Crimson Shroud

Considering I complain a fair bit about the dearth of decent JRPGs the past couple years, I was caught off guard when I read that Crimson Shroud had not only been announced for the US, but was also already out for some two weeks.

The dice were already cast.

YouTube Video

I never expected Guild 01 to reach the US, and to some extent, I was right. Rather than bringing the compilation over, Guild 01 was broken up and released as small one-shots in the 3DS e-shop. While it's regrettable that Omasse's Weapon Rental Shop (the fourth and final game in the compilation) was passed over, Crimson Shroud is probably the most notable game in the compilation. Though give Aero Porter a look-at, since Yoot Saito is the shit.

Crimson Shroud is an RPG created by what is essentially a dream team of collaborators-- "Masters of the Epic," as Level-5 puts it. Check it:

Director/Writer
Yasumi Matsuno
Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Tactics Ogre, basically any JRPG with a story that you wouldn't be ashamed to tell others about

Composers
Hitoshi Sakimoto and Basiscape
Final Fantasy Tactics, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, Valkyria Chronicles, and oh, motherfucking OPOONA

Illustrator/Character Designer
Hideo Minaba
Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, Lost Odyssey. Not as recognizable a name as others, but was lead artist for a lot of high profile games

Translator/Editor
Alexander O. Smith
Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy XII, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, basically any Japanese game where you ever thought "Oh, this is well-written" when you played it in English

Programming (and most other grunt work)
Level-5
Dark Cloud, Dragon Quest IX, Ni no Kuni

So yeah, decent pedigree here.

I've been playing it for the past hour or so, and I'm pretty pleased. The game is one big nod to the tabletop RPG. Perspectives shift often between second-person and third-person omniscient (as if a DM is narrating and describing your choices and their repercussions), and a lot of the game's chance is decided by throws of the dice you control.

Because of the adherence to the tabletop style, the game is almost entirely menu-driven, so be aware of that. You point and click to move between rooms on the dungeon maps, and all characters and enemies are represented by tabletop figures that don't actually move.

Beyond that, I'm still learning about the game. Being a Matsuno work, the story sounds somewhat interesting so far. Magic, in this world, is granted by things called "gifts." Some are mostly benign, while others grant considerable power. People argue if they are a blessing or a curse, but all know where they came from-- the first gift, the Crimson Shroud.

Anyway, a bit of media. It's actually quite difficult to find decent screenshots, but these do a decent job of showing what the game is about.

YouTube Video

Fuck yeah awesome battle theme

Anybody else pick this up?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The ending to this is fucking glorious.

I'm sad that it's a one off, because the systems here are pretty fucking great. You don't get to really experience them THAT MUCH because the game is quite easy, and you tend to get handed weapons that the next boss will be weak to.

There's a NG+ that basically just makes the game harder and gives new loot drops, which might be worth exploring again. But most of the charm came with the fantastic localization and the exploration of the various areas and how they were described.

I really, really wish it was thrice as long, and pegged at like...I dunno. 15 hours instead of 6. I loved tinkering with it and every single concept inside it is fully realized and excellent, but there's not much to apply them to thanks to the one-off nature of the dungeon crawl and the story they wrap up there.

tl;dr may I have some more. a lot more. ;_;

There's nowhere I can't reach.

There's a completely different ending if you do the sidequest in New Game+, so I would recommend not stopping now. You also get some balls-hard boss battles and a few more story-related questions answered. Don't quit now!

As I told Tritoch, I ended up getting 24 hours out of it after all was said and done. A sequel alllll over my face, please

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.