ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat

[msxyz]

Anybody seen this?

Made my Mistwalker for the DS, it failed miserably in Japan (it sold only 60K copies in a land where there's a DS every 5-6 people!), although it received positive reviews by the gaming press. Its mix of 3D and pre-rendered graphics is easily among the best seen on the little DS. It's rumored to be on a 2Gb cartridge which is a record for a cartridge based console.

The battle system somehow reminds me of an hybrid between the classic D&D square system with area effect spells and the oldskool turn based system used by early Final Fantasy titles... At least that's the impression I've got after watching the few trailers I've found:

BTW, here's one: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/25082.html

It was supposed to be ported to the US market sometime in 2008 but after such a dismal performance in its own land, I fear publishers might be scared to invest money into the port. A shame... The DS could use a few more RPG with a less "childish" look and theme.

[Lyme]

In the land where cooking mama, and english training are top sellers, do you really wonder why it did so horribly?

[msxyz]

More images

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/tags/index.php?type=user_image&tags=archaic+sealed+heat

I've always been a fan of turn based strategic games. Maybe because I suck at playing chess but I always admired the game :lol:

While waiting for a localized version, I've ordered an import copy from Play-Asia... At 15€ including shipping it was such a tempting offer I couldn't letting it pass...

I love the € exchange rates... :) All of the sudden, everything bought from the internet seems so cheap. Makes me enter into a buying spree state....

[msxyz]

Arrived today:

My first impressions:

Music = great score, epic symphonic style. Fully digitized (not some crappy synthetized instruments typical of many N64/NDS games)

Graphics = FMV are great almost Square-style I'd say. The battlefield is realized with a mix of 3D graphics and cute small 2D sprites: overall, it reminds me of some RPGs of the Saturn era. Lot of hand drawn artwork. Battles are animated. A bit boring on the long run: I wish I could skip them. Certain combos have their own FMV

Game: it's just battle after battle. Pure oldskool turn based strategy game based on a grid system. Sometimes it's necessary to reach a certain point in the area to advance to the next level, other times it's only a matter of wiping the area clear of enemies. Lots of dialogues and scripted scenes in between, lots of spoken dialogue too! This game uses the stylus exclusively for controlling the action

One last thing: if your japanese sucks big time, like mine, wait till the localized version is available. IF there will ever be one. ASH is one of the largest game to have shipped on a ROM cartridge (2 Gigabit!): after it bombed badly in Japan, I don't know how eager Nintendo is to pay for a port.

My verdict:
It's a pure oldskool turn based strategy game...
Is there still a place for a game like this in the market today ?