Koei Tecmo and the Gust of Demons and Samurai

Throughout the years, Japan’s Tokyo Game Show has been a place for developers in the country to announce new titles they’ve been working on. But since many of these companies have worldwide presences, it’s also customary for some of their western counterparts to announce localizations. It’s a good strategy, as they’re capitalizing on an audience paying attention to Japanese game news being posted on English enthusiast press websites during the event.

But as I mentioned in a post about Sony’s Tokyo Game Show Conference, this year’s event was awfully light on announcements, and the rest of the week didn’t make up for that. That also applied to localization announcements…outside of one company.

Leave it to Koei Tecmo to announce a series of titles for localization — four of them, to be exact. Considering the only other company that had such an announcement was Bandai Namco with Digimon World: Next Order (which made for some drama for Vita owners), they definitely delivered.

That Toukiden 2 will be coming westward is both surprising and not when you give it some thought. The first game on Vita, and the enhanced “Kiwami” version, reportedly didn’t perform well in western territories. The only public sales figures are for the Steam version, which only sold a little over 17,000 copies worldwide. But at the same time, it’s also not surprising upon seeing this game’s presentation. Unlike the first game, which embraced a zone-based world like its inspiration (Monster Hunter), the second game is a fully open world title, a style that’s become popular with the western gaming audience during this console generation. It’s also been given an improved battle system inspired by other action games, which has drawn comparisons between it and Capcom’s cult favorite Dragon’s Dogma.

In fact, it’s possible Koei Tecmo may have made those changes to expand its audience in the west, though they may have done so at the expense of their home country’s fans. Its sales have been nowhere near as good as the first game there, since they prioritized PS4 over Vita this time around, despite the latter system being more popular. (Though the recently announced free-to-play version could make up for that shortfall.) But it could be worth it if they provide some good promotion here in exchange, but whether a significant audience will go for a game with fantasy themes inspired by classic Japanese themes is up in the air at the moment. If they really want to attract westerners, you should see their advertising efforts leading up to its release sometime next year.

The forthcoming localization of Samurai Warriors: Sanada Maru was a more predictable, but nonetheless welcome, announcement. As its name implies, this isn’t a typical Samurai Warriors game, but an adventure with RPG elements focused on the franchise’s main face, Hiroyuki Sanada. It will work as somewhat of a tie-in to the Sanada Maru live-action show currently airing in Japan. In the game, the player can take on quests and partake in larger and more meaningful battles as part of a larger story. The game will also star members of the Sanada family as playable characters in the main quest, and other modes.

Sanada Maru is still within its promotional stage in Japan, where it will release on November 23rd. The western release should follow sometime early next year. It’s nice that we’re getting one of the Sanada titles, since Capcom very likely won’t be localizing their Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den equivalent.

Despite Gust’s Atelier Sophie: Alchemist of the Mysterious Book releasing in western territories a little under three months ago, sequel Atelier Firis: Alchemist of the Mysterious Journey is already confirmed to be making its way over. Firis will take place in the same universe as Sophie in this newest Atelier trilogy, though will feature different protagonists and several gameplay changes. But given Sophie’s recent release here, don’t expect it here until mid-to-late spring. That means it will come mere months after the Japanese release on November 2nd, after a delay from its original date of September 29th.

The last game announced for localization here was Nights of Azure 2, another Gust game. This one’s another surprising announcement, as it was only revealed in Japan around three weeks ago. It follows three characters whose bonds are ripped apart by fate, which should be more dramatic than the two-character dynamic from the last game. Not much has been shared about it since I made that previously-linked post, but we’ve still yet to receive a trailer. Since it’s planned for release in Japan on December 22nd, they’ll have to show it in motion soon. No release timeframe was announced for the western version, but I wouldn’t expect it until sometime next summer.

In addition to these new titles announced, Team Ninja’s Nioh finally received a release date of February 9th worldwide. That’s definitely not the late 2016 release date Koei Tecmo originally promised, and it’s releasing in what will be a crowded month for titles on PS4, but hopefully it stands out. It’s possible they needed time to implement changes from the Beta’s feedback. In fact, it will partially be competing with another one of their titles: Berserk and the Band of the Hawk (which, I have to reiterate, is a bizarre name), which will arrive on February 21st.

Though Koei Tecmo did a good job reassuring their audience that they’ll have plenty to play in the near future, there’s one game notably absent here: Dynasty Warriors: Eiketsuden. The strategy/RPG/action hybrid take on the formula released in Japan on August 3rd, to sadly poor sales. It’s possible they don’t feel it will sell any better in the west, which is understandable despite its concept being intriguing. That, or it will receive a surprise announcement later in the year.

You can’t say this company doesn’t know how to keep their audience satisfied; they’re perhaps the most reliable localization company on the market right now. I’m a little concerned about their overall sales goals given Toukiden 2 and Eiketsuden’s performance in Japan, and their domestic market isn’t getting any stronger regarding games on consoles and handhelds. So hopefully they can succeed by establishing a viable audience outside Japan.