Operation Demon Bane

This week’s Famitsu reveals that Shoji Masuda (Oreshika’s creator!) is partnering up with NIS and Pyramid to remake his 2007 mobile game Hero Must Die. It’ll be out on PS Vita in Japan in February. The official site opens on the 16th, but here’s a description from Gematsu:

The hero of Hero Must Die only has five days to live. This is following a bout with the demon king, through which he was killed. But even with the demon king’s defeat, the world still faced a number of problems. Thus, the hero is granted five more days to live, and as him, players can take on a variety of actions that result in different endings. New elements include:

New scenarios across every heroine, as well as two brand new heroines.

Music arrangement and new music by Kenji Ito.

A voiced main character.

Characters include: Hero (voiced by Tsubasa Yonaga) Yuria the Angel (voiced by Asami Imai) Devil King (voiced by Tsuguo Mogami) Princess Flora (voiced by Rie Murakawa)

Staff includes: Planning, Game Design, and Scenario – Shoji Masuda

Music – Kenji Ito

Character Design: Tetsu Kurosawa

Development: Pyramid

Oreshika News: PS Vita System Themes In NA/EU, Two New Contests and a Shoji Masuda interview! The North American PlayStation Blog has some cool announcements:

Hello PlayStation Vita fans. On behalf of the Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines team, I am excited to announce the in-game competition we are calling Wailer’s Way.

Starting today, May 28th, and running until June 10th, there will be a newly named labyrinth called Wailer’s Way which is a special area with the goal to kill as many Oni as possible, and to reach a minimum specified score. Winners will receive a bundle of in-game prizes, so join in! All of the eligibility details for Wailer’s Way can be found on this forum post.

Not to be outdone by the in-game competition, beginning on May 28th and running until June 3rd, we are holding a sweepstakes for a chance to win one of these awesome signed Oreshika art books. The books are signed by the creator of Oreshika, Shoji Masuda and the character designer, Makoto Sajima. For all the details on this sweepstakes please go to this forum post.

That’s not all, while Europe already has a free Oreshika theme, the Japanese paid theme is coming to North America and Europe:

We’re excited to leave you with one more exciting announcement before we sign off… We’ve been listening to our fans and we are pleased to launch an Oreshika theme for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV, which will be available on the PlayStation Store on June 2nd in North America and 10th in Europe!

Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines launches in North America and Europe on March 3rd/4th on PSN for  $/€19.99!

In Oreshika, you’ll take control of a clan whose bloodlines have been struck with two terrible curses — a Curse of Ephemerality, and a Curse of Broken Lineage.The Curse of Ephemerality means that your clan members age rapidly with a maximum lifespan of around 2 years. As you explore labyrinths, defeat demons, and find treasures, the clock of in-game time is always ticking so it’s important to plan your moves strategically. In Oreshika, no matter how skilled you are in battle or how strong your equipment is, your characters will face death and so it’s your job to make sure your clan’s family tree grows new members to step up to the ranks.

But therein lies the catch as the Curse of Broken Lineage means that your clan members can no longer procreate… Luckily you can turn to the gods for help. By performing the Rite of Divine Union with a god, a new clan member will be created. It’s important to choose carefully which gods you perform the Rite with as the genetic makeup will be a combination of the ‘parent’ clan member and the chosen god which affects stats as well as appearance. And with well over 100 gods to meet in game, there are a lot of deities to discover!

Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines is playable in English at the PlayStation Experience!

A new set of pictures from oreshika 2 for the Vita