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How A Team Of Two People Is Bringing Us 2014's Largest JRPG(Trails in the Sky:SC)

C

CrazyDude

Member
Didn't see this posted.

Carpe Fulgur actually started working on the script in 2011, not long after the release of the first chapter. For two years, both XSEED and Dice kept the deal secret. They had to. Nothing was finalised. And as they kept plugging away at the script, they didn’t even know for sure if anyone would even see it.

It was the success of XSEED’s Ys action-RPGs on Steam that convinced the publisher that Trails 2 could be a feasible release. Instead of just releasing the second Trails on PSP, like originally planned, they would put it on Steam, too. By releasing the game on Valve’s huge distribution platform, XSEED could reach enough of a potential audience to make the investment worthwhile.

“For a long time there was a little uncertainty if the project would actually go forward, even after the two Ys games came out,” Dice said. “We had to be sure they’d sell enough to justify working on other titles, and to prove that XSEED could sell PC titles — which, by the way, they can.”

Dice, who had worked with Steam before, helped connect XSEED to Valve for Ys Origin and Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which quickly became two of XSEED’s biggest sellers ever. Good news for anyone looking forward to SC. If the Ys games hadn’t sold, “Trails wouldn’t have happened,” Dice told me.

But the games did well, and SC is happening. The script is almost done, Dice says — in fact, they’re totally done with the main story.

“We are getting the script inserted into the game right now on the PC version so that we can see what works and what doesn’t,” Dice said. “The sidequests and NPCs and whatnot are also getting pretty close to done. We’ve got everything outside of the towns basically done at this point.”

Comforting news for anyone who’s seen the insane size of SC’s script and wondered just how anyone could translate it. And yeah, it’s a huge endeavour, but Dice says they’ve been working six or seven hours per day for the past two years to get SC together (Another fun fact: Dice says a big chunk of the script is actually repeated text used for multiple versions of the same scene — like, say, meeting a character in the plaza as opposed to meeting them at the city entrance.)

Now that they’re closer to release — XSEED is hoping to get both versions of SC out next summer — I asked if they’re working extra “crunch” hours to get things done.

“We aren’t actually crunching,” Dice said. “We don’t want to crunch on Trails partially because if you really tried to crunch all the way through Trails, you die. You would die. It would take your life, either through pure exhaustion or through being driven to suicide. I’m only partially joking here.”
Click to expand...

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/12/how-a-team-of-two-people-is-bringing-us-2014s-largest-jrpg/
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
PC and Steam: Saving JRPGs along the way.

Hopefully, these release do well and open some eyes on both sides of the sea. JRPG market on PC is just waiting to be fully realized.
 
A

Aeana

Member
I really think Steam will finally let this series get the exposure it deserves. I'm really glad that such an opportunity arose.
 
B

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
XSeed you know what to do, bring Falcoms amazing Xanadu Next over to Steam. There's such a big audience for that game, you're sitting on a pile of money people would part with. I know many people would love that game.
 
V

Volcynika

Member
Aeana said:
I really think Steam will finally let this series get the exposure it deserves. I'm really glad that such an opportunity arose.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Hopefully will do well on the release and then a good sale will get a lot more people into the game post-release.
 
Glass Rebel

Glass Rebel

Member
I'm really interested in what Falcom is thinking about it and how involved they even are. They seem to be happy with the Japanese market on Sony platforms but I'm sure they see at least some potential in the Western PC market as well.
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
Sounds great, but I really wish Valve actively seeked out Japanese devs themselves. It seems that most of them have to go through translations hurdles just to get in contact with them.

If they had a specific group to get in contact with J-Indie devs we could be getting a lot more games on Steam that we would have never ever heard of otherwise, but at least Carpe Fulgur is there.
 
G

Green Card

Member
I wish they would do one print run of physical copies for PSP instead of digital only. Class of Heroes II had one with enough preorders and Elminage Original had one with a print run of just 300.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
Glass Rebel said:
I'm really interested in what Falcom is thinking about it and how involved they even are. They seem to be happy with the Japanese market on Sony platforms but I'm sure they see at least some potential in the Western PC market as well.
Click to expand...

Falcom needs to wake up and realize that the PC market is drooling over what they could offer.
 
S

Salaadin

Member
Day one psp release for me, assuming it plays fine on vita. Will double dip on steam down the road to show support.

Really glad we are finally going to see this.
 
T

Tye The Czar

Member
Kintaro said:
Falcom needs to wake up and realize that the PC market is drooling over what they could offer.
Click to expand...

Japan in general needs to wake up. Falcom has a long history of PC game development. Right now, they're developing for consoles and portables since that's where the money is in Japan.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Great news. I'm interested by those games, someone mentioned the first one in the "best game no one played this past gen" thread and it definitely piqued my interest.
Kintaro said:
PC and Steam: Saving JRPGs along the way.
Click to expand...
A CRPG elitist dude I know is gonna have an aneurysm, lol.
 
L

Lana Del Rey

Banned
Even if I'm not particularly looking forward to this (although I will no doubt end up owning it), I like this trend. Yes JRPG devs, you can and should sell your games on steam.
 
T

tokkun

Member
Tagg9 said:
Perhaps. Has any JRPG succeeded on Steam in the past?
Click to expand...

Aeana said:
The Ys games, which are mentioned right in the article!
Click to expand...

reptilescorpio said:
Recettear did really well also (another Carpe Fulgar project).
Click to expand...

stfuppercut said:
Dark Souls PTDE has pretty good PC sales says Namco.
Click to expand...

All of those examples are action RPGs. None of them are particularly story-driven either. It will be interesting to see if a turn-based, story-heavy JRPG can achieve success too.
 
T

t26

Member
Wonder if will have an impact like trail in the Chinese market. Zero and Aoi are only getting a PC port due to china
 
R

Ratrat

Member
shadyspace said:
What's so good about this series?
Click to expand...
It's reminiscent of classic jrpgs with an incredibly vast established lore and characters. Heavy emphasis on story that's actually decent.

I personally, am mainly in for the gameplay though. I'm sure the hardcore fans can better describe why you should play it. Especially if you've been down on the genre recently.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
tokkun said:
All of those examples are action RPGs. None of them are particularly story-driven either. It will be interesting to see if a turn-based, story-heavy JRPG can achieve success too.
Click to expand...
The charts seem to indicate that Agarest did fairly well for Ghosylight, and that's a bad turn based, story heavy RPG. And even for the others you mentioned, Dark Souls is the only game I'd say qualifies as an exception.
 
D

Dark_castle

Junior Member
shadyspace said:
What's so good about this series?
Click to expand...

I don't know about others, but Trails in the Sky series is known for its intricate world building, very detailed script, a lot of well-done foreshadowing and likable characters, great music and good gameplay.

544649936.jpg
 
H

Hours Left

Member
I'm so FREAKING excited for this game. :D

I hope this, along with the Steam releases, really launch this series into it's rightful place in the West, in the hearts of RPG fans everywhere. This series is too amazing to let slip away.

Also, SpaceDrake, I love you soooooo much.
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Wait Steam is getting the SEQUEL also, I though it was just getting a port if the first trails o_O Day 1, the first was awesome on psp
 
T

twentytwo22

Member
Rhaknar said:
Wait Steam is getting the SEQUEL also, I though it was just getting a port if the first trails o_O Day 1, the first was awesome on psp
Click to expand...

SC is coming to both Steam and PSP (digital).

Will be double-dipping and certainly playing to see how the localization turns out.
 
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