Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale is an indie jRPG made by EasyGameStation and recently localized by Carpe Fulgar.

It was released on Steam for $19.99 and has made decent sales while picking up good reviews. So I went and played the demo, and then promptly bought a copy on Steam afterward.

The premise behind Recettear is that your father has disappeared, leaving you with a massive debt to pay. You play as Recette, a little girl who pairs up with a debt collector fairy to open up an item shop in order to pay off her father’s debt.

Everything has been translated into English while keeping the original Japanese voices. There are numerous amusing cutscenes, dungeons to clear for loot, and sales to be made. Buy low, sell high, and profit!

Each boss at the end of a dungeon has a different mechanic to it, making the fights innovative and fun.

The normal game (paying off all your debt) took me around 6-7 hours to beat, which then unlocks the survival and endless modes. Survival mode is trying to pay off increasing debt every week while endless mode has no debt left and you’re free to do whatever.

This game is really addictive because you want to keep playing to increase your fortune, raise your merchant level, improve your store, clear all the dungeons, and get all the characters/cutscenes. Plus, you get to rip off townsfolk with a greater than 200% markup of the base price on an item.

For $20, Recettear is definitely worth it. It was an interesting experience playing as an item shop owner since we usually never think about those item shop NPCs when we play RPGs. Hopefully, Carpe Fulgar will be bringing over more indie jRPGs for us to play!

Level-5 teams up with Studio Ghibli to bring us Ni no Kuni (The Another World), a jRPG in development for the Nintendo DS and PS3.

After Level-5′s somewhat disappointing White Knight Chronicles, I have high hopes for this game. From what I’ve seen so far, teaming up with Studio Ghibli has produced some impressive results.

Ni no Kuni PV (PS3)

The in-game graphics look amazing! It’s as if you’re playing through a Ghibli movie. Add on the fact that Joe Hisashi is behind the music, and what’s there not to like?

Maybe if this joint venture turns out to be a great success, we’ll see more game and anime studios working on projects together.

Since the release date in Japan for the PS3 version is some time in 2011, we probably won’t be seeing it for a while here in the US.

Image Source: Ni no Kuni Official Site

The PS3 definitely feels like it has been lacking some good RPGs (Side note: Valkyria Chronicles was awesome), but this year’s lineup aims to remedy that. After patiently waiting for years, this game is finally coming out next week!

I preordered this along with the rest of these RPGs over at Amazon as usual. No tax along with Amazon Prime makes it all worthwhile.

Release Date: February 2, 2010

Amazon Product Link

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

I was disappointed when this was released only on the Xbox 360 since I’ve played all the previous Star Ocean games. Good thing it’s coming out for the PS3 on February 9th since it saves me from having to buy a 360.

Release Date: February 9, 2010

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Final Fantasy XIII

It’s the next game in the Final Fantasy franchise, what more do you need to know? Despite some gamers ranting about how the plot is too linear, I still highly anticipate FF13 due to its graphics and what will hopefully be entertaining gameplay.

Release Date: March 9, 2010

Amazon Product Link

Resonance of Fate

Known as End of Eternity in Japan, the name was probably changed for release in NA to Resonance of Fate due to copyright issues (I recall an Asimov novel named End of Eternity). Anyways, tri-Ace is the developer behind this game, and I look forward to what they have to offer if their previous work on the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series is any indication of what’s to come.

Release Date: May 31, 2010

Amazon Product Link

Image Source: Wikipedia

Yes, it’s finally here – for those of us that can understand Japanese. Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan on the 17th of this month.

I was debating whether or not to order a copy from Play-Asia and play through the Japanese version, but I opted not to after watching a stream of the game. I didn’t want to miss out on the dialogue and plot, but too bad the North American version won’t include the Japanese voices.

The battle system looks like fun, with a lot of customization and paradigm shifts. Anyone here already playing the game?

March 9th couldn’t come any sooner.

Image Source: Wikipedia

I picked up Dragon Age: Origins for the PC during Black Friday and finally got around to playing it for a few hours tonight.

This game feels very similar to Neverwinter Nights and in some regards is WoW-like – especially when using WASD movement. My main character is an Elven Mage: I always choose to play the magic classes if possible.

The main storyline seems a bit stereotypical but that does not take away from the game. I have been a fan of BioWare games since Baldur’s Gate, and this is no exception.

I am looking forward to spending 100+ hours or whatever is needed to fully complete the game, and then messing around with the toolkit that allows users to create their own content.

Demon’s Souls for the PS3 is being released here in the United States tomorrow, October 6th!

Judging from the favorable reviews thus far, this PS3 exclusive has potential. I played it for a bit at Anime Expo this year, and it seemed to be decent. It’s an action RPG (think God of War, Devil May Cry, etc.) that’s supposed to be insanely difficult.

Trailer:

I’m currently thinking about getting the deluxe edition over at Amazon, but still debating whether I want to drop $70~ on it now or to wait until it gets cheaper later.

Image Source: Official Demon’s Souls Website

Fate/EXTRA is a role-playing game in the making for the PSP. Do want.

Seems like it’ll be your standard rpg with dungeons and a school aspect as well. There’s probably a bunch of information about it on that magazine shot, but I can’t read Japanese. Anyone care to translate?

Source: Sankaku Complex

Star Ocean 4 is being released internationally for the PS3 on 2/10/2010. With Tales of Vesperia being ported to the PS3 as well, seems like I have fun RPG times ahead of me.

I was planning on buying an Xbox360 just to play Star Ocean 4, so this will save me some money. Hah! You Xbox360 owners are losing all your exclusives. Maybe Ace Combat 6 next? =P

News Source: Sankaku Complex

Image Source: pixiv

Final Fantasy 13 is coming out this year in Japan for the PS3 on December 17.

The game is a PS3 exclusive in Japan, but the same isn’t true for the international release. I’m curious as to how or why Sony lost the FF13 exclusive for international release. If it were exclusive, this game alone would considerably drive PS3 console sales up.

As further stated in the Sankaku Complex post, it has been suggested that the delayed 2010 international release could be in part due to the Xbox 360 port. It is fairly obvious that porting a game to another console takes time, but I thought the PS3 version was going to be released first anyways?

I’m definitely looking forward to this game and will get it on release day. Another related game that I’m even more anticipating is FF13 Versus; the dark setting seems more appealing to me. Too bad my Japanese skills are at newbie level or else I would be getting this game on December 17.

News Source: Sankaku Complex

Image Source: Safebooru