[PistolGrip]

Already on famitsu thread but all they care about is MH3, here is the interview translated by Yuna10 at gamefaqs:

Cant link to GameFaqs since they link to a scan.

Q: We are summoned to the level 5 studio today, does that means there are going to be any news on the White Knight game? Aki: Yes ,we are finally close to the stage of completing it, first of all we want to report that, the release date is going to be 25/12 Q: Wow,December, that's very soon! Aki :Yes it is Q: Does that means you guys have finished the task on your hand then? Aki : actually we are just close to it, we are still working very hard on the game at the moment. Q: Hahaha I see Aki : For such a long developing time ,we have finally begin to see the end of the product, all the staff are very excited and we are going to work harder for the final round. Q: I see, when I first saw the game, I was impressed by the Gigantic monsters, it is very impressive, and very beautiful at the same time. And there are some very unique and freaky looking monsters too ,I was thinking the staff must have spent a lot of times into developing the game. Aki: As of today ,I was involved in a lot of RPG projects. I have learn to implement the crucial RPG elements into the game, however we are creating an epic level of RPG ,and we have to include all the elements and also because of the other reasons, we had to spend a lot of times into creating it. The hardware capability of PS3, to enhance the game to an epic standard, and theres another reason too ( He did not mention it here) ,the project have been created of the 3 factors . To the players it certain looks magnificent, but the game has brought headaches to the staff ,because this is the biggest game we [Level 5] have ever been created. To be able to work with SCE , I feel really nice and happy about it Q:I notice some ' key ' words there, i will ask about it later hehe,as related with the storyline, is there anything that we do not know yet and have not been mentioned ? Aki : The henshin(Transformation), World setting ,storyline has not been changed , White Knight 's story center around the fantasies and royalty ,as we spoke of royalty, it is the hero to save the princess from the evil, fighting the evil to save the beloved princess ...: Q:I see ,so its based around the fantasy setting ,some of the characters looks really charming to us too Aki: If you said its charming, it actually looks kind of unique and weird too .We took a long time to decide the character designs just to match the world setting . We understand that the characters play a very important role in game, after the DQ series. We have really thought about the character design ,and we had got lost in direction before during the process of creating it. Even just the structure of the world setting is consuming a large amount of efforts from the staff . And to make a good game , you need to have interesting cutscenes and settings, and I think we have added way too much ( laugh ) ,that's why its an uphill task for us. Q:Sounds really hard for you guys ( laugh ) Aki:The story setting is on the massive level, every single thing took a long time to create, but this is why this game will remain unique in the future for quite a long time , I dont think there will be much game that will be able to surpass it . Q:What is the title of the game ? Has it been decided? Aki: Yes,it will be call ' WKC : Wave of the Ancient ' Q:What does 'Wave of the Ancient ' means? Aki:WKC actually revolve around a tragedy, the event begins because of something that happened in the ancient time . Although it happened in the past, it affects the current time where the protagonist is living in. Therefore what happened in the ancient time is going to be awaken in the current time again ,looking from the title it give people an impression of a beginning of an epic adventure .I hope the players will be thinking ' I wish there will be next episodes'... Q:That is a lot of hidden messaging coming in..i can feel that (laugh), going to show any playable demo on October TGS? Aki: We are still deciding about that ,we will let the public experience the game for sure, but as in what kind of format ,we are still deciding, please stay tune with us Q: Sounds like you already have the whole game within your plan, getting really anticipating about it. Back to the point, you mention about other 'factors' that is going to surprise people, can we know what is it? Aki : I feel that the age of the RPG is already changed, there are a lot of genre of games on the market , the games where you could only sit back and watch how the story unfold silently has already been a past ... Q:Theres indeed quite some changes .. Aki: That's why we have added in a lot of elements where the players will be enjoying. WKC is an Epic RPG title,but we have added in some element from the recent game, therefore it will become a very interesting game packed with MAJOR interesting game features. Q: So there conclusion is, the game is not just about sitting back to see the story, there's another face behind the game ,with a different play style? Is this right? Aki: that's right, WKC has Interesting elements that are not found in the current RPGs, we are unable to reveal it now, but this is not a game where you could just put yourself into adventure ,it is way more than that. Q:Not just an adventuring game? What do you mean? Aki: We can't tell too much right now ,but it is something only the PLAYSTATION 3 Can have. Q:Thats getting really exciting, when can you tell us about it? Aki:hopefully in the near future. Q: I understand, the players have been waiting for so so long,there hasn't been news for a year, please say something to the players Aki : We spent 3 whole years into making this game ,Although an epic title on ps3 consumes a ton of time,but because of that ,we have developed an AAA Epic title, that is so rich and so massive .Because we spent that much of time, we want players to enjoy a title that worths all the waitwhile. All of our staff have already began our final rush, please stay tune for the game !

[djkimothy]

Sounds nice. :)

[cw_sasuke]

already been posted in the famitsu thread...

[thuway]

Well looks like Sony's TGS show will have atleast ONE JRPG.

[PistolGrip]

already been posted in the famitsu thread...

read op

BTW looks lik Level 5 will b holding a conference title ' LVL 5 Vision 2008' on 26th of September. Hopefully we will see something new.

[cw_sasuke]

read op

the Interview has been posted there..or what do u mean ? but ok...nevermind...
monster hunter 3 really overshadowed it xD

[Darkman M]

Already on famitsu thread but all they care about is MH3, here is the interview translated by Yuna10 at gamefaqs:

:lol I don't know why but i bursted out laughing at that, will be interesting to see what they show at tgs thogh.:D

[iceatcs]

already been posted in the famitsu thread...

It is better to have own thread anyway.

[BlazingDarkness]

i think rykomatsu's translation here on GAF is better

[Pein]

Hope this comes out in the us soon

[KZObsessed]

Can't wait to see more of it.

[Beysus]

Q:Not just an adventuring game? What do you mean? Aki: We can't tell too much right now ,but it is something only the PLAYSTATION 3 Can have.

orly?

[bryehn]

So we'll see it x-mas 09?

I hope.

[Aeon712]

SCEA better work their asses off to get this to the States by June.

[Wollan]

Posted my feelings earlier but here ya go for dedicated thread:
Level 5 plays to the criterias I value the strongest. Seamless expansive worlds with incredible visuals running without a hitch, adaptive real time combat functional both in sp/mp, combat with non-comparable visual feedback. Level 5 games & FFXII were the best last gen, they got it (though the latter needed to load every 100m but the combat was incredible). The only thing lacking so far has been online/mp and I strongly hope that's the secret element here as it would just be perfect (the only console 'rpgs' supporting online this decade are those fully focused like PSO, MH & FFXII, it would be cool to see a game fire on all cylinders and be playable both offline and online. All western rpgs has been offline only which is a big mystery for me). Level 5 and the main FF team are the teams that will show us what next gen jrpgs can and should be.

[dralla]

I hope the story isn't as terrible as their previous games.

[thuway]

i think rykomatsu's translation here on GAF is better

I preferred the "LOL"s.

[thuway]

Posted my feelings earlier but here ya go for dedicated thread: Level 5 plays to the criterias I value the strongest. Seamless expansive worlds with incredible visuals running without a hitch, adaptive real time combat functional both in sp/mp, combat with non-comparable visual feedback. Level 5 games & FFXII were the best last gen, they got it (though the latter needed to load every 100m but the combat was incredible). The only thing lacking so far has been online/mp and I strongly hope that's the secret element here as it would just be perfect (the only console 'rpgs' supporting online this decade are those fully focused like PSO, MH & FFXII, it would be cool to see a game fire on all cylinders and be playable both offline and online. All western rpgs has been offline only which is a big mystery for me). Level 5 and the main FF team are the teams that will show us what next gen jrpgs can and should be.

I think you made the parallel with Resistance 2 and a Diablo raiding gameplay. I can easily see this game being the first JRPG to have an online raid style of gameplay on a next gen box. It makes too much sense with the success of Monster Hunter 3.

[Loudninja]

I like the title :)

[BlazingDarkness]

could they implement some sort of dark cloud style build your own communities online kinda thing? or am i chattin pap

[KGKK]

I hope the story isn't as terrible as their previous games.

I thought Rogue Galaxy's story was pretty good.

[Kinitari]

Mmm, I really trust level 5 after all their previous work - but I am still a little nervous about this game, but I think that's mostly because they haven't really talked too much about the game mechanics yet other than the skill chaining system (which seems wicked cool, and if they do it right, allows for a LOT of depth) the Action/Turn based combat system that is hard to explain, and the... you know, giant mech like game mechanics (which for some reason scream Jeanne D'arc to me, but that's a good thing).

What I really just worry about is that they are going to leave it at that, and ignore all the opportunity they have set themselves up for - I can see a lot of depth come out of the combat, especially if they take from their previous games (which they seem to be doing so far).

I am REALLY curious about this secret mechanic that really sets it apart from other JRPG's... but the cynic in me has heard that phrase SOO many times that I'm not going to hold my breath.

NA Jan 15 09 plz?

[NeoCross]

In Level 5 I trust.

[Firewire]

Posted my feelings earlier but here ya go for dedicated thread: Level 5 plays to the criterias I value the strongest. Seamless expansive worlds with incredible visuals running without a hitch, adaptive real time combat functional both in sp/mp, combat with non-comparable visual feedback. Level 5 games & FFXII were the best last gen, they got it (though the latter needed to load every 100m but the combat was incredible). The only thing lacking so far has been online/mp and I strongly hope that's the secret element here as it would just be perfect (the only console 'rpgs' supporting online this decade are those fully focused like PSO, MH & FFXII, it would be cool to see a game fire on all cylinders and be playable both offline and online. All western rpgs has been offline only which is a big mystery for me). Level 5 and the main FF team are the teams that will show us what next gen jrpgs can and should be.

Wasn't it mentioned last year that there would be some type of online setup for the game?

[DMPrince]

hm. i heard WKC Ancient pulse and now Wave of the ancient. Took them one year to come up with that name. bravo.

anyways. online features please.

[AranhaHunter]

could they implement some sort of dark cloud style build your own communities online kinda thing? or am i chattin pap

That's Dark Cloud 3

[methane47]

give us a freaking screen shot or a video level 5 ... sheeeesh

[Wollan]

[alterno69]

This is the only RPG i'm excited about this gen, i loved Dark Cloud 2 so i can't wait for this game.

[Riskbreaker23]

give us a freaking screen shot or a video level 5 ... sheeeesh

if you search, you can find the newest screenshots that accompanied this announcement

[DMPrince]

give us a freaking screen shot or a video level 5 ... sheeeesh

end of the month. Not that much longer.

[Kagari]

December is a good month.

[slider]

There hasn't been any new media on this in ages has there? Difficult for me to get excited about it - although what I have seen did look stupendous.

[Classic_Gs]

Awesome, so hopefully we will see it stateside by Summer '09.

[PuppetMaster]

I am so hyped after reading that interview!

[TheRagnCajun]

..and here i thought White Knight was just mia. I am really, really looking forward to this game. Level 5 has really proven themselves in the past.

[Paznos]

Something only the PS3 can have? wonder what he meant by that, Really looking forward to this and I hope we get it early next year.

[Nuclear Muffin]

Japanese only date I'm assuming...

[PistolGrip]

give us a freaking screen shot or a video level 5 ... sheeeesh

search for scans, hint read op.

[Jax]

.... damn, bring it. PS3 really needs more JPRGS. the japanese consoles that got beat by the american one on that front.


TGS!!!! bring it

[Metalmurphy]

HOME integration.

[andycapps]

Something only the PS3 can have? wonder what he meant by that, Really looking forward to this and I hope we get it early next year.

Well I assume it's related to the hard-drive. Probably online related as others here have guessed.

[Wollan]

DLC or online. People are speculating too much.

[DMPrince]

Well I assume it's related to the hard-drive. Probably online related as others here have guessed.

needs item creation that can be traded/sold online with others like one of those trade shops in MMO. or just an arena to fight others online. ;(

[Charles]

Merry Christmas

[AndyD]

An online arena would be cool.

BUt am I right that we have not seen anything on this game since that trailer a year ago?

[hteng]

ancient pulse sounds better, wave of the ancient sounds lame

[Kagari]

An online arena would be cool. BUt am I right that we have not seen anything on this game since that trailer a year ago?

You are right!

[Elios83]

Great! Can't wait to see it at TGS.
Hopefully SCEE will bring it in Europe in 1H 2009.

[DMPrince]

Great! Can't wait to see it at TGS. Hopefully SCEE will bring it in Europe in 1H 2009.

you're just better off hoping for an NA Version first and just import.