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[Aldric]

One of the most bizarre Nintendo related topics often discussed online is the fabled new IP by Monolith Soft that some people seem to think is some sort of unsubstantiated rumor based on fanfiction derived from fancy artwork. This is kind of baffling to me because even if it hasn't been officially announced this game being real seems far more likely than the countless rumored titles "insiders" supposedly heard about from their sources, and we know this thanks to publically available concrete information. Let's look at it.

In July 2017 a few months after revealing Xenoblade 2 Monolith post a recruitment ad on their website. It's specifically asking for a few things: people who are familiar with action games, medieval fantasy settings, online games, and popular trends outside Japan.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170710184652/http://www.monolithsoft.co.jp/recruit/recruit_01.html

A month later an entire page is created with more job offers featuring the infamous concept art pieces accompanied with this very specific sentence:

"An ambitious new project aimed at a global audience and different from Monolith Soft's brand image".

https://web.archive.org/web/20170830073618/https://www.monolithsoft.co.jp/recruit/special/

These words would stay on the page until a year later where they'd be replaced by another line saying that they were looking for people with experience in action games.

The interesting thing is this page is still up on their website alongside another rectruitment ad for Zelda, since Monolith have been co-developing mainline Zelda games alongside Aonuma's team since Skyward Sword in 2007 or so:

https://www.monolithsoft.co.jp/recruit/production/action.html

https://www.monolithsoft.co.jp/recruit/production/zelda.html

These recruitment drives mean that the studio went from 150 employees in 2017 to 272 today:

https://mundogamer.community/articl...developer-monolith-soft-now-has-272-employees

Finally, there's been recent findings showing that whatever this game is they're still working on it and it therefore hasn't been cancelled:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/azamoyski/

So there you have it. Monolith Soft have been working since at least mid 2017 on a new action game IP in a medieval fantasy setting and it's apparently not a small side project but something they want to turn into a worldwide success. Personally I'm more hyped about this project than for the majority of games that have already been announced because the idea of Monolith using their top tier environmental design to craft a fantasy world with less menuing and automation than in Xenoblade games sounds like a dream to me. Imagine vistas like these but you're riding a dragon instead of a mech:

Heck, they can put mechs in it anyway and call them golems or whatever, Vision of Escaflowne style. Anyway I hope this thread convinced some doubters that the project is real and hopefully it's revealed soon, ideally for the Switch 2.

 

[Punished Miku]

I just want anything but Xenoblade.

 

[Danjin44]

I like anything Monolith Soft makes so I don’t mind see them do medieval fantasy genre.

 

[Aldric]

I just want anything but Xenoblade.

Don't get me wrong I love Xenoblade and they'll obviously continue making these games since it's Takahashi's lifelong work but ideally I'd prefer this new IP's core gameplay to be more "immediate" so to speak without the layers of systems and UI manipulation of Xenoblade (but I still hope the combat and traversal are deep and not overly simplistic).

 

[Woopah]

Hopefully a launch title for Switch 2, Monolith Soft could make a great new IP that utilises the new hardware I bet.

 

[dacuk]

Where is my damn remaster of Disaster: Day of Crisis?!

 

[Gobjuduck]

I just want anything but Xenoblade.

Xenoblade is fantastic. Why not?

3 marks the end of chronicles, and they plan on making a whole new type of game that is smaller.

 

[Gaiff]

Nice, another medieval fantasy RPG. We don't have enough of those.

 

[Aldric]

Nice, another medieval fantasy RPG. We don't have enough of those.

That's like saying Nintendo shouldn't have made Splatoon because we have enough multiplayer shooters.

 

[DKPOWPOW]

Where is my damn remaster of Disaster: Day of Crisis?!

Yeah. I am still pissed I never got to play it since they canceled the North American release. Utter bullshit.

 

[Gaiff]

That's like saying Nintendo shouldn't have made Splatoon because we have enough multiplayer shooters.

Nah, Splatoon is unique. Medieval JRPG #139743 isn't.

 

[Aldric]

Nah, Splatoon is unique. Medieval JRPG #139743 isn't.

How about you wait for the game to be revealed officially before deciding it's a generic medieval rpg.

 

[Gaiff]

How about you wait for the game to be revealed officially before deciding it's a generic medieval rpg.

What was the last medieval JRPG that wasn't generic? The setting alone has been reused so much that it's damn near impossible to even be original with it. With how many different places and time periods there are, I'm baffled that Japanese RPG developers are still largely stuck in the medieval period and have been for over 30 years.

 

[Aldric]

What was the last medieval JRPG that wasn't generic? The setting alone has been reused so much that it's damn near impossible to even be original with it. With how many different places and time periods there are, I'm baffled that Japanese RPG developers are still largely stuck in the medieval period and have been for over 30 years.

I trust Monolith's artists and level designers, I'm sure they'd be able to craft a unique looking world even in a more classical theme than what they're used to. Like this concept art for ex, it's unrelated to the game (was part of an internal competition held between recently hired artists) but it still gives you a glimpse of what they could come up with.

Mechanically I'm sure they have a hook too because Nintendo don't generally greenlight new IPs without a new core gameplay mechanic (Splatoon, Arms, Astral Chain etc).