Andrew Fitch and Ray Barnholt join Kat for this weeks episode. RPG news kicks things off, starting with the official announcement of Dragon Age 2. With the news that the console experience will be revamped Kat hopes they may aim for something like Demon’s Souls, although she admits that could be unlikely. The guys seem intrigued by the prospect of a story that take place over 10 years. With Ni no Kuni being confirmed for a western release Fitch thinks it really needs to be better indentified if it is to have the appeal of a Studio Ghibli movie.
The second segment of the show is an interview with Hamish Miller and Darren Evenson from Hothead. They discuss various aspects of their recently released XBLA title Deathspank notable for Ron Gilbert’s involvement in the making of the game.
The bulk of the show is taken up with discussion of Persona 3 Portable, which was just released for PSP. It’s a streamlined version of the PS2 game with some extra content, most significant being the ability to play as a female protagonist. Fitch is a big fan of the original and reviewed P3P for 1UP, he thinks that the port is great for fans of the original, especially with the addition of the female character which adds a fairly different perspective on the story and other characters.
As the discussion goes on it becomes a bit broader, talking about the appeal of the Persona games over other games in the Shin Megami Tensei series. The heavily anime influenced story and characters aswell as the dating/social game aspect seem to be the biggest factors the guys thing Persona has over the other Megaten games. Fitch feels the other Megaten games are held back by some of the more arbitrary gameplay systems such as having to persuade demons to join you.
It’s a great month for Japanese releases, beginning with the recently released Persona 3 Portable. Andrew Fitch joins Kat and Ray to discuss the updated port along with the merits of the series as a whole. Also on tap for this week is an interview with Hothead devs Hamish Miller and Darren Evenson, who recently finished work on the adventure game/action RPG mashup DeathSpank. As always, whether it’s hack ‘n slash adventures or RPGs starring Japanese high school students, we’ve got you covered.
Runtime – 1:27:15
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