Tecmo Koei: The Age of Dusk and Deception

Anyone who’s been reading this blog lately likely knows that I’ve become frustrated at the increasing number of Japanese games being left in their home country, and I’m sure that’s a sentiment shared among others who still like niche titles from big and small Japanese companies. We’re living in a new era of titles that escape our grasp, as tastes between eastern and western territories are perpetually diverging. That’s not the only reason, though. Distribution changes are also happen, as retailers are increasingly resistant towards stocking games that aren’t “AAA” titles in their attempts to prolong the apparently-inevitable (according to some, but not others) digital future. And games like this don’t have much of a market on the digital space due to the audience preferring physical goods. This is not a pretty situation.

But it might buck you up a little to see that some companies are sticking to their guns. This post will be about Tecmo Koei’s future localizations. For as good as these announcements are, the company has made plenty of mistakes in the last few years, the biggest being the utter incompetence that surrounded Atelier Ayesha’s release earlier this year, along with stealthily releasing the enhanced versions of Atelier Totori and Meruru on Vita — though the latter at least received an announcement. Releasing full-priced niche games exclusively on the digital market isn’t the brightest idea either, though Tecmo Koei isn’t the only offender. And as more time passes, it becomes increasingly evident that they don’t have a PR department on the American side, as the European one does all the communicating. But some of us are willing to give them a free pass because they’re actually localizing their games. This is what we’ve come to in the year 2013 A.D.

And speaking of Atelier, the newest title was announced for a western release: Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky. This one is a sequel to Ayesha that follows two adventures named Escha and Logix, and I’m sure there has to be an explanation for the latter’s name being different than what’s on the title. Anyone who remembers the details from its Japanese announcement earlier this year might know this is the first Atelier title fully developed under Tecmo Koei, and is thus the first to use their in-house engine. Despite that, the visuals aren’t all that dissimilar from the previous titles. I’ll assume that Tecmo Koei’s engine is easier to use than the PhyreEngine.

It seems Tecmo Koei’s western offices have learned this time, because they plan on including a Japanese voice option this time around, and for all future Atelier games. And they’re planning on releasing it at retail…in Europe. There’s no info on whether they plan to do the same in America, since no one is at Tecmo Koei America to answer the question. Given how Ayesha was released, it’s likely. Escha & Logy will release on March 7th and March 11th in Europe and America, respectively. Yes, that means it’s hitting America on the same day as Dark Souls II. This will end well.

This is not the first time we’ve seen Toukiden from Tecmo Koei’s western districts. They announced the title for territories outside Japan shortly before E3 this year, for a release in the fall season. The announcement was partly included in one of Tecmo Koei’s newest press releases, which said name will officially be Toukiden: The Age of Demons. But it was really there because it’s been delayed until early next year. That raises a few questions, though. Was it pushed back because the localization wasn’t finished? Or did it need more time? Or do they want to wait and release it around the time the Vita 2000 model and Vita TV potentially release in the west? So many possibilities.

Tecmo Koei Europe’s Twitter account initially said the game would only have English voices, but later corrected themselves by saying Japanese voices would be included too. That caused a hilarious uproar, but it’s good for a game that takes inspiration from a classic Japanese setting to include the option.

And though the Japanese arm didn’t discuss it much, the game does have online play. This is a Monster Hunter-type game, meaning the majority of Japanese citizens playing it will get together in person to play cooperatively. That’s nice to do in a country that’s densely populated, but that’s not the case in western continents, so that’s another good option. The western offices should hammer home that point when their media blitz begins, regardless of how light it will be. It reportedly sold very well in Japan, with Tecmo Koei shipping over 470,000 since its release in June. It won’t do as well here, but it could find a small, dedicated audience.

Meanwhile, the company also confirmed that the recently-announced Kagero: Dark Side Princess will make its way outside Japan under the name Deception IV: Blood Ties. Who knows why they changed a subtitle that was already in English, but maybe it’s more relevant to the plot. The title was announced at Sony’s Pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference in early September, but not much was said about it. Well, until this week’s Famitsu came along with some details.

Deception IV marks the revival of a franchise that’s been dormant for around eight years, assuming you’re including spin-off Trapt (Kagero II: Dark Illusion in Japan). If not, it hasn’t been seen since 1999 with Deception III: Dark Delusion on the PSOne. It’s a strategy/horror series focused on setting traps to distract and/or kill enemies. And really, it’s a miracle that we’re getting a new installment in this franchise at all. There aren’t many games made like this, especially from Japan these days.

Details are floating around on various websites, but this game deserves its own post. It will receive that in the coming days. Meanwhile, feel free to watch a low quality version of the first trailer.

As you might have been able to tell from the opening paragraph, I’d rather focus on the Japanese games that are being localized on this blog. But some titles are way too interesting that I couldn’t possibly pass on posting about them. Besides, someone has to chew out some narrow-minded companies that leave games in Japan while they make terrible decisions.