Treasure Hunter– Falling into Autumn with Keyblades, Dragons, Grand Thefts and Seafaring (Part 1 of 2)

Long time no see! I suppose I could say Treasure Hunter ended up going on a two-month hiatus. The break certainly was not intentional and hopefully the column won’t suffer from more sudden lapses. Thanks to the hiatus I had some time to think about how I wanted to proceed with Treasure Hunter. Ultimately, I decided to streamline the column ever so slightly. (By “decided” I do mean steal some ideas from Geoff in addition to other small changes.)

Sadly, I missed writing about the busy month of July and the absolutely packed month of August. Geoff wrote about the latter month over a span of four weeks. September has a fairly robust release schedule with some big Triple-A releases and a variety of smaller titles. With new consoles right around the corner the latter half of 2013 is shaping up to be positively interesting. (And we can’t forget about slow but steady increase in premium and limited editions of anime box sets. I credit NIS America and Aniplex of America for their overall influence on the industry as a whole.)

Yuruyuri: Happy Go Lily | Release: September 3 | Price: $47.99 | Publisher: NIS America

To kick the month off we have season one of Yuruyuri: Happy Go Lily on Blu-ray. In this school-centered comedy Akari Akaza decides to join the smallest club on campus, the Amusement Club. The middle school club also consists of her two childhood friends, Kyoko Toshino and Yui Funami. The club gets a fourth member when Chinatsu Yoshikawa, Akari’s classmate decides to join. Since the Amusement Club has no real purpose the girls often do whatever they want which usually leads to trouble. As with any NIS America release this anime comes with a 36-page hardcover art book to complement the BDs. The Premium Edition of Yuruyuri: Happy Go Lily is sold out at NIS America but fortunately Rightstuf has plenty of copies in stock.

Blue Exorcist | Release: September 10 | Price: $139.98 | Publisher: Aniplex of America

I’ve written extensively about Blue Exorcist and Alex has a review. So I’ll spare you yet another summary for the anime. This time Rin and Yukio are back thanks to the latest Aniplex of America re-release. Unlike the first release two years ago this set is on Blu-ray and includes the English dub. There is also a companion DVD release with the dub, sans a Limited Edition. So, let’s talk about the BD set! The second half of the Limited Edition contains part two of the original soundtrack on CD, a 36-page illustration booklet, interviews with the English cast on DVD and a spiffy box to house everything in. Once again, Rightstuf has the best deal on Blue Exorcist. (On a fun note: the new DVD sets cost exactly the same as the four-part, subtitles-only sets released two years ago. The new DVDs are a better deal than the original release thanks to the inclusion of a dub.)

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX | Release: September 10 | Price: $39.99 | Publisher: Square Enix

The Kingdom Hearts series has been mentioned often on this blog and we even have several reviews by Joseph. Besides that, if you’re unfamiliar with the Square Enix and Disney crossover franchise you might have been living under a rock for the past ten years. Although we finally have Kingdom Hearts III in production everyone’s favorite Japanese developer can’t resist continually milking their cash cow. Considering the changes Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX is probably a win for everyone involved. If you haven’t had the chance to play the original game (myself included, shamefully) now’s a great time to jump in. This HD remaster includes Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories and spares you from actually playing Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days by including cinematic story clips from the DS game. If you pre-ordered before September 10 a Limited Edition art book was included with the game. If you missed the pre-order window some retailers such as Best Buy still offer the book, otherwise eBay has you covered.

Puppeteer | Release: September 10 | Price: $39.99 | Publisher: Sony

Puppeteer is the latest game from SCE Japan Studio and promises to be quite interesting. A boy-turned-puppet is the star of this side-scrolling platformer. Kutaro was a normal kid until his soul was stolen by the evil Moon King Bear on a dark, moonlit night. After being turned into a puppet Kutaro’s head is ripped off, eaten and the rest of his body is thrown away by the tyrant. The boy puppet finds a replacement head, steals the Moon King Bear’s magical
scissors, sets off to reclaim his head and return home. Puppeteer ships with the soundtrack on CD provided you pre-ordered the game on or before September 10. If not, you might be out of luck because the Theatrical Pack isn’t being offered for sale nor does it appear in online secondhand markets.

The Elder Scrolls Anthology | Release: September 10 | Price: $79.99 | Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

The Elder Scrolls is a long-running series dating back to 1994. The popular fantasy RPGs hardly need an introduction as most gamers have either played the games or have heard of them, especially the later games. The Elder Scrolls Anthology combines Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and all of the add-ons into a single collection. In addition to all five games and their expansions, The Elder Scrolls Anthology includes maps from each game, an art book and a spiffy box to hold everything. Good luck getting that on your shelf! Unfortunately, this anthology is a PC-only affair so hopefully you own a decent gaming rig.