Malicious(PSN 3D stylish action game)

**Tobi** · 2010-10-09 01:44

It's been a couple of months since we last heard about Alvion's new
downloadable PS3 action title Malicious. At long last, it looks like the
publisher getting ready to tell us what exactly the game is, as this
week's Famitsu has first solid details to go along with the eye
catching screenshots that were released back in June.

According to the magazine, Malicious is a 3D action game that's
meant to offer a simple play experience. Your goal is to defeat a
dangerous group of creatures known as the Malicious.

The game's stages are actually just big boss fights. You start off
each stage in a face off against the boss and his subordinates.
There's no buildup to the boss.

As your weapon, you make use of a special black cloak that hangs
from the main character's neck. The cloak, created using
technology from the great prophets, changes into a variety of
forms. As an example, the cloak can becomes a fist for close range
melee attacks. It can also become a projectile weapon, making use
of "demon bullets" to target multiple enemies with a lock on.

The cloak can also wrap around you to guard against incoming
attack.

How all this will work out in terms of controls is unclear at
present, as Famitsu's coverage is in the form of a tiny capsule
preview.

Malicious is set for PSN release some time this year. With a
Famitsu reveal out of the way, Alvion will hopefully start updating
the official site.

You've probably never heard of Japanese developer Alvion. But the
studio may be getting a bit more attention now that they're
working on Malicious, an original download-only PlayStation 3
action title with some slick graphics and a potentially intense
gameplay system.

Malicious pits you against a creature known as the Malcious. To
fend off your foes, you have only your cape. Thankfully, it's a
magic cape, capable of pounding enemies through punches,
protecting you as a shield, and even firing off projectile "demon
bullets."

The focus of Malicious appears to be on big boss fights. From what
we've read in the various previews coming out of Japan, each level
starts you off in a face off against a boss and its minions. There's
no actual stage progression.

Clear the boss, and in what appears to be a Mega Man-like system,
you'll earn the boss's skill in the form of a new action for your
cape. Also like Mega Man, you're free to select your own stage
order.

Malicious is set for PSN release in Japan some time this year. The
price has not been disclosed, but Alvion has promised that it will be
low.

We haven't heard anything about a US release, but we'll keep your
posted.

Alvion uploaded a second trailer for Malicious to its YouTube channel
today.

Stream here, or go there for a full res version:

Wondering what the girl (pictured to the right) is shouting at the
end of the trailer? Me too!

In a post at the extremely frequently updated Malicious
development blog yesterday, programmer Tanaka T (not to be
confused with programmer Tanaka S, also on the Malicious
development staff) wrote a bit about the feel the designers are
attempting to give the game's characters.

In the trailer, you can see the character leap to great heights and
perform other such acts of great agility. This is because the
game's director said he wants the the player character's
movement to be as free as possible. The character was originally
more gentle and calm, but has been reformed into his final form to
make movement, attack and defense as enjoyable as possible.

It looks like Famitsu has an update on the game in this week's issue,
apparently with first details on a female player character.
Famitsu.com will hopefully post the details over the coming days.

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...cious_preview/
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/111/1116853p1.html
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...econd_trailer/

Gameplay Trailer 1:www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSFb7q1BI1A
Gameplay Trailer 2:www.youtube.com/watch?v=ochDS7xUeJE
Gameplay Trailer 3: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqYDtyAVFgI
Gameplay Trailer 4: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z10tCSsGweg

All 52 High Res screens on here: http://www.andriasang.com/e/gallerie...cious_screens/

**Tobi** · 2010-10-09 01:47

I like the way this game looks, looks like it has high potential, and it won't be full price? Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be shit. And I hope they decide to bring it over here as well, gonna suck if they don't and this turns out to be a good game after all.

**Atreides** · 2010-10-09 09:56

I've been keeping my eye on this for a while. The way I first heard it described was like Dynasty Warriors but with almost all large-scale boss battles, although it seems to have more acrobatic/DMC-style moves to it.

The thing that really interests me about this is as far as I can figure, this is one of just a few Japanese titles set for digital distribution alone. It definitely feels like JP developers are struggling (particularly smaller development houses) to keep up with the monumental costs of developing, marketing, and releasing a disc-based game in today's economy, whereas a number western developers (Hothead, Telltale) have really embraced XBL/PSN and used it to establish themselves. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason why, with few exceptions, we see most of the JRPGs released for DS, or why the more experimental "kooky" stuff we saw on PS2 released on Wii or DS or PSP only.

I guess what I mean is that I hope this game does well (and sees a western release) simply because it will help other JP developers start to look at PSN/XBL as a viable way to release games that would be otherwise financially inviable.

**Tobi** · 2010-10-09 10:56

I'm hoping the same as well. I'd like to see this do well so maybe they would consider releasing it over here. I really wanna try this game out, even if it doesn't release here, I'll still be able to play the Japanese version, which I'm thinking about just going ahead and doing when it releases. If it releases around the same time as Tales of Graces F, then I'll just wait.

When I first heard of this game I didn't pay it much attention, but after seeing it on Andriasang and watching first + new trailer it caught my attention. Definitely looks quite fun to me.

**Xno Kappa** · 2010-10-09 12:02

Trailer looks pretty nice and the graphics remind me of SMT games so I'm instantly sold off that alone. Hope it makes it stateside.

**Tobi** · 2010-10-09 15:50

I just wish both trailers were a bit longer, especially the 2nd one, they're pretty short, but they show off some nice stuff in that little amount of time, though. It was enough to win me over for sure.

**Tobi** · 2010-10-14 03:10

I saw this on Alvion twitter when someone asked about it

We're sorry. we 're considering the English version, but can't tell
specific informations yet

**Elcura** · 2010-10-14 04:28

Originally Posted by Tobi

I saw this on Alvion twitter when someone asked about it

Yep, there's no hope.

**Tobi** · 2010-10-14 04:39

Will seriously suck hard if this does well and they stil decide not to bring it over here... I have high hopes for this, at the moment at least, it looks and sound like a decent game, and it'll be pretty cheap. The only problem with the price scaring me is the length mostly, gameplay already looks fun and the game doesn't look awful. Even if it is a short game I'd still buy it.

Hopefully some more info come in later this month.

**Tobi** · 2010-10-15 02:08

There's been some talk for the past couple of weeks of Malicious
having a female protagonist. Now thanks to Famitsu.com, we have
our first look at the new character:

The female protagonist plays the same as the originally announced
male protagonist. There's actually a good reason for this. In
Malcious, the main character is actually a spirit who's been sent to
this world to subdue all the bad guys. You can set the gender of
your physical form to your preference.
Famitsu's preview also provided a look at some additional areas of
the game, including three bosses:

Book Hound
A powerful boss that you fight in a library. He's more agile than his
massive size would suggest.

Fist Golem
You face off against this beast in the royal plaza. It uses its
massive fist for attacks.

Gatling Commander
This boss attacks with its lance, but it also has long range attacks.

Your character is well equipped for dealing with these bosses and
their minions. Here's a glimpse at your arsenal:

Six Level Jump
Many games will give you two or three levels for your jump. In
Malicious, you have a six level jump. You can use this to evade
enemy attack, and can also jump over enemies to attack from
above.

Wall Run
You can defy gravity and run on walls. Famitsu's preview says that
movement on walls is the same as movement on the ground.

Counter Attack
If you have the correct skill equipped, you'll be able to perform
counterattacks against certain bosses. (It was previously revealed
that your character gains access to skills from defeated bosses,
but we've yet to get specifics on how you'll equip those skills.)

Combos
Your main form of attack in Malicious is your magic cape. As
previously detailed, it can transform into a variety of forms,
examples being fists, a sphere, a shield, and a sword. The cape will
change forms in mid combo.

Aura System
As you defeat enemies or guard against attacks, you'll gather aura.
This can be depleted to heal your HP and power your character up.
You can power up three levels, although at higher level, the aura
depletes faster.

Screens in order of quoted text

Spoiler: show

**Tobi** · 2010-10-18 11:04

Game releases this month on 27th for Japan for ¥800(8-9~ bucks), which isn't a bad price at all, considering how nice this game looks, and with official date being announced, it also came with new trailer and it looks nice!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqYDtyAVFgI

I'll probably end up buying this of JP PSN store if I can't wait any longer

**Atreides** · 2010-10-18 14:30

buying PSN games in other stores besides your region is such a pain now that they don't allow you to use credit cards that aren't from that country. I've been trying to get Dark Mist and the DLC forever, but I refuse to pay 30 bucks for a 20 dollar Hong Kong/Europe PSN card that I'm only going to spend 12 bucks of lol

Hopefully there's a demo of this, can't imagine why there wouldn't be.

That's also a REALLY low price point for a japanese game, since retail releases are usually 80 bucks or more. I wonder if it's a short game or something, or maybe they have DLC episodes planned? Hmm...

**Tobi** · 2010-10-18 16:40

Probably a bit on a short side, but I see this selling very highly, especially due to the price, that's a must steal I'd say, even if it isn't super long, it still looks like a lot of fun, and DLC could be released in the future as well.

**Tobi** · 2010-10-20 14:18

52 full resolution screens

http://www.andriasang.com/e/gallerie...cious_screens/

**Tobi** · 2010-10-22 16:19

Some more new info: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201..._power_gauges/

I actually like this feature.

Would post the info myself, but using phone atm .-.

**Tobi** · 2010-10-28 17:46

New Article: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...ev_commentary/

And 2 vids I found on youtube so far

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HuauxrFqmw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lcyvN5hFQs

Also, trophies seeem to be in english, dunno if that's a small sign we may get this or not. I don't know much about Japanese - English Trophies thing

**Tobi** · 2010-10-28 22:22

Here's another new trailer from Alvion youtube channel www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z10tCSsGweg

**Tobi** · 2010-10-28 22:41

Triple post, but been trying to get a bit more info on this. The game has Story Mode, Free Mode, Score Attack, and Time Attack. It'll take about 3-4 hours to finish the story, even less depending how good you are. If you're aiming for 100%, then it'll take a couple hours since some trophies are pretty tough to get.

Going by all of that and how long some trophies take to get, I'll say this game will last you around 15-20+ hours, which isn't bad for its price. The game is pretty impressive from what I've been reading, seems to be very good, actually. The game also provides a nice challenge, which is a plus to me.

**Atreides** · 2010-10-28 23:20

is it out already? I bet there will be a free demo on JP PSN you can download before you buy it, or for us US people who don't want to buy JP PSN Cards

**Tobi** · 2010-10-28 23:24

Released Wednesday in Japan, no clue if there's a demo, though.

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