Preview: Nostalgia
I spent part of my afternoon with Ignition Entertainment today, and got to see this little RPG gem for the DS. Nostalgia, heading to the DS in September, is a brand-new RPG based on the same Matrix Software graphics engine as the recent Final Fantasy remakes, and hearkens back to the turn-based J-RPGs of yesteryear. One big difference makes Nostalgia stand out: despite its name, it's a brand new game - not a port, remake, or updated version of something you loved when you were wee.
Set on Earth in 1897, Nostalgia follows a core team of characters filled with daddy issues, mommy issues, and even grandpa issues: Nostalgia producer Keisuke Kikuchi, of Fatal Frame fame, wanted it that way. It's partly his commentary on the disjointed modern Japanese family. The game does incorporate alternate-reality and steampunk elements, but for all intents and purposes you'll be playing through Queen Victoria's empire.
Affluent son of a famous adventurer, Londoner Eddie kicks off the adventure by searching for his father in that time-honored RPG tradition, the airship. Airship combat is as turn-based as regular combat, and both will remind you of the good old days. Eddie will join up with a street urchin named Pad, a witch named Melody, and a mysterious girl named Feona - and during their adventures they'll scour New York, Cairo, Tokyo, and locations in Northern Europe and South America in their Tin Tin-style adventures.
Personally I've been a bit worn out by all the DS RPG remakes - as wonderful to revisit as they've been - and a brand-new RPG in a similar style with a unique (but not unintelligible) story is just what the genre needs.
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games, Videos on 18 June 2009
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: ds, ignition entertainment, Keisuke Kikuchi, nintendo, nostalgia, red entertainment, rpg, tecmo
Maybe it's just the airship battles, but the trailer reminded me a lot of Skies of Arcadia. Which is a very good thing.
Dev peoples, all I want is Skies of Arcadia with non-sucky combat. Is that so hard (apparently so)? That was hands down the best RPG ever if not for the hideous encounter rate. If you can give it Grandia combat I'll buy ten copies and hand them out.
As it is, I am definitely crossing my fingers for this, even more so than FF13.