CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Recently, a cinematic trailer of the upcoming PS3 Japanese RPG, White Knight Story (a.k.a. Shirokishi Monogatari), was released. The developer of this game is Level-5, one of the premier Japanese RPG developers (check their Wiki entry on their game portfolio, which includes the Dark Cloud series, and the latest Dragon Quest games).

After viewing this trailer, I thought this is a video that would get the gamers on CAA really excited. Thus, I felt the need to share it. It seems to press all the right buttons for most JRPG gamers on CAA. Awesome music, fantastic art direction with a little touch of anime inspiration, epic scale, great pre-rendered CG movies and great in-game graphics engine... and the obligatory uc pseudonym cameo at the end.

Click here to view the cinematic trailer

EDIT 1: People seem to think the whole cinematic trailer is in pre-rendered CG. That is not true. While there is significant amount of CG, there is also a significant amount of footage that uses game's graphic engine. Look carefully, and you should be able to tell where CG is used and where it is not.

EDIT 2: For those wanting gameplay footage, click here for footage from Tokyo Game Show last year. Do realize that this is very-old footage, but still it is very impressive.

If I said what I liked about this video, I'd probably just repeat your opening post. A few comments remain, however. As far as Level 5 goes, I've never felt that strong about them either way as a studio. For example, DQVIII was fun for old-fashioned RPG gameplay, but I didn't think it was incredibly well made. But this trailer shows signs of plot, which is always one of the most important factors for me.

Does anyone know offhand what I'm saying at the end?

uc pseudonym wrote:Does anyone know offhand what I'm saying at the end?

Sorry, no, I was captivated by the nation on the turtles back.

Game looks nifty.

Pushing all the right buttons is sure right, man. O~O The trailer was gorgeous. Those, er, I guess they're mechs - they remind me of Escaflowne's Guymelefs. :3 Do want.

Looks very nice^^ Almost looks like it would work better as some CGI movie, but of course with all the action-packed sequences, tons of fighting^^ Of course, no clips for the actually in-game animation/fighting/so forth :/

Okay, that looks really cool. Very nice CG, and it looks interesting. I thought the city/country thing on the creature's back was awesome.

This furthers my desire for a PS3...

uc pseudonym wrote:As far as Level 5 goes, I've never felt that strong about them either way as a studio. For example, DQVIII was fun for old-fashioned RPG gameplay, but I didn't think it was incredibly well made.

I can understand that sentiment with regard to DQ and their earlier games like Dark Cloud 2. Do realize with DQ that Level-5 has to maintain the legacy of the DQ franchise which is strict adherence to the traditional DQ formula and fairly straightforward plot. In a sense, Level-5 were not in complete control of the franchise story and design in DQ since it is not really their property.

Tenshi no Ai wrote:Looks very nice^^ Almost looks like it would work better as some CGI movie, but of course with all the action-packed sequences, tons of fighting^^ Of course, no clips for the actually in-game animation/fighting/so forth :/

Well... wait a minute. Hold it right there!

This game got a lot attention last year at Tokyo Game Show for the in-game animation and fighting shown right here at this link. Of course this is year-old footage and not the latest, but notice the interaction and choreography between the characters using the battle system. That is what put this game on all the gaming publications' radar. In a sense, this recent cinematic trailer is just icing on the cake.

That trailer was absolutely beautiful o.o

Oh crap, the in-game animation was even more stellar.

uc pseudonym wrote: For example, DQVIII was fun for old-fashioned RPG gameplay, but I didn't think it was incredibly well made.

Oh, really?
What did you not like about it?

I can understand that sentiment with regard to DQ and their earlier games like Dark Cloud 2. Do realize with DQ that Level-5 has to maintain the legacy of the DQ franchise which is strict adherence to the traditional DQ formula and fairly straightforward plot. In a sense, Level-5 were not in complete control of the franchise story and design in DQ since it is not really their property.

Yes. Dragon Quest-creator Yuji Horii oversaw the project, so it couldn't do any serious departures from the DQ formula. On the other hand, Dark Cloud, Dark Cloud 2, Rogue Galaxy, and Jeanne D' Arc are entirely Level 5's so they can do what they want with them.

Dark Cloud 2 was generally a fun game and I eventually beat it but the battles did get repetitive after awhile and the weapons-development system got rather tedious.

Wow... that is some amazing game play... They BETTER bring it over to our shores >_< No reason not to, but you know how the odd game gets left out :/
An action RPG... that's a plus for me (I tend to prefer free-movement, rather than time/turn-based), but... too bad so very few games don't come with the option of using the original language :/ I've heard tons of good dubbed games, but sometimes in the original Japanese... It just makes it more dramatic and exciting^^

Tenshi no Ai wrote:Wow... that is some amazing game play... They BETTER bring it over to our shores >_< No reason not to, but you know how the odd game gets left out :/

This will definitely come to the Western markets, mark my words.

Every single game Level-5 has made was brought over to Western shores. Every single one.

EDIT: Even with that in mind, all PS3 games are region-free, which means you can import a Japanese game and play it on an North American PS3 effortlessly.... Well, you will need to be fluent in Japanese... but there are no restrictions imposed with playing PS3 games that are from a different region than the PS3 hardware.

Turtle...

Amazing...

Hearing that Level 5 was not in complete control of prior projects is encouraging. I await this new offering with anticipation.

MasterDias wrote:Oh, really?
What did you not like about it?

I understand that DQ has always been about RPG fundamentals. That is fine; it's why I played the game. But it has also struck me that the series often lags behind in things that don't really have anything to do with the inherent experience. For example, the series continued using things such as the primary button bringing up a menu to talk/open/stairs (or a combat screen not featuring your characters with 2D monster designs) even after contemporary games had moved on.

Does that feeling make sense? That's kind of how I felt about DQ8, but with more advanced issues. It would be hard for me to be more specific without reviewing the features carefully. My other major gripe was the complete lack of character development or a real story. Far too much of it was "follow the vague rumors of the guy" which isn't that involving. If that is part of DQ, it is a part I dislike.

Also, it didn't have a city on the back of a giant turtle.

uc pseudonym, megastar of video game trailers wrote:Also, it didn't have a city on the back of a giant turtle.

Dude, massive turtles FTW.

Seriously, I thought the big turtle with a city would be a hit here. Something very Miyazaki-esque about that concept....

A poster on NeoGAF posted a bunch of recent screenshots (though small) of the battle system. Click here to see them.

Looks to be really fun! The city on the backo of a turtle looked awesome.

I'll have to know more about the battle system before I can get excited.

It's nice eye candy though.

Gosh. Seeing something like that makes me want to go out and buy a PS3. XD Not that that'll happen any time soon, 'cause they're so expensive, but yeah. It looks pretty cool. XD

Nate wrote:I'll have to know more about the battle system before I can get excited.

It's nice eye candy though.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/13331.html

It shows off the battle system. It's turn based in real time... Or that's the best way I can describe what it looks like. You set up your attacks and combos in the middle of fighting I guess...

Nate wrote:I'll have to know more about the battle system before I can get excited.

Bobtheduck wrote:It shows off the battle system. It's turn based in real time... Or that's the best way I can describe what it looks like. You set up your attacks and combos in the middle of fighting I guess...

Oh, we will know fairly soon what the battle system is about. Take a look at this article. This game will be in playable demo form at Tokyo Game Show this late September.

Also in that article, it describes a nice (though I guess minor) feature, where you can create a customizable character that will be part of the main party. Apparently, the developers used this exact customization tool to design all the party characters and NPCs you see in the game as well.

Here is the Sony Japanese site on the game. You can click around and explore and speculate.

Nate wrote:It's nice eye candy though.

Dude, massive turtle candy FTW.

I'm just glad I have a Japanese account, so i could get the full quality trailer in a format I know my PS3 will read (I just love showing off upcoming PS3 stuff ON a PS3)

With FFXIII being pushed back to infinity, It's nice to have a real, full JRPG coming. Folklore is fun, but it's really more action RPG... I sort of see it as what Dawn of Mana should have been if it didn't suck...

Best battle system I've seen in an RPG from the looks of it.
How realistic.