[vireland]

We have a date for Vanguard Bandits finally. It's November 15th on PSN @ $9.99. The price is more than we wanted, but as I mentioned a few months ago in the Alundra thread, it was this or nothing, so we did the deal so it could be available for those that wanted it.

We're doing something fan-centric next week on launch day that I hope will take a little of the sting out of it.
EDIT: The "fan centric" extra is a digital download of the entire 200+ page Vanguard Bandits strategy guide for fans to enjoy as they play through the game. The guide is here: http://www.gaijinworks.com/vanguardp...tegy_Guide.zip

For those that don't know, this was originally called Epica Stella in Japan. We were going to call it Detonator Gauntlet, and even advertised it as such, but Midway was threatening lawsuits about the title containing the word "Gauntlet" so we were forced to go another way.



In a brainstorming session where we were coming up with another name, someone joked to another person just on the edge of my hearing that it should be called Panty Bandits, and I misheard that as Vanguard Bandits until they clarified. But I liked the misheard name, which actually fit the plot, so that's what it became.

This is a strategy RPG that has three branches and five endings. Amongst other additions, the US version added a support feature to the attacks that increased the strategy element. It's become something of a cult classic on the PS1 because of its pure-strategy. There's little spoken dialogue in the game, but what there is in it was rushed at the time and is not my proudest moment. Audio Atrocities-lite for sure. However, the game is solid and I really like the ending song, and the decaying opening song that changes as you play.







The European release will come after we dig out from the Arc the Lad Japanese-language release fiasco and get Arc I-III and Alundra out, so probably early 2012. European fans, don't worry, it's coming - and in English. :)

[sixteen-bit]

Cool beans.

[graywolf323]

fucking awesome :D

I just got the strategy guide for it for ~$10 so perfect timing

day 1

[LegatoB]

The European release will come after we dig out from the Arc the Lad Japanese-language release fiasco and get Arc I-III and Alundra out, so probably early 2012. European fans, don't worry, it's coming - and in English. :)

Did you guys ever figure out what the heck happened with that one?

[Ichor]

Loved this game as a kid. Can't wait to play it again and actually finish it this time.

[vireland]

Did you guys ever figure out what the heck happened with that one?

It seems to have boiled down to miscommunication. We were sending the support materials (manuals, etc) in English and the US version SLUS numbers etc, but somehow that got confused over there with the non-English straight imports like Cho Aniki and the like that had no translation and someone in that line just punched in the Japanese version of Arc for emulation and release. It was a big surprise to us over here (I initially thought a GAFfer was joking...). It's getting fixed and all of them should be coming up sequentially in short order - in English. Definitely a strange turn of events, though...

[vireland]

Loved this game as a kid. Can't wait to play it again and actually finish it this time.

Perhaps as an adult now, you too can sing the praises of ATAC 69...

[Coxy]

havent seen this for <$100 on ebay for quite a while so $10 is pretty fine by me

[LiquidMetal14]

Excellent.

[ronito]

Awesome I have $10 left on a PSN card. Now I know what I'll be getting.

[DimmuBurgerKing]

Oh man, I used to love this game! Coincidentally, I had the title screen music stuck in my head all day today. o_o

[Seik]

Great, great, awesome tactical RPG. One of my favorite games of all time. So much replayability!!!

Working Design did an awesome job with the translation too. :D

[MoxManiac]

Never played this, what is it like?

[Doomrider]

I knew the name, but I had no idea there were "mechas" (ATACs?) in this. Looks pretty good and I like the fact that you can watch the fights happen in greater details and not just some simple attacks on the grid map. Is it gonna be 10€ for Euroland?

[archnemesis]

Cool! I'll get the European release. Is there a particular reason for the premium price? It's not a big deal for me, but I'm curious what made you set it at $10.

[bede-x]

Never played it but love SRPGs, so I'll definitely bite.

[B.K.]

Maybe this time I won't get the bad ending!

[vireland]

I knew the name, but I had no idea there were "mechas" (ATACs?) in this. Looks pretty good and I like the fact that you can watch the fights happen in greater details and not just some simple attacks on the grid map. Is it gonna be 10€ for Euroland?

European pricing isn't set yet, but I think it will probably be closer to 8€, unless Greece pulls out of the EU or defaults, causing Italy ito implode, which will make VB much more expensive and yet a much less important consideration than things like bread and milk. :)

[vireland]

Cool! I'll get the European release. Is there a particular reason for the premium price? It's not a big deal for me, but I'm curious what made you set it at $10.

Licensing and the number of parties involved. We've been able to hold the releases thus far to $6, but this one was going to be this or nothing, so we decided to do it so it was available for those that wanted it, even though the price was more than we hoped as a result of licensing for this particular title.

[Llyranor]

I remember really liking this game and its localization.

I think this was my favorite track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7DTgi9yZ8I

[thetrin]

Victor, I've always loved what you guys did with Working Designs games, and Vanguard Bandits is no different. This will be a great blast from the past.

[Doomrider]

European pricing isn't set yet, but I think it will probably be closer to 8€, unless Greece pulls out of the EU or defaults, causing Italy ito implode, which will make VB much more expensive and yet a much less important consideration than things like bread and milk. :)

Greece is gonna do just fine! Maybe. I hope so, because I want to try this and Alundra =P

Anyway, that's good news. Thanks.

[NeoNess]

Definitely picking this up. Thanks Vic.

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I'll buy it even though I may not get around to it as my backlog is insane. I'll pay 10 bucks just to support a SRPG.

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

What changes/improvements have been made to the title?

[vireland]

What changes/improvements have been made to the title?

Over the Japanese version? The support system is the biggest improvement. You can have much better attacks when you surround an enemy as your allies lend support increasing your attack power. However, the flipside is also true, so you don't want to get surrounded (even partially) by the enemy.

Aside from that, there were pretty extensive UI improvements to make the menus flow better, but I'd need to grab the manual to quote all the improvements and I don't have that handy at the moment.

[Schopenhauer]

Excellent news.

This is one of the psx games that I missed at release for whatever reason. I never got around to tracking down a copy and basically forgot it existed.

Anyway, thanks for the reminder. I will definitely be picking it up around release.

[Hero]

Awesome, will pick this up hopefully sooner rather than later. Always wanted to play this.

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

Over the Japanese version? The support system is the biggest improvement. You can have much better attacks when you surround an enemy as your allies lend support increasing your attack power. However, the flipside is also true, so you don't want to get surrounded (even partially) by the enemy. Aside from that, there were pretty extensive UI improvements to make the menus flow better, but I'd need to grab the manual to quote all the improvements and I don't have that handy at the moment.

Thank you, that is all very excellent. Was the translation an effort to improve the game? I'm not a purist when it comes to such things as I strongly believe you should always try to improve a story and/or dialogue if it is weak.

I'm assuming the answer is yes given your history.

[vireland]

Thank you, that is all very excellent. Was the translation an effort to improve the game? I'm not a purist when it comes to such things as I strongly believe you should always try to improve a story and/or dialogue if it is weak. I'm assuming the answer is yes given your history.

Well, the leading answer is yes, but that kind of falls apart when you get deep into the Ruin branch and the whole ATAC 69 thing, which was strictly us having fun with a ridiculous storyline branch. We could have translated that straight, but it would not have been interesting, and definitely would have been less memorable than the ATAC 69 thing. There's some really funny quotes in that area. They still make me chuckle.

[shidoshi]

Over the Japanese version? The support system is the biggest improvement. You can have much better attacks when you surround an enemy as your allies lend support increasing your attack power. However, the flipside is also true, so you don't want to get surrounded (even partially) by the enemy.

Something I've always wondered—and without getting into any of the personal arguments about the topic—were changes like these done with the developer's blessing, at the request of the original developer after feedback from the original Japanese versions, or completely on the decision of you and the other Working Designs folk?

[toythatkills]

Definite buy. Don't even know anything about the game aside from the OP but that's enough to convince me (and I want more of this sort of thing, so why not show my support!)

Oh, and dat Alundra font, obvs.

[B.K.]

havent seen this for <$100 on ebay for quite a while so $10 is pretty fine by me

I just bought a mint, used copy of the game WITH a mint copy of the strategy guide for $60. I've been wanting to get another copy for a long time and that's the best deal I've seen. Still planning to get the PSN version though.

[vireland]

Something I've always wondered—and without getting into any of the personal arguments about the topic—were changes like these done with the developer's blessing, at the request of the original developer after feedback from the original Japanese versions, or completely on the decision of you and the other Working Designs folk?

The developer/publisher, in this case Human, was fine with it. It was that or I was passing on the title. In fact, I actually initially told them we weren't licensing it because of issues I had with gameplay (and how much work it would be to "fix"), but they came back and really pushed for us to do the license.

Actually in literally every case on a WD license, the licensor was fine with the changes we made because they knew it was in pursuit of the game being better for our market (or even in general). For example, Akagawa-san from Arc Entertainment commented that he was amazed that we were polishing Arc II to the smallest detail when he saw how we streamlined the battle system to remove annoying status boxes and just have the status changes float up from the characters in battle, removing button presses and screen clutter in the process. He couldn't beleve we would take the time to smooth that process to make it better for the US player.

The changes didn't work out 100% of the time (LUNAR 2 SEGACD save cost, for example), but more often than not they improved the game experience for the player.

[davepoobond]

i have this game from way back when it was initially released...i got it over valkyrie profile... i didnt really like it that much honestly, i beat it. the strategy is ok but the battle scenes are kind of long and boring and dumb. it was interesting having like 30 mechs in battle at the same time though i guess.

[vireland]

i have this game from way back when it was initially released...i got it over valkyrie profile... i didnt really like it that much honestly, i beat it. the strategy is ok but the battle scenes are kind of long and boring and dumb. it was interesting having like 30 mechs in battle at the same time though i guess.

You can turn the battle scenes off in the system menu to speed it up if you don't want to watch them and just want the result.

[cj_iwakura]

Always thought that was Dragon Force's font.


Also: this game is brutally difficult. You will be punished.


As for the game itself? It's kind of like Super Robot Wars. Grid based battles, played out battle scenes.

[Raoh]

adding to my "to play" list.......... looks interesting.

[B.K.]

I can't believe it's been 11 YEARS since that game first came out. I still remember buying it and playing it for the first time. I'm getting too old...

[Shouta]

Panty Bandits, Hurray!

[Masamuna]

This was one of the many SRPG's I tried after my first (FFT) and compared to the majority it did not disappoint. Will bite in December!

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Pretty good game, always meant to try it again. Got the bad ending many years ago.

[Grisby]

Ha, I owned the guide but never the game. I think I must have read that entire thing planning to get it and never did.

Strange, I felt like I knew the game by heart but never actually touched the damn thing.

[EvaTType01]

wait, is this a PSN game or a PSX1 release?

[vireland]

wait, is this a PSN game or a PSX1 release?

PSN PSOne Classic release (essentially an emulated PlayStation game for download on PS3/PSP).

[Suzzopher]

Referred to as "some Gaffer" :'(

Good to see this is coming too, nice one Vic.

[vireland]

Referred to as "some Gaffer" :'( Good to see this is coming too, nice one Vic.

Sorry, didn't remember your tag. :)

Suzzopher...Suzzopher...Suzzopher...SUZZOPHER...

[Teknoman]

Always thought that was Dragon Force's font. Also: this game is brutally difficult. You will be punished. As for the game itself? It's kind of like Super Robot Wars. Grid based battles, played out battle scenes.

Go on...

[matmanx1]

Never heard of this but if Working Designs did the English version back in the day then that alone makes it worthy.

[Ken]

The Shark mechs were jerks.

I'd pick this up if I had a PS3.