Famitsu recently posted an interview with some key members of the Sigma Harmonics development team, so we busted out our dictionaries to decipher all we could about Square Enix's recently unveiled DS adventure-RPG. Hiroki Chiba (FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus, Chrono Trigger), the director and originator of this concept, Yoshinori Kitase the producer ( and longtime director/producer in the Final Fantasy series), and Yusaku Nakaaki, the character designer (who did work on Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core, but was never the main designer until this project), had a lot to say and a lot more to hint at.
While the team from Dirge of Cerberus was still providing online support, they had already started thinking about their next project. Chiba had been into Showa era mystery writers like Seishi Yokomizo and Rampo Edogawa as a kid, and he was inspired to create a similar vibe in a videogame -- all the better if you could hold it book-style on the DS. They didn't want to explain too much about the title choice, just noting that it tied in heavily with the sound theme in the game (plus Sigma is the main character's name). After being charmed by Nakaaki's work on Dirge of Cerberus, Chiba requested him to Kitase because "not using Nakaaki's drawings would be a horrible waste," even though he knows "there are lots of awesome designers at Square Enix."
Despite aiming for a 30s to 40s Showa era vibe, what they decided on was a parallel world Tokyo. In it, Sigma Kurokami, a stylish, bespectacled "sound user" whose family guards a huge clock sealing away the demon Ouma, ends up having to time travel and fight evil with his classmate and childhood friend, Neon Tsukiyumi. The pair seek to solve an increasingly complex string of murder cases. Solving one chapter's case changes the past which leads to a new murder. "The characters who appear are about the same, but the plot outline and puzzle are totally different," explained Chiba.
Instead of cutscene animations there will be scrolling illustrations. They have over 800 already, not only from Nakaaki, but another illustrator from the CC team following his lead. "I think it's rare for a DS game to have such a high volume of illustrations, but the number is still increasing," Chiba laughed.
They wanted to create a system with more depth than just figuring out who the killer is and inputting his name. Depending on how you reason out the case (and where you place "sound stones" on the Go board-like grid) the game sounds will change. Kitase commented, "When reasoning, there aren't correct or incorrect answers, but there are out there solutions and close solutions, or a midway solution. Since that's something the player who reasons things out grows to understand, they'll be able to play the game many times." It also seems like the boss encounters could be different depending on how you go about solving the puzzles.
The battle system looks to be as deep as the rest of the game, and you'll even find yourself in some RPG-style dungeons. While Chiba refused to confirm that Sigma never fights first-hand, it's usually Neon in the ring. She is possessed by a god and can enter a trance to use its power. Sigma generally stays out of the way and gives directions by performing music (with his baton, maybe? We're really keen on finding out more about his special weapon which can conduct not only sound, but time as well). Apparently, there is also a card battle element as well, since Neon is described as a "card user." In addition to just leveling up, you'll find new attack patterns by collecting these cards.
If you're having a hard time imagining how all these elements are going to fit together in one game, you're not alone -- even the interviewer seemed a bit confused. Chiba talked about how stubborn he was (and the others agreed) on including as many of his cool ideas as possible, "I was thinking, 'I can't take out things that will be interesting!'" Another major "gimmick" in the game hasn't even been revealed yet, but apparently it surprised even Nakaaki. As usual with these interviews, we're left with more questions than answers, but since Sigma Harmonics is set to ship this summer in Japan, at least some of the mysteries should be revealed soon.