I’m not being snide or dismissive when I say I am still waiting for a reason to buy a PS3 as a *game* machine, as opposed to a media hub, a job it does admirably but no better so than others you could make. I’m just saying that the Xbox 360, so far, does the business of games, better.
I could be changing my mind. While browsing through game trailers on PSN this weekend, I stumbled across one called simply, Valkyrie. At first I didn’t know if I wasn’t watching a new Miyazaki movie, aside from its lack of flying things.* That same sort of attention to detail, the same sort of pastel watercolors style that is Miyazaki himself and is seen all the time in his concept art. This was an anime I wanted to see. I have the trailer below — the version I saw was exactly the same, except with all the Japanese removed (and nothing added).
Except it’s a GAME. It’s a real-time tactical game similar to Final Fantasy Tactics, except without so much fantasy. You have a five person squad, each with a specialty, and you move them through battles, arranging them, and so on, except this is 3D and real time.
I’m not big into war games. but I DO like tactical games, they are one of the few kinds of games I can do fairly well, I LOVE the art direction. It comes out Nov 1 in the US, and so on Nov 1, I may have finally found a reason to buy a PS3 for gaming. People are begging for online multiplayer deathmatch stuff, but not me. Give me a tactical strategy game like FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre or Shining Force, and I will absolutely be there each and every time.
Here’s a review in English of the game with a lot of gameplay shown.
* Miyazaki loves flying.
- Nausicaa — Personal flying wing, Mehve, plus a whole bunch of massive flying war machines and even a two-person flying pot.
- Laputa — Mom and her pirate crew in their family airship? Flycycles? More huge flying war machines? Flying robots? Steerable kites?
- Porco Rosso — low hanging fruit here, the entire movie is about flying.
- Totoro — aside from a levitating Oh-Totoro, not so much flight. There is a catbus, though. Nekobasu (catbus) is my fave song.
- Spirited Away — flying dragon/enchanted boy.
- Mononoke — um hmm well aside from some pretty amazing wolf jumping, I guess not. But he was TRYING to be historical.
- Kiki’s Delivery Service — Witch. Who flies. And delivers stuff. Plus her boyfriend with the pedal-powered airplane.
- Howl’s Moving Castle — more immense flying war machines, plus small flycycles, reminds me of the ones in Laputa.
Trust me. It’s a theme with him.
Wow, that does look like a interesting game and a little bit more mature then Disgaea 3. I actually tried to find a trailer on youtube that could explain Disgaea without being wacky and it wasn’t possible. It’s basically like someone took Final Fantasy Tactics and then took away all the laws of physics and put as many wacky combination attacks as possible into it. The last two were hilarious and very challenging though. Especially if you’re actually trying to beat everything in the game and not just the main storyline.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwgxstWwx2k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV5sRVnGoJ4
Do you like my helmet?
Huh?
I know it’s you, Einhorn…
I own every movie in your list but Porco Rosso, which has been difficult to find in the past. I just searched it though, and it has an english dub with Michael Keaton as our hero!
I also own Ghibli art books, and I am an overall fanatic.
Like you I have yet to find a reason to own the PS3 (barring Blu-ray), especially when one of the main reasons I owned a PS2 was Squeenix titles, and THEY have decided to develop for Xbox first.
..it hurts!
But, I have watched this title (like so many others) and can only hope by Christmas I see a reason to buy one. Else I will just continue to wallow away on my PC…which has just been upgraded to a ATI 4870, and everything runs like water on this bad boy (even EQ2 ran better, whcih I nevere thought was possible)
I just ordered Devil May Cry and Gears of War for my PC, so, lets see if I even have a reason to replace my Xbox that went to my son…hehe
Later
Yea I figured if I left my email address as…um…MY email address that you’d see it was me.
How disappointing that you didn’t get my Shining Force reference =(
I only played SF3, I couldn’t find the others for the Saturn. Not sure if they even came out in the US. And it was a zillion years ago! Cut me some slack!!!! I totally don’t remember character names 🙁 I do remember some of those fantastic maps — the train one V(^.^)V loved that one.
Again, I fall in your esteem.
I’m a huge fan of those movies as well. He’s brilliant.
I also have to agree on the whole PS3 vs 360 thing for the moment. My PS2 was by far my favorite system in the previous generation. I’m still playing games on it now and again (Persona 3 is pretty good, and I still like to go back through old square PS1 games once in a blue moon). But so far there isn’t really any compelling reason to get a PS3 for me.
I’m just happy to see ANY anime that doesn’t follow the theme of “tentacles”.