Knights in the Nightmare

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

That eventuality sounds also sexy to me
If we get such thing, Yggdra would certainly be jaded to a royal extent... turning into a "SC Nightmare" like?

Aside of it, it seems the geography in KITN is very spread, (a la FE), so we might get several factions this time around.

Nightmare?! That would definitely be something.

It seems there are several factions. If you look at the characters, there are various flags/oval symbols, like the blue one or the one with two swords.

Pointless, but on the area with a "4" in the title, the single character there (Flore?)... Is she really 21...

Originally Posted by krisslanza

If I recall aren't all the characters in Knights in the Nightmare dead already and the Wisp has the ability to revive them to fight for it?

Yep. All of them were killed by monsters, had their souls stolen, and are wandering the world (so don't get attached to any of them, they're dead ). Or so they seem to be saying.
Well, anyone you can use anyways. Exception might be Maria, of course.
Wisp can grant them temporary life to have them fight for him.

[krisslanza]

So is Maria not a revived soul? Or are certain characters you get still living people and you use 'animated' characters as well?

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by krisslanza

So is Maria not a revived soul? Or are certain characters you get still living people and you use 'animated' characters as well?

Not sure. So far, there is basically no information (besides the basics) released, so I am just guessing.


Some stuff about game play (Set-up stage):

Tran-Soul-

When you use skills during battle, your units' VT decreases.
When VT reaches 0, the unit disappears.
To prevent this, you have to use another unit's soul to transfer life into a unit.
If you do so, the unit who's soul was used will disappear.

(In other words, sacrifice units you don't like or need to keep the ones you like. Or something like that. )

Item Strengthening-

With materials found in battlefields, it is possible to strengthen items. The items necessary for strengthening varies with items. An item's ability increases the more times you strengthen.

(So basically, there isn't any customization. Just powering up.)

[serenade_beta]

Update on website gives wallpapers, yay~

Spoiler:

Two areas are added to Old Castle Arventheim:
(names are guess. Not sure how they are supposed to be romanized...)

Old Castle ~Keiphon's Study
-Lord Keiphon (65) Male
Chief vassal of the Knight Kingdom. Quite ambitious.

Old Caslte ~King's Space
-King Vilimgard (38) Male
Knight Kingdom's king. Also called "Lion-hearted King"
-Prince Noldish (16) Male
Never knew a mother's love, spoiled, and can be egotistic.


I just realized, but Yggdra's eyes are blue while Maria's are yellow/gold. o|￣|＿
No, there is still chance. Fight-o!

[serenade_beta]

A gameplay movie:

...As expected of Sting, another unique and strange looking game. ( o_o; )
Surprised that the voices are English... Don't have a problem, but slightly disappointed?

[Klashikari]

Seriously? This is awfully cluttered... I can't even call head or tails for who are your units and who are the enemies to whack on.
English voices sounds a bit Engrish though... I wonder about these.

[krisslanza]

I dunno I think it looks pretty cool o_o
It might look cluttered because its just a gameplay video without us actually knowing how the battles work. You can see the 'real time' element in the battle though - dodging projectiles trying to hit the Wisp.

[Deathkillz]

Holy crap are you serious? XD

I can't even make out who is the enemy and who are the heros.

And I was expecting some nice Japanese voices ;__;

[Lord Ryo]

Holy cow! That's a lot going on at one time, this game looks extreme! Yggdra felt the same way to me seeing so many units, numbers, stars, and other stuff on the screen at once, it's one of the reasons I really liked the game, it definitely keeps you thinking with so much to pay attention to. It'll take some getting use to, I can't even tell who the enemies are! This game is undoubtedly going to be worth getting, and the English actually isn’t bad.

[serenade_beta]

*coughs up blood*

The release date has changed from 7/17 to 9/25... Apparently, for better quality...
(-_-)................... More than two months, huh...


EDIT:

...Honestly can't tell whether emotions were put into the lines or not. Sometimes it feels okay, but other times it lacks urgency and sounds like a narrator to some horror film (trying to be creepy).
On the other hand, the BGM still is lovely.
Still... English voices with Japanese subtitles...

[rg4619]

Apparently, for better quality...

Yeah, it's a vague excuse used by many Japanese developers. Remember that "improving quality" can mean anything from enhancing an already polished game to actually finishing an incomplete project that's fallen behind schedule (the more likely scenario).

At any rate, there's a good ring to "better quality", so PR departments use it all the time.

[krisslanza]

Thats interesting though... The cast seems to be all english VAs. I wonder what prompted that move...? It would seem now if the game is localized it shouldn't take long considering they don't have to find VAs but... Hmm.

[serenade_beta]

A trailer/promotion movie is finally released!

http://www.sting.co.jp/knights/sp/pv/index.htm

You can watch it in both English narrations and Japanese narrations.
The actual narration doesn't reveal much new info, since it pretty much follows the lines from the website (translated in first post).
Glad that the battle during the trailer were somewhat followable now.
Trans-Soul still seems to be a gloomy event (for players), but it seems those zombies revived dead are happy...
Well, they are already dead and all...


Wish the actual voice acting can be both too, but highly doubt it.

[krisslanza]

Hmmm... I want... D:
WANT IT NAO.

And the more I see Maria the more her sword sprite reminds me of the Gran Centurio

[Ledgem]

I like the idea but I'll probably pass on it...

The idea behind Yggdra Union was really awesome, but toward the end of the game I felt really disappointed. It felt like it should have been the ultimate in strategy games, given that you had to count out your steps and formations. I love chess, and this initially seemed like a chess type of game. By the end of the game I felt less like my formation strategies were being challenged and more like I had to figure out how to ration movements with constantly-changing objectives, all while dealing with morale drops from those damn cannons. The gameplay that had felt initially fluid and open in the beginning then felt pretty linear, as if there was really only one right way to go about getting through the scenario. No room for creativity, no feelings of triumph for overcoming obstacles.

I bought Riviera shortly after I began playing (and loving) Yggdra Union, as it was highly regarded. To be honest, I was extremely disappointed in it. I haven't even finished it - I've had it for over a year and a half now, and I'm still on the second to last stage, I believe. It is surprisingly not a challenge (even though the item limit seems extremely limiting at first) and feels incredibly linear. I love the artwork, the music, and the storyline, but it's just not an entertaining game. For me, at least, there's no real sense of exploration, and no real sense of achievement after defeating enemies.

Knights in the Nightmare looks completely different in terms of gameplay. It looks interesting, but I don't know... perhaps I've unknowingly become a Square-Enix addict and I don't handle RPGs that deviate from their formula too well. I'll keep an eye on this title and its updates, but if I was disappointed by the other two then I'll probably be disappointed by this, too.

(Sorry for the wet blanket post, just wanted to express my thoughts in light of the fact that they seem to deviate from the vast majority of people who have played the other two titles.)

[serenade_beta]

Knights in the Knightmare will have a manga adaption, drawn in a comical manner. Unfortunately, it seems that this will only get three chapters...

Spoiler for space saving:

Website adds "Sanctuary" to the map/characters section.

[rg4619]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

I like the idea but I'll probably pass on it...

The idea behind Yggdra Union was really awesome, but toward the end of the game I felt really disappointed. It felt like it should have been the ultimate in strategy games, given that you had to count out your steps and formations. I love chess, and this initially seemed like a chess type of game. By the end of the game I felt less like my formation strategies were being challenged and more like I had to figure out how to ration movements with constantly-changing objectives, all while dealing with morale drops from those damn cannons. The gameplay that had felt initially fluid and open in the beginning then felt pretty linear, as if there was really only one right way to go about getting through the scenario. No room for creativity, no feelings of triumph for overcoming obstacles.

I bought Riviera shortly after I began playing (and loving) Yggdra Union, as it was highly regarded. To be honest, I was extremely disappointed in it. I haven't even finished it - I've had it for over a year and a half now, and I'm still on the second to last stage, I believe. It is surprisingly not a challenge (even though the item limit seems extremely limiting at first) and feels incredibly linear. I love the artwork, the music, and the storyline, but it's just not an entertaining game. For me, at least, there's no real sense of exploration, and no real sense of achievement after defeating enemies.

Knights in the Nightmare looks completely different in terms of gameplay. It looks interesting, but I don't know... perhaps I've unknowingly become a Square-Enix addict and I don't handle RPGs that deviate from their formula too well. I'll keep an eye on this title and its updates, but if I was disappointed by the other two then I'll probably be disappointed by this, too.

(Sorry for the wet blanket post, just wanted to express my thoughts in light of the fact that they seem to deviate from the vast majority of people who have played the other two titles.)

No, I think your observations are spot on.

Fo me, Riviera was entertaining for its character charm and cute atmosphere. However, it's still a beginner's RPG aimed at a slightly younger audience. Gamers must be able to tolerate a lack of deep gameplay since Riviera is closer to an adventure game in some ways.

Yggdra Union is a more serious game that's loaded with gimmicks, but the core strategic design is badly planned (as you say, scenarios suffer from single solution syndrome). Sadly, good strategy/RPG designers are rare within the Japanese industry, so I'm not surprised.

Overall, Sting's games are pretty and quirky, which make them interesting to play. However, they're by no means wonderful from a hardcore gaming perspective.

[serenade_beta]

Another play movie was added to the official website.

After entering the website, press ゲーム情報, and then, on the opened area, press the arrow to go to 2/2 and there is the new movie, which only shows characters speaking (and some mean titles, like 気の弱そうな神官). And you can listen to some of the music playing in the movie too.
I believe 1/2's movie is the old chaotic action one...


Oh, and there is this other thing...
On the top right corner, you'll find three boxes. The one in the middle is the new one. When you click it, a window should pop up. On the left of that window, there should be a part that you can click (the movie reel thing). If you click it, at the top, you'll see a movie (ultra-small size) open up. Cycle through with the "movie change" button and you can see various movies on it (a few are old movies, a few are new). Once again, enjoy the music, which is pretty much the only thing you can do because the screen is so small).

And as always, new characters added to the characters section. Headgear must be popular in this world...

[serenade_beta]

The Perfect Audio Collection will be released 9/26 (one day after game release...)


Nice~
The Riviera soundtracks (for all three systems) was enjoyable to listen too, and I'm expecting something great here too.

[krisslanza]

I do hope this game gets picked up... It does look fun and interesting to play.

I need a new addiction in addition to Etrian Odyssey 2