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Memories of TGS 2012

Memories of TGS 2012

Written by Ross Locksley on 23 Sep 2012



Once again we've trekked to Japan to take a gander at the Tokyo Game Show. Held at the Makuhari Messe site, everyone who's anyone (except Nintendo of course, they don't like TGS) is there to show off their latest titles, make big announcements and oggle cosplaying booth babes. 

Unlike last year, we managed to get into the show as press this time around (the show finally has a category we fit into) and the ease of access made everything a lot smoother. 

The show was set across 3 halls; one for food and merchandise (far better stocked than last year, but insanely expensive!) and a second which housed an even split between  mobile game companies, Sony, Squaresoft and a massive Monster Hunter 4 stand.  The third was home to Capcom, Arc System Works, Konami and others.

The quality of stands this year was way up on 2011. Ace Attorney had a wonderful courtroom-themed stand, EX Troopers had a space-age training facility complete with life-sized virtual mascot, Phantasy Star Online 2 had a huge dragon towering over their facility and Yakuza 5 had a bar(!)

But aside from the expensive setup and plentiful eye-candy, it was the games that reeled you in. We couldn't fit every single game into the article, so this report will simply highlight the games that were of most interest to fans of Japanese gaming, some unusual titles and anything else that caught our interest.

TGS 2012

The ARC reaction

One of the first stands to grab our attention was the Arc System Works stand; long-time readers will remember that we visited ARC last year and handed them a very cool signed Queen album, and this year the focus of the stand was the upcoming Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma arcade game. James and I went head to head; James checking out the latest revisions to Noel Vermillion, while I being more adventurous tried a new character, Bullet. Having lost 2 out of 3 rounds, I took the moral victory and received a Trinity the Platinum collectable card for my trouble. Every play rewarded you with a new card, but there was no way to get all of them without mugging the stand staff (for which we planned but decided against!)

The good news is that the game feels completely refreshed - the 3 new characters are the most obvious addition due to the (much needed) overhaul of the character select screen, but older characters have seen move-set changes, there's a new Overdrive system and Crush Trigger can break an opponents guard. For fighting purists such revisions will make all the difference.

The stand was also showing off Guilty Gear on Vita, which was fun but not enough of a change from the PSP version of the game to really warrant much excitement, frankly.

EX Troopers

EX Troopers (PS3/3DS)

I was lucky enough to try this Monster Hunter/Jet Set Radio hybrid on both consoles throughout the day. The game oozes style, with a great soundtrack, colourful, eclectic visuals and some very smooth controls, the game works well on either format. In both single player or co-op, you'll work as part of a team taking on enemy soldiers and rogue monsters with a variety of weapons and tactics.

If I were to be ultra-critical, I'd say that the game suffers from a glut of competition. God Eater 2, Phantasy Star Online 2 and Monster Hunter 4 were also on show, and given how much I enjoyed about the former (see our God Eater review here) it makes Capcom's decision not to export the 3DS version to the West easier to handle, though it's still a massive shame. The game is perfectly playable without understanding the Japanese text, but given how Nintendo decided to region lock their hardware, it'll be PS3 only for all but the most hardcore import-gamers.


Ross Locksley
About Ross Locksley

Ross founded the UK Anime Network waaay back in 1995 and works in and around the anime world in his spare time.


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