Atlus E3 Preview
What does Atlus USA have in store for North American gamers? New Japanese import titles for the DS, Wii, PS2 and GBA that will impress!
Date: Monday, May 15, 2006
Author: GameShark Staff

Atlus USA continues to bring promising Japanese games in a variety of genres to America and this latest batch shown off during our E3 booth visit were no exception. In particular fans should pay close attention to Touch Detective and Rule of Rose, which introduce some fresh and unique content to these platforms that you probably won't find anywhere else. Contact is also worth noting for its cute style and neat scavenger hunt style gameplay and Atlus USA's first Wii title should impress fans of the popular Under the Knife. Read on to learn more:

PlayStation 2 Titles:

Shin Megami Tensei : Devil Summoner:

Atlus' ultra popular Shin Megami Tensei series returns to the United States with a brand new game for the PlayStation 2 called Shin Megami Tensei : Devil Summoner. Devil Summoner is a continuation of the popular turn-based role-playing game that revolves around demons and a world that has already faced an apocalyptic event or two.

Devil Summoner
Devil Summoner

The game focuses on a private detective in 1910 - 1920's Japan with a unique gift -the ability to conjure and capture demons. He'll need these powers as he unearths a dark conspiracy involving legions of evil known only as the Soulless Army. The game promises to capture the same feel and dark atmosphere of the series with the help of illustrator Kazuma Kaneko, who did the character design. Other notable features include puzzle solving using a myriad of demonic powers, real-time combat (no longer turn-based battles) using a variety of real-world weapons, demonic powers and other skills, and a storyline that melds 1920's Japan with dark themes and scenes. Atlus hasn't announced a release date for the game or a rating but we'd have to file this one under "M" for "Mature."

Rule of Rose:

Next up is Rule of Rose, a horror survival game starring a young girl and her canine companion. If you thought the Shin Megami Tensei series was dark, then you ain't seen nothing yet. Rule of Rose seems to be a mix of gameplay from games like Haunted Ground Silent Hill.

Rule of Rose
Rule of Rose

Set in the 1930's, the game tells the story of a young named Jennifer, recently orphaned after her parents died in an accident. Alone, Jennifer is shipped off to the Rose Garden Orphanage, a dilapidated series of buildings in the English countryside. But this is no ordinary orphanage. Jennifer is thrusts into peril as a ragtag mob of children who call themselves the "Aristocracy of the Red Crayon" put her to work in an impossibly large zeppelin on a course to nowhere, where she must find them valuable baubles or pay the price. Either way Jennifer seems to be doomed for a dark fate as she is forced to battle the dark denizens of this bizarre ship - with only a canine, her wits and an occasional weapons. Rule of Rose features a dark story obviously, and some puzzle solving and combat against a variety of other-worldly creatures all within a third-person perspective.

The game also promises multiple endings, a score by Yutaka Minobe (Panzer Dragoon Saga, Skies of Arcadia) and 50 minutes of award-nominated CG scenes (Official Selection of the Annecy 2006 International Animated Film Festival). The game was developed by Punchline of Japan and published in that region by SCE. We can expect to see this unique title sometime this fall.

Persona 3
Persona 3

Persona 3:

Atlus plans to bring the third chapter in the Persona series to the United States and though details on the game are pretty lean right now, but we do know that the third title will put [players in the bootstraps of a 17 year old and will feature a time system that mimics a "school year" for students. This means that players will be spending some of their time in class, partaking in after school activities and spending weekends doing leisure activities. This interaction with the world forms the basis of the new "community system, which gives players an edge in summoning powerful "personas." Of course there will be group fighting with up to four party members on hand to help take down the bad guys. Expect about 50+ hours worth of total gameplay. A release date is to be announced, along with more robust details. The game will hit Japan in July, so you can expect a wait before it hits Stateside.

Trauma Center 2
Trauma Center 2

Nintendo Wii

Trauma Center 2:

Atlus USA's first title for the Nintendo Wii is a Trauma Center title. Trauma Canter, in case you didn't know, is the popular hospital operating simulation brought to the United States by Atlus for the Nintendo DS. While details are pretty thin on this title, it will most certainly offer the same dramatic and cute style that are huge selling points of the series as well as a myriad of operations and patient treatment that make use of the Wii ' s unique freehand controller. A release date and more details are forthcoming.

Game Boy Advance Titles:

Battle B-Daman
Battle B-Daman

Atlus showed off one new Game Boy Advance and glossed over several others that it had already announced including Battle B-Daman, Super Robot Taisen, and Yggdra Union. Atlus is working on two B-Daman titles, but E3 they briefly showed us the first title they plan to release in North America. The game will deliver a true blue B-Daman experience where players will battle robots armed with marbles in various types of battles much like the top selling toys and animated series the game is based on. Battle B-Daman is slated for a July release on GBA.

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