October 23rd has been set as the Japanese release date for Devil Summoner Kuzunoha Raidou vs. King Abaddon, the new installment in the Devil Summoner series. A limited release version subtitled “Plus,” will also be available and features an extra disc: “Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Maniacs Chronicle Edition,” a new edition of Maniacs rumored to have Dante’s character replaced by Raidou. The regular edition contains a bonus soundtrack CD.

King Abaddon throws you back into the role of Raidou some years after the events in the previous game. This time around there’s over twice the amount of recruitable demons and up to two can be summoned at once. Demon negotiation has been brought back from previous titles and your demon companions are able to help you out in the process. You are even able to forge your demon partners into new types of weapons.

As of yet Atlus USA has made no announcement on a possible North American release of the ‘Plus’ edition of King Abaddon or of ‘Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Maniacs Chronicle Edition.’

Retro-posted October 6th, 2008

Persona 4 has been released in Japan. The new addition to the series takes place in the rural town of Inaba where unsolved murders have been taking place on the foggy days after heavy rains. Rumors circulate the community about a mysterious television station that airs only at midnight called “Mayonaka TV,” where one is supposedly able to see a broadcast of their shadow-self.

Persona 4 brings back many elements of the previous incarnation of the series, blending glossy anime sequences with slick, cartoonish graphics. There are some minor tweaks to the gameplay as well as other presentational changes. For instance, the suicidal Evokers from Persona 3 & FES have been replaced by the use Tarot cards and the Velvet Room is now located inside a limousine. Gameplay-wise there are 5 stats instead of the previous 3 and now other party members can take direct orders as well. By and large Persona 4 retains many of the features from 3 and FES, such as the Commu (Social) Links, “One More,” and “All-out Attack,” while offering plenty of new content for those still itching for more after Persona 3.

Atlus USA has announced that a North American release is planned for December 9th, 2008 and is slated to be packaged complete with a soundtrack CD and “Visual Data” art book companion.

Price: 7300¥

Retro-posted October 17th, 2008

Mienai wrote to inform me that his translation group, Gekkoukan High Scans, has two new releases today: Piece 02 and Volume 01 Complete (”Chapitre Un”).

You might remember a few days ago we wrote about GHS’s release of a translation of Sogabe Shuuji’s Persona 3 manga. Piece 00 (Prologue) and Piece 03 of the series were also discussed at that point, both of which were a joint release with Starry Heaven (headed by Cheebs). The groups have since split off, each handling the remaining chapters (and revisions of previous releases) on their own . . . .

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The Persona -trinity soul- web site continues to receive a slew of updates. New sections have been added, featuring character art and further details. The most significant addition is arguably the first trailer for the series. It is available under the “Special” section of the site, but it seems quite a few people are having issues streaming it properly (plus the page itself uses an ActiveX control that seems to put some browsers into an infinite loading loop) . . . .

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yksehtniycul was nice enough to make a Digital Devil Database based klan in Shin Megami Tensei Online: IMAGINE. The name of the klan is DDDBジャンプ— and it can be searched for from the terminal in the city you start out in. While it only currently contains a handful of members, we obviously hope it will increase in size as time goes on. As is pointed out in the thread, the klan is largely to help people get started in the game . . . .

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A few days ago we featured some basic news on Persona -trinity soul-, clumsily translated from the official site. We detailed some basic information on the Kanzato (also apparently translated as Shingou) brothers that star in the series, but thanks to some wonderful help from Cheebs, we also have a better translation of the remaining plot information.

It apparently opens up with a bizarre scandal that strikes Ayanagi City. The crew of a submarine suddenly disappears and for the first time in 10 years people found themselves again concerned over the Apathy Syndrome. Around this same time, dead students with their corpses cruelly turned inside-out began to appear. Ryou’s police force is secretly following these events. His two younger brothers also get involved, resulting in Shin’s summoning of a Persona. The description ends with the ever-mysterious “The gears controlling the fate of these brothers have now begun to turn…” . . . .

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