Let’s be very honest here. While we have seen a great time for a number of RPGs in the recent years, the same hasn’t been the scene with the Japanese RPG industry. And while the JRPG genre have boasted titles like Final Fantasy in the past, it seems like all that is now a part of glorified past that has lost its shine in the long run. However, not all is lost, courtesy Creative Intelligence Arts Inc. and its upcoming title Project Phoenix, which is studded with an all-star team of developers, artistes and designers who did a fine work of bringing the game to Kickstarter.
Once in Kickstarter, the title earned 10 times more than its original funding goal that Project Phoenix will now look to utilize in a brand new offering that involves wonderful story-telling capabilities, a never-seen-before fantasy setting and gripping gameplay that will bring back the past glory of JRPG.
Game director Hiroaki Yura was recently in an interview with Gamingbolt where he discussed about the development of the game and if it would look to take advantage of the PS4 specific features.
On asked about the in-game leveling system and if the developing team is looking to make it a unique experience compared to others in the same genre, Yura stated: “Leveling will be very similar to other games. You gain stats dependent on your class and skills open up as you progress.”
“We don’t want to make it different because we want to be different; we only want to improve on areas that we think needs improving. That been said, we are thinking of putting grinding to a minimum (unless you are aiming for an endgame approach).”
Apparently, the game is set to feature as many as six playable characters with their own sets of skills and special abilities. Yura shed more light into the topic by stating: “Without giving too much away you’ll have characters who function as the battering ram and are capable of creating strategic options like holes in walls to surprise enemies.”
“There’s one character who’s a scout, which gives her good sight range, allowing her to spot enemies and help your team with ambushes. Other character classes that you can expect to see include Templars who are well-trained in both offense and defense, samurai, and stealthy ninja,” he added.
Additionally, on asked as to how many hours of gameplay can be expected and exactly how big the in-game map is, Yura stated that the team, as of now, is “expecting somewhere in the ballpark of 25-30 hours for people just looking to complete the game, but we’re offering endgame content that will stretch it out to about 60 hours, especially if you’re a hardcore completionist.”
“In terms of map size, the world itself is huge. We’re talking a landmass about as big as Eurasia. With that said, we’ll make sure that traveling around a continent of that size won’t take too long and we’ll be setting places aside for future expansions or sequels to Project Phoenix,” he further added.
Project Phoenix is currently planned for a June 2015 arrival.