There’s no fancy name or logo for the latest sale that’s popped up on the PlayStation Store, but there’s a definite theme! If you happened to check in on your PSP or PS3 last night, perhaps while you were at home enduring a blizzard, you noticed that section of the store reserved for sale games was packed with Atlus titles. And not just a few Atlus games, the ones that were good but not really big enough to get fans super excited. Major games like Persona 3 Portable were discounted…

Sometime between today and tomorrow, you’re going to need to pick up a PlayStation Store card. Maybe two. One of those 2gb or 4gb memory sticks might be a smart idea too. Atlus has just announced its own Black Friday-sort of sale.Technically and officially, it’s The Atlus Super-Mega-Ultra 50% Off PlayStation Network sale, but let’s just call it the Atlus PSP and PS3 sale for simplicity’s sake.

From November 16 until November 29, 2010, 10 PSP games and 1 PS3 game will be on sale for 50% off of the normal price…

One of the most challenging aspects of Crimson Gem Saga is the Skill Tree. You’re given the ability to develop characters in any way that you want, but then learn that you have to be patient when it comes to making them stronger. You have to expend skill points to make skills visible on the Skill Tree, which usually costs between 50 and 200 skill points. Then, you have to invest more points into a visible skill to actually learn it.

If you’re patient and level grind, plus only invest in skills you need immediately, you should have no trouble building strong and useful characters. For example, if you’ve unveiled a skill that doesn’t seem particularly useful at the time, don’t invest in it. Instead, move further down the tree and start revealing another skill. You may uncover something much better and more useful.

In an attempt to help, Gamertell’s going to look at the first four characters that join your party in Crimson Gem Saga and offer possible Skill Tree suggestions. Maybe you’ll find a hint that could help you out…

Crimson Gem Saga is one of those cases where you can’t judge the game by it’s cover art. I mean look at the cover image at the right. It’s pretty and all, but it makes Crimson Gem Saga look like your ordinary, every day RPG. You’d never guess that a box like that could hold a UMD containing a funny and challenging game with an atypical story. That looks like the box of a game where a handful of young, optimistic, fortunate, teenage heroes save the world.

Crimson Gem Saga isn’t that kind of game. Yes, it’s an RPG where the world might get saved by heroic individuals, but it’s primarily the story of some motley adventurers who encounter some seriously bad times and band together to try and make the best of things.

Most men become heroes and save the world because they’re extraordinarily talented and lucky. That doesn’t happen to our hero, Killian. Nope. Poor Killian’s a target for bad luck, and I don’t think there are enough four leaf clovers in the world to save him…

The PSP is well known for being a haven for RPGs, and Atlus’ Crimson Gem Saga looks to add another title to the already proud library. I recently got the chance to take a peek at the game and start on the search for the coveted Wicked Stone.

One word comes to mind when I think of Crimson Gem Saga, and that word is detail. It immediately jumps out at you – the incredibly intricate character sprites, the hand-drawn character portraits and environments that, at times, mimic the appearance of watercolor paintings. It’s a very pretty game, from what I’ve seen so far. These character portraits are also quite large, and take up half the screen when a character fortunate enough to merit one speaks.

I also found joy in playing, “Guess That Voice Actor…”

As long as Atlus and Square Enix stay in business, PSP owners will always have games to play on their oft neglected systems. Atlus has just announced another title that should brighten portable RPG fans’ day today – Crimson Gem Saga. It’s a standard RPG from Matrix Software that already has made the rounds throughout Asia as Garnet Chronicle (Japanese version), Astonishia Story 2 (Korean version) and Crimsongem Saga (Asia version).

Crimson Gem Saga actually received some attention from importers back when it came out as Crimsongem Saga in October, 2008. The Asia release featured an English translation option, so some PSP owners paid the premium import price ($39.90). I bet they’re feeling disappointed, now that Atlus is releasing it in North America for $29.99 on May 26, 2009. Patience is truly a virtue.

One of the highlights of the release is that Atlus is…