The Official White Knight Chronicles Thread

[Kagari]

• Title: Shirokishi Monogatari -Inishie no Kodou-
• Release Date: 12/25/2008 (Japan). February 2, 2010 (US/EU).
• Genre: RPG
• Platform: PlayStation 3
• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
• Developer: Level-5
• Official Website
• Price: 6,980 yen

Online Meet-up Thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386461

Boxart:






Level-5 has been very quiet on the full story as not to give much away, however, the details we do know paint a very classic story of a hero rescuing the princess.

The story begins in Balandor Kingdom, where Princess Cisna is having her coming of age ceremony. All is not well, however, as a dark organization known as Wizard interrupts the party and raids the banquet.

The protagonist, Leonard, takes the princess away to safety and while doing so uncovers a mysterious armor that transforms him into the White Knight of ancient legend. With this power, he is able to defeat the monsters summoned by Wizard.

During the battle, Cisna is captured and so Leonard must set forth with his new powers to rescue her.

• Full High Definition Role Playing Game - Level-5's first HD game as well as their first PS3 title.
• 100 hours of gameplay in the single player experience.
• Music by Level-5 composer Tomohito Nishiura (Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy, Professor Layton)
• Advanced character customization - complex avatar creation for online adventures as well as insertion into Leonard's party in the single player campaign.
• Completely separate online mode - Two RPGs in one!
• Trophies - WKC has been confirmed to launch with trophies.
• Extensive DLC is planned - WKC will be continued for a long time through downloadable quests.
• In-game screenshots - Take screencaps with the Crystal Shot feature.
• The first truly epic, traditional RPG for the PlayStation 3.

According to reports, there is no slowdown even with a large number of enemies on screen.

Equipment changes will be seen in cutscenes as well.





Online mode is a completely separate entity from the single player experience. In fact, it's completely optional, but the great part about it is that you can go on quests with up to 4 people to gain experience for use in the single player mode.

Your character in the online mode is your avatar, which can be changed at any point, even in the single player mode. All items, money and levels are shared between the two modes.

Players can invite other players into their game.

When meeting up with other players in the online mode, you will meet up in a lobby where you can chat with a maximum of 16 people.
From there, 4 players can launch into a quest mode and play in real-time in the world of White Knight Chronicles.



The game will use it's own Geonet Social Network System, an internal email and message system for the online mode. There will be an ignore function. At this time there is no voice chat implemented, but the developers would like to include it at some time.

The online quests have a lot of volume to them, some lasting 45 minutes or more. You can quest without having 4 people in your party. Rewards are given similar to Monster Hunter. There is also no transforming.

The graphics in the online mode are slightly toned down and the draw distance is slightly less than the single player mode, but it's nothing concerning.







Trailers:
Tokyo Game Show 2006
Promotional Trailer
Tokyo Game Show 2007
Tokyo Game Show 2008 Story Trailer
Tokyo Game Show 2008 Online Trailer

TV CM 1
Single Player TV CM
Online Play CM


Screenshots












Famitsu: 7/8/7/7.

白騎士のケレン味やボス敵の迫力はいい感じ。 オフラインは肩肘張らずに遊べるバランスだが、 細部に歯がゆさを感じる部分も多い。リアルタ イムで仲間と会話しつつ冒険を楽しむオンライ ンには、オートバトルやオートランが欲しかっ た。戦闘や走りながらのチャットがしづらい。 ８点 自分なりのコンボを作ったり、ACをやりくり して変身したり、と独自の要素を活かしつつ 戦うのが楽しい。巨大な敵とのオンラインは、 チャットがしづらいのが難ですが、SNS風のシ ステムはしっかりした作りで、大きなコミュニ ティーに発展する可能性がありそう。 ７点 美麗な世界で巨大なモンスターと戦うシーンは迫力あり。 王道的な物語やイベントシーンはわかりやすい。 オンラインにつなげば、すぐ日記やメールが使えるので、 交流しやすいかも。戦闘システムは簡単でいいけど、 単調になりがちに。手軽に武具との合成や強化ができると よかった。 ７点 "お約束”から外れないシステム構成で、要素が多いわりに 複雑さは無く、入り込みやすい。連続技の組み立ても楽しい。 ただ、メニューや戦闘時の操作性は、もっと洗練してほしかった。 オンラインの行く末はバージョンアップ次第だが、さしあたって チャットの不便さは改善してほしい。

Summary:
Lots of optional content.
Big boss battles.
The combat system is simplistic.
Online chat has some issues that the reviewer hopes get patched in the future.
Reviewer #1 mentioned that he wished there was an autorun option because it's hard to chat and fight at the same time.

Offline play is balanced.
You can create your own combos. Fighting is fun.
The SNS system is difficult to use, in the future it would be nice if they patched it.

A beautiful world with huge monsters and intense battles.
Descriptive narrative and events in the single player mode.
The combat system can be repetitive.
Armor synthesis to easily strengthen weapons, is good.

Not complex, easy to get into.
Creating combos is fun, however, the way the menu works could be more polished.
The online mode's future depends on if they upgrade it.
For the time being, the chat function is inconvenient and needs improving.


Final thoughts from Shouta

Dengeki: 90/85/80/65.


Eurogamer: 8/10 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/wh...-review?page=1

Thanks to BruceLeeRoy for the banner!

[BeeDog]

Can't wait for impressions.

[Yoboman]

Why is the artwork so epic yet all the screenshots we've seen are in the same bland looking field???

[Seiken]

That fucking cover is GORGEOUS!

[Loudninja]

Why is the artwork so epic yet all the screenshots we've seen are in the same bland looking field???

I glad they didn't so much of the game.

Online sounds really good.

[Yoboman]

I glad they didn't so much of the game.

Yeah, some sneak peaks could've been nice to get the hype up though. I don't really know what to expect with this game

[Kagari]

Why is the artwork so epic yet all the screenshots we've seen are in the same bland looking field???

There are a lot of locations in the game as seen on the official site. All they have up in concept art though, but the variety is very good.

[ezekial45]

Could somebody please explain the combat system to me? Do you have to press an attack button in timing with the moving circle?

[rhfb]

Here is hoping combat is FUN and FAST.

[Kyoufu]

Can't wait to play it after the holidays.

[sca2511]

Great official thread Kagari, quite splendid. I cannot wait for this game, I hope it doesn't bomb though ;/

[BlazingDarkness]

Buying this at christmas, so will join GAF playthrough in the new year

[Shouta]

I'm game.

[SailorDaravon]

Man, I'd completely forgotten this game was even making it out in Japan this year. I'm curious if this turns out good or not. My best friend is a Level 5 nut and if it's good he's going to buy a PS3 for it when it comes out in the US.

[harSon]

Trying to convince a friend to purchase the game, I'm to cheap and poor to import right now :P

[tribal24]

im so in this

[Kaako]

If they deliver with SP campaign and online is solid, then I'm in.
Good OP.

[SHOTEH FOCK OP]

More games need to have worldwide releases.

Or I need to learn Japanese.

[drtomoe123]

So excited for this! :O

[Loudninja]

TV spot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXXRAgC-sIY

[Barakov]

I'll be here for this one. Well whenever it gets shipped to me anyway.

[klee123]

I'm in after new years because P-A won't be able to ship it until after X-mas.

It's gonna be awesome with this and Dissidia.

[Kagari]

More games need to have worldwide releases. Or I need to learn Japanese.

Localization is already in progress.

[LiquidMetal14]

The biggest next gen RPG so far (in terms of production). Can't wait to see what L5 can pull off.

[CoilShot]

I hope they release the soundtrack so I can import it

[Baha]

I won't be able to import this but I'll be watching this thread eagerly for impressions.

[klee123]

The biggest next gen RPG so far (in terms of production). Can't wait to see what L5 can pull off.

Oh man, that's just...........


Well good luck, it's ain't gonna end well.

[tribal24]

btw whats the song from the trailer

[lynux3]

Beautiful boxart.

[DMPrince]

YAY! the banner looks good! I didn't expect it to look soo cool!


Hopefully the media only have positive things to say about the game! and the online works day 1!

[Pein]

that's some sexy box art

[Ryuartyi]

I can't wait to get my hands on this. I can't read Japanese, so I have to wait for the US version.

It's going to be quite a wait.

[SHOTEH FOCK OP]

Localization is already in progress.

Good. I will now take this opportunity to learn German.

[BlazingDarkness]

btw whats the song from the trailer

White Knight Story ~ The Travelers , sung by KAZCO

[LiveFromKyoto]

What does "early 2009" mean? Like January? Or April/May?

[Kagari]

What does "early 2009" mean? Like January? Or April/May?

Probably March/April.

[jmonteiro]

Where did you hear it comes out "Early 09" outside Japan? I wish it's true but I doubt :(

[Strider2K99]

Boxart is sex.

Look forward to playing it in like a year or so.

[doogles]

Do want. Have been wanting for a while now, actually, back when it was White Knight Story.

[tribal24]

Probably March/April.

hmm i kinda feel like importing cause i dont believe the early 2009 sigh ill do both

[Kagari]

Where did you hear it comes out "Early 09" outside Japan? I wish it's true but I doubt :(

Game's already been featured on the PS blog, plus localization has been going on for some time now... plus that whole Q4 2008 bit a while back at some SCE meeting... so yeah, it's partial speculation.

[Kandinsky]

I still remember the unveiling/first trailer thread

[Issun23]

Nice thread. I have the Japanese version preordered and I'm looking forward to the game a lot. I only hope there's some focus on exploration. I love Level 5's colourful worlds. They're just very inviting.

[Gomu Gomu]

perfect banner, completed with a great OP. Thanks guys.

I don't think there will be a language changing option :(, gonna have to wait until early 2009.

[jmonteiro]

Game's already been featured on the PS blog, plus localization has been going on for some time now... plus that whole Q4 2008 bit a while back at some SCE meeting... so yeah, it's partial speculation.

Hope you're right

[klee123]

I seriously hope the US version will be bilingual. Then again, with Sony pimping the BD format since forever, they have no excuse.

[dreamer3kx]

cant wait for this shit! Is that also the US cover?

[Pein]

I really do hope this comes to the US soon, my PS3 is dying for a jrpg

[Rpgmonkey]

Won't be importing this, but looking forward to impressions. :)

[Kagari]

Thanks for the comments. My first official thread! ;D