Squares new RPG - Unlimited SaGa (56k warning)

More details regarding Unlimited Saga
We broke the news early this morning that Square\'s Unlimited SaGa is featured in this week\'s issue of Famitsu, and now we\'re following up with some details about the project.

In the magazine, Unlimited SaGa producer, Akitoshi Kawazu, who has been involved with the SaGa series since the original game on Gameboy (which was released in America as Final Fantasy Legend), discussed some of the more unique features of the game. The game features two main playable characters, one a man and another a woman, named Laura, and six secondary characters who also play a main role. The plot centers around the events in a strange country, where a legend tells of how the land will be engaged in a Golden Age, of sorts, when one who can create miracles occurs.

Visually, Square is doing something a little different. Instead of going with 3D backgrounds and characters, the developers have decided to use a style that makes the graphics look akin to a water-color painting. Thankfully, no cel-shading is being implemented; instead, a new animation system has been implemented to achieve this. If you\'re unclear, an example was provided, and we\'ll relay it as well as possible. Imagine the character is in a cave or forest of some sort. Instead of the display going to the edge of the screen, it smudges a bit, and blends with the unlying background colors, thus giving the impression of a sketch.

Much like the visual presentation, the battle system is rather unique. During fights, any special moves or magical attacks require HP instead of Magic or Ability Points. Every round, as many as five actions and be assigned to the characters in the party, independent of how many people there are. So, if the player\'s group has three members, five actions can be distributed between them.

Finally, cinemas and voice-acting will appear in the SaGa series for the first time, with support for Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound.

Oddly enough, even though it has just been revealed, Unlimited SaGa is due out in Japan this December. There\'s no word on a domestic release, yet, but it\'s certainly not out of the question. We\'ll be back later today with the first screens (which are looking gorgeous), so stay tuned.

uhh! Extra cool... can you translate the article fastson?

Edit: ok, thanx a lot

wow, very exciting to see another square rpg.

ROFLMAO:laughing:  Those Square gamedev people look very freaky ! :nut:   :thepimp:

Thank you fastson, good digging. Has this one been hiding?

I love the look (cell-shading really makes me cringe) and the twist on the battle system sounds intriguing. Let\'s hope it makes outside of Japan.

Originally posted by Heretic
Thank you fastson, good digging. Has this one been hiding?

I love the look (cell-shading really makes me cringe) and the twist on the battle system sounds intriguing. Let\'s hope it makes outside of Japan.

Just announced.. The scans are from Famitsu which just came out in Japan.

Im drooling over this bit:

Visually, Square is doing something a little different. Instead of going with 3D backgrounds and characters, the developers have decided to use a style that makes the graphics look akin to a water-color painting. Thankfully, no cel-shading is being implemented; instead, a new animation system has been implemented to achieve this. If you\'re unclear, an example was provided, and we\'ll relay it as well as possible. Imagine the character is in a cave or forest of some sort. Instead of the display going to the edge of the screen, it smudges a bit, and blends with the unlying background colors, thus giving the impression of a sketch.

Should be neat, cant wait to see better pics.

Dark Cloud 2 looks excellent in cellshadning.

Originally posted by fastson


Should be neat, cant wait to see better pics.

Dark Cloud 2 looks excellent in cellshadning.

I liked the look of the old Dark Cloud and seeing the cellshaded version of it along with BOF made me think \'Oh no!\'. Since then I\'ve softened a bit after seeing a few more screens for both games but I\'m still leary of the whole trend, it seems like a step backwards to me.  As of now I\'m not looking forward to either game because of it. I\'ll wait to see them in motion before I complain too much.

Cel shading works better on certain games, like Sly Cooper looks great with cel shadning IMO (Ive played the demo).

Like someone before me said "Cel shading is to this generation what lens flare was to the old generation"

I for one am looking forward to this game, having played and owned 1 & 2. BTW...FF Legend was originally a Saga game? Ha, who knew? I played that game a long time ago.