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When I mention the name Success in relation to video game development, many people cock an eyebrow and look at me funny. If I mention Metal Saga, Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja, and Touch Detective, I usually hear the company Atlus mentioned. Being that Atlus is the company that localized these titles for North America, that's understandable. Success was the publisher of these titles in Japan. Along with publishing titles, Success is also a game developer that has been around since their 1989 side-scrolling shooter Cotton was released in arcades. Even though the company has been around in Japan for nearly twenty years, many gamers in North America have never heard of them. I'm here to fix that.
Over the last little while, a small handful of tactical RPGs developed by Success have been snatched up by Atlus USA for localization. The first in Atlus's Success lineup this year was a game known in Japan as Itsuwari no Rinbukyoku and here in the states as Rondo of Swords. This tactical RPG takes a new twist on the subgenre by replacing move-and-attack combat with attack-via-path combat. While this title wasn't graphically impressive, it was a solid and original tactical RPG that fans of the genre should try out. It features a nice challenge that has made even long-time gamers cry in pain, though was no match for me and I don't even consider myself to be a "hardcore" gamer. In my opinion, this title has been criminally ignored and that's a disgrace to both Success and Atlus.
The next title to hit NA shelves was another tactical RPG titled Drone Tactics. This was a typical tactical RPG that featured giant robotic bugs as combat units. While the game was nothing out of this world, it was a solid enough title in its own right. Next up on the list of Success RPGs is the Xbox 360's Operation Darkness. This is yet another tactical RPG, except instead of following the traditional setting and style of the fantasy world, it focuses on the World War 2 era. While this era has been done to death in the FPS and RTS genres, it has not really found its way into the realm of RPGs until now. This is just another example of the unique style that Success seems to have.
There are more games on the horizon from Success. Atlus is already hard at work localizing Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns, which was developed by Ninja Studio, not directly by Success, they still worked closely with them on Izuna 2. Another title upcoming in Japan is Genmu no Tou to Tsurugi no Okite, a Nintendo DS dungeon crawler with a unique art style. This game even features a retro mode that makes it look like an old DOS game. Also coming to the DS is Tactical Guild, development by Izuna's Ninja Studio, but published by Success. Not much is known about this game at this time other than the fact that it's a tactical RPG, but it is something to keep an eye out for.
This may seem like an odd editorial, but I just wanted to give people notice of some games that are still available, and considering that they are Atlus-published titles might not be for very long. Either I let you know now or you would have to read an editorial about how you should have picked up these games while they were still easy to find outside of eBay. Consider this a friendly reminder.
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