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Post by Kimimi on Aug 4, 2010 8:28:12 GMT -5
Gust and Sting are also niche developers akin to Falcom in size, and they're doing fine. This market CAN support small companies. I mean, it damn well BETTER be able to, or I'm in trouble myself.  -Tom Good point. I guess I'm just worried - PC is nice and safe, and unless you're developing a Crysis-beater cutting edge tech is irrelevant, but throwing someone as independent and long standing as Falcom to the whims of console publishers and against companies that regularly have budgets of millions makes me go :S |
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Post by HJ on Aug 4, 2010 8:43:14 GMT -5
Does Sting make console games, though? Unless they've made games I'm unaware of (which basically means any game that isn't Hexyz Force or part of the Dept. Heaven series), don't they stick to PSP/DS?
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Aug 4, 2010 10:20:46 GMT -5
Does Baroque count?
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Post by Incog Neato on Aug 4, 2010 10:40:03 GMT -5
Good point. I guess I'm just worried - PC is nice and safe, and unless you're developing a Crysis-beater cutting edge tech is irrelevant, but throwing someone as independent and long standing as Falcom to the whims of console publishers and against companies that regularly have budgets of millions makes me go :S But Falcom has a long established fan base and I think a lot of them are console gamers too (like a lot of us here at the forum! :D) so it's not like they'll continually lose sales. Of course, they WILL lose some but gain new fans at the same time as well! ^-^ |
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Post by winterfury on Aug 4, 2010 10:55:00 GMT -5
I'm not sure but I think Gust is smaller than Falcom in terms of nr. of employee, at least, and don't forget Idea Factory
I don't think the PS3 would be profiteable for Falcom, tough, too risky.
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Post by HJ on Aug 4, 2010 12:05:18 GMT -5
I didn't know it was made by Sting. It looks like rubbish, though. |
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Post by SkyeWelse on Aug 4, 2010 12:05:08 GMT -5
It is sad news to hear, especially concerning how Falcom PC games tend to be much more improved experiences with full graphical resolution and play control than their PSP or DS counterparts.
But, times have changed and the PC market is becoming more and more of a niche market, even here in the U.S. I'm not surprised that it is the only real profitable direction that they have decided to focus on portable systems. What I do hope of that will come from this is that they enter into a method of distributing more graphical intense versions of their games via the next-gen console networks such as PSN or XBL.
But, I'll still buy their games, even if they are for a portable system like the PSP, It'll just make me want to invest in another PSP system so that I can output it to my television. It doesn't really matter in the long run. As long as they keep developing games, I'll keep supporting them. : )
But, yeah, wouldn't it be great though if there was some sort of publishing arrangement to publish English localized versions of their PC games somehow in America, via download (or packaging I can hope!).
I guess this will make it a bit more difficult for us to fan-translate their latest and greatest titles unless we become more efficient with hacking and patching the PSP ISO's, which means that we all would have to have PSP's running custom firmware in order to play them, and of course, this would likely make things easier for ISO pirates I as well I suppose...
Wasn't someone patching Brandish TDR last I checked? I wonder how that project is faring.
Shame though. I would have bought a PC version of Brandish TDR in a heartbeat even though I already own the original PSP version.
Oh, and thank you very much for translating this document for us. It's nice to see an actual report instead of just rumors.
-Thomas
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Post by HJ on Aug 4, 2010 13:10:54 GMT -5
It is sad news to hear, especially concerning how Falcom PC games tend to be much more improved experiences with full graphical resolution and play control than their PSP or DS counterparts. ... Shame though. I would have bought a PC version of Brandish TDR in a heartbeat even though I already own the original PSP version. Oh, and thank you very much for translating this document for us. It's nice to see an actual report instead of just rumors. Agreed...this is crushing news IMHO. I've been buying PC games direct from Falcom since 2001. I love their PSP stuff, but it will never, ever match the quality of their PC work. It just can't by the nature of the device (low resolution most of all.) Like the others, I'll continue to support them when I can, but this is a major let down. I honestly do have to say, though, that I kind of saw this coming when they stopped doing that gorgeous 2D work and crapped out Ys VI. Fast forward to today, and I have no interest in LoH7 as it looks like another generic Tales game, and even less in Alternative Saga. Not to offend, as I know many of the newish Falcom fans around here love this style, but they both reek of heavily pandering to the cute/anime/manga crowd. I miss the dreary, dreamy feel of the Xanadus, the Sorcerians, the non-Bandai Gagharvs. Think of how kickass a new Legend of Xanadu would be, complete with side-scrolling stages? Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that way, and that is why Falcom has shifted away from that. I don't think that this is THE END of old school Falcom, as Brandish, Ys Seven, etc. surely no not disappoint, but still...it's troubling. Troubling, not for Falcom's financial future, which is bright, but for those of us who grew up with them, playing their 80's and 90's and 00's titles. *sigh* Life moves on. Sad to see, though. P.S. Give us a new Xanadu with the same art style as Next and I'll take it all back.  Don't take any offense at this, but you just sound like a salty 2D purist to me. And obviously nothing is certain at this point, but if they do indeed start developing for the PS3, then ugly, low-res graphics definitely shouldn't be an issue. |
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Post by Varion on Aug 4, 2010 13:45:33 GMT -5
I kind of saw this coming when they stopped doing that gorgeous 2D work and crapped out Ys VI. Fast forward to today, and I have no interest in LoH7 as it looks like another generic Tales game  |
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Aug 4, 2010 13:45:37 GMT -5
I didn't know it was made by Sting. It looks like rubbish, though. It is and it isn't. The story is convoluted to the point where you STILL won't understand the game itself after you beat it, there is no real end-boss, it's more or less an atypical "Sting RPG" (as they call it on the internet, whatever that is). When you beat it, you have to beat it again. You also have to go on a major fetchquest with EVERY character in the game. To make matters worse, you have a HIGHLY limited inventory, and a guy who can carry your stuff for you -- but only carries more as you do more trading and stuff with him. The control for the simplest things could have been much improved and simpified, but they prefer to complicate things for the player. The real upsides are, it's a dark game (if you're into that), we have an ever-so-comical foul-mouthed Coffinman (...I'd totally link you a YouTube video if one existed, I love this character!), and the soundtrack is actually decent. It's also post-apocalyptic and highly imaginative. I can't really compare it to a mystery dungeon game -- it's similar, but still extremely different. This is an ARPG, whereas the mystery dungeon games are basically one-man SRPGs. |
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Post by Este on Aug 4, 2010 13:57:27 GMT -5
I'm going to look at this news as positive. I feel like if the opposite were happening and they were moving towards PC, I'd be more worried as it's a smaller market. You can say what you want about them having to learn new hardware, but it's not like Falcom has given us a lot of reason to worry about their ability to be creative, intuitive, and all-around awesome. I've thought to myself more than a few times that Falcom is an impressive company given its size, they'll do fine.
The possibility of a PS3 Ys VII game makes me really excited, too. Not too happy about having to shell out for the system, but at least I know it'll be worth it.
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Post by HJ on Aug 4, 2010 14:06:42 GMT -5
There's also Valkyria Chroncles, inFamous, MGS4, Yakuza and Killzone. If you don't have a 360 then the multiplatform-games alone would make it worth it, but even if you do, PS3 has a fair amount of really good exclusives.
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Post by Lunar on Aug 4, 2010 14:08:19 GMT -5
And Valkyria! Honestly the VC style combat should be the de-facto standard for modern tactical RPGs, much like Final Fantasy Tactics was(and still is :l ) back in the day. It adds so much depth in terms of unit placement and terrain interaction while still keeping a heavy strategy focus.
Also Demon's Souls is probably the best console action RPG ever made so that's something to consider.
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Post by HJ on Aug 4, 2010 14:13:01 GMT -5
Can't believe I forgot Demon's Souls.
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Post by Lunar on Aug 4, 2010 15:08:00 GMT -5
The original Dragon Slayer was mostly lime green and pink though. Also it's pretty terrible. That's something I'm glad Falcom has moved away from, lime green, terrible games.
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Post by Lunar on Aug 4, 2010 15:17:13 GMT -5
I mean, the darker aesthetic generally only went as far as the official art though. Even in the remade for Windows versions of most of the Dragon Slayer games, they were pretty colorful and innocuous. There's nothing particularly gritty in say, Sorcerian Original or Romancia.
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Post by Lunar on Aug 4, 2010 15:31:16 GMT -5
It really doesn't, since you based your entire argument around a word you later decided wasn't a good fit or necessarily correct. Also, I wouldn't call Ys VI or Oath 'blatantly cute' either so I don't know what you're getting at.
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Post by Varion on Aug 4, 2010 15:33:04 GMT -5
But looking at it objectively, I think my point is valid - you may be very happy with the "new Falcom" (as you are welcome to be) but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. Well of course not, opinions can't really be 'wrong'. I just don't agree with you at all, and excluding their sudden love for developing on handhelds, I really don't think Falcom have got any better or worse over the years. They still make some games I love and some games I don't, and it's not like they've never made cute and fluffy games before. The old Legend of Heroes games look just as anime-like as the current Legend of Heroes games to me to be honest. I can see what you mean that there's less 'darker' games like Brandish and Dinosaur, though. They clearly haven't forgotten about them though, as can be seen by Dark Revenant being released on the PSP, and Xanadu Next before that. No reason to believe they're not developing another such game now, either, but Ys and Legend of Heroes have always been their two biggest flagship series, and in the unfamiliar waters of the console world it's not entirely surprising they'd try to stick to things that would sell seen as they're almost having to build up their name all over again. So, yeah, business is business but I don't think they've forgotten the fans of those games, they just can't afford to make them as much I guess. |
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Post by Lunar on Aug 4, 2010 15:40:29 GMT -5
Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Somber I can agree with. They did a pretty good job keeping that feeling in Brandish DR and Xanadu Next, but I guess it would be pretty cool to see it in a brand new Falcom IP
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Post by Lunar on Aug 4, 2010 15:48:45 GMT -5
The solution: Sorcerian 2 as a 360 exclusive
Fund it
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