Terra Battle

Terra Battle
Developer(s) Mistwalker
Publisher(s) Mistwalker
Designer(s) Hironobu Sakaguchi
Writer(s) Hironobu Sakaguchi
Yasumi Matsuno
Composer(s) Nobuo Uematsu
Kenji Ito
Yoko Shimomura
Yasunori Mitsuda
Platform(s) iOS, Android
Release date(s) October 9, 2014
Genre(s) Role-playing video game
Mode(s) Single-player
Distribution download

Terra Battle is a mobile video game developed by Mistwalker, the company of Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. It was released for the iOS and Android platforms on October 9, 2014. The game currently has music from Nobuo Uematsu, with a single song each by Kenji Ito, Yoko Shimomura, and Yasunori Mitsuda; character designs by Hideo Minaba, Nakaba Suzuki, Hitoshi Yoneda, Manabu Kusunoki, Kimihiko Fujisaka, Naoto Ohshima, Ami Shibata, and Yoshitaka Amano; and a scenario written by Yasumi Matsuno.

Gameplay

The game plays as a tile-based tactical role-playing game,[1] with elements of collectible card games and puzzle video games as well.[2]

Development

The earliest reports from the game come from June 2014, when Mistwalker trademarked the name Terra Battle.[3] The game was officially revealed through Famitsu on July 1, 2014.[4] The game was released on iOS and Android on October 9, 2014.[5]

To promote the game, Sakaguchi chose to create a new model of releasing content. Inspired by Kickstarter, he created a means called "Download Starter", where new content would be created based on the number of downloads the game would receive.[6] He enjoyed the fan involvement that came with KickStarter campaigns, but did not like the idea of fans directly financing development.[2] Instead, he chose the "Download Starter" model, which was aimed to create interest in the game after it was already created.[2] At 100,000 downloads, more music from Nobuo Uematsu was created for the game.[7] After the game had been downloaded 1.6 million times, composer Kenji Ito joined the project, with Kingdom Hearts series composer Yoko Shimomura joined him after the game had been downloaded 1.7 million times.[8][9] To commemorate the milestone of 1,800,000 downloads, a new song by famed Chrono series composer Yasunori Mitsuda was added to the game.[10] The ultimate milestone, at 2 million downloads, would be releasing a version of the game on the current generation of video game consoles in some capacity, though Sakaguchi has not explained what that would entail other than it would not be a straight port of the mobile version of the game.[6]

Reception

Pre-release

Pocket Gamer described their reaction to the preview build of the game as "cautiously optimistic", stating that the game was "an RPG stripped down to its barest bones, and...it works surprisingly well." while citing concern with the minimal graphics and free to play payment model.[11] Joystiq played a version available to play at PAX Prime 2014, and stated that, while the game was overwhelmingly frantic at first, " the slide-and-move-on action was innate and enjoyable enough to encourage continued play."[12] Game Informer praised the core gameplay, but expressed concern over the long-term effects of the game's imposed waiting time periods.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Megan Farokhmanesh (2014-09-05). "Terra Battle's console version won't be a port, Sakaguchi says". Polygon. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mike Suszek. "Final Fantasy creator sees mobile success in download numbers". Joystiq. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  3. ↑ Brenna Hillier (2014-06-27). "Is the father of Final Fantasy’s new project called Terra Battle?". VG 247. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  4. ↑ Sal Romano (2014-07-14). "Hironobu Sakaguchi announces Terra Battle for smartphones [Update]". Gematsu. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  5. ↑ Eli Hodapp (2014-10-08). "Out Now: 'Dragon Quest II', 'Terra Battle', 'Castaway Paradise', 'Zombie Highway 2', 'Reckless Racing 3', 'iBomber 3' and More". Touch Arcade. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Alex Wawro (2014-10-07). "Final Fantasy creator finds much to learn from mobile game design". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  7. ↑ Jeffrey Matulef (2014-08-24). "Mistwalker's F2P Terra Battle to get more content based on number of downloads". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  8. ↑ "Achieved 1.6M downloads!!". terra-battle.com. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "http://www.terra-battle.com/en/news/2015/02/1-7mdl.html". Terra Battle. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  10. ↑ http://www.terra-battle.com/en/news/2015/04/1-8mdl.html
  11. ↑ Harry Slater. "Hands-on with Terra Battle: Is Mistwalker's free to play tactical RPG worthy of its heritage?". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  12. ↑ Thomas Schulenberg. "Sakaguchi's Terra Battle lands on iOS, Android this week". Joystiq. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  13. ↑ Mike Futter (2014-09-01). "Terra Battle: Hironobu Sakaguchi's Terra Battle Requires Nimble Fingers And A Quick Mind". Game Informer. Retrieved 2015-02-20.

External links