Persona 5 Strikers coming West to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Steam on February 23rd, 2021

The wait for Persona 5 Strikers is almost over! I know there has been a lot of upset fans that Persona 5 Strikers had been pretty hush, hush on its release in the West. This trailer was actually leaked, so its not ‘OFFICIALLY’ announced yet.  Persona 5 Scramble actually came out earlier this year in Japan, in February. That means that it will be 1 year that we get it in the West. Its not that bad of a turn around. The game takes the Dynasty Warriors hack and slash style and combines it with Persona 5‘s great storytelling and characters. Even better? This is suppose to serve as a sequel to the original game.

2020 is so crazy that now Persona is real time combat and Yakuza is a turn based game. Wow.

There was rumors that Koei Tecmo put on their finanical report that they weren’t publishing this title in the West, that’s because its being published by Atlus (aka SEGA basically). As always, I’m super excited to return to the world of Persona 5 and see where this game takes the franchise.

Yakuza 6 sold the same in the West as it did in Japan, a first for the franchise

If you have been a massive Yakuza fan for awhile, you might have noticed that the franchise has been gaining steam since the release of Yakuza 0. My worse fear was that after Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami, that those new audiences would either set Yakuza 6 aside for later (after Kiwami 2 and the Yakuza 3-5 ports) or just stop buying the franchise altogether. I can safely say that isn’t the case, thankfully Yakuza 6 seems to have performed well enough that the game sold the same in West as it did in Japan. This is a first for the franchise, not bad for a title that was closing off a long running story.

“In the past, the Japanese market has generated the bulk of sales for these series, and although it has elements that are appealing to overseas. However, the game was not developed with European and U.S. markets in mind. Thanks to painstaking efforts to create a game that Japanese fans will appreciate, the title has become popular not only in Japan but also won over fans overseas who praise the refined game sense of the title. I believe this is why Yakuza 6: The Song of Life has become such a popular hit around the world.” – SEGA’s Kenji Matsubara

This also means that Yakuza 6 Western sales basically includes UK and US against Japan, I hope that in the near future Western audiences outnumber Japanese audiences for Yakuza sales. I mean, we are getting closer. But we might get that considering that a Yakuza 6 PC port is most likely around the corner. We also have learned that Yakuza franchise has sold over 11 million copies world wide.

[Source: SEGA Report]

Etrian Odyssey V Confirmed for North American Release Fall 2017

etrianodysseyv_englishDateE3

Despite Nintendo shifting focus with it’s platforms we’re still going to receive a number of titles for the Nintendo 3DS, and Atlus fans in North America are certainly not missing out on the latest entry in the Etrian Odyssey series with Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth confirmed for a fall 2017 release on the platform. This comes from Atlus’ own website showing a test page for the game to appear on their main website’s slider which showcases new and upcoming releases. Perhaps this news was to be revealed during E3 which is just less than a week away. Until then this will make 3DS owners happy that RPGs are not in short supply on the system.

The game originally released in Japan on August 4th of last year with a western release nowhere in sight. With the release of the Nintendo Switch it seemed that their handheld line might be at the end of it’s life. Luckily fans of the series can rest assured that Atlus is just as eager to get the game into the hands of it’s international audience.

We will report more on the game’s western release date as it develops.

[Source: Atlus]

Valkyria Chronicles III isn’t being localized

I’m one of those people who fell in love with the Valkyria Chronicles video games and highly enjoyed the second entry to the franchise, even though it was on the PSP and not on the PS3.

So what about the 3rd game in the franchise? According to SEGA’s Hiroshi Seno, they have no plans on bringing the 3rd game over to the Western market. Why? Due to Valkyria Chronicles II selling poorly. I think part of the reason the second game did poorly was due to it jumping platforms, especially to a platform that is dying outside of Japan (the PSP).

Hey SEGA, if you have no plans on bringing it over, let someone like Atlus USA or NIS America bring it over. Thanks.

[Source: 1up]