Eyes on Final Fantasy is pleased to announce that we're going to begin covering Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's new game company, Mistwalker, and their upcoming RPG projects.
Mistwalker is developing two titles exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox 360. One is Blue Dragon, which will likely be the first game released by the studio. It features character designs by famed Artist Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, and more), and already impressive graphical effects such as shadow mapping and motion blurs. The game stars a young boy named Shu and his "shadow," a Blue Dragon; a young woman named Zora is the second of an expected five playable characters. Blue Dragon is shaping up to be a next-gen take on the classic Japanese RPG formula; with dragons, airships, and a unique, cartoony cast of characters and monsters, the game looks extremely promising.
The second title Mistwalker is creating for the Xbox 360 is the far more mature looking Lost Odyssey. While Blue Dragon's graphics are cartoony and whimsical, Lost Odyssey is much darker and appears to be much more realistic. You play as Kaim, a man sentenced to live for one thousand years. The story follows Kaim's everyday life, and from what few screenshots have been released so far, the adventure promises not to be boring, as a large-scale battle is just one part of the journey. The game's story is being penned by famed writer Kiyoshi Shigematsu, and Japanese comic-creator Takehiro Inoue will handle the character desgin.
Mistwalker is being aided by the small development team Feel Plus, made up of ex-Square Enix employees. And the ever-popular Nobuo Uematsu, who left Square Enix some time ago, will be working in conjunction with Mistwalker. A few samples for his work can be heard on Mistwalker's official site, and sound just as magical as ever.
Adding onto their already impressive workload, the new studio is tackling another project for the Nintendo DS. The game is title ASH, or Archaic Sealed Heat, and is a tactical RPG which will use the stylus and pre-rendered CG instead of 2D or 3D graphics. You play as Aisha, a queen whose kingdom is burned down by an ancient flame. However, when some of its inhabitants begin to be revived, Aisha journeys to discover the secrets of the flame with an accompanyment of "ash people," the partially revived citizens who regain their hearts and memories but have burned bodies. ASH combines mysteries, RPG and strategy elements, and sci-fi (people travel back in time) for an unusual but very intriguing combination.
Be sure to check back soon for more information on Hironobu Sakaguchi's new studio. Eyes on Final Fantasy is already your #1 source for Final Fantasy information, and we're confident it will soon be your go-to place for Mistwalker, too.
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