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XSEED announces Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection for the West (PC, Falcom, Summer 2017)
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Battlechili
Banned
Aveyn Knight
Member
I'm leaning more towards a miracle XD
I'm still in shock. The good kinda shock.
Now to figure out where I put my Zwei avatars...
humansarehorses
Member
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
Zwei!! II has some ace music, including this Morricone-esque village theme.
As for Dinosaur, OG Zwei!!, and Sorcerian, I think at least 2 out of 3 could work well for XSEED. They'd have to price Zwei!! more aggressively because the sequel's coming first, but Dinosaur can appeal to the first-person dungeon crawler niche as well as fans of VNs. Sorcerian's probably doomed to a fan translation because it already targeted a specific, reliable but small audience in Japan to begin with, and it's not a looker or particularly great game. Gagharv won't get over the commercial barrier until Falcom remakes that series, if ever, but fan patches are all but guaranteed now that we're getting Legend of Xanadu (II), Brandish 2 (then 3, and the WIP 4 patch), and other older games.
Before I forget: VM Japan could sell decently if XSEED implements modern netcode, and including an English version of Vantage Master V2 would sweeten the deal. Then we could get Vantage Master Portable if sales are somehow good enough, since there's some unique content in that version (but I think the original's great to play and would be a cheap thing to work on).
The trick, really, is playing up the strengths of these older games while touting new features Sara can add for the Steam/GOG versions, plus better and more frequent use of social media and YT/stream exposure to keep people aware that a game's coming. Xanadu Next had the former but not the latter, and it released in a crowded holiday season last year where it simply faded into the background because XSEED refused to signal-boost. They got more proactive with Trails 3rd which has sold a little more than Trails SC did at launch, despite 3rd having even less buyers to pull from (not everyone who bought SC has finished it). Zwei: The Illvard Insurrection shouldn't have as much trouble since it's a cheap release in the first place (licensed translation + an editor and programmer) and could sell better than expected given its colorful first impression and, frankly, cute characters.Well, "good" news: outside of PC Gagharv somehow becoming a thing here or original Zwei coming over, the well is beginning to run rather dry on the PC.
It's great that virtually the entire 2003+ Falcom PC catalogue will be over here now, but outside of The Miracle Happening for the Joyoland PC ports of Crossbell, we're coming up on the end of the PC back-catalogue that's really still viable for commercial release at this point. I'd love to see Dinosaur Resurrection, Zwei!! or Windows Gagharv happen (the latter especially because they're the only hope we'll ever have for getting properly written versions of those games in English) but I don't envy anyone trying to come up with that marketing plan...
(edit: no but seriously, look at this page and realize just how many games from Napishtim on are now in English. Of the "post-Napishtim-era" games, the only remaining gaps are Vantage Master Portable, the Crossbell games and Nayuta, and those are all solely because they were late-era PSP games and the PSP was in trouble by the time Crossbell was coming out! (edit edit: well okay, Rinne and Ys vs. Sora, too, but that second one is understandable.)
As for Dinosaur, OG Zwei!!, and Sorcerian, I think at least 2 out of 3 could work well for XSEED. They'd have to price Zwei!! more aggressively because the sequel's coming first, but Dinosaur can appeal to the first-person dungeon crawler niche as well as fans of VNs. Sorcerian's probably doomed to a fan translation because it already targeted a specific, reliable but small audience in Japan to begin with, and it's not a looker or particularly great game. Gagharv won't get over the commercial barrier until Falcom remakes that series, if ever, but fan patches are all but guaranteed now that we're getting Legend of Xanadu (II), Brandish 2 (then 3, and the WIP 4 patch), and other older games.
Before I forget: VM Japan could sell decently if XSEED implements modern netcode, and including an English version of Vantage Master V2 would sweeten the deal. Then we could get Vantage Master Portable if sales are somehow good enough, since there's some unique content in that version (but I think the original's great to play and would be a cheap thing to work on).
I prefer the original Demon Vesper for not being as melodramatic, but I really enjoy Jindo's arrangements of that OST. Ilvard Insurrection doesn't have one as catchy and focused on folk styles, but it's still great.
Nick's hinting at something here. The fan translators were also working on Zwei!!, so maybe XSEED has plans with it based on how much was finished.
R_thanatos
Member
i don't know this game.
Can someone tell me why i should be excited .
i welcome all localisations of course but ..what's ZWEI 2 ?
Can someone tell me why i should be excited .
i welcome all localisations of course but ..what's ZWEI 2 ?
TheNotoriousAFG
Member
Haha I love that its more vibrant and exciting than the original, but I have no story context so who knows if it's fitting or not.
I feel your pain, and was forced to use a Windows partition in my Mac to play TitS 3. Times are tough, mayn.
MulderYuffie
Member
Omfg yes thank you XSEED!!?
I may even own that, I'll fire it up.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
I want everyone to stop and click this link from the soundtrack.
Demon Vesper
Sweet JAYSUS.
So yeah, I'mma buy this.
edit: fuck, was beaten. DO IT AGAIN ANYWAYS.
Demon Vesper
Sweet JAYSUS.
So yeah, I'mma buy this.
edit: fuck, was beaten. DO IT AGAIN ANYWAYS.
Tizoc
Member
DO NOT TEMPT ME
I must experience Falcom Music in the games they are in to fully immerse and appreciate it
DO NOT TEMPT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*clicks link*EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*closes link because it is final boss theme*EEEE
Wrong game - that song is from the first Zwei!!.
Though it is indeed utterly fantastic.
Wait... what? Cool as hell that this game is being localized (and I'll buy it), but I never really would have expected it.
You mention these games and not Brandish 4? You're killing me, Tizoc. :< (although getting Dinosaur Resurrection and Sorcerian Forever localized would be some shit, too)
Tizoc
Member
Bruh first we need the GOAT
The Legendary!
The Hallowed by thy name!
Brandish tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo: The Planet Busterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Just that name puts all other video game titles to shame. That's pretty much the greatest video game title of all time to me.
I know getting it ported is damn near difficult and even trying to sell it will be harder too, but I need that PC ver. localized or fantranslated yesterday.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
Nah, the first Zwei!! still has most of the mechanics and structure used in the sequel, and plenty of dungeon crawling. It's got what I consider a cozier soundtrack, gorgeous and timeless 2D visuals (the 3D bosses mostly suck...), and good pacing alongside a nice Falcom town and adventure. But I think XSEED would have to price their release more aggressively since the sequel's coming first (that, or Nick's hinting at the original game being a freebie).
The Brandish 2 PC-98 fan patch is coming pretty soon, and that's good enough for me. But I'd love for Falcom to get more staff in order to make a Brandish 2 remake that would appeal to us more.
Lord of Ostia
Member
Holy shit, Zwei!! for the west? Never would've guessed that! Awesome, will buy
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
I just realized that, short of a delay, XSEED's releasing this soon...very soon. July would be perfect if we got this and Trails of Cold Steel I in the same timeframe, and it would help sales a lot.
One major advantage here is that, unlike Xanadu Next, most people interested haven't already played the game in English. This really is the (polished) fan translation finally seeing the light of day, and there should be more things in store for the release.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
Confirmed for GOG. Tom @ XSEED has other comments in the post regarding their smaller slate this year.
I hope so. More Falcom is good for everyone, but steam is a very different place to 3 years ago.
Hm I hope you're right, I really want these to do well. It's interesting, I wasn't even aware Xanadu Next has had a readily available fan translation. I haven't been into the Falcom scene for that long!
SatelliteOfLove
Member
I blame the name and double exclamation marks.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
Since the fan translator likely finished her version of Zwei!! in English, XSEED will probably let her release a fan patch of that assuming they don't find a way to localize it later.
Palabragrís
Member
Love them.
Love Falcom. Love Xseed.
Thanks for those jrpgs >_<
Love Falcom. Love Xseed.
Thanks for those jrpgs >_<
In this day and age they should probably still call it Zwei II, or pull a Monster Hunter Tri and leave it in the logo "just in case" even if it's not actually being called that in any press material and is buried under the subtitle.
Still, awesome news! Definitely grabbing it ASAP.
EDIT: Though I also guess adding the subtitle means that they can release the original game and just call it Zwei. And be smartasses and go "it's still II, because it's the Illvard Insurrection. Really." Though following the link kind of shows they made up a whole new logo already anyway.
Still, awesome news! Definitely grabbing it ASAP.
EDIT: Though I also guess adding the subtitle means that they can release the original game and just call it Zwei. And be smartasses and go "it's still II, because it's the Illvard Insurrection. Really." Though following the link kind of shows they made up a whole new logo already anyway.
Claude Augario
Member
After Xanadu Next I didn't think we could be spoiled any further, and I'm glad I was wrong!
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
They probably made the new logo to avoid inserting the subtitle into the old one in an awkward way, but also to make the original Zwei!! logo pop out when they hopefully release or bundle that game.
PC ports of Falcom PSP exclusives like Vantage Master Portable and Brandish: The Dark Revenant are a long shot, but they could both find a bigger audience on Steam/GOG just as dedicated. So it comes down to costs of acquiring better assets and good ports, plus the kind of light marketing XSEED seems to be improving at (see Trails 3rd's countdown and preview stream).