[Jonnyram]

This looks fucking nuts. Can't wait to see the thing in motion.

And yeah... dat cat!

[GraveRobberX]

Who is this supposed to appeal to in Japan? Playstation-loyal former MonHun players in their early 20's who want to become sociopaths?

Torture Porn enthusiasts!

[le.phat]

Since all the monster were humans at one point, I wonder what the backstory to some of these designs are. Looks like she sacrificed her legs, and unborn child 0__0

[Callibretto]

the normal enemies looks really varied too, I'm assuming the big one is boss character, but even the smaller enemies looks unique

[duckroll]

Monster designs are very reminiscent of Shadow Hearts. Obviously Marvelous AQL is a far cry from the original SH team, but maybe there's an artist or two left behind.

Do you know if they all actually left? If they didn't, a large chunk of the SH team actually formed Feel Plus. Last I checked a lot of them still worked on NNN2.

[Ridley327]

I am not seeing any blood or gore in the actual screenshots lol.

One of the Werecerberus shots has him spewing forth a geyser of blood, but that's about it.

[kamorra]

I'm surprised by the reactions here. I think it looks awesome.

[Loudninja]

One of the Werecerberus shots has him spewing forth a geyser of blood, but that's about it.

Yeah I see some but not much.

[NEO0MJ]

Dat cat.

Derp!
Avatarized, for those that want it.

[Yjynx]

seeing all those character artwork it seems that the part you're sacrificing would be replaced by "something else" which is awesome since you could be playing as half monster!

[Callibretto]

I assume this is what happen if you sacrifice your team mate.

[El Sloth]

okay...

Jesus

That just topped that GOW gore for me.

[Zoe]

Eww, it's like from Event Horizon.

[prwxv3]

The character and monster models looks great. They need to work on the textures of everything else though. The game is only 50% anyway.

[toleoring]

Graphics are not outstanding..and kinda blurry....but acceptable.

but still, I would say it is a second tier PS3 level (like Nier, graphic wise)....

[phosphor112]

I will buy 50 copies.

[two4two]

Do you know if they all actually left? If they didn't, a large chunk of the SH team actually formed Feel Plus. Last I checked a lot of them still worked on NNN2.

No idea - but feel plus has made a handful of games since forming and nothing has looked as Shadow Hearts-y as this. Granted, nothing else they've made has had a horror element since SH, but still, this is the first time I've had that Shadow Hearts feeling about them.

[Aru]

Seems interesting but too much gore for me.
Will wait for reviews.

[impact]

Looks great. Day one.

[duckroll]

No idea - but feel plus has made a handful of games since forming and nothing has looked as Shadow Hearts-y as this. Granted, nothing else they've made has had a horror element since SH, but still, this is the first time I've had that Shadow Hearts feeling about them.

A lot of LO was pretty SH-y in terms of design and modeling. Some of the backgrounds for the towns, the boss monster designs, etc. The characters not so much.

[KaizorPenguin]

Wow, this looks damn cool! Might pick it up if I get a Vita sometime.

[StreetsAhead]

Torture Porn enthusiasts!

Exactly.

I don't know. I was just expecting it to be...more appealing to the mass market, especially here in Japan. Been sub-15K a week here for months and they need something to appeal to a wide audience. It was just beaten by the Wii in Golden Week sales. That's pretty pathetic.

[Neiteio]

Well this looks fucking awesome -- another reason to possibly get the Vita someday. I like the visual style, even the dotty textures, which I'm fairly certain are meant to look like the artwork, which also has a slight impressionistic look to it. The monsters are AWESOME, especially the human-faced winged goat monster everyone keeps posting. The molten treasure monster seen in the OP is inspired as well. The settings look fresh, but I think the sacrificial acts are probably what's most exciting. I know the word is overused, but it's appropriate to say they really do make the game more visceral, creating a stronger connection between you and your character. I don't know what risk/reward mechanic they'll entail, if any, but for a moment you at least imagine what the character's going through, and you buy into their situation more than if they were a distant, disconnected collection of polygons in a virtual space like most games. The game looks great.

[sTeLioSco]

[NEO0MJ]

I assume this is what happen if you sacrifice your team mate.

Probably. The gesture of the guy in the back seems to suggest it.

[El Sloth]

I really want to see some vids of how this plays. Should we be expecting this at E3 or TGS?

[Callibretto]

Exactly. I don't know. I was just expecting it to be...more appealing to the mass market, especially here in Japan. Been sub-15K a week here for months and they need something to appeal to a wide audience. It was just beaten by the Wii in Golden Week sales. That's pretty pathetic.

you know, the actual screenshot of games does not looks gory at all, it's just the art so far.

[Acquiescence]

Oh God, even the trees have it in for you.

[thetrin]

Exactly. I don't know. I was just expecting it to be...more appealing to the mass market, especially here in Japan. Been sub-15K a week here for months and they need something to appeal to a wide audience. It was just beaten by the Wii in Golden Week sales. That's pretty pathetic.

Do you have Sony stock or something?

[Hot Coldman]

Ooh, looks cool. Inafking is back? Hope so.

[two4two]

A lot of LO was pretty SH-y in terms of design and modeling. Some of the backgrounds for the towns, the boss monster designs, etc. The characters not so much.

I thought the same, which is why I was so excited about LO. But I was talking purely from a character/monster perspective. SH was always defined by its twisted looking monsters and this looks to be the same.

The gameplay/game style is probably nothing alike, though, and I doubt Inafune is interested in making anything like Shadow Hearts! Need the real trailer to know what exactly this is. I'd be surprised if Inafune has spent years trashing Japanese design only to make a Monster Hunter clone.

[Schobeleth]

The artwork for the stage designs are kinda crazy

Yeah I'm hoping they're nice, big, open environments and not bottlenecked arenas to compensate for it being on a handheld (even though I think it could handle it). Still looks REALLY promising and very fresh, and disgusting. It's just what I wanted - now all we need is to see the big video unveiling to (hopefully) confirm the gameplay is solid.

[NEO0MJ]

I really want to see some vids of how this plays. Should we be expecting this at E3 or TGS?

Tomorrow.

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I'm beginning to think the entire point of this is that it's Inafune's "put up or shut up", non-"Japanesey" concept.

In-game doesn't look as hardcore as the art, as I expected, but I really don't think this looks any grosser than a MK or GoW game. I couldn't get into GoW partly because of the gore, but this isn't bothering me at all. Yet anyway.

[Kyoufu]

I love how it looks!

Can't wait for tomorrow :D

[StickSoldier]

I mean, the monsters and stuff are weird looking, but the whole part where you have to use your body parts to do attacks sounds pretty goofy.

[StreetsAhead]

you know, the actual screenshot of games does not looks gory at all, it's just the art so far.

To be fair, that's true, but I assume something *akin* to those images will appear. I'm also not a fan of the monster/enemy designs, though.

Do you have Sony stock or something?

No, I just don't want to see the Vita flounder along for years until the next Monster Hunter equivalent shows up.

[SykoTech]

Not interested in this game, too gory for my taste. But between this and Gravity Rush, it's great to see them making unique, ambitious handheld games. Those kinds of handheld games excite me a lot more than side entries to long running console franchises. Hope they keep this up.

[Mdk7]

HOLY SHIT.
One of my most wanted games this year. O_O

[thetrin]

I'm beginning to think the entire point of this is that it's Inafune's "put up or shut up", non-Japanesey concept. In-game doesn't look as hardcore as the concepts, as I expected, but I really don't think this looks any grosser than a MK or GoW game. I couldn't get into GoW partly because of the gore, but this isn't bothering me at all. Yet anyway.

I would probably wouldn't be interested if you were sadistically sacrificing other people. The idea of sacrificing parts of uourself is awesome, though.

[KillGore]

This game looks disgusting.....just what I dreamed of! I'm officially hyped!

[Callibretto]

Yeah I'm hoping they're nice, big, open environments and not bottlenecked arenas to compensate for it being on a handheld (even though I think it could handle it). Still looks REALLY promising and very fresh, and disgusting. It's just what I wanted - now all we need is to see the big video unveiling to (hopefully) confirm the gameplay is solid.

actually the stage seems pretty big, look at this image ,it goes all the way to the back. I think the closed arena is probably just for the boss battles

[thehypocrite]

Like what I see.

[duckroll]

I thought the same, which is why I was so excited about LO. But I was talking purely from a character/monster perspective. SH was always defined by its twisted looking monsters and this looks to be the same.

Did you know the director/writer for Shadow Hearts apparently went back to Feel Plus after directing Arms' Heart on PSP? I was doing some research ages ago, and it turns out he wrote the scenario for NNN-2. How sad. I wonder if he's involved in this...

[ReaperXL07]

I'm beginning to think the entire point of this is that it's Inafune's "put up or shut up", non-"Japanesey" concept. In-game doesn't look as hardcore as the art, as I expected, but I really don't think this looks any grosser than a MK or GoW game. I couldn't get into GoW partly because of the gore, but this isn't bothering me at all. Yet anyway.

I agree with this, with all of his talk about Japanese game design in recent years, it would be pretty strange to see him go all out japanese in his first or second game away from Capcom.

Really looking forward to a proper gameplay video, game looks fantastic so far. Screens look very good on the Vita.

[dark10x]

Do you have Sony stock or something?

It's not that strange, is it? I want to see the system succeed simply because I enjoy using it so much. It's a fantastic machine and poor sales will ultimately kill it.

[Pie and Beans]

Screenshots look fucking amazing. Finally games that are making use of the Vita's power.

Also controversy surrounding this game's violence is free marketing all the way to the bank. Some smart moves here on Inafune and Sony's part.

[Durante]

I' am actually disgusted by some of the things I've seen in the latest GoW trailer, but this game doesn't disturb me much. I think the difference is that the greatest brutality is directed at the character by himself, which for some reason makes it less offensive to me.

[GraveRobberX]

Anyone who is doing the music?

Would love creepy music to go with this, no Heavy Metal please
Demon Soul's like but very fucked in nature

[Lord-Audie]

Is Miura involved in any way on this.

This is just some post golden arc berserk stuff here.

And i like... like very much.