Story of White Knight "Level 5 RPG for PS3"
 

http://ruliweb4.dreamwiz.com:8080/ru...6/54/53508.jpg

Taken from Neogaf.

Some details about White Knight Story

- Tons and tons of HUGE monsters on an unsurpassed scale
- The field and combat engine is like a normal RPG
- Battles with huge monsters have a very great sense of scale

Someone on 2ch mentioned that it was going for the feel of SotC, except as a RPG.

I'll update with better pics and info once available. :biggrin:

Sounds promising. Let's see how it looks in a better scan.

new info on the game at: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/733/733845p1.html

September 20, 2006 - The latest RPG from the experts at Level 5 has been revealed in Famitsu. The developer of Dragon Quest VIII and Rogue Galaxy is working on Shirokishi Monogatari for the PlayStation 3. The title translates roughly to White Knight Story. Level 5 president Akihiro Hino is serving as producer on the title.

In this fantasy RPG, you take control of a boy who comes into the possession of an ancient artifact. The artifact gives him the ability to transform into the White Knight of the title, a 7-meter warrior from a time when such creatures nearly destroyed all of civilization.

White Knight Story places an emphasis on scale. In addition to the giant White Knight himself, and a similarly sized rival Black Knight, you'll encounter large-scale cities and enemies that extend over 2000 meters in size. One turtle-like enemy carries a full town on its back!

Speaking with Famitsu, Hino revealed that making a game with such a large scale is not an easy task. Texture limitations on previous machines meant that showing small details on large objects was not possible.

Hino also shared some insight into the original plans for the game. Rather than having the main character transform into the White Knight, Level 5 had originally considered having him ride on top of it. However, it was determined that this would require a giant of over 20 meters in size. Such a size discrepancy would have made it difficult to have the knight fight against human characters.

The main character isn't the only standard sized character in the game. Famitsu also introduces a short-haired heroine who appears to wield a knife, and an elderly knight who knows how to use magic. You'll also encounter a small species that uses small-sized aircraft for quick transportation and makes its living by selling the energy that the giant enemy creatures emit.

White Knight Story has all the elements of a Japanese RPG, from giant, freely navigated fields of play to battles. The fields of play let you see far into the distance so that you can identify enemies from afar. Enemies will also spot you, and will combine forces to attack.

Hino revealed to Famitsu that one of the big goals of the battle system in White Knight Story was realism both on the visual and gameplay levels. The game uses some sort of complex animation blending system, which Hino feels could not be achieved on previous systems. Level 5 made its own capture studio in order to create the game.

The developer also shied away from some of the paradigms of RPGs, like turn-based battles and standard "attack/magic/item/flee" menus. Prior to battle, you go into a "Battle Preparation" menu to set up your party of up to three characters. Each character can be equipped with a "function palette," consisting of a string of skills and moves -- everything from kicks to sword slashes. Skills can be added to the palette freely as long as you follow simple rules about what can follow what.

During battle, you can freely switch between the characters in your party, but you only control one character at a time. In addition to moving your character around on the battle field, all you have to do is press circle to execute the currently equipped function palette. The character then executes the moves, which are blended together realistically using the slick animation system mentioned above.

A palette can store up to 7 skills. You can save palettes and switch between them, suggesting that preparing different palettes ahead of time will be a strategic part of the game.

So where does the White Knight fit into the gameplay? You can transform into the White Knight during battle once you've filled up a meter by attacking enemies while in human form. When transformed, you make use of a special function palette which offers up powerful attacks. When facing off against a giant enemy, you'll want to full up your transformation meter and transform as soon as possible.

The Tokyo Game Show will offer our first look at White Knight Story, which despite its recent unveiling, seems to be far along in development. Stay tuned for more details later in the week.

Unreal. I'm such a huge fan of Level-5, and to know that they're already in development for the PS3 (and with such an awesome title, it would seem) is great news. I can't wait to see what they unveil at TGS.

As excited as I am for Final Fantasy XII, which uses a similar system, I can't look at this as a positive sign. We want to play games, not watch them. Hopefully this is just a temporary trend.

I don't think that means you get to set them up for particular attacks and watch them do it. Rather, I think it means that it's giving you the opportunity to equip particular skills for a particular battle.

For instance, you may have 20 skills overall, but you can only actually use 5 at a time -- something similar to Tales of Symphonia/Legendia.

OH MY GOD! http://anon.psjp.speedera.net/anon.p...hiteknight.wmv VERY HIGH QUALITY gameplay video, all gameplay. I am blown away, the enviorments are truly stunning and the gameplay seems awesome. Ganging up on enemies by grabbing one from the back and holding it while your ally attacks it! Man I am at a lost for words. Forget FFXIII I want this NOW.

This. Is. Fucking. Awesome. If you need a reasong to get a PS3 now for rpg's, this is IT!

Okay wow... now that is av/sig-changing worthy.

Sad to say, that won me over to the big bucks system more than flashy menu-based RPGs or Uematsu music :(

Maybe it's a reason, but not a six-hundred-dollar reason.

No, but when combined with FFXIII, Metal Gear Solid 4, Virtua Fighter 5, Tekken 6, and Devil May Cry 4 it is. :D

Holy shit, is this like FFXIV (what a fanboyish statement LOL).

I really didn't care much for Level 5's games, Dark Cloud 2 included, but this is absolutely fantastic. What has caught my eye is the level of detail - the flow of the water, the shaking of the tree leaves in the mind, and the waving blades of grass.

Sorry you feel that way about Dark Cloud 2, Spatula. As most people know, I'm an absolute fan of Dark Cloud 2's gameplay and design.

However, this new game looks like it might very well take Dark Cloud 2's top spot on my favorites list. This game looks absolutely incredible. Actually, it looks like they're borrowing several gameplay mechanics from Rouge Galaxy, come to think of it.

LOL Rogue Galaxy, what is that try hard stuff.

It's finally reassuring that they've shown some ingame stuff right off the bat, rather than another Kill Zone 2 crapfest.

I wonder how the targetting system will work for your character to select which target to attack. I see the white cursor circle there, however it seems more passive than actually scanning the area and locking on. Well, it seems to be more newbie user friendly than what little information we have on FFXIII's targetting system with the chick jumping all over the place.

I must watch this again, I must.

::adds another game to potential want list::

What I'm very surprised is there's English subtitles for both the dialogue and some of the menu options. Meaning it's a bit more import friendly.

The real kicker is if they keep the Japanese voices for the NA release.

I wouldn't go that far. We've only seen like one video and that's a mish mash of both ingame (we think) and obviously some cutscenes. Anyone know when they'll release any more information on XIII during the TGS 2006? I know they've gone through the 1st day - business industry day.

Hmm. According to an article on Gamespot, White Knight is actually only about 10% completed. Link for details - http://www.gamespot.com/news/6158329.html

10% and it already looks like that? I just hope the story and character development department can pull off as nicely as what has been presented so far.

I'd like to know where people heard it was 70% completed.

Haha, no kidding. But, so far, this looks much more like a game than XIII ;)

I really hope Square has something more to show since it's been something like 4 months since they first showed things. At least some ingame footage would be nice.

Ugh. The thought that the above small handful of games plus White Night plus a PS3 will cost a total of $1,000 makes me both sad and sick.

youknow the E3 trailer of FFXIII was really good and the game I think is about 10% complete too, they already said that they took 1 year to make the white engine just to be able to show that trailer, now they just started to make the game.

So I,m not that surprise that White Knight coould look that good in that trailer even if it's only 10% in the making ^^

but you look at the video and I think its more then just 10%, maybe not 70%, but 10% seem little for that video XD

This game has been development for a good bit folks. This is what most assumed was Dark Cloud 3 when Level 5 announced they were working on an RPG for the PS3.

They're the team that also developed DQVIII (now in the U.S), and Rogue Galaxy (coming soon to the U.S) as well.

Well, it's confirmed. 10% over on Gamespot, this thing is going to take a long time to roll around at that rate of development.

Let them continue to work on it (not like we have anything to do with it), I want to see a nice polished piece of awesomeness rather than some half baked crap, plus I still won't be getting a PS3 anytime soon. At least I won't feel like I'm missing out too too much.

Seeing how if they're at still the infant stages, I really wonder how much more they can expand on this. Very exciting developments, folks.

Level 5 can take as much time as they want, no doubt. This looks spectacular, and the fact that this is at 10% and has tons of space for growth is very exciting.

SE's got competition, something they desperately need to light a fire under their ass.

Well, I know this is way to premature to "speculate" about this, but as I have mentioned earlier, keeping the Japanese vocal track would be great, but it's generally the English voice cast that keeps me on my toes. If Level 5 will take a hint on FFXII's English cast and how that was executed, then, by god, this can be a winner.

Furthermore, it's been months since I've seen the FFXIII trailer and now it seems to have drumed down a bit from what I remember, perhaps it's only seeing not more than 5 seconds of actual game play that makes me edgy, whereas White Knight's development doesn't pull any punches and gives it to you with a pretty solid feel of how actual combat is going to be like. I really do hope for more than a three person party though. It's been one of the things I've really wanted in an modern RPG for quite some time.

The character models for FFXIII do look slightly more refined, but again, this is still the early stages. The armor for the "transformed" mecha (which I think takes cues from Five Star Stories and Escaflowne) could perhaps have a bit more texture, but perhaps it's me being more used to seeing "weathered" and beat up machines vs. these "supernatural" ones.

Yeah, Escaflowne was the first thing that came to mind with this White Knight mech. Giant suit of armor robot in medieval times.

Plus, some of the concept art looks almost Nausicaa-esque, which holds some quite steady ground with me.

If it isn't obvious enough, I'll be watching this one as more develops regarding it.

The unfortunate part is that this is probably (like when FFXIII showed at E3) the most we'll get to see of the title for quite a while now.

I thought that was Rogue Galaxy -- the game assumed to be Dark Cloud 3. That would make more sense, as the original said the "mystery title" was in development for the PS2.

Double Post:
I don't think Square-Enix actually has all that much competition considering they let Level-5 handle their largest game's transition into 3D.

And I distinctly remember after seeing Unnamed RPG (PS3) for Level 5 assuming that it was Dark Cloud 3. RG was in the same situation earlier too, but the latest confusion was for this title.

Double Post:
I don't think Square-Enix actually has all that much competition considering they let Level-5 handle their largest game's transition into 3D.[/QUOTE]

That was cooperation for that one project, it's back down to brass tacks after that. Don't think this game won't rob sales from FFXIII if SE lets them upstage them.

Here's some concept art work from White Knight - found on the Magic Box.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...76A/white3.jpg
This sort of looks similar to the monster at the end of the trailer.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...76A/white4.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...76A/white5.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...76A/white6.jpg

And here's that transformation mech again.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...76A/white2.jpg

:D Howl's moving ...city.

And the 3rd concept art is extremely remeniscant of Nausicaa.

I have gone nuts over graphics,and imagining how 2nd concept art will look in that engine.I will just roam around in the virtual beauty for hours.

Amazing job by level 5.

This is truly the perfect balance of realisim while preserving art design. Another job well done by Level 5. This is what I've been trying to tell people for a long time that not only does superior power mean better graphics but look at the natural fighting techniques, the in battle banter, and the absence of loading. This is one of the three games that I cal TRUE next gen.

MGS4
Devil May Cry 4
White Knight Story

Slayer X, post those image screenshots here from your closed WK thread. I like them very much!

Here is the TGS trailer for Whit Knight in HD: http://www.gametrailers.com/player.p...13330&type=wmv

Also I am posting some HI-res screens from the game.

I find it hard to believe that this game is only 10% done, I mean look at the gorgeousness and amazingness!! How could this game be only 10% complete? I ask you! lol

Like some one posted earlier, this game has huge potential to grow and enhance itself even more, looking forward to it. This, DMC4, and the two FFXIII games are enough for me to buy a PS3.

It might only be 10% done content wise, because the engine and what not look pretty well 100% done to me.

Like Rogue Galaxy. I can bet that SCEA will also pick up this title as well.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2006/20060925.jpg

I like how this will live up to the hype.

Bwahahaha. That hilariously owns. Thank you Soldier -- thank you.

So far I like some of the technical aspects of it, like real-time combat, and some of the natural progression from Chrono Trigger, like multi-member specials and such.

As for the Ultraman bit, I'm not really impressed so far. Hueg like xbox bosses aren't going to do much for me if the story and music flag behind. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of past Level 5 games, so I'll have to see it to believe it.

Wow, I'm surprise that this title has caught on to be featured in comics as well. The more I see the whole transformation Escaflowne/Five Star Stories-wannabe-mechs, the more it sort of turns me off. Remember Xenosaga? I only used those things like, what, once maybe. That game had terrible intergration of when you're supposed to use it and if it really had any advantages.

This will probably be the first game I'll take a serious look into, however as mentioned before, quite a bit of an RPG is riding on the story and some weight on the music as well.

Man some of you are cynical as hell. No wonder some people think the gaming industry is going downhill. Some people have built their expectations so high it will be impossible to ever please them.

Not me. I liked how I watched the trailer at work and started a small crowd around my cubicle ^__^.

Cetra: Not me, if it has pretty lights and solid gameplay I'm in. And a good story is sometimes nice. After that as long as it's not called Halo I'm as good as gold.

More like some people are staying grounded. I don't know about you, but I find it retarded to declare a game we've seen so little of "awesome". Looks great, yeah, but we haven't even been shown much of what this game supposedly hinges on-- big, giant, epic battles with colossal enemies in mech-like suit thingamajiggers.

See, they haven't even come up with the fancified title for the mechs yet.

I don't know why people keep calling them mechs, they are ancient white knights that are from a time long ago.

Oh god, I'm sorry to inform everyone that we are no longer allowed to be excited for anything ever again. You must take the pessimistic and skeptical stance on everything. Not only that but be sure to focus on the potential flaws and never acknowledge the strengths of anything.

After all, by pointing out the flaws and potential problems of a game we know little about makes you a 'grounded' individual while expressing the strengths that you observe makes you retarded.

What the fuck? Disliking Power Rangers in my medeival knight stories doesn't mean I have high expectations.

We can't very well say it will have a good story if all they show us is generic fantasy fare. Looking at the technical parts of the game is just about all we can do right now.

I make it a point not to talk about how good a game is based on how good the graphics look. I'm sorry you do. Now please don't go apeshit just because someone doesn't buy into your groupthink.

Hahaha, thank you for perfectly defining the cynical point. YOUR medieval knight story huh?

I don't remember saying otherwise. I just said I find it amazing people are so quick to take a pessimistic view on something we know little about rather than a optimistic view.

Oh I've been talking about how good the game is based on its graphics? Mind quoting me on that? I'm having a bit of a mental block and cannot recall ever posting such a thing.

I'll admit, the trailer looks stunning. If the PS3 can produce many more games of this calibur, then I may just get one NEXT year, but that $599 price tag is a heavy price to pay for entertainment (Not to mention the high costs of the games--$50 to $75 dollars.

Holy fuck, what is going on here, people.

"ZOMG UR SAYING THIS IS ROXXORS SO U SUCK, FINAL FANTASY XIIIIII IS BETTAR" et cetera.

Let's get back on track people. I'm excited about it, despite the still relative lack of information for this game. With all the console bashing, has it stooped to a new low of bashing peoples' pre-emptive hype over a game in its infant stage.

fucking FFVII vs whatever shit all over again.

Back on track, I'd really like to have more information on the music soundtrack and the likes. It's pretty orchestral from what I've heard and should perhaps fit the mood of the "knights in armor" getup, but I haven't paid too too much attention to it yet.

Yeah I'd hate to admit it, if this game does become a killer game, still I can't quite justify along the same wave lengths with penny arcades depiction of teeter-tottering between getting the system any time soon, but then I guess the comic never stated that those two would get it launch day ^___^.

Okay putting the other bullshit behind, I just noticed something:

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9...lineqd3.th.jpg

Online co-op mission options?

Not too sure what the katakana is trying to say, since I personally have to think of what the kana is trying to express.

Barandooru (kanji) koku (kanji)
Re-Na(a)-Do-No-(kanji)-tachi. Well it's the dudes name.

(Almost pointless to put it in Romaji - since I still don't get it fully :( )

Sorry ;___;, Not too sure where I see multi-player options. Again, I'm pretty sad at wap skills.

...You need to look at the little box that says "ONLINE". The Japanese isn't the part indicating online play.

And that's funny Cetra, putting behind the bullshit you flung in some weirdass, overly defensive attempt to look like the level-headed fan.

I'm assuming the text is the name of the mission. I personally don't know enough Japanese either to fully translate it. I was more going off of the icons. One looks like a storybook icon (main story quest maybe?) and others are obviously marked online perhaps offering some co-op sidequest fun in the game.

I'm sorry if my last post made you cry, but there is no need for personal attacks.

Sorry, I'm not seeing the online option. I'm looking everywhere ;___;

Is this "online" an icon (which I am not familiar with, needless to say), or in katakana that I'm just totally missing?

EDIT: shit sorry, I didn't know the image could be enlarged so I was looking at the lettering and it was so small. I see it now :)

Little box. Look to the right of the quest titles.

Thanks, I see it, I didn't know that the image could be enlarged when I clicked on the picture at first. Thanks again.

Not a problem. I can understand why you didn't see it at first.
Holy shit, awesome use of "La la la, I can't hear you."

If you feel like the bigger man for taking my comment, making sweeping generalizations, and then finally jumping to conclusions, more power to you.

I'm not the one editing my posts in attempts to look better, but anyway to answer your previous (and now removed) veiled attempt to insult my intelligence.

Possible meanings of online include:

Co-Op missions
PVP based side missions
Additional downloadable missions available online

You see, a little push and you aren't nearly as dismissive.

But what the fuck are you talking about? All of my comments are still here, and I don't ever remember asking you about online information. I reinforced what you said about the possibilities of online, which I changed in response to Spatula's post popping up before mine. I can only assume you took the "ONLINE" without the quotes as sarcastic emphasis rather than representing the all-caps the screenshot had (which was my intent). I realized on my own a short while afterwards and changed it to avoid that confusion. So, while I think you're totally overreacting in this thread, I do apologize for that part.

I don't take these debates all that seriously.

I've personally never played a MMORPG before, namely of FFXI comes to mind. Perhaps there might be missions that require parties to transform (transform coming from the boy's chant to transform) to defeat one of the monsters with the transformed character. I don't quite want to attach the term "mechs" to them quite yet.

I remember reading somewhere that the bosses are of Shadow of The Colossus scale. Pure speculation, but I'd think it'd be cool that since it seems the environments seem very interactive (given cues of Leonard helping the girl defeat that one footsoldier) that some boss battles would require you to climb the boss itself and get to the weakpoint, therefore the circular targetting reticle would come into play. Of course this idea might be defeated by the whole point of transforming, but heh, a cool idea. Maybe some of the bosses require you to go "Wanda" like without transforming.

Again, I don't want to make this a "what would your ideal RPG be like" thread, but seeing as this is striving for realism in quite a few aspects, I want this to be one of the first few RPGs that will let you suit up your character given the environment. What I mean is, of all the RPGs that I've played, the characters will wear the same clothes no matter what environment. Seeing Tidus from Final Fantasy X walk around like nobodies business in tropical wear while in the snowy plains just took away some of the realism in my mind.
I know this might seem like a small deal, but I think it could be easily implemented.
Furthermore, I think the PS3 should definately be able to have the resources to support this. It's merely changing the skins on the character akin to Snake's change of camouflage in MGS3.

I was being dismissive to try to get the thread back on track. Let's just drop it and do that, agreed? I really don't take this stuff very seriously either. It's just about video games, no big deal.


Yeah, I'm just personally hoping they are completely optional sidequests that offer no additional incentive to complete other than the joy of playing with someone else.

I'm hoping for this as well as it seems the transformation may or may not be optional for all bosses. Maybe they will make it possible to forgo a transformation and allow people to take on these large bosses on foot for an added level of optional difficulty.

Also from the looks of it it seems the Knight battle system might not even be complete yet. You figure they would show some of it in the trailer if it was available at the time. Maybe they are cooking up a totally different battle system style for transformation battles.

Well, fuck. Looks like there's a game hot enough to make me want a PS3 now.

I'll probably buy one next summer or winter, just in time for this (Hopefully.)

I liked what I saw with regards to teamwork as well. The female was being ganged up on and she called out for help. It was also awesome when, and it didn't even look remotely scripted, he said for his teammates to stand clear from him. Didn't seem like they would've done so without his order, which was awesome.

This thread title sucks. I demand it be changed to White Knight Story: "God Dammit". :edgarrock:

That's a bit of a letdown, because I liked the idea of riding on the White Knight's shoulders or whatever while he fought the giants. It would've been awesome having your character cling to life every time the Knight suffered damage. It would be like Giant Robo. Well, they could always have that girl ride on his shoulders.

I read it was about 45% completed, and that seems more reasonable considering how much appears to be finished. I just hope they continue to tweak the graphics and physics. Like I said in the PS3 thread, it would be great if the characters would suffer realtime damage, such as blood and cuts on their clothing.

I made that same bold statement a few years back when Monolith released the first episode for Xenosaga. I encouraged the thought, too, because while competition for consoles is worthless, competition among developers of similar genres is considered beneficial. This causes the companies to improve on their games, and even borrow ideas the other guy came up with.

While I doubt Monolith will ever become notable in Square's eyes, Level 5 has the potential to make them sweat a bit. Their game history is still small, but they've gotten better with every new title they make. Dark Cloud was decent, but did the job as PS2's first noteworthy RPG. Dark Cloud 2 improved on the original in every way possible. And Dragon Quest VIII was so good, it made me a series fan with just that one entry, and might have the distinction of being the best RPG I've ever played for PS2. Until FFXII dethrones it next month.

So that is why most of us are giving our hopes up so early. Level 5 has yet to disappoint. The only thing I'm hoping for is a better story for White Knight, since their previous games have had fun but ultimately generic stories and characters.

Monica: "I'm Monica. I come from the future!"

Max: "Okay."

Monica: "......you could be a LITTLE skeptical, you know."

Max: "Why? That sort of thing happens all the time in RPGs. Now let's go talk to the generic talking tree so we can fight the generic silver-haired bad guy."

WKS shows promise based on the small bits of the video. It should at least be a more serious story. At least they got more creative with the characters' names.

Help please. I dl'ed the massive 140mb+ video file, but when I try to run it in any media player my computer 'zooms' and then remains with a big black screen. Only restarting can remedy this. Is my laptop stuffed or do I need something special to play the file?!

Nope it works fine for me. I used core media player. Can you try streaming this? At the very least, I think Youtube might have some floating around.

I just downloaded the Quicktime version, and its defaulted to run with Media Player Classic. No problems for me.

Try that?

I got the youtube version. What a waste of dl'ing 140mbs though.. It looks good, real good, but didn't quite make my jaw drop. Wished it were more quirky like their recent efforts.

Too many RPGs go that route, we need some more balanced ones out there. Instead of them all trying to be like Disgaea or Final Fantasy.

Hows the name of the large fiery creature supposed to be said in english?
In romaji it is: Gureadeimoso

Gradeimoth?

It's "Barandooru oukoku (kanji)" Don't know what the last kanji is.

oukoku = kingdom (king + country/region). Obviously, Barandooru must be the name of the kingdom. But who cares anyway.


Anyway, I have major interest in this game, and might prompt me to get a PS3 earlier than I want to. I hope not.

I don't want to go too far off track with this but it seems like M$ has come up with their response to FFXIII & White Knight Story.

People meet Lost Odyssey. The game isn't new news, however this is. Here's a gameplay video of this new competitor in the RPG genre.

SD: http://www.gametrailers.com/player.p...13688&type=wmv
HD: http://www.gametrailers.com/player.p...13687&type=wmv

The only reason why I bring this up is due to the similarities to FFXIII & WKS and I wanted to see people's opinions on it.

Graphics aside I find it interesting, but not quite at the FF or WKS level of quality. The art style is a bit too far fetched and the animations seem a bit jerky. Also the interface is bland, uninspired, and just plain ugly. Perhaps it's just because it's not as far in development as WKS, I don't know.

omg Lost odyssey look so boring and really doesn't impress me >.< it sad because when I saw the first video they showed about that game, it looked really interesting but now meh...

The visuals look clean, however it looks far too slow and there's not a proper flow. You see an amazing intro scene of the hero slicing and dicing which would make a fair fight for Raiden in MGS4, but once the gameplay starts, its like you're hindering his movements and would almost rather watch a movie.
So far with FFXIII (well of what we've seen), it seems to flow quite well, even though there might be intertwined with CG cutscenes, and White Knight does a good job so far of balancing key CG cutscenes with game play, and lets the pace stay smooth.

It does look kinda weak. Seems like Microsoft's focus in quite a few of their upcoming games is quantity over quality as far as enemies go. I mean, N3 was all about big battles, Lost Odyssey appears to have that same pace in mind as well. Maybe it's just a brief trend I'm seeing.

I don't mind about the "massive amounts" of enemies that the system can run, but when I'm playing the game, am I going to think "oh god, will this ever end?". I'd be more impressed if say your thousands upon thousands of allies would also rush in and help, even if it were for show, it'd make seem more alive than you being the super hero.

This is true. Heck even if you could just see swords clashing between allies and enemies all around you and stuff falling down in the background, that would make the experiance a lot more interesting then it is now.

Again, it doesn't even have to be all that interactive. I'm even talking about prerendered scenes, think of FFVIII where Squall and the gang are going through Balamb Garden fending off the Galabadia troopers. Of course this is Playstation 1. Since now this is three generations ahead, it'd be nice to actually have allies come to your aid and maybe deal like 10 HP of damage. Heh, not much, but it adds more realism that you're not just a one man army. If that were the case, then why did your whole army march into the battle when you really only needed the hero?

This is true. And just like the means of conveying sword fights in the last gens with one sword going through the other, companies need to start ironing some of these aumbiance and gameplay problems out before they spend too much time on maxing out the graphical potential of the systems in the first two years of the console's life. What's the advantage of haveing realistic graphics if the things interacting and happening around you arn't even believable?

I don't see how the two games are very similar, personally. They're both RPGs, I'll give ya that.

Lost Odyssey looks pretty with a unique art style, and has what currently looks to be Final Fantasy 1's battle system. People keep saying that more is yet to come, but until they show it I'm just going off the footage here :)

White Knight on the other hand is aiming towards something never done before with realtime reactions and strategical combat. Granted it's not proved to be realtime controlled by a human, but if that's what they're aiming for it's already vastly removed from LO's gameplay.

What bugs me the most about LO's gameplay video is that, very much along the same lines as Dirge of Cerberus, you see cutscenes of this character kicking ass and taking names, cutting a literal swath through the enemies... Yet when he gets into battle, they huddle around him and in a turn-based effort of sheer anti-suspense, he picks them off one by one with a generic sword slash. That's not next-gen at all. In fact, more innovative things were done this-gen. I really hope the unshown gameplay makes the game more interesting.

Well it compares in the sense of how it generates attacks and proper reactions to thoes attacks. I'm sure that this will become a standard in all RPGs to come (I hope) right now we only have three that do this. I'm not trying to say that they're the same by any means, I'm just saying that they're similar in more then just your same genre kind of way.

In a way, I'd see this as being better suited for a more action RPG, I don't know, perhaps more Vagrant Story type. I mean, it's a good effort on whomever is working on this project (Mistwalker? If I'm not mistaken), but going back and forth gets somewhat daunting after while.
Honestly I think for the current gen, FFXII has got it packed down of how battles will be done for next gen consoles. Perhaps not the whole MMORPG (offline) interface, but with more a real time flow to it, as opposed to turn based.

This is no good. Nope. No good at all.

Beyond Unreal has just put up some new news on LO and guess who's doing the music for this game.









Nobuo Uematsu
That's right. The genius composer who did the music for FFI - XI. Why oh why!?!? Argh.

This has been known for over a year(?) actually. His photo is in the staff page at the Mistwalker website. He agreed to join forces with Sakaguchi when they left Square-Enix to form their respective companies Smile Please and Mistwalker.

Why is it no good? The game will have shiny music. Though so far nothing distinctly Uematsuian has been heard with either Lost Odyssey or Blue Dragon, sadly. I was really looking forward to an awesome boss battle track in BD's demo, but instead there was the cheesiest metal song I've ever heard. And the LO music in the footage shown was pretty large and epic, but nothing catchy yet. Hopefully there's good stuff brewing :)

But that's for those threads, this is White Knight country.

Music so far in the trailer reminded me a bit of Rogue Galaxy. Maybe it's the same composer? Good music, but a little generic for my tastes. But it's also likely not a final mix/rendering due to how far along the development is and where music is often placed in the timeline.

Here's a very nice talk with Akihiro Hino, the head honcho at Level 5. I put this up over in the PS3 thread, but it applies just as well here.

I'm not a lvl 5 fan since DQVIII was BORING and Rogue Galaxy was "alright" but this looks incredible!

Rogue Galaxy is out? Well, that doesn't reall matter since I'll probably not get that. I honestly still have Dark Cloud 2 sitting collecting dust, and probably will be for a few more months come lolling Final Fantasies. Besides the point, this WK again might be the first I'll give serious consideration to.

Rogue Galaxy is out in Japan, but the American version is getting a severe overhaul -- new world, reworked battle system, revamped control scheme, etc. Not just a "lolz gotta make it compatible with the new controller among other things" sorta delay. :/

Yeah I heard the exact same thing. I think the main reason that it is not coming out in January/Febuary is that there are quite a few rpgs coming out this fall and so is the ps3.

I think once I see this Giant turtle creature in motion, even if it is just walking around i'll be quite impressed.

http://cdn.jp.playstation.com/4m/pre07/shirokishi.wmv

Fucked all FF series CGs in one trailer, i can't express how fucked i am myself after this, simply can't wait now!

Big fan of all Level5 rpgs, after ending roguegalaxy i had huge expectations but this game is beyond expectations, its sumthing else.

Looks pretty mediocre (and the music was dramatically shitty), but hey, breast physics confirmed.

At least there was a complete absence of ridiculous amounts of belt buckles.

look good but I never really like giant robot theme like most anime :\ (execpt ZOE XD) at least they look interesting in this one.

I think it will be great though, the story seem interesting (for the little we can get of this trailer)

Evil Clowns = Staple of Level 5 games.

And there are no "giant robots" per se`, but there is a big suit of armor. Clearly the two are different.

Regardless, I'm completely stoked for White Knight Story. It was the final push in getting me to buy a PS3 at launch.

I know they are not robot but the way they are use is almost the same, a bunch of kid that enter or transform into a big thing to fight some giant enemy...

but like I said the way the game present it, seem pretty good, so I'll probably like it.

it just weird, The game seem really good but I have kind of a weird feeling about it.

At the end of the trailer, when the screen is all black and it shows the credits/title, I literally thought someone in the crowd was doing one of those 'slow claps'.

I started to laugh, until I realized it was some 'evil' character in the trailer walking :(.

And what the fuck are you guys talking about. That trailer looked amazing. Those gigantic monsters better = epic battles.

I don't know, those gigantic monster just remember me of the power ranger for some reason (which is not a good sign)

ok maybe it's me and I'm crazy to think that but that's the feeling I have about those gigantic battle XD

The graphics were good, and the themes walked the line between classis RPG and NEW ideas. Also the theme music was pretty bad-ass so it's a buy X5 for me.

Don't understand why some didn't like the theme song. Reminds me of a celtic folk song to me, or Mitsuda's Kirite album... At least we're spared of a Bubble gum J-pop. :P

Nice looking trailer, pretty graphics and characters look good. Epic robot battles! Also love the turtle that carries a city!

No, you're not crazy. All I could think was "MAGIC WAND, MAKE MY MONSTER GROOOOOW!" throughout the trailer.

Doesn't look fantastic, but it doesn't look awful either.

Breaking: White Knight Chronicles Officially Dated For Japan!

FINALLY some news on this game. December 25, 2008 is the JP release date for this game. Lord knows the PS3 needs an RPG release date badly and I can't wait to see what Level 5 has done.

Tokyo Game Show 2008: Where The Hell Is White Knight Chronicles?

Possible delay coming soon? Seems like no PS3 RPG can get any decent info or demo out anytime soon, and yet 360 RPG's development goes so fast that we already got a SO4 demo up for TGS.

Should we blame this on PS3 hardware, Sony, or the developers?

Level 5 =/= Square Enix.


You're talking about two different monsters here. Level 5 only does one console title at a time you know (in reference to the company's smaller size).

Uh yeah, I know that. I think you might have missed my point.

What I don't understand is the lack of marketing for a game that is coming out in 2 and a half monthes. No demo, and barely any concrete info from them at TGS. Square slowly gives out info cause they're working on multiple projects that have no release dates, what excuse does Level 5 have?

Info

Marketing

TGS 2008 Trailer



Happy?

Well I hope the "more to come" at the end of the IGN articles will make up for the fact there was no demo at TGS. Trailers are always nice, but when the game is about to come out and there's no new demo build, it raises a few eyebrows.

Well, I mean, I don't understand why people are viewing two months as short.

In two months, Level 5 can release information through Famitsu (which is released every week), put together a beta for the online multiplayer portion, and/or provide a demo through PSN.


I honestly believe that the majority of the single player portion of White Knight Chronicles was completed earlier in the year and most of the recent time spent on the game was for the online part.

I don't remember anything about it being multiplayer back in TGS '07. And, it might just be that the demonstration they put together for the online portion of the game took preference over a demo of the single player.


I don't know, maybe I'm being overly optimistic or something.

Well maybe I'm jaded then, cause the game had no news for like, a year. And then BOOM a release date. So I don't trust that Famitsu is gonna suddenly get a slew of info.

Then TGS came and no playable demo version whatsoever, the staff didnt even demo it for people to see. All it had was a POWERPOINT presentation and a trailer. And they can't even answer some questions like whether or not it will have voice chat, which, if you haven't tried implementing one by now, I doubt 2 monthes time makes a difference. Just answer "no" and be done with it instead of stringing people on. Withholding info from press on a game that's gonna be released in 2 months screams "Delays will happen."

Also, why is a major piece of info on the game, avatars and custom character creation, was announced in some Japanese show with some idol, instead of Famitsu or something?

And if the majority of the "no news" time was devoted to the online portion, then it does nothing but make me feel that the story is gonna be short, considering RPGs are taking longer to develop thanks to the graphic department. It feels dubious to me if that much time was used for the online part.

This is the first major PS3 RPG people will be able to play, but it looks like I will have to wait for someone to get a copy before I can tell if it was worth the wait, since we can't even get any early playable impressions. It's a new IP, franchise, whatever you wanna call it, and it doesn't have Square's luxury of guaranteed sales like FF does. You need some early impressions to build up some hype.

Why stop there? Blame IBM as well!