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[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

A lot of people have made comments that implied they expected to see this Feel+/Mistwalker/MGS RPG released this year. In particular, it was a remarkably common entry in the "top 10 anticipated games for 2006" lists in the thread from December. While none of Sakaguchi's new projects have official release dates, he's made remarks on several occasions implying that Lost Odyssey will definitely not be released until 2007.

Based on Sakaguchi's comments in various interviews, tentative Japanese release periods for AQI/Mistwalker's X360 RPGs are

Blue Dragon: late 2006
Lost Odyssey: first half of 2007
Cry On: second half of 2007

Of course, North American releases will probably come later, with Blue Dragon possibly in early 2007 and Cry On in early 2008.

P.S. Secret of Mana is the worst game in Seiken series

 

[Reilly]

P.S. Secret of Mana is the worst game in Seiken series

 

[Blimblim]

It's always been the plan as far as I've been told.
Blue Dragon is Q1 2007 in the US and Europe.

 

[Bebpo]

Blue Dragon is Q1 2007 in the US and Europe.

?

Does that mean it's coming out earlier than expected in Japan (was figuring Dec), or that it will have a very fast localization (Ie. 2 months)?

 

[Amir0x]

Damn that's a long time to wait for Cry On. I really can't wait to see it in action.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

It's always been the plan as far as I've been told.
Blue Dragon is Q1 2007 in the US and Europe.

I can't wait for this one.

 

[Error]

xbox360 for me in 2007 then.

can't wait for Blue Dragon.

 

[Blimblim]

?

Does that mean it's coming out earlier than expected in Japan (was figuring Dec), or that it will have a very fast localization (Ie. 2 months)?

Considering Microsoft is the publisher is not that much of a surprise to see that the game is developed while keeping in mind that there is a market outside Japan.
Having i18n strings and other essential stuff for localization right from the start is a big (and easy) way to speed up the process. And it's something that as far as I've been told the japanese developers don't really bother with too much.

 

[Amir0x]

I can't wait for this one.

But I thought you didn't like JRPGs, and thought they haven't evolved since 32bit days... and the goal of Blue Dragon is basically to be an archtypical JRPG to give 360 a Dragon Quest flare in Japan.

And that also, US doesn't need Japanese games.

 

[thetrin]

xbox360 for me in 2007 then.

can't wait for Blue Dragon.

Sakaguchi and Toriyama on a single project? You can't go wrong there. Hell, they might as well grab Yuji Horii in there, and rename it Chrono Trigger 2.

 

[choplifter]

P.S. Secret of Mana is the worst game in Seiken series

you mean SD2 / Secret of Mana for SFC/SNES, 1993, is the worst game in the series?
no way. it's better than SD/Final Fantasy Adventure, and better than the GBA game, and better than the Playstation game. sure, it's no SD3, but what is ?

 

[neptunes]

and the goal of Blue Dragon is basically to be an archtypical JRPG to give 360 a Dragon Quest flare in Japan

we hardly know anything of the game to make that kind of assumption.

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

you mean SD2 / Secret of Mana for SFC/SNES, 1993, is the worst game in the series?
no way. it's better than SD/Final Fantasy Adventure, and better than the GBA game, and better than the Playstation game. sure, it's no SD3, but what is ?

SD1 (decent Zelda-like dungeons and combat instead of SD2's unbalanced hack-and-slash) and Legend of Mana (more interesting game systems, some actual depth to the backstory/mythology and worldview) are both better than SD2, as is SD3 (more balanced combat). I don't really count SSD as it's just a remake of SD1.

 

[Zilch]

But I thought you didn't like JRPGs, and thought they haven't evolved since 32bit days... and the goal of Blue Dragon is basically to be an archtypical JRPG to give 360 a Dragon Quest flare in Japan.

And that also, US doesn't need Japanese games.

B-b-but... XBOX!~

 

[Amir0x]

we hardly know anything of the game to make that kind of assumption.

Well sure, if you want to be anal! But how much you wanna bet, it'll be like that except with awesome SHADOW moves?

 

[thetrin]

Well sure, if you want to be anal! But how much you wanna bet, it'll be like that except with awesome SHADOW moves?

And if it is? I don't know about anyone else, but if it's directed by Sakaguchi, I'm so there.

 

[Bebpo]

we hardly know anything of the game to make that kind of assumption.

Amir0x is right on this though. Blue Dragon is being made to try to draw in Japanese rpg gamers. They want the DQ/FF crowd to buy X360s. That means the battle system and gameplay has to be very DQ-style simple turn-based combat and that the game structure should be pretty standard too.

If they try to make it new and different people aren't going to buy it. This is their big X360 seller title, it's all about giving folks what they know and like with pretty graphics.

Not that I'm complaining as DQ battles with awesome graphics and great music is good enough for me

 

[Amir0x]

And if it is? I don't know about anyone else, but if it's directed by Sakaguchi, I'm so there.

Oh, that's fine for me. I don't particularly like random battles or turn based battles, but I deal with it if the game is good enough. I'm just poking a little fun at Agent Icebeezy

 

[CompositeMolar]

I just hope we will have some in-game footage at E3.

 

[Sgt. Killjoy]

I think i just heard the sound of me selling my 360.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Blue Dragon is Q1 2007 in the US and Europe.

Trying to know what games will ship in Q1 2007 is like trying to know if it's going to rain a year from today. Even if there's a document within Microsoft that has this game pegged for Q1 2007, that only makes the chances about fifty-fifty that it'll actually make that.

If the 'gooch is saying "end of 2006" for Blue Dragon, that's secret code for "we're gonna hustle like fuck to squeeze this out this year," which means, again, I'd give you fifty-fifty that it's 2007 worldwide.

 

[Amir0x]

I think i just heard the sound of me selling my 360.

That's silly man. Silly.

 

[Zweisy1]

Not a huge fan of Sakaguchi but Im looking forward to Blue Dragon . I liked what he said about wanting to make the game as interactive as possible. This is what RPGs really need IMO..their worlds often feel too static with hardly anything you can interact with except opening a few chests along the way.

 

[Amir0x]

and the water

holy shit, the water is like the most incredible thing ever!

 

[Sgt. Killjoy]

That's silly man. Silly.

I can get Oblivion for PC though. Its something i've been thinkin about cause i need the money.

 

[Straightballin]

Have they released any pics of this game yet?

 

[Amir0x]

I can get Oblivion for PC though. Its something i've been thinkin about cause i need the money.

what about Gears of War, Too Human, Cry On, Halo 3 and Mass Effect?

Does nothing for you?

 

[Sgt. Killjoy]

Oh trust me, those all look shit hot, but when do they even come out?

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

on the subject of Blue Dragon's game system:

Gamepro: What kind of game is Blue Dragon?

Hironobu Sakaguchi: It's a turn-based traditional RPG with real-time action, so it's a bit different from the conventional RPGS that you've seen until now. It's not an action-RPG, but has action features.

"real-time action features" is pretty vague and could describe anything from Legend of Dragoon/Shadow Hearts to FF4-9 to Grandia/FFX2 to Tales/Star Ocean to FFXII, but it does rule out straight DQ-style.

 

[thetrin]

Oh, that's fine for me. I don't particularly like random battles or turn based battles, but I deal with it if the game is good enough. I'm just poking a little fun at Agent Icebeezy

I like turn based combat systems if they're deep enough (Like the hex based system in Wild Arms 4), but I think random encounters mechanic is totally overdone. Even FF has moved on.

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

If the 'gooch is saying "end of 2006" for Blue Dragon, that's secret code for "we're gonna hustle like fuck to squeeze this out this year," which means, again, I'd give you fifty-fifty that it's 2007 worldwide.

Well, yeah, delays and optimistic estimates pervade the game industry (and the software industry in general). But didn't we all know that already?

 

[Kobun Heat]

"real-time action features" is pretty vague and could describe anything from Legend of Dragoon/Shadow Hearts to FF4-9 to Grandia/FFX2 to Tales/Star Ocean to FFXII, but it does rule out straight DQ-style.

"Next-generation machines have the power to create incredible graphics and sound. But I'm not stopping there. I want to have all sorts of things that aren't immediately visible; interactive elements that will surprise the player with their reaction. And I don't want these things to be sparse," Sakaguchi said. "I want them to be high density. It's a different direction than Final Fantasy's been going."

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,67976,00.html

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

That quote presumably describes the purported interactive environments rather than the battles, so I'm not sure how it's relevant...?

 

[Bebpo]

Yeah I'm sure there will be neat new next-gen gimmicks, but I'll eat my hat if the battles aren't standard.

I'm just hoping for visible enemies on the map instead of random encounters.

 

[Beowvlf]

Honestly, I doubt Blue Dragon will release anywhere before 2007, though it might squeeze into December this year in Japan. Cry-On will probably come out before Lost Odyssey methinks, just because cavia is larger and far more experienced than Feel Plus, and if I recall it isn't funded by MS, but rather Mistwalker themselves, so I'm sure they'll want it out ASAP (correct me if I'm wrong though). My guess is LO will probably be '08, so as to space the three games out from one another.

 

[Kobun Heat]

That quote presumably describes the purported interactive environments rather than the battles, so I'm not sure how it's relevant...?

Spoiler

Secret of Mana is the best game in the Seiken series.

 

[Kobun Heat]

if I recall it isn't funded by MS, but rather Mistwalker themselves, so I'm sure they'll want it out ASAP (correct me if I'm wrong though).

I think it's funded by the publisher, which is that new joint venture of Cavia/Artoon/some other shitty dev.

 

[Beowvlf]

I think it's funded by the publisher, which is that new joint venture of Cavia/Artoon/some other shitty dev.

I see. So what is Mistwalker's involvement then? I thought they were publishing it?

And I think the other dev is Feel Plus.

 

[duckroll]

I see. So what is Mistwalker's involvement then? I thought they were publishing it?

And I think the other dev is Feel Plus.

Mistwalker is just a TINY design studio made of like 10-20 people. They provide the gameplay designs and scenario while someone else does all the grunt work, and someone else pays for it all.

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

Cry On is funded by AQI. MS is said to have provided funding as well; I can't remember if this was confirmed or not. Sakaguchi apparently owns a chunk of AQI stock but that's about the only sense in which the game could be said to be funded by Mistwalker.

It could conceivably come out before LO, since anything can be delayed, but that's not the current plan. Even if cavia is larger than feel+, which isn't known, cavia has taken on more projects and, more to the point, Lost Odyssey entered development well before Cry On.

 

[Kobun Heat]

and someone else pays for it all.

But then gets to slap DIRECTED* BY HIRONOBU SAKAGUCHI MUSIC** BY NOBUO UEMATSU on the cover.

Spoiler

*he doodled the logo on a napkin
**hummed the first few bars of the opening theme, gave it to an assistant to finish up

 

[Zweisy1]

I think it's funded by the publisher, which is that new joint venture of Cavia/Artoon/some other shitty dev.

Yeah, that would be AQ interactive.

Mistwalker is just a TINY design studio made of like 10-20 people. They provide the gameplay designs and scenario while someone else does all the grunt work, and someone else pays for it all.

Well thats why I think Blue Dragon just might turn out well.. Blinx games might have been terrible from game design perspective but Artoon is quite competent technically.

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

Good taste is always relevant, as are long-overdue corrections to erroneous popular opinion.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

But I thought you didn't like JRPGs, and thought they haven't evolved since 32bit days... and the goal of Blue Dragon is basically to be an archtypical JRPG to give 360 a Dragon Quest flare in Japan.

And that also, US doesn't need Japanese games.

People say it reminds them of SNES version of Square, which is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to the PSX+PS2 version of Square.

Nonetheless, I have Kingdom Hearts 2 paid off and Final Fantasy 12 paid off, as well as the 3 RPGs for the 360 from Mistwalker. I'll still shit on the FF12 fight mechanics if they still suck. However, nobody tells a story like Square. Since the RPG genre is still my favorite, I still buy them.

 

[Zweisy1]

People say it reminds them of SNES version of Square, which is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to the PSX+PS2 version of Square.

Dunno, Im kinda partial to PSX version of Square thanks to Einhänder and more diverse lineup in general. They were great in the SNES days though. SNES+PSX Square >>>>>>>>>> PS2 Square.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Nonetheless, I have Kingdom Hearts 2 paid off and Final Fantasy 12 paid off, as well as the 3 RPGs for the 360 from Mistwalker.

.....


...seriously?

 

[Yoboman]

X360 will be a little beyond help in Japan, 2007

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

.....


...seriously?

Yes, seriously. I'm at work now, if you'd like proof, I can show you when I get home.

Kngdom Hearts 2 is 4-22-05
Lost Odyssey is 7-1-05
Cry On + Blue Dragon is 12-26-05
Final Fantasy 12 was done 2-3-06

Date of preorder.

I preorder games way in advance, for the most part.

 

[Ryudo]

Great games take time right ? I have to say i am actually impressed that a japanese dev is putting so much effort into an xbox title considering the majority of trash that comes from japan for xbox. We all know why that is, but it just makes it all the more impressive when someone other than team ninja is actually giving a shit.

 

[Kobun Heat]

I preorder games way in advance, for the most part.

Well, "preorder" I can understand, maybe, but you said you "have them paid off" which means something entirely different. You didn't actually give EB fifty dollars up front, did you?