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A couple more fuzzy White Knight Story images
Japanese magazine Gemaga released a few more screenshots of White Knight Story and while we'd like to offer more than that, it's all we've got for now. The screens cover the basics: one page describing a lot of characters and key features of the title (transforming into a giant knight, character creation function, etc), and a few other pages consisting of character close-ups and one picture of the battle system in action. The last of these is intriguing because a new enemy is revealed and if that's a normal fight, well, seems there are going to be a lot more types of creatures than the faceless soldiers seen in demos thus far. But it's probably a boss, prior to knight transformation. If only!
White Knight Story site gets an update
New characters, new system details, and some new concert art decorate the interwebs today as White Knight Story's official site has gotten an update. We'll bullet a list and give you the rundown of what you'll find below, if you don't feel like searching on your own quite yet. Several new pieces of concept art, including some airships, castles, and what we assume is a dungeon etched into the side of a mountain, akin to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Pretty much everything under the System menu is new -- character creation details we can't read (it is now touted that you can create female characters, too apparently), the battle/combo system is explained as well as your White Knight transformation ability. Under the Character tab, you can see what seems to be the bad guys, led by the stereotypical long, white-haired badass. Lame, but we'll forgive Level 5 for now as we're basing this on assumption. There's a girl with a big ugly frog pet, A dude, and a Moogle-like creature. Oh, also a neat picture of some of the big Knights. It's a quick update to run through, but if you're a fan of the game, nay, a fan of the idea of a truly next-gen RPG on your PS3, it should give you the grins to check out. If not, no worries. We'll keep you posted on any White Knight Story news we come across!
White Knight Story gets some fresh ink, fresh faces
By fresh ink, we mean new scans of White Knight Story erupting from the depths of Famitsu magazine. With no clear release date in sight, we can only marvel and gaze at the new snippits of artwork and graphical prowess Level 5 is preparing to woo us with. The scans predominantly showcase the different Knights you'll either encounter or gain the ability to become (since we can't read Japanese we're just guessing here), but there are a few pieces of scenery and character art to check out as well. That Level 5 mascot, the purple toad thing, even makes an appearance. We'll keep you up to date whenever we find more stuff on White Knight Story, so don't worry!
Level-5 chats White Knight Story
1UP chatted with Level-5, developers of hit RPGs like Dragon Quest VIII and the upcoming White Knight Story. In this interview (which includes game footage), see why the developers chose a single action button for battles. Get a better look at the henshin battles, and the beautiful CG-like graphics that the magicians at Level-5 have somehow managed to conjure up. See also:TGS hands-on: White Knight Story
TGS hands-on: White Knight Story
White Knight Story is a game we've kept in our peripheral vision since we first saw its trailer at TGS last year. Today we got the chance to get a hands on with the game. The demo guides you through leading a giant ox creature, and its suspiciously Taru-Taru-like owner, down a road filled with dangers. The dangers come in the form of evil armoured humans and animated vegetation. Similar to Mandragoras. We're drawing a couple of parallels to Final Fantasy XI but, thankfully, the similarities stop there.The slightly cel-shaded nature of the earlier trailer has been toned down a bit so that now the world looks more realistic, whilst still maintaining its obvious anime inspiration. The game dropped jaws with its incredible stylised JRPG graphics when it was revealed at TGS last year and is still graphically stunning.The first thing we noticed when we started the first combat segment was what first appears to be an aiming circle. This is what we affectionately call the "Wait Circle", which has a loading bar elongate along its circumference. Once it finishes the circle you can perform your next action. The Wait Circle also helps you out with your combo timings.
White Knight Story details explain character customization
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.
A triumvirate of White Knight Story screenshots [UPDATE]
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.
What other RPG studios are plotting PS3 releases? Where's White Knight Story?
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.
Hooray! New White Knight Story art to ogle!
Everything has been quiet over at Level 5 regarding the smashing title, White Knight Story. Ever since it left quite a few JRPG nuts with mouths agape at the end of its trailer, people have been scrambling to find anything on this game. Well, we're here to inform you that... no, we don't have anything either. No gameplay details, plot details (other than the "I morph into a big knight and battle baddies in real time like Chrono Trigger... which for some reason very few, if any, other JRPG's tried to emulate" stuff), no nothing... except a few new pieces of concept art. Not even really "concept" art, more like... art.Not sure who the art director is for this game, but the art for the three known human characters looks mighty familiar. Detailed like Valkyrie Profile art, but similar in design to the anime Last Exile. Of course, we could be way off. Anyway, check out the artworks, get a new wallpaper... and hope we see this game in 2008.
White Knight Story revives with some new screens
It's been a while since we heard from Level-5 and their upcoming PS3 RPG, White Knight Story. Check out the new screenshots. The screens look like captures from the Tokyo Game Show build, but that's just speculation. We understand why we haven't heard from this game in a while -- it's been getting pretty. Pretty awesome. What we know, story-wise, is the game revolves around a young boy named Lenard (now, all RPG cliches aside, I'm really really really sick of the "young boy" thing. If I saved the world at 17, I dunno... just give us some older main characters) who discovers an ancient artifact. Probably by some unfortunate/ironic/accidental mean. The artifact allows him the ability to transform into a seven-meter tall White Knight. Just for fun (and trust me, I'm really psyched for this, so I'm not making fun of the game) let's try to come up with other pieces of this story using RPG-standards. Amnesia, destroyed home town, some really "badass" bad guy with silver/white hair (yawn). Let's see if we can guess the game before we know anything. If you don't want to, just look at the screens for a bit.
We need a little more White Knight Story in our lives...
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.
White Knight Story website up and jogging briskly
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!
White Knight Story trailer! Hold onto your jaws...
After a nice nap, we're ready to bring you the White Knight Story trailer. Some of you may have already seen it, but if you haven't (even if you have) then check this out. This is gameplay footage and an actual RPG battle that takes place. It's unreal. Simply unreal. Hopefully we can see more of this game and soon. Another draw of the game is the sheer scale of it -- gigantic monsters, etc. While we don't see that in the trailer, it gives us something else to look forward to. By the way, the trailer's here.
More White Knight Story info
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.
White Knight Story for PS3 sounds huge -- literally
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!
