FFCC: TCB is certainly looking good though we doubt it will sell quite as well as the recently launched FF: XII!
All I hope for is that it is a deeper game than the Gamecube Crystal Chronicles which I thought was a massive let down.
Tags: Crystal Bearers, Final Fantasy, Footage, Square Enix, Video
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This week the Dragon Quest IX mania continues in Japan with news that the game has now sold about 3.39 million copies. That’s even more impressive when you think it was only released July 14th in the region. Last week it shifted 150,000 units and was second only to another Japanese favourite - ‘Monster Hunter Tri’ from Capcom which sold over 500,000.
With the decline in sales of games and consoles all round in Japan, it’s good to see some franchises maintaining their appeal.
Square Enix have still not announced a western release for the DS exclusive but 2010 is likely.
After a severe lack of news for ‘Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers‘ since being announced three years ago, Nintendo Power have recently had time with the latest build. The game has gone through some major changes with a new emphasis on the single player campaign, a new hero as well as a “stylish” motion controls and even a new logo!
But is it any good I hear you cry? Well, yes, according to Nintendo Power:
It’s not only Square Enix that’s counting the cash from sales of Dragon Quest IX. The DS saw an increase in sales last week thanks to the RPG behemoth with Nintendo selling 126,786 units for the week ending July 12. Reuters report that’s an increase of 51,601 units from the week previous and marks the first time the DS console has sold over 100,000 units in a year and a half.
Dragon Quest IX itself has been well received in Japan, scoring a perfect 40/40 from Famitsu and selling over 2.32 million copies in its first two days on sale.
While it appears that Dragon Quest IX gamers writing reviews on amazon.jp were not massively impressed by the game on DS, Famitsu were.
In fact the Japanese gaming bible awarded the game with a maximum score which only the likes of ‘Zelda: Ocarina Of Time‘ and a handful of other games have ever achieved. The four reviewers scored 10, 10, 10 and 10, so a 40/40 total.
Not bad, but why were the Amazon reviewers so upset?
It seems that the recently released ‘Dragon Quest IX’ in Japan is real hit and miss with gamers.
Firstly it is estimated that Dragon Quest IX managed to move 2,877,000 units on it’s first day on sale. That’s a crazy number! Remember these are only estimates so far so take them with a pinch of salt, however if true then it will have the best first day sales of any game in the country, beating ‘Final Fantasy VIII’ which was the previous day-one top-seller at 2.5 million units.
However impressive the sales figures are, the Amazon Japan website user-reviews are not quite as good:
- 5 stars (67 votes)
- 4 stars (57)
- 3 stars (70)
- 2 stars (86)
- 1 star (223)
So out of 503 reviews, 44% of them only received 1 Star, not good in anybody’s book. The average rating is 2.5 stars. Gamers are complaining about all aspects of the game from graphics, save slots, costumes to the fact that the game is on DS in the first place. The last point leads me on to a point that could be attributing to this.
Many long time Dragon Quest fans in Japan were very unhappy with Square Enix when they announced the latest title to be on a handheld, especially the DS with its lack of horsepower. The Amazon reviews could be a planned exodus of these gamers showing their dislike of Square Enix’s decision.
Or maybe it’s just crap!
Update - According to Enterbrain, the total number of copies sold was 2,343,440 in two days!
Here is the first footage of the recently revealed Square Enix game ‘Four Warriors Of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden’ for the DS.
Though the video is low quality, you can tell that the game will have the usual high production values that come with all Square Enix titles. In fact we think the game is looking good and we like the Animal Crossing style scrolling landscapes.
Four Warriors Of Light is out some time this winter.
Thanks thenintendo
The second ‘Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles‘ game for WiiWare is very different to the first. ‘My Life As A Dark Lord‘ is more of a twist on the tower defence genre and has you playing as the bad guy as you can see in the official English trailer above.
We’ll have more on this nearer release.
Do you need a reminder to see what the biggest gaming series in Japan looks like on DS? Good because that’s exactly what the video above is - Dragon Quest IX: Defenders Of The Starry Sky. Over 7 minutes of it too!
The lastest in the Dragon Quest series from Square Enix is set to go on sale on July 11th in Japan upon which it is likely to sell about ten hundred billion million copies, or something.
Looks good though.
We have some new pics of the English build of Square Enix’s ‘Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers’. Damn that title is toooo long!
Head inside for the rest. Read more…
New screens for Square Enix’s upcoming WiiWare sequel to ‘FFCC: My Life As A King’. Though the original game is one of the most expensive games on WiiWare it has proven popular and was one of the better launch games.
Let’s hope Square Enix put enough new content in My Life As A Darklord to warrant the purchase of the sequel, especially if it is the same price.
More pics after the jump. Read more…
Dragon Quest Wars has been announced by Square Enix and will be heading to DSiWare this June.
The game has been handled by respected development studio - Intelligent Systems - who are also responsible for the Fire Emblem series.
Expect Dragon Quest Wars to set you back 800 Nintendo Points.
Thanks Kotaku
