Both it and 7th Dragon III Code: VFD will now be released on December 9

Unfortunately, it looks like JRPG fans in Australia must wait a little longer to get their hands on both Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and 7th Dragon III Code: VFD. Deep Silver, the publisher of these games in both Europe and Australia, has confirmed that the launch date for both games will have ?to be pushed back by one week.

Both Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and 7th Dragon III Code: VFD will now be on store shelves in Australia on December 9 instead of the previously-announced release date of December 2.

Deep Silve?r has not given any reason for the del??ay.

Even though it's a little frustrating to see such a delay get imposed on the release of a game that came out several months ago in other territories, at least this situation is nowhere near as terrible as the one-and-a-half-year wait imposed on European and Australian gamers who wanted to get their hands on a digital-only release of Shin Megami Tensei IV. Likewise, it's nice to see that 7th Dragon III Code: VFD is even getting a release in those territories, considering that Sega originally had no plans to even rel??ease the game outside of North America and Japa?n.

Despite my criticisms, I'm still hopeful that Deep Silver will be able to achieve a greater parity with regards to the launch dates of Atlus-published titles in Europe and Australia when compared to that of North America. After all, the publisher has been able to lock in a simultaneous release date for the upcoming Persona 5 in these territories.

I can only hope that the situation regarding both Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and 7th Dragon III Code: VFD is the exception rather than the rule when going forward. After all, the North American release date for the former was only confirmed days after the publishing agreement between Atlus and Deep S??ilver had been officia?lly announced, and the latter was to be released less than a week after news of that deal had broke. Such a disparity between launch dates in Europe and Australia when compared to that of other regions was to be expected.

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Both games will be on store shelves December 2

It looks like Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse finally has a confirmed release date in both Europe and Australia. Deep Silver has anno??unced via a trailer on its YouTube channel, which you can view below, that the Atlus-published role-playing game will finally be playable in those regions on December 2.

Deep Silver also confirmed that 7th Dragon III Code: VFD will be released on the same day. This announcement was also made via a trailer which you can view on the company's YouTube channel. Considering that Sega initially had no plans to even release the game in Europe and Australia, it's certainly nice to see that anyone in?? those regions with an interest i??n title will finally be able to play it soon enough.

Of course, Sega's initial refusal to release 7th Dragon III Code: VFD in Europe and Australia wouldn't have been as much of an issue if the Nintendo never added region restrictions to its handheld console in the first place. After all, anyone in those regions with an interest in both it and the latest instalment of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise would have easily been able to import and play the games?? on their devices without issue when the titles launched in North America earlier this year.

Let's just hope that Nintendo doesn't make the same mistake again with its upcoming Switch console.

Feel free to check out the trailer for Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse below:

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A couple of lines made it through untranslated

Tales from localization are some of the most entertaining around in this ?industry.

Today's comes from Atlus in light of the recently-released Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, and I like it for two reasons. One, it involves a slip-up. It's always reassuring to hear higher-profile stories that remind us, yes, we're only human, and yes, mistakes happen. Two, the pun "Faux Pas-calypse." Nice.

The setup, per Atlus: "As a bunch of people pointed out, an image circulated thi??s weekend of our English build having some unlocalized Japanese text still in it. I'm not gonna link it here because it's from the battle at the end of the game and could definitely spoil some details for people. Let that also serve as your warning before you go looking for it. Nevertheless, I asked our localization team about it, and they pored over the game's text files looking to find out what happened. [...] Yep, it's in there, along with one other inst?ance of Japanese text."

Apparently, the unlocalized text can pop up in a late-game boss battle (if you don't mind spoilers, have at it). "In this particular battle, partners will return after three turns, and the errant Japanese text only shows up if you get to a point where the boss gives you a dialogue option WHILE your partner is KO'd. Our testers, who have been with the company for quite awhile, and who are well-versed in all things SMT (I think a few of them also were QA for the original SMTIV) were so good, they never ran into the situation of having an un??????????????????????????conscious partner during the fight, and henceforth the dialogue in question."

With those details in mind, you can likely navigate your way around the error. Or you could purposefully seek it out.?? That might be an interesting challenge, come to think of it.

Rather than attempt to keep the mistake quiet, Atlus has apologized for the whole situation. "It's an oversight on our part, and we're deeply sorry about it. We've ?? discussed internally about the possibility of correcting it, and while fixing it is not off the table yet, if it does happen, it won't be in a timely manner."

SMTIV: Faux Pas-calypse [Atlus]

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Once more into the breach

You could say I like Shin Megami Tensei. I mean, the original name (Megami Tensei), essentially ?translates to "Rebirth of the Goddess," so you know there's going to be religious undertones afoot. A story framed around the battle of Yahweh and Lucifer with humans caught in the middle? Yes please.

Although a lot of people tend to focus their attention on the much-loved Persona series these days, the core franchise is alive and well, and Shin Megami Tensei IV was pretty fantastic. And how's this for a gap between follow-ups -- three years later, Apocalypse comes along to build on top of the world IV created, but with a completely new setup.

I wasn't really down with the idea at first but after digging into? it, I thi??nk I like it just as much, but for different reasons.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (3DS)
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Release Date: September 20, 2016
MSRP: $49.99

I'm confused as to why IV is even in the title of Apocalypse (marketing though), as it is indee??d a new tale. You can im?port your save from the original for some items, and there's some returning appearances from a few characters, but that's about it.

It's still an SMT game and it's just as bizarre as ever. Using smartphones to summon demons? Sure, you had me at hello. But focusing on yet another "teen" character, with some added "totes"-like dialogue from the annoying friend anime archetype, not so much. The developers noted that they wanted to go younger so people could "relate" with the story, but I really wish they went with the adult protagonist concept they originally planned. It would have been cool to see the dichotomy between the weary old guard and timeless deities, but Apocalypse does try to differentiate itself in other w??ays.

That's done mostly through the main character's standing, which is of a lower caste than the elite super-soldier from IV proper. You start off as a lowly scavenger, which, while not an original idea, is a break from the all-knowing superhero setup or even the charismatic-as-hell shonen. Also, you die at the start and get reincarnated. Heavy! Another thing to keep in mind -- the endings all center around neutral tracks, which should satiate people who disliked the pointed ones of IV.

Purists may lament that there's no Japanese audio, but the English track is more than sufficient as it touches the limitations of silliness without going overboard. I also dig the reworked character models, which have more detail than previous games. A lot is still presented in the form of still pictures in motion, but the drawings themselves are great. I'm also a sucker for all the wonderful cutscene art and the religious imagery -- the creator of Evangelion was right, crosses and pentagrams just look cool, as do the details in Apocalypse like the cracked UI to denote ?your beat-up phone.

But just like IV, the in-game models are underwhelming, and that's obvious even at a glance. The environments not only repeat often (Tokyo cityscapes), but they're drab, and although they might not be the exact layouts, many look straight re-used from IV. It's arguably better than walking from place to pl?ace entirely in menus, but I'm putting this more on the limitations of the 3DS than anything.

But since beauty is only skin deep, a lot of you don't care about that in the slightest. Apocalypse is a great RPG, with a limitless s??ense of progression and party choices. You can recruit just about any monster in the game, fuse them with others to create new ones, form relationships with them, or just throw them into the gutter (like many of them would do to you). I'm talking crazy monsters here, like devilish peacock horses (named Adramelech) that revel at the idea of your death.

And I don't think I'll ever get tired of convincing demons to join my party. Before Undertale was preaching the idea of pacifism, SMT was doing it, and it still works in Apocalypse. Some can be reasoned with, others want bribes, and a few want you to murder your own teammates. There are also more depraved demons that give Berserk's apostles a run for their money. It's pretty much the best. If you're still a believer, its old-school JRPG combat holds up, as does the returning "smirk" system which grants you extra damage and defense after exploiting an enemy's weakness. As far as mechanics go it's a little thing that makes bosses more tense, while fe??eling balanced and not an oversaturated genre staple.

Another understated SMT convention? The ability to roam around and find random shit. I love that I can walk around some area and stumble across an insane rambling man in an inconspicuous room that tells me to "get the hell out," and that's it -- no super item or revelation. It's a weird thing that reminds me of those corridor crawler sequences in Goonies II on the NES. Atlus doesn't always play by the rules, and it ?makes for an unpredictable adventure.

Atlus has been going strong for over 30 years and it has no sign of stopping. This would have been a cash-in almost anywhere else, but here, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse was shown the level of love and care most would give aggressively marketed new IPs. It's still no Nocturne, but it'll do. 

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Specific dates are still unconfirmed

With the recent news that Persona 5 would be debut on the same day in both Europe and the U.S, I was hoping that the days of having delays for Atlus’ games imposed on European? and Australian fans would be over.

Sadly, this does not seem to be the case. Deep Silver, the publisher currently responsible for the distribution of Atlus’ games in Europe and Australia, has confirmed on their YouTube channel that Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse will be released in winter 2016. This is in contrast to the September 20 launch date in the U.S.

While this delay is nowhere near as egregious as the one-and-a-half year wait imposed on Europeans with the previous instalment of the Shin Megami Tensei franchis??e, it is still a rather frustrating state of affairs made worse by the fact that 3DS titles are region-protected, ensuring that fans can?not play imported copies of the game without buying additional hardware.

Deep Silver has also confirmed via a trailer on their YouTube channel that 7th Dragon Code III Code: VFD, a game Sega had no plans to release in ?Europe at all, will be released at around the same time.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is set for release later this month in the U.S and later this year in Europe and Australia. You can check ou?t Deep ??Silver’s trailer, and the primary source for this news, below:

_{[Source: Deep Silver via Gematsu]}

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TBD for PAL territories

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse will launch in the Americas on September 20, Atlus has announ??ced.

The company isn't yet ready to divulge when the Nintendo 3DS role-playing game might arrive in Europe and Ocean??ia, but confirmed it will be releasing there in both physical and digital formats.

As announced earlier in the week, Deep Silver, the video game wing of Germany-based conglomerate Koch Media, will be handling distribution for Atlus and Sega Japan titles in PAL areas moving forward??.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse has been available in Japan since February 10.

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It's been long enough since IV

At first it was hard to make sense out of Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (known in Japan as "Final"). Initially I thought it was just an expansion of sorts for IV, but as it turns out, it's a brand new game.

Now you'll be playing as more of a commoner rather than a badass, and while characters from the core entry return, it will be an isolated experience. It's been a while since IV dropped in 2013, and I'm ready for another true SMT game at this point. With a new Persona and Tokyo Mira??ge Sessions on the horizon, it's a good time to be an Atlus fan.

Apocalypse will arrive this summer on 3DS in North America. It already came out in Jap??an in February ??and its status in Europe is unknown.

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The Apocalypse begins this summer

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (formerly Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final) is a comin'.

Atlus just reveale??d plans to bring the role-playing game a?cross the Americas this summer.

The Nintendo 3DS exclusive follows the exploits of a young man who is brought back from the dead by a demonic god to kill other deities in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo of the near future. The story is somewhat linked with the original Shin Megami Tensei IV, but Atlus insists players won't need to play the first game to understand what's going on. That said, the game's cast of characters will include some familiar faces for experienced Shin Megami Tensei IV players, including Navarre and Isabeau.

Sega plans to sell the titl??e for 50 U.S. Greenbacks, or 65 Canadian loonies.

And as you might expect, nothing has been announced for you poor souls in Europe and Oceania. But maybe NIS Am?erica will get around to announcing something for you guys in a few months.

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