PS3 Fanboy

Yesterday, we wrote up a story on some new White Knight Story screenshots. Today, after our readers cleverly deduced our assumption regarding character customization was correct, Level 5 has issued a statement regarding that very device as well as hinting at what to expect, gameplay-wise. Shall we listen in?

The player customization is exactly what we wanted to hear -- you create a character to travel with the main party. That means we've still got a static main character and other party members, but you create your own self-image to travel with them. This is a fantastic move, if you ask us. Our reasoning is complicated, but if you're curious enough, we might type up a rant about it should it be requested. This character customization mechanism was actually used to create the main protagonist as well as over 1,000 NPCs.

Finally, gameplay. Level 5 indicates that, aside from the White Knight transformation, battles will play out similar to Rogue Galaxy. We've noticed a few subtle differences, though. Battles seem more organized in pacing, less "mash square and triangle" like RG often forced us to do. It was square and triangle, right? Been a while. What we really think was meant in this comparison was this: action-based RPG battles with seamless loads between battles and map-wandering. The crutch of a standard hard drive in the PS3 will help in shattering any sort of load times and we believe if anyone can pull it off, it should be Level 5. We'll keep you posted with more details as they arrive.

Today is a good day for us. First up, the strangely addictive and get-nothing-accomplished gameplay of Disgaea is making its way onto the PS3. Secondly, donuts were buy two, get one free this morning. Thirdly, we've got some White Knight Story screenshots to share with you, courtesy of IGN. They are awesome, because we're finally starting to get a sense of scale for the great White Knight himself. At least, that's who we imagine is featured in one of the screens.

Another screenshot is what appears to be a shop menu, but ... for some reason, we can't help but think it's a character creation screen. If someone could translate the menu, we'd know for sure. Does this mean you create your main hero, or perhaps create your own personal party member? If so, that would be the coolest thing ever. It's like putting yourself in the shoes of not the "silent protagonist", but "that guy who happened to travel with the world's greatest hero." We know, that sounds odd, but from a writing standpoint, it's a nice touch that we hope is what we assume it is.

[UPDATE] Word has reached us the White Knight Story will be playable at the Tokyo Game Show in September. We'll report back to you with our hands-on impressions during the event.

This is a great bit of news for anyone out there who has been itching for some next-gen role-playing action, but like to stay away from the "MTV of RPG: Final Fantasy" stuff. A bunch of Japanese developers sat down and discussed their plans for now regarding the PS3 and you may be happy to know that a lot of studios have started moving on to the new console. We'd talk about the bits mentioned on The Last Remnant or the Final Fantasy XIII games, but it's all stuff we've heard. With that in mind, we'll go on to more obscure titles and studios.

Level 5 has remained hush on their upcoming RPG White Knight Story ever since the showing at the Tokyo Game Show last year, but they've finally issued a statement on the game and what we can expect at E3. Level 5's president Hino Akihiro says their development is progressing well and "should be able to show everyone something really soon." In addition to that, he said the graphical quality shown at TGS is just a taste of what's to come. We're fairly sure he's referring to the scope of the enemies and places in the game. We recall hearing about a giant turtle with a city on its back?

Other studios voiced their thoughts and plans also. Gust, makers of the Atelier games as well as Ar Tonelico, have new games currently in development. It should be noted that Gust and Banpresto are finishing up Ar Tonelico 2 for the PS2, but there's no word on whether or not it will come to America. If Nippon Ichi Studios is nice, they'll bring it over even though it'll probably stay on the PS2. Please! It was an amazing first game. We gush, but we were moved by it somehow. Other studios working on titles include: Takuyo, Namco Bandai, Hudson, Sunrise Interactive and of course, Nippon Ichi. We'll keep our eyes peeled for any info on their games because we loves us our RPGs.

It's been a little while since we've heard about Level 5's White Knight Story, arguably one of the coolest games shown at TGS, less arguably and more accepted as the most badass RPG shown at TGS. Akihiro Hino, producer of White Knight Story, sat down for a quickie with IGN recently. There, some interesting pieces of information were revealed... mostly resulting in mad respect points.

First off, they expect to have a full RPG experience -- we mean a 50-60 hour gameplay time, which no next-gen game has even come close to attaining. This means the game will take its time in development. That's a situation Hino had to fight for. Initially, there was some pressure by Sony to try to get the game out in time for the PS3's launch window. That would have cut the story, thereby the whole experience, short. Respect for taking the time to make a good game, Level 5. Respect. We'll see this game in 2007, hopefully.

It's not quite "running" yet, since there is only a neat backdrop, lots of Japanese, and six works of art (two game screens, four concept arts), but Level 5 has still given us a White Knight Story website. The two screens are both of the hero -- as a gorgeous CG-anime manboy, and then as the giant knight of white, in a classic Power Rangers megazord (right? It's been like... 10 years since I've seen that show) stance. What's amazing, though, is the concept art. It's something to frame and put on your wall. Just look at the above screen. It's a giant turtle. With a town on it. Look, look at the ship docked above its head. We can only imagine what that'll look like in the final game. A beautiful castle is also depicted, as is... an outfitted fellow doing some sky-driving? Finally, a castle hallway. After that, the website tells you to Go Home. Enjoy!

Did Enchanted Arms not deliver on the "next-gen RPG" front? Are you looking for something that is promising to blow you away? White Knight Story is starting to shape into that game we RPG freaks will count the days to. Perhaps it's IGN delivering a rosy, flattering preview, but even if so, the meaning behind the words remains the same -- this game is next-gen. All. The. Way.

Let's start off with a favorite quote from IGN's article. "With Level 5's animation system, swords realistically strike other swords and shields, rather than cutting right through characters. If a character blocks an incoming attack, you'll see his shield go up and physically block the sword. The collision is perfect. In White Knight Story, two characters sparring really look like they're sparring." No more magical sword-passing-through-enemy stuff! If the collision really is perfect (especially on the finished product) then that is quite an astonishing feat.

There's some more blah-blah-blah about the visuals and trust us, we bet they're damn gorgeous too, but until we get to see some screens for ourselves, we'll not hype up the graphics just yet. Check out what else IGN had to say and let's get a "oooooh yeeeeeah" if you're looking forward to what may be the first true next-gen RPG experience. Oh, and no, I didn't draw the image. I suck at drawing.

Imagine a giant turtle carrying an entire town on its back. No, this isn't a rip from Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" novels (the giant turtle carried the whole world, if memory recalls correctly), this is an example the scale being delivered in Level 5's new RPG, White Knight Story. You'll remember that Level 5 was in charge of Dragon Quest VIII and the soon-to-be-stateside-after-a-ton-of-delays Rogue Galaxy, so you've got to expect quality from these guys.

WKS is the tale of a boy who can transform into a 7 meter tall knight thanks to an ancient artifact. Enough of that! Let's get technical. This game is about scale. Texture limitations prevented a title of such, er, magnitude to come into existence on previous consoles. Now, however, we can show such small details on large objects that it's entirely possible! In fact, Level 5 has to make its own capture studio for this game since it is using an incredibly complex animation blending studio.

The battles themselves stray from the typical JRPG and almost sound like a single-player MMO experience, with a palette of skills to set up for each character. You can only control one character in battle at a time like in the ill-received Magna Carta and use only the skills you've equipped. It sounds further along in development than expected and we'll get more details as it's unveiled over the next couple of days. Awesome!