Special Feature: Atlus USA on 3DS — A Strange, Radiant Odyssey

It was difficult not to get concerned about whether the western world would receive more of Atlus’ 3DS titles in the last few months. They hadn’t localized one since Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, which released in late-September last year, and one hasn’t been on their upcoming schedule for a while. In fact, Persona 5 was the only Atlus-developed game to release from Atlus USA in recent months. Perhaps they didn’t have time to handle more, since some team members have also been involved with localizing Sega games like the Yakuza titles and this month’s release of Valkyria Revolution. But it was also possible sales of their recent 3DS titles were unsatisfactory, and they wanted to focus on other platforms.

As it turns out, the former was the more likely explanation, as Atlus USA confirmed that three 3DS game localizations are coming soon.

Etrian Odyssey V has a funny habit of disappearing for extended amounts of time. It was originally announced for Japan in November 2014, but went dark for months. It didn’t manifest until March 2016, and it finally released in Japan in August last year. Since each previous game has been localized, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that it would come west in due time. But after ten months passed since its Japanese release without a word from Atlus USA, it felt like this could be the first installment to be left in Japan. But in this Pre-E3 2017 season, they’ve finally announced their intention to release it in English as Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth. You’re not supposed to use clichés in professional writing (or semi-professional, like on this blog) but the phrase “better late than never” absolutely applies here.

EOV follows in the footsteps of previous installments in being a first-person dungeon crawler with turn-based battles, whose playable characters and their corresponding classes are chosen by the player. New to this installment is how players can also choose character races, who can be assigned their own classes. Classes and races can be matched and mixed, but some work better with others. This game also inherits a feature from the modernized 7th Dragon games (one of which was localized for a release last year) in having a large number of voice options to use for each character. Beyond that, EOV will offer labyrinthine dungeons stuffed with difficult enemies, the toughest being bosses and F.O.E.’s. Given how the team has been working to make each subsequent game more accessible, it won’t be too difficult to get into for any newcomers to the series.

Atlus plans on releasing EOV in America sometime this fall. They previously released a trailer saying it wouldn’t arrive until early 2018, but released another one correcting that to minimize confusion.

The second title is Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology. This is an enhanced version of the original DS release of Radiant Historia with a slew of extras, previously announced for Japan this past March. The enhancements will be similar to those previous Atlus ports have received, including voice acting and a new scenario featuring a new character named Nemesia. More controversially, it will also receive a new art style from Masaki Hirooka, and contain anime and anime-style cutscenes. While some will like it, plenty of vocal fans who enjoyed the original game preferred the more medieval fantasy-like art style from the original. The old portraits will be available as DLC for those who purchase the limited edition in Japan, but cross your fingers and hope the west gets a more generous offer.

Regardless of the changes, this port will be another opportunity to play one of the DS’ best RPGs. Its protagonist, Stocke, has to travel between two different timelines to end a destructive war, encountering the same characters and locations in alternating situations along the way. The battle system was as unique as the story, which focused on knocking as many enemies as possible onto the same panels on a grid to maximize damage. The original wasn’t the highest seller, so it’s nice that Atlus is giving it a second chance. On the other hand, the original was a late DS release in February 2011, so it’s funny that this will arrive even later in the 3DS’ life.

Perfect Chronology will release in Japan on June 29th this month, and in America in early 2018.

The final game is Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux, a localization of Deep Strange Journey with a less peculiar name. As implied, it’s an enhanced version of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, which originally released on DS back in 2009 (and March 2010 in America). Its enhancements will be similar to what Radiant Historia is receiving with Perfect Chronology, as in addition to retaining the original experience with added voice acting and new artwork, it will have new quests, a new dungeon, and a new character named Alex. It will also have newly-added demons from other Megaten titles, and brand-new ones drawn by Masayuki Doi.

Also like Raidant Historia, Strange Journey was one of the best RPGs to release on DS. It’s a different kind of Megaten game, one that takes place in Antarctica with a setting inspired by the 1982 remake of The Thing, unlike other installments which took place in Tokyo, Japan. It stars separate groups of soldiers ordered by the UN to investigate a mysterious phenomenon known as the Schwarzwelt. What they find within is a world full of demons, and through trials and tribulations, the protagonist and accompanying characters have to make the decision to either stop it or expand its influence. It’s a first-person dungeon crawler with an intriguing story, which includes difficult, labyrinthine dungeons and tough bosses. As you can see, Atlus is pretty good at this genre.

Given that this is the only installment not to take place in Japan, it’s peculiar that this will be the first game in the franchise Atlus USA will release with no English dub. It’s also strange that the other two games are receiving dubs, yet an installment in one of their most popular franchises isn’t. We’ll see if they address this in a more formal manner in the near future. The game will release in Japan sometime this fall, and in America in early 2018.

For those of you reading from Europe: Deep Silver will publish all three there physically and digitally, in similar release windows. It’s nice that they have a reliable publisher now.

It’s great that Atlus is bringing all these over, but there’s one recently announced 3DS game that was left off: Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2. But this doesn’t mean it won’t get localized, as Atlus is busy with these three games and others, including a mainline game in this franchise. It could eventually come over if 3DS software sales are still in a good place around mid-2018.

Between these and other titles, the 3DS still has a good bit of life left, despite the Switch recently launching. None of these titles are big-budget examples of the system’s software, but these (and potentially the above EMD2) will mark a fitting end for the support of one of the 3DS’ best supporters.

P.S. Outside 3DS, Atlus also announced Vanillaware’s 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim for a western release. The game hasn’t been seen in public since its reveal in September 2015, and it’s clear Atlus USA won’t reveal more until next week. It’s interesting how the company didn’t confirm which platforms this will come to, despite it previously being announced for PlayStation 4 and Vita in Japan in 2015.