Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: When did Xenoblade Chronicles 2 release?
The game was announced in January 2017 as part of Nintendo's detailed reveal of the Nintendo Switch, with a gameplay trailer being released on the same day. Similar to the original "Xenoblade", the title was announced as "Xenoblade 2" in Japan, but had "Chronicles" added to its name in English speaking regions. The game was also a part of Nintendo's presentation at E3 2017, where it was reconfirmed for release by the end of 2017. Like the original "Xenoblade Chronicles", Nintendo's European division took up the reins for the English localization, who regularly communicated with Nintendo's Japanese and American divisions about decisions that could prove controversial, something that was previously an issue with "Xenoblade Chronicles X". The game had a simultaneous worldwide launch on December 1, 2017, as the localization process took place during development rather than after it, unlike the first two games.
The first two "Disgaea" installments were released for the PlayStation 2. The series debuted in Japan with "" in 2003 on the PlayStation 2 and has since been re-released on the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS with new content. It was known for many uncommon elements previously unseen in the strategy RPG genre, such as complex gameplay, extremely high maximum stats and a maximum level of 9999, and humorous dialogue. "", released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan, has been re-released on the PlayStation Portable under the title "" with new content. Both of these games were later ported to the PC as "" in 2016, and "Disgaea 2 PC" in 2017 respectively. Both are based on the PlayStation Portable versions, with additional content and redone graphics. The series then moved on to the PlayStation 3 for "", released in Japan in 2008, and was re-released on the PlayStation Vita as "" in 2012. "" was released in Japan in 2011 and re-released on the PlayStation Vita as "" in 2014. A direct sequel to the first game, "" was released for the PlayStation 3 in 2013. The latest entry in the series, "" was released in 2015, moving the series to the PlayStation 4, and was ported to the Nintendo Switch as "Disgaea 5 Complete" in 2017.
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, known in the PAL regions as Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, is a role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. It was first released in Japan in 2004, and was later released in North America in 2005 and PAL regions in 2006, making it the first main series installment released in the PAL region. It is the eighth installment of the popular "Dragon Quest" series and it is the first English version of a "Dragon Quest" game to drop the "Dragon Warrior" title. A version of the game for Android and iOS was released in Japan in December 2013, and worldwide in May 2014.
On September 20, 2002, Blizzard Entertainment announced the development of "StarCraft: Ghost" in conjunction with fellow video game company Nihilistic Software. Nihilistic aimed to release the game for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube video game consoles in late 2003, which elicited positive reactions from the press. The game was consistently delayed, and during the third quarter of 2004, Nihilistic discontinued their work on the project. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic had completed the tasks it had been contracted for, and the game would be delivered on time.
Due to its commercial and critical success, Square Enix released a direct sequel to "Final Fantasy X" in 2003, titled "Final Fantasy X-2". The sequel is set two years after the conclusion of "Final Fantasy X", establishing new conflicts and dilemmas and resolving loose ends left by the original game. Although the sequel did not sell as well as the original, 5.4 million units versus over 8 million units, it can still be considered a commercial success. As a result of the title's popularity, Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima decided to establish a plot-related connection between "Final Fantasy X" and "Final Fantasy VII", another well-received" Final Fantasy" game. In 2013, after the release of the HD Remaster, Nojima stated that he would like to see a second sequel to "X", and if there were demand for it, it could happen. The minigame of blitzball has made it into other games, such as "Final Fantasy X-2", and was mentioned as a possibility for "".
"Planetarian" was released on November 29, 2004 via download over the Internet playable on Windows PCs, and was first made available only to Yahoo! Japan Broadband users. The game was opened up for general sale on December 6, 2004. Key released a CD-ROM version for Windows PCs on April 28, 2006 in limited and regular editions. An updated version of "Planetarian" compatible for Windows Vista PCs was released by Key on July 31, 2009 in a box set containing five other Key visual novels called Key 10th Memorial Box. Another updated version compatible for Windows 7 PCs called "Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet Memorial Edition" was released on April 30, 2010. The "Memorial Edition" also came bundled with the three previously released "Planetarian" drama CDs. An HD edition for Windows was released on July 29, 2016. "Planetarian" was released on Steam by Sekai Project in English for Windows on September 12, 2014, with later support planned for macOS and Linux devices. The Steam release was updated on September 17, 2014 to allow the user to switch to the original Japanese version of the game.
Key's third game "Clannad" is a visual novel similar to Key's previous games, but contains no adult content. "Clannad" was meant to be released in 2002, but was delayed, leading to the game finally being released on April 28, 2004. Seven months after "Clannad"'s release, Key released their shortest game, "", on November 29, 2004 with a rating for all ages. "Planetarian", in contrast to Key's past games, is a linear visual novel that does not require the user to make choices during gameplay; this is what is referred to as a kinetic novel. The brand's fifth game is "", an adult game and spin-off to "Clannad" released on November 25, 2005, which expanded on the scenario of the heroine Tomoyo Sakagami from "Clannad". Key released their sixth game, "Little Busters!", on July 27, 2007 with no adult content, but released another version of the game entitled "Little Busters! Ecstasy" on July 25, 2008 with added adult content, story, and visuals.
"Dragon Quest VIII" was released in PAL regions in April 2006 under the title "Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King", dropping the Roman numeral. This marked the first time a main game in the series had been released in the PAL region. In an interview with Horii in London, he mentioned that the 2003 merger between Squaresoft and Enix (creating Square Enix) allowed the company to release more games in more localities, with producer Ryutaro Ichimura adding that "European tastes have changed because of the influence of anime and cartoons, so Europeans are more willing to receive this type of artwork."
On February 27, 2009, IGN reported that a sequel to "Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit" is to be released for under the names Crash Time: Burning Wheels in Europe and Crash Time 2 in the United Kingdom. This game will feature more open world environments where the first game is more linear. An overhead map will be included for the first time in the series, as demonstrated in the demo available on Xbox Live Marketplace. New escort missions have been confirmed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), as has the feature that "players can drive onto a field and plow into cows, which shatter into 'cartoony' t-bone steaks upon impact". The ESRB has also commented on mentions of drugs, prostitution and one instance of sexual innuendo in reference to the new escort style missions. "Crash Time 2" was released on Xbox 360 in Europe on 27 November 2008, and on Steam on 27 August 2009. "
A new installment in the "Grandia" series developed by Game Arts was officially announced on June 1, 2001 with the tentative name of "Grandia X". The game, later retitled "Grandia Xtreme", was to be published by Enix as they had just invested capital in Game Arts for a total of ¥99.2 million, or 15% of the company. The game was the first title Game Arts developed exclusively for the PlayStation 2. While previous installments in the series were traditional role-playing video games, the developers took the new title in a different direction and designed it more as an action role-playing game or dungeon crawler to make it more accessible to casual gamers. They nevertheless kept and enhanced mainstays such as the combat and magic systems, as well as the "enchantment" aspect of the story. To design the characters of the game, Enix and Game Arts selected Kamui Fujiwara, the character designer of "Terranigma". Development for the game spanned roughly 18 months.
"Tomb Raider" was released as scheduled on 5 March 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. However, it was released early in Australia, being available on 1 March 2013. On 25 April 2013, "Tomb Raider" was released in Japan. A ported version of the 2013 game to the Mac OS X was released by Feral Interactive on 23 January 2014. "Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition", an updated version, was released in North America on 28 January 2014, in Australia on 30 January 2014, and in Europe on 31 January 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One containing all features and DLC. Unlike the previous installments that received a T rating, "Tomb Raider" is the first game in the series to receive an M rating by the ESRB, due to blood and gore, intense violence and strong language.
On February 25, 2016, the existence of the two games was leaked when Nintendo's trademarks for them were found on the website of the European Union Intellectual Property Office. "IGN" pointed towards the recent introduction of a new Pokémon, Magearna, as indication the two games would be revealed. The games were officially announced the following day in a Nintendo Direct presentation that also commemorated the franchise's 20th anniversary. The games launched with support for nine languages. On May 10, more information on the game was released through a new trailer, including new Pokémon, box art, and release dates. "Pokémon Sun" and "Moon" released in Japan, North America, and Australia on November 18, 2016, and in Europe on November 23, 2016. A comic based on "Pokémon Sun" and "Moon" launched alongside an edition of CoroCoro magazine on September 15, 2016. Early purchasers of the games received a special Munchlax holding Snorlium Z, enabling it to use an exclusive Z-Move unique to Snorlax, Munchlax's evolution, via wireless event distribution with their game. A Japanese trailer was unveiled on September 8, 2016. A "Pokémon Sun" and "Moon"-themed New Nintendo 3DS XL was released on October 28, 2016.
"Tales of Innocence" was released in Japan on the Nintendo DS in 2007. A remake of the game, "Innocence R" was released on the PlayStation Vita in 2012. Neither version has been released in the west. The first release on seventh-generation consoles, "Tales of Vesperia" for Xbox 360, was released in Japan and North America in 2008 and in Europe in 2009. A Japan-exclusive PlayStation 3 port was released in 2009 as well. "Tales of Hearts" was released on the Nintendo DS in 2008. A remake, "Hearts R", was released in 2013 in Japan and 2014 in North America and Europe.
The Xbox's successor, the Xbox 360, was officially unveiled announced on May 12, 2005 on MTV. It was the first next generation system to be announced. It was released in North America on November 22, 2005. Nvidia ceased production of the Xbox's GPU in August 2005, which marked the end of brand-new Xbox production. The last Xbox game in Europe was "Xiaolin Showdown" released in June 2007, and the last game in North America was "Madden NFL 09" released in August 2008. Support for out-of-warranty Xbox consoles was discontinued on March 2, 2009. Support for Xbox Live on the console ended on April 15, 2010.
"Persona" is the largest and most popular spin-off from the "Megami Tensei" series. The first entry in the series, "Megami Ibunroku Persona" (originally released overseas as ""), was released in 1996 in Japan and North America. The first "Persona 2" title, "", was released in 1999 in Japan. The second game, "", was released in 2000 in Japan and North America. "Persona 3" was released in 2006 in Japan, 2007 in North America, and 2008 in Europe. Its sequel, "Persona 4", was released in 2008 in Japan and North America, and in 2009 in Europe. A sixth entry in the series, "Persona 5", was released in Japan on September 15, 2016, and was released in North America and Europe on April 4, 2017, to critical acclaims. In addition to the main "Persona" games are spin-offs, so far focused on "Persona 3" and "4": the canon spin-off "", two fighting games "Persona 4 Arena" and its sequel "Arena Ultimax" as well as the crossover fighting game "", and rhythm game "". While "Persona 3" and "4" used the "Shin Megami Tensei" moniker, it was dropped for the "Persona 4 Arena" duology and "Persona 4 Golden" as it would have made the titles too long to be practical.
A visual novel, "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Portable", was developed by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation Portable and released on February 23, 2012.
The existence of "Wolfenstein: The New Order" was first acknowledged by Bethesda Softworks on 7 May 2013, through the release of an announcement trailer. Prior to this, Bethesda teased the upcoming project by releasing three images with the caption "1960". Though originally due for release in late 2013, the game was delayed to 2014 in order for the developers to further "polish" the game. In February 2014, it was announced that "The New Order" would launch on 20 May 2014 in North America, on 22 May 2014 in Australia, and on 23 May 2014 in Europe. The Australian and European release dates were later pushed forward, resulting in a worldwide launch on 20 May 2014. All pre-orders of the game granted the purchaser an access code to the "Doom" beta, developed by id Software. For the German release of "The New Order", all Nazi symbols and references were removed; it is a criminal offence to display Nazi imagery on toys in Germany. Following the game's release, MachineGames began developing "", a standalone expansion pack set before the events of "The New Order". It was released in May 2015.
The VR Disc was also released in the PAL region as "Metal Gear Solid: Special Missions" on October 29, 1999. Unlike the Japanese and American versions, "Special Missions" requires a PAL copy of the original "Metal Gear Solid" in order to be played. This change was done since the original "Metal Gear Solid" was released in multiple languages in Europe and "Special Missions" determines the language it uses based on which version of the original game the player owns. When the "Special Missions" disc is loaded into the PlayStation console, the game will ask the player to switch the disc with the first disc from "Metal Gear Solid" in order to load voice and language data before asking the player to switch back to the "Special Missions" disc to start the game. This requirement renders "Special Missions" incompatible with PlayStation 2 consoles made prior to the SCPH-70000 model.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a dark fantasy action-adventure game developed and published by the British video game development studio Ninja Theory. Self-described as an "independent AAA game", it was created by a team of approximately twenty developers led by writer and director Tameem Antoniades. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in August 2017, with an Xbox One version in April 2018. The game features support for virtual reality, which was added in an update in 2018.
Initially announced in 2006 alongside "XIII" and "Type-0", the game was publicly rebranded at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo, with regular updates on the title beginning the following year. A demo titled "Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae" was released in March 2015 as a limited addition to "Final Fantasy Type-0 HD". The game's localization was handled by Dan Inoue, who used different accents for characters to denote their origins on different parts of Eos. In addition to English, Japanese and European languages, the game was localized for Latin America with Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese text: this was the first time a "Final Fantasy" title was localized into these languages.
"Advance Wars" was first announced in January 2001, when Nintendo France gave new Game Boy Advance screenshots exclusively to French gaming sites, which included screenshots of this game, titled "Game Boy Wars Advance". At the time, very little information was given. It was developed by Intelligent Systems, and eventually published by Nintendo. Four player mode was confirmed before E3 2001 and with it a US release date of September 10. The Japanese version, titled "Game Boy Wars Advance", was originally scheduled for an October 12, 2001 release, a month after the North American version. However, due to the events of the September 11 attacks, Nintendo canceled the originally scheduled Japanese release of the game. It was eventually released in a two-in-one compilation in 2004 with its sequel, "".
In the months following these activities, Nintendo of America officially stated that there were no current plans to release the three asked-for games in North America, despite acknowledging the great demand for the titles. Rumors eventually emerged that the title would see a North American release when it was listed on the website of gaming retailer GameStop. Soon after this, Nintendo officially announced that the game would be released in the region. In a 2013 interview, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé revealed that Nintendo were considering an American release for "Xenoblade Chronicles" while Operation Rainfall was active, and that while the campaign did not factor into their decision, they were aware of it and took it into account while deciding whether the release would make a profitable release. "Xenoblade Chronicles" eventually released in North America on 6 April 2012. It was released in North America as an exclusive to Nintendo's American store, and GameStop's website and stores. The eShop version released for North America from 28 April 2016.
During the last development stages of "Xenoblade Chronicles X", Monolith Soft began work on a new "Xenoblade" title for the Nintendo Switch. Titled "Xenoblade Chronicles 2", the game returned to the story-driven structure of "Xenoblade Chronicles" while building upon the gameplay and technology of "Xenoblade Chronicles X". One of the game's story prototypes was later turned into an expansion titled "", released in 2018. In addition to this, Monolith Soft also began development of a new fantasy-themed IP, hiring new staff for the project. The company opened new studios in Nakameguro and Iidabashi during 2017 and 2018. The 1st Production team, known for their work on the "Xenoblade Chronicles" series, started hiring staff for development of a new RPG project.
"Xenoblade Chronicles X" was developed by Japanese development company Monolith Soft, with Tetsuya Takahashi forming the original concept and serving as the game's executive director. Following the completion of "Xenoblade Chronicles" for the Wii in 2011, Takahashi approached Nintendo producer Hitoshi Yamagami and asked if he could develop a new science fiction-themed role-playing game built upon the systems of "Xenoblade Chronicles". Yamagami and Nintendo were willing, and talks turned towards what Takahashi and Monolith Soft could do on Nintendo's Wii U console. "Xenoblade Chronicles" directors Genki Yokota of Nintendo and Koh Kojima of Monolith Soft returning in their original roles. The producers were Shingo Kawabata of Monolith Soft and Hitoshi Yamagami of Nintendo. Discussions about how to realize "Xenoblade Chronicle X" went on for around six months. While planned for release early in the Wii U's life cycle, the planned release date was pushed forward due to development issues. They later commented that it was a challenge fitting the entire game onto a single Wii U game disc, with Kawabata commenting that the game "barely fits" onto the 32 gigabyte disc. "Xenoblade Chronicles X" was Monolith Soft's first high-definition video game. To help cope with this first, the team decided against using cutting-edge technology when designing the game. The team used the lessons and experience from their time developing "Xenoblade Chronicles", in addition to setting limits upon what they did during production; a specified self-imposed limitation was not using middleware to speed up the production process.
"Xenoblade Chronicles" sold nearly 200,000 units in Japan by the end of 2013. In a later interview, the game sold better in the west than it did in Japan. As of December 2015, "Xenoblade Chronicles X" sold roughly 377,000 units between Japan, France, and the United States. "Xenoblade Chronicles 2" sold 1.42 million copies as of June 2018, which became the best-selling title ever developed by Monolith Soft. Its sales performance exceeded the company's expectations in western territories. "Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country" was also noted for surpassing their sales expectations in Japan as well.