Indie Game Development

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Mar 18, 2008

Filed under: Projects 64 comments

Black Sigil
I’ve mentioned before that I’m currently working on an indie game for a small Canadian studio. For a while I’ve needed to be vague on the details, until we could be sure that everyone was comfortable with me blabbing about it here, to what is often thought of as a large audience. (Apparently I sometimes underestimate the impact of my traffic, but only because I’m too busy looking at all the sites ahead of me.) But now we’ve reached the point where I can speak freely…

The project I’m working on is Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled from Studio Archcraft. (The game was called “Project Exile” during development, and that’s still the name you’ll see on the website in various places.)

I’ve actually only played the first couple of hours of the thing so far. I know it’s unfair to compare it to something like Final Fantasy VI, which is older and has earned its place of legend among titles of the past, but as a recent newcomer to both titles I’d say the start to Black Sigil hooked me in better than the start to FFVI. It’s a shame, really – I’ve read the Black Sigil design docs and I know how the story unfolds, which kind of ruins it for me.

The game began development as a GBA title, and has since moved on to the Nintendo DS. It’s been in development for a while and I’m only getting involved now as the thing gets ready to cross the finish line. The bulk of the work I’ve been doing is simple stuff: Scripting pre-written dialog and choreographing cutscenes. It’s not creative work, but it’s important and a natural way to get to know the technology and tools. I’ve also been doing some writing and game design stuff for another project, but that stuff is still in the preliminary stages and hasn’t evolved very far past mere brainstorming. It’s the kind of stuff I live for, but the scripting needs to be done first.

Actually I shouldn’t call the scripting work “simple”. I know from experience that no system is ever as simple as it looks from the outside, but being aware of this truth and being subjected to this truth are always two different things. The work was actually rife with eye-crossing complexity until I figured out what I was doing. In my very first session with the tools, it took me something like two hours to get a couple of NPC’s to have a little conversation – five lines of dialog – in front of the player. This is the sort of experience that will bestow humility in short order.

Being introduced to a new toolset has several distinct phases:

  1. This is very confusing. There are so many buttons! Why does this have to be so complex!?!?
  2. Okay. I sort of get it now. I guess I can live with this system.
  3. You know, this thing is actually pretty powerful and well-organized once you understand how it works.
  4. This tool is the best for this particular job, the standard by which all other tools should be judged. You can have it when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

I’m somewhere between steps 2 and 3 right now. I do not claim to be at all proficient with the thing yet, but I’m at the point where I can make the characters have a little conversation without expending an entire evening in the effort. A lot of this stuff would be done in minutes if I could somehow download, Matrix-style, the knowledge and familiarity normally acquired through repeated exposure.

This demo movie is pretty old, but this is more or less what the game looks like, and should give a good overview of the plot:

Since I’m not going to be playing the game normally, I don’t plan on doing a regular review series for this. That would be pointless anyway, since the game isn’t out yet. But I do expect to talk about the game more as it nears release. The usual disclaimers apply: I’m working on the game and have a certain attachment to it at this point. Calibrate your perceptions of my words accordingly.

 


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64 thoughts on “Indie Game Development

  1. Zanfib says:

    Sounds very intersting. The game itself looks quite good, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen a 2d game that looks so prety

  2. Lebkin says:

    I send Tango’s “Want”, and add unto it:

    When?

  3. LazerFX says:

    And can we have it on PC, please? Some of us have objections to boring consoles… PC’s are the daddy!

  4. Clint says:

    The real question is, “Does it have random encounters?”

    I tried playing FFVI on the SNES right after I finished Chrono Trigger (ahh… Chrono Trigger), and just couldn’t bring myself to deal with the blood-pressure-raising random encounter system it had.

    On the upside, I love the classic look of the trailer, and I’m looking forward to playing the game on my friend’s DS when it comes out…

    Clint

  5. Jason says:

    Is there any connection between these games and the Exile series that Spiderweb put out in the late 90’s?

  6. Segev Stormlord says:

    Utterly minor note, but I am amused by the one character being named “Nephi”, as that’s a major prophet from the Book of Mormon. Probably no relation other than the name, but it caught my attention.

  7. Shinjin says:

    Looks neat. But around 2m in, was that a jumping puzzle I saw? (*shudder*)

  8. ReverendKain says:

    Oh, wow, dude, I’ve been looking forward to this for a while, glad to hear about the name change, otherwise I would have assumed it fell off a cliff somewhere… Anyway, great to see it’s moving forward.

  9. Joe says:

    Makes me glad I picked up a DS a couple months ago… keep us posted!

  10. Henebry says:

    Looks really interesting, in terms of plot.

    Not sure you’re looking for critique, and I’m sure the YouTube sample here represents an early beta, but I notice that the dialogue is poorly written and awkwardly arranged — by contrast to the attention lavished on graphics and music, as is often the case in games like this one.

    For example, Kairu’s indignant response is cut short by the size of the text window:

    “He is the only one that believes in me, that still thinks that I have some ”

    After we click for the next line of dialogue we get the anticlimactic

    “potential.”

    Either trim the speech so it fits in a single talk-bubble or else put the break in a more logical place, between “in me” and “that”.

    Or, even better, rewrite the dialogue so it has real emotion: “He always believed in me. You never did.”

  11. sithson says:

    OMG…

    RPGmaker, much?

    Seriously, the game looks like a rpg maker clone, with a few specail bells and whistles thrown in, which isn’t that hard to do once you get a idea how to do it.

    The only thing that it has imo, is a glossy finish to it, but really, if you spend enough time you can put gloss on a pig. Color me… sort of intrested, since most rpg maker clones never get finished. They are usually not thought out well, and the story doesnt drive itself at all to the game or something else wrong with it. But other than that, eh, it looks like a clone. The story is critically important, however, so it better be a damn good one.

  12. Solka says:

    Hum… looks really nice. But I’ll never play it, not having a Nintendo DS :(

    Isn’t 2800 of heal to every character pretty much an overkill when the max health they have is 999?

  13. Zukhramm says:

    I get the feeling I’ve seen that trailer before.

    Anyway, I’ll definatly buy this. It looks fun, and real time tactical sounds like an interesting idea in a game othewise seeming like a traditional Japanese RPG.

    The fact the you’re involved just gives me more reason to get it.

  14. Snook says:

    Sithson: Give it a chance, and realize that most games in this vein are going to *look* alike but not *play* alike.

    Also: Only for the DS? Shamus, you make me weep.

  15. Inane Fedaykin says:

    Normally I’d pirate this because my local stores are useless for DS games but damn’t it seems you were right all along, Shamus. I can’t steal from a guy I’ve gotten to know.

    I wonder if EB will order me a copy when it comes out…

  16. Alexis says:

    “The project is currently being ported to the Nintendo DS for release in Q1 2007.”
    That doesn’t sound so good. Typo or have they been porting/’polishing’ for a year now?

    My flatmate and I have in the house an xbox, a ps2 (borrowed), a 360, a gamecube, a wii, two PCs and I’ve just ordered a ps3. Damn them for picking practically the only format I can’t play.

    #12, look at the combat: it isn’t strictly turn based and it’s in-world. They’re at least trying to do something different here.

  17. Mark says:

    I remember seeing that demo video for, oh, it must have been well over a year ago. I promptly forgot what it was called or any other way of finding it. Thanks for reminding me, though I thought by now it would have been either finished or abandoned.

    It seems to use a few tiles lifted directly from Chrono Trigger, but that doesn’t appear to be an issue with indie freeware console-style RPGs like this one.

    I mean, I assume this is freeware. The entire project smells of a fan-like passion for the genre, and you didn’t mention one way or the other, and commercial jobs tend to have fewer “borrowed” graphics.

  18. Mark says:

    I remember seeing that demo video for, oh, it must have been well over a year ago. I promptly forgot what it was called or any other way of finding it. Thanks for reminding me, though I thought by now it would have been either finished or abandoned.

    It seems to use a few tiles lifted directly from Chrono Trigger That doesn’t appear to be an issue with [url=http://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=68488.0]indie freeware console-style RPGs[/url], but the project website is unclear as to whether they expect to make money on this. The entire project smells of a fan-like passion for the genre, and you didn’t mention one way or the other, and commercial jobs tend to have fewer “borrowed” graphics.

  19. MintSkittle says:

    I wouldn’t compare this to FFVI, more like Chrono Trigger or Seiken Densetsu (Secret of Mana), which are still good games.

  20. Michael says:

    yeah, definitely seems like a cross between Secret of Mana and Chrono. Too bad I don’t have a DS. if it ever reaches the PC, I’ll have to get it!

  21. Bowmore says:

    As a happy DS owner who has a soft spot for SNES-era jrpgs (played FFIV, VI, Earthbound, Secret of Mana back in the day, and played fan-translations of FFV and Seiken Densetsu 3 / Secret of Mana 2) I’ll be keeping an eye out for updates on this.

    The style of graphics hooked me in immediately, and what little I’ve seen of the combat system piqued my interest. Just don’t pull a Guide Dang It (detailed on tvtropes.org) on me and I’ll be happy.

    Also, #8: that part didn’t look so much like a jumping puzzle as it did a bunch of pillars that you have to hop across to get somewhere. Even if it was a jumping puzzle, I wouldn’t be worried (unless it was a Lufia II style hair-rippingly frustrating puzzle).

  22. Shamus says:

    sithson: It’s certainly NOT RPG maker – this is a set of homebrew tools. (I don’t think RPG maker is even available for the DS.) The game – years in development – is very close to release. This isn’t a project to be abandoned. They have a publisher.

    Yes, RPG maker games looked a bit like this and most are crap.

    But FFVI and Chrono Trigger looked like this and are classics. The worthyness of the title has little to do with the shape of the pixels and everything to do with the dedication and skill of the team.

  23. Mike says:

    RPG Maker can’t even come close to this. If you think so, you obviously have no experience with the engine or RPG Maker games in general.

    Shamus, is this going to be available for general release? I’d like to get a few copies for my store. It’s a small store, but we service a few hundred thousand people up here in northern BC. I like to bring in indy games whenever I can.

  24. Fenix says:

    Looks great, if i get a DS I’ll probably pick it up.

    It reminds me of the game golden sun for the GBA, which happened to be one of my favorite games of all time, so, any game similar is worth a shot in my book.

    Good luck with the toolset.

  25. M says:

    I can’t watch the trailer yet, as I’m on at work, but that looks like something work getting my paws on. Any idea what the price point will be, and whether it’ll be available in, say, GameStop stores?

  26. Chuk says:

    Looks nice. I am really starting to like the DS as an RPG platform.

  27. Vegedus says:

    Looks interesting. I certainly might pick it up if it turns out good.

    One thing though…

    “Active time-tactical combat RPG”? What kind of monicker is that? Okay, so it’s an RPG, which has combat in it (duh), that is tactical, and is resolved in “active time”?

    Yeah, way too much vague information there. ‘Active time’ seems to refer to what I simply call “pseudo-realtime”, like the ATB system in most FFs, or the weird one in X-com 3. ‘Tactical’ means there’s AoEs and movement involved. And all this applies only to the combat of the game (though conversations seems turnbased :P). So, yeah, I understand what it means, but that required too much interpretation. I hope they keep it an “Realtime RPG” as the site states.

  28. Dirty Dan says:

    I’m somewhat concerned about the “tactical” portion, myself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m buying this sucker either way, but from the looks of the battle scenes depicted in that preview, there doesn’t seem to be control over the PCs’ movement, just as was the case in Chrono Trigger — rather, as in that game, the formation of enemies plays a role in area-effect abilities, but PCs just “spring attack” from wherever they started to wherever the enemy is and back in order to attack. Is PC movement in combat implemented — or will it be — in later versions than the one shown in that preview?

  29. Corsair says:

    *Whistle*

    Very impressive. Also, as has been stated before, want.

    The combat does sort of have that Chrono Trigger feel to it, mixed up with some Seiken Densetsu. The plot, on the other hand, reminds me of some kind of inverse FFVI. All in all, I’m quite interested.

  30. Anonymitosis says:

    Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I really do want to play this, but is it a DS exclusive? I’m a poor college student and really don’t want to spring money on a DS, but, as you’ve pointed out quite truthfully before, my familiarity with you definitely precludes pirating it to play on the PC. So, you’ve solved piracy and assured an eager customer. Is there a chance you can make the product available to me so I may purchase it someday?

  31. Lee from Sheboygan says:

    Verrry interesting. As far as I know, it’s very easy to make games for the DS, which might be why the company chose to make it for the DS.

    Fortunately, I have a DS. 2D games FTW!

  32. ngthagg says:

    I can’t believe I actually thought people wouldn’t come on and trash an unreleased game based on an old preview movie. Yikes.

    This game looks amazing. As someone commented above, it’s more Chrono Trigger than FFVI, but that’s a plus for me, as Chrono Trigger was the one RPG I loved more than FFVI growing up. I don’t own a DS, but I’ll probably get one to play this.

  33. capital L says:

    As an earlier poster alluded to, the title reminds one of the mid-90’s RPG “Blades of Exile” released by Spiderweb. I think the name is different enough, plus it’s been a rather long interval of time.

    I sure did enjoy that game back in the day on my terrible old mac though.

  34. Craig says:

    This does look like an interesting game, and I might buy it if I have any money (as of now I don’t), but I’m not a fan of the anime art style. I specifically don’t like it because this is an indie game from Canada. I really wish that games from our continent really took the opportunity to differentiate themselves from Japanese games, especially rpgs. I can no longer tell rpgs apart from each other because it looks like they could all be from the same series. This is bad because this is the exact art style that crappy games love. It just turns me off from an entire genre, which is unfair. Learn some other art styles, and stop making characters wear ridiculous things on their pointy hair.

  35. Uninverted says:

    I feel like an idiot, but do you mean scripting as in writing dialogue or code?

    Also, wow. This looks awesome.

  36. kanthalion says:

    I understood it to be dialog, but I might be wrong. I was a little disappointed that the text went too fast for me to read in the video, but I’m sure when playing, you will push a button to advance it, or have an option to slow it down.

  37. Shamus says:

    Uninverted: In this case, code. Confusingly, I was writing code to deliver dialog. The actual words said by the characters were written by someone else.

  38. Freykin says:

    This gives me a very similar feeling to Chrono Trigger, which is my favorite RPG of all time. I’m definitely going to keep an eye on this, hope it comes out soon!

  39. Alex says:

    Heh, looks neat. The only thing that irks me is that some of the rock formations and snow/desert areas look like they were directly lifted from Seiken Densetsu 3 or FFVI. Those games looked great and all, and it’s hard to tell from the compressed video and images you showed here, but judging from that, they look way too close to the source material.

    I’m also sick of RPG’s with the giant space-hogging anime portraits. The sprites alone should be able to convey all of the emotion required of each scene. Of course, these are graphical issues, and I don’t think that’s your department.

    It’s still nifty to see a game that looks, sounds and plays like it’s from the 1990’s, but as an intentional design choice. As opposed to games that look like they were made in the 1990’s because the graphics engine is made out of crackers(and its manipulators being a soft, sludge-like essence).

  40. Tuck says:

    The only thing that irks me is that some of the rock formations and snow/desert areas look like they were directly lifted from Seiken Densetsu 3 or FFVI.

    Yes…speaking as someone who has studied the tiles of those games in particular and done a lot of tile art myself, they do look rather too similar for coincidence. Not just the tiles you mention, either, but a number in other areas caught my eye…which is a pity. Once you understand the principles behind creating such tiles, there is no need to use “pre-made” samples.

    But anyway, as other people have suggested…no PC version, won’t be playing.

  41. Cuthalion says:

    Since you’re doing scripting for dialog, I assume that will fix the atrocious sentence breaks in the trailer.

    I hope their next trailer lets us read the character dialog going on or at least slow down the splash text (or whatever it’s called… it disappears too fast sometimes). I felt like I was trying to read a homework assignment as fast as possible, not watching a “want” trailer.

    It looks prettiful.

    I don’t have a DS. I can’t really afford one. I hope I can get a PC version. If not directly sellable, maybe a code or something could be included with the DS chip that lets me download a PC version for free, since I bought the DS one. That way if I have no DS or I just lose the game or something…

    Was that a system to combine skills/specials/spells to use in combat? If so, @_@ and *drool*.

    Want.

  42. Just to answer a few questions:

    The YouTube video is a very early version of the game. The tile similarity issue was raised since then, and was fixed. For the record, the tiles weren’t identical, but very similar (too close for comfort, really). All tiles made by the artist responsible for those were verified and redrawn when necessary.

    As to the dialogue, I would have to take a look at a more recent build, but we had someone go through the whole dialogue to edit it (for tone, structure, grammar, etc.) It’s definitely the sort of issues that can only be fixed in beta – too many things can change before then.

    Finally, as to the gameplay – it’s hard to show in a video (of a prehistoric version of the game to boot :) ) but you do have quite a bit more control over the movement and placement. The philosophy we had was “you can win by button-mashing, but there are rewards to playing tactically.” You can position yourself to protect a spellcaster, for instance, but you don’t have to do manual movement if you don’t want to.

    And finally, for the PC-games lovers: sorry we couldn’t make the game for you. Unfortunately, for a bunch of reasons, the PC wasn’t an option for us. :(

  43. Joshua says:

    Yep, definitely brings back memories of the SNES with Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana/Evermore.

    Also, the origin of the plotline reminded me of the Darksword novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. In those books, “everyone” could cast magic and the protagonist was “dead” -unable to cast any magic at all. In that world, working with technology was actually called “sorcery” and was feared as being more efficient and quicker than magic. Many of the populace thus feared Joram, the protagonist.

  44. Brandon says:

    From the screens on the project page I’ve taken away that it’s graphically impressive, classically inspired, and in dire need of some grammatical editing. Common mistakes, but correcting them can make all the difference. From one screenshot, “He is the only one that believes in me, that still thinks that I have some…” would be better phrased as, “He is the only one who believes in me, who still thinks I have some…”

    See, these days everyone thinks they can edit just fine. Nobody goes out of their way to find someone specifically to edit. This is a big mistake. I bought an RPG book recently which was, frankly, a total waste, all because one of the key authors enlisted his wife to edit instead of simply finding someone outside that circle.

  45. Kris says:

    Looks like I need to get my DS out of the closet. Nifty.

  46. Kanthalion says:

    Slightly off topic, but Dang! First Gary Gygax, and now Arthur C. Clark?!

  47. Mephane says:

    Wow, the graphics remind me a lot of Secret of Mana 2 (the best video gamer ever made in my opinion). Will there be a port to the PC? I do not own a Nintendo DS and don’t really have the spare funds for buying it just for this one game… d’oh!

  48. ChrisAsmadi says:

    It looks interesting, but I somewhat doubt it’ll end up released here in Europe.

    Many good games never are.

    Damn you, Sega Europe.

  49. Actually, the current plans are for worldwide release. Even Japan, so Europe is as close to guaranteed as we can make it. :)

  50. Phlux says:

    Shamus: Just by way of curiosity what exactly is your average readership?

    Also on the game…it looks fabulous and I’ll be picking it up for my DS whenever it ships.

  51. sithson says:

    In response to #24

    Yes it can do the same stuff, in fact the “XP” version of RPGmaker can do quite amazing stuff but you got to get the PC hacked hacked/translated version. It can even do the Z mode graphics when you get on a airship. I know, I have personally used the product (The pc version not the crappy councle version) and there is so many different mods and programing scripts that you can do it all, it just takes a lot of time, and work to do it. And if you know anything about how to even simple programing language or C+ its even easier. Most of the tricks to make the mods are just programing tricks (or visual) but you can do it all, even the Secret of Mana style swirl in combat pop up menus. Id link some websites for you but im at work currently so I dont have them, but Id like to say I have PLENTY of experiance with the “Engine” and its capabilites, to wit, YOU really dont know what your talking about.

    Now, to #23 Shamus
    I realize that the pixles don’t matter, its the story that better be damn good if your to make what appears to be a knock off great. That’s all i’m saying. And since it appears that you have something that is nearly finished, then, it should be pretty good if your going to have it ported to a DS. So Ill wait until I see this on the shelf, and pick it up for my opinon of it then.

  52. George says:

    The opening plot sequence very much reminded me of the Darksword trilogy. I loved those novels growing up, I’ll definately give this game a try.

  53. Locri says:

    Wow, that looks awesome… I’m looking forward to the game ^_^

  54. Rich says:

    Have DS. Will buy.

  55. Shamus says:

    Alan Kellog: Yes, you were indeed grumpy today. Which is why I nuked your comment.

    Go act like that someplace else.

  56. MadTinkerer says:

    Being an RPG Maker fan I also immediately thought it looked like an RPG Maker XP game at first. But if you pay attention, the graphics are significantly better than RMXP will allow(without some serious Ruby script* rewriting, and in that case you might as well start from scratch). Five frames of running animation, for starters. It actually looks like Chrono Trigger with a big graphical upgrade: better character portraits, better color palette for scenery, slightly more expressive sprite faces, some of the big monsters look more like the big Seiken Densetsu 3 monsters style-wise, and so on.

    In fact, watching it again, if you had told me this was some sort of “lost” Squaresoft SNES game** that they were bringing over as a DS game, I probably would have believed it. I think that’s pretty much the biggest compliment I can give to this project at this phase.

    I’m definitely looking forward to buying it.

    *Yeah, I know my RM2k/XP shiznat, so don’t be frontin’, Sithson. ;)

    **Like Rudora’s Secret Treasure, Seiken Densetsu 3, or a bunch of other Japanese-only releases that are floating around as ROMs.

  57. Christian Groff says:

    This looks amazing. Now that RPGs have moved into the 3D realm, games like this are usually made on RPGMaker or something. I myself am hacking an Earthbound ROM to make an Earthbound sequel that could be technically considered to be away from Mother 3.

    I wish you good sales on your game. If I could, I would buy it when it comes out. ^_^

  58. Nathan says:

    As a big fan of late SNES-era Square RPGs, this project really did catch my eye when I first saw it a year or so ago. Unfortunately, it mostly caught my eye because it seemed so derivative. The graphics really looked like they were taken directly from games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, which turned me off from it. I think it is great to make more games based off of the older style of great games like Chrono trigger or Suikoden 2, but getting too close to that style, without introducing your own spin and creating your own way of doing things, would simply be a cheap grab at nostalgia value.

    That said, I am glad to hear that things have been changed somewhat since that old video. I do hope that this game turns out well.

    Also, is it just me, Shamus, or is it really strange that you, a person who has always been rather dismissive of Japanese-style console-RPGs, or at least completely uninterested in them, is suddenly writing favorably about one? Come, join us in the land of rabid fanboyism of RPGs with set characters and deep stories! It is liberating!

    As one last comment, I must say it really is unfair to compare any game to Final Fantasy 6. There are many people, myself included, who consider it the greatest Final Fantasy game. Behind Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and maybe Suikoden 2 and Final Fantasy Tactics, I consider it one of the best RPGs ever made.

  59. Shamus says:

    I don’t think I’ve ever been dismissive of jRPG’s. I have lots of praise for FFX in my archives. I was sour on FFXII, but only because the story was poorly told. The game itself was pretty fun. FFVII was lots of fun.

  60. Brandon says:

    Wow Nathan, your top RPG list is quite limited, company-wise. Seems you’re sticking to the mainstream stuff.

    What about lesser known jRPGs like Panzer Dragoon Saga, Phantasy Star IV, and the Tactics Ogre games? I mean, Final Fantasy Tactics is effectively a Tactics Ogre game with Square storyline inserted. Even the original Grandia kicked tail, though the US translation by Sony was a bit weak. I think all of those games I’ve listed go toe to toe with, or even best, most of the titles on your list.

  61. Nathan says:

    Shamus: I mostly meant that, in posts like your listing of what you want your ideal RPG to be like, you lean a lot more towards things like a customizable character (like is common in Western PC RPGs, and tend to frown on elements distinct to Japanese Console RPGs.

    I am also pretty sour on FFXII myself. That game is terrible.

    Brandon: Heh, you underestimate me. I finished Ar Tonelico a month ago, am currently playing through Super Robot Wars Original Generation 2, and I am about halfway through Persona 3 (and need to get back to it). A major recent favorite is .hack//G.U.. Some of may favorites other than what I listed in my last post are Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (which is a nice improvement over its predecessor), Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Grandia (Grandia 2 wasn’t bad either), and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter.

    Other games I have played include the Growlanser games, the Arc the Lad games (I was a big fan of Working Design translations), the Xenosaga trilogy (which was a pale shadow of Xenogears), Atelier Iris 2, several Tales of … games, Star Ocean 2, and countless other older games. I have been an RPG fanatic since I played Final Fantasy 4 on the SNES.

    I didn’t mention those titles you listed because I was a Nintendo kid who never owned a Sega console, not because I only stick to mainstream RPGs. I want to see Panzer Dragoon saga, actually, but have never had a chance. Also, I know that Tactics Ogre is good, but I simply was never able to track down a copy for myself, so I can’t very well call it a personal favorite.

  62. KevinCV says:

    I’ve been a RPG fan since Chrono Trigger, and the demo vid definitely brings back memories of when I first played through it on the SNES. I look forward to playing it, but I have to wonder: When it will be officially released? I’ve shown a few of my friends the demo vid, and they’re really excited!

    Plus, who did the music? I sense some influences from Motoi Sakuraba, Nobuo Uematsu, and Yasunori Mitsuda. Good luck with finishing the game!

  63. HeatherRae says:

    I don’t own a DS. But this game might convince me to buy one. I really like the storyline that I’ve seen so far. :)

    And I love FFX myself. I haven’t found a game since that appealed to me so much on the base story level (it just seemed like such a -complete- world, even though there were some fairly glaring holes here and there).

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<strike>Darth Vader is Luke's father!</strike>

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Can you imagine having Darth Vader as your <i>father</i>?

You can make things bold like this:
I'm <b>very</b> glad Darth Vader isn't my father.

You can make links like this:
I'm reading about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader">Darth Vader</a> on Wikipedia!

You can quote someone like this:
Darth Vader said <blockquote>Luke, I am your father.</blockquote>

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