Turn-based puzzle installment in Ubisoft’s long-running fantasy RPG franchise arriving on Nintendo’s handheld in August.

Ubisoft’s most recent installment in its venerable Might & Magic franchise–Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements–turned out, well, less than great. Perhaps recognizing that it may be time to switch up the game’s formula, the publisher today announced Might & Magic Clash of Heroes, a puzzle role-playing game for the Nintendo DS.

Might & Magic’s new look.

Ubisoft did not detail Might & Magic Clash of Heroes’ gameplay mechanics, aside from saying that battles will be turn-based puzzles. However, the publisher did note that the game will offer five quest storylines, and will incorporate exploration elements in addition to battle sequences. Players will also be able to customize their army with a variety of fantasy archetypes, including knights, elves, wizards, necromancers, and demons.

According to Ubisoft, Might & Magic Clash of Heroes will also feature a two-player competitive mode. The handheld game is in development at Capybara Games, the Toronto-based developer behind the recently announced PlayStation Network puzzler Critter Crunch, and is expected to be released worldwide in August 2009.

Check out the source at GameSpot

We take a stab at excavating fossils and incubating baby spectrobes in Disney’s upcoming action role-playing game.

The last time we saw Spectrobes: Origins, we were given a quick overview of the game but didn’t actually get a chance to play it. But more recently, at Disney Interactive Studios’ event in Anaheim, we were able to play for ourselves to see how well this original series translates to the Nintendo Wii. We not only got our hands on the fast-paced battle system, but we also got to excavate a fossil with a variety of tools and even play with some baby spectrobes in the incubator.

Origins follows the lives of Rallen and Jeena, and you can choose to play as one or the other, depending on who you relate to. The story is similar regardless of who you play, but the dialogue will be slightly different to accommodate the two personalities. Battles are fought in real time once the fight is initiated, and you can rumble with your spectrobe sidekick. Up to six spectrobes can be taken with you, and you can scroll through at any time if you feel like calling on another. Your pet will fight on its own, but you can get it to attack a specific enemy by locking on to the target and swinging the Wii Remote forward. You can also call it back by waving the remote toward you. The controls are really easy to get the hang of, given that you’re spending most of the time using the A button to attack. After landing several consecutive attacks, the enemy gets tossed into the air, which gives you an opportunity to follow up with a combo. When the enemy is airborne, you swing the remote so that your spectrobe follows up with a combo. If you time it correctly, your friend can unleash a stronger attack. We didn’t get to try it out because there wasn’t a second controller, but you can play Origins with a friend who will control the spectrobe.

Send your pet in to attack by swinging the Wii remote forward.

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Demons are on the loose, and it’s up to us and our DS to stop them.

The Shin Megami Tensei series and its spin-offs are not always linked, but they do have one thing in common: demons. Devil Survivor is the first of the series to come to the Nintendo DS, and it appears to be yet another engaging and captivating role-playing game by Atlus. Set in the bustling city of Tokyo, Devil Survivor combines several elements from the role-playing and text-based adventure genre to create a strategy RPG adventure hybrid. This works out well, in case you’re wondering, and it’s easy to get into because you need to know only the very basics of SRPGs to jump right in.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! gets its annual world championship update, and we check out the new role-playing game.

As long as the card game is still popular, Konami will continue to release Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship games each year so that players from all over the world can duel against one another, thanks to the Wi-Fi capabilities of the Nintendo DS. We were able to get a brief look at the game during Konami’s press event last week in San Francisco. The 2009 version boasts an all-new role-playing game based on the animated 5D’s series, which launched on the 4Kids network last September. Characters from the new series will make an appearance in the game, where you play as a young man who has lost his memories.

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After many rounds of lengthy tutorials, we explore this unique and fascinating role-playing game.

The role-playing games on the Nintendo DS just keep on coming, and next on the horizon is Knights in the Nightmare, from Sting, the maker of Yggdra Union. This game is in a class of its own, and if you thought Yggdra was confusing and a bit of a mess onscreen, you should be warned that Knights in the Nightmare looks like a disaster–at least until you’ve spent enough time poring over the never-ending tutorials so that you have a clue about how to proceed.

In between all the madness, there’s a captivating story.

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