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[cj_iwakura]

Well, at least they tried.

Never seen a developer subjected to as much undue ridicule as IE, but admittedly they made themselves an easy target with their 'Savior of JRPGs' spiel.

More often than not, they certainly made an effort to innovate.

Let's share some fond memories of what they did right for once.
(There's been more than enough hate about them in every other thread, so it might be nice to stay positive in this one.)


I haven't played all of their titles, but I'll at least touch on the noteworthy ones.

The company was founded in June 2005 by Ryoei Mikage(now MIA?...).

Imageepoch's first release was the Nintendo DS RPG, Luminous Arc.

This was soon followed by a sequel and another DS RPG, Sands of Destruction, localized by Sega.

Their next project was reportedly one of their best, as it was headed up by Etrian Odyssey's Kazuya Niinou... but sadly it was never localized.

Shortly after 7th Dragon, there was a third Luminous Arc game(never localized).

After their final DS release, IE effectively targeted the PSP with full force.

Another Kazuya Niinou-spearheaded project, and widely regarded as one of if not the best of their lineup. Sadly, it was never localized.

Around this time they also created a Wii RPG. Although plagued with one of the worst voice-acted localizations in recent memory, it nonetheless has a following for a fun battle system.

Fortunately, their next handheld RPG would finally be localized, and turned out to be one of their best-selling titles.

A side-story game in the Fate universe. While Extra contains many of the expected characters(Rin/Saber/Archer/etc.), it starts a brand new story, and utilizes a controversial Rock/Paper/Scissors style battle system(which I really enjoyed), and ambient music by none other than 999/VLR's Shinji Hosoe.

Their next localized game didn't get much attention, and was also infamously delayed for the better part of a year, so when it finally arrived, it was with minimal fanfare.

BRS is an action-RPG that takes cues from Fate/Extra, but has more in the way of real-time dodging than F/E's turn-based combat.

While it sure didn't win any GOTY awards, I had a lot of fun with it, and it's not bad looking either.

They also did a PS3 game at one point. Now let's never speak of it again.


That about does it for what I'm familiar with. Here's their full catalog, if you're curious:

Nintendo DS
Luminous Arc (2007)
Luminous Arc 2 (2008)
Sands of Destruction (2008)
7th Dragon (2009)
Luminous Arc 3 (2009)

Wii
Arc Rise Fantasia (2009)

Nintendo 3DS
SoniPro (2014)
Toshin Toshi Girls Gift RPG (2014)
Yoshi's New Island (2014, with Arzest)
Stella Glow (2015)

PlayStation Portable
Last Ranker (2010)
Fate/Extra (2010)
Criminal Girls (2010)
Tale of the Last Promise (2011)
Black Rock Shooter: The Game (2011)
7th Dragon 2020 (2011)
Sol Trigger (2012)
Fate/Extra CCC (2013) [ ]
7th Dragon 2020-II (2013)

PlayStation 3
Chevalier Saga Tactics (2011)
Time and Eternity (2012)

PlayStation Vita
Criminal Girls Invitation (2013)

What titles of theirs did you enjoy?

 

[desmax]

Only Arc Rise Fantasia, to be honest.

I enjoyed my time with it, but I got struck on a boss, so I gave up.

 

[Shizuka]

I loved both Fate/Extra and Black Rock Shooter: The Game. Aksys broke my heart by never localizing Fate/Extra CCC, specially after saying how well the first game did for them.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

#JusticeForArcRiseFantasia

 

[SephLuis]

Finished Luminous Arc and Sands of Destruction. Good games, but not great.

Played a lot of Last Ranker. Love the game, but still haven't finished.

Recently bought Arc Rise, but haven't played yet.

A shame they had to go under, they made some good games.

 

[Garraboa]

Holy crap, I just noticed...

It's "Imageepoch", not "Imagepooch"

 

[Shizuka]

If I'm not mistaken, Imageepoch didn't develop Criminal Girls' Vita port, it was another company that did it.

 

[Aeana]

I liked 7th Dragon and Arc Rise Fantasia. They lost me with pretty much everything else. I can't say I miss them terribly.

 

[rhandino]

Luminous Arc 2 and Arc Rise Fantasia are soooo god...

Too bad the voice acting on ARF is utter trash, at least it gets better (or you get to tolerate it) since the story is kind of very good =D

 

[cardinalmind]

I actually liked playing Fate/Extra but I started with a Caster which is the very definition of a glass cannon so I didn't finish it.

 

[Tohsaka]

I enjoyed Arc Rise Fantasia, Fate/Extra, Criminal Girls, Sands of Destruction and Tokitowa. Hopefully Stella Glow is a good sendoff for them.

 

[Shizuka]

I actually liked playing Fate/Extra but I started with a Caster which is the very definition of a glass cannon so I didn't finish it.

Caster is hard mode, I wish the game explained that to people in the beginning. Saber is easy mode and Archer is normal mode.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

I liked 7th Dragon and Arc Rise Fantasia. They lost me with pretty much everything else. I can't say I miss them terribly.

You didn't enjoy Luminous Arc?

 

[spiritfox]

Still bummed that 7th Dragon never came to the west, while we got the shitty Sands of Destruction. At least the fan translation is there.

Also, Luminous Arc was a decent, if mediocre SRPG that used FFT's turn system rather than something more like FE. It's alright, if kinda boring.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Caster is hard mode, I wish the game explained that to people in the beginning. Saber is easy mode and Archer is normal mode.

Even 'Easy' mode Saber is still a damn tough game. I can't even imagine starting from scratch as Caster.

 

[koutoru]

If there was any game that needed to be undubbed it was Arc Rise Fantasia.

Even Ignition apologized for the horrible dubbing afterward.

 

[Absoludacrous]

Arc Rise Fantasia was ok.

The only other game of theirs I've played is Time and Eternity.

I'm not super broken up that they don't exist anymore.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

I never played a single game from them, which is odd considering how crazy I am about JRPGs.... I did get Fate/Extra recently so I will change that soon.

 

[Shizuka]

Even 'Easy' mode Saber is still a damn tough game. I can't even imagine starting from scratch as Caster.

That's because your first playthrough is always going to be a tricky one for that game, until you get used to everything. I hold that game in the highest of regards, if only because it was the perfect game for that perfect time of my life. I'm going to dig the topic I created for the game on Aksys Forums when I finished it.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

Just knowing that the 7th Dragon and ARF IPs are dead forever makes me sad.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Oh, if anyone cares about Black Rock Shooter, who knows how long it'll be on PSN for. NIS still have it up for $19.99, and I believe it's Vita compatible.

 

[Aeana]

You didn't enjoy Luminous Arc?

I didn't find it to be anything special. And Luminous Arc was where the stupid skeevy innuendo stuff started, so I really don't appreciate that.

 

[fertygo]

Fate/Extra

 

[Curler]

I loved both Fate/Extra and Black Rock Shooter: The Game. Aksys broke my heart by never localizing Fate/Extra CCC, specially after saying how well the first game did for them.

I wonder if they'll ever be able to tell us what happened with CCC. Maybe in time they can spill the beans, since the company is now gone.

As for BRS, I'm still waiting to get it on a $10 sale, but I don't think it's ever even been on sale. Too bad NISA was never able to do the White Rock Shooter LE with the Figma

 

[cj_iwakura]

I didn't find it to be anything special. And Luminous Arc was where the stupid skeevy innuendo stuff started, so I really don't appreciate that.

Heh, LA3 came out in a time where Atlus was pretty much shooting down every third party game people wanted localized. And some of the first party ones.

 

[Golnei]

I don't actually have much experience with the games themselves, but I did enjoy 7th Dragon and Last Ranker's fantastic soundtracks by Yuzo Koshiro and Yoko Shimomura - especially the piano and string ensemble arrangement albums that each recieved. Sol Trigger and Time and Eternity had reasonable scores as well, but they were notably inferior compared to the former two.

Speaking of which, I still can't believe Yutaka Minobe and Masayoshi Ishi were responsible for the infamously disastrous Yoshi's Island DS and Yoshi's New Island music...

 

[Absoludacrous]

Oh, if anyone cares about Black Rock Shooter, who knows how long it'll be on PSN for. NIS still have it up for $19.99, and I believe it's Vita compatible.

If NIS published it, why would it be removed from PSN?

NIS isn't dead.

Edit: Oh, licensing agreement maybe? Didn't realize it was based on something.

 

[Wanderer5]

I wish I got more into The Last Ranker cause from what I played it was really nice, but the language barrier finally got to me heh.

 

[Shizuka]

I'm going to dig the topic I created for the game on Aksys Forums when I finished it.

I can't believe Aksys deleted their forums. I'm sad now.

 

[cj_iwakura]

If NIS published it, why would it be removed from PSN?

NIS isn't dead.

It hasn't stopped other titles licensed from dead companies from being pulled, like the R-Type games.

 

[Shizuka]

If NIS published it, why would it be removed from PSN?

NIS isn't dead.

Edit: Oh, licensing agreement maybe? Didn't realize it was based on something.

NISA only localized because it's a self-published Imageepoch title. If the original publisher/developer goes under, chances are the game is removed as well.

 

[Curler]

If NIS published it, why would it be removed from PSN?

NIS isn't dead.

Edit: Oh, licensing agreement maybe? Didn't realize it was based on something.

I'll definitely buy it at full price (like I did Fate/Unlimited Codes) IF they do take it down.

I can't believe Aksys deleted their forums. I'm sad now.

I checked the site a few months ago and it looked like they were upgrading from the BBS system they had before (which I wasn't a fan of). Guess they never brought it back

 

[Shizuka]

I'll definitely buy it at full price (like I did Fate/Unlimited Codes) IF they do take it down.

I checked the site a few months ago and it looked like they were upgrading from the BBS system they had before (which I wasn't a fan of). Guess they never brought it back

But Capcom put that game on sale the week prior to the delisting. Also, I'll miss the Aksys Forums, that Umineko topic was a ride.

 

[Nairume]

I enjoyed ARF and I was okay with 7th Dragon and Luminous Arc

Sands of Destruction was quite possibly one of the most disappointing games of last generation and was a sign that they were never going to deliver on the lofty promises they kept making.

While I won't celebrate their death, I won't mourn them either. I may give Stella Glow a shot if it ends up being fine, though.

 

[Aeana]

I enjoyed ARF and I was okay with 7th Dragon and Luminous Arc

Sands of Destruction was quite possibly one of the most disappointing games of last generation and was a sign that they were never going to deliver on the lofty promises they kept making.

While I won't celebrate their death, I won't mourn them either. I may give Stella Glow a shot if it ends up being fine, though.

I actually enjoyed Sands of Destruction when I played it in Japanese, but it had some things that bothered me a lot in retrospect. I didn't like how easy it was to break the combat system, or how dumb some of the dungeon design was. But I think I made a post after I finished it originally that was fairly positive. I look back on it now and I'm not sure what I was thinking. http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13008219&postcount=105

 

[duckroll]

Shit company that was managed by a guy who clearly had no idea how to run a business, who managed to attract some pretty good talent for a period of time only to implode once said talents left the company. 7th Dragon and Last Ranker were great at least. Everything else was mehtastic.

I actually enjoyed Sands of Destruction when I played it in Japanese, but it had some things that bothered me a lot in retrospect. I didn't like how easy it was to break the combat system, or how dumb some of the dungeon design was. But I think I made a post after I finished it originally that was fairly positive. I look back on it now and I'm not sure what I was thinking. http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13008219&postcount=105

I think I was pretty fair with my final impressions. They read as pretty positive overall too, but it's mostly the benefit given to a new emerging developer. It's an extremely amateur game in terms of game design, but had really good production values.

 

[Curler]

But Capcom put that game on sale the week prior to the delisting.

I think at the time I blew my budget that week :/ I ended up getting it on Gamestop.com since they still had codes for the game at full prices for several months after it go delisted. It's gone from there now, though.

Sands of Destruction was quite possibly one of the most disappointing games of last generation and was a sign that they were never going to deliver on the lofty promises they kept making.

I played it as a "sure, why not" game, and I think it was after I watched the anime. The anime was... not good, but the game was slightly better, but with bad voice acting. Some parts in the game were a bit of a pain, some kind of fun, but pretty "meh" in the end. I didn't have much for expectations with it, though.


Time and Eternity though. That game is for people who enjoy bad games. The gameplay DID have some interesting things in it that would be fun in playing in another game, but I had such high hopes for the anime-style game. I just laughed along with it to the end

 

[Nairume]

I actually enjoyed Sands of Destruction when I played it in Japanese, but it had some things that bothered me a lot in retrospect. I didn't like how easy it was to break the combat system, or how dumb some of the dungeon design was. But I think I made a post after I finished it originally that was fairly positive. I look back on it now and I'm not sure what I was thinking. http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13008219&postcount=105

It's weird. I was really positive going into it and even decided that I definitely needed to buy it after playing a friend's import copy.

But then when I actually delved into it for real, it seemed to just fall to pieces so quickly. The combat never seemed to pair well with the encounter design and the neat story concept just got ruined by a lot wasted time spent falling back on genre crutches (amusingly enough, I just played through Infinite Undiscovery for the first time, and it has almost exactly the same issues)

And I really wanted to give this game a chance, since it sounded like everything I could have wanted at the time. Of course, it sounds like they also did some really misleading advertising in regards to who actually worked on the game, so I guess I fell right for what they intended?

 

[Curler]

And I really wanted to give this game a chance, since it sounded like everything I could have wanted at the time. Of course, it sounds like they also did some really misleading advertising in regards to who actually worked on the game, so I guess I fell right for what they intended?

What did they say and who was it really?

 

[random25]

Played Luminous Arc and ARF, both were pretty good, especially ARF.

Sadly, they never made a game I consider remarkable for a "JRPG Savior".

 

[ohlawd]

really liked Arc Rise Fantasia. I even thought the dub was aight >_>
I've nearly finished it. only stopped when mooks stopped dying in one hit

but I'm in here for Fate/Extra. battle system is bad since fights don't change. fight one battle, you've fought them all. I liked it all the same tho. at least if how I apporach battles don't change then I don't have to bother switching up my strategy. above everything, I enjoyed the story progression and unpredictable the enemy servants are. music is freaking ace too. Caster <3

F/E CCC

I've been kinda spoiled with a bunch of stuff concerning Gilgamesh and the Sakura clones but eff me I need more Caster

 

[Jpop]

I liked 7th Dragon and Arc Rise Fantasia. They lost me with pretty much everything else. I can't say I miss them terribly.

That's pretty much how I feel. They had those couple of good games and the rest were just forgettably mediocre or just plain bad.

 

[duckroll]

What did they say and who was it really?

When they announced the game, they made a huge deal about how it's a super high profile original RPG reuniting the Xenogears staff - Masato Kato, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Kunihiko Tanaka. Later on, it turned out that Tanaka didn't even design the main characters, he was just contracted to do some minor designs and the main publicity image (which was also the game's cover). Mitsuda also did not compose the entire soundtrack, but I guess that was already pretty common at that time for composers like Mitsuda and Sakimoto to let their fellow studio composers help with most of their soundtracks.

 

[Curler]

When they announced the game, they made a huge deal about how it's a super high profile original RPG reuniting the Xenogears staff - Masato Kato, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Kunihiko Tanaka. Later on, it turned out that Tanaka didn't even design the main characters, he was just contracted to do some minor designs and the main publicity image (which was also the game's cover). Mitsuda also did not compose the entire soundtrack, but I guess that was already pretty common at that time for composers like Mitsuda and Sakimoto to let their fellow studio composers help with most of their soundtracks.

I see, so they were involved but not as much as someone was led to believe.

 

[CaviarMeths]

Oddly, I'm pretty familiar with most of their catalog through forums, YouTube, etc, but I've never actually played a single game of theirs. Closest I came was watching my brother play ARF, and we had a good laugh about the voice acting, but the game itself actually looked pretty fun.

Maybe I'll check out Stella Glow as my way of pouring one out for Savior-chan.

RIP in peace, Imageepoch.

 

[hongcha]

I really enjoyed 7th Dragon 2020, Sol Trigger, and Toushin Toshi (3DS); all three are excellent games. The Stella Glow demo was nice, so I'm looking forward to that and hopeful it will be a nice swan song for the company.

 

[Phantom Flapjack]

The only game of theirs I've played is Arc Rise Fantasia. It's my favorite RPG of last gen. They will be missed.

 

[threelights]

I still want to play Last Ranker D=

I think I'm just going to go through the Japanese version and then watch that youtube translation as I go along =X

Anyway, always sad to see a company closing down.

Fate/Extra was tons of fun btw.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Arc Rise Fantasia was great, despite some insane difficulty balance issues. It was a better Tales of nonetheless.
I'd have loved for Last Ranker to be localized too...

But given their weird release strategy it's no wonder they went down.

 

[redcrayon]

I wanted to enjoy Luminous arc, and bought both 1 and 2, but use of the 'comedic pervert' trope just put me off. Why would you allow some creepy guy to join your party? Wouldn't you just tell him to sod off, it's not like he's needed when the rest of the party are powerful mages and knights. It's like he's added for 'hilarious' comic effect, which is just terrible writing for the other characters if a dozen of them can't supply humour.

They are pretty average tactics games, but as first efforts they had potential if they could have learned from the best in the genre and lost the skeeviness.