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| Liz Maas |
The company that pondered JRPGs has a bunch of them in the works.
11.24.10 - 4:00 AM
You might remember this video which came out about a week ago, asking a lot of the same questions that RPG fans have been asking lately. While it definitely started up a bunch of discussion, it also served as a teaser for a press conference from Imageepoch, the creators of Luminous Arc and Last Ranker, who planned to announce a few titles.
That conference happened today and the first title that Imageepoch showed was Tale of the Last Promise (although some translations say 'Story' instead of 'Tale') for the PlayStation Portable. They called the game, their first self-published title, a dungeon RPG where you issue commands to others. The story takes place in a world where machines have replaced wizards, making magic obsolete. Much like titles like Fire Emblem, when a character dies, they are gone forever, affecting the main story as well. Ryoei Mikage is the game's executive producer and also happens to be the CEO of Imageepoch; while Yosuke Uda (Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Persona 3) will serve as producer, with Chinatsu Kuramoto as character designer and GainGauge as composer. Tale of the Last Promise is already listed for an April 28th, 2011 release in Japan.
Here's a trailer:
Next up was Black Rock Shooter: The Game. Don't let the name fool you, it's also an RPG - an RPG and third-person-shooter mixture, to be precise. It is actually based on an anime of the same name, and takes place in 2051 when an alien invasion has eradicated all but 12 members of the human race. Kazushige Nojima (Final Fantasy VII, Glory of Heracles) is the game's scenario writer and Kazuya Niinou (Last Ranker) will be its director. So far, the Japanese date for this PlayStation Portable title is 2011.
Once again, here's a trailer:
Chevalier Saga Tactics though, was actually leaked by Famitsu before the press conference. Themed after medieval Europe, the story takes place when a pact between humans and dragons is threatened by an invading army seeking the dragons' treasure. Described as a simulation RPG, Chevalier Saga Tactics has two modes: strategy mode, where you give commands to individual units (like a typical strategy RPG), or a larger-scale online mode where you can command whole armies instead. This title is destined for a few platforms - PlayStation 3 (download-only, though), as well as PC (browser-based) and mobile devices. An interesting assortment indeed, but nonetheless the game is scheduled to release next summer in Japan.
And yes, you get a trailer for this too:
Imageepoch also gave us a glimpse into the future beyond these title, including 2012 and beyond. They have four projects: a joint project with Type Moon (Fate series) which they expect will take about 3 years to finish; Ark Project, described as an 'original simulation RPG'; Mars Project, also a collaboration but this time with an unnamed JRPG maker; and lastly, Remus Project, a JRPG remake of a 'classic title.' These titles will be formally announced much later on.
