Bravely Default Was Originally Designed As An Action RPG

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy feels like a classic Final Fantasy game. It has Final Fantasy III's job system, a clever twist on turn based battles, and an art style that's reminiscent of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light. It must have been designed as a nostalgic JRPG all along, right? Nope!

'In the beginning, Bravely Default was an action RPG. We switched to a traditional JRPG style by selecting commands and without action,' Takehiro Terada, president of Silicon Studio explained to Siliconera.

Silicon Studio developed Bravely Default: Flying Fairy for Square Enix and also made 3D Dot Game Heroes. I asked Terada why they switched game designs, especially since Silicon Studio has developed an action RPG before.

'We did a prototype that was up and running,' Terada replied. 'We played it and discussed with the producer if it was fun or not, and we decided to make a traditional JRPG.'

One of Bravely Default: Flying Fairy's unique features is its augmented reality cutscenes. In Japan, Square Enix released multiple demos and each one had an AR movie accompanying it. Compared to other uses of AR, the movies in Bravely Default are impressive. Characters act out a scene by walking around your room and even fall through your floor.

'The AR is from the Nintendo SDK, but the implementation was done by us,' Terada explained. 'Everything is possible with the SDK alone, but probably other developers haven't had a chance to dig into it.'

'When we spoke awhile ago you said 3D Dot Game Heroes was developed to market Silicon Studio's middleware. Is Bravely Default showing any new tech?' I asked. Ian Graham, Principle Engineer at Silicon Studio, replied: 'I'd say it's less of a tools show horse and more a pure game development powerhouse.'

So, how did Silicon Studio get started with Bravely Default?

'Square Enix is a shareholder, so we have had a relationship with them from the beginning. We had a connection with the producer so we started talking. They were planning to pick another company for development, but after discussion they selected us,' Terada explained.

While Silicon Studio is primarily a middleware company, they do plan to develop more games in the future, too. Meanwhile, Square Enix have been gearing up for a sequel to Bravely Default in Japan.

Bravely Default will be published in North America and Europe by Nintendo. Europe will get the game sometime this year, while North America will see it in 2014.

Read more stories about Bravely Default & Interviews & Nintendo 3DS on Siliconera.

Final Fantasy XV Screenshots And Kingdom Hearts III Screenshots From TGS

Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III trailers are being shown at Tokyo Game Show. Square Enix sent Siliconera these Final Fantasy XV screenshots and Kingdom Hearts III screenshots of their two next generation games.

'

One little tidbit in the Final Fantasy XV press pack is the battle system will make use of "strategic substitutions" which Square Enix says will add depth to the usual party based combat. Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III are in development for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

'

'

'

Read more stories about Final Fantasy XV & Kingdom Hearts III & PlayStation 4 & Xbox One on Siliconera.

fire emblem awakening's theme is love for the characters says devteam

The theme of Fire Emblem: Awakening, according to Intelligent Systems and Nintendo, is “love for the characters”. This is the primary reason that the series’ marriage system, which debuted in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, makes its return in Awakening.

While love was the driving theme, the goal for the game itself was to be the culmination of the entire Fire Emblem series thus far and to help bring in new fans, since the series has always been supported primarily by its core fanbase up until now. For this, Intelligent Systems wanted a new art style, they reveal in an Iwata Asks interview.

To design characters for the new game, the studio contacted Yusuke Kozaki, who has been involved in manga and anime, but also with other videogames such as the No More Heroes series. (You can visit his DeviantArt page here)

Kozaki had played previous Fire Emblem games before, but he’d never actually been able to complete one, which actually inspired him to take on the job. In Awakening, Kozaki got to include a lot of his personal tastes in the character design. For example, Fire Emblem has traditionally featured characters with green and pink hair in the past, but Kozaki wasn’t keen on that idea.

In order to design characters for Awakening, Kozaki felt like he had to design characters that would appeal to hardcore Fire Emblem fans as well as to new players.

He shares: “After receiving the job, I went around the fan sites, checked out their illustrations, and analyzed them, like, ‘What does everyone like about Fire Emblem?’ and ‘What's missing?’ Then I aimed for designs that would be neither too new nor too old.”

Another piece of the puzzle to help make the characters appealing and encourage the “love” theme was giving them voices. The devteam didn’t wanted to avoid making the game fully-voiced, however, since that would affect the pace of conversations and increase the volume of the game substantially. For this reason, they decided to include rapid-fire lines of voice-acting that would help evoke an atmosphere.

Food for thought:

Prior to settling on a direction for Fire Emblem: Awakening, other ideas were being considered, such as setting the game in the modern world or on Mars.

Read more stories about Fire Emblem: Awakening & Nintendo 3DS on Siliconera.

Tales Of Hearts R Infinite Evolve Is Like A Flashback To The DS Version

First print copies of Tales of Hearts R include a second game, Tales of Hearts R: Infinite Evolve. Namco Bandai says this is a 2D action RPG and it looks like they reused sprites from Tales of Hearts ' the DS version. Yuri, Jade, Stan, and Lloyd show up as guest characters in Tales of Hearts R: Infinite Evolve. Players will also see special skits, which should be a treat for fans.

'

Speaking of fans, Tales of Hearts R Link Edition includes Vita accessories like a pouch, cleaning cloth, cradle with special cover, decal, and a copy of the game. An other bonus is a code to download a Tales of Hearts R Quest Clock which shows scenery from the game. You can send characters out in quest mode to earn more money, which you can use to purchase more skins.

'

'

While Namco Bandai is the publisher for Tales of Hearts R, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is selling and distributing Link Edition. Tales of Hearts R comes out on March 7. You can get it for 6,480 yen ($77) in stores or 5,830 yen ($70) on PlayStation Network. Link Edition is 9,980 yen ($120).

Read more stories about PlayStation Vita & Tales of Hearts R on Siliconera.

Nintendo To Help Japanese Developers Bring Their 3DS Games To The West

The Nintendo 3DS is selling like hot cakes in Japan, having crossed 10 million in sales in under two years, but it isn’t doing as well in the west. In the U.S. and Europe, 3DS sales are below expectations, and Nintendo need to do something about it.

'

What they’ll do, according to Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, is release more games that widen the system’s appeal. This involves releasing around ten key games in the near future that will help sell the 3DS to more people.

'

“We plan to intensively and actively sell approximately 10 key titles on our own in order to change the Nintendo 3DS system from a handheld device just to play the Mario series to the one to enjoy a variety of games,” Iwata stated at the company’s third quarter financial results briefing.

'

He added: “Naturally, we will keep the momentum of already-released titles with much sales potential by, for example, having them digitally distributed.”

'

Iwata doesn’t name all ten 3DS games that Nintendo have pegged their hopes on, but he does name six of them—Fire Emblem: Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Brain Age: Concentration Training, Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and of course Pokémon X/Y.

'

Additionally, Iwata says that third-party developers in Japan are assigning their top teams to develop big games for the 3DS, and that Nintendo will help distribute their key games overseas.

'

Iwata stated: “Among those third-party titles both developed and published in Japan, there have been some games which Nintendo published in Europe, including the Professor Layton series. We will increase the number of such games for the U.S. market as well as in Europe. We are also willing to flexibly assist third-party developers in distributing their valuable games overseas.”

'

Read more stories about Nintendo 3DS on Siliconera.

Game Freak's Rhythm Platformer Hits eShop, EU Gets Fire Emblem Demo

Nintendo 3DS eShop Update (US):

This week’s Nintendo eShop update brings Pokémon developer Game Freak’s new game, HarmoKnight, to American shores. The game costs $15 and you can read our playtest of it here.

Joining HarmoKnight is Legend of the River King on the 3DS Virtual Console for $4.99. Additionally, Resident Evil: Revelations and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed are now available as downloadable games.

Wii U eShop Update (US):

None.

You can view this week’s eShop update in its entirety at this link.

Nintendo 3DS eShop Update (EU):

In Europe, HarmoKnight is available for €14.99/£12.99. Joining it is a demo for Fire Emblem: Awakening. Meanwhile, escapeVektor is 50% off in price until April 11th. Also available is Harvest Moon GBC for Virtual Console at €4.99/£4.49.

Meanwhile, a bunch of retail games have been added to the eShop as downloads: Resident Evil: Revelations is available as a download for €29.99/£24.99. Also available is a download version of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for €44.99/£39.99. Code of Princess (€29.99/£24.99), Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D (€19.99/£17.99), Heroes of Ruin (€24.99/£19.99) and Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (€9.99/£8.99) are available as downloads as well.

Wii U eShop Update (EU):

Lego City Undercover download version for €59.99/£49.99.

Read more stories about Fire Emblem: Awakening & Nintendo 3DS & Nintendo eShop & Resident Evil: Revelations & Rhythm Hunter: Harmo Knight on Siliconera.

Now, Everyone Can Play As Bayonetta In Anarchy Reigns

When Sega released Anarchy Reigns in North America, Bayonetta was an exclusive character you could only get if you purchased the online brawler at Gamestop.

'

Now, you can purchase Bayonetta as a DLC add-on for $0.99 on the PlayStation Store. With her wicked weave, Bayonetta is arguably the strongest character in the game. Anarchy Reigns is also available on the PlayStation Store for $29.99.

'

Read more stories about Anarchy Reigns & Bayonetta & PlayStation 3 on Siliconera.

Killer Is Dead Trailer Has English Subtitles; Slated For Summer 2013

We’ve seen information and screenshots, but here’s the first trailer for Grasshopper Manufacture’s next game—Killer Is Dead, which stars Mondo Zappa, an executioner whose job is to kill other killers.

For more on Killer Is Dead, check out our report from earlier in the week.

Kiler Is Dead will hit Japan in Summer 2013.

Read more stories about Killer is Dead & PlayStation 3 & Videos & Xbox 360 on Siliconera.

Final Fantasy X X-2 HD Remaster Has A New Drama Sequence During The Credits

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster will have a new 30-minute-long drama that will play during the compilation’s credits sequence, this week’s issue of Shounen Jump magazine reports from Japan.

This 30-minute sequence will feature newly recorded voices and will be written by Kazushige Nojima, the scenario writer for the two games.

Read more stories about Final Fantasy X HD & PlayStation 3 & PlayStation Vita on Siliconera.

Sonic Lost World Trailer Confirms The Game For October Release

A new trailer for Sonic Lost World courtesy of IGN shows Sonic’s Colors powers on the Wii U, that allow him to transform into various form with different abilities. It also reveals the game's release date. Watch it below:

As previously reported, you’ll control Sonic’s Colors powers using the Wii U GamePad. Sonic will also have radio-controlled gadgets that he can use, and these will be available on both the Wii U and 3DS. You’ll be able to share gadgets between the two versions of the game.

Sonic Lost World is slated for release on October 22nd for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.

Read more stories about Nintendo 3DS & Sonic Lost World & Videos & Wii U on Siliconera.

Wii U Game Makes You A Boy Who Stays Up Past His Bedtime To Play More Games

Game & Wario has a neat meta game called "Gamer." You play as the video game Nintendo fanboy 9-Volt who lives in Diamond City. 9-Volt has the hottest game in town, Balloon Fighter, and can't put the Wario Ware-like game down. Every night he pretends to go to sleep and plays Balloon Fighter on a handheld game system… well until his Mom catches him. The "Gamer" mini-game has 9-Volt on the TV and turns the Wii U gamepad into his handheld system.

'

'

"Pirate" is a mini-game that Nintendo originally displayed as a Wii U tech demo. Players raise the gamepad like a shield and move it around to block plunger arrows. In Game & Wario, "Pirate" has a rhythm to it with Captain Wario shouting orders to shoot arrows left, right, up, and down.

'

'

"Kung Fu" is a platformer with two perspectives. On the TV you have a behind the shoulder view and on the gamepad you have a top down view.

'

'

"Patchwork" is a drag and drop puzzle game where you place pieces of felt to complete a picture.

'

'

Game & Wario and its 16 mini-games comes out on March 28 in Japan.

Read more stories about Game & Wario & Wii U on Siliconera.