Sony, Level-5 and Matrix Software are hoping PS3 and PSP owners want to make some pacts with knights. Apparently, the original White Knight Chronicles performed well enough to make the companies want to take a chance on English language releases of White Knight Chronicles 2 (PS3) and White Knight Chronicles: Origins (PSP). Only in Europe, for the moment though, as SCEE has confirmed both for May 2011 releases. Perhaps they’ll even be released on the same day…

It’s best to think of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light as an experiment, rather than a Final Fantasy spin-off. It’s more like an original touch screen RPG inspired by classic entries in the Final Fantasy series. Square Enix is presenting DS owners with a challenging adventure that requires strategic thinking and lots of level grinding. You’ll need to put a lot of work into it if you want your characters to thrive, but it’s worth it…

Nostalgia is the work of a lot of well known developers, producers and publishers. It was developed by Matrix Software, known for Final Fantasy III and IV DS remakes, Avalon CodeDS, both Alundra PlayStation games, and Red Entertainment, which worked on Fossil Fighters DS, Thousand Arms PS1 and the Sakura Wars series. Tecmo produced and published the game in Japan. Now Ignition, which is fast becoming known for highly anticipated niche games, has brought it to North America.

Nostalgia begins with the famous adventurer Dr. Gilbert Brown uncovered a suspicious plot where a mysterious young girl was going to be forced against her will to do the biddings of an unknown, villainous man and his cult of followers. He saved her from her fate, but in the escape he fell, possibly to his doom, and she found herself floating aimlessly on his ship.

Eddie Brown is the son of Gilbert, and he has just learned his father has gone missing. Since times are treacherous, what with sky pirates and monsters always around, Eddie announces that he is going to become an adventurer and find his father. Shortly after, he joins forces with the orphan thief Pad, a precocious witch named Melody and Fiona, the enigmatic girl with strange powers whom his father was trying to save. He and his friends will not only search for Gilbert Brown, but also work to stop the cabal that is trying to use Fiona…

What do you get when you combine the action and puzzles of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and Zelda, with the collection elements of Pokemon and the socializing from Harvest Moon or Persona 4? Avalon Code. And that isn’t even mentioning all of the mini-game aspects.

Matrix Software, Marvelous Entertainment and XSEED have really stumbled onto something special with Avalon Code. The game uses some familiar game devices, but feels like something fresh and new. The story is unusual, the way you progress through the game is inspired. It’s a joy to play. Even though some of the NPCs are stereotypical characters, the fact that you can “fix” the heroes and heroines revitalizes them as well.

There’s an influx of DS RPGs coming. It started this month with Blue Dragon Plus and Dragon Quest V, and is going to continue throughout the next few months. The next game in the surge is the March 10, 2009 release Avalon Code, from Matrix Software, Marvelous Entertainment and XSEED Games.

Avalon Code is an action RPG requiring players to smack important items with a book so when the world ends, those items can be saved/restored. Sounds unusual, and possibly a bit difficult to picture, right? Don’t worry – you don’t have to imagine what it’s like any longer. A free, brief demo is now available on the Nintendo Channel.

So you’ve got a Wii and a DS, you could be enjoying a preview of the Avalon Code goodness right now. In case you don’t have access to the Avalon Code demo, Gamertell’s here to tell you all about it…

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…