XSEED's new project: Valhalla Knights (PSP)

Press release incoming:
XSEED GAMES ANNOUNCES ACTION RPG

VALHALLA KNIGHTS FOR THE PSP® (PLAYSTATION®PORTABLE) SYSTEM



Torrance, Calif., (Oct. 04, 2006) --- XSEED Games today announced that it has acquired North American publishing rights for VALHALLA KNIGHTS, an action RPG for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. The title is scheduled for release in Q1 2007.



An original title created by Marvelous and development team K2, VALHALLA KNIGHTS boasts stunning graphics and real-time, action-packed battles. It allows players to see and avoid monsters on the field map before engaging them and seamlessly switching to tactical team combat on the battle screen.



The Story

A place that was forgotten from history, where humans, elves, dwarfs, halflings and other various races lived together in harmony…it was a paradise, surrounded by deep green forests and crystal clear streams.



However, the roar of the demons tore apart their peaceful lives. It was the return of the Dark Lord, the previous ruler of the land, which sparked a new round of battles which would eventually encompass all the races.



After years of fierce fighting, the Dark Lord was sealed away by the hands of the hero, Rastul. But from the blood of the demons, the land had been cursed and the sky lost its light. The cursed land entrapped the people, making every waking moment feel like an eternity. Eventually the land once known as a paradise came to be known as “The Cursed Land.”



One day, a youth wakes up in this land. In this land full of despair, the youth searches for his/her lost memory. What lies ahead are the discovery of his/her memories and the future of this forsaken land.



Key Features

· Customizable characters give each player a unique experience – select from five races (human, dwarf, halfling, elf, machine) and eight different job classes (Fighter, Mage, Priest, Thief, Knight, Samurai, Ninja, Anchor)

· Complete quests to earn more gold to help recruit new party members or upgrade equipment

· Enjoy the vast selection of weapons, armors, and accessories which also become visible on the in-game models when equipped

· Real-time battles in which the player can switch between controlling any of the six party members on the fly

· Highly detailed indoor and outdoor environments such as forests, dungeons, tunnels, castles, and an old ninja village

· Encounter up to 150 different types of monsters, including dragons, giants, vampires, ghosts and enemy samurais

· Network Play - Team up with other players in multi-player modes:

* 2-Player Co-op Mode - Features 30 co-op missions exclusive to the multi-player mode. Each player chooses three characters from their single-player party to participate (one human and two other characters), and all items earned are distributed by the host and can be carried back to each player’s respective single-player game.

* 2-Player Versus Mode - Allows each player to select up to six characters to form their battle party. An item or set amount of gold is set as the wager, with the victorious party receiving the winnings from the losing party. The terms of victory can be set to completely eliminate the opposing party, have more HP left after a one-minute time limit or have more HP left after a five- minute time limit.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Wondering when they were going to announce their next project. Their website (which is now down) hadn't been updated since April or something.

Wasn't this game crtically panned in Japan, though?

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I'd rather hear if they are going to localize Wild Arms 5 or not but this game sound promising enough even though I don't have a PSP yet.

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

I wonder if this game is even any good. The only good RPG on the PSP right now is a port of a PSX game. =\

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

http://www.rpgland.com/interviews/xseedint3.html

Quote:

Heath Hindman
Why a PSP game? Aren't sales expectations a bit low on that platform?

Ken Berry
We look at the quality of the game first, regardless of the platform. With that being said, we're big fans of the PSP system and believe that it still has incredible sales potential in the future. Of course it doesn't have nearly the install base of the PS2, but we're confident that good games on the PSP will still sell.

Heath Hindman
Some PSP games suffer from sore loading times. Tell me honestly, how are the load times in Valhalla Knights? Give me estimates for battle transition, changing areas, opening menus and whatever else sticks out to you.

Ken Berry
The load times in Valhalla Knights are almost non-existent, with especially the changing areas and battle transition being practically instantaneous. Some of the other non-gameplay functions, such as switching out party members at the guild or equipping new weapons and armor from the main menu, may take a couple seconds but it's never too distracting.

Heath Hindman
And oh yeah, hey, have you harassed people about bringing over Wild ARMs XF and/or Wild ARMs 5? If I were you, I'd get on people's freakin' cases about that.

Ken Berry
We love the Wild ARMs series as much as anyone, so we're doing what we can to ensure that all future iterations will reach the US. We would be honored to work on Wild ARMs 5 and Wild ARMs XF, but the final decision on US publishing will come down to SCEI and Media.Vision.

I interviewed Ken of XSeed about the game.

I was speaking idiomatically.