonable price of 1700 yen, or around $17.00. I have spent a lot of time already flipping through the pages and trying to learn about the games deeper workings.

Ah, random dungeon games, have my readers noticed that I have a soft spot for them? There is something so unforgiving about a game where you die and lose everything… I don’t know why but I find it appealing. Furai no Shiren 3 is one of these games, and surprisingly enough it is for the Wii, a system which never stops surprising us.

Right around the time that Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 was picking up in popularity, word began spreading about Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. People who couldn’t get enough of Persona 3 wanted the next closest thing, and Nocturne was it. At that point, the game was already rare due to a limited number of copies produced. Since then they have become even more scarce to the point where the only place you can find a copy is probably eBay or Amazon.com for around $70.00.

It is difficult to find quality scans of video game art without doing some digging. The older a series gets, the harder it becomes. Luckily Kei, the creator of Dokuganryu (formally Be Your True Mind–a reference to the first Persona game), has amassed an enormous collection of video game art and scans from media that are difficult to find outside of Japan. The scanned media range from game guides to art and poster books.

We all know it’s coming out, but is it a good deal? In my opinion hell yes, but opinions don’t mean much without some logic behind them. First let us break the contents of the bundle down into easy to understand parts:

This is an excellent soundtrack featuring remixes and alternate versions of some of the cooler songs in the game. My favorite it track number 7, “Burn My Dread -Last Battle-“. The song features the game’s unique style of hip hop, with a slightly higher tempo than the regular version. Also, there is more of an emphasis on the vocals than most of the other songs in the game.

Name: Rasuberiru (ラズベリル)
Nickname: Beriru
Demon type: Monster
Ma-bility: “I Love You” Heart (愛羅武勇ハート)
Ma-bility Effect: If there is an allied character on the map who has a level higher than Rasuberiru, she will give 20% more damage.
Prerequisite: Joins after clearing chapter 4
Machange weapon: Sword

This weekend I was exploring den den town when I came across a figure of one of the cleric girls from Etrian Odyssey. The figure was about 10 inches tall, and very high quality, with great attention to detail. I didn’t even realize that Wave was producing figures from Sekaiju no Meikyu, so I did some research shortly afterwards. It turns out they released a female samurai first, followed by the cleric.