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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-04-07-new-fear-effect-announced

A new Fear Effect game is set to take to Kickstarter - with Square Enix's blessing.

But this new Fear Effect won't be a big budget affair - as Fear Effect on PSone was. Instead, it'll be an indie game from a little-known studio that's using crowdfunding to raise development cash.

French studio Sushee worked with Square Enix's The Collective two years ago on adventure game Goetia. After the publisher signalled it was open to pitches for new games set in its back catalogue of dormant franchises, it worked on a Fear Effect prototype heavily influenced by Shadowrun Returns. Square Enix liked the pitch and gave the thumbs up to a Kickstarter for Fear Effect Sedna, which is set to launch Tuesday, 12th April.

More at the link

Teaser trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvsUKhrSfqc

 

[MassiveNights]

Seems like a bad idea to launch your Kickstarter 5 days after you announce it.

If it's on 4 discs, I'm in.

 

[Dragon1893]

Always been curious to try these games but never got around to it.

 

[Exodust]

Was wondering what happened to the series. How much do I have to back for an exclusive lesbian clip?

 

[Radogol]

That doesn't really look like Fear Effect at all.

 

[5taquitos]

Is this the first project from the Square Collective program that's using an existing IP?

 

[kulapik]

Is this the first project from the Square Collective program that's using an existing IP?

Think so.

 

[Jonneh3003]

That doesn't really look like Fear Effect at all.

For sure... I really want to support this but it doesn't look like the game I want.

 

[psychotron]

Loved Fear Effect and have wanted a remaster / remake for a while. This.....is not what I asked for.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Hmm, being a sequel to a 3rd unreleased game is plain odd :/

Also it doesn't sound so much like a good jumping on point for newcomers? Which doesn't seem a good idea given it was what 17 years we last had a FE game

 

[ShadowOfTheIco]

I've wondered why ubisoft doesn't jump on the episodic bandwagon with Fear Effect. They published it after all. And creating that type of game today is nowhere near as expensive.

It was all but an episodic game packaged across multiple discs.

 

[Memory]

Need to see some game play but the teaser looked fine to me. Let's see what they do with it, the fact they were allowed to use it shows Fear Effect is effectively dead. If this KS fails we won't see a FE for a long time if ever.

 

[Galdelico]

It's a bit too early for me to understand if this is what I wanted (for the series to continue with), or not... That said, the whole presentation feels underwheliming at best, which is a shame, as I still love the first two games and I always hoped for Fear Effect to make an epic return. :/

 

[mabec]

Absolutetly supporting this just from the camera view. Also because of lesbians.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Uh.... Who asked for this?

[...] it worked on a Fear Effect prototype heavily influenced by Shadowrun Returns. Square Enix liked the pitch and gave the thumbs up to a Kickstarter for Fear Effect Sedna, which is set to launch Tuesday, 12th April.

[...]
"We want to make something that respects the series, but it's not going to be Fear Effect 3. It's going to be a new Fear Effect with new gameplay."

So... why do you even call it Fear Effect? It's not like the original games were rich in world-building and lore. Weird.

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Need to see some game play but the teaser looked fine to me. Let's see what they do with it, the fact they were allowed to use it shows Fear Effect is effectively dead. If this KS fails we won't see a FE for a long time if ever.

If I'm not mistaken, at the beginning of the Square Enix Collective program they immediately put Fear Effect, Gex and Anachronox as free-for-pitches franchises.

That said, I'm not too familiar with Fear Effect, but was it really noteworthy outside of the cell-shading and the sexualized lesbian relationship?

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I've wondered why ubisoft doesn't jump on the episodic bandwagon with Fear Effect. They published it after all. And creating that type of game today is nowhere near as expensive.

It was all but an episodic game packaged across multiple discs.

I've no idea what you're talking about, but Fear Effect is a Square Enix IP, as noted in the first post.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

That said, I'm not too familiar with Fear Effect, but was it really noteworthy outside of the cell-shading and the sexualized lesbian relationship?

Not really. They were really mediocre action games.

 

[KiteGr]

That's not Fear Effect...

Regardless, last time I've checked, Fear Effect dug it self into a hole when in the first game it was unclear who of the characters survived, and the crappy "everyone wins" ending was hiden behind the hard difficulty setting.
That's why the next game was a prequel, and there are only so many prequels they can do.

 

[Xater]

I am almost offended that Square can't bother to fund this project for this amount themselves, and expects players to do it based on nostalgia for something that doesn't quite look like the same old game. This does not feel like what crowdfunding should be.

 

[Acquiescence]

I rate the first game as a survival-horror classic, so by rights I should be thrilled about this, but... I'm not. It's a cheap production made by a little-known studio that doesn't appear to play like the original games. I'm disappointed.

Thing is, Fear Effect 1+2 had some of the most lavish, awe-inspiring production values on the PS1. They were fantastic looking games for their time, and still hold up well. Putting out a low-budget effort just doesn't seem worth it.

Not to mention the originals were quite gratuitous in content and very politically incorrect. No doubt in today's climate, that 'effect' will be dulled considerably.

 

[Jintor]

Not to mention the originals were quite gratuitous in content and very politically incorrect. No doubt in today's climate, that 'effect' will be dulled considerably.

I think you can still get away with that kinda thing but you have to market appropriately, be really smart about it, or just go whole-hog offensive.

 

[KiteGr]

That said, I'm not too familiar with Fear Effect, but was it really noteworthy outside of the cell-shading and the sexualized lesbian relationship?

The first game was purely about chinese paganism. It had zombies that you fight wearing nothin but a towel, a brothel, a trip to hell, and it was generally one of the most "mature" games you could get on ps1.

The second was a prequel with various improvements, themed around chinese paradise, but all eveyone remembers is the two girls being lesbians and sharing a short scene in an elevator. This must have been ground breaking at the time, but it doesn't even compare to the shit I've seen in the first game.

As for the games selling point, besides the fucked up story, was the presentation. Similar to how some fmvs in the ps1 final fantasy games you could control your character, in Fear Effect the entire game was resident evil styled whete instead if pictures you walked on Fmvs, and instead of cutscenes you had more fmvs. Each game was 4 disks.

The graphics aged fantastically, but the controls could benefit from some of the more recent inovations.

I suggest you try them out.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I am almost offended that Square can't bother to fund this project for this amount themselves, and expects players to do it based on nostalgia for something that doesn't quite look like the same old game. This does not feel like what crowdfunding should be.

One obvious question then is: Why doesn't Square Enix just fund the game? Well, frankly, we don't have any plans to make a new Fear Effect game ourselves - and this process isn't about trying to get other devs to reignite our old franchises on the sly.

What we're trying to do is to open the door and make available for developers to use and build upon some of our dormant franchises - because we know how hard it is to launch original ideas these days.

Doing it this way, it's really very similar to licensing the IP out.

This means that, while of course we retain the ownership to the Fear Effect IP, the developer will then get to have creative control over the project. Since it's up to the developer to raise funds, while Square Enix will publish the game for them, the developer will retain the majority of net revenue upon release.

Sounds completely reasonable to me.

 

[Aters]

I should try out the original, sounds like a fun game.

 

[UrbanRats]

Didn't get to play the second one, but the first one i loved.
Not sure it's a series that will get by without a lot of controversy in 2016 though.

EDIT: Yeah it doesn't really look like FE, shame.

That said, I'm not too familiar with Fear Effect, but was it really noteworthy outside of the cell-shading and the sexualized lesbian relationship?

Like KiteGR said, production values were clearly the biggest draw for the game, but beyond that, you had an interesting setting (cyberpunk actually set in China) cool Chinese folklore, and an interesting amalgamation of Resident Evil style action combat, with stealth and point & click adventure moments and puzzles (harsh ones, might i add, since penalty was death most of the time).
To play it now, it feels a bit dated, mostly when it comes to combat controls, but they still look gorgeous.
Also, the lesbian relationship wasn't in the one i played (the first one) but there was some "sexy" stuff and corny elements, mostly aping stuff like Danger Girls and such comicbooks (the game was clearly comicbook inspired), but nothing you wouldn't see in a Bond movie.
Bit of a shame they only got popularity for that, there were genuinely interesting games underneath.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

If I'm not mistaken, at the beginning of the Square Enix Collective program they immediately put Fear Effect, Gex and Anachronox as free-for-pitches franchises.

Well, where is Tom Hall's kickstarter. Let's go Tom.

 

[GoodMorningPluto]

Sorry, but no. This doesn't look a Fear Effect game at all.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Well, where is Tom Hall's kickstarter. Let's go Tom.

He's already tried and failed with crowdfunding at least twice (not for Anachronox or anything else worth a damn, mind you).

 

[Lain]

If Goetia delivers (last word was that it'd come out this month), I'll back this up for sure.

 

[Acquiescence]

If the Kickstarter, which targets €100,000, is successful, Sushee hopes the new Fear Effect will launch on PC mid 2017. Console versions are a stretch goal. A teaser trailer is below.

Console stretch goals for a series that has always been PlayStation exclusive? Okay then.

The first game was purely about chinese paganism. It had zombies that you fight wearing nothin but a towel, a brothel, a trip to hell, and it was generally one of the most "mature" games you could get on ps1.

The second was a prequel with various improvements, themed around chinese paradise, but all eveyone remembers is the two girls being lesbians and sharing a short scene in an elevator. This must have been ground breaking at the time, but it doesn't even compare to the shit I've seen in the first game.

As for the games selling point, besides the fucked up story, was the presentation. Similar to how some fmvs in the ps1 final fantasy games you could control your character, in Fear Effect the entire game was resident evil styled whete instead if pictures you walked on Fmvs, and instead of cutscenes you had more fmvs. Each game was 4 disks.

The graphics aged fantastically, but the controls could benefit from some of the more recent inovations.

I suggest you try them out.

Really good post that I largely agree with. There weren't any lesbian shenanigans in the first game, and the relationship that did feature in the second game wasn't as pronounced as the marketing would've had you believe.

Fear Effect was essentially a very cinematic version of the PS1 Resident Evil games. It's not scary, well, not until the end anyway, but it's incredibly eerie and unsettling while at the same time having a pulpy, slightly mondo tone that allowed the story to go really nuts and just about get away with it. There are some really imaginative puzzles in there as well. If that sounds appealing to you then go for it. Just be prepared for some trial and error gameplay and clunky controls. It's not a forgiving game.

The second one is really good too. It made some improvements gameplay wise, but I never found it to be as memorable as the first for some reason.

 

[Possumowner]

I enjoyed early Fear Effect,and thought the series was long dead so this is a nice surprise. Shall keep a close eye on this

 

[JetSetRadio]

No thanks.

 

[BrettHeazy]

Is this Fear Effect GO ?

 

[gogogow]

"Inspired by Shadowrun Returns", yeah, no thanks. Nothing against Shadowrun, but that's not Fear Effect. How are they expecting to raise the money if the game plays nothing like the original games? And "Square Enix liked the pitch", ugh...

 

[Seyavesh]

the most memorable part of the fear effect games were the insane as fuck ending bits- the second game ends with a neat choice thing that was actually really clever for the theme of that game and time

i have no idea how thats gonna carry over to an isometric game though- a big part of those ending stretches being effective predicated on the more intimate old school RE style closeup camera

 

[Gipsy Danger]

No fucking way. There is no timeline where I expected to see this announcement. Will play if it comes out because that's hilarious. Original games were alright but haven't played them in years.

 

[Muskieratboi]

well, at least we have ONE existing IP collective game.

Come oooooon Anachronox!

 

[Stallion Dan]

But this new Fear Effect won't be a big budget affair - as Fear Effect on PSone was

Eidos sexualised the relationship between Hana and Rain while marketing Fear Effect 2. Sushee promised to avoid doing the same for Fear Effect Sedna.

What's the point of this game?

 

[Shard]

Interesting, most interesting.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

Pre rendered style like the old game with cool art and artsy characters, ok. This, No way.

 

[TheYanger]

I played the first years after it came out and liked it a lot. But this...idk. The art in the trailer was awesome but I really wouldn't want it to be a new genre :/ Even if I like the IP and like the genre.

 

[Fady K]

As a huge fan of the first two, and one that was saddened by the cancellation of the third, this announcement turned out to be a heartbreaking false alarm

 

[cj_iwakura]

YESSSSSSSS


Oh no, is something bad? Something's bad isn't it.

So... why do you even call it Fear Effect? It's not like the original games were rich in world-building and lore. Weird.

Uh... yeah, they kind of were. Tons of Chinese mythological conflict. I LOVE the first game.

 

[Acquiescence]

YESSSSSSSS


Oh no, is something bad? Something's bad isn't it.

Well, it's being made by a team of ten people and doesn't play anything like the original games, so yeah, bad juju is going down.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Better than nothing I suppose.
Would be nice if they could push on getting the first 2 on steam.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Well, it's being made by a team of ten people and doesn't play anything like the original games, so yeah, bad juju is going down.

Are any of the original team involved? If so, I can forgive a lot. But yeah, looks wildly different.


Uh, going by the teaser, the art style is spot on... I hope they continue with Inferno's story, it looked beyond effed up.

There's clips of Inferno's leaked clips on YT, there was murmurings it might've gotten an AO without editing.


It bears repeating: FE1 is a must-play. It starts out as a generic action game, and suddenly goes into extremely twisted occult horror territory. There is some serious nightmare fuel in FE1. FE2 is almost tame in comparison, but still worth playing.

 

[KORNdoggy]

i'm down for this. between an IP rotting away doing nothing. i happily take a new direction for the IP if it means we get to see games being made.

 

[Acquiescence]

Are any of the original team involved? If so, I can forgive a lot. But yeah, looks wildly different.


Uh, going by the teaser, the art style is spot on... I hope they continue with Inferno's story, it looked beyond effed up.

There's clips of Inferno's leaked clips on YT, there was murmurings it might've gotten an AO without editing.

Based on what I read in the Eurogamer article, it seems that the only person working on this new game who was involved in the series beforehand is the writer of the first game, which is a very good catch for the team actually. But I could be wrong.

"We want to do things smart," Anseaume said. "We don't want to show sexuality for nothing. We want to work on the relationship between the characters. Maybe back in the 90s it was a selling element. We want to make it part of the story and not just a selling element. John is important for that. He's the writer of the best part of Fear Effect, the first episode where Hana was strong, and not as sexualised as she was in the second game.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Based on what I read in the Eurogamer article, it seems that the only person working on this new game who was involved in the series beforehand is the writer of the first game, which is a very good catch for the team actually. But I could be wrong.

Far as I'm concerned, that's good enough for me, as long as the dev team know what they're doing(meaning this isn't an Unsung Story debacle). I'm down.