Originally set for release in Japan next month, Trinity Zill O’ll Zero is Dynasty Warriors‘ developers Omega Force’s upcoming ARPG based on the series known for its Free Scenario System. The game is now TBA in Japan (a US version titled Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll has not been dated) but it can only means good things for title as it can avoid the Q1 RPG madness that we’re in now and also give the developers more time for polishing. I have great interest in the game’s world and it’s character design, so let’s take a look at the latest info based on the two latest Famitsu reports.

Character: Selene

The only girl character in your party has weaker attack but is extremely good at making use of her quick body movements and setting up traps to make things difficult for her enemies. Two such traps are Ivy Magic Stone (above left) which restrict enemy’s movement while Poison Magic Stone (second from left) lets you ermm… poison them. Although her melee attacks are much weaker than other characters, they can sometimes activate special effects like “Sureibu” (third from left) that turn opponents into “Break” condition. Her ranged attack is using the flying blades (above right).

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Street Fighting IV is still sitting on the shelf for me (borrowed from our reviewer Victor) but always keep an eye on BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger thanks to its superb 2D graphics. However, and as rumored weeks before, ArcSystemWorks is indeed working on the consoles port for BlazBlue Continuum Shift with μ-12- making her home consoles debut along with Tsubaki and Hazama. Beginner Mode is being added for people like me who have hard times activating finishing moves and there will more than 11 new beautiful stages for the game. BlazBlue Continuum Shift will be released in Japan first this summer.

I have been playing the Japanese version of Yakuza 3 at really slow pace, thanks to the amount of side missions which I can’t help but keep working on. Game is pretty fun so far, enough to convince me to get the next title in the series, Ryu ga Gotoku 4: Densetsu o Tsugumono, when it’s released next month in Japan. As you probably now by now (my previous report here), Kazuma Kiryu, the series’ main character so far, will get some new friends this time. The game will play from the perspective of four different main characters with players controlling one character at a time in the earlier chapters.

Kazuma Kiryu

Each of them will have their own unique fighting styles and moves. Kiryu is an all-rounder who are great at kicking, wrestling, Nunchaku and he can wield just about any weapons he picks up. However, frequent fighting may not be so good for Kiryu as certain gangs may come back in group later. There are several of these groups in the game and some of them even come with their bosses. Tenkei, a system where Kiryu learns new moves after being inspired by things he see on the street, is back in Ryu ga Gotoku 4 with the three other characters also have their own way of Tenkei. For Kiryu, he will take photo of Tenkei he discovered with his mobile phone and posts it to his personal blog. Besides Tenkei, Kiryu will also meet his new master in the game, who is a legendary fighter and can be found in Kamurocho.

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The year 2009 just ended so what’s the biggest gaming news in Japan? Weekly Famitsu turn to its readers (who contributed 224 valid votes) and retail network (76 valid votes) to look for the answer. The PlayStation platforms appears to be dominating the headlines last year according to the voting with four PS3 news and a couple of PSP news in the Top 10. Despite the widespread rumors surrounding it, PS3 Slim announcement at gamescom is the overwhelming winner. The ¥29,980 new price announced at the same time is the biggest factor why both readers and retailers pick this as their top news of the year.

1. New model of PlayStation 3 announced. (112 Reader Votes / 42 Retailer Votes)
2. Final Fantasy XIII release date announced. (65 / 21)
3. Dragon Quest IX sold more than 2 million copies in two days. (49 / 20)
4. Nintendo DSi LL goes on sale. (40 / 9)
5. PSPgo announced. (32 / 14)
6. Nintendo sues R4 makers and sellers. (27 / 13)
7. PSP-3000 price drop. (34 / 3)
8. Project Natal announced. (28 / 2)
9. Final Fantasy XIV announced. (24 / 1)
10. Trico (aka The Last Guardian) announced. (19 / 0)

Those taking part in the survey also asked to select their MVP of the year 2009:

1. Dragon Quest IX (71 votes)
2. Final Fantasy XIII (28)
3. Square Enix (13)
4. Sony Computer Entertainment (13)
5. PlayStation 3 (13)

And the Kanji of the year is the word “tsu”, which means communication and chosen by most thanks to the now famous feature of Dragon Quest IX where players get to receive data from other players on the street even with their system shut. Also from the voting, Hideo Kojima is apparently the most active videogame creators in 2009 with more than double the vote of Dragon Quest series’ creator Yuji Horii who is second.

1. Hideo Kojima (Konami, 35 votes)
2. Yuji Horii (Armor Project, 19)
3. Toshihiro Nagoshi (Sega, 15)
4. Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo, 13)
5. Tetsuya Nomura (Square Enix, 9)

Song Magic hold the key to the story and battle system of Ar tonelico series and it’s no difference for Ar tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hajiku, coming out this January in Japan. By “Diving” into their souls, main character Aoto will be able to unlock the Reyvateil girls’ Song Magic for use in his epic adventure. However, unlike previous games, Diving will also reveals the alternate versions of the girls, which can have totally different appearance, personality and also their own names. More info on the Reyvateil and their alternate versions after the cut.

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Didn’t get to write anything about The Last Guardian’s recent unveils but needless to say it’s a truly jaw dropping trailer for me. To think that I will be able to interact with this giant eagle (as the official Japanese title “Hitokui no Oowashi Trico” infers, I thought it’s a cat) and explore the dream-like setting soon feel a little unreal for me. Although we get to see many actions from both the boy and the animal, plus plenty of gameplay mechanics being shown, the trailer is still so full of mystery for me. Luckily, Weekly Famitsu gets to interview Fumito Ueda, the game designer and director for the title, and he shared some of the thinking that went behind the animal and the game as a whole.

Note: This interview has been professionally translated at 1Up and IGN, I simply re-translate with more details. Famitsu has also published the interview online here.

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Besides the big Kojima MGS teasing, the upcoming issue of Weekly Famitsu also has report on PS3’s next big ARPG by Omega Force, the team behind the Dynasty Warriors series. Based on the world setting of the original Zill O’ll, which was remade twice for PS2 and PSP, Trinity Zill O’ll Zero will retains the “Free Scenario System” the series is known for. A new set of characters are introduced and the character designer is still Jun Suemi, who also worked on the characters of the first game. There will be three characters in your party and you can switch between them freely during battles. These battles will take place on an “interactive field” that seems to require players to adjust their actions based on the ever changing terrains. The game is currently 30% done and set for release this winter in Japan. Click on the images below for larger view of the blurry pics, full report when I have the mag.

A new RPG featuring characters from Nippon Ichi and Gust popular series will be announced for PS3 in the upcoming issue of Weekly Famitsu. To be published by Idea Factory, Trinity Universe is a “comical adventure drama” that will features two different scenarios (Goddess Scenario & Devil King Scenario), each with its own main character and an interestingly named system called AAA (Active Animation Adventure) that will tell you the feeling of the characters from their body language and the animated icons.

The game takes place on a floating world where players pick a dungeon to search and destroy its gravitational field before finding a way to escape within a certain time limit. Destroying the gravitational field will hands you some rare item as materials for making armors or raise your stats.

Battle appears to be turn-based and like the dungeon exploration, there’s a time limit for you to defeat your enemies too. To make the control scheme easier, all the skills, which is AP-based, can be executed with just one button. By executing your skills in certain orders, you can deals greater damage. The game is 60% done and will be out this August in Japan. Full scan can be view here and here.

Update: Added direct feed screens from Famitsu.

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The upcoming issue of Weekly Famitsu has an interview with Ryu ga Gotoku series creative director Toshihiro Nagoshi where the first question being asked is whether development for the new game in the series has started. Nagoshi says development has started and confirms that it will be on the PlayStation 3 again. More details from the interview later. Scans can be found here and here.

Update: Official announcement poster stick to the bottom of this post.

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The latest feature in Weekly Famitsu is a survey asking its readers sequels they most looking forward to. Plenty of surprises and nice reminders of series I’ve forgotten in there. Demon’s Souls, which only came out three months ago, is at 12th place, the highest among the games for current gen consoles and especially impressive in a list where most of the series voted don’t have sequels for at least 2-3 years. Sega’s Senjou no Valkyria (aka Valkyria Chronicles), released last year, is at 18th. Ryutaro Nonaka, the game’s producer, said in an interview with Famitsu earlier he didn’t want to have only one title for the series, so a sequel is pretty much confirmed.

A series Nonaka previously worked on, Sakura Taisen, is the highest voted entry in the chart with most of the readers say that they want a proper ending to the series they love so much. Besides Sakura Taisen, Sega has four other titles in the chart, which is dominated by Square Enix, who have 11 titles. Capcom and SCEJ share the second spot with seven titles.

For the top 15 titles, Famitsu actually contacted their publishers for comments but most of them answered through their PR, who obviously won’t say anything interesting. However, Hideo Kojima did answer personally for Z.O.E, which he says is a title he constantly getting requests for sequel. If there is an opportunity, he would love to make a sequel that will make use of the latest high-end development tools. However, due to the amount of works he has now, it’s a dream that he can’t realized for now but it’s something that he will always keep in mind. Full Top 50 table after the jump.

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