Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey announced

Atlus U.S.A. announced Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, the very first first-person science fiction RPG for Nintendo DS set in the ultra popular Shin Megami Tensei RPG game universe. Strange Journey is set in the near future, where a mysterious and ever-growing, black void appears at the Earth’s southern pole. Unsure of what to do about this void, humanity sends an elite team of explorers (four ships carrying humanity’s finest soldiers and most cutting-edge technology) into the heart of the phenomenon in hopes of stopping its deadly expansion. Obviously this rift, black hole or whatever you want to label it as demonic and otherworldly in nature.

According to Atlus, Strange Journey’s game mechanics and presentation herald a return to the series’ roots. The game feature a first-person view, the ability to team up with more than 300 types of demons, plenty of options to build your party and party strategy and a mature rated storyline that long-time fans should appreciate.

When the black spot appeared in the Antarctic, mankind became nervous; when it began to spread, that anxiety turned to panic. The Joint Project, convened to discuss how to deal with the expanding anomaly, decided to send in four ships carrying humanity’s finest soldiers and most cutting-edge technology. The mission: to investigate what lay on the other side of what had been dubbed the Schwarzwelt and find out if there was a way to stop it from eventually covering the Earth.

You play as one of the many elite soldiers hand-picked for the Strike Team, but you are outfitted with a Demonica environment suit and posted to the Red Sprite under Commander Gore. Upon entering the Schwarzwelt, or pocket world, the crew finds itself forced to deal with harsh conditions, supernatural interference, and throngs of demons populating within the world.

Class of Heroes released

Atlus U.S.A. has released Class of Heroes, a first-person, old-school CRPG dungeon crawler for PSP to select retailers across North America. In the game, players don the role of a student enrolled in Particus Academy, whose main curriculum focuses on teaching would-be adventurers the ins and outs of surviving a vast and connected labyrinth underneath the entire world.

Class of Heroes promises over 500 character possibilities derived from 10 races, 2 genders, 3 alignments, and 15 majors. Changing your majors provides for further customization at higher levels. Another promise is over 80 hours of first-person dungeon crawling in an ever-changing 3D labyrinth containing more than 75 maps full of puzzles, traps, and treasure. Naturally you’ll battle hundreds of monsters and uncover over 1300 item types along the way. Finally, there’s an alchemy system offering more than 400 recipes, giving you the ability to synthesize new items from random components found in the labyrinths, as well as customize your weapons’ attributes, range, and strength.

Class of Heroes is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB and is available now.

Far Cry 2: It Sucketh Not

Ubisoft is floored that Far Cry 2 isn’t a failure. Yay. In fact, it’s a bonafide hit, with a sell-through rate of one million units worldwide, according to the company’s internal sales figures. Of course this includes multiple platforms - PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

While it may not matter, critics seem to be enjoying what Ubisoft has done with the shooter series that at one point jumped the shark and turned a regular run-and-gun game into The Island of Dr. Moreau. Thank god that Ubisoft reset this universe.

Far Cry 2 takes the franchise away from series developer Crytek and resets it, adding vast untamed jungles, dedicated enemy AI and with white knuckle first-person driving. Our own Scott Jones says it best in his Far Cry 2 Review:

“.. while the original Far Cry pushed the envelope when it came to nonlinear gameplay — i.e., there were always two or three ways to resolve every situation — the sequel takes that notion to its logical extreme by giving you a Grand Theft Auto III-like open world (50 square kilometers, to be exact) in which to wreak your first-person shooter mayhem.”

The Punisher: No Mercy PSN-Bound

The official PlayStation Blog has word today that a new Punisher game is on the way for the PlayStation Network. Zen Studios is developing the game using Epic’s Unreal Engine 3. The game will be called The Punisher: No Mercy sand will feature such Marvel universe characters as Jigsaw, Bushwacker, Barracuda and even Silver Sable. The game will feature a heavy duty online multiplayer experience and will attempt to bring the popular vigilante hero to life in a first-person perspective.

You can read what info is available by checking out www.punishernomercy.com.