When I was told "Hey Heath, Grow Lancer: Ovary Loaded is coming to the PSP," I laughed and laughed. What could such a game be? "Ovary loaded?" What, like, someone is pregnant? Grow… lancer? So it's a game where you raise a kid and hope he's good at fighting with a lance? Imagine my surprise when I was told it was actually a tactical title by Atlus. Then I read the title, and it's actually Growlanser IV: Over Reloaded, a PSP-based remake of the PS2's hit tactical RPG Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of Time. On Wednesday, Atlus USA announced that the game would be coming to North America on July 24, under the better sounding title of Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time.
Growlanser games don't usually leave Japan, so this is a big deal for fans of the RPG series. Now-defunct Working Designs brought over the PS2's Growlanser Generations, which contained the first two PSX games and still commands a decent price from used vendors. Years later, Growlanser: Heritage of War was brought to North America, though series aficionados sneered at the decision to bring part V instead of part IV. With this announcement, the small but dedicated fans finally get their wish, as Growlanser IV will finally be playable in English.