SEGA has released 7th Dragon III Code: VFD’s ‘World Introduction’ trailer

RPGs are all about giving a character a living world that they explore, its part of the fun of playing these role playing games and SEGA has just released a trailer to show off their world of 7th Dragon III Code: VFD on the Nintendo 3DS.

7th Dragon III Code: VFD will take you on a trip to the past, present and future. In the trailer you get to see Nodens Enterprise and the Tokyo Subway (present day), Atlantis  and Berk Ocean Palace (past), and the Kazan Republic (future).

7th Dragon III Code: VFD hits Japanese store shelves on October 15th, no Western release date has been announced.

7th Dragon III Code: VFD debut trailer hits the internet

SEGA has released the debut trailer for their newly announced Nintendo 3DS RPG, 7th Dragon III Code: VFD. Seeing the title you might think this is the 3rd entry to SEGA’s 7th Dragon RPG series which debuted back in 2009 on the Nintendo DS. This is actually the 4th entry, since the game got two games on the PSP after the debut DS game. Sadly these games have stayed in Japan. There have been fan translations released online, if that’s your thing.

While the song on the trailer is by another group, the in-game music will be done by SEGA legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage fame). This is a weird entry in the series as imageepoch (developer of the first three games) will not be developing this title due to their bankruptcy issues. Also series producer and SEGA veteran Rieko Kodama (Phantasy Star series, Skies of Arcadia) is not returning as producer. You can read my other article on the people behind this game, here. The game releases in Japan on October 15th, 2015.

SEGA announces 7th Dragon III Code: VFD for Nintendo 3DS

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SEGA has announced a new entry into its 7th Dragon RPG series with 7th Dragon III Code: VFD, the series is making its return to the Nintendo platform by coming out on the 3DS. While the official website doesn’t have information on the story, we do know the following people are working on the project:

The franchise has been jumping around with the first entry making its way to the Nintendo DS, while the second one came out on PSP and now its back on Nintendo’s handheld. Do you think it will effect sells when it comes out in Japan this upcoming October 15th, 2015? Since the first two never made it West, I wouldn’t hold my breath for a western announcement on this 3rd installment.

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[Source: Siliconera]

Atlus bringing Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold to North America

Atlus has just announced that they will be localizing Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight and expects to release it this summer in North America exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS. What is Etrian Odyssey? Its a dungeon crawling RPG developed  (sometimes co-developed) by Atlus. The games are famous for having character designs by Yuji Himukai and music by SEGA legend Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, Revenge of Shinobi).

The ‘Untold’ series of these games are actually remakes of the old DS games (Untold 1 was a remake of the first game, this one is the second) adding new features, graphics and much more.

To find out more about this game’s new features, box art and screenshots hit the jump.

Atlus announces Etrian Odyssey V and Mystery Dungeon x Etrian Odyssey

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Do you like Etrian Odyssey? If so, I have good news for you! The not-so-hot selling franchise, Etrian Odyssey will not only get a new entry to the franchise but also have a new cross-over game with Mystery Dungeon.

Mystery Dugeon x Etrian Odyssey is basically going to be a Mystery Dungeon style game with Etrian Odyssey characters (some older Mystery Dugeon cameos will be included). The music will be done by legendary video game music composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage series, Revenge of Shinobi) and the art  direction will be handled by Nizo Yamaoto (Princess Mononoke). This game is slated to be released in Japan next March.

As for Etrian Odyssey V, it was announced along with a list of people working on the game. This includes director Shigeo Komori, character designer Yuji Himukai, veteran composer Yuzo Koshiro, and monster desginer Shin Nagasawa.

To see the teaser trailers  for both Etrian Odyssey V and Mystery Dungeon x Etrian Odyssey hit the jump.

“Diggin’ in the Carts” interviews Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Yuzo Koshiro

The new series from Red Bull Music Academy, Diggin’ in the Carts, that we previously reported on, has uploaded it’s fourth episode, in which we get brand new interviews with SEGA music legends Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Yuzo Koshiro.

For those unaware, Kawaguchi was behind the soundtracks to several of SEGA’s finest soundtrack work, such as OutRun, Space Harrier, After Burner, Power Drift… we could go on. To this day, he still works at SEGA, and still his output never falters. Suffice to say, he’s probably one of the most talented video game composers of all time, and his list of works is nothing to scoff at.

The same can be said for Yuzo Koshiro, whose works include the soundtracks to the Streets of Rage games, as well as The Revenge of Shinobi. In addition, he’s even worked on the new Super Smash Brothers for Wii U/3DS, and if that wasn’t enough, he too has generally kept a consistent quality throughout all of his work.

He also worked on Shenmue, which is of course no small feat, with the game boasting a breathtaking score.

The episode also mentions Masato Nakamura’s work on Sonic the Hedgehog; somewhat unsurprisingly, he was unavailable for comment. It is quite entertaining to see Flying Lotus and Thundercat’s rendition of Green Hill Zone. There’s also a bit of pretty rare SEGA merch in there, as the vinyl record “SEGA Music” with various arcade SEGA tunes turns up in the possession of J. Rocc!

Overall, it’s a fantastic episode, and one I personally recommend SEGA fans check out. And if that’s not enough, an upcoming episode also features Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, so stay tuned!

You can catch the episode by clicking here!

Red Bull Music Academy unveils new series – “Diggin’ In The Carts” – Features Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and Yuzo Koshiro

Red Bull Music Academy has announced it is producing a new video series, “Diggin’ in the Carts,” discussing the influence of video game music on how we know music today, and looking at the people that produced it.

The series is to be six episodes long, and also features several well-known musicians and bands such as Anamanaguchi, Flying Lotus and Joker (who recently produced a Mega Drive inspired album) providing commentary.

For us SEGA fans, legendary composers Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (Daytona USA, OutRunners, Shenmue) and Yuzo Koshiro (The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle Series) are to be featured in the series, which is music to our ears! In the trailer, Space Harrier and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 can be seen, possibly giving us hints about what to expect.

Also featured is Nobuo Uematsu, famed composer of the majority of the Final Fantasy series, and Manami Matsumae, composer of the original Mega Man game’s soundtrack (and also the composer of the upcoming Mighty No. 9), amongst many others.

The first episode premiers on Red Bull Music Academy’s site on September 4th, so be sure to check it out!

Yuzo Koshiro will compose music for Persona Q

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Yuzo Koshiro has worked on music for a lot of games, but SEGA fans will always know him for his amazing work on the Streets of Rage series. In my opinion, this is what made Yuzo Koshiro a legend. Want more music from him? Don’t worry, it has been revealed that he will be composing tracks for the upcoming Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.

Also announced to be working on the game is Yuji Himukai who is being brought aboard to design some monsters along with Shin Nagasawa. All three (including Yuzo Koshiro) worked on Etrian Odyssey (and Persona Q is basically Etrian Odyssey with Personas…).